bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Global analysis of Navier–Stokes and Boussinesq stochastic flows using dynamical orthogonality
Authors: Sapsis T. P. , Ueckermann M. P. , Lermusiaux P. F. J.
Published: October 2013

We provide a new framework for the study of fluid flows presenting complex uncertain behaviour. Our approach is based on the stochastic reduction and analysis of the governing equations using the dynamically orthogonal field equations. By numerically solving these equations, we evolve in a fully coupled way the mean flow and the statistical and spatial characteristics of the stochastic fluctuations. This set of equations is formulated for the general case of stochastic boundary conditions and allows for the application of projection methods that considerably reduce the computational cost. We analyse the transformation of energy from stochastic modes to mean dynamics, and vice versa, by deriving exact expressions that quantify the interaction among different components of the flow. The developed framework is illustrated through specific flows in unstable regimes. In particular, we consider the flow behind a disk and the Rayleigh–Bénard convection, for which we construct bifurcation diagrams that describe the variation of the response as well as the energy transfers for different parameters associated with the considered flows. We reveal the low dimensionality of the underlying stochastic attractor.
Long-term effects of ageing and ovariectomy on aversive and recognition memory and DNA damage in the hippocampus of female rats
Authors: Leffa Daniela Dimer , Damiani Adriani Paganini , Damazio Daiane Dal Col , Guerra Naiana Pereira , Moretti Morgana , de Brito Geovana Gomes da Silva , Boeck Carina Rodrigues , Gavioli Elaine Cristina , de Andrade Vanessa Moraes
Published: October 2013

Objective

This study investigated the influence of ageing – in particular the decrease of gonadal hormone levels during the ageing process – on the memory and the levels of DNA damage in the hippocampus of female rats.

Methods

Three groups of female Wistar rats were investigated: Group I consisted of non-ovariectomised, adult animals (6 months old); Group II consisted of non-ovariectomised, aged animals (18 months old); and Group III consisted of ovariectomised, aged animals (18 months old). The memory of the animals in these groups was examined via novel object recognition and inhibitory avoidance tests. The hippocampus tissue samples of all animals were obtained via biopsy and used to quantify the DNA damage using a Comet Assay.

Results

According to our findings, the process of ageing results in a change during the behavioural tests. To prevent genotoxic damage to the hippocampus caused by the ageing process, lowered hormone levels seem to be part of a protective biochemical mechanism in the body of rats. Animals that were previously submitted to an ovariectomy adapted better to these lower levels of hormones.

Conclusion

Our results indicate that ovariectomy can provide beneficial long-term effects on the memory. However, this could be specific to the kind of memory examined, as the aversive memory deficits caused by ageing were not affected by ovariectomy.
Interleukin-6 inhibits voltage-gated sodium channel activity of cultured rat spinal cord neurons
Authors: Li Xiaoning , Chen Weiqiang , Sheng Jiangtao , Cao Deliang , Wang Wanchun
Published: October 2013

Objective

Interleukin-6 (IL-6) is a pleiotropic proinflammatory cytokine that plays a key role in the injuries and diseases of the central nervous system (CNS). A voltage-gated Na+channel (VGSC) is essential for the excitability and electrical properties of the neurons. However, there is still limited information on the role of IL-6 in voltage-gated sodium channels. Our study aimed to investigate the effects of IL-6 on Na+currents in cultured spinal-cord neurons.

Methods

VGSC currents were activated and recorded using whole-cell patch-clamp technique in the cultured rat spinal cord neurons. The effects of IL-6 concentration and exposure duration were examined. To determine whether any change in the number of channels in the plasma membrane can inhibit IL-6 on VGSC currents, we examined the expression of α1A(SCN1α) subunit mRNA level and protein level in the neurons before and after IL-6 induction using real-time polymerase chain reaction.

Results

We verified that IL-6, through a receptor-mediated mechanism, suppressed Na+currents in a time- and dose-dependent manner, but did not alter the voltage-dependent activation and inactivation. Gp130 was involved in this inhibition. Furthermore, the spike amplitude was also inhibited by IL-6 in the doses that decreased the Na+currents.

Conclusion

VGSC currents are significantly inhibited by IL-6. Our findings reveal that the potential neuroprotection of IL-6 may result from the inhibitory effects on VGSC currents.
Psychometric analysis of the Melancholia Scale in trials with non-pharmacological augmentation of patients with therapy-resistant depression
Authors: Bech Per , Lauritzen Lise , Lunde Marianne , Unden Mogens , Hellström Lone Christina , Csillag Claudio , Martiny Klaus
Published: October 2013

Objective

The Melancholia Scale (MES) consists of the psychic core items of the Hamilton Depression Scale (HAM-D6) (depressed mood, interests, psychic anxiety, general somatic, guilt feelings, and psychomotor retardation) and the neuropsychiatric items of the Cronholm–Ottossen Depression Scale. Patients resistant to anti-depressant medication (therapy-resistant depression) have participated in our trials with non-pharmacological augmentation. On the basis of these trials, we have evaluated to what extent the neuropsychiatric subscale of the MES (concentration difficulties, fatigability, emotional introversion, sleep problems, and decreased verbal communication) is a measure of severity of apathia when compared with the HAM-D6 subscale of the MES.

