bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
“Nothing Really in It”: Gothic Interiors and the Externals of the Courtship Plot in Northanger Abbey
Authors: Baudot Laura
Published: October 2012

The washing bills that the heroine discovers in a cabinet in Jane Austen’s early novel Northanger Abbey are traditionally read as parodying the Gothic trope of hidden manuscripts. The mundane itemization of male clothing, I argue, does not merely pit the everyday against Gothic improbability. The washing bill plot invites readers to reflect critically on courtship plots and their own emotional investment in happy endings. By drawing attention to the papers’ appearance, content, and location, Austen uses the washing bills as evidence for how courtship novels and readers’ affective expectations repress the material facts central to both marriage and novel reading: men and books have bodies. The complex interplay of surface and depth that characterizes the washing bill plot is central to Austen’s quest to devise a form for the novel that engages the reader both critically and emotionally. By linking the washing bills to the novel’s other jarring reminders of the materiality of books and reading, this article makes the broader claim that a full understanding of the form of eighteenth-century novels requires combining the methods of formalism and book history.
The Solitary Animal: Professional Authorship and Persona in Goldsmith's The Citizen of the World
Authors: Kitching Megan
Published: October 2012

Employing the persona of a Chinese philosopher, Oliver Goldsmith in The Citizen of the World (1762) examines the changing roles of the professional author and critic in the literary marketplace. Through other, various outsider personae, Goldsmith questions whether popular literature can establish cultural and moral authority over an expanding readership. In adapting the genre of oriental correspondence to periodical jour-nalism, particularly the commercial newspaper the Public Ledger where the "Chinese letters" originally appeared, Goldsmith ironically critiques the utility and authenticity of such fictions. Although the Chinese philosopher represents cosmopolitan and enlightened tradition, he fails as a potential arbiter of polite taste. He also fails to reconcile the writer's obligations to instruct and amuse. The professional author in T he Citizen of the World is increasingly marginalized, facing a widening gulf between his material and his desired audience, a forerunner of the sentimentalized persona that would establish Goldsmith's posthumous reputation.
Cosmopolitans, Slaves, and the Global Market in Voltaire's Candide, ou l'optimisme
Authors: Kjørholt Ingvild Hagen
Published: October 2012

The cosmopolitan and the slave are the offspring of a global world governed by exchangeability and transportability. In Voltaire's most famous work, Candide, ou l'optimisme (1759), these two juxtaposed characters represent radically different results of globalization. A historical reading that explores the context of colonialism, war, and the increasing world trade of the eighteenth century reveals how migration defines the identities of the cosmopolitan and the slave, and the ways in which both characters challenge a traditional notion of belonging. While the cosmopolitan moves freely, the slave is unfree and only moved by others. Focusing on Candide's encounter with a Negro slave in Surinam, I discuss how the tale deals with the legal and philosophical problems raised by the transatlantic slave trade, and question why Voltaire treats North African slavery differently. Following from these discussions, I examine the attitude towards European colonialism shown by Voltaire's cosmopolitans, arguing that these characters reject the global market on the basis of an ethics of human rights.
The Future of Sexuate Difference: Irigaray, Heidegger, Ontology, and Ethics
Authors: Jones Emma R.
Published: October 2012

This essay explores the relation between ontology and ethics through a close reading of Martin Heidegger’s essay “Language” in dialogue with Luce Irigaray’s The Way of Love . It demonstrates how, for Irigaray, the ontological and linguistic occurrence of sexuate difference simultaneously constitutes the announcement of humanity’s foremost ethical task.
From Bricks to Pagodas: Weikza and the Rituals of Pagoda-Building
Authors: Tosa Keiko
Published: October 2012

Although pagoda building is undoubtedly highly regarded as a merit-earning act in Myanmar, the ritual process itself has seldom received much attention. Generally there exist five ritual processes of pagoda building. In each ritual, the specialists of weikza knowledge play much part. This article attempts to consider why these specialists of weikza knowledge are regarded as indispensable persons for pagoda-building, through the analysis of the rituals. The construction of pagoda differs from the other donations in many points. Pagoda-building, considered as big project requesting much time and financial support, is not ordinarily observed in the communities. The knowledge of pagoda building and its associated rituals is transmitted not within the village community, but through closed mentor-student relationships such as those between specialists of weikza knowledge. Pagoda-building is also more risky, compared with the other donations. It is prone to failure or delay, which has both karmic and social consequences for the donor. The donors also try to raise the protection power to complete the project by various practices such as keeping precepts, drawing the power of protection by payeik -recitation, following the time guided by astrology, bringing out the protection from spirits, calling on the weiksa , utilizing the knowledge of weiksa specialists. Especially when they face with the difficulties, they rely on the specialists of weikza knowledge on the rituals. In other words, weikza specialists are expected to contribute pagoda-building, for they can bring out the protection of weikza and they hold enough knowledge by which they achieve ritual success.
John Burnside’s Ecologies of Solace: Regional Environmentalism and the Consolations of Description
Authors: James David
Published: October 2012

