bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Development of flexible matrix composites (FMC) for fluidic actuators in morphing systems
Authors: Kirn Johannes , Lorkowski Thomas , Baier Horst 
Published: December 2011

PurposeThis paper seeks to focus on material combinations for flexible matrix composites (FMCs) and the production methods thereof. These materials enable a high flexibility in one direction while being very stiff in the other.Design/methodology/approachTested were rubber, silicone and thermoplastic elastomer matrices with carbon fibers using different production methods. These tests focused on the impregnation of the fibers with the different matrices and the orthotropy of the produced materials.FindingsIn the paper, a production capability for large quantities of easy to use off‐the‐shelf material was developed. The produced material handles similar to prepreg material known from “classical” composite materials. Test specimens were manufactured and characterized for mechanical properties using tensile tests.Originality/valueThese FMC materials are envisaged for a new pneumatic actuation system for an aircraft's droop nose to replace the electro‐mechanical system designed in the SADE and SmartLED projects. Combining a tube‐like geometry and a variable fiber‐angle lay‐up enables a wide range of deformation possibilities (large design freedom of movement behaviour).
Ozone effects in a drier climate: implications for stomatal fluxes of reduced stomatal sensitivity to soil drying in a typical grassland species
Authors: Hayes Felicity , Wagg Serena , Mills Gina , Wilkinson Sally , Davies William 
Published: December 2011

AbstractThe widely distributed temperate grassland species Dactylis glomerata was grown in competition with Ranunculus acris at two different watering regimes and exposed for 20 weeks to eight ozone treatments with mean concentrations ranging from 16.2 to 89.5 ppb, representing pre‐industrial to predicted post‐2100 ozone climates. Measurements of stomatal conductance were used to parameterize ozone flux models for D. glomerata. For the first time, a modification was made to the standard flux model to account for the observed decrease in sensitivity of stomatal conductance to reduced water availability with increasing ozone. Comparison of calculated cumulative ozone flux between the two versions of the model demonstrated that exclusion of the ozone effect on stomatal conductance in the standard flux model led to a large underestimation of ozone fluxes at mid‐ to high‐ozone concentrations. For example, at a mean ozone concentration of 55 ppb (as predicted for many temperate areas in the next few decades), the standard flux model underestimated ozone fluxes in D. glomerata by 30–40% under reduced water availability. Although the modified flux model does not markedly change the flux‐based critical level for D. glomerata, this study indicates that use of the standard flux model to quantify the risk of ozone damage to a widely distributed grassland species such as D. glomerata in areas where high ozone concentrations and reduced soil moisture coincide could lead to an underestimation of effects. Thus, this study has shown that under predicted future climate change and ozone scenarios, ozone effects on vegetation may be even greater than previously predicted in the drier areas of the world.
On the design of online synchronous assessments in a synchronous cyber classroom
Authors: Chao K.‐J. , Hung I.‐C. , Chen N.‐S. 
Published: December 2011

AbstractOnline learning has been rapidly developing in the last decade. However, there is very little literature available about the actual adoption of online synchronous assessment approaches and any guidelines for effective assessment design and implementation. This paper aims at designing and evaluating the possibility of applying online synchronous assessments in a formal credit course. Relying on the four dimensions of knowledge taxonomy, this paper describes four different online synchronous assessments for conducting a formal mid‐term exam, including synchronous quiz, synchronous practicum, synchronous essay and synchronous oral assessments. The designs were implemented and evaluated in a synchronous cyber classroom for an online credit course. This study identified the challenges and potential issues while conducting the online synchronous assessments, including (1) the extent of monitoring and cheating; (2) the lack of suitable software tools specifically for supporting online synchronous assessments; and (3) the need for a variety of online synchronous assessment methods for different subject matter. This paper concludes with some possible solutions, such as a short time limit for answering questions and a well analysed need of a software tool, to address all the issues.
The value of pre‐donation pulse assessment for apheresis donors
Authors: Page E. A. , Harrison J. F. 
Published: December 2011

