bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
The impact of high hydrostatic pressure (40 MPa and 60 MPa) on the apoptosis rates and functional activity of cryopreserved porcine mesenchymal stem cells
Authors: Romanek Joanna , Opiela Jolanta , Smorąg Zdzisław 
Published: September 2017

Abstract
The aim of the present study was to examine the influence of two varied high hydrostatic pressure (HHP) values on the apoptosis (assessing caspase-8, survivin, CAD, Bax, BclxL and BclxS) and functional activity (using cocultures with bovine embryos) of porcine mesenchymal stem cells (pBMSCs). pBMSCs were isolated from porcine bone marrow and cultured in vitro. Before cryopreservation and storage in liquid nitrogen, pBMSCs were subjected to HHP values of 40 MPa and 60 MPa for 1 h at 24°C. After thawing, the cells were analysed for caspase-8 activity and protein expression of survivin, CAD, Bax, BclxL and BclxS. To indirectly test the influence of HHP on the functional activity of pBMSCs, in vitro maturated bovine oocytes were fertilized in vitro, and the obtained embryos were cultured under 4 different conditions: 1. monoculture in SOF medium; 2. coculture with pBMSCs in SOF medium; 3. coculture with pBMSCs subjected to 40 MPa HHP in SOF medium and 4. coculture with pBMSCs subjected to 60 MPa HHP in SOF medium. The quality of the developed blastocysts was analysed by TUNEL assay. HHP did not induce apoptosis in pBMSCs, as no significant difference was noted in the expression of any of the analysed apoptosis- related proteins between pBMSCs subjected to HHP (40 MPa or 60 MPa) and control. The highest number of obtained blastocysts was observed when the embryos were cultured in SOF. A highly significant difference (P<0.005) was noted between embryos cultured in SOF and embryos cultured in the presence of pBMSCs subjected to 60 MPa HHP or untreated pBMSCs. A significant difference (P<0.05) was noted between embryos cultured in SOF and embryos cultured in the presence of pBMSCs subjected to 40 MPa HHP. In conclusion, HHP does not induce apoptosis in pBMSCs. The obtained results of the blastocysts cocultured in vitro with pBMSCs (HHP-treated and untreated cells) imply that coculture with pBMSCs has a negative impact on the developmental rates of blastocysts.
Urea Metabolism and Regulation by Rumen Bacterial Urease in Ruminants – A Review
Authors: Jin Di , Zhao Shengguo , Zheng Nan , Beckers Yves , Wang Jiaqi 
Published: September 2017

AbstractUrea is used as non-protein nitrogen in the rations of ruminants as an economical replacement for feed proteins. Urea transferred from the blood to the rumen is also an important source of nitrogen for rumen microbial growth. It is rapidly hydrolyzed by rumen bacterial urease to ammonia (NH3) and the NH3is utilized for the synthesis of microbial proteins required to satisfy the protein requirements of ruminants. Urea has commonly become an accepted ingredient in the diets of ruminants. In recent decades, urea utilization in ruminants has been investigated by using traditional research methods. Recently, molecular biotechnologies have also been applied to analyze urea-degrading bacteria or urea nitrogen metabolism in ruminants. Combining traditional and molecular approaches, we can retrieve better information and understanding related to the mechanisms of urea metabolism in ruminants. This review focuses on urea utilization in ruminants and its regulation by rumen bacterial urease in the host. The accumulated research provides foundations for proposing further new strategies to improve the efficiency of urea utilization in ruminants.
Why Multilingualism and Multilingual Communication Jeopardize a Common Social Policy for Europe
Authors: Marácz László 
Published: September 2017

AbstractThis paper studies the consequences of European multilingualism and multilingual communication for a common social policy in the Europe Union. In the past fifty years, the main focus of the Europeanization project has been on financial-economic developments and less on a common social policy. Even today, there is no common framework for social protection in the European Union. Common minimum income or wages for European citizens are lacking. In this paper, it will be argued that the lack of social protection has to do with Europe’s linguistic diversity. Language is seen as a building block of national communities and their political cultures. The European integration project can only continue if different European political cultures are shared. However, due to the fact that a neutral lingua franca is lacking, this has been unsuccessful so far. The interaction of social groups that have a different language repertoire with the structures of multilevel governance are responsible for the fact that some of these social groups, including the ‘Eurostars’, and national cosmopolitans benefit from social protection, whereas other groups lacking relevant language skills, such as anti-establishment forces, commoners, and migrants, are excluded from the European power domains. These power configurations can be fruitfully studied in the floral figuration model. Consequently, due to these patterns of inclusion and exclusion, true solidarity among European citizens is not within reach. These claims will be illustrated by a case study on the Netherlands, a country that has been pursuing neoliberal policies counterbalancing Eurozone and economic crises and is trying to assimilate migrants and other newcomers. Apart from assimilatory policies targeting migrants, language games used by competing forces are playing an important role in the discourse in order to set up power structures.
Old and New Minorities: Diversity Governance and Social Cohesion from the Perspective of Minority Rights
Authors: Medda-Windischer Roberta 
Published: September 2017

