bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
RheoStim: Development of an Adaptive Multi-Sensor to Prevent Venous Stasis
Authors: Weyer Sören , Weishaupt Fabio , Kleeberg Christian , Leonhardt Steffen , Teichmann Daniel
Published: March 2016

Chronic venous insufficiency of the lower limbs is often underestimated and, in the absence of therapy, results in increasingly severe complications, including therapy-resistant tissue defects. Therefore, early diagnosis and adequate therapy is of particular importance. External counter pulsation (ECP) therapy is a method used to assist the venous system. The main principle of ECP is to squeeze the inner leg vessels by muscle contractions, which are evoked by functional electrical stimulation. A new adaptive trigger method is proposed, which improves and supplements the current therapeutic options by means of pulse synchronous electro-stimulation of the muscle pump. For this purpose, blood flow is determined by multi-sensor plethysmography. The hardware design and signal processing of this novel multi-sensor plethysmography device are introduced. The merged signal is used to determine the phase of the cardiac cycle, to ensure stimulation of the muscle pump during the filling phase of the heart. The pulse detection of the system is validated against a gold standard and provides a sensitivity of 98% and a false-negative rate of 2% after physical exertion. Furthermore, flow enhancement of the system has been validated by duplex ultrasonography. The results show a highly increased blood flow in the popliteal vein at the knee.
Eating in the City: A Review of the Literature on Food Insecurity and Indigenous People Living in Urban Spaces
Authors: Skinner Kelly , Pratley Erin , Burnett Kristin
Published: March 2016

Indigenous people often occupy different overlapping or co-existing food environments that include market-based foods, land and water based foods, and combinations of the two. Studying these food environments is complicated by the cultural and geographic diversity of Indigenous people and the effects of colonialism, land dispossession, relocation and forced settlement on static reserves, and increasing migration to urban areas. We conducted a scoping study of food insecurity and Indigenous peoples living in urban spaces in Canada, the United States, and Australia. The 16 studies reviewed showed that food insecurity among urban Indigenous populations is an issue in all three nations. Findings highlight both the variety of experiences of urban Indigenous peoples within and across the three nations, and the commonalities of these experiences.
Network Patterns of Inventor Collaboration and Their Effects on Innovation Outputs
Authors: Hur Wonchang , Park Jaeho
Published: March 2016

The purpose of this study is to examine how the collaboration structure among inventors in an R and D organization affects its capability to create impactful innovations. Specifically, this study is focused on examining whether a certain type of network mechanism found in collaboration among inventors contributes more to enhancing the future impacts of collaboration outputs, which is represented by the forward citations of their patents. To this end, co-invention networks for R and D organizations are constructed from an inventor-patent database, and the three structural patterns are measured by using network analytic constructs, namely, structural holes, strength of ties, and centralization. The results show that the presence of structural holes and strong ties are positively associated with the increasing forward citations, and that decentralized collaboration has also a positive impact. The findings offer support for both structural hole and network closure perspectives on social capital, which have been considered contradictive in the literature.
Fumonisin B1 (FB1) Induces Lamellar Separation and Alters Sphingolipid Metabolism of In Vitro Cultured Hoof Explants
Authors: Reisinger Nicole , Dohnal Ilse , Nagl Veronika , Schaumberger Simone , Schatzmayr Gerd , Mayer Elisabeth
Published: March 2016

One of the most important hoof diseases is laminitis. Yet, the pathology of laminitis is not fully understood. Different bacterial toxins, e.g. endotoxins or exotoxins, seem to play an important role. Additionally, ingestion of mycotoxins, toxic secondary metabolites of fungi, might contribute to the onset of laminitis. In this respect, fumonsins are of special interest since horses are regarded as species most susceptible to this group of mycotoxins. The aim of our study was to investigate the influence of fumonisin B1 (FB1) on primary isolated epidermal and dermal hoof cells, as well as on the lamellar tissue integrity and sphingolipid metabolism of hoof explants in vitro. There was no effect of FB1 at any concentration on dermal or epidermal cells. However, FB1 significantly reduced the separation force of explants after 24 h of incubation. The Sa/So ratio was significantly increased in supernatants of explants incubated with FB1 (2.5–10 µg/mL) after 24 h. Observed effects on Sa/So ratio were linked to significantly increased sphinganine concentrations. Our study showed that FB1 impairs the sphingolipid metabolism of explants and reduces lamellar integrity at non-cytotoxic concentrations. FB1 might, therefore, affect hoof health. Further in vitro and in vivo studies are necessary to elucidate the effects of FB1 on the equine hoof in more detail.
Responses of Sediment Yield to Vegetation Cover Changes in the Poyang Lake Drainage Area, China
Authors: Xiao Linlin , Yang Xiaohuan , Cai Hongyan
Published: March 2016

