bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Adaptive right ventricular performance in response to acutely increased afterload in a lamb model of congenital heart disease: evidence for enhanced Anrep effect
Authors: Johnson Rebecca C. , Datar Sanjeev A. , Oishi Peter E. , Bennett Stephen , Maki Jun , Sun Christine , Johengen Michael , He Youping , Raff Gary W. , Redington Andrew N. , Fineman Jeffrey R.
Published: February 2014

Patients with pulmonary hypertension associated with congenital heart disease survive longer with preserved right ventricular (RV) function compared with those with primary pulmonary hypertension. The purpose of this study was to test the hypothesis that superior RV performance can be demonstrated, at baseline and when challenged with increased RV afterload, in lambs with chronic left-to-right cardiac shunts compared with control lambs. A shunt was placed between the pulmonary artery and the aorta in fetal lambs (shunt). RV pressure-volume loops were obtained 4 wk after delivery in shunt and control lambs, before and after increased afterload was applied using pulmonary artery banding (PAB). Baseline stroke volume (8.7 ± 1.8 vs. 15.8 ± 2.7 ml, P = 0.04) and cardiac index (73.0 ± 4.0 vs. 159.2 ± 25.1 ml·min−1·kg−1, P = 0.02) were greater in shunts. After PAB, there was no difference in the change in cardiac index (relative to baseline) between groups; however, heart rate (HR) was greater in controls (168 ± 7.3 vs. 138 ± 6.6 beats/min, P = 0.01), and end-systolic elastance (Ees) was greater in shunts (2.63 vs. 1.31 × baseline, P = 0.02). Control lambs showed decreased mechanical efficiency (71% baseline) compared with shunts. With acute afterload challenge, both controls and shunts maintained cardiac output; however, this was via maladaptive responses in controls, while shunts maintained mechanical efficiency and increased contractility via a proposed enhanced Anrep effect—the second, slow inotropic response in the biphasic ventricular response to increased afterload, a novel finding in the RV. The mechanisms related to these physiological differences may have important therapeutic implications.
Role of TGF-βPathway Polymorphisms in Sporadic Thoracic Aortic Aneurysm: rs900 TGF-β2 Is a Marker of Differential Gender Susceptibility
Authors: Scola Letizia , Di Maggio Federica M. , Vaccarino Loredana , Bova Manuela , Forte Giusy I. , Pisano Calogera , Candore Giuseppina , Colonna-Romano Giuseppina , Lio Domenico , Ruvolo Giovanni , Balistreri Carmela R.
Published: February 2014

Thoracic aortic aneurysm (TAA) is a progressive disorder involving gradual dilation of ascending and/or descending thoracic aorta with dissection or rupture as complications. It occurs as sporadic or defined syndromes/familial forms.Genetic, molecular and cellular mechanims of sporadic TAA forms are poorly characterized and known. Thus, our interest has been focused on investigating the role of genetic variants of transforming growth factor-β(TGF-β) pathways in TAA risk. On the other hand, no data on the role of genetic variants of TGF-βpathway in sporadic TAA exist until now. In addition, other cytokines, including IL-10, orchestrate TAA pathophysiology. Their balance determines the ultimate fate of the aortic wall as healing atherosclerosis or aneurysm formation. Thus, in this paper it was analyzed the role of ten polymorphisms of genes encoding TGF-βisoforms and receptors, and IL-10 in sporadic TAA. Our study included cases affected by sporadic TAA and two control groups. The most relevant finding obtained allows us to propose that rs900 TGF-β2 SNP is associated with sporadic TAA in women. This might open new perspectives for the analysis of sporadic TAA susceptibility factors and prevention.
Comment on “New Exact Solutions to the KdV-Burgers-Kuramoto Equation with the Exp-Function Method”
Authors: Liu Hong-Zhun
Published: February 2014

We point out in this paper that the claims made by Kim et al. in the commented paper are incorrect and no new exact solution was obtained.
Numerical Investigation of Temperature Distribution in an Eroded Bend Pipe and Prediction of Erosion Reduced Thickness
Authors: Zhu Hongjun , Feng Guang , Wang Qijun
Published: February 2014

Accurate prediction of erosion thickness is essential for pipe engineering. The objective of the present paper is to study the temperature distribution in an eroded bend pipe and find a new method to predict the erosion reduced thickness. Computational fluid dynamic (CFD) simulations with FLUENT software are carried out to investigate the temperature field. And effects of oil inlet rate, oil inlet temperature, and erosion reduced thickness are examined. The presence of erosion pit brings about the obvious fluctuation of temperature drop along the extrados of bend. And the minimum temperature drop presents at the most severe erosion point. Small inlet temperature or large inlet velocity can lead to small temperature drop, while shallow erosion pit causes great temperature drop. The dimensionless minimum temperature drop is analyzed and the fitting formula is obtained. Using the formula we can calculate the erosion reduced thickness, which is only needed to monitor the outer surface temperature of bend pipe. This new method can provide useful guidance for pipeline monitoring and replacement.
Oscillatory Behavior on a Three-Node Neural Network Model with Discrete and Distributed Delays
Authors: Feng Chunhua
Published: February 2014

