bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Surface Chemical Properties and Micellization of Disodium Hexadecyl Diphenyl Ether Disulfonate in Aqueous Solution
Authors: Xu Hujun , Xu Kai , Wang Danping
Published: October 2015

The surface tension of disodium hexadecyl diphenyl ether disulfonate (C16‐MADS) was measured at different NaCl concentrations (0.00–0.50 mol L−1) and temperatures (298.0–318.0 K) using the drop‐volume method. The results show that, with increasing temperature, the critical micelle concentration (CMC) of C16‐MADS increases slightly, but the maximum surface adsorption capacity (Γmax) at the air–water interface decreases. When the concentration of NaCl was increased from 0.00 to 0.50 mol L−1, the CMC of C16‐MADS decreased from 1.45 × 10−4 to 4.10 × 10−5 mol L−1, but the surface tension at the CMC (γcmc) was not affected. When the concentration of NaCl was increased at 298.0 and 303.0 K, the Γmax of C16‐MADS increased. When the temperature was increased from 308.0 to 318.0 K, the surface excess concentration (Γmax) of C16‐MADS abnormally decreased from 2.26 to 1.41 μmol m−2 with increasing NaCl concentration. The micellization free energy () decreased from −63.98 to −76.20 kJ mol−1 with increase of temperature and NaCl concentration. The micellar aggregation number (Nm) of disodium hexadecyl diphenyl ether disulfonate (C16‐MADS) was determined using the molecule fluorescence probe method with pyrene as probe and benzophenone as quencher. The results show that an appropriate Nm could be measured only at surfactant concentration above the CMC. The Nm increased with an increase in C16‐MADS concentration, but the micropolarity in the micelle nucleus decreased. The temperature had little effect on Nm. Compared with typical single hydrophilic headgroup surfactants, aggregates of C16‐MADS exhibit different properties.
Yearly hypertension screening in women with a history of pre-eclampsia: a cost-effectiveness analysis
Authors: Drost J.T. , Grutters J.P.C. , van der Wilt G.-J. , van der Schouw Y.T. , Maas A.H.E.M.
Published: October 2015

Background

Women with a history of preeclampsia are at increased risk for future hypertension and cardiovascular disease (CVD); until now it is not clear whether preventive measures are needed.

Methods

A decision-analytic Markov model was constructed to evaluate healthcare costs and effects of screening and treatment (100 % compliance) for hypertension post preeclampsia based on the available literature. Cardiovascular events and CVD mortality were defined as health states. Outcomes were measured in absolute costs, events, life-years and quality-adjusted life-years (QALYs). Sensitivity and threshold analyses were performed to address uncertainty.

Results

Over a 20-year time horizon, events occurred in 7.2 % of the population after screening, and in 8.5 % of the population without screening. QALYs increased from 16.37 (no screening strategy) to 16.40 (screening strategy), an increment of 0.03 (95 % CI 0.01;0.05) QALYs. Total expected costs were € 8016 in the screening strategy, and € 9087 in the none screening strategy (expected saving of € 1071 (95 % CI − 3146;-87) per person).

Conclusion

Annual hypertension screening and treatment in women with a history of preeclampsia may save costs, for at least a similar quality of life and survival due to prevented CVD compared with standard care.
The Colonial Policy of Lord John Russell’s Administration
Authors: Grey Earl
Published: October 2015

Henry Grey, 3rd Earl Grey (1802–1894) served as Great Britain's Secretary of State for War and the Colonies during the 1846–1852 administration of Prime Minister Lord John Russell. Following his time in office, Grey composed the two-volume Colonial Policy (1853) as a means of illuminating the actions and policies of the government he helped lead. Written in the form of letters addressed to Lord John himself, its goal was to give readers curious about colonial policy 'the means of knowing the real character and scope of those measures, and the grounds upon which they were adopted'. In this first volume, Grey offers some preliminary remarks before focusing on the Caribbean, British North America, and Australia. Seen in its entirety, this 'insider' work remains an important resource for students of colonial policy during this period of the expansion of British rule.
The Colonial Policy of Lord John Russell’s Administration
Authors: Grey Earl
Published: October 2015

Henry Grey, 3rd Earl Grey (1802–1894) served as Great Britain's Secretary of State for War and the Colonies during the 1846 to 1852 administration of Prime Minister Lord John Russell. Following his time in office, Grey composed the two-volume Colonial Policy (1853) as a means of illuminating the actions and policies of the government he helped lead. Written in the form of letters addressed to Lord John himself, its goal was to give readers curious about colonial policy 'the means of knowing the real character and scope of those measures, and the grounds upon which they were adopted'. In this second volume, Grey focuses on Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, and Africa before offering some concluding observations. Seen in its entirety, this 'insider' work remains an important resource for students of colonial policy during this period of the expansion of British rule.
Rabbi Meir of Rothenburg and the Foundation of Jewish Political Thought
Authors: Lifshitz Joseph Isaac
Published: October 2015

