bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Seven Years' War (1756–1763)
Authors: Schumann Matt
Published: November 2011

The Seven Years' War was an amalgam of connected regional conflicts — in North America from 1754 to 1760, and Europe from 1756 to 1763 — whose geographical reach may qualify it as the first global war. In many respects an outgrowth of the War of the Austrian Succession, it involved broadly similar issues and rivalries, though in a different international configuration. Financial and military commitments were far greater than in the preceding conflict, however, with investments and deployments from Canada to the Indian Ocean and from West Africa to the Baltic Sea. Its legacies include recognition of Prussia and Russia as leading European powers, the rise of the British Empire in India, Pontiac's Rebellion. and the American War of Independence.
Sicilian Vespers, War of the (1282–1302)
Authors: Dmitriev Sviatoslav
Published: November 2011

In a masterpiece of Byzantine diplomacy, a Byzantine‐organized rebellion on Sicily (spring 1282) overthrew the rule of Charles I of Anjou (r. 1266–1282), both shattering his plans for a Crusade against Byzantium and provoking western powers into a protracted conflict over Sicily. The newly restored Byzantine Empire was saved from an imminent, and likely fatal, danger.
Sino‐Japanese War (1894–1895)
Authors: Mackenzie S. P.
Published: November 2011

A war fought between Meiji Japan and Manchu China over influence in Korea. Often better armed and always better organized and led than their opponents, Japanese forces on land and sea were almost always victorious. The results highlighted to the world the extent to which the two Asian states involved had either succeeded, in the case of Japan, or failed, in the case of China, to transform themselves along western lines sufficiently to fight and win an industrialera war. The outcome reversed the traditional balance of power between the two for many decades, and started Japan down a path of territorial aggrandizement that would only be reversed after World War II.
Spanish Foreign Legion
Authors: Alvarez José E.
Published: November 2011

An elite unit of the Spanish army. The Spanish Foreign Legion was created by Lieutenant Colonel José Millán Astray, a professional soldier and africanista (Spaniards in favor of Moroccan colonialism). Another name for the Legion is el Tercio, a term chosen as an homage to the “invincible” Spanish infantry Tercios of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Its formation was authorized by King Alfonso XIII in January 1920, and the unit accepted its first recruits on September 20, its subsequent anniversary day. The Spanish presidio of Ceuta in Morocco became its first recruitment center as well as its principal headquarters and training base at Dar Riffien, located four miles outside the city of Ceuta. Although modeled on the more famous French Foreign Legion, which recruited foreigners exclusively, the Spanish version would be staffed mostly by Spanish volunteers.
Spartacus (d. 71 BCE)
Authors: Bradley Keith
Published: November 2011

Spartacus is the most famous slave from classical antiquity. He came from Thrace (modern Bulgaria) and is said to have once fought as a Roman allied soldier. Later, however, he was enslaved and sent to the wealthy Italian city of Capua, 200 km south of Rome, where he became a gladiator. In 73 BCE he led a revolt of fellow gladiators that developed into a major uprising involving tens of thousands of slaves and affecting much of Roman Italy. He has remained ever since an inspirational symbol of revolutionary resistance, rivaled only by “the black Spartacus,” Toussaint L'Ouverture, whose slave insurrection in Saint Domingue led to the creation in 1804 of the modern state of Haiti. Spartacus, however, was not a revolutionary. His ambitions as a rebel are scarcely recoverable from the meager evidence that has survived about him; but slavery was such an incontestable element of Roman social organization that to attribute to him any intention of creating social change, especially of overthrowing slavery, is unrealistic. As far as is known, his purpose was to free himself and his followers from the cruelties and indignities of slavery for as long as possible, which in the event was for two years. Ultimately his uprising had little effect on the Roman slavery system, despite the threats to Roman security it posed in the short term.
Spies and spying
Authors: Neff Stephen C.
Published: November 2011

Spying in the generic sense, as a political activity, refers to the unauthorized gathering of sensitive information in (and usually about) a foreign country, with the information‐gathering generally undertaken by a person who is skilled in the art and who is operating on behalf of his or her government. Sometimes, non‐professionals are employed for this purpose, such as (allegedly) the alluring Mata Hari, who was executed by the French government in 1917, during World War I. James Bond is the best‐known (albeit fictional) figure. From the more humdrum world of fact, the most familiar examples include the operatives of the American CIA, the Soviet KGB, and the British Secret Intelligence Service (better known as MI6). Spies in the sense of the laws of war are, however, very different from these spine‐tingling examples.
Strategy
Authors: Wawro Geoffrey
Published: November 2011

The ancient Greek term for a general exercising broad military and civil authority was
strategos
, a designation that neatly captures the essence of strategy, which is the search for relative advantage in war and peace. The term is now common and widely used to describe a nation's blend of policy, economics, persuasion, and military deterrence (“hard” and “soft” power) to seat itself more safely and reliably in the world. “Grand strategy” is often broken out to differentiate the grand, farreaching political and economic objectives that are secured in part by generalship, but the term “strategy” is just as often assumed to contain both the grand and the military elements.
Tactics
Authors: Matthias Strohn
Published: November 2011

