bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Establishing a New Information Paradigm
Authors: Doucette Dail DeWitt
Published: April 2014

This paper suggests a new information paradigm and recommends the establishment of a new academic and scientific discipline, or a metaphysics of information, to be built on the premise that information is also a part of all the universes, elements, systems, and conditions. Therefore, it is also an integral part of all the other individual disciplines and sciences. It is essential to look beyond the limitations of how humans use and perceive information, or even how other living organisms use information. It is proposed that information is in a continuous and dynamic evolutionary process that ranges from simple to complex forms, at every level, across all scientific and academic domains, as well as being a significant element in everything that exists.

Information is a trigger mechanism, an emphasis and a nutrient, not only for information activities, but also all physical, and biological elements, systems and activities. Each existing discipline has within it a significant core informational element, which helps formulate and define that discipline. The science of information will bring together core science and academic information elements to correlate, compare and assemble a combined theoretical base. This new discipline should coexist equally with traditional scientific and academic categories such as physical, social science, arts, and humanities. It should not compete with or replace other disciplines but should stand alongside them and assist them to build comparisons and consolidations amongst multiple disciplines regarding information theories, methodologies, practices—by adding new perspectives, resources, and developments.

This paper is adapted from a presentation to the Fourth International Conference on the Foundation of Information Science, held in conjunction with the Chinese Association for Artificial Intelligence at the Huazhiong University of Science and Technology in August 2010 in Beijing, China.
Toward the Age of Neo-Entrepreneurs
Authors: Heinonen Sirkka , Ruotsalainen Juho
Published: April 2014

The information society is becoming the experience society, and will eventually shift into the ubiquitous meanings society. The technological environment is created especially by the advancing Internet, mobile computing, cloud computing, social media, and application services. In a society driven by cultural meanings, people's needs and demands will be increasingly oriented toward genuine feelings, personal experiences and the purpose and meaning of life. Consequently, production will be aimed at satisfying these demands. Small enterprises with close relations to the customers and with a radically new corporate culture are needed to answer these needs.

At the same time, we can foresee the emergence of the age of neo-entrepreneurs. The concept of entrepreneurship requires re-thinking: Society is moving away from ascetic Protestant values toward more hedonistic, romantic values, and so are the entrepreneurs. The future skills and competences are more generalized; high specialization is no longer enough. Multi-competent neo-entrepreneurs will excel in self-actualization and individual choices, added to enhanced possibilities for co-creation and collective creativity. Case results from a Futures Clinique exploring new business opportunities for entrepreneurs from 3-D worlds are also presented.
China's “One-Child” Policy
Authors: Nakra Prema
Published: April 2014

More than 30 years ago, in what appeared as an open letter to members of the Communist Party and the Communist Youth League the Chinese government announced its “one child, one couple” population control policy. This, the most ambitious policy of its kind in world history, has changed the place of the People's Republic of China in the global economy. The policy has achieved remarkable success by curbing population growth, aiding economic expansion, and raising the population's standard of living.

While China has made incremental changes in its “one-child” policy, its discontinuation is not on the nation's agenda in the foreseeable future. The author discusses positive and negative consequences of this policy and identifies the challenges for China in decades to come.
The Future of American Higher Education
Authors: Dew John R.
Published: April 2014

Few would dispute that the development, dissemination, and application of knowledge will always strongly impact the course of the future. Historically, this knowledge management has primarily been a function of private nonprofit and public institutions of higher education. However, higher education itself is now embroiled in a dynamic set of forces that will shape how knowledge management and learning will occur in the future.

This article examines 15 trends that are currently impacting higher education, along with changing expectations in accountability related to education, and some possible scenarios for the future of higher education. Each trend, in and of itself, is significantly disruptive to the status quo in higher education. In combination, their impact on students, faculty, staff, parents, and the institutions themselves may be very significant.

