bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Missing mother: Migrant mothers, maternal surrogates, and the global economy of care
Authors: Tan Jean P.
Published: October 2012

A longitudinal perspective on motherhood that spans the experience of gestation, birthing, the care of young children, and the mother’s relation to her grown children makes way for a conception of the mother as essentially plural. It shall be argued in this paper that maternity is necessarily tied to surrogacy, that it is divided into a multiplicity of tasks inevitably parceled out to multiple agents. In this essay, the analysis of maternal surrogacy is focused on the phenomenon of mothering from a distance, a maternal practice engendered by the feminization and globalization of labor markets. By both affirming the value of maternal surrogates and questioning the limits of surrogacy, this analysis of motherhood challenges both the economic exploitation that engenders and sustains distant mothering and the gendered division of care labor that supports the global economy of care.
Contemporary independent film producing in the Philippines: The case of Ang Panggagahasa kay Fe (The Rapture of Fe)
Authors: Yapan Alvin B.
Published: October 2012

This article chronicles the material conditions of producing a film in the Philippine independent film scene which has experienced a marked resurgence at the turn of the century, and has been credited for having revived the ailing Filipino film industry. By way of case study, I use my own film Ang Panggagahasa kay Fe (international title: The Rapture of Fe), awarded the best feature-length digital film at the 33rd Cairo Film Festival in 2009. I co-produced, wrote and directed this film. I recount the different factors that helped shape the film, from scripting to film financing, and provide further evidence of the significance of the private sector, in infusing new money and in reviving the national Filipino film industry as a whole.
Outside in / inside out contemporary Philippine art: Observing, artists, artworks, scenes and markets
Authors: Fairley Gina
Published: October 2012

This paper explores the contemporary art landscape of the Philippines, mapping its multiplicity across local terrains and within definitions of regionality and the art market. It discusses the ruptures that have caused this landscape to shift intermittently, spawning new networks and value structures that are less defined by the frame of ‘nation-based identity’ favoured in the past, and instead locates difference within the experimentation, historiographies, and pace of this contemporary ‘art scene’. It highlights flashpoints and uses case studies across the last five years in particular to illustrate that Philippine artists, art scenes and art markets are highly reflective of cross-civilizational cultural flows, alert to global trends and of their own currency within regional markets. This paper does not seek to provide a comprehensive overview but rather draws a map of some potent changes and significant players in this contemporary landscape.
Do brands lack personality?
Authors: Romaniuk Jenni , Ehrenberg Andrew
Published: October 2012

This commentary is written in response to the paper ‘Brand Relationship and Personality Theory: Metaphor or Consumer Perceptual Reality?’ This paper raises two issues regarding brand personality: Do consumers see brands as having human traits, as per the ‘brand as human’ idea? Is there a consistent consumer vision of brands that provides a distinct ‘personality’ which distinguishes it from other brands, as per the idea of brand personality as a metaphor? Based on our own empirical evidence, we would answer ‘no’ to both of these questions. Despite the popularity of the personality concept, respondents rarely attribute personality-based traits to a brand (e.g. Charming or Helpful). Further there is little evidence of distinct brand personalities for competing brands. This leads us to question the value of brand personality to consumers when choosing brands, and therefore to marketers when designing brand strategy.
From commodity fetishism to commodity narcissism
Authors: Cluley Robert , Dunne Stephen
Published: October 2012

Marketing and consumer researchers have taken an increasing interest in the prevalence of and possibilities for enlightened consumerism. Contemporary studies show us, though, that ethically concerned consumers rarely act on their concerns – instead they act as if they were unenlightened about the negative effects of their consumption. The paper advances a theory for this contradiction that draws on Marx’s work on commodity fetishism and Freud’s analysis of sexual fetishism. In an attempt to reconcile the structural contexts of contemporary consumption with the psychic structures of the consuming subject proposed by each theorist, the paper concludes that narcissism, rather than fetishism, offers an explanation of this as if moment of contemporary consumption.
The salmonid myostatin gene family: a novel model for investigating mechanisms that influence duplicate gene fate
Authors: Lawson Casey B , Niino Takumu , Hermansen Russell A , Brok-Volchanskaya Vera , Jackson Melissa F , Garikipati Dilip K , Liberles David A , Rodgers Buel D
Published: October 2012

Background

Most fishes possess two paralogs for myostatin, a muscle growth inhibitor, while salmonids are presumed to have four: mstn1a, mstn1b, mstn2a and mstn2b, a pseudogene. The mechanisms responsible for preserving these duplicates as well as the depth of mstn2b nonfunctionalization within the family remain unknown. We therefore characterized several genomic clones in order to better define species and gene phylogenies.

Results

Gene organization and sequence conservation was particularly evident among paralog groupings and within salmonid subfamilies. All mstn2b sequences included in-frame stop codons, confirming its nonfunctionalization across taxa, although the indels and polymorphisms responsible often differed. For example, the specific indels within the Onchorhynchus tshawytscha and O. nerka genes were remarkably similar and differed equally from other mstn2b orthologs. A phylogenetic analysis weakly established a mstn2b clade including only these species, which coupled with a shared 51 base pair deletion might suggest a history involving hybridization or a shared phylogenetic history. Furthermore, mstn2 introns all lacked conserved splice site motifs, suggesting that the tissue-specific processing of mstn2a transcripts, but not those of mstn2b, is due to alternative cis regulation and is likely a common feature in salmonids. It also suggests that limited transcript processing may have contributed to mstn2b nonfunctionalization.

