bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Sustainability Through Design Science: Re‐Imagining Option Spaces Beyond Eco‐Efficiency
Authors: Frye‐Levine Laura Alex 
Published: June 2012

ABSTRACTEcological resource efficiency, implemented as a market mechanism within a neoclassical economy, shoulders the burden of providing a worldview for sustainable development: continuous GDP growth to provide for the expansion of human needs, and dematerialization through resource efficiency to accommodate ecological limits.However, resource efficiency does not equal resource conservation. Empirical evidence confirms that the emergent rebound effects of efficiency gains overpower their first‐order intention, creating counterintuitive feedback effects at larger scales. Backfire, the collective product of individual scale resource efficiencies, is little recognized as a key driver of resource depletion. However, the acknowledgement of rebound effects as emergent properties of eco‐efficiency systems also opens an opportunity space.This paper introduces the paradigm of design science for sustainable development, a qualitatively different epistemology in which the emergent effects of throughput growth and social rebound are collectively negotiated within a sustainable area budget. Multiple‐alternative scenario building within this budget outlines a process within which emergent properties are negotiated relative to the resilience of social and ecological systems. Design science provides the crucial outlines for the negotiation of a common future inscribed within ecological limits. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.
Sustainable Design: A Brief Appraisal of its Main Concepts
Authors: Keitsch Martina 
Published: June 2012

ABSTRACTResearch linking design to sustainability surfaced in the 1970s and has since received broad attention in academic and professional literature. Rachel Carson's book Silent Spring from 1962 and the Gaia hypothesis of James Lovelock and Lynn Margulis from 1974 inspired design, among many other disciplines, to search for an appropriate balance between industrial cultures and natural surroundings. This article tracks a brief idea‐historical account of sustainable design theories. Main concepts in the field are consolidated under three criteria: ethics, technology fixes and social interaction. These criteria are considered as the main motivators for research and theory development in sustainable design. Following the Introduction, which gives an overview of concept development in design in general and sustainable design in particular, the second section explains the methodological onset for the analysis and introduces three concepts that represent important trends in sustainable design theory. The three concepts: Papanek's socially and ecologically responsible design, the Design for the Environment approach, and Manzini's sustainable everyday philosophy, are analysed in the third section according to the role they assign to the criteria. Further, the section reviews the concepts within a wider debate on sustainable development. The article concludes with a proposal as to how conceptualization in sustainable design could proceed, to meet the complexity of sustainability issues in present society. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.
On the use of Biomimicry as a Useful Tool for the Industrial Designer
Authors: Volstad Nina Louise , Boks Casper 
Published: June 2012

ABSTRACTDesigners and engineers are constantly searching for inspiration to solve their problems. One source of inspiration that has been used for centuries is nature. This practice is often referred to as ‘biomimicry’; innovation inspired by nature. This paper reviews existing literature and explores biomimicry information relevant for industrial design. Perceived benefits and pitfalls of using biomimicry in design are critically discussed. The paper stipulates that when used reductively – with the goal of finding a solution, not to necessarily create an ecologically sound product – biomimicry can be seen as a supplement to the designer's existing toolkit. However, it should not be used bombastically as if only nature can provide the panacea for all (sustainable) design challenges. Based on the review, a new biomimicry tool is presented in the form of a card deck, displaying categorized sources of inspiration towards design solutions. This provides industrial designers with an easy starting point to work with this subject. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.
An Overview of Chinese Green Building Standards
Authors: Geng Yong , Dong Huijuan , Xue Bing , Fu Jia 
Published: June 2012

