bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
A Pilot Trial Using Lymphocytes Genetically Engineered with an NY-ESO-1–Reactive T-cell Receptor: Long-term Follow-up and Correlates with Response
Authors: Robbins Paul F. , Kassim Sadik H. , Tran Thai L.N. , Crystal Jessica S. , Morgan Richard A. , Feldman Steven A. , Yang James C. , Dudley Mark E. , Wunderlich John R. , Sherry Richard M. , Kammula Udai S. , Hughes Marybeth S. , Restifo Nicholas P. , Raffeld Mark , Lee Chyi-Chia R. , Li Yong F. , El-Gamil Mona , Rosenberg Steven A.
Published: December 2014

Purpose: Although adoptive cell therapy can be highly effective for the treatment of patients with melanoma, the application of this approach to the treatment of other solid tumors has been limited. The observation that the cancer germline (CG) antigen NY-ESO-1 is expressed in 70% to 80% and in approximately 25% of patients with synovial cell sarcoma and melanoma, respectively, prompted us to perform this first-in-man clinical trial using the adoptive transfer of autologous peripheral blood mononuclear cells that were retrovirally transduced with an NY-ESO-1–reactive T-cell receptor (TCR) to heavily pretreated patients bearing these metastatic cancers.

Experimental Design: HLA-*0201 patients with metastatic synovial cell sarcoma or melanoma refractory to standard treatments and whose cancers expressed NY-ESO-1 received autologous TCR-transduced T cells following a lymphodepleting preparative chemotherapy. Response rates using Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors (RECIST), as well as immunologic correlates of response, are presented in this report.

Results: Eleven of 18 patients with NY-ESO-1+ synovial cell sarcomas (61%) and 11 of 20 patients with NY-ESO-1+ melanomas (55%) who received autologous T cells transduced with an NY-ESO-1–reactive TCR demonstrated objective clinical responses. The estimated overall 3- and 5-year survival rates for patients with synovial cell sarcoma were 38% and 14%, respectively, whereas the corresponding estimated survival rates for patients with melanoma were both 33%.

Conclusions: The adoptive transfer of autologous T cells transduced with a retrovirus encoding a TCR against an HLA-A*0201 restricted NY-ESO-1 epitope can be an effective therapy for some patients bearing synovial cell sarcomas and melanomas that are refractory to other treatments. Clin Cancer Res; 21(5); 1019–27. ©2014 AACR.
Protease-Activated Pore-Forming Peptides for the Treatment and Imaging of Prostate Cancer
Authors: LeBeau Aaron M. , Denmeade Samuel R.
Published: December 2014

A common hallmark of cancers with highly aggressive phenotypes is increased proteolysis in the tumor and the surrounding microenvironment. Prostate cancer has a number of proteases uniquely associated with it that may play various important roles in disease progression. In this report, we utilize the peritumoral proteolytic activity of prostate cancer to activate engineered peptide constructs for the treatment and noninvasive imaging of prostate cancer. Using a modular “propeptide” approach, a cationic diastereomeric pore-forming peptide domain was linked to an inactivating acidic peptide domain. The inactivating acidic peptide domain was engineered to be a cleavable substrate for the secreted serine protease prostate-specific antigen (PSA) or the transmembrane metalloprotease prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA). The propeptides were then evaluated in a direct comparison study. Both the PSA and PSMA activated propeptides were found to be cytotoxic to prostate cancer cells in vitro. In vivo, however, treatment of LNCaP and CWR22Rv1 xenografts with the PSMA propeptide resulted in a pronounced cytostatic effect when compared with xenografts treated with the PSA propeptide or the cationic diastereomeric peptide alone. The PSMA activated propeptide also proved to be an effective optical imaging probe in vivo when labeled with a near-infrared fluorophore. These data suggest that protease-activated pore-forming peptides could potentially be used for both imaging and treating prostate cancer. Mol Cancer Ther; 14(3); 659–68. ©2014 AACR.
Salivary microRNAs Show Potential as a Noninvasive Biomarker for Detecting Resectable Pancreatic Cancer
Authors: Xie Zijun , Yin Xiaoyu , Gong Bo , Nie Wenjing , Wu Bin , Zhang Xuchao , Huang Jian , Zhang Pingyou , Zhou Zhiwei , Li Zijun
Published: December 2014

