bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Anti-obesity effect of Triticum aestivum sprout extract in high-fat-diet-induced obese mice
Authors: Im Ji-Young , Ki Hyeon-Hui , Xin Mingjie , Kwon Se-Uk , Kim Young Ho , Kim Dae-Ki , Hong Sun-Pyo , Jin Jong-Sik , Lee Young-Mi 
Published: April 2015

Abstract
Obesity is a common disease worldwide that often results in serious conditions including hypertension, diabetes, and hyperlipidemia. Many herbal medicines have been examined with regard to ameliorating obesity. We investigated the anti-obesity effects of 50% EtOH extract of Triticum aestivum sprout (TAEE) in high-fat-diet (HFD)-induced obese mice. TAEE administration (10, 50, or 200 mg/kg) for 6 weeks significantly decreased the body weights, serum total cholesterol (TC), and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels in HFD-fed mice. TAEE treatment reduced lipid accumulation in epididymal white adipose tissue (EWAT) and liver. Moreover, TC and lipid levels were decreased by TAEE treatment in liver. Serum leptin and adiponectin concentrations were reduced by TAEE treatment. TAEE-treated mice showed decreases in peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor γ (PPARγ) and fatty acid synthase expression in EWAT. Furthermore, TAEE administration elevated levels of PPARα protein in the liver of HFD-induced obese mice. These results suggest that TAEE supplementation might be beneficial for the treatment and prevention of obesity and related diseases.
Acute Effects of Riociguat in Borderline or Manifest Pulmonary Hypertension Associated with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease
Authors: Ghofrani Hossein A. , Staehler Gerd , Grünig Ekkehard , Halank Michael , Mitrovic Veselin , Unger Sigrun , Mueck Wolfgang , Frey Reiner , Grimminger Friedrich , Schermuly Ralph T. , Behr Juergen 
Published: April 2015

Riociguat is the first oral soluble guanylate cyclase stimulator shown to improve pulmonary hemodynamics in patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension and chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension (PH). This pilot study assessed the impact of a single dose of riociguat on hemodynamics, gas exchange, and lung function in patients with PH associated with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Adults with COPD‐associated borderline or manifest PH (pulmonary vascular resistance > 270 dyn·s·cm−5, mean pulmonary artery pressure ≥ 23 mmHg, ratio of forced expiratory volume in 1 second [FEV1] to forced vital capacity < 70%, and partial pressure of oxygen and carbon dioxide in arterial blood > 50 and ≤ 55 mmHg, respectively) received riociguat 1 or 2.5 mg during right heart catheterization. Twenty‐two patients completed the study (11 men, 11 women, aged 56–82 years; 1‐mg group: n = 10 [mean FEV1: 43.1%]; 2.5‐mg group: n = 12 [mean FEV1: 41.2%]). Riociguat caused significant improvements (P < 0.01) from baseline in mean pulmonary artery pressure (1 mg: −3.60 mmHg [–11.44%]; 2.5 mg: −4.83 mmHg [–14.76%]) and pulmonary vascular resistance (1 mg: −58.32 dyn·s·cm−5 [–15.35%]; 2.5 mg: −123.8 dyn·s·cm−5 [–32.96%]). No relevant changes in lung function or gas exchange were observed. Single doses of riociguat were well tolerated and showed promising hemodynamic effects without untoward effects on gas exchange or lung function in patients with COPD‐associated PH. Placebo‐controlled studies of chronic treatment with riociguat are warranted.
A topological characterization of the Moufang property for compact polygons
Authors: Radu Nicolas 
Published: April 2015

We prove a purely topological characterization of the Moufang property for disconnected compact polygons in terms of convergence groups. As a consequence, we recover the fact that a locally finite thick affine building of rank

3
3

is a Bruhat–Tits building if and only if its automorphism group is strongly transitive. We also study automorphism groups of general compact polygons without any homogeneity assumption. A compactness criterion for sets of automorphisms is established, generalizing the theorem by Burns and Spatzier that the full automorphism group, endowed with the compact-open topology, is a locally compact group.
Heliospheric plasma flow at Voyager 2 is almost coplanar with the hydrogen deflection plane
Authors: Grygorczuk J. , Czechowski A. , Grzedzielski S. 
Published: April 2015