Methods

We have focused on rating sessions at baseline (week 0) and after 2 and 4 weeks of therapy in four clinical trials on therapy-resistant depression with the following augmentations: electroconvulsive therapy, bright light therapy, transcranial magnetic stimulation or pulsed electromagnetic fields, and wake therapy. The item response theory model constructed by Mokken has been used as the psychometric validation of unidimensionality. For the numerical evaluation of transferability, we have tested item ranks across the rating weeks.

Results

In the Mokken analysis, the coefficient of homogeneity was above 0.40 for both the HAM-D subscale and the apathia subscale at week 4. The numerical transferability across the weeks was statistically significant (p < 0.05) for both subscales.

Conclusion

The apathia subscale is a unidimensional scale with acceptable transferability for the measurement of treatment-resistant symptoms, analogue to the psychic core subscale (HAM-D6).
Media Freedom and the Institutional Underpinnings of Political Knowledge
Authors: Schoonvelde Martijn
Published: October 2013

Recent empirical workin the study of political sophistication finds that citizens’ knowledge of politics is not only a function of their individual characteristics but also depends on the supply of information from their environment (the ‘information environment’). Yet this literature does not address the question of how the information environment may be shaped by institutional factors. This article aims to fill this void. It first argues that the relationship between a government and the media affects the information that is available to individual citizens. Using cross-national data, it then finds that less government interference with the media (1) positively affects political learning and (2) moderates the individual-level effect of education on learning.
Short-term, daily intake of yogurt containing Bifidobacterium animalis ssp. lactis Bf-6 (LMG 24384) does not affect colonic transit time in women
Authors: Merenstein Daniel J. , D'Amico Frank , Palese Caren , Hahn Alexander , Sparenborg Jessy , Tan Tina , Scott Hillary , Polzin Kayla , Kolberg Lore , Roberts Robert
Published: October 2013

The present study investigated the effect of Bifidobacterium animalis ssp. lactis Bf-6 (LMG 24 384) (Bf-6)-supplemented yogurt on colonic transit time (CTT). A triple-blinded, randomised, placebo-controlled, two-period cross-over trial was conducted with sixty-eight women with a self-reported history of straining during bowel movements or hard or lumpy stools in the past 2 years. As per regulatory requirements for probiotic studies, eligible women were generally healthy and not actively constipated at the time of enrolment. Participants consumed both Bf-6 and placebo yogurts for 14 d each in a randomised order, with a 6-week washout period between the treatments. The primary outcome, CTT, was assessed via Sitz marker X-rays. The average CTT was 42·1 h for the active period and 43·3 h for the control period (mean difference 1·2 h, 95 % CI − 4·9, 7·4). Since the statistical tests for the cross-over study implied that the mean CTT for the active and control periods in period 2 were biased, the standard protocol suggests examining the results of only period 1 as a traditional randomised controlled trial. This showed that the mean CTT was 35·2 h for the active period v. 52·9 h for the control period (P= 0·015). Bootstrapping demonstrated that both the mean and median differences remained significant (P= 0·016 and P= 0·045, respectively). Few adverse events were noted, with no differences among the active and control periods. The paired analysis showed no differences between the active and control periods during the cross-over trial. Further trials should be conducted in populations with underlying problems associated with disordered transit to determine the potential value of probiotic supplementation more accurately.
Nonidet p-40, a novel inducer, activates cucumber disease resistance against cucumber anthracnose disease
Authors: LIN T. C. , LIN C. L. , HUANG J. W.
Published: October 2013

The present study found that a protein lysis buffer, used for the extraction of proteins from cells, showed efficacy in reducing the disease severity of cucumber anthracnose, which is caused by the anthracnose fungus. The lysis buffer and its individual components were examined for their function in reducing disease development of cucumber anthracnose on cucumber plants. Nonidet P-40, a nonionic detergent commonly used to isolate cell membrane complexes, was the most effective component of the lysis buffer for disease control. The treatment of cucumber plants with Nonidet P-40 at a concentration of 50 μl/l suppressed development of cucumber anthracnose, but it did not inhibit spore germination of the fungus. Cucumber plants were inoculated with the pathogen 30 min after treatment with Nonidet P-40, and a reduction in disease severity was observed. Expression of genes related to disease resistance (acidic class III chitinase, phenylalanine ammonialyase 1, peroxidase and pathogenesis-related protein 1-1a) were also examined after plants were treated with Nonidet P-40 and inoculated with the pathogen. The results indicate that Nonidet P-40 functions as a trigger for a stereotypic defence response in cucumber plants, including an increase in the expression levels of genes related to disease resistance.
LESSONS FROM HISTORY OF SOCIOECONOMIC IMPROVEMENTS: A NEW APPROACH TO TREATING MULTI-DRUG-RESISTANT TUBERCULOSIS
Authors: HOLLOWAY K. L. , STAUB K. , RÜHLI F. , HENNEBERG M.
Published: October 2013

