bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Racial and insurance disparities in the utilization of supportive care after inpatient admission for proximal humerus fracture
Authors: Menendez Mariano E , Ring David
Published: June 2014

Background

Post-discharge supportive services such as home health assistance and rehabilitation or skilled nursing facilities are often utilized after inpatient care for fracture of the proximal humerus. It is unclear whether sociodemographic disparities exist in the utilization of post-hospital supportive care. The present study aimed to evaluate the individual and combined effects of race and insurance status on the utilization of supportive services after hospital admission for fracture of the proximal humerus.

Methods

Among the more than 40,000 patients with a proximal humerus fracture identified in the Nationwide Inpatient Sample (2008 to 2011), 85% were white, 7.7% were Hispanic and 7.0% were black. More black patients (19%) and Hispanic patients (15%) were uninsured compared to white patients (8.7%). Multivariable logistic regression was performed to determine the effect of race/ethnicity and insurance status on the utilization of post-hospital supportive care.

Results

Sixty-nine percent of patients were discharged home, 13% went to home health care and 15% went to rehabilitation or skilled nursing facilities. Compared to white patients, Hispanic patients [odds ratio (OR) = 0.71; 95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.64 to 0.79] and black patients (OR = 0.79; 95% CI = 0.71 to 0.88) exhibited lower odds for the utilization of specialized post-hospital supportive services. Uninsured patients were significantly less likely to use post-discharge supportive services (OR = 0.38; 95% CI = 0.33 to 0.42) compared to privately insured patients. Even when insured at levels comparable to whites, Hispanic and black patients tended to experience decreased rates of discharge to post-acute supportive care.

Conclusions

The utilization of post-hospital supportive services varies by race, ethnicity and insurance status after an inpatient admission for proximal humerus fracture.
The Accuracy and Bias of Interpersonal Perceptions in Intergroup Interactions
Authors: Rogers Katherine H. , Biesanz Jeremy C.
Published: June 2014

Group membership can have a profound impact on perceptions of group characteristics; yet how group membership influences the accuracy of personality impressions for specific individuals remains unclear. In small groups, participants ( N = 519) formed impressions via naturalistic, dyadic interactions. We then investigated whether impressions of in-group members differed from out-group members based on participant’s ethnicity and acculturation (Euro-Canadian, Acculturated East Asian, or Semi-Acculturated East Asian). Impressions of in-group members were more distinctively accurate and individuated. Further, in-group members were viewed with greater distinctive assumed similarity in that perceivers used their own idiosyncratic traits more when forming impressions of in-group members. However, in-group members, despite being liked more, were viewed less socially desirable. Discussion focuses on cultural differences in impressions and implications for in-group favoritism, in-group self-anchoring, and the out-group homogeneity effect for North Americans and East Asians.
Who Benefits From Casual Sex? The Moderating Role of Sociosexuality
Authors: Vrangalova Zhana , Ong Anthony D.
Published: June 2014

Casual sex has become a normative experience among young people, raising concerns regarding its well-being consequences. Prior findings on main effects of casual sex on well-being are mixed, suggesting possible moderating factors. Using longitudinal and weekly diary methodologies, this study examined the moderating influence of sociosexuality, a stable personality orientation toward casual sex, on psychological well-being (self-esteem, life satisfaction, depression, and anxiety) following penetrative (oral, vaginal, or anal) casual sex among single undergraduates. As predicted, sociosexuality moderated the effect of casual sex on well-being on a weekly basis across 12 consecutive weeks, over one semester, and over one academic year. Sociosexually unrestricted students typically reported higher well-being after having casual sex compared to not having casual sex; there were no such differences among restricted individuals. Few gender differences were found. Findings are discussed in terms of authenticity in one’s sexual behaviors.
Evidence of Anticipatory Socialization Among Tattooed, Wannabe, and Non-Tattooed Adolescents
Authors: Dukes Richard L. , Stein Judith A.
Published: June 2014

In anticipatory socialization, individuals adopt norms and behaviors of reference groups before transitioning into them. We hypothesized that non-tattooed students who desired a tattoo (1,364 “wannabes”) would report attitudes and behaviors between those of students who already had tattoos (429 tattooed) and respondents who neither had a tattoo nor wanted one (816 resistant students) in Grades 7 to 12 in an entire school district in Colorado. Tattooed respondents reported the lowest school attitudes and educational aspirations, and the most weapons possession, substance use, and delinquent behaviors. Resistant students reported the most prosocial attitudes and behaviors. Consistent with anticipatory socialization toward a more antisocial, tattooed reference group, wannabes reported attitudes and behaviors between resistant and tattooed students. A majority of respondents want a tattoo, so we recommend that school health curricula address health and stigma issues associated with tattoos.
The Transition Experiences, Activities, and Supports of Four College Students With Disabilities
Authors: McCall Zach A.
Published: June 2014