John Burnside’s prominence has arguably been achieved through his award-winning poetry rather than through his fiction. Indeed, his preoccupation with the numinous quality of ordinary environments seems most suitably articulated in lyric rather than narrative form. This article, however, reconsiders his virtuosity as a novelist, exploring the way Glister and A Summer of Drowning reinvigorate the practice of regional writing. Tracing Burnside’s audacious strategies of ecological description, the essay charts his concern with reflecting on the political and phenomenological purposes of evoking natural landscapes together with the consolations that are generated by the act of evocation itself.
Rethinking the Arcadian Revenge: Metachronous Times in the Fiction of Sam Taylor
Authors: Edwards Caroline
Published: October 2012

This article interrogates representations of time in the novels of Sam Taylor. Drawing on Ernst Bloch’s utopian philosophical framework, I argue that Taylor’s non-contemporaneous or “metachronous” temporalities reconfigure narrative time within the broader context of increasingly post-secular questions of final judgment. Rather than recapitulating the “Arcadian revenge” of SF ecocatastrophes, Taylor’s nonanthropocentric glimpses of futurity enable us to move beyond the dichotomy of pastoral Arcadia/savage wilderness in twenty-first-century fiction. A comparative reading of Bloch’s writings on natural futurity and Taylor’s novels thus helps us reorient the theorization of temporality, suggesting new directions for post-apocalyptic, ecocritical, and utopian literary analysis.
Introduction: Why "Critical"? The Need for New Ways of Knowing
Authors: Bensimon Estela Mara , Bishop Robin
Published: October 2012

This special issue of the Review of Higher Education reflects the goals of the ASHE Institutes on Equity and Critical Policy Analysis. These goals included (a) strengthening the research capacities of young scholars to study questions of race and equity and (b) expanding research methods and interpretive frameworks to consider these questions from critical perspectives. In their introduction, the editors highlight the origins, review process, and content of this special issue. They also articulate a vision for the ways in which this issue might inform the work of existing and emerging higher education scholars.
Seeking the "Truth" in the Stories We Tell: The Role of Critical Race Epistemology in Higher Education Research
Authors: Espino Michelle M.
Published: October 2012

This article focuses on how critical race theory informed the author's epistemological perspective and methodological approach as she analyzed Mexican American educational narratives and formulated her identity as a scholar. Using a storytelling technique employed in CRT, the author weaves together her position as the translator of participants' stories with her conceptualization of the formation, reproduction, and resistance of master narratives. She then illustrates the process of uncovering master narratives and counter-narratives in two Mexican American Ph.D. participants' life narratives in an effort to present multiple truths about educational attainment. The article concludes with considerations for researchers wishing to employ critical race epistemology.
Equity and Critical Policy Analysis in Higher Education: A Bridge Still Too Far
Authors: Anderson Gregory M.
Published: October 2012

This article examines the continuing gap between institutional practice and pedagogy, research and scholarship, and policy formation and analysis of equity and diversity in higher education. The article also provides brief summaries of the four major contributions of higher education scholars to this edition concerned with exploring different facets of, and approaches to, analyzing equity from a critical policy perspective. The article concludes with an impassioned call for researchers and scholars to become more insurgent and engaged in policy formation and analyses in an effort to not only inform but also to shape a sustainable equity agenda in higher education.
Promoting Sustained Engagement with Diversity: The Reciprocal Relationships between Informal and Formal College Diversity Experiences
Authors: Bowman Nicholas A.
Published: October 2012

College diversity experiences have been praised not only for their role in promoting student growth but also for contributing to future engagement with diversity. However, the evidence supporting this latter claim is quite limited, often relying on cross-sectional analyses. This study examines whether and how students’ first-year diversity experiences predict their senior-year diversity experiences and finds that students’ positive and negative diversity interactions are both associated with greater participation in diversity coursework. Moreover, having negative diversity interactions is not associated with changes in positive diversity interactions or vice versa. All relationships are consistent regardless of students’ openness to diversity.
Rethinking Research on the Impact of Racial Diversity in Higher Education
Authors: Clarke Chris Gonzalez , Antonio Anthony Lising
Published: October 2012

While the court-approved use of race in college admissions rests on the ability of institutions to produce educational benefits associated with diversity, existing research provides little practical insight for institutions, particularly with regard to the types of relations that foster such benefits. The authors review current research and conceptualizations in the study of racial diversity, revealing incomplete theories of socialization, unspecified mechanisms, and problematic assumptions. Using Gurin (1999) as a starting point, the authors propose a new framework and research agenda for examining the impact of racial diversity on students, integrating insights from network theory, social psychology, and sociology.
Competing Girlhoods: Competition, Community, and Reader Contribution in The Girl's Own Paper and The Girl's Realm
Authors: Rodgers Beth
Published: October 2012