Early surgery is vital in the treatment of pancreatic cancer, which is often fatal. However, there is currently no useful noninvasive biomarker to screen for pancreatic cancer. Studies have documented that many salivary molecules can be used to detect systemic diseases. We investigated whether salivary miRNAs are useful biomarkers for detecting resectable pancreatic cancer. Using an Agilent microarray, salivary miRNAs were profiled from saliva samples of 8 patients with resectable pancreatic cancer and 8 healthy controls. Candidate biomarkers identified in the profiles were subjected to validation using quantitative PCR and an independent sample set of 40 patients with pancreatic cancer, 20 with benign pancreatic tumors (BPT), and 40 healthy controls. The validated salivary miRNA biomarkers were evaluated within three discriminatory categories: pancreatic cancer versus healthy control, pancreatic cancer versus BPT, and pancreatic cancer versus noncancer (healthy control + BPT). miR-3679-5p showed significant downregulation in the pancreatic cancer group within the three categories (P = 0.008, 0.007, and 0.002, respectively), whereas miR-940 showed significant upregulation in pancreatic cancer (P = 0.006, 0.004, and 0.0001, respectively). Logistic regression models combining the two salivary miRNAs were able to distinguish resectable pancreatic cancer within the three categories, showing sensitivities of 72.5%, 62.5%, and 70.0% and specificities of 70.0%, 80.0%, and 70.0%, respectively. Salivary miR-3679-5p and miR-940 possess good discriminatory power to detect resectable pancreatic cancer, with reasonable specificity and sensitivity. This report provides a new method for the early detection of pancreatic cancer and other systemic diseases by assessing salivary miRNAs. Cancer Prev Res; 8(2); 165–73. ©2014 AACR.
Spectrin Repeat Containing Nuclear Envelope 1 and Forkhead Box Protein E1 Are Promising Markers for the Detection of Colorectal Cancer in Blood
Authors: Melotte Veerle , Yi Joo Mi , Lentjes Marjolein H.F.M. , Smits Kim M. , Van Neste Leander , Niessen Hanneke E.C. , Wouters Kim A.D. , Louwagie Joost , Schuebel Kornel E. , Herman James G. , Baylin Stephen B. , van Criekinge Wim , Meijer Gerrit A. , Ahuja Nita , van Engeland Manon
Published: December 2014

Identifying biomarkers in body fluids may improve the noninvasive detection of colorectal cancer. Previously, we identified N-Myc downstream-regulated gene 4 (NDRG4) and GATA binding protein 5 (GATA5) methylation as promising biomarkers for colorectal cancer in stool DNA. Here, we examined the utility of NDRG4, GATA5, and two additional markers [Forkhead box protein E1 (FOXE1) and spectrin repeat containing nuclear envelope 1 (SYNE1)] promoter methylation as biomarkers in plasma DNA. Quantitative methylation-specific PCR was performed on plasma DNA from 220 patients with colorectal cancer and 684 noncancer controls, divided in a training set and a test set. Receiver operating characteristic analysis was performed to measure the area under the curve of GATA5, NDRG4, SYNE1, and FOXE1 methylation. Functional assays were performed in SYNE1 and FOXE1 stably transfected cell lines. The sensitivity of NDRG4, GATA5, FOXE1, and SYNE1 methylation in all stages of colorectal cancer (154 cases, 444 controls) was 27% [95% confidence interval (CI), 20%–34%), 18% (95% CI, 12%–24%), 46% (95% CI, 38%–54%), and 47% (95% CI, 39%–55%), with a specificity of 95% (95% CI, 93%–97%), 99% (95% CI, 98%–100%), 93% (95% CI, 91%–95%), and 96% (95% CI, 94%–98%), respectively. Combining SYNE1 and FOXE1, increased the sensitivity to 56% (95% CI, 48%–64%), while the specificity decreased to 90% (95% CI, 87%–93%) in the training set and to 58% sensitivity (95% CI, 46%–70%) and 91% specificity (95% CI, 80%–100%) in a test set (66 cases, 240 controls). SYNE1 overexpression showed no major differences in cell proliferation, migration, and invasion compared with controls. Overexpression of FOXE1 significantly decreased the number of colonies in SW480 and HCT116 cell lines. Overall, our data suggest that SYNE1 and FOXE1 are promising markers for colorectal cancer detection. Cancer Prev Res; 8(2); 157–64. ©2014 AACR.
Monocyte Fate in Atherosclerosis
Authors: Hilgendorf Ingo , Swirski Filip K. , Robbins Clinton S.
Published: December 2014

Monocytes and their descendant macrophages are essential to the development and exacerbation of atherosclerosis, a lipid-driven inflammatory disease. Lipid-laden macrophages, known as foam cells, reside in early lesions and advanced atheromata. Our understanding of how monocytes accumulate in the growing lesion, differentiate, ingest lipids, and contribute to disease has advanced substantially over the last several years. These cells’ remarkable phenotypic and functional complexity is a therapeutic opportunity: in the future, treatment and prevention of cardiovascular disease and its complications may involve specific targeting of atherogenic monocytes/macrophages and their products.
Gla-Rich Protein Acts as a Calcification Inhibitor in the Human Cardiovascular System
Authors: Viegas Carla S.B. , Rafael Marta S. , Enriquez José L. , Teixeira Alexandra , Vitorino Rui , Luís Inês M. , Costa Rúben M. , Santos Sofia , Cavaco Sofia , Neves José , Macedo Anjos L. , Willems Brecht A.G. , Vermeer Cees , Simes Dina C.
Published: December 2014

Objective—

Vascular and valvular calcifications are pathological processes regulated by resident cells, and depending on a complex interplay between calcification promoters and inhibitors, resembling skeletal metabolism. Here, we study the role of the vitamin K–dependent Gla-rich protein (GRP) in vascular and valvular calcification processes.