The term “tactics” is derived from the GreekTaktikē, the art of deploying or lining‐up an army. Tactics is the lowest level of war and part of the trinity which describes war in its entirety, the two other levels being strategy (often subdivided into military and grand or political strategy) and the operational level of war.
Tokyo War Crimes Trial
Authors: Totani Yuma
Published: November 2011

The eastern counterpart of the Nuremberg Trials, the Tokyo War Crimes Trial (1946–1948) was a watershed moment in the history of modern Japan. It presented the Japanese people with a unique opportunity to examine voluminous oral and documentary evidence of the war of aggression and atrocities that were committed by the Japanese armed forces during the Asia‐Pacific War (1931–1945). This trial, in this respect, marked a crucial starting point of the Japanese confrontation with war guilt, a process that continues to this day. The Tokyo Trial carries special significance also in the field of international law. The Tribunal delivered a landmark judgment that determined individual criminal responsibility not only of military commanders but also of state leaders for war crimes. Confirming the Nuremberg precedents, the Tokyo Tribunal thus put an end to the immunity that high‐ranking government officials had historically enjoyed and contributed to building the foundation of international humanitarian law.
Townshend, General Charles (1861–1924)
Authors: Jean Bou
Published: November 2011

Townshend was a British officer who served in several colonial campaigns in the late nineteenth century and later, as a majorgeneral, surrendered his force to the Ottoman army following a siege at Kut in Mesopotamia in April 1916.
US
Civil War (1861–1865)
Authors: Reid Brian Holden
Published: November 2011

This enormous fratricidal conflict—the largest war fought in the nineteenth century between Waterloo in 1815 and the outbreak of World War I in 1914—is the greatest single event in American history and the most momentous conflict ever waged in the western hemisphere. It erupted in the spring of 1861, though the tensions leading up to it had been present for three decades, and the 1850s had been marked by an inflammable atmosphere of domestic crisis. The root cause of the conflict lay in the cleavage between two sections, North and South, over the place of chattel slavery in the Union. By 1861 slavery survived elsewhere only in Brazil, Puerto Rico, and Cuba. Without the slavery issue there would have been no war—or, at any rate, a war fought of this kind at that very particular date. The war threw into relief the very meaning of American freedom. Despite earlier doubts in the Upper South about the efficiency and morality of slavery, by the 1840s a pro‐slavery ideology had gained sway throughout the slave states which contended that American slavery was a positive good and a more humane system of labor than that found in
laissez‐faire
industrial states such as Great Britain. Unlike in parts of Latin America, after the suspension of the transatlantic slave trade in 1808, the domestic population of American slaves grew to over one‐third of the total southern population. Slavery thus became an instrument of social control which kept the black population in a state of perpetual subordination.
Venezuela Blockade (1902–1903)
Authors: Mitchell Nancy
Published: November 2011

Battered by years of revolution and saddled with a fiery dictator, Venezuela at the beginning of the twentieth century was not paying its bills. Numerous countries were aggrieved — about debt default, unsettled claims, and the blustering of the Venezuelan president, Cipriano Castro. “You owe money,” the US minister to Caracas told Castro bluntly, “and sooner or later you will have to pay” (Bowen to Hay 1902). In December 1902, Germany, Britain, and Italy imposed a naval blockade on Venezuela to force Castro to address their grievances. It was classic gunboat diplomacy, a little arm‐twisting that led to arbitration and the settlement of the claims.

The Venezuela blockade clarified the balance of power in the Caribbean basin: British retreat, US ascent, and German irrelevance. It also showed the power of the press—in the United States as well as in Britain—to shape the perception of an aggressive Germany. Finally, it provided fodder to historians who seek to mythologize Teddy Roosevelt's claim to “speak softly and carry a big stick.”

In 1901, both Berlin and London were under fire for failing to protect their business interests—and honor — in Venezuela. Both began contemplating action against Caracas. German Chancellor Bernhard von Bülow urged Kaiser Wilhelm II to impose a blockade, but the oft reckless Wilhelm demurred, because he did not think collecting a few debts was worth the risk of riling Washington in its backyard. It was the possibility of joining with the British that made him change his mind. Joint action had great appeal to both capitals: not only would it reduce costs, it also would unite the two fractious powers in a common cause. The deal was sealed in November 1902 when the Kaiser visited his uncle, King Edward VII.
War Correspondents
Authors: Taylor Philip M.
Published: November 2011

The profession of the war correspondent has never had a fixed job description. Every individual reporter brings something different to the task. Nonetheless, from the chroniclers of war in the ancient world to the soldier‐bloggers of today, human beings who describe what they have witnessed when armies collide for the benefit of noncombatants have always been mediators who can never deliver accounts of the actual realities of war to a reading, watching, or listening audience. The gap between real war and mediated war is therefore very wide. That said, without these accounts, people with no direct experience of combat would have no insight into the experience of those who do. Therein lies the real function of war correspondents—and whether they do this well or badly is the source of fierce debate.
War of 1812
Authors: Watson Samuel
Published: November 2011

