bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Africa in the World: History and Historiography
Authors: Brizuela-Garcia Esperanza
Published: November 2018

Since antiquity and through the modern era African societies maintained contacts with peoples in Europe, the Near and Far East, and the Americas. Among other things, African peoples developed local forms of Christianity and Islam, contributed large amounts of gold to European medieval economies, and exported millions of slaves through the Sahara, and the Atlantic and Indian Oceans. Despite this, by the 19th century historians and philosophers of history thought Africa was a continent without major civilizations, whose peoples passively rested at the margins of history. These ideas persisted into the 20th century when historians undertook the challenge of writing histories that explained how communities around the world were connected to one another. In their early iterations, however, these “world narratives” were little more than histories of the Western world; Africa continued to be largely absent from these stories. After World War II, increasing interest in the history of African societies and a more generalized concern with the study of communities that were both mis- and under-represented by historical scholarship called for a revision of the goals and methods of world historians. Among the most important critiques were those from Afrocentric, African American, and Africanist scholars. Afrocentric writers argued that Africa had in fact developed an important civilization in the form of Egypt and that Egypt was the foundation of the classical world. African American and Africanist writers highlighted the contributions that peoples of African descent had made to the world economy and many cultures around the globe. Africanists also questioned whether world historical narratives, which meaningfully accounted for the richness and complexity of African experiences, could be achieved in the form of a single universal narrative. Instead, historians have suggested and produced new frameworks that could best explain the many ways in which Africa has been part of the world and its history.
The Dar es Salaam School of African History
Authors: Maddox Gregory H.
Published: November 2018

The Dar es Salaam School of African History refers to the work of a group of historians based at what became the University of Dar es Salaam in Tanzania. Led initially by Terrance O. Ranger, the scholars of the History Department there in the late 1960s focused on researching and writing a new history for a newly independent nation. The works produced focused on the idea of Africans making their own history and on the rise of anticolonial nationalism. They most immediately argued that common oppression by colonial states created the conditions for the development of organic national movements for liberation. This later aspect led this type of history to be called nationalist history.

By the late 1960s, historians at Dar es Salaam had developed a critique of nationalist history that used Marxist theory to explain the domination of Africa under colonialism and its continued subjection in the postcolonial era to the capitalist world system. Led at first by Walter Rodney but taken up by a number of younger Tanzanian historians, this movement led some to call it the New Dar es Salaam School. The proponents of this consciously radical approach to history argued that nationalist historians had romanticized African nationalist movements and failed to identify them as heirs to the opporesive and exploitative nature of colonialism. They concluded that independence represented only the first step in the true liberation of Africa. Both of these approaches to history have had significant influence on the study of African history across the continent.
Rock Art Research Methods
Authors: Hollmann Jeremy
Published: November 2018

Rock art is an archaeological resource with the potential to reconstruct aspects of the ideologies of prehistoric societies. Research methods are distinguished here from theoretical, interpretive frameworks. The methods discussed here concern the documentation of rock art, methods of working with the temporal dimensions of rock art (such as developing relative chronologies and dating), and the characterization of pigments. Nonetheless, the choice of research methods depends on an explicitly formulated, theoretically informed research question. Research aims will also determine the scope and scale of the documentation and chronological methods employed.

Fieldwork is a major and initial component of documentation and may involve surveying for rock-art sites. Researchers should experience rock art first hand. Digital mapping and imaging techniques are used routinely, but field tracings continue to be an important means of recording and interpreting the art. Computational photography includes enhancement software such as DStretch and other techniques that enable researchers to see details that would otherwise be invisible.

Temporality is a fundamental attribute of rock art, and the biggest challenge in this regard is to relate the chronological sequences on the rock face to other archaeological and environmental data and thus contextualize the rock art. Relative chronologies provide information about the order of image-making episodes at a site or in a particular region. Age determinations may be arrived at using correlative methods in which the art is dated by means of independently available age ranges. Accelerator Mass Spectrometry (AMS) radiocarbon dating is commonly used to date organic paint samples. Engravings are difficult to date; age ranges obtained from cation-ratio (CR) and varnish microlamination (VML) are regarded as approximations. Pigment analysis is used to characterize the inorganic components of paint and to detect the presence of organic components. Research methods are multidisciplinary and thus require a coordinated, unified approach in order to achieve the research aims.
Housing Policy Across the United States
Authors: Szylvian Kristin M.
Published: November 2018

