bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
A bio-inspired computing model for ovarian carcinoma classification and oncogene detection
Authors: Tsai Meng-Hsiun , Chen Mu-Yen , Huang Steve G. , Hung Yao-Ching , Wang Hsin-Chieh
Published: November 2014

Motivation: Ovarian cancer is the fifth leading cause of cancer deaths in women in the western world for 2013. In ovarian cancer, benign tumors turn malignant, but the point of transition is difficult to predict and diagnose. The 5-year survival rate of all types of ovarian cancer is 44%, but this can be improved to 92% if the cancer is found and treated before it spreads beyond the ovary. However, only 15% of all ovarian cancers are found at this early stage. Therefore, the ability to automatically identify and diagnose ovarian cancer precisely and efficiently as the tissue changes from benign to invasive is important for clinical treatment and for increasing the cure rate. This study proposes a new ovarian carcinoma classification model using two algorithms: a novel discretization of food sources for an artificial bee colony (DfABC), and a support vector machine (SVM). For the first time in the literature, oncogene detection using this method is also investigated.

Results: A novel bio-inspired computing model and hybrid algorithms combining DfABC and SVM was applied to ovarian carcinoma and oncogene classification. This study used the human ovarian cDNA expression database to collect 41 patient samples and 9600 genes in each pathological stage. Feature selection methods were used to detect and extract 15 notable oncogenes. We then used the DfABC-SVM model to examine these 15 oncogenes, dividing them into eight different classifications according to their gene expressions of various pathological stages. The average accuracyof the eight classification experiments was 94.76%. This research also found some oncogenes that had not been discovered or indicated in previous scientific studies. The main contribution of this research is the proof that these newly discovered oncogenes are highly related to ovarian or other cancers.

Availability and implementation:  http://mht.mis.nchu.edu.tw/moodle/course/view.php?id=7

Contact:  mychen@nutc.edu.tw
ModuleBlast: identifying activated sub-networks within and across species
Authors: Zinman Guy E. , Naiman Shoshana , O'Dee Dawn M. , Kumar Nishant , Nau Gerard J. , Cohen Haim Y. , Bar-Joseph Ziv
Published: November 2014

Identifying conserved and divergent response patterns in gene networks is becoming increasingly important. A common approach is integrating expression information with gene association networks in order to find groups of connected genes that are activated or repressed. In many cases, researchers are also interested in comparisons across species (or conditions). Finding an active sub-network is a hard problem and applying it across species requires further considerations (e.g. orthology information, expression data and networks from different sources). To address these challenges we devised ModuleBlast, which uses both expression and network topology to search for highly relevant sub-networks. We have applied ModuleBlast to expression and interaction data from mouse, macaque and human to study immune response and aging. The immune response analysis identified several relevant modules, consistent with recent findings on apoptosis and NFκB activation following infection. Temporal analysis of these data revealed cascades of modules that are dynamically activated within and across species. We have experimentally validated some of the novel hypotheses resulting from the analysis of the ModuleBlast results leading to new insights into the mechanisms used by a key mammalian aging protein.
Spectro-polarimetric properties of small-scale plasma eruptions driven by magnetic vortex tubes
Authors: Kitiashvili Irina N.
Published: November 2014

The highly turbulent nature of convection on the Sun causes strong multi-scale interaction of subsurface layers with the photosphere and chromosphere. According to realistic 3D radiative magnetohydrodynamic numerical simulations, ubiquitous small-scale vortex tubes are generated by turbulent flows below the visible surface and concentrated in the intergranular lanes. The vortex tubes can capture and amplify magnetic field, penetrate into chromospheric layers and initiate quasi-periodic flow eruptions that generate Alfvénic waves, and transport mass and energy into the solar atmosphere. The simulations revealed high-speed flow patterns, and complicated thermodynamic and magnetic structures in the erupting vortex tubes. The spontaneous eruptions are initiated and driven by strong pressure gradients in the near-surface layers, and accelerated by the Lorentz force in the low chromosphere. In this paper, the simulation data are used to further investigate the dynamics of the eruptions, their spectro-polarimetric characteristics for the Fe i 6301.5 and 6302.5 Å spectral lines, and demonstrate expected signatures of the eruptions in the Hinode Spectro-Polarimeter (SP) data. We found that the complex dynamical structure of vortex tubes (downflows in the vortex core and upflows on periphery) can be captured by the Stokes I profiles. During an eruption, the ratio of down and upflows can suddenly change, and this effect can be observed in the Stokes V profile. Also, during the eruption the linear polarization signal increases, and this also can be detected with Hinode SP.
Coronal loops above an active region: Observation versus model
Authors: Bourdin Philippe-A. , Bingert Sven , Peter Hardi
Published: November 2014