Approach and Results—

Immunohistochemistry and quantitative polymerase chain reaction showed that GRP expression and accumulation are upregulated with calcification simultaneously with osteocalcin and matrix Gla protein (MGP). Using conformation-specific antibodies, both γ-carboxylated GRP and undercarboxylated GRP species were found accumulated at the sites of mineral deposits, whereas undercarboxylated GRP was predominant in calcified aortic valve disease valvular interstitial cells. Mineral-bound GRP, MGP, and fetuin-A were identified by mass spectrometry. Using an ex vivo model of vascular calcification, γ-carboxylated GRP but not undercarboxylated GRP was shown to inhibit calcification and osteochondrogenic differentiation through α-smooth muscle actin upregulation and osteopontin downregulation. Immunoprecipitation assays showed that GRP is part of an MGP–fetuin-A complex at the sites of valvular calcification. Moreover, extracellular vesicles released from normal vascular smooth muscle cells are loaded with GRP, MGP, and fetuin-A, whereas under calcifying conditions, released extracellular vesicles show increased calcium loading and GRP and MGP depletion.

Conclusions—

GRP is an inhibitor of vascular and valvular calcification involved in calcium homeostasis. Its function might be associated with prevention of calcium-induced signaling pathways and direct mineral binding to inhibit crystal formation/maturation. Our data show that GRP is a new player in mineralization competence of extracellular vesicles possibly associated with the fetuin-A–MGP calcification inhibitory system. GRP activity was found to be dependent on its γ-carboxylation status, with potential clinical relevance.
Changes in Functional Outcome Over the First Year After Stroke
Authors: Ullberg Teresa , Zia Elisabet , Petersson Jesper , Norrving Bo
Published: December 2014

Background and Purpose—

Large longitudinal studies on stroke outcome are scarce. The aim of this study was to analyze predictors and changes in functional outcome during the first year poststroke.

Methods—

Data on patients who were independent in activities of daily living (ADL) and hospitalized for acute stroke in 2008 to 2010 were obtained from the Swedish Stroke Register. Case fatality was assessed by linkage to the Swedish Population Register. ADL was defined by independence or dependence in dressing, toileting, and indoor mobility and assessed at 3 and 12 months. Predictors of ADL dependency were assessed through multivariate analysis.

Results—

In total, 64 746 patients were included. Case fatality at 3 months was 13.1% (men 11.6% versus women 14.8%;
P
<0.0001) and at 12 months 18.2% (men 16.4% versus women 20.3%;
P
<0,0001). In the 35 064 followed-up survivors, ADL dependency rates at 3 and 12 months were 16.2% (men 15.9% versus women 19.2%;
P
<0.0001) and 28.3% (men 22.7% versus women 34.9%,
P
<0.0001), respectively. Factors predicting deterioration to ADL dependency between 3 and 12 months were female sex (relative risk [RR]=1.56; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.50–1.70), diabetes mellitus (RR=1.50; 95% CI, 1.05–1.60), comatose at admittance (RR=2.34; 95% CI, 1.79–3.05), previous stroke (RR=1.52; 95% CI, 1.43–1.61), hemorrhagic or unspecified stroke (RR=1.14; 95% CI, 1.05–1.25), and atrial fibrillation (RR= 1.11; 95% CI, 1.04–1.17).

Conclusions—

Transition from ADL independence to dependence was observed in a high proportion of patients between 3 and 12 months, challenging the common belief that functioning after stroke is stable beyond 3 months. Deterioration occurred more commonly in women, among whom 1/6 converted to dependency.
Activation of the High-Mobility Group Box 1 Protein-Receptor for Advanced Glycation End-Products Signaling Pathway in Rats During Neurogenesis After Intracerebral Hemorrhage
Authors: Lei Chunyan , Wu Bo , Cao Tian , Zhang Shuting , Liu Ming
Published: December 2014

Background and Purpose—

Following intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH), high-mobility group box 1 protein (HMGB1) may promote neurogenesis that supports functional recovery. How HMGB1 regulates or participates in this process is unclear, as are the pattern recognition receptors and signaling pathways involved.

Methods—

ICH was induced by injection of collagenase in Sprague–Dawley rats, which were treated 3 days later with saline, with the HMGB1 inhibitor ethyl pyruvate or with FPS-ZM1, an antagonist of the receptor for advanced glycation end-products. A Sham group was treated with saline solution instead of collagenase and then treated 3 days later with saline again or with ethyl pyruvate or N-benzyl-4-chloro-N-cyclohexylbenzamide (FPS-ZM1). Expression of the following proteins was measured by Western blot, immunohistochemistry, or immunofluorescence: HMGB1, receptor for advanced glycation end-products, toll-like receptor (TLR)-2, TLR4, brain-derived neurotrophic factor, and matrix metalloproteinase-9. The number of cells positive for 5-bromo-2-deoxyuridine or doublecortin was determined by immunohistochemistry and immunofluorescence.

Results—

Levels of HMGB1, receptor for advanced glycation end-products, TLR4, TLR2, brain-derived neurotrophic factor, and matrix metalloproteinase-9 were significantly higher 14 days after ICH than at baseline, as were the numbers of 5-bromo-2-deoxyuridine- or doublecortin-positive cells. At the same time, HMGB1 moved from the nucleus into the cytoplasm. Administering ethyl pyruvate significantly reduced all these ICH-induced increases, except the increase in TLR4 and TLR2. Administering FPS-ZM1 reduced the ICH-induced increases in the expression of brain-derived neurotrophic factor and matrix metalloproteinase-9 and in the numbers of 5-bromo-2-deoxyuridine- or doublecortin-positive cells.

