bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
“Music & Memory” and improved swallowing in advanced dementia
Authors: Cohen Dan , Post Stephen G , Lo Angela , Lombardo Robin , Pfeffer Brandon
Published: April 2018

Background

Dysphagia and difficulty with eating affects a significant portion of individuals with advanced dementia. Such problems with oral intake can have serious health consequences including mealtime distress, dehydration and malnutrition, aspiration, reduced quality of life, and increased mortality risk.

Design

We present the first data indicating that “Music & Memory” interventions improve swallowing in individuals with advanced dementia, thereby making oral feeding easier and potentially diminishing reliance on PEG.

Setting

Columbia Health Care Center, Wyocena, WI (with Music&Memory.org, Mineola, NY and Stony Brook University).

Participants

Residents with advanced dementia (N = 5). Measurements: Observation by eight professional caregivers.

Results

(1) Enhanced swallowing mechanism with Music & Memory prior to dining; (2) decreased incidents of choking during mealtime; (3) improved nutritional status; (4) reduced weight loss; (5) reduced need for speech interventions; (6) enhanced quality of life.

Conclusions

The preliminary results call for additional research.
Out of Time: The Experience of Speech-Generating Device Users
Authors: Howery Kathy L.
Published: April 2018

This article presents a phenomenological investigation into speech-generating device (SGD) use in the school context. Derived from a larger study on the experience of speaking through a SGD, this article focuses particularly on the experience of time and timing of speaking for one who must use a SGD to give audible voice to their words. Themes explored in this article include the challenge of time, the untimely rate of speech, which can be silencing, planning to talk tomorrow, and finally text time and how this time may lift the burden of time from SGD users. Implications for educators and others who support children and youth who use SGD are brought forward through reflection and discussion of this unique experience of voice and time.
The Effect of Acupressure on Pain in Cancer Patients With Bone Metastasis: A Nonrandomized Controlled Trial
Authors: Serçe Sibel , Ovayolu Özlem , Pirbudak Lütfiye , Ovayolu Nimet
Published: April 2018

Background: Pain is a serious and common problem in bone metastases. For this purpose, complementary and supportive practices are also applied along with medical treatment. This study was conducted for the purpose of evaluating the effect of acupressure on pain in cancer patients with bone metastasis. Methods: The study was conducted in a nonrandomized controlled trial with patients who applied to the radiotherapy unit of an oncology hospital. The data of the study were collected by using a questionnaire and the Visual Analog Scale. A total of 8 acupressure sessions, which lasted for approximately 10 minutes each (with warming and acupressure periods), was applied to the intervention group. The data were analyzed by using χ2 test, paired t test, and Pearson’s correlation coefficient. Results: It was determined that the pain mean score of the intervention group was 7.6 ± 1.9 before the acupressure and decreased to 6.8 ± 1.9 after the acupressure and this result was statistically significant. On the other hand, no significant difference was determined in the pain mean score of the control group. Conclusions: Acupressure is applicable for cancer patients with bone metastasis by nursing staff after receiving brief training and may make a difference in relieving pain of the patients. Further well-designed trials should be conducted.
Participation Patterns of Preschool Children With Intellectual Developmental Disabilities
Authors: Gilboa Yafit , Fuchs Reut
Published: April 2018

We aim to examine the pattern of participation of children with intellectual developmental disabilities (IDD) or global developmental delay (GDD) in comparison with typically developing preschoolers. In addition, to identify environmental and personal factors associated with their participation, 20 children with mild to moderate GDD or IDD, and 24 age- and gender-matched controls, aged 3 to 6 years, were assessed using the Assessment of Preschool Children’s Participation and the Environmental Restriction Questionnaire. Significant differences were found between the groups, both for general scales of participation and for each activity area. For the IDD/GDD group, participation was significantly negatively correlated with environmental restrictions at home. For the control group, participation was correlated with demographic variables. Typically developing children participate at a higher frequency and in a more diverse range of activities compared with children with IDD/GDD. Associations between participation and contextual factors varied depending on the child’s health condition.
Analysis of behavioral differentiation in smart cities based on mobile users’ usage detail record data
Authors: Zhao Xianlong , Xu Xianze , Nai He , Zhou Chen , Hu Zhiyi , Zhang Yi , Jiang Hao
Published: April 2018

The expansion of big data has played an important role in the feasibility of the smart city initiative. The massive amounts of data offer the potential for cities to obtain valuable insights from a large amount of data collected through various sources. Usage detail records not only include plentiful spatial–temporal information, but also describe users’ activities in content space and time. They have three dimensions of information, which makes them favorable for the research of human behavior dynamics. To support smart cities, we collected usage detail records containing three dimensions of information from individuals and analyzed the relationship between them to get modes of users’ behavior. In this article, we propose a method to discover the needed content for users and a way to provide these data to them. The result shows that two of these three dimensions have an invisible association. New behavioral patterns that we discovered from usage detail records can be derived for configuring resources reasonably and supporting creation of smart cities.
Baking Bittersweet: Mothers’ Dessert-Making Behind Bars
Authors: Stearns A. Elizabeth
Published: April 2018

