bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Induction of oxazolone mediated features of atopic dermatitis in NOD-scid IL2R γnull mice engrafted with human peripheral blood mononuclear cells
Authors: Nolte Thomas , Zadeh-Khorasani Maryam , Safarov Orkhan , Rueff Franziska , Varga Rita , Herbach Nadja , Wanke Rüdiger , Wollenberg Andreas , Mueller Thomas , Gropp Roswitha , Wolf Eckhard , Siebeck Matthias 
Published: July 2012

Summary
Animal models mimicking human diseases have been used extensively to study the pathogenesis of autoimmune diseases and the efficacy of potential therapeutics. They are, however, limited with regard to their similarity to the human disease and cannot be used if the antagonist and its cognate receptor require high similarity in structure or binding. Here, we examine the induction of oxazolone mediated features of atopic dermatitis (AD) in NOD-scid IL2Rγnull mice engrafted with human peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) which developed the same symptoms as immunocompetent BALB/c mice. Histological alterations induced by oxazolone were characterized by keratosis, epithelial hyperplasia and influx of inflammatory cells into the dermis and epidermis. The cellular infiltrate was identified as human leukocytes with T-cells being the major constituent. In addition, oxazolone increased human serum IgE levels. The response, however, required the engraftment of PBMC derived from patients suffering from AD suggesting that this model reflects the immunological status of the donor. Taken together, the model described here has the potential to evaluate the efficacy of therapeutics targeting human lymphocytes in vivo and in addition, it might be developed further to elucidate molecular mechanisms inducing and sustaining flares of the disease.
Inflammation, paraoxonase-1 activity and HDL physico-chemical properties: a comparison between Prader-Willi syndrome and obese subjects
Authors: Ferretti Gianna , Bacchetti Tiziana , Masciangelo Simona , Grugni Graziano , Bicchiega Virginia 
Published: July 2012

Summary
Prader-Willi syndrome (PWS) represents the most common form of genetic obesity. Several studies confirm that obesity is associated with inflammation, oxidative stress and impairment of antioxidant system, while no data are available concerning PWS subjects.
We compared levels of plasma lipids and C-reactive protein (CRP) in 30 normal weight subjects, 15 PWS obese subjects and 13 body mass index-matched obese not affected by PWS. In all subjects we evaluated levels of lipid hydroperoxides and the activity of paraoxonase-1 (PON1), an enzyme involved in the antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties exerted by high density lipoproteins (HDL). Furthermore using the fluorescent molecule of Laurdan, we investigated the physico-chemical properties of HDL isolated from normal weight and obese patients.
Our results demonstrated, for the first time, higher levels of lipid hydroperoxides and a lower PON1 activity in plasma of PWS with respect to controls. These alterations are related with CRP levels with a PON1:CRP ratio lower in PWS compared with non-PWS obese subjects. The study of Laurdan fluorescence parameters showed significant modifications of physico-chemical properties in HDL from PWS. Whatever are the causes of obesity, the increase of adiposity is associated with inflammation, oxidative stress and with alterations of HDL compositional and functional properties.
Closed loop neural stimulation for pentylenetetrazole seizures in zebrafish
Authors: Pineda Ricardo , Beattie Christine E. , Hall Charles W. 
Published: July 2012