We conducted a high-resolution numerical simulation of the solar corona above a stable active region. The aim is to test the field line braiding mechanism for a sufficient coronal energy input. We also check the applicability of scaling laws for coronal loop properties like the temperature and density. Our 3D MHD model is driven from below by Hinode observations of the photosphere, in particular a high-cadence time series of line-of-sight magnetograms and horizontal velocities derived from the magnetograms. This driving applies stress to the magnetic field and thereby delivers magnetic energy into the corona, where currents are induced that heat the coronal plasma by Ohmic dissipation. We compute synthetic coronal emission that we directly compare to coronal observations of the same active region taken by Hinode. In the model, coronal loops form at the same places as they are found in coronal observations. Even the shapes of the synthetic loops in 3D space match those found from a stereoscopic reconstruction based on STEREO spacecraft data. Some loops turn out to be slightly over-dense in the model, as expected from observations. This shows that the spatial and temporal distribution of the Ohmic heating produces the structure and dynamics of a coronal loops system close to what is found in observations.
Longitudinal DSC-MRI for Distinguishing Tumor Recurrence From Pseudoprogression in Patients With a High-grade Glioma
Authors: Boxerman Jerrold L. , Ellingson Benjamin M. , Jeyapalan Suriya , Elinzano Heinrich , Harris Robert J. , Rogg Jeffrey M. , Pope Whitney B. , Safran Howard
Published: November 2014

Objective:

For patients with high-grade glioma on clinical trials it is important to accurately assess time of disease progression. However, differentiation between pseudoprogression (PsP) and progressive disease (PD) is unreliable with standard magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) techniques. Dynamic susceptibility contrast perfusion MRI (DSC-MRI) can measure relative cerebral blood volume (rCBV) and may help distinguish PsP from PD.

Methods:

A subset of patients with high-grade glioma on a phase II clinical trial with temozolomide, paclitaxel poliglumex, and concurrent radiation were assessed. Nine patients (3 grade III, 6 grade IV), with a total of 19 enhancing lesions demonstrating progressive enhancement (≥25% increase from nadir) on postchemoradiation conventional contrast-enhanced MRI, had serial DSC-MRI. Mean leakage-corrected rCBV within enhancing lesions was computed for all postchemoradiation time points.

Results:

Of the 19 progressively enhancing lesions, 10 were classified as PsP and 9 as PD by biopsy/surgery or serial enhancement patterns during interval follow-up MRI. Mean rCBV at initial progressive enhancement did not differ significantly between PsP and PD (2.35 vs. 2.17; P=0.67). However, change in rCBV at first subsequent follow-up (−0.84 vs. 0.84; P=0.001) and the overall linear trend in rCBV after initial progressive enhancement (negative vs. positive slope; P=0.04) differed significantly between PsP and PD.

Conclusions:

Longitudinal trends in rCBV may be more useful than absolute rCBV in distinguishing PsP from PD in chemoradiation-treated high-grade gliomas with DSC-MRI. Further studies of DSC-MRI in high-grade glioma as a potential technique for distinguishing PsP from PD are indicated.
Emergence of multicellularity in a model of cell growth, death and aggregation under size-dependent selection
Authors: Duran-Nebreda Salva , Solé Ricard
Published: November 2014

How multicellular life forms evolved from unicellular ones constitutes a major problem in our understanding of the evolution of our biosphere. A recent set of experiments involving yeast cell populations have shown that selection for faster sedimenting cells leads to the appearance of stable aggregates of cells that are able to split into smaller clusters. It was suggested that the observed evolutionary patterns could be the result of evolved programmes affecting cell death. Here, we show, using a simple model of cell–cell interactions and evolving adhesion rates, that the observed patterns in cluster size and localized mortality can be easily interpreted in terms of waste accumulation and toxicity-driven apoptosis. This simple mechanism would have played a key role in the early evolution of multicellular life forms based on both aggregative and clonal development. The potential extensions of this work and its implications for natural and synthetic multicellularity are discussed.
Necessary conditions for spatial inviscid instability
Authors: Diwan Sourabh S.
Published: November 2014

Rayleigh’s inflection point theorem and Fjortoft’s theorem provide necessary conditions for inviscid temporal instability of a plane parallel flow. Although these theorems have been assumed to hold in the spatial framework also, a rigorous theoretical basis for such an application is not available in the literature. In this paper, we provide such a basis by carrying out a formal analysis of the Rayleigh equation. We prove that, under certain conditions satisfied by a wide class of flows, the Rayleigh and Fjortoft theorems are applicable to the spatial stability problem also. This work thus fills the lacuna in the spatial stability theory with regard to these classical theorems.
Remote inspection system for impact damage in large composite structure
Authors: Zhong C. H. , Croxford A. J. , Wilcox P. D.
Published: November 2014

