bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Region o niskim stopniu zainteresowania w polityce zagranicznej Stanów Zjednoczonych na początku XXI wieku
Authors: Wordliczek Rafał
Published: September 2014

American Foreign Policy towards Low Interest Region at the Beginning of the 21st Century. Case Study of Maghreb States The Mediterranean Area is a very important region at the contemporary international relations. Since 2001 the United States have established closer relations with North African countries. There are two main goals of the American foreign Policy towards Maghreb: one of the main goal of this cooperation is searching for the alternative way of supplying the United States by African gas and oil. Algeria, Libya and Nigeria are one of the biggest holders and exporters of these natural minerals. Nowadays, U.S., European countries and Russia are in rivalry for Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) and oil contracts with the African partners. The winner of this compete will keep control of the whole market of minerals and from the political, economic and strategic point of view will be stronger in the future. The second one is supporting by Maghreb countries U.S. counter-terrorism military operation Active Endeavour.
Konserwatyzm kulturowy Neila Postmana jako podejście kulturoznawcze osadzone w perspektywie teoretycznej i tradycji intelektualnej ekologii mediów
Authors: Cieślarek Paweł
Published: September 2014

Neil Postman’s cultural conservatism as an approach to cultural studies rooted in the theoretical framework and the intellectual tradition of media ecology The article strives towards outlining the thought and work of an American theorist and cultural critic Neil Postman (1931‑ 2003) in a wider context of the theory and history of cultural studies. It discusses the main threads of Postman’s cultural commentary and outlines his original concept of cultural conservatism as a narrative rooted in serious reflection on the condition of modern culture, and a coherent theoretical approach firmly rooted in a theoretical framework and an intellectual tradition which Postman had given the name of media ecology. This will maybe help to overcome the Polish interpretative framework by which Postman’s thought and work are often considered to be nothing more than popular essays, and to introduce to the Polish cultural studies discourse the term of media ecology, which so far had been insufficiently recognized.
Refleksja polityczna rosyjskich elit z podróży po Europie w połowie XIX wieku
Authors: Banaszkiewicz Mikołaj
Published: September 2014

Гран-тур и политическая рефлексия русских элит (середина XIX в.) Настоящая статья посвящена восприятию западной Европы русскими путешественниками в половине XIX в. Впечатления, полученные от Гран‑ тур как правило находили свое отражение в путевых записках или в личной переписке. Изучение этого материала позволяет, с некоторой долью условности, реконструировать политическое сознание элит Российской Империи. В статье внимание уделяется политическим и общественным деятелям эвохи великих реформ, как западникам, так и славянофилам. Источниковую базу исследования составляют воспоминания Дмитрия Алексеевича Милютина и Бориса Николаевича Чичерина, а также письма братьев Ивана и Константина Сергеевичей Аксаковых.
Podróż jako poszukiwanie tożsamości
Authors: Piwowarska Danuta
Published: September 2014

Journey as the quest for self‑ identity. European peregrinations of the Russian romantics

The Author of the article concentrates on the role and sense of a journey as functioning in the consciousness of the Russian in the first half of the 19th century. The Russian used to travel to Europe for the sake of education already in the 18th century – in the epoch of Peter I. Travelling became even more popular in the Romantic period. Russian Romantics considered the journey to Europe as “the travel of discovery”, being thus a form of the exploration of the world and other cultures, but also a form of experience aimed at the acquisition of self‑ knowledge and the recognition of self identity. The journey to the West of Europe could be perceived also in terms of a peculiar escape as well as an attempt at self‑ liberation from the gloomy reality of the Russian Empire at the time of tsar Nikolay I.Russian travelers – observing European order and comparing it to their own country – realized that there was a great distance between Russia and Europe in this respect. The juxtaposition of those two worlds – Europe and Russia – was frequently connected with the process of verification of national, religious and cultural identity.
Mass media as a factor of formation of the Russian political identity in modern conditions
Authors: Nesterchuk Olga
Published: September 2014

In article such technologies of the hidden management by mass consciousness in a context of formation of political identity of the Russian citizens are considered: political mythology, horror‑ management, building a positive image of the policy through the images – the mediators, the spiral of silence, a hidden comparison. Features are shown, to possibility of use of technologies of the hidden management by mass consciousness for creation of political preferences at the population Thus such management in information space in modern conditions is based on system of ideas, values, ideals.
Ramy prawne reżimu detencji wojskowej w prawie amerykańskim w świetle aktualnego orzecznictwa
Authors: Stolicki Dariusz
Published: September 2014

Military detention framework in American law – analysis of current case law The practice of military detention of persons captured during the “global war on terror” has raised controversy both in the United States and abroad. This article, being the first in a series of articles analyzing the post‑2001 case law on military detention, focuses on the basic legal framework. The principal legal basis for military detention is the 2001 Congressional Authorization of Use of Military Force against organizations responsible for 9/11 attacks. Bush and Obama Administrations’ claim that the AUMF authorizes military detention has been accepted by the Supreme Court in a 2004 case Hamdi v. Rumsfeld and codified by Congress in 2011. The article briefly considers and rejects main objections against its constitutionality. More complex are the issues raised by the application of other legal rules that potentially apply to military detention: Due Process clause of the U.S. Constitution and international law of armed conflict, but under the current D.C. Circuit case law, neither of them limits the President’s detention authority. Instead, judges decide habeas corpus claims brought by the detainees on the basis of judge‑made common law rules.
Polityki miejskie
Authors: Gądecki Jacek , Kubicki Paweł
Published: September 2014