This book is a scholarly examination of the political thought of Rabbi Meir (Maharam) of Rothenburg, the most important thirteenth century German Rabbi who was associated with the Pietist movement of the period. From the Maharam's responsa on community matters, a coherent political thought emerges that exercised nearly unprecedented influence on European Jewish communities up to the Jewish Emancipation. Rabbi Meir's extremely sophisticated attempt to balance the demands of the community against those of the individual was facilitated by a characteristic three-tiered structure to his political thought: concrete legal rules supported by value-laden legal principles built upon his general religious ideology. Through a systematic analysis of the Maharam's political thought, Isaac Lifshitz offers an original contribution to Jewish studies, political theory, and the study of legal philosophy. By considering the legal and theological underpinnings of one of Medieval Jewry's most influential figures, it also makes a contribution to the history of ideas in the Medieval period.
Civic Monuments and the Augustales in Roman Italy
Authors: Laird Margaret L.
Published: October 2015

The combination of portrait statue, monumental support, and public lettering was considered emblematic of Roman public space even in antiquity. This book examines ancient Roman statues and their bases, tombs, dedicatory altars, and panels commemorating gifts of civic beneficence made by the Augustales, civic groups composed primarily of wealthy ex-slaves. Margaret L. Laird examines how these monuments functioned as protagonists in their built and social environments by focusing on archaeologically attested commissions made by the Augustales in Roman Italian towns. Integrating methodologies from art history, architectural history, social history, and epigraphy with archaeological and sociological theories of community, she considers how dedications and their accompanying inscriptions created webs of association and transformed places of display into sites of local history. Understanding how these objects functioned in ancient cities, the book argues, illuminates how ordinary Romans combined public lettering, honorific portraits, emperor worship, and civic philanthropy to express their communal identities.
Why Leaders Fight
Authors: Horowitz Michael C. , Stam Allan C. , Ellis Cali M.
Published: October 2015

The history of political events is made by people. From wars to elections to political protests, the choices we make, our actions, how we behave, dictate events. Not all individuals have the same impact on our world and our lives. Some peoples' choices alter the pathways that history takes. In particular, national chief executives play a large role in forging the destinies of the countries they lead. Why Leaders Fight is about those world leaders and how their beliefs, world views, and tolerance for risk and military conflict are shaped by their life experiences before they enter office - military, family, occupation, and more. Using in-depth research on important leaders and the largest set of data on leader backgrounds ever gathered, the authors of Why Leaders Fight show that - within the constraints of domestic political institutions and the international system - who ends up in office plays a critical role in determining when and why countries go to war.
Latin American Constitutions
Authors: Mirow M. C.
Published: October 2015

Latin American Constitutions provides a comprehensive historical study of constitutionalism in Latin America from the independence period to the present, focusing on the Constitution of Cádiz, a foundational document in Latin American constitutionalism. Although drafted in Spain, it was applied in many regions of Latin America, and deputies from America formed a significant part of the drafting body. The politicization of constitutionalism reflected in Latin America's first moments proved to be a lasting legacy evident in the legal and constitutional world of the region today: many of Latin America's present challenges to establishing effective constitutionalism can be traced to the debates, ideas, structures, and assumptions of this text. This book explores the region's attempts to create effective constitutional texts and regimes in light of an established practice of linking constitutions to political goals and places important constitutional thinkers and regional constitutions, such as the Mexican Constitution of 1917, into their legal and historical context.
A Concise History of the World
Authors: Wiesner-Hanks Merry E.
Published: October 2015

This book tells the story of humankind as producers and reproducers from the Paleolithic to the present. Renowned social and cultural historian Merry Wiesner-Hanks brings a new perspective to world history by examining social and cultural developments across the globe, including families and kin groups, social and gender hierarchies, sexuality, race and ethnicity, labor, religion, consumption, and material culture. She examines how these structures and activities changed over time through local processes and interactions with other cultures, highlighting key developments that defined particular eras such as the growth of cities or the creation of a global trading network. Incorporating foragers, farmers and factory workers along with shamans, scribes and secretaries, the book widens and lengthens human history. It makes comparisons and generalizations, but also notes diversities and particularities, as it examines the social and cultural matters that are at the heart of big questions in world history today.
The Italian Renaissance in the German Historical Imagination, 1860–1930
Authors: Ruehl Martin A.
Published: October 2015

Towards the end of the nineteenth century, Germany's bourgeois elites became enthralled by the civilization of Renaissance Italy. As their own country entered a phase of critical socioeconomic changes, German historians and writers reinvented the Italian Renaissance as the onset of a heroic modernity: a glorious dawn that ushered in an age of secular individualism, imbued with ruthless vitality and a neo-pagan zest for beauty. The Italian Renaissance in the German Historical Imagination is the first comprehensive account of the debates that shaped the German idea of the Renaissance in the seven decades following Jacob Burckhardt's seminal study of 1860. Based on a wealth of archival material and enhanced by more than a hundred illustrations, it provides a new perspective on the historical thought of Imperial and Weimar Germany and the formation of a concept that is still with us today.
China's Party Congress
Authors: Wu Guoguang
Published: October 2015

