bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Update on the safety and efficacy of commercial ultrasound contrast agents in cardiac applications
Authors: Appis Andrew W. , Tracy Melissa J. , Feinstein Steven B. 
Published: May 2015

Abstract
Ultrasound contrast agents (UCAs) are currently used throughout the world in both clinical and research settings. The concept of contrast-enhanced ultrasound imaging originated in the late 1960s, and the first commercially available agents were initially developed in the 1980s. Today’s microbubbles are designed for greater utility and are used for both approved and off-label indications. In October 2007, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) imposed additional product label warnings that included serious cardiopulmonary reactions, several new disease-state contraindications, and a mandated 30 min post-procedure monitoring period for the agents Optison and Definity. These additional warnings were prompted by reports of cardiopulmonary reactions that were temporally related but were not clearly attributable to these UCAs. Subsequent published reports over the following months established not only the safety but also the improved efficacy of clinical ultrasound applications with UCAs. The FDA consequently updated the product labeling in June 2008 and reduced contraindications, although it continued to monitor select patients. In addition, a post-marketing program was proposed to the sponsors for a series of safety studies to further assess the risk of UCAs. Then in October 2011, the FDA leadership further downgraded the warnings after hearing the results of the post-marketing data, which revealed continued safety and improved efficacy. The present review focuses on the use of UCAs in today’s clinical practice, including the approved indications, a variety of off-label uses, and the most recent data, which affirms the safety and efficacy of UCAs.
A Robust Multilayer Dielectric Elastomer Actuator
Authors: Wolak Mason A. , Zhu Lei 
Published: May 2015

ABSTRACTWe recently fabricated and characterized a new class of multilayer dielectric elastomer films comprising alternating layers of two different polymers, at least one of which is an elastomer. The films discussed here contain THV (a terpolymer of poly(vinylidene fluoride)) and poly(ethylene octene) [EO] elastomer. The multilayer structure provides improved dielectric and electromechanical performance relative to monolithic films of THV or EO. These properties are controlled by the composition and the layer structure. For example, increasing the concentration of the elastomeric EO component increases the maximum axial strain (sz). Layering EO with THV also increases the breakdown strength (EB ∼ 265 - 300 V/µm) relative to monolithic EO (EB ∼ 150 V/µm) or THV (EB ∼ 245 V/µm) control films. This enhancement in breakdown strength is consistent with a barrier effect that is also observed in multilayer polymer capacitor films. The increase in breakdown strength allows 512-layer 75 vol% EO / 25 vol% THV films to achieve maximum axial strains of sz nearly 4%, higher than can be attained by either EO or THV films alone. In addition, layering reduces remnant strain and electromechanical hysteresis by limiting the effective field within the THV layers. The 75% EO/ 25% THV films show robust operational longevity with little loss in axial strain when subjected to repeated actuation at Emax = 225 V/µm (producing sz = 2.2%). Under these conditions, we observe 3,000 consecutive actuation cycles with no electrical breakdown. In comparison, single component EO control films undergo electrical breakdown at this field and THV control films survive only a few hundred actuation cycles under these conditions. The results demonstrate that multilayering is an effective technique to increase the dielectric strength of elastomer materials and in turn improve upon strain and operational longevity (repeated actuation cycles) characteristics.
Thermomechanical Characterization of a Series of Crosslinked Poly[ethylene-co-(vinyl acetate)] (PEVA) Copolymers
Authors: Heuchel Matthias , Al-Qaisi Laith , Kratz Karl , Nöchel Ulrich , Behl Marc , Lendlein Andreas 
Published: May 2015