Urban policies
The main subject of this article is the changing status of cities in the contemporary world, and the consequent necessity of creating and implementing coherent urban policies. The authors analyse the changing economical, political and socio-cultural contexts in macro dimension, which opens new development possibilities for contemporary cities. The authors pay particular attention to the case of Poland, emphasizing the consequences of omissions in the formation of coherent urban policies. In the scenario where there are no such policies, Polish cities become vulnerable to the inconsiderate exploitation of the global capital, as well as to the dominance of short‑term interests of the local political elites undercutting their subjectivity, and thus block the process of the modernization of Poland.
(Nowe) przestrzenie życiowe młodych mieszkańców miasta
Authors: Smagacz‑Poziemska Marta
Published: September 2014

(New) life spaces of young city inhabitants. On the base of the empirical research in Kraków and Katowice
The aim of the paper is to analyse the attitude of young city inhabitants towards the traditional urban space (city centre, neighbourhood) and commercial space (the mall). When they spend their time, where are the places important for their individual activity andgroup identities? What role is played in their lives by the urban centre and what by the mall? For teenagers, malls are a “natural” element of the urban space. The empirical research conducted in two major Polish conurbations, Krakow and Katowice, indicates two models of the urban spaces of young city inhabitants: the first one with strong meaning of the city centre (which do not correlate with the everyday practices) and the second with “absent” traditional centre and relatively strong neighbourhoods. It is vital to understand the developing typical relations of young people with urban spaces to see what the “city is becoming”.
Wielkomiejscy radni Platformy Obywatelskiej i Prawa i Sprawiedliwości na ścieżkach do stanowisk zajmowanych w kadencji 2006-2010
Authors: Betkiewicz Witold
Published: September 2014

“Civic Platform” and “Law and Justice” urban councilors on their paths to posts in 2006‑2010 term The main aim of the article is to describe career patterns of big city politicians who had been elected from lists of Civic Platform Party and Law and Justice Party, both parties that dominated Polish political scene. The authors try to answer in what way political career, local government career and socio‑economic status have affected the post held at the city council by representatives elected from both party lists. The authors formulate four hypotheses which concern the characteristics of the paths toward posts held by both parties’ representatives. The results of analysis show that paths towards posts are different and connected to the party. Law and Justice paths, whereparty career are very important, are more obvious and easer to interpretations. In the case of councilors who had represented Civic Platform relatively significant are local‑government careers.
Kultura polityczna elit w miastach partnerskich pogranicza Polski, Słowacji, Węgier i Ukrainy
Authors: Nijander‑Dudzińska Agata
Published: September 2014

The Influence of the Twinning on the Political Culture of Urban Elites on Borderland of Poland, Slovakia, Hungary and Ukraine (research concept)

Urban elite political culture can be understood as meanings, symbols and values which determine the types of political activities in the field of political power. It is shaped by many factors, among which worth mentioning are contemporary transnational relations. An interesting form of this relationship is a partnership of cities (twinning). The paper proposes the concept of the research on this factor’s impact on the political culture of the elites in the partner cities of Central Europe, situated on the border of Poland, Slovakia, Hungary and Ukraine. Research is based on the Victor Turner concept of social field. Knowledge gained as a result of this research can help to understand and explain how political culture of local elitesin this region evolve. Stress will be placed on continuity, autonomy, variety and affinities between different local political cultures. At the end current state of the relations between these political cultures will described and evaluated to give also prognosis for the future cooperation between them.
Beyond Political Claims: Women's Interest In and Emotional Response to Viewing Their Ultrasound Image in Abortion Care
Authors: Kimport Katrina , Weitz Tracy A. , Foster Diana Greene
Published: September 2014

CONTEXT

In the United States, abortion opponents have supported legislation requiring that abortion patients be offered the opportunity to view their preprocedure ultrasound. Little research has examined women's interest in and emotional response to such viewing.

METHODS

Data from 702 women who received abortions at 30 facilities throughout the United States between 2008 and 2010 were analyzed. Mixed‐effects multinomial logistic regression analysis was used to determine which characteristics were associated with being offered and choosing to view ultrasounds, and with reporting positive or negative emotional responses to viewing. Grounded theory analytic techniques were used to qualitatively describe women's reports of their emotional responses.

RESULTS

Forty‐eight percent of participants were offered the opportunity to view their ultrasound, and nulliparous women were more likely than others to receive an offer (odds ratio, 2.3). Sixty‐five percent of these women (31% overall) chose to view the image; nulliparous women and those living in a state that regulates viewing were more likely than their counterparts to do so (1.7 and 2.5, respectively). Some 213 women reported emotional responses to viewing; neutral emotions (fine, nothing) were the most commonly reported ones, followed by negative emotions (sad, guilty, upset) and then positive emotions (happy, excited). Women who visited clinics with a policy of offering viewing had increased odds of reporting a negative emotion (2.6).