This paper investigates the oscillatory behavior of the solutions for a three-node neural network with discrete and distributed delays. Two theorems are provided to determine the conditions for oscillating solutions of the model. The criteria for selecting the parameters in this network are derived. Some simulation examples are presented to illustrate the effectiveness of the results.
Effects of Ferulago angulata Extract on Serum Lipids and Lipid Peroxidation
Authors: Rafieian-kopaei Mahmoud , Shahinfard Najmeh , Rouhi-Boroujeni Hojjat , Gharipour Mojgan , Darvishzadeh-Boroujeni Pariya
Published: February 2014

Background. Nowadays, herbs they are considered to be the main source of effective drugs for lowering serum lipids and lipid peroxidation. The present experimental animal study aimed to assess the impact of Ferulago angulata on serum lipid profiles, and on levels of lipid peroxidation. Methods. Fifty male Wistar rats, weighing 250–300 g, were randomly divided into five equal groups (ten rats in each). The rat groups received different diets as follows: Group I: fat‐rich diet; Group II: fat‐rich diet plus hydroalcoholic extracts of Ferulago angulata at a dose of 400 mg/kg; Group III: fat‐rich diet plus hydroalcoholic extracts of Ferulago angulata at a dose of 600 mg/kg; Group IV: fat‐rich diet plus atorvastatin; Group V: common stock diet. The levels of serum glucose and lipids and the atherogenic index were measured. In addition, malondialdehyde (MDA), thiol oxidation, carbonyl concentrations, C‐reactive proteins, and antioxidant capacity were evaluated in each group of rats. Results. Interestingly, by adding a hydroalcoholic extract of Ferulago angulata to the high‐fat diet, the levels of total cholesterol and low‐density lipoproteins (LDL) in the high‐fat diet rats were both significantly reduced. This result was considerably greater compared to when atorvastatin was added as an antilipid drug. The beneficial effects of the Ferulago angulata extract on lowering the level of triglycerides was observed only when a high dosage of this plant extraction was added to a high fat diet. Furthermore, the level of malondialdehyde, was significantly affected by the use of the plant extract in a high‐fat diet, compared with a normal regimen or high‐fat diet alone. Conclusion. Administration of a hydroalcoholic extract of Ferulago angulata can reduce serum levels of total cholesterol, triglycerides, and LDL. It can also inhibit lipid peroxidation.
Damage Characteristics of Coated Cylindrical Shells Subjected to Underwater Contact Explosion
Authors: Zhang Zhi-fan , Ming Fu-ren , Zhang A-man
Published: February 2014

It is of great significance for the protective design of submarine to study the influences of coverings on the damage characteristics of single and double cylindrical shells subjected to underwater contact explosions. The SPH models of single and double cylindrical shells coated with foam silicone rubber are established to analyze shockwave propagation, damage characteristics, and elastoplastic responses, which provides reasonable parameters of covering position and thickness. The results can be concluded as follows: the superposition of multiple waves may cause the inhomogeneity and discontinuity; for the single cylindrical shell with inner or outer coverings, the damage mode is mainly tensile and shear failure is caused by detonation waves and detonation products; compared with out-covering approach, the in-covering approach has better antishock performance; the best protective effect comes out when the thickness of covering is close to that of the shell; as for the double cylindrical shell without interlayer water, the destruction of inner shell mainly results from the puncture of high-speed fragments from the outer shell, so for the outer shell, out-covering is a better choice; however, since the interlayer water is very effective in protecting the inner shell, in-covering will be better for the inner shell.
Effects of Water Quality on Dissolution of Yerba Mate Extract Powders
Authors: Huang Wen-Ying , Lee Pei-Chi , Hsu Jaw-Cherng , Lin Yu-Ru , Chen Hui-Ju , Lin Yung-Sheng
Published: February 2014

Yerba mate tea is known as one of the most popular nonalcoholic beverages favoured by South Americans due to its nutrition facts and medicinal properties. The processing of yerba mate tea is found to affect the properties of its final forms. This study presents an investigation into the effects of water sources on the dissolution of yerba mate extract powders. Comparisons were conducted between yerba mate teas prepared by dissolving yerba mate extract powders into tap water and deionized water. Topics to be explored in this work are the major compositions and antioxidant activities, including total phenol content, reducing power, DPPH scavenging activity, and ABTS+• scavenging capacity. It is indicated that there is little difference for antioxidant activities and major constituents of yerba mate teas between both water sources. However, a deeper color is seen in the tap water case, resulting from the reaction between tannic acid and ions. This research finding can be treated as a way to benefit the yerba mate tea processing for applications.
Antihyperglycemic Activity ofHouttuynia cordataThunb. in Streptozotocin-Induced Diabetic Rats
Authors: Kumar Manish , Prasad Satyendra K. , Krishnamurthy Sairam , Hemalatha Siva
Published: February 2014