Conclusions—

These findings suggest that HMGB1 acts via the receptor for advanced glycation end-products signaling pathway to promote neurogenesis in later phases of ICH.
Comparing National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale Among a Stroke Team and Helicopter Emergency Medical Service Providers
Authors: Kesinger Matthew R. , Sequeira Denisse J. , Buffalini Samantha , Guyette Francis X.
Published: December 2014

Background and Purpose—

The use of tissue-type plasminogen activator is limited to a maximum of 4.5 hours after symptom-onset. Endovascular recanalization may improve outcomes for large-vessel occlusions (LVO), but efficacy decreases with time from symptom-onset. A National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) score ≥12 is predictive of LVOs and could be used to triage patients if appropriately used by prehospital providers. The NIHSS has been considered too complex and has not been validated in the prehospital setting.

Methods—

We reviewed all patients with ischemic stroke transported by helicopter emergency medical services (HEMS) to a single comprehensive stroke center in 2010. HEMS NIHSS were compared with in-hospital stroke team physician scores. NIHSS was categorized based on 3 clinically relevant groupings and ability to predict LVO was investigated.

Results—

Three-hundred five patients met inclusion criteria, 68.9% having LVO. Moderate agreement existed between HEMS and physicians (72.1%; κ=0.571). Interclass correlation was 0.879 (95% confidence interval, 0.849–0.904). Excluding patients with tissue-type plasminogen activator before HEMS transport, there were 216 patients and good agreement (82.7%; κ=0.619). Among patients presenting within 8 hours postonset and NIHSS≥12, HEMS had a sensitivity of 55.9% and positive predictive value of 83.7% in predicting LVO.

Conclusions—

HEMS providers can administer NIHSS with moderate to good agreement with the receiving stroke team. The use of the NIHSS in HEMS may identify patients with LVO and inform triage decisions for patients ineligible for tissue-type plasminogen activator.
Making Cognitive Latent Variables Manifest: Distinct Neural Networks for Fluid Reasoning and Processing Speed
Authors: Habeck Christian , Steffener Jason , Barulli Daniel , Gazes Yunglin , Razlighi Qolamreza , Shaked Danielle , Salthouse Timothy , Stern Yaakov
Published: December 2014

Cognitive psychologists posit several specific cognitive abilities that are measured with sets of cognitive tasks. Tasks that purportedly tap a specific underlying cognitive ability are strongly correlated with one another, whereas performances on tasks that tap different cognitive abilities are less strongly correlated. For these reasons, latent variables are often considered optimal for describing individual differences in cognitive abilities. Although latent variables cannot be directly observed, all cognitive tasks representing a specific latent ability should have a common neural underpinning. Here, we show that cognitive tasks representing one ability (i.e., either perceptual speed or fluid reasoning) had a neural activation pattern distinct from that of tasks in the other ability. One hundred six participants between the ages of 20 and 77 years were imaged in an fMRI scanner while performing six cognitive tasks, three representing each cognitive ability. Consistent with prior research, behavioral performance on these six tasks clustered into the two abilities based on their patterns of individual differences and tasks postulated to represent one ability showed higher similarity across individuals than tasks postulated to represent a different ability. This finding was extended in the current report to the spatial resemblance of the task-related activation patterns: The topographic similarity of the mean activation maps for tasks postulated to reflect the same reference ability was higher than for tasks postulated to reflect a different reference ability. Furthermore, for any task pairing, behavioral and topographic similarities of underlying activation patterns are strongly linked. These findings suggest that differences in the strengths of correlations between various cognitive tasks may be because of the degree of overlap in the neural structures that are active when the tasks are being performed. Thus, the latent variable postulated to account for correlations at a behavioral level may reflect topographic similarities in the neural activation across different brain regions.
The Dialectics of Design and Destruction: The Degenerate Art Exhibition (1937) and the Exhibition internationale du Surréalisme (1938)
Authors: Buchloh Benjamin H. D.
Published: December 2014

As a genre of cultural production, where iconic (painterly or photographic), sculptural, and architectural conventions intersect to represent the uniquely specific and current conditions of experience in public social space, exhibition design by artists has only recently emerged as a category of art-historical study. While earlier discussions of El Lissitzky's design of the Pressa exhibition in Cologne in 1928, an exhibition that likely had the widest-ranging impact and is the central example of such an emerging genre in the twentieth century, might have served as a point of departure,1 Romy Golan's important, relatively recent book Muralnomad2—primarily concerned with the history of mural painting and its various transitions into exhibition design—has to be considered for the time being the most cohesive account of the development of these heretofore overlooked practices. Yet, paradoxically, two of the most notorious cases of the historical development of exhibition design after Lissitzky are absent from her study: the infamous Degenerate Art exhibition that opened in Munich on July 19, 1937 (two days after the opening of Nazi Fascism's first major propaganda building, Paul Ludwig Troost's Haus der Deutschen Kunst, and its presentation of German Fascist art in the Grosse Deutsche Kunstausstellung),3 and the Exposition internationale du Surréalisme in Paris, which was installed by André Breton and Marcel Duchamp six months later and 427 miles to the west, on January 17, 1938, at Georges Wildenstein's Beaux Arts Galleries in Paris.4
High-Resolution GNSS-Tracked Drifter for Studying Surface Dispersion in Shallow Water
Authors: Suara Kabir , Wang Charles , Feng Yanming , Brown Richard J. , Chanson Hubert , Borgas Michael
Published: December 2014