Food is a significant component of life; its preparation is gendered and associated with caregiving roles. For incarcerated women, food is especially salient. Inmate-created recipes can assist with asserting pro-social identities and responding to powerlessness. It is less certain if incarcerated mothers draw upon recipes to emphasize mothering identities. Therefore, this study uses focus groups at a jail and additionally analyzes contributed recipes to explore the way dessert-making behind bars affirms motherhood. Results suggest that dessert preparation aids in disrupting negative stereotypes, illuminates the fragility of incarcerated mothering, and highlights agentic practices. Implications for policy and research are included.
Ethylenediurea Induces Hormesis in Plants
Authors: Agathokleous Evgenios , Kitao Mitsutoshi
Published: April 2018

Tropospheric ozone levels are elevated throughout the northern hemisphere. The potential threat of ozone to vegetation urges for studying plant protection methods. The chemical ethylenediurea (EDU) is the most extensively utilized substance for protecting plants against ozone damage in research projects. This commentary provides collective evidence showing hormetic responses of plants to EDU and suggests that EDU may act as a conditioning agent against elevated ozone exposures. This article also suggests testing different substances in a hormetic framework for protecting plants against ozone damage. The concept of hormesis provides a significant perspective for reducing the economic cost for plant protection.
Control of active lubrication for hydrostatic journal bearing by monitoring bearing clearance
Authors: Rehman Waheed Ur , Jiang Guiyun , Luo Yuanxin , Wang Yongqin , Khan Wakeel , Rehman Shafiq Ur , Iqbal Nadeem
Published: April 2018

Active hydrostatic journal bearings represent a mechatronic answer to the fast-growing industrial needs to high-performance rotary machineries. The aim of this research is to study and improve the dynamic characteristics of hydrostatic bearing, with four pockets or recess. In order to improve dynamic characteristics for hydrostatic journal bearing, this research presents an active hydrostatic journal bearing with servo control. The results of active hydrostatic journal bearing with servo control were compared with those of traditional hydrostatic journal bearing with capillary throttling. The dynamic characteristics of the newly proposed bearing and traditional bearing are studied and compared under different dynamic conditions such as variable speed, viscosity, load, pressure, and bearing clearance. The numerical result shows that the proposed active hydrostatic journal due to active lubrication has good performance including stability and controllability, high stiffness, faster response, and strong resistance. Furthermore, two strategies such as proportional–integral–derivative and integrator backstepping control are also presented to improve the performance and efficiency of active hydrostatic journal bearing with servo control. The result shows that integrator backstepping control is more effective than proportional–integral–derivative control in terms of faster response and greater amplitude reduction, quickly regaining equilibrium position, and good stiffness against load. Hence, it is observed that active lubrication in hydrostatic journal bearing provides us better dynamic characteristics which will have potential applications in heavy and high-speed machinery.
Visuospatial bootstrapping: Binding useful visuospatial information during verbal working memory encoding does not require set-shifting executive resources
Authors: Calia Clara , Darling Stephen , Havelka Jelena , Allen Richard J
Published: April 2018

Immediate serial recall of digits is better when the digits are shown by highlighting them in a familiar array, such as a phone keypad, compared with presenting them serially in a single location, a pattern referred to as “visuospatial bootstrapping.” This pattern implies the establishment of temporary links between verbal and spatial working memory, alongside access to information in long-term memory. However, the role of working memory control processes like those implied by the “Central Executive” in bootstrapping has not been directly investigated. Here, we report a study addressing this issue, focusing on executive processes of attentional shifting. Tasks in which information has to be sequenced are thought to be heavily dependent on shifting. Memory for digits presented in keypads versus single locations was assessed under two secondary task load conditions, one with and one without a sequencing requirement, and hence differing in the degree to which they invoke shifting. Results provided clear evidence that multimodal binding (visuospatial bootstrapping) can operate independently of this form of executive control process.
The time to remember: Temporal compression and duration judgements in memory for real-life events
Authors: Jeunehomme Olivier , D’Argembeau Arnaud
Published: April 2018

Recent studies suggest that the continuous flow of information that constitutes daily life events is temporally compressed in episodic memory, yet the characteristics and determinants of this compression mechanism remain unclear. This study examined this question using an experimental paradigm incorporating wearable camera technology. Participants experienced a series of real-life events and were later asked to mentally replay various event sequences that were cued by pictures taken during the original events. Estimates of temporal compression (the ratio of the time needed to mentally re-experience an event to the actual event duration) showed that events were replayed, on average, about eight times faster than the original experiences. This compression mechanism seemed to operate by representing events as a succession of moments or slices of prior experience separated by temporal discontinuities. Importantly, however, rates of temporal compression were not constant and were lower for events involving goal-directed actions. The results also showed that the perceived duration of events increased with the density of recalled moments of prior experience. Taken together, these data extend our understanding of the mechanisms underlying the temporal compression and perceived duration of real-life events in episodic memory.
Effects of Close-to-Nature Conversion on Pinus massoniana Plantations at Different Stand Developmental Stages
Authors: Wang Xiaoming , Lu Yuanchang , Xing Haitao , Zeng Ji , Xie Yangsheng , Cai Daoxiong , Liu Xianzhao , Zhang Xianqiang
Published: April 2018