An increased focus on expanding and synthesizing the transition evidence base, while important, should be supplemented with research highlighting the lived experiences of young adults with disabilities as they move from high school to adult roles. This study documents the experiences of four successful college students with varied disabilities (i.e., learning disability, blind, hearing impairment, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder). Analysis derived from a series of in-depth phenomenological interviews highlighted a range of informal transition supports they utilized in their transitions (e.g., self-advocacy, family support, inclusive high school programming), but just one participant described comprehensive and coordinated transition supports. Discussion topics include suggestions for transition teachers to better utilize students’ informal supports.
Variations in the Slope of the Psychometric Functions for Speech Intelligibility: A Systematic Survey
Authors: MacPherson Alexandra , Akeroyd Michael A.
Published: June 2014

Although many studies have looked at the effects of different listening conditions on the intelligibility of speech, their analyses have often concentrated on changes to a single value on the psychometric function, namely, the threshold. Far less commonly has the slope of the psychometric function, that is, the rate at which intelligibility changes with level, been considered. The slope of the function is crucial because it is the slope, rather than the threshold, that determines the improvement in intelligibility caused by any given improvement in signal-to-noise ratio by, for instance, a hearing aid. The aim of the current study was to systematically survey and reanalyze the psychometric function data available in the literature in an attempt to quantify the range of slope changes across studies and to identify listening conditions that affect the slope of the psychometric function. The data for 885 individual psychometric functions, taken from 139 different studies, were fitted with a common logistic equation from which the slope was calculated. Large variations in slope across studies were found, with slope values ranging from as shallow as 1% per dB to as steep as 44% per dB (median = 6.6% per dB), suggesting that the perceptual benefit offered by an improvement in signal-to-noise ratio depends greatly on listening environment. The type and number of maskers used were found to be major factors on the value of the slope of the psychometric function while other minor effects of target predictability, target corpus, and target/masker similarity were also found.
The Rho-kinase inhibitor HA-1077 suppresses proliferation/migration and induces apoptosis of urothelial cancer cells
Authors: Abe Hideyuki , Kamai Takao , Hayashi Keitaro , Anzai Naohiko , Shirataki Hiromichi , Mizuno Tomoya , Yamaguchi Yoshiyuki , Masuda Akinori , Yuki Hideo , Betsunoh Hironori , Yashi Masahiro , Fukabori Yoshitatsu , Yoshida Ken-Ichiro
Published: June 2014

Background

Activation of Rho, one of the small GTPases, and its major downstream target Rho-kinase (ROCK) promotes the development and metastasis of cancer. We previously showed that elevation of Rho and ROCK expression was associated with tumor invasion, metastasis, and an unfavorable prognosis in patients with urothelial cancer of the bladder or upper urinary tract.

Methods

We investigated the effects of a ROCK inhibitor on the growth, migration, and apoptosis of bladder cancer cells. We also examined phosphorylation of RhoA (RhoA activity) by measuring its GTP-bound active form and assessed the expression of ROCK to explore the underlying molecular mechanisms.

Results

Lysophosphatidic acid (LPA) and geranylgeraniol (GGOH) induced an increase of cell proliferation and migration in association with promotion of RhoA activity and upregulation of ROCK expression. The ROCK inhibitor fasudil (HA-1077) suppressed cell proliferation and migration, and also induced apoptosis in a dose-dependent manner. HA-1077 dramatically suppressed the expression of ROCK-I and ROCK-II, but did not affect RhoA activity.

Conclusions

These findings suggest that ROCK could be a potential molecular target for the treatment of urothelial cancer.
A single aspergillus fumigatus intracranial abscess in an immunocompetent patient with parietal lobe tumorectomy
Authors: Bao Zhao-Shi , You Gan , Li Wen-Bin , Jiang Tao
Published: June 2014

Aspergillosis of the central nervous system is a rare fungal infection that is mainly reported in patients with immune deficiency, such as AIDS patients and organ transplant patients treated with immunosuppressive agents, and is uncommon among patients with intact immune function. We report here a rare case of intracranial aspergillosis in a patient who had previously undergone a parietal lobe tumorectomy. Aspergillus fumigatus was confirmed by histopathology, and susceptibility tests reported that this infection should respond to voriconazole. We believe the immunosuppression resulting from surgical trauma and glucocorticosteroid treatment may be contributing to the infection, and therefore management of these two factors may improve the prognosis.
Age-Dependent Sensitization of Cutaneous Nociceptors during Developmental Inflammation
Authors: Jankowski Michael P , Ross Jessica L , Weber Jonathon D , Lee Frank B , Shank Aaron T , Hudgins Renita C
Published: June 2014

Background:

It is well-documented that neonates can experience pain after injury. However, the contribution of individual populations of sensory neurons to neonatal pain is not clearly understood. Here we characterized the functional response properties and neurochemical phenotypes of single primary afferents after injection of carrageenan into the hairy hindpaw skin using a neonatal ex vivo recording preparation.

