bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Globalization standards: A comparison of U.S. and non-U.S. social studies curricula
Authors: Luciano Beltramo J. , Duncheon Julia C.
Published: April 2013

As political and economic systems of the world become increasingly globalized, education systems in developed nations have established standardized curriculum. Meanwhile, opposing interpretations of globalization, neoliberalism and progressivism, have inspired the growth of different paradigmatic models for global education. Grounded in neoliberalism, the human capital model views education as a means for preparing a skilled workforce; derived from progressivism, the world systems model focuses on educating individuals for global citizenship and civic participation. The purpose of this document analysis is two-fold: (1) to examine the social studies content standards of the U.S. and other developed countries to determine how globalization is presented in state-mandated curricula, and (2) to evaluate whether the depiction of globalization in each set of standards reflects a human capital or world systems model. Our findings indicate that U.S. state content standards heavily emphasize the economics of globalization; non-U.S. standards present a more holistic picture of globalization. Consequently, U.S. standards are more aligned with a human capital model of education whereas non-U.S. standards reflect a world systems interpretation. These findings suggest that students in the U.S. are prepared differently than their counterparts in other developed countries, which has implications for international relations.
Reprogramming of the HepG2 genome by long interspersed nuclear element‐1
Authors: Bojang Pasano , Roberts Ruth A. , Anderton Mark J. , Ramos Kenneth S.
Published: April 2013

Long Interspersed Nuclear Element‐1 (LINE‐1 or L1) is an autonomous, mobile element within the human genome that transposes via a “copy and paste” mechanism and relies upon L1‐encoded endonuclease and reverse transcriptase (RT) activities to compromise genome integrity. L1 has been implicated in various forms of cancer, but its role in the regulation of the oncogenic phenotype is not understood. The present studies were conducted to evaluate mechanisms of genetic regulatory control in HepG2 cells by human L1, or a D702Y mutant deficient in RT activity, and their influence on cellular phenotype. Forced expression of synthetic L1 ORF1p and ORF2p was associated with formation of cytoplasmic foci and minor association with the nuclear compartment. While de novo L1 mobilizations were only identified in cells expressing wild type L1, and were absent in the D702Y mutant, changes in gene expression profiles involved RT dependent as well as RT independent mechanisms. Synthetic L1 altered the expression of 24 in silico predicted genetic targets; ten of which showed RT‐dependence, ten RT‐independence, and four reciprocal regulatory control by both wild type and RT mutant. Of five targets examined, only VCAM1 and PTPRB colocalized with newly retrotransposed wild type L1. Biological discretization to partition patterns of gene expression into unique frequencies identified adhesion, inflammation, and cellular metabolism as key processes targeted for molecular interference with disruption of epithelial‐to‐mesenchymal programming seen irrespective of the RT phenotype. These findings establish L1 as a key regulator of genome plasticity and EMT via mechanisms independent of RT activity.
Dietary strawberries increase the proliferative response of CD3/CD28-activated CD8+ T cells and the production of TNF-α in lipopolysaccharide-stimulated monocytes from obese human subjects
Authors: Zunino Susan J. , Storms David H. , Freytag Tammy L. , Mackey Bruce E. , Zhao Ling , Gouffon Julia S. , Hwang Daniel H.
Published: April 2013

Obesity increases the risk of developing bacterial and viral infections compared with normal weight. In a 7-week double-blind, randomised, cross-over trial, twenty obese volunteers (BMI between 30 and 40 kg/m2) were fed freeze-dried strawberry powder or strawberry-flavoured placebo preparations to determine the effects of dietary strawberries on immune function. Blood was collected at six time points during the study and peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) were isolated at each time point and activated with CD3 plus CD28 antibodies (T-lymphocyte activation) or lipopolysaccharide (LPS, monocyte activation). Interferon-γ, TNF-α, IL-4 and IL-10 were measured in supernatants from the activated T cells. Supernatants from the activated monocytes were analysed for the production of TNF-α, IL-1β, IL-6 and IL-8. PBMC were pre-stained with PKH (Paul Karl Horan) dye and activated with CD3 plus CD28 antibodies to determine the proliferative responses of CD4+ and CD8+ T-lymphocytes by flow cytometry. To detect global changes in gene expression, microarray analysis was performed on LPS- and vehicle-treated PBMC from two subjects before and after the strawberry intervention. No difference was observed for the production of T-cell cytokines between the intervention groups. The production of TNF-α was increased in the supernatants from LPS-activated PBMC in the group consuming strawberries compared with the placebo. A modest increase in the proliferation of the CD8+ T-lymphocyte population was observed at 24 h post-activation. These data suggest that dietary strawberries may increase the immunological response of T-lymphocytes and monocytes in obese people who are at greater risk for developing infections.
Current issues surrounding the definition of trans-fatty acids: implications for health, industry and food labels
Authors: Wang Ye , Proctor Spencer D.
Published: April 2013