Present study is an attempt to investigate plausible mechanism involved behind antidiabetic activity of standardizedHouttuynia cordataThunb. extract in streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats. The plant is used as a medicinal salad for lowering blood sugar level in North-Eastern parts of India. Oral administration of extract at 200 and 400 mg/kg dose level daily for 21 days showed a significant (P<0.05) decrease in fasting plasma glucose and also elevated insulin level in streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats. It also significantly reversed all the alterations in biochemical parameters, that is, total lipid profile, blood urea, creatinine, protein, and antioxidant enzymes in liver, pancreas, and adipose tissue of diabetic rats. Furthermore, we have demonstrated that the extract significantly reversed the expression patterns of various glucose homeostatic enzyme genes like GLUT-2, GLUT-4, and caspase-3 levels but did not show any significant effect on PPAR-γprotein expressions. Additionally, the extract positively regulated mitochondrial membrane potential and succinate dehydrogenase (SDH) activity in diabetic rats. The findings justified the antidiabetic effect ofH. cordatawhich is attributed to an upregulation of GLUT-4 and potential antioxidant activity, which may play beneficial role in resolving complication associated with diabetes.
Clinical Data Mining Related to the Japanese Kampo Concept “Hie” (Oversensitivity to Coldness) in Men and Pre‐ and Postmenopausal Women
Authors: Tokunaga H. , Munakata K. , Katayama K. , Yamaguchi R. , Imoto S. , Miyano S. , Watanabe K.
Published: February 2014

“Hie” is a subjective oversensitivity to cold and a condition experienced in 60% of Japanese citizens. The condition of hie has not been documented in Western medicine. However, in Kampo medicine, hie is an important target of treatment, because it has been considered one of the sources of all kinds of diseases. This study aimed to clarify the symptoms and findings associated with hie and contribute to increased precision in hie diagnosis. During 2005‐2006, data from interviews of 1691 patients during their initial visit to the Kampo Clinic of Keio University Hospital were analyzed using a classification and regression tree (CART) analysis, a data mining technique. Symptoms and findings characteristic of each group are follows as, postmenopausal women: fatigability, absence of lower abdominal pain, and absence of hot flashes of feet: women with menstruation: leg swelling, knee pain, and abdominal pain; men: insomnia, leg weakness, and absence of excess saliva. From the perspective of Kampo medicine the result suggested that the feature of hie condition in postmenopausal women, women with menstruation, and men is statistically different.
Hardware-Efficient Design of Real-Time Profile Shape Matching Stereo Vision Algorithm on FPGA
Authors: Tippetts Beau , Lee Dah Jye , Lillywhite Kirt , Archibald James K.
Published: February 2014

A variety of platforms, such as micro-unmanned vehicles, are limited in the amount of computational hardware they can support due to weight and power constraints. An efficient stereo vision algorithm implemented on an FPGA would be able to minimize payload and power consumption in microunmanned vehicles, while providing 3D information and still leaving computational resources available for other processing tasks. This work presents a hardware design of the efficient profile shape matching stereo vision algorithm. Hardware resource usage is presented for the targeted micro-UV platform, Helio-copter, that uses the Xilinx Virtex 4 FX60 FPGA. Less than a fifth of the resources on this FGPA were used to produce dense disparity maps for image sizes up to 450 × 375, with the ability to scale up easily by increasing BRAM usage. A comparison is given of accuracy, speed performance, and resource usage of a census transform-based stereo vision FPGA implementation by Jin et al. Results show that the profile shape matching algorithm is an efficient real-time stereo vision algorithm for hardware implementation for resource limited systems such as microunmanned vehicles.
First-In-Human Phase I Study of Lurbinectedin (PM01183) in Patients with Advanced Solid Tumors
Authors: Elez María Elena , Tabernero Josep , Geary David , Macarulla Teresa , Kang S. Peter , Kahatt Carmen , Pita Arturo Soto-Matos , Teruel Carlos Fernandez , Siguero Mariano , Cullell-Young Martin , Szyldergemajn Sergio , Ratain Mark J.
Published: February 2014

Purpose: Lurbinectedin (PM01183) binds covalently to DNA and has broad activity against tumor cell lines. This first-in-human phase I study evaluated dose-limiting toxicities (DLT) and defined a phase II recommended dose for PM01183 as a 1-hour intravenous infusion every three weeks (q3wk).

Experimental Design: Thirty-one patients with advanced solid tumors received escalating doses of PM01183 following an accelerated titration design.

Results: PM01183 was safely escalated over 200-fold, from 0.02 to 5.0 mg/m2. Dose doubling was utilized, requiring 15 patients and nine dose levels to identify DLT. The recommended dose was 4.0 mg/m2, with one of 15 patients having DLT (grade 4 thrombocytopenia). Clearance was independent of body surface area; thus, a flat dose of 7.0 mg was used during expansion. Myelosuppression, mostly grade 4 neutropenia, occurred in 40% of patients but was transient and manageable, and none was febrile. All other toxicity was mild and fatigue, nausea and vomiting were the most common at the recommended dose. Pharmacokinetic parameters showed high interindividual variation, though linearity was observed. At or above the recommended dose, the myelosuppressive effect was significantly associated with the area under the concentration-time curve from time zero to infinity (white blood cells, P = 0.0007; absolute neutrophil count, P = 0.016). A partial response was observed in one patient with pancreatic adenocarcinoma at the recommended dose.