Federal housing policy has been primarily devoted to maintaining the economic stability and profitability of the private sector real estate, household finance, and home-building and supply industries since the administration of President Franklin D. Roosevelt (1933–1945). Until the 1970s, federal policy encouraged speculative residential development in suburban areas and extended segregation by race and class. The National Association of Home Builders, the National Association of Realtors, and other allied organizations strenuously opposed federal programs seeking to assist low- and middle-income households and the homeless by forcing recalcitrant suburbs to permit the construction of open-access, affordable dwellings and encouraging the rehabilitation of urban housing. During the 1980s, President Ronald Reagan, a Republican from California, argued it was the government, not the private sector, that was responsible for the gross inequities in social and economic indicators between residents of city, inner ring, and outlying suburban communities. The civic, religious, consumer, labor, and other community-based organizations that tried to mitigate the adverse effects of the “Reagan Revolution” on the affordable housing market lacked a single coherent view or voice. Since that time, housing has become increasingly unaffordable in many metropolitan areas, and segregation by race, income, and ethnicity is on the rise once again. If the home mortgage crisis that began in 2007 is any indication, housing will continue to be a divisive political, economic, and social issue in the foreseeable future.

The national housing goal of a “decent home in a suitable living environment for every American family” not only has yet to be realized, but many law makers now favor eliminating or further restricting federal commitment to its realization.
Service Economies and the American Postindustrial City, 1950–Present
Authors: Vitale Patrick
Published: November 2018

In the seventy years since the end of World War II (1939–1945), postindustrialization—the exodus of manufacturing and growth of finance and services—has radically transformed the economy of North American cities. Metropolitan areas are increasingly home to transnational firms that administer dispersed production networks that span the world. A few major global centers host large banks that coordinate flows of finance capital necessary not only for production, but also increasingly for education, infrastructure, municipal government, housing, and nearly every other aspect of life. In cities of the global north, fewer workers produce goods and more produce information, entertainment, and experiences. Women have steadily entered the paid workforce, where they often do the feminized work of caring for children and the ill, cleaning homes, and preparing meals. Like the Gilded Age city, the postindustrial city creates immense social divisions, injustices, and inequalities: penthouses worth millions and rampant homelessness, fifty-dollar burgers and an epidemic of food insecurity, and unparalleled wealth and long-standing structural unemployment all exist side by side. The key features of the postindustrial service economy are the increased concentration of wealth, the development of a privileged and celebrated workforce of professionals, and an economic system reliant on hyperexploited service workers whose availability is conditioned by race, immigration status, and gender.
Contagious Disease and Public Health in the American City
Authors: Wilson Daniel
Published: November 2018

Contagious diseases have long posed a public health challenge for cities, going back to the ancient world. Diseases traveled over trade routes from one city to another. Cities were also crowded and often dirty, ideal conditions for the transmission of infectious disease. The Europeans who settled North America quickly established cities, especially seaports, and contagious diseases soon followed. By the late 17th century, ports like Boston, New York, and Philadelphia experienced occasional epidemics, especially smallpox and yellow fever, usually introduced from incoming ships. Public health officials tried to prevent contagious diseases from entering the ports, most often by establishing a quarantine. These quarantines were occasionally effective, but more often the disease escaped into the cities. By the 18th century, city officials recognized an association between dirty cities and epidemic diseases. The appearance of a contagious disease usually occasioned a concerted effort to clean streets and remove garbage. These efforts by the early 19th century gave rise to sanitary reform to prevent infectious diseases. Sanitary reform went beyond cleaning streets and removing garbage, to ensuring clean water supplies and effective sewage removal. By the end of the century, sanitary reform had done much to clean the cities and reduce the incidence of contagious disease. In the 20th century, public health programs introduced two new tools to public health: vaccination and antibiotics. First used against smallpox, scientists developed vaccinations against numerous other infectious viral diseases and reduced their incidence substantially. Finally, the development of antibiotics against bacterial infections in the mid-20th century enabled physicians to cure infected individuals. Contagious disease remains a problem—witness AIDS—and public health authorities still rely on quarantine, sanitary reform, vaccination, and antibiotics to keep urban populations healthy.
Reciprocal Dynamics of Solo-Living and Health Among Older Adults in Contemporary China
Authors: Gu Danan , Feng Qiushi , Yeung Wei-Jun Jean
Published: November 2018

Objectives

Solo-living has far-reaching implications for older adults’ well-being. The causal impacts and the pathways of solo-living on health and well-being of older adults are still unclear. This study examines the correlates of solo-living and subsequent health outcomes of solo-living among older adults in mainland China.

Methods

We draw data from four waves of a nationwide survey with a total of 9,714 older adults aged 65 or older who had at least three interviews in 2005–2014. A generalized structural equation modeling approach was applied to examine what factors are associated with solo-living status and whether and how the antecedent of solo-living status subsequently affects well-being and health.