A significant opportunity for reducing the weight of composite aircraft is through the development of an economically efficient method to detect barely visible or invisible impact damage sustained in service. In this paper, a structurally integrated, inert, wireless system for rapid, large-area impact damage detection in composite is demonstrated. Large-area inspection from single sensors using ultrasonic-guided waves is achieved with a baseline-subtraction technique. The wireless interface uses electromagnetic coupling between coils in the embedded sensor and inspection wand. Compact encapsulated sensor units are built and successfully embedded into composite panels at manufacture. Chirp-based excitation is used to enable single-shot measurements with high signal-to-random-noise ratio to be obtained. Signal processing to compensate for variability in inspection wand alignment is developed and shown to be necessary to obtain adequate baseline subtraction performance for damage detection. Results from sensors embedded in both glass fibre and carbon fibre-reinforced composite panels are presented. Successful detection of a 10 J impact damage in the former is demonstrated at a range of 125 mm. Quantitative extrapolation of this result suggests that the same level of impact damage would be detectable at a range of up to 1000 mm with an inspection wand alignment tolerance of 4 mm.
The evolution of anti-social rewarding and its countermeasures in public goods games
Authors: dos Santos Miguel
Published: November 2014

Cooperation in joint enterprises can easily break down when self-interests are in conflict with collective benefits, causing a tragedy of the commons. In such social dilemmas, the possibility for contributors to invest in a common pool-rewards fund, which will be shared exclusively among contributors, can be powerful for averting the tragedy, as long as the second-order dilemma (i.e. withdrawing contribution to reward funds) can be overcome (e.g. with second-order sanctions). However, the present paper reveals the vulnerability of such pool-rewarding mechanisms to the presence of reward funds raised by defectors and shared among them (i.e. anti-social rewarding), as it causes a cooperation breakdown, even when second-order sanctions are possible. I demonstrate that escaping this social trap requires the additional condition that coalitions of defectors fare poorly compared with pro-socials, with either (i) better rewarding abilities for the latter or (ii) reward funds that are contingent upon the public good produced beforehand, allowing groups of contributors to invest more in reward funds than groups of defectors. These results suggest that the establishment of cooperation through a collective positive incentive mechanism is highly vulnerable to anti-social rewarding and requires additional countermeasures to act in combination with second-order sanctions.
Imagine that: elevated sensory strength of mental imagery in individuals with Parkinson's disease and visual hallucinations
Authors: Shine James M. , Keogh Rebecca , O'Callaghan Claire , Muller Alana J. , Lewis Simon J. G. , Pearson Joel
Published: November 2014

Visual hallucinations occur when our conscious experience does not accurately reflect external reality. However, these dissociations also regularly occur when we imagine the world around us in the absence of visual stimulation. We used two novel behavioural paradigms to objectively measure visual hallucinations and voluntary mental imagery in 19 individuals with Parkinson's disease (ten with visual hallucinations; nine without) and ten healthy, age-matched controls. We then used this behavioural overlap to interrogate the connectivity both within and between the major attentional control networks using resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging. Patients with visual hallucinations had elevated mental imagery strength compared with patients without hallucinations and controls. Specifically, the sensory strength of imagery predicted the frequency of visual hallucinations. Together, hallucinations and mental imagery predicted multiple abnormalities in functional connectivity both within and between the attentional control networks, as measured with resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging. However, the two phenomena were also dissociable at the neural level, with both mental imagery and visual misperceptions associated with specific abnormalities in attentional network connectivity. Our results provide the first evidence of both the shared and unique neural correlates of these two similar, yet distinct phenomena.
Evolution of opsin expression in birds driven by sexual selection and habitat
Authors: Bloch Natasha I.
Published: November 2014

Theories of sexual and natural selection predict coevolution of visual perception with conspecific colour and/or the light environment animals occupy. One way to test these theories is to focus on the visual system, which can be achieved by studying the opsin-based visual pigments that mediate vision. Birds vary greatly in colour, but opsin gene coding sequences and associated visual pigment spectral sensitivities are known to be rather invariant across birds. Here, I studied expression of the four cone opsin genes (Lws, Rh2, Sws2andSws1) in 16 species of New World warblers (Parulidae). I found levels of opsin expression vary both across species and between the sexes. Across species, female, but not maleSws2expression is associated with an index of sexual selection, plumage dichromatism. This fits predictions of classic sexual selection models, in which the sensory system changes in females, presumably impacting female preference, and co-evolves with male plumage. Expression of the opsins at the extremes of the light spectrum,LwsandUvs,correlates with the inferred light environment occupied by the different species. Unlike opsin spectral tuning, regulation of opsin gene expression allows for fast adaptive evolution of the visual system in response to natural and sexual selection, and in particular, sex-specific selection pressures.
Choosing quality indicators for quality prediction of egg in circulation
Authors: Lee Hye-Ok , Kim Ji-Young , Kim Byeong-Sam
Published: November 2014