Conclusions

Previous studies revealed divergence within gene promoters while the current studies provide evidence for relaxed or positive selection in some coding sequence lineages. These results together suggest that the salmonid myostatin gene family is a novel resource for investigating mechanisms that regulate duplicate gene fate as paralog specific differences in gene expression, transcript processing and protein structure are all suggestive of active divergence.
Detection for gene-gene co-association via kernel canonical correlation analysis
Authors: Yuan Zhongshang , Gao Qingsong , He Yungang , Zhang Xiaoshuai , Li Fangyu , Zhao Jinghua , Xue Fuzhong
Published: October 2012

Background

Currently, most methods for detecting gene-gene interaction (GGI) in genomewide association studies (GWASs) are limited in their use of single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) as the unit of association. One way to address this drawback is to consider higher level units such as genes or regions in the analysis. Earlier we proposed a statistic based on canonical correlations (CCU) as a gene-based method for detecting gene-gene co-association. However, it can only capture linear relationship and not nonlinear correlation between genes. We therefore proposed a counterpart (KCCU) based on kernel canonical correlation analysis (KCCA).

Results

Through simulation the KCCU statistic was shown to be a valid test and more powerful than CCU statistic with respect to sample size and interaction odds ratio. Analysis of data from regions involving three genes on rheumatoid arthritis (RA) from Genetic Analysis Workshop 16 (GAW16) indicated that only KCCU statistic was able to identify interactions reported earlier.

Conclusions

KCCU statistic is a valid and powerful gene-based method for detecting gene-gene co-association.
Molecular mapping of QTLs for plant type and earliness traits in pigeonpea (Cajanus cajanL. Millsp.)
Authors: Kumawat Giriraj , Raje Ranjeet S , Bhutani Shefali , Pal Jitendra K , Mithra Amitha SVCR , Gaikwad Kishor , Sharma Tilak R , Singh Nagendra K
Published: October 2012

Background

Pigeonpea is an important grain legume of the semi-arid tropics and sub-tropical regions where it plays a crucial role in the food and nutritional security of the people. The average productivity of pigeonpea has remained very low and stagnant for over five decades due to lack of genomic information and intensive breeding efforts. Previous SSR-based linkage maps of pigeonpea used inter-specific crosses due to low inter-varietal polymorphism. Here our aim was to construct a high density intra-specific linkage map using genic-SNP markers for mapping of major quantitative trait loci (QTLs) for key agronomic traits, including plant height, number of primary and secondary branches, number of pods, days to flowering and days to maturity in pigeonpea.

Results

A population of 186 F2:3 lines derived from an intra-specific cross between inbred lines ‘Pusa Dwarf’ and ‘HDM04-1’ was used to construct a dense molecular linkage map of 296 genic SNP and SSR markers covering a total adjusted map length of 1520.22 cM for the 11 chromosomes of the pigeonpea genome. This is the first dense intra-specific linkage map of pigeonpea with the highest genome length coverage. Phenotypic data from the F2:3 families were used to identify thirteen QTLs for the six agronomic traits. The proportion of phenotypic variance explained by the individual QTLs ranged from 3.18% to 51.4%. Ten of these QTLs were clustered in just two genomic regions, indicating pleiotropic effects or close genetic linkage. In addition to the main effects, significant epistatic interaction effects were detected between the QTLs for number of pods per plant.

Conclusions

A large amount of information on transcript sequences, SSR markers and draft genome sequence is now available for pigeonpea. However, there is need to develop high density linkage maps and identify genes/QTLs for important agronomic traits for practical breeding applications. This is the first report on identification of QTLs for plant type and maturity traits in pigeonpea. The QTLs identified in this study provide a strong foundation for further validation and fine mapping for utilization in the pigeonpea improvement.
Effect of maternal excessive iodine intake on neurodevelopment and cognitive function in rat offspring
Authors: Zhang Le , Teng Weiping , Liu Yuhui , Li Jing , Mao Jinyuan , Fan Chenling , Wang Hong , Zhang Hongmei , Shan Zhongyan
Published: October 2012

Background

Iodine deficiency and iodine excess are both associated with adverse health consequences. Iodine deficiency during pregnancy leads to insufficient maternal thyroid hormone, subsequently causing irreversible adverse effects on the neurological and cognitive functions of the offspring. The results of our previous epidemiological study suggested that mild iodine excess might increase the prevalence of subclinical hypothyroidism. In the present study, female Wistar rats maintained on low-iodine grain were randomly assigned to three groups based on iodated water concentration: low iodine (LI, 1.2 μg/d), normal iodine (NI, 5–6 μg/d), and 3-fold high iodine (3HI, 15–16 μg/d). The present study investigated whether higher-than-normal iodine intake (3HI) by rats from before pregnancy until breastfeeding affects the postnatal (PN) neurodevelopment (PN7 and PN45) of their offspring during particularly sensitive periods in brain development.