Results

Owning a home, having no living child, and a preference to live independently are positively correlated with living alone, whereas living in a city, having economic independence, being educated, and having poor physical and cognitive functions are associated with lower odds of solo-living. Older Chinese adults who live alone are more likely to feel lonely and have a lower life satisfaction, yet they are more likely to be involved in social/leisure activities, and have fewer physical disabilities and a lower mortality risk.

Discussion

There is a bi-directional relationship between solo-living and well-being/health among the Chinese older adults. Solo-living is a conditioned choice of a set of critical factors among older Chinese. The greater involvement in social/leisure activities is likely a key for Chinese solo-living older adults to mitigate the negative impact of their lower psychological well-being on subsequent mortality.
Assessing space use in meadow voles: the relationship to reproduction and the stress axis
Authors: Edwards Phoebe D , Dean Erik K , Palme Rupert , Boonstra Rudy
Published: November 2018

Voles are key mammals in understanding how social interactions can affect large-scale population processes. Previous studies have shown that at high population densities, meadow voles (Microtus pennsylvanicus) have a lower proportion of breeding animals, higher average corticosterone levels, and can be limited by female territorial spacing. Based on this, we compared corticosterone levels and spatial use between breeding and nonbreeding free-ranging adult meadow voles within populations. We measured intrasexual spatial overlap to examine if breeding females minimize occupying the same areas as other females, and noninvasively assessed corticosterone levels using fecal corticosterone metabolites (FCMs). We found that female meadow voles have much lower intrasexual spatial overlap than males, even though both sexes have similar range sizes, and that females have generally higher FCM levels than males. However, breeding and nonbreeding females did not differ from one another in spatial use or in FCM levels. Conversely, reproductive classes of males differed greatly in all measures: nonbreeding males had FCM levels that were two times higher than those of breeding males, occupied a smaller range, and had lower spatial overlap, indicating they were moving less widely than breeding males. We additionally validated an enzyme immunoassay for noninvasively measuring FCMs in meadow voles. The assay was successful in detecting an increase in corticosterone stimulated by adrenocorticotropic hormone injection; however, dexamethasone did not induce negative feedback. FCMs reflect circulating corticosterone levels approximately 5 h prior. These results highlight differences in FCMs and spacing in meadow voles related to sex and reproductive status, and reflect the respective strategies males and females employ during the breeding season.
Can moons have moons?
Authors: Kollmeier Juna A , Raymond Sean N
Published: November 2018

Each of the giant planets within the Solar system has large moons but none of these moons have their own moons (which we call submoons). By analogy with studies of moons around short-period exoplanets, we investigate the tidal-dynamical stability of submoons. We find that 10 km-scale submoons can only survive around large (1000 km-scale) moons on wide-separation orbits. Tidal dissipation destabilizes the orbits of submoons around moons that are small or too close to their host planet; this is the case for most of the Solar system’s moons. A handful of known moons are, however, capable of hosting long-lived submoons: Saturn’s moons Titan and Iapetus, Jupiter’s moon Callisto, and Earth’s Moon. Based on its inferred mass and orbital separation, the newly discovered exomoon candidate Kepler-1625b-I can in principle host a large submoon, although its stability depends on a number of unknown parameters. We discuss the possible habitability of submoons and the potential for subsubmoons. The existence, or lack thereof, of submoons may yield important constraints on satellite formation and evolution in planetary systems.
BAM: bias assignment method to generate mock catalogues
Authors: Balaguera-Antolínez A , Kitaura Francisco-Shu , Pellejero-Ibáñez Marcos , Zhao Cheng , Abel Tom
Published: November 2018

We present BAM: a novel Bias Assignment Method envisaged to generate mock catalogues. Combining the statistics of dark matter tracers from a high-resolution cosmological N-body simulation and the dark matter density field calculated from down-sampled initial conditions using efficient structure formation solvers, we extract the halo-bias relation on a mesh of a $3\, h^{-1}$ Mpc cell side resolution as a function of properties of the dark matter density field (e.g. local density, cosmic web type), automatically including stochastic, deterministic, local and non-local components. We use this information to sample the halo density field, accounting for ignored dependencies through an iterative process. By construction, our approach reaches ${\sim } 1\, {\rm {per\,cent}}$ accuracy in the majority of the k-range up to the Nyquist frequency without systematic deviations for power spectra (about $k \sim 1\, h$ Mpc−1) using either particle mesh or Lagrangian perturbation theory based solvers. When using phase-space mapping to compensate the low resolution of the approximate gravity solvers, our method reproduces the bispectra of the reference within $10\, {\rm {per\,cent}}$ precision studying configurations tracing the quasi-non-linear regime. BAM has the potential to become a standard technique to produce mock halo and galaxy catalogues for future galaxy surveys and cosmological studies being highly accurate, efficient and parameter free.
BFC-theorems for higher commutator subgroups
Authors: Detomi Eloisa , Morigi Marta , Shumyatsky Pavel
Published: November 2018