This study investigated the trends in tuberculosis mortality through time in Switzerland. Information on the decline in mortality before chemotherapies were introduced may be useful in developing countries where drug-resistant tuberculosis is now becoming a major problem. Swiss data were collected from historical records and comparative data were obtained from the literature for England and Wales, New York, Japan, Brazil and Sierra Leone. Logistic curves were fitted to examine the rate of decline before introduction of pharmacotherapies and these show that the decline would have continued without the introduction of chemical therapies, including antibiotics. In Switzerland, England and Wales and New York, the decline had occurred long before the introduction of specific anti-tuberculosis agents. In Brazil and Japan, chemical therapy was co-incident with the decline in tuberculosis mortality rates. Overall, it is suggested that the effective control of tuberculosis can be achieved through a combination of chemical interventions, conservative therapy (rest, good nutrition, ventilation, etc.) as well as public health interventions addressing hygiene, nutrition, reducing exposure to infections and educating the population about tuberculosis.
Early healing and hearing improvement following type one tympanoplasty using the ‘drum sandwich’ technique
Authors: Mills N
Published: October 2013

Background:

The results of a number of tympanic membrane perforation closure techniques have been reported. However, relatively little has been published on the ‘drum sandwich’ technique.

Method:

Retrospective chart review of 123 patients undergoing type one tympanoplasty, performed by one surgeon using the drum sandwich technique.

Results:

Ninety-two per cent of perforations were successfully closed, and 87 per cent of patients had healed ears and were free from aural discharge 6 weeks following surgery. Post-operative hearing data were only available for 81 ears. Of these, 58 per cent had closure of the air–bone gap to within 10 dB. The mean hearing gain for the group was 10.6 dB.

Conclusion:

The drum sandwich technique produces rapid healing of the ear with acceptable hearing outcomes. Drum closure rates are comparable with those reported for other techniques.
Southeast Asia in the age of jazz: Locating popular culture in the colonial Philippines and Indonesia
Authors: Keppy Peter
Published: October 2013

Referencing insights from Cultural Studies and taking a jazz-age perspective, this essay aims to historicise and ‘locate the popular’ in colonial Indonesia and the Philippines. A new cultural era dawned in the 1920s urban hubs of Southeast Asia, associated with the creation of novel forms of vernacular literature, theatre, music and their consumption via the print press, gramophone, radio broadcasting and cinema. By investigating the complex relationship between the elusive phenomena of modernity, cosmopolitanism and nationalism as articulated by two pioneering artists active in commercial music and theatre, the social significance of popular culture is scrutinised.
Biodiversity of transitional waters: species composition and comparative analysis of hard bottom communities from the south-eastern Italian coast
Authors: Cardone Frine , Corriero Giuseppe , Fianchini Alessandra , Gravina Maria Flavia , Nonnis Marzano Carlotta
Published: October 2013

Numerous studies have focused on the soft bottom macrozoobenthos from Mediterranean transitional environments, pointing out a correlation between the variation in environmental parameters and changes occurring in benthic communities. Less attention has been paid to the study of hard bottom organisms settling on both natural and artificial substrates usually present within the basins and often constituting peculiar communities. The ecological role of such communities is remarkable, since they often reach high values of species richness and include bioconstructor organisms able to build true reefs. These reefs can strongly impact the environment, improving biodiversity through the increase of spatial heterogeneity. The present work aims to supplement new faunistic data on five lagoon systems of the south-eastern Italian coast, integrating the still fragmentary knowledge of their macrozoobenthos through the study of hard substrate communities. Sampling was performed on hard substrates colonized by complex benthic communities. The assemblages recorded were then compared in the light of the study sites’ main ecological traits. Our data highlighted the occurrence of a rich benthic macrofauna, with 100 taxa found. This markedly increases the value of species richness reported in the literature for the macrozoobenthos of the study sites. In particular, the species list provided for the Ugento Basins was the first ever compiled for this site. In spite of their geographical proximity, the investigated sites, according to their diverse environmental conditions, showed substantial differences as regards their respective macrozoobenthic communities.
Estimates of density and sustainable harvest of the lowland tapirTapirus terrestrisin the Amazon of French Guiana using a Bayesian spatially explicit capture–recapture model
Authors: Tobler Mathias W. , Hibert Fabrice , Debeir Laure , Richard-Hansen Cécile
Published: October 2013