ABSTRACTCrosslinked poly[ethylene-co-(vinyl acetate)] (cPEVA) has been recently introduced as a polymer material, which can be functionalized with various shape-memory effects by solely altering the thermomechanical treatment called programming.In this study two series of cPEVAs with different vinyl acetate contents of 18 wt% (cPEVA18) and 28 wt% (cPEVA28) comprising different crosslink densities were investigated by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and dynamic mechanical thermal analysis (DMTA) in the temperature range of -130 °C to 120 °C. DMTA tests were performed in torsion mode, because such movements are highly relevant in the context of complex shape changes in shape-memory polymer based devices. Finally, the obtained DMTA results were compared with DMTA conducted in tension mode. Swelling experiments revealed a gel content in the range from 81% to 90% for cPEVA18 samples while for cPEVA28s a complete conversion was observed. The degree of swelling was found to decrease substantially with increasing crosslink density for both cPEVA series.The influence of VA content and extent of crosslinking on the appearance of the respective melting (Tm) and glass transition (Tg) as well as the thermomechanical properties of cPEVA systems could be demonstrated by discussing both DSC and DMTA results. The temperature range of mechanical stability correlates with the VA content and is determined by decreasing Tm values. The cross links do barely alter the stiffness of a PEVA up to the Tm rang, but lead to constant mechanical rigidity in the rubbery range above Tm.
Semiring of Sets
Authors: Coghetto Roland 
Published: May 2015

Summary
Schmets [22] has developed a measure theory from a generalized notion of a semiring of sets. Goguadze [15] has introduced another generalized notion of semiring of sets and proved that all known properties that semiring have according to the old definitions are preserved. We show that this two notions are almost equivalent. We note that Patriota [20] has defined this quasi-semiring. We propose the formalization of some properties developed by the authors.
Participer dans les scènes ritualisées du pouvoir. La Banca Abierta et le Concejo en los Barrios en Argentine
Authors: Annunziata Rocio 
Published: May 2015

L’article propose une analyse de deux dispositifs participatifs mis en place en Argentine dans les villes de Morón et Rosario : la Banca Abierta et le Concejo en los Barrios . Ces outils sont organisés par les pouvoirs législatifs locaux, invitant à la participation dans des scènes ritualisées du pouvoir. Leur intérêt réside dans le fait qu’ils semblent cristalliser un nouveau rôle politique de la présence. Par le biais des présences inhabituelles, celle des citoyens dans les espaces des représentants et des représentants dans les espaces des citoyens, ils produisent un effet d’identification et de proximité entre les uns et les autres.
Analytical Solutions for an Avian Influenza Epidemic Model incorporating Spatial Spread as a Diffusive Process
Authors: Thiuthad Phontita , Manoranjan Valipuram S. , Lenbury Yongwimon 
Published: May 2015

AbstractWe consider a theoretical model for the spread of avian influenza in a poultry population. An avian influenza epidemic model incorporating spatial spread as a diffusive process is discussed, where the infected individuals are restricted from moving to prevent spatial transmission but infection occurs when susceptible individuals come into contact with infected individuals or the virus is contracted from the contaminated environment (e.g. through water or food). The infection is assumed to spread radially and isotropically. After a stability and phase plane analysis of the equivalent system of ordinary differential equations, it is shown that an analytical solution can be obtained in the form of a travelling wave. We outline the methodology for finding such analytical solutions using a travelling wave coordinate when the wave is assumed to move at constant speed. Numerical simulations also produce the travelling wave solution, and a comparison is made with some predictions based on empirical data reported in the literature.
Assessment of Experiential Education in Prescribed Burning for Current and Future Natural Resource Managers
Authors: Scasta J. Derek , Weir John R. , Engle David M. 
Published: May 2015

AbstractAcquiring experiential prescribed fire education is difficult for college students. In order to evaluate the effects of instruction on students, we surveyed those who were taking or had completed Oklahoma State University’s (OSU) prescribed fire courses since 2000. Of those surveyed, 32 were current students and 99 were former students. We assessed changes in their perception, knowledge, skills, abilities, the total area that they have prescribed burned since leaving OSU, their career trajectories, and how they rated the importance of different types of instruction. One third of the current students had never participated in a prescribed burn before the course; however, after the course, they had participated in seven burns on average. Current students had increased confidence in planning prescribed fire, operating a drip torch, and leading a prescribed fire program. Former students were employed in 20 US states and one Canadian province. Only one third of former students had participated in a prescribed burning association (or similar local cooperative), of which two thirds became federal government employees. Former students had conducted or assisted with 6247 prescribed fires on a total of 803 252 ha after taking the courses, from 2000 to 2013. Experiential learning such as conducting prescribed burns, writing burn plans, and spot fire and equipment training ranked higher in utility than passive types of instruction such as lectures. Of the 37 universities assessed, only eight offer any courses explicitly focused on prescribed fire. Based on our results that demonstrate that both current and former students value experiential fire ecology educational training, we recommend that university curricula should increase the focus on prescribed fire, emphasize experiential learning, and facilitate greater interaction between student and instructor.
Infinitely many solutions for a nonlinear Navier boundary systems involving $(p(x),q(x))$-biharmonic
Authors: Allaoui Mostafa , El Amrouss Abdel Rachid , Ourraoui Anass 
Published: May 2015