Results:

During normal development, we found that individual afferent response properties are generally unaltered. However, at the time period in which some sensory neurons switch their neurotrophic factor responsiveness, we observe a functional switch in slowly conducting, broad spiking fibers (“C”-fiber nociceptors) from mechanically sensitive and thermally insensitive (CM) to polymodal (CPM). Cutaneous inflammation induced prior to this switch (postnatal day 7) specifically altered mechanical and heat responsiveness, and heat thresholds in fast conducting, broad spiking (“A”-fiber) afferents. Furthermore, hairy skin inflammation at P7 transiently delayed the functional shift from CM to CPM. Conversely, induction of cutaneous inflammation after the functional switch (at P14) caused an increase in mechanical and thermal responsiveness exclusively in the CM and CPM neurons. Immunocytochemical analysis showed that inflammation at either time point induced TRPV1 expression in normally non-TRPV1 expressing CPMs. Realtime PCR and western blotting analyses revealed that specific receptors/channels involved in sensory transduction were differentially altered in the DRGs depending on whether inflammation was induced prior to or after the functional changes in afferent prevalence.

Conclusion:

These data suggest that the mechanisms of neonatal pain development may be generated by different afferent subtypes and receptors/channels in an age-related manner.
New approach to the differentiation of marble samples using thermal analysis and chemometrics in order to identify provenance
Authors: Gatta Tania , Gregori Emanuela , Marini Federico , Tomassetti Mauro , Visco Giovanni , Campanella Luigi
Published: June 2014

Background

The possibility of applying a novel chemometric approach which could allow the differentiation of marble samples, all from different quarries located in the Mediterranean basin and frequently used in ancient times for artistic purposes, was investigated. By suggesting tentative or allowing to rule out unlikely attributions, this kind of differentiation could, indeed, be of valuable support to restorers and other professionals in the field of cultural heritage.

Experimental data were obtained only using thermal analytical techniques: Thermogravimetry (TG), Derivative Thermogravimetry (DTG) and Differential Thermal Analysis (DTA).

Results

The extraction of kinetic parameters from the curves obtained using these thermal analytical techniques allowed Activation Energy values to be evaluated together with the logarithm of the Arrhenius pre-exponential factor of the main TG-DTG process.

The main data thus obtained after subsequent chemometric evaluation (using Principal Components Analysis) have already proved useful in the identification the original quarry of a small number of archaeological marble finds.

Conclusion

One of the most evident advantages of the thermoanalytical – chemometric approach adopted seems to be that it allows the certain identification of an unknown find composed of a marble known to be present among the reference samples considered, that is, contained in the reference file. On the other hand with equal certainty it prevents the occurrence of erroneous or highly uncertain identification if the find being tested does not belong to the reference file considered.
The energy costs of wading in water
Authors: Halsey Lewis G. , Tyler Christopher J. , Kuliukas Algis V.
Published: June 2014

Studies measuring the energy costs of wading in water have been limited to higher walking speeds in straight lines, in deep water. However, much foraging in water, by both humans and other primates, is conducted in the shallows and at low speeds of locomotion that include elements of turning, as befits searching for cryptic or hidden foods within a patch. The present study brings together data on the rate of oxygen consumption during wading by humans from previous studies, and augments these with new data for wading in shallower depths, with slower and more tortuous walking, to obtain a better understanding both of the absolute costs of wading in typical scenarios of aquatic foraging and of how the cost of wading varies as a function of water depth and speed of locomotion. Previous and present data indicate that, at low speeds, wading has a similar energetic cost to walking on land, particularly at lower water depths, and only at higher speeds is the cost of wading noticeably more expensive than when water is absent. This is probably explained by the relatively small volume of water that must be displaced during locomotion in shallow waters coupled with the compensating support to the limbs that the water affords. The support to the limbs/body provided by water is discussed further, in the context of bipedal locomotion by non-human primates during wading.
The kinesin-13 KLP10A motor regulates oocyte spindle length and affects EB1 binding without altering microtubule growth rates
Authors: Do Kevin K. , Hoàng Kim Liên , Endow Sharyn A.
Published: June 2014

Kinesin-13 motors are unusual in that they do not walk along microtubules, but instead diffuse to the ends, where they remove tubulin dimers, regulating microtubule dynamics. Here we show that Drosophila kinesin-13 klp10A regulates oocyte meiosis I spindle length and is haplo-insufficient – KLP10A, reduced by RNAi or a loss-of-function P element insertion mutant, results in elongated and mispositioned oocyte spindles, and abnormal cortical microtubule asters and aggregates. KLP10A knockdown by RNAi does not significantly affect microtubule growth rates in oocyte spindles, but, unexpectedly, EB1 binding and unbinding are slowed, suggesting a previously unobserved role for kinesin-13 in mediating EB1 binding interactions with microtubules. Kinesin-13 may regulate spindle length both by disassembling subunits from microtubule ends and facilitating EB1 binding to plus ends. We also observe an increased number of paused microtubules in klp10A RNAi knockdown spindles, consistent with a reduced frequency of microtubule catastrophes. Overall, our findings indicate that reduced kinesin-13 decreases microtubule disassembly rates and affects EB1 interactions with microtubules, rather than altering microtubule growth rates, causing spindles to elongate and abnormal cortical microtubule asters and aggregates to form.
‘Peer pressure’ in larval Drosophila?
Authors: Niewalda Thomas , Jeske Ines , Michels Birgit , Gerber Bertram
Published: June 2014