Popular girls' magazines from the late Victorian period frequently addressed and characterised readers as "our girls." The sense of inclusive community conjured up by these words is a key feature of the success of these periodicals, which needed to work hard to ensure a dedicated readership in an increasingly crowded literary marketplace. The remarkable success of the penny weekly Girl's Own Paper , launched in 1880, led to the publication of many new girls' periodicals in the 1880s and 1890s, including the sixpenny monthly Girl's Realm in 1898. Though differing in terms of price, both magazines share a preoccupation with creating a strong sense of community amongst their readers. This article argues that the valorisation of communities of girls represents an attempt to accommodate readerships that are often diverse in terms of nationality, geographical location, class, and age, but these are attempts that are often unsuccessful. It suggests that this lack of success can be glimpsed most clearly at those points in the magazines that specifically require reader interaction--competitions, correspondence pages, or reading clubs. Rhetoric employed to encourage reader participation reveals a great deal about the assumptions and evasions that frequently characterise the implied readership of these magazines. The article considers what the identification of historical readers can begin to tell us about the narrative inconsistencies at play and offers evidence to suggest that readers were sometimes willing to register their dissent over the nature of these idealised communities.
The protest in Milan's Chinatown and the Chinese immigrants in Italy in the media (2007–2009)
Authors: Zhang Gaoheng
Published: October 2012

In this article, I analyse the representational strategies in key texts across the media that concern the protest in Milan's Chinatown in April 2007 and Chinese immigration to Italy during 2007–2009. My focus is to analyse the rhetorical presentation and ethnocultural approach
in these media. The protest is the first major violent one by a single ethnic minority group against the police authorities in contemporary Italy. Following the protest, in April 2007 a sequential order that links violence, gender bias, racism, ethnicity, illegality and incommunicability was
quickly constructed in mainstream and alternative Italian media. Chinese immigrant and pro-immigrant Italian media questioned its interpretive validity to varying degrees. Moreover, an ethnocultural approach was widely applied to represent the Chinese immigrant community in Italy, whether
from the perspective of Italian outsiders or that of Chinese insiders. I focus on how the processes of ethnogenesis and ethnocentrism were employed to educate Italian viewers about the Chinese immigrant culture. Ultimately, I demonstrate that the media have functioned as means of politico-cultural
persuasion, intercultural pedagogy, and actual and imagined socialization between Italians and Chinese immigrants during 2007–2009.
Assumed identities: Transgression and desire in Donatella Maiorca's cinema
Authors: Karagoz Claudia
Published: October 2012

This article analyses Donatella Maiorca's films Viol@ (1998) and Viola di mare/ Sea Purple (2009) in the context of contemporary Italian and transcultural debate about cinema and sexual and gendered identities, with reference to cinematic devices and gender theory. It places Maiorca's
film-making in the broader context of national cinema and illustrates her films' common themes and stylistic traits, in spite of their numerous differences. It focuses specifically on the construction, deconstruction and metamorphoses of gendered identities and bodies in both films. Viol@
and Sea Purple present provocative explorations of transgressive sexual practices: they engage critically with the interconnection between society, power and gendered identities in the eras they depict and in modern Italy. I argue that the protagonists are simultaneously subjected to powerful
normative gazes and act as subjects of the gaze and desire. By embracing unstable gender identities and non-normative sexualities, these characters acquire a degree of agency and self-determination and thereby the future possibility of becoming. This article aims to contribute to current transnational
conversations on Italian women's cinema and cultural representations of gender and sexuality in Italy.
Mediterraneanism and ironic postmodern nostalgia in Sergio Rubini's Apulia
Authors: Luca Giovanna De
Published: October 2012

The Mediterranean basin is a transnational, multicultural and multilingual region that, because of its unique geography, has long facilitated social and economic interconnections. This remains true today, even as the world struggles with division and conflict. The Mediterranean stands
as a fluid, aqua-centric example of pacific coexistence. In this article I consider three films by the actor-director Sergio Rubini – L'anima gemella/Soul Mate (2001), La terra/The Land (2005), and L'uomo nero/Bogeyman (2009) – that offer viewers examples of postmodern nostalgia
and Mediterraneanism as manifested in southern Italian culture. By taking into account studies of the use of magic in the Italian south, Meridian philosophy, and the unique combination of irony and nostalgia, I investigate how Rubini's oeuvre expresses intrinsic Mediterraneanism. In each of
these films, metamorphosis (physical and psychological) denotes modes of cultural integration and reintegration, spiritualmoral hybridization (between paganism and Catholicism, between family loyalty and criminal tribalism) and reinterpretations of the past.
Cognitive General Imagery: The Forgotten Imagery Function?
Authors: Westlund Nicole , Pope J. Paige , Tobin Danielle
Published: October 2012

It is well known that athletes use mental imagery for five different functions; motivational general-arousal (MG-A; arousal and stress) motivational general-mastery (MG-M; control, mental toughness, and self-confidence), motivational specific (MS; goal-oriented responses), cognitive general (CG; sport-specific strategies), and cognitive specific (CS; sport-specific skills; Hall et al., 1998; Paivio, 1985). While much research has been conducted on the MG-A, MG-M, MS, and CS imagery functions, there has not been as much focus on CG imagery. This is somewhat disheartening since various researchers have pointed out this issue many times (e.g., Hall, 2001). The purpose of this review was to examine the research conducted on CG imagery since the publication of Martin and colleagues’ (1999) applied model of imagery use. A literature search was conducted of published peer-reviewed journal articles using Proquest to identify all studies that have examined CG imagery. Forty-three articles were identified as relevant towards understanding the role of CG imagery in sport. The research findings were discussed in one of two sections depending on the type of study design used (e.g., descriptive/correlational study or imagery intervention). The strengths and weaknesses of the CG imagery studies are discussed. From this review, the authors hope to make researchers aware of the avenues that still need to be explored in regards to CG imagery, as well as provide researchers with potential approaches to answer such questions.
Applications of sub-wavelength grating mirrors in high-power lasers
Authors: Ahmed Marwan Abdou , Rumpel Martin , Voss Andreas , Graf Thomas
Published: October 2012

