bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Low-Temperature Compressive Strength of Glass-Fiber-Reinforced
Polymer Composites
Authors: Dutta P. K. 
Published: June 2008

Abstract
Polymeric composites are relatively inexpensive materials of high strength, in which deformation of the matrix is used to transfer stress by means of shear traction at the fiber-matrix interface to the embedded high-strength fibers. At low temperatures, complex stresses are set up within the microstructure of the material as a result of matrix stiffening and mismatch of thermal expansion coefficients of the constituents of the composites. These stresses in turn affect the strength and deformation characteristics of the composites. This is demonstrated by compression testing of an unidirectional glass-fiber-reinforced polymer composite at room and low temperatures. The increase of compressive strength matched the analytical prediction of strength increase modeled from the consideration of increase in matrix stiffness and thermal residual stresses at low temperatures. Additional compression tests performed on a batch of low-temperature thermally cycled specimens confirmed the predictable reduction of brittleness due to suspected increase of microcrack density. The mode of failure characterized by definite pre-fracture yielding conforms more to Budiansky’s plastic microbuckling theory than to Rosen’s theory of elastic shear or extensional buckling.
Hydrodynamic Performance and Cavitation of an Open Propeller in a
Simulated Ice-Blocked Flow
Authors: Walker D. , Bose N. , Yamaguchi H. 
Published: June 2008

Abstract
Experiments were done on a 200-mm-dia open propeller behind a simulated ice blockage in a cavitation tunnel. The propeller performance in uniform flow and blocked flow is contrasted over a range of advance coefficients and at different cavitation numbers. Mean thrust and torque coefficients are presented. The types of cavitation, and its intermittent nature over a cycle of operation, are reported. The experiments indicate the likelihood of cavitation at full scale for blocked conditions and illustrate the effects of cavitation on mean values of thrust and torque.
Effect of Thread Shape on Screw Stress Concentration by Photoelastic
Measurements
Authors: Dragoni E. 
Published: June 2008

Abstract
The screw stress concentration for six nut-bolt connections embodying three different thread profiles and two nut shapes is measured photoelastically. Buttress (nearly zero flank angle), trapezoidal (15-deg flank angle), and triangular (30-deg flank angle) thread forms are examined in combination with standard and lip-type nuts. The effect of the thread profile on the screw stress concentration appears to be dependent upon the kind of nut considered. If the fastening incorporates a standard nut, the buttress thread is stronger than the triangular one, which, in turn, behaves better than the trapezoidal contour. The improvement is roughly a 20-percent reduction in the stress concentration factor from the trapezoidal to the buttress thread. In the case of lip nut, conversely, this tendency is somewhat reversed, with the trapezoidal thread performing slightly (but not decidedly) better than the other two shapes. Finally, averaged over all three thread forms, the lip nut exhibits a stress concentration factor which is about 50 percent lower than that of the standard nut.
Statistics of Wave Crest Lengths Based on Directional Wave
Simulations
Authors: Goda Y. 
Published: June 2008

Abstract
Spatial surface elevations of directional random waves have numerically been simulated for various directional spectral conditions in deep water and finite uniform depth water. Individual wave crests are defined on the simulated surface data and the statistics of crest lengths are examined. The ratio of the mean crest length to the local wavelength is found to be governed by the directional spreading parameter. The average longitudinal profiles of high wave crests are presented for three typical values of directional spreading parameters.
Imports to Smyrna between 1794 and 1802: New Statistics from the Ottoman Sources
Authors: Küçükkalay Mesud 
Published: June 2008