Understanding social behaviour requires a study case that is simple enough to be tractable, yet complex enough to remain interesting. Do larval Drosophila meet these requirements? In a broad sense, this question can refer to effects of the mere presence of other larvae on the behaviour of a target individual. Here we focused in a more strict sense on ‘peer pressure’, that is on the question of whether the behaviour of a target individual larva is affected by what a surrounding group of larvae is doing. We found that innate olfactory preference of a target individual was neither affected (i) by the level of innate olfactory preference in the surrounding group nor (ii) by the expression of learned olfactory preference in the group. Likewise, learned olfactory preference of a target individual was neither affected (iii) by the level of innate olfactory preference of the surrounding group nor (iv) by the learned olfactory preference the group was expressing. We conclude that larval Drosophila thus do not take note of specifically what surrounding larvae are doing. This implies that in a strict sense, and to the extent tested, there is no social interaction between larvae. These results validate widely used en mass approaches to the behaviour of larval Drosophila.
Cold temperature improves mobility and survival in drosophila models of Autosomal-Dominant Hereditary Spastic Paraplegia (AD-HSP)
Authors: Baxter Sally L. , Allard Denise E. , Crowl Christopher , Sherwood Nina Tang
Published: June 2014

Autosomal-Dominant Hereditary Spastic Paraplegia (AD-HSP) is a crippling neurodegenerative disease for which effective treatment or cure remains unknown. Victims experience progressive mobility loss due to degeneration of the longest axons in the spinal cord. Over half of AD-HSP cases arise from loss of function mutations in spastin, which encodes a microtubule-severing AAA ATPase. In Drosophila models of AD-HSP, larvae lacking Spastin exhibit abnormal motoneuron morphology and function, and most die as pupae. Adult survivors display impaired mobility, reminiscent of the human disease. Here, we show that rearing pupae or adults at reduced temperature (18˚C), compared to the standard temperature of 24˚C, improves the survival and mobility of adult spastin mutants but leaves wild type flies unaffected. Flies expressing human spastin with pathogenic mutations are similarly rescued. Additionally, larval cooling partially rescues the larval synaptic phenotype. Cooling thus alleviates known spastin phenotypes for each developmental stage at which it is administered, and notably, is effective even in mature adults. We find further that cold treatment rescues larval synaptic defects in mutants of Flower, a protein with no known relation to Spastin, and mobility defects in flies lacking Kat60-L1, another microtubule severing protein enriched in the CNS. Together, these data support that cold's beneficial effects extend beyond specific alleviation of Spastin dysfunction, to at least a subset of cellular and behavioral neuronal defects. Mild hypothermia, a common neuroprotective technique in clinical treatment of acute anoxia, may thus hold additional promise as a therapeutic approach for AD-HSP, and potentially, other neurodegenerative diseases.
Pathological mineralization in a zebrafishenpp1mutant exhibits features of Generalized Arterial Calcification of Infancy (GACI) and Pseudoxanthoma Elasticum (PXE)
Authors: Apschner Alexander , Huitema Leonie F. A. , Ponsioen Bas , Peterson-Maduro Josi , Schulte-Merker Stefan
Published: June 2014

In recent years it has become clear that, mechanistically, biomineralization is a process that has to be actively inhibited as a default state. This inhibition has to be released in a rigidly controlled manner in order for mineralization to occur in skeletal elements or teeth. A central aspect of this concept is the tightly controlled balance between phosphate, a constituent of the biomineral hydroxyapatite, and pyrophosphate, a physiochemical inhibitor of mineralization. We here provide a detailed analysis of a zebrafish mutant - dragonfish (dgf), for ectonucleoside pyrophophatase/phosphodiesterase 1 (enpp1), a protein critical for supplying extracellular pyrophosphate. Generalized arterial calcification of infancy (GACI) is a fatal human disease and the majority of cases are thought to be caused by mutations in ENPP1. Furthermore, some cases of pseudoxanthoma elasticum (PXE) have recently been linked to ENPP1. Similarly to human patients, we here show that zebrafish enpp1 mutants can develop ectopic calcifications in a variety of soft tissues, most notably: the skin, cartilage elements, the heart, intracranial space, and the notochord sheet. Using transgenic reporter lines we demonstrate that those ectopic mineralizations occur independently of the expression of typical osteoblast or cartilage markers. Intriguingly, we detect cells expressing the osteoclast markers Trap and cathepsinK at sites of ectopic calcifications at time points when osteoclasts are not present yet in wildtype siblings. Treatment with the bisphosphonate etidronate is suitable to rescue aspects of the dgf phenotype and we detected deregulated expression of genes involved in phosphate homeostasis and mineralization such as fgf23, npt2a, entpd5 and spp1 (also known as osteopontin). Employing a UAS/GalFF approach, we show that forced expression of enpp1 in blood vessels or the floorplate of mutant embryos is sufficient to rescue the notochord mineralization phenotype. This indicates that enpp1 can exert its function in tissues remote from its site of expression.
Notch signaling deficiency underlies age-dependent depletion of satellite cells in muscular dystrophy
Authors: Jiang Chunhui , Wen Yefei , Kuroda Kazuki , Hannon Kevin , Rudnicki Michael A. , Kuang Shihuan
Published: June 2014

Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD) is a devastating disease characterized by muscle wasting, loss of mobility and early death in youth. Satellite cells are muscle-resident stem cells responsible for the repair and regeneration of damaged muscles. One pathological feature of DMD is the progressive depletion of satellite cells, leading to the failure of muscle repair. Here we attempted to explore the molecular mechanisms underlying satellite cell ablation in the Dystrophin mutant MDX mouse, a well-established model for DMD. Initial muscle degeneration activates satellite cells, resulting in increased satellite cell number in young MDX mice. This is followed by rapid loss of satellite cells with age due to reduced self-renewal ability of MDX satellite cells. In addition, satellite cell composition is altered even in young MDX mice, with significant reductions in the abundance of non-committed Pax7+/Myf5- satellite cells. Using a Notch-reporter mouse, we found that the MDX satellite cells have reduced activation of Notch signaling, which has been shown to be necessary to maintain satellite cell quiescence and self-renewal. Concomitantly, the expression of Notch1, Notch3, Jag1, Hey1 and HeyL are reduced in the MDX primary myoblast. Finally, we established a mouse model to constitutively activate Notch signaling in satellite cells, and show that Notch activation is sufficient to rescue the self-renewal deficiencies of MDX satellite cells. These results demonstrate that Notch signaling is essential for maintaining the satellite cell pool and its deficiency leads to depletion of satellite cells in DMD.
Sorting of GPI-anchored proteins from yeast to mammals – common pathways at different sites?
Authors: Muñiz Manuel , Zurzolo Chiara
Published: June 2014

Glycosylphosphatidylinositol (GPI)-anchored proteins (GPI-APs) are luminal secretory cargos that are attached by a post-translational glycolipid modification, the GPI anchor, to the external leaflet of the plasma membrane. GPI-APs are conserved among eukaryotes and possess many diverse and vital functions for which the GPI membrane attachment appears to be essential. The presence of the GPI anchor and its subsequent modifications along the secretory pathway confer to the anchored proteins unique trafficking properties that make GPI-APs an exceptional system to study mechanisms of sorting. In this Commentary, we discuss the recent advances in the field of GPI-AP sorting focusing on the mechanisms operating at the level of the exit from the ER and from the trans-Golgi network (TGN), which take place, respectively, in yeast and in polarized mammalian cells. By considering the similarities and differences between these two sorting events, we present unifying principles that appear to work at different sorting stations and in different organisms.
Pericentric heterochromatin state during the cell cycle controls the histone variant composition of centromeres
Authors: Boyarchuk Ekaterina , Filipescu Dan , Vassias Isabelle , Cantaloube Sylvain , Almouzni Geneviève
Published: June 2014

Correct chromosome segregation requires a unique chromatin environment at centromeres and in their vicinity. Here, we address how the deposition of canonical H2A and H2A.Z histone variants is controlled at pericentric heterochromatin (PHC).

While in euchromatin newly-synthesized H2A and H2A.Z are deposited throughout the cell cycle, we reveal two discrete waves of deposition at PHC: during mid-late S phase in a replication-dependent manner for H2A, and during G1 phase for H2A.Z. This G1 cell cycle restriction is lost when heterochromatin features are altered, leading to accumulation of H2A.Z at the domain. Interestingly, compromising PHC integrity also impacts neighboring centric chromatin, increasing the amount of centromeric CENP-A without changing its deposition timing.

We conclude that the higher-order chromatin structure at the pericentric domain influences dynamics at the nucleosomal level within centromeric chomatin. The two different modes of rearrangement of the former during the cell cycle provide distinct opportunities to replenish one or the other H2A variant, highlighting PHC integrity as a potential signal to regulate the deposition timing and stoichiometry of histone variants at the centromere.
Yeast phospholipid biosynthesis is linked to mRNA localization
Authors: Hermesh Orit , Genz Christian , Yofe Ido , Sinzel Monika , Rapaport Doron , Schuldiner Maya , Jansen Ralf-Peter
Published: June 2014

Localization of mRNAs and local translation are universal features in eukaryotes and contribute to cellular asymmetry and differentiation. In Saccharomyces cerevisiae, localization of mRNAs that encode membrane proteins requires the She protein machinery including the RNA-binding protein She2p as well as movement of the cortical endoplasmic reticulum (cER) to the yeast bud. In a screen for ER-specific proteins necessary for directional transport of WSC2 and EAR1 mRNAs, we have identified enzymes of the phospholipid metabolism. Loss of the phospholipid methyltransferase Cho2p, which showed the strongest impact on mRNA localization, disturbs mRNA localization as well as ER morphology and segregation due to an increase in cellular phosphatidylethanolamine (PE). Mislocalized mRNPs containing She2p co-localize with aggregated cER structures suggesting entrapment of mRNA and She2p by the elevated PE level, which is confirmed by elevated binding of She2p to PE-containing liposomes. These findings underscore the importance of ER membrane integrity in mRNA transport.
Approvals, Submission, and Important Labeling Changes for US Marketed Pharmaceuticals
Authors: Baker Danial E.
Published: June 2014