This study was conducted to identify quality indicators of the freshness of chicken eggs circulating in domestic markets. We first stored freshly-laid eggs at temperatures of 0, 10, 20, and 30°C, investigated their weight-loss rate, specific gravity, color, york index, albumen index, Haugh unit (HU), pH, and sensory evaluation, and finally analyzed the correlation between each quality characteristic and the sensory preference. At all the storage temperatures, the quality characteristics of the weight-loss rate, specific gravity, yolk index, albumen index, and HU showed significant correlations (p<0.05) with the preference. In particular, the temperature-dependent correlation between the quality characteristics and the sensory preference was significantly higher with increasing storage temperatures and weight-loss rates (r = -0.78; r = -0.93; r = -0.95; and r = -0.99), albumen index (r = 0.66; r = 0.89; r = 0.89; and r = 0.93), and HU values (r = 0.64; r = 0.92; r = 0.96; and r = 0.98) at 0, 10, 20, and 30°C, respectively (p<0.01). The Color and pH examinations yielded disparate results, and further research is needed to determine the methods of using the characteristics as quality indicators. We believe that the changes in the weight-loss rate, specific gravity, yolk index, albumen index, and HU are adequate quality indicators of the freshness of egg in circulation.
Quality and storage characteristics of frankfurter sausages with added yam (Dioscorea japonica) powder
Authors: Jang Dong Hyun , Lee Keun Taik
Published: November 2014

Quality changes in frankfurter sausages with yam (Dioscorea japonica) powder added were investigated during their storage at 10°C for six weeks. The sausage samples were prepared using four concentrations of yam powder: 0% (C), 0.5% (T1), 1.0% (T2), and 2.0% (w/w) (T3). After the addition of yam powder, the crude protein contents decreased, but the crude fat and carbohydrate contents increased. The thiobarbituric acid values during the storage of the frankfurter sausages were lower in the samples with higher yam concentrations. Over the storage period, the volatile basic nitrogen values increased with the increase in the amount of added yam. With the increase in the yam concentration, the L* and a* values tended to decrease, whereas the b* value increased. The instrumental texture analysis showed that the hardness value decreased with the increase in the yam concentration. The first indication of sensorial quality deterioration was noticed at week 4 for T3 and at week 5 for C, T1, and T2. In conclusion, the quality and shelf-life of the frankfurter sausages were not noticeably influenced by the addition of yam powder with a concentration of up to 1.0% (w/w), but the functional and health-promoting effects of yam were positively incorporated.
Non-thermal treatment of Prunus mume fruit and quality characteristics of the dehydrated product
Authors: Kang Ji-Hoon , Kim Nam-Ho , Song Kyung Bin
Published: November 2014

To maintain the microbiological safety of Prunus mume fruit before it is processed, it was treated with a combination of 0.5% citric acid and 0.1% Tween 20, and stored at 4±1°C for seven days. The combined treatment reduced total aerobic bacteria, yeast, and mold populations in the fruit by 2.20 and 1.70 log CFU/g, respectively, compared to those in the control. Organic acid contents and the Hunter L*, a*, and b* values were not affected by the treatment during the storage. In addition, the dried Prunus mume fruit prepared with 40% red algae extract (RAE) or maltodextrin (MD) treatment and hot-air drying were compared with respect to the fruit’s physicochemical properties such as color, total phenolic and flavonoid content, and microstructure. The hot-air dried samples had undesirable color changes and inferior textures. The RAE-treated samples had a higher total phenolic content (225.15 mg gallic acid equivalent (GAE)/100 g) and total flavonoid content (49.25 mg quercetin equivalent (QE)/100 g) than the other treatments. The treatment of Prunus mume fruit with RAE can provide better-dried products than can MD treatment or hot-air drying. These results suggest that the combined treatment with citric acid and Tween 20 can be effective in preserving the microbiological safety of Prunus mume fruit, and its dehydration using RAE is an efficient drying method.
The rate and molecular spectrum of spontaneous mutations in the GC-rich multi-chromosome genome ofBurkholderia cenocepacia
Authors: Dillon Marcus M. , Sung Way , Lynch Michael , Cooper Vaughn S.
Published: November 2014

Spontaneous mutations are ultimately essential for evolutionary change and are also the root cause of many diseases. However, until recently, both biological and technical barriers have prevented detailed analyses of mutation profiles, constraining our understanding of the mutation process to a few model organisms and leaving major gaps in our understanding of the role of genome content and structure on mutation. Here, we present a genome-wide view of the molecular mutation spectrum inBurkholderia cenocepacia, a clinically relevant pathogen with high %GC-content and multiple chromosomes. We find thatB. cenocepaciahas low genome-wide mutation rates with insertion-deletion mutations biased towards deletions, consistent with the idea that deletion pressure reduces prokaryotic genome sizes. Unlike prior studies of other organisms, mutations inB. cenocepaciaare not AT-biased, which suggests that at least some genomes with high %GC-content experience unusual base-substitution mutation pressure. Importantly, we also observe variation in both the rates and spectra of mutations among chromosomes and elevated G:C>T:A transversions in late-replicating regions. Thus, although some patterns of mutation appear to be highly conserved across cellular life, others vary between species and even between chromosomes of the same species, potentially influencing the evolution of nucleotide composition and genome architecture.
Perdeuteration: improved visualization of solvent structure in neutron macromolecular crystallography
Authors: Fisher S. J. , Blakeley M. P. , Howard E. I. , Petit-Haertlein I. , Haertlein M. , Mitschler A. , Cousido-Siah A. , Salvay A. G. , Popov A. , Muller-Dieckmann C. , Petrova T. , Podjarny A.
Published: November 2014