Nominally the highest decision-making body in the Chinese Communist Party, the Party Congress is responsible for determining party policy and the selection of China's leaders. Guoguang Wu provides the first analysis of how the Party Congress operates to elect Party leadership and decide Party policy, and explores why such a formal performance of congress meetings, delegate discussions, and non-democratic elections is significant for authoritarian politics more broadly. Taking institutional inconsistency as the central research question, this study presents a new theory of 'mutual contextualization' to reveal how informal politics and formal institutions interact with each other. Wu argues that despite the prevalence of informal politics behind the scenes, authoritarian politics seeks legitimization through a combination of political manipulation and the ritual mobilization of formal institutions. This ambitious book is essential reading for all those interested in understanding contemporary China, and an innovative theoretical contribution to the study of comparative politics.
Extraordinary Responsibility
Authors: Satkunanandan Shalini
Published: October 2015

Careful attention to contemporary political debates, including those around global warming, the federal debt, and the use of drone strikes on suspected terrorists, reveals that we often view our responsibility as something that can be quantified and discharged. Shalini Satkunanandan shows how Plato, Kant, Nietzsche, Weber, and Heidegger each suggest that this calculative or bookkeeping mindset both belongs to 'morality', understood as part of our ordinary approach to responsibility, and effaces the incalculable, undischargeable, and more onerous dimensions of our responsibility. These thinkers also reveal how the view of responsibility as calculable is at the heart of 'moralism' - the pettifogging, mindless, legalistic, excessively judgmental, or punitive policing of our own or others' compliance with moral duties. By elaborating their narratives of a difficult 'conversion' to the open-ended and relentless character of responsibility, Satkunanandan explores how we might be less moralistic and more responsible in politics. She ultimately argues for a political ethos attentive to how calculative thinking can limit our responsibility, but that still accepts a circumscribed place for calculation (and morality) in responsible politics.
Sparse Image and Signal Processing
Authors: Starck Jean-Luc , Murtagh Fionn , Fadili Jalal
Published: October 2015

This thoroughly updated new edition presents state of the art sparse and multiscale image and signal processing. It covers linear multiscale geometric transforms, such as wavelet, ridgelet, or curvelet transforms, and non-linear multiscale transforms based on the median and mathematical morphology operators. Along with an up-to-the-minute description of required computation, it covers the latest results in inverse problem solving and regularization, sparse signal decomposition, blind source separation, in-painting, and compressed sensing. New chapters and sections cover multiscale geometric transforms for three-dimensional data (data cubes), data on the sphere (geo-located data), dictionary learning, and nonnegative matrix factorization. The authors wed theory and practice in examining applications in areas such as astronomy, including recent results from the European Space Agency's Herschel mission, biology, fusion physics, cold dark matter simulation, medical MRI, digital media, and forensics. MATLAB® and IDL code, available online at www.SparseSignalRecipes.info, accompany these methods and all applications.
A Parent-Partner Status for American Family Law
Authors: Weiner Merle H.
Published: October 2015

Despite the fact that becoming a parent is a pivotal event, the birth or adoption of a child has little significance for parents' legal relationship to each other. Instead, the law relies upon marriage, domestic partnerships, and contracts to set the parameters of parents' legal relationship. With over forty percent of American children born to unwed mothers and consistently high rates of divorce, this book argues that the law's current approach to regulating parental relationships is outdated. A new legal and social structure is needed to guide parents so they act as supportive partners and to deter uncommitted couples from having children. This book is the first of its kind to propose a new 'parent-partner' status within family law. Included are a detailed discussion of the benefits of the status as well as specific recommendations for legal obligations.
Abraham or Aristotle? First Millennium Empires and Exegetical Traditions
Authors: Fowden Garth
Published: October 2015

Judaism, Christianity and Islam - the three scriptural monotheisms, still often studied separately - are here intertwined within a historical frame. The approach outlined in this lecture pivots around the Qur'an as it emerged in seventh-century Arabia on the peripheries of the two world-empires of Iran and Rome, and variously refracts rabbinic Judaism and patristic - especially Syriac - Christianity. The formation and exegesis of scriptural canons helps define the major religious communities and identities both before and after Muhammad. The latter part of the lecture concentrates on the interaction of these communities, and especially their scholars, in the Abbasid Baghdad of the ninth and tenth centuries, and on the theological and philosophical debates that flourished there. The lecture interrogates the newly fashionable concept of 'Abrahamic' religion and proposes a fresh historical periodization inclusive of both late antiquity and Islam, namely the First Millennium.
Comic Acting and Portraiture in Late-Georgian and Regency England
Authors: Davis Jim
Published: October 2015

The popularity of the comic performers of late-Georgian and Regency England and their frequent depiction in portraits, caricatures and prints is beyond dispute, yet until now little has been written on the subject. In this unique study Jim Davis considers the representation of English low comic actors, such as Joseph Munden, John Liston, Charles Mathews and John Emery, in the visual arts of the period, the ways in which such representations became part of the visual culture of their time, and the impact of visual representation and art theory on prose descriptions of comic actors. Davis reveals how many of the actors discussed also exhibited or collected paintings and used painterly techniques to evoke the world around them. Drawing particularly on the influence of Hogarth and Wilkie, he goes on to examine portraiture as critique and what the actors themselves represented in terms of notions of national and regional identity.
China's Military Power
Authors: Cliff Roger
Published: October 2015