Objectives: During apheresis, donors have up to 6·5 L of blood processed and receive citrated plasma during the return cycle. It is of concern that a donor with an unrecognised significant cardiac abnormality might therefore be put at further risk during apheresis.Background: Apheresis donors with cardiac abnormalities may be at increased risk of severe adverse reactions as a result of repeated volume loss or the adverse effect of citrate anticoagulant on cardiac contractility as the result of reduction in ionised calcium. An abnormal rate or rhythm may indicate a cardiac abnormality.Methods: At two donation centres between May 2001 and April 2009, the pulse rate and rhythm of every donor was measured before each apheresis procedure they underwent. Donors with a pulse rate outside the range 50–100 beats per minute and/or pulse irregularity were deferred from donation and referred to their general practitioner (GP).Results: Data from 3945 apheresis donors (3874 platelet donors, 71 plasma donors, 3595 males, 350 females) were reviewed. Two hundred thirty‐eight donors (6%) were identified as having abnormal pulses and were referred to their GP. Eighty‐one donors had bradycardia, 16 had tachycardia and 141 had an irregular pulse. Fifteen of the 3945 donors (0·4%) were found to have significant cardiac disease and withdrawn from the donor panel.Conclusions: By simple monitoring, donors who may be at increased risk from the apheresis procedure can be identified. By performing pre‐donation pulse assessment of all apheresis donors, we fulfil our medicolegal duty by not putting donors at avoidable risk.
Impact of PGPR inoculation on growth and antioxidant status of wheat under saline conditions
Authors: Upadhyay Sudhir Kumar , Singh Jay Shankar , Saxena Anil Kumar , Singh Devendra Pratap 
Published: December 2011

AbstractTwo plant growth‐promoting rhizobacterial (PGPR) strains, Bacillus subtilis SU47 and Arthrobacter sp. SU18, were found to tolerate 8% NaCl. Wheat co‐inoculated with these two PGPR strains, and grown under different salinity regimes (2–6 dS m−1), showed an increase in dry biomass, total soluble sugars and proline content. Wheat sodium content was reduced under co‐inoculated conditions but not after single inoculation with either strain or in the control. The activity of antioxidant enzymes in wheat leaves decreased under salinity stress after PGPR co‐inoculation, suggesting these PGPR species could be used for amelioration of stress in wheat plants. Activity of three antioxidant enzymes in wheat grown with both PGPR strains was reduced, most notably that of catalase activity at a salinity of 6 dS m−1, when compared with the control. The results indicate that co‐inoculation with B. subtilis and Arthrobacter sp. could alleviate the adverse effects of soil salinity on wheat growth.
Radiofrequency ablation of synchronous bilateral renal cell carcinoma
Authors: Zhang Shiwei , Zhao Xiaozhi , Ji Changwei , Liu Guangxiang , Li Xiaogong , Zhang Gutian , Gan Weidong , Guo Hongqian 
Published: December 2011

Objectives:  The treatment of synchronous bilateral renal cell carcinoma is challenging. Radiofrequency ablation has been increasingly applied in the management of renal tumors. Herein, we report our experience of radiofrequency ablation on 12 patients with synchronous bilateral renal cell carcinoma.Methods:  From March 2006 to September 2010, 12 patients with bilateral synchronous sporadic renal cell carcinoma (29 lesions overall) were identified from our kidney database. The mean age was 62.3 years (range 35–81). The mean tumor diameter was 4.5 cm (range 0.9–9.0). Three patients received unilateral radiofrequency ablation and contralateral radical nephrectomy, whereas nine patients received bilateral radiofrequency ablation. The oncological and functional outcomes were analyzed. Contrast‐enhanced computed tomography examinations were carried out at day 7, and at 3 and 6 months after the procedure, and every 6 months thereafter.Results:  The mean follow‐up period was 33 months (range 10–64). The local tumor control rate was 93.1% (27/29). Cancer‐specific survival and the overall survival rates were 100%. No death or renal failure after the procedure was found. In patients who underwent bilateral radiofrequency ablation, the latest mean glomerular filtration rate had not significantly declined compared with preoperative levels (93.7 ± 13.0 mL/min/1.73 m2vs 96.9 ± 13.3 mL/min/1.73 m2, respectively; P > 0.05).Conclusion:  Radiofrequency ablation shows encouraging outcomes in the treatment of bilateral renal cell carcinoma. It can provide adequate local tumor control and cancer‐specific survival compared with nephron‐sparing surgery while not affecting the renal function.
MODELLING BANKS' LENDING BEHAVIOUR IN A CAPITAL‐REGULATED FRAMEWORK
Authors: Karagiannis Stelios , Panagopoulos Yannis , Spiliotis Aristotelis 
Published: December 2011