The definition of trans-fatty acids (TFA) was established by the Codex Alimentarius to guide nutritional and legislative regulations to reduce TFA consumption. Currently, conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) is excluded from the TFA definition based on evidence (primarily preclinical studies) implying health benefits on weight management and cancer prevention. While the efficacy of CLA supplements remains inconsistent in randomised clinical trials, evidence has emerged to associate supplemental CLA with negative health outcomes, including increased subclinical inflammation and oxidative stress (particularly at high doses). This has resulted in concerns regarding the correctness of excluding CLA from the TFA definition. Here we review recent clinical and preclinical literature on health implications of CLA and ruminant TFA, and highlight several issues surrounding the current Codex definition of TFA and how it may influence interpretation for public health. We find that CLA derived from ruminant foods differ from commercial CLA supplements in their isomer composition/distribution, consumption level and bioactivity. We conclude that health concerns associated with the use of supplemental CLA do not repudiate the exclusion of all forms of CLA from the Codex TFA definition, particularly when using the definition for food-related purposes. Given the emerging differential bioactivity of TFA from industrial v. ruminant sources, we advocate that regional nutrition guidelines/policies should focus on eliminating industrial forms of trans-fat from processed foods as opposed to all TFA per se.
Antarctic climate change and the environment: an update
Authors: Turner John , Barrand Nicholas E. , Bracegirdle Thomas J. , Convey Peter , Hodgson Dominic A. , Jarvis Martin , Jenkins Adrian , Marshall Gareth , Meredith Michael P. , Roscoe Howard , Shanklin Jon , French John , Goosse Hugues , Guglielmin Mauro , Gutt Julian , Jacobs Stan , Kennicutt Marlon C. , Masson-Delmotte Valerie , Mayewski Paul , Navarro Francisco , Robinson Sharon , Scambos Ted , Sparrow Mike , Summerhayes Colin , Speer Kevin , Klepikov Alexander
Published: April 2013

We present an update of the ‘key points’ from the Antarctic Climate Change and the Environment (ACCE) report that was published by the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR) in 2009. We summarise subsequent advances in knowledge concerning how the climates of the Antarctic and Southern Ocean have changed in the past, how they might change in the future, and examine the associated impacts on the marine and terrestrial biota. We also incorporate relevant material presented by SCAR to the Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meetings, and make use of emerging results that will form part of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Fifth Assessment Report.
TILT-A-WHIRL: a texture analysis package for 3D rendering of pole figures using Matlab
Authors: Rodriguez Mark A. , Pearl Megan R. , Van Benthem Mark H. , Griego James J. M. , Pillars Jamin R.
Published: April 2013

A new Matlab-based software suite called Tilt-A-Whirl has been applied to XRD data from textured gold films electro-deposited onto nickel substrates. The software routines facilitate phase identification, texture analysis via pole figure visualization, and macrostrain determination. The use of principal component analysis with multivariate curve resolution (PCA/MCR) revealed the extraction of texture components. The unusual hardness properties of one Au film (deposited from a 30% gold depleted BDT-200 bath) were found to be dependent on the (210) out-of-plane preferred orientation of the polycrystalline gold film. The progressive nucleation of Au crystallites during electro-plating has been tied to improved hardness properties of this film.
Facilitating design communication through engineering information traceability
Authors: Pavković Neven , Štorga Mario , Bojčetić Nenad , Marjanović Dorian
Published: April 2013

Traceability of information provides the basis for assessing the credibility of engineering information, better understanding it, and making judgments about the appropriateness of its use for a particular design task. The presented research attempts to answer how the proposed traceability methodology and framework could help designers to improve communication, eventually create new channels of communication, and contribute to the creation of shared understanding in collaborative design processes. The discussion of these issues is based on a literature review, empirical research, observations of industrial practice, and feedback from initial implementation. The research is focused on information objects (IOs), archetypically represented in the engineering domain as technical documents that are often complex structures constituted of textual, numerical, and graphical fragments. The presented approach is based on an abstraction of IOs' relationships organized around specific contexts that are defined by a subset of product development ontology. Each IO could be repeatedly represented in various contexts that may contain different subsets of objects and their relationships. Such a representation also acts as a container in which the ontology concept instances are associated with IOs being developed and traced during the design episode. The usage of the proposed traceability methodology is discussed with examples of implementation and possible utilization situations. The paper is focused on explaining how the developed functionalities could help to resolve manifestations of inadequate information flow, which cause communication barriers in engineering companies. In addition, the proposed traceability methodology offers the possibility to record the detailed history of actions and events associated with IOs in the usage process of the product life cycle management systems. Based on the research findings, this paper argues that such a network of the traceability links and relationships may be viewed as a novel design communication channel.
Communicating actionable user research for human-centered design
Authors: Roschuni Celeste , Goodman Elizabeth , Agogino Alice M.
Published: April 2013