This monthly feature will help readers keep current on new drugs, new indications, dosage forms, and safety-related changes in labeling or use. Efforts have been made to ensure the accuracy of this information; however, if there are any questions, please let me know at danial.baker@wsu.edu .
Does Forest Phisiognomy affect the Structure of Orchid Bee (Hymenoptera, Apidae, Euglossini) Communities? A Study in the Atlantic Forest of Rio de Janeiro state, Brazil
Authors: Aguiar Willian Moura de , Melo Gabriel Augusto Rodrigues de , Gaglianone Maria Cristina
Published: June 2014

We describe and discuss the composition, abundance and diversity of euglossine in three vegetation types of the Atlantic Forest (Lowland Seasonal Semideciduous, Submontane Seasonal and Dense Montane Ombrophilous Forest) in Rio de Janeiro state, Brazil, compare them to previous studies in the region and investigate the importance of the vegetation types, climatic and geomorphological factors on the species composition. Male euglossine bees attracted by fragrances were sampled monthly from August/2008 to July/2009 using entomological nets and traps. Euglossine bee communities exhibited differences in their species composition and abundance along the year and in the vegetation types. The precipitation, altitude and vegetation types demonstrated a significant influence on the ordination of the euglossine communities. Our study found differences in the composition of euglossine bee communities as well as in their patterns of abundance and dominance among different vegetation formations, stressing the importance of the conservation of landscape mosaics in the region.
Diversity of the Nests of Social Wasps (Hymenoptera: Vespidae: Polistinae) in the Northern Pantanal, Brazil
Authors: Almeida Sara Miranda , Andena Sérgio Ricardo , Silva Evandson José dos Anjos
Published: June 2014

Some species of wasps demonstrate plasticity with diverse nesting habits according to the environmental conditions and substrates used for building the nests, while others are restricted to habitats with specific conditions and may exhibit some degree of fide-lity. The aim of this study was to estimate species richness and abundance of nests of Polistini and Epiponini wasps in four landscape units in the Pantanal of Poconé, Retiro Novo Farm, southwestern Mato Grosso state, Brazil. The nests of social wasps were sampled in four plant physiognomies locally known as cambarazal, landizal, pombeiral and campo limpo from August 25, 2011 to April 11, 2012, being recorded 308 nests of eight genera and 14 species of social wasps. The highest number of nests belongs to Polybia ruficeps xanthops (32.69%), Poly. sericea (24.27%) and Synoeca surinama (15.21%). The highest species richness was recorded in cambarazal and the highest abundance of nests in pombeiral, while campo limpo showed the lowest richness and abundance of nests. The nests of S. surinama were associated with cambarazal and landizal (IndVal = 93.3, P = 0.001), while the nests of Poly. ruficeps xanthops and Poly. chrysothorax were associated with cambarazal, landizal and pombeiral (IndVal = 97, P = 0.001). There was lower abundance and lower species richness of wasps in campo limpo. These results demonstrate that the maintenance of forest environments in the Pantanal is essential for the establishment and maintenance of social wasp nests.
Inquilinitermes johnchapmani, a New Termite (Isoptera: Termitidae: Termitinae) from the Llanos of North Central Bolivia
Authors: Scheffrahn Rudolf H
Published: June 2014

Inquilinitermes johnchapmani is described from soldiers and workers collected in the Llanos de Mojos of Bolivia. This is the fourth and the smallest species of the genus. Unlike its congeners, I. johnchapmani is not an inquiline of Constrictotermes spp. nests although an association with Cornitermes snyderi nests is likely.
Archimedes the Poet: Generic Innovation and Mathematical Fantasy in the Cattle Problem
Authors: Benson Geoffrey C.
Published: June 2014

Archimedes’ Cattle Problem ( Bov .) is a mathematical masterpiece, but it is also an innovative poem that Archimedes himself probably wrote. Three important poetic issues have gone unaddressed until now because of the focus on mathematics: how Bov . is organized, its genre, and how Archimedes reimagines his Homeric source. I demonstrate that Bov . is a generically hybrid poem that explores what it means to be wise. I also contend that the picture of the cattle of the Sun in Bov . is as fantastic as the account in the Odyssey , and Archimedes’ mathematical fantasy would have especially intrigued Eratosthenes, Bov .’s probable recipient.
Nero Quadripes : Animalizing the Emperor in Suetonius’s Nero
Authors: Curry Susan A.
Published: June 2014

In two episodes of the Nero , Suetonius depicts the emperor acting like and adopting the posture of an animal. In the first, Nero intentionally plays “animal,” donning a hide to attack the groins of bound victims ( Ner .29). In the second, Nero involuntarily becomes animal-like, adopting a quadripedal position to enter a safe-house( Ner .48.4). Situating these “acts” within the context of Nero’s fabulously performative reign, I argue that Suetonius purposely “animalizes” Nero, thus warning that the power of the position of princeps thrusts men beyond the threshold of the “human,” rendering them not just divine but sometimes “animal.”
Design Theory and the Australian Tula Adze
Authors: Doelman Trudy , Cochrane Grant W. G.
Published: June 2014

