bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Laminar specific fMRI reveals directed interactions in distributed networks during language processing
Authors: Sharoh Daniel , van Mourik Tim , Bains Lauren J. , Segaert Katrien , Weber Kirsten , Hagoort Peter , Norris David G.
Published: October 2019

Significance

Laminar resolution, functional MRI (lfMRI) is a noninvasive technique with the potential to distinguish top-down and bottom-up signal contributions on the basis of laminar specific interactions between distal regions. Hitherto, lfMRI could not be demonstrated for either whole-brain distributed networks or for complex cognitive tasks. We show that lfMRI can reveal whole-brain directed networks during word reading. We identify distinct, language-critical regions based on their association with the top-down signal stream and establish lfMRI for the noninvasive assessment of directed connectivity during task performance.
Engineering the stereoisomeric structure of seed oil to mimic human milk fat
Authors: van Erp Harrie , Bryant Fiona M. , Martin-Moreno Jose , Michaelson Louise V. , Bhutada Govindprasad , Eastmond Peter J.
Published: October 2019

Significance

In human milk fat, saturated fatty acids are esterified to the middle position on the glycerol backbone giving the triacylglycerol molecules an unusual stereochemistry that assists nutrient absorption in the infant gut. However, the fat used in most infant formulas is derived from plants, which esterify saturated fatty acids to the outer positions. Here, we have engineered the metabolism of an oilseed plant so that it accumulates triacylglycerol with more than 70% of the saturated fatty acid palmitate in the middle position, thereby mimicking human milk fat stereoisomeric structure. Applying this technology to oilseed crops (or oleaginous microorganisms) might provide a source of human milk fat substitute for infant nutrition.
A general constitutive model for dense, fine-particle suspensions validated in many geometries
Authors: Baumgarten Aaron S. , Kamrin Ken
Published: September 2019

Significance

Shear-thickening suspensions display peculiar phenomena, exhibiting solid-like and fluid-like behaviors at the same volume fraction. These materials have puzzled researchers since the 1930s and have seen renewed interest due to advances in computational and experimental methods as well as new infrastructural and military applications that might exploit these behaviors. We introduce a continuum model for shear-thickening suspensions, which correctly predicts realistic 3D flows including transient and inhomogeneous cases. Our approach builds the microscopic physics of particle repulsion into a framework for general fluid–grain mixtures, bridging to the fields of geomechanics and granular rheology. Using a material point method routine, we provide a robust model implementation and demonstrate the method’s broader utility for a variety of fluid-particle flow problems.
Overcoming insecticide resistance through computational inhibitor design
Authors: Correy Galen J. , Zaidman Daniel , Harmelin Alon , Carvalho Silvia , Mabbitt Peter D. , Calaora Viviane , James Peter J. , Kotze Andrew C. , Jackson Colin J. , London Nir
Published: October 2019

Insecticides allow control of agricultural pests and disease vectors and are vital for global food security and health. The evolution of resistance to insecticides, such as organophosphates (OPs), is a serious and growing concern. OP resistance often involves sequestration or hydrolysis of OPs by carboxylesterases. Inhibiting carboxylesterases could, therefore, restore the effectiveness of OPs for which resistance has evolved. Here, we use covalent virtual screening to produce nano-/picomolar boronic acid inhibitors of the carboxylesterase αE7 from the agricultural pest
Lucilia cuprina
as well as a common Gly137Asp αE7 mutant that confers OP resistance. These inhibitors, with high selectivity against human acetylcholinesterase and low to no toxicity in human cells and in mice, act synergistically with the OPs diazinon and malathion to reduce the amount of OP required to kill
L. cuprina
by up to 16-fold and abolish resistance. The compounds exhibit broad utility in significantly potentiating another OP, chlorpyrifos, against the common pest, the peach–potato aphid (
Myzus persicae
). These compounds represent a solution to OP resistance as well as to environmental concerns regarding overuse of OPs, allowing significant reduction of use without compromising efficacy.
Cowpox virus encodes a protein that binds B7.1 and B7.2 and subverts T cell costimulation
Authors: Wang Xiaoli , Piersma Sytse J. , Elliott Jabari I. , Errico John M. , Gainey Maria D. , Yang Liping , Nelson Christopher A. , Yokoyama Wayne M. , Fremont Daved H.
Published: October 2019

Significance

After eradication of smallpox, zoonotic orthopoxviruses, including cowpox virus (CPXV) and monkeypox virus, continue to be a source for infection in humans. Poxviruses dedicate a significant part of their genome encoding proteins that effectively undermine host immune defenses. Here, we demonstrate that a CPXV-encoded protein, M2, can specifically bind B7.1 (CD80) and B7.2 (CD86), cell surface proteins expressed mainly by professional antigen-presenting cells that serve as ligands of the T cell costimulatory receptor CD28 and inhibitory receptor CTLA4. Functionally, we found that M2 blocks CD28-mediated T cell activation in vitro and in a mouse model of cowpox infection.
Inherent reactivity of unselected TCR repertoires to peptide-MHC molecules
Authors: Krovi S. Harsha , Kappler John W. , Marrack Philippa , Gapin Laurent
Published: October 2019