CONCLUSIONS

Ultrasound viewing appears not to have a singular emotional effect. The presence of state regulation and facility policies matters for women's interest in and responses to viewing.
Metal made me who I am: Seven adult men reflect on their engagement with metal music during adolescence
Authors: Hines Michelle , McFerran Katrina Skewes
Published: September 2014

The relationship between adolescent mental health and their habits of music listening with regard to metal music has been consistently explored in academic research since the rise in popularity of heavy metal in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Correlational studies have been most prominent, but do not tend to explore this relationship in the depth required to garner a detailed understanding of the nature of this music engagement. The aim of this study was to investigate adolescent experiences of metal music from the perspective of adults reflecting on this time in their lives. Descriptions shared in e-mail interviews by seven men from different countries were analysed using phenomenological strategies. Fourteen different themes were deduced from the data, highlighting a variety of experiences. These ranged from engaging and validating difficult emotions to gaining positive energy, finding out about world issues and negotiating social networks. The results of this enquiry challenges the dualistic notions of ‘good’ and ‘bad’ music often interpreted from quantitative data.
Mapping the underground: An ethnographic cartography of the Leeds extreme metal scene
Authors: Riches Gabby , Lashua Brett
Published: September 2014

This article centralizes changes within Leeds’ popular ‘musicscape’, i.e., the relations between popular music and urban landscape. Focusing on Leeds’ extreme heavy metal musicscape, we map sites of the Leeds metal scene (past and present) in order to understand the shifting social relationships, effects of city centre regeneration, and the ways in which heavy metal music scenes have the ability to adapt and respond to continual modifications within the urban city. To address these concerns, we draw upon scholarship from popular music and place, heavy metal and human geography. Heavy metal scenes are a significant, yet often invisible and under-acknowledged, part of the urban cultural landscape. Mapping the metal musicscape, then, becomes an important way to understand broader physical, social, political, and cultural changes that occur to, and within, the postmodern city.
I am that we are a Meta-Listener
Authors: Hullick James
Published: September 2014

This article outlines the conceptual constructs that compel the author to create sonic projects for and with people of varying abilities. The author is a hybrid artist-researcher, and the article is voiced in a way that brings creative thought and academic language together. The article is divided into two parts. Part 1 discusses the author’s constructs of the ‘sonopoetic’ and ‘meta-listening’. Part 2 shows how these constructs have led to the author’s contemplation of the sono ecosystem through a large-scale sonic work titled The NIS (2009/2013) featuring the Amplified Elephants and the BOLT Ensemble.
Critical introduction: The Turn to Community in the Arts
Authors: Wyatt Danielle , MacDowall Lachlan , Mulligan Martin
Published: September 2014

This Critical Introduction to our Special Edition on ‘The Turn to Community in the Arts’ surveys the diverse ways in which ‘the turn’ is manifesting across art forms. Multiple forces are contributing to the shift in art-making. These include artists’ attempts to bridge relationships between aesthetic and activist practices; a dissolution in the boundaries between cultural, social, political and economic domains; and the increasing instrumentalization of the arts by government. Crucially, the authors map out the various mobilizations of community within distinct disciplines and traditions of arts practice, and consider how the ‘turn’ is understood within discourses of art criticism, contemporary art theory and community art. The disjunctures between and within these domains precipitate the critical questions and problems driving the subsequent articles of the Special Edition.
Zombification?: Gamification, motivation, and the user
Authors: Conway Steven
Published: September 2014

Gamification is often promoted as a user-centred initiative, engaging and motivating the alienated masses. Yet is such rhetoric reinforced by the design of these programmes? By incorporating a diverse suite of theoretical frameworks that accounts for the social, cultural and psychological effect of design features, this article argues that gamification too often invokes organization-centred design, treating users as zombies: senseless mechanisms urged onwards by a desire for extrinsic rewards. Gamification still often fails to acknowledge the user’s context and innate psychological needs. This can be accomplished in practice through an incorporation of motivational psychology and a concurrent shift towards user-centred design, accounting for the situatedness of the participant. Further, this article claims that for gamification to reach its full, radical potential, it must not only transform the way the user is evaluated and rewarded but also the activity the subject is tasked with performing.
America’s Army and the Military recruitment and management of ‘Talent’: An interview with Colonel Casey Wardynski
Authors: Allen Robertson
Published: September 2014

America’s Army, the official and free downloadable US Army video game franchise, has been continually updated with new versions for the past twelve years. Formerly managed out of the Office for Economic and Manpower Analysis (OEMA) at West Point, it has been an immersive, interactive advertisement for the Army, resting its rationale within in a military desire to recruit in a cost-effective way a new kind of ‘talented’ soldier. This reflects a military desire to, in the words of an OEMA publication, ‘move the Army beyond personnel management to talent management’. Drawing on a 2009 interview with OEMA director Colonel Casey Wardynski (retired), I argue that America’s Army has been primarily oriented towards recruiting the labour of a new kind of post-Fordist soldier – one who is part of the growing mass of immaterial labourers who can be identified as ‘the cognitariat’.
Kunst als Aufführungserfahrung
Authors: Umathum Sandra
Published: September 2014