Higher education can be organized in several broad categories, including traditional private institutions which often have their roots in church affiliations, and range in size from very small to very large; publicly funded institutions that include community colleges, regional universities, research universities; and private for-profit institutions that are often based on the use of online technology for course delivery.
Infertility in Star Trek
Authors: Grech Victor
Published: April 2014

It is fair to say that Star Trek comprises a self-contained subgenre within science fiction (SF). Over nearly 50 years, through six distinct television series, and eleven feature length films, the “Star Trek universe” envisioned by Gene Roddenberry has become arguably the world's most elaborate and widely recognized depiction of life in future times (covering roughly the twenty-second through the twenty-ninth centuries). In this article, situations involving infertility occurring in episodes from different Star Trek series are examined and some general conclusions offered concerning the perception of this problem and the variety of responses proposed.
Playing the Wild Card
Authors: Aguilar-Millan Stephen
Published: April 2014

Life never quite runs to plan. Just when we think that we can see the road ahead, something turns up to make a mockery of our planning. These unforeseen circumstances can be both good and bad for us. Such are the vagaries of life. These surprises can have a major impact on our lives or they can be fairly minor in effect. We tend to take the minor surprises in our stride, but the more significant ones lead us to a period of reevaluation. In futures literature, surprising events tend to be known as wild card events. They are defined as low-probability, high-impact events that have the potential to completely disrupt our plans for the future. Much of futures work is about anticipating a range of possible futures. We normally call these visions of the future scenarios. When we inject wild card events into our scenario set, we normally call the result a set of wild card scenarios. Their purpose is not to replace the original scenarios but to enhance our understanding of them. In this way, if we play our wild cards right, the future ought not to be as surprising as it could be.
Is the Future Obsolete?
Authors: Mathews Ryan , Singer Jim
Published: April 2014

Has “the future”—like the icebox, the buggy whip, and life without social networks—become something the world has outgrown, a concept whose time, having triumphantly come, is now ignominiously gone? We are not suggesting that time will somehow stop, or that we will stay frozen in an eternal present. But we are asking whether, in an increasingly high-tech, globalized world, the idea of “the future” may have strayed from its historical cultural idiom and lost at least some of its meaning and purpose in and for our lives.
NIC 2030
Authors: Bushnell Dennis M.
Published: April 2014

This study describes the probable and synergistic societal future drivers and states which will result from a combination of human pressures upon the ecosystem and the ongoing IT, Bio, Nano, Quantum and Energetics Technology Revolutions.
A Broader Framework to Help the National Intelligence Council
Authors: Glenn Jerome C.
Published: April 2014

This article offers fifteen Global Challenges as an alternative framework for understanding global change, finds the technology considerations very weak, points out the relative absence of Latin America and insufficient attention given to India in the report, and notes that it uses scenarios more as discussion topics than as stories with sequences of cause and effect links illustrating decisions. Nevertheless, the report does contain much food for thought.
Global Trends 2030 Compared with the 2052 Global Forecast
Authors: Randers Jorgen
Published: April 2014

This paper compares the forecasts presented in two recent publications, Global Trends 2030 and 2052 - A Global Forecast for the Next Forty Years. The two differ because Randers believes in slower population and economic growth over the next several decades, significant disruption from increasing climate change, and an end to US supremacy.
The Democratization of Innovation
Authors: Spies Philip H.
Published: April 2014

Technological innovation is the transformation of a new idea or scientific discovery into standardized practice. The outcome is that people can progressively do more with the same effort, produce different outcomes with the same artifacts, and produce outcomes in new and novel ways. It was the main driver of global industrialization over the past two hundred years. Technology-based industrialization produced a regenerative industrial culture and marginalized lesser developed regions and countries in the process. Today some 85 percent of global wealth is owned by just 10 percent of the global population. One of the most serious threats to a sustainable world is global inequality in wealth and human competence. Impoverished people seem to find themselves in a low-level human developmental trap largely because of their inability to profit from technological innovation. The focus of this paper is on innovation management in less-developed, nonindustrialized, communities. Its central hypothesis is that endemic (human-centered) technological innovation rather than “technology transfer” (artifact-centered innovation) can help to alleviate entrenched poverty. It argues that effective application of technological artifacts is only possible with the support of a complex system of socioeconomic conditions (i.e., a supportive technology ecosystem). An outline for conceptualizing, planning, and managing innovation for human development is presented in the concluding sections of the paper.
ICT and the Foresight Infrastructure of the Future
Authors: Keller Jonas , von der Gracht Heiko A.
Published: April 2014