Significance

Central to adaptive immunity is the interaction between the αβ T cell antigen receptor (TCR) and peptides presented by the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) molecules. It is fundamental to understand any potential generalities regarding a TCR-pMHC recognition event. Two theories have been proposed to explain how TCR recognition of pMHC is specified: The germline-encoded theory, which proposes an evolutionary “hardwiring” of the TCR for recognition of MHC molecules through germline-encoded motifs, and the selection theory of TCR recognition, which suggests that TCR selection during development imposes the constraint of MHC recognition. Here, we show that TCRs have intrinsic specificity for MHC molecules, inherent to TCRαβ sequences, and enhanced but not determined by coreceptor expression.
Light-inducible expression of translation factor EF-Tu during acclimation to strong light enhances the repair of photosystem II
Authors: Jimbo Haruhiko , Izuhara Taichi , Hihara Yukako , Hisabori Toru , Nishiyama Yoshitaka
Published: October 2019

Significance

Photoinhibition of photosystem II (PSII) is mitigated via enhancement of the repair of PSII in photosynthetic organisms that have acclimated to strong light, but the mechanism responsible for such acclimation of PSII repair remains unknown. We report here that an elevated level of translation factor EF-Tu during the acclimation of
Synechocystis
to strong light plays a critical role in the enhancement of PSII repair via acceleration of the synthesis de novo of proteins that are required for PSII repair, such as the D1 protein. We propose a mechanism for protection of PSII from photoinhibition that becomes operative during acclimation to strong light and appears to contribute to the ability of photosynthetic organisms to tolerate strong light.
Plasticity in exocytosis revealed through the effects of repetitive stimuli affect the content of nanometer vesicles and the fraction of transmitter released
Authors: Gu Chaoyi , Larsson Anna , Ewing Andrew G.
Published: October 2019

Significance

The activity-dependent plasticity of neurotransmission has been intensively studied for decades. Our study uses a combination of chemical analysis methods and a neuroendocrine cell line to show that plasticity can occur at the level of a single vesicle. The neurotransmitter release as well as the transmitter storage inside vesicles can be dynamically regulated, which opens the possibility for cell systems to change the fraction released from each vesicle and offers a possible link between fraction of neurotransmitter release and synaptic strength and plasticity.
Xanthomonas translucens
commandeers the host rate-limiting step in ABA biosynthesis for disease susceptibility
Authors: Peng Zhao , Hu Ying , Zhang Junli , Huguet-Tapia Jose C. , Block Anna K. , Park Sunghun , Sapkota Suraj , Liu Zhaohui , Liu Sanzhen , White Frank F.
Published: October 2019

Plants are vulnerable to disease through pathogen manipulation of phytohormone levels, which otherwise regulate development, abiotic, and biotic responses. Here, we show that the wheat pathogen
Xanthomonas translucens
pv.
undulosa
elevates expression of the host gene encoding 9-
cis
-epoxycarotenoid dioxygenase (
TaNCED-5BS
), which catalyzes the rate-limiting step in the biosynthesis of the phytohormone abscisic acid and a component of a major abiotic stress-response pathway, to promote disease susceptibility. Gene induction is mediated by a type III transcription activator-like effector. The induction of
TaNCED-5BS
results in elevated abscisic acid levels, reduced host transpiration and water loss, enhanced spread of bacteria in infected leaves, and decreased expression of the central defense gene
TaNPR1
. The results represent an appropriation of host physiology by a bacterial virulence effector.
Postdocs’ lab engagement predicts trajectories of PhD students’ skill development
Authors: Feldon David F. , Litson Kaylee , Jeong Soojeong , Blaney Jennifer M. , Kang Jina , Miller Candace , Griffin Kimberly , Roksa Josipa
Published: October 2019

Significance

Conventional wisdom in the laboratory sciences suggests that PhD students develop their research skills as a function of mentorship from their faculty advisors (i.e., principal investigators; PIs). However, no prior research has identified empirically a relationship between specific PI practices and the development of research skills. Here we show that PIs’ laboratory and mentoring activities do not significantly predict students’ skill development trajectories, but the engagement of postdocs and senior graduate students in laboratory interactions do. These findings support the practice of “cascading mentorship” as differentially effective and identify a critical but previously unrecognized role for postdocs in the graduate training process. They also illustrate both the importance and the feasibility of identifying evidence-based practices in graduate education.
Celluloid Diva: Staging Leoncavallo'sZazàin the Cinematic Age
Authors: Rindom Ditlev
Published: October 2019

Geraldine Farrar's performances in Ruggero Leoncavallo'sZazà(1900) at New York's Metropolitan Opera House in the early 1920s were widely acclaimed as an unexpected triumph for the soprano. This article examines Farrar'sZazàin the context of New York's post-war operatic crisis, the concurrent emergence of Hollywood cinema and Farrar's own highly prominent movements between operatic and cinematic media throughout the 1910s. While Leoncavallo's opera raised a number of pressing difficulties for New York critics, Farrar's critical and popular success inZazàpoints to new understandings of operatic performance at the dawn of the cinematic age.
Degradation of tumour stromal hyaluronan by small extracellular vesicle‐PH20 stimulates CD103+ dendritic cells and in combination with PD‐L1 blockade boosts anti‐tumour immunity
Authors: Hong Yeonsun , Kim Yoon Kyoung , Kim Gi Beom , Nam Gi‐Hoon , Kim Seong A , Park Yoon , Yang Yoosoo , Kim In‐San
Published: September 2019

