bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
The Ambiguous Concept of Product Defectiveness and the Business Risk: Different Approaches of European and U.S. Courts Comparing the Producer's and User's Behaviour
Authors: Rajneri Eleonora 
Published: June 2011

Abstract
The European directive on product liability defines as defective a product that “does not provide the safety which a person is entitled to expect.” In the last years, European national courts have given a number of diverse interpretations of such a broadly and ambiguous defined provision. For an analytical comparison among court decisions, I suggest to distinguish between (1) risk of damages that were foreseeable and avoidable at the time when the product was put into circulation, (2) risk of damages that were unforeseeable and unavoidable, and (3) risk of damages that were statistically foreseeable yet unavoidable.
As regards the first category, the Italian Corte di Cassazione has pointed out that the legal provision implies a comparison between the conduct of the victim and that of the producer in order to assess which one of two was in the best position to avoid this risk of damage. Therefore, the mechanism of apportionment of the risk is not different from the one implied by a fault liability rule. It is interesting to note that the third American Restatement on torts does not make any reference to the user’s behavior in its black letter on product defectiveness. The analysis shows how this different approach impacts on judicial decision-making.
With respect to the second category, the development risk defense clause (expressly provided for by the directive) produces the effect of leaving the victim uncompensated, despite the fact that the European lawmaker has declared his intention to place a liability without fault upon the producer.
The problem arises with the third category, because the directive has not envisaged a specific rule for those damages that were statistically foreseeable yet unavoidable, such as the manufacturing defects. On the contrary, Italian law makes explicit that a product “is defective if it does not provide the safety normally provided by other products in the same series.” Under this rule (that is one of the application of a more broad doctrine on business risk), the producer is deemed strictly liable for those damages that, even though unavoidable, were manageable as quantifiable in advance. The question is whether this doctrine could be applied also to those design defects actually foreseen by the producer. Following the business risk doctrine, the producer should be held strictly liable as he had accepted the risk in full awareness, having taken it into account in his cost/benefit analysis. However, according to those European courts that do apply the risk/utility test (such as the German courts), the producer is insulated from liability if the cost of an alternative design overweighed the foreseeable risk of damage.
Zinc Oxide — A Unique Material for Advanced Photovoltaic Solar Cells
Authors: Flickyngerová Soňa , Tvarožek Vladimír , Gašpierik Pavol 
Published: June 2011

Zinc Oxide — A Unique Material for Advanced Photovoltaic Solar CellsA novel approach to the preparation of thin films by using RF diode sputtering was developed. In one deposition run, thin films of doped ZnO:(Al, Ga) were obtained with different structural, optical and electrical properties. ZnO: Al films of low resistivities in order of 10-3Ωcm and high optical transmittances about 93% have appeared the most suitable for photovoltaic applications.
Pyrolyzed Photoresist Film Electrodes for Application in Electroanalysis
Authors: Řeháček Vlastimil , Hotový Ivan , Vojs Marian , Kotlár Mário , Kups Thomas , Spiess Lothar 
Published: June 2011

Pyrolyzed Photoresist Film Electrodes for Application in Electroanalysis
Pyrolyzed photoresist film (PPF) electrodes for application in electroanalysis were prepared on alumina substrates. These electrodes were characterized for their electrical, microstructural (by Raman spectroscopy) and electrochemical properties. As a support, the PPF electrodes were tested for simultaneous determination of Pb(II), Cd(II) and Zn(II) in an aqueous solution on in-situ formed bismuth film by square wave voltammetry (SWV). The dependence of the stripping responses on the concentration of target metals was linear in the range from 1 × 10-8 to 9 × 10-8 mol/L. The effect of activation of the PPF surface by argon plasma on analytical performance of bismuth film electrode (BiFE) on PPF support was also investigated.
The global economy and its influence on the Slovak construction sector
Authors: Jankovichová E. 
Published: June 2011