Once termed the 'world's largest military museum', the Chinese military has made enormous progress over the past twenty years. With skyrocketing military budgets and new technology, China's tanks, aircraft, destroyers, and missile capabilities are becoming comparable to those of the United States. If these trends continue, how powerful will the Chinese military be in the future? Will its capabilities soon rival or surpass those of the United States? The most comprehensive study of its kind, this book provides a detailed assessment of China's military capabilities in 2000 and 2010 with projections for 2020. It is the first of its kind in outlining a rigorous, theoretically and empirically grounded framework for assessing military capability based on not just weaponry but also doctrine, training, equipment, and organizational structure. This framework provides not only the most accurate assessment of China's military to date but an important new tool in the study of military history.
Ancient Wisdom in the Age of the New Science
Authors: Levitin Dmitri
Published: October 2015

Seventeenth-century England has long been heralded as the birthplace of a so-called 'new' philosophy. Yet what contemporaries might have understood by 'old' philosophy has been little appreciated. In this book Dmitri Levitin examines English attitudes to ancient philosophy in unprecedented depth, demonstrating the centrality of engagement with the history of philosophy to almost all educated persons, whether scholars, clerics, or philosophers themselves, and aligning English intellectual culture closely to that of continental Europe. Drawing on a vast array of sources, Levitin challenges the assumption that interest in ancient ideas was limited to out-of-date 'ancients' or was in some sense 'pre-enlightened'; indeed, much of the intellectual justification for the new philosophy came from re-writing its history. At the same time, the deep investment of English scholars in pioneering forms of late humanist erudition led them to develop some of the most innovative narratives of ancient philosophy in early modern Europe.
The Material Atlantic
Authors: DuPlessis Robert
Published: October 2015

In this wide-ranging account, Robert DuPlessis examines globally sourced textiles that by dramatically altering consumer behaviour, helped create new economies and societies in the early modern world. This deeply researched history of cloth and clothing offers new insights into trade patterns, consumer demand and sartorial cultures that emerged across the Atlantic world between the mid-seventeenth and late-eighteenth centuries. As a result of European settlement and the construction of commercial networks stretching across much of the planet, men and women across a wide spectrum of ethnicities, social standings and occupations fashioned their garments from materials old and new, familiar and strange, and novel meanings came to be attached to different fabrics and modes of dress. The Material Atlantic illuminates crucial developments that characterised early modernity, from colonialism and slavery to economic innovation and new forms of social identity.
Distribution of Responsibilities in International Law
Authors: Schechinger Jessica N. M.
Published: October 2015

This is the second book in the series Shared Responsibility in International Law, which examines the problem of distribution of responsibilities among multiple states and other actors. In its work on the responsibility of states and international organisations, the International Law Commission recognised that attribution of acts to one actor does not exclude possible attribution of the same act to another state or organisation. However, it provided limited guidance for the often complex question of how responsibility is to be distributed among wrongdoing actors. This study fills that gap by shedding light on principles of distribution from extra-legal perspectives. Drawing on disciplines such as political theory, moral philosophy, and economics, this volume enquires into the bases and justifications for apportionment of responsibilities that can support a critique of current international law, offers insight into the justification of alternative interpretations, and provides inspiration for reform and further development of international law.
Climate Change: A Wicked Problem
Authors: Incropera Frank P.
Published: October 2015

Under one cover, Frank Incropera provides a comprehensive, objective and critical assessment of all issues germane to the climate change debate: science, technology options, economic ramifications, cultural and behavioural issues, the influence of special interests and public policy, geopolitics and ethical dimensions. The underlying science is treated in depth, but in an approachable and accessible manner. A strong case is made for the reality of anthropogenic climate change, while confronting the range of issues that remain uncertain and deconstructing opposing views. Incropera assesses the strengths and weaknesses of technology options for mitigating the effects of climate change, analyzes nontechnical factors - economic, cultural and political - and provides an in-depth treatment of ethical implications. This book is intended for those wishing to become fully informed about climate change and is designed to provide the reader with a firm foundation for drawing his or her own conclusions.
Cyber Security and the Politics of Time
Authors: Stevens Tim
Published: October 2015

'Cyber security' is a recent addition to the global security agenda, concerned with protecting states and citizens from the misuse of computer networks for war, terrorism, economic espionage and criminal gain. Many argue that the ubiquity of computer networks calls for robust and pervasive countermeasures, not least governments concerned at their potential effects on national and economic security. Drawing on critical literature in international relations, security studies, political theory and social theory, this is the first book that describes how these visions of future cyber security are sustained in the communities that articulate them. Specifically, it shows that conceptions of time and temporality are foundational to the politics of cyber security. It explores how cyber security communities understand the past, present and future, thereby shaping cyber security as a political practice. Integrating a wide range of conceptual and empirical resources, this innovative book provides insight for scholars, practitioners and policymakers.
The Medieval Islamic Hospital
Authors: Ragab Ahmed
Published: October 2015