Zahlreiche Werke in der zeitgenössischen Ausstellungskunst kennzeichnet die Bemühung, die Besucher in intersubjektive Verhältnisse zu setzen: mit dem Museumspersonal, mit eigens engagierten Akteuren oder mit anderen Besuchern. Diese Studie nimmt ihren Ausgang bei der Frage, wie sich mit dieser Praxis auch die Kunsterfahrungen geändert haben. Mithilfe des Aufführungsbegriffs und theaterwissenschaftlichen Methoden der Analyse widmet sie sich verschiedenen Erfahrungen in der Begegnung mit Werken von Felix Gonzalez-Torres, Erwin Wurm und Tino Sehgal und erörtert, wie diese sich qualifizieren und in historischer Perspektive einordnen lassen.
Die Verwandlung der Dinge
Authors: Perdomo Daniels Alejandro
Published: September 2014

Die ästhetische Strategie der Aneignung ist ein zentrales Moment in der Kunst des 20. Jahrhunderts. Als Ausgangspunkt zur Gewinnung des Neuen begründet die Aufhebung der immanenten Ursprünglichkeit im Vorgefundenen, bereits Vorhandenen, eine Kunstpraxis von enormer Tragweite. Alejandro Perdomo Daniels rekonstruiert die Strategie der Aneignung von Kunst- und Alltagsobjekten in der New Yorker Kunstszene Mitte des 20. Jahrhunderts (etwa durch Johns, Warhol und Sturtevant) und entwickelt ein Erklärungsmodell für die Transformation beliebiger Artefakte zu Kunstwerken. Über die kunstwissenschaftliche Analyse hinaus leistet die Studie damit auch einen Beitrag zur Kulturgeschichte der Dinge.
Investigación: Horizontes de planificación diferentes. Una discusión necesaria
Authors: Pérez Gustavo , Medina José
Published: September 2014

El horizonte de planificación, o ciclo de vida del proyecto, es una importante variable independiente, tanto como la tasa de descuento elegida, usual en todos los métodos de flujo de fondos descontados, siendo su elección fuertemente dependiente del caso específico tratado. La comparación entre inversiones que tienen vidas diferentes es un tema complicado. La mayoría de los métodos hallados en la literatura tienen hipótesis que, o no son totalmente claras, o no guardan el necesario rigor, a causa del problema siempre presente de la consideración de repetitividad. En este trabajo se concluye que el conocido método del beneficio (o costo) anual equivalente es una buena opción, y su defensa se basa en la simplicidad y el uso universal que se le ha dado al mismo. Por otra parte, también, se ha propuesto otra alternativa para llevar adelante esta tarea de decisión, como una contribución más a la cuestión aquí planteada.
Investigación: Análisis de casos publicados del indicador EC1 del GRI en entes sin fines de lucro. Efectos de la vigencia de la RT36
Authors: Hauque Sergio Miguel , Rabasedas Maria Laura , Del Barco María de los Angeles
Published: September 2014

El presente trabajo tiene por objeto analizar el contenido en la práctica del indicador EC1 de la Guía de Reportes GRI, en entes sin fines de lucro. Para esto, se realizó un estudio empírico de reportes publicados en los que se observaron las formas de presentación del indicador y sus particularidades. Las conclusiones demuestran que existe una significativa dispersión de formas, contenidos y conceptos que afecta la capacidad de este indicador de generar información verdaderamente útil. El trabajo se completa con la visión de los autores en relación a los avances y desafíos que presenta el Estado de Valor Económico Generado y Distribuido incorporado por la Resolución Técnica Nº 36, en reemplazo del EC1.
Divulgación: La creación de la Unión Europea y sus principales instituciones
Authors: Gastaldi Santiago , Vassallo Claudina
Published: September 2014

La Unión Europea es una entidad jurídica con una compleja estructura institucional que abarca cuestiones de política económica, de política exterior y de seguridad, y constituye el bloque de integración más avanzado en el mundo. Las dificultades económicas recientes experimentadas por algunos de los países que conforman la Unión Europea han despertado un interés adicional por el análisis de los procesos de integración y unificación. En este artículo se investiga el largo y complejo proceso de integración que dio origen a la Unión Europea (UE) con el objetivo de avanzar en el entendimiento sobre las cuestiones económicas y monetarias implicadas.En particular, se analiza la creación y modificación de su estructura organizativa, institucional, económica y de sus criterios de admisión, a medida que se ampliaron sus funciones y que nuevos países se sumaron al proceso. El escrito es una producción parcial de un proyec
Posibilidades de aplicación del concepto de interdisciplinariedad crítica a los seminarios integradores de grado de la Facultad de Ciencias Económicas de la Universidad Nacional del Litoral
Authors: Di Russo de Hauque Leila
Published: September 2014