Information and communication technology (ICT) is being increasingly set up to improve the infrastructure of foresight. It will likely be used to implement more routine and continuous foresight processes in companies and organizations in the future. In this research, we look at the future implications of growing ICT application in foresight based on an extensive worldwide Delphi survey.
HIV Testing by Black MSM in Toronto
Authors: George Clemon , Makoroka Lydia , Rourke Sean B. , Adam Barry D. , Remis Robert S. , Husbands Winston , Read Stanley E.
Published: April 2014

Surveillance data suggest that Black men who have sex with men (MSM) in Canada contribute to a higher than expected percentage of new HIV diagnoses. HIV testing is an important part of the HIV reduction strategy in Canada and the Public Health Agency of Canada recommends HIV testing as a component of periodic routine medical care. A cross-sectional survey was conducted among Black MSM in Toronto to determine the factors associated with HIV testing. One hundred sixty-five men were recruited and completed a self-administrative questionnaire. The majority of men identified as gay/homosexual. Lifetime history of HIV testing was reported at 85%, of whom 50% had tested within the last 6 months. Self-reported HIV seroprevalence was 24%. In logistic regression, variables associated with ever testing for HIV were “having friends or family with HIV” and “regularly attending religious services.” Although HIV testing appears to be common among Black MSM in Canada, young Canadian-born men were less likely to test. This observation highlights the need to examine place of birth when tailoring health interventions for Black MSM.
Regulating the High
Authors: Park Jiyoung , Ayduk Özlem , O’Donnell Lisa , Chun Jinsoo , Gruber June , Kamali Masoud , McInnis Melvin G. , Deldin Patricia , Kross Ethan
Published: April 2014

Although it is well established that bipolar I disorder (BD) is characterized by excessive positive emotionality, the cognitive and neural processes that underlie such responses are unclear. We addressed this issue by examining the role that an emotion regulatory process called self-distancing plays in two potentially different BD phenotypes—BD with versus without a history of psychosis—and healthy individuals. Participants reflected on a positive autobiographical memory and then rated their level of spontaneous self-distancing. Neurophysiological activity was continuously monitored using electroencephalogram. As predicted, participants with BD who have a history of psychosis spontaneously self-distanced less and displayed stronger neurophysiological signs of positive emotional reactivity compared with the other two groups. These findings shed light on the cognitive and neural mechanisms underlying excessive positive emotionality in BD. They also suggest that individuals with BD who have a history of psychosis may represent a distinct clinical phenotype characterized by dysfunctional emotion regulation.
Anuric Acute Kidney Injury Induced by Acute Mountain Sickness Prophylaxis With Acetazolamide
Authors: Neyra Javier A. , Castle Alvarez-Maza James , Novak James E.
Published: April 2014

Acetazolamide (ACZ) is a sulfonamide derivative that inhibits carbonic anhydrase and is the mainstay for prevention and treatment of acute mountain sickness (AMS). Acute kidney injury (AKI) is not well recognized as a complication of ACZ ingestion, especially when low doses are used for short periods of time. We report a case of a healthy, middle-aged man who developed severe AKI after the ingestion of ACZ for AMS prophylaxis. The patient presented with bilateral flank pain and anuric AKI without radiographic signs of obstructive uropathy. All blood and urine testing to determine the cause of AKI were negative or normal. The patient required 2 sessions of hemodialysis due to worsening metabolic derangements, which included severe anion gap metabolic acidosis and hyperphosphatemia. Renal function returned to baseline after 96 hours of supportive care. The pathogenesis of AKI in our patient was attributed to ACZ-induced sulfonamide crystalluria causing intratubular obstruction and retrograde urine flow, but not intraureteric precipitation or obstructive uropathy. This classic presentation of anuric AKI and renal colic has been previously described with higher doses of ACZ for prolonged periods of time but never with low doses for AMS prophylaxis such as in our patient (total dose of 1250 mg within 48 hours). Our case highlights the risk of adverse renal outcomes following ACZ ingestion, even in previously healthy individuals, and suggests that increased fluid intake may be advisable for travelers taking ACZ prophylaxis.
Early Tracking after a Missed Return Visit Reduces the Proportion of Untraceable Patients at a Large HIV Clinic in Kampala, Uganda
Authors: Nakiwogga-Muwanga Alice , Musaazi Joseph , Katabira Elly , Alamo-Talisuna Stella , Colebunders Robert
Published: April 2014

