bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Optimization Model for Headway of a Suburban Bus Route
Authors: Jiang Xiaohong , Guo Xiucheng , Ran Bin
Published: September 2014

Due to relatively low passenger demand, headways of suburban bus route are usually longer than those of urban bus route. Actually it is also difficult to balance the benefits between passengers and operators, subject to the service standards from the government. Hence the headway of a suburban bus route is usually determined on the empirical experience of transport planners. To cope with this problem, this paper proposes an optimization model for designing the headways of suburban bus routes by minimizing the operating and user costs. The user costs take into account both the waiting time cost and the crowding cost. The feasibility and validity of the proposed model are shown by applying it to the Route 206 in Jiangning district, Nanjing city of China. Weightages of passengers’ cost and operating cost are further discussed, considering different passenger flows. It is found that the headway and objective function are affected by the weightages largely.
Epigenetic DNA Methylation of Antioxidative Stress Regulator NRF2 in Human Prostate Cancer
Authors: Khor Tin Oo , Fuentes Francisco , Shu Limin , Paredes-Gonzalez Ximena , Yang Anne Yuqing , Liu Yue , Smiraglia Dominic J. , Yegnasubramanian Srinivasan , Nelson William G. , Kong Ah-Ng Tony
Published: September 2014

Epigenetic control of NRF2, a master regulator of many critical antioxidative stress defense genes in human prostate cancer (CaP), is unknown. Our previous animal study found decreased Nrf2 expression through promoter CpG methylation/histone modifications during prostate cancer progression in TRAMP mice. In this study, we evaluated CpG methylation of human NRF2 promoter in 27 clinical prostate cancer samples and in LNCaP cells using MAQMA analysis and bisulfite genomic DNA sequencing. Prostate cancer tissue microarray (TMA) containing normal and prostate cancer tissues was studied by immunohistochemistry. Luciferase reporter assay using specific human NRF2 DNA promoter segments and chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) assay against histone modifying proteins were performed in LNCaP cells. Three specific CpG sites in the NRF2 promoter were found to be hypermethylated in clinical prostate cancer samples (BPH<ADT-RCaP<AS-CaP). NRF2 staining in human prostate cancer TMA showed a decreasing trend for both intensity and percentage of positive cells from normal tissues to advanced-stage prostate cancer (Gleason score from 3–9). Reporter assays in the LNCaP cells containing these three CpG sites showed methylation-inhibited transcriptional activity of the NRF2 promoter. LNCaP cells treated with 5-aza/TSA restored the expression of NRF2 and NRF2 downstream target genes, decreased expression levels of DNMT and HDAC proteins, and ChIP assays showed increased RNA Pol II and H3Ac with a concomitant decrease in H3K9me3, MBD2, and MeCP2 at CpG sites of human NRF2 promoter. Taken together, these findings suggest that epigenetic modification may contribute to the regulation of transcription activity of NRF2, which could be used as prevention and treatment target of human prostate cancer. Cancer Prev Res; 7(12); 1186–97. ©2014 AACR.
Macrophage Migration Inhibitory Factor Limits Activation-Induced Apoptosis of Platelets via CXCR7-Dependent Akt Signaling
Authors: Chatterjee Madhumita , Borst Oliver , Walker Britta , Fotinos Anna , Vogel Sebastian , Seizer Peter , Mack Andreas , Alampour-Rajabi Setareh , Rath Dominik , Geisler Tobias , Lang Florian , Langer Harald F. , Bernhagen Jürgen , Gawaz Meinrad
Published: September 2014

Rationale:

Macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF) is released on platelet activation. Circulating MIF could potentially regulate platelets and thereby platelet-mediated inflammatory and regenerative mechanisms. However, the effect of MIF on platelets is unknown.

Objective:

The present study evaluated MIF in regulating platelet survival and thrombotic potential.

Methods and Results:

MIF interacted with CXCR4-CXCR7 on platelets, defining CXCR7 as a hitherto unrecognized receptor for MIF on platelets. MIF internalized CXCR4, but unlike CXCL12 (SDF-1α), it did not phosphorylate Erk1/2 after CXCR4 ligation because of the lack of CD74 and failed in subsequent CXCR7 externalization. MIF did not alter the activation status of platelets. However, MIF rescued platelets from activation and BH3 mimetic ABT-737–induced apoptosis in vitro via CXCR7 and enhanced circulating platelet survival when administered in vivo. The antiapoptotic effect of MIF was absent in
Cxcr7
−/−
murine embryonic cells but pronounced in CXCR7-transfected Madin–Darby canine kidney cells. This prosurvival effect was attributed to the MIF–CXCR7–initiated PI3K-Akt pathway. MIF induced CXCR7-Akt–dependent phosphorylation of BCL-2 antagonist of cell death (BAD) both in vitro and in vivo. Consequentially, MIF failed to rescue
Akt
−/−
platelets from thrombin-induced apoptosis when challenged ex vivo, also in prolonging platelet survival and in inducing BAD phosphorylation among
Akt
−/−
mice in vivo. MIF reduced thrombus formation under arterial flow conditions in vitro and retarded thrombotic occlusion after FeCl
3
-induced arterial injury in vivo, an effect mediated through CXCR7.