Close-to-nature (CTN) forestry integrates multiple forest functions and emphasizes forest ecosystem conservation. Within this framework, forests are typically maintained as uneven-aged mixed stands with multiple vertical layers and are managed following the defined stand developmental stages, that is, the various phases of forest succession. This study aimed to evaluate the long-term effects of CTN management on the stand structure and growth of Pinus massoniana using data from 28 plots managed with the CTN approach and 58 plots of traditional monocultures in southern China. A comparison was performed between three vertical layers across five developmental stages of the CTN stands and the monoculture stands. The results showed that the tree species diversity improved in the CTN stands, with a decrease in the importance value of P. massoniana. The conversion did not change the diameter growth averaged over all species, but it did promote the radial growth of P. massoniana in the canopy layer. The stand growth, in terms of the basal area and the volume of the canopy trees, declined in the CTN stands during the final two stages, as harvesting took place, and the volume growth of P. massoniana also decreased in the CTN stands. However, the conversion seemed to improve the stand productivity of the subcanopy and regeneration layers, where higher relative dominance values of all species were observed, especially during the later stages. Overall, the CTN conversion tended to benefit the stand structure and improve the single tree growth of P. massoniana rather than the total stand growth.
Precision medicine and personalising therapy in pulmonary hypertension: seeing the light from the dawn of a new era
Authors: Savale Laurent , Guignabert Christophe , Weatherald Jason , Humbert Marc
Published: April 2018

Pulmonary hypertension (PH) and pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) include different cardiopulmonary disorders in which the interaction of multiple genes with environmental and behavioural factors modulates the onset and the progression of these severe conditions. Although the development of therapeutic agents that modulate abnormalities in three major pathobiological pathways for PAH has revolutionised our approach to the treatment of PAH, the long-term survival rate remains unsatisfactory. Accumulating evidence has underlined that clinical outcomes and responses to therapy in PAH are modified by multiple factors, including genetic variations, which will be different for each individual. Since precision medicine, also known as stratified medicine or personalised medicine, aims to better target intervention to the individual while maximising benefit and minimising harm, it has significant potential advantages. This article aims to assemble and discuss the different initiatives that are currently underway in the PH/PAH fields together with the opportunities and prospects for their use in the near future.
Nonmuscle myosin IIA is involved in recruitment of apical junction components through activation of α-catenin
Authors: Ozawa Masayuki
Published: April 2018

MDCK dog kidney epithelial cells express two isoforms of nonmuscle myosin heavy chain II, IIA and IIB. Using the CRISPR/Cas9 system, we established cells in which the IIA gene was ablated. These cells were then transfected with a vector that expresses GFP–IIA chimeric molecule under the control of tetracycline-responsible element. In the absence of Dox (doxycyclin), when GFP–IIA is expressed (GFP–IIA+), the cells exhibit epithelial cell morphology, but in the presence of Dox, when expression of GFP–IIA is repressed (GFP–IIA−), the cells lose epithelial morphology and strong cell–cell adhesion. Consistent with these observations, GFP–IIA− cells failed to assemble junction components such as E-cadherin, desmoplakin, and occludin at cell–cell contact sites. Therefore, IIA is required for assembly of junction complexes. MDCK cells with an ablation of the α-catenin gene also exhibited the same phenotype. However, when in GFP–IIA− cells expressed α-catenin lacking the inhibitory region or E-cadherin/α-catenin chimeras, the cells acquired the ability to establish the junction complex. These experiments reveal that IIA acts as an activator of α-catenin in junction assembly.
Tumor xenograft modeling identifies TCF4/ITF2 loss associated with breast cancer chemoresistance
Authors: de Garibay Gorka Ruiz , Mateo Francesca , Stradella Agostina , Valdés-Mas Rafael , Palomero Luis , Serra-Musach Jordi , Puente Diana A. , Díaz-Navarro Ander , Vargas-Parra Gardenia , Tornero Eva , Morilla Idoia , Farré Lourdes , Martinez-Iniesta María , Herranz Carmen , McCormack Emmet , Vidal August , Petit Anna , Soler Teresa , Lázaro Conxi , Puente Xose S. , Villanueva Alberto , Pujana Miguel Angel
Published: April 2018