In this article, we study the following $(p(x),q(x))$-biharmonic type system \begin{gather*} \Delta(|\Delta u|^{p(x)-2}\Delta u)=\lambda F_u(x,u,v)\quad\text{in }\Omega,\\ \Delta(|\Delta v|^{q(x)-2}\Delta v)=\lambda F_v(x,u,v)\quad\text{in }\Omega,\\ u=v=\Delta u=\Delta v=0\quad \text{on }\partial\Omega. \end{gather*} We prove the existence of infinitely many solutions of the problem byapplying a general variational principle due to B. Ricceri and the theory of the variable exponent Sobolev spaces.
Numerical solution of Burger's equation based on cubic B-splines quasi-interpolants and matrix arguments
Authors: Chakrone Omar , Diyer Okacha , Sbibih Driss 
Published: May 2015

In this paper, we give an efficient method for solvingBurger's equation. The numerical scheme equation is based on cubicB-spline quasi-interpolants and some techniques of matrix arguments. We find an iterative expression which is easy to implement and we give also the erroriterative scheme. Then we compare the obtained approximate solutionwith that given by the methods introduced in \cite{C1} and\cite{D1}.
Existence and multiplicity of solutions for a $p(x)$-Kirchhoff type problems
Authors: Hssini El Miloud , Massar Mohammed , Tsouli Najib 
Published: May 2015

This paper is concerned with the existence and multiplicity of solutions for a class of $p(x)$-Kirchhoff type equations with Neumann boundary condition. Our technical approach is based on variational methods.
« J’aime jardiner et rapporter quelque chose à la maison. » Le jardin botanique comme espace éducatif non formel et outil de développement des jeunes
Authors: Rahm Jrène , Martel-Reny Marie-Paule , Simard Violène 
Published: May 2015

Bien que l’on entende souvent parler de la valeur éducative du jardinage, on pourrait se demander pourquoi un groupe d’adolescents en milieu urbain s’engagent, été après été, à s’occuper d’un petit jardin admiré par le public du Jardin botanique où les jardinets sont situés. Notre étude de cas porte sur le programme Jardins-jeunes, du Jardin botanique de Montréal, qui s’est tenu à l’été 2005. Pendant huit semaines, nous avons suivi les activités des jeunes de 12 à 15 ans, qui participaient à ce programme. Les résultats mettent en évidence l’importance que ces jeunes accordent au jardinage, qui les rapproche de la nature et entraîne un développement identitaire ancré dans le respect de la terre et de soi-même, en même temps que la construction d’un équilibre entre le corps et l’esprit. Pour les adolescents, être à l’extérieur et « s’occuper » pendant l’été s’avère tout aussi valorisant que de se faire des nouveaux amis avec qui discuter de sujets qui les préoccupent. De plus, ce programme donne aux visiteurs une image positive des jeunes. Les jardins botaniques devraient donc être vus à la fois comme des espaces d’éducation non formelle et comme des sanctuaires de développement des jeunes.
Mutations en muséologie et programmes de formation à l’Université du Québec en Outaouais
Authors: Guzin Lukic Nada 
Published: May 2015

