555 research outputs found
Small words, big effects? Subjective versus objective causal connectives in discourse processing
No full textCoherence relations and their linguistic markers play a significant role in the study of discourse processing and comprehension. A number of studies have shown that the presence of coherence markers, such as connectives, in a text facilitates the processing and representation of discourse. Therefore, connectives are assumed to function as processing instructions (e.g. Britton, 1994; Gernsbacher, 1997; Murray, 1995; Sanders & Spooren, 2007); they help the readers to arrive at the intended interpretation of the text. The main purpose of the current study was to get a better understanding of how the information encoded in connectives affects online discourse processing. More specifically, we focused on causal connectives, which in Dutch provide cues about the fine-grained distinction between subjective and objective causal relations. Objective causal relations express causality between events in the real world. In subjective causal relations, however, the causal relations does not exists in the real world but in the mind of the speaker who is drawing conclusions on the basis of events in the world. There are two reasons why it is relevant to study the notion of subjectivity in relation to causal connectives. First, in many languages of the world causal connectives seem to specialize in either subjective or objective causal relations (Stukker & Sanders, 2012). And second, subjective causal relations are assumed to be more complex than objective causal relations (Sanders, Spooren, & Noordman, 1992). This complexity is associated with longer processing times in reading experiments (Noordman & De Blijzer, 2000; Traxler, Bybee, & Pickering, 1997; Traxler, Sanford, Aked, & Moxey, 1997). In the current dissertation we present a series of eye-tracking experiments that were designed to investigate the influence of Dutch causal connectives on discourse processing. With respect to Dutch backward causal relations, the connective want is a prototypical marker of subjective causal relations, whereas omdat is a prototypical marker of objective causal relations (Degand & Pander Maat, 2003; Pit, 2003; Sanders & Spooren, 2009, 2012; Verhagen, 2005). In forward causal relations dus typically expresses subjective relations, whereas daarom is typically used in objective relations (Pander Maat & Degand, 2001; Pander Maat & Sanders, 2000, 2001; Stukker, 2005; Verhagen, 2005). Our results show that both backward and forward subjective causal connectives induce an immediate delay in processing times compared to their objective counterparts. These results reveal that causal connectives do more than just inform the reader that a causal coherence relation needs to be constructed between two pieces of text. They also provide information about the relative degree of subjectivity of that causal relation. On the basis of additional experiments we conclude that the processing complexity of subjective causal connectives and relations can be explained by the notion of speaker involvement (Pander Maat & Degand, 2001; Pander Maat & Sanders, 2000, 2001; Pit, 2003). Subjective causality requires the representation of the Mental Space of the thinking subject -be it the speaker, author, or a third person character in the discourse- who is responsible for the presented information. This representation comes at a processing cost
Model Transformation with ATL into MDA from CIM to PIM Structured through MVC
No full textAbstractModels transformation is the most important key in Model Driven Architecture (MDA). The first transformation in MDA is Computing Independent Model (CIM) to Platform Independent Model (PIM) transformation, the second is PIM to Platform Specific Model (PSM) transformation. This latter transformation deals the two less abstract levels, PIM and PSM, for that most researchers focused on this kind of transformation. Nevertheless, the top level of abstraction, CIM, and its transformation to PIM is rarely discussed in research topics. Our goal in this paper is to represent an approach that allows mastering transformation from CIM to PIM in accordance with MDA. Our method based on creating a good CIM level, using construction rules, to facilitate the transformation to PIM level. Next, our transformation rules, implemented with Atlas Transformation Language (ATL), ensure a semi-automatic transformation from CIM to PIM. Our approach conforms to MDA, because it allows considering the business dimension in the CIM level, and it allows modelling this latter level by using Business Process Model and Notation (BPMN), this latter is the OMG standard for modelling the business process. However, we founded on UML to model PIM level, because UML is advocated by MDA in PIM. Our proposal results a set of classes, organized according to the Model View Controller (MVC)
ES-PIM applied to buckling of variable angle tow laminates
No full textThe increasing need for automatic mesh generation has led to the development of efficient triangulation algorithms that are able to discretize any 2D or 3D domain. Modern finite element formulations based on strain smoothing techniques (SFEM) provide enhanced convergence properties, preventing yet the stiffening behavior of triangular meshes. Recent research has shown that meshless methods based on triangular mapping of the integration domain can be used to produce even better convergence properties than SFEM. The present study explores the Edge-based Smoothed Point Interpolation Method (ES-PIM) as a meshless solution to investigate linear buckling on variable angle tow (VAT) laminates. Such advanced composite structures show a heterogeneous distribution of constitutive properties and thickness, presenting additional challenges to the numerical solution. Important aspects related to the transverse shear correction herein adopted are investigated, leading to interesting conclusions regarding the possibility to use the ES-PIM for conservative estimates of the critical buckling load of VAT laminates.Aerospace Structures & Computational Mechanic
ASO Author Reflections: Vascular Resection in Perihilar Cholangiocarcinoma Surgery
No full textvascular resection in hilar cholangiocarcinom
Librarians alert : how can we exploit what is happening with personal information management (PIM), reference management and related issues?