Understanding the mechanisms of cancer therapeutic resistance is fundamental to improving cancer care. There is clear benefit from chemotherapy in different breast cancer settings; however, knowledge of the mutations and genes that mediate resistance is incomplete. In this study, by modeling chemoresistance in patient-derived xenografts (PDXs), we show that adaptation to therapy is genetically complex and identify loss of transcription factor 4 (TCF4) associated with this process. A triple-negative BRCA1-mutated PDX was used to study the genetics of chemoresistance. The PDX was treated in parallel with four chemotherapies for four iterative cycles. Exome sequencing identified few genes with de novo or enriched mutations in common among the different therapies, whereas many common depleted mutations/genes were observed. Analysis of somatic mutations from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) supported the prognostic relevance of the identified genes. A mutation in TCF4 was found de novo in all treatments, and analysis of drug sensitivity profiles across cancer cell lines supported the link to chemoresistance. Loss of TCF4 conferred chemoresistance in breast cancer cell models, possibly by altering cell cycle regulation. Targeted sequencing in chemoresistant tumors identified an intronic variant of TCF4 that may represent an expression quantitative trait locus associated with relapse outcome in TCGA. Immunohistochemical studies suggest common loss of nuclear TCF4 expression post-chemotherapy. Together, by tumor xenograft modeling, the results of this study depict a link between altered TCF4 expression and breast cancer chemoresistance.
Creation of Exotic π-Electron Systems by Introduction of Heavy Elements and Expansion of the Concept of Aromaticity
Authors: Saito Masaichi
Published: April 2018

We succeeded in the synthesis of dilithio-stannoles and a -plumbole, which possess aromatic character, as evidenced by structural analysis and quantum-chemical calculations, and accordingly the concept of aromaticity can now be expanded to tin- and lead-containing π-conjugated systems. Reactivity of dilithio-stannoles and a -plumbole toward alkyl-, aryl-, and metal-halides was investigated. Stepwise oxidation of a dilithiostannole using oxygen gas yielded a 1,2-dilithiobistannole and a 1,3-dilithioterstannole. The combination of the aromatic dianionic ligands and transition metals produced unique electronic structures that could not be created by the use of cyclopentadienyl and its related carbon-only ligands. These new findings would inspire a new chemical bond theory, materials science, and catalytic chemistry. The serendipitous formation of a pentaorganostannate bearing five carbon substituents and a dibenzopentalenide is also described.
Molecular Imprinting: Materials Nanoarchitectonics with Molecular Information
Authors: Komiyama Makoto , Mori Taizo , Ariga Katsuhiko
Published: April 2018

Combining nanotechnology with other science disciplines is necessary to produce various materials with nanoscale structural and functional information, which is nanoarchitectonics, a novel paradigm to create useful materials. One of the basic ideas in nanoarchitectonics is use of molecular-level information to structurally design functional materials. This strategy is indeed used in some existing science fields and technical realms. For example, molecular imprinting techniques provide functional materials possessing molecular information inside fabricated materials. Revisiting this idea with the nanoarchitectonics concept would have great meaning toward unification of individual research disciplines into one key approach. In this review, we survey fundamentals and recent trends in molecular imprinting in consideration of nanoarchitectonics. Here, aspects and examples of molecular imprinting are surveyed from fundamentals to advanced applications: (i) fundamental preparation of molecular imprinting polymers in the form of nanoparticles, nanofibers, thin films, and monolayers; (ii) surface coverage, post-modification, and introduction of new functional groups; (iii) imprinted materials with controllable guest binding by external stimuli such as photo-responsive, temperature-sensitive, pH-sensitive, solvent-dependent, and multi-stimuli responsive materials; (iv) imprinting using proteins as template and protein stamping; (v) use of cyclodextrins as functional monomers; (vi) advanced functions including highly sensitive and selective sensors combined with DNA aptamers and enzymatic reactions, post-imprinting for sophisticated sensors, and applications to drug delivery systems.
RSEQREP: RNA-Seq Reports, an open-source cloud-enabled framework for reproducible RNA-Seq data processing, analysis, and result reporting
Authors: Jensen Travis L. , Frasketi Michael , Conway Kevin , Villarroel Leigh , Hill Heather , Krampis Konstantinos , Goll Johannes B.
Published: April 2018

RNA-Seq is increasingly being used to measure human RNA expression on a genome-wide scale. Expression profiles can be interrogated to identify and functionally characterize treatment-responsive genes. Ultimately, such controlled studies promise to reveal insights into molecular mechanisms of treatment effects, identify biomarkers, and realize personalized medicine. RNA-Seq Reports (RSEQREP) is a new open-source cloud-enabled framework that allows users to execute start-to-end gene-level RNA-Seq analysis on a preconfigured RSEQREP Amazon Virtual Machine Image (AMI) hosted by AWS or on their own Ubuntu Linux machine via a Docker container or installation script. The framework works with unstranded, stranded, and paired-end sequence FASTQ files stored locally, on Amazon Simple Storage Service (S3), or at the Sequence Read Archive (SRA). RSEQREP automatically executes a series of customizable steps including reference alignment, CRAM compression, reference alignment QC, data normalization, multivariate data visualization, identification of differentially expressed genes, heatmaps, co-expressed gene clusters, enriched pathways, and a series of custom visualizations. The framework outputs a file collection that includes a dynamically generated PDF report using R, knitr, and LaTeX, as well as publication-ready table and figure files. A user-friendly configuration file handles sample metadata entry, processing, analysis, and reporting options. The configuration supports time series RNA-Seq experimental designs with at least one pre- and one post-treatment sample for each subject, as well as multiple treatment groups and specimen types. All RSEQREP analyses components are built using open-source R code and R/Bioconductor packages allowing for further customization. As a use case, we provide RSEQREP results for a trivalent influenza vaccine (TIV) RNA-Seq study that collected 1 pre-TIV and 10 post-TIV vaccination samples (days 1-10) for 5 subjects and two specimen types (peripheral blood mononuclear cells and B-cells).
Geometry of Electrostatic Fields
Authors: Графский О. , Grafskiy O. , Пономарчук Ю. , Ponomarchuk Yu. , Холодилов А. , Holodilov A.
Published: April 2018