El trabajo intenta rescatar el concepto de “interdisciplinariedad crítica” en el sentido definido por Ronald Barnett, para sus posibles aplicaciones a las carreras de grado de la Facultad de Ciencias Económicas en la Universidad Nacional del Litoral. En ese sentido, plantea una introducción sobre la historia de esas carreras en la Argentina, al mismo tiempo de recopilar el contenido central del llamado enfoque de “interdisciplinariedad crítica”. Luego de analizar los actuales Seminarios de Integración Final de las carreras de grado de la Facultad, el trabajo señala elementos a favor y en contra para lograr que estos espacios puedan llevar a la realidad el mencionado enfoque. Así, se enfatiza muy especialmente la necesidad de integrar permanentemente en el dictado, el sentido ético necesario para el futuro profesional. La conclusión básica del trabajo señala que las Ciencias Económicas ganarán mucho más con profesionales que dediquen sus esfuerzos a tender “puentes” entre sus disciplinas constitutivas, por oposición al procedimiento de levantar “paredes” que encierren y limiten el conocimiento. La Universidad, como la principal actora en ese proceso de formación, debe asumir su responsabilidad en el resultado.
La articulación en Contabilidad y las tecnologías de información y comunicación (tic). En la búsqueda del aprendizaje significativo
Authors: Bayonés Marcela
Published: September 2014

Este trabajo se enmarca en el proyecto “El sistema de articulación disciplinar en Contabilidad entre el nivel medio y la Universidad”, y apunta al objetivo referente a tornar mas eficiente el proceso de enseñanza– aprendizaje contable en la universidad. Mediante relevamiento de información primaria, se identificaron fortalezas–debilidades detectadas en el perfil de ingresantes y en el proceso de enseñanza de Contabilidad, y partiendo de análisis documental se reflexiona acerca del rol del docente y de las nuevas tecnologías (Ntic). Analizando resultados se concluye con propuestas de mejoras al régimen actual y con consideraciones que aportan al debate sobre la temática.
Modelo basado en competencias en la educación superior. Reflexiones e interrogantes
Authors: Pagura Fernanda , Pacífico Andrea
Published: September 2014

Este trabajo presenta algunas reflexiones surgidas en torno al modelo educativo basado en competencias en el marco del CAI+D 2009 denominado Educación y trabajo. El caso de los alumnos que abandonan los estudios superiores. A tales efectos se indaga acerca de los orígenes históricos y culturales de la utilización de este enfoque en el ámbito de la educación superior, partiendo de la Declaración de Bolonia del año 1999, y del análisis de los modos en que este enfoque se operativizó (Proyecto Tuning, Proyecto 6x4, etc). Se exponen y se analizan distintas definiciones del término competencias en vistas a clarificar su sentido y su alcance. A partir de este planteo surgen algunos interrogantes y reflexiones críticas que procuran develar supuestos, vacíos y vacancias en torno al modelo basado en competencias.
Unconventional natural gas development and public health: toward a community-informed research agenda
Authors: Korfmacher Katrina Smith , Elam Sarah , Gray Kathleen M. , Haynes Erin , Hughes Megan Hoert
Published: September 2014

Unconventional natural gas development (UNGD) using high-volume horizontal hydraulic fracturing (“fracking”) has vastly increased the potential for domestic natural gas production in recent years. However, the rapid expansion of UNGD has also raised concerns about its potential impacts on public health. Academics and government agencies are developing research programs to explore these concerns. Community involvement in activities such as planning, conducting, and communicating research is widely recognized as having an important role in promoting environmental health. Historically, however, communities most often engage in research after environmental health concerns have emerged. This community information needs assessment took a prospective approach to integrating community leaders’ knowledge, perceptions, and concerns into the research agenda prior to initiation of local UNGD. We interviewed community leaders about their views on environmental health information needs in three states (New York, North Carolina, and Ohio) prior to widespread UNGD. Interviewees emphasized the cumulative, long-term, and indirect determinants of health, as opposed to specific disease outcomes. Responses focused not only on information needs, but also on communication and transparency with respect to research processes and funding. Interviewees also prioritized investigation of policy approaches to effectively protect human health over the long term. Although universities were most often cited as a credible source of information, interviewees emphasized the need for multiple strategies for disseminating information. By including community leaders’ concerns, insights, and questions from the outset, the research agenda on UNGD is more likely to effectively inform decision making that ultimately protects public health.
Neural Representation of Concurrent Harmonic Sounds in Monkey Primary Auditory Cortex: Implications for Models of Auditory Scene Analysis
Authors: Fishman Yonatan I. , Steinschneider Mitchell , Micheyl Christophe
Published: September 2014

The ability to attend to a particular sound in a noisy environment is an essential aspect of hearing. To accomplish this feat, the auditory system must segregate sounds that overlap in frequency and time. Many natural sounds, such as human voices, consist of harmonics of a common fundamental frequency (F0). Such harmonic complex tones (HCTs) evoke a pitch corresponding to their F0. A difference in pitch between simultaneous HCTs provides a powerful cue for their segregation. The neural mechanisms underlying concurrent sound segregation based on pitch differences are poorly understood. Here, we examined neural responses in monkey primary auditory cortex (A1) to two concurrent HCTs that differed in F0 such that they are heard as two separate “auditory objects” with distinct pitches. We found that A1 can resolve, via a rate-place code, the lower harmonics of both HCTs, a prerequisite for deriving their pitches and for their perceptual segregation. Onset asynchrony between the HCTs enhanced the neural representation of their harmonics, paralleling their improved perceptual segregation in humans. Pitches of the concurrent HCTs could also be temporally represented by neuronal phase-locking at their respective F0s. Furthermore, a model of A1 responses using harmonic templates could qualitatively reproduce psychophysical data on concurrent sound segregation in humans. Finally, we identified a possible intracortical homolog of the “object-related negativity” recorded noninvasively in humans, which correlates with the perceptual segregation of concurrent sounds. Findings indicate that A1 contains sufficient spectral and temporal information for segregating concurrent sounds based on differences in pitch.
Face Inversion Decreased Information about Facial Identity and Expression in Face-Responsive Neurons in Macaque Area TE
Authors: Sugase-Miyamoto Yasuko , Matsumoto Narihisa , Ohyama Kaoru , Kawano Kenji
Published: September 2014