ABSTRACTWith rapid urbanization and industrialization, China is now facing a great challenge in meeting the soaring demand for new buildings and the corresponding energy consumption. Under such circumstances, the setting of a national standard on green buildings would be an effective way to respond. In fact, China has made significant progress in developing national green building standards. But such progress is not explicitly released to the international societies. Therefore, the aim of this paper is to introduce such progress. China's green building efforts are first discussed in detail with the various provisions of the national indicator system. By conducting a comparison with other countries' green building standards, a critical analysis of such a national standard is presented. The comparison indicates benefits to be gained and challenges to be met, such as lack of indicators on responding climate change, lack of region‐specific indicators, lack of quantitative indicators, higher costs for receiving certification and lack of applying innovative green technologies. So, substantive revision is critically needed. The knowledge gained from Chinese efforts on green building indicators are valuable to both developed and developing nations seeking to implement sustainable development measures within their regulatory policies. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.
Utilizing Societal Engagement as a Vehicle for Enhancing the Image and Sustainability of the Construction Industry
Authors: Wong Kelwin K.W. , Kumaraswamy Mohan , Mahesh Gangadhar , Thomas Ng S. 
Published: June 2012

ABSTRACTA construction industry encountering uncertain workload, difficulty in workforce renewal, and ultimately endangering its own sustainability jeopardizes not only the long‐term health of the industry, but also the sustainable development of a city's infrastructures. Hong Kong is a city facing this problem and there are growing concerns within the industry that there will be an inadequate workforce to meet future demand and that the industry is unable to attract sufficient young talent, in part because of the negative image of the construction industry. This paper aims to examine the role and impact of societal engagement in infrastructure projects. The notion of using societal engagement as a vehicle for enhancing the image and sustainability of the construction industry, thereby also improving the ability to attract new entrants, is proposed in this paper. It is also suggested that the construction industry's interaction with the public should be a continuous process on a daily basis through a professional workforce that promotes safety, environmental responsibility and caring for the needs of society, rather than only during public engagement events for individual projects. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.
Cultural Traditions for the Sake of Innovation: the Concept of Scandinavian Design as a Potential Tool in the Development of a Sustainable China
Authors: Skjerven Astrid 
Published: June 2012

ABSTRACTChina is currently undergoing rapid changes on a vast scale in the form of urban development and industrialization based on Western technology. Traditional methods of production have been abandoned, and cultural traditions are being marginalized. In this way not only natural resources, but also habitual ways of living and thereby a meaningful life are threatened. Some of the most important means for the creation of meaning are the objects of everyday life, a fact that makes the field of product design of crucial importance to the development. The question at stake is how cultural traditions can be re‐established and used as an innovative force in product development to secure coherence with the past and the creation of a sustainable yet modern China. The rationale of this article is that interpretations of Scandinavian design might contribute to such a development. The article first discusses the subject of cultural sustainability and the significance of product design. It then presents the history of the concept of Scandinavian design and its relevance as a possible tool in changing today's situation. In addition to historical research it is based on experience from an educational cooperation project between one Chinese and two Norwegian universities, and an investigation of a Norwegian firm's engagement in the country. The findings of the project, which is still in its initial stage, have so far indicated that the concept of what characterizes Scandinavian design has the potential to contribute to product design approaches that can stimulate sustainability. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment
Variable selection in semiparametric cure models based on penalized likelihood, with application to breast cancer clinical trials
Authors: Liu Xiang , Peng Yingwei , Tu Dongsheng , Liang Hua 
Published: June 2012

AbstractSurvival data with a sizable cure fraction are commonly encountered in cancer research. The semiparametric proportional hazards cure model has been recently used to analyze such data. As seen in the analysis of data from a breast cancer study, a variable selection approach is needed to identify important factors in predicting the cure status and risk of breast cancer recurrence. However, no specific variable selection method for the cure model is available. In this paper, we present a variable selection approach with penalized likelihood for the cure model. The estimation can be implemented easily by combining the computational methods for penalized logistic regression and the penalized Cox proportional hazards models with the expectation–maximization algorithm. We illustrate the proposed approach on data from a breast cancer study. We conducted Monte Carlo simulations to evaluate the performance of the proposed method. We used and compared different penalty functions in the simulation studies. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Anticancer Efficacy and Subcellular Site of Action Investigated by Real‐Time Monitoring of Cellular Responses to Localized Drug Delivery in Single Cells
Authors: Zheng Xin Ting , Chen Peng , Li Chang Ming 
Published: June 2012