A BFC-group is a group in which all conjugacy classes are finite with bounded size. In 1954, B. H. Neumann discovered that if G is a BFC-group then the derived group G′ is finite. Let w=w(x1,…,xn) be a multilinear commutator. We study groups in which the conjugacy classes containing w-values are finite of bounded order. Let G be a group and let w(G) be the verbal subgroup of G generated by all w-values. We prove that if |xG|≤m for every w-value x, then the derived subgroup of w(G) is finite of order bounded by a function of m and n. If |xw(G)|≤m for every w-value x, then [w(w(G)),w(G)] is finite of order bounded by a function of m and n.
Distribution and Genetic Diversity of Xylella fastidiosa subsp. pauca Associated with Olive Quick Syndrome Symptoms in Southeastern Brazil
Authors: Safady Nágela Gomes , Lopes João R. S. , Francisco Carolina S. , Coletta-Filho Helvécio Della
Published: November 2018

In Brazil, the host expansion of Xylella fastidiosa subsp. pauca was recently demonstrated with the report of diseased olive trees (Olea europaea), whose symptoms were associated with olive quick decline syndrome previously described in southern Italy. We employed both polymerase chain reaction-based techniques and culture medium isolation to investigate the geographic distribution of X. fastidiosa as well as the genetic signatures of 21 strains isolated from 11 olive orchards in both São Paulo and Minas Gerais States in Brazil. X. fastidiosa subsp. pauca was detected in 83% of the orchards examined in the region, and was positively diagnosed in 43.7% of all sampled plants with typical scorching symptoms. Of the 21 strains characterized with fast-evolving microsatellite (single sequence repeat [SSR]) markers, 20 different multilocus microsatellite genotypes were observed with the overall allelic diversity of HNei = 0.38. Principal component analysis using the SSR markers clustered all strains, except for three, in one cluster demonstrating a limited range of genetic diversity. Multilocus sequence typing analysis showed the prevalence of a sequence type (ST16) in 75% of the samples; three other novel STs (84, 85, and 86), were detected, all belonging to the X. fastidiosa subsp. pauca cluster. These results show that genetically diverse strains of X. fastidiosa subsp. pauca are widely present in olive orchards in southeastern Brazil, which is consistent with the long history of this bacterium in that region.
Emotional prosody in congenital amusia: impaired and spared processes
Authors: Pralus A. , Fornoni L. , Bouet R. , Gomot M. , Bhatara A. , Tillmann B. , Caclin A.
Published: November 2018

Congenital amusia is a lifelong deficit of music processing, in particular of pitch processing. Most research investigating this neurodevelopmental disorder has focused on music perception, but pitch also has a critical role for intentional and emotional prosody in speech. Two previous studies investigating amusics’ emotional prosody recognition have shown either some deficit or no deficit (compared to controls). However, these previous studies have used only long sentence stimuli, which allow for limited control over acoustic content. Here, we tested amusic individuals for emotional prosody perception in sentences and vowels. For each type of material, participants performed an emotion categorization task, followed by intensity ratings of the recognized emotion. Compared to controls, amusic individuals had similar recognition of emotion in sentences, but poorer performance in vowels, especially when distinguishing sad and neutral stimuli. These lower performances in amusics were linked with difficulties in processing pitch and spectro-temporal parameters of the vowel stimuli. For emotion intensity, neither sentence nor vowel ratings differed between participant groups, suggesting preserved implicit processing of emotional prosody in amusia. These findings can be integrated into previous data showing preserved implicit processing of pitch and emotion in amusia alongside deficits in explicit recognition tasks. They are thus further supporting the hypothesis of impaired conscious analysis of pitch and timbre in this neurodevelopmental disorder.