Summary
Neural stimulation can reduce the frequency of seizures in persons with epilepsy, but rates of seizure free outcome are low. Vagus nerve stimulation prevents seizures by continuously activating noradrenergic projections from the brainstem to the cortex. Cortical norepinephrine then increases GABAergic transmission and increases seizure threshold. Another approach, responsive nervous stimulation, prevents seizures by reactively shocking the seizure onset zone in precise synchrony with seizure onset. The electrical shocks abort seizures before they can spread and manifest clinically. The goal of this study is to determine if a hybrid platform in which brainstem activation triggered in response to impending seizure activity can prevent seizures. We chose the zebrafish as a model organism for this study because of its ability to recapitulate human disease in conjunction with its innate capacity for tightly controlled - high throughput experimentation. We first set out to determine if electrical stimulation of the hindbrain could have an anticonvulsant effect. We found that pulse train electrical stimulation of the hindbrain significantly increased the latency to onset of pentylenetetrazole seizures, and that this apparent anticonvulsant effect was blocked by noradrenergic antagonists, as is also the case with rodents and humans. We also found that the anticonvulsant effect of hindbrain stimulation could be potentiated by reactive triggering of single pulse electrical stimulations in response to impending seizure activity. Finally, we found that the rate of stimulation triggering was directly proportional to pentylenetetrazole concentration and that the stimulation rate was reduced by the anticonvulsant valproic acid and by larger stimulation currents. Taken as a whole, these results show that that the anticonvulsant effect of brainstem activation can be efficiently utilized by reactive triggering, which suggests that alternative stimulation paradigms for vagus nerve stimulation may be useful. Moreover, our results show that the zebrafish epilepsy model can be used to advance our understanding of neural stimulation in the treatment of epilepsy.
A Novel Preparation Method of Ni–Sn Alloy Catalysts Supported on Aluminium Hydroxide: Application to Chemoselective Hydrogenation of Unsaturated Carbonyl Compounds
Authors: Rodiansono  , Hara Takayoshi , Ichikuni Nobuyuki , Shimazu Shogo 
Published: July 2012

Abstract
A novel method was applied for the preparation of Ni–Sn alloy catalysts that were utilized for chemoselective hydrogenation of unsaturated carbonyl compounds, producing unsaturated alcohols almost exclusively. The formation of the Ni–Sn alloy may have played a key role in the enhancement of the chemoselectivity.
Conflicting Congestion Effects in Resource Allocation Games
Authors: Feldman Michal , Tamir Tami 
Published: July 2012

We study strategic resource allocation settings, where jobs correspond to self-interested players who choose resources with the objective of minimizing their individual cost. Our framework departs from the existing game-theoretic models mainly in assuming conflicting congestion effects, but also in assuming an unlimited supply of resources. In our model, a job's cost is composed of both its resource's load (which increases with congestion) and its share in the resource's activation cost (which decreases with congestion). We provide results for a job-scheduling setting with heterogeneous jobs and identical machines. We show that if the resource's activation cost is shared equally among its users, a pure Nash equilibrium (NE) might not exist. In contrast, the proportional sharing rule induces a game that admits a pure NE, which can also be computed in polynomial time. As part of the algorithm's analysis, we establish a new, nontrivial property of schedules obtained by the longest processing time algorithm. We also observe that, unlike in congestion games, best-response dynamics (BRD) are not guaranteed to converge to a Nash equilibrium. Finally, we measure the inefficiency of equilibria with respect to the minimax objective function, and prove that there is no universal bound for the worst-case inefficiency (as quantified by the “price of anarchy” measure). However, the best-case inefficiency (quantified by the “price of stability” measure) is bounded by 5/4, and this is tight. These results add another layer to the growing literature on the price of anarchy and stability, which studies the extent to which selfish behavior affects system efficiency.
Apodiktischer Dezisionismus? Kondylis’ Machtdenken
Authors: Flügel-Martinsen Oliver 
Published: July 2012

Abstract
Today Kondylis seems to be a more or less forgotten philosopher. This is astonishing insofar as Kondylis’ writings reflect very prominent subjects of contemporary political and philosophical thought. Firstly there is the conceptualization of the history of thought as conflict, a major thesis of Kondylis’ work, which is shared in principle by influential thinkers such as Michel Foucault on the one hand and Quentin Skinner on the other. Secondly, we can find in Kondylis a theory of the constitutive role of conflict and power in political relations and in the constitution of political orders  a topic again prominently discussed today, e.g. in the writings of Chantal Mouffe and Jacques Rancière. But taking  in the light of contemporary debates – a closer look at Kondylis’ conceptualization of these subjects, his apodictic tendencies become evident, resulting from his highly problematic social ontology of conflict and struggle for power.
Wahrheit, Selbsttäuschung und praktische Rationalität. Über: Tilo Wesche: Wahrheit und Werturteil
Authors: Hoffmann Thomas 
Published: July 2012

