bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Characterization of Tapioca Starch Biopolymer Composites Reinforced with Micro Scale Water Hyacinth Fibers
Authors: Abral Hairul , Dalimunthe Maro Hagabean , Hartono Joko , Efendi Rice Putra , Asrofi Mochamad , Sugiarti Eni , Sapuan S. M. , Park Ji‐Won , Kim Hyun‐Joong
Published: March 2018

This paper reports on the properties of microscale water hyacinth fiber pulp (WHF) filled tapioca starch biopolymer (TSB) composites. The volume fraction of WHF in the TSB matrix is varied, that is, 1%, 3%, 5%, and 10%. A casting method is used for making sample films of the biocomposites. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) of the fracture surface of the biocomposite for the tensile samples displays good fiber distribution in the matrix, and interface bonding between WHF and TSB. The 10% fiber biocomposite deliveres the highest value of tensile strength (TS) of 6.68 MPa, and tensile modulus (TM) of 210.95 MPa; however, this combination also has the lowest fracture strain of 7.30%. In this case, there was 549% improvement of TS and 973% of TM in comparison to TSB. The biocomposite with 10% WHF content also showes the highest thermal resistance and the lowest moisture absorption. It shows potential for future commercial applications.
Degradation assessment of metal oxide varistors using a statistical experimental design
Authors: Bokoro Pitshou , Doorsamy Wesley
Published: March 2018

The proliferation of metal oxide varistor (MOV) arresters in various industries prompts the need to improve reliability thereof. This is only achievable through first expanding current knowledge of these devices, particularly with regard to degradation mechanisms. Currently, there are no methods available to conclusively evaluate factors suspected of influencing degradation. This study investigates two such factors, namely, microstructural composition and distorted voltage supply (harmonic distortion). Furthermore, a statistical experimental design methodology is proposed to definitively assess the significance of the effects of these factors on the degradation of MOV arresters. The experimental methodology comprises thermally accelerated degradation under distorted and nondistorted voltage and scanning electron microscopy. Samples from three different manufacturers are used for the study. Results indicate that the differences in microstructural composition, owing to manufacturing differences, have a significant effect on the failure rate and, thus, on the reliability of MOV arresters. Distorted supply voltage is also found to have a significant effect on the failure rate of MOV arresters. © 2018 Institute of Electrical Engineers of Japan. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Climate change and society in the 15th to 18th centuries
Authors: Degroot Dagomar
Published: March 2018

Scholars in many disciplines have used diverse methods and sources to establish that, between the 15th and 18th centuries, a “Little Ice Age” considerably cooled Earth's climate. In four particularly chilly periods—the Spörer Minimum, Grindelwald Fluctuation, Maunder Minimum, and Dalton Minimum—falling temperatures both caused and reflected changes in atmospheric circulation that altered regional patterns of precipitation. Many scholars have argued that weather in these cold periods provoked or worsened regional food shortages, famines, rebellions, wars, and outbreaks of epidemic disease, in ways that may have contributed to mass mortality across the early modern world. More recently, some scholars have contrasted the fates of societies or communities that were “vulnerable” to climate change with those that were “resilient” or even consciously or unconsciously adaptive in the face of the Little Ice Age. Overall, research that connects climatic and social histories has suggested that human decisions, political structures, economic arrangements, institutions, and cultures either magnified or mitigated the impact of climate change on the societies of the early modern world.

This article is categorized under:

Climate, History, Society, Culture > Major Historical Eras
An optimized FAIRE procedure for low cell numbers in yeast
Authors: Segorbe David , Wilkinson Derek , Mizeranschi Alexandru , Hughes Timothy , Aaløkken Ragnhild , Váchová Libuše , Palková Zdena , Gilfillan Gregor D.
Published: March 2018

We report an optimized low‐input FAIRE‐seq (Formaldehyde‐Assisted Isolation of Regulatory Elements‐sequencing) procedure to assay chromatin accessibility from limited amounts of yeast cells. We demonstrate that the method performs well on as little as 4 mg of cells scraped directly from a few colonies. Sensitivity, specificity and reproducibility of the scaled‐down method are comparable with those of regular, higher input amounts, and allow the use of 100‐fold fewer cells than existing procedures. The method enables epigenetic analysis of chromatin structure without the need for cell multiplication of exponentially growing cells in liquid culture, thus opening the possibility of studying colony cell subpopulations, or those that can be isolated directly from environmental samples.
Finite-Horizon Ruin Probabilities in a Risk-Switching Sparre Andersen Model
Authors: Gajek Lesław , Rudź Marcin
Published: March 2018

After implementation of Solvency II, insurance companies can use internal risk models. In this paper, we show how to calculate finite-horizon ruin probabilities and prove for them new upper and lower bounds in a risk-switching Sparre Andersen model. Due to its flexibility, the model can be helpful for calculating some regulatory capital requirements. The model generalizes several discrete time- as well as continuous time risk models. A Markov chain is used as a ‘switch’ changing the amount and/or respective wait time distributions of claims while the insurer can adapt the premiums in response. The envelopes of generalized moment generating functions are applied to bound insurer’s ruin probabilities.
A XANES Study of Sulfur Speciation and Reactivity in Cokes for Anodes Used in Aluminum Production
Authors: Jahrsengene Gøril , Wells Hannah C. , Rørvik Stein , Ratvik Arne Petter , Haverkamp Richard G. , Svensson Ann Mari
Published: March 2018