Conclusion: A flat dose of 7.0 mg is the recommended dose for PM01183 as a 1-hour infusion q3wk. This dose is tolerated and active. Severe neutropenia occurred at this dose, although it was transient and with no clinical consequences in this study. Clin Cancer Res; 20(8); 2205–14. ©2014 AACR.
Intensive Cardiovascular Risk Reduction Induces Sustainable Changes in Expression of Genes and Pathways Important to Vascular Function
Authors: Ellsworth Darrell L. , Croft Daniel T. , Weyandt Jamie , Sturtz Lori A. , Blackburn Heather L. , Burke Amy , Haberkorn Mary Jane , McDyer Fionnuala A. , Jellema Gera L. , van Laar Ryan , Mamula Kimberly A. , Chen Yaqin , Vernalis Marina N.
Published: February 2014

Background—

Healthy lifestyle changes are thought to mediate cardiovascular disease risk through pathways affecting endothelial function and progression of atherosclerosis; however, the extent, persistence, and clinical significance of molecular change during lifestyle modification are not well known. We examined the effect of a rigorous cardiovascular disease risk reduction program on peripheral blood gene expression profiles in 63 participants and 63 matched controls to characterize molecular responses and identify regulatory pathways important to cardiovascular health.

Methods and Results—

Dramatic changes in dietary fat intake (−61%;
P
<0.001 versus controls) and physical fitness (+34%;
P
<0.001) led to significant improvements in cardiovascular disease risk factors. Analysis of variance with false discovery rate correction for multiple testing (
P
<0.05) identified 26 genes after 12 weeks and 143 genes after 52 weeks that were differentially expressed from baseline in participants. Controls showed little change in cardiovascular disease risk factors or gene expression. Quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction validated differential expression for selected transcripts. Lifestyle modification effectively reduced expression of proinflammatory genes associated with neutrophil activation and molecular pathways important to vascular function, including cytokine production, carbohydrate metabolism, and steroid hormones. Prescription medications did not significantly affect changes in gene expression.

Conclusions—

Successful and sustained modulation of gene expression through lifestyle changes may have beneficial effects on the vascular system not apparent from traditional risk factors. Healthy lifestyles may restore homeostasis to the leukocyte transcriptome by downregulating lactoferrin and other genes important in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis.

Clinical Trial Registration—

URL:
www.clinicaltrials.gov
. Unique identifier: NCT01805492
Constrained Arc-Eager Dependency Parsing
Authors: Nivre Joakim , Goldberg Yoav , McDonald Ryan
Published: February 2014

Arc-eager dependency parsers process sentences in a single left-to-right pass over the input and have linear time complexity with greedy decoding or beam search. We show how such parsers can be constrained to respect two different types of conditions on the output dependency graph: span constraints, which require certain spans to correspond to subtrees of the graph, and arc constraints, which require certain arcs to be present in the graph. The constraints are incorporated into the arc-eager transition system as a set of preconditions for each transition and preserve the linear time complexity of the parser.
Opposing Effects of Appetitive and Aversive Cues on Go/No-go Behavior and Motor Excitability
Authors: Chiu Yu-Chin , Cools Roshan , Aron Adam R.
Published: February 2014

Everyday life, as well as psychiatric illness, is replete with examples where appetitive and aversive stimuli hijack the will, leading to maladaptive behavior. Yet the mechanisms underlying this phenomenon are not well understood. Here we investigate how motivational cues influence action tendencies in healthy individuals with a novel paradigm. Behaviorally, we observed that an appetitive cue biased go behavior (making a response), whereas an aversive cue biased no-go behavior (withholding a response). We hypothesized that the origin of this behavioral go/no-go bias occurs at the motor system level. To test this, we used single-pulse TMS as a motor system probe (rather than a disruptive tool) to index motivational biasing. We found that the appetitive cue biased the participants to go more by relatively increasing motor system excitability, and that the aversive cue biased participants to no-go more by relatively decreasing motor system excitability. These results show, first, that maladaptive behaviors arise from motivational cues quickly spilling over into the motor system and biasing behavior even before action selection and, second, that this occurs in opposing directions for appetitive and aversive cues.
The Role of Right Prefrontal and Medial Cortex in Response Inhibition: Interfering with Action Restraint and Action Cancellation Using Transcranial Magnetic Brain Stimulation
Authors: Dambacher Franziska , Sack Alexander T. , Lobbestael Jill , Arntz Arnoud , Brugman Suzanne , Schuhmann Teresa
Published: February 2014

The ability of inhibiting impulsive urges is paramount for human behavior. Such successful response inhibition has consistently been associated with activity in pFC. The current study aims to unravel the differential involvement of different areas within right pFC for successful action restraint versus action cancellation. These two conceptually different aspects of action inhibition were measured with a go/no-go task (action restraint) and a stop signal task (action cancellation). Localization of relevant prefrontal activation was based on fMRI data. Significant task-related activation during successful action restraint was localized for each participant individually in right anterior insula (rAI), right superior frontal gyrus, and pre-SMA. Activation during successful action cancellation was localized in rAI, right middle frontal gyrus, and pre-SMA. Subsequently, fMRI-guided continuous thetaburst stimulation was applied to these regions. Results showed that the disruption of neural activity in rAI reduced both the ability to restrain (go/no-go) and cancel (stop signal) responses. In contrast, continuous thetaburst stimulation-induced disruption of the right superior frontal gyrus specifically impaired the ability to restrain from responding (go/no-go), while leaving the ability for action cancellation largely intact. Stimulation applied to right middle frontal gyrus and pre-SMA did not affect inhibitory processing in neither of the two tasks. These findings provide a more comprehensive perspective on the role of pFC in inhibition and cognitive control. The results emphasize the role of inferior frontal regions for global inhibition, whereas superior frontal regions seem to be specifically relevant for successful action restraint.
Ventral Striatum and the Evaluation of Memory Retrieval Strategies
Authors: Badre David , Lebrecht Sophie , Pagliaccio David , Long Nicole M. , Scimeca Jason M.
Published: February 2014