Ascertaining the relationships between sediment transport processes and vegetation cover is essential for watershed soil and water conservation. However, it is not easy to realize this target on a large scale. In this study, the location-weighted landscape contrast index (LCI) based on the “source-sink” theory of ecological processes was introduced to unravel the response of sediment yield to vegetation cover changes in the Poyang Lake drainage area (the largest freshwater lake in China). A modified location-weighted landscape contrast index (mLCI) was proposed to improve the accuracy and efficiency of the LCI. The average vegetation fraction of the study area significantly increased from 46.2% in Period I (1992–1994) to 76.5% in Period II (2004–2006) and then slightly decreased to 73.2% in Period III (2011–2013). From Period I to Period II, the area-specific sediment yield (ASY) sharply decreased by 55%. In Period II, the “source” vegetation patches were found further away from the water bodies, and were more likely to be located on gentler slopes than in Period I. From Period II to Period III, the ASY sharply increased by 83%. In Period III, “source” patches were found closer to the water bodies than in Period II, whereas the “sink” patches were found further away from the water bodies. The high statistical correlation between LCIs/mLCIs and ASY indicated a sensitive response of the sediment yield to vegetation cover changes that significantly altered the sediment transport processes in the study area. The ASY was better correlated with the mLCI than with the LCI. Three key harnessing sub-watersheds of the Ganjiang watershed were identified by calculating the mLCIs: Qingfengshan, Yuanhe, and Jinjiang. This study supported watershed ecological management in the Poyang Lake drainage area and provided a methodology reference for future sediment transport process studies.
Post-Processing of Stream Flows in Switzerland with an Emphasis on Low Flows and Floods
Authors: Bogner Konrad , Liechti Katharina , Zappa Massimiliano
Published: March 2016

Post-processing has received much attention during the last couple of years within the hydrological community, and many different methods have been developed and tested, especially in the field of flood forecasting. Apart from the different meanings of the phrase “post-processing” in meteorology and hydrology, in this paper, it is regarded as a method to correct model outputs (predictions) based on meteorological (1) observed input data, (2) deterministic forecasts (single time series) and (3) ensemble forecasts (multiple time series) and to derive predictive uncertainties. So far, the majority of the research has been related to floods, how to remove bias and improve the forecast accuracy and how to minimize dispersion errors. Given that global changes are driving climatic forces, there is an urgent need to improve the quality of low-flow predictions, as well, even in regions that are normally less prone to drought. For several catchments in Switzerland, different post-processing methods were tested with respect to low stream flow and flooding conditions. The complexity of the applied procedures ranged from simple AR processes to more complex methodologies combining wavelet transformations and Quantile Regression Neural Networks (QRNN) and included the derivation of predictive uncertainties. Furthermore, various verification methods were tested in order to quantify the possible improvements that could be gained by applying these post-processing procedures based on different stream flow conditions. Preliminary results indicate that there is no single best method, but with an increase of complexity, a significant improvement of the quality of the predictions can be achieved.
The ixCELL-DCM Trial: Rationale and Design
Authors: Henry Timothy D. , Schaer Gary L. , Demaria Anthony , Recker David , Remmers Ann E. , Goodrich James , Patel Amit N.
Published: March 2016

Ixmyelocel-T is an investigational patient-specific, expanded, multicellular therapy produced from a patient's own bone marrow. It is produced by selectively expanding two key types of bone marrow mononuclear cells (BM-MNCs), CD90+ mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs), and CD45+CD14+ autofluorescent, alternatively activated macrophages. Earlier clinical trials suggested that intramyocardial ixmyelocel-T might improve clinical, functional, symptomatic, and quality of life outcomes in patients with ischemic dilated cardiomyopathy (IDCM). This ongoing randomized, double-blinded, placebo-controlled phase 2b trial (ixCELL-DCM) was designed to assess the efficacy, safety, and tolerability of catheter-based transendocardial injection of ixmyelocel-T in patients with heart failure due to IDCM. Patients ( N = 114) with New York Heart Association class III or IV symptomatic heart failure due to IDCM, who have left ventricular ejection fraction ≤35% and an automatic implantable cardioverter defibrillator, but are ineligible for revascularization procedures, were randomly assigned (1:1 ratio) to ixmyelocel-T or placebo (vehicle control). The primary efficacy endpoint is a composite of the total number of deaths, cardiovascular hospitalizations, or unplanned clinic visits to treat acutely decompensated heart failure during the 12 months following treatment administration. Secondary endpoints include the win ratio analysis for hierarchical occurrences of clinical events in the primary endpoint, total numbers of clinical events, left ventricular structure and function, and quality-of-life assessments. ixCELL-DCM is one of the largest cell therapy trials in heart failure patients to date and the first double-blinded, placebo-controlled study of ixmyelocel-T administered via transendocardial catheter-based injections in patients with heart failure secondary to IDCM.
BMP-7 Attenuates TGF-β1-Induced Fibronectin Secretion and Apoptosis of NRK-52E Cells by the Suppression of miRNA-21
Authors: Yu Zhong , Zai-Chun Xu , Wun-Lun Han , Yun-Yun Zhu
Published: March 2016

