bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Osteocalcin as a potential risk biomarker for cardiovascular and metabolic diseases
Authors: Magni Paolo , Macchi Chiara , Sirtori Cesare R. , Corsi Romanelli Massimiliano Marco 
Published: February 2016

Abstract
Clear evidence supports a role for circulating and locally-produced osteocalcin (OC) in the pathophysiology of cardiovascular (CV) lesions and CV risk, also in combination with metabolic changes, including type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Reduced plasma OC levels are associated with greater incidence of pathological CV changes, like arterial and valvular calcification, coronary and carotid atherosclerosis and increased carotid intima-media thickness. The actual relationship between OC levels and incidence of major CV events is, however, still unclear. Moreover, reduced circulating OC levels have been mostly associated with insulin resistance, metabolic syndrome or T2DM, indicating relevant OC actions on pancreatic β-cells and insulin secretion and activity. Based on these observations, this review article will attempt to summarize the current evidence on the potential usefulness of circulating OC as a biomarker for CV and metabolic risk, also evaluating the currently open issues in this area of research.
Evaluation of influence of selected metal cations on antioxidant activity of extracts from savory (Satureja hortensis)‡
Authors: Samsonowicz Mariola , Regulska Ewa 
Published: February 2016

AbstractThe analysis of the antioxidant activity of ethanol, methanol, acetone and aqueous extracts from the dried leaves and stems of savory is presented. The culinary herb used to study was procured from ecological agriculture in the Podlasie region of Poland. The antioxidant properties of extracts were calculated using the 1,1-diphenyl-2-picryl-hydrazyl radical (DPPH) and ferric-reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) (expressed as mg Trolox per g of dry mass) methods. In addition, the total phenolics contents of the herbal extracts were determined using the Folin–Ciocalteu reagent. The antioxidative activity of extracts as dependent on the type of solvent used for the extraction and concentration of savory in extracts is discussed. The influence of the concentration of different metal ion solutions on the anti-radicals’ properties of savory extracts was evaluated.
OH-initiated oxidation mechanism and kinetics of organic sunscreen benzophenone-3: A theoretical study
Authors: Peng Ming-Guo , Li Hua-Jie , Du Er-Deng , Feng Hong-Qi , Wang Juan-Lin , Li Dong-Dong , Zhou Jing 
Published: February 2016

AbstractBenzophenone-3 (BP-3), as an important organic UV filter, is widely used in the sunscreen, cosmetic, and personal care products. The chemical reaction mechanism and kinetics of BP-3 degradation initiated by hydroxyl (OH) radical was investigated in the atmosphere based on the density functional theory (DFT). The results showed that the OH radical is more easily added to the C3 position of the aromatic ring (pathway 3), while the H atom abstraction from the OH group on the aromatic ring (pathway 23) is an energetically favorable reaction pathway. At ambient temperature, 298 K, the overall rate constant for the primary reaction is about 1.50 × 10
Optimisation of microwave-assisted extraction from Phyllanthus amarus for phenolic compounds-enriched extracts and antioxidant capacity
Authors: Nguyen Van T. , Bowyer Michael C. , van Altena Ian A. , Scarlett Christopher J. 
Published: February 2016

Abstractis known as a healing herb which has traditionally been used in the treatment of various diseases such as hepatitis, diabetes and cancer. The extraction parameters have great effects on the extraction efficiency of bioactive compounds and pharmacological activity of the extracts. This study sought to optimise the microwave-assisted extraction parameters for phenolic compounds-enriched extracts and antioxidant capacity from
Polymer coated Capacitive Deionization Electrode for Desalination: A mini review
Authors: Gaikwad Mahendra S. , Balomajumder Chandrajit 
Published: February 2016