The use of Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS)-tracked Lagrangian drifters allows more realistic quantification of fluid motion and dispersion coefficients than Eulerian techniques because such drifters are analogs of particles that are relevant to flow field characterization and pollutant dispersion. Using the fast-growing real-time kinematic (RTK) positioning technique derived from GNSS, drifters are developed for high-frequency (10 Hz) sampling with position estimates with centimeter accuracy. The drifters are designed with small size and less direct wind drag to follow the subsurface flow that characterizes dispersion in shallow waters. An analysis of position error from stationary observation indicates that the drifter can efficiently resolve motion up to 1 Hz. The result of the field deployments of the drifter in conjunction with acoustic Eulerian devices shows a higher estimate of the drifter streamwise velocities. Single particle statistical analysis of field deployments in a shallow estuarine zone yielded estimates of dispersion coefficients comparable to those of dye tracer studies. The drifters capture the tidal elevation during field studies in a tidal estuary.
Comparing the Generativity of Problem Solving and Appreciative Inquiry
Authors: Bushe Gervase R. , Paranjpey Neelima
Published: December 2014

Appreciative inquiry (AI) theorists claim AI is a more generative form of inquiry than problem solving; this study uses a classical field experiment to test that claim. We test three different processes for producing generative ideas defined as new ideas that motivate new actions. Why AI may be better at producing such ideas is explored and a method for amplifying those qualities (synergenesis) is described. Hypotheses are tested by assessing ideas produced from groups of employees at an urban transit organization. Synergenesis-based groups scored significantly higher than either of the other groups on ratings of generative ideas. Examination of participant’s pre- and post semantic maps show predictable differences in the effects of problem solving and appreciative approaches on engagement of employees in the ideation phase of a change process, consistent with AI claims. Implications for practitioners and suggestions for future research are discussed.
Examining the many dimensions of children’s popularity
Authors: Kornbluh Mariah , Neal Jennifer Watling
Published: December 2014

Using peer nomination data, this study explored predictors of popularity among 144 third- through eighth-grade students in a diverse urban school. Findings demonstrated that children were more likely to be nominated as popular by peers when they exhibited higher levels of prosocial behavior or aggression. Furthermore, a significant interaction between prosocial behavior and aggression predicted popularity. Children with high levels of peer-nominated aggression were more likely to be viewed as popular when they were also nominated by their peers for engaging in high levels of prosocial behavior. Lastly, findings suggested that the positive association between prosocial behavior and popularity was stronger for girls than boys. Implications and areas for future research are discussed.
What accounts for integrated reading-to-write task scores?
Authors: Shin Sun-Young , Ewert Doreen
Published: December 2014

Reading-to-write (RTW) tasks are becoming increasingly popular and have already been used in several high-stakes English proficiency exams, either replacing or complementing a prompt-based essay test. However, it is still not clear that what accounts for successful or unsuccessful performance on an integrated reading–writing task is owing to the hybrid nature of reading and writing skills and to potential rater effects on test score variability. Thus, in this study, data-driven analytic rubrics for the RTW task were developed first. Then, the analytic subscores of 83 college ESL students’ responses to the RTW task were obtained. Correlational analyses were first used for the data to explore the relationship of the writing and reading skills engaged in different aspects of the RTW task. A multivariate G-study was also applied to examine the degree of variability attributable to test takers and raters on analytic subscores. The results indicate that a RTW task may tap into both reading and writing abilities given relatively high correlations observed among composite of and separate analytic subscores, and independent reading and writing scores. The multivariate G-study results also show that each analytic rating domain could capture the difference in variability of test takers’ proficiency utilized in the RTW task, and raters assigned scores neither too harshly nor too leniently across each analytic rating domain. However, the results also reveal that person and rater facets contributed to score variability differently in certain analytic categories. This study provides valuable insights into the nature of RTW tasks and has implications for rating rubric development for integrated tasks.
Computerized dynamic assessment (C-DA): Diagnosing L2 development according to learner responsiveness to mediation
Authors: Poehner Matthew E. , Zhang Jie , Lu Xiaofei
Published: December 2014

Dynamic assessment (DA) derives from the sociocultural theory of mind as elaborated by Russian psychologist L. S. Vygotsky. By offering mediation when individuals experience difficulties and carefully tracing their responsiveness, Vygotsky (1998) proposed that diagnoses may uncover abilities that have fully formed as well as those still in the process of developing. This insight has led to numerous assessments, collectively referred to as DA, that have been pursued primarily in the domains of special education and general cognitive abilities measurement (Feuerstein, Feuerstein, & Falik, 2010; Haywood & Lidz, 2007). To date, L2 DA work has been primarily conducted in classroom settings (Ableeva, 2010; Lantolf & Poehner, 2011; Poehner, 2007, 2008). This paper discusses a recent project concerning the design of online multiple-choice tests of L2 reading and listening comprehension that leverage the principle that mediation is indispensable for diagnosing development. Specifically, each test item is accompanied by a set of prompts graduated from implicit to explicit. In this way, resultant diagnoses include not only whether learners answered correctly (their actual score) but also the amount of support they required (mediated score) during the test. We argue that the set of scores automatically generated by the tests, together with a breakdown of learner performance on items targeting particular component features of comprehension, provide a fine-grained diagnosis of their L2 development while also offering information relevant to subsequent teaching and learning.
‘I don’t have a life to live’: deaths and UK detention
Authors: Athwal Harmit
Published: December 2014