The War of 1812 was rooted in Britain's wars with revolutionary and Napoleonic France. Unable to strike at one another directly, the British and French engaged in economic warfare via blockades and the interception of merchant vessels, including neutrals. Faced with British seizures of American shipping, the United States prepared for war by recreating its navy and beginning coastal fortifications in 1794, but John Jay's Treaty with Britain, ratified in 1796, resolved the commercial crisis, to the economic profit of both nations. Meanwhile, the rejuvenated US Army, under Anthony Wayne, defeated Indians supplied by the British at Fallen Timbers in northwest Ohio, leading Britain to withdraw its troops from US soil at Detroit, Oswego, and Niagara.
W
ashington Naval Conference (1921–1922)
Authors: Kuehn John T.
Published: November 2011

The genesis of the Washington Naval Conference lay in unresolved issues from the Treaty of Versailles and a heightened state of tension between the remaining major naval powers after World War I, especially Japan and the United States. These led, ironically, to an expensive naval arms race after the war. The administration of Warren G. Harding was eager to establish a name for itself by promoting peace and security. Accordingly, the action for the conference fell into the very capable hands of one of the era's great statesmen—former cabinet officer (under Roosevelt) and Secretary of State Charles Evans Hughes. Hughes's department sent out invitations to the conference shortly after Harding took office in the summer of 1921. Germany and the Soviet Union, considered pariah states, were not invited. The agenda was fairly broad and ended up encompassing a wide range of disarmament, arms limitation, and political agreements.
Weapons of mass destruction
Authors: Estes Kenneth W.
Published: November 2011

This term groups several types of weapons able to cause damage of catastrophic size, out of proportion to their limited size and cost. The delivery systems to place them on or near targets usually do not form part of the term or its discussion. Despite significant success in the use of international accords to reduce the danger of the employment or export of these weapons types and their component materials and technologies, the increased attention to terrorism has caused growing apprehension and debate over the threats, real and perceived. The current importance of the term, apart from its highly generalized descriptive value, lies mostly in its charged rhetorical applications of the past decade.
World War I: Afro‐Asian theaters
Authors: Hughes Matthew
Published: November 2011

During World War I, fighting spread to Africa and Asia as Entente forces attacked the Ottoman (Turkish) Empire in the Middle East, and German colonies in Africa and the Far East (in China and the Pacific islands). The heaviest fighting was in the Middle East, where by 1918 British‐led forces had occupied all of what would become, after the war, the states of Palestine, Trans‐Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, and Iraq. What remained of the Turkish rump of the Ottoman Empire became the Republic of Turkey in 1923. In Africa, the Belgians, British, and French invaded and occupied the German colonies of South‐West Africa (Namibia), Togoland, Cameroons, and German East Africa (Tanganyika/Tanzania) (Strachan 2001; Anderson 2004; Paice 2008). In 1916 Portugal joined the war but her forces in Africa did little beyond defending Portugal's African colonies. In the Far East, Japan took German territory in China at Kiaochow (Jiaozhou in Pinyin spelling) and Australian, Japanese, and New Zealand forces did the same in the Pacific islands of Micronesia (the Mariana, Marshall, and Caroline islands), northern Papua New Guinea, Nauru, the northern Solomon islands, and Samoa. Before, during, and after these conquests, the attacking powers—the British and French but also local powers such as Australia, Japan, New Zealand, and South Africa—made a series of arrangements, commitments, and promises, both among themselves and with local peoples, regarding the future status of captured enemy territory that shaped the post‐war world.
Zimbabwe's War of Independence (1965–1980)
Authors: Stapleton Timothy J.
Published: November 2011

During the 1890s the British South Africa Company of Cecil Rhodes conquered the African people in what is now Zimbabwe yet did not discover anticipated vast gold deposits. With responsible government in 1923, the white settler minority gained internal political control over the colony of Southern Rhodesia and passed a series of laws that undercut African economic opportunities. As European commercial farmers took most of the best land, Africans became cheap labor as they were pushed into small infertile reserves or moved to cities. After World War II the white minority expected Britain to grant them dominion status, a form of autonomy, along the lines of Canada or Australia. This was to be facilitated by the 1953 Central African Federation, which brought together Southern Rhodesia with the mining economy of Northern Rhodesia and the labor reservoir of Nyasaland. Britain initially supported the federation as it was looking for a new regional ally after the election of the republican minded Afrikaner Nationalist Party in South Africa in 1948 and the introduction of apartheid. Since the tiny European population controlled the federal government, African nationalists in all three territories protested against the federation, which seemed counter to the emerging continental desire for independence and majority rule. In Southern Rhodesia a series of progressively more radical African nationalist groups was banned in the late 1950s and early 1960s. These were the Southern Rhodesian African National Congress (SRANC), National Democratic Party (NDP), and Zimbabwe African People's Union (ZAPU). Increasingly violent street protest and state repression led to the breakup of the federation in 1963 and the British, now eager to decolonize Africa, granted independence to Northern Rhodesia as Zambia and Nyasaland as Malawi in 1964. The bulk of federal military resources, warplanes, helicopters, and armored cars supplied by Britain during the 1950s were taken to Southern Rhodesia, where the right‐wing Rhodesia Front of Ian Smith came to power to protect settler interests. Disagreement over strategy split the African nationalist movement as the established ZAPU under Joshua Nkomo wanted to mobilize international sanctions from exile and a splinter group called the Zimbabwe African National Union (ZANU) under Ndabaningi Sithole was determined to confront the regime at home. Most of the top leadership of both organizations was arrested and spent the next decade in detention. An impasse developed between the Smith regime that demanded immediate dominion status and Britain that wanted Smith to acknowledge the eventuality of majority rule. In November 1965 Smith unilaterally declared independence from Britain and although bank assets were frozen and limited sanctions imposed, London did little to suppress the rebellion.
pGLO mutagenesis: A laboratory procedure in molecular biology for biology students
Authors: Bassiri Eby A.
Published: November 2011