AbstractThis mini review deals with a recently developing water purification technology, i.e. capacitive deionization. It presents the current progress achieved with polymer coated electrodes in capacitive deionization for desalination. The introduction covers capacitive deionization, application of polymer or polymer composite in capacitive deionization electrode, comparative study and discussion on fabrication of electrode. This paper aims at indicating novel research prospects in capacitive deionization technology for desalination.
Volume calculation of subsurface structures and traps in hydrocarbon exploration — a comparison between numerical integration and cell based models
Authors: Slavinić Petra , Cvetković Marko 
Published: February 2016

AbstractThe volume calculation of geological structures is one of the primary goals of interest when dealing with exploration or production of oil and gas in general. Most of those calculations are done using advanced software packages but still the mathematical workflow (equations) has to be used and understood for the initial volume calculation process. In this paper a comparison is given between bulk volume calculations of geological structures using trapezoidal and Simpson’s rule and the ones obtained from cell-based models. Comparison in calculation is illustrated with four models; dome ‐ 1/2 of ball/sphere, elongated anticline, stratigraphic trap due to lateral facies change and faulted anticline trap. Results show that Simpson’s and trapezoidal rules give a very accurate volume calculation even with a few inputs(isopach areas ‐ ordinates). A test of cell based model volume calculation precision against grid resolution is presented for various cases. For high accuracy, less the 1% of an error from coarsening, a cell area has to be 0.0008% of the reservoir area
Evaluation and optimization of multi-lateral wells using MODFLOW unstructured grids
Authors: Lux Marcell , Szanyi János , Tóth Tivadar M 
Published: February 2016

AbstractMulti-lateral wells have been increasingly used in recent years by different industries including oil- and gas industry along with coal bed methane- and water production. The common purpose of these wells is to achieve a higher production rate per well. More and more sophisticated well patterns and geometries can be implemented in practice which calls for improved modelling techniques. Complicated well geometries and small lateral diameters require high resolution models in the vicinity of the wells. With structured finite difference grids this can only be achieved by unnecessary refinements even far away from the wellbores. However the model may still suffer from orientation problems if laterals do not coincide with the rows or columns of the rectangular mesh.In the present work, we applied unstructured grids to model multi-lateral wells and compared the results to structured models. We used the MODFLOW-USG code, which simulates groundwater flow using a generalized control volume finite-difference approach, allowing grids other than orthogonal structured grids to be applied. This offers a solution for orientation and resolution problems. The second part of the paper aims to optimize multi-lateral well geometry by evaluating the effect of length, angle and number of laterals.
The application of multivariate data analysis in the interpretation of engineering geological parameters
Authors: Kovács József , Bodnár Nikolett , Török Ákos 
Published: February 2016

AbstractThe paper presents the evaluation of engineering geological laboratory test results of core drillings along the new metro line (line 4) in Budapest by using a multivariate data analysis. A data set of 30 core drillings with a total coring length of over 1500 meters was studied. Of the eleven engineering geological parameters considered in this study, only the five most reliable (void ratio, dry bulk density, angle of internal friction, cohesion and compressive strength) representing 1260 data points were used for multivariate (cluster and discriminant) analyses. To test the results of the cluster analysis discriminant analysis was used. The results suggest that the use of multivariate analyses allows the identification of different groups of sediments even when the data sets are overlapping and contain several uncertainties. The tests also prove that the use of these methods for seemingly very scattered parameters is crucial in obtaining reliable engineering geological data for design.
Kinins and microglial responses in bipolar disorder: a neuroinflammation hypothesis
Authors: Naaldijk Yahaira M. , Bittencourt Maria C. , Sack Ulrich , Ulrich Henning 
Published: February 2016

Abstract
Bipolar disorder (BD) is a severe psychiatric disorder that affects up to 15% of the worldwide population. Characterized by switches in mood between mania and depression, its etiology is still unknown and efforts have been made to elucidate the mechanisms involved in first episode, development and progression of the disorder. Microglia activation, abnormal activity of GSK-3β and reduction in neurotrophic factor expression related to neuroinflammatory processes have been indicated to be part of the disorder’s pathophysiology. Lithium, the main mood stabilizer used for the treatment and prevention of relapses, acts as an anti-inflammatory agent. Based on that, here we suggest a neuroinflammatory pathway for would be BD progression, in which microglia activation states modulated via constitutive induction of kinin-B1 receptor and reduction of kinin-B2 receptor expression and activity.
Czech language minority in the South-eastern Romanian Banat
Authors: Vyskočilová Karolína 
Published: February 2016