A grating waveguide mirror (GWM) results from the combination of a waveguide and a sub-wavelength grating which lead, for given incidence conditions, to polarization and or wavelength filtering. In the present paper, we report on the application of such elements for the selection of the polarization (linear, radial, or azimuthal) as well as the narrowing, stabilizing and tuning of the emission spectrum of high-power lasers. Using a leaky-mode circular GWM, beams with radial and azimuthal polarization with output powers of up to 275 W and 145 W, respectively, could be extracted from a Yb:YAG thin-disk with optical efficiencies of 52.5% and 43%, respectively. In both cases, the GWM was composed of a highly reflective (HR) mirror and a sub-wavelength grating as the end-mirror of the resonator. Using a leaky-mode linear GWM operating under Littrow condition, beams with linear polarization and a narrow spectral bandwidth were obtained from a Yb:YAG thin-disk laser. In multimode operation, an output power of 325 W was achieved at an optical efficiency of 53.5%. In near-fundamental mode operation, 110 W was extracted at an optical efficiency of 36.2%. In this latter case, the spectral bandwidth was measured to be around 25 pm. Moreover, continuous wavelength tuning from 1007 to 1053 nm was demonstrated with our device.
Non-invasive prenatal diagnostics of aneuploidy using next-generation DNA sequencing technologies, and clinical considerations
Authors: Nepomnyashchaya Yana N. , Artemov Artem V. , Roumiantsev Sergey A. , Roumyantsev Alexander G. , Zhavoronkov Alex
Published: October 2012

Rapidly developing next-generation sequencing (NGS) technologies produce a large amount of data across the whole human genome and allow a large number of DNA samples to be analyzed simultaneously. Screening cell-free fetal DNA (cffDNA) obtained from maternal blood using NGS technologies has provided new opportunities for non-invasive prenatal diagnosis (NIPD) of fetal aneuploidies. One of the major challenges to the analysis of fetal abnormalities is the development of accurate and reliable algorithms capable of analyzing large numbers of short sequence reads. Several such algorithms have recently been developed. Here, we provide a review of recent NGS-based NIPD methods as well as the available algorithms for short-read sequence analysis. We furthermore introduce the practical application of these algorithms for the detection of different types of fetal aneuploidies, and compare the performance, cost and complexity of each approach for clinical deployment. Our review identifies several main technologies and trends in NGS-based NIPD. The main considerations for clinical development for NIPD and screening tests using DNA sequencing are: accuracy, intellectual property, cost and the ability to screen for a wide range of chromosomal abnormalities and genetic defects. The cost of the diagnostic test depends on the sequencing method, diagnostic algorithm and volume of the tests. If the cost of sequencing equipment and reagents remains at or around current levels, targeted approaches for sequencing-based aneuploidy testing and SNP-based methods are preferred.
The emerging role of biomarkers and bio-impedance in evaluating hydration status in patients with acute heart failure
Authors: Di Somma Salvatore , Navarin Silvia , Giordano Stefania , Spadini Francesco , Lippi Giuseppe , Cervellin Gianfranco , Dieffenbach Bryan V. , Maisel Alan S.
Published: October 2012

The quantitative and qualitative estimation of total body fluid content has proven to be crucial for both diagnosis and prognosis assessment in patients with heart failure. The aim of this review is to summarize the current techniques for assessing body hydration status as well as the principal biomarkers associated with acute heart failure (AHF). Although clinical history, physical examination and classical imaging techniques (e.g., standard radiography and echocardiography) still represent the cornerstones, novel and promising tools, such as biomarkers and bio-electrical impedance are achieving an emerging role in clinical practice for the assessment of total body fluid content. In the acute setting, the leading advantages of these innovative methods over device are represented by the much lower invasiveness and the reasonable costs, coupled with an easier and faster application. This article is mainly focused on AHF patients, not only because the overall prevalence of this disease is dramatically increasing worldwide, but also because it is well-known that their fluid overload has a remarkable diagnostic and prognostic significance. It is thereby conceivable that the bio-electrical vector analysis (BIVA) coupled with laboratory biomarkers might achieve much success in AHF patient management in the future, especially for assisting diagnosis, risk stratification, and therapeutic decision-making.
Applying corpus linguistics and conversation analysis in the investigation of small group teaching in higher education
Authors: O'Keeffe, Anne , Walsh, Steve
Published: October 2012