The Amazonian moist forest, which covers most of French Guiana, is one of the core habitats for the lowland tapirTapirus terrestris. Tapirs are hunted in French Guiana, although a law introduced in 2011 restricts hunting to one animal per person per hunting trip. We carried out camera-trap surveys in the Nouragues Nature Reserve for 4 years, with the goal of estimating tapir densities in undisturbed conditions and determining sustainable harvest levels for tapirs in French Guiana. We analysed our data with a Bayesian spatially explicit capture–recapture model, with parameter sharing across surveys to improve estimates, and used the model to calculate derived parameters such as maximum sustainable harvest levels. Density estimates for all four surveys were similar and the model indicated a difference in encounter rates for the two camera models used but no difference in encounter rates or home range sizes for males and females or between years. Based on the calculated density of 0.32 tapir km−2we estimated sustainable harvest levels at 0.009 tapir km−2. Comparing this value to hunting surveys from 11 sites between 1999 and 2006, we found that hunting levels were unsustainable in at least seven villages. We conclude that even the new restrictive hunting law will not prevent overhunting of tapirs in certain areas and thus stronger regulations are needed. However, because of the remoteness of tapir habitat in many parts of French Guiana tapirs are not immediately threatened in the country as a whole.
Vale of Glamorgan Festival: Fitkin, Metcalf, Grigorjeva, Janulytė, Bowden and Currier
Authors: Power Stephanie
Published: October 2013

Since 1992, the Vale of Glamorgan Festival (founded in 1969 by composer John Metcalf) has focused exclusively on living composers, aiming to reach a wider audience than that traditionally associated with new music. In Metcalf's words: ‘We're not here for … the new music profession; of course, composers, ensembles and publishers are an important part of our audience, but … new music needs to go beyond that now’. However, Vale programmes do not lack challenge or stylistic diversity; alongside more recognized figures, the Festival showcases hitherto little-known composers and explores a variety of music from smaller countries and/or younger traditions. Premières are a key feature of the programming. This year, the Festival was extended to run from 9–18 May, adding a second concert to the customary single contribution from the BBC National Orchestra of Wales. Across a range of platforms, there were 19 premières of music by 10 composers. The following offers some of the highlights.
London, Barbican, ENO: Michael van der Aa's ‘Sunken Garden’
Authors: Anderson Martin
Published: October 2013

Michael van der Aa's multi-medium opera Sunken Garden had its world première in seven performances in the Barbican Theatre, borrowed for the purpose from the English National Opera, in the second half of April; I went late in the run, encouraged by the reviews of the opening nights by my confrères and -sœurs, who were all-a-quiver at the use of 3-D projection in the production – but it's not the first time I've wondered if I'd been in the same place as other reviewers: I was bored to tears and, having given it an optimistic hour's grace to establish its pace and purpose, spent the remaining hour waiting for it to come to an end.
Navigating in a three-dimensional world
Authors: Jeffery Kathryn J. , Jovalekic Aleksandar , Verriotis Madeleine , Hayman Robin
Published: October 2013

The study of spatial cognition has provided considerable insight into how animals (including humans) navigate on the horizontal plane. However, the real world is three-dimensional, having a complex topography including both horizontal and vertical features, which presents additional challenges for representation and navigation. The present article reviews the emerging behavioral and neurobiological literature on spatial cognition in non-horizontal environments. We suggest that three-dimensional spaces are represented in a quasi-planar fashion, with space in the plane of locomotion being computed separately and represented differently from space in the orthogonal axis – a representational structure we have termed “bicoded.” We argue that the mammalian spatial representation in surface-travelling animals comprises a mosaic of these locally planar fragments, rather than a fully integrated volumetric map. More generally, this may be true even for species that can move freely in all three dimensions, such as birds and fish. We outline the evidence supporting this view, together with the adaptive advantages of such a scheme.
Learning landmarks and routes in multi-floored buildings
Authors: Berthoz Alain , Thibault Guillaume
Published: October 2013

Existing studies have proposed that humans preferentially memorize buildings as a collection of floors. Yet this might stem from the fact that environments were also explored by floors. We have studied this potential bias with a learning and recognition experiment. We have detected a positive influence of the learning route – by floors, and also crucially by columns – on spatial memory performances.
Multi-floor buildings and human wayfinding cognition
Authors: Hölscher Christoph , Büchner Simon , Strube Gerhard
Published: October 2013

Multilevel wayfinding research in environmental psychology and architecture exhibits a strong compatibility with Jeffery et al.'s “bicoded” representation of space. We identify a need for capturing verticality in spatial analysis techniques such as space syntax and argue for investigating inter-individual differences in the ability to mentally integrate the cognitive maps of separate floors in buildings.
Making a stronger case for comparative research to investigate the behavioral and neurological bases of three-dimensional navigation
Authors: Nardi Daniele , Bingman Verner P.
Published: October 2013

The rich diversity of avian natural history provides exciting possibilities for comparative research aimed at understanding three-dimensional navigation. We propose some hypotheses relating differences in natural history to potential behavioral and neurological adaptations possessed by contrasting bird species. This comparative approach may offer unique insights into some of the important questions raised by Jeffery et al.
Navigation bicoded as functions of x-y and time?
Authors: Phillips James G. , Ogeil Rowan P.
Published: October 2013

Evidence from egocentric space is cited to support bicoding of navigation in three-dimensional space. Horizontal distances and space are processed differently from the vertical. Indeed, effector systems are compatible in horizontal space, but potentially incompatible (or chaotic) during transitions to vertical motion. Navigation involves changes in coordinates, and animal models of navigation indicate that time has an important role.
Minimum Number ofk-Cliques in Graphs with Bounded Independence Number
Authors: PIKHURKO OLEG , VAUGHAN EMIL R.
Published: October 2013