Bone morphogenetic protein-7 (BMP-7) inhibited the pathogenesis of renal injury in response to a variety of stimuli. However, little is known about the molecular regulation and mechanism of endogenous BMP-7 and its renoprotective functions. This study examined the regulation of BMP-7 and its role in the fibronectin secretion and apoptosis of NRK-52E cells resulting from transforming growth factor-β1 (TGF-β1) in vitro. Results showed that TGF-β1 promoted factor-associated suicide (FAS), FAS ligand (FASL), fibronectin (FN), and miRNA-21 expression, while it downregulated phospho-Smad1 (pSmad1), pSmad5, and pSmad8 expressions in NRK-52E cells. In contrast, BMP-7 alleviated TGF-β1-induced cell apoptosis, inhibited TGF-β1-induced higher expression of miRNA-21 and FN, and enhanced TGF-β1-attenuated phosphorylation of Smad1, Smad5, and Smad8. Furthermore, a chemical inhibitor of miRNA-21 also negatively affected TGF-β1-induced apoptosis and FN secretion. On the other hand, overexpression of miRNA-21 counteracted the inhibitory effect of BMP-7 on TGF-β1-induced FN secretion and apoptosis. However, BMP-7 showed no effects on TGF-β1-induced FN secretion and apoptosis following knockdown of miRNA-21. Taken together, these findings demonstrated that BMP-7 might inhibit TGF-β1-induced FN secretion and apoptosis by the suppression of miRNA-21 in NRK-52E cells.
BRIEF HISTORY OF NATURAL SCIENCES FOR NATURE-INSPIRED COMPUTING IN ENGINEERING
Authors: SIDDIQUE Nazmul , ADELI Hojjat
Published: March 2016

The goal of the authors is adroit integration of three mainstream disciplines of the natural sciences, physics, chemistry and biology to create novel problem solving paradigms. This paper presents a brief history of the develop­ment of the natural sciences and highlights some milestones which subsequently influenced many branches of science, engineering and computing as a prelude to nature-inspired computing which has captured the imagination of computing researchers in the past three decades. The idea is to summarize the massive body of knowledge in a single paper suc­cinctly. The paper is organised into three main sections: developments in physics, developments in chemistry, and de­velopments in biology. Examples of recently-proposed computing approaches inspired by the three branches of natural sciences are provided.
LANDSCAPE AND TRAFFIC FACTORS AFFECTING ANIMAL ROAD MORTALITY
Authors: LIN Shyh -Chyang
Published: March 2016

Roadkill is a significant indicator in realizing the impacts of roads on adjacent ecosystems. This study undertakes a comprehensive survey of roadkills in Kinmen (Taiwan) and analyzes their causes. Two models, Traffic Flow Model and Geometric Model, combined with animal road-crossing behaviors, are used to derive survival probability. Survey results and model predictions yield similar results for moderate traffic flow and agree in bird and small mammal roadkill frequency prediction. It is found that traffic volume, adjacent landscape and road condition are the major contributing factors related to roadkills. Higher traffic volume near habitats always augments the probability of roadkill; however, roadside trees, adjacent landscapes, and road longitudinal slope also affect the probability of successful crossing by small animals, especially birds. This study also proposes measures, to be applied to future road planning and design, aimed to lower roadkill probability.
SUBJECTIVE EVALUATION OF THE ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY IN CHINA’S INDUSTRIAL CORRIDORS
Authors: XU Jian , ZHANG Mei , SHAO Long , KANG Jian
Published: March 2016

Based on 270 questionnaire surveys in 8 cities of 5 industrial corridors in China, this study aims to examine the effects of industry construction on the evaluation of environmental pollution, natural environment, built environment, personal perception and development and policy. The results show that the evaluations on environmental pollution and landscape design are both below the medium level, but the evaluations of the living comfort and safety are both above the medium level. Further analysis, females usually give lower evaluation scores than males, and age and health situations are negatively related to the evaluation results; People indicate a great desire to reduce the environmental pollution and protect the natural environment. Moreover, the landscape was analysed using colour extraction techniques based on video recording, there are significant correlations between industrial pixel ratio and evaluation results of air quality, vegetation pixel ratio and evaluation results of river water quality, and public facilities pixel ratio and evaluation results of comfort levels.
THE RESEARCH ON THE IMPACT ASSESSMENT OF VISUAL LANDSCAPE OF COUNTRY PARKS IN BEIJING
Authors: LIU Chuanan , QI Tong , MA Xiao
Published: March 2016

The attribute of a country park and its visual environment are not only influenced by the distance from the park to the downtown area, but also the degree of urbanization. Based on the landscape geography, landscape ecology, landscape aesthetics theories and the Guideline for Technical Review of Environmental Impact Assessment of Construction Projects (HJ 616-2011) and aiming to evaluate the visual quality of the country parks, we put forward three first-grade indicators (visual sensitive capacity, visual space capacity and visual absorption capacity) and seven second grade indicators (sighting distance, visual disturbance frequency, green looking ratio, inter-visibility, openness, relative angle and the relative area of artificial matrix) in our research. By virtue of the established entropy weight method model, combined with field data, the quantitative research of the visual environment of landscape in country parks was carried out so that the visual quality of the park can be improved. At same time, this can also provide a scientific basis for spatial planning of urban fringe area and repositioning of the park attribute.
La charge affective de la non-reconnaissance dans la dialectique hégélienne du maître et du serviteur
Authors: Demelemestre Gaëlle
Published: March 2016