The 1.8 Å resolution neutron structure of deuterated type III antifreeze protein in which the methyl groups of leucine and valine residues are selectively protonated is presented. Comparison between this and the 1.85 Å resolution neutron structure of perdeuterated type III antifreeze protein indicates that perdeuteration improves the visibility of solvent molecules located in close vicinity to hydrophobic residues, as cancellation effects between H atoms of the methyl groups and nearby heavy-water molecules (D2O) are avoided.
Crystal structure of the intermetallic compound SrCdPt
Authors: Gulo Fakhili , Köhler Jürgen
Published: November 2014

The crystal structure of the title compound, strontium cadmium platinum, adopts the TiNiSi structure type with the Sr atoms on the Ti, the Cd atoms on the Ni and the Pt atoms on the Si positions, respectively. The Pt atoms form cadmium-centred tetrahedra that are condensed into a three-dimensional network with channels parallel to theb-axis direction in which the Sr atoms are located. The latter are bonded to each other in the form of six-membered rings with chair conformations. All atoms in the SrCdPt structure are situated on a mirror plane.
Method to generate all the geometrical ambiguities of powder indexing solutions
Authors: Oishi-Tomiyasu R.
Published: November 2014

A new algorithm is reported that returns all the lattices with the same set ofdspacings as that of a given lattice. The algorithm is useful for quickly checking lattice parameters obtained for a considered powder diffraction pattern and assessing the reliability of the results of powder indexing. The proposed algorithm was implemented as a new function in the powder indexing softwareConograph(http://sourceforge.jp/projects/conograph/; http://research.kek.jp/people/rtomi/ConographGUI/web_page.html). Examples of real cases are reported to explain how the algorithm can be used.
Identifying the new opportunities and threats in the Creative Economy
Authors: Denning Stephen
Published: November 2014

Purpose

– The author observes that as customer-focused innovation takes hold in more and more industries, the result is a business environment that is coming to be known as “the Creative Economy,” an operating arena with unique “physics” that successful practitioners are beginning to be able to describe.

Design/methodology/approach

– The author interprets the insights of both a successful serial entrepreneur and cutting-edge academics to shed fresh light on how to distinguish between real and false opportunities and threats in the new operating environment of the Creative Economy.

Findings

– The author examines serial entrepreneur Peter Thiel’s seven – sometimes surprising – tools for implementing market-making innovation in the Creative Economy. They are, “the seven questions that every market-creating business must answer.”

Practical implications

– A key insight of the article is that “All truly successful market-creating firms are de facto monopolies.”

Originality/value

– For both practitioners and academics, the article provides a guide to assessing market-making innovations and connects the experience of successful entrepreneurs with new conceptual models by thought leaders like John P. Kotter and Clayton Christensen.
Beyond species loss: the extinction of ecological interactions in a changing world
Authors: Valiente‐Banuet Alfonso , Aizen Marcelo A. , Alcántara Julio M. , Arroyo Juan , Cocucci Andrea , Galetti Mauro , García María B. , García Daniel , Gómez José M. , Jordano Pedro , Medel Rodrigo , Navarro Luis , Obeso José R. , Oviedo Ramona , Ramírez Nelson , Rey Pedro J. , Traveset Anna , Verdú Miguel , Zamora Regino
Published: November 2014

The effects of the present biodiversity crisis have been largely focused on the loss of species. However, a missed component of biodiversity loss that often accompanies or even precedes species disappearance is the extinction of ecological interactions.

Here, we propose a novel model that (i) relates the diversity of both species and interactions along a gradient of environmental deterioration and (ii) explores how the rate of loss of ecological functions, and consequently of ecosystem services, can be accelerated or restrained depending on how the rate of species loss covaries with the rate of interactions loss.

We find that the loss of species and interactions are decoupled, such that ecological interactions are often lost at a higher rate. This implies that the loss of ecological interactions may occur well before species disappearance, affecting species functionality and ecosystems services at a faster rate than species extinctions. We provide a number of empirical case studies illustrating these points.

Our approach emphasizes the importance of focusing on species interactions as the major biodiversity component from which the ‘health’ of ecosystems depends.
Family Ties in Genes and Stories: The Importance of Value and Recognition in the Narratives People Tell of Family
Authors: McLaughlin Janice
Published: November 2014