AbstractThis article concerns a Czech language minority living in the south-western Romanian region of Banat. First an overview of the situation of Banatian Czech speakers is given, both from a historical and a contemporary perspective, followed by a sociolinguistically focused description of the linguistic conditions present in this language island. Next, the article examines seven syntactic and morphosyntactic structures found in Bígr Czech, namely three word order phenomena, use of the indefinite determiner, totality quantifiers and prepositional phenomena. Using the specialized corpora, BANAT for Banatian Czech (BC) and the ORAL corpus for Common Czech (CC), the BC and CC structures are compared to reveal that some of the investigated features previously assigned as characteristic for Bígr Czech are equally present in Common Czech spoken in the Czech Republic.
Grid Resource Allocation with Genetic Algorithm Using Population Based on Multisets
Authors: Ezugwu Absalom E. , Okoroafor Nneoma A. , Buhari Seyed M. , Frincu Marc E. , Junaidu Sahalu B. 
Published: February 2016

AbstractThe operational efficacy of the grid computing system depends mainly on the proper management of grid resources to carry out the various jobs that users send to the grid. The paper explores an alternative way of efficiently searching, matching, and allocating distributed grid resources to jobs in such a way that the resource demand of each grid user job is met. A proposal of resource selection method that is based on the concept of genetic algorithm (GA) using populations based on multisets is made. Furthermore, the paper presents a hybrid GA-based scheduling framework that efficiently searches for the best available resources for user jobs in a typical grid computing environment. For the proposed resource allocation method, additional mechanisms (populations based on multiset and adaptive matching) are introduced into the GA components to enhance their search capability in a large problem space. Empirical study is presented in order to demonstrate the importance of operator improvement on traditional GA. The preliminary performance results show that the proposed introduction of an additional operator fine-tuning is efficient in both speed and accuracy and can keep up with high job arrival rates.
The use of English language outside the classroom
Authors: Sargsyan Mane , Kurghinyan Anna 
Published: February 2016

Abstract
This article presents a study which aimed to explore in what ways Armenian EFL students use their English language knowledge outside the classroom. The study involved 38 EFL learners of different English proficiency levels, ages, and genders. Data were collected using surveys and in-depth interviews. Findings indicate that most of the Armenian EFL learners use English out of the class very often, especially with social media, listening to songs, watching movies and clips, as well as travelling and searching on the Internet. Based on the findings, specific recommendations are offered to bring the students’ interests into the classroom.
Exploring intercultural competence through an intercultural extracurricular activity in Taiwan
Authors: Liu Kai Li 
Published: February 2016

Abstract
This study used interviews to explore how 10 Taiwanese college students' intercultural competence was developed after participating in an intercultural extracurricular activity designed with a purpose to facilitate foreign students’ study in Taiwan and to promote meaningful home-foreign student contacts. In-depth information and narratives from the interviews were collected as evidence of intercultural competence development. The results showed all the interviewees appreciated the experience and felt it to have been of value to them in terms of building international friendships, heightening their intercultural awareness and the benefits of intercultural competence, and having more appreciation and better understanding of Taiwanese culture. Students also realized that a lack of understanding of Taiwanese culture could exacerbate communication difficulties. Students thus became aware of the importance of describing Taiwanese cultural practices in English and realized that more language practice was necessary for smoother communication. Suggestions for both extracurricular activities and language programs improvement in the future were also provided in the conclusion.
Foreign language education of seniors
Authors: Határ Ctibor , Grofčíková Soňa 
Published: February 2016