Availability of anode raw materials in the growing aluminum industry results in a wider range of petroleum cokes being used to produce carbon anodes. The boundary between anode grade cokes and what previously was considered non-anode grades are no longer as distinct as before, leading to introduction of cokes with higher sulfur and higher trace metal impurity content in anode manufacturing. In this work, the chemical nature of sulfur in five industrial cokes, ranging from 1.42 to 5.54 wt pct S, was investigated with K-edge XANES, while the reactivity of the cokes towards CO2 was measured by a standard mass loss test. XANES identified most of the sulfur as organic sulfur compounds. In addition, a significant amount is identified (16 to 53 pct) as S-S bound sulfur. A strong inverse correlation is observed between CO2-reactivity and S-S bound sulfur in the cokes, indicating that the reduction in reactivity is more dependent on the amount of this type of sulfur compound rather than the total amount of sulfur or the amount of organic sulfur.
Recruitment and retention strategies for an urban adolescent study: Lessons learned from a multi‐center study of community‐based asthma self‐management intervention for adolescents
Authors: Grape Annette , Rhee Hyekyun , Wicks Mona , Tumiel‐Berhalter Laurene , Sloand Elizabeth
Published: March 2018

Intervention studies with urban adolescents and families affected by asthma are critical to improving the disproportionate morbidity in this population. Community‐based recruitment and retention strategies in a multi‐site longitudinal project evaluating an asthma self‐management intervention for adolescents are presented. Successful recruitment strategies depended on the geographic and cultural characteristics of each study site. Partnering with providers and groups known to the target population and in‐person contact with target population were found effective. Flexibility accommodating modified and new approaches, securing multiple contacts and repeating mailings as well as capitalizing on the benefits of subject payment was critical to achieving long‐term subject engagement of 85% in the study. Ongoing monitoring and adjustment of recruitment and retention strategies is recommended.
Denominator Matters in Estimating Antimicrobial Use: A Comparison of Days Present and Patient Days
Authors: Moehring Rebekah W. , Dodds Ashley Elizabeth S. , Ren Xinru , Lokhnygina Yuliya , Baker Arthur W. , Jones Travis M. , Lewis Sarah S. , Sexton Daniel J. , Anderson Deverick J. ,   the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Epicenters Program
Published: March 2018

Patient days and days present were compared to directly measured person time to quantify how choice of different denominator metrics may affect antimicrobial use rates. Overall, days present were approximately one-third higher than patient days. This difference varied among hospitals and units and was influenced by short length of stay.

Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol 2018;39:612–615
Accurate surface exposure dating with lichens
Authors: Bull William B.
Published: March 2018

Lichenometry accurately dates exposure times of glacial moraines and landslides when measuring the longest axis of the largest crustose lichen on many blocks, as demonstrated by numerous examples. In Sweden, the sizes ofRhizocarponsubgenusRhizocarpondescribe five pulses of glacial moraine creation in 120 yr. Six historic California earthquakes, between AD 1800 and 1906, caused many landslides that constrain lichen growth as linear with a dating accuracy of±0.5 yr. Crustose lichen sizes date earthquake-created additions to Sierra Nevada talus with an accuracy of±5 yr. The oldest lichen ages are 400 yr forLecanora sierrae, 800 yr forLecidea atrobrunnea, and 1100 yr forAcarospora chlorophanaandRhizocarponsubgenusRhizocarpon. Lichen sizes also record differing spatial attenuation of ground shaking from the magnitude (Mw) ~7.9 San Andreas earthquake of AD 1857 and the more distant, smaller San Jacinto AD 1800 earthquake, which both caused Sierra Nevada rockfalls. AD 1800 seismic shaking was relatively stronger than that of AD 1857 farther north, perhaps expressing stronger Love and Rayleigh styles of surface waves from the north-trending AD 1800 surface rupture that were particularly efficient in causing rockfalls at greater distances.
A High-Resolution 14C Chronology Tracks Pulses of Aggradation of Glaciofluvial Sediment on the Cormor Megafan between 45 and 20 ka BP
Authors: Hippe Kristina , Fontana Alessandro , Hajdas Irka , Ivy-Ochs Susan
Published: March 2018

During the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) the Tagliamento glacier delivered large amounts of sediment to the Cormor alluvial megafan on the southern Alpine foreland basin. To build a chronology of Late Pleistocene glacier fluctuations and assess the timing of the transition from interstadial to glacial conditions, we have performed radiocarbon (14C) dating on peat and macrofossil samples obtained from a drilling core from the distal Cormor megafan. Our chronology records fluvial and glaciofluvial aggradation from the end of MIS 3 until the end of the LGM. It shows a rapid transmission of signals of environmental change along the Cormor megafan, so that changes in the activity of the Tagliamento glacier directly affect glaciofluvial sedimentation. Our data demonstrate that the intrinsic heterogeneity of peat is most critical for the reliability and reproducibility of the obtained 14C ages. Macrofossil subsamples give evidence for significant mixing of organic components of different ages within single peat samples. Sample heterogeneity is also underlined by the results obtained from testing of different laboratory precleaning methods. Our results suggest that a rigorous ABA pretreatment is sufficient for peat cleaning. In contrast, the chemically stronger ABOX methods appear to rapidly degrade the peat, particularly destroying older organic components.
Change and Continuity at IBM: Key Themes in Histories of IBM
Authors: Cortada James W.
Published: March 2018