Diagnosis in paediatric genetics involves a combination of technologies able to display variation in DNA and clinical discussions with families that concentrate on retrieving family histories. This paper explores the significance of the family tales that genetics brings to the fore. Through discussion of an ESRC-funded ethnographic study of families referred to a paediatric genetic service, the paper explores how genetics and family history intersect in ‘relations of exchange’ ( Latimer, 2013 ). It draws from sociological work on family that emphasizes the importance of narrative to the formation and maintenance of family ties and the importance of broader social contexts to the kinds of stories that can be told and recognized by others. The paper emphasizes the significance of claims to respectability and value to the narratives people provide of family ties; particularly in contexts where such ties, in the past or the present, are thought of as ‘troubling’. Making reference to research by Skeggs and Loveday (2012) , it is argued that an important narrative that is drawn upon, in order to claim respectability, is that of being a good parent who protects their children from socially ‘risky relations’ so that a positive future as a ‘subject of value’ may be possible.
Has protest increased since the 1970s? How a survey question can construct a spurious trend
Authors: Biggs Michael
Published: November 2014

The literature on political participation asserts that protest has increased over the last four decades, all over the world. This trend is derived from surveys asking questions about participation in various forms of protest, including demonstrations, boycotts, and unofficial strikes. The latter question made sense in the context in which it was formulated, Britain in the early 1970s, and with regard to the original methodological aim, measuring ‘protest potential’. The absence of a generic question on strikes, however, distorts our understanding of protest. Two sources of data on Britain in the 1980s and 1990s – a population survey and an event catalogue – comprehensively measure strikes. They show that strikes greatly outnumbered demonstrations and other forms of protest. Another claim in the literature, that protesters are highly educated, no longer holds once strikes are properly counted. Strikes in Britain, as in many countries, have dramatically declined since the 1980s. This decline more than offsets any increase in demonstrations and boycotts, meaning that the total volume of protest has decreased. The episode illustrates how survey questions, when replicated without scrutiny, can misconstrue social trends.
Off‐farm Employment and Input Intensification among Smallholder Maize Farmers in Kenya
Authors: Mathenge Mary K. , Smale Melinda , Tschirley David
Published: November 2014

We derive input demand functions for fertiliser and hybrid seed, testing for the combined and separate effects of income from non‐farm sources and agricultural wage labour among smallholder maize farmers in Kenya. More income from off‐farm sources, and specifically non‐farm sources, competes with maize intensification, particularly in more productive areas where use rates are higher. In less productive areas, where households rely more on off‐farm income and input use in maize is extremely low, agricultural wage labour reduces the likelihood that fertiliser is applied, but when used, has a positive effect on quantities purchased of both seed and fertiliser.
Bankruptcy Exemption, Home Equity and Mortgage Credit
Authors: Cao Qianqian
Published: November 2014

This article examines the impact of state bankruptcy homestead exemptions on mortgage application outcomes. The empirical analysis controls for endogeneity problems by focusing on 55 urban areas that cross state borders using the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act files from 2001 to 2008. The results indicate that holding the loan‐to‐value ratio constant, a more generous homestead exemption encourages borrowers to buy more housing and take out larger mortgages. However, holding house value constant, a more generous homestead exemption discourages mortgage borrowing and results in more home equity. Moreover, benefits of the homestead exemption outweigh the costs of it to mortgage lenders.
Identification of Different Forms of Cocaine and Substances Used in Adulteration Using Near‐infrared Raman Spectroscopy and Infrared Absorption Spectroscopy
Authors: Penido Ciro A. F. O. , Pacheco Marcos Tadeu T. , Zângaro Renato A. , Silveira Landulfo
Published: November 2014

Identification of cocaine and subsequent quantification immediately after seizure are problems for the police in developing countries such as Brazil. This work proposes a comparison between the Raman and FT‐IR techniques as methods to identify cocaine, the adulterants used to increase volume, and possible degradation products in samples seized by the police. Near‐infrared Raman spectra (785 nm excitation, 10 sec exposure time) and FT‐IR‐ATR spectra were obtained from different samples of street cocaine and some substances commonly used as adulterants. Freebase powder, hydrochloride powder, and crack rock can be distinguished by both Raman and FT‐IR spectroscopies, revealing differences in their chemical structure. Most of the samples showed characteristic peaks of degradation products such as benzoylecgonine and benzoic acid, and some presented evidence of adulteration with aluminum sulfate and sodium carbonate. Raman spectroscopy is better than FT‐IR for identifying benzoic acid and inorganic adulterants in cocaine.
GC‐MS and IR Studies on the Six Ring Regioisomeric Dimethoxyphenylpiperazines (DOMePPs)
Authors: Abdel‐Hay Karim M. , DeRuiter Jack , Clark C. Randall
Published: November 2014

A number of N‐substituted piperazines have been described as drugs of abuse in recent years. This new drug category includes several series of aromatic ring substituted phenylpiperazines. The wide variety of available precursors makes regioisomerism a significant issue in these totally synthetic compounds. In this study, a complete series of regioisomeric dimethoxyphenylpiperazines were synthesized and evaluated using GC‐MS and FT‐IR. The EI mass spectra show fragments characteristic of both the dimethoxyphenyl and the piperazine portions of the molecules including the dimethoxyphenylaziridinium cation (m/z 180) and dimethoxyphenyl cation (m/z 137). The ion at m/z 56 for the C3H6N+ fragment is characteristic of the piperazine ring and was observed in all the spectra. The perfluoroacyl derivatives were resolved by GC, and their mass spectra showed some differences in relative abundance of ions. FTIR provides direct confirmatory data for differentiation between the regioisomeric dimethoxyphenylpiperazines, and GC separation was accomplished on an Rtx‐200 phase.
Antemortem and Postmortem Nonapposite Data—A Multidisciplinary Identification Strategy
Authors: Bublil Nurit , Kahana Tzipi
Published: November 2014