Highlights

Amusics showed preserved emotional prosody recognition in sentences

Amusics showed a deficit for emotional prosody recognition in short voice samples

Preserved intensity ratings of emotions in amusia suggest spared implicit processes
Cooperation Enhances Robustness of Coexistence in Spatially Structured Consortia
Authors: Ren Xinying , Murray Richard M.
Published: November 2018

Designing synthetic microbial consortia is an emerging area in synthetic biology and a major goal is to realize stable and robust coexistence of multiple species. Co-operation and competition are fundamental intra/interspecies interactions that shape population level behaviors, yet it is not well-understood how these interactions affect the stability and robustness of coexistence. In this paper, we show that communities with cooperative interactions are more robust to population disturbance, e.g., depletion by antibiotics, by forming intermixed spatial patterns. Meanwhile, competition leads to population spatial heterogeneity and more fragile coexistence in communities. Using reaction-diffusion and nonlocal PDE models and simulations of a two-species E. coli consortium, we demonstrate that cooperation is more beneficial than competition in maintaining coexistence in spatially structured consortia, but not in well-mixed environments. This also suggests a trade-off between constructing heterogeneous communities with localized functions and maintaining robust coexistence. The results provide general strategies for engineering spatially structured consortia by designing interspecies interactions and suggest the importance of cooperation for biodiversity in microbial community.
Graph Convolutional Neural Networks for Predicting Drug-Target Interactions
Authors: Torng Wen , Altman Russ B.
Published: November 2018

Accurate determination of target-ligand interactions is crucial in the drug discovery process. In this paper, we propose a two-staged graph-convolutional (Graph-CNN) framework for predicting protein-ligand interactions. We first describe an unsupervised graph-autoencoder to learn fixed-size representations of protein pockets. Two Graph-CNNs are then trained to automatically extract features from pocket graphs and 2D molecular graphs, respectively. We demonstrate that graph-autoencoders can learn meaningful fixed-size representation for protein pockets of varying sizes and the Graph-CNN framework can effectively capture protein-ligand binding interactions without relying on target-ligand co-complexes. Across several metrics, Graph-CNNs achieved better or comparable performance to 3DCNN ligand-scoring, AutoDock Vina, RF-Score, and NNScore on common virtual screening benchmark datasets. Visualization of key pocket residues and ligand atoms contributing to the classification decisions confirms that our networks recognize meaningful interactions between pockets and ligands.

Availability and Implementation

Contact:rbaltman@stanford.edu

Supplementary information:
Bite size ofCaenorhabditis elegansregulates feeding, satiety and development on yeast diet
Authors: De Atreyee , Sahu Amit K , Singh Varsha
Published: November 2018

In the wild, the soil dwellingnematode Caenorhabditis elegansprimarily feeds on microbes which are abundant in rotting vegetation. Recent published studies showthat several Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacterial populations predominantly constitutes theC. elegansgut microbiome but surprisingly lack any yeast species. Here, we show thatC. elegansdisplay low satiety on yeast diet ofCryptococcus neoformans, C. laurentiiorS. cerevisiae. We found that average size of budding yeast cells is much larger thanE. colicells. Yeast cells also cause pharyngeal obstruction, diminished feeding, and lower level of neutral lipids in adultC. elegans. Using scanning electron microscopy, we show that the mouth size ofC. eleganslarvae is smaller than average yeast cell. The larvae have no detectable yeast in their alimentary canal and they undergo delayed development on yeast diet. We propose that microbial cell size or bite size could be one of the crucial factors in regulation of feeding inC. elegans.

IMPORTANCE

The microbiome inC. elegansgut is composed of diverse genera of bacteria but it lacks yeast and other fungi. In this study, we provide evidence that yeast cell size is bigger than the mouth size ofC. eleganslarvae. We propose that “bigger than the bite’’ size of yeast cells is one possible reason for low satiety on yeast diet, reduced feeding, lower stored lipids and delayed development. The bite size threshold imposed byC. elegansmouth can, partly, explain absence of yeast inC. elegansnative gut microbiome and “bite size’’ can be studied further as a determinant of microbiome diversity in other animals.
Guiding Interoperable Electronic Health Records Through Patient Sharing Networks
Authors: Clarke Jonathan M , Warren Leigh R , Arora Sonal , Barahona Mauricio , Darzi Ara W
Published: November 2018

Effective sharing of clinical information between care providers is a critical component of a safe, efficient health system. National data sharing systems may be costly, politically contentious and do not reflect local patterns of care delivery. This study examines hospital attendances in England from 2013 to 2015 to identify instances of patient sharing between hospitals. Of 19.6 million patients receiving care from 155 hospital care provider, 130 million presentations were identified. On 14.7 million occasions (12%), patients attended a different hospital to the one they attended on their previous interaction. A network of hospitals was constructed based on the frequency of patient sharing between hospitals which was partitioned using the Louvain algorithm into 10 distinct data-sharing communities, improving the continuity of data sharing in such instances from 0% to 65-95%. Locally implemented data-sharing communities of hospitals may achieve effective accessibility of clinical information without a large-scale national interoperable information system.
VariantKey: A Reversible Numerical Representation of Human Genetic Variants
Authors: Asuni Nicola , Wilder Steven
Published: November 2018