The first monograph on the history of Islamic hospitals, this volume focuses on the under-examined Egyptian and Levantine institutions of the twelfth to fourteenth centuries. By the twelfth century, hospitals serving the sick and the poor could be found in nearly every Islamic city. Ahmed Ragab traces the varying origins and development of these institutions, locating them in their urban environments and linking them to charity networks and patrons' political projects. Following the paths of patients inside hospital wards, he investigates who they were and what kinds of experiences they had. The Medieval Islamic Hospital explores the medical networks surrounding early hospitals and sheds light on the particular brand of practice-oriented medicine they helped to develop. Providing a detailed picture of the effect of religion on medieval medicine, it will be essential reading for those interested in history of medicine, history of Islamic sciences, or history of the Mediterranean.
Educating China
Authors: Zarrow Peter
Published: October 2015

In this major study, Peter Zarrow examines how textbooks published for the Chinese school system played a major role in shaping new social, cultural, and political trends, the ways in which schools conveyed traditional and 'new style' knowledge and how they sought to socialize students in a rapidly changing society in the first decades of the twentieth century. Focusing on language, morality and civics, history, and geography, Zarrow shows that textbooks were quick to reflect the changing views of Chinese elites during this period. Officials and educators wanted children to understand the physical and human worlds, including the evolution of society, the institutions of the economy, and the foundations of the nation-state. Through textbooks, Chinese elites sought ways to link these abstractions to the concrete lives of children, conveying a variety of interpretations of enlightenment, citizenship, and nationalism that would shape a generation as modern citizens of a new China.
Adorno's Modernism
Authors: Hammer Espen
Published: October 2015

Theodor W. Adorno's aesthetics has dominated discussions about art and aesthetic modernism since World War II, and continues to inform contemporary theorizing. Situating Adorno's aesthetic theory in the context of post-Kantian European philosophy, Espen Hammer explores Adorno's critical view of art as engaged in reconsidering fundamental features of our relation to nature and reality. His book is structured around what Adorno regarded as the contemporary aesthetician's overarching task: to achieve a vision of the fate of art in the modern world, while demonstrating its unique cognitive potential. Hammer offers a lively examination of Adorno's work through the central problem of what full human self-actualization would require, and also discusses the wider philosophical significance of aesthetic modernism. This book will be a valuable resource for scholars and students of social philosophy, art, and aesthetics.
Empire of Timber
Authors: Loomis Erik
Published: October 2015

The battles to protect ancient forests and spotted owls in the Northwest splashed across the evening news in the 1980s and early 1990s. Empire of Timber re-examines this history to demonstrate that workers used their unions to fight for a healthy workplace environment and sustainable logging practices that would allow themselves and future generations the chance to both work and play in the forests. Examining labor organizations from the Industrial Workers of the World in the 1910s to unions in the 1980s, Empire of Timber shows that conventional narratives of workers opposing environmental protection are far too simplistic and often ignore the long histories of natural resource industry workers attempting to protect their health and their futures from the impact of industrial logging. Today, when workers fear that environmental restrictions threaten their jobs, learning the history of alliances between unions and environmentalists can build those conversations in the present.
Where Have All the “Workers” Gone? A Critical Analysis of the Unrepresentativeness of Our Samples Relative to the Labor Market in the Industrial–Organizational Psychology Literature
Authors: Bergman Mindy E. , Jean Vanessa A.
Published: October 2015

In this article, we demonstrate that samples in the industrial and organizational (I-O) psychology literature do not reflect the labor market, overrepresenting core, salaried, managerial, professional, and executive employees while underrepresenting wage earners, low- and medium-skill first-line personnel, and contract workers. We describe how overrepresenting managers, professionals, and executives causes research about these other workers to be suspect. We describe several ways that this underrepresentation reduces the utility of the I-O literature and provide specific examples. We discuss why the I-O literature underrepresents these workers, how it contributes to the academic–practitioner gap, and what researchers can do to remedy the issue.
Civilised Behaviour: A Chinese Indigenous Intergroup Perception Dimension
Authors: Liu Xuan , Shan Wen , Jin Shenghua
Published: October 2015