Zusammenfassung
Tilo Wesche: Wahrheit und Werturteil. Eine Theorie der praktischen Rationalität. Mohr Siebeck Verlag, Tübingen 2011, 384 S.
Kann die Sprachphilosophie von der Rhetorik lernen? Über: Andreas Hetzel: Die Wirksamkeit der Rede
Authors: Liptow Jasper 
Published: July 2012

Zusammenfassung
Andreas Hetzel: Die Wirksamkeit der Rede. Zur Aktualität klassischer Rhetorik für die moderne Sprachphilosophie. Transcript Verlag, Bielefeld 2011, 484 S.
Extreme weather and experience influence reproduction in an endangered bird
Authors: Reichert Brian E. , Cattau Christopher E. , Fletcher Robert J. , Kendall William L. , Kitchens Wiley M. 
Published: July 2012

Extreme weather events, such as droughts and heat waves, are expected to become more severe and more frequent in the coming years, and understanding their impacts on demographic rates is of increasing interest to both evolutionary ecologists and conservation practitioners. An individual's breeding probability can be a sensitive indicator of the decision to initiate reproductive behavior under varying environmental conditions, has strong fitness consequences, and can be considered the first step in a life history trade‐off between allocating resources for breeding activities or self‐survival.Using a 14‐year time series spanning large variation in climatic conditions and the entirety of a population's breeding range, we estimated the effects of extreme weather conditions (drought) on the state‐specific probabilities of breeding and survival of an endangered bird, the Florida Snail Kite (Rostrhamus sociabilisplumbeus). Our analysis accounted for uncertainty in breeding status assignment, a common source of uncertainty that is often ignored when states are based on field observations. Breeding probabilities in adult kites (>1 year of age) decreased during droughts, whereas the probability of breeding in young kites (1 year of age) tended to increase. Individuals attempting to breed showed no evidence of reduced future survival. Although population viability analyses of this species and other species often implicitly assume that all adults will attempt to breed, we find that breeding probabilities were significantly <1 for all 13 estimable years considered. Our results suggest that experience is an important factor determining whether or not individuals attempt to breed during harsh environmental conditions and that reproductive effort may be constrained by an individual's quality and/or despotic behavior among individuals attempting to breed.
Effect of Temperature on the Degree of Conversion and Working Time of Dual-Cured Resin Cements Exposed to Different Curing Conditions
Authors: Oliveira M , Cesar PF , Giannini M , Rueggeberg FA , Rodrigues J , Arrais CA 
Published: July 2012

SUMMARY

Objectives
This study evaluated the degree of conversion (DC) and working time (WT) of two commercial, dual-cured resin cements polymerized at varying temperatures and under different curing-light accessible conditions, using Fourier transformed infrared analysis (FTIR).

Materials and Methods
Calibra (Cal; Dentsply Caulk) and Variolink II (Ivoclar Vivadent) were tested at 25°C or preheated to 37°C or 50°C and applied to a similar-temperature surface of a horizontal attenuated-total-reflectance unit (ATR) attached to an infrared spectrometer. The products were polymerized using one of four conditions: direct light exposure only (600 mW/cm2) through a glass slide or through a 1.5- or 3.0-mm-thick ceramic disc (A2 shade, IPS e.max, Ivoclar Vivadent) or allowed to self-cure in the absence of light curing. FTIR spectra were recorded for 20 min (1 spectrum/s, 16 scans/spectrum, resolution 4 cm−1) immediately after application to the ATR. DC was calculated using standard techniques of observing changes in aliphatic-to-aromatic peak ratios precuring and 20-min postcuring as well as during each 1-second interval. Time-based monomer conversion analysis was used to determine WT at each temperature. DC and WT data (n=6) were analyzed by two-way analysis of variance and Tukey post hoc test (p=0.05).