ABSTRACTThis paper adds to the literature on the money supply theory by assessing the effect of banks' equity on the loan generating process. First, a new ‘credit’ multiplier is examined, the so‐called ‘equity’ multiplier model. This, in a second stage, is incorporated in a new multivariate lending model. The models are assessed by using panel data cointegration techniques for the G7 countries. According to our results, a feedback relationship exists between banks' loans and equity. Moreover, the factors determining loans are: the aggregate demand, the loan–customer relation, the banks' equity and banks' portfolio adjustments and/or the monetary stance.
Writing the History of the Natural Sciences in the Pre‐modern Muslim World: Historiography, Religion, and the Importance of the Early Modern Period
Authors: Stearns Justin 
Published: December 2011

AbstractIn recent years, the subject of science in the Muslim World in the pre‐modern period has largely been discussed in the context of two master narratives: (1) how and to what extent did Muslim scholarship influence European intellectual history, and (2) the nature of the decline of science and intellectual life in general in the Muslim world during the Late Medieval and Early Modern periods. This essay moves beyond these two narratives by first summarizing the history of European studies of science in the Muslim world. It then draws upon recent developments in Europeanist history of science and outstanding work by historians of Islamicate science to stress the importance of avoiding Whiggish readings of the history of the natural sciences in the Muslim world as well as the necessity for situating the same sciences in relation to developments in theology, jurisprudence, philosophy, and mysticism.
Cardiovascular Importance of the MicroRNA‐23/27/24 Family
Authors: BANG CLAUDIA , FIEDLER JAN , THUM THOMAS 
Published: December 2011

Please cite this paper as: Bang C, Fiedler J, Thum T. Cardiovascular importance of the microRNA‐23/27/24 family. Microcirculation19: 208–214, 2012.AbstractMicroRNAs (miRNAs) are a class of highly conserved, noncoding short RNA molecules that regulate gene expression on the post‐transcriptional level. MiRNAs are involved in a variety of processes such as proliferation, differentiation, and apoptosis. Deregulated expression of miRNAs has been linked to the development of diseases including cardiovascular disorders. Recently, the miR‐23/27/24 cluster has been shown to be involved in angiogenesis and endothelial apoptosis in cardiac ischemia and retinal vascular development. In the present review, we summarize and discuss the role and importance of the miRNA‐23/27/24 cluster during cardiovascular angiogenesis. Moreover, we illustrate a novel therapeutic application of the miRNA‐23/27/24 cluster in vascular disorders and ischemic heart disease.
Writing and Remembering: Paradoxes of Memory, Imagination and Fiction in Stories about Lives
Authors: Neale Derek 
Published: December 2011

AbstractThis survey concentrates on a refined corner of life writing and poetics – writers of various genres talking and writing about what and how they write. It considers the implications of the relationship between narrative and memory within life writing and fiction practice, reviewing potential connections between creative writing, critical theory and theories of mind. It focuses in particular on the under‐explored borderland between fiction and autobiography, and uses illustrations from writers who are both novelists and memoirists. Writers often suggest that it is impossible or undesirable to narrate the creative process – while paradoxically trying to talk about it. They resist using theoretical terms about their work, yet their considerations often reveal an idiosyncratic technical eloquence, together with an intimate, sometimes paradoxical relationship between writing and remembering. Some writers experience elements of déjà vu, as if they find or recall, rather than make, some part of what they write (a character, a voice, a situation); part of the writing process is willed, part not. Other writers declare paradoxical ways in which memory and imagination are deployed in their writing. This essay reviews the notion of writing as an act of memory. The discussion looks at narrative and recall in tandem, referring to relevant theories of consciousness and memory – including those put forward by Adam Phillips in On Flirtation and Henri Bergson in Matter and Memory. The main focus is on writers’ testimonies. Authors discussed include Jean Paul Sartre, Paul Auster, Hilary Mantel, Graham Greene, Lorna Sage, Andrew Cowan, Richard Holmes and Jenny Diski. The essay uses fictional and autobiographical illustrations and transcripts from recorded interviews with writers. It examines the collaboration between narrative memory and associative memory in the writing process, as well as suggesting possible future lines of research into the borderland between fiction and life writing.
In My Father’s Closet: Reflections of a Critic Turned Life Writer
Authors: Couser G. Thomas 
Published: December 2011