In human-centered design, user research drives design decisions by providing an understanding of end users. In practice, different people, teams, or even companies manage each step of the design process, making communication of user research results a critical activity. Based on an empirical study of current methods used by experts, this paper presents strategies for effectively communicating user research findings across organizational or corporate boundaries. To build researcher–client relationships, understand both user and client needs, and overcome institutional inertia, this paper proposes viewing user research clients asusersof user research outcomes. This reframing of the crafting of communication across boundaries as a parallel internal human-centered design process we refer to as adouble ethnography.
Articulating (mis)understanding across design discipline interfaces at a design team meeting
Authors: Luck Rachael
Published: April 2013

Communication is both the problem and the solution to misunderstanding. It is the human communicative ability to display understanding to resolve misunderstandings that plays an important part in the organization of the design inputs to a construction project. Ambiguity and uncertainty, as different forms of misunderstanding, are studied in this article, as they are manifest in the conversation at a design meeting. In this setting the coordination of bothin situdesign activities and the planning of design tasks takes place in real time, in conversation. Exhibited are several ways that design ambiguities and uncertainties can be seen in the interactional details of a multidisciplinary design team's conversation, to then report on how different design expertise featured in the raising of, and attempts at resolving, the misunderstandings that arose. In the course of this meeting, ambiguity and uncertainty were observed not as neat, discrete phenomena but were interwoven in the conversation. This characteristic poses difficulties in the disambiguation of the problem-solving response to each form of misunderstanding and further develops our understanding of design as it is communicated and conducted in social interaction. Finally, some implications from this study are put forward to inform the design of support for collaborative design.
Social learning in design teams: The importance of direct and indirect communications
Authors: Singh Vishal , Dong Andy , Gero John S.
Published: April 2013

This paper discusses the effects of direct and indirect communications on social learning and task coordination in design teams. The findings reported in this paper are based on a computational model that simulates the formation of transactive memory (TM) through social learning from direct and indirect communications. Direct communications are explicit information exchanged between team members whereas indirect communication may be opportunistic and coincidental, resulting in learning and information gained through observations of the actions of others. However, team structure mediates opportunities for communication. Three types of team structures are studied, which are differentiated on the basis of their constraints on and opportunities for direct and indirect communications across the team. The differences across the team structures are investigated through a series of simulations in which team member retention, cognitive busyness of team members, and task complexity are additional moderating variables, and task coordination and formation of TM are the dependent variables. Fewer communications to coordinate the same tasks are taken as the measure of efficient task coordination. Findings suggest that reduction in communication and learning opportunities are more detrimental to the task coordination in flat teams as compared to functional teams. Indirect communications contribute more to the formation of TM than to task coordination. Flat teams facilitate the formation of TM, whereas functional teams are more appropriate for efficient task coordination, indicating that the role of TM in mediating task coordination varies with team structure.
Portable Suction Unit Failure in a Rural EMS System
Authors: Risavi Brian L. , Sabotchick K. J. , Heile Christopher J.
Published: April 2013

Introduction

Portable suction units used by EMS personnel are utilized infrequently and often are powered by batteries. Lack of use and inspection often results in failure of the device when it is needed. The purpose of this study was to examine the incidence of portable suction unit failure in a rural EMS system and to identify the reasons for failures.

Methods

A convenience sample was obtained through both random inspections by the staff of a regional EMS council and data from twice monthly checks reported by respective EMS agencies following a standard protocol for each unit. A standard protocol was used, including checking the vacuum level on each suction unit and inspecting the tubing, canister, and battery. Each inspector assessed whether the unit was capable of achieving 300 mmHg of suction within four seconds. Also, the unit was inspected for any signs of misalignment or dry rot of the gasket, kinking of suction hose, damage to the suction canister, weak/dead battery, or defective pump. Findings were recorded.

Results

Over a two-year period, 9,631 suction unit inspections were completed. There were 233 failures (2.4%) noted. The majority (126, 54.1%) were due to battery failure. Seventy-three units failed due to other reasons (not recorded, switch failure, battery not seated). Ten inspections failed due to incorrect assembly. Nineteen inspections failed due to defects with the suction canister. Five inspections failed due to kinked/disconnected suction tubing.

Conclusion

Only a relatively small percentage of inspections of suction units revealed failures (4.6% Advanced Life Support, 8.6% Basic Life Support) using the above-stated criteria. However, given the importance of airway management and potential complications associated with airway compromise, including aspiration pneumonia, hypoxia, and hemodynamic instability, this is of concern relative to the morbidity and mortality that could be related to airway failure. Due to the relative infrequency of use and the nature of portable suction units, the potential for lack of maintenance and deficiencies in routine inspection may impact the functional status of these devices in EMS agencies. Clearly, improved documentation of battery installation date, charging in accordance with manufacturer recommendations, and thorough inspection of the portable suction unit in its entirety will ensure readiness of these devices. Additionally, more rigorous documentation and analysis of inspections should be a focus of EMS agencies.