La recherche en muséologie et la mutation des pratiques muséales continuent à nourrir et à modifier les formations en ce domaine, notamment au Québec. La prolifération des institutions muséales, depuis le boom des années 1980, le développement de la muséologie et, en parallèle, l’évolution des professions des musées ont pour résultat d’accroître leur offre. La plupart des formations en muséologie sont proposées aux cycles supérieurs. En revanche, les études de 1er cycle universitaire, tant au Québec qu’au Canada, ont tardé à faire leur apparition. Seule l’Université du Québec en Outaouais (UQO) offre un programme en muséologie au 1er cycle. Les études préalables à l’ouverture du programme ont montré que plusieurs postes demandent des compétences en muséologie, mais sans exiger nécessairement des études de maîtrise ou de doctorat. De plus, le fait d’enseigner les bases de la muséologie au 1er cycle permet l’approfondissement des connaissances aux cycles supérieurs. Cette approche se veut cohérente avec la mise sur pied du programme de maîtrise en muséologie et pratiques des arts, dont la concentration en muséologie dispose d’un profil avec mémoire. Enfin, les formations offertes en muséologie à l’UQO soulèvent plusieurs questions sur l’enseignement de la muséologie, son contenu, ses approches, ses méthodologies et son aboutissement.
Fête urbaine et poésie en voix
Authors: Brissette Pascal 
Published: May 2015

Qu’est-ce que la poésie en voix ? Qu’est-ce qui était attendu d’un poète déclamant
un poème à la fin du xixe siècle et quelle était
la portée sociale et culturelle de cette pratique au Québec ? Qu’est-ce qui a changé entre
1899, année où Nelligan déclama sa « Romance du vin » devant l’élite montréalaise assemblée
au château Ramezay, et 1970, année où se tint la Nuit poétique de fameuse mémoire au théâtre
du Gèsu ? En réfléchissant à la genèse et aux conditions de production de deux séries
d’événements notoires dans l’histoire de la poésie en voix au Québec (les Soirées de l’École
littéraire de Montréal et les Nuits de la poésie), le présent article voudrait fournir
quelques éléments de réponse à ces questions.
Nostalgie et utopie dans l’oeuvre de Lise Tremblay
Authors: Chassaing Irène 
Published: May 2015

Thème récurrent de la littérature québécoise, la nostalgie reste généralement associée à un certain conservatisme. Dans le contexte contemporain de la « surmodernité » (Marc Augé), ce sentiment prend cependant une valeur nouvelle, dont témoigne bien l’oeuvre de Lise Tremblay. Une étude détaillée des romans La pêche blanche et La danse juive ainsi que du recueil de nouvelles La héronnière montre que la nostalgie ne représente pas nécessairement une « tristesse sans objet » (Susan Stewart), un élan stérile portant l’individu vers un passé à la fois idéalisé et inaccessible. Dans l’univers de Lise Tremblay, la nostalgie se définit plutôt comme l’aspiration à un présent transformé, l’élan vers un idéal que porterait l’ensemble de la communauté : elle ouvre les portes de l’utopie.
Post-Treaty Politics
Authors: Jinnah Sikina 
Published: May 2015

An argument that secretariats—the administrative arms of international treaties—are political actors in their own right.
Secretariats—the administrative arms of international treaties—-would seem simply to do the bidding of member states. And yet, Sikina Jinnah argues in Post-Treaty Politics, secretariats can play an important role in world politics. On paper, secretariats collect information, communicate with state actors, and coordinate diplomatic activity. In practice, they do much more. As Jinnah shows, they can influence the allocation of resources, structures of interstate cooperation, and the power relationships between states.
Jinnah examines secretariat influence through the lens of overlap management in environmental governance—how secretariats help to manage the dense interplay of issues, rules, and norms between international treaty regimes. Through four case studies, she shows that secretariats can draw on their unique networks and expertise to handle the challenges of overlap management, emerging as political actors in their own right.
After presenting a theory and analytical framework for analyzing secretariat influence, Jinnah examines secretariat influence on overlap management within the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), two cases of overlap management in the World Trade Organization, as well as a case in which the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) secretariat failed to influence political outcomes despite its efforts to manage overlap. Jinnah argues that, even when modest, secretariat influence matters because it can establish a path-dependent dynamic that continues to guide state behavior even after secretariat influence has waned.
Beyond the Big Ditch
Authors: Carse Ashley 
Published: May 2015