No full textThis column aims to explore the potential of personal information management (PIM) and reference management. It seeks to focus on how librarians can stay alert on new developments regarding PIM and related issues such as plagiarism, reference techniques, information literacy and information behaviour. It also tries to stimulate interest in looking for hidden gems that can be of value in their careers as well as those of library users by considering the innovative and creative use of PIM, e.g. by also monitoring the potential of mind maps and concept maps. The column is written against the background of research from information behaviour, PIM, information curation, alerts on software development and related issues, and also social bookmarking. There are many ways in which librarians can stay abreast of what is happening with PIM, reference management and related issues. There are also many things to note such as improvement of the software, uses of PIM and reference management, teaching skills in PIM and reference management, ways of sharing information, linking to innovation and creativity, and linking to information literacy and information behaviour. Although much has been published on developments in PIM and reference management, the author is not aware of other attempts to link alerting services on PIM and reference management to go beyond developments in software.http://www.emeraldinsight.com/0737-8831.htmdm201
Pim Kinases Promote Migration and Metastatic Growth of Prostate Cancer Xenografts
No full textBackground and methods Pim family proteins are oncogenic kinases implicated in several types of cancer and involved in regulation of cell proliferation, survival as well as motility. Here we have investigated the ability of Pim kinases to promote metastatic growth of prostate cancer cells in two xenograft models for human prostate cancer. We have also evaluated the efficacy of Pim-selective inhibitors to antagonize these effects. Results We show here that tumorigenic growth of both subcutaneously and orthotopically inoculated prostate cancer xenografts is enhanced by stable overexpression of either Pim-1 or Pim-3. Moreover, Pim-overexpressing orthotopic prostate tumors are highly invasive and able to migrate not only to the nearby prostate-draining lymph nodes, but also into the lungs to form metastases. When the xenografted mice are daily treated with the Pim-selective inhibitor DHPCC-9, both the volumes as well as the metastatic capacity of the tumors are drastically decreased. Interestingly, the Pim-promoted metastatic growth of the orthotopic xenografts is associated with enhanced angiogenesis and lymphangiogenesis. Furthermore, forced Pim expression also increases phosphorylation of the CXCR4 chemokine receptor, which may enable the tumor cells to migrate towards tissues such as the lungs that express the CXCL12 chemokine ligand. Conclusions Our results indicate that Pim overexpression enhances the invasive properties of prostate cancer cells in vivo. These effects can be reduced by the Pim-selective inhibitor DHPCC-9, which can reach tumor tissues without serious side effects. Thus, Pim-targeting therapies with DHPCC-9-like compounds may help to prevent progression of local prostate carcinomas to fatally metastatic malignancies.Peer reviewe
The Randstad conurbation: a floating metropolis in the Dutch delta (co-author Paul van der Laar)
No full textThe Randstad conurbation: a floating metropolis in the Dutch delta (co-author Paul van der Laar)
The Randstad conurbation: a floating metropolis in the Dutch delta (co-author Paul van der Laar)
RILEM TC272 PIM: phase morphology of bituminous binders with liquid additives