Adaptive memory retrieval requires mechanisms of cognitive control that facilitate the recovery of goal-relevant information. Frontoparietal systems are known to support control of memory retrieval. However, the mechanisms by which the brain acquires, evaluates, and adapts retrieval strategies remain unknown. Here, we provide evidence that ventral striatal activation tracks the success of a retrieval strategy and correlates with subsequent reliance on that strategy. Human participants were scanned with fMRI while performing a lexical decision task. A rule was provided that indicated the likely semantic category of a target word given the category of a preceding prime. Reliance on the rule improved decision-making, as estimated within a drift diffusion framework. Ventral striatal activation tracked the benefit that relying on the rule had on decision-making. Moreover, activation in ventral striatum correlated with a participant's subsequent reliance on the rule. Taken together, these results support a role for ventral striatum in learning and evaluating declarative retrieval strategies.
Catechization and Conversion
Authors: Ellis-Marino Elizabeth
Published: February 2014

The conversion of large portions of the German-speaking world from Protestantism to Catholicism in the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries is considered to be one of the successes of the European Counter-Reformation and of the Jesuits. However, Catholicization programs, especially those supported by the territorial governments, were not received without resistance. In both embattled and secure areas, the Jesuits viewed their schools as primary to their mission to reclaim Protestants and to solidify Catholic faith. Drama was one of the most visible ways that Jesuit teachers could reach the general populace for this purpose. Conversion and saints’ lives were common themes in Jesuit plays across Europe. One of the most popular of these plays which contributed to the process of Catholic confessionalization was the German Jesuit play Augustinus conversus by Jakob Gretser, first staged in the staunchly Catholic city of Ingolstadt. In the aftermath of an armed rebellion against the Counter-Reformation in the territory of Paderborn, the Jesuits staged a comedy by Augustinus Turranius which drew heavily on Gretser’s play. In staging a comedy about the adolescence of St. Augustine, the Jesuits expounded on the themes of conversion, redemption, and forgiveness without directly referring to the situation in Paderborn. In this paper, both plays are placed within the context of the cities in which they were composed and performed, and the religious struggles in both cities are considered in the light of the larger Jesuit missionary project of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.
Conquest and Theology
Authors: Thornton John K.
Published: February 2014

The Jesuits played a key role in the evangelization of the Portuguese colony of Angola and its surrounding Kimbundu-speaking neighbors when they came with the colonial mission of Paulo Dias de Novais in 1575. Their experience is an example of evangelization in a colonial setting in Africa, and contrasts with Jesuit approaches to conversion in the neighboring and independent Kingdom of Kongo. They drew heavily on previous experiences in the Kingdom of Kongo, which had itself become Christian a century earlier and pioneered a marriage between African religion and Christian spirituality. When Jesuits came to Kongo in 1548 they found an existing established church and added relatively little to it before they left following political disputes. When Dias de Novais came to found Angola, he initially was militarily dependent on Kongo’s assistance and the Jesuits, too, were dependent on the Kongolese version of Christianity, which is clear in their choice of vocabulary in the Kimbundu catechism that they sponsored and oversaw in 1628. However, the colonial situation in Angola made the Jesuits more willing to accept the idea of conversion by the sword, and they were notably less tolerant of African religious inclusions in Angola than in Kongo. The contrast in the two approaches was particularly evident when the Jesuits reopened a mission in Kongo in 1619.
Conflicting Visions of the Jesuit Missions to the Ottoman Empire, 1609–1628
Authors: Ruiu Adina
Published: February 2014

Beginning in 1609, as a result of the Capitulations concluded between France and the Ottoman Empire, the French Jesuits launched their missionary work in Istanbul. Protected by the French ambassador, the French Jesuits defined themselves as both French subjects and Catholic missionaries, thus experiencing in a new and complicated geopolitical context the tensions that were at the core of their order’s identity in France, as elsewhere in Europe. The intricate story of the French Jesuit mission to the Ottoman Empire is here considered through two snapshots. One focuses on the foundational period of the mission in Istanbul, roughly from 1609 to 1615. A second one deals with the temporary suspension of the Jesuits’ mission in Istanbul in 1628. These two episodes illustrate multilayered and lasting tensions between the French and the Venetians, between the hierarchy of the Greek Orthodox Church and Western missionaries, and between missionaries belonging to different Catholic orders, between the Roman church’s centralism and state-funded religious initiatives. Based on missionary and diplomatic correspondence, the article is an attempt to reconstitute the way in which multiple allegiances provided expedient tools for individual Jesuit missionaries to navigate conflicts and to assert their own understanding of their missionary vocation.
Introducing Chaetothyriothecium, a new genus of Microthyriales
Authors: Hongsanan Sinang , Chomnunti Putarak , Crous Pedro W. , Chukeatirote Ekachai , Hyde Kevin D.
Published: February 2014