Results

After 12 weeks of treatment (before pregnancy), iodine concentrations in urine and thyroid tissue and circulating thyroxine of adult females correlated with iodine intake. Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) expression in the hippocampi of pups on PN7 and PN45 was decreased in 3HI group compared to the NI controls (P < 0.05, all) On PN7 and PN45, the BDNF levels of the 3HI pups were 83.5% and 88.8%, respectively, that of the NI pups. In addition, the 3HI group had a higher neuroendocrine-specific protein A (NSP-A) level than the NI controls on PN7 (P < 0.05). NSP-A levels of the 3HI pups were 117.0% that of the NI pups. No significant difference was observed in the expressions of c-Fos or c-Jun in the hippocampal CA1 region of the 3HI group compared to the controls (P > 0.05). Results from the Morris water maze test revealed that pups of the 3HI group had mild learning and spatial memory deficits.

Conclusions

The neurodevelopmental and cognitive deficits of the 3HI pups were mild and temporary, likely related to the changes in hippocampal protein expressions of BDNF and NSP-A.
Template-free fabrication of silicon micropillar/nanowire composite structure by one-step etching
Authors: Bai Fan , Li Meicheng , Huang Rui , Song Dandan , Jiang Bing , Li Yingfeng
Published: October 2012

A template-free fabrication method for silicon nanostructures, such as silicon micropillar (MP)/nanowire (NW) composite structure is presented. Utilizing an improved metal-assisted electroless etching (MAEE) of silicon in KMnO4/AgNO3/HF solution and silicon composite nanostructure of the long MPs erected in the short NWs arrays were generated on the silicon substrate. The morphology evolution of the MP/NW composite nanostructure and the role of self-growing K2SiF6 particles as the templates during the MAEE process were investigated in detail. Meanwhile, a fabrication mechanism based on the etching of silver nanoparticles (catalyzed) and the masking of K2SiF6 particles is proposed, which gives guidance for fabricating different silicon nanostructures, such as NW and MP arrays. This one-step method provides a simple and cost-effective way to fabricate silicon nanostructures.
Resistive switching of Au/ZnO/Au resistive memory: an in situ observation of conductive bridge formation
Authors: Peng Chung-Nan , Wang Chun-Wen , Chan Tsung-Cheng , Chang Wen-Yuan , Wang Yi-Chung , Tsai Hung-Wei , Wu Wen-Wei , Chen Lih-Juann , Chueh Yu-Lun
Published: October 2012

A special chip for direct and real-time observation of resistive changes, including set and reset processes based on Au/ZnO/Au system inside a transmission electron microscope (TEM), was designed. A clear conducting bridge associated with the migration of Au nanoparticles (NPs) inside a defective ZnO film from anode to cathode could be clearly observed by taking a series of TEM images, enabling a dynamic observation of switching behaviors. A discontinuous region (broken region) nearby the cathode after reset process was observed, which limits the flow of current, thus a high resistance state, while it will be reconnected to switch the device from high to low resistance states through the migration of Au NPs after set process. Interestingly, the formed morphology of the conducting bridge, which is different from the typical formation of a conducting bridge, was observed. The difference can be attributed to the different diffusivities of cations transported inside the dielectric layer, thereby significantly influencing the morphology of the conducting path. The current TEM technique is quite unique and informative, which can be used to elucidate the dynamic processes in other devices in the future.
Efficacy of moxibustion for pre- or stage I hypertension: study protocol for a pilot randomized controlled trial
Authors: Shin Kyung-Min , Park Ji-Eun , Liu Yan , Jung Hee-Jung , Jung So-Young , Lee Min-Hee , Kang Kyung-Won , Yook Tae-Han , Choi Sun-Mi
Published: October 2012

Background

Hypertension is a risk factor for cardiovascular disease, and the prevalence of hypertension tends to increase with age. Current treatments for hypertension have adverse side effects and poor adherence. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effects of moxibustion on blood pressure in individuals with pre- or stage I hypertension.

Methods/design

Forty-five subjects with pre- or stage I hypertension will be randomized into three groups: treatment group A (2 times/week), treatment group B (3 times/week), and the control group (non-treated group). The inclusion criteria will be as follows: (1) aged between 19 and 65 years; (2) prehypertension or stage I hypertension (JNC 7, Seventh Report of the Joint National Committee on the Prevention, Detection, Evaluation, and Treatment of High Blood Pressure); (3) the participants are volunteers and written consent obtained.

The participants in the treatment group A will undergo indirect moxibustion 2 times per week for 4 weeks, and the participants in the treatment group B will undergo indirect moxibustion 3 times per week for 4 weeks. The participants in the control group (non-treated group) will maintain their current lifestyle, including diet and exercise. The use of antihypertensive medication is not permitted. The primary endpoint will be a change in patient blood pressure. The secondary endpoints will be the body mass index, lipid profile, EuroQol and Heart Rate Variability. The data will be analyzed with the Student’s t-test and analysis of variance (ANOVA) (p < 0.05).

Discussion

The results of this study will help to establish the optimal approach for the care of adults with pre- or stage I hypertension.