Identification of human remains is often achieved by comparing documented reference data with the same type of evidence obtained from the remains. We present a case of a decomposed unidentified body, whose identity was presumed but because of the low validity range of the available data, the identification process could not be completed. Antemortem radiographs of the teeth found in the house of the reputed victim could not be compared to the edentulous cadaver and the kinship between the victim and the only living relative that could provide DNA for comparison was too tenuous. Isolated teeth found at the scene, were neither a source of DNA reference information nor questioned data to be compared to the antemortem radiographs. The strategy implemented by the investigators to reallocate the status of the isolated teeth from the questioned source to the reference source of DNA to be compared with the cadaver is presented.
Tree imbalance causes a bias in phylogenetic estimation of evolutionary timescales using heterochronous sequences
Authors: Duchêne David , Duchêne Sebastian , Ho Simon Y. W.
Published: November 2014

Phylogenetic estimation of evolutionary timescales has become routine in biology, forming the basis of a wide range of evolutionary and ecological studies. However, there are various sources of bias that can affect these estimates. We investigated whether tree imbalance, a property that is commonly observed in phylogenetic trees, can lead to reduced accuracy or precision of phylogenetic timescale estimates. We analysed simulated data sets with calibrations at internal nodes and at the tips, taking into consideration different calibration schemes and levels of tree imbalance. We also investigated the effect of tree imbalance on two empirical data sets: mitogenomes from primates and serial samples of the African swine fever virus. In analyses calibrated using dated, heterochronous tips, we found that tree imbalance had a detrimental impact on precision and produced a bias in which the overall timescale was underestimated. A pronounced effect was observed in analyses with shallow calibrations. The greatest decreases in accuracy usually occurred in the age estimates for medium and deep nodes of the tree. In contrast, analyses calibrated at internal nodes did not display a reduction in estimation accuracy or precision due to tree imbalance. Our results suggest that molecular‐clock analyses can be improved by increasing taxon sampling, with the specific aims of including deeper calibrations, breaking up long branches and reducing tree imbalance.
Sarbanes–Oxley Act and patterns in stock returns around executive stock option exercise disclosures
Authors: Bartov Eli , Faurel Lucile
Published: November 2014

We document negative stock returns and elevated trading volumes around executives’ early option exercise disclosures post‐SOX, but not pre‐SOX. This stock price reaction is incomplete, and the negative stock price drift is smaller post‐SOX compared to pre‐SOX. We also show effects of media coverage in the stock price response to exercise disclosures in the post‐SOX period. These findings provide evidence that the requirement mandated by SOX to disclose executives’ stock option exercises within two business days, and the increased media coverage, improves investors’ ability to incorporate into stock prices in a timely fashion the information conveyed by these exercises.
Cerebellar volume in schizophrenia and bipolar I disorder with and without psychotic features
Authors: Laidi C. , d'Albis M.‐A. , Wessa M. , Linke J. , Phillips M. L. , Delavest M. , Bellivier F. , Versace A. , Almeida J. , Sarrazin S. , Poupon C. , Le Dudal K. , Daban C. , Hamdani N. , Leboyer M. , Houenou J.
Published: November 2014

Objective

There is growing evidence that cerebellum plays a crucial role in cognition and emotional regulation. Cerebellum is likely to be involved in the physiopathology of both bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. The objective of our study was to compare cerebellar size between patients with bipolar disorder, patients with schizophrenia, and healthy controls in a multicenter sample. In addition, we studied the influence of psychotic features on cerebellar size in patients with bipolar disorder.

Method

One hundred and fifteen patients with bipolar I disorder, 32 patients with schizophrenia, and 52 healthy controls underwent 3 Tesla MRI. Automated segmentation of cerebellum was performed using FreeSurfer software. Volumes of cerebellar cortex and white matter were extracted. Analyses of covariance were conducted, and age, sex, and intracranial volume were considered as covariates.

Results

Bilateral cerebellar cortical volumes were smaller in patients with schizophrenia compared with patients with bipolar I disorder and healthy controls. We found no significant difference of cerebellar volume between bipolar patients with and without psychotic features. No change was evidenced in white matter.

Conclusion

Our results suggest that reduction in cerebellar cortical volume is specific to schizophrenia. Cerebellar dysfunction in bipolar disorder, if present, appears to be more subtle than a reduction in cerebellar volume.
Challenges in seabird by‐catch mitigation
Authors: Favero M. , Seco Pon J. P.
Published: November 2014

Read the Feature Paper: Significant reductions in mortality of threatened seabirds in a South African trawl fishery; other Commentaries on this paper: Minimizing seabird by‐catch in industrial fisheries and the Response from the authors: Problems and solutions for seabird bycatch in trawl fisheries
Delineating prototypical patterns of substance use initiations over time
Authors: Dean Danielle O. , Cole Veronica , Bauer Daniel J.
Published: November 2014

Aims

The purpose of this paper is to discover patterns of drug use initiations over time through a multiple event process survival mixture model (MEPSUM model), a novel approach for substance use and prevention research.