IBM has been the subject of considerable study by historians, economists, business management professors, and journalists. This essay surveys the various writings on the company, placing their contributions in a roughly chronological account of the company's history, from its early days in tabulating through to its dominance of global markets in computing. The essay includes well-known studies of IBM in addition to more obscure accounts. It emphasizes the need to consider the company's culture along with its technological and managerial changes in order to grasp the reasons for its longevity.
Deals with the Devil? Conflict Amnesties, Civil War, and Sustainable Peace
Authors: Dancy Geoff
Published: March 2018

Do legal amnesties for combatants help end civil wars? International policy experts often take it for granted that amnesties promote negotiated settlements with rebels. However, a large number of amnesties are followed by continued fighting or a return to the battlefield. What, then, are the factors that make amnesties effective or ineffective? In this article I use a disaggregated data set of all amnesties enacted in the context of internal war since 1946 to evaluate a bargaining theory of amnesties and peace. Testing hypotheses about conflict patterns using models that account for selection, I find that (1) only amnesties passed following conflict termination help resolve civil wars, (2) amnesties are more effective when they are embedded in peace agreements, and (3) amnesties that grant immunity for serious rights violations have no observable pacifying effects. These policy-relevant findings represent a new breakthrough in an ossified “peace versus justice” debate pitting security specialists against global human rights advocates.
EFFICIENCY AND FUTURE GENERATIONS
Authors: Broome John
Published: March 2018

Standard lessons from economics tell us that an externality creates inefficiency, and that this inefficiency can be removed by internalizing the externality. This papers considers how successfully these lessons can be extended to intergenerational externalities such as emissions of greenhouse gas. For intergenerational externalities, the standard lessons involve comparisons between states whose populations of people differ, either in their identities or their numbers. Common notions of efficiency break down in these comparisons. This paper supplies a new notion of efficiency that allows the lessons to survive, but at the cost of reducing their practical significance.
Revising China's Strategic Culture: Contemporary Cherry-Picking of Ancient Strategic Thought
Authors: Ghiselli Andrea
Published: March 2018

This article looks at the influence of ancient military thinkers, especially Sunzi, in Chinese strategic culture today to shed light on a critical aspect of Alastair Iain Johnston's work on strategic culture: the relationship between the foreign policy elites and the cultural artefacts and symbols at the origin of strategic culture. The empirical analysis revolves around a large number of articles published by Chinese military scholars and officers between 1992 and early 2016 in the PLA Academy of Military Science's journal,China Military Science. The conclusion is that some elements of Chinese ancient military thought are readily apparent in China's military doctrine and operations today. These elements clearly call for a realist vision of the world, especially within the PLA. Yet, the analysis also prompts reflection on how to positively engage China on non-traditional security issues.
Why Did Women Vote for Donald Trump?
Authors: Setzler Mark , Yanus Alixandra B.
Published: March 2018

Popular accounts of the 2016 presidential election attribute Donald Trump’s victory to the mobilization of angry white men seeking to restore traditional values and social roles. Whereas a majority of Trump voters were male, more than 40% of women who went to the polls on Election Day also supported him. This analysis explores the motivations of these women, asking how partisanship, demographics, and beliefs motivated their vote choice. We found that, although party affiliation was an important predictor of both women’s and men’s vote choice, sexism and racial resentment had a greater influence on voters of both genders. Moreover, the influence of these biases was similar for women and men.
Do Introductory Political Science Courses Contribute to a Racial “Political Efficacy Gap”? Findings from a Panel Survey of a Flagship University
Authors: Centellas Miguel , Rosenblatt Cy
Published: March 2018

This article examines findings of a panel study of more than 1,000 students enrolled in introductory political science courses at a flagship public university. The survey assessed whether completing an introductory course had a positive effect on political efficacy, focusing on gender and race. We found that, at the aggregate level, completing an introductory political science course had little or no impact on self-reported measures of political efficacy. However, we found evidence of significant differences in external political efficacy between black and white students, even when controlling for factors such as background characteristics and course performance (i.e., grades). Our findings raise important questions about the “civic” function of the undergraduate political science curriculum, particularly regarding racial political inequalities.
DICKENS IN BYRON'S CHAIR: AUTHENTICITY, AUTHOR PORTRAITS, AND NINETEENTH-CENTURY VISUAL CULTURE
Authors: Shannon Mary L.
Published: March 2018

Dickens's comic account ofa charity dinner for the “Indigent Orphans’ Friends Benevolent Institution” in his sketch “Public Dinners” (Sketches by ‘Boz’) is illustrated in the 1838 serial and 1839 volume editions with the image in Figure 2.
MAKING MARKETS: INFORMATION AND PARODY IN VICTORIAN COMMERCIAL REPRESENTATION
Authors: Hunt Aeron
Published: March 2018

In the early months of 2012 excitement built for the initial public offering of Facebook, the behemoth social media company with the boy-wonder CEO. Two days before shares began trading on May 18, the IPO was expected to generate $16 billion for the company, placing it third after General Motors and Visa in the list of largest IPOs in the United States to that date. In the “frenzy” leading up to the IPO, the New York Times reported waiting lists at events for potential investors and speculation about where “newly minted Facebook billionaires” would go for a drink, while the company revealed its plans to celebrate with a “hackathon” featuring employee DJs and Red Bull (Rusli and Eavis).
GLIMMERINGS OF THE POSTMODERN IN THOMAS HARDY'SJUDE THE OBSCURE
Authors: Elbarbary Samir
Published: March 2018