Trial registration

Clinical Research Information Service KCT0000469
Association of COMT Val158Met polymorphism and breast cancer risk: an updated meta-analysis
Authors: Qin Xue , Peng Qiliu , Qin Aiping , Chen Zhiping , Lin Liwen , Deng Yan , Xie Li , Xu Juanjuan , Li Haiwei , Li Taijie , Li Shan , Zhao Jinmin
Published: October 2012

Background

Catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) is one of the most important enzymes involved in estrogen metabolism and its functional genetic polymorphisms may be associated with breast cancer (BC) risk. Many epidemiological studies have been conducted to explore the association between the COMT Val158Met polymorphism and breast cancer risk. However, the results remain inconclusive. In order to derive a more precise estimation of this relationship, a large meta-analysis was performed in this study.

Methods

Systematic searches of the PubMed, Embase and Cochrane Library were performed. Crude odds ratios (ORs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated to estimate the strength of the association.

Results

A total of 56 studies including 34,358 breast cancer cases and 45,429 controls were included. Overall, no significant associations between the COMT Val158Met polymorphism and breast cancer risk were found for LL versus HH, HL versus HH, LL versus HL, recessive model LL versus HL+HH, and dominant model LL+HL versus HH. In subgroup analysis by ethnicity, source of controls, and menopausal status, there was still no significant association detected in any of the genetic models.

Conclusion

Our meta-analysis results suggest that the COMT Val158Met polymorphism may not contribute to breast cancer susceptibility.

Virtual slides

The virtual slides(s) for this article can be found here:http://www.diagnosticpathology.diagnomx.eu/vs4806123577708417
Histiocytic necrotizing lymphadenitis (Kikuchi-Fujimoto disease) after laparoscopic Roux-en-Y gastric bypass for morbid obesity: a case report
Authors: Garcia-Arnes Juan , Bernal-Lopez M Rosa , Gallego-Perales Jose Luis , Vazquez-Camuñas M Luz , Gomez-Huelgas Ricardo
Published: October 2012

Introduction

Kikuchi-Fujimoto disease, or histiocytic necrotizing lymphadenitis, is a rare, benign, autoimmune condition characterized by lymphadenopathy, fever and neutropenia. It is a self-limited condition of unknown etiology.

Case presentation

We report the case of a 45-year-old Caucasian man with the first known case of Kikuchi disease associated with dramatic weight loss after bariatric surgery.

Conclusion

Although the association between Kikuchi disease and bariatric surgery may be entirely coincidental, we speculate whether the immune dysfunction associated with weight loss may have played an etiologic role in this process.
Comparison of hypertonic saline versus normal saline on cytokine profile during CABG
Authors: Mazandarani Mahnaz , Yousefshahi Fardin , Abdollahi Mohammad , Hamishehkar Hadi , Barkhordari Khosro , Boroomand Mohammad Ali , Jalali Arash , Ahmadi Arezoo , Moharari Reza Shariat , Bashirzadeh Mona , Mojtahedzadeh Mojtaba
Published: October 2012

Background and the purpose of the study

Blood contact with artificial surfaces of the extracorporeal circuit and ischemia-reperfusion injury in CABG with CPB, may lead to a systemic inflammatory response. Hypertonic saline have been recently investigated as a fluid in order to decrease inflammatory response and cytokines generation in patients undergo cardiac operations. Our purpose is to study the prophylactic effect of HS 5% infusion versus NS on serum IL-6 as an inflammatory & IL-10 as an anti-inflammatory biomarker in CABG patients.

Methods

The present study is a randomized double-blinded clinical trial. 40 patients undergoing CABG were randomized to receive HS 5% or NS before operation. Blood samples were obtained after receiving HS or NS, just before operation, 24 and 48 hours post-operatively. Plasma levels of IL-6 and IL-10 were measured by ELISA.

Results and major conclusion

Patients received HS had lower levels of IL-6 and higher level of IL-10 compared with NS group, however these differences were not statistically significant. Results of this study suggest that pre-treatment with small volume hypertonic saline 5% may have beneficial effects on inflammatory response following CABG operation.
Prevalence and risk factors for VRE colonisation in a tertiary hospital in Melbourne, Australia: a cross sectional study
Authors: Karki Surendra , Houston Leanne , Land Gillian , Bass Pauline , Kehoe Rosaleen , Borrell Sue , Watson Kerrie , Spelman Denis , Kennon Jacqueline , Harrington Glenys , Cheng Allen C
Published: October 2012

Background

Vancomycin-resistantEnterococcus(VRE) has been established as a significant health-care associated problem since its first isolation in Australia in 1994. In this study, we measured the point prevalence and identified risk factors associated withvanBVRE colonisation in a tertiary care hospital in Melbourne, Australia where VRE has been endemic for 15 years.

Methods

A hospital-wide point prevalence survey was conducted on October 13, 2008 with colonisation detected using rectal swab culture. Patient’s demographic and medical information was collected through a review of medical records. Factors associated with VRE colonisation in univariate analysis were included in multivariate logistic regression model to adjust for confounding.