Conclusion:

MIF interaction with CXCR7 modulates platelet survival and thrombotic potential both in vitro and in vivo and thus could regulate thrombosis and inflammation.
Dietary Fat Supply to Failing Hearts Determines Dynamic Lipid Signaling for Nuclear Receptor Activation and Oxidation of Stored Triglyceride
Authors: Lahey Ryan , Wang Xuerong , Carley Andrew N. , Lewandowski E. Douglas
Published: September 2014

Background—

Intramyocardial triglyceride (TG) turnover is reduced in pressure-overloaded, failing hearts, limiting the availability of this rich source of long-chain fatty acids for mitochondrial β-oxidation and nuclear receptor activation. This study explored 2 major dietary fats, palmitate and oleate, in supporting endogenous TG dynamics and peroxisome proliferator–activated receptor-α activation in sham-operated (SHAM) and hypertrophied (transverse aortic constriction [TAC]) rat hearts.

Methods and Results—

Isolated SHAM and TAC hearts were provided media containing carbohydrate with either
13
C-palmitate or
13
C-oleate for dynamic
13
C nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy and end point liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry of TG dynamics. With palmitate, TAC hearts contained 48% less TG versus SHAM (
P
=0.0003), whereas oleate maintained elevated TG in TAC, similar to SHAM. TG turnover in TAC was greatly reduced with palmitate (TAC, 46.7±12.2 nmol/g dry weight per min; SHAM, 84.3±4.9;
P
=0.0212), as was β-oxidation of TG. Oleate elevated TG turnover in both TAC (140.4±11.2) and SHAM (143.9±15.6), restoring TG oxidation in TAC. Peroxisome proliferator–activated receptor-α target gene transcripts were reduced by 70% in TAC with palmitate, whereas oleate induced normal transcript levels. Additionally, mRNA levels for peroxisome proliferator–activated receptor-γ-coactivator-1α and peroxisome proliferator–activated receptor-γ-coactivator-1β in TAC hearts were maintained by oleate. With these metabolic effects, oleate also supported a 25% improvement in contractility over palmitate with TAC (
P
=0.0202).

Conclusions—

The findings link reduced intracellular lipid storage dynamics to impaired peroxisome proliferator–activated receptor-α signaling and contractility in diseased hearts, consistent with a rate-dependent lipolytic activation of peroxisome proliferator–activated receptor-α. In decompensated hearts, oleate may serve as a beneficial energy substrate versus palmitate by upregulating TG dynamics and nuclear receptor signaling.
Prenatal Hypoxia Leads to Increased Muscle Sympathetic Nerve Activity, Sympathetic Hyperinnervation, Premature Blunting of Neuropeptide Y Signaling, and Hypertension in Adult Life
Authors: Rook William , Johnson Christopher D. , Coney Andrew M. , Marshall Janice M.
Published: September 2014

Adverse conditions prenatally increase the risk of cardiovascular disease, including hypertension. Chronic hypoxia in utero (CHU) causes endothelial dysfunction, but whether sympathetic vasoconstrictor nerve functioning is altered is unknown. We, therefore, compared in male CHU and control (N) rats muscle sympathetic nerve activity, vascular sympathetic innervation density, and mechanisms of sympathetic vasoconstriction. In young (Y)-CHU and Y-N rats (≈3 months), baseline arterial blood pressure was similar. However, tonic muscle sympathetic nerve activity recorded focally from arterial vessels of spinotrapezius muscle had higher mean frequency in Y-CHU than in Y-N rats (0.56±0.075 versus 0.33±0.036 Hz), and the proportions of single units with high instantaneous frequencies (1–5 and 6–10 Hz) being greater in Y-CHU rats. Sympathetic innervation density of tibial arteries was ≈50% greater in Y-CHU than in Y-N rats. Increases in femoral vascular resistance evoked by sympathetic stimulation at low frequency (2 Hz for 2 minutes) and bursts at 20 Hz were substantially smaller in Y-CHU than in Y-N rats. In Y-N only, the neuropeptide Y Y1-receptor antagonist BIBP3226 attenuated these responses. By contrast, baseline arterial blood pressure was higher in middle-aged (M)-CHU than in M-N rats (≈9 months; 139±3 versus 126±3 mm Hg, respectively). BIBP3226 had no effect on femoral vascular resistance increases evoked by 2 Hz or 20 Hz bursts in M-N or M-CHU rats. These results indicate that fetal programming induced by prenatal hypoxia causes an increase in centrally generated muscle sympathetic nerve activity in youth and hypertension by middle age. This is associated with blunting of sympathetically evoked vasoconstriction and its neuropeptide Y component that may reflect premature vascular aging and contribute to increased risk of cardiovascular disease.
The Convergence of Chemistry & Human Biology
Authors: Khosla Chaitan
Published: September 2014