The order Microthyriales comprises foliar biotrophs, epiphytes, pathogens or saprobes that occur on plant leaves and stems. The order is relatively poorly known due to limited sampling and few in-depth studies. There is also a lack of phylogenetic data for these fungi, which form small black spots on plant host surfaces, but rarely cause any damage to the host. A "Microthyriaceae"-like fungus collected in central Thailand is described as a new genus, Chaetothyriothecium (type species Chaetothyriothecium elegans sp. nov.). Phylogenetic analyses of LSU gene data showed this species to cluster with other members of Microthyriales, where it is related to Microthyrium microscopicum the type of the order. The description of the new species is supplemented by DNA sequence data, which resolves its placement in the order. Little molecular data is available for this order, stressing the need for further collections and molecular data.
Insects found in birds’ nests from Argentina. Pseudoseisura lophotes Reichenbach, 1853 and Anumbius annumbi (Vieillot, 1817) (Aves: Furnariidae), hosts of Triatoma platensis Neiva, 1913 (Hemiptera: Reduviidae: Triatominae)
Authors: PAOLA TURIENZO
Published: February 2014

The insect fauna of the nests of Pseudoseisura lophotes (Reichenbach, 1853) (Aves: Furnariidae) from Argentina was investigated. A total of 110 species (68 identified to species, 22 identified to genus, 20 identified to family) in 40 families of 10 orders of insects was found in these nests. Triatoma platensis Neiva, 1913 (Hemiptera: Reduviidae) was found again in nests of P. lophotes, corroborating after 73 years the first observations made by Mazza in 1936. The occurrence of the insects in nests of P. lophotes is compared with the previously known insect fauna in nests of A. annumbi, Furnarius rufus (Furnariidae), and Myiopsitta monachus (Psittacidae). The insect fauna in additional nests of Anumbius annumbi from the same and/or different localities is given, and used in comparisons. The first occurrence of Cuterebridae (Diptera) in birds’ nests, their pupae as the overwintering stage, and the second simultaneous infestation by two species of Philornis (Diptera: Muscidae) on the same nestlings are presented. Other simultaneous infestations of different hematophagous arthropods (Hemiptera: Cimidae; Reduviidae: Triatominae, and Acari: Argasidae) are remarked and discussed.
Revision of the subgenus Parapterygotrigla (Pisces: Triglidae: Pterygotrigla)
Authors: RICHARDS WILLIAM J. , YATO TAKUJI
Published: February 2014

The subgenus Parapterygotrigla of the triglid genus Pterygotrigla is revised with a description of a new species. The subgenus comprises P. hoplites, P. jacad sp. nov., P. megalops, P. macrorhynchus, P. multiocellata, and P. robertsi. Two juvenile forms considered to be incertae sedis Dixiphichthys ferculum Whitley, and two larval triglids, are discussed together with Trigla brandesii (Bleeker). Members of the subgenus Parapterygotrigla are distributed in tropical waters of the western Pacific and Indian oceans. All species possess a nasal spine, have long and strong nuchal and cleithral spines and short opercular spines. A new species, P. jacad, found in the western Indian Ocean, has an unusually large eye. All members of the subgenus are rare in collections as they live on the bottom in deep water (>200 m) over rough terrain and are rarely taken by trawlers.
Changing How Earth System Modeling is Done to Provide More Useful Information for Decision Making, Science, and Society
Authors: Smith Matthew J. , Palmer Paul I. , Purves Drew W. , Vanderwel Mark C. , Lyutsarev Vassily , Calderhead Ben , Joppa Lucas N. , Bishop Christopher M. , Emmott Stephen
Published: February 2014

New details about natural and anthropogenic processes are continually added to models of the Earth system, anticipating that the increased realism will increase the accuracy of their predictions. However, perspectives differ about whether this approach will improve the value of the information the models provide to decision makers, scientists, and societies. The present bias toward increasing realism leads to a range of updated projections, but at the expense of uncertainty quantification and model tractability. This bias makes it difficult to quantify the uncertainty associated with the projections from any one model or to the distribution of projections from different models. This in turn limits the utility of climate model outputs for deriving useful information such as in the design of effective climate change mitigation and adaptation strategies or identifying and prioritizing sources of uncertainty for reduction. Here we argue that a new approach to model development is needed, focused on the delivery of information to support specific policy decisions or science questions. The central tenet of this approach is the assessment and justification of the overall balance of model detail that reflects the question posed, current knowledge, available data, and sources of uncertainty. This differs from contemporary practices by explicitly seeking to quantify both the benefits and costs of details at a systemic level, taking into account the precision and accuracy with which predictions are made when compared to existing empirical evidence. We specify changes to contemporary model development practices that would help in achieving this goal.
Is There a Relationship between Potential and Actual Skill?
Authors: Kumar Arun , Peng Peitao , Chen Mingyue
Published: February 2014

In this paper, possible connections between actual and potential skill are discussed. Actual skill refers to when the prediction time series is validated against the observations as the verification while perfect skill refers to when the observed verification time series is replaced by one of the members from the ensemble of predictions. It is argued that (i) there need not be a relationship between potential and actual skill; (ii) potential skill is not constrained to be always greater than actual skill, and examples to the contrary can be found; and (iii) there are methods whereby statistical characteristics of predicted anomalies can be compared with the corresponding in the observations, and inferences about the validity of the (positive) gap between potential and actual skill as “room for improvement” can be better substantiated.
Mythology and earthquakes in Italian literature of the 18th century
Authors: Andreoni Annalisa
Published: February 2014