RisaviBL,SabotchickKJ,HeileCJ.Portable suction unit failure in a rural EMS system.Prehosp Disaster Med.2013;28(4):1-3.
Dietary diversification for prevention of anaemia among women of childbearing age from rural India
Authors: Rao Shobha , Joshi Smita , Bhide Pradnya , Puranik Bhairavi , Asawari Kanade
Published: April 2013

Objective

To assess the impact of an intervention modifying dietary habits for the prevention of anaemia in rural India.

Design

Intervention study with data on anthropometric (weight, height) measurements, Hb and diet pattern. As per the cut-off for Hb in the government programme, women with Hb <11 g/dl had to be given Fe tablets and formed the supplemented group while those with Hb > 11 g/dl formed the non-supplemented group.

Settings

Three villages near Pune city, Maharashtra, India.

Subjects

Rural non-pregnant women (n 317) of childbearing age (15–35 years).

Results

After 1 year of intervention, mean Hb increased (from 10·94 (sd 1·22) g/dl to 11·59 (sd 1·11) g/dl) significantly (P < 0·01) with a consequent reduction in the prevalence of anaemia (from 82·0 % to 55·4 %) as well as Fe-deficiency anaemia (from 30·3 % to 10·8 %). Gain in Hb was inversely associated with the initial level of Hb. Significant gain in Hb (0·57 g/dl) was observed among women attending >50 % of the meetings or repeating >50 % of the recipes at home (0·45 g/dl) in the non-supplemented group and was smaller than that observed in the supplemented group. Consumption of green leafy vegetables more than twice weekly increased substantially from 44·7 % to 60·6 %, as did consumption of seasonal fruits. Logistic regression showed that women with lower participation in the intervention had three times higher risk (OR = 3·08; 95 % CI 1·04, 9·13; P = 0·04) for no gain in Hb compared with those having high participation.

Conclusions

Developing action programmes for improving nutritional awareness to enhance the consumption of Fe-rich foods has great potential for preventing anaemia in rural India.
Prenatal exposure to phthalates is associated with decreased anogenital distance and penile size in male newborns
Authors: Bustamante-Montes L. P. , Hernández-Valero M. A. , Flores-Pimentel D. , García-Fábila M. , Amaya-Chávez A. , Barr D. B. , Borja-Aburto V. H.
Published: April 2013

Reproductive effects from phthalate exposure have been documented mostly in animal studies. This study explored the association between prenatal exposure to phthalate metabolites, anogenital distance and penile measurements in male newborns in Toluca, State of Mexico. A total of 174 pregnant women provided urine samples for phthalate analysis during their last prenatal visit, and the 73 who gave birth to male infants were included in the study. The 73 male newborns were weighed and measured using standardized methods after delivery. After adjusting for creatinine and supine length at birth, significant inverse associations were observed between an index of prenatal exposure to total phthalate exposure and the distance from the anus to anterior base of the penis (β = −0.191 mm per 1 μg/l, P = 0.037), penile width (β = −0.0414, P = 0.050) and stretched length (β = −0.2137, P = 0.034); prenatal exposure to mono-2-ethylhexyl phthalate exposure was associated with a reduction in the stretched length of the penis (β = −0.2604, P = 0.050). Human exposure to phthalates is a public health concern, and the system most vulnerable to its potential effects seems to be the immature male reproductive tract.
Deep sequencing of non-ribosomal peptide synthetases and polyketide synthases from the microbiomes of Australian marine sponges
Authors: Woodhouse Jason N , Fan Lu , Brown Mark V , Thomas Torsten , Neilan Brett A
Published: April 2013

The biosynthesis of non-ribosomal peptide and polyketide natural products is facilitated by multimodular enzymes that contain domains responsible for the sequential condensation of amino and carboxylic subunits. These conserved domains provide molecular targets for the discovery of natural products from microbial metagenomes. This study demonstrates the application of tag-encoded FLX amplicon pyrosequencing (TEFAP) targeting non-ribosomal peptide synthetase (NRPS) and polyketide synthase (PKS) genes as a method for determining the identity and diversity of natural product biosynthesis genes. To validate this approach, we assessed the diversity of NRPS and PKS genes within the microbiomes of six Australian marine sponge species using both TEFAP and metagenomic whole-genome shotgun sequencing approaches. The TEFAP approach identified 100 novel ketosynthase (KS) domain sequences and 400 novel condensation domain sequences within the microbiomes of the six sponges. The diversity of KS domains within the microbiome of a single sponge species Scopalina sp. exceeded that of any previously surveyed marine sponge. Furthermore, this study represented the first to target the condensation domain from NRPS biosynthesis and resulted in the identification of a novel condensation domain lineage. This study highlights the untapped potential of Australian marine sponges for the isolation of novel bioactive natural products. Furthermore, this study demonstrates that TEFAP approaches can be applied to functional genes, involved in natural product biosynthesis, as a tool to aid natural product discovery. It is envisaged that this approach will be used across multiple environments, offering an insight into the biological processes that influence the production of secondary metabolites.
Isomorph invariance of Couette shear flows simulated by the SLLOD equations of motion
Authors: Separdar Leila , Bailey Nicholas P. , Schrøder Thomas B. , Davatolhagh Saeid , Dyre Jeppe C.
Published: April 2013