Over the past two decades, “chemical biology” has emerged as the term of choice to describe the interface between chemistry and biology. As its name suggests, the field draws upon chemical insights and tools to understand or engineer living things. This essay focuses on the scientific, societal, and pedagogical potential of an emerging frontier for chemical biologists: namely, the study of Homo sapiens. My goal is to highlight the opportunities and challenges presented to chemistry by human biology at a time when it costs less to sequence an individual's genome than it does to buy a car. But how does chemical biology differ from other similar-sounding fields? By first reaching a clear understanding of the scope of chemical biology, we may address more pertinent questions such as: What is the promise of the emerging interface between chemistry and human biology? Why is it important to nurture the relationship between these fields? And what are the attributes of individuals and environments that are well poised to contribute significantly to this interface?
Cosmology Today
Authors: Spergel David N.
Published: September 2014

We seem to live in a simple but strange universe. Our basic cosmological model fits a host of astronomical observations with only five basic parameters: the age of the universe, the density of atoms, the density of matter, the initial “lumpiness” of the universe, and a parameter that describes whether this lumpiness is more pronounced on smaller physical scales. Our observations of the cosmic microwave background fluctuations determine these parameters with uncertainties of only 1 to 2 percent. The same model also provides an excellent fit to the large-scale clustering of galaxies and gas, the properties of galaxy clusters, observations of gravitational lensing, and supernova-based measurements of the Hubble relation. This model implies that we live in a strange universe: atoms make up only 4 percent of the visible universe, dark matter makes up 24 percent, and dark energy – energy associated with empty space – makes up 72 percent.
Complementary Roles of Human Hippocampal Subfields in Differentiation and Integration of Spatial Context
Authors: Stokes Jared , Kyle Colin , Ekstrom Arne D.
Published: September 2014

The unique circuitry of the hippocampus is thought to support the encoding and retrieval of context-rich episodic memories. Given the neuroanatomical differences between the hippocampal subfields, determining their functional roles during representation of contextual features in humans is an important yet unaddressed research goal. Prior studies suggest that, during the acquisition of information from the environment, the dentate gyrus (DG) and CA3 subfields rapidly differentiate competing contextual representations, whereas CA1, situated downstream from CA3/DG, is believed to process input from both CA3 and neocortical areas via the temporoammonic pathway. To further explore the functionality of these roles, we used high-resolution fMRI to investigate multivariate response patterns within CA3/DG and CA1 during the processing of spatial context. While undergoing functional imaging, participants viewed videos of virtual environments and were asked to discriminate between similar yet geometrically distinct cities. We manipulated a single contextual feature by systematically morphing the city configurations from one common geometric shape to another, resulting in four cities—two distinctively shaped cities and two intermediate “morphed” cities. Pattern similarity within CA3/DG scaled with geometric changes to the environment. In contrast, CA1 pattern similarity, as well as interregional pattern similarity between CA1 and parahippocampal cortex, increased for the regularly shaped configurations compared with the morphs. These results highlight different roles for subfields CA3/DG and CA1 in memory and advance our understanding of how subcomponents of the human hippocampal circuit represent contextual features of memories.
Morphological and behavioural correlates of contest success in male yellow-headed geckos, Gonatodes albogularis: sequential assessment or self-assessment?
Authors: Martínez-Cotrina Jorge , Bohórquez-Alonso Martha L. , Molina-Borja Miguel
Published: September 2014

Gonatodes albogularis is a small diurnal gecko that lives in Central and northern South America and whose behaviour has been rarely analysed. This study describes the behaviour patterns occurring during agonistic encounters between male geckos, assesses the effect of morphological and behavioural traits on aggressive intensity and contest outcome, and tests predictions of the sequential assessment and self-assessment models of animal contests. We staged encounters between randomly paired wild-caught males in a neutral arena. The behaviour of both males was recorded and a winner was determined for most encounters. Aggressive patterns exhibited during the contests included ‘throat depression’, ‘push-ups’, three types of ‘tail display’, ‘whole body waving’ and ‘bites’. Contest winners did not differ from losers in any of the morphological variables examined. However, winners performed longer or more frequent aggressive behaviours than losers, and frequency of ‘throat depression’ and duration of ‘whole body waving’ significantly predicted final status of geckos. These results show that some behaviours are good predictors of the outcome of aggressive encounters in G. albogularis. Moreover, winner SVL significantly predicted the aggressive intensity of the contest. Early theoretical models hypothesized that there should be mutual assessment between contestants, but our results for G. albogularis agree more with a recent model of ‘self-assessment only’ of intrasexual competition.
On the identity of Thespis disparilis Westwood, 1889 (Mantodea: Mantidae: Mantinae)
Authors: MILLEDGE GRAHAM A. , EHRMANN REINHARD
Published: September 2014

Thespis disparilis was described by Westwood (1889) from a male and a female specimen collected from Swan River in Australia. Swan River was the colony that eventually became Perth, the capital city of the state of Western Australia. Westwood’s description was brief, in Latin and no illustrations were provided. The type specimens are deposited in The Hope Entomological collections, University Museum, Oxford, England.
A new Corononcodes Speiser from the Palaearctic Region, with a key to species (Diptera: Acroceridae)
Authors: KEHLMAIER CHRISTIAN , GHARALI BABAK , JAHROMI BAHAREH MAJNON
Published: September 2014