Abstract
We show that for the undisturbed interstellar velocity vector $\boldsymbol {V}_{\rm IS}$ and magnetic field direction $\boldsymbol {B}_{\rm IS}$ defined by IBEX (Interstellar Boundary Explorer) Ribbon centre, the radial direction of Voyager 2 over the last decade, and the (thermal proton) plasma velocity measured by the spacecraft since 2010.5, are almost parallel to the ($\boldsymbol {B}_{\rm IS}$, $\boldsymbol {V}_{\rm IS}$)-plane, which coincides in practice with the hydrogen deflection plane. In consequence the plasma flow velocity measured by Voyager 2 in the inner heliosheath rotates more in the transverse than in the polar direction (explanation alternative to McComas & Schwadron). Note that the ($\boldsymbol {B}_{\rm IS}$, $\boldsymbol {V}_{\rm IS}$) plane is a symmetry plane of the interstellar plasma flow at large heliocentric distances.
Mandatory corporate social responsibility assurance practices
Authors: Ackers Barry , Eccles Neil Stuart 
Published: April 2015

Purpose– Despite its voluntary nature, the Johannesburg stock exchange (JSE) requires all listed companies to apply the King III principles, including providing independent CSR assurance. King III has accordingly made independent CSR assurance a de facto mandatory requirement, albeit on an “apply or explain” basis. The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact mandatory corporate social responsibility (CSR) assurance practices in South Africa, within a King III context.Design/methodology/approach– To understand the impact of King III on South African CSR assurance practices, a longitudinal study covering reporting periods both before and after King III implementation. The first stage reviewed the annual reports of the 200 largest JSE-listed companies to establish the frequency of CSR assurance provision. The second stage involved performing a content analysis on the CSR assurance reports.Findings– King III is driving the institutionalisation of CSR assurance practices in South Africa, as evidenced by the growth in CSR assurance since the implementation of King III. The study also found that the audit profession’s dominance was being eroded by specialist CSR assurors providing higher levels of assurance, despite concerns about the rigour of their assurance methodologies. Voluntary CSR assurance practices have resulted in the inconsistent application of CSR assurance practices, impairing the ability of stakeholders to understand the nature and scope of CSR assurance engagements. It is argued that this deficiency may be overcome through the imposition of a mandatory CSR assurance regime.Originality/value– The pervasive impact of the King Code of Governance on South African organisations makes it appropriate to examine its impact on South African CSR assurance practices. As such, this paper represents one of the first studies to specifically consider the impact of a mandatory regulatory requirement for independent CSR assurance and suggests a future direction for global CSR assurance practices.
The mediating roles of psychological safety and employee voice on the relationship between conflict management styles and organizational identification
Authors: Erkutlu Hakan , Chafra Jamel 
Published: April 2015

Purpose
– The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationships between conflict management styles (CMS) used by leaders and organizational identification of their followers as well as to test the mediating effects of psychological safety and employee voice on that relationship.

Design/methodology/approach
– Data were collected on site from 1,023 employees in 13 multinational companies in Turkey. The mediating roles of psychological safety and employee voice on the CMS and organizational identification relationship were tested using ordinary least squares regression analyses.

Findings
– The results show that cooperative CMS is positively and significantly correlated with organizational identification. In addition, the results of the hierarchical multiple regression analyses support the mediating effects of psychological safety and employee voice with regard to the relationship between CMS and organizational identification.

Practical implications
– Given that cooperative CMS are associated with valued organizational outcomes such as higher employees’ commitment, trust and satisfaction in leaders and citizenship behaviors, organizational efforts to foster cooperative CMS should prove fruitful. Moreover, focussing on efforts to improve leader-follower relationship and to create a trust-based work environment could increase the likelihood that CMS will increase level of employees’ identification with their organizations.