No full textIn the past years, the use of liquid additives as bitumen modifiers has increased to tailor the rheology of bitumen for a wide range of applications. Their chemical composition and mutual interaction result in specific phase morphologies in the binders. Hence, there is a need to evaluate the phase morphology of complex binders and the impact of additives on their physical properties. The RILEM Technical Committee 272-PIM ‘Phase and Interphase behaviour of innovative bituminous Materials’, Task Group TG1 assessed the phase and interphase properties of bituminous binders. Some preliminary results are presented on blends using three liquid additives and a neat 35/50 bitumen. The goal of formulating the blends was to achieve similar consistency of a pen grade 70/100 bitumen at the original state and to evaluate the binders at both original and after aging. Physical properties were evaluated through rheological characterisation using a dynamic shear rheometer (DSR) in a wide range of conditions. The phase morphology was assessed using atomic force microscopy (AFM). Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) was also used for the characterisation of the thermal behaviour of the binders. While conventional properties, as obtained from the routine binder testing methods, hardly distinguish between blends, the cross-over temperature, derived from DSR measurements, enabled to dictate the impact of liquid additives on the physical properties of bituminous binders at intermediate temperature. AFM confirmed a difference in phase morphology between the blends, whereas some binders displayed new phases at original and aged conditions. Glass transition, as determined by DSC, also showed a difference in the low-temperature domain that may be explained with the difference in phase morphology. Overall, an in-depth understanding of microstructure morphology and glass transition behaviour of complex binders can assist in designing future specifications to distinguish durable bituminous materials better.Green Open Access added to TU Delft Institutional Repository ‘You share, we take care!’ – Taverne project https://www.openaccess.nl/en/you-share-we-take-care Otherwise as indicated in the copyright section: the publisher is the copyright holder of this work and the author uses the Dutch legislation to make this work public.Pavement Engineerin
Differential role of Pim-1 kinase in ischemic and anesthetic- induced precondtioning
No full textDas Phänomen der kardialen Präkonditionierung beschreibt die Möglichkeit durch bestimmte Stimuli die Toleranz des Myokardgewebes gegenüber lang andauernden Ischämien zu erhöhen. Es existieren zwei Formen der Präkonditionierung: die ischämische (IPC) und die pharmakologisch induzierte Präkonditionierung (PPC). Eine wichtige Form der PPC stellt die Anästhetika-induzierte Präkonditionierung (APC) dar. Die Untersuchungen der vorliegenden Arbeit erfolgten anhand eines in vivo Myokardinfarktmodells der Maus. Die IPC wurde durch mehrere kurze Episoden ischämischer Ereignisse hervorgerufen und führte zu einer signifikanten Reduktion der Herzinfarktgröße um bis zu 70 Prozent. Bei der APC wurde das Myokard mittels Applikation des volatilen Anästhetikums Desfluran präkonditioniert. Das Ausmaß der Herzinfarktgrößenreduktion war mit dem der IPC vergleichbar. Neben dem Nachweis der präkonditionierenden Effekte von IPC und Desfluran war es Ziel dieser Arbeit die Rolle der Serin-Threonin-Kinase Pim-1 und ihrer antiapoptotischen Fähigkeiten zu ermitteln. Die Bedeutung der Pim-1 Kinase in der Signalvermittlung der ischämischen und Desfluran-induzierten Präkonditionierung wurde über deren Blockade mit dem selektiven Pim-1 Kinase Inhibitor II untersucht. Der präkonditionierende Effekt von Desfluran konnte durch die Blockade der Pim-1 Kinase vollständig aufgehoben werden, während die Wirkung der IPC nur teilweise aufgehoben wurde. Somit ist die Pim-1 Kinase in die Signalvermittlung der IPC und Desfluran-induzierten Präkonditionierung involviert. Sie scheint jedoch eine unterschiedliche Rolle bei IPC und APC zu spielen. Mittels Western Immunoblot erfolgte die Bestimmung der Proteinexpression von Pim-1 Kinase, Bad und phospho-BadSer112. Die Bestimmung des Phosphorylierungsausmaßes von Bad an Serin 112 diente als Surrogatparameter der Pim-1-Aktivität. Nach ischämischer und Desfluran-induzierter Präkonditionierung zeigte sich eine tendenzielle Zunahme der Phosphorylierung von Bad. Im Falle der