AbstractMinority rights instruments have been traditionally applied to old minority groups. This paper examines to what extent these same instruments are conceptually meaningful to the integration of new minorities stemming from migration. The conviction that minority groups, irrespective of their being old or new minorities, have some basic common claims that can be subsumed under a common definition does not mean that all minority groups have all the same rights and legitimate claims: some have only minimum rights, while others have or should be granted more substantial rights; some can legitimately put forward certain claims – not enforceable rights – that need to be negotiated with the majority, while others should not. In order to devise a common but differentiated set of rights and obligations for old and new minority groups, it is essential to analyse the differences and similarities of both categories of minorities, their claims, needs, and priorities; in this way, it will be possible to delineate a catalogue of rights that can be demanded by and granted to different minority groups. Studying the interaction between traditional minorities and migrants or old and new minority groups is a rather new task because so far these topics have been studied in isolation from each other. It is also an important task for future research in Europe since many states have established systems for the rights of old minorities but have not as yet developed sound policies for the integration of new minority groups stemming from migration.
Understanding the Narratives Explaining the Ukrainian Crisis: Identity Divisions and Complex Diversity in Ukraine
Authors: Smoor Lodewijk 
Published: September 2017

Abstract
The central argument of this paper is that radical and opposing interpretations of the Ukrainian conflict in politics and media should be studied as offspring of broader narratives. These narratives can be better understood by examining the national identity of Ukraine. Since Ukrainian national identity shows a high degree of diversity, it offers a rich source of arguments for any party wanting to give an interpretation of the present Ukrainian crisis. Narratives explaining the crisis often ignore this complex diversity or deliberately use elements from it to construct the ‘desired’ narrative.
Firstly, this paper defines four overarching narratives used in the current debate: the geopolitical, the nationalist, the structuralist, and the legal narrative. Secondly, this paper shows how various interpretations fitting within these narratives are all one way or another related to the divisions dividing Ukraine’s complex national identity. Examining the underlying divisions helps to explain the appeal of differing interpretations of the conflict in the West, Ukraine, and Russia. Especially the nationalist narrative and geopolitical narratives show how the complexity of Ukraine’s national identity is deliberately used to construct a narrative.
The combined study of constructed narratives and Ukrainian national identity thus provides valuable material for any scholar or policymaker looking for a deeper understanding of the situation in Ukraine amidst a confusing information war.
Behaviour of Long-Lasting Stress Relaxation of Various Types of Yarns
Authors: Laureckienė Ginta , Milašius Rimvydas 
Published: September 2017

Abstract
The main goal of this researcher is estimating of the possibility of long-lasting (even until 200,000 s) stress relaxation by empirical investigation, which was performed for a few thousands of seconds. The empirical investigations of longlasting stress relaxation of different types of yarns (multifilament polyester, cotton and woollen) at different levels of elongation, i.e. at 3%, 5%, 7% and 10%, were carried out. The method of long-lasting relaxation behaviour prediction by the break-point of relaxation rate as well as the linear dependence of second part of relaxation were used. It was found that the behaviour of relaxation can be described using time logarithmic scale by two straight lines, and the value of stress relaxation in long time period could be estimated by the second line. The break-point of relaxation rate of all kinds of yarns occurs in the area of 100-200 s after relaxations started. The obtained results showed that the place of relaxation break-point depends on the level of elongation but does not depend on the type of yarns.
Numerical Study of Extra-Large Parachute’s Pre-Inflation in Finite Mass Situation
Authors: Sun Zhengkai , Cheng Han , Yang Jing 
Published: September 2017

Abstract
The extra-large parachutes were different from the common parachutes because of their size and opening process. Some undesirable inflation phenomena such as canopy winding and whipping usually appeared in their pre-inflation process. However, the mechanical mechanism of these phenomena was very difficult to be explained by experimental means. In this paper, the pre-inflation process in finite mass situation of an extra-large parachute was calculated by explicit finite elements. According to the results, the pre-inflation process can be subdivided into symmetric inflation stage, undesirable inflation stage, and stable inflation stage. The canopy winding and whipping mainly occurred in the second stage. With the continuous deceleration of parachute-payload system, the top of canopy without effective constraints would appear winding and whipping under the function of inertia force. The canopy winding and whipping increased the difficulty of canopy expanding and then caused asymmetric inflation. The above undesirable phenomena had a great influence on the deceleration effect and were easy to cause the recovery failure. The actual airdrop experiments also proved that the lack of effective constraints on the canopy top will cause undesirable inflation phenomena. The conclusions in this paper can also provide a reference for extra-large parachute design and research.
Another Low Road to Basic Income? Mapping a Pragmatic Model for Adopting a Basic Income in Canada
Authors: Smith-Carrier Tracy A , Green Steven 
Published: September 2017