Results

The prevalence of VRE colonisation on the day of screening was 17.5% (95% CI, 13.7 to 21.9). VRE was detected from patients in each ward with the prevalence ranging from 3% to 29%. Univariate analysis showed the use of any antibiotic, meropenem, ciprofloxacin, diarrhoea and longer length of hospital stay were associated with increased risk of VRE colonisation (p<0.05). However, age, sex, proximity to VRE positive cases, use of other antibiotics including cephalosporins, vancomycin were not associated with increased risk (P>0.05). Multivariate analysis showed the exposure to meropenem (p=0.004), age (≥65 years) (p=0.036) and length of stay ≥7 days (p<0.001) as independent predictors of VRE colonisation.

Conclusion

Our study suggests that exposure to antibiotics may have been more important than recent cross transmission for a high prevalence ofvanBVRE colonisation at our hospital.
Quantitative conductivity and permittivity estimation using full-waveform inversion of on-ground GPR data
Authors: Busch Sebastian , van der Kruk Jan , Bikowski Jutta , Vereecken Harry
Published: October 2012

Conventional ray-based techniques for analyzing common-midpoint (CMP) ground-penetrating radar (GPR) data use part of the measured data and simplified approximations of the reality to return qualitative results with limited spatial resolution. Whereas these methods can give reliable values for the permittivity of the subsurface by employing only the phase information, the far-field approximations used to estimate the conductivity of the ground are not valid for near-surface on-ground GPR, such that the estimated conductivity values are not representative for the area of investigation. Full-waveform inversion overcomes these limitations by using an accurate forward modeling and inverts significant parts of the measured data to return reliable quantitative estimates of permittivity and conductivity. Here, we developed a full-waveform inversion scheme that uses a 3D frequency-domain solution of Maxwell’s equations for a horizontally layered subsurface. Although a straightforward full-waveform inversion is relatively independent of the permittivity starting model, inaccuracies in the conductivity starting model result in erroneous effective wavelet amplitudes and therefore in erroneous inversion results, because the conductivity and wavelet amplitudes are coupled. Therefore, the permittivity and conductivity are updated together with the phase and the amplitude of the source wavelet with a gradient-free optimization approach. This novel full-waveform inversion is applied to synthetic and measured CMP data. In the case of synthetic single layered and waveguide data, where the starting model differs significantly from the true model parameter, we were able to reconstruct the obtained model properties and the effective source wavelet. For measured waveguide data, different starting values returned the same wavelet and quantitative permittivities and conductivities. This novel approach enables the quantitative estimation of permittivity and conductivity for the same sensing volume and enables an improved characterization for a wide range of applications.
Fleet Renewal with Electric Vehicles at La Poste
Authors: Kleindorfer Paul R. , Neboian Andrei , Roset Alain , Spinler Stefan
Published: October 2012

We provide a decision model for La Poste, the French national postal operator, to address its adoption of electric vehicles (EVs) for mail and parcel distribution. Two competing technologies are available—internal combustion vehicles (ICVs) and EVs. We consider uncertainty about future fuel price and future EV battery costs. Within this framework, we derive the optimal timing of EV adoption and sensitivities to key model parameters. We evaluate the total cost of fleet renewal over a 15-year horizon and the value of flexibility stemming from technology and timing options. This allows us to formulate an optimal strategy for EV adoption for La Poste and to support negotiations with major stakeholders, including energy companies and EV manufacturers.
Product Line Design and Scheduling at Intel
Authors: Rash Evan , Kempf Karl
Published: October 2012

We develop a holistic and coherent model for the product line design and scheduling problem. Our model incorporates market requirements and financials, design-engineering capabilities, manufacturing costs, and multiple-time dynamics. The solution integrates techniques and concepts from optimal set-covering, resource-constrained job scheduling, dynamic programming, and portfolio optimization to maximize overall profit. The key concept is the decomposition of the problem into two layers. The outer genetic algorithm layer handles resource constraints, scheduling, and financial optimization. The inner mathematical programming layer optimizes product composition as classical set covering. The resulting algorithm efficiently solves problems of larger size and higher complexity than previously possible. Over 250 personnel representing most major Intel groups and many distinct job functions are using the decision support suite (DSS) surrounding the algorithm 21 months after its initial deployment. This DSS serves to integrate a set of previously separate noncommunicating business processes.
To Show or Not Show: Using User Profiling to Manage Internet Advertisement Campaigns at Chitika
Authors: Mookerjee Radha , Kumar Subodha , Mookerjee Vijay S.
Published: October 2012

We study the problem of an Internet advertising firm that wishes to maximize advertisement (ad) revenue, subject to click-through rate restrictions imposed by the publisher who controls the website on which the ads are displayed. The problem is directly motivated by Chitika, an Internet advertising firm that operates in the Boston area. Chitika contracts with publishers to place relevant ads over a specified period, usually one month, on publisher websites. We develop a predictive model of a visitor clicking on a given ad. Using this prediction of the probability of a click, we develop a decision model that uses a varying threshold to decide whether or not to show an ad to the visitor. We vary the threshold depending on (1) the cumulative number of times an ad has been shown and (2) the cumulative number of clicks on the ad. The decision model's objective is to maximize the advertising firm's revenue subject to a click-through rate constraint. The implemented models work in real time in Chitika's advertising network. We also discuss the implementation challenges and business impact.
Ford Motor Company Implements Integrated Planning and Scheduling in a Complex Automotive Manufacturing Environment
Authors: Barlatt Ada Y. , Cohn Amy , Gusikhin Oleg , Fradkin Yakov , Davidson Rich , Batey John
Published: October 2012