À la relecture marxisante de la dialectique hégélienne du maître et du serviteur, qui y voit l’expression de la lutte des classes, a fait suite une volonté de certains commentateurs de revenir à la logique interne du développement de l’esprit manifestée par cette figureparabole. En la dépassionnant, ils en ont proposé une version purement analytique, détaillant les différents contenus de conscience ponctuant chacune des étapes de la dialectique. Une telle interprétation objectivante permet-elle cependant d’épuiser les enseignements livrés ici par Hegel ? Le lexique affectif très violent auquel recourt Hegel dans ce passage nous amène à en douter. Le présent article entend montrer ce que l’on gagne, dans la compréhension des processus de reconnaissance et de déni de reconnaissance, à reconsidérer la place que Hegel accorde aux affects dans ce moment de confrontation des deux consciences.
Le marxisme et les guerres du climat
Authors: Keucheyan Razmig
Published: March 2016

Cet article s’interroge sur le lien entre théories critiques et stratégie militaire. Après avoir examiné le rapport entre marxisme et stratégie militaire d’un point de vue historique, nous évoquerons les réflexions sur la violence en cours dans les pensées critiques actuelles. Nous verrons que rares sont celles qui prennent en considération la violence militaire comme modalité particulière de la violence collective. Ce constat est problématique, car une part importante de cette violence demeure aujourd’hui militaire. Nous aborderons ensuite un corps de doctrine militaire en plein essor à l’heure actuelle : l’écologie militaire. Celui-ci s’interroge sur les implications militaires du changement climatique. Il constitue de ce fait un point d’observation fécond pour appréhender les transformations de la violence collective dans les années à venir. Nous tâcherons de dégager quelques-uns des enjeux que soulève ce corps de doctrine du point de vue des théories critiques contemporaines.
Faire régner la discipline
Authors: Mengal Paul
Published: March 2016

La fonction-Psy occupe une place de plus en plus importante dans notre vie quotidienne. Cantonnée à l’origine dans le milieu scolaire et, un peu plus tard, dans celui de l’institution psychiatrique, elle tend aujourd’hui à se répandre dans le milieu de l’entreprise. Dans le même mouvement, la psychologie a rompu avec une tradition qui la liait aux sciences de la nature. Cette évolution se repère de la même façon dans l’histoire de l’économie. En particulier, la psychologie behavioriste, se présente aujourd’hui comme une technologie de contrôle du comportement permettant de satisfaire aux impératifs de la production mais aussi aux exigences de sécurité qui garantissent le bon fonctionnement de la vie économique. En ce sens, elle contribue à la réalisation de ce que G. Agamben appelle le « paradigme concentrationnaire ».
Paul Valéry : pour une logique organique du tracé
Authors: Zaccarello Benedetta
Published: March 2016

Le manuscrit valéryen excède le plan de la composition verbale et s’enrichit d’un tas de signes graphiques : croquis, sigles, tracés, diagrammes et schémas... Autant de logiques qui s’expriment simultanément sur le papier, comme elles se mélangent dans la vie de la conscience. Par cette figuration scripturale de la complexité de la pensée, Valéry poursuit la tentative qui est également à l’origine de sa propre démarche théorique : celle de trouver un langage (artificiel) pour aller au-delà du langage (courant), réceptacle trompeusement ambigu d’une prétendue rationalité discursive. Un tel déploiement babélique sert à Valéry à faire émerger l’interrelation profonde qui subsiste entre langage et image, entre successif et simultané. Débordant les limites du langage, mais s’exprimant de manière privilégiée dans le langage, l’esprit est en effet, chez Valéry, une capacité presque infinie de modulation des différents régimes de l’expression et de la représentation.
Des zigzags dans les Pensées de Pascal
Authors: Clément Bruno
Published: March 2016

Two zigzags, almost similar, but of different size and located in places that give each one a specific meaning, are put in perspective here on the one hand with the writing in progress, whose movement they seem to imitate, and on the other with the course of the thought and the sentence, supposed to be a more or less natural movement. Although apparently the topic of these few fragments, the Pascalian anthropology, rather than the first step of the theological enterprise, may be invoked and described as grounds for the thought of “true eloquence”.
Les vicissitudes de la protection européenne de la presse judiciaire
Authors: Hervieu Nicolas
Published: March 2016