AbstractThis study is based on the foreign customs registers of the port of Smyrna in the Ottoman Archives of Istanbul. In this paper 115 ports, 112 ships, 2859 pieces of goods, and 1273 merchants have been investigated for the period 1794-1802. This information indicates that the transformation of the Ottoman Foreign trade at the turn of the eighteenth century was linked to the following economic trends of the second half of the eighteenth and the first half of the nineteenth centuries: the emergence of the European supremacy in naval transportation, a change in the terms of trade that was disadvantageous for the Ottomans, and a shift in the trade partners of the Ottoman Empire. Cette contribution exploite les données des registres de la douane ottomane du port de Smyrne, consignant les importations étrangères, conservés aux archives d'Istanbul. L'étude porte sur les cargaisons de 112 navires en provenance de 115 ports, 2859 pièces de marchandises et 1273 marchands dans les années 1794-1802. Les données témoignent que la transformation du commerce ottoman étranger en fin du XVIIIème siècle est liée aux tendances économiques de la seconde moitié du XVIIIème et de la première moitié du XIXème siècles. Elles reflètent la domination européenne dans le domaine du transport maritime, la modification des conditions commerciales au détriment des Ottomans et un changement des partenaires commerciaux de l'Empire.
The Thematic Unity of Psalm cxliv in Light of Mesopotamian Royal Ideology
Authors: Holtz Shalom 
Published: June 2008

AbstractPsalm cxliv, which according to many scholars is a "royal psalm," begins with a prayer for assistance in battle (verses 1-11) followed by a description of prosperity (verses 12-15). The combination of these two parts parallels several examples from Mesopotamian royal literature in which the king is depicted both as a heroic warrior and as a provider of prosperity. In light of the Mesopotamian parallels, Psalm cxliv is an expression of a similar Israelite royal ideology.
Historical and Geographical Notes on the "Lowland Districts" of Judah in Joshua xv 33-47
Authors: Tappy Ron 
Published: June 2008

AbstractThe somewhat peculiar order of the three districts of the Judaean Shephelah presented in Josh. xv 33-44 and the appearance of three major Philistine cities (Ekron, Ashdod, and Gaza; vv. 45-47) following these districts raise both literary and historical questions relating to this text. Though commentators generally agree that the inclusion of the Philistine cities represents a secondary addition to an older document detailing the patrimony of Judah, a question remains as to what historical circumstance ultimately prompted the insertion. Keys to credible explanations for both the districts' order and the secondary insertion lie in the third campaign of Sennacherib in 701 B.C.E., which targeted major portions of Philistia and the Judaean Shephelah. The ordering of districts in the biblical list seems to follow Sennacherib's line of march through the region; and the addition of these specific Philistine cities grew out of Assyria's evolving relationship with them during the reign of Sargon II and especially during the third campaign of Sennacherib, when a political realignment of unnamed towns occurred in the borderlands between the coastal plain and the Shephelah.
Contrasts and Comparisons: Three Practices of Forensic Investigation
Authors: M'charek Amade 
Published: June 2008

AbstractForensic DNA practice is about identification and thus about making individuality. Yet in order for this to be possible an individual has to be placed in a population, a precondition which has caused problems for the forensic community. For given the lack of a standard biological definition, what is a population? Meanwhile forensic DNA has come of age, bypassing the problem of population, irrespective of the definition applied, through scale and the availability of technology. This article examines three practices of profiling: 1) "conventional" DNA profiling, 2) inferring visible traits from DNA, 3) and inferring visible traits from surveillance recordings. Their juxtaposing can be read in two ways: as a linear story of the ever-growing role of forensic DNA in criminal investigation or as topological story of different versions of the same practice of DNA profiling.
A Dance Between the Reduction and Reflexivity: Explicating the "Phenomenological Psychological Attitude"
Authors: Finlay Linda 
Published: June 2008

AbstractThis article explores the nature of "the phenomenological attitude," which is understood as the process of retaining a wonder and openness to the world while reflexively restraining pre-understandings, as it applies to psychological research. A brief history identifies key philosphical ideas outlining Husserl's formulation of the reductions and subsequent existential-hermeneutic elaborations, and how these have been applied in empirical psychological research. Then three concrete descriptions of engaging the phenomenological attitude are offered, highlighting the way the epoché of the natural sciences, the psychological phenomenological reduction and the eidetic reduction can be applied during research interviews. Reflections on the impact and value of the researcher's stance show that these reductions can be intertwined with reflexivity and that, in this process, something of a dance occurs—a tango in which the researcher twists and glides through a series of improvised steps. In a context of tension and contradictory motions, the researcher slides between striving for reductive focus and reflexive self-awareness; between bracketing pre-understandings and exploiting them as a source of insight. Caught up in the dance, researchers must wage a continuous, iterative struggle to become aware of, and then manage, pre-understandings and habitualities that inevitably linger. Persistance will reward the researcher with special, if fleeting, moments of disclosure in which the phenomenon reveals something of itself in a fresh way.
Conceptualizing Health and Illness
Authors: Kouba Petr 
Published: June 2008