Originality/value
– The value of this study is its original contribution to the research literature, as no previous studies, which incorporated CMS, organizational identification, and psychological safety and voice behavior as mediating variables were found during the exhaustive literature review.
Does transformational leadership build resilient public and nonprofit organizations?
Authors: Valero Jesus N. , Jung Kyujin , Andrew Simon A. 
Published: April 2015

Purpose– The purpose of this paper is to examine the effect of transformational leadership – broadly defined as an individual who is visionary, innovative, inspirational and sensitive to the needs of followers – on the level of organizational resiliency.Design/methodology/approach– This study employs multiple hierarchical regression analysis to test the causal relationship between transformational leadership and organizational resiliency by utilizing 112 respondents working in emergency management departments of local governments, fire and police stations, and nonprofit organizations in the Southeastern Economic Region of South Korea.Findings– The results of the analysis indicate that transformational leadership style has a positive and statistically significant effect on perceived organizational resiliency. The findings also indicate that elected officials such as mayors are more likely to focus on building organizational resiliency than appointed officials and nonprofit leaders.Originality/value– This study fills the gap of the current literature in the field of emergency management by establishing empirical evidence of the need to identify leaders with transformational traits in order to build a resilient organization, which can better respond and adapt to a catastrophic event in the Asian context.
Perspectives on sustainability in humanitarian supply chains
Authors: Haavisto Ira , Kovács Gyöngyi 
Published: April 2015

Purpose– The purpose of this paper is to develop a framework for analysing how humanitarian organisations (HOs) address different expectations regarding sustainability.Design/methodology/approach– Quantitative and qualitative content analysis is used to assess the annual reports (ARs) of HOs for their discussions on sustainability overall, and in relation to contextual expectations, subsystems and supply chains, organisational structure and strategy.Findings– HOs address sustainability primarily from the perspective of contextual expectations from society and beneficiaries. Some fits between supply chain design and societal expectations are attended to, but fits between programmes and contextual expectations are not discussed explicitly.Research limitations/implications– ARs express what organisations want to portray of their activities rather than being direct reflections of what occurs in the field, hence the use of ARs for the study delimits its findings. However, HOs rarely publish sustainability reports.Practical implications– Even though there is a general pursuit of the elusive aim of aid effectiveness, organisational structures need to be further aligned with societal aims as to support these.Social implications– Beneficiaries are still seen as external to the humanitarian supply chain and humanitarian programmes, though their role may change with the introduction of more cash components in aid, voucher systems, and ultimately, their empowerment through these.Originality/value– The suggested conceptual framework combines elements of contingency theory with a prior four perspectives model on sustainability expectations. The framework helps to highlight fits between the humanitarian context, operations and programmes as well as misalignments between these.
Information literacies of self-identified sadomasochists: an ethnographic case study
Authors: Harviainen J. Tuomas 
Published: April 2015

Purpose– The purpose of this paper is to present findings on the way in which self-identified sadomasochist apply their information literacy skills, and to analyse those applications in the context of existing research on information literacies (IL).Design/methodology/approach– The paper is based on the author’s two decades of ethnographic work within a national-level sadomasochist community, supplemented by interviews with 30 practitioners and an extensive literature survey.Findings– Sadomasochists avoid the social stigma associated with their activities by developing highly refined ILs. Central among these is the ability to learn from other practitioners by reading and interpreting their actions as “texts.” They furthermore stockpile potentially useful information for later use. Their ILs not only make sadomasochists more skilled in their practices, but also provide them with safety.Originality/value– By examining its subject community, the paper develops the ideas of embodied information literacy, currently strongly associated with workplace learning, to the hobby and lifestyle sectors, as it deals with a particularly corporeal set of ILs. This radical example allows scholars to conduct research on the ILs other communities of practice, in which the activities may be less obviously corporeal, but the literacies just as based on embodied interpretation and the reading of others’ activities as texts.
Knowledge creation and play – a phenomenological approach
Authors: Suorsa Anna Reetta 
Published: April 2015