Non-equilibrium molecular dynamics simulations were performed to study the thermodynamic, structural, and dynamical properties of the single-component Lennard-Jones and the Kob-Andersen binary Lennard-Jones liquids. Both systems are known to have strong correlations between equilibrium thermal fluctuations of virial and potential energy. Such systems have good isomorphs (curves in the thermodynamic phase diagram along which structural, dynamical, and some thermodynamic quantities are invariant when expressed in reduced units). The SLLOD equations of motion were used to simulate Couette shear flows of the two systems. We show analytically that these equations are isomorph invariant provided the reduced strain rate is fixed along the isomorph. Since isomorph invariance is generally only approximate, a range of strain rates were simulated to test for the predicted invariance, covering both the linear and nonlinear regimes. For both systems, when represented in reduced units the radial distribution function and the intermediate scattering function are identical for state points that are isomorphic. The strain-rate dependent viscosity, which exhibits shear thinning, is also invariant along an isomorph. Our results extend the isomorph concept to the non-equilibrium situation of a shear flow, for which the phase diagram is three dimensional because the strain rate defines a third dimension.
Photoemission spectroscopy study of the lanthanum lutetium oxide/silicon interface
Authors: Nichau A. , Schnee M. , Schubert J. , Besmehn A. , Rubio-Zuazo J. , Breuer U. , Bernardy P. , Holländer B. , Mücklich A. , Castro G. R. , von Borany J. , Buca D. , Mantl S.
Published: April 2013

Rare earth oxides are promising candidates for future integration into nano-electronics. A key property of these oxides is their ability to form silicates in order to replace the interfacial layer in Si-based complementary metal-oxide field effect transistors. In this work a detailed study of lanthanum lutetium oxide based gate stacks is presented. Special attention is given to the silicate formation at temperatures typical for CMOS processing. The experimental analysis is based on hard x-ray photoemission spectroscopy complemented by standard laboratory experiments as Rutherford backscattering spectrometry and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy. Homogenously distributed La silicate and Lu silicate at the Si interface are proven to form already during gate oxide deposition. During the thermal treatment Si atoms diffuse through the oxide layer towards the TiN metal gate. This mechanism is identified to be promoted via Lu–O bonds, whereby the diffusion of La was found to be less important.
Ion acceleration from laser-driven electrostatic shocks
Authors: Fiuza F. , Stockem A. , Boella E. , Fonseca R. A. , Silva L. O. , Haberberger D. , Tochitsky S. , Mori W. B. , Joshi C.
Published: April 2013

Multi-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations are used to study the generation of electrostatic shocks in plasma and the reflection of background ions to produce high-quality and high-energy ion beams. Electrostatic shocks are driven by the interaction of two plasmas with different density and/or relative drift velocity. The energy and number of ions reflected by the shock increase with increasing density ratio and relative drift velocity between the two interacting plasmas. It is shown that the interaction of intense lasers with tailored near-critical density plasmas allows for the efficient heating of the plasma electrons and steepening of the plasma profile at the critical density interface, leading to the generation of high-velocity shock structures and high-energy ion beams. Our results indicate that high-quality 200 MeV shock-accelerated ion beams required for medical applications may be obtained with current laser systems.
Analysis of the Urbach tails in absorption spectra of undoped ZnO thin films
Authors: Rai R. C.
Published: April 2013

We report the analysis of the Urbach effect in the absorption spectra of the undoped ZnO thin films. The absorption coefficients of the ZnO thin films show the exponential rise, also known as the Urbach tails, just below the free exciton peak. Fitting of the steepness parameter of the Urbach tails yields the phonon energy to be ℏωp=76 ± 4 meV, consistent with ℏωp=72 meV measured from the photoluminescence spectra of ZnO. The temperature dependence of the Urbach energy, the steepness parameter, and the energy gap strongly suggests that the observed Urbach effect is a result of the cumulative effect of impurities, structural disorders, and electron-phonon interaction in the absorption processes.
Nonresonant tunneling phonon depopulated GaN based terahertz quantum cascade structures
Authors: Freeman Will , Karunasiri Gamani
Published: April 2013