AbstractThis article is focused on the notions of health and illness, as they appear in the context of philosophical reflections on finitude and contingency of human existence. Criticizing Heidegger's approach to health and illness which is based on the Aristotelian concept of privation, the author tries to find an alternative to the privative concept of illness with the help of Schelling's treatise on human freedom which explicates Evil not as a privation of Good, but as a sort of illness that has its own phenomenal positivity. Even Schelling's philosophical investigation of the nature of Evil, however, doesn't seem to provide a solid ground for a non-privative and non-normative approach to pathological phenomena. Only when Schelling's treatise on human freedom is de-contextualized and radicalized in a way suggested, for instance, by Deleuze in his Difference and Repetition, does it seem possible to elucidate pathological, and especially psychopathological phenomena, as they show themselves from themselves, and not from the perspective given by the normative ideal of health.
Mechanism of nuclear factor of activated T-cells mediated FasL expression in corticosterone -treated mouse Leydig tumor cells
Authors: Chai Wei-Ran , Chen Yong , Wang Qian , Gao Hui-Bao 
Published: June 2008

AbstractBackgroundFas and FasL is important mediators of apoptosis. We have previously reported that the stress levels of corticosterone (CORT, glucocorticoid in rat) increase expression of Fas/FasL and activate Fas/FasL signal pathway in rat Leydig cells, which consequently leads to apoptosis. Moreover, our another study showed that nuclear factor of activated T-cells (NFAT) may play a potential role in up-regulation of FasL during CORT-treated rat Leydig cell. It is not clear yet how NFAT is involved in CORT-induced up-regulation of FasL. The aim of the present study is to investigate the molecular mechanisms of NFAT-mediated FasL expression in CORT-treated Leydig cells.ResultsWestern blot analysis showed that NFAT2 expression is present in mouse Leydig tumor cell (mLTC-1). CORT-induced increase in FasL expression in mLTC-1 was ascertained by Western Blot analysis and CORT-induced increase in apoptotic frequency of mLTC-1 cells was detected by FACS with annexin-V labeling. Confocal imaging of NFAT2-GFP in mLTC-1 showed that high level of CORT stimulated NFAT translocation from the cytoplasm to the nucleus. RNA interference-mediated knockdown of NFAT2 significantly attenuated CORT-induced up-regulation of FasL expression in mLTC. These results corroborated our previous finding that NFAT2 is involved in CORT-induced FasL expression in rat Leydig cells and showed that mLTC-1 is a suitable model for investigating the mechanism of CORT-induced FasL expression. The analysis of reporter constructs revealed that the sequence between -201 and +71 of mouse FasL gene is essential for CORT-induced FasL expression. The mutation analysis demonstrated that CORT-induced FasL expression is mediated via an NFAT binding element located in the -201 to +71 region. Co-transfection studies with an NFAT2 expression vector and reporter construct containing -201 to +71 region of FasL gene showed that NFAT2 confer a strong inducible activity to the FasL promoter at its regulatory region. In addition, chromatin immunoprecipitation assay further confirmed the results of reporter gene studies by showing the specific binding of NFAT2 to the -201 to +71 region.ConclusionIn the present study, we demonstrated that NFAT2 directly stimulates transcription of FasL in high level CORT-treated mLTC-1. In conclusion, the present study provides further evidence for our finding that CORT-induced FasL expression in Leydig cells is mediated by NFAT.
Antisense oligonucleotides and all-trans retinoic acid have a synergistic anti-tumor effect on oral squamous cell carcinoma
Authors: Xu Qin , Zhang Zhiyuan , Zhang Ping , Chen Wantao 
Published: June 2008