A five‐session laboratory project was designed to familiarize or increase the laboratory proficiency of biology students and others with techniques and instruments commonly used in molecular biology research laboratories and industries. In this project, the EZ‐Tn5 transposon is used to generate and screen a large number of cells transformed with mutagenized pGLO plasmid. EZ‐Tn5 carries the kanamycin resistance (KanR) gene, and the pGLO plasmid carries the β‐lactamase gene for ampicillin resistance (AmpR), the gene encoding green fluorescent protein (GFP) and the arabinose operon repressor (araC). Insertion of the Tn5 transposon into pGLO occurs randomly, and any gene into which it inserts is knocked out. By screening cells transformed with mutagenized pGLO with kanamycin, ampicillin, arabinose and/or for GFP expression in different combinations, pGLO plasmids with mutations in different genes are identified. The locations of these insertions are then mapped approximately by restriction fragment analysis and precisely by sequence analysis of the pGLO plasmid. BIOCHEMISTRY AND MOLECULAR BIOLOGY EDUCATION Vol. 39, No. 6, pp. 432–439, 2011
ChemInform Abstract: Reaction of 3‐(Acetoxyamino)quinazolin‐4(3H)‐ones with Enolic β‐ Diketones: The N‐N Bond as a Chiral Axis in N‐(3,4‐Dihydro‐4‐ oxoquinazolin‐3‐yl)‐N‐acyl‐α‐aminoketones; Reductive and Base‐ Catalyzed Cleavage of the N‐N Bond in N‐Acetyl‐N‐(3,4‐dihydro‐4‐ oxoquinazolin‐3‐yl)‐α‐amino Acid Esters.
Authors: ATKINSON R. S. , EDWARDS P. J. , THOMSON G. A.
Published: November 2011

ChemInform is a weekly Abstracting Service, delivering concise information at a glance that was extracted from about 100 leading journals. To access a ChemInform Abstract of an article which was published elsewhere, please select a “Full Text” option. The original article is trackable via the “References” option.
ChemInform Abstract: Radical Cyclization of Bromomethyldimethylsilyl Propargyl Ethers; Synthesis of a Carbocyclic Core of Steroid Skeleton by a Tandem Radical Cyclization.
Authors: WU S. , JOURNET M. , MALACRIA M.
Published: November 2011

ChemInform is a weekly Abstracting Service, delivering concise information at a glance that was extracted from about 100 leading journals. To access a ChemInform Abstract of an article which was published elsewhere, please select a “Full Text” option. The original article is trackable via the “References” option.
ChemInform Abstract: Novel Pyranoid Glycals Derived from D‐Fructose.
Authors: HALE K. J. , MANAVIAZAR S.
Published: November 2011

ChemInform is a weekly Abstracting Service, delivering concise information at a glance that was extracted from about 100 leading journals. To access a ChemInform Abstract of an article which was published elsewhere, please select a “Full Text” option. The original article is trackable via the “References” option.
ChemInform Abstract: Korupensamines A‐D, Novel Antimalarial Alkaloids from Ancistrocladus korupensis.
Authors: HALLOCK Y. F. , MANFREDI K. P. , BLUNT J. W. , CARDELLINA J. H. II , SCHAEFFER M. , GULDEN K.‐P. , BRINGMANN G. , LEE A. Y. , CLARDY J. , FRANCOIS G. , BOYD M. R.
Published: November 2011

ChemInform is a weekly Abstracting Service, delivering concise information at a glance that was extracted from about 100 leading journals. To access a ChemInform Abstract of an article which was published elsewhere, please select a “Full Text” option. The original article is trackable via the “References” option.
ChemInform Abstract: Synthesis of 5‐Tethered Carborane‐Containing Pyrimidine Nucleosides as Potential Agents for DNA Incorporation.
Authors: RONG F.‐G. , SOLOWAY A. H.
Published: November 2011

ChemInform is a weekly Abstracting Service, delivering concise information at a glance that was extracted from about 100 leading journals. To access a ChemInform Abstract of an article which was published elsewhere, please select a “Full Text” option. The original article is trackable via the “References” option.
Removal of COD from Industrial Effluent Containing Indigo Dye Using Adsorption Method by Activated Carbon Cloth: Optimization, Kinetic, and Isotherm Studies
Authors: Aber Soheil , Sheydaei Mohsen
Published: November 2011