The Institute of Race Relations has over the last twenty-three years been monitoring the 508 deaths in custody in suspicious circumstances of individuals from BME, migrant and refugee communities, which rarely make the headlines and for which no person is ever convicted (to be published as the report Dying for Justice). Here, in an extract, the author examines the culture of racism and the impact of privatisation and sub-contracting in the detention and deportation of ‘failed’ asylum seekers. In case after case it exposes how the vulnerable, mentally- and physically-ill are neglected – leading to deaths by self-harm and inadequate treatment. The death during deportation of Joy Gardner, which involved disproportionate and reckless use of force, is examined in depth. The use of equipment of control for those who are clearly fearful of being forcibly returned, remains a vexed issue.
The defamation of Joy Gardner: press, police and black deaths in custody
Authors: Erfani-Ghettani Ryan
Published: December 2014

After the death of a black person in custody, information on the circumstances in which it occurred is hard to come by. The police force, as of nature, closes ranks, releasing statements to the press, which can misinform about the victim. The UK’s press colludes with this, failing to properly investigate the role of the authorities in a suspect’s death. The author focuses on the case of Joy Gardner, who died following a deportation raid in 1993. Following her death, the press presented her as a violent, aggressive ‘illegal immigrant’. Gardner’s case shows how the press constructs a Black folk devil, and in so doing can serve to justify police brutality.
Development of a Quantitative Measure of Holistic Nursing Care
Authors: Kinchen Elizabeth
Published: December 2014

Holistic care has long been a defining attribute of nursing practice. From the earliest years of its formal history, nursing has favored a holistic approach in the care of patients, and such an approach has become more important over time. The expansion of nursing’s responsibility in delivering comprehensive primary care, the recognition of the importance of relationship-centered care, and the need for evidence-based legitimation of holistic nursing care and practices to insurance companies, policy-makers, health care providers, and patients highlight the need to examine the holistic properties of nursing care. The Holistic Caring Inventory is a theoretically sound, valid, and reliable tool; however, it does not comprehensively address attributes that have come to define holistic nursing care, necessitating the development of a more current instrument to measure the elements of a holistic perspective in nursing care. The development of a current and more comprehensive measure of holistic nursing care may be critical in demonstrating the importance of a holistic approach to patient care that reflects the principles of relationship-based care, shared decision-making, authentic presence, and pattern recognition.
Identification of moan-noise generation mechanisms by an experimental method and verification of the mechanism by finite element analysis
Authors: Kim Yong-Dae , Jeong Un-Chang , Kim Jin-Su , Park Tae-Sang , Lee Sun-Hun , Yoon Jung-Min , Roh Jeong-Joon , Oh Jae-Eung
Published: December 2014

‘Moan’ noise in a vehicle is known to cause discomfort and anxiety to passengers. This abnormal noise is generated by a stick–slip phenomenon between the brake pad and the disc during breaking. The exciting force from the brake system is transmitted to a coupled torsion beam axle module through the brake pad, the caliper and an extra bracket. In this study, moan noise is reproduced during the vehicle’s operating test, and the parts of the coupled torsion beam axle module generating moan noise are identified. Further, it is verified that the resonance of the coupled torsion beam axle module due to the exciting force of the brake system is the main cause of moan noise. Coherence analysis and transfer path analysis were conducted to identify how the vibrations from the coupled torsion beam axle module are related to moan noise in the passenger compartments of vehicles. In the coherence analysis, the vibration accelerations of the brake pad, the caliper, the spindle bracket, the trailing arm and the V-beam are set as the inputs, and the output is the noise at the driver’s ear level. In terms of the frequency response, the results from a modal analysis of the coupled torsion beam axle module under the vehicle’s test conditions agreed well with those from a finite element modal analysis in which the boundary conditions of the vehicle were taken into consideration. The dynamic characteristics of the response from the coupled torsion beam axle module were identified using the exciting-force transfer mechanism of the brake system. The locations producing a large strain were determined by calculating the modal strain energy, and an improvement scheme with design modification was proposed for moan noise reduction.
Experimental investigations on combustion characteristics of a cavity pilot augmentor of the turbine-based combined cycle engine
Authors: Zhu Zhixin , He Xiaomin , Xue Chong , Hong Liang , Zhu Yixiao , Song Yaoyu
Published: December 2014

A cavity flame holder has been a very promising novel concept to be applied to the augmentor of a turbine-based combined cycle (TBCC) engine as it offers improvements in ignition performance, altitude relight, lean blowout limit, operating range, as well as combustion efficiency compared to conventional bluff body flame holders. The present paper describes the detailed designs of a cavity pilot augmentor and provides a laboratory-scale test rig. A series of experiments has been conducted to investigate the combustion characteristics of the test rig under atmospheric pressure. Experimental results show that for the bypass inlet temperature 343–473 K and inlet Mach number 0.25–0.40, ignition equivalence ratio and ignition pressure oscillation obtained is between 0.94–1.72 and 1.1–2.4% respectively, and lean blowout equivalence is between 0.42 and 0.92, indicating good ignition and lean blowout performances; as the total fuel-to-air ratio increases, the combustion efficiency decreases in the main at both afterburner operating mode and ramjet operating mode, while the increase of the bypass inlet Mach number or temperature is beneficial to high combustion efficiency, especially as inlet temperature over 423 K, and the combustion efficiency got in present experiment is between 70% and 95%. This paper demonstrates the feasibility for the cavity pilot flame holder to be applied to a realistic augmentor of TBCC engine preliminarily and provides reference for TBCC augmentor design.
Morphometric description of the feline radius and ulna generated from computed tomography
Authors: Preston Timothy , Glyde Mark , Hosgood Giselle , Snow Lynne
Published: December 2014

Objectives

This study aimed to describe the length, internal and external diameters, cancellous bone volume and extent, and cortical thickness at predetermined locations in the radius and ulna of a cohort of skeletally mature, disease-free feline cadavers using radiography and computed tomography (CT).