AbstractDrawing from both theoretical and empirical research, the literature on basic income (BI) is now voluminous, pronouncing both its merits and its limitations. Burgeoning research documents the impacts of un/conditional cash transfers and negative income tax programs, with many studies highlighting the effectiveness of these programs in reducing poverty, and improving a host of social, economic and health outcomes. We consider possible avenues for BI architecture to be adopted within Canada’s existing constellation of income security programs, to the benefit of disadvantaged groups in society. Identifying key federal and provincial (i.e., Ontario) transfer and tax benefit programs, we highlight which programs might best be maintained or converted to a BI. While opponents decry the (alleged) exorbitant costs of BI schemes, we suggest that the existing approach not only produces an ineffective system—which actually engenders poverty and the health and social problems that accompany it—but an excessively costly one.
Comparative analysis of specialized metabolites and antioxidant capacity in vitro of different natural populations of Globularia spp.
Authors: Friščić Maja , Maslo Semir , Garić Rade , Maleš Željan , Hazler Pilepić Kroata 
Published: September 2017

AbstractTotal phenolic, flavonoid, condensed tannin and iridoid content, as well as antioxidant capacityin vitro,were determined spectrophotometrically in methanolic extracts of different plant parts of the Mediterranean medicinal plantGlobularia alypumL. and three widespread European species of the same genus:G. cordifoliaL.,G. meridionalis(Podp.) O. Schwarz andG. punctataLapeyr. In order to consider possible environmental influences on the production of specialized metabolites, each species, exceptG. alypum, was collected from three different natural populations. Great variations in the amounts of specialized metabolites were observed among different plant parts and species. For example, total phenolic content ranged from 10.13 (G. punctata, flowers) to 44.90 (G. cordifolia, flower stems) mg gallic acid equivalent g−1dry weight. Moreover, great differences, attributed to location-specific environmental factors, were observed among different populations of the same species. For example, a strong positive correlation was observed among mean monthly temperatures and total phenolic contents in the leaves of studiedGlobulariaspp. (r = 0.75, p = 0.019). However, despite these differences, all species were rich in bioactive substances when compared toG. alypum, especially in their aerial parts. A very good positive correlation was observed between total phenolic content and DPPH radical scavenging capacity (r = 0.86, p < 0.001)/ABTS radical scavenging capacity (r = 0.83, p < 0.001). The results obtained show thatG. cordifolia,G. meridionalisandG. punctataare rich in bioactive substances, providing support for their pharmaceutical utilization. Further investigations are needed to verify the possibility of their medicinal use.
Assessment of the genetic relationship of Turkish olives (Olea europaea subsp. europaea) cultivars based on cpDNA trnL-F regions
Authors: Kaya Ergun , Vatansever Recep , Filiz Ertugrul 
Published: September 2017

AbstractThe olive tree (Olea europaeaL.) is one of the major cultivated species in the world, and Mediterranean countries produce about 90% of world cultivated olives. In this study, the genetic relationship of seven Turkish olive cultivars was investigated using non-codingtrnL-Fregions in chloroplastic genome. Cultivars demonstrated a similar sequence length of 330-340 bp with an average 35.26% G+C content. Variable (polymorphic/segregating), parsimony informative and total numbers of the insertion or the deletion of bases in the DNA (indel sites) were 4, 3, and 28, respectively. Nucleotide diversities π and θ were found as 0.00631 and 0.00644 respectively, while Tajima’s D was −0.786. cpDNAtrnL-Fregions of sequenced Turkish olive cultivars had a low level of genetic variations, and these non-coding regions were strictly conserved in all analyzed cultivars. Geographically distant shared more sequence similarities than relatively close cultivars. The phylogenetic analyses indicated that the biogeographic distribution of cultivars does not demonstrate any association inferring cultivar source. These results indicate the possibility of germplasm exchanges among countries or that some indel mutations contribute to variations of the Turkish olive gene pool. Thus, the authorities should develop the necessary programs to preserve the purity of native germplasms.
Moral, moralisches Müssen und Sanktionen
Authors: Stemmer Peter 
Published: September 2017

AbstractThe primary aim of this article is to respond to recent discussion on the sanction theory of moral normativity. I have developed such a view in several works, and in face of the strong criticism, I want to reexamine the issue and discuss five main objections. The central question will be how one can make sense of the moral must.
Migration, Flucht und der liberale Staat
Authors: Miller David 
Published: September 2017