The big earthquake of 1773 in southern Italy induced many philosophers and men of letters to look at ancient mythology from a new point of view. These meditations were deeply involved with the political calls for national unity and independence. Following the way shown by Giambattista Vico, Francesco Mario Pagano, Vincenzo Cuoco and others, intellectuals started to enquire into the history of mankind, investigating both the fables of mythology and the catastrophes of geology and concluded that Homer was not Greek, but Italian.
Strong Association of Variants around FOXE1 and Orofacial Clefting
Authors: Ludwig K.U. , Böhmer A.C. , Rubini M. , Mossey P.A. , Herms S. , Nowak S. , Reutter H. , Alblas M.A. , Lippke B. , Barth S. , Paredes-Zenteno M. , Muñoz-Jimenez S.G. , Ortiz-Lopez R. , Kreusch T. , Hemprich A. , Martini M. , Braumann B. , Jäger A. , Pötzsch B. , Molloy A. , Peterlin B. , Hoffmann P. , Nöthen M.M. , Rojas-Martinez A. , Knapp M. , Steegers-Theunissen R.P. , Mangold E.
Published: February 2014

Nonsyndromic orofacial clefting (nsOFC) is a common, complex congenital disorder. The most frequent forms are nonsyndromic cleft lip with or without cleft palate (nsCL/P) and nonsyndromic cleft palate only (nsCPO). Although they are generally considered distinct entities, a recent study has implicated a region around the FOXE1 gene in both nsCL/P and nsCPO. To investigate this hypothesis, we analyzed the 2 most strongly associated markers (rs3758249 and rs4460498) in 2 independent samples of differing ethnicities: Central European (949 nsCL/P cases, 155 nsCPO cases, 1163 controls) and Mayan Mesoamerican (156 nsCL/P cases, 10 nsCPO cases, 338 controls). While highly significant associations for both single-nucleotide polymorphisms were obtained in nsCL/P (rs4460498: pEurope = 6.50 × 10−06, pMayan = .0151; rs3758249: pEurope = 2.41 × 10−05, pMayan = .0299), no association was found in nsCPO ( p > .05). Genotyping of rs4460498 in 472 independent European trios revealed significant associations for nsCL/P ( p = .016) and nsCPO ( p = .043). A meta-analysis of all data revealed a genomewide significant result for nsCL/P ( p = 1.31 × 10−08), which became more significant when nsCPO cases were added ( pnsOFC = 1.56 × 10−09). These results strongly support the FOXE1 locus as a risk factor for nsOFC. With the data of the initial study, there is now considerable evidence that this locus is the first conclusive risk factor shared between nsCL/P and nsCPO.
Religion and the Gender Vote Gap
Authors: Emmenegger Patrick , Manow Philip
Published: February 2014

For many years women tended to vote more conservative than men, but since the 1980s this gap has shifted direction: women in many countries are more likely than men to support left parties. The literature largely agrees on a set of political-economic factors explaining the change in women’s political orientation. In this article we demonstrate that these conventional factors fall short in explaining the gender vote gap. We highlight the importance of a religious cleavage in the party system across Western European countries, restricting the free flow of religious voters between left and right parties. Given that surveys show us a constantly higher degree of religiosity among women and a persistent impact of religion on vote choice, religion explains a substantial part of the temporal as well as cross-country variation in the transition from the more conservative to the more progressive voting behavior of women.
The Flaws of Fragmented Financial Standard Setting
Authors: Mügge Daniel , Perry James
Published: February 2014

In the half decade following the 2007 financial crisis, the reform of global financial governance was driven by two separate policy debates: one on the substantive content of regulations, the other on the organizational architecture of their governance. The separation of the two debates among policymakers has been mirrored in academia, where postcrisis analyses of financial governance have remained detached from reinvigorated discussions about the nature of financial markets. We argue that this separation is deeply flawed. Presenting an analysis of interactions between standards for banking, credit rating, accounting, and derivatives trading, this article demonstrates why the appropriateness of the organizational architecture of global financial governance is necessarily contingent upon one’s understanding of how financial markets work. In particular, if financial markets are not anchored to external “economic fundamentals” but instead exhibit reflexivity, then the reciprocal interactions between different regulatory arenas demand considerably more organizational coordination than presently exists.
Monitoring of acoustic emission damage during tensile loading of 3D woven carbon/epoxy composites
Authors: Lomov SV , Karahan M , Bogdanovich AE , Verpoest I
Published: February 2014