The global economy and its influence on the Slovak construction sectorFor the construction industry, globalization is a trend that means two things: many opportunities and many threats. In the conditions of globalization many management approaches, such as organization structure, strategy forming, planning, motivation and control procedures, communication channels, risk management, etc., must transform. The aim of the paper is to analyze the influence of globalization on the construction industry in Slovakia and identify the impact of globalization on construction companies in this area.
Innovative Energy‐Efficient Biomass Drying Based on Self‐Heat Recuperation Technology
Authors: Aziz M. , Fushimi C. , Kansha Y. , Mochidzuki K. , Kaneko S. , Tsutsumi A. , Matsumoto K. , Hashimoto T. , Kawamoto N. , Oura K. , Yokohama K. , Yamaguchi Y. , Kinoshita M. 
Published: June 2011

AbstractA novel drying system based on self‐heat recuperation (SHR) technology, which recuperates both sensible and latent heat, was developed to reduce effectively the energy consumption for biomass drying. A fluidized bed dryer with internal heat exchangers was selected as the main dryer. Square wood chips of Pinus radiata with average dimensions of 10 mm were selected as biomass sample. The relation between the required energy input and fluidization velocity and a comparison with the available mechanical vapor recompression (MVR)‐based drying technology were evaluated. The results prove that the proposed SHR technology could reduce the required energy consumption for biomass drying significantly at all evaluated fluidization velocities to about 2/3 of that required for MVR‐based drying technology.
Effect of carbon source on polysaccharide production by alginate‐entrapped Aureobasidium pullulans ATCC 42023 cells
Authors: West Thomas P. 
Published: June 2011

AbstractThe production of the exopolysaccharide pullulan using entrapped cells of the fungus Aureobasidium pullulans ATCC 42023 was investigated relative to carbon source. Fungal cells grown on glucose or sucrose as a carbon source were entrapped in calcium alginate beads and found to be capable of synthesizing the polysaccharide for two production cycles. Using 2.5% glucose or sucrose as a carbon source, productivity was 18.3 or 21.9 mg polysaccharide/g cells × h, respectively after the initial production cycle and decreased to 9.6 or 8.5 mg polysaccharide/g cells × h, respectively, after the second production cycle. Independent of carbon source, the entrapped fungal cells exhibited a higher yield during the initial cycle than the second production cycle while the entrapped ATCC 42023 cells elaborated a polysaccharide with a higher pullulan content during the second production cycle compared to the initial production cycle. (© 2011 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)
Ni/Au Schottky diodes on AlxGa1‐xN (0.7<x<1) grown on AlN single crystal substrates
Authors: Xie Jinqiao , Mia Seiji , Dalmau Rafael , Collazo Ramón , Rice Anthony , Tweedie James , Sitar Zlatko 
Published: June 2011

AbstractWith the advent of bulk single crystal AlN substrates, AlxGa1‐xN epilayers can be grown pseudomorphically, under a compressive strain, with Al composition greater than 70%. Temperature dependent Hall effect measurements showed that Si dopant in AlxGa1‐xN has an activation energy ranging from 10 to 25 meV for x < 0.8, while the activation energy increases rapidly for x ≥ 0.85. Planar Ni/Au Schottky diodes fabricated on AlxGa1‐xN exhibit good diode rectification. Based on current‐voltage (I‐V) and capacitance‐voltage (C‐V) measurement, the effective Schottky barrier height was observed to monotonously increase with the increase of Al%. For a film with an n‐type carrier concentration of 1x1018 cm‐3 and Al content of 81%, the effective barrier height reached 1.8 eV with an ideality factor of 1.46. However, C‐V consistently showed much higher barrier height than I‐V, suggesting surface oxides play an important role in Ni/Au Schottky diode on AlGaN. The reverse breakdown voltage was also measured in a vertical structure without edge termination. The obtained high breakdown voltage exceeds the theoretical limit of 4H‐SiC at a similar carrier concentration, suggesting great potentials for high power switching application of AlGaN on AlN. (© 2011 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)
Floc architecture of bioflocculation sediment by ESEM and CLSM
Authors: Huiming Zhao , Hongwei Fang , Minghong Chen 
Published: June 2011