Erdős asked in 1962 about the value off(n,k,l), the minimum number ofk-cliques in a graph with ordernand independence number less thanl. The case (k,l)=(3,3) was solved by Lorden. Here we solve the problem (for all largen) for (3,l) with 4 ≤l≤ 7 and (k,3) with 4 ≤k≤ 7. Independently, Das, Huang, Ma, Naves and Sudakov resolved the cases (k,l)=(3,4) and (4,3).
EARLY VERSUS DELAYED CORD CLAMPING AT BIRTH; IN SICKNESS AND IN HEALTH
Authors: HUTCHON DAVID J. R.
Published: October 2013

Third stage practice, including the timing of cord clamping and its impact on neonatal health, has been comprehensively reviewed previously by Downey and Bewley, and this opinion will focus on the evidence about neonatal transition which has been published since. Many professional organisations and experts recommend at least a 30-second delay before clamping the umbilical cord, especially after preterm births.
Quality of life before and after cosmetic surgery
Authors: Bensoussan Jean-Charles , Bolton Michael A. , Pi Sarah , Powell-Hicks Allycin L. , Postolova Anna , Razani Bahram , Reyes Kevin , IsHak Waguih William
Published: October 2013

This article reviews the literature regarding the impact of cosmetic surgery on health-related quality of life (QOL). Studies were identified through PubMed/Medline and PsycINFO searches from January 1960 to December 2011. Twenty-eight studies were included in this review, according to specific selection criteria.

The procedures and tools employed in cosmetic surgery research studies were remarkably diverse, thus yielding difficulties with data analysis. However, data indicate that individuals undergoing cosmetic surgery began with lower values on aspects of QOL than control subjects, and experienced significant QOL improvement post-procedurally, an effect that appeared to plateau with time.

Despite the complexity of measuring QOL in cosmetic surgery patients, most studies showed an improvement in QOL after cosmetic surgery procedures. However, this finding was clouded by measurement precision as well as heterogeneity of procedures and study populations. Future research needs to focus on refining measurement techniques, including developing cosmetic surgery–specific QOL measures.
Long-term care – a review of global funding models ‐ Abstract of the London discussion
Authors: Wilson J. K. (Hamish)
Published: October 2013

This abstract relates to the following paper:

ElliottS., GoldsS., SissonsI. and WilsonH.Long-term care – a review of global funding models (a working paper).British Actuarial Journal, doi:10.1017/S1357321713000329
Section 3. Evaluation of the impact of the strategy on pyrethroid resistance: F1 analyses
Authors: Forrester Neil W. , Cahill Matthew , Bird Lisa J. , Layland Jacquelyn K.
Published: October 2013

The classical resistance monitoring technique using full bioassay lines on laboratory reared F1 progeny of field material was compared to the previously described discriminating dose technique on field collected individuals. The Via tolerance curve analysis of the F1 data clearly indicated the predominance of the oxidative metabolic pyrethroid resistance mechanism from the 1984/85 season onwards. There appears to have been an abrupt change in the relative importance of field resistance mechanisms following the introduction of the insecticide resistance management (IRM) strategy in 1983/84. The strategy seems to have favoured the selection of the more amenable oxidative resistance mechanism over the intractable nerve insensitivity mechanism. The Beeman-Nanis analysis was applied to attempt to identify the relative importance of the various field resistance genes. However, it proved of little value in this study as one of the key assumptions underlying the analysis (full genetic dominance) was not satisfied.
Section 9. Pyrethroid resistance: synergists
Authors: Forrester Neil W. , Cahill Matthew , Bird Lisa J. , Layland Jacquelyn K.
Published: October 2013

Sixty-five synergists and seven solvents were tested on larvae of a pure breeding pyrethroid resistant strain of Helicoverpa armigera (homozygous for a metabolic detoxification mechanism fully suppressible by piperonyl butoxide (Pbo), presumably via a microsomal monooxygenase system). The methylenedioxyphenyl and acetylenic compounds were the most effective synergists with moderate activity from some organophosphate compounds, particularly the N-alkyl phthalimidomethyl phosphorodithioate, phosmet. All the other compounds tested were either ineffective or only marginally effective including the majority of organophosphates (12 out of 18 tested), pyrethroid analogues, N-alkyls, esterase and glutathione transferase inhibitors, various nitrogen heterocycles, juvenile hormone and analogues, formamidines, organochlorines, anti-oxidants and kojic acid. The most promising synergists indicated for further evaluation were synthetic analogues of Pbo, phosmet, propargite and possibly also fenthion, phosalone, azinphos-ethyl, pyrazophos and kinoprene. All solvents (except dodecane) had no impact on improving kill, indicating that the mode of action of Pbo and the other synergists in this study is principally true biochemical inhibition and not quasi-synergism (improved penetration). Dodecane marginally improved kill in the resistant but not the susceptible strain, indicating some preferential penetration synergism in the resistant strain.