Abstract
This study is of a theoretical-conceptual nature and is a partial outcome of the research project VEGA MŠVVaŠ SR and SAV no. 1/0176/15. It deals with one of the problems currently faced by educational theory and practice, i.e. the foreign language education of seniors. The trend is typical for many EU member states, since it results from the needs of a modern society. In addition to strategic documents, programs and legislation which binds the Slovak Republic to create conditions for lifelong education, including foreign language education, the authors are more closely preoccupied with specificities and possibilities of the language education of seniors, which are explained on a comparative basis with the language education of children and youth. Even though in literature one can find results of many substantial empirical research projects devoted to foreign language education of children and youth, research into the education of adults and seniors in the area of foreign languages falls behind considerably. A sufficient platform for the methodology of language education of adults and seniors in Slovakia has not been created either, if compared with the methodology of language education of younger age categories. This shortcoming is often quite noticeable in practice. The study attempts to pay adequate attention to the analysis of selected teaching styles specific for adult and senior age as well as teaching methods which may be used in the language education of seniors.
Is relevance theory applicable to proverbs’ translation?
Authors: Pegulescu Anca-Mariana 
Published: February 2016

Abstract
Translation, viewed as a multi-faceted task, can arise different types of difficulties. Proverbs have been considered special patterns, displaying sometimes hidden meanings or suggesting morals issuing from a particular example. These paremic units - the proverbs - conveyed feelings, states of mind, behaviours or ‘metaphorical descriptions of certain situations’(Krikmann). Starting from Savory’s list of pair-wise contradictory translation principles, I intend to prove that the link between different ‘forms’ and their ‘contents’ lies in the principle of relevance when referring to proverbs. Even if relevance theory is not a theory of linguistic structure - and many translation problems imply structural mismatches - relevance theory offers insights about contextual information. Proverbs are seen as texts in themselves. My analysis will target the ethnofields of ‘to buy’ and ‘to sell’ in English proverbs and their Romanian corresponding versions.
Real Lives, Relevant Texts: A Survey of B2G Children’s Counternarratives
Authors: Davis Danné E. 
Published: February 2016

Abstract
In recent years, natal males’ assertions of being girls born in the wrong body have been unwelcome in elementary scholastic contexts. Several reasons call for individuals who teach or plan to teach young children to know about boy-to-girl (B2G) performance counternarratives. First, there is increasing visibility of B2G lives among elementary schoolchildren. Second, B2G performance counternarratives have empathetic impact with the potential to reshape educators’ views regarding schoolchildren’s embodiment and sexuality. Third, B2G performance counternarratives are increasingly present in children’s literature. Collectively, these reasons contribute to a “queer-eye pedagogical stance” capable of fostering empathy for B2G perspectives. This discussion on B2G performance counternarratives is the result of a three year examination. The 28 children’s picture storybooks put forth convey a range of B2G lived experiences – some of which feature classroom teachers. Ideally, these narratives – lived and in literature – will position actual teachers to become responsive to B2G schoolchildren in physical classrooms.
Characterizing Jordan Derivations of Matrix Rings Through Zero Products
Authors: Ghahramani Hoger 
Published: February 2016

Abstract
Let Mn(R) be the ring of all n × n matrices over a unital ring R, let M be a 2-torsion free unital Mn(R)-bimodule and let D: Mn(R)→M be an additive map. We prove that if D(a)b + aD(b) + D(b)a + bD(a) = 0 whenever a,b ∈ Mn(R) are such that ab = ba = 0, then D(a) = δ(a) + aD(1), where δ : Mn(R)→M is a derivation and D(1) lies in the centre of M. It is also shown that D is a generalized derivation if and only if D(a)b + aD(b) + D(b)a + bD(a) − aD(1)b − bD(1)a = 0 whenever ab = ba = 0. We apply this results to provide that any (generalized) Jordan derivation from Mn(R) into a 2-torsion free Mn(R)-bimodule (not necessarily unital) is a (generalized) derivation. Also, we show that if φ: Mn(R) → Mn(R) is an additive map satisfying φ(ab+ba) = aφ(b) + φ(b)a (a,b ∈ Mn(R)), then φ(a) = aφ(1) for all a ∈ Mn(R), where φ(1) lies in the centre of Mn(R). By applying this result we obtain that every Jordan derivation of the trivial extension of Mn(R) by Mn(R) is a derivation.
Singular Degenerate Differential Operators and Applications
Authors: Shakhmurov Veli B. 
Published: February 2016