GaN based terahertz quantum cascade structures are theoretically studied. Since the Fröhlich interaction is ∼15 times higher in GaN than in GaAs, level broadening makes obtaining appreciable optical gain difficult even with a large population inversion. A density matrix Monte Carlo method is used to calculate the broadening of the optical gain spectra as a function of lattice temperature. We find by using a proposed method of nonresonant tunneling and electron-longitudinal-optical phonon scattering for depopulation of the lower lasing state, that it is possible to sufficiently isolate the upper lasing state and control the lower lasing state lifetime to obtain high optical gain in GaN. The results predict lasing out to 300 K which is significantly higher than for GaAs based structures.
An atomic-resolution nanomechanical mass sensor based on circular monolayer graphene sheet: Theoretical analysis of vibrational properties
Authors: Lei Xiao-Wen , Natsuki Toshiaki , Shi Jin-Xing , Ni Qing-Qing
Published: April 2013

Graphene sheet (GS) is a two-dimensional material with extremely favorable mass sensor properties. In this work, the potential of a nanoscale mass sensor based on individual single layer GS is examined. An atomic-resolution nanomechanical mass sensor is modeled by a fixed supported circular monolayer GS with attached nanoparticles, based on a continuum elastic model and Rayleigh's energy method. We analyze the vibrational properties of the GS used as a mass sensor in detail, and the relationship between the attached mass and the vibrational frequency (frequency shift) of the GS is simulated and discussed using the two models. The sensitivity of vibrational frequency (frequency shift) to both aspect ratio and vibration mode is demonstrated, and comparison of the two models proves their accuracy and that of the simulation of the monolayer GS mass sensor.
X-ray phase microscopy using the speckle tracking technique
Authors: Berujon Sebastien , Wang Hongchang , Pape Ian , Sawhney Kawal
Published: April 2013

Hard X-ray phase microscopy using the Speckle Tracking technique is presented and the practical implementation of this microscope explained. It is demonstrated that the spatial resolution of the Speckle Tracking technique can be pushed down to the nanometer scale without sacrificing the angular sensitivity, which is in the tens of nanoradians range. Moreover, the method is suitable for the analysis of dynamic samples. Experimental demonstration of the method is given for the case of phase imaging of micrometer size polystyrene spheres using a Fresnel zone plate as a magnifying optical element.
Finite gratings of many thin silver nanostrips: Optical resonances and role of periodicity
Authors: Shapoval Olga V. , Nosich Alexander I.
Published: April 2013

We study numerically the optical properties of the periodic in one dimension flat gratings made of multiple thin silver nanostrips suspended in free space. Unlike other publications, we consider the gratings that are finite however made of many strips that are well thinner than the wavelength. Our analysis is based on the combined use of two techniques earlier verified by us in the scattering by a single thin strip of conventional dielectric: the generalized (effective) boundary conditions (GBCs) imposed on the strip median lines and the Nystrom-type discretization of the associated singular and hyper-singular integral equations (IEs). The first point means that in the case of the metal strip thickness being only a small fraction of the free-space wavelength (typically 5 nm to 50 nm versus 300 nm to 1 μm) we can neglect the internal field and consider only the field limit values. In its turn, this enables reduction of the integration contour in the associated IEs to the strip median lines. This brings significant simplification of the scattering analysis while preserving a reasonably adequate modeling. The second point guarantees fast convergence and controlled accuracy of computations that enables us to compute the gratings consisting of hundreds of thin strips, with total size in hundreds of wavelengths. Thanks to this, in the H-polarization case we demonstrate the build-up of sharp grating resonances (a.k.a. as collective or lattice resonances) in the scattering and absorption cross-sections of sparse multi-strip gratings, in addition to better known localized surface-plasmon resonances on each strip. The grating modes, which are responsible for these resonances, have characteristic near-field patterns that are distinctively different from the plasmons as can be seen if the strip number gets larger. In the E-polarization case, no such resonances are detectable however the build-up of Rayleigh anomalies is observed, accompanied by the reduced scattering and absorption.
Low dose hard x-ray contact microscopy assisted by a photoelectric conversion layer
Authors: Gomella Andrew , Martin Eric W. , Lynch Susanna K. , Morgan Nicole Y. , Wen Han
Published: April 2013

Hard x-ray contact microscopyprovides images of dense samples at resolutions of tens of nanometers. However, the required beam intensity can only be delivered by synchrotron sources. We report on the use of a gold photoelectric conversion layer to lower the exposure dose by a factor of 40 to 50, allowing hard x-ray contact microscopy to be performed with a compact x-ray tube. We demonstrate the method in imaging the transmission pattern of a type of hard x-raygrating that cannot be fitted into conventional x-ray microscopes due to its size and shape. Generally the method is easy to implement and can record images of samples in the hard x-ray region over a large area in a single exposure, without some of the geometric constraints associated with x-ray microscopes based on zone-plate or other magnifying optics.
Quantum entanglement based on surface phonon polaritons in condensed matter systems
Authors: Ming Yang , Wu Zi-jian , Tan Ai-hong , Hu Xi-kui , Xu Fei , Lu Yan-qing
Published: April 2013