Registration of acoustic emission (AE) events during tensile loading of fiber-reinforced composites allows the damage caused by these events to be defined and monitored, including damage initiation and progression thresholds. It also provides frequency-based recognition of different types of damage and comparison of its intensity in materials with different reinforcement architectures. The paper reports results of AE registration for 3D non-crimp orthogonal woven (3DNCOW) carbon/epoxy composites. The observed repeatability and spatial distribution of AE events confirm that damage initiation and development are uniform over the tensile sample. The damage characterization by AE is compared with the morphology of damage observed on the specimen cross-sections at characteristic stages of the damage development. The main parameter distinguishing damage mode obtained from the AE registration is the AE energy. It has however been found that the peak frequency of the AE events does not correlate directly with the sequence of the observed damage modes. AE events of high peak frequency, assumed to be related to fiber fracture, suggest that it starts at a later stage than predicted by the Weibull statistics of fiber strength.
Comparative study on appearance and performance of garments made from low-torque ring, conventional ring and open-end spun yarn fabrics using subjective and objective evaluation methods
Authors: Hua Tao , Tao Xiao Ming , Cheng Kwok Po Stephen
Published: February 2014

Low-torque ring yarn spinning is a modified-ring spinning technology with the false-twisting devices attached on the conventional ring spinning machine. The introduction of the false-twisting operation gives low-torque yarn a new fiber and yarn configuration, and thus causes different characteristics of low-torque yarn fabric from that of conventional ring and rotor yarn fabrics. In this paper, a comparative study has been carried out to evaluate the performance of jeans and trousers produced by low-torque yarns to conventional ring and rotor yarns. The results from the objective measurements of fabric performance indicate that the tensile and tear strength of low-torque ring yarn fabrics in the weft direction is similar to or only slightly lower than that of fabrics using conventional ring yarns with a normal twist level as the weft yarns, but they are much higher than that of the fabrics using rotor yarns. Compared to the fabrics produced from conventional ring and rotor yarns, the low-torque ring yarn fabrics exhibit higher compression energy (WC) and lower mean deviation of friction (MMD) and achieve higher values in fabric Numeri and Fukurami. The subjective evaluation of jeans and trousers through wear trials further confirms that low-torque yarn jeans have significant advantages of a better appearance in jean smoothness, less ‘small snake’ patterns, a more prominent slub effect and better overall quality than the conventional ring and rotor yarn jeans. The low-torque yarn trousers also show better luster, smoothness appearance and overall quality than the conventional ring and rotor yarn trousers.
Embracing Powerlessness in Pursuit of Digital Resilience
Authors: Hammond Simon P. , Cooper Neil J.
Published: February 2014

The use of digital media by adolescents living in out-of-home care raises safeguarding and risk-management concerns, creating challenges for practitioners in how to control risk while promoting independence. This article explores how professionals working in residential care negotiated their own and adolescents’ use of ubiquitous digital phenomena. Extracts from everyday conversations occurring during a participatory research project working with adolescents and carers in four English residential care homes are discursively analyzed to demonstrate how professionals drew on socially available resources to construct digital media usage. Analysis demonstrates an orientation toward mobilizations of powerlessness as accepted, the usefulness of constructing digital competency as a function of generation, and the need for professionals to embrace powerlessness. Adopting a position of embraced powerlessness accepts the inability to halt access and use of digital technologies. This position enabled workers to facilitate opportunities for digital resilience development in vulnerable adolescents.
The Gendered Monitoring of Juvenile Delinquents
Authors: Schulze Corina , Bryan Valerie
Published: February 2014

Through the framework of power-control theory (PCT), we provide a model of juvenile offending that places the gendered-raced treatment of juveniles central to the analysis. We test the theory using a unique sample that is predominately African American, poor, and composed entirely of juvenile offenders. Multivariate models compare the predictive power of many variables, including ones central to PCT, on status offenses and other, more serious, offenses. Gender and race variables were found to be significant, but varied in their impact across models. The interaction between these variables suggests that being Black and female increases the likelihood of sanctioning for status offenses, but not other types of offenses. Contrary to the theory, single-mother-headed households do not seem to produce more delinquent girls than other types of households. The overall findings of this study indicate that patriarchy and white privilege are continuing characteristics of the juvenile justice system.
How to Do Things with Fictions
Authors: Kobow Beatrice
Published: February 2014

The article reconstructs three key concepts of Hans Vaihinger: the idea of mental fictions as self-contradictory, provisory, conscious, and purposeful; the law of the devolution of ideas stating that an idea oscillates between dogma, hypothesis, or fiction; and the underlying assumption about human consciousness that the psyche constructs thoughts around perceptions like an oyster produces a pearl. In a second, constructive part, these concepts are applied in a discussion of John Searle’s social ontologically extended theory of speech acts. The article introduces the Vaihingerian as-if to Searle’s account of declarations. The explanatory work in a model of social reality as Searle has proposed it rests on the ability to show a necessary connection between collective and individual intentionality facilitated through linguistic structure. The methodological individualism of the model requires that motivational assumptions about collective structures be realized in individual brains. The as-if stance of the declarer provides just this connection.
Causally Redundant Social Objects
Authors: Hansson Wahlberg Tobias
Published: February 2014

In Elder-Vass’s response to my critical discussion of his social ontology, it is maintained (1) that a social object is not identical with but is merely composed of its suitably interrelated parts, (2) that a social object is necessarily indistinguishable in terms of its causal capacities from its interrelated parts, and (3) that ontological individualism lacks an adequate ontological justification. In this reply, I argue that in view of (1) the so-called redescription principle defended by Elder-Vass ought to be reformulated and renamed; that the conjunction of (1) and (2) renders social objects causally redundant; and that ontological individualism can be coherently formulated and theoretically justified within Elder-Vass’s own metaphysics of objects with causal powers.