Electrostatic fields have been most fully studied as special cases of electromagnetic field. They are created by a set of charged bodies that are considered immovable in relation to the observer and unchanged in time [1–3; 19; 20; 27]. Since any field is characterized by basic quantities, then such quantities for electrostatic fields are strength E and potential ϕ. Therefore, geometrically, such fields are characterized by a combination of force and equipotential lines. These fields were considered in the thesis of N.P. Anikeeva [1]. In particular, the author notes that in the case of dissimilar equal charges "... families of force and equipotential lines make up two orthogonal bundles of circles" [1, p. 59]. However, it is necessary to clarify that each "force" circle gj represents by itself not one but two lines of force, which emanate from a positive charge and terminate on a negative one. A similar review on the work [1] can be done with respect to the picture of two equal positive charges’ electrostatic field. Here the author considers a family ui of equipotential lines, which are Cassini ovals. It is truly said that these ovals belong to the fourth-order bicircular curves of genre 1 (have two double imaginary points, which are cyclic). But these ovals’ family includes one curve of zero genre — the Bernoulli lemniscate; it has three double points (two of them are the same cyclic ones, and one is real, which coincides with the origin of coordinates). In addition, it has been noted that "... the lines of current are equilateral hyperbolas gj» [1, p. 63]. However, clarification is also required here. The lines of force exit from each point charge and each line has two opposite directions. One such line of "double direction" forms only one branch of an equilateral hyperbola. A similar set of branches of equilateral hyperbolas also emanates from the second charge.
Formation of Surfaces Under Kinetic Displaying
Authors: Сальков Николай , Sal'kov Nikolay
Published: April 2018

This work is the development of previously published ones in the journal "Geometry and Graphics" as follows: "Kinematic Correspondence of Rotating Spaces" (№ 1, 2013) and "Formation of Cyclic Surfaces in Kinetic Geometry" (№ 4, 2017). Many of mechanisms make rotational movement, wherein rotating parts of one mechanism "invade" into the zone of rotation for another rotating mechanism’s parts. At the same time, in addition to rotation, they can make other movements, both translational and rotational nature. The theory of kinetic geometry, of which this work is an integral part, is developed in order to avoid collisions of two or more parts of different mechanisms with each other. This is a rather complicated problem in mechanical engineering, in the mining industry, in metallurgy, and in space navigation, where there are no objects that are at rest. Therefore, the kinetic theory of matching for rotating spaces R1 3 and R23 when they are independent from each other movement is quite relevant. In this work have been considered cases for mapping of geometric figures of one space to another one when these figures are moving inside their space R13 . A theory which is presented has been called kinetic geometry, as it relates to engineering problems associated with gearings. These problems were addressed for the first time and drew-up as inventions. A monograph entitled "Introduction to Kinetic Geometry" is currently being prepared for publication.
Discription of Process for Sheet Material Deforming With Using of Parametric Solid-State Simulation
Authors: Булычев Р. , Bulychev R. , Аюшеев Т. , Ayusheev T.
Published: April 2018

In this paper has been considered the process for simulation of technology for layer-by-layer deformation of sheet bars. In process describing the use of surface models is not desirable for reasons of design and technology, so as for each layer’s surface description its necessary to convert the original surface’s skeleton taking into account the layer thickness change, that leads to processed information’s volume increasing. To solve this problem has been used a perspective method of parametric solid-state simulation for description of sheet bar’s geometry and simulation process. This method has allowed describe a body of multi-layer construction, taking into account special features of sheet material’s layer-by-layer deformation technology. Considered model for assignment of shape and multi-layer structure made it possible to describe the process for formation of the designed shape from flat blank to finished sheet bar’s shape. In such a case, there is no operation for resetting of sought skeleton for interlayer surface. Basic program modules have been developed to describe the process for layer-by-layer deformation in MathCAD. The main program for process description includes the following modules: module for description of parametric solid-state model; module for description of the spinning tool’s motion trajectory; module for calculation of deformation process parameters; module for definition of deformation surface by rounded edges in the specified layer. The developed program complex was probated during manufacture of a detail with pyramidal shape. To implement the layer-by-layer deformation was used a CNC machine. The quoted results of theoretical and experimental researches on the example of manufacturing the pyramidal detail from sheet material have demonstrated that the use of such a form of description for multi-layer construction as parametric solid-state model has a positive impact on the obtaining detail’s surface quality improving.
Computer Method for Learning of Descriptive Geometry. Technical Task
Authors: Савельев Ю. , Savel'ev Yu. , Бабич Е. , Babich E.
Published: April 2018