AbstractBackgroundAntisense oligonucleotides against hTR (As-ODN-hTR) have shown promising results as treatment strategies for various human malignancies. All-trans retinoic acid (ATRA) is a signalling molecule with important roles in differentiation and apoptosis. Biological responses to ATRA are currently used therapeutically in various human cancers. The aim of this study was to evaluate the anti-tumor effects of As-ODN-hTR combined with ATRA in vivo.MethodsIn situ human oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) models were established by subcutaneous injection of Tca8113 cells. Mice were treated with sense oligonucleotides against hTR(S-ODN-hTR) alone, As-ODN-hTR alone, ATRA alone, As-ODN-hTR plus ATRA, or S-ODN-hTR plus ATRA. Tumor size and weight were assessed in the mice. Telomerase activity was detected by a TRAP assay, apoptotic cells were evaluated with a Tunel assay, the expression of apoptosis-related proteins (Bcl-2 and Bax) was evaluated by immunohistochemistry and ultrastructural morphological changes in the tumor specimen were examined.ResultsBoth As-ODN-hTR and ATRA can significantly inhibit tumor growth in this OSCC xenograft solid-tumor model, and the combination of the two agents had a synergistic anti-tumorogenic effect. We also demonstrated that this anti-tumor effect correlated with inhibition of telomerase activity. Furthermore, significant increases in the number of apoptotic cells, typical apoptotic morphology and a downregulation of the anti-apoptotic protein, bcl-2 were observed in the treated tissues.ConclusionThe combination of As-ODN-hTR and ATRA has a synergistic anti-tumor effect. This anti-tumor effect can be mainly attributed to apoptosis induced by a decrease in telomerase activity. Bcl-2 plays an important role in this process. Therefore, combining As-ODN-hTR and ATRA may be an approach for the treatment of human oral squamous cell carcinoma.
Resistance of mitochondrial p53 to dominant inhibition
Authors: Heyne Kristina , Schmitt Katrin , Mueller Daniel , Armbruester Vivienne , Mestres Pedro , Roemer Klaus 
Published: June 2008

Abstract

Background
Mutation of a tumor suppressor allele leaves the second as backup. Not necessarily so with p53. This homo-tetrameric transcription factor can become contaminated with mutant p53 through hetero-tetramerization. In addition, it can be out-competed by the binding to p53 DNA recognition motifs of transactivation-incompetent isoforms (ΔN and ΔTA-isoforms) of the p53/p63/p73 family of proteins. Countermeasures against such dominant-negative or dominant-inhibitory action might include the evolutionary gain of novel, transactivation-independent tumor suppressor functions by the wild-type monomer.

Results
Here we have studied, mostly in human HCT116 colon adenocarcinoma cells with an intact p53 pathway, the effects of dominant-inhibitory p53 mutants and of Δex2/3p73, a tumor-associated ΔTA-competitor of wild-type p53, on the nuclear transactivation-dependent and extra-nuclear transactivation-independent functions of wild-type p53. We report that mutant p53 and Δex2/3p73, expressed from a single gene copy per cell, interfere with the stress-induced expression of p53-responsive genes but leave the extra-nuclear apoptosis by mitochondrial p53 largely unaffected, although both wild-type and mutant p53 associate with the mitochondria. In accord with these observations, we present evidence that in contrast to nuclear p53 the vast majority of mitochondrial p53, be it wild-type or mutant, is consisting of monomeric protein.

Conclusion
The extra-nuclear p53-dependent apoptosis may constitute a fail-safe mechanism against dominant inhibition.
Neuromyelitis optica pathogenesis and aquaporin 4
Authors: Graber David J , Levy Michael , Kerr Douglas , Wade William F 
Published: June 2008