Highly accumulated hyaluronan (HA) not only provides a physiological barrier but also supports an immune‐suppressive tumour microenvironment. High‐molecular‐weight (HMW)‐HA inhibits the activation of immune cells and their access into tumour tissues, whereas, low‐molecular‐weight oligo‐HA is known to potentially activate dendritic cells (DCs). In this paper, we investigated whether small extracellular vesicle (EVs)‐PH20 hyaluronidase induces tumour HA degradation, which, in turn, activates DCs to promote anti‐cancer immune responses. Informed by our previous work, we used a small EV carrying GPI‐anchored PH20 hyaluronidase (Exo‐PH20) that could deeply penetrate into tumour foci via HA degradation. We found that Exo‐PH20‐treatment successfully activates the maturation and migration of DCs in vivo, particularly CD103+ DCs leading to the activation of tumour‐specific CD8+ T cells, which work together to inhibit tumour growth. Moreover, combination with anti‐PD‐L1 antibody provided potent tumour‐specific CD8+ T cell immune responses as well as elicited prominent tumour growth inhibition both in syngenic and spontaneous breast cancer models, and this anti‐tumour immunity was durable. Together, these results present new insights for HA degradation by Exo‐PH20, providing a better understanding of oligo HA‐triggered immune responses to cancer.
Cell ratcheting through the Sbf RabGEF directs force balancing and stepped apical constriction
Authors: Miao Hui , Vanderleest Timothy E. , Jewett Cayla E. , Loerke Dinah , Blankenship J. Todd
Published: September 2019

During Drosophila melanogaster gastrulation, the invagination of the prospective mesoderm is driven by the pulsed constriction of apical surfaces. Here, we address the mechanisms by which the irreversibility of pulsed events is achieved while also permitting uniform epithelial behaviors to emerge. We use MSD-based analyses to identify contractile steps and find that when a trafficking pathway initiated by Sbf is disrupted, contractile steps become reversible. Sbf localizes to tubular, apical surfaces and associates with Rab35, where it promotes Rab GTP exchange. Interestingly, when Sbf/Rab35 function is compromised, the apical plasma membrane becomes deeply convoluted, and nonuniform cell behaviors begin to emerge. Consistent with this, Sbf/Rab35 appears to prefigure and organize the apical surface for efficient Myosin function. Finally, we show that Sbf/Rab35/CME directs the plasma membrane to Rab11 endosomes through a dynamic interaction with Rab5 endosomes. These results suggest that periodic ratcheting events shift excess membrane from cell apices into endosomal pathways to permit reshaping of actomyosin networks and the apical surface.
LIS1 regulates cargo-adapter–mediated activation of dynein by overcoming its autoinhibition in vivo
Authors: Qiu Rongde , Zhang Jun , Xiang Xin
Published: September 2019

Deficiency of the LIS1 protein causes lissencephaly, a brain developmental disorder. Although LIS1 binds the microtubule motor cytoplasmic dynein and has been linked to dynein function in many experimental systems, its mechanism of action remains unclear. Here, we revealed its function in cargo-adapter–mediated dynein activation in the model organism Aspergillus nidulans. Specifically, we found that overexpressed cargo adapter HookA (Hook in A. nidulans) missing its cargo-binding domain (ΔC-HookA) causes dynein and its regulator dynactin to relocate from the microtubule plus ends to the minus ends, and this relocation requires LIS1 and its binding protein, NudE. Astonishingly, the requirement for LIS1 or NudE can be bypassed to a significant extent by mutations that prohibit dynein from forming an autoinhibited conformation in which the motor domains of the dynein dimer are held close together. Our results suggest a novel mechanism of LIS1 action that promotes the switch of dynein from the autoinhibited state to an open state to facilitate dynein activation.
Four ideas to boost EU conservation policy as 2020 nears
Authors: Hermoso Virgilio , Morán-Ordóñez Alejandra , Canessa Stefano , Brotons Lluis
Published: September 2019