In their evaluation ofJude the Obscure(1895), some earlier literary critics have justifiably (given the historical context) judged the text by the standards of the then dominant and sustained New Criticism trend, taking into account its symbiotic relationship with modernist aesthetics. The basic premise behind this conception was the aesthetic notion of structural and thematic unity as well as coherence and integrity of character. These notions were high on the agenda of the New Criticism of the 1940s and onwards. The narrative was found most lacking in this respect. An article entitled, “Hardy and the Fragmentation of Consciousness” (1975) by Harold L. Weatherby, a foremost Hardy critic, serves as an outstanding example of such a critical view. It makes the case that what ailsJudeis its unruliness and disjunctiveness: “the brilliance of the novel's peripheries can scarcely compensate for a profound weakness at its center. Indeed the centre cannot hold: the book falls into fragments” (“Hardy” 469). Weatherby continues, arguing that “There is no unified authorial consciousness” (470), that “Hardy as narrator contradicts himself repeatedly in his estimation of what is right or wrong, good or bad, for his characters” (470), and that it is “an artistic failure . . . failing to achieve unity and coherence” (479). Hardy, in addition, is undeservedly dismissed as “the old-fashioned man from Wessex” (483) – which reminds us of the well-known “good little Thomas Hardy” epithets of Henry James's adverse judgment (Cox xxxi). The article also associates incoherence and contradictions in the narrative with attitudinal ambivalences in Hardy's own mind (473, 476). Undeniably,Judeis permeated with incoherence. Who can disagree? It is deeply involved in sustained and unsettled opposition and what may be termed the play of Derrideandifférance(Positions14). And, indeed, Hardy himself acknowledges the tangle of disconnections and self-contradictions disrupting the stability of character in a notebook admission (which shows it to be his design):

Of course the book is all contrasts . . . Sue and her heathen gods set against Jude's reading the Greek testament; Christminster academical, Christminster in the slums; Jude the saint, Jude the sinner; Sue the Pagan, Sue the saint, marriage, no marriage; &c., &c. (Life272–73)
“THREE LEAGUES AWAY FROM A HUMAN COLOUR”: NATSUME SOSEKI IN LATE-VICTORIAN LONDON
Authors: Dunbar Ann-Marie
Published: March 2018

Natsume Soseki arrived in Londonin October 1900, with great expectations, both his own and those of the Japanese government officials who sponsored his scholarship to study abroad for two years. Soseki would eventually become one of the most important figures in modern Japanese literature, featured on Japan's 1000-yen note from 1984 to 2004; before he wrote the novels that earned him such fame – includingI Am a Cat(1906),And Then(1910), andKokoro(1914) – Soseki, who was then a young English teacher in the Japanese provinces, was sent to study English language and literature as part of Japan's large-scale modernization and westernization efforts, following the “opening” of Japan to the West by Commodore Matthew Perry in 1854 and the Meiji Restoration of 1868. Soseki's London sojourn coincided with the peak of British imperial might and also Japan's emergence as a world power. Soseki witnessed numerous important historical events as the Victorian era drew to a close, including the return of troops from the second Boer War and Queen Victoria's funeral procession. Following the Sino-Japanese War of 1894–95, Japan won major financial and territorial concessions from China, a sign of Japan's new military power and ambition. Indeed, much of the funding for the “rapid expansion of the Japanese higher education system” came from these war reparations that “essentially bankrupted the Chinese government, hastening the downfall of the Qing Dynasty and the Sino-centric order in Asian culture. . . . Soseki's journey to London – metropole of the British Empire – was part and parcel of the geopolitical rise of one empire and the fall of another” (Bourdaghs, Ueda, and Murphy 4). Questions of empire and the relative strength of nations were very much on Soseki's mind during his time in London. During what was then a fifty-day journey by sea from Japan to England, “all ports between Yokohama and Marseilles were under British, French, or Dutch rule” (Hirakawa 171).
Source of bias in sugar-sweetened beverage research: a systematic review
Authors: Litman Ethan A , Gortmaker Steven L , Ebbeling Cara B , Ludwig David S
Published: March 2018

Objective

Financial conflicts of interest involving the food industry have been reported to bias nutrition studies. However, some have hypothesized that independently funded studies may be biased if the authors have stronga prioribeliefs about the healthfulness of a food product (‘white hat bias’). The extent to which each source of bias may affect the scientific literature has not been examined. We aimed to explore this question with research involving sugar-sweetened beverages (SSB) as a test case, focusing on a period during which scientific consensus about the adverse health effects of SSB emerged from uncertainty.

Design

PubMed search of worldwide literature was used to identify articles related to SSB and health risks published between 2001 and 2013. Financial relationships and article conclusions were classified by independent groups of co-investigators. Associations were explored by Fischer’s exact tests and regression analyses, controlling for covariates.

Results

A total of 133 articles published in English met inclusion criteria. The proportion of industry-related scientific studies decreased significantly with time, from approximately 30 % at the beginning of the study period to <5 % towards the end (P=0·003). A ‘strong’ or ‘qualified’ scientific conclusion was reached in 82 % of independentv. 7 % of industry-related SSB studies (P<0·001). Industry-related studies were overwhelmingly more likely to reach ‘weak/null’ conclusions compared with independent studies regarding the adverse effects of SSB consumption on health (OR=57·30, 95 % CI 7·12, 461·56).