Corononcodes ziegleri spec. nov. is described and illustrated based on material from Iran. The species represents the second Palaearctic representative of this panopine genus. In addition, C. siculus Bezzi is recorded from Fuerteventura (Canary Islands, Spain) for the first time. An identification key to the Palaearctic species of Corononcodes is presented. Additional faunistic records for the Iranian fauna comprise Acrocera orbiculus (Fabricius) and an apparently undescribed species of Ogcodes Latreille. DNA-barcodes for all Iranian taxa are provided.
A new genus and two new species of Alysiinae (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) from Papua New Guinea
Authors: BRAET YVES , ACHTERBERG CEES VAN
Published: September 2014

Two new species of the genus Leptotrema van Achterberg, 1988 and one new genus of the Alysiinae from Mt Wilhelm, Madang Province, Papua New Guinea are described and illustrated. The distribution of the genus Leptotrema is extended to the Australasian region. Three new combinations are established Idiasta fulmeki (Fischer, 2010) comb. n. (=Microcrasis fulmeki Fischer, 2010), Apiasta postfurcata (Papp, 1966) comb. n. (= Microcrasis postfurcata (Papp, 1966)), and Leptotrema. bovefemora (Bhat, 1979) comb. nov. (=Aspilota bovefemora Bhat, 1979). The status of the genus Apiasta Wharton, 2002 (stat. n.) is reviewed. Keys are provided to enable their identification.
Observational Boundary Layer Energy and Water Budgets of the Stratocumulus-to-Cumulus Transition
Authors: Kalmus Peter , Lebsock Matthew , Teixeira João
Published: September 2014

The authors estimate summer mean boundary layer water and energy budgets along a northeast Pacific transect from 35° to 15°N, which includes the transition from marine stratocumulus to trade cumulus clouds. Observational data is used from three A-Train satellites, Aqua, CloudSat, and the Cloud–Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observations (CALIPSO); data derived from GPS signals intercepted by microsatellites of the Constellation Observing System for Meteorology, Ionosphere, and Climate (COSMIC); and the container-ship-based Marine Atmospheric Radiation Measurement Program (ARM) Global Energy and Water Cycle Experiment Cloud System Study/Working Group on Numerical Experimentation (GCSS/WGNE) Pacific Cross-Section Intercomparison (GPCI) Investigation of Clouds (MAGIC) campaign. These are unique satellite and shipborne observations providing the first global-scale observations of light precipitation, new vertically resolved radiation budget products derived from the active sensors, and well-sampled radiosonde data near the transect. In addition to the observations, the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) Interim Re-Analysis (ERA-Interim) fields are utilized to estimate the budgets. Both budgets approach within 3 W m−2 averaged along the transect, although uncertainty estimates from the study are much larger than this residual. A mean entrainment rate along the transect of mm s−1 is also estimated. A gradual transition is observed in the climatological mean from the stratocumulus regime to the cumulus regime characterized by an increase in boundary layer height, latent heat flux, rain, and the horizontal advection of dry air and a decrease in entrainment of warm dry air.
On the Attribution of a Single Event to Climate Change
Authors: Hansen Gerrit , Auffhammer Maximilian , Solow Andrew R.
Published: September 2014

There is growing interest in assessing the role of climate change in observed extreme weather events. Recent work in this area has focused on estimating a measure called attributable risk. A statistical formulation of this problem is described and used to construct a confidence interval for attributable risk. The resulting confidence is shown to be surprisingly wide even in the case where the event of interest is unprecedented in the historical record.
A Spectral Cumulus Parameterization Scheme Interpolating between Two Convective Updrafts with Semi-Lagrangian Calculation of Transport by Compensatory Subsidence
Authors: Yoshimura Hiromasa , Mizuta Ryo , Murakami Hiroyuki
Published: September 2014

The authors have developed a new spectral cumulus parameterization scheme that explicitly considers an ensemble of multiple convective updrafts by interpolating in-cloud variables between two convective updrafts with large and small entrainment rates. This cumulus scheme has the advantages that the variables in entraining and detraining convective updrafts are calculated in detail layer by layer as in the Tiedtke scheme, and that a spectrum of convective updrafts with different heights due to the difference in entrainment rates is explicitly represented, as in the Arakawa–Schubert scheme. A conservative and monotonic semi-Lagrangian scheme is used for calculation of transport by convection-induced compensatory subsidence. Use of the semi-Lagrangian scheme relaxes the mass-flux limit due to the Courant–Friedrichs–Lewy (CFL) condition, and moreover ensures nonnegative natural material transport. A global atmospheric model using this cumulus scheme gives an atmospheric simulation that agrees well with the observational climatology.
Observations and Modeling of Atmospheric Profiles in the Arctic Seasonal Ice Zone
Authors: Liu Zheng , Schweiger Axel , Lindsay Ron
Published: September 2014