The European Union (EU) committed to halt the loss of biodiversity in its 2020 Biodiversity Strategy. However, all reports show conservation efforts are falling short of their objectives and the status of biodiversity in the EU continues to decline. Here, we propose four key avenues for the next Strategy, currently under discussion, to make EU conservation efforts more effective. First, we suggest the next Biodiversity Strategy should ensure legal coverage for threatened species not listed in the EU Habitats and Birds Directives, which currently cover only 16.4% of all threatened species. Second, halting biodiversity loss requires threatened species to be adequately managed. To this end, the potential of the extant Natura 2000 should be fully released. Already designated protected areas (PAs) hold more species than currently declared as target for management, leaving an opportunity to further manage more threatened species. Third, to address dynamism associated to climate and land use change, conservation management should be expanded outside PAs, using the planned network of Green Infrastructure. Fourth, while more funding is required to properly implement the Biodiversity Strategy, the improvements we suggest can be made more cost-effective by using systematic planning approaches and better integration of conservation policy in other sectorial policies, such as the Common Agriculture Policy. While existing policy mechanisms can already be used to implement some of these recommendations, revised policies should seek better integration of conservation into other sectorial policies, as well as efficient allocation and use of funds to increase the efficiency of conservation efforts.
Resilience of ecological functions to drought in an oil palm agroecosystem
Authors: Eycott Amy E , Advento Andreas Dwi , Waters Helen S , Luke Sarah H , Aryawan Anak Agung Ketut , Hood Amelia SC , Naim Mohammad , Ps Sudharto , Pujianto  , Purnomo Dedi , Rambe T Dzulfikar S , Soeprapto  , Suhardi  , Tarigan Ribka Sionita , Wahyuningsih Resti , Widodo Rudi Harto , Caliman Jean-Pierre , Snaddon Jake L , Foster William A , Turner Edgar C
Published: September 2019

Oil palm is a major habitat in the tropics. It is highly productive and contributes substantially to the economies of producing countries, but its expansion has caused widespread deforestation, with negative consequences for biodiversity. Such biodiversity losses may have substantial impacts on ecosystem functions within oil palm and resilience of functions to changing rainfall patterns, with impacts on yield. However, although the direct effects of water deficit on yield have been studied, little work has investigated ecosystem processes within plantations or the resilience of functions to changing rainfall. We conducted ecosystem function experiments within mature oil palm at the Biodiversity and Ecosystem Function in Tropical Agriculture (BEFTA) Programme site in Sumatra, Indonesia. We measured rates of leaf litter decomposition, seed removal, mealworm predation, and herbivory at multiple time points spanning the 2015–2016 El Niño - Southern Oscillation (ENSO) event that caused widespread drought within Southeast Asia. We found that mealworm predation, seed removal, and decomposition rates were high, whilst herbivory levels were low, indicating a healthy ecosystem with high levels of pest control and organic matter breakdown. Exclusion tests showed that the presence of invertebrates was associated with higher levels of seed removal and decomposition and the presence of vertebrates with higher predation. All functions were relatively robust to changes in rainfall. Yet, whilst seed removal and herbivory did not alter with rainfall, decomposition and predation showed more complex effects, with levels of both processes increasing with current rainfall levels when rainfall in preceding time periods was low. This suggests that both processes are resilient to change and able to recover following drought. Our results indicate that the ecosystem processes measured within oil palm plantations are healthy and resilient to changing rainfall patterns. This is hopeful and suggests that the crop may be fairly robust to future changes in precipitation.
Biopolitics and Asian America
Authors: Kong Belinda
Published: October 2019

Biopolitics, unlike other conceptual rubrics such as psychoanalysis, Marxism, or the subaltern, does not contain a singular theoretical origin. While Michel Foucault is often cited as the progenitor of contemporary biopolitical thought, a number of other theorists and philosophers have also been credited with significantly shaping its critical lineage, from Hannah Arendt to Giorgio Agamben, Roberto Esposito, and Achille Mbembe. By extension, the relation between biopolitics and Asian America is an open-ended one, insofar as no one set of theoretical terms or axioms grounds this relation. Moreover, insofar as biopolitics in its widest sense encompasses the intersection of politics and life, including the inverse of life, its domain is potentially infinite. The conjunctions between biopolitics and Asian America, then, can be defined tactically through the following questions: what are some prominent motifs and concerns within Asian American history, culture, and scholarship that may be illuminatingly narrated within a biopolitical framework? Conversely, how have Asian American writers and scholars themselves analyzed these nexuses, and in what directions have they developed their inquiries? Finally, what does an Asian Americanist criticism bring to the study of biopolitics?

These questions can be usefully pursued via three thematics that have formed core concerns for Asian American studies: orientalist exoticism and exhibitions of the Asian body, associations of the Asian body with pollution and disease, and structures of US governmental power over Asian bodies and populations. Asian Americanist criticism has often centered on analyses of the body as a site for the production of racial difference, whether or not they explicitly adopt a biopolitical theoretical lexicon. What Asian Americanist engagements with biopolitics bring to biopolitical thought is a spotlighting of intersectional politics—the insight that the politics of life never simply operates in relation to abstract bodies but always occurs within power economies of race, gender, sexuality, class, nationality, and other forms of social difference and stratification. Conversely, biopolitical theories allow Asian Americanist criticism to develop in multiple new directions, from medical humanities and disability studies to science and technology studies, from animal studies to post-human feminisms, from diaspora studies to surveillance studies. Ultimately, an ethical impetus and an orientation toward justice continue to animate Asian Americanist critical practices, which hold out the promise of a positive biopolitics within prevailing paradigms of negative biopower.
The Maastricht Treaty: Creating the European Union
Authors: Laursen Finn , Vanhoonacker Sophie
Published: October 2019

The Maastricht Treaty, which created the European Union (EU), was signed in Maastricht on February 7, 1992, and it entered into force on November 1, 1993, after being ratified by the then 12 member states of the European Communities. The Intergovernmental Conferences (IGCs) on Political Union (PU) and Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) where the member states negotiated the amendments to the founding treaties took place against the turbulent geopolitical background of the fall of the Berlin Wall (1989), German unification, and the end of the Cold War. The new treaty amended the Treaty Establishing the European Economic Community (EEC) and established the European Community (EC) as the first pillar of the Union. It also amended the Treaty Establishing the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) and the Treaty Establishing the European Atomic Energy Community (EAEC). It further added two pillars of intergovernmental cooperation, namely Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) in a second pillar and Justice and Home Affairs (JHA) cooperation in a third pillar.