Methods

Five feline cadavers were used (mean weight 3.31 kg, range 2.55–4.24 kg). Antebrachii (n = 10) were radiographed to confirm skeletal maturity and normal radiographic appearance prior to CT. Reconstructed CT images were used to measure bone length, cortical thickness, internal and external diameters, and cancellous extent. Cancellous bone volume was calculated automatically using OsiriX after manual segmentation (350–850 Hounsfield units window) from axial CT slices.

Results

CT images were used to measure bone length, cortical thickness, internal and external diameters, and cancellous extent and volume. Mean radial length was 95.89 mm (95% confidence interval [CI] 88.52–103.26 mm) and mean ulna length was 114.67 mm (95% CI 105.53–123.81 mm). The olecranon had the largest mean cancellous bone volume (94.16 mm3; 95% CI 72.09–116.23 mm3) and it extended a mean of 13.12 mm (95% CI 11.73–14.51 mm) distally. The radius at the level of the trochlea and the ulna at the level of the coronoid processes had the largest external diameters, respectively. The medullary canal narrowed at the level of the coronoid processes and became cranially eccentric at the proximal third of the diaphysis. The cranial cortex at the level of the coronoid processes and the caudal cortex of the olecranon were markedly thicker than other cortices at those levels.

Conclusions and relevance

Morphometry of the feline antebrachium was described using CT, and should be a useful reference for future research investigations and clinical applications.
The possibility of critique under a financialized capitalism: The case of private equity in the United Kingdom
Authors: De Cock Christian , Nyberg Daniel
Published: December 2014

In this article, we examine the theoretically constructed case of private equity in the UK anno 2007. The theory at play is the theoretical edifice Luc Boltanski has been developing for more than two decades and which concerns the underlying architectonics of how social reality is constituted, challenged and stabilized. We thus interweave the story of private equity with the evolution of Boltanski’s work: from the six-world model to the widening of the critical notion of ‘test’ and the outline of a new ‘connexionist’ capitalist logic, and finally to his most recent attempts at reconnecting his sociology of critical practices with a more traditional critical sociology. Now that Boltanski’s work from the 1990s is being increasingly used and critiqued in our field, we believe it is important to engage with his more recent writings which, while less easy to ‘apply’, have acquired more depth, complexity and a change in focus in response to some of the more pertinent critique. The case of private equity is of particular interest in that for a brief moment it became the ‘face’ of 21st century capitalism, something which is significant in the broadening of our discussion into the possibilities and the limits of critique under a financialized capitalism.
Coming out during adolescence: Perceived parents’ reactions and internalized sexual stigma
Authors: Baiocco Roberto , Fontanesi Lilybeth , Santamaria Federica , Ioverno Salvatore , Baumgartner Emma , Laghi Fiorenzo
Published: December 2014

Disclosing sexual orientation to parents is a challenging developmental task for lesbian and gay adolescents. The aim of the study is to investigate parental negative reaction to coming out, which is associated with high levels of internalized sexual stigma and psychological problems. Participants’ perceptions of their parents’ reactions, age at coming out, gender, parental political orientation and religiosity, family functioning, and internalized sexual stigma were assessed in 150 Italian homosexual adolescents. Findings confirm that negative parental reactions are connected to poor family functioning and strong beliefs in traditional values. Path analysis results identified that negative reaction to coming out mediates the effect between a more rigid family functioning and internalized sexual stigma. Implications for clinical and social fields are discussed.
Finding passion in work: Media, passion and career guides
Authors: Hong Renyi
Published: December 2014

Examining career guides, this essay seeks to understand how the notion of passionate work is presently framed as an injunction, a commonsensical good thing we should aspire to find. How does the discourse of passion respond to labor conditions after the crisis, and what are among the possibilities it forecloses? This essay contains three overtures. First, I analyze how career guides change the pain of job loss to a space of empowerment. Directing readers to the optimistic proposal that their work can be better, career guides advise that the negative effect of the present needs only to be endured by the private individual so that a better future can be produced. Second, I consider what meanings passion produced by the instruments of career guides have, thinking about its relationship to neoliberal subjectivity. Last, I examine career guides that provide a counter-discourse of passion, looking into the values it cultivates in readers.
‘Trans-skin’: Analyzing the practice of skin bleaching among middle-class women in Dar es Salaam
Authors: Fritsch Katharina
Published: December 2014