AbstractSediment flocculation is a critical component for the understanding of cohesive sediment dynamics. Traditionally, the referred study has largely been devoted to forming mechanism, influencing factors and physicochemical sediment conditions of all kinds of organic‐flocculation and inorganic‐flocculation. However, during the last decade, the bioflocculation of sediment by biological activity has been given increasing attention. But most studies have focused on the interrelations between biological and sedimentological variables. With the assistance of a newly developed field kit and correlative microscopy (which includes environmental scanning electron microscopy and confocal laser scanning microscopy), this article begins to bridge the resolution gap between sediment particles and biological activities as well as its metabolic products biofilm, in order to better understand the role of polymeric material biofilm in floc ultrastructure and outward floc behavior of bioflocculation sediment. Results have demonstrated that bioflocculation sediment was observed to be composed of complex networks of biofilm and appeared to be of complicated physical floc structures. The biofilm was found to embed particles and permeate the void space, representing the dominant physical bridging mechanism of the flocs and contributed to the extensive surface area, architecture characteristics, and mechanical properties of bioflocculation sediment. SCANNING 33:437–445, 2011. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Treatment by oral creatine, L‐arginine and L‐glycine in six severely affected patients with creatine transporter defect
Authors: Valayannopoulos Vassili , Boddaert Nathalie , Chabli Allel , Barbier Valerie , Desguerre Isabelle , Philippe Anne , Afenjar Alexandra , Mazzuca Michel , Cheillan David , Munnich Arnold , de Keyzer Yves , Jakobs Cornelis , Salomons Gajja S. , de Lonlay Pascale 
Published: June 2011

AbstractBackgroundX‐linked cerebral creatine deficiency is caused by the deficiency of the creatine transporter (CTP) encoded by the SLC6A8 gene.Patients and MethodsWe report here a series of six patients with severe CTP deficiency, four males and two females; clinical presentations include mild to severe mental retardation (6/6), associated with psychiatric symptoms (5/6: autistic behaviour, chronic hallucinatory psychosis), seizures (2/6) and muscular symptoms (2/4 males). Diagnosis was suspected upon elevated urinary creatine/creatinine (except in one of the female patients) and on a markedly decreased creatine peak on magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS). Diagnosis was confirmed by molecular analysis that identified four novel mutations not reported so far, including a mutation found twice in two male patients. All patients were treated successively and according to the same protocol by creatine alone then combined to its precursors, L‐glycine and L‐arginine for 42 months.Results and conclusionIn our patients, creatine supplementation alone or with its precursors L‐glycine and L‐arginine showed benefit only in the muscular symptoms of the disease and no improvement in the cognitive and psychiatric manifestations and did not modify brain creatine content on MRS of male and female CTP deficient patients. New treatment strategies are required including creatine derivatives transported independently from CTP or using alternative pathways and transporters.
Methodology and tools for quality improvement in maternal and newborn health care
Authors: Raven Joanna , Hofman Jan , Adegoke Adetoro , van den Broek Nynke 
Published: June 2011

AbstractObjectiveTo gain an overview of approaches, methodologies, and tools used in quality improvement of maternal and newborn health in low‐income countries.MethodsElectronic search of MEDLINE and organizational databases for literature describing approaches, methodologies, and tools used to improve the quality of maternal and newborn health care in low‐income countries. Relevant papers and reports were reviewed and summarized.ResultsDeveloping a culture of quality is an important requisite for successful quality improvement. Methodologies to improve quality include the development of standards and guidelines and the performance of mortality, near‐miss, and criterion‐based audits. Tools for data collection and process description were identified, and examples of work to improve quality of care are provided.ConclusionThe documented experience with the identified approaches, methodologies, and tools indicates that none is sufficient by itself to achieve a desirable improvement in quality of care. The choice of methodologies and tools depends on the healthcare system and its available resources. There is a lack of studies that describe the process of quality improvement and a need for research to provide evidence of the effectiveness of the identified methods and tools.
Evidence for a persistent, environment-dependent and deteriorating subtype of subclinical psychotic experiences: a 6-year longitudinal general population study
Authors: Wigman J. T. W. , van Winkel R. , Raaijmakers Q. A. W. , Ormel J. , Verhulst F. C. , Reijneveld S. A. , van Os J. , Vollebergh W. A. M. 
Published: June 2011