A historical and ethnographic study of the conflict between global transportation and rural development as the two intersect at the Panama Canal.
In this innovative book, Ashley Carse traces the water that flows into and out from the Panama Canal to explain how global shipping is entangled with Panama's cultural and physical landscapes. By following container ships as they travel downstream along maritime routes and tracing rivers upstream across the populated watershed that feeds the canal, he explores the politics of environmental management around a waterway that links faraway ports and markets to nearby farms, forests, cities, and rural communities.
Carse draws on a wide range of ethnographic and archival material to show the social and ecological implications of transportation across Panama. The Canal moves ships over an aquatic staircase of locks that demand an enormous amount of fresh water from the surrounding region. Each passing ship drains 52 million gallons out to sea—a volume comparable to the daily water use of half a million Panamanians.
Infrastructures like the Panama Canal, Carse argues, do not simply conquer nature; they rework ecologies in ways that serve specific political and economic priorities. Interweaving histories that range from the depopulation of the U.S. Canal Zone a century ago to road construction conflicts and water hyacinth invasions in canal waters, the book illuminates the human and nonhuman actors that have come together at the margins of the famous trade route. 2014 marks the 100th anniversary of the Panama Canal. Beyond the Big Ditch calls us to consider how infrastructures are materially embedded in place, producing environments with winners and losers.
Late Miocene to Recent formation of the Aure‐Moresby fold‐thrust belt and foreland basin as a consequence of Woodlark microplate rotation, Papua New Guinea
Authors: Ott Bryan , Mann Paul 
Published: May 2015

AbstractThe Aure‐Moresby fold‐thrust belt and Aure‐Moresby foreland basin are located in the eastern Gulf of Papua (GOP), Papua New Guinea (PNG), and formed during late Miocene‐Recent as the result of large‐scale, counterclockwise rotation of the 355,000 km2 Woodlark microplate. To document the structure, stratigraphy, and age of convergent deformation along the poorly studied, western edge of the rotating Woodlark microplate, we integrate results of 2,538 km of previously unpublished 2‐D seismic reflection data with onshore geologic and GPS studies from previous workers. The late Miocene Aure‐Moresby fold‐thrust belt is a 400 km long, northwest‐trending fold‐belt exposed onshore in Papua New Guinea that plunges to the southeast, where continuous folds and northeast‐dipping thrusts can be imaged in the subsurface for more than 250 km. The arcuate trend of the Aure‐Moresby fold‐thrust belt along the southwestern coast and offshore areas of the Papuan peninsula parallels the shape of the adjacent, offshore Aure‐Moresby foreland basin and the strike of the transpressional segment of the left‐lateral Owen‐Stanley fault zone (OSFZ) passing along the center of the Papuan peninsula. As the OSFZ becomes more transtensional east of 148°E, folds of the Aure‐Moresby fold‐thrust belt along southern coast of the peninsula become less prominent, and the adjacent Aure‐Moresby foreland basin transitions into an undeformed Cenozoic passive margin setting. These observations of convergent an left‐lateral deformation along the Aure‐Moresby fold‐thrust belt are consistent with: (1) counterclockwise rotation of the Woodlark microplate known from regional GPS studies; (2) coeval opening of the Woodlark basin along its southern edge in the late Miocene; and (3) rapid subduction at the New Britain trench along its northern edge. The kinematics of the rotating Woodlark microplate are driven by slab pull forces acting on the actively subducting northern edge of the microplate.
Impact of self‐attraction and loading on Earth rotation
Authors: Quinn Katherine J. , Ponte Rui M. , Tamisiea Mark E. 
Published: May 2015

AbstractThe impact of self‐attraction and loading (SAL) on Earth rotation has not been previously considered except at annual timescales. We estimate Earth rotation excitations using models of atmospheric, oceanic, and land hydrology surface mass variations and investigate the importance of including SAL over monthly to interannual timescales. We assess SAL effects in comparison with simple mass balance effects where net mass exchanged with the atmosphere and land is distributed uniformly over the global ocean. For oceanic polar motion excitations, SAL impacts are important even though mass balance impact is minor except at the annual period. This is true of global (atmosphere + land + ocean) polar motion excitations as well, although the SAL impacts are smaller. When estimating length‐of‐day excitations, mass balance effects have a dominant impact, particularly for oceanic excitation. Although SAL can have a significant impact on estimated Earth rotation excitations, its consideration generally did not improve comparisons with geodetic observations. This result may change in the future as surface mass models and Earth rotation observations improve.