To determine the optimal time to track patients, we evaluated the outcomes of patients traced after missing their return visits at 3 periods, 8, 30, or 90 days, at the Infectious Diseases Clinic in Kampala, Uganda. During the study period from January to December 2011, the proportion of untraceable patients was 2 (4%) after 8 days, 12 (10%) after 30 days, and 13 (15%) after 90 days. More than 75% of the patients who died had a CD4 count of <200 cells/mm3 at their last visit. In conclusion, tracking patients after 1 week of a missed return visit should be the preferred method of tracking. If resources are limited, patients with CD4 counts <200 cells/mm3 need to be targeted for tracking, as they are most at risk of dying if they interrupt treatment.
HIV Provider–Patient Communication Regarding Cardiovascular Risk
Authors: Sherer Renslow , Solomon Suniti , Schechter Mauro , Nachega Jean B. , Rockstroh Jurgen , Zuniga Jose M.
Published: April 2014

Design:

Few global studies have assessed HIV clinician–patient communication regarding cardiovascular disease (CVD) risks.

Methods:

We conducted a multicountry, comparative, cross-sectional survey of HIV-infected individuals in 12 countries on 5 continents in 2010, with 100 to 200 enrollees per country. HIV-infected adults >17 years and on antiretroviral therapy were recruited in clinics and community organizations and surveyed via direct interview, telephone encounter, or online. Chi-square analyses were performed with an 80% power to detect a difference of >20%.

Results:

Of 2035 participants, 37% were women. Prevalence of self-reported CVD risk factors was 28% overall, and greater CVD risk was present in 55% of patients in North America, 12% in Africa, and 26% to 28% on other continents. Only 19% of patients ever discussed CVD with their physician, and 31% had ever discussed hypertension, hypercholesterolemia, family history of CVD, or smoking; these findings were true for HIV clinicians in all regions of the world. Forty-four percent of smokers reported never discussing smoking with their HIV clinician.

Conclusion:

We found that HIV clinicians worldwide are not sufficiently addressing CVD risk factors with their patients. Expanded training and education for HIV clinicians should include effective approaches to the mitigation of CV risk factors.
Female Camel Nomenclature among Arabia’s Bedouins
Authors: Salman Amel , Kharusi Nafla S.
Published: April 2014

AbstractThe camel’s cultural importance among the nomads of Arabia can be attributed to its critical role over the centuries in ensuring the people’s survival. Its status explains the herders’ detailed knowledge of the animal and their breeding expertise. As a result, an extensive classification system of camel naming prevails among Bedouin Arabs. The category names assigned, in particular to the females, serve as “information packages” that transmit traditional knowledge from one generation to the next. Apparent name-loss among a younger and more urbanized generation thus reflects an erosion of this once vital knowledge. It is hoped that recording a wide range of female camel names here, and documenting their classification, will help towards the preservation of such an important knowledge system.
TPL2 kinase regulates the inflammatory milieu of the myeloma niche
Authors: Hope Chelsea , Ollar Samuel J. , Heninger Erika , Hebron Ellen , Jensen Jeffrey L. , Kim Jaehyup , Maroulakou Ioanna , Miyamoto Shigeki , Leith Catherine , Yang David T. , Callander Natalie , Hematti Peiman , Chesi Marta , Bergsagel P. Leif , Asimakopoulos Fotis
Published: April 2014