Abstract

Human genetic variants are usually represented by four values with variable length: chromosome, position, reference and alternate alleles. There is no guarantee that these components are represented in a consistent way across different data sources, and processing variant-based data can be inefficient because four different comparison operations are needed for each variant, three of which are string comparisons. Existing variant identifiers do not typically represent every possible variant we may be interested in, nor they are directly reversible. Similarly, genomic regions are typically represented inconsistently by three or four values. Working with strings, in contrast to numbers, poses extra challenges on computer memory allocation and data-representation. To overcome these limitations, a novel reversible numerical encoding schema for human genetic variants (VariantKey) and genomics regions (RegionKey), is presented here alongside a multi-language open-source software implementation (https://github.com/Genomicsplc/variantkey). VariantKey and RegionKey represents variants and regions as single 64 bit numeric entities, while preserving the ability to be searched and sorted by chromosome and position. The individual components of short variants can be directly read back from the VariantKey, while long variants are supported with a fast lookup table.
Apolipoprotein E interacts with amyloid-β oligomers via positively cooperative multivalent binding
Authors: Ghosh S. , Sil T. B. , Dolai S. , Garai K.
Published: November 2018

Interaction of apolipoprotein E (apoE) isoforms with amyloid-β (Aβ) peptides is considered a critical determinant of the progression of Alzheimer’s disease. However, molecular mechanism of the apoE-Aβ interaction is poorly understood. Here we characterize the nature of the apoE-Aβ complexes and identify the region of apoE that interacts with Aβ. We have prepared three distinct fragments of apoE4,viz., the N-terminal fragment (NTF), hinge domain fragment (HDF) and C-terminal fragment (CTF) to compare its interactions with Aβ. Kinetics of aggregation of Aβ is delayed dramatically in presence of low, substoichiometric concentrations of both NTF and CTF in lipid-free, as well as, in lipidated forms. Effect of HDF is found to be small. Strong inhibition by NTF and CTF at substoichiometric concentrations indicate interactions with the ‘intermediates’ or the oligomers of Aβ. Kinetics of Forster Resonance Energy Transfer (FRET) between full-length apoE4 labeled with EDANS at positions 62, 139, 210, 247, and 276 and tetramethylrhodamine (TMR)-labeled Aβ further support involvement of multiple regions of apoE in the interactions. Since the interactions involve intermediates of Aβ quantitative evaluation of the binding affinities are not feasible. Hence we employed a competitive binding assay to examine whether the N- and C-terminal domains interact cooperatively. Addition of unlabeled full-length apoE eliminates the FRET between EDANS-NTF + EDANS-CTF and TMR-Aβ almost completely but not vice versa. Furthermore, full-length apoE but not the equimolar mixture of the fragments could displace the already bound EDANS-apoE molecules from the complexes. Therefore, binding affinity of the Aβ oligomers to the intact full-length apoE is much higher than the affinity to the domains when mixed together as fragments. Thus, our results indicate that apoE-Aβ complex formation is mediated by positively cooperative multivalent binding between the multiple sites on apoE and the oligomeric forms of Aβ.
Awareness of MERS-CoV among Staff Members of Prince Sultan Military Medical City in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
Authors: Aman Saud H , Aljaber Mohammed I , Alwehaibi Abdullah I , Aman Fahad H , Algaeed Hamad A , Almasoud Sultan M , Alahmari Majed A , Hussain Omair Al , Elhag Ahmed
Published: November 2018

Background

The Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) developed infections that caused serious epidemics. Special priority of awareness and prompt initiative involvement of health workers (HW) during such intensified health situation necessitated an assessment of their preparedness, appropriate attitudes and protective strategies for better efficiency modes and acceleration during emergency.

Methods

HW of Prince Sultan Military Medical city in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia were reviewed through specifically designed questionnaires to acquire the demanded data. It included clinical and demographic information about the viral diseases, associated signs and symptoms, transmission and protection, and attitudes about the MERS-CoV disease.

Results

The study was accomplished between August and November, 2017 and 477 participants of the medical city, successfully completed the study questionnaire (Appendix I). Females represented a majority and there was an indirectly proportional decrease with the increasing age. Gradual educational increase levels reflected dominance of the university degree holders. Jobs were dominated by nurses and non-Saudis were a majority whilst, the highly experienced, (>10 years) were a minority. A majority recognized the viral transmission methods, popular information sources of MERS-CoV and associated medical terms. Highest scores were observed in dealing with protective aids and recognizing symptoms of disease. High adherence to hand hygiene protocols and correct washing steps were recorded. Correct and high levels were observed in taking preventive measures and avoiding infection. Participants responded correctly to negative and wrong actions that patients should refrain from. High scores were observed in taking appreciable attitudes towards oneself and towards others.