Conclusion

Industry-related research during a critical period appears biased to underestimate the adverse health effects of SSB, potentially delaying corrective public health action.
Meanings of encounters for close relatives of people with a long-term illness within a primary healthcare setting
Authors: Zotterman Anna Nygren , Skär Lisa , Söderberg Siv
Published: March 2018

Background

Encounters play an important role in the relationship between healthcare personnel and the close relatives of people with a long-term illness.

Aim

The aim of this study was to elucidate the meanings of encounters for close relatives of people with a long-term illness within a primary healthcare setting.

Methods

Interviews using a narrative approach were conducted with seven women and three men, and the phenomenological hermeneutic method was used to interpret the interview texts.

Results

The structural analysis revealed three major themes: being confirmed as a family, being informed of the care, and being respected as a valuable person. Close relatives stated that they wanted to be confirmed as a family and have a familiar and trusting relationship with healthcare personnel. They valued being informed concerning the care of the ill person so that they could give support at home. It was also important to be compassionately viewed as an important person in a welcoming atmosphere based on respect and dignity.
Reciprocity in the Co-Production of Public Services: The Role of Volunteering through Community Time Exchange?
Authors: Burgess Gemma , Durrant Daniel
Published: March 2018

Time Credits are a form of community currency based upon the reciprocal exchange of time and represent an interpretation of ‘time banking’ by a UK social enterprise, Spice. This article sets out the contribution made by research on Time Credits to the theory and practice of co-production in public services. Time Credits are intended to improve wellbeing through volunteering and ultimately increase economic participation. There is a focus on communities exhibiting high levels of deprivation within a small Cambridgeshire town (Wisbech, UK) which is geographically isolated and characterised by low-skilled, agri-food based employment opportunities that attracted high levels of inward migration from the A8 EU accession countries. In separating the rhetoric from the reality of co-production, the research aims to shed some light upon the extent to which such initiatives can realistically engender a shift towards a more reciprocal economy in the context of an ongoing programme of fiscal austerity.
Wholesale produce auctions and regional food systems: The case of Seneca produce auction
Authors: Reid Judson , Simmonds Derek , Newbold Elizabeth
Published: March 2018

Produce auctions are local aggregation points that facilitate access for small-scale fruit, flower and vegetable farmers to wholesale buyers from a broader geography. Buyers purchase lots from multiple farmers to fulfill wholesale demand and then retail the product to the consumers. Sales are held multiple times per week to create a consistent supply for buyers and a regular market for the farmers. With over 70 produce auctions located in eastern North America, this is a growing trend of intermediated markets. Currently, there are six active produce auctions in New York State, with two more in planning stages. Produce auctions have a positive economic impact on the communities in which they are located, as well as on those who sell and/or buy at the auction. Community values inherent to these populations contribute to the success of produce auctions as an intermediated market. As the auction market channel continues to grow, buyer and consumer education on the benefits of local auctions is important. As these auctions are based in horse-and-buggy communities, extension education needs to be tailored to Amish and Mennonite populations. Auction houses, as well as farmers, will need to stay current with federal food safety regulations and market-based requirements to remain competitive.
Reflexive and Reasoned Religious Nationalism: The Exploratory Case of Russia
Authors: Bacon Edwin
Published: March 2018

Nationalism theory has long acknowledged that in its relation to nationalism, “religion” can refer both to a reflexive identity attached to a people group, and to a reasoned value-based position articulated by an élite. Even this bifurcation remains insufficiently precise. Religio-nationalisms reasonedex patria—that is, beginning with the nationalist and proceeding from there to incorporate religion—tend toward values of exclusivity and animosity toward “the other”. They have been charged with hijacking religion as an identity while being at odds with those who actively practice that religion or lead its practicing community. The exploratory case of the relationship between Russian Orthodoxy and Russian nationalism allows a comparison ofex patriareligio-nationalism with itsex religiocounterpart. It supports the hypothesis that when reasoned religio-nationalism begins with the religious and proceeds to the nationalist, emphases such as inclusivity and benevolence—rather than exclusivity and animosity—are to the fore.
From Colonial Performers to Actors of ‘American Liberty’:Black Artists in Bourbon and Revolutionary Río de la Plata
Authors: Borucki Alex
Published: March 2018

From the late eighteenth century through most of the nineteenth, Buenos Aires and Montevideo were hosts to a joint theatrical circuit characterized by the regular comings and goings of impresarios, artisans, musicians, and actors between the two cities. The military conflicts that shaped this period actually encouraged these connections, as they stimulated both exile and repatriation between one locale and the other. Africans, and particularly their Rioplatense descendants, were an integral part of popular entertainment circuits in Buenos Aires and Montevideo. Some of the first Argentinean historians of theater and music, among them Vicente Gesualdo and Teodoro Klein, were aware of this connection and included in their initial scholarship links that connect the history of free and enslaved Afro-descendants to the early theater of Río de la Plata.
Ugly ducklings—the dark side of plastic materials in contact with potable water
Authors: Neu Lisa , Bänziger Carola , Proctor Caitlin R. , Zhang Ya , Liu Wen-Tso , Hammes Frederik
Published: March 2018