In order to check whether (un)civilised behaviour can be a valid indigenous intergroup comparison dimension for Chinese people, three studies were conducted based on stereotypic explanatory bias (SEB). Study 1 examined the media representation of Chinese and Western (un)civilised behaviours, and the SEB results suggested ingroup derogation of Chinese people regarding civilised behaviour. Study 2 aimed to use a more empirical approach to further analyse Chinese intergroup bias for civilised behaviour at both implicit and explicit levels. Chinese participants’ SEB results indicated ingroup derogation and outgroup favouritism were at the implicit level; however, ingroup favouritism and outgroup derogation were at the explicit level. Study 3 was designed to examine how stereotypes that were verified in Study 2 would be changed by manipulating the presentation of extreme, stereotype-relevant information in the form of an internet blog. These findings suggest that (un)civilised behaviour can be a valid indigenous intergroup comparison dimension for Chinese people who perceive themselves as a disadvantaged group compared to Westerners on this dimension. Finally, theoretical contribution and practical implications for social change are discussed.
THE DUAL BURDEN OF NUTRITION TRANSITION AMONG WOMEN IN SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA: A CASE STUDY OF UNDERWEIGHT IN NIGERIA
Authors: Kandala Ngianga-Bakwin , Emina Jacques B. O.
Published: October 2015

In sub-Saharan Africa, nutrition research has primarily focused on under-nutrition, particularly among vulnerable children. However, there is increasing evidence of an emerging nutrition transition with extremely high rates of obesity, and malnutrition in women may be a problem that is insufficiently recognized and inadequately documented. This analysis was based on the 2008 Nigerian Demographic and Health Survey (NDHS), which included 27,967 women aged 15–49 years. Individual-level data were collected for socio-demographic characteristics and aggregated to the country’s 37 states. A Bayesian geo-additive mixed model was used to map the geographic distribution of under-nutrition at the state level, accounting for individual-level risk factors. The results reveal that 12.0% of the population were underweight, while 20.9% were either overweight or obese, based on BMI. The northern states of Sokoto and Yobe/Borno and the southern state of Delta had the highest prevalence of underweight, while states in the centre had the lowest underweight prevalence. Underweight women were more likely to be from poorer households compared with their counterparts from the richest wealth index, which were consistently associated with lower odds of being underweight (posterior odds ratio (POR) and 95% credible region (CR): 0.56 [0.46, 0.70]). On the other hand Muslim women (1.61 [1.10, 2.23]), those of traditional religion (2.12 [1.44, 3.00]), those from the Fulani ethnic group (2.90 [1.64, 5.55]) and those living in Yobe state were all consistently associated with higher odds of being underweight. This study demonstrates that underweight is a major public health problem in Nigeria affecting adult females in the northern states of Nigeria. Identifying risk factors and the need to account for sex, spatial and socio-cultural issues are crucial to develop and implement evidence-informed strategies and interventions for lifestyle health promotion.
Tumour–node–metastasis staging of human papillomavirus negative upper aerodigestive tract cancers: a critical appraisal
Authors: Aydil U , Duvvuri U , Kizil Y , Köybaşioğlu A
Published: October 2015

Objective:

The tumour–node–metastasis staging system has a dynamic structure that is continuously being updated as scientific data develops. This review discusses some suggested revisions on tumour–node–metastasis staging of human papillomavirus negative upper aerodigestive tract cancers.

Methods:

The seventh edition ofThe American Joint Committee on Cancer Staging Manualwas reviewed and important issues that could be considered for revision were identified and discussed.

Results:

According to our assessment of the oncological outcomes of previous studies, the following factors should be considered for revision: anterior commissure involvement and subglottic extension in laryngeal cancers; underlying bone involvement in hard palate and upper alveolar ridge cancers; tumour thickness in oral cancers; and extracapsular spread and carotid artery involvement in neck metastases.

Conclusion:

Sufficient data on the prognostic importance of these issues have been reported. Suggested revisions in line with current knowledge on the clinical behaviour of upper aerodigestive tract cancers would improve the relevancy of staging.
No change in neuropsychological dysfunction or emotional processing during treatment of major depression with cognitive–behaviour therapy or schema therapy
Authors: Porter R. J. , Bourke C. , Carter J. D. , Douglas K. M. , McIntosh V. V. W. , Jordan J. , Joyce P. R. , Frampton C. M. A.
Published: October 2015

Background

Impaired neuropsychological functioning is a feature of major depression. Previous studies have suggested that at least some aspects of neuropsychological functioning improve with successful treatment of major depression. The extent to which medications may affect the degree of normalization of these functions is unclear. The aim of the current study was to examine the course of neuropsychological functioning during treatment of major depression with cognitive–behaviour therapy (CBT) or schema therapy (ST).

Method

A total of 69 out-patients with a primary diagnosis of major depression and 58 healthy controls completed mood ratings, neuropsychological measures, and measures of emotional processing at baseline and after 16 weeks. Participants were randomized after baseline assessment to a year-long course of CBT or ST. Patients reassessed at 16 weeks were medication-free throughout the study.

Results

Significant neuropsychological impairment was evident at baseline in depressed participants compared with healthy controls. After 16 weeks of psychotherapy, mean depression rating scores fell more than 50%. However, no neuropsychological measures showed convincing evidence of significant improvement and emotional processing did not change.