Purpose– The purpose of this paper is to examine the experiential nature of knowledge creating interaction and to introduce a framework to explore it theoretically coherently with hermeneutic phenomenology and Hans-Georg Gadamer’s concept of play.Design/methodology/approach– This paper presents a literature-based conceptual analysis of the concept of play. Gadamerian conception is related with the descriptions of knowledge creating interaction in the research of knowledge management and with the uses of the concept of play in the field of Library and Information Science (LIS). Theoretical analysis is applied in this study to structure the argumentation.Findings– This study illustrates how the preconceptions of experiences and different modes of being in interaction are implicitly present in the research of knowledge creation (KC) in the descriptions of interaction and human factors enhancing KC. A framework for examining KC in organizational circumstances is developed based on the hermeneutic phenomenology and Gadamer’s concept of play, which provide a basis for understanding KC as being together in interaction.Research limitations/implications– This theoretical study develops a framework for examining the process of KC also empirically. In this study the examination of hermeneutic phenomenology is limited to the conceptions of play, authenticity and everydayness; phenomenology offers means for further explication of human being and experience.Originality/value– This study provides a new view on KC based on hermeneutic phenomenology and play, and contributes to the examination of interactive knowledge processes in the field of LIS.
Social foresight
Authors: Poli Roberto 
Published: April 2015

Purpose– The purpose of this paper is to present the three guiding ideas of the social foresight course, namely, the difference between abstract and concrete futures (i.e. the difference between risk and uncertainty); the three levels of futures studies (forecast, foresight and anticipation); and an overview of the early signs of the incipient shift of human and social sciences from their so-far predominant past-orientation to a new, still unfolding, future-orientation.Design/methodology/approach– This paper is a reconstruction of the guiding ideas that have been used for designing the social foresight course.Findings– As far as anticipation is concerned, the authors’ understanding of anticipation is still cursory, and the novelty of the perspective may conceal the difficulty implied by this otherwise refreshingly new vision. The theory is at such an early phase of development that it still lacks a unified conceptual language for theorizing and operationalizing anticipation to facilitate cross-disciplinary conversations.Originality/value– The ability to anticipate in complex environments may improve the resilience of societies under threat from a global proliferation of agents and forces by articulating insecurities through anticipatory processes. However, to achieve this end, the joint expertise and theoretical awareness of both the futurists and the human and social scientists is needed.
Preparation and evaluation of nanosized mixed calcium iron oxide (CaFe2O4) as high heat resistant pigment in paints
Authors: Abd El-Wahab H. , Hassan A.M. , Naser A.M. , Fouad O.A. , El-Din A.M. , Wahba O.A.G. 
Published: April 2015

Purpose– The purpose of this paper was to prepare and evaluate a nanosized mixed calcium iron oxide as a high heat-resistant pigment. Heat-resistant pigments can be defined as chemical substances that impart color to a substrate or binder and retain their color and finish at elevated temperatures. Mixed metal oxides have been widely used as pigments in coating formulations.Design/methodology/approach– This work presents synthesis of nanosized calcium iron oxide as an inorganic pigment by using simple synthesis technique, namely, solid-state calcination method, to study its heat and corrosion resistance. The prepared pigment was characterized by using X-ray diffraction, infrared spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy and inductive coupling plasma. It was incorporated into paint formulations, and the heat, corrosion and mechanical resistance of dry paint film was evaluated.Findings– In this work, the prepared calcium iron oxide pigment showed excellent heat and corrosion resistance.Research limitations/implications– Heat-resistant coatings are required for industrial applications, mainly for reactors, exhaust pipes, space craft, stacks and similar equipments that are permanently and occasionally exposed to elevated temperatures. It was previously quite difficult to formulate heat-resistant organic coatings because of binder deficiencies; new vehicles for such applications are now available. Thus, the development of silicon resins has markedly advanced the utility of heat-resistant paints. High-temperature pigments are inorganic chemical compounds that impart and retain their color and finish to a substrate or binder at elevated temperatures.Practical implications– The nanosized mixed calcium iron oxide could be used as a pigment in paint formulations. It was found that it significantly enhances the heat, corrosion and mechanical resistance. It can also find numerous applications in other paint formulations for surface coating.Originality/value– The paper shows how the pigment consisting nanosized mixed calcium iron oxide could be used in heat-resistant paint formulations for coating metal surfaces.
Lycopene inhibits cyclic strain‐induced endothelin‐1 expression through the suppression of reactive oxygen species generation and induction of heme oxygenase‐1 in human umbilical vein endothelial cells
Authors: Sung Li‐Chin , Chao Hung‐Hsing , Chen Cheng‐Hsien , Tsai Jen‐Chen , Liu Ju‐Chi , Hong Hong‐Jye , Cheng Tzu‐Hurng , Chen Jin‐Jer 
Published: April 2015