Conclusions

Expatriates were majority and nurses were dominant which, necessitates Saudization of this sector. Ministry of health pamphlets and seminars were of less impact in invigilating HW, hence, more attention and efforts are demanded. HW were quite aware of the basic and emergent health policies during epidemic episodes of MERS-CoV.
IL-25 induces beige fat to improve metabolic homeostasis via macrophage and innervation
Authors: Li Lingyi , Ma Lei , Feng Juan , Gong Baoyong , Li Jin , Hu Tianyu , Zhao Zewei , Qi Weiwei , Zhou Ti , Yang Xia , Gao Guoquan , Yang Zhonghan
Published: November 2018

Beige fat dissipates energy and functions as a defense against cold and obesity, but the underlying mechanisms remain unclear. We found that the signaling of interleukin (IL)-25 including its cognate receptor, IL-17 receptor B (IL-17RB), increased in adipose tissue upon cold and β3-adrenoceptor agonist stimulation. IL-25 induced the browning effect in white adipose tissue (WAT) by releasing IL-4, 13 and promoting alternative activation of macrophages to regulate innervation, which characterized as tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) up-regulation to produce more catecholamine including norepinephrine. Blockade of IL-4Rα and depletion of macrophages with clodronate-loaded liposomes in vivo significantly impaired the browning of WAT. Obese mice administered with IL-25 were protected from obesity on a high-fat diet and the subsequent metabolic disorders, and the process involved the uncoupling protein 1 (UCP1)-mediated thermogenesis. In conclusion, the activation of IL-25 signaling on beige fat might play a therapeutic potential for obesity and its associated metabolic disorders.
Experimentalist systems in manufacturing multinationals
Authors: Herrigel Gary B.
Published: November 2018

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to apply experimentalist framework to understand self-optimizing efforts within German manufacturing multinationals. Benefits and characteristic obstacles to diffusion are discussed. Mechanisms for combatting obstacles are outlined.

Design/methodology/approach

Qualitative case studies, interview-based research, processual and reflexive action theory are applied to the governance of manufacturing-based multinational enterprises.

Findings

Uncertainty is an ineradicable element in multinational companies (MNC) FDI operations. Self-optimizing systems, many with an experimentalist character, are a pervasive form of response to this uncertainty. Obstacles to the diffusion and effective operation of self-optimization are chronic and, indeed, endogenously generated. But as a result, so are superordinate efforts to undercut the continuous emergence of obstacles. MNC development is, thus, characterized by continuous self-recomposition.

Research limitations/implications

Implication is that managers and management theorists should focus as much on the management of dynamic process and learning that results in the recomposition of institutional rules as they do on the constraining and enabling effects of those rules.

Practical implications

Superordinate mechanisms for the disruption of incipient insulation and exclusion are crucial for the implementation of successful experimentalist (learning) systems.

Social implications

Transparency, stakeholder involvement in MNC governance processes has positive implications for learning, innovation and competitiveness.

Originality/value

This paper presents the application of experimentalist learning theory to MNC global governance.
Overview of the Assisted Decision-Making (Capacity) Act (2015)
Authors: Usher Ruth , Stapleton Tadhg
Published: November 2018

Purpose

In Ireland, the Assisted Decision Making (Capacity) Act 2015 provides a statutory framework to adults who are experiencing difficulties with decision-making. This legislation has significant implications for all who work in health and social care. Increasing age and life expectancy, alongside the rising incidence of chronic health conditions and dementia-related diseases, indicates that more individuals are likely to experience challenges regarding decision-making capacity. Therefore, the need for more consistent, best-practice processes to assess decision-making capacity is likely to increase. To ensure occupational therapists are responsible in their contributions, and to ensure those with disabilities are supported, clinicians must be well-informed of the principles underscoring the Act. The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of this multidisciplinary issue, including recent legislation, and consider how occupational therapy can contribute.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors reviewed current literature and considered occupational therapy’s role in decision-making capacity assessment.

Findings

Occupational therapists have potential to play a key role in multi-disciplinary assessments of decision-making capacity for clients. Further research is required to explore professional issues, identify clinical best practices and determine training and resource needs.