Par un arrêt rendu le 22 mars 2016, la Cour européenne des droits de l’homme a poursuivi son inlassable œuvre prétorienne de définition des limites de la liberté d’expression. Mais comme souvent, les frontières ainsi dessinées manquent de netteté. Dans le prolongement d’une jurisprudence déjà conséquente quant à l’expression journalistique, la Cour a certes significativement consolidé la liberté d’expression de la presse judiciaire et le droit corrélatif de rendre librement compte du fonctionnement de la justice pénale. Et ce, en admettant de façon assez spectaculaire qu’un journaliste puisse dénoncer par voie de presse une possible erreur judiciaire en diffusant sans autorisation les enregistrements d’un procès. Mais en s’abstenant d’éclaircir nombre d’incertitudes, le raisonnement quelque peu hésitant, et parfois même brouillon, de la Cour affecte regrettablement la portée d’une solution qui aurait pu figurer en bonne place au sein du Panthéon jurisprudentiel européen.
Performance Analysis of an M/G/1 Feedback Retrial Queue with Two Types of Service and Bernoulli Vacation
Authors: D Arivudainambi , Mahalingam Gowsalya
Published: March 2016

This chapter is concerned with the analysis of a single server retrial queue with two types of service, Bernoulli vacation and feedback. The server provides two types of service i.e., type 1 service with probability??1 and type 2 service with probability ??2. We assume that the arriving customer who finds the server busy upon arrival leaves the service area and are queued in the orbit in accordance with an FCFS discipline and repeats its request for service after some random time. After completion of type 1 or type 2 service the unsatisfied customer can feedback and joins the tail of the retrial queue with probability f or else may depart from the system with probability 1–f. Further the server takes vacation under Bernoulli schedule mechanism, i.e., after each service completion the server takes a vacation with probability q or with probability p waits to serve the next customer. For this queueing model, the steady state distributions of the server state and the number of customers in the orbit are obtained using supplementary variable technique. Finally the average number of customers in the system and average number of customers in the orbit are also obtained.
A Stochastic Inventory Model with Multiple Vacations and N - Policy
Authors: Kathirvel Jeganathan
Published: March 2016

We consider a perishable inventory system under continuous review at a service facility in which a waiting area for customers is of finite size. We assume that the replenishment of inventory is instantaneous. The items of inventory have exponential life times. The service starts only when the customer level reaches a prefixed level, starting from the epoch at which no customer is left behind in the system. The arrivals of customers to the service station form a Poisson process. The server goes for a vacation of an exponentially distributed duration whenever the waiting area is zero. The service process is subject to interruptions, which occurs according to a Poisson process. The interrupted server is repaired at an exponential rate. Also the waiting customer independently reneges the system after an exponentially distributed amount of time. The joint probability distribution of the number of customers in the system and the inventory levels is obtained in steady state case. The results are illustrated with numerical examples.
Analysis of Some Stochastic Inventory System in Supply Chain
Authors: Rengarajan Bakthavachalam
Published: March 2016

In this chapter we consider a three echelon inventory control system which is modeled as a warehouse, single distribute and one retailer system handling a single product. A finished product is supplied from warehouse to distribution center which adopts one-for-one replenishment policy. The replenishment of items in terms of packets from warehouse to distribution center with exponential lead time having parameter µ1. Then the product is supplied from distribution center to retailer who adopts (s, S) policy. Supply to the retailer in packets of Q (= S - s) items is administrated with exponential lead time having parameter µ0. The demand at retailer node follows a Poisson with mean lambda. The steady state probability distribution of system states and the measures of system performance in the steady state are obtained explicitly. The Cost function is computed by using numerical searching algorithms, the optimal reorder points are obtained for various input parameters. Sensitivity analysis are discussed for various cost parameter such as holding cost, setup cost etc.
Substitutable Inventory System with Partial Backlogging under Continuous Review
Authors: Vigneshwaran B. , Anbazhagan N. , Perumal V.
Published: March 2016

Consider a two-commodity substitutable inventory system with storage capacity Si for commodity i, (i=1,2) under continuous review. The demand time points for each commodity are assumed to form independent Poisson processes. The two commodities are assumed to be substitutable. That is when any one of the commodity's inventory level reaches zero, then the demand for that commodity will be satisfied by the other commodity. If no substitute is available, then this demand is backlogged up to the level Ni, for commodity i, (i=1,2). The reordering policy is to place an order for both the commodities, when both inventory levels are less than or equal to their respective reorder levels. If the inventory level drops to N1 or N2, then both inventory levels are pulled back to their maximum levels S1 and S2 immediately and the previous order gets canceled. The lead time is assumed to follow negative exponential distribution. Various stationary measures of system performances have been derived and total expected cost rate is computed. Numerical examples are provided.
Tannakian Categories With Semigroup
Actions
Authors: Ovchinnikov Alexey , Wibmer Michael
Published: March 2016