AbstractRelatively late in my career (in my early 60s), I began to write a biographical memoir of my father, William Griffith Couser (1906–1975), based initially and primarily on documents, mostly letters, that I found after his death. In doing so, after nearly 30 years of working as a critic of life writing, I became a life writer myself. The value of this memoir will lie in the letters themselves, partly because they are well written, partly because they are sufficiently numerous to allow me to reconstruct the web of my father’s significant relationships during a formative period. And that is because they come from an era and a social set in which letter writing was a significant medium through which life was lived. In short, I have come to regard the materials not as the residue of a life but in a way as scraps of it, not an epiphenomenon thrown off by the ‘real life’ of which they are the tantalizing written remains, but the actual stuff of life itself – preserved moments. I have become convinced that in his 20s, at least, my father lived a good deal of his life in and through correspondence with friends and family. The letters I will highlight in this talk are from correspondence with an apparently gay man with whom my father had a ‘romantic friendship.’ The nature of the relationship made the correspondence it evoked especially tricky but also revealing.
EFFECT OF XYLANASE ON EXTRUDED NIXTAMALIZED CORN FLOUR AND TORTILLA: PHYSICOCHEMICAL AND RHEOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS
Authors: PLATT‐LUCERO L.C. , RAMÍREZ‐WONG B. , TORRES‐CHÁVEZ P.I. , LÓPEZ‐CERVANTES J. , SÁNCHEZ‐MACHADO D.I. , CARVAJAL‐MILLAN E. , MARTÍNEZ‐BUSTOS F. , QUINTERO‐RAMOS A. , MORALES‐ROSAS I. 
Published: December 2011

ABSTRACTWhole white corn was ground, and lime, water and xylanase enzyme (0.05, 0.075 or 0.1% w/w) were added. Blends were extruded, dried and ground to obtain extruded nixtamalized corn flour (ENCF), which was used to make tortillas. The water absorption index and water absorption capacity (WAC) of the corn flours were determined. Viscoelastic characteristics were determined in corn masa made of extruded nixtamalized flours. Tortillas were made, and determination of moisture content and texture (cutting force and rollability) during storage was carried out. Furthermore, tortillas were evaluated by sensory evaluation. The flours containing xylanase showed significantly higher WAC (P < 0.05) than the flour without xylanase. The viscoelastic parameters were increased by adding xylanase, which also decreased the hardening and increased the flexibility of tortillas. Corn tortillas with 0.075 and 0.1% xylanase concentrations were 15% softer than the control (without xylanase). Additionally, corn tortillas made with ENCF containing the xylanase enzyme had acceptable organoleptic characteristics.PRACTICAL APPLICATIONSThe extrusion process permits the use of whole corn, lowers processing costs and reduces contaminant effluents (cooking liquor). The addition of the xylanase enzyme during extrusion partially hydrolyzes the main cellular components of the dietary fiber, the arabinoxylans, and modifies its rheological properties. Softening of most corn pericarp layers is essential in forming masa that has acceptable sheeting characteristics, which is important during the tortilla‐making process.
Experimental pancreatitis results in increased blood‐brain barrier permeability in rats: A potential role of MCP‐1
Authors: DING Zhen , LIU Jun , LIN Rong , HOU Xiao Hua 
Published: December 2011

OBJECTIVE:  To measure the changes of blood‐brain barrier (BBB) permeability in rats with acute pancreatitis (AP) and to investigate the role of monocyte chemoattractant protein (MCP)‐1 expression in this alteration.METHODS:  Rat model of severe acute pancreatitis (SAP) and mild acute pancreatitis (MAP) was induced by pancreatic duct infusion of 5% and 0.5% sodium choleate, respectively, and a saline infusion was used in the control. The severity of AP was evaluated by a pathological score system. BBB permeability was detected by Evan's blue tracer and BBB tight junction was assessed by brain occludin expression. Immunohistochemistry and real‐time polymerase chain reaction were used to detect MCP‐1 expression in the brain. Nifedipine was used as the antagonist of MCP‐1.RESULTS:  Compared to the control group, change of BBB permeability was more significant in SAP groups, but not in MAP groups. Occludin level decreased 12 h after SAP induction. Pathological score of SAP group was higher than that in MAP group. BBB opening was associated with pancreatic injury. Brain MCP‐1 expression was detected in all the SAP groups, which was correlated with increased BBB permeability, but was not found in the control group or the MAP group. After treatment with nifedipine, brain MCP‐1 level decreased and BBB function improved synchronously in SAP groups.CONCLUSIONS:  BBB permeability increased in SAP significantly and time‐dependently, and was correlated with brain MCP‐1 expression. Nifedipine may improve BBB function by inhibiting MCP‐1 expression.
Gender and Tobacco in (Globalizing) Asia – Exorcizing the Ghosts of Dualistic Thought?
Authors: Tan Qian Hui 
Published: December 2011