The pollution of underground and surface water streams is a tremendous environmental problem. Adsorption, in which activated carbon (AC) is used as an adsorbent, is one of efficient procedures to remove organic and inorganic pollutants from industrial wastewaters. Activated carbon fiber (ACF), a newly developed form of AC, has high adsorption rate and surface area and can be used for the treatment of industrial wastewaters. In this work, ACF was prepared by physicochemical activation method from kenaf and we studied its ability in the treatment of indigo‐containing wastewater produced from a dying factory. The filtered wastewater was treated via adsorption by ACF, and response surface experimental design method was used to study the effect of ACF dosage, contact time, temperature, and pH of the wastewater on the removal process. ACF dosage of 0.256 g, temperature of 12.5°C, pH 8.5, and contact time of 125 min were optimum treatment conditions. The adsorption process obeys pseudo‐second‐order kinetic and Freundlich isotherm models.
Substituents Destabilize the Molecule by Increasing Biradicaloid Character and Stabilize by Intramolecular Charge Transfer in the Derivatives of Benzobis(thiadiazole) and Thiadiazolothienopyrazine: A Computational Study
Authors: Thomas Anup , Krishna Chaitanya Gunturu , Bhanuprakash Kotamarthi , Krishna Prasad Komuri M. M.
Published: November 2011

Keeping in view the possible applications of singlet open‐shell molecules as semiconductors, non‐classical derivatives of the heterocyclic rings benzobis(thiadiazole) (BBT) and its positional isomer thiadiazolothienopyrazine (TTP) are characterized using DFT methodologies. M06‐2X, B3LYP and BHandHLYP functionals were used to optimize the geometries and estimate the vertical transition energies. It is observed that unlike the BHandHLYP functional (50 % exchange), which gives rise to spin‐contaminated solutions for all molecules in the series, M06‐2X (54 % exchange) affords a wavefunction either with no instability or negligible instability for most of the molecules. The results are compared with the earlier reported experimental data and those obtained herein using the spin‐flip (SF)‐5050 method. It is found that B3LYP does not fare well while on the other hand the M06‐2X and SF‐50‐50 are in good agreement with the experimental results. It is seen that M06‐2X TD‐DFT for the molecules can be carried out without major spin contamination and also that the more time‐consuming CI can be avoided for the calculation of transition energies. The biradical nature of the molecules is estimated by the singlet–triplet gap. Intramolecular charge transfer is calculated. It is found that the ring substituents donate charge in the ground state, creating a zwitterionic structure. Thus the substituents play an interesting dual role, decreasing the stability of the molecule by increasing the biradical character (small HOMO–LUMO gap), and stabilization of this ground state by intramolecular charge transfer.
Rainfall partitioning in a deciduous forest plot in leafed and leafless periods
Authors: Mużyło A. , Llorens P. , Domingo F.
Published: November 2011

In deciduous forests, it is particularly difficult to understand the factors controlling rainfall partitioning because of the seasonal changes of canopy cover. Moreover, under Mediterranean climate conditions, the marked seasonal variability of rainfall produces highly variable event‐based interception losses making comparison of throughfall, stemflow and interception loss in each season difficult. Rainfall partitioning in a downy oak forest plot located in the Eastern Pyrenees Mountains (NE Spain) was measured over 3 years to study the differences in throughfall, stemflow and interception loss between the leafed and leafless periods and to find out the role of canopy cover and rainfall type in rainfall partitioning. Results show small differences in rainfall partitioning between the leafed and leafless periods, although different rainfall patterns were observed in the two periods, and there were significant changes in canopy cover. Throughfall and stemflow were slightly higher during the leafless period (about 3.6% and 1.7% higher, respectively), and therefore, interception loss was lower (about 5.4% in this period). On an event basis, the leafless period was characterized by lower absolute and relative interception losses than the leafed period. Rainfall was classified in four types by intensity and duration to study the influence of rainfall type on rainfall partitioning in leafed and leafless seasons separately. Rainfall duration was apparently important for all rainfall partitioning components in the leafless period, when stemflow and throughfall were lower and interception loss was enhanced during short events, whereas in the leafed period, no single dominating factor could be found. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Photoluminescent Hemidisc‐Shaped Liquid Crystalline Nickel(II) Schiff‐Base Complexes
Authors: Bhattacharjee Chira R. , Das Gobinda , Mondal Paritosh
Published: November 2011

A series of new photoluminescent hemidisc‐shaped NiII Schiff‐base complexes has been synthesized. The ligands and their complexes were characterized by FTIR and 1H and 13C NMR spectroscopy, FAB‐MS and elemental analysis. The mesomorphic behaviour of the ligands and their complexes was probed by polarizing optical microscopy and differential scanning calorimetry. The molecular organization in the mesophase was determined by X‐ray diffraction techniques. The ligands are nonmesogenic but their complexes exhibited thermally stable rectangular columnar (Colr) mesophases at about 227 °C. The complexes are blue‐light emitters in solution (ca. 434 nm, Φ = 19 %) and in the solid state (ca. 469 nm, Φ = 7 %) at λex = 350 nm. A DFT study was carried out using DMol3 at the BLYP/DNP level to obtain a stable, optimized structure, which revealed a distorted square‐planar geometry for the nickel complexes.
Transition‐Metal‐Mediated or ‐Catalyzed Syntheses of Steroids and Steroid‐Like Compounds
Authors: Kotora Martin , Hessler Filip , Eignerová Barbara
Published: November 2011