AbstractSubcellular‐targeted drug delivery has much potential to defeat infectious diseases and cancers. Medical and/or biochemical effects of drugs/bioactive molecules delivered to subcellular compartments and their subcellular sites of action need to be investigated but have not been explored. Here the subcellular location‐dependent biochemical responses of a potent anticancer drug, β‐lapachone (β‐lap), is investigated by a reduced graphene oxide (rGO)‐functionalized optical nanoprobe, which can deliver and simultaneously monitor the drug effects at nanoscales. For the first time, distinct oxidative responses and calcium alterations in three selected subcellular domains are observed and clearly pinpoint that the perinuclear region is the optimal subcellular site for β‐lap to have the best anticancer efficacy. The results presented here provide not only scientific insights of subcellular drug–cell interaction that is not obtainable from conventional methods, but they also provide valuable knowledge for rational design of subcellular‐targeted delivery or spatially resolved signal intervention.
Carbon Nanotube Rope with Electrical Stimulation Promotes the Differentiation and Maturity of Neural Stem Cells
Authors: Huang Yu‐Jie , Wu Hsi‐Chin , Tai Nyan‐Hwa , Wang Tzu‐Wei 
Published: July 2012

AbstractIn recent years, the utilization of nanomaterials such as carbon nanotubes (CNTs) in the field of neuroscience has forever changed the approach to nerve‐related research. The array of novel properties CNTs possess allows them to interact with neurons at the nanodimensional scale. In this study, a CNT rope substrate is developed to allow the electrical stimulation of neural stem cells (NSCs) in culture medium and the in situ observation of the response of these stem cells after stimulation. CNTs are synthesized by chemical vapor deposition and prepared into a ropelike structure with a diameter of 1 mm and length of 1.5 cm. NSCs are differentiated on the CNT rope substrate while the direction of neurite outgrowth, phenotype, and maturity of the NSCs are analyzed. Fluorescence and scanning electron microscopy demonstrate that neurite extension favors the direction of the spiral topography on the CNT rope. NSCs plated on CNT ropes are boosted towards differentiated neurons in the early culture stage when compared to conventional tissue culture plates via the analysis of neuronal gene and protein expressions by quantitative polymerase chain reaction and immunostaining, respectively. Furthermore, a set of electrical stimulation parameters (5 mV, 0.5 mA, 25 ms intermittent stimulation) promotes neuronal maturity while also increasing the speed of neurite outgrowth. These results indicate that an electroconductive CNT rope substrate along with electrical stimulation may have a synergistic effect on promoting neurite elongation and boosting effects on the differentiation of NSCs into mature neuronal cells for therapeutic application in neural regeneration.
Determination of the Rate of CO2–CO Reaction with Magnetite by Isotope Exchange Technique
Authors: HU Xiaojun , Zhang Teng , Chou Kuo‐Chih , Matsuura Hiroyuki , Tsukihashi Fumitaka 
Published: June 2012

AbstractTo clarify the mechanism and get the accurate kinetic parameters of CO2–CO reaction with magnetite, 13CO2–CO isotope exchange technique was used to determine the rate constants of CO2 dissociation on the surface of magnetite from 1073 to 1373 K. The real interfacial rate constant was estimated by considering the gas phase mass transfer along a plate. The relationship of the rate constant and CO2/CO ratio was expressed by the formula of kc = k0 (CO2/CO)−1−m, m represents the effect of CO2/CO ratio on the activity of oxygen in iron oxide. The apparent activation energy of the reaction between CO2–CO gas and magnetite was calculated to 161, 175 ± 15, 198, and 197 ± 16 kJ mol−1 for CO2/CO ratios of 4.0, 5.0, 6.0, and 10.0, respectively. This dependence relationship may be caused by the decrease of free electron in magnetite phase with the increase of CO2/CO ratio.
Influence of Cold Forming and Heat Treatment on the Microstructure and Mechanical Properties of an Air‐Hardening Steel
Authors: Grydin Olexandr , Rodman Dmytro , Schaper Mirko 
Published: June 2012