Bath toys pose an interesting link between flexible plastic materials, potable water, external microbial and nutrient contamination, and potentially vulnerable end-users. Here, we characterized biofilm communities inside 19 bath toys used under real conditions. In addition, some determinants for biofilm formation were assessed, using six identical bath toys under controlled conditions with either clean water prior to bathing or dirty water after bathing. All examined bath toys revealed notable biofilms on their inner surface, with average total bacterial numbers of 5.5 × 106 cells/cm2 (clean water controls), 9.5 × 106 cells/cm2 (real bath toys), and 7.3 × 107 cells/cm2 (dirty water controls). Bacterial community compositions were diverse, showing many rare taxa in real bath toys and rather distinct communities in control bath toys, with a noticeable difference between clean and dirty water control biofilms. Fungi were identified in 58% of all real bath toys and in all dirty water control toys. Based on the comparison of clean water and dirty water control bath toys, we argue that bath toy biofilms are influenced by (1) the organic carbon leaching from the flexible plastic material, (2) the chemical and biological tap water quality, (3) additional nutrients from care products and human body fluids in the bath water, as well as, (4) additional bacteria from dirt and/or the end-users’ microbiome. The present study gives a detailed characterization of bath toy biofilms and a better understanding of determinants for biofilm formation and development in systems comprising plastic materials in contact with potable water.
Hypothesis: can the abscopal effect explain the impact of adjuvant radiotherapy on breast cancer mortality?
Authors: Jatoi Ismail , Benson John R. , Kunkler Ian
Published: March 2018

Radiotherapy is an integral component of loco-regional therapy for breast cancer. Randomized controlled trials indicate that increasing the extent of extirpative surgery primarily reduces the risk of local recurrences, while the addition of radiotherapy to surgery can also reduce the risk of distant recurrences, thereby lowering breast cancer-specific mortality. This may suggest an “abscopal” effect beyond the immediate zone of loco-regional irradiation that favorably perturbs the natural history of distant micrometastases. Immunological phenomena such as “immunogenic cell death” provide a plausible mechanistic link between the local and systemic effects of radiation. Radiotherapy treatment can stimulate both pro-immunogenic and immunosuppressive pathways with a potential net beneficial effect on anti-tumor immune activity. Upregulation of programmed cell death ligand (PD-L1) by radiotherapy is an immunosuppressive pathway that could be approached with anti-PD-L1 therapy with potential further improvement in survival. The world overview of randomized trials indicates that the breast cancer mortality reduction from adjuvant radiotherapy is delayed relative to that of adjuvant systemic treatments, and similar delays in the separation of survival curves are evident in the majority of randomized immunotherapy trials demonstrating treatment efficacy. In this article, we hypothesize that an abscopal effect may explain the benefit of radiotherapy in reducing breast cancer mortality, and that It might be possible to harness and augment this effect with systemic agents to reduce the risk of late recurrences.
Passivation behaviour of aluminium current collector in ionic liquid alkyl carbonate (hybrid) electrolytes
Authors: Theivaprakasam Sowmiya , Girard Gaetan , Howlett Patrick , Forsyth Maria , Mitra Sagar , MacFarlane Douglas
Published: March 2018

The compatibility of current collectors with the electrolyte plays a major role in the overall performance of lithium batteries, critical to obtain high storage capacity as well as excellent capacity retention. In lithium-ion batteries, in particular with cathodes that operate at high voltage such as lithium nickel cobalt manganese oxide, the cathodic current collector is aluminium and it is subjected to high oxidation potentials (>4 V vs. Li/Li+). As a result, the composition of the electrolyte needs to be carefully designed in order to stabilise the battery performance as well as to protect the current collectors against corrosion. This study examines the role of a hybrid electrolyte composed of an ionic liquid (N-methyl-N-propyl pyrrolidinium bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl)imide or N-methyl-N-propyl pyrrolidinium bis(fluorosulfonyl)imide) and a conventional electrolyte mixture (LiPF6 salt and alkyl carbonate solvents) with correlation to their electrochemical behaviour and corrosion inhibition efficiency. The hybrid electrolyte was tested against battery grade aluminium current collectors electrochemically in a three-electrode cell configuration and the treated aluminium surface was characterised by SEM/EDXS, optical profilometry, FTIR, and XPS analysis. Based on the experimental results, the hybrid electrolytes allow an effective and improved passivation of aluminium and lower the extent of aluminium dissolution in comparison with the conventional lithium battery electrolytes and the neat ionic liquids at high anodic potentials (4.7 V vs. Li/Li+). The mechanism of passivation behaviour is also further investigated. These observations provide a potential direction for developing improved hybrid electrolytes, based on ionic liquids, for higher energy density devices.
Palmitic Acid Induces Müller Cell Inflammation that is Potentiated by Co-treatment with Glucose
Authors: Capozzi Megan E. , Giblin Meredith J. , Penn John S.
Published: March 2018

Chronic hyperglycemia is thought to be the major stimulator of retinal dysfunction in diabetic retinopathy (DR). Thus, many diabetes-related systemic factors have been overlooked as inducers of DR pathology. Cell culture models of retinal cell types are frequently used to mechanistically study DR, but appropriate stimulators of DR-like factors are difficult to identify. Furthermore, elevated glucose, a gold standard for cell culture treatments, yields little to no response from many primary human retinal cells. Thus, the goal of this project was to demonstrate the effectiveness of the free fatty acid, palmitic acid and compare its use alone and in combination with elevated glucose as a stimulus for human Müller cells, a retinal glial cell type that is activated early in DR pathogenesis and uniquely responsive to fatty acids. Using RNA sequencing, we identified a variety of DR-relevant pathways, including NFκB signaling and inflammation, intracellular lipid signaling, angiogenesis, and MAPK signaling, that were stimulated by palmitic acid, while elevated glucose alone did not significantly alter any diabetes-relevant pathways. Co-treatment of high glucose with palmitic acid potentiated the expression of several DR-relevant angiogenic and inflammatory targets, including PTGS2 (COX-2) and CXCL8 (IL-8).
GDNF-expressing macrophages mitigate loss of dopamine neurons and improve Parkinsonian symptoms in MitoPark mice
Authors: Chen Cang , Li Xiuhua , Ge Guo , Liu Jingwei , Biju K. C. , Laing Suzette D. , Qian Yusheng , Ballard Cori , He Zhixu , Masliah Eliezer , Clark Robert A. , O’Connor Jason C. , Li Senlin
Published: March 2018

Glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF) is the most potent neuroprotective agent tested in cellular and animal models of Parkinson’s disease (PD). However, CNS delivery of GDNF is restricted by the blood-brain barrier (BBB). Using total body irradiation as transplant preconditioning, we previously reported that hematopoietic stem cell (HSC) transplantation (HSCT)-based macrophage-mediated gene therapy could deliver GDNF to the brain to prevent degeneration of nigrostriatal dopamine (DA) neurons in an acute murine neurotoxicity model. Here, we validate this therapeutic approach in a chronic progressive PD model – the MitoPark mouse, with head shielding to avoid inducing neuroinflammation and compromising BBB integrity. Bone marrow HSCs were transduced ex vivo with a lentiviral vector expressing macrophage promoter-driven GDNF and transplanted into MitoPark mice exhibiting well developed PD-like impairments. Transgene-expressing macrophages infiltrated the midbrains of MitoPark mice, but not normal littermates, and delivered GDNF locally. Macrophage GDNF delivery markedly improved both motor and non-motor symptoms, and dramatically mitigated the loss of both DA neurons in the substantia nigra and tyrosine hydroxylase-positive axonal terminals in the striatum. Our data support further development of this HSCT-based macrophage-mediated GDNF delivery approach in order to address the unmet need for a disease-modifying therapy for PD.
Bioaccessible selenium sourced from Se-rich mustard cake facilitates protection from TBHP induced cytotoxicity in melanoma cells
Authors: Jaiswal Sumit K. , Prakash Ranjana , Prabhu K. Sandeep , Tejo Prakash N.
Published: March 2018

Bioaccessible selenium inhibits TBHP toxicity in melanoma cells.
Identification of PP1–Gadd34 substrates involved in the unfolded protein response using K-BIPS, a method for phosphatase substrate identification
Authors: Dedigama-Arachchige Pavithra M. , Acharige Nuwan P. N. , Pflum Mary Kay H.
Published: March 2018

The K-BIPS method exploits the phosphatase sensitivity of kinase-catalyzed biotinylation to identify the substrates of phosphatases, including here the substrates of the PP1–Gadd34 complex.
A high energy density asymmetric supercapacitor utilizing a nickel phosphate/graphene foam composite as the cathode and carbonized iron cations adsorbed onto polyaniline as the anode
Authors: Mirghni A. A. , Madito M. J. , Oyedotun K. O. , Masikhwa T. M. , Ndiaye N. M. , Ray Sekhar. J. , Manyala N.
Published: March 2018

This work presents the effect of different contents of graphene foam (GF) on the electrochemical capacitance of nickel phosphate Ni3(PO4)2 nano-rods as an electrode material for hybrid electrochemical energy storage device applications.
Efficient separation of rare earths recovered by a supported ionic liquid from bauxite residue leachate
Authors: Avdibegović Dženita , Regadío Mercedes , Binnemans Koen
Published: March 2018

Rare earths are separated from base metals in bauxite residue leachate by a supported ionic liquid phase.
Zr-Based MOFs integrated with a chromophoric ruthenium complex for specific and reversible Hg2+sensing
Authors: Wang Zhe , Yang Jian , Li Yongsheng , Zhuang Qixin , Gu Jinlou
Published: March 2018

Zr-MOFs integrated with an inherent chromophoric Ru-containing complex were utilized for Hg2+detection and SCN groups in ligands play a decisive role in the detection process.
Estuary-on-a-chip: unexpected results for the fate and transport of nanoparticles
Authors: Gigault Julien , Balaresque Marianne , Tabuteau Hervé
Published: March 2018

The aim of this work is to evaluate the influence of a spatial salinity gradient, as encountered in estuaries when fresh water meets salt water, on the aggregation features of fullerene nanoparticle aggregates (nC60).
Achieving highly practical capacitance of MnO2 by using chain-like CoB alloy as support
Authors: Yan Jingjing , Wang Hui , Ji Shan , Pollet Bruno G. , Wang Rongfang
Published: March 2018

A uniform coating of an MnO2 layer on the chain-like CoB surface was formed to improve the cycling stability.
Silver triflate/p-TSA co-catalysed synthesis of 3-substituted isocoumarins from 2-alkynylbenzoates
Authors: Gianni Jonathan , Pirovano Valentina , Abbiati Giorgio
Published: March 2018

A well-balanced composition of catalytic system partners makes the approach cheap, quick, regioselective, mild, general, scalable and high-yielding.
Carbonylative coupling of N-chloroamines with alcohols: synthesis of esterification reagents
Authors: Yin Zhiping , Wang Zechao , Wu Xiao-Feng
Published: March 2018