Conclusions

Persisting impairment in neuropsychological functioning after the first 16 weeks of CBT or ST suggests a need to modify psychological treatments to include components targeting cognitive functioning.
An eigenvalue optimization problem for the p-Laplacian
Authors: Chorwadwala Anisa M. H. , Mahadevan Rajesh
Published: October 2015

It has been shown by Kesavan (Proc. R. Soc. Edinb. A (133) (2003), 617–624) that the first eigenvalue for the Dirichlet Laplacian in a punctured ball, with the puncture having the shape of a ball, is maximum if and only if the balls are concentric. Recently, Emamizadeh and Zivari-Rezapour (Proc. Am. Math. Soc.136 (2007), 1325–1331) have tried to generalize this result to the case of the p-Laplacian but could succeed only in proving a domain monotonicity result for a weighted eigenvalue problem in which the weights need to satisfy some artificial conditions. In this paper we generalize the result of Kesavan to the case of the p-Laplacian (1 < p < ∞) without any artificial restrictions, and in the process we simplify greatly the proof, even in the case of the Laplacian. The uniqueness of the maximizing domain in the nonlinear case is still an open question.
‘The whole of the proceedings were very orderly’: Gunpowder Plot celebrations, civic culture and identity in some smaller Kent towns, 1860–1890
Authors: TAYLOR IAIN
Published: October 2015

This article looks at how and why Bonfire Night celebrations became more peaceful in the later nineteenth century in some smaller Kent towns and what this process reveals about local civic cultures and identities. The drive towards respectability is seen both in the changing business relationships between participants, spectators and local tradesmen and in the evolving role of satire within processions. The ‘social energy’ visible at these events was channelled such that earlier class and other vertical conflicts within these towns were superseded by horizontal rivalries without, as they competed against each other (an important local variant of civic boosterism) to build free public libraries, for example. Moreover, more peaceful ‘Fifths’ and better reading facilities were linked, since both formed part of the much-altered prevailing civic cultures in these towns – their comprehensive, continuous, identity-driven efforts to present themselves in the best possible light against their rivals.
Haploinsufficiency of cathepsin D leads to lysosomal dysfunction and promotes cell-to-cell transmission of α-synuclein aggregates
Authors: Bae E-J , Yang N Y , Lee C , Kim S , Lee H-J , Lee S-J
Published: October 2015

Lysosomal dysfunction has been implicated both pathologically and genetically in neurodegenerative disorders, such as Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease (PD). Lysosomal gene deficiencies cause lysosomal storage disorders, many of which involve neurodegeneration. Heterozygous mutations of some of these genes, such asGBA1, are associated with PD.CTSDis the gene encoding Cathepsin D (CTSD), a lysosomal protein hydrolase, and homozygous CTSD deficiency results in neuronal ceroid-lipofuscinosis, which is characterized by the early onset, progressive neurodegeneration. CTSD deficiency was also associated with deposition ofα-synuclein aggregates, the hallmark of PD. However, whether partial deficiency of CTSD has a role in the late onset progressive neurodegenerative disorders, including PD, remains unknown. Here, we generated cell lines harboring heterozygous nonsense mutations inCTSDwith genomic editing using the zinc finger nucleases. Heterozygous mutation inCTSDresulted in partial loss of CTSD activity, leading to reduced lysosomal activity. TheCTSDmutation also resulted in increased accumulation of intracellularα-synuclein aggregates and the secretion of the aggregates. Whenα-synuclein was introduced in the media, internalizedα-synuclein aggregates accumulated at higher levels in CTSD+/− cells than in the wild-type cells. Consistent with these results, transcellular transmission ofα-synuclein aggregates was increased in CTSD+/− cells. The increased transmission ofα-synuclein aggregates sustained during the successive passages of CTSD+/− cells. These results suggest that partial loss of CTSD activity is sufficient to cause a reduction in lysosomal function, which in turn leads toα-synuclein aggregation and propagation of the aggregates.
Structure of Ljungan virus provides insight into genome packaging of this picornavirus
Authors: Zhu Ling , Wang Xiangxi , Ren Jingshan , Porta Claudine , Wenham Hannah , Ekström Jens-Ola , Panjwani Anusha , Knowles Nick J. , Kotecha Abhay , Siebert C. Alistair , Lindberg A. Michael , Fry Elizabeth E. , Rao Zihe , Tuthill Tobias J. , Stuart David I.
Published: October 2015

Picornaviruses are responsible for a range of human and animal diseases, but how their RNA genome is packaged remains poorly understood. A particularly poorly studied group within this family are those that lack the internal coat protein, VP4. Here we report the atomic structure of one such virus, Ljungan virus, the type member of the genus Parechovirus B, which has been linked to diabetes and myocarditis in humans. The 3.78-Å resolution cryo-electron microscopy structure shows remarkable features, including an extended VP1 C terminus, forming a major protuberance on the outer surface of the virus, and a basic motif at the N terminus of VP3, binding to which orders some 12% of the viral genome. This apparently charge-driven RNA attachment suggests that this branch of the picornaviruses uses a different mechanism of genome encapsidation, perhaps explored early in the evolution of picornaviruses.
Realization of ground-state artificial skyrmion lattices at room temperature
Authors: Gilbert Dustin A. , Maranville Brian B. , Balk Andrew L. , Kirby Brian J. , Fischer Peter , Pierce Daniel T. , Unguris John , Borchers Julie A. , Liu Kai
Published: October 2015