The authors use the Polar Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) Model to simulate atmospheric conditions during the Seasonal Ice Zone Reconnaissance Survey (SIZRS) in the summer of 2013 over the Beaufort Sea. With the SIZRS dropsonde data, the performance of WRF simulations and two forcing datasets is evaluated: the Interim ECMWF Re-Analysis (ERA-Interim) and the Global Forecast System (GFS) analysis. General features of observed mean profiles, such as low-level temperature inversion, low-level jet (LLJ), and specific humidity inversion are reproduced by all three models. A near-surface warm bias and a low-level moist bias are found in ERA-Interim. WRF significantly improves the mean LLJ, with a lower and stronger jet and a larger turning angle than the forcing. The improvement in the mean LLJ is likely related to the lower values of the boundary layer diffusion in WRF than in ERA-Interim and GFS, which also explains the lower near-surface temperature in WRF than the forcing. The relative humidity profiles have large differences between the observations, the ERA-Interim, and the GFS. The WRF simulated relative humidity closely resembles the forcings, suggesting the need to obtain more and better-calibrated humidity data in this region. The authors find that the sea ice concentrations in the ECMWF model are sometimes significantly underestimated due to an inappropriate thresholding mechanism. This thresholding affects both ERA-Interim and the ECMWF operational model. The scale of impact of this issue on the atmospheric boundary layer in the marginal ice zone is still unknown.
Young radical nationalists: Prisoners of their own myth? The case of the Kale Borroka in the Spanish Basque country
Authors: Ferret Jérôme
Published: September 2014

How and why do some young people become street fighters who rally behind a political ideology? This article attempts to explore this complex issue. First, using ethnographic data, the article examines political and violent socialization, and its connections to and influences upon individual, peer and discourse conditions. Second, it explores how individual predispositions, i.e. those dispositions acquired from a certain family, social class or peer group in an ideological background, constitute, or not, prerequisites for young men to turn to nationalist street fighting, such as the Kale Borroka in the Spanish Basque country. Finally, the article shows that the current representation of young activists is not a mythological construct, rather it is an extension of complex processes in early socialization, a product of virtual and physical interactions raisonnantes with the police organizations, and lastly, a form of self-referential violence.
Implementation of the RTE Act: RTE Forum’s Stocktaking Report
Authors: Rai Ambarish
Published: September 2014

The Right to Free and Compulsory Education Act (RTE) Act 2009 came into force in 2010 (Article 21A of the Indian Constitution), making the ‘right to education’ a fundamental right for children between 6 and 14 years of age a reality. To ensure the implementation of the Act, the parliament gave timelines to the government to execute all its provisions (in terms of infrastructure etc. till March 2013 and for regularising and training all teachers till March 2015). Despite multiple limitations, the civil society welcomed this long-awaited right and converged collectively, becoming a strong voice demanding the right to education in its true spirit. Apart from strongly lobbying for its implementation, it worked overtime to take this right to the people, generating awareness about the justiciability of the Act. Ten thousand grass-roots organisations, activists, educationists and teacher’s associations came together and formed the ‘Right to Education (RTE) Forum’ to collectively take forth their efforts to the people across the country. The RTE Forum started mass awareness campaigns, advocacy and stocktaking conventions (of the implementation of the RTE Act), both at national and State levels, along with generating its own report on the status of implementation of the Act. Presently, the RTE Forum is working across 18 states. The status reports prepared by the Forum highlight the gaps in implementation, loopholes and challenges, which are shared with the concerned officials from time to time. This article is based on the fourth-year status report of the RTE Forum, which was presented in the 4th Stocktaking Convention held in Delhi in March 2014, reviewing the status of implementation of the Act one year post the first deadline. The report highlights the apathy and the casual approach of the State towards its commitment of ensuring the right to education for the children. Unfortunately, only 10 per cent schools in the country are compliant with all the norms of the RTE Act.
Terribly upright
Authors: Loick Daniel
Published: September 2014

Hegel is one of the few philosophers to devote systematic attention to phenomena that can be called pathologies of juridicism. Hegel claims that the law fundamentally contaminates the way in which we relate to ourselves, to others and to the world so that our (inter-) subjectivity becomes ethically deformed, distorted, or deficient. I outline this notion and reconstruct its development in the work of the young Hegel. I reconstruct Hegel’s critique of juridical forms of normativity as developed in his Spirit of Christianity with reference to the example of Judaism and sketch his idea of a non-juridical intersubjectivity. I will make apparent the considerable problems lurking in Hegel’s account of love, which turns out to be a form of social integration potentially just as violent as the law. I argue that Hegel himself became aware of this problem and modified his original model by assigning to both love and law a legitimate place within an overarching system of Sittlichkeit, as I demonstrate with reference to Hegel’s Jena article ‘Natural Law ’. In the end I briefly explain why I still find this strategy unsatisfactory.
How Young Men at High Risk of Fathering an Unintended Birth Talk About Their Procreative Identities
Authors: Daugherty Jill
Published: September 2014