Results
Higher temperatures increased DC regardless of curing mode and product. For Calibra, only the 3-mm-thick ceramic group showed lower DC than the other groups at 25°C (p=0.01830), while no significant difference was observed among groups at 37°C and 50°C. For Variolink, the 3-mm-thick ceramic group showed lower DC than the 1-mm-thick group only at 25°C, while the self-cure group showed lower DC than the others at all temperatures (p=0.00001). WT decreased with increasing temperature: at 37°C near 70% reduction and at 50°C near 90% for both products, with WT reduction reaching clinically inappropriate times in some cases (p=0.00001).

Conclusion
Elevated temperature during polymerization of dual-cured cements increased DC. WT was reduced with elevated temperature, but the extent of reduction might not be clinically acceptable.
Prediction of Asphalt Creep Compliance Using Artificial Neural Networks
Authors: Zofka A. , Yut I. 
Published: July 2012

Abstract Creep compliance of the hot-mix asphalt (HMA) is a primary input of the current pavement thermal cracking prediction model used in the US. This paper discusses a process of training an Artificial Neural Network (ANN) to correlate the creep compliance values obtained from the Indirect Tension (IDT) with similar values obtained on small HMA beams from the Bending Beam Rheometer (BBR). In addition, ANNs are also trained to predict HMA creep compliance from the creep compliance of asphalt binder and vice versa using the BBR setup. All trained ANNs exhibited a very high correlation of 97 to 99 percent between predicted and measured values. The binder creep compliance functions built on the ANN-predicted discrete values also exhibited a good correlation when compared with the laboratory experiments. However, the simulation of trained ANNs on the independent dataset produced a significant deviation from the measured values which was most likely caused by the differences in material composition, such as aggregate type and gradation, presence of recycled additives, and binder type.
Moisture and Frost Resistance of the Recycled Base Rehabilitated with the Foamed Bitumen Technology / Odpornosc Na Oddziaływanie Wody I Mrozu Podbudowy W Technologii Recyklingu Z Asfaltem Spienionym
Authors: Iwanski M. , Chomicz-Kowalska A. 
Published: July 2012

Abstract The technology of recycling with foamed bitumen is a new technology of road rehabilitation. Due to the climatic conditions in the Central European countries, road pavement structure should be moisture and frost resistant. Because of its specific production conditions, this is especially important for pavements rehabilitation with the cold recycling technology. Determining the physical and mechanical properties, as well as moisture and frost resistance, depends on binder and filler contents. They are the key elements before its use for road building. The tests presented here have been performed on mineral recycled base mixes with foamed bitumen. The material from the existing layers was used. The content of bitumen binder amounted to 2.0%, 2.5%, 3.0% and 3.5%, while that of cement to 1.0%, 1.5%, 2.0%, 2.5%. The results were subject to the optimization process. This allowed to state that with the use of 2.5% foamed bitumen and 2.0% of cement, the base had the required properties, as well as the moisture and frost resistance.
Evaluation of Load Values Using the Gumbel Model
Authors: Wolinski S. , Pytlowany T. 
Published: July 2012

Abstract The paper deals with application of the Gumbel model to evaluation of the environmental loads. According to recommendations of Eurocodes, the conventional method of determining return period and characteristic values of loads utilizes the theory of extremes and implicitly assumes that the cumulative distribution function of the annual or other basic period extremes is the Gumbel distribution. However, the extreme value theory shows that the distribution of extremes asymptotically approaches the Gumbel distribution when the number of independent observations in each observation period from which the maximum is abstracted increases to infinity. Results of calculations based on simulation show that in practice the rate of convergence is very slow and significantly depends on the type of parent results distribution, values of coefficient of variation, and number of observation periods. In this connection, a straightforward purely empirical method based on fitting a curve to the observed extremes is suggested.
The Influence of Higher Modes Vibrations on Local Cracks in Node of Lattice Girders Bridges / Wpływ Wyzszych Postaci Drgan Na Zaistnienie Lokalnych Spekan W Wezle Mostu Kratowego
Authors: Pradelok S. 
Published: July 2012