In this paper, we consider how a combined corpus linguistics and conversation analysis methodology can reveal new insights into the relationship between interaction patterns, language use, and learning. The context of the paper is higher education small group teaching sessions and our data are drawn from a one million word corpus, the Limerick-Belfast Corpus of Academic Spoken English (LI-BEL CASE). Our methodology combines corpus linguistics (CL) and applied conversation analysis (CA), enabling quantitative findings to be elaborated by more close-up qualitative analysis of sequences of interaction. Using a combined CL and CA approach (henceforth CLCA) enables us to consider more closely the relationships between, for example, interaction patterns and lexical chunks and to evaluate the extent to which tutors create or prevent opportunities for learning. Using CLCA, we offer a more detailed description of the linguistic and interactional features of turns at talk and consider how these features combine in the joint enterprise of meaning-making. Put simply, CLCA enables us to characterize seminar talk in a more systematic way. Starting at the level of turn, and using CA to move to a higher level of discourse, we can identify specific features of the spoken interaction, such as sequential organisation and topic management. Similarly, starting again at the level of turn but using CL, we can move our analysis to lower levels of discourse, such as cluster and word patterns, in order to see how words combine. This CLCA approach offers a fuller, richer description of talk in small-group teaching than would be found using either CA or CL alone. Finally, we offer an evaluation of a CLCA methodology and consider its applications in other research settings.
Synthesis and antimicrobial evaluation of substituted benzimidazolyl fluoroquinolones under conventional and microwave irradiation conditions
Authors: Guruswamy Batthini , Arul Ramakrishnan
Published: October 2012

New ciprofloxacin analogs 3a–i were prepared using a conventional methodology and with the help of a microwave irradiation technique. The structures of the synthesized compounds were established on the basis of spectral and analytical data. The antimicrobial activities of newly synthesized compounds were evaluated against a number of microorganisms by using ciprofloxacin as reference. Many of the evaluated compounds exhibit remarkable activities against Gram positive organisms such as Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococci, Bacillus spp., Gram negative organisms such as Escherichia coli, Klebsiella Pneumoniae, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Salmonella spp., Salmonella typhi and antifungal activity against Candida albicans. Among these, compounds 3a, 3b and 3i exhibit excellent antibacterial activity and products 3c and 3f show very good antifungal activity.
Synthesis of new tetracyclic paullone derivatives as potential CDK inhibitors
Authors: Koutsandrea Efthimia G. , Fousteris Manolis A. , Nikolaropoulos Sotiris S.
Published: October 2012

Synthetic efforts towards new tetracyclic heterocycles bearing the pyrrolo[2′,3′:5,6]azepino[4,3-b]indol-4(11H)-one core are described. Synthesized tetracyclic compounds are the first analogs, structurally related to protein kinase inhibitors paullones which incorporate an azepinone, an indole and a pyrrole ring. The synthetic approach involves palladium mediated intramolecular Heck coupling as a key step.
Synthesis of novel trifluoromethyl-containing heterocycle-fused troponoid compounds
Authors: Gao Wentao , Liu Rui , Li Yang
Published: October 2012

A facile synthesis of novel trifluoromethyl-containing pyrano-, pyrazolo- and isoxazolo-fused tropone compounds 4a,b, 5a,b, and 6a,b, respectively, by cyclizations of (E)-3-[3-(trifluoromethylphenyl)acryloyl]tropolones 3a,b is described. The substrates 3a,b were prepared by Claisen-Schmidt condensation reaction of 3-acetyltropolone (1) with 3- or 4-(trifluoromethyl)benzaldehydes 2a,b.
Expression of reprogramming factors in breast cancer cell lines and the regulation by activated Stat3
Authors: Yang Chul Min , Chiba Tomohiro , Groner Bernd
Published: October 2012

Distinct gene expression patterns, accompanied by particular epigenetic states, provide the basis for different stages of cellular differentiation. The programming of cells usually proceeds from stem cells to progenitor cells to differentiated progeny. The process, however, is not irreversible, and pluripotency can be reestablished in terminally differentiated cells through the expression of the reprogramming factors (RFs) octamer-binding transcription factor 3/4 (Oct4), sex-determining region Y box 2 (Sox2), Krüppel-like factor 4 (Klf4), and c-Myc. Tumor cell formation is characterized by partial differentiation, epigenetic alterations, and drastic changes in the transcriptional program. As the RF can cause pluripotency through cellular dedifferentiation and epigenetic alterations, it is possible that the activation of their genes might contribute to cellular transformation. The shared capacity for self-renewal between pluripotent stem cells and cancer stem cells is in line with this assumption. The deregulation of RF has been observed in poorly differentiated, high-grade breast cancer and is associated with unfavorable prognosis. Signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (Stat3) mediates a wide variety of cellular functions including survival, proliferation, and differentiation and is constitutively activated in tumor cells of diverse origins. Stat3 is also accelerates somatic cell reprogramming. We investigated the connection between Stat3 activation and the expression of RF in the breast cancer cell lines MCF-7, SK-BR-3, MDA-MB-231, and MDA-MB-468 and the normal mammary epithelial cell line MCF-10A by real-time quantitative PCR and immunoblot analyses. We detected strong expression of Sox2 and Klf4 messenger RNA (mRNA) in MCF-7 cells and the expression of Oct4 mRNA in all the four cell lines. Immunoblot analyses revealed the strong protein expression of homeobox protein Nanog (Nanog), Oct4, and Sox2 in MCF-7 cells. This cell line only contains a low level of phosphorylated Stat3. We also examined the effect of the Stat3 inhibitor Stattic on the expression of RF and observed that it suppressed mRNA and protein expression of RF in MCF-7 cells. The expression levels of reprogramming proteins can strongly differ from their mRNA expression levels and do not necessarily correspond with the extent of Stat3 activation in the cell lines compared.
The chromatin landscape of the casein gene locus
Authors: Rijnkels Monique , Kabotyanski Elena , Shore Amy , Rosen Jeffrey M.
Published: October 2012