Half of all pregnancies in the United States are unintended. The risk is particularly high for certain demographic groups, including those making up lower socioeconomic status and minority groups. Few studies on unintended pregnancy have incorporated the fertility preferences of men, despite the knowledge that they do influence reproductive decisions. I explore how men who are at a relatively high risk for fathering an unintended pregnancy talk about their procreative identities in everyday life. I analyze the transcripts of focus groups conducted with young, socioeconomically disadvantaged African American and Puerto Rican men to examine how they talk about procreative consciousness, procreative responsibility, and pregnancy planning. Analyses demonstrate that men often have a very active sense of procreative consciousness and a lagging sense of procreative responsibility. However, men consider fatherhood to be an important role and look forward to parenting children. These factors may contribute to their relatively higher risk for fathering an unintended pregnancy.
Corruption in the Context of Moral Trade-offs
Authors: Dungan James , Waytz Adam , Young Liane
Published: September 2014

Moral psychology has begun to characterize the circumstances that lead people to commit moral violations. However, the decision to engage in corrupt behaviour may not always reflect a choice between right and wrong. Rather, the decision may represent a trade-off between competing moral concerns (for example, being fair and impartial to all versus loyal to one’s own group). Taking the tension between fairness and loyalty as a case study, we demonstrate that the way people make trade-offs between competing moral norms predicts morally relevant behaviour, such as decisions to blow the whistle on unethical acts. We then suggest that this tension reflects a deeper distinction within our moral psychology, namely, a distinction between group-based norms (for example, loyalty) and norms that apply universally, independent of group membership (for example, fairness). Finally, we discuss what factors may influence the adoption of group-based versus group-independent norms and therefore, how these factors might deter or promote corruption.

JEL: M14 Corporate Culture, Diversity, Social Responsibility
Adolescents’ Explanations for the Exclusion of Peers With Mental Health Problems
Authors: O’Driscoll Claire , Heary Caroline , Hennessy Eilis , McKeague Lynn
Published: September 2014

Young people with mental health problems are often excluded from their peer group; however, research has not specifically explored their peers’ explanations for this exclusion. Drawing on data from group interviews with Irish adolescents ( N = 148), this study explores the reasons offered for rejecting young people with mental health problems. Such reasons include perceived violation of expectations of friendships, and perceived social and personal risks to members of the peer group. The implications of these findings for the development of interventions to combat the stigma of mental health problems are discussed.
Vancomycin Nephrotoxicity
Authors: Mergenhagen Kari A. , Borton Angela R.
Published: September 2014

Vancomycin earned notoriety for its tendency to cause nephrotoxicity shortly after it was introduced into practice, though the impurities responsible for historically significant rates of nephrotoxicity are of minimal concern today. Increasing usage of vancomycin has provided evidence that the drug itself can be nephrotoxic, but the exact mechanism by which this occurs has not been determined. Various studies have identified risk factors associated with development of vancomycin-associated nephrotoxicity, including total daily dose > 4 grams, trough levels > 20 mg/L, therapy exceeding 6 days, concurrent use of other nephrotoxic agents, preexisting renal disease, obesity, hypotensive episodes, and increasing severity of illness. Preventative strategies beyond risk assessment and therapeutic drug monitoring have shown little promise. Most cases of nephrotoxicity are reversible with discontinuation of vancomycin, but permanent renal damage can occur. This article is intended to serve as a practical review of vancomycin-associated nephrotoxicity, including historical context, risk factors, and common methods to evaluate and define renal dysfunction.
Characteristics of the heat release in three-dimensional, highly porous reactors under engine-like conditions in comparison with free diesel injection conditions
Authors: Weclas Miroslaw , Cypris Jochen
Published: September 2014

An innovative engine concept with fuel injection and combustion in a three-dimensional porous combustion reactor allows realization of very clean and efficient combustion. In this paper the combustion process as realized in a free-volume combustion chamber and in porous combustion reactors was analysed under diesel-engine-like conditions. A special combustion chamber allows simulations of engine conditions corresponding to the moment when diesel injection begins (the initial conditions). There are characteristic features (modes) of a heat release process that was defined in a two-dimensional and three-dimensional field of the initial pressure and temperature. The characteristic modes of the heat release process in a free-volume chamber were analysed and compared with the process occurring in highly porous three-dimensional combustion reactors. These combustion modes depend on the reactor parameters, especially on its heat capacity, pore structure and density. The combustion in the reactor occurs at a reduced temperature; however, a qualitative similarity of the heat release process to that in a free-volume combustion chamber was proven. Furthermore, a limitation of the reaction rate at high initial temperatures and pressures was recognized in the case of porous reactors. This indicates the applicability of this combustion technology to internal-combustion engines even at high loads and has the favourable effect of a lower combustion noise.
Reduced-order modelling of wind turbine airfoil unsteady aerodynamic loading
Authors: Zhu Xiaocheng , Liu Pengyin , Chen Jinge , Shen Xin , Du Zhaohui
Published: September 2014