Ford Motor Company has designed, developed, and implemented a collective system of decision support tools, supply chain visualization methods, and optimization techniques to aid its planning and scheduling in a complex automotive manufacturing environment. Although originally developed particularly for stamping plants, the system can also be applied in other manufacturing environments where setup times play a dominant role. By enabling substantial improvements in workplace planning and production scheduling, the implementation of this system has resulted in significant reductions in premium freight charges, overtime wages, and inventory costs.
Designing Guest Flow and Operations Logistics for the Dolphin Tales
Authors: Lee Eva K. , Chen Chien-Hung , Brown Niquelle , Handy Joseph , Desiderio Alex , Lopez Ruth , Davis Brian
Published: October 2012

To prepare for its new Dolphin Tales exhibit, Georgia Aquarium partnered with Georgia Institute of Technology to design the exhibit's guest movement with the goal of enhancing the guest experience while limiting congestion. The result was the development and application of the RealOpt-ABM© simulation decision support system for complex modeling and optimization.

This work advanced the knowledge frontier in analytical methods in three ways. First, we developed a powerful heuristic algorithm for finding good feasible solutions for intractable nonlinear mixed-integer program resource allocation instances. Second, we integrated simulation and optimization technology into a unified software framework for realistic modeling of large-scale applications with human cognitive and behavioral elements; the software assists in optimizing overall operational dynamics. Third, we developed software for automatically interpreting computer-rendered drawings of processes and tasks into system process maps for simulation and optimization; as advanced visualization becomes more common, automatic translation from mouse clicks and keystrokes to an analytic workflow model serves as an important facilitator in human-computer interfaces.

The system provided recommendations that were implemented for strategic and operational planning of the exhibit. These recommendations resulted in reduced congestion, enhanced guest experience, lower operating costs, improved wellness of the dolphins, and better performance in operational logistics, efficiency, and show schedules. The total dollar value of improvements from using the decision support system in reducing the number of shows by one show per week was estimated to be at least $1.5 million per year.
Introduction: 2011 Daniel H. Wagner Prize for Excellence in Operations Research Practice
Authors: Butler C. Allen , Robinson Randall S.
Published: October 2012

Competition for the 2011 Daniel H. Wagner Prize for Excellence in Operations Research Practice provided the six finalist papers featured in this special issue of Interfaces. The prestigious Wagner Prize, awarded for achievement in implemented operations research and advanced analytics, emphasizes quality and originality of mathematical models along with clarity of written and oral exposition. Operations research professionals from Intel Corporation won the competition with uniquely comprehensive models to support product planning—determining what products to offer and what features each should have—over a multistage planning period; recently their models were in use by over 250 Intel personnel from most major Intel groups, and were integrating many previously separate business processes. The challenge in a public school system of creating schedules for experimental schools that offer highly individualized instruction provided the setting when the New York City Department of Education called upon a research team from Analytics Operations Engineering, Inc.; new methods developed enabled administrators to better satisfy student needs, while reducing the time devoted to scheduling at a school from roughly eight weeks to roughly two weeks. A team from the University of Texas and Texas A&M University invented methods to help Internet advertising firm Chitika make its ads more effective; implementation increased Chitika's revenues while helping Chitika sign up more site publishers to run its ads. La Poste, the French national postal service, working with a team from INSEAD and from the WHU–Otto Beisheim School of Management, derived a preferred strategy for adopting electric delivery vehicles over time; the team's analysis assisted La Poste in its vehicle acquisition planning and also in related negotiations with energy companies and electric vehicle manufacturers. A team from the University of Waterloo and the University of Michigan collaborated with Ford Motor Company to develop analytical methods for planning and scheduling in especially complex manufacturing situations, such as in stamping plants, where setup times are important; Ford's utilization of these methods has produced significant benefits, including reductions in inventory costs, freight charges, and overtime wages. To help plan a major new exhibit, the Georgia Aquarium teamed with researchers from the Georgia Institute of Technology; recommendations based on the researchers' original analytical methods resulted in a better-than-anticipated exhibit design characterized by improved overall experience for guests, lower operating costs, enhanced treatment of the dolphins, and improvements in operations and show scheduling.
‘ Everyone in the Room has a Connection to the Story’: Fairytale adaptations in devised theatre
Authors: Lilley Heather
Published: October 2012