For several decades, the regulation of casein gene expression by the lactogenic hormones, prolactin and glucocorticoids, has provided an excellent model system in which to study how steroid and peptide hormones regulate gene expression. Early studies of casein gene regulation defined conserved sequence elements in the 5′ flanking region of these genes, including one of which was identified as a γ-interferon activation sequence (GAS). Although this site was thought to interact with a mammary gland-specific factor, purification and cloning of this factor by Bernd Groner and his colleagues revealed it was instead a new member of the signal transducers and activators of transcription family, Stat5, which was expressed in many tissues. The exquisite tissue-specific expression of the casein genes was subsequently shown to depend not on a single transcription factor but on composite response elements that interacted with a number of ubiquitous transcription factors in response to the combinatorial effects of peptide and steroid hormone signaling. More recent studies have defined cooperative effects of prolactin and glucocorticoids as well as antagonistic effects of progesterone on the chromatin structure of both the casein gene proximal promoter region as well as a distal enhancer. Local chromatin modifications as well as long-range interactions facilitated by DNA looping are required for the hormonal regulation of β-casein gene expression. The casein genes are part of a large gene cluster, and the chromatin landscape of the entire cluster is regulated in a tissue-specific and developmental manner. Finally, newly discovered large non coding RNAs, such as the pregnancy-induced non coding RNA (PINC) may play an important role in the epigenetic regulation of mammary gland differentiation.
Genomic and bioinformatics tools to understand the biology of signal transducers and activators of transcription
Authors: Kang Keunsoo , Hennighausen Lothar
Published: October 2012

The signal transducer and activator of transcription (STAT) family is activated by cytokines and conveys biochemical signals to the genome through binding to specific regulatory sequences, called IFN-γ-activated sequence (GAS) motifs. As common GAS motifs (TTCnnnGAA) contain only six conserved nucleotides, the mammalian genome harbors hundreds of thousands of copies of this sequence. However, it is not possible to predict which specific GAS motifs bind to STATs and are of functional significance. Here, we apply several layers of statistical, bioinformatics and experimental analyses to narrow down the number of GAS sites that might be of biological relevance. In particular, we determined the number of bona fide GAS motifs by utilizing publically available genome-wide STAT5 ChIP-seq data sets. Less than 10% of GAS motifs within the mouse genome are recognized by STAT5 in vivo and only a small portion of them are shared across different cell types. However, even bona fide STAT5 binding did not predict that the respective gene was under cytokine-STAT control. Therefore, additional bioinformatics, genomic and epigenetic parameters, such as patterns of histone modifications, are required to more reliably predict the behavior of cytokine-STAT regulatory networks.
Dissolution Rate of Various Limes into Steelmaking Slag
Authors: Maruoka Nobuhiro , Ishikawa Akira , Shibata Hiroyuki , Kitamura Shin-ya
Published: October 2012

In the steelmaking process, various solid oxides such as lime and dolomite are used as flux. It is well known that the dissolution rate of these oxides into the molten slag has an important role to increase the reaction rate between the steel and slag. Although CaO effectively removes phosphorus from iron, undissolved CaO remains in the slag. The dissolution rate of solid oxides has been previously measured using a sintered rod that was immersed and rotated in the molten slag. However, because this sintered rod was dense, it was difficult to estimate the dissolution rate of the solid oxides used in the actual operations. In this study, the dissolution rate of various limes into the slag was evaluated by measuring the compositional changes in the slag after the addition of these oxides into the molten slag.

In an experiment, slag was melted in an iron crucible and Ar gas was injected from the bottom of the crucible. An iron rod was used for stirring. Various limes were added to the molten slag and the slag was sampled at each interval. The slag samples were analyzed using XRF after 1:10-dilution with glass beads followed by fine grinding. A sintered rod of lime made from reagent powder of CaO was used as a dense oxide and the metallurgical lime, used in industrial operation, was used as a porous oxide after preheating at 1273 K. The dissolution rate of metallurgical lime was also measured. Three types of slag were used to evaluate the effect of reaction layer between the lime and molten slag on the dissolution rate of CaO–FeO–SiO2, B2O3-CaO-FeO, and Al2O3-CaO-FeO slag. The CaO–FeO–SiO2 slag caused the formation of a dense reaction layer of 2CaO–SiO2 around the lime. It was found that the influence of porosity of lime on the dissolution rate was not so strong when the reaction layer formed. On the other hand, when the reaction layer did not form, the dissolution rate of the porous lime was higher than that of the dense lime because of the penetration effect of slag into the lime. The dissolution rate of metallurgical lime was fast compared with dense and porous limes due to the gas formation internally.
Rheological Behaviors of the Glass Paste for Hermetic Sealing the Edge of the Vacuum Glazing
Authors: Zhang Xinlin , Zhao Junyan , Luo Shiyong , Xu Wencai
Published: October 2012