AbstractThe use of air‐hardening steels in the manufacture of automobile body components shortens the corresponding process chain by means of eliminating the immersion or gas quenching operation since hardening occurs in still air. To choose the optimal forming and heat‐treatment parameters, the development of the microstructure needs to be considered as a consequence of the thermomechanical production processes. The object of this work is to investigate the effects of forming and the subsequent heat‐treating on the changes of the microstructural parameters for the air‐hardening steel LH800. For this purpose, specimens were processed under different forming and heat‐treating conditions and subsequently examined by means of SEM and mechanically tested using tensile tests. Based on this, an empirical equation was derived which describes the influence of both the martensite's bundle thickness and the original austenite's grain size on the yield stress. In this way, microstructural parameters can be identified which lead to good mechanical properties. The measured correlation can thus be used for modeling the LH800 steel's forming and heat‐treatment processes.
Differential role of serotonin projections from the dorsal and median raphe nuclei in phencyclidine‐induced hyperlocomotion and fos‐like immunoreactivity in rats
Authors: Kusljic Snezana , Van Den Buuse Maarten 
Published: June 2012

AbstractAltered brain serotonin activity is implicated in schizophrenia. We have previously shown differential involvement of serotonergic projections from the dorsal or median raphe nucleus in phencyclidine‐induced hyperlocomotion in rats, a behavioral model of aspects of schizophrenia. Here we further investigated the effects of serotonergic lesions of the raphe nuclei on phencyclidine‐induced hyperlocomotion by parallel assessment of Fos‐like immunoreactivity (FLI), a marker of neuronal activation in the brain. Male Sprague‐Dawley rats were anesthetized with pentobarbitone and stereotaxically microinjected with 5 μg of the serotonergic neurotoxin, 5,7‐dihydroxytryptamine (5,7‐DHT), into either the dorsal raphe (DRN) or median raphe nucleus (MRN). Two weeks after the surgery, rats with lesions of the MRN, but not those with lesions of the DRN, showed significant enhancement of the hyperlocomotion induced by injection of 2.5 mg/kg of phencyclidine. Rats with MRN lesions also showed significantly higher levels of FLI in the polymorphic layer of the dentate gyrus in the dorsal hippocampus (PoDG) when compared with sham‐operated controls. Rats with lesions of the DRN showed significantly higher levels of FLI in the nucleus accumbens (NAcc). These results indicate that FLI in the PoDG, but not the NAcc, correlates with enhanced phencyclidine‐induced locomotor hyperactivity in MRN‐lesioned rats. These results support our previous studies suggesting a role of serotonergic projections from the MRN to the dorsal hippocampus in some of the symptoms of schizophrenia. Synapse, 2012. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
The impact of acetylcholinesterase inhibitors on the extracellular acetylcholine concentrations in the adult rat brain: A meta‐analysis
Authors: Noori Hamid R. , Fliegel Sarah , Brand Ines , Spanagel Rainer 
Published: June 2012