To investigate the effect of face inversion and thatcherization (eye inversion) on temporal processing stages of facial information, single neuron activities in the temporal cortex (area TE) of two rhesus monkeys were recorded. Test stimuli were colored pictures of monkey faces (four with four different expressions), human faces (three with four different expressions), and geometric shapes. Modifications were made in each face-picture, and its four variations were used as stimuli: upright original, inverted original, upright thatcherized, and inverted thatcherized faces. A total of 119 neurons responded to at least one of the upright original facial stimuli. A majority of the neurons (71%) showed activity modulations depending on upright and inverted presentations, and a lesser number of neurons (13%) showed activity modulations depending on original and thatcherized face conditions. In the case of face inversion, information about the fine category (facial identity and expression) decreased, whereas information about the global category (monkey vs human vs shape) was retained for both the original and thatcherized faces. Principal component analysis on the neuronal population responses revealed that the global categorization occurred regardless of the face inversion and that the inverted faces were represented near the upright faces in the principal component analysis space. By contrast, the face inversion decreased the ability to represent human facial identity and monkey facial expression. Thus, the neuronal population represented inverted faces as faces but failed to represent the identity and expression of the inverted faces, indicating that the neuronal representation in area TE cause the perceptual effect of face inversion.
Incubation of Cocaine Seeking following Brief Cocaine Experience in Mice Is Enhanced by mGluR1 Blockade
Authors: Halbout Briac , Bernardi Rick E. , Hansson Anita C. , Spanagel Rainer
Published: September 2014

The incubation of cocaine craving describes the time-dependent augmentation of cue-induced cocaine seeking during withdrawal from prolonged cocaine self-administration and requires time-dependent changes in neuroplasticity at the level of glutamatergic synapses in the nucleus accumbens (NAc). In contrast to most studies that use multiple cocaine-cue conditioning sessions, the present study tested mice with limited cocaine experience (i.e., a single conditioning session) in the incubation of cue-mediated cocaine seeking and its associated changes in the glutamate system. Mice that self-administered cocaine during a single session exhibited a time-dependent increase in their response for the drug-associated cue as compared to mice that self-administered saline. This behavior was associated with changes in AMPA and NMDA receptor binding characteristics. Furthermore, Group I metabotropic glutamate receptor (mGluR1) mRNA levels were altered in several brain regions, including the NAc. Because of the pivotal role of mGluR1 in the control of cocaine-induced plasticity, we investigated the role of mGluR1 in the formation of drug cue-mediated cocaine seeking. After prolonged withdrawal, mice in which an mGluR1 antagonist was administered following cocaine self-administration displayed increased cocaine seeking compared to vehicle-treated mice. These results suggest that limited cocaine experience is sufficient to induce neurobiological changes that enable an initially neutral cue to acquire motivational value that increases over time, an effect that likely involves glutamate signaling through mGluR1.
WlsProvides a New Compartmental View of the Rhombic Lip in Mouse Cerebellar Development
Authors: Yeung Joanna , Ha Thomas J. , Swanson Douglas J. , Choi Kunho , Tong Yiai , Goldowitz Dan
Published: September 2014

Math1 is the defining molecule of the cerebellar rhombic lip and Pax6 is downstream in the Math1 pathway. In the present study, we discover that Wntless (Wls) is a novel molecular marker of the cells in the interior face of the rhombic lip throughout normal mouse cerebellar development. Wls expression is found complementary to the expression of Math1 and Pax6, which are localized to the exterior face of the rhombic lip. To determine the interaction between these molecules, we examine the loss-of-Math1 or loss-of-Pax6 in the cerebellum, i.e., theMath1-null andPax6-null (Sey) mutant cerebella. The presence of Wls-positive cells in theMath1-null rhombic lip indicates that Wls expression is independent of Math1. In theSeymutant cerebellum, there is an expansion of Wls-expressing cells into regions that are normally colonized by Pax6-expressing cells. The ectopic expression of Wls in thePax6-null cerebellum suggests a negative interaction between Wls-expressing cells and Pax6-positive cells. These findings suggest that the rhombic lip is dynamically patterned by the expression of Wls, Math1, and Pax6. We also examine five rhombic lip cell markers (Wls, Math1, Pax6, Lmx1a, and Tbr2) to identify four molecularly distinct compartments in the rhombic lip during cerebellar development. The existence of spatial compartmentation in the rhombic lip and the interplay between Wls, Math1, and Pax6 in the rhombic lip provides novel views of early cerebellar development.
Substance P Exacerbates Dopaminergic Neurodegeneration through Neurokinin-1 Receptor-Independent Activation of Microglial NADPH Oxidase
Authors: Wang Qingshan , Chu Chun-Hsien , Qian Li , Chen Shih-Heng , Wilson Belinda , Oyarzabal Esteban , Jiang Lulu , Ali Syed , Robinson Bonnie , Kim Hyoung-Chun , Hong Jau-Shyong
Published: September 2014