In this paper, three different reduced-order models (auto-regressive and moving average, Volterra series and a surrogate-based recurrence framework model) are presented for the prediction of the unsteady dynamic loading of wind turbine airfoils. A wind turbine blade section can experience unsteady aerodynamic loads when subjected to an unsteady aerodynamic environment. The generations of three reduced-order models for the evaluation of unsteady aerodynamic loads are investigated, with the different models used as a representation of linear or non-linear loading. The validity of the presented reduced-order models is assessed mainly by comparing the model output with unsteady time-accurate computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations. The results reveal an encouraging agreement between the computational fluid dynamics simulations and the model predictions under different conditions. All three reduced-order models would therefore be useful in engineering conditioning for aeroelastic analysis and wind turbine design optimization.
Pediatric Perspectives on Diabetes Self-Care
Authors: Koller Donna , Khan Noshin , Barrett Shaun
Published: September 2014

We conducted this qualitative study to explore children’s and adolescents’ perspectives about diabetes self-care, their knowledge of diabetes, and their emotions associated with having the disease. Drawing on the new sociological approach that acknowledges children’s competence in discussing complex issues that concern them, we conducted individual interviews with a cross-sectional sample of 48 patients between the ages of 5 and 18 years. We recruited participants from a diabetes outpatient clinic within a large pediatric hospital in one of Canada’s major urban centers. In this article, we present data from the following major themes: self-care, knowledge, and emotions. Through an in-depth analysis of these integrated themes, we offer validation that emotional support, along with disease education, provides supportive conditions for engaging in self-care and a process of acceptance.
School Nurses and Care Coordination for Children With Complex Needs
Authors: McClanahan Rachel , Weismuller Penny C.
Published: September 2014

Health care for students with chronic needs can be complex and specialized, resulting in fragmentation, duplication, and inefficiencies. Students who miss school due to chronic conditions lose valuable educational exposure that contributes to academic success. As health-related disabilities increase in prevalence so does the need for the coordination of care within the school and between the school and service providing agencies. This integrative literature review provides a synthesis of published evidence identifying and describing the core concepts associated with the role of school nurses in providing care coordination/case management to students with complex needs. Six core essentials of nurse-provided care coordination were identified: collaboration, communication, care planning and the nursing process, continuous coordination, clinical expertise, and complementary components. Recommendations for improving care coordination were elucidated in the review. Analysis of the literature can help assure application of best practice methods for the coordination of care for students in the school setting.
What Your Data Didn’t Tell You the First Time Around: Advanced Analytic Approaches to Longitudinal Analyses
Authors: Swartout Ashlyn G. , Swartout Kevin M. , White Jacquelyn W.
Published: September 2014

The present article describes the gap that exists between traditional data analysis techniques and more sophisticated methods that tend to be used more commonly among researchers outside of the study of v iolence against women. We briefly characterize growth models and person-centered analyses and describe the growing body of work in v iolence research that has applied these methods. Through an example from our own application of one of these techniques—latent class growth analysis—we highlight the ways that v iolence against women researchers may benefit from applying these more sophisticated methods to their own data, both past and present.
Examining Systems Change in the Response to Domestic Violence: Innovative Applications of Multilevel Modeling
Authors: Javdani Shabnam , Allen Nicole E. , Todd Nathan R. , Anderson Carolyn J.
Published: September 2014

Facilitating systems change in the response to domestic violence has been touted as a central goal in the effort to hold systems accountable and create a coordinated response for survivors. However, examination of systems change and whether particular social change efforts (e.g., coordinating councils) contribute to such change is a notoriously difficult research endeavor due in large part to methodological barriers, including those that stem from nonexperimental designs and complex data that are characterized as nested and measured in proportions. This article describes important methodological challenges and proposes innovative techniques to address these challenges. Specifically, multilevel modeling is applied to examine two key systems markers, including protection order and domestic violence program referral rates over time in one state. For each marker, the methodological approach is highlighted and innovations in employing multilevel modeling are discussed.
Extending the Anomie Tradition
Authors: Levchak Philip J.
Published: September 2014

This study advances anomie theory by examining the effect of anomic societal conditions and indicators of globalization on national homicide rates. Globalization may generate anomie in two ways: (a) via rapid change and (b) by contributing to economic dominance that may lead to a chronic state of anomie. To assess the role of globalization, measures of international trade are examined in a model of national homicide rates. Results show that net investment has a positive effect on rates of homicide across several models, suggesting that globalization and economic dominance aggravate homicide.
Evaluation use in evaluation systems – the case of the European Commission
Authors: Højlund Steven
Published: September 2014

This article investigates the European Union’s evaluation system and its conduciveness to evaluation use. Taking the European Commission’s LIFE programme as its case, the article makes an empirical contribution to an emerging focus in the literature on the importance of organization and institutions when analyzing evaluation use. By focusing on the European Union’s evaluation system the article finds that evaluation use mainly takes place in the European Commission and less so in the European Parliament and the European Council. The main explanatory factors enabling evaluation use relate to the system’s formalization of evaluation implementation and use; these factors ensure evaluation quality, timeliness and capacity in the Commission. At the same time, however, the system’s formalization also impedes evaluation use, reducing the direct influence of evaluations on policy-making and effectively ‘de-politicizing’ programme evaluations and largely limiting their use to the level of programme management.
The budgetary procedure in the European Union and the implications of the Treaty of Lisbon
Authors: Crombez Christophe , Høyland Bjoern
Published: September 2014