A theorem of Ostrowski implies that log(x), log(x +1), … are algebraically independent over ℂ(x). More generally, for a linear differential or difference equation, it is an important problem to find all algebraic dependencies among a non-zero solution y and particular transformations of y, such as derivatives of y with respect to parameters, shifts of the arguments, rescaling, etc. In this paper, we develop a theory of Tannakian categories with semigroup actions, which will be used to attack such questions in full generality, as each linear differential equation gives rise to a Tannakian category. Deligne studied actions of braid groups on categories and obtained a ûnite collection of axioms that characterizes such actions to apply them to various geometric constructions. In this paper, we find a finite set of axioms that characterizes actions of semigroups that are ûnite free products of semigroups of the form on Tannakian categories. This is the class of semigroups that appear in many applications.
Northern Mediterranean climate since the Middle Pleistocene: a 637 ka stable isotope record from Lake Ohrid (Albania/Macedonia)
Authors: Lacey Jack H. , Leng Melanie J. , Francke Alexander , Sloane Hilary J. , Milodowski Antoni , Vogel Hendrik , Baumgarten Henrike , Zanchetta Giovanni , Wagner Bernd
Published: March 2016

Abstract. Lake Ohrid (Macedonia/Albania) is an ancient lake with unique biodiversity and a site of global significance for investigating the influence of climate, geological, and tectonic events on the generation of endemic populations. Here, we present oxygen (δ18O) and carbon (δ13C) isotope data from carbonate over the upper 243 m of a composite core profile recovered as part of the Scientific Collaboration on Past Speciation Conditions in Lake Ohrid (SCOPSCO) project. The investigated sediment succession covers the past ca. 637 ka. Previous studies on short cores from the lake (up to 15 m, < 140 ka) have indicated the total inorganic carbon (TIC) content of sediments to be highly sensitive to climate change over the last glacial–interglacial cycle. Sediments corresponding to warmer periods contain abundant endogenic calcite; however, an overall low TIC content in glacial sediments is punctuated by discrete bands of early diagenetic authigenic siderite. Isotope measurements on endogenic calcite (δ18Oc and δ13Cc) reveal variations both between and within interglacials that suggest the lake has been subject to palaeoenvironmental change on orbital and millennial timescales. We also measured isotope ratios from authigenic siderite (δ18Os and δ13Cs) and, with the oxygen isotope composition of calcite and siderite, reconstruct δ18O of lake water (δ18Olw) over the last 637 ka. Interglacials have higher δ18Olw values when compared to glacial periods most likely due to changes in evaporation, summer temperature, the proportion of winter precipitation (snowfall), and inflow from adjacent Lake Prespa. The isotope stratigraphy suggests Lake Ohrid experienced a period of general stability from marine isotope stage (MIS) 15 to MIS 13, highlighting MIS 14 as a particularly warm glacial. Climate conditions became progressively wetter during MIS 11 and MIS 9. Interglacial periods after MIS 9 are characterised by increasingly evaporated and drier conditions through MIS 7, MIS 5, and the Holocene. Our results provide new evidence for long-term climate change in the northern Mediterranean region, which will form the basis to better understand the influence of major environmental events on biological evolution within Lake Ohrid.
Benchmark levels for the consumptive water footprint of crop production for different environmental conditions: a case study for winter wheat in China
Authors: Zhuo La , Mekonnen Mesfin M. , Hoekstra Arjen Y.
Published: March 2016

Abstract. Meeting growing food demands while simultaneously shrinking the water footprint (WF) of agricultural production is one of the greatest societal challenges. Benchmarks for the WF of crop production can serve as a reference and be helpful in setting WF reduction targets. The consumptive WF of crops, the consumption of rainwater stored in the soil (green WF) and the consumption of irrigation water (blue WF) over the crop growing period, varies spatially and temporally depending on environmental factors like climate and soil. The study explores which environmental factors should be distinguished when determining benchmark levels for the consumptive WF of crops. Hereto we determine benchmark levels for the consumptive WF of winter wheat production in China for all separate years in the period 1961–2008, for rain-fed versus irrigated croplands, for wet versus dry years, for warm versus cold years, for four different soil classes and for two different climate zones. We simulate consumptive WFs of winter wheat production with the crop water productivity model AquaCrop at a 5 by 5 arc min resolution, accounting for water stress only. The results show that (i) benchmark levels determined for individual years for the country as a whole remain within a range of ±20 % around long-term mean levels over 1961–2008; (ii) the WF benchmarks for irrigated winter wheat are 8–10 % larger than those for rain-fed winter wheat; (iii) WF benchmarks for wet years are 1–3 % smaller than for dry years, (iv) WF benchmarks for warm years are 7–8 % smaller than for cold years, (v) WF benchmarks differ by about 10–12 % across different soil texture classes; and (vi) WF benchmarks for the humid zone are 26–31 % smaller than for the arid zone, which has relatively higher reference evapotranspiration in general and lower yields in rain-fed fields. We conclude that when determining benchmark levels for the consumptive WF of a crop, it is useful to primarily distinguish between different climate zones. If actual consumptive WFs of winter wheat throughout China were reduced to the benchmark levels set by the best 25 % of Chinese winter wheat production (1224 m3 t−1 for arid areas and 841 m3 t−1 for humid areas), the water saving in an average year would be 53 % of the current water consumption at winter wheat fields in China. The majority of the yield increase and associated improvement in water productivity can be achieved in southern China.
Pierre Menard the Sur-realist
Authors: Ungureanu Delia
Published: March 2016