The topological nature of magnetic skyrmions leads to extraordinary properties that provide new insights into fundamental problems of magnetism and exciting potentials for novel magnetic technologies. Prerequisite are systems exhibiting skyrmion lattices at ambient conditions, which have been elusive so far. Here, we demonstrate the realization of artificial Bloch skyrmion lattices over extended areas in their ground state at room temperature by patterning asymmetric magnetic nanodots with controlled circularity on an underlayer with perpendicular magnetic anisotropy (PMA). Polarity is controlled by a tailored magnetic field sequence and demonstrated in magnetometry measurements. The vortex structure is imprinted from the dots into the interfacial region of the underlayer via suppression of the PMA by a critical ion-irradiation step. The imprinted skyrmion lattices are identified directly with polarized neutron reflectometry and confirmed by magnetoresistance measurements. Our results demonstrate an exciting platform to explore room-temperature ground-state skyrmion lattices.
Exciton–polaritons in van der Waals heterostructures embedded in tunable microcavities
Authors: Dufferwiel S. , Schwarz S. , Withers F. , Trichet A. A. P. , Li F. , Sich M. , Del Pozo-Zamudio O. , Clark C. , Nalitov A. , Solnyshkov D. D. , Malpuech G. , Novoselov K. S. , Smith J. M. , Skolnick M. S. , Krizhanovskii D. N. , Tartakovskii A. I.
Published: October 2015

Layered materials can be assembled vertically to fabricate a new class of van der Waals heterostructures a few atomic layers thick, compatible with a wide range of substrates and optoelectronic device geometries, enabling new strategies for control of light–matter coupling. Here, we incorporate molybdenum diselenide/hexagonal boron nitride (MoSe2/hBN) quantum wells in a tunable optical microcavity. Part-light–part-matter polariton eigenstates are observed as a result of the strong coupling between MoSe2 excitons and cavity photons, evidenced from a clear anticrossing between the neutral exciton and the cavity modes with a splitting of 20 meV for a single MoSe2 monolayer, enhanced to 29 meV in MoSe2/hBN/MoSe2 double-quantum wells. The splitting at resonance provides an estimate of the exciton radiative lifetime of 0.4 ps. Our results pave the way for room-temperature polaritonic devices based on multiple-quantum-well van der Waals heterostructures, where polariton condensation and electrical polariton injection through the incorporation of graphene contacts may be realized.
Strongly enhanced oxygen ion transport through samarium-doped CeO2 nanopillars in nanocomposite films
Authors: Yang Sang Mo , Lee Shinbuhm , Jian Jie , Zhang Wenrui , Lu Ping , Jia Quanxi , Wang Haiyan , Won Noh Tae , Kalinin Sergei V. , MacManus‐Driscoll Judith L.
Published: October 2015

Enhancement of oxygen ion conductivity in oxides is important for low-temperature (<500 °C) operation of solid oxide fuel cells, sensors and other ionotronic devices. While huge ion conductivity has been demonstrated in planar heterostructure films, there has been considerable debate over the origin of the conductivity enhancement, in part because of the difficulties of probing buried ion transport channels. Here we create a practical geometry for device miniaturization, consisting of highly crystalline micrometre-thick vertical nanocolumns of Sm-doped CeO2 embedded in supporting matrices of SrTiO3. The ionic conductivity is higher by one order of magnitude than plain Sm-doped CeO2 films. By using scanning probe microscopy, we show that the fast ion-conducting channels are not exclusively restricted to the interface but also are localized at the Sm-doped CeO2 nanopillars. This work offers a pathway to realize spatially localized fast ion transport in oxides of micrometre thickness.
Erratum: ASK1 is involved in cognitive impairment caused by long-term high-fat diet feeding in mice
Authors: Toyama Kensuke , Koibuchi Nobutaka , Hasegawa Yu , Uekawa Ken , Yasuda Osamu , Sueta Daisuke , Nakagawa Takashi , Ma Mingjie , Kusaka Hiroaki , Lin Bowen , Ogawa Hisao , Ichijo Hidenori , Kim-Mitsuyama Shokei
Published: October 2015

Although high-fat diet intake is known to cause obesity and diabetes, the effect of high-fat diet itself on cognitive function remains to be clarified. We have previously shown that apoptosis signal-regulating kinase 1 (ASK1) is responsible for cognitive impairment caused by chronic cerebral hypoperfusion. The present work, by using ASK1 deficient mice, was undertaken to explore the influence of chronic high-fat diet intake on cognitive function and the role of ASK1. Cognitive function in wild-type mice fed high-fat diet from 2 to 24 months of age was significantly impaired compared to those fed control diet, which was associated with the significant white matter lesions, reduction of hippocampal capillary density, and decrement of hippocampal neuronal cell. However, ASK1 deficiency abolished the development of cognitive impairment and cerebral injury caused by high-fat diet. Our results provided the evidence that high-fat diet itself causes cognitive impairment and ASK1 participates in such cognitive impairment.