Descriptive geometry, whose subject of study is three-dimensional real and imaginary objects, is available for a specific method both of knowledge deepening and gained knowledge control. Thus apart from visualization of graphic constructions is available a strictly logical sequence of their execution. Using a graphical editor instead of a ruler and compass not only and not so much facilitates routine operations for construction of circles, parallel and perpendicular lines, but allows literally touch geometric images. Choice of one of three methods such as construction, transformation or intermediaries ones, allows a student under testing not only to respond a specific question, but also to choose a more suitable way to solve this problem. Has been presented the description of computer program that allows quickly solve course problems with the prompt, if necessary. Other modes make it possible to exercise self-control or final control of gained knowledge. The program interface is multi-window structure enabling in sequence, on proposed 4–7 steps, solve a problem in the animation mode. A program feature is the absence of false (harmful for the study) questions as options. The right questions of another stage are used as alternative. When the answer to the question is wrong, than the principle of return is used. Have been offered stages and questions for solution of one of typical problems with illustration of a possible computer algorithm. Has been presented a help page variant. A set of tasks, covering the entire course of descriptive geometry, has been presented for a discussion. It has been noted that the described program’s pilot variant was developed and successfully implemented in educational process with use of all formulated principles and modes, including animation and the choice of points coordinates by the random number method.
The influence of age and osteoporosis on bone marrow stem cells from rats
Authors: Sanghani-Kerai A. , Osagie-Clouard L. , Blunn G. , Coathup M.
Published: April 2018

Objectives

This study aimed to assess the effect of age and osteoporosis on the proliferative and differentiating capacity of bone-marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) in female rats. We also discuss the role of these factors on expression and migration of cells along the C-X-C chemokine receptor type 4 (CXCR-4) / stromal derived factor 1 (SDF-1) axis.

Methods

Mesenchymal stem cells were harvested from the femora of young, adult, and osteopenic Wistar rats. Cluster of differentiation (CD) marker and CXCR-4 expression was measured using flow cytometry. Cellular proliferation was measured using Alamar Blue, osteogenic differentiation was measured using alkaline phosphatase expression and alizarin red production, and adipogenic differentiation was measured using Oil red O. Cells were incubated in Boyden chambers to quantify their migration towards SDF-1. Data was analyzed using a Student’s t-test, where p-values < 0.05 were considered significant.

Results

CD marker expression and proliferation of the MSCs from the three groups was not significantly different. The young MSCs demonstrated significantly increased differentiation into bone and fat and superior migration towards SDF-1. The migration of SDF-1 doubled with young rats compared with the adult rats (p = 0.023) and it was four times higher when compared with cells isolated from ovariectomized (OVX) osteopenic rats (p = 0.013).

Conclusion

Young rat MSCs are significantly more responsive to osteogenic differentiation, and, contrary to other studies, also demonstrated increased adipogenic differentiation compared with cells from adult and ostopenic rats. Young-rat-derived cells also showed superior migration towards SDF-1 compared with MSCs from OVX and adult control rats. Cite this article: A. Sanghani-Kerai, L. Osagie-Clouard, G. Blunn, M. Coathup. The influence of age and osteoporosis on bone marrow stem cells from rats. Bone Joint Res 2018;7:289–297. DOI: 10.1302/2046-3758.74.BJR-2017-0302.R1.
Politische Gewalt ausstellen
Authors: Arellano Cruz Fabiola
Published: April 2018

Postdiktatorische und Postkonflikt-Staaten in Lateinamerika haben in den letzten Jahren kontinuierlich ihre gewalttätige Vergangenheit museal aufgearbeitet. Zwei nationale Erinnerungsmuseen (Museos de la Memoria) in Chile und Peru sowie ihre politischen, kulturellen und historischen Implikationen stehen im Fokus dieses Buches. Wie wird die jüngste Geschichte beider Länder dort inszeniert und zu welchem Zweck? Welche Rolle spielt das Medium Museum in den erinnerungspolitischen Diskursen? Unter Berücksichtigung des jeweiligen historisch-politischen Kontextes untersucht Fabiola Arellano Cruz komparatistisch die Entstehungsprozesse der Museen, die Debatten sowie die gestalterischen Aspekte ihrer Dauerausstellungen.
Mut zum Altern
Authors: Behnke-Vonier Cornelia
Published: April 2018

Ist Alter(n) die Höchststrafe in unserer auf jung geschminkten Kultur? Das suggeriert zumindest eine Bezeichnungspraxis, die das Wort »alt« vermeidet und stattdessen von »Best Agern« oder der »Generation 50 plus« spricht. Auch Themen wie Langsamkeit und Zurücknahme haben im gesellschaftlich-kulturellen Leben wenig Platz und Wert. Die älteren Menschen selbst haben das Credo längst verinnerlicht: sich permanent weiter »fit« für das gesellschaftliche Leben halten. Im Modus der Aktivität wird versucht, das Alter auf Abstand zu halten. Cornelia Behnke ermuntert zu einer Kehrtwende: Damit das Alter seine eigene Macht und Würde entfalten kann, ist es nötig, dass die Alten sich trauen, alt zu sein!
Australian university students’ access to web-based lecture recordings and the relationship with lecture attendance and academic performance
Authors: Chapin Laurie A
Published: April 2018