Vacuum glazing is a new building material with excellent energy conservation and sound insulation properties. Usually, the edge sealing layer between two sheets of glass substrates is prepared by spraying the seal glass paste and then sintering. In the present research, a more effective preparation method is reported. The edge sealing layer is prepared with a glass paste by screen printing and then sintering. The glass paste for the preparation of edge sealing layer of vacuum glazing was composed of low melting glass powder, ZrW2O8 powder with negative coefficient of thermal expansion and ethyl cellulose terpineol solution. The rheological, thixotropy and the screen printing behaviors of the typical paste were characterized and discussed. To get a thicker as-printed layer, the paste has high solid content and little thixotropy. The typical paste behaves a typical rheological behavior of pseudoplastic fluid. The test result of the shear strength of the sealing layer indicated that the sealing is reliable.
Viscosity Determination of Molten Ash from Low-Grade US Coals
Authors: Zhu Jingxi , Nakano Jinichiro , Kaneko Tetsuya Kenneth , Mu Haoyuan , Bennett James P. , Kwong Kyei-Sing , Rozelle Peter , Sridhar Seetharaman
Published: October 2012

In entrained slagging gasifiers, the fluidity of the molten ash is a critical factor for process control since it affects slag formation, the capture of inorganic constituents, refractory wear, and slag drainage along the gasification chamber walls. The use of western coal, or mixtures of eastern and western coals as gasifier feedstock, is likely to occur as western coals become available and technological issues that hinder their use are being resolved. In the present work, the viscosity of synthetic slags with ash chemistries simulating the western U.S. coals, was experimentally measured at a Po2 = 10−8 atm in the temperature range of 1773–1573 K (1500–1300 °C) using a rotating-bob viscometer. Alumina spindles and containment crucibles of both alumina and zirconia were used. Crystallization studies of this slag using a confocal scanning laser microscope found that a (Mg,Fe)Al2O4-based spinel precipitated at temperatures below 1723 K (1450 °C), and this agreed with FactSage equilibrium phase prediction. The same spinels were observed in the post-viscometry experiment slags when ZrO2 crucibles were used and assumed to be in equilibrium with the slag at the higher temperatures. Zirconia dissolution resulted in a slight increase in the solid fraction present in slags at lower temperatures, compared to spinel fraction. Crystal precipitation changed the apparent activation energy and required a longer stabilization times for viscosity measurements. The viscosity results were used in predictive equations based on Veytsman and Einstein's models, with critical nucleation temperatures and the solid fraction calculated with FactSage. In the simulated eastern/western coal feedstock blends based on ash compositions, the fractions of the solid precipitates were also calculated using the thermodynamic program FactSage for each blend composition, and the plastic viscosity of each eastern/western coal slag blend was predicted using Veytsman's model and compared to available experimental data.
A Thermodynamic Analysis of the Selective Sulphidation of Nickel from a Nickeliferous Lateritic Ore
Authors: Harris C. T. , Pickles C. A. , Peacey J. G.
Published: October 2012

The production of a nickel sulphide concentrate through selective sulphidation of a nickeliferous lateritic ore at temperatures lower than current smelting temperatures, is being studied as a potential production method for upgrading lateritic ores. The ability to produce such a nickel sulphide concentrate at economically attractive grades, while achieving reasonable nickel recoveries, relies on the conversion of the maximum amount of nickel oxide to sulphide, while minimizing the amount of iron sulphide. This paper examines the thermodynamic basis for this selective sulphidation. The analysis includes both pure component equilibrium as well as various solid and liquid solution phases, which are anticipated to set limits on the maximum achievable grade/recovery combinations. Thermodynamic calculations show that, for high iron limonitic ores, grades of up to 20 to 25 mass percent nickel should be possible, while maintaining recoveries of greater than 80 percent.
Interfacial Phenomena in Fe-TiC Systems and the Effect of Cr and Ni
Authors: Kiviö Miia , Holappa Lauri , Yoshikawa Takeshi , Tanaka Toshihiro
Published: October 2012

Titanium carbide is used as reinforcement component in composites due to its stability, hardness and wear resistance. A potential application is local reinforcement of stainless steel castings in which TiC is added only to the surfaces, which acquire wear resistance. This work is part of the study in which Ti and C are added in the mould during casting of stainless steel to form TiC at a specific surface. Wettability, stability and dissolution of the reinforcement particles are key phenomena in producing these composites in liquid state. Wetting experiments between TiC and Fe as well as FeNi and FeCr alloys were performed in order to get information about wettability, dissolution and formation of TiC and other phases related to the systems. Contact angles for the systems were attained without any reactions between the substrate and the alloy during heating. Wetting was not significantly improved by adding Ni or Cr. Dissolution of TiC was very strong into all the alloys. No new phases at the interface were formed in the experiments except for Cr-carbides in Cr-containing alloys. These results gave important information about the interfacial phenomena needed in developing the production methods.
The Use of Thermodynamic Modeling to Examine Alkali Recirculation in the Iron Blast Furnace
Authors: Jak Evgueni , Hayes Peter
Published: October 2012