A number of trials with Pbo were designed to facilitate the development of this synergist for commercial field use within the Australian IRM strategy. From these, it was found that: 1. A set rate of Pbo should be used, irrespective of the activity of the accompanying pyrethroid. 2. Residual activity of Pbo is poor (less than 50% of initial activity by two days post spray) but that this could be partially overcome by increasing the rate. 3. Straight Pbo applied onto a weathered pyrethroid deposit could restore control but only temporarily and would probably be of little practical field use. 4. No difference in residual activity could be found between the four formulations of Pbo tested. The synthetic analogue PBX was slightly less intrinsically active than the natural product (Pbo) but when tested in the field against Pbo at the same rate, was equivalent in efficacy to both the standard commercial and research Pbo formulations.

In order to preserve the long-term effectiveness of Pbo as a pyrethroid synergist within the Australian IRM strategy, an optimal use strategy (based on synergist rotation within the present insecticide rotation scheme) is proposed.
Development of a competency framework for the nutrition in emergencies sector
Authors: Meeker Jessica , Perry Abigail , Dolan Carmel , Emary Colleen , Golden Kate , Abla Caroline , Walsh Anne , Maclaine Ali , Seal Andrew
Published: October 2013

Objective

There is a recognised need to strengthen capacity in the nutrition in emergencies sector and for greater clarity on the role of emergency nutritionists and the skills they require. Competency frameworks are an important tool for human resource development and have been developed for several other humanitarian sectors. We therefore developed a technical competency framework for practitioners in nutrition in emergencies.

Design

Existing competency frameworks were reviewed and interviews conducted to explore methods used in developing competency frameworks for other sectors. Competencies were identified through interviews with field experts, feedback from course trainees, academic course content and job specifications. Competencies were then categorised and behavioural indicators developed for each. The draft framework was then reviewed by members of the Global Nutrition Cluster and modified in an iterative process.

Setting

Global.

Subjects

Not applicable.

Results

A wide range of competencies were identified as essential for nutritionists working in emergencies, covering technical skills and general core competencies. The proposed framework contains twenty competency areas with 161 behavioural indicators categorised into three levels, corresponding to the requirements of progressively more senior roles. Many of the competencies are common across development and emergency nutrition.

Conclusions

The proposed technical competency framework should prove to be a valuable tool in creating standards within the sector and promoting effective capacity strengthening and professionalisation. Continued research is needed to validate the framework, optimise methods for assessment, develop approaches to integrate it within the sector and measure its impact on performance.
Viscous profiles of vortex patches
Authors: Sueur Franck
Published: October 2013

We deal with the incompressible Navier–Stokes equations with vortex patches as initial data. Such data describe an initial configuration for which the vorticity is discontinuous across a hypersurface. We give an asymptotic expansion of the solutions in the vanishing viscosity limit which exhibits an internal layer where the fluid vorticity has a sharp variation. This layer moves with the flow of the Euler equations.
Shared infrastructures, informational asymmetries: Persians and Indians in Japan,c.1890–1930
Authors: Green Nile
Published: October 2013

Drawing on primary materials in Persian, Urdu, and English, this article compares Persian and Indian travel accounts to assess the similarities and differences of contemporaneous encounters with Japan. By linking Persian and Urdu writings from either side of 1900 to the differential impact of industrial communications (vernacular printing, steam travel) on Persia and India, the article reconstructs the global connections and inter-Asian networks that suddenly rendered Japan an important touchstone for intellectuals in the Middle East no less than South Asia. By presenting a triangulated and comparative model of inter-Asian exchange, the article contributes to building robust material foundations for positioning Asia, and its Muslims in particular, within global intellectual history, and concludes by contrasting the sources of information generation that preceded ideological formation.
Good women for empire: educating overseas female emigrants in imperial Japan, 1900–45
Authors: Xu Lu Sidney
Published: October 2013

This article examines two tutelage campaigns launched by Japanese social reformers targeting Japanese emigrant women in Manchuria and California in the first two decades of the twentieth century. It reveals how these two middle-class-based social campaigns jointly paved the way for the Japanese state's ‘continental bride’ policy in the late 1930s, which mobilized and exported women from across the nation to Manchuria on an unprecedented scale. Synthesizing the stories of Japan's colonialism in Manchuria and Japanese labour migration to the American Pacific coast, this study traces the convergence and flows between the women's education campaigns in Japanese communities on both sides of the Pacific. It moves the debate of Japanese imperialism beyond Asia and situates it in a transnational space encompassing the local, the national, and the global.
Religion, custom and gender: marital law reform in South Africa
Authors: Albertyn Catherine
Published: October 2013