Overall, the Maastricht Treaty constituted one of the most important treaty changes in the history of European integration. It included provisions on the creation of an Economic and Monetary Union (EMU), including a single European currency. It tried to increase the democratic legitimacy and efficiency of the decision-making process through empowerment of the European Parliament (EP) and the extension of Qualified Majority Voting (QMV). Next to introducing the principle of subsidiarity and the concept of European citizenship, it further developed existing policies such as social policy and added new ones including education, culture, public health, consumer protection, trans-European networks, industrial policy, and development cooperation.
Modern Uzbekistan
Authors: Khalid Adeeb
Published: October 2019

Uzbekistan was created in 1924 as a result of the so-called national-territorial delimitation of Soviet Central Asia. Although created in the context of the implementation of the Soviet policy of granting territorial autonomy to different nationalities in the Soviet multinational state, Uzbekistan was in many ways the embodiment of a national idea of the Central Asian intelligentsia.

For the first sixty-seven years of its existence, Uzbekistan was part of the Soviet Union. It experienced the massive transformations unleashed by the Soviet regime in the realms of politics, society, and culture (the establishment of a command economy, collectivization, an assault on Islam, forced unveiling) that reshaped society in significant ways. Purges in the 1930s removed from the scene all actors with any experience of public life before the consolidation of Soviet power and installed new political and cultural elites in their place.

The Second World War was in many ways a watershed. Participation in the war integrated Uzbekistan and its citizens into the Soviet Union. The postwar period saw increased investment in the republic and the achievement of mass education and universal literacy. The postwar era also saw the consolidation of Uzbek political elites at the helm of the republic as well as the crystallization of an Uzbek national identity, the work of the Uzbek Soviet intelligentsia. Yet, Uzbekistan’s primary duty to the Soviet economy remained that of producing as much cotton as possible. Production quotas kept on increasing (by the early 1980s, the hope was to produce 6 million tons of raw cotton annually) and the cotton monoculture meant that the Uzbek population remained primarily rural and socially conservative. A complex gender regime emerged in which women had legal equality, access to education, and high rates of participation in the labor market, but were also the guardians of national tradition. The later Soviet period also witnessed high rates of population growth that doubled the ethnic Uzbek population between 1959 and 1979.

By the early 1980s, the high costs of the cotton monoculture were becoming obvious. An anti-corruption campaign directed from Moscow antagonized both the Uzbek party elite and the general population, just as Mikhail Gorbachev began the series of reforms that led to the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. In this turbulent period, the Uzbek party elite refashioned itself as the champion of the Uzbek nation and emerged in control of the state as Uzbekistan became independent.

The independent Uzbek state has sought its legitimacy by its claim to serve the interests of the Uzbek nation. It works on the basis of an Uzbek national identity that had predated the Soviet Union but had crystallized during it. Now, after independence, that identity can be articulated without the constraints placed on national expression during the Soviet period. There remain significant continuities with the Soviet period in terms of basic assumptions about politics and society, and they are the most clearly visible in the state’s fraught relationship with Islam.
Black Women’s Internationalism from the Age of Revolutions to World War I
Authors: Byrd Brandon R.
Published: October 2019

Black internationalism describes the political culture and intellectual practice forged in response to slavery, colonialism, and white imperialism. It is a historical and ongoing collective struggle against racial oppression rooted in global consciousness. While the expression of black internationalism has certainly changed across time and place, black liberation through collaboration has been and remains its ultimate goal.

Since the emergence of black internationalism as a result of the transatlantic slave trade and during the Age of Revolutions, black women such as the poet Phyllis Wheatley and evangelist Rebecca Protten have been at its forefront. Their writings and activism espoused an Afro-diasporic, global consciousness and promoted the cause of universal emancipation. During the 19th century, black women internationalists included abolitionists, missionaries, and clubwomen. They built on the work of their predecessors while laying the foundations for succeeding black women internationalists in the early 20th century. By World War I, a new generation of black women activists and intellectuals remained crucial parts of the International Council of Women, an organization founded by white suffragists from the United States, and the Universal Negro Improvement Association, a global organization formally led by Jamaican pan-Africanist Marcus Garvey. But they also formed an independent organization, the International Council of Women of the Darker Races (ICWDR).