Surface phononpolariton (SPhP) is a special propagation mode in condensed matter systems. We present an investigation on the entanglement of SPhP modes. The entangled SPhP pairs are generated through launching entangled photons onto the grating coupling systems. The interaction Hamiltonian for the coupling process between entangled photons and entangled LRSPhPs is derived. State vector of the entangled LRSPhPs is obtained through the perturbation theory. The origin of LRSPhP entanglement is revealed. Wave mechanics approach is taken to describe the coupling process as an alteration. To present the nonlocality, the second-order correlation function is studied.
The nonlinear optical properties of coupling and decoupling graphene layers
Authors: Chen Wei , Wang Guang , Qin Shiqiao , Wang Chaocheng , Fang Jingyue , Qi Junli , Zhang Xueao , Wang Li , Jia Honghui , Chang Shengli
Published: April 2013

Third-order optical nonlinearities of graphene from monolayer to multilayers were investigated in the femtosecond regime, and the contribution of interlayer coupling to the nonlinearities was studied. The nonlinear refractive index γ of the order of 10−9 cm2/W and the nonlinear absorption coefficient β of 10−6 cm/W were obtained. By systematically investigating the nonlinear optical properties with the number of layers and comparing the coupling graphene with the decoupling superimposed graphene, we found that the coupling of interlayers has large effect upon the nonlinear refraction. These results provide an effective approach for developing graphene-based nonlinear photonic devices.
Electrostatic properties of few-layer MoS2 films
Authors: Hao Guolin , Huang Zongyu , Liu Yundan , Qi Xiang , Ren Long , Peng Xiangyang , Yang Liwen , Wei Xiaolin , Zhong Jianxin
Published: April 2013

Two-dimensional MoS2-based materials are considered to be one of the most attractive materials for next-generation nanoelectronics. The electrostaticproperties are important in designing and understanding the performance of MoS2-based devices. By using Kelvin probe force microscopy, we show that few-layer MoS2 sheets exhibit uniform surface potential and charge distributions on their surfaces but have relatively lower surface potentials on the edges, folded areas as well as defect grain boundaries.
Placing the Stakes: The Enactment of Territorial Stakeholders in Planning Processes
Authors: Metzger Jonathan
Published: April 2013

This paper is an investigation into processes of becoming-stakeholder. It focuses specifically on strategic spatial planning where the stakeholder concept has become one of the linchpins of much contemporary theory and practice. Through drawing upon the sociology of attachments and scholarship on subjectification, it is argued that the enactment of stakeholders in strategic planning processes can be gainfully understood as the production of stakeholder subjectivities by way of practices of ontological choreography which can generate territorial attachments and rearticulate existing attachments into a specifically territorial format. From this perspective, stakeholderness is never an ontologically pregiven property to be uncovered by diligent analysis. Rather, we might come to see that stakeholder subjectification is a process through which actors learn to be affected, and where these affections further come to be articulated as territorial attachments engendering, or at least prompting, a ‘caring for place’. Still, as relational effects, subjectivities are always potentially precarious achievements and it is important not to take for granted that the subjectivities enacted in a specific situation or setting will be easily transposable to other contexts.
Mainstreaming Environment and Development at the World Trade Organization? Fisheries Subsidies, the Politics of Rule-Making, and the Elusive ‘Triple Win’
Authors: Campling Liam , Havice Elizabeth
Published: April 2013

The relationship among trade liberalization, the environment, and socioeconomic development is marked by controversy, though it is well accepted that in practice economic interests often trump environmental concerns and that developing countries incur a range of costs to participate in, and comply with, multilateral and bilateral trade agreements. Politics and power dynamics in the rule-making process in liberalization negotiations are often implicated for generating these outcomes. To improve on this record, and in accordance with the rise in ‘market environmentalism’, World Trade Organization (WTO) members and advocacy groups have turned this rhetoric on its head and pushed for ‘synergy’ in which a single WTO rule to discipline fisheries subsidies at once liberalizes trade, generates an environmental improvement, and supports developing country aspirations—a much fêted ‘triple win’. We sketch the anatomy of the fisheries subsidies negotiations and explore how the triple win is used by blocks of states to justify different political—economic positions. This analysis sheds light on the challenges associated with seeking to use trade for the environment and for development and the dynamics that shape negotiations and the actually existing rules that emerge from the WTO.
Do Environmental Policy Instruments Influence Fiduciaries' Decisions?
Authors: Haigh Matthew M , Shapiro Matthew A
Published: April 2013