This short review aims to summarize recent advances in the use of transition‐metal‐catalyzed and ‐mediated methodology for the synthesis of steroid and steroid‐like skeletons reported in the last decade. The methodologies used include transition‐metal‐catalyzed or ‐mediated [2+2+2] and other cycloadditions, the Pauson–Khand reaction, cross‐coupling and Heck reactions, processes based on the activation of single and multiple bonds, metathesis reactions, hydrovinylation, and other reactions. Several examples of total synthesesof steroid compounds [e.g., (+)‐ and (–)‐estrone, desogestrel] by these procedures are presented.
Does sleep restore the topology of functional brain networks?
Authors: Koenis Maria M.G. , Romeijn Nico , Piantoni Giovanni , Verweij Ilse , Van der Werf Ysbrand D. , Van Someren Eus J.W. , Stam Cornelis J.
Published: November 2011

Previous studies have shown that healthy anatomical as well as functional brain networks have small‐world properties and become less optimal with brain disease. During sleep, the functional brain network becomes more small‐world‐like. Here we test the hypothesis that the functional brain network during wakefulness becomes less optimal after sleep deprivation (SD). Electroencephalography (EEG) was recorded five times a day after a night of SD and after a night of normal sleep in eight young healthy subjects, both during eyes‐closed and eyes‐open resting state. Overall synchronization was determined with the synchronization likelihood (SL) and the phase lag index (PLI). From these coupling strength matrices the normalized clustering coefficient C (a measurement of local clustering) and path length L (a measurement of global integration) were computed. Both measures were normalized by dividing them by their corresponding C‐s and L‐s values of random control networks. SD reduced alpha band C/C‐s and L/L‐s and theta band C/C‐s during eyes‐closed resting state. In contrast, SD increased gamma‐band C/C‐s and L/L‐s during eyes‐open resting state. Functional relevance of these changes in network properties was suggested by their association with sleep deprivation‐induced performance deficits on a sustained attention simple reaction time task. The findings indicate that SD results in a more random network of alpha‐coupling and a more ordered network of gamma‐coupling. The present study shows that SD induces frequency‐specific changes in the functional network topology of the brain, supporting the idea that sleep plays a role in the maintenance of an optimal functional network. Hum Brain Mapp, 2013. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Laser tissue welding analyzed using fluorescence, Stokes shift spectroscopy, and Huang‐Rhys parameter
Authors: Sriramoju Vidyasagar , Alfano Robert R.
Published: November 2011

Near infrared (NIR) continuous wave laser radiation at the 1,450 nm wavelength was used to weld porcine aorta and skin samples via the absorption of combitional vibrational modes of native water in the tissues. The fluorescence spectra were measured from the key native molecules of welded and non‐welded tissues at specific excitation and emission wavelengths from collagen, elastin, and tryptophan. The changes in the fluorescence intensities and differences in Stokes shift (Δνss) of key native fluorophores were measured to differentiate the Huang‐Rhys parameter values (S) of the chromophores. The strength of coupling depends on the local electron‐vibration intra‐tissue molecular environment and the amount of polar solvent water surrounding the net charges on collagen, elastin, and tryptophan. The S values for both non‐welded and welded tissues were almost the same and less than 3, suggesting minimal changes in the local molecular environment as a result of welding. (© 2012 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)
LDI and ESI MS as well as low energy CID of a self‐assembling nanorod‐forming fullerene derivative
Authors: Rechthaler Justyna , Pelzing Matthias , Ingendoh Arndt , Kukovecz Akos , Prato Maurizio , Kuzmany Hans , Allmaier Günter
Published: November 2011

An amphiphatic fullerene derivative (8‐(N‐Methyl‐Fullero‐Pyrrolidinium‐1‐yl‐chloride)‐3,6‐Dioxaoctan‐1‐Ammonium Chloride (MFPDAC)), which is of great interest in nanotechnology due to the fact that it forms self‐assembling fullerenic nanorods, has been structurally characterized with emphasis to its purity and thermal treatment of a formed nanorod film (on a LDI target) by means of laser desorption/ionization (LDI) coupled with high‐resolution curved field reflectron time‐of‐flight (TOF) mass spectrometry, and by low energy MS/MS as well as in‐source fragmentation experiments applying an quadrupole ion trap (QIT) combined with a two‐stage reflectron TOF analyzer. The interpretation of LDI results has been supplemented by ESI QIT MSn (n = 1–3), as well as high‐resolution ESI reflectron TOF mass spectrometric experiments. Based on the experimental data obtained by both desorption/ionization techniques, various types of analyzers and sample treatments, we could completely characterize MFPDAC and further found out that the investigated sample was not entirely free of impurities. Furthermore, the envisaged loss of the derivative sidechain upon the heat treatment in vacuum of the self‐assembled nanorod sample film on a metallic substrate could be successfully monitored by LDI MS. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Geofold: Topology‐based protein unfolding pathways capture the effects of engineered disulfides on kinetic stability
Authors: Ramakrishnan Vibin , Srinivasan Sai Praveen , Salem Saeed M. , Matthews Suzanne J. , Colón Wilfredo , Zaki Mohammed , Christopher Bystroff
Published: November 2011