AbstractThis paper investigates the intersections between tobacco, gender and globalizing Asia. I argue that binary tropes like modernity/westernization‐tradition and masculinity–femininity are incessantly invoked in a burgeoning tobacco‐control literature focused on Asia. This tends to reify discursive and material gendered smoking stereotypes, as well as their underlying asymmetrical power relations. Responding to this I chart out three ways in which dualistic gender ideologies can be rethought. Firstly, I attend to varieties within gender categories to account for more nuanced articulations of gender identities. I do this by demonstrating the co‐imbrication between polyvalent masculinities and smoking practices. Secondly, I am attuned to intersecting facets of smoking subjectivities – situated within a specific Asian cultural fabric – that complicate the easy conflation of masculinity with power, and femininity with disempowerment. Lastly, I contend that fleshing out the embodied aspects of gendered smoking practices can assist us in confounding polarized gender categories and their associated attributes. I conclude my paper with a discussion on the uneasy relationships between Asia, Westernization, gender and a possible move away from a Western‐centric dualistic thinking.
Sociological Conceptualisations of ‘Career’: A Review and Reorientation
Authors: Cuzzocrea Valentina , Lyon Dawn 
Published: December 2011

AbstractIn the last decades, the use and meaning of the concept of career has profoundly changed, shaped by a ‘new career’ literature rhetoric and a move away from mainstream sociological debate. Our aim in this article is to provide a critical assessment of the concept, and to make a productive contribution to the current debate on careers, and work more generally. Specifically, we seek to: (i) critique the lack of elaboration of the concept within the discipline of sociology in recent years; (ii) reposition the concept of careers as a key sociological category; and (iii) assess and reorient the current meanings of career. After tracing the history of career from linear to boundaryless, we situate the concept in a broader sociological understanding of gender and habitus and structure and agency, and through a methodological discussion of narrative approaches for studying careers. These concepts and approaches are especially effective for understanding careers. Having showed the added value of the concept of career for sociology, we conclude with a research agenda which attempts to overcome the voluntaristic pitfall of its use in recent years and opens up a more thoughtful and articulated understanding of careers for both teaching and research.
Dysregulation of melanocyte function by Th17‐related cytokines: significance of Th17 cell infiltration in autoimmune vitiligo vulgaris
Authors: Kotobuki Yorihisa , Tanemura Atsushi , Yang Lingli , Itoi Saori , Wataya‐Kaneda Mari , Murota Hiroyuki , Fujimoto Minoru , Serada Satoshi , Naka Tetsuji , Katayama Ichiro 
Published: December 2011

SummaryThe aim of this study was to determine whether CD4+IL‐17A+Th17 cells infiltrate vitiligo skin and to investigate whether the proinflammatory cytokines related to Th17 cell influence melanocyte enzymatic activity and cell fate. An immunohistochemical analysis showed Th17 cell infiltration in 21 of 23 vitiligo skin samples in addition to CD8+ cells on the reticular dermis. An in vitro analysis showed that the expression of MITF and downstream genes was downregulated in melanocytes by treatment with interleukin (IL)‐17A, IL‐1β, IL‐6, and tumor necrosis factor (TNF)‐α. Treatment with these cytokines also induced morphological shrinking in melanocytes, resulting in decreased melanin production. In terms of local cytokine network in the skin, IL‐17A dramatically induced IL‐1β, IL‐6, and TNF‐α production in skin‐resident cells such as keratinocytes and fibroblasts. Our results provide evidence of the influence of a complex Th17 cell‐related cytokine environment in local depigmentation in addition to CD8+ cell‐mediated melanocyte destruction in autoimmune vitiligo.