It is widely recognized that alkali metals, such as, potassium and sodium can cause operational problems in the iron blast furnace. These elements can influence properties, such as, the softening and melting of ores, formation of scaffolds, coke properties, and refractory life. It has been established that recirculation of these elements occurs within the furnace. In the lower furnace vaporization occurs in the high temperature hearth and bosch regions, and condensation occurs in the upper furnace below or in the cohesive zone. For these reasons the input of alkalis into the furnace is strictly controlled.

Optimized thermodynamic databases describing slags in the system Al2O3-CaO-FeO-Fe2O3-Na2O-K2O-MgO-SiO2 have been developed and, combined with the computer software FactSage; these databases have been used to predict the possible behaviour of alkalis in the blast furnace and to examine the effects of changing process variables on reactor performance. To demonstrate this approach to process modeling the furnace is considered as a two-stage equilibrium reaction system and the results of initial analysis are reported.
Quercetin protects against testicular toxicity induced by chronic administration of therapeutic dose of quinine sulfate in rats
Authors: Farombi Ebenezer O. , Ekor Martins , Adedara Isaac A. , Tonwe Kingsley E. , Ojujoh Timi O. , Oyeyemi Matthew O.
Published: October 2012

Background: Quinine, a rapidly acting blood schizonticide with a long history of use for the treatment of malaria, is gradually been implicated in reproductive toxicity.

Methods: In this study, testicular and spermatotoxic effects of quinine sulfate (QS) following treatment with an oral dose of 10 mg/kg/day (normal therapeutic dose) for 8 weeks was investigated in male albino rats. Toxicity was evaluated by assessing antioxidant defense capacity and markers of oxidative stress and testicular dysfunction in the testes and epididymal sperm. The possible ameliorative effect of quercetin (QC), when co-administered with QS, was also assessed.

Results: Administration of QS induced oxidative stress in rats. The activities of superoxide dismutase, catalase, and malondialdehyde (a marker of lipid peroxidation) increased (p<0.05) both in the testes and epididymal sperm following QS treatment when compared with saline-treated (control) rats. Ascorbic acid levels were significantly reduced, with an insignificant decrease in glutathione and testosterone levels in the QS-treated rats, when compared with control. The spermiogram decreased with increase in total sperm abnormalities in QS-treated rats and was associated with histopathological changes. Our results revealed that QC significantly ameliorated QS-induced testicular toxicity and oxidative stress.

Conclusions: The testicular toxicity of QS is in part due to impairment of testicular antioxidant defense, spermatogenesis and enhancement of lipid peroxidation. Also, the ability of QC to reverse the deleterious effects of QS on the testes and epididymis qualifies it as a potent chemo-protective agent against QS-induced reproductive toxicity.
Carotenoid lutein protects rats from gastric ulcer induced by ethanol
Authors: Sindhu Edakkadath R. , Kuttan Ramadasan
Published: October 2012

Background: Carotenoid lutein was evaluated for antiulcerogenic activity in rats.

Methods: Gastric ulcer was induced in fasted rats by oral administration of ethanol (95%) (5 mL/kg body weight). Lutein (100 and 250 mg/kg body weight) was administered everyday for 5 days prior to alcohol administration.

Results: The ulcer index which is a measure of the severity of ulcers was found to be reduced in lutein-treated groups. Morphological and histopathological examination supported the protection of lutein during alcohol-induced damage in rat stomach. Antioxidant enzymes, such as catalase, super oxide dismutase, glutathione peroxidase as well as glutathione levels, which were found to be reduced in the gastric mucosa of alcohol-treated groups, were found to be elevated after lutein treatment.

Conclusions: The mechanism of antiulcer activity may be due to the inhibition of oxidative stress produced by alcohol by lutein administration. These findings suggest the potential therapeutic use of lutein as an effective antiulcer agent.
Two types of cochlear hair cells with two different modes of activation are better than one
Authors: Sohmer Haim
Published: October 2012

The hair cells are the receptor cells of the inner ear. There is still controversy concerning the mechanism of their activation. Studies on the hair cells of the bullfrog sacculus have provided much information on the activity of hair cells. However, the mammalian cochlea has two different types of hair cells – the inner hair cells (IHCs) and the outer hair cells (OHCs) – and it is likely that their activation mechanisms are not identical. Mechanical manipulations of the cochlea and measurements of the passive and active displacements of the basilar membrane in the normal and postmortem cochleas provide evidence that the OHCs are activated directly by the fluid pressures induced in the cochlea by low-level sound, and not indirectly by a passive traveling wave. The activated OHCs produce active displacements (the cochlear amplifier) which excite the IHCs, probably by deflecting their stereocilia, followed by excitation of the auditory nerve fibers.