Protein unfolding is modeled as an ensemble of pathways, where each step in each pathway is the addition of one topologically possible conformational degree of freedom. Starting with a known protein structure, GeoFold hierarchically partitions (cuts) the native structure into substructures using revolute joints and translations. The energy of each cut and its activation barrier are calculated using buried solvent accessible surface area, side chain entropy, hydrogen bonding, buried cavities, and backbone degrees of freedom. A directed acyclic graph is constructed from the cuts, representing a network of simultaneous equilibria. Finite difference simulations on this graph simulate native unfolding pathways. Experimentally observed changes in the unfolding rates for disulfide mutants of barnase, T4 lysozyme, dihydrofolate reductase, and factor for inversion stimulation were qualitatively reproduced in these simulations. Detailed unfolding pathways for each case explain the effects of changes in the chain topology on the folding energy landscape. GeoFold is a useful tool for the inference of the effects of disulfide engineering on the energy landscape of protein unfolding. Proteins 2011. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Improving open‐circuit voltage in DSSCs using Cu‐doped TiO2 as a semiconductor
Authors: Navas J. , Fernández‐Lorenzo C. , Aguilar T. , Alcántara R. , Martín‐Calleja J.
Published: November 2011

TiO2 doping has been widely used in photocatalysis and photovoltaic cells to improve the performance of this semiconductor. This paper studies the use of copper as a dopant in TiO2 in dye‐sensitized solar cells (DSSC), analysing the effect on the photovoltaic properties of the cells of different concentrations of copper incorporated into the semiconductor. The copper‐doped TiO2 semiconductor was characterized with several instrumental techniques, including X‐ray diffraction (XRD), inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectroscopy (ICP‐AES), scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM), and UV–Vis spectroscopy in order to know its structure, composition and band gap energies with different concentrations of the dopant. An analysis was also performed of the variations in open‐circuit voltage depending on the concentration of copper. This showed that the presence of copper in DSSCs made with a standard configuration – using a ruthenium complex (N3) as a dye and the redox pair ${\rm I}^{- } {\rm /I}_{{\rm 3}}^{- } $ as the electrolyte with 3‐methoxypropionitrile as a solvent – leads to improvements of up to 10% in the open‐circuit voltage of DSSCs.
Polypropylene/(waste tire dust)/(short glass fiber composites): Effects of silane coupling agent and dynamic vulcanization
Authors: Zainal Zuriati , Ismail Hanafi
Published: November 2011

Polypropylene (PP) and waste tire dust (WTD) were internally mixed with various amounts of short glass fiber (SGF) to form a series of PP/WTD/SGF composites, with and without addition of a silane coupling agent, γ‐aminopropyltrimethoxysilane (γ‐APS), and dynamic vulcanization (DV). The effects of γ‐APS, and DV on the properties of the composites were investigated. The PP/WTD/SGF composites were prepared by using WTD of 250–500 μm dimensions at different SGF loadings (5, 10, 15, and 20 parts per hundred parts of polymer). The results revealed that the addition of γ‐APS and DV increased the equilibrium torque, tensile properties except elongation at break, and swelling resistance of the composites. Because of the incorporation of γ‐APS and DV, the thermal stability was enhanced, and scanning electron micrographs showed improved adhesion between the PP/WTD matrix and SGF. Analysis by Fourier transform infrared was performed on the composites with and without addition of γ‐APS and DV in order to study the interactions among the PP, WTD, SGF, and the amino functional group of the silane. J. VINYL ADDIT. TECHNOL., 2011. © 2011 Society of Plastics Engineers.
Cold Intolerance after Brachial Plexus Nerve Injury
Authors: Novak Christine B. , Anastakis Dimitri J. , Beaton Dorcas E. , Mackinnon Susan E. , Katz Joel
Published: November 2011

Background

The purpose of this study was to evaluate cold intolerance symptoms in patients with brachial plexus nerve injury. We hypothesized that higher levels of cold intolerance would be associated with more pain, greater disability, and unemployment.

Methods

Following research ethics board approval and patient consent, we included English-speaking adults more than 6 months following brachial plexus nerve injury. Patient questionnaires included Cold Intolerance Severity Scale (CISS), McGill Pain Questionnaire, SF-36, DASH, pain catastrophizing scale, and Post-traumatic Stress Disorder Checklist. Statistical analyses evaluated the relationships among the questionnaires and the independent variables. Multivariable linear regression evaluated the factors associated with the CISS.

Results

There were 61 patients, 20 women and 41 men (mean age 40±17 years). The mean questionnaire scores indicated high scores in the CISS, DASH, and pain intensity. The CISS was significantly higher in women. The final regression model with CISS as the dependent variable included the following independent variables: McGill pain rating index, DASH score, and time since injury. Neither pain catastrophizing nor post-traumatic stress scores were retained in the final model.