The tula adze is a distinctive composite tool that was used in the Australian arid zone during the late Holocene. In this paper we use design theory to investigate why this particular tool form was so pervasive across time and space. Design theory provides a rational means for classifying tool designs and for determining why particular tool design classes were employed over others. We draw upon ethnographic and archaeological evidence to characterize the design of the tula adze and conclude that it is consistently the product of a “reliable” design strategy. We further determine that the high cost of a reliable design was chosen because the tula adze was employed in situations where failure could not be tolerated. Specifically, we argue that an important role of the tula adze was to manufacture wooden goods for not only personal use but more significantly for trade. The quantity and quality of these goods had an extremely strong bearing on the economic sustainability of arid zone Aboriginal groups.
Landscapes of Inequality?: A Critique of Monumental Hierarchy in the Mongolian Bronze Age
Authors: Wright Joshua
Published: June 2014

Khirigsuurs are stone monuments of variable scale and complexity that dominate the archaeological landscape of the Mongolian Bronze Age. Though there are countless typical-sized monuments, there are a few very large structures suggesting that a chiefly hierarchy directed their construction. Using measurements of size and formal complexity to compare these mega-monuments and khirigsuurs within fully surveyed areas this article argues that these monuments are not primarily tombs built to represent the social hierarchy of early nomadic pastoralists. Instead, they are monumental places created for living communities to communicate their organization and enduring nature to others and themselves. This communication was essential for early pastoralist communities to become established and survive.
The Machinate Literary Animal: Butlerian Science for the Twenty-first Century
Authors: Neill Anna
Published: June 2014

Current inquiry into nongenetic forms of inheritance has deep roots in the nineteenth century. Samuel Butler’s evolutionary science writing and fiction points ahead, beyond the twentieth-century dismissal of pre-Darwinian science, to our own questions about how the experiences of an individual organism may effect change at the species level. This includes the way that symbolically mediated information, which rapidly shapes the human environment, exercises a downward pressure on slower-moving, genetic change. Butler’s theories of unconscious memory and extended cognition, along with the Lamarckian principle that acquired traits could be passed on to descendants, together constituted an “evo-devo” approach to species history. In particular, language—specifically literary language—for Butler functioned as a machinate extension of the mind that could communicate transformative information to successive generations. Such extension therefore enables the little events of a lifetime to reach into the evolutionary future and transform it.
Empathetic Reform and the Psychedelic Aesthetic: Women’s Accounts of LSD Therapy
Authors: Cook Lana
Published: June 2014

Both written under pseudonym, Constance Newland’s My Self and I (1962) and Jane Dunlap’s Exploring Inner Space (1961) are firsthand accounts of psychedelic drug use taken in therapeutic research settings that demonstrate how women’s access to discursive legitimacy was negotiated in mid-twentieth-century life-writing. Newland and Dunlap use realism to connect readers to their psychedelic subjects, while estranging readers’ familiar worldviews through metaphor. Through reader recognition and estrangement, Newland and Dunlap develop readers’ empathy as a reformist tool to challenge standard narratives of literature and science and carve out new representational space for alternative states of consciousness.
Finding a Safe Spot: An Attempt to Understand the Arrangement of Nag Hammadi Codex VI
Authors: Kaler Michael
Published: June 2014

In this article, I discuss the arrangement of texts in Nag Hammadi codex VI. While some have found the codex’s overall arrangement to lack coherence, I argue that the order of texts has a progressive aspect, as well as a development of themes, showing the reader the need to transcend worldly matters in order to reach a “safe spot” in which esoteric teachings can be received.
Laying Down the Law in Ferragosto : The Roman Visit of Theodosius in Summer 389
Authors: Graf Fritz
Published: June 2014

The article looks at the ten constitutions and rescripts Theodosius promulgated during his stay in Rome in June to August, 389, after his victory over the usurper Maximus. It understands Theodosius’s activity as law-giver as part of his campaign to appear as the legitimate heir to a long series of exceptional emperors, from Augustus to Trajan to Constantine, with a deep concern for the civic side of Roman life; with the exception of his decree against Manichaeans ( CTh 16.5.1), his other laws that concern religion are part of this overarching effort.
The Insertion of the Filioque into the Nicene Creed and a Letter of Isidore of Seville
Authors: Smith Shawn C.
Published: June 2014

The common tradition says the filioque first appeared in the Nicene Creed at the Third Council of Toledo in 589. In contrast, the manuscript evidence indicates it first appeared at the Eighth Council of Toledo in 653. The date of the insertion can be narrowed further based on a letter of Isidore of Seville (d. 636). This letter ( ep. 6) has been typically considered spurious, but the evidence supports its authenticity.
Beasts Within and Beasts Without: Colonial Themes in Lothar Meggendorfer’s Children’s Books
Authors: Brian Amanda M.
Published: June 2014

Lothar Meggendorfer (1847–1925), an innovator in the field of children’s books, found colonial themes useful to teach and to entertain children about being civilized. Given the representations of colonialism in the visual culture of turn-of-the-twentieth-century Europe, this is not surprising. Yet his books have long been admired for their mechanics, while their content has been both excised and ignored. Nonetheless, Meggendorfer extensively used animals to represent colonial hierarchies, and while his books tell us little about animals or others associated with animals, they reveal the colonial thinking in Wilhelmine Germany in the age of so-called new imperialism.
Explaining Suicide in the Imperial German Army
Authors: Bonnell Andrew G.
Published: June 2014