BackgroundResearch suggests that subclinical psychotic experiences during adolescence represent the behavioral expression of liability for psychosis. Little is known, however, about the longitudinal trajectory of liability in general population samples.MethodGrowth mixture modeling was used to examine longitudinal trajectories of self-reported positive psychotic experiences in the Youth Self Report (YSR), completed three times over a period of 6 years by a general population cohort of adolescents aged 10–11 years at baseline (n=2230).ResultsFour groups with distinct developmental trajectories of low, decreasing, increasing and persistent levels of mild positive psychotic experiences were revealed. The persistent trajectory was associated strongly with cannabis use, childhood trauma, developmental problems and ethnic minority status, and consistently displayed strong associations with factors known to predict transition from subclinical psychotic experience to clinical psychotic disorder (severity of and secondary distress due to psychotic experiences, social and attentional problems and affective dysregulation) and also with high levels of parental-reported psychotic experiences and use of mental health care at the end of the follow-up period. Progressively weaker associations were found for the increasing, decreasing and low trajectories respectively.ConclusionsThe results suggest that the outcome of early developmental deviation associated with later expression of psychotic experiences is contingent on the degree of later interaction with environmental risks inducing, first, persistence of psychotic experiences and, second, progression to onset of need for care and service use. Insight into the longitudinal dynamics of risk states in representative samples may contribute to the development of targeted early intervention in psychosis.
Comparison of relative validity of food group intakes estimated by comprehensive and brief-type self-administered diet history questionnaires against 16 d dietary records in Japanese adults
Authors: Kobayashi Satomi , Murakami Kentaro , Sasaki Satoshi , Okubo Hitomi , Hirota Naoko , Notsu Akiko , Fukui Mitsuru , Date Chigusa 
Published: June 2011

AbstractObjectiveTo compare the relative validity of food group intakes derived from a comprehensive self-administered diet history questionnaire (DHQ) and a brief-type DHQ (BDHQ) developed for the assessment of Japanese diets during the previous month using semi-weighed dietary records (DR) as a reference method.DesignBetween November 2002 and September 2003, a 4 d DR (covering four non-consecutive days), a DHQ (150-item semi-quantitative questionnaire) and a BDHQ (fifty-eight-item fixed-portion-type questionnaire) were completed four times (once per season) at 3-month intervals.SettingThree areas in Japan: Osaka, Nagano and Tottori.SubjectsNinety-two Japanese women aged 31–69 years and ninety-two Japanese men aged 32–76 years.ResultsMedian food group intakes were estimated well for approximately half of the food groups. No statistically significant differences were noted between a 16 d DR and the first DHQ (DHQ1) or between the DR and the first BDHQ (BDHQ1) in fifteen (44 %) and fifteen (52 %) food items for women and in fourteen (41 %) and sixteen (55 %) food items for men, respectively, indicating that both questionnaires estimated median values reasonably well. Median Spearman's correlation coefficients with the DR were 0·43 (range: −0·09 to 0·77) for DHQ1 and 0·44 (range: 0·14 to 0·82) for BDHQ1 in women, with respective values of 0·44 (range: 0·08 to 0·87) and 0·48 (range: 0·22 to 0·83) in men, indicating reasonable ranking ability. Similar results were observed for mean values of the four DHQ and BDHQ.ConclusionsIn terms of food intake estimates, both the DHQ and the BDHQ showed reasonable validity.
A LOOP SPACE FORMULATION FOR GEOMETRIC LIFTING PROBLEMS
Authors: WALDORF KONRAD 
Published: June 2011

AbstractWe review and then combine two aspects of the theory of bundle gerbes. The first concerns lifting bundle gerbes and connections on those, developed by Murray and by Gomi. Lifting gerbes represent obstructions against extending the structure group of a principal bundle. The second is the transgression of gerbes to loop spaces, initiated by Brylinski and McLaughlin and with recent contributions of the author. Combining these two aspects, we obtain a new formulation of lifting problems in terms of geometry on the loop space. Most prominently, our formulation explains the relation between (complex) spin structures on a Riemannian manifold and orientations of its loop space.
A novel fungal family of oligopeptide transporters identified by functional metatranscriptomics of soil eukaryotes
Authors: Damon Coralie , Vallon Laurent , Zimmermann Sabine , Haider Muhammad Z , Galeote Virginie , Dequin Sylvie , Luis Patricia , Fraissinet-Tachet Laurence , Marmeisse Roland 
Published: June 2011