Abstract
This paper asks how a modern liberal state that wishes to remain true to its own values should respond to mass inward migration. Three of those values – freedom, equality of opportunity, and human rights – appear to support fully open borders. But a democratic welfare state needs citizens who trust one another, and this in turn raises questions of cultural identity. The cultural integration of immigrant groups requires limits to the numbers being admitted, and the selection of those who will become citizens in future. A closer inspection of the three open borders arguments reveals that none of them is decisive. In particular, immigration is not a human right. Nevertheless refugees, whose human rights are imperilled, may have strong claims to be admitted by liberal states. Ideally these claims should be met by setting up an international burden-sharing scheme. Where refugee numbers are so high as to impose severe costs on the receiving state, the decision to admit needs to be democratically authorised.
Zur Legitimität von Staatlichkeit: Eine kosmopolitische Kritik offener Grenzen
Authors: Nida-Rümelin Julian 
Published: September 2017

AbstractBorders are a constitutive feature of states. Political agency would, therefore, come into conflict with a practice of open borders. This is equally true for the dynamics of unleashed global financial and commodity markets as well as for a global labour market. An unregulated mobility of capital, goods, and people would erode the agency of states and diminish politics to a mere location factor. In the following, I argue in favor of the legitimacy of (state) borders and political control over migratory movements, however, not from a communitarian or even nationalist perspective, but from a cosmopolitan one. Political cosmopolitanism differs from sociological, economic, or cultural variants with regard to the role of politics. While other kinds of cosmopolitanism generally understand globalisation as weakening the agency of states, political cosmopolitanism strives for the establishment of a global institutional order, which allows for democratically legitimised political agency beyond the nation-state. The question is what institutional governance of migration is legitimate in a cosmopolitan framework. The following text discusses the political theory (part 1) and some preliminary philosophical-ethical aspects (part 2) of this topic.
Observations on autochtonous liver flukes in wild ruminants in Slovakia
Authors: Iglódyová A. , Lazar P. , Čurlík J. , Karolová R. , Ciberej J. , Bocková E. , Štrkolcová G. 
Published: September 2017

Summary
The aim of the study was monitoring of liver flukes in wild ruminants including red deer (Cervus elaphus), roe deer (Capreolus capreolus), fallow deer (Dama dama) and mouflon (Ovis musimon) in selected regions of Slovak Republic. Between 2014 – 2016 we examined 782 faecal samples from selected wild ruminants using coprological techniques and serological methods (ELISA detection of F. hepatica coproantigens). None of the samples was positive for the presence of Fasciola hepatica, 5.89 % of faecal samples were positive for Dicrocoelium dendriticum. Higher prevalence was recorded in mouflon (30.83 %), lower in red deer (1.49 %). D. dendriticum infection was not determined in fallow deer and roe deer. The seasonal distribution of dicrocoeliosis indicated a highest prevalence in autumn. Significantly higher prevalence was recorded in fenced rearing when compared with open hunting grounds, suggesting that animal agglomeration, constant use of the same areas and possible stress are the main risk factors. Parasitological examination of livers of hunted wild ruminants revealed dicrocoeliosis in mouflon.
Epidemiology of Opisthorchis viverrini in an endemic area of Thailand, an integrative approach
Authors: Prakobwong S. , Gunnula W. , Chaipibool S. , Nimala B. , Sangthopo J. , Sirivetthumrong N. , Ribas A. 
Published: September 2017

Summary
An integrated epidemiological study of Opisthorchis viverrini consisting of risk factors analysis and parasitation prevalence determination in humans, as well as the assessment the roles of host reservoirs (dogs and cats) and intermediate hosts (cyprinid fish) was carried out in the vicinity of Huay Luang dam, Udon Thani province, in the north east of Thailand. The survey was conducted from June 2014 to July 2016 in three sub-districts. Fecal samples were collected from 5,347 participants in 22 villages and the overall prevalence of O. viverrini was found to be 31.5 %. Risk factors for liver fluke infection were determined from questionnaires analysis which sought demographic data and information about the eating behaviors of the participants. The behavior of raw fish consumption correlated significantly with parasitation in the studied areas. The risk factors for O. viverrini infection in humans were associated significantly with age, education, and habitation within a two kilometer range from nearby water and food sources. Questionnaires showed that the drug treatments were not always appropriate. The stools of domestic dogs (n = 468) and cats (n = 262) collected for parasitological analysis and results showed that the zoonotic role of dogs should not be underestimated as has been done previously/in past. The incidence of O. viverrini metacercariae in four cyprinid fishes Barbonymus gonionotus (n = 124), Cyclocheilichthys repasson (n = 843), Hampala dispar (n = 276) and Henicorhynchus siamensis n = 946), were determined and overall values ranged from 2.4 % to 23.1 %. There was a seasonal variation in metacercariae intensity which ranged from 1 – 125 metacercariae per fish. The study concluded that transmission ecology should be taken into consideration in developing of control strategies against opisthorchiasis.