As social science evolved during the second half of the nineteenth century, the phenomenon of suicide received significant attention from sociologists. The issue of the frequency of suicides in the Imperial German armed forces proved highly sensitive. Official sources sought to minimize evidence of the mistreatment of soldiers in their presentation of suicide data, while critics of militarism, especially in the Social Democratic Party, used suicides in the military to expose what they regarded as systemic abuse. The issue became a case study in the potential politicization of social science findings and the polarization of public discourse in Imperial Germany.
The Triumph of the Obituary: Constructing Christa Wolf for the Berlin Republic
Authors: Klocke Sonja E.
Published: June 2014

When Christa Wolf died in 2011, the German media commemorated her in numerous, largely similar obituaries that echo statements issued by liberal-conservative politicians and reference allegations generated during the literary debate (1990/1991). Ambivalent, ironic or hostile, they downgrade or defuse Wolf’s political stance, render the author and her politics futile, or work to streamline her with the ideologies dominating unified Germany. A comparative analysis of obituaries and texts by Wolf exposes the rationale behind the majority of testimonials, namely to devaluate the socialist idea in order to legitimize contemporary politics in a time of global crisis for the capitalist system.
The Sound of Fatih Akın’s Cinema: Polyphony and the Aesthetics of Heterogeneity in The Edge of Heaven
Authors: Gueneli Berna
Published: June 2014

Fatih Akın’s film sound (music/dialogue) highlights his aesthetic imagination of a diverse Europe. One means by which this is achieved is through Akın’s collaboration with DJ Shantel. Using examples from Auf der anderen Seite (The Edge of Heaven , 2007), I argue that Akın’s linguistic and musical soundtrack invites the moviegoer to aesthetically experience a heterogeneous European polyphony. Shantel’s dubbed/remixed music from North, South, and East European regions, as well as the various languages, dialects, and accents of the filmic characters testify to both a filmic normalization of multilingualism and musical heterogeneity, and even to a connection between different (film) histories.
Made in Germany: Integration as Inside Joke in the Ethno-comedy of Kaya Yanar and Bülent Ceylan
Authors: Bower Kathrin
Published: June 2014

As the largest “foreign” population in Germany, Turkish immigrants have been the primary target for concerns about integration and the impact of immigration on German culture. Since the founding of the first Turkish German cabaret in 1985 by Şinasi Dikmen and Muhsin Omurca, the misconceptions and one-sided expectations associated with integration have been played, parodied, and satirized by Turkish German performers. As producers of contemporary ethno-comedy, Kaya Yanar and Bülent Ceylan appeal to mass audiences with a new approach, inverting questions of integration by creating communities through laughter in which audiences are at once in on the joke and its object.
A Postwar Perversion of Testimonio in Horacio Castellanos Moya’s El asco
Authors: Thornton Megan
Published: June 2014

Salvadoran writer Horacio Castellanos Moya offers a provocative example of postwar cynicism in his 1997 novel El asco: Thomas Bernhard en San Salvador . By telling the story of Edgardo Vega, an emigrant who returns to El Salvador in the mid-1990s after living in Canada for eighteen years, El asco represents the mass exodus of Salvadorans during and after the country’s Civil War (1979–92). Because Vega recounts his story in an oral monologue, his narration recalls the testimonial project of the revolutionary years; however, Vega’s narcissistic story distorts the testimonio to capture the disillusion and contradiction of the postwar years. Through a perversion of the testimonio ’s form and content and also by parodying the post-World War II Austrian writer Thomas Bernhard, El asco , meaning disgust or repulsion, criticizes El Salvador’s postwar reality and imagines the Salvadoran transnational community. Furthermore, the use of fiction allows Castellanos Moya to denounce the testimonio ’s claim on authenticity without abandoning its social project.
Rereading Ventura García Calderón
Authors: Goldberg Nancy Sloan
Published: June 2014

Ventura García Calderón (1886–1959) was a Peruvian man of letters and a diplomat who was at the center of the hispanophone community in Paris in the first half of the twentieth century. Known as a proponent of Spanish American literature, García Calderón achieved a global celebrity for his dramatic, colorful, and ironic short stories. These stories, published in both Spanish and French, feature a raw depiction of reality, a strong sense of retributive justice, and a sympathy for the marginalized people that characterize European Naturalism. García Calderón adapted this style to advance his goal of providing European readers with an authentic understanding of Peru and Spanish America, thus replacing the voyeuristic and patronizing notion of the “exotic” inherited from literary romanticism and nineteenth-century travel writers. The construction of García Calderón’s stories was subversive and destabilized the widespread notion of Peru held by European critics and readers. While international critics during the author’s lifetime unanimously praised García Calderón’s fiction as well as his essays that theorize the transformation and renaissance of Spanish language and literature by americano writers, scholars since the 1960s have largely misunderstood his reformative project. This essay argues that García Calderón’s originality, vibrancy, and idealism merit a major place for his works in Spanish American literary history.