Web-based lecture technology (WBLT) allows students access to recorded lectures delivered live to the classroom any time and to any device with internet. This technology has become standard across universities. This study of Australian undergraduate psychology students explored many important questions related to WBLT. About 75% of students surveyed utilised recorded lectures. Qualitative responses allowed students to explain many reasons for using WBLT, including to study for exams, regular study throughout the semester, to catch up on lectures they missed attending, and to clarify specific parts of the lecture. Four types of students were identified. Those who: (1) attended lectures regularly and did not access recordings; (2) attended most or all lectures and also accessed recordings to reinforce learning and for exams; (3) attended lectures but when they missed class accessed recordings; also accessed to reinforcing learning and for exams; and (4) did not attend lectures (by choice or due to personal circumstances) and only accessed lecture recordings. No differences in final grades were found based on higher/lower lecture attendance or higher/lower access of lecture recordings. It is concluded that WBLT is flexible, allowing students to apply it in different ways and the different patterns are related to similar academic achievement.
Empowering academics to be adaptive with eLearning technologies: An exploratory case study
Authors: Flavell Helen , Harris Courtenay , Price Connie , Logan Emma , Peterson Sunila
Published: April 2018

This paper describes an exploratory case study investigating the capacity of a multidisciplinary approach to academic development, to empower adaptive responses to ongoing technological change impacting on teaching practice. A quasi-experimental design with an intervention group (n = 22) and a comparative control group (n = 7) was adopted. Pre and post online questionnaires were administered to participants in both groups to evaluate attitudes and experiences relating to technology use in teaching and learning. The questionnaires were adapted from the Technology Acceptance Model. Qualitative measurement of the intervention group’s experiences following the professional development was captured using semi-structured interviews, followed by two focus groups to confirm the interview findings. Results indicate that the professional development impacted positively on participants through significantly increased levels of confidence and perceived ease of use. Qualitative data indicated participants experienced cognitive, emotional, and/or practical changes during and/or following the professional development.
Learning analytics experience among academics in Australia and Malaysia: A comparison
Authors: West Deborah , Tasir Zaidatun , Luzeckyj Ann , Si Na Kew , Toohey Danny , Abdullah Zaleha , Searle Bill , Farhana Jumaat Nurul , Price Richard
Published: April 2018

Several studies have been conducted to evaluate the experience and involvement of academics in learning analytics (LA) due to its potential for improving teaching and learning. However, findings often reflect an educational culture which is indicative of the institutional or national context where the study has occurred, resulting in bias regarding LA perspectives. Therefore, this study seeks to compare and contrast the experiences of LA among academics in Australia and Malaysia, with intentions to learn from each other’s experience. Areas of comparison were: (1) academics’ involvement in LA activities; (2) academics’ responses to the institutional capacity in supporting LA; and 3) academics’ concerns about the ethical issues surrounding LA. A survey of 353 Australian and 224 Malaysian academics revealed similarities and differences. It is evident from these results that the context and infrastructure for LA are at different stages of development in both countries. Nevertheless, the results provide an interesting reflection on academics’ needs, institutional understanding, policies, and educational cultural biases in applying LA in teaching and learning in higher education institutions.
Patriotism and Bellicism in German and Dutch Epics of the Enlightenment
Authors: van der Haven Cornelis
Published: April 2018

The German and Dutch historiography of eighteenth-century patriotismdefines two different forms of patriotism. It is either presented as an enlightenedand virtuous-eudemonic form of ʻlove for the fatherlandʼ based on reason, or asan ideology that foreshadows nineteenth-century emphatic forms of aggressivenationalism. A critical reading of the mid-eighteenth-century epics Cyrus byChristoph Martin Wieland and De Gevallen van Friso by Willem van Haren showsthat the discourses are strongly intertwined. Heroism in these epics is based on apersonal experience of war acts and no longer on distanced and ʻtheatricalʼexperiences of the military spectacle. It confronts us with aggressive war fantasiesrelated to early bellicism, as well as with pacifist statements. In Cyrus, forinstance, the sentimental warrior inspires his fellow-soldiers to offer their bloodin the struggle against the enemy, but he has doubts about the war and showscompassion with the enemy. Explorations of the effects of individual emotionson the battlefield, prepared both further idealisations of patriotic war acts and amore critical literary approach to war and fatherland.
Der neue Diamant: Verfremdungseffekte bei E. S. Özdamar
Authors: Federmair Leopold
Published: April 2018