The Treaty of Lisbon reformed the budgetary process in the European Union. We present a game-theoretical analysis and an empirical evaluation of the new annual budgetary procedure. We find that the procedure operates much like the ordinary legislative procedure, and puts the European Parliament on an equal footing with the Council. Given the prevailing preference configuration, our empirical analysis shows that the European Parliament does not derive power from its veto right. Any voting coalition that commands a qualified majority in the Council includes a majority of the Members of the European Parliament. However, the European Parliament does derive power from its amendment and proposal rights. Furthermore, we conclude that the procedure is poorly designed and can lead to the breakdown of negotiations.
An Almanac of Tobit Studies: 2000-2014
Authors: Perrin Andrew B.
Published: September 2014

Arguably the most influential moments in the entire history of Tobit studies were the acquisition of the Qumran cave four Aramaic and Hebrew Tobit fragments in 1952 and their eventual publication in 1995. In light of these events, this article surveys the major advancements in resources and research on the book of Tobit since the turn of the millennium. The present survey establishes the status quaestionis on matters of Tobit’s compositional origins (i.e., language, date, and provenance) as it has emerged in several recent articles, monographs, and commentaries. Following the treatment of background issues, three thematic sections capture the major trends in recent Tobit studies. These include: (1) theories of Tobit’s scribal transmission and related text-critical issues, (2) questions of source material and intertextuality in Tobit’s composition and reception, and (3) a reappraisal of central narrative-theological features in Tobit (i.e., marriage and family, perspectives on burial, and the functions of food) and their potential insight into the book’s socio-historical contexts in ancient Judaism. The study concludes with some brief recommendations and open-ended questions for future research on the book of Tobit.
Could nanoparticle corona characterization help for biological consequence prediction?
Authors: Brun Emilie , Sicard – Roselli Cécile
Published: September 2014

As soon as they enter a biological medium (cell culture medium for in vitro, blood or plasma for in vivo studies), nanoparticles, in most cases, see their surface covered by biomolecules, especially proteins. What the cells see is thus not the ideal nanoparticle concocted by chemists, meaning the biomolecular corona could have great biological and physiological repercussions, sometimes masking the expected effects of purposely grafted molecules. In this review, we will mainly focus on gold nanoparticles. In the first part, we will discuss the fate of these particles once in a biological medium, especially in terms of size, and the protein composition of the corona. We will highlight the parameters influencing the quantity and the identity of the adsorbed proteins. In a second part, we will resume the main findings about the influence of a biomolecular corona on cellular uptake, toxicity, biodistribution and targeting ability. To be noticed is the need for standardized experiments and very precise reports of the protocols and methods used in the experimental sections to extract informative data. Given the biological consequences of this corona, we suggest that it should be taken into account in theoretical studies dealing with nanomaterials to better represent the biological environment.
Surveillance for Stage I Nonseminoma Testicular Cancer: Outcomes and Long-Term Follow-Up in a Population-Based Cohort
Authors: Daugaard Gedske , Gundgaard Maria Gry , Mortensen Mette Saksø , Agerbæk Mads , Holm Niels Vilstrup , Rørth Mikael , von der Maase Hans , Christensen Ib Jarle , Lauritsen Jakob
Published: September 2014

Purpose

To describe treatment results in a large cohort with stage I nonseminoma germ cell cancer (NSGCC) treated in a surveillance program.

Patients and Methods

From January 1, 1984, to December 31, 2007, 1,226 patients with stage I NSGCC, including high-risk patients with vascular invasion, were observed in a surveillance program.

Results

The relapse rate after orchiectomy alone was 30.6% at 5 years. Presence of vascular invasion together with embryonal carcinoma and rete testis invasion in the testicular primary identified a group with a relapse risk of 50%. Without risk factors, the relapse risk was 12%. Eighty percent of relapses were diagnosed within the first year after orchiectomy. The median time to relapse was 5 months (range, 1 to 308 months). Early relapses were mainly detected by increase in tumor markers, and late relapses were detected by computed tomography scans. Relapses after 5 years were seen in 0.5% of the whole cohort or in 1.6% of relapsing patients. The majority of relapses (94.4%) belonged to the good prognostic group according to the International Germ Cell Cancer Collaborative Group classification. The disease-specific survival at 15 years was 99.1%.

Conclusion

A surveillance policy for patients with stage I NSGCC is a safe approach associated with an excellent cure rate and an overall low treatment burden despite a high relapse rate in a small group of patients. We recommend surveillance for patients with stage I NSGCC with immediate systemic treatment at relapse. Clearly defined risk factors for relapse are presented if an option of risk-adapted treatment is preferred.