Jorge Luis Borges openly rejected surrealism as “snobbish chitchat,” and most scholars have taken such statements of his at face value. Research into the surrealist magazines of the 1920s and 1930s, as well as Victoria Ocampo's papers at Harvard's Houghton Library, show just the opposite. This article uses archival and published sources to trace the literary network that brought Pierre Menard from the surrealists to the pages of Sur, in order to reveal Borges' intimate connection to the surrealists from whom he always sought to distance himself. This connection crystallizes in the ambiguous figure of the Comte de Lautréamont, apostle of plagiarism as artistic method, who himself was the subject of a graphological analysis by the real Dr. Pierre Menard, published in the surrealist magazine Minotaure in the very month that Borges published his seminal story in Sur.
Have the Health Care Professionals Needed Training Competencies to Educate Their Clients?
Authors: Saber Saman , Arbabisarjou Azizollah , Zare Massoud , Kianian Toktam
Published: March 2016

INTRODUCTION: Health care professional are the first and most important level of health care providers that their training competencies determines the health of society. This study aimed to determine the training competencies of health care professionals for training the clients.

MATERIALS & METHODS: This is a descriptive cross sectional study conducted in Mashhad’s health care centers in 2013 using probability stratified cluster sampling technique. A total of 250 heath care professionals in the departments of vaccination, mothers and children care, disease fighting, midwifery and environmental health participated in the study. The research instrument was a check list to observe the training performance of the health care professionals.  Its validity confirmed by the content validity. Its reliability  calculated through inter-rater agreement with a correlation coefficient (r=0.70).The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and analytical tests including Pearson correlation test, independent sample T-test, ANOVA, and Chi square.

RESULTS: The results showed that most health care professionals (66.4%) had the proper training competencies in client education.  Training competencies were dependent on individual characteristics such as marital status, work place, employment status, age, experience, and history of participation in different training health workshops. The results showed that the training competencies of 166 workers (66.4%) were at good and acceptable level (13.21±1.79). There was a significant difference between training competencies of the health care professionals and their individual characteristics such as marital status, work place, employment status, and the experience of participating in training workshops (p<0.05).

CONCLUSION: Based on the results, although the training competencies  of health care professionals  is an appropriate level, but with considering of this importance for training competencies in promotion of community health, it is necessitate to take actions to upgrade them to excellence level. Appropriate training performance is the most important strategy in preliminary health care. In the present study, the training competencies of the health care professionals and the factors influencing them were determined. Planning for promoting both training and assessment of the health care professionals apart from their general performances is vital.
The Impact of Science Teachers’ Beliefs on Teaching Science: The Case of Saudi Science Teachers
Authors: Alabdulkareem Saleh Abdullah
Published: March 2016

The researcher aims to investigate Saudi science teachers’ beliefs about learning and teaching issues. The sample consisted of 247 middle school teachers in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The study conducted in the academic school year 2014/2015, and utilized a questionnaire and an interview that included 10% of the sample. The questionnaire targeted the teachers’ conceptions of learning and teaching issues and examined whether these conceptions fit the transmission, or discovery, of constructivist approaches. The interview focused on “authentic scientific resources”, the limitations of the word “science”, and the possible conflict between science and Islamic resources. The goal of this study was to draw conclusions and pedagogical implications to contribute to a better understanding of science teachers’ beliefs. The results show a significant shift toward the discovery approach. However, teachers address science as an issue separate from historical and cultural aspects. Based on the findings of this study, the researcher suggests a number of pedagogical implications.
Of Course, We Already Knew This . . . Babies Need Words Every Day
Authors: McLain Matt
Published: March 2016

Shortly before the 2014 Annual Conference, the Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC) was invited to contribute to the Obama Administration’s Thirty-Million Word Gap initiative. The word “gap” relates to the vast difference in the number of words that children from different backgrounds hear before they enter school.
Comparative analysis of viral RNA signatures on different RIG-I-like receptors
Authors: Sanchez David Raul Y , Combredet Chantal , Sismeiro Odile , Dillies Marie-Agnès , Jagla Bernd , Coppée Jean-Yves , Mura Marie , Guerbois Galla Mathilde , Despres Philippe , Tangy Frédéric , Komarova Anastassia V
Published: March 2016

The RIG-I-like receptors (RLRs) play a major role in sensing RNA virus infection to initiate and modulate antiviral immunity. They interact with particular viral RNAs, most of them being still unknown. To decipher the viral RNA signature on RLRs during viral infection, we tagged RLRs (RIG-I, MDA5, LGP2) and applied tagged protein affinity purification followed by next-generation sequencing (NGS) of associated RNA molecules. Two viruses with negative- and positive-sense RNA genome were used: measles (MV) and chikungunya (CHIKV). NGS analysis revealed that distinct regions of MV genome were specifically recognized by distinct RLRs: RIG-I recognized defective interfering genomes, whereas MDA5 and LGP2 specifically bound MV nucleoprotein-coding region. During CHIKV infection, RIG-I associated specifically to the 3’ untranslated region of viral genome. This study provides the first comparative view of the viral RNA ligands for RIG-I, MDA5 and LGP2 in the presence of infection.
A molecular classification of human mesenchymal stromal cells
Authors: Rohart Florian , Mason Elizabeth A. , Matigian Nicholas , Mosbergen Rowland , Korn Othmar , Chen Tyrone , Butcher Suzanne , Patel Jatin , Atkinson Kerry , Khosrotehrani Kiarash , Fisk Nicholas M. , Lê Cao Kim-Anh , Wells Christine A.
Published: March 2016