Although dysregulated substance P (SP) has been implicated in the pathophysiology of Parkinson's disease (PD), how SP affects the survival of dopaminergic neurons remains unclear. Here, we found that mice lacking endogenous SP (TAC1−/−), but not those deficient in the SP receptor (neurokinin-1 receptor, NK1R), were more resistant to lipopolysaccharide (LPS)- and 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP)-induced nigral dopaminergic neurodegeneration than wild-type controls, suggesting a NK1R-independent toxic action of SP.In vitrodose–response studies revealed that exogenous SP enhanced LPS- and 1-methyl-4-phenylpyridinium (MPP+)-induced dopaminergic neurodegeneration in a bimodal manner, peaking at submicromolar and subpicomolar concentrations, but was substantially less effective at intermediate concentrations. Mechanistically, the actions of submicromolar levels of SP were NK1R-dependent, whereas subpicomolar SP-elicited actions required microglial NADPH oxidase (NOX2), the key superoxide-producing enzyme, but not NK1R. Subpicomolar concentrations of SP activated NOX2 by binding to the catalytic subunit gp91phoxand inducing membrane translocation of the cytosolic subunits p47phoxand p67phox. The importance of NOX2 was further corroborated by showing that inhibition or disruption of NOX2 blocked subpicomolar SP-exacerbated neurotoxicity. Together, our findings revealed a critical role of microglial NOX2 in mediating the neuroinflammatory and dopaminergic neurodegenerative effects of SP, which may provide new insights into the pathogenesis of PD.
Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation Dissociates Prefrontal and Parietal Contributions to Task Preparation
Authors: Muhle-Karbe Paul S. , Andres Michael , Brass Marcel
Published: September 2014

Cognitive control is thought to rely upon a set of distributed brain regions within frontoparietal cortex, but the functional contributions of these regions remain elusive. Here, we investigated the disruptive effects of transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) over the human prefrontal and parietal cortices in task preparation at different abstraction levels. While participants completed a task-switching paradigm that assessed the reconfiguration of task goals and response sets independently, TMS was applied over the left inferior frontal junction (IFJ) and over the left intraparietal sulcus (IPS) during task preparation. In Experiment 1, TMS over the IFJ caused interference with the updating of task goals, while leaving the updating of response sets unaffected. In Experiment 2, TMS over the IPS created the opposite pattern of results, perturbing only the ability to update response sets, but not task goals. Experiment 3 furthermore revealed that TMS over the IPS interfered with task goal updating when the pulses are delivered at a later point in time during preparation. This dissociation of abstract and action-related components not only reveals distinct cognitive control processes during task preparation, but also sheds new light on how prefrontal and parietal areas might work in concert to support flexible and goal-oriented control of behavior.
Transarticular Laser Discal Fragmentectomy. A New Minimally Invasive Surgical Approach for Challenging Disc Herniations in the Elderly
Authors: Bonaldi Giuseppe , Brembilla Carlo , Foresti Camillo , Cianfoni Alessandro
Published: September 2014

This report describes two elderly patients with large disc fragments extruded into lumbar radicular recesses not treatable by any conventional conservative, minimally invasive or surgical approach. Direct access to the disc fragments was obtained crossing the articular zygapophyseal cavity instead of the interlaminar space and spinal canal, using a small needle through which a laser fibre was inserted to deliver energy for tissue ablation. The procedures obtained regression of both symptoms and the bulk of the fragments at early and late clinical and MR follow-ups.
Bilateral adrenal gland haemorrhage: an unusual cause
Authors: Gowda Durgesh , Shenoy Vasant , Malabu Usman , Cameron Donald , Sangla Kunwarjit
Published: September 2014

Our patient had drainage of a large amoebic liver abscess. This got complicated by a severe degree of hypotension, which required aggressive fluid resuscitation and hydrocortisone support. Computerised tomography (CT) of the abdomen revealed bilateral adrenal gland haemorrhage (BAH) resulting in primary adrenal gland failure, which was the cause for hypotension. Patient was on long-term warfarin for provoked deep vein thrombosis of lower limb, which was discontinued before the procedure. Thrombophilia profile indicated the presence of lupus anticoagulant factor with prolonged activated partial thromboplastin time (aPTT). Patient was discharged on lifelong warfarin. This case emphasises the need for strong clinical suspicion for diagnosing BAH, rare but life-threatening condition, and its association with amoebic liver abscess and anti-phospholipid antibody syndrome (APLS).

Learning points

Recognition of BAH as a rare complication of sepsis.