This essay analyses skin bleaching among middle-class Tanzanian women as performative practice. It draws on empirical material from interviews with middle-class Tanzanian women as well as from advertisements in Dar es Salaam. Skin bleaching is situated at a ‘site of ambivalence’ (Butler), revolving around ‘light beauty’ as postcolonial regulatory ideal. Thus on the one hand, skin bleaching is analyzed as a practice of ‘passing for light(-skinned), embodying urban ‘modern’ forms of subjectivation. On the other hand, the decolonizing potential of skin bleaching becomes apparent as the interviewed women’s forms of embodiment renegotiate postcolonial Blackness putting forward notions of ‘browning’ (Tate). However, ‘light beauty’ then also appears as norm, according to which forms of embodiment can only ‘fail’. In this regard, skin bleaching challenges essentialized notions of Blackness, embodied in the color of one’s skin, while it also illustrates the performativity of racialized embodiment and its intersections with other structural categories.
Brokering aid through tourism: The contradictory roles of volunteer coordinators in Cusco, Peru
Authors: Sinervo Aviva
Published: December 2014

This article considers the crucial role played by local volunteer tourism coordinators in Cusco, Peru. Previous studies tend to neglect this population, but as gatekeepers facilitating interactions between international sending agencies, volunteer tourists, and the aid communities they serve, coordinators are uniquely positioned to comment on multiple facets of the industry. I argue that their continuous juggling of contradictory goals—the satisfaction of their tourist clients, the economic viability of their employers’ placement businesses, the charitable aims of the project beneficiaries receiving their volunteers—points to larger tensions between commercial and philanthropic aims. In analyzing the practices and narratives of five coordinators, I draw attention to this particular group of actors’ struggles to reconcile the same moral and applied dilemmas of ‘making a difference,’ profit, representation, and sense of self and purpose that other sector participants experience.
Negotiating access to a diagnosis of dementia: Implications for policies in health and social care
Authors: Koehn Sharon , Badger Melissa , Cohen Carole , McCleary Lynn , Drummond Neil
Published: December 2014

The ‘Pathways to Diagnosis’ study captured the experience of the prediagnosis period of Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias through indepth interviews with 29 persons with dementia and 34 of their family caregivers across four sites: anglophones in Calgary, francophones in Ottawa, Chinese-Canadians in Greater Vancouver and Indo-Canadians in Toronto. In this cross-site analysis, we use the ‘Candidacy’ framework to comprehensively explore the challenges to securing a diagnosis of dementia in Canada and to develop relevant health and social policy. Candidacy views eligibility for appropriate medical care as a process of joint negotiation between individuals and health services, which can be understood relative to seven dimensions: identification of need, navigation, appearances at services, adjudication by providers, acceptance of/resistance to offers, permeability of services and local conditions. Interviewees experienced challenges relative to each of the seven dimensions and these varied in form and emphasis across the four ethno-linguistic groups.
WWOX: A fragile tumor suppressor
Authors: Schrock Morgan S , Huebner Kay
Published: December 2014

WWOX, the WW domain-containing oxidoreductase gene at chromosome region 16q23.3–q24.1, spanning chromosomal fragile site FRA16D, encodes the 46 kDa Wwox protein, a tumor suppressor that is lost or reduced in expression in a wide variety of cancers, including breast, prostate, ovarian, and lung. The function of Wwox as a tumor suppressor implies that it serves a function in the prevention of carcinogenesis. Indeed, in vitro studies show that Wwox protein interacts with many binding partners to regulate cellular apoptosis, proliferation, and/or maturation. It has been reported that newborn Wwox knockout mice exhibit nascent osteosarcomas while Wwox+/− mice exhibit increased incidence of spontaneous and induced tumors. Furthermore, absence or reduction of Wwox expression in mouse xenograft models results in increased tumorigenesis, which can be rescued by Wwox re-expression, though there is not universal agreement among investigators regarding the role of Wwox loss in these experimental models. Despite this proposed tumor suppressor function, the overlap of the human WWOX locus with FRA16D sensitizes the gene to protein-inactivating deletions caused by replication stress. The high frequency of deletions within the WWOX locus in cancers of various types, without the hallmark protein inactivation-associated mutations of “classical” tumor suppressors, has led to the proposal that WWOX deletions in cancers are passenger events that occur in early cancer progenitor cells due to fragility of the genetic locus, rather than driver events which provide the cancer cell a selective advantage. Recently, a proposed epigenetic cause of chromosomal fragility has suggested a novel mechanism for early fragile site instability and has implications regarding the involvement of tumor suppressor genes at chromosomal fragile sites in cancer. In this review, we provide an overview of the evidence for WWOX as a tumor suppressor gene and put this into the context of fragility associated with the FRA16D locus.
The Unburdening Effects of Forgiveness
Authors: Zheng Xue , Fehr Ryan , Tai Kenneth , Narayanan Jayanth , Gelfand Michele J.
Published: December 2014

Research shows that in the aftermath of conflict, forgiveness improves victims’ well-being and the victim–offender relationship. Building on the research on embodied perception and economy of action, we demonstrate that forgiveness also has implications for victims’ perceptions and behavior in the physical domain. Metaphorically, unforgiveness is a burden that can be lightened by forgiveness; we show that people induced to feel forgiveness perceive hills to be less steep (Study 1) and jump higher in an ostensible fitness test (Study 2) than people who are induced to feel unforgiveness. These findings suggest that forgiveness may lighten the physical burden of unforgiveness, providing evidence that forgiveness can help victims overcome the negative effects of conflict.