Design

The MEPSUM model combines survival analysis and mixture modeling—specifically latent class analysis—to examine individual differences in the timing of initiation and cumulative risk of substance use over time, and is applied to cross‐sectional survey data on drug initiations.

Setting

Data are drawn from the 2009 National Survey on Drug Use and Health.

Participants

The survey includes responses from 55 772 individuals (52.05% female).

Measurements

The age of first use of nine different types of substances are examined, including alcohol, tobacco, cocaine and non‐medical use of prescription drugs.

Findings

It is argued that six patterns parsimoniously describe the population's risk of initiating different substances over time, described colloquially as general abstainers; early, late and progressive soft drug users; and early and late hard drug users. Both gender and ethnicity significantly predict the patterns, with Caucasians and males having a higher risk for the hard drug‐using patterns. The MEPSUM model produced stable results in this application, as the patterns are validated in a split‐sample design.

Conclusions

The MEPSUM model provides a statistical framework from which to evaluate patterns of risk for drug initiations over time and predict substance use trajectories relevant to public health interventions. The patterns that result from the model can be used as outcomes for subsequent investigations of etiological and mediating mechanisms.
Service utilisation by carers of people with dementia in rural Victoria
Authors: Ervin Kaye , Reid Carol
Published: November 2014

Aim

To explore the use of community and dementia‐specific services by informal carers caring for someone with dementia in a rural setting.

Methods

Carers of people with dementia were recruited through a variety of rural community services and invited to complete a survey related to the utilisation of community services.

Results

A total of 39 carers completed surveys. Despite 84% reporting use of the Aged Care Assessment Service and 61% reporting provision of printed information on the services available, less than half of the carers utilised commonly available support services. Only 46% received financial compensation for their carer role.

Conclusions

Rural carers of care recipients with behavioural and psychological symptoms of dementia underutilise community services. Services that may assist with carer stress and depression and services that provide advice on the management of distressing behavioural and psychological symptoms of dementia were utilised by less than half of the carers surveyed.
Murder and the Making of Man‐Subjects in a Brazilian Juvenile Prison
Authors: Drybread K.
Published: November 2014

Inside a juvenile detention center in northeastern Brazil, inmates discussed and performed their manhood in compliance with a stereotyped local model of masculinity that equated manliness with aggression, fearlessness, and virility. But unlike the male subjects portrayed in recent anthropological studies of masculinity, these youths did not understand their manhood to be primarily configured in opposition to femininity. In fact, when adolescent detainees pronounced themselves to be men—or to be, as was more often the case, sujeito‐homens (man‐subjects)—they did so without reference to women, sexual activity, or sexual organs. Instead, they asserted their manhood by committing (or attempting to commit) murder: an act deliberately intended to deny the perpetrator's belonging to either the social or the legal category of the child. While juvenile justice professionals often interpreted such acts of aggression as expressions of innate criminal character, I argue that the murders and violent attacks that occurred in the juvenile detention center can be better understood as performative acts through which inmates sought to shore up and affirm their autonomy, accomplishments, and manhood in the face of juvenile justice laws and policies that refused to recognize them as anything but children. [violence, gender performativity, children, crime, masculinity]
Pediatric germ cell tumors presenting beyond childhood?
Authors: Oosterhuis J. W. , Stoop J.A. , Rijlaarsdam M. A. , Biermann K. , Smit V.T.H.B.M. , Hersmus R. , Looijenga L. H. J.
Published: November 2014

Four cases are reported meeting the criteria of a pediatric (i.e., Type I) testicular germ cell tumor (TGCT), apart from the age of presentation, which is beyond childhood. The tumors encompass the full spectrum of histologies of pediatric TGCT: teratoma, yolk sac tumor, and various combinations of the two, and lack intratubular germ cell neoplasia/carcinoma in situ in the adjacent parenchyma. The neoplasms are (near)diploid, and lack gain of 12p, typical for seminomas and non‐seminomas of the testis of adolescents and adults (i.e., Type II). It is proposed that these neoplasms are therefore late appearing pediatric (Type I) TGCT. The present report broadens the concept of earlier reported benign teratomas of the post‐pubertal testis to the full spectrum of pediatric TGCT. The possible wide age range of pediatric TGCT, demonstrated in this study, lends credence to the concept that TGCT should according to their pathogenesis be classified into the previously proposed types. This classification is clinically relevant, because Type I mature teratomas are benign tumors, which are candidates for testis conserving surgery, as opposed to Type II mature teratomas, which have to be treated as Type II (malignant) non‐seminomas.