Within and outside of the ICWDR, black women from Africa and the African Diaspora faced and challenged discrimination on the basis of their sex and race. Their activism and intellectual work set a powerful precedent for a subsequent wave of black internationalism shaped by self-avowed black feminists.
Military Strategy in the Civil War
Authors: Hsieh Wayne Wei-siang
Published: October 2019

Despite the absence of a robust and well-articulated conception of strategy, American military and political leaders during the Civil War had an intuitive sense of how military operations should be coordinated with larger political ends. They also shared a general adherence to the straightforward strategic ideas of Antoine-Henri de Jomini, who emphasized the importance of concentrating one’s own military forces in opposition to dispersed opponents. In the case of the Union, however, victory would require not only a more sophisticated conception of strategy that superseded Jomini and coordinated military operations in geographically disconnected fronts but also the practical implementation of such ideas through well-selected subordinate commanders. It would take Ulysses S. Grant until the end of the war to complete all these tasks. In the case of the Confederacy, secessionist leaders faced the challenge of prioritizing different theaters in the face of their material inferiority to the Union. Robert E. Lee chose the plausible strategy of striking directly at Northern public opinion with aggressive operations waged by his own Army of Northern Virginia, but the final failure of the Confederate war effort raises fair questions about whether the Confederacy should have paid more attention to its western theater.
William McKinley and American Empire
Authors: Cullinane Michael Patrick
Published: October 2019

Between 1897 and 1901 the administration of Republican President William McKinley transformed US foreign policy traditions and set a course for empire through interconnected economic policies and an open aspiration to achieve greater US influence in global affairs. The primary changes he undertook as president included the arrangement of inter-imperial agreements with world powers, a willingness to use military intervention as a political solution, the establishment of a standing army, and the adoption of a “large policy” that extended American jurisdiction beyond the North American continent. Opposition to McKinley’s policies coalesced around the annexation of the Philippines and the suppression of the Boxer Rebellion in China. Anti-imperialists challenged McKinley’s policies in many ways, but despite fierce debate, the president’s actions and advocacy for greater American power came to define US policymaking for generations to come. McKinley’s administration merits close study.
Agustín Lorenzo: Beloved Bandit of History and Folklore
Authors: Toledo Guzmán Liliana
Published: October 2019

Agustín Lorenzo was a prototypical social bandit, according to Eric Hobsbawm’s definition in his studies of that phenomenon. As a bandit from south central Mexico believed to have lived between the 18th and 19th centuries, the exploits of Agustín Lorenzo have been recounted in myriad ways: myths, legends, loas, corridos, films, carnival representations, among others. Lorenzo is said to have stolen from the rich to give to the poor, swearing to avenge his grandfather’s mistreatment at the hands of his employer, the local landowner. To achieve his mission, the story goes, Lorenzo made a pact with the devil, to obtain supernatural powers. The attributes of this bandit undoubtedly place him in the same category as the great body of stories about banditry that have survived for centuries around the world, particularly considering their shared essence: a desire for justice. In the case of Agustín Lorenzo, it is possible to disentangle the universal principles Hobsbawm established regarding the phenomenon of social banditry from the local context in which this particular myth lives on. Hence, to analyze the myth of Agustín Lorenzo, it is essential to explore the narratives and meanings of the cosmogony of the Nahua peoples of south-central Mexico.
The Impact of Mastectomy on Women’s Visual Perception of Breast Aesthetics and Symmetry: A Pilot Eye-Tracking Study
Authors: Pietruski Piotr , Noszczyk Bartłomiej , Paskal Adriana M , Paskal Wiktor , Paluch Łukasz , Jaworowski Janusz
Published: September 2019

Background

Little is known about breast cancer survivors’ perception of breast attractiveness. A better understanding of this subjective concept could contribute to the improvement of patient-reported outcomes after reconstructive surgeries and facilitate the development of new methods for assessing breast reconstruction outcomes.

Objectives

The aim of this eye-tracking (ET)-based study was to verify whether mastectomy altered women’s visual perception of breast aesthetics and symmetry.

Methods

A group of 30 women after unilateral mastectomy and 30 healthy controls evaluated the aesthetics and symmetry of various types of female breasts displayed as highly standardized digital images. Gaze patterns of women from the study groups were recorded using an ET system and subjected to a comparative analysis.

Results

Regardless of the study group, the longest fixation duration and the highest fixation number were found in the nipple-areola complex. This area was also the most common region of the initial fixation. Several significant between-group differences were identified; the gaze patterns of women after mastectomy were generally characterized by longer fixation times for the inframammary fold, lower pole, and upper half of the breast.