Key Points

We describe a novel, druggable pathway that controls myeloma growth through macrophages in the myeloma microenvironment. Macrophages are dominant orchestrators of the inflammatory milieu of the myeloma niche.
Id2 represses E2A-mediated activation of IL-10 expression in T cells
Authors: Masson Frederick , Ghisi Margherita , Groom Joanna R. , Kallies Axel , Seillet Cyril , Johnstone Ricky W. , Nutt Stephen L. , Belz Gabrielle T.
Published: April 2014

Key Points

Loss of Id2 in T cells results in overexpression of IL-10 during influenza infection and GVHD and protects against GVHD immunopathology. Id2 represses the direct E2A-mediated activation of the Il10 locus in effector T cells.
Influence of temporomandibular disorder on temporal and masseter muscles and occlusal contacts in adolescents: an electromyographic study
Authors: Lauriti Leandro , Motta Lara Jansiski , de Godoy Camila Haddad Leal , Biasotto-Gonzalez Daniela Aparecida , Politti Fabiano , Mesquita-Ferrari Raquel Agnelli , Fernandes Kristianne Porta Santos , Bussadori Sandra Kalil
Published: April 2014

Background

The aim of the present study was to analyse the influence of temporomandibular disorder (TMD) on electromyographic activity in the masseter and temporal muscles of adolescents and investigate a possible association with the number of occlusal contacts.

Methods

The Helkimo Index was administered for the diagnosis of TMD and classification of the adolescents into three groups: without TMD; with mild TMD; and with moderate/severe TMD. Carbon paper was used for the determination of occlusal contact points. A standardised electromyographic evaluation was performed on the masticatory muscles at rest, during habitual chewing and during maximum voluntary clenching. The readings were normalised to maximum voluntary clenching. Statistical analysis involved the chi-squared test and Fisher’s exact test. The Kruskal-Wallis test and one-way analysis of variance with Dunn’s post hoc test were used to compare differences between groups. Pearson’s correlation coefficients (r) were calculated for the determination of correlations between the number of occlusal contacts and RMS values.

Results

Electromyography revealed significant differences in the right and left masseter and temporal muscles at rest and during chewing among the three groups. These differences were not observed during maximum voluntary clenching. No statistically significant differences were found between the groups with and without TMD regarding the number of occlusal contacts.

Conclusion

Electromyographic activity in the masseter and temporal muscles was greater among adolescents with moderate to severe TMD.
Silymarin improved 6-OHDA-induced motor impairment in hemi-parkisonian rats: behavioral and molecular study
Authors: Haddadi Rasool , Nayebi Alireza Mohajjel , Farajniya Safar , Brooshghalan Shahla Eyvari , Sharifi Hamdolah
Published: April 2014

Background

Neuroinflammation and oxidative stress has been shown to be associated with the development of Parkinson disease (PD). In the present study, we investigated the effect of intraperitoneal (i.p.) administration of silymarin, on 6-OHDA-induced motor-impairment, brain lipid per-oxidation and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) levels of inflammatory cytokine in the rats.

Results

The results showed that silymarin is able to improve motor coordination significantly (p < 0.001) in a dose dependent manner. There was a significant (p < 0.001) increase in MDA levels of 6-OHDA-lesioned rats whereas; in silymarin (100, 200 and 300 mg/kg, i.p. for 5 days) pre-treated hemi-parkinsonian rats MDA levels was decreased markedly (p < 0.001). Furthermore the CSF levels of IL-1β was decreased (p < 0.001) in silymarin (100, 200 and 300 mg/kg) pre-treated rats up to the range of normal non-parkinsonian animals.