APLS can rarely cause BAH.
Drosophila FANCM Helicase Prevents Spontaneous Mitotic Crossovers Generated by the MUS81 and SLX1 Nucleases
Authors: Kuo H Kenny , McMahan Susan , Rota Christopher M , Kohl Kathryn P , Sekelsky Jeff
Published: September 2014

Several helicases function during repair of double-strand breaks and handling of blocked or stalled replication forks to promote pathways that prevent formation of crossovers. Among these are the Bloom syndrome helicase BLM and the Fanconi anemia group M (FANCM) helicase. To better understand functions of these helicases, we compared phenotypes of Drosophila melanogaster Blm and Fancm mutants. As previously reported for BLM, FANCM has roles in responding to several types of DNA damage in preventing mitotic and meiotic crossovers and in promoting the synthesis-dependent strand annealing pathway for repair of a double-strand gap. In most assays, the phenotype of Fancm mutants is less severe than that of Blm mutants, and the phenotype of Blm Fancm double mutants is more severe than either single mutant, indicating both overlapping and unique functions. It is thought that mitotic crossovers arise when structure-selective nucleases cleave DNA intermediates that would normally be unwound or disassembled by these helicases. When BLM is absent, three nucleases believed to function as Holliday junction resolvases—MUS81-MMS4, MUS312-SLX1, and GEN—become essential. In contrast, no single resolvase is essential in mutants lacking FANCM, although simultaneous loss of GEN and either of the others is lethal in Fancm mutants. Since Fancm mutants can tolerate loss of a single resolvase, we were able to show that spontaneous mitotic crossovers that occur when FANCM is missing are dependent on MUS312 and either MUS81 or SLX1.
Earthquake: Why Can’t We Still Predict It and What Science Can Do?
Authors: Wang Fuzhou
Published: September 2014

Before the word “science” was created; people were curious upon the bases of the world and sought the possible explanation of it. That time the things the ancestors encountered were so complex that they could not decipher them in a reasonable way. However, the appearance of so-called science made all these things be changed. Till today, science makes our life change in an unprecedented speed. Facing today’s explosive information, we are filled with curiosity in accompany with knowledge-induced anxiety. When we walk forward more, we found far more things we do not know. In some areas, we have reached an advanced level such as in the field of outer space exploration, but in some others, like earthquake prediction, we are still there where we just started. Even a lot of entities provide us information about the happened earthquakes, whereas no one can tell us when it will be. In fact, it is really hard for science to give us the original answer “Why is it like that?” although we know something about the focused question. The only thing that science can do is justifying the theories using its own ways. It is understandable because science itself was a product of people’s thought, and it needs to be perfected per se.
A Study of Structural Damage & Recovery of Si, Ge and Ga FIB implants in Silicon
Authors: Balasubramanian Prabhu , Graham Jeremy F. , Hull Robert
Published: September 2014

The focused ion beam (FIB) has the necessary precision, spatial resolution and control over ion delivery for potential nano-scale doping of nanostructures such as semiconductor quantum dots (QDs). The ion current density in a FIB is 0.1-10 A/cm2, which is at least three orders of magnitude higher than that in a commercial broad beam ion implanter. Therefore an understanding of FIB implantation damage and recovery is of substantial interest. In this work we employ Raman probes of wavelengths 514 nm and 405 nm for quantifying ion implantation damage—both before and after annealing—in 30 kV Si2+, Ge2+ and Ga+ implants (fluences: 1x1012-5x1015 ions/cm2) into Si(100), for the purpose of understanding the effect of ion species on damage recovery.
Agent of Bicultural Balance
Authors: Corn Aaron
Published: September 2014

This article demonstrates how the remote ganma “converging currents” site on the Gumatj Yolnu homeland of Biranybirany in Arnhem Land has influenced the course of race relations in Australia through the bicultural agency of one of Australia’s most eminent Indigenous figures: the late Gumatj educator and musician, Mandawuy Yunupinu. It focuses on Yunupinu’s development of ganma as a pedagogical framework through his formative work as a teacher in Yolnu schools in the 1980s, and his parallel incorporation of these ideas into his music for the acclaimed popular band, Yothu Yindi. It will discuss how, through these processes, Yunupinu adapted ganma into a nomothetic paradigm for engendering balance and mutual respect in bicultural exchanges, and how, through his work as the lead singer and composer of Yothu Yindi, this ethos would have a pivotal role in educating the Australian public about its moral and political responsibilities to Indigenous Australians in accessible and inclusive ways. It concludes with an exploration of how Yunupinu’s ganma ethos has influenced Australian ethnomusicologists to work collaboratively with Indigenous communities towards mutually beneficial outcomes, and stands as a testament to his prolific role as a quintessentially Australian “agent of bicultural balance”.
Should World Music Teachers Teach World Music?
Authors: Killick Andrew
Published: September 2014

The teaching of “world music” in Western academic institutions has historically focused on traditional musics studied in relation to the cultures that produced them, but often in isolation from other musical cultures and from global processes of cultural exchange and power relations. Since the 1980s, however, the term “world music” has been adopted by the music industry as a marketing category that includes “hybrid” and popular musics which obviously result from such processes. This paper surveys the responses of “world music” educators, as reflected in published teaching materials, to the question of how to handle the industry’s kind of “world music”. It argues for a “transcultural” approach in which “world music” courses would embrace literally any kind of music on an equal footing and situate all music within a single shared history. Finally, it describes an example from my own teaching practice of how such an approach might be realized.