Abstract Several previous investigations on failure of a certain type lattice girders railway bridge (on so called BJD line) have not convincingly explained reasons nor have they described potential hazards. This paper attempts to provide an answer, employing static, dynamic, and fatigue analysis of the structure, focusing on previously not analyzed vibrations of elements constituting a lattice node. Detailed models of two types of such nodes - damaged and non- damaged were compared, inside carefully defined limits of applicability.
Analysis of Influence of Vibrations on Humans in Buildings in Standards Approach / Analiza Wpływu Drgan Na Ludzi W Budynkach W Ujeciu Normowym
Authors: Kawecki J. , Kowalska A. 
Published: July 2012

Abstract People living in buildings may be exposed to dynamic actions. In the diagnosis and design of buildings there is an increasing need of taking into account these activities and verification of compliance of the building requirements for vibration comfort of people residing in buildings. This study presents the results of analysis of such criteria in the following standards: Polish PN-88/B-02171 [1], British BS 6472-1 [2], German DIN 4150 [3], and ISO international standards [4,5]. Basing on the results of this analysis and on the review of selected items of literature, the application of standards recommendations in diagnosis and design of buildings, as well as areas for further research on this subject is indicated. This article is an extended version of the conference paper [6] presented on the conference Urban Transport 2011.
Hydrogen peroxide induced by the fungicide prothioconazole triggers deoxynivalenol (DON) production by Fusarium graminearum
Authors: Audenaert Kris , Callewaert Elien , Höfte Monica , De Saeger Sarah , Haesaert Geert 
Published: July 2012

Hydrogen peroxide induced by the fungicide prothioconazole triggers deoxynivalenol (DON) production by Fusarium graminearum
Fusarium head blight is a very important disease of small grain cereals with F. graminearum as one of the most important causal agents. It not only causes reduction in yield and quality but from a human and animal healthcare point of view, it produces mycotoxins such as deoxynivalenol (DON) which can accumulate to toxic levels. Little is known about external triggers influencing DON production. In the present work, a combined in vivo/in vitro approach was used to test the effect of sub lethal fungicide treatments on DON production. Using a dilution series of prothioconazole, azoxystrobin and prothioconazole + fluoxastrobin, we demonstrated that sub lethal doses of prothioconazole coincide with an increase in DON production 48 h after fungicide treatment. In an artificial infection trial using wheat plants, the in vitro results of increased DON levels upon sub lethal prothioconazole application were confirmed illustrating the significance of these results from a practical point of view. In addition, further in vitro experiments revealed a timely hyperinduction of H2O2 production as fast as 4h after amending cultures with prothioconazole. When applying H2O2 directly to germinating conidia, a similar induction of DON-production by F. graminearum was observed. The effect of sub lethal prothioconazole concentrations on DON production completely disappeared when applying catalase together with the fungicide. These cumulative results suggest that H2O2 induced by sub lethal doses of the triazole fungicide prothioconazole acts as a trigger of DON biosynthesis. In a broader framework, this work clearly shows that DON production by the plant pathogen F. graminearum is the result of the interaction of fungal genomics and external environmental triggers.
Fusarium wilt of water melon caused by Fusarium solani in Hungary
Authors: Turóczi Gy. , Posta K. , Badenszky L. , Bán R. 
Published: July 2012

Fusarium wilt of water melon caused byFusarium solaniin HungaryWater melon growers in Hungary have been recently reported a disease resembling that of Fusarium wilt developed on Fusarium resistant cultivars. Diseased samples from different regions of Hungary were collected in 2008 and 2009. The pathogen has been successfully isolated and identified asFusarium solani.All of the isolates are host specific, but are very aggressive on water melon cultivars resistant toF. oxysporumf.sp. niveum. Severe infections occurred only in those fields where water melon has been grown continously for several years, but the pathogen is present in the soil of other fields as well.