Desfluran-induzierten Präkonditionierung konnte dieser Effekt durch Applikation des Pim-1 Kinase Inhibitors II signifikant reduziert werden, während dagegen bei der IPC kein Einfluss des Pim-1 Kinase Inhibitors II beobachtet werden konnte. Als intrazellulärer Marker der Apoptoseinduktion wurde der zytosolische Gehalt an Cytochrom C bestimmt. Nach IPC und APC zeigte sich eine tendenzielle Reduktion des zytosolischen Gehaltes an Cytochrom C. Durch Applikation des Pim-1 Kinase Inhibitors II konnte diese Reduktion bei der Desfluran-induzierten Präkonditionierung aufgehoben werden, während die Effekte der IPC unverändert blieben. Die Pim-1 Kinase wirkt somit antiapoptotisch und kardioprotektiv, wobei eine unterschiedliche Funktion bei der IPC und APC zu vermuten ist. Die Untersuchungen der vorliegenden Arbeit konnten am in vivo Myokardinfarktmodell der Maus nachweisen, dass die Pim-1 Kinase an der Vermittlung der ischämischen und Desfluran-induzierten Präkonditionierung gegen Myokardinfarkt beteiligt ist. Sie scheint jedoch bei IPC und APC eine unterschiedliche Bedeutung zu haben.Preconditioning is a method to increase myocardial tolerance against ischemia. There are two kinds of preconditioning: ischemic preconditiong (IPC) and anesthetic-induced precondtioning (APC). The investigations were done using a murine in-vivo-model of myocardial infarction. Three cycles of 5 minutes ischemia- reperfusion significantly reduced infarct size. Applikation of desflurane reduced infarct size to a similar extent as ischemic preconditioning. Besides the reduction of infarct size the author tested the hypothesis that IPC and APC are mediated via activation of Pim-1 kinase. By blocking Pim-1 kinase with a Pim-1 kinase inhibitor the effects of desflurane on infarct size could be abolished completely, the effects of APC were blocked in part. Thus Pim-1 kinase is involved in the signaltransduction of IPC and APC, but it seems to play a differential role. Furthermore protein expression of Pim-1 kinase, Bad, phospho-Bad and the cytosolic content of cytochrome C were measured via Western immunoblotting. Phospho-Bad was used as surrogate for activation of Pim-1 kinase. IPC and APC led to an increased expression of phospho-Bad. Desflurane- induced phosphorylation of Bad was reduced by Pim-1 kinase inhibitor, whereas IPC- induced phosphorylation was not affected. As apoptotic marker the cytosolic content of cytochrome C was measured. Desflurane and IPC tended to result in reduced cytosolic content of cytochrome c. The desflurane-induced reduction was abolished by Pim-1 kinase inhibitor. The IPC-induced reduction of cytosolic cytochrome c was not affected by pharmacologic inhibition of Pim-1 kinase. In summary IPC and desflurane-induced preconditioning against myocardial infarction in vivo in mice are mediated via activation of Pim-1 kinase. Pim-1 kinase seems to play a differential role in the signaltransduction of IPC and APC
Mixed gas sorption of CO2/CH4 mixtures in PIM-1 and PTMSP membranes: experiments and modeling
No full textSorption of pure methane, carbon dioxide and their binary mixtures in two glassy polymers, poly(1-trimethylsilyl-1-propyne) (PTMSP), and the first polymer of intrinsic microporosity (PIM-1), has been studied experimentally and theoretically, at 35.0 \ubaC. Measurements were obtained on a newly designed pressure decay sorption apparatus for mixtures of gases, having the basic construction according to Sanders et al. [1], but with a more versatile procedure than that used in [1], which allowed to measure sorption isotherms at constant partial pressure of one component of the gas mixture. Indeed this novel method allows one to measure sorption isotherms i) at constant composition of the gaseous phase, ii) at constant fugacity of one component or iii) at constant equilibrium pressure. The first protocol, in particular, allows to mimic better the real constraints faced when dealing with a membrane separation process, where one has a gas stream of fixed composition, in which only the total pressure can be varied, by compression. The pressure