Conclusions

Patients with brachial plexus nerve injury reported substantial cold intolerance which was associated with the McGill pain rating index, upper extremity disability, and time since injury.
A multimeasure approach to investigating affective appraisal of social information in Williams syndrome
Authors: Plesa Skwerer Daniela , Ammerman Emily , André Marie-Christine , Ciciolla Lucia , Fine Alex B. , Tager-Flusberg Helen
Published: November 2011

People with Williams syndrome (WS) have been consistently described as showing heightened sociability, gregariousness, and interest in people, in conjunction with an uneven cognitive profile and mild to moderate intellectual or learning disability. To explore the mechanisms underlying this unusual social–behavioral phenotype, we investigated whether individuals with WS show an atypical appraisal style and autonomic responsiveness to emotionally laden images with social or nonsocial content. Adolescents and adults with WS were compared to chronological age-matched and nonverbal mental age-matched groups in their responses to positive and negative images with or without social content, using measures of self-selected viewing time (SSVT), autonomic arousal reflected in pupil dilation measures, and likeability ratings. The participants with WS looked significantly longer at the social images compared to images without social content and had reduced arousal to the negative social images compared to the control groups. In contrast to the comparison groups, the explicit ratings of likeability in the WS group did not correlate with their SSVT; instead, they reflected an appraisal style of more extreme ratings. This distinctive pattern of viewing interest, likeability ratings, and autonomic arousal to images with social content in the WS group suggests that their heightened social drive may be related to atypical functioning of reward-related brain systems reflected in SSVT and autonomic reactivity measures, but not in explicit ratings.
Entscheidungshilfen für eine nachhaltige räumliche Entwicklung der Bioenergiebereitstellung – Methoden und ihre instrumentelle Anwendung
Authors: Starick Anja , Klöckner Kristian , Möller Inga , Gaasch Nadin , Müller Klaus
Published: November 2011

An increasing bioenergy supply is likely to cause an increasing demand on space. In order to approach upcoming spatial developments, regional planning is confronted with questions about the extent and the character of possible developments and with questions about appropriate tools to tackle them. Therefore, a method has been evolved for the purpose of identifying appropriate tools taking the planning region Western Saxony as a case study. The methodological approach can be used as a guideline for other regions in Germany and is therefore introduced. It allows to determine spatial potentials for a regional bioenergy supply regarding energy crops and plant types in particular. Different development opportunities can be depicted in qualitative spatial scenarios, and their environmental impacts as well as land use conflicts can be assessed. The method can be applied to develop a spatial biomass concept. In turn, this can contribute to the preparation of a regional energy concept as it is recently being discussed. As a matter of fact, the spatial biomass concept is rather a flexible tool that determines a development frame than a final concept. The advantage is the high adaptability to changes in framework conditions and technical developments. Furthermore, it provides a helpful access for the initiation of regional debates about development aims and strategies.
Stochastic modeling of plasma mode forecasting in tokamak
Authors: SAADAT SH. , SALEM M. , GHORANNEVISS M. , KHORSHID P.
Published: November 2011

The structure of magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) modes has always been an interesting study in tokamaks. The mode number of tokamak plasma is the most important parameter, which plays a vital role in MHD instabilities. If it could be predicted, then the time of exerting external fields, such as feedback fields and Resonance Helical Field, could be obtained. Autoregressive Integrated Moving Average (ARIMA) and Seasonal Autoregressive Integrated Moving Average are useful models to predict stochastic processes. In this paper, we suggest using ARIMA model to forecast mode number. The ARIMA model shows correct mode number (m = 4) about 0.5 ms in IR-T1 tokamak and equations of Mirnov coil fluctuations are obtained. It is found that the recursive estimates of the ARIMA model parameters change as the plasma mode changes. A discriminator function has been proposed to determine plasma mode based on the recursive estimates of model parameters.
Akt and RhoA inhibition promotes anoikis of aggregated B16F10 melanoma cells
Authors: Goundiam Oumou , Nagel Marie‐Danielle , Vayssade Muriel
Published: November 2011

In the highly metastatic B16F10 melanoma cell line, activation of the signalling molecules that promote cell proliferation and survival on conventional adhesive culture dishes may also be responsible for the growth and resistance to anoikis of aggregates on a non‐adhesive substratum. We have examined the influence of bacterial ADP‐ribosyltransferases C3‐like exoenzymes, which selectively modify RhoA, B and C proteins and inhibit signal pathways controlled by them. RNA interference [siRNA (small interfering RNA) Akt (also known as protein kinase B)] and a PI3K (phosphoinositide 3‐kinase) inhibitor were used to analyse the changes caused by inhibiting the PI3K/Akt pathway. Inhibiting the activation of RhoA, B, C and Akt expression resulted in a decrease of the number of cells cultured in aggregates, and caspase 3 activation. RhoA activation and RhoB and RhoC expression were controlled by Akt, but not RhoA expression. Inhibiting Akt and RhoA reduced the expression of α5 integrin, and inactivated FAK (focal adhesion kinase) in B16F10 cells cultured as aggregates. Thus, inhibiting Rho subfamily proteins and Akt expression inactivates the FAK pathway and induces anoikis in anoikis‐resistant cells. The activation of RhoA in melanoma cells can depend on PI3K/Akt activation, suggesting that PI3K/Akt is a suitable target for new therapeutic approaches.