Adapting well-known source texts for live performance lies at the heart of much devised theatre practice and fairytales have proved a rich source of inspiration in this field. This article argues that the fairytale genre, with its myriad of shared cultural symbols and vivid personal
resonances lends itself particularly well to devised performance intended to be popular, accessible and celebratory, whilst also facilitating exploration of thought provoking social themes and cultural memories. Drawing on Jauss’ theories of reception and on studies of literary fairytales,
this article examines Kneehigh Theatre’s version of ‘Little Red Riding Hood’ and Cartoon de Salvo’s production of ‘The Ratcatcher of Hamelin’ to show how the subject matter that these companies have frequently chosen to adapt draws the audience into the
event through the sense of a shared ‘horizon of experience’. In these devised adaptations both companies actively enhance the shared cultural memories surrounding their material; their oetics of performance and the intertextual richness of fairytales allows them to affect the aesthetics
of reception and to encourage an experience of theatre as social collaboration between performers and spectators. Analysis of these productions also reveals how these companies use adaptations of popular stories to question aspects of contemporary society – specifically issues surrounding
the tensions between individuality and social cohesion and the communal good versus capitalist gains – by bringing the audience’s expectations of the story into play for comparison. This article suggests that adapting well-known stories has been paramount to Kneehigh Theatre and
Cartoon De Salvo’s development of their performance style and has contributed to each company’s success in forming a strong sense of connection with their audiences.
Hypertextual adaptation: Humanistic enquiry through transfocalization in Stoppard’s Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead
Authors: Park-Finch Heebon
Published: October 2012

This article considers Tom Stoppard’s use of hypertextual adaptation and appropriation in Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead (1967) from the perspective of the change in the narrative focus (transfocalization) of the source. The analysis argues that critical commentaries to
date have concentrated overmuch on the hypotext (Shakespeare’s Hamlet) without realizing the significance of Stoppard’s transfocalizing hypertext and its engagement with the identity of previously marginalized characters. In reappraising the decentralized target text, this article
examines the ways in which Stoppard offers an alternative reading, as he adapts the source text and in the process performs the role of the writer as an intellectual, lending a voice to the previously absent, silenced, textually disregarded or unvoiced needs of the oppressed. It is argued
here that transfocalization, along with complex interweaving of texts and ideas, provides the playwright with added opportunity for creative reworking of the crucial themes in Shakespeare’s original, resulting in broadly humanistic and existential commentary on the nature of human life
and its quest for meaningfulness.
Come: An investigation of the female gaze
Authors: Dokka Ingrid Kristin
Published: October 2012

What is it about Come that makes it feel refreshing – both artistically and storywise? My hypothesis is that the female main character is given a male gaze and this gives her more power and acting space in the film story than is usually the case for female roles in classical
narrative cinema.
The cartoon logic in Mitko Panov's With Raised Hands
Authors: Kerner Aaron
Published: October 2012

The narrative of With Raised Hands is not governed according to the principles of verisimilitude, which is the presumed default mode of most Holocaust films. Rather, this film follows a narrative logic that is more akin to cartoon narratives. The 'Holocaust comedies' of the 1990s
operate in a similar fashion.
But a hair's breadth away: The unconscious and the uncanny in Kitchen Sink
Authors: Rickards Meg
Published: October 2012

Charting the evolution of hair imagery in Kitchen Sink, this article sees hair as impinging – like the unconscious made manifest – on the protagonist's domicile. Hair evokes in turn mystery, fecundity, carnality and nightmare, twisting the familiar and instigating
the uncanny in the original sense of Freud's term Das Unheimliche.
Mystery envelope: Kitchen Sink as Female Gothic
Authors: Martin Adrian
Published: October 2012

Kitchen Sink is a highpoint of Female Gothic exploration in contemporary world cinema. In this genre female characters face, within dreamlike situations, archetypal male figures who prompt fear and desire. Like other films by prominent New Zealand women directors, Kitchen
Sink boldly experiments with horror–mystery–thriller conventions in a feminist context.
Silent ritual: Marcell Iványiás Wind
Authors: Barton Ruth
Published: October 2012

In this article, I propose a reading of Wind as the performance of a ritual. The three women and the peasants all stand motionless as if fixed in a preordained system while the 360 degree camera movement reinforces the circularity of ritual enactment. When the ritual is complete, the
women leave.
Ethereal impressions In Chambers: The crystal image as semiotic key
Authors: Holtmeier Matthew
Published: October 2012

In Chambers imagines a science-fictional experience for comatose patients. Working as a puzzle, this film does not reveal the reality of the comatose patients until the conclusion. By unlocking the coma experience through a crystal image, In Chambers revises the potential of the crystal
image not only to collate past and present, but to articulate a concept as well.
In Chambers: Dark visual pleasure
Authors: Solum Ove
Published: October 2012

A literal translation of this film's Norwegian title is 'Behind Closed Doors', which connotes that the persons we meet are institutionalized. This article will concentrate on intertextuality and on ways in which the film manages to create a nightmare-like, claustrophobic mood that at
the same time is somehow pleasurable.
Lost in limbo: On multiple levels of reality in cinema
Authors: Fikse Per , Johnsen Thor-Eirik
Published: October 2012

In Chambers describes being in a coma as a purgatory-like, surrealistic nightmare. This article examines the universe created in the film, places its use of a virtual parallel reality in a film historical context, and claims that the action it represents in the coma state was not only
a dream.
Multiple living, one world?: On the chronotope in Alan Moore and Gene Ha's Top 10
Authors: Cortsen Rikke Platz
Published: October 2012