Abstract
Functional environmental genomics has the potential to identify novel biological functions that the systematic sequencing of microbial genomes or environmental DNA may fail to uncover. We targeted the functions expressed by soil eukaryotes using a metatranscriptomic approach based on the use of soil-extracted polyadenylated messenger RNA to construct environmental complementary DNA expression libraries. Functional complementation of a yeast mutant defective in di/tripeptide uptake identified a novel family of oligopeptide transporters expressed by fungi. This family has a patchy distribution in the Basidiomycota and Ascomycota and is present in the genome of a Saccharomyces cerevisiae wine strain. High throughput phenotyping of yeast mutants expressing two environmental transporters showed that they both displayed broad substrate specificity and could transport more than 60–80 dipeptides. When expressed in Xenopus oocytes one environmental transporter induced currents upon dipeptide addition, suggesting proton-coupled co-transport of dipeptides. This transporter was also able to transport specifically cysteine. Deletion of the two copies of the corresponding gene family members in the genome of the wine yeast strain severely reduced the number of dipeptides that it could assimilate. These results demonstrate that these genes are functional and can be used by fungi to efficiently scavenge the numerous, low concentration, oligopeptides continuously generated in soils by proteolysis.
genBlastG: using BLAST searches to build homologous gene models
Authors: She Rong , Chu Jeffrey Shih-Chieh , Uyar Bora , Wang Jun , Wang Ke , Chen Nansheng 
Published: June 2011

Abstract
Motivation: BLAST users frequently expect to obtain homologous genes with certain similarity to their query genes. But what they get from BLAST searches are often collections of local alignments called high-scoring segment pairs (HSPs). On the other hand, most homology-based gene finders have been built using computation-intensive algorithms, without taking full advantage of BLAST searches that have been perfected over the last decades.
Results: Here we report an efficient algorithm, genBlastG that directly uses the HSPs reported by BLAST to define high-quality gene models.
Availability: http://genome.sfu.ca/genblast/download.html
Contact: chenn@sfu.ca
Supplementary information: Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.
Health‐related quality of life and children's happiness with their childcare
Authors: Lloyd K. 
Published: June 2011

AbstractBackground  Almost without exception, research into the range and quality of childcare provision, and its correlates with children's development, comes from the perspective of adults. Parents, childcare workers, teachers and the general public have all been asked for their views on childcare. In contrast, there is a dearth of information on attitudes to childcare provision and its correlates from the perspective of the children themselves.Methods  A total of 3657 Primary 7 children, who are 10 or 11 years of age, completed the KIDSCREEN‐27 health‐related quality of life (HRQoL) measure along with questions on their childcare provision as part of an online survey carried out in schools.Results  Most children receiving childcare from people other than their parents were completely happy with their care. Childcare was related to poorer HRQoL for girls on four of the five KIDSCREEN domains, although the effect sizes were small. For both boys and girls, there were statistically significant, although modest, correlations between happiness with childcare and scores on all five domains of the KIDSCREEN‐27.Conclusions  Overall, the findings suggest that most children are happy with their care and that any differences between the HRQoL of those who are cared for by their parents and those who are not are small to moderate.
Acquired undescended testis: putting the pieces together
Authors: Hack W. W. M. , Goede J. , van der Voort‐Doedens L. M. , Meijer R. W. 
Published: June 2011

SummaryAcquired undescended testis is now a well‐recognized disorder. It is seen in 1.5% of pre‐pubertal boys and accounts for the 1–2% orchidopexy rate in older boys. Its pathogenesis remains largely unclear, but it may be caused by a fibrous remnant of the processus vaginalis. There is much controversy over its management, and the proper management awaits a randomized‐controlled trial. Until now, follow‐up data are available only for cases of spontaneous descent or pubertal orchidopexy. It is speculated that acquired undescended testis is in fact congenital and because of a short funiculus at birth, allowing a low‐scrotal position early in life. However, as the boy grows, the testis might evolve into an undescended state. When testosterone surges at puberty, spontaneous descent occurs in three of every four cases.