This article analyses the legal processes of recognising customary and religious (Muslim) marriages in South Africa's constitutional democracy. It argues that the best interpretation of the Constitution requires laws that address cross-cutting issues of recognition and redistribution relating to religion/culture and gender, and that the best way to achieve this is through a ‘pluralistic solidarity’ that enables dialogue on how to secure cultural and religious recognition without undermining the rights of women. It examines how the different processes of cultural/religious law reform in South Africa have become sites of struggle over the meaning of collective and individual identity, public/private power, citizenship and rights, and gender and democracy, and how particular sociopolitical conditions, ideological struggles and overarching conflicts and interests have shaped each process of law reform. Thus it distinguishes between the ideal and the possible, the normative and the strategic, in law reform. It notes the conditions under which the incomplete process of recognition of Muslim marriage law has seen a greater deference to religious norms and private regulation than customary law reform, which saw a greater institutionalisation of gender equality norms. The article concludes by emphasising the open-ended nature of legal processes, the possibilities of using courts to challenge ongoing inequalities in religion and custom, and the ever-present role of politics in legal outcomes.
The beginning of the sharpness: loyalty, citizenship and Muslim divorce practice
Authors: Enright Máiréad
Published: October 2013

Muslim divorce practice is a feminist issue, insofar as it often departs from core principles of Anglo-American divorce law. When legal feminists have examined the reception of Muslim divorce practice in common-law courts, they have tended to measure those departures in terms of financial outcome. There is a danger that, in consequence, our theory of Muslim women's legal agency is reduced to pragmatic matters of choice, money and advantage-taking. That theory seems hugely impoverished when read against the political background in Britain, where Muslims‘ legal agency upon divorce is bound up with deeper questions of belonging and allegiance. Feminist work ought to be able to advance a theory of citizens’ commitment to civil law in litigation which can give a complex account even of the unsettling litigation of Muslim divorce disputes in civil courts. This article draws on existing work in feminist multiculturalism to sketch the beginnings of that theory.
Multiculturalism meets privatisation: the case of faith-based arbitration
Authors: Macklin Audrey
Published: October 2013

The debate surrounding judicial recognition of faith-based arbitration is typically framed as a multicultural contest between the liberal, gender-equal neutrality of public law and the patriarchal particularity of religious law. Within this framework, the state is understood as advancing the goal of protecting the ‘encultured subject’ from the disempowering effects of her religion. The author departs from this trend by reading the Canadian controversy over Islamic family law arbitration against a legal landscape that already authorises and encourages parties to settle matters of property division and support through private ordering. The author argues that faith-based arbitration and its normative driver, multiculturalism, were already nested within the domain of privatisation and neoliberal ideals of choice, liberty and autonomy. Facilitation of private ordering in family law paved the way for faith-based arbitration. Through a close reading of Supreme Court of Canada family law jurisprudence about the enforcement of marital contracts, the author argues that concerns more properly directed at privatisation per se have been aimed at the putative content of religious norms. The author offers a policy proposal that addresses these concerns as they arise in the context of faith-based arbitration.
The interplay between pathogen‐associated and danger‐associated molecular patterns: an inflammatory code in cancer?
Authors: Escamilla‐Tilch Monica , Filio‐Rodríguez Georgina , García‐Rocha Rosario , Mancilla‐Herrera Ismael , Mitchison Nicholas Avrion , Ruiz‐Pacheco Juan Alberto , Sánchez‐García Francisco Javier , Sandoval‐Borrego Daniela , Vázquez‐Sánchez Ernesto Antonio
Published: October 2013

There is increasing evidence of a close link between inflammation and cancer, and at the core of inflammation there are both pathogen‐associated molecular patterns (PAMPs) and danger (or damage)‐associated molecular patterns (DAMPs). Microorganisms harbor molecules structurally conserved within groups called PAMPs that are recognized by specific receptors present on immune cells, such as monocytes and dendritic cells (DCs); these are the pattern recognition receptors (PRRs). Activation through different PRRs leads to production of pro‐inflammatory cytokines. A robust immune response also requires the presence of endogenous molecules that pose ‘danger’ to self‐tissues and are produced by damaged or stressed cells; these are the DAMPs, which act also as inducers of inflammation. PAMPs and DAMPs are each recognized by a limited set of receptors that in number probably do not exceed 100. PAMPs and DAMPs interact with each other, and a single PRR can bind to a PAMP as well as a DAMP. Within this framework, we propose that PAMPs and DAMPs act in synchrony, modifying the activation threshold of one another. Thus, the range of PAMP–DAMP partnerships defines the course of inflammation, in a predictable manner, in an ‘inflammatory code’. The definition of relevant PAMP–DAMP complexes is important for the understanding of inflammatory disorders in general, and of cancer in particular. Here, we review relevant findings that support the notion of a PAMP–DAMP‐based inflammatory code, with emphasis on cancer immunology and immunotherapy.
A compact rotating dilution refrigerator
Authors: Fear M. J. , Walmsley P. M. , Chorlton D. A. , Zmeev D. E. , Gillott S. J. , Sellers M. C. , Richardson P. P. , Agrawal H. , Batey G. , Golov A. I.
Published: October 2013