This paper examines the import for fiduciary investors (pension funds, insurance companies, and mutual funds in OECD countries) of companies' environmental performance levels in light of existing and nascent energy-usage and environmental management policies. The study is based on an experiment using a sample of fiduciaries located mainly in Europe, North America, and Australia. Subjects are allocated to one of two groups: one group invests with reference to environmental considerations, while the other tracks a conventional equities index. Responding participants indicate the frequency with which they use nominated sources of information and rate the importance of nominated types of information in their decisions concerning the portfolio. The results suggest that the wider population of fiduciaries considers existing policy measures to be of limited value, yet, on liquidity grounds, might be prepared to take environmental considerations into account in the portfolio construction process. Another contribution of this paper is its framing and consolidating of literature on energy and environmental management policy, environmental investing, and decision psychology.
Does Migration Make You Happy? A Longitudinal Study of Internal Migration and Subjective Well-Being
Authors: Nowok Beata , van Ham Maarten , Findlay Allan M , Gayle Vernon
Published: April 2013

The majority of quantitative studies on the consequences of internal migration focus almost exclusively on the labour-market outcomes and the material well-being of migrants. We investigate whether individuals who migrate within the UK become happier after the move than they were before, and whether the effect is permanent or transient. Using life-satisfaction responses from twelve waves of the British Household Panel Survey and employing a fixed-effects model, we derive a temporal pattern of migrants' subjective well-being around the time of the migration event. Our findings make an original contribution by revealing that, on average, migration is preceded by a period when individuals experience a significant decline in happiness for a variety of reasons, including changes in personal living arrangements. Migration itself causes a boost in happiness, and brings people back to their initial levels. The research contributes, therefore, to advancing an understanding of migration in relation to set-point theory. Perhaps surprisingly, long-distance migrants are at least as happy as short-distance migrants despite the higher social and psychological costs involved. The findings of this paper add to the pressure to retheorize migration within a conceptual framework that accounts for social well-being from a life-course perspective.
A Stochastic Actor-Based Modelling of the Evolution of an Intercity Corporate Network
Authors: Liu Xingjian , Derudder Ben , Liu Yaolin , Witlox Frank , Shen Wei
Published: April 2013

We adopt a stochastic actor-based modelling framework to present a longitudinal analysis of an intercity corporate network formed by 53 globalised advanced producer service firms across 107 cities for three different time points in the period 2000–10. Our longitudinal framework allows us to investigate the different processes underlying firm networks' dynamics. The observed network changes are explained by a combination of exogenous city characteristics (eg, GDP and population) and endogenous local network structures (eg, ‘star’ and ‘4-cycle’ structures). Our analysis contributes to an understanding of how interactions amongst cities and firms at the local scale give rise to the empirically observed network patterns at the global scale.
Insensible Worlds: Postrelational Ethics, Indeterminacy and the (k)Nots of Relating
Authors: Yusoff Kathryn
Published: April 2013

Within the context of biodiversity loss, this paper asks the question: What is response? In asking how responsibility is raised as a sensible question, I argue there is a need to address the insensible, immaterial, and untimely dimensions of matter and relations. I suggest that thinking along the cusp of the insensible offers a way into an expanded realm of relationality that queries the exclusions that govern the sphere of intelligibility, and help us think between natures to promote a noncontemporaneous ethics of apprehension. Taking up Jean-Luc Nancy's concept of sense and specifically his ideas around the direction of sense, I argue that the insensible is a realm of possibility within the praxis of social and affective norms of sense that may release other modes of being into being. This is a paper about sense as matter forming, as cohabitation, and as an exclusionary tactic that bears on the cohabitation of worlds. I argue that an understanding of how sense is enrolled into our habits of thought and theories of materialities is crucial if we are to create new practices of sensations and new sensibilities around such diffuse, recalcitrant, and dislocated issues as biodiversity loss, new forms of biotechnological life, and climate change. I conclude that if the insensible alerts us to the work of sense in securing the bringing into relation, its configurations, and its a priori orientations, then it also points towards modes of exclusion and forms of resistance in our thinking with nonhuman others that are before and beyond relationality.
Disciplining De Facto Development: Water Theft and Hydrosocial Order in Tijuana
Authors: Meehan Katharine
Published: April 2013

Informal and illegal water provision is increasingly targeted as an impediment to state authorities and water development in the Global South. In contrast, this paper uses a biopolitical approach to argue that state authorities use illegal forms of water provision as a source of power, particularly to discipline certain spaces and sectors of the population; and moreover, that such power geometries are deeply uneven. To support these claims, I examine the production and enforcement of illegal provision in two communities located in Tijuana, Mexico. I examine how water theft functions—including the key objects and practices that shape the illicit abstraction and distribution of water—and then examine how water theft is policed and enforced by state authorities. Following Foucault, I suggest these processes occur on a bodily and infrastructural level to discipline water users. Findings indicate that while water theft supplies a vital resource for marginalized citizens—often in communal ways that exceed state power—the alternating tolerance and repression of water illegality is largely used by authorities to maintain hydrosocial order and, in effect, to control informal modes of development. The paper concludes with implications for understanding water informality and the uneven spatiality of state power.