This article examines how the fictional world complex of Neopolis and its co-worlds are constructed in the America's Best Comics Top 10 (1991–2005) written by Alan Moore and drawn by Gene Ha and Zander Cannon. Using Mikhail Bakhtin's concept of the chronotope to open up
the narrative, the analysis is interested in the interdependency between time and space and how reality and fiction are intertwined in Top 10. The chronotope is the time–space construction that is measured out by the actions, speech and movement of the characters in the individual
storylines, and this article will show how the combination of police series and superhero narrative allows for a multiplicity of chonotopes that, put together, help construct a very complicated structure of lived time and space. Combining a formal analysis of page layout and panel composition
with an overall view of the series' myriad of characters and stories, this article maps out the many ways in which linear time and consistent space are circumvented. The concept of fiction as understood by Paul Ricoeur is employed to explain the way fiction, fictional world and reality are
linked together and how they influence each other in this comic-book series.
Neil Gaiman: A portrait of the artist as a disciple of Alan Moore
Authors: Camus Cyril
Published: October 2012

Taking into account the fact that Alan Moore was the person who actually taught Neil Gaiman how to format a comics-script, and that reading Moore's Swamp Thing (1983–1987) notoriously rekindled Gaiman's interest in comics in his adulthood, this article studies and
surveys the connections between Moore's fiction and Gaiman's. At first, it particularly focuses on their shared interest in the kind of integrative fiction pioneered in the 1970s by Philip Jose Farmer through his 'Wold Newton Universe' (initiated in the novel Tarzan Alive in 1972),
and which is a narrative practice at the core of Gaiman's Sandman (1988–1996), 'A Study in Emerald' (2003) and others, and of Moore's Lost Girls (1991– 2006) and The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (started in 1999). It also tries to appraise the place of
Gaiman's work on Miracleman (1990–1992) following up Moore's seminal run (1982–1989), in the rich history of Gaiman's love affair with mythology. And it ends up exploring the direct intertextual links between Gaiman's Black Orchid (1988–1989) and Moore's Swamp
Thing, and between Gaiman's Whatever Happened to the Caped Crusader? (2009) and Moore's Whatever Happened to the Man of
Tomorrow? (1986).
V versus Hollywood: A discourse on polemic thievery
Authors: Shadrack Jasmine
Published: October 2012

Given that textual narrative can be infinite and the filmic framework finite, a space is created between the source material and its possible reappropriation, where a choice is made. Do the film executives decide to be true to the original (where the auteur's true meaning possibly
rests) or do they bow to fiscal policy and sociopolitically risk-free cinema? The adaptation of Alan Moore's V for Vendetta from the original source and how this process evolves through film as a cultural, political and diasporic text is examined, with particular focus on the differing
geographic and cultural ideologies that underpin the graphic novel and the filmic representation. This article posits a celebration of the beauty, visceral power and freedom of the graphic novel set against the power and homogeneity of the Hollywood film industry. It is possible to say that
graphic novels do not exist as Hollywood's occasional goldmine, but in fact exist as a site of narrative and visual freedom, in and of themselves. The audience or subject position of experiencing the 'altered' version of literature, from all its various forms and sources, can be seen to create
a spoon-fed pre-existent narrative usage via Hollywoodized culture that somehow manages, in this instance, to defuse political vibrancy and vitality and potentially reformat the narrative as mainstream popular culture … or does it?
A hammer to shape reality: Alan Moore's graphic novels and the avant-gardes
Authors: Romero-Jódar Andrés
Published: October 2012

Alan Moore's graphic novels have marked essential standpoints in the history of narrative iconical genres. Works like Watchmen or V for Vendetta helped reorient the 1980s Anglo-American comic book into the graphic novels of the 1990s by pushing the boundaries of the comic-book
genre into the realm of postmodernity. Moore's graphic novels depict characters that are suffocated by the grand narratives of capitalist societies, Orwellian dystopias and totalizing ideologies. In this vein, his works may be placed in the context of postmodernist thinking postulated by Jean-François
Lyotard, Jean Baudrillard or Fredric Jameson. However, the rebellious attitude shown in his narratives against those globalizing definitions of the self and homogenizing social orders strongly recalls the efforts of the early twentieth-century avant-gardes to provoke their bourgeois audiences
into action by fostering their radical distaste. The aim of this article is to consider certain examples of Alan Moore's graphic novels as direct inheritors of the committed ideology and technical experimentalism proposed by avant-garde movements at the beginning of the twentieth century.
As Brecht famously argued, 'art is not a mirror to reflect the world, but a hammer with which to shape it'. This article will thus centre on Moore's works that best reflect the same experimental spirit of revolutionary art forms fostered by Cubism, Modernism, Futurism and other European avant-garde
movements. These movements, by using the power of artistic creation, called audiences to social action against the rising fascist discourses of the first decades of the twentieth century. It is my contention that graphic novels like Lost Girls, Watchmen, From Hell and V for Vendetta
connect with the recovery of avant-garde ethics and aesthetics, and seem to renew their attacks against the moral double standard of bourgeois, accommodated social classes. Then, Moore's graphic novels raise public awareness and serve as social denunciation, becoming, at certain moments, examples
of intellectual terrorism against the status quo.