Herein we report a new method for the carbonylative synthesis of carbamates.
Dynamically crosslinked carbon dots/biopolymer hydrogels exhibiting fluorescence and multi-stimuli logic-gate responses
Authors: Shen Chun , Zhao Yue , Liu Hou , Jiang Yingnan , Li Hui , Lan Shaowei , Bao Huizheng , Yang Bai , Lin Quan
Published: March 2018

Herein, nanocomposite hydrogels are constructed for detection of multiple external stimuli by the naked-eye.
Radiant star nanoparticle prodrugs for the treatment of intracellular alveolar infections
Authors: Das D. , Srinivasan S. , Brown F. D. , Su F. Y. , Burrell A. L. , Kollman J. M. , Postma A. , Ratner D. M. , Stayton P. S. , Convertine A. J.
Published: March 2018

Radiant star nanoparticle prodrugs were synthesized in a two-step process by first homopolymerizing RAFT transmers followed by copolymerization from the hyperbranched polymer core.
Metallocene influence on poly(cyclosilane) structure and properties
Authors: Folster Carlton P. , Klausen Rebekka S.
Published: March 2018

Poly(cyclosilane)s, conjugated polymers inspired by crystalline silicon, are synthesized by group 4 metallocene-promoted dehydrocoupling polymerization.
Large spontaneous polarization in polar perovskites of PbTiO3–Bi(Zn1/2Ti1/2)O3
Authors: Pan Zhao , Jiang Xingxing , Chen Jun , Hu Lei , Yamamoto Hajime , Zhang Linxing , Fan Longlong , Fan Xi'an , Li Yawei , Li Guangqiang , Ren Yang , Lin Zheshuai , Azuma Masaki , Xing Xianran
Published: March 2018

With the substitution of Bi(Zn0.5Ti0.5)O3, a continuously enhanced spontaneous polarization up to 112 μC cm−2has been observed in (1 −x)PbTiO3–xBi(Zn0.5Ti0.5)O3.
A novel adaptive ensemble classification framework for ADME prediction
Authors: Yang Ming , Chen Jialei , Xu Liwen , Shi Xiufeng , Zhou Xin , Xi Zhijun , An Rui , Wang Xinhong
Published: March 2018

AECF is a GA based ensemble method. It includes four components which are (1) data balancing, (2) generating individual models, (3) combining individual models, and (4) optimizing the ensemble.
Through tissue imaging of a live breast cancer tumour model using handheld surface enhanced spatially offset resonance Raman spectroscopy (SESORRS)
Authors: Nicolson Fay , Jamieson Lauren E. , Mabbott Samuel , Plakas Konstantinos , Shand Neil C. , Detty Michael R. , Graham Duncan , Faulds Karen
Published: March 2018

Detection of a live 3D tumour model through 15 mm of tissue using SESORRS.
Transition-metal-free decarboxylative bromination of aromatic carboxylic acids
Authors: Quibell Jacob M. , Perry Gregory J. P. , Cannas Diego M. , Larrosa Igor
Published: March 2018

Aromatic acids are converted into aryl bromides simply and efficiently via decarboxylation providing new depth and insight into Hunsdiecker-type reactivity.
Zinc ion as effective film morphology controller in perovskite solar cells
Authors: Chen Renjie , Hou Dagang , Lu Chaojie , Zhang Jing , Liu Peng , Tian Hui , Zeng Zhaobing , Xiong Qi , Hu Ziyang , Zhu Yuejin , Han Liyuan
Published: March 2018

There exists stronger chemical interaction between Zn2+ and CH3NH3+/I−, which effectively influences the morphology of perovskite film during annealing process.
Carbon dioxide capture in the presence of water by an amine-based crosslinked porous polymer
Authors: Abdelnaby Mahmoud M. , Alloush Ahmed M. , Qasem Naef A. A. , Al-Maythalony Bassem A. , Mansour Rached B. , Cordova Kyle E. , Al Hamouz Othman Charles S.
Published: March 2018

A new cross-linked porous polymer was synthesized and its performance in the capture of carbon dioxide from a ternary gas mixture was demonstrated, and properties retained for over 45 cycles. This report represents one of the top performing porous organic materials for carbon capture.
Enhanced cycling stability of Li–O2 batteries by using a polyurethane/SiO2/glass fiber nanocomposite separator
Authors: Luo Kun , Zhu Guangbin , Zhao Yuzhen , Luo Zhihong , Liu Xiaoteng , Zhang Kui , Li Yali , Scott Keith
Published: March 2018

The cycle performance of Li–O2 batteries is significantly enhanced by using a PU/SiO2/GF nanocomposite separator, which effectively protects the Li anode from corrosion by soluble oxidative intermediates from the ORR, and the dendritic growth of Li crystals during cycling is also inhibited.
Improved light-harvesting and thermal management for efficient solar-driven water evaporation using 3D photothermal cones
Authors: Wang Yuchao , Wang Canzhu , Song Xiangju , Huang Minghua , Megarajan Suresh Kumar , Shaukat Saleem Farooq , Jiang Heqing
Published: March 2018

A 3D photothermal cone was developed to optimize light harvesting via multiple reflections within rational morphology for high-efficiency solar-driven evaporation.
Spiro-substitution effect of terfluorenes on amplified spontaneous emission and lasing behaviors
Authors: Zuo Zongyan , Ou Changjin , Ding Yongjie , Zhang He , Sun Sixian , Xie Linghai , Xia Ruidong , Huang Wei
Published: March 2018

Spiro terfluorenes are shown to have improved ASE properties and the impressive lasing threshold of terfluorenes is demonstrated.