AbstractNeuromyelitis optica (NMO) is a severe, debilitating human disease that predominantly features immunopathology in the optic nerves and the spinal cord. An IgG1 autoantibody (NMO-IgG) that binds aquaporin 4 (AQP4) has been identified in the sera of a significant number of NMO patients, as well as in patients with two related neurologic conditions, bilateral optic neuritis (ON), and longitudinal extensive transverse myelitis (LETM), that are generally considered to lie within the NMO spectrum of diseases. NMO-IgG is not the only autoantibody found in NMO patient sera, but the correlation of pathology in central nervous system (CNS) with tissues that normally express high levels of AQP4 suggests NMO-IgG might be pathogenic. If this is the case, it is important to identify and understand the mechanism(s) whereby an immune response is induced against AQP4. This review focuses on open questions about the "events" that need to be understood to determine if AQP4 and NMO-IgG are involved in the pathogenesis of NMO. These questions include: 1) How might AQP4-specific T and B cells be primed by either CNS AQP4 or peripheral pools of AQP4? 2) Do the different AQP4-expressing tissues and perhaps the membrane structural organization of AQP4 influence NMO-IgG binding efficacy and thus pathogenesis? 3) Does prior infection, genetic predisposition, or underlying immune dysregulation contribute to a confluence of events which lead to NMO in select individuals? A small animal model of NMO is essential to demonstrate whether AQP4 is indeed the incipient autoantigen capable of inducing NMO-IgG formation and NMO. If the NMO model is consistent with the human disease, it can be used to examine how changes in AQP4 expression and blood-brain barrier (BBB) integrity, both of which can be regulated by CNS inflammation, contribute to inductive events for anti-AQP4-specific immune response. In this review, we identify reagents and experimental questions that need to be developed and addressed to enhance our understanding of the pathogenesis of NMO. Finally, dysregulation of tolerance associated with autoimmune disease appears to have a role in NMO. Animal models would allow manipulation of hormone levels, B cell growth factors, and other elements known to increase the penetrance of autoimmune disease. Thus an AQP4 animal model would provide a means to manipulate events which are now associated with NMO and thus demonstrate what set of events or multiplicity of events can push the anti-AQP4 response to be pathogenic.
Anni 2.0: a multipurpose text-mining tool for the life sciences
Authors: Jelier Rob , Schuemie Martijn J , Veldhoven Antoine , Dorssers Lambert CJ , Jenster Guido , Kors Jan A 
Published: June 2008

AbstractAnni 2.0 is an online tool (http://biosemantics.org/anni/) to aid the biomedical researcher with a broad range of information needs. Anni provides an ontology-based interface to MEDLINE and retrieves documents and associations for several classes of biomedical concepts, including genes, drugs and diseases, with established text-mining technology. In this article we illustrate Anni's usability by applying the tool to two use cases: interpretation of a set of differentially expressed genes, and literature-based knowledge discovery.
Preparation and evaluation of a novel delayed-onset sustained-release system of propranolol hydrochloride
Authors: Feng Xue-mei , Ren Qi , Zhang Wen-zhi , Shen Hui-feng , Rong Zheng-xing , Fang Chao , Chen Hong-zhuan 
Published: June 2008

Abstract
The objective of this work was to prepare and evaluate a new delayed-onset sustained-release system, comprising a sustained-release core tablet with hydroxypropyl methylcellulose as polymer matrix and an ethylcellulose/Eudragit L coating capable of delaying the drug release. The sustained core containing propranolol hydrochloride as the model drug was prepared by granulate tableting and the polymer coating was applied in a computer-controlled coating pan. The dissolution tests demonstrated that the in-vitro drug release was pH-dependent with sufficient gastric resistance, and the lag time (t10%) could be controlled by adjusting the coating level. Three dosage forms including commercial tablet, sustained-release tablet and the delayed-onset sustained-release tablet were administrated to six beagle dogs and the plasma levels of propranolol hydrochloride were measured with high-performance liquid chromatography. The delayed-onset sustained-release tablet had a lag time of 3.0 h in-vitro and 3.5 h in-vivo, and a tmax of 7.0 h. The relative bioavailability for delayed-onset sustained-release tablet was 96.98% compared with commercial tablets. The results indicate that the new propranolol delayed-onset sustained-release system could achieve a relatively constant drug release followed by a programmed lag time, and this may provide a promising drug delivery form for chronopharmacotherapy of certain cardiovascular diseases.