We describe the design and performance of a new rotating dilution refrigerator that will primarily be used for investigating the dynamics of quantized vortices in superfluid 4He. All equipment required to operate the refrigerator and perform experimental measurements is mounted on two synchronously driven, but mechanically decoupled, rotating carousels. The design allows for relative simplicity of operation and maintenance and occupies a minimal amount of space in the laboratory. Only two connections between the laboratory and rotating frames are required for the transmission of electrical power and helium gas recovery. Measurements on the stability of rotation show that rotation is smooth to around 10−3 rad s−1 up to angular velocities in excess of 2.5 rad s−1. The behavior of a high-Q mechanical resonator during rapid changes in rotation has also been investigated.
Response to “Comment on ‘Going beyond the frozen core approximation: Development of coordinate-dependent pseudopotentials and application to ${\rm Na}_2^+$ Na 2+’” [J. Chem. Phys. 139, 147101 (2013)]
Authors: Kahros Argyris , Schwartz Benjamin J.
Published: October 2013

Stoll, Fuentealba, and Szentpály (SFS) argue that the coordinate-dependent pseudopotential we developed for the sodium dimer cation molecule is inferior to other potentials that have been presented in the literature for this molecule. The goal of our work, however, was to present a novel method for the development of rigorous coordinate-dependent pseudopotentials. Our method is designed to reproduce all-electron Hartree-Fock calculations without the inclusion of adjustable parameters. Moreover, our method starts from the superposition of unoptimized, non-norm-conserved atomic potentials, so that when complete, the resulting norm-conserving potential can reproduce an all-electron Hartree-Fock calculation without the inclusion of adjustable parameters. We chose the sodium dimer cation system as a proof of principle for our method, and showed that our method does indeed allow a one-electron calculation to correctly reproduce the all-electron Hartree-Fock calculation from bonding to the dissociation limit. Our purpose in developing this method is to use such potentials in condensed-phase mixed quantum/classical molecular dynamics simulations, where inclusion of valence polarization effects is unimportant or can be added on after the fact. Thus we do not claim that our method provides a potential that is superior to potentials that have been specifically constructed to go beyond the static exchange approximation and/or include valence polarization effects—such potentials are beyond the scope of our work. We also note that although we made a numerical error in the application of our method to \documentclass[12pt]{minimal}\begin{document}${\rm Na}_2^+$\end{document} Na 2+ in our original work [A. Kahros and B. J. Schwartz, J. Chem. Phys. 138, 054110 (2013)] that led to an overestimation of the magnitude of core polarization effects for this particular molecule, out method does work as derived for this molecule and the error does not affect the significance of our method or its general applicability.
Quantitative thermal microscopy using thermoelectric probe in passive mode
Authors: Bontempi A. , Thiery L. , Teyssieux D. , Briand D. , Vairac P.
Published: October 2013

A scanning thermal microscope working in passive mode using a micronic thermocouple probe is presented as a quantitative technique. We show that actual surface temperature distributions of microsystems are measurable under conditions for which most of usual techniques cannot operate. The quantitative aspect relies on the necessity of an appropriate calibration procedure which takes into account of the probe-to-sample thermal interaction prior to any measurement. Besides this consideration that should be treated for any thermal contact probing system, the main advantages of our thermal microscope deal with the temperature available range, the insensitivity to the surface optical parameters, the possibility to image DC, and AC temperature components up to 1 kHz typically and a resolution limit related to near-field behavior.
Numerical simulation study of positron production by intense laser-accelerated electrons
Authors: Yan Yonghong , Dong Kegong , Wu Yuchi , Zhang Bo , Yao Zeen , Gu Yuqiu
Published: October 2013

Positron production by ultra-intense laser-accelerated electrons has been studied with two-dimensional particle-in-cell and Monte Carlo simulations. The dependence of the positron yield on plasma density, plasma length, and converter thickness was investigated in detail with fixed parameters of a typical 100 TW laser system. The results show that with the optimal plasma and converter parameters a positron beam containing up to 1.9 × 1010 positrons can be generated, which has a small divergence angle (10°), a high temperature (67.2 MeV), and a short pulse duration (1.7 ps).
Chevron beam dump for ITER edge Thomson scattering system
Authors: Yatsuka E. , Hatae T. , Vayakis G. , Bassan M. , Itami K.
Published: October 2013

This paper contains the design of the beam dump for the ITER edge Thomson scattering system and mainly concerns its lifetime under the harsh thermal and electromagnetic loads as well as tight space allocation. The lifetime was estimated from the multi-pulse laser-induced damage threshold. In order to extend its lifetime, the structure of the beam dump was optimized. A number of bent sheets aligned parallel in the beam dump form a shape called a chevron which enables it to avoid the concentration of the incident laser pulse energy. The chevron beam dump is expected to withstand thermal loads due to nuclear heating, radiation from the plasma, and numerous incident laser pulses throughout the entire ITER project with a reasonable margin for the peak factor of the beam profile. Structural analysis was also carried out in case of electromagnetic loads during a disruption. Moreover, detailed issues for more accurate assessments of the beam dump's lifetime are clarified. Variation of the bi-directional reflection distribution function (BRDF) due to erosion by or contamination of neutral particles derived from the plasma is one of the most critical issues that needs to be resolved. In this paper, the BRDF was assumed, and the total amount of stray light and the absorbed laser energy profile on the beam dump were evaluated.