decay apparatus is coupled to a gas chromatograph Varian CP-4900 Micro-GC equipped with a capillary column and with a thermal conductivity detector for analysis of the gas phase composition. In the case of PTMSP, the mixture n-C4/CH4 was initially considered, to provide a direct comparison with literature data [2] and validation of the method. Indeed, the sorption of n-C4/CH4mixtures showed a reasonable agreement with the existing mixed gas sorption data [2]. On the other hand, the CO2/CH4mixed sorption data in PTMSP are completely new, and were measured in the range from 0 to 33 atm of total equilibrium pressure, and from 5 to 90 mol.% of carbon dioxide in the gaseous phase. Furthermore, the same characterization of CO2/CH4 mixed sorption was performed in PIM-1: the pressure range inspected was the same as in PTMSP, while the composition of CO2 ranged from 10 to 50 mol.%. PTMSP membrane was cast from a solution of toluene, immersed in methanol and then dried under vacuum before characterization; its density was 0.77\ub10.01 g/cm3. The PIM-1 membrane was prepared from a filtered ca. 2.0 wt.% chloroform solution of PIM-1 and heated in vacuum at 70 \ub0C, then submerged in methanol and dried under vacuum at 70 \ub0C. The density of pure PIM-1 was (1.143\ub10.008) g/cm3at 25\ub0C. For both PTMSP and PIM-1, the mixed gas solubility differs significantly from the pure gas value, and, in particular, the solubility of both components is depressed by the presence of the second one, as it often happens in glassy polymers.[3] The solubility selectivity ranges between 2 and 6 for PTMSP and between 5 and 10 for PIM-1. The methane solubility, however, is more significantly depressed by CO2 than that of CO2 is decreased by CH4, therefore the real solubility selectivity (CO2/CH4) for PTMSP and PIM-1 is higher than the ideal solubility selectivity. Such effect becomes more significant with increasing the mole fraction of CO2 in the gaseous phase and with pressure, and is more significant for PIM-1 than for PTMSP. Indeed, the real solubility selectivity becomes 3 times higher than the ideal one in PTMSP for a fraction of 70 mol.% of CO2 in the gas phase, while for PIM-1 such point is reached with a lower concentration of CO2(50 mol.%). Both results indicate the presence of a competition for available polymer matrix sites, which is not surprising due to the nature of physical sorption in glassy matrices, and possibly also of different interactions between polymer and penetrants. To investigate that behavior, the Non-Equilibrium Lattice Fluid model (NELF) was used [3], while the widely used Dual Mode Sorption (DMS) model was also considered as a reference tool. The NELF model, as well as the DMS, does not require additional parameters for the prediction of the mixed gas behavior, and is fully predictive provided a few pure gas sorption data in the polymer matrix. Indeed, binary interaction parameters are the same as in the pure gas case, and the swelling induced by the mixture is estimated from pure gas swelling. Remarkably, in the DMS model, only competition (depression) effects are accounted for, because the mixed gas additional term (positive) appears only in the denominator of the expression for solubility. The NELF model provided quantitative predictions of the mixed gas sorption of CO2 and CH4under pure- and mixed-gas conditions in PTMSP and in PIM-1. The solubility selectivity is also predicted, although with less accuracy, by the NELF model. The DMS model works fairly well in the case of PTMSP, but provides poorer predictions than the NELF model of the mixed gas solubility in PIM-1. Sorption of mixtures of CO2 and CH4 in PTMSP and in PIM-1 was predictable with the NELF model with an accuracy that is comparable to the experimental one, which could reduce the need for the laborious measurements of mixed gas sorption in polymers. Better insights and interpretation of the mixed gas sorption mechanism can also be obtained by using the NELF model.Peer reviewed: YesNRC publication: Ye
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