Originality/value

This paper seeks to provoke consideration of how occupational therapists can contribute to capacity assessment from a client-centred, occupation-based perspective that is mindful of ethical and legislative considerations.
Volatility spillover from the Chinese stock market to E7 and G7 stock markets
Authors: Kirkulak Uludag Berna , Khurshid Muzammil
Published: November 2018

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine volatility spillover from the Chinese stock market to E7 and G7 stock markets. Using the estimated results, the authors also analyze the optimal weights and optimal hedge ratios for the portfolios including stocks from E7 and G7 countries.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors employed generalized vector autoregressive-generalized autoregressive conditional heteroskedasticity approach, developed by Ling and McAleer (2003), in order to analyze daily data on the national stock indices. Considering the late establishment of some E7 stock markets, the sampling covers the period from 1995 through 2015.

Findings

The findings indicate significant volatility spillover from the Chinese stock market to E7 and G7 stock markets. In particular, the Chinese stocks highly co-move with the stocks of countries within a same geographical region. While the highest volatility spillover occurs between China and India among E7 countries, the highest volatility spillover occurs between China and Japan among G7 countries. Furthermore, the examination of optimal weights and hedge ratios suggest that investors should hold more stocks from G7 countries than E7 countries for their portfolios.

Originality/value

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study which investigates the volatility spillover in the stock markets of G7 and E7 countries. Moreover, the current study contributes particularly to the existing limited literature on the Chinese stock market. Since the Chinese stock market is not fully integrated to other markets and it is subject to intense government interventions, there is a widely accepted belief that the contagion effects from the Chinese stock market to other stock markets are not influential. This view discourages and limits the prospect studies. However, the findings of this paper refute this view and indicate significant interaction among the Chinese stock market and E7 and G7 stock markets.
Elderly care service in an aging society
Authors: Yasuoka Masaya
Published: November 2018

Purpose

An increase in life expectancy brings about an aging society, necessitating increasing demand for elderly care services. The purpose of this paper is to present an examination of: how an aging society affects the demand for elderly care services and the labor market for elderly care services; how the labor share and wage inequality between the final goods sector and elderly care sector are determined; and whether the subsidy for elderly care service increases demand for elderly care services or not.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper sets the dynamics general equilibrium model with two sectors model: one for final goods sector and the other for elderly care services. This paper derives how the labor supply for elderly care services is determined in the theoretical model. In addition to analytical research works, this paper examines how the subsidy for elderly care service affects the labor share allocated for elderly care sector and wage inequality between the final goods sector and the elderly care sector with the numerical examples.

Findings

Related reports of the literature describe that an aging society raises the share of labor dedicated to elderly care services. However, considering a closed economy in which saving affects the capital stock, an aging society does not always raise the share of labor used for elderly care services because the wage rate of the final goods sector increases with an aging society. This effect prevents the increase of the labor supplied to elderly care services. On the other hand, the subsidy for the elderly care service raises the labor share of elderly care sector.

Research limitations/implications

The related literatures derive that an aging society raises the labor share allocated for elderly care sector. However, the paper shows that the subsidy for elderly care plays an important role in the increase in the labor share of elderly care sector.

Practical implications

This paper examines how the aging society affects the labor share of elderly care sector, wage inequality between final goods sector and elderly care sector and others with numerical examples. Thanks to the numerical examples, this paper derives the quantitative result and shows how the subsidy for elderly care service should be provided.

Originality/value

The author thinks that this paper has rich implications and originality. There exists no literature that examines how the labor share of elderly care sector and the relative wage rate of elderly care sector are determined by the aging and the subsidy for elderly care service. The author thinks that it is a very important analysis because many economically developed countries face the aging society problem.
Foreign direct investment and stock market development
Authors: Tsagkanos Athanasios , Siriopoulos Costas , Vartholomatou Konstantina
Published: November 2018

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine two novel theories that concern the relationship between stock market development (SMD) and foreign direct investment (FDI). The authors focus on Greece that was demoted to the emerging market category in 2013–2014 in the international lists.

Design/methodology/approach

This study is based on the period 1988–2014 that includes the sub-periods 1988–2001 (emerging market) and 2002–2014 (developed market). The authors adopt cointegration methods examining, on the one hand, if the relationship between SMD and FDI is positive or negative and, on the other hand, if it is long run or short run. The authors complete the analysis using the Markov Switching regression model for the test of robustness.

Findings

The results exhibit a weak positive and symmetric long-run relationship for the full period. In the first sub-period, the relationship is strong but in the second sub-period it is not significant. The results are confirmed by the Markov Switching regression model.

Originality/value

The precise definition of a theoretical framework that is tested by a compact empirical methodology leads to a novel suggested policy that will upgrade the Greek market to developed market as soon as possible.