AbstractIn vivo microdialysis has become a key method in investigating the dynamics of different neurotransmitter systems such as acetylcholine in the extracellular fluid. Depending on the sensitivity of the analytical method applied for measuring acetylcholine levels in brain dialysates, acetylcholinesterase (AChE) inhibitors are often used to increase the basal acetylcholine level up to a detectable magnitude. This artificial manipulation of the system questions the outcome of pharmacological studies and has led to a large number of experiments pursuing the appropriate physiological and pharmacological concentration of the AChE inhibitors in a range between 0.01 and 100 μM. However, the complexity of the action of these substances, particularly through the involvement of muscarinic autoreceptors and the induction of an autoinhibitory effect on acetylcholine release, did not allow this quest to be resolved completely and suggests the application of advanced mathematical methods for the evaluation of acetylcholine baseline levels. Here we performed a meta‐analysis on published datasets of in vivo microdialysis measurements to assess the concentration‐dependent effects of various AChE inhibitors on acetylcholine levels within the prefrontal cortex, nucleus accumbens, caudate putamen, and hippocampus in adult rats. In total 3255 rats were analyzed and we found that when compared with the minority of studies (14%) that did not use AChE inhibitors (these studies yielded basal levels between 0.55 and 2.71 nM depending on the brain site) an up to 350‐fold increase in baseline values after the application of an inhibitor could be detected. Especially, the derivates neostigmine bromide and physostigmine sulfate seem to produce dramatic effects. Furthermore, concentration‐dependent effects after the application of AChE inhibitors could not be established. In the case of neostigmine bromide an inverted concentration (0.1–10 μM)–response relationship was even detected. We conclude that although the presynaptic action of AChE inhibitors is well understood the nonphysiological and concentration‐independent augmentation of the acetylcholine system requires the use of a standard protocol in order to produce replicable and comparable results. Our meta‐analysis suggests the use of 0.1 μM neostigmine which produces an approximately 10‐fold boost of brain baseline levels. Synapse 2012. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Conceptions of time in (paleo)climate science and some implications
Authors: Caseldine Chris 
Published: June 2012

AbstractPalaeoscientists of necessity deal with time as a fundamental part of the research process and have developed understandings within the discipline of how to deal with a range of timescales from the deep time of Archaean geology to recent time, that is the last few centuries. Time has however largely been seen as providing a chronology, the ability to place events in sequence and through the implementation of various dating techniques to relate these sequences across space, providing fundamental information toward understanding cause and effect within the Earth system. Variability in the units of time, the differences between radiometric and sidereal or calendrical years is accounted for and not deemed significant. When dealing with other disciplines, either through research into the relationship of past societies to climate change, or when contributing to the concerns over future directions of climate problems arise in attempting to communicate the nature of timescales. The real issue is to reinforce the idea of change as a basic quality of the climate system, something that can occur very rapidly. It is open to question whether a concentration on timescales of climate change is proving a distraction in terms of communication from the most important issue. Change is a fundamental property of the global climate system, and from our paleoscience knowledge it is clear that change will continue into the future and could well be very rapid. WIREs Clim Change 2012 doi: 10.1002/wcc.178This article is categorized under:

Climate, History, Society, Culture > Disciplinary Perspectives
Parameters optimization for cooperative sensing in multi‐channel cognitive radio networks
Authors: Yang Wei , Guan Donglin , Ye Xiqing , Dou Wenhua 
Published: June 2012

ABSTRACTIn this paper, we propose a relatively complete and robust optimization model under the scenario where multisecondary users cooperatively sense multi‐channels. The objective of this model is to maximize the system throughput, meanwhile aims to jointly optimize the parameters including the sensing time and the weight coefficients of the sampling results. Because this model is a nonlinear optimization model, we instead adopt a heuristic sequential parameters optimization method (SPO) to solve the model. The method begins with deriving the lower bound of the objective function of the optimization model. Then, it maximizes this lower bound by optimizing the weight coefficients through solving a series of suboptimal problems using Lagrange method. Given that the weight coefficients are found, it finally transforms the problem into another monotonic programming problem and exploits a fast‐convergent polyblock algorithm to find an optimized sensing time parameter. We finally conduct extensive experiments by simulations. The results demonstrate that, in terms of the throughput gained by the system, SPO can deliver a solution that is up to 99.3% of the optimal on average, which indicates that SPO can solve the proposed optimization model effectively. In addition, we also show the performance advantage of the proposed model on improving the system throughput by comparing with other state‐of‐the‐art optimization models. Wireless Communications and Mobile Computing. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.