SummaryLycopene is the most potent active antioxidant among the major carotenoids, and its use has been associated with a reduced risk for cardiovascular disease (CVD). Endothelin‐1 (ET‐1) is a powerful vasopressor synthesized by endothelial cells and plays a crucial role in the pathophysiology of CVD. However, the direct effects of lycopene on vascular endothelial cells have not been fully described. This study investigated the effects of lycopene on cyclic strain‐induced ET‐1 gene expression in human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) and identified the signal transduction pathways that are involved in this process. Cultured HUVECs were exposed to cyclic strain (20% in length, 1 Hz) in the presence or absence of lycopene. Lycopene inhibited strain‐induced ET‐1 expression through the suppression of reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation through attenuation of p22phox mRNA expression and NAD(P)H oxidase activity. Furthermore, lycopene inhibited strain‐induced ET‐1 secretion by reducing ROS‐mediated extrace‐llular signal‐regulated kinase (ERK) phosphorylation. Conversely, lycopene treatment enhanced heme oxygenase‐1 (HO‐1) gene expression through the activation of phosphoinositide 3‐kinase (PI3K)/Akt pathway, followed by induction of the nuclear factor erythroid 2‐related factor 2 (Nrf2) nuclear translocation; in addition, HO‐1 silencing partially inhibited the repressive effects of lycopene on strain‐induced ET‐1 expression. In summary, our study showed, for the first time, that lycopene inhibits cyclic strain‐induced ET‐1 gene expression through the suppression of ROS generation and induction of HO‐1 in HUVECs. Therefore, this study provides new valuable insight into the molecular pathways that may contribute to the proposed beneficial effects of lycopene on the cardiovascular system.
Justifying Redevelopment ‘Failures' Within Urban ‘Success Stories': Dispute, Compromise, and a New Test of Urbanity
Authors: Holden Meg , Scerri Andy , Esfahani Azadeh Hadizadeh 
Published: April 2015

AbstractLarge‐scale waterfront redevelopment projects, an urban development phenomenon that originated in the 1970s, are attractive to a growing suite of cities worldwide. But why? These mega‐projects are full of pitfalls, broken promises, cost overruns, disappointments and are often accused of promoting inequality. In this article, we consider the specific case of Melbourne's Docklands, which local popular opinion has roundly judged a failure despite the countervailing judgment of success in the revival of ‘liveability' of the adjacent Melbourne central business district. We use the Docklands case to illustrate the utility of a ‘critical pragmatic' framework of analysis to get behind dominant explanations of the demands of the urban growth machine and postmodern neoliberal capitalism. Without denying the existence of these dynamics, nor their hegemony, we nevertheless explicate how a critical pragmatic analysis can reveal the social dynamics driving the judgments and justifications offered by actors in urban redevelopment. A pragmatic analysis of these dynamics of argument and action at critical moments in the long process of an urban redevelopment can reveal new kinds of compromises and tests by which these projects are judged. In other words, what counts as failure and as success in the work of city building will shift, depending on what actors do and how they talk about it, and on how well these actions and justifications hold up to public challenges about the true character of a successful city. By gauging how these challenges are constituted and settled, we can better understand the evolution of the urban value proposition, and the new notion of justice grounded in urbanity that is emerging at the urban redevelopment frontier.