Emine Sevgi Özdamar is a representative author of German-Turkishliterature, which has been growing in size and importance during the last decades.The present article assumes that authors who use norm-deviant language(diverging from established linguistic practices as well as from conventional andmodern literary forms of expression) are particularly capable of making innovativecontributions to contemporary German literature. In Özdamar’s narrativeworks uncertain linguistic attitudes and deficient or “odd” verbalizations canproduce aesthetically valuable estrangement effects –; a conception recallingBertolt Brecht’s literary theory, as well as Ernst Jandl’s experimentations withwhat he called “heruntergekommene Sprache” (degenerate language). Due,among other factors, to Özdamar’s decision to use predominantly autobiographicalmaterial for her narrations, her exophonic writing accompanies in someworks childlike-naive forms of perception, and diction that can produce similareffects in respect to linguistic norms and habits. We can observe numerousmetaphorical expressions that reveal a playful animistic attitude towards reality.A look at Özdamar’s three-volume autobiographical sequence suggests that theestranging/innovative quality of her literary work decreases with the her gradualintegration into the German linguistic and literary community. Viewed in thislight, the struggle for literaricity would consist of maintaining and renewing theessential “linguistic strangeness” (Marcel Proust) of her style. Such an attitude isdifferent from a globalized (or globalizing) type of literature, which intends toproduce universal linguistic and narrative schemata.
„Literarische Scherze in August W. v. Schlegels Manier von Doktor-Dichter Presheren“
Authors: Birk Matjaž
Published: April 2018

The study of the role of the Slovene national Poet France Prešeren (1800–1849) as mediator of intellectual-aesthetic concepts and literary models of German romantic and their reception in the Slovene literature from 1830 is based on the analysis of literary texts, that were published in chosen German speaking cultural periodics in Laibach (Ljubljana) – the centre of Slovene ethnic territory in the Austrian monarchy. The analysis includes also cultural (nonfictional) texts, which were participating in processes of cultural coding. The research focuses on the adaptation of A.W. Schlegel’s literary epigrammatic model by Prešeren as poet and as an influential actor in the Laibach Slovene and German cultural and literary field in the frame of his fundamental contribution to the constitution of the Slovene poetry and its idiom.
“Harmony and Openness to Many Levels of Reality” – the Thought of Emanuel Swedenborg in the Writings of Czeslaw Milosz
Authors: Bukowski Piotr
Published: April 2018

One of the most important features of Czeslaw Milosz’s (1911–2004) literary output is his dialogue with religious thinkers. The Swedish eighteenth-century theologian and mystic Emanuel Swedenborg is among his important “interlocutors”. The present paper aims at discussing the key motifs in Milosz’s reflections on Swedenborg’s theology as well as defining the specific character of his interpretation of the thought of the author of Arcana Coelestia. In Swedenborg’s work, Milosz looked primarily for a remedy for the disease of modernity, whose most severe symptom is the disintegration of the world, which became subjected to the rule of William Blake’s Urizen. For Milosz the modern man is homeless within the inhuman space of an infinite universe which cannot be grasped by imagination. Swedenborg, on the other hand, restores the vertical points of reference, Heaven and Hell, and at the same time places them within the human soul. The restitution of spatial points of reference is of immense significance to Milosz, who emphasizes that Swedenborg’s system was aimed at liberating imagination, fettered by the scientific world-view. While reading Swedenborg, Milosz remarked also that the cause of Christianity’s weakness lay in its loss of original integrity and unity, and in its theology of marital love characterized by fear and escapism. The source of Milosz’s fascination with Emanuel Swedenborg’s thought has to do, among other things, with the positive and integrating force of Swedenborg’s thought, the idea of uniting man with God, matter with spirit, faith with reason, and language with being.
„Und ihr – ihr machtet schon ein Leier-Lied daraus“
Authors: Weidner Daniel
Published: April 2018

Friedrich Nietzsche’s writings have often been read as ‘prophetic’, i.e. as authoritative cultural criticism that establishes new ‘values’ and points toward a new culture. Nietzsche himself draws heavily on biblical language and imagery, including the figure of the prophet. The essay addresses this relation in two ways: it analyzes how, especially the early reception, considers Nietzsche’s writings as ‘prophetic’ and how Nietzsche himself reads the prophets as protagonists of the re-evaluation of values. Moreover, a closer ‘Nietzschean’ reading of biblical prophecy shows that both Nietzsche and the prophets claim to pronounce a truth that transcends common understanding and that both refer to a language of radical destruction which eventually leads to the destruction of the very prophetic message itself. Thus, the figure of Nietzsche as a prophet can be read as an emblem of the fundamental epistemological crisis at the end of the nineteenth century, which changed the modes of theoretical discourse.
Wie man chinesisch dichtet, ohne chinesisch zu verstehen
Authors: Klawitter Arne
Published: April 2018

The starting point of the essay is the observation that a number of important German translations of Chinese poetry have been accomplished by poets who were neither able to speak nor read Chinese. The question that arises from this is: what could be considered to be the actual significance of these translations? Albert Ehrenstein’s translation of Bo Juyi’s poems (in Germany also known as Pe-lo-thien) might provide an answer to this question. This essay focuses on his idea of political motivated ‚conceptual translation’ and attempts to demonstrate the transition from indirect allusion to the political appeal.