Conclusions

Mastectomy might affect women’s visual perception patterns during the evaluation of breast aesthetics and symmetry. ET data might improve our understanding of breast attractiveness and constitute the basis for a new reliable method for the evaluation of outcomes of reconstructive breast surgeries.
Sexual Differences in the Behavior of Adult Great Black-Backed Gulls (Larus marinus) during the Pre-and Post-Hatch Periods
Authors: Butler Ronald G. , Janes-Butler Saskia
Published: October 2019

Sexual differences in the behavior of adult Great Black-backed Gulls (Larus marinus) were examined during the pre- and post-hatch periods of the 1980 breeding season. Following clutch completion, females invested more time than males in both territorial attendance and incubation, but there were no sexual differences in egg-shifting or grass-collection. In contrast, males engaged in more agonistic behavior and long-called and yelped in all contexts more than females before chick hatching. Males also displayed more mate-oriented mews and chokes than did females at this time. During the post-hatch period, there were no sexual differences in territorial attendance, brooding, or frequency of chick feedings, but males continued to exhibit higher frequencies of agonistic acts than did females, as well as higher levels of long-calls and yelps. After chick hatching, both sexes demonstrated increased levels of agonistic acts, long-calls, yelps, mews, and yeows, while males exhibited decreased frequencies of chokes and head-tosses. The results of this study strongly suggest that parental investment by male L. marinus may equal that of females.
Reproductive Performance of Female-female Pairs and Polygynous Trios of Ring-Billed Gulls
Authors: Kovacs Kit M. , Ryder John P.
Published: October 2019

We studied female-female pairs of Ring-billed Gulls (Larus delawarensis) on Granite Island, northern Lake Superior, during the breeding seasons of 1979 and 1980. In 1979 the colony consisted of approximately 2,400 nesting pairs, with a total of 99 nests containing 5-7 eggs (superclutches). In 1980 the colony had increased in size to 2,600 nests and contained a total of 71 superclutches. We discuss the difficulty of distinguishing nests in which superclutches have been laid by female-female pairs from single-cup nests used by polygynous groups or from nests receiving dump eggs. Nests containing superclutches were larger than those containing normal-sized clutches. They were not differentially located by substrate, nest density, or location within the colony. Nearest-neighbour distance was also similar for the two clutch types.

Eggs laid in superclutches were slightly smaller than those from normal-sized clutches (1-4 eggs) but did not differ in shape. Significantly more eggs from superclutches rolled from the nest or were destroyed or abandoned than from normal-sized clutches. The proportion of nests that hatched at least one chick did not differ significantly between the two clutch types. Hatching success for superclutches was 34% in 1979 and 30% in 1980, whereas for normal-sized clutches it was 77% in 1979 and 61% in 1980. Chicks from superclutches had a higher rate of mortality during the week following hatching than did chicks from normal-sized clutches. Chicks from the former hatched at significantly lighter weights than did those from the latter during both years of study, but their weights did not differ after the first week posthatch. Tarsal and culmen measurements followed a similar pattern to that of weight. Chicks from normal-sized clutches had a significantly higher fledging success than did those from superclutches. The reproductive success of four polygynous groups is also reported.
The Effect of Variable Spring Water Conditions on Mallard Reproduction
Authors: Krapu Gary L. , Klett Albert T. , Jorde Dennis G.
Published: October 2019

Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos) breeding densities in the prairie pothole habitat of eastern North Dakota during 1961-1980 varied from 2.28 birds/km2 in 1977 to 9.47 birds/km2 in 1963 and were correlated with pond abundance (r = 0.543, P < 0.05). The number of basins used by pairs declined with drought, as did home-range size. Nesting activity also varied with the number of ponds holding water/km2, ranging from high (including substantial renesting) under favorable water conditions to low during extreme drought. The span between first and last nest initiations declined by 19 days from a wet to a dry year. With severe drought conditions during spring 1977 on the Medina Study Area, pairs returned to attempt nesting but were unsuccessful, and most abandoned activity centers by mid-May. Although the average clutch size declined by about 0.7 egg from a wet to a dry year on the Interstate Study Area, hatchability of eggs remained constant. We describe the adaptive strategy of Mallards for breeding under variable water conditions and food resources in the semiarid prairie environment of midcontinent North America.
The Detection of Near-Ultraviolet Light by Nonmigratory and Migratory Birds
Authors: Parrish John W. , Ptacek James A. , Will Kevin L.
Published: October 2019

Near-ultraviolet (UV) light reception was demonstrated for the first time in three species of nonmigratory emberizid and passerid birds. Behavioral data also established that eight additional alcedinid and emberizid birds can detect near-UV wavelengths. The finding that these more recently evolved species can see near-UV light implies that near-UV vision is probably an important visual capability in most, if not all, diurnal birds. Although the utility of near-UV reception for birds remains equivocal, the fact that nonmigratory as well as migratory birds can perceive UV suggests that birds may be able to utilize the UV spectrum for homing, orientation, and navigation, as do the UV-sensitive arthropods. It also can be inferred that UV vision may be especially useful to insectivorous birds for the detection of UV reflectance patterns, which many otherwise cryptic arthropods possess for mate recognition. Ultraviolet reflectance patterns also may be useful to frugivorous and nectarivorous birds for the detection of food items.
Influence of Age and Time on Reproductive Performance of Female Lesser Scaup
Authors: Afton Alan D.
Published: October 2019