Abstract
The boundary value problems for linear and nonlinear singular degenerate differential-operator equations with variable coefficients are studied. Degenerate linear problems are considered on the moving domain. The uniform maximal regularity properties of the singular degenerate linear problem with parameters and the existence and uniqueness result for the degenerate nonlinear problem is shown. This problem occur in fluid mechanics and environmental engineering.
Ankle Joint Angle and Lower Leg Musculotendinous Unit Responses to Cryotherapy
Authors: Akehi Kazuma , Long Blaine C. , Warren Aric J. , Goad Carla L. 
Published: February 2016

Abstract
Akehi, K, Long, BC, Warren, AJ, and Goad, CL. Ankle joint angle and lower leg musculotendinous unit responses to cryotherapy. J Strength Cond Res 30(9): 2482–2492, 2016—The use of cold application has been debated for its influence on joint range of motion (ROM) and stiffness. The purpose of this study was to determine whether a 30-minute ice bag application to the plantarflexor muscles or ankle influences passive ankle dorsiflexion ROM and lower leg musculotendinous stiffness (MTS). Thirty-five recreationally active college-aged individuals with no history of lower leg injury 6 months before data collection volunteered. On each testing day, we measured maximum passive ankle dorsiflexion ROM (°) and plantarflexor torque (N·m) on an isokinetic dynamometer to calculate the passive plantarflexor MTS (N·m per degree) at 4 joint angles before, during, and after a treatment. Surface electromyography amplitudes (μV), and skin surface and ambient air temperature (°C) were also measured. Subjects received an ice bag to the posterior lower leg, ankle joint, or nothing for 30 minutes in different days. Ice bag application to the lower leg and ankle did not influence passive ROM (F
(12,396) = 0.67, p = 0.78). Passive torque increased after ice bag application to the lower leg (F
(12,396) = 2.21, p = 0.011). Passive MTS at the initial joint angle increased after ice bag application to the lower leg (F
(12,396) = 2.14, p = 0.014) but not at the other joint angles (p > 0.05). Surface electromyography amplitudes for gastrocnemius and soleus muscles increased after ice application to the lower leg (F
(2,66) = 5.61, p = 0.006; F
(12,396) = 3.60, p < 0.001). Ice bag application to the lower leg and ankle joint does not alter passive dorsiflexion ROM but increases passive ankle plantarflexor torque in addition to passive ankle plantarflexor MTS at the initial joint angle.
Acoustic Instrumentation Setup for Armament Performance Evaluation Applications
Authors: Padhy S. , Sreeramamurthy V. , Dutta S. 
Published: February 2016

Abstract
This paper deals with the application of acoustic instrumentation setup in the test and evaluation of armament stores. Different types of acoustic sensors and suitability of these sensors for different measurement applications were presented. The rate of fire measurement of a naval gun, the acoustic signature of Cargo Minelet functioning, and high explosive warhead functioning results were presented. The rate of fire (ROF) of a gun is defined as the number of rounds fired per minute. A high rate of fire is one of the most important requirements for a naval gun. Acoustic measurement setup was developed to measure ROF of the order of 4700 rounds per minute. Cargo ammunition is a carrier projectile which carries the functional payload to the target area. The payload contains a number of sub-munitions in the form of minelets. The performance evaluation of cargo ammunition in terms of minelet functioning were covered with measurement results. The results of the functioning of 130 mm high explosive artillery shells were also presented.