Mesenchymal stromal cells (MSC) are widely used for the study of mesenchymal tissue repair, and increasingly adopted for cell therapy, despite the lack of consensus on the identity of these cells. In part this is due to the lack of specificity of MSC markers. Distinguishing MSC from other stromal cells such as fibroblasts is particularly difficult using standard analysis of surface proteins, and there is an urgent need for improved classification approaches. Transcriptome profiling is commonly used to describe and compare different cell types; however, efforts to identify specific markers of rare cellular subsets may be confounded by the small sample sizes of most studies. Consequently, it is difficult to derive reproducible, and therefore useful markers. We addressed the question of MSC classification with a large integrative analysis of many public MSC datasets. We derived a sparse classifier (The Rohart MSC test) that accurately distinguished MSC from non-MSC samples with >97% accuracy on an internal training set of 635 samples from 41 studies derived on 10 different microarray platforms. The classifier was validated on an external test set of 1,291 samples from 65 studies derived on 15 different platforms, with >95% accuracy. The genes that contribute to the MSC classifier formed a protein-interaction network that included known MSC markers. Further evidence of the relevance of this new MSC panel came from the high number of Mendelian disorders associated with mutations in more than 65% of the network. These result in mesenchymal defects, particularly impacting on skeletal growth and function. The Rohart MSC test is a simplein silicotest that accurately discriminates MSC from fibroblasts, other adult stem/progenitor cell types or differentiated stromal cells. It has been implemented in thewww.stemformatics.orgresource, to assist researchers wishing to benchmark their own MSC datasets or data from the public domain. The code is available from the CRAN repository and all data used to generate the MSC test is available to download via the Gene Expression Omnibus or the Stemformatics resource.
MetaboLights: An Open‐Access Database Repository for Metabolomics Data
Authors: Kale Namrata S. , Haug Kenneth , Conesa Pablo , Jayseelan Kalaivani , Moreno Pablo , Rocca‐Serra Philippe , Nainala Venkata Chandrasekhar , Spicer Rachel A. , Williams Mark , Li Xuefei , Salek Reza M. , Griffin Julian L. , Steinbeck Christoph
Published: March 2016

MetaboLights is the first general purpose, open‐access database repository for cross‐platform and cross‐species metabolomics research at the European Bioinformatics Institute (EMBL‐EBI). Based upon the open‐source ISA framework, MetaboLights provides Metabolomics Standard Initiative (MSI) compliant metadata and raw experimental data associated with metabolomics experiments. Users can upload their study datasets into the MetaboLights Repository. These studies are then automatically assigned a stable and unique identifier (e.g., MTBLS1) that can be used for publication reference. The MetaboLights Reference Layer associates metabolites with metabolomics studies in the archive and is extensively annotated with data fields such as structural and chemical information, NMR and MS spectra, target species, metabolic pathways, and reactions. The database is manually curated with no specific release schedules. MetaboLights is also recommended by journals for metabolomics data deposition. This unit provides a guide to using MetaboLights, downloading experimental data, and depositing metabolomics datasets using user‐friendly submission tools. © 2016 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Experimental systems for studying Plasmodium/HIV coinfection
Authors: Frischknecht Friedrich , Fackler Oliver T.
Published: March 2016

Coinfections with Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) and Plasmodium, the causative agents of AIDS and malaria, respectively, are frequent and their comorbidity especially in sub‐Saharan Africa is high. While clinical studies suggest an influence of the two pathogens on the outcome of the respective infections, experimental studies on the molecular and immunological impact of coinfections are rare. This reflects the limited availability of suitable model systems that reproduce key properties of both pathologies. Here, we discuss key aspects of coinfection with a focus on currently established experimental systems, their limitations for coinfection studies and potential strategies for their improvement.
Characteristics of field‐aligned currents associated with magnetic flux ropes in the magnetotail: A statistical study
Authors: Zhao Yan , Wang Rongsheng , Du Aimin
Published: March 2016

We present an investigation of 35 magnetic flux ropes encountered by Cluster in the Earth's magnetotail during the years between 2001 and 2004. The study shows that the parallel current dominates inside 86% of the identified flux ropes and 71% of the flux ropes are surrounded by the draping regions where the parallel current is comparable to the perpendicular component and steeply changes its direction. Namely, magnetic field is nearly force‐free in 86% of the identified flux ropes while it considerably deviates from the force‐free in the draping region. Therefore, the observations indicate that energy conversion should take place in the draping region. Moreover, the core fields for most the flux ropes come from the interplanetary magnetic field.