I examined the influence of age and time on female reproductive performance in a marked population of Lesser Scaup (Aythya affinis) breeding in southwestern Manitoba from 1977 to 1980. Arrival date and length of prelaying period varied among years but were not related to female age. Rate of nonbreeding and nest-initiation date varied among years and by female age. Age variation in nonbreeding was due to the failure of yearlings and a few 2-yr-olds to breed. Yearlings began laying an average of 5-8 days later than older females. Clutch size increased with female age but showed no significant annual variation despite extreme changes in water conditions. Reproductive performance generally increased with female age and with improving water conditions. These results were consistent with theoretical models that predict that reproductive effort (RE) increases with age or with declining residual reproductive value. My data support Williams' (1966) prediction that organisms adapted to living in variable environments adjust their RE in relation to probability of success. Female Lesser Scaup exhibited a temporally dynamic reproductive strategy, and natural selection seemingly has favored "yes-if" genes (Williams 1966) that effect breeding only when conditions are favorable for the individual.
Endocrine Correlates of Autumnal Behavior in Sedentary and Migratory Individuals of a Partially Migratory Population of the European Blackbird (Turdus merula)
Authors: Schwabl Hubert , Wingfield John C. , Farner Donald S.
Published: October 2019

Plasma levels of luteinizing hormone (LH), testosterone, 5α-dihydrotestosterone (5α-DHT), estradiol-17β, and corticosterone were measured in free-living and captive European Blackbirds (Turdus merula) during autumn. Free-living birds were designated as sedentary or migratory according to whether they remained in or disappeared from the study area during the winter season. Captive birds that increased body weight, deposited fat, and developed Zugunruhe in autumn were designated as migratory, whereas those that failed to do so were regarded as sedentary. The results do not support the hypothesis that plasma levels of gonadal hormones are elevated in sedentary birds, thus inhibiting autumnal migration. Plasma levels of LH and of testosterone were low in both adult and first-year free-living males, although testosterone levels were higher in migratory than in sedentary free-living first-year males. In captivity, however, testosterone levels were not different between first-year sedentary and migratory males. In both free-living and captive first-year females levels of 5α-DHT were higher in migratory than in sedentary individuals. Our analyses suggest that the sedentary and migratory habit may be a consequence of different reactions of genetically different individuals to a slightly increased secretion of gonadal hormones in autumn. The variable plasma levels of corticosterone suggest that this hormone is not directly involved in the initiation of migratory behavior, although circulating levels of corticosterone may be influenced by energetic demands during migration.
Interspecific Aggressive Behavior of the Polyandrous Northern Jacana (Jacana spinosa)
Authors: Stephens Martin L.
Published: October 2019

Adults of the polyandrous Northern Jacana (Jacana spinosa) defend their offspring against avian territorial intruders that are potential offspring predators. I investigated this defensive behavior in Costa Rica during 1980 and 1981. Jacanas attacked 15 species; most attacks were against Purple Gallinules (Porphyrula martinica), which are known predators of jacana eggs and offspring. Three factors influenced the probability of attacks: (1) spatial proximity of intruders to jacana offspring, (2) species identity of intruders, and (3) stage of breeding (jacanas were most responsive to intruders when young offspring were present). Attacks prevented intruders from reaching jacana offspring, and limited evidence suggests that attacks also reduced the density of intruders near jacana nests. The female's role in offspring defense was substantial. Females participated in the defense of eggs and small young at levels comparable to those of males. This participation included: (1) joining ongoing attacks when their mates solicited aid, (2) continuing attacks while their mates led offspring away from intruders, and (3) launching attacks in the absence of their mates, especially during incubation.
The Use of Soaring by the Red-Tailed Hawk (Buteo jamaicensis)
Authors: Ballam Joan M.
Published: October 2019

Behavioral data collected year-round in northwestern Arkansas indicated that foraging is not the exclusive function of soaring flight. Red-tailed Hawks (Buteo jamaicensis) spent much more time soaring than would be expected from the foraging returns of this behavior. Soaring was found to be unimportant in thermoregulation. Instead of soaring to thermoregulate, birds sought shade, were inactive, and panted during heat stress. Ptiloerection and retraction of extremities were noted during cold stress. Soaring activity contributed significantly to territorial defense, and I suggest that soaring flight is superior to flapping flight in this regard. Courtship was a prominent function of soaring during late winter. Further studies on functions of raptorial soaring should investigate exploratory behavior.
Morphological and Dietary Correlates of Clutch Size in North American Woodpeckers
Authors: Koenig Walter D.
Published: October 2019

There are diverse relations among ecological, morphological, and life-history traits in North American woodpeckers (family Picidae). Within the family as a whole, clutch size does not correlate with body size. However, clutch size increases with body size within the genus Melanerpes and decreases with size in Picoides. In the family as a whole, species that specialize on wood-boring larvae have small clutches. Such species use pecking as a major foraging technique, and pecking is associated with a wide suite of morphological specializations, including relatively wide first ribs, long pygostyle disks, short tibia, wide crania, wide maxillae, long mandibular symphyses, less cranial kinesis, and greater culmen sexual dimorphism. Hence, these morphological characters also correlate with clutch size, in two cases (length of the mandibular symphysis and cranial kinesis) even after controlling for both body size and generic effects. The observed correlations between clutch size and morphology are probably the result of dietary influences. These correlations, however, may at least in part be due to morphological constraints. Morphological design may thus constrain life-history evolution at the intrafamilial and intrageneric levels as well as at higher taxonomic levels.