Conclusion

We found that pre-treatment with silymarin could improve 6-OHDA-induced motor imbalance by attenuating brain lipid per-oxidation as well as CSF level of IL-1β as a pro-inflammatory cytokine. We suggest a potential prophylactic effect for silymarin in PD. However, further clinical trial studies should be carried out to prove this hypothesis.
Unraveling the structural characteristics of lignin in hydrothermal pretreated fibers and manufactured binderless boards from Eucalyptus grandis
Authors: Xiao Ling-Ping , Lin Zhi , Peng Wan-Xi , Yuan Tong-Qi , Xu Feng , Li Nian-Chun , Tao Qing-Song , Xiang Hang , Sun Run-Cang
Published: April 2014

Background

Eucalyptus grandisis one of the most abundant biomass from plantation in many parts of the world. The binderless board were manufactured from hydrothermal pretreated fibers ofEucalyptuswood and characterized for the chemical analyses and mechanical strengths in order to assess the mechanism of self-bonding. To make clear the self-bonding mechanism of these binderless boards, the structural characteristics of cellulolytic enzyme lignin (CEL) isolated fromEucalyptuswood, its hydrothermal pretreated fibers, and binderless boards were thoroughly investigated by chemical and spectroscopic methods.

Results

The result revealed that hydrothermal pretreatment and hot pressing process could change cellulose crystalline structures by disrupting inter/intra hydrogen bonding of cellulose chains. During the hydrothermal pretreatment ofEucalyptuswood, acid-catalyzed cleavage of β-O-4′ linkages and ester bonds were the major mechanisms of lignin cleavage. This degradation pathway led to a more condensed lignin which has a high average molecular weight and more phenolic hydroxyl groups than the control. The hot pressing process resulted in the binderless boards with reduced lignin contents and decreased the glass transition temperature, thus making the lignin more accessible to the fiber surface. CEL isolated from the binderless boards showed an increased syringyl to guaiacyl propane (S/G) ratio but a lower molecular weight than those of the untreatedEucalyptuswood and the hydrothermal pretreated fibers.

Conclusions

Based on the finding of this study, it is suggested that the combination of hydrothermal pretreatment and hot pressing process is a good way for conditioning hardwood sawdust for the production of binderless boards. The thermal softening of lignin, rich in phenolic hydroxyl groups, and increased condensed lignin structure contributed to the self-bonding formation of lignocellulosic materials.
The role of information search in seeking alternative treatment for back pain: a qualitative analysis
Authors: McClymont Hoda , Gow Jeff , Perry Chad
Published: April 2014

Background

Health consumers have moved away from a reliance on medical practitioner advice to more independent decision processes and so their information search processes have subsequently widened. This study examined how persons with back pain searched for alternative treatment types and service providers. That is, what information do they seek and how; what sources do they use and why; and by what means do they search for it?

Methods

12 persons with back pain were interviewed. The method used was convergent interviewing. This involved a series of semi-structured questions to obtain open-ended answers. The interviewer analysed the responses and refined the questions after each interview, to converge on the dominant factors influencing decisions about treatment patterns.

Results

Persons with back pain mainly search their memories and use word of mouth (their doctor and friends) for information about potential treatments and service providers. Their search is generally limited due to personal, provider-related and information-supply reasons. However, they did want in-depth information about the alternative treatments and providers in an attempt to establish apriori their efficacy in treating their specific back problems. They searched different sources depending on the type of information they required.

Conclusions

The findings differ from previous studies about the types of information health consumers require when searching for information about alternative or mainstream healthcare services. The results have identified for the first time that limited information availability was only one of three categories of reasons identified about why persons with back pain do not search for more information particularly from external non-personal sources.
The effects of microRNAs on human neural stem cell differentiation in two- and three-dimensional cultures
Authors: Stevanato Lara , Sinden John D
Published: April 2014

Introduction

Stem cells have the ability to self-renew or to differentiate into numerous cell types; however, our understanding of how to control and exploit this potential is currently limited. An emerging hypothesis is that microRNAs (miRNAs) play a central role in controlling stem cell-fate determination. Herein, we have characterized the effects of miRNAs in differentiated human neural stem cells (hNSCs) by using a cell line currently being tested in clinical trials for stroke disability (NCT01151124, Clinicaltrials.gov).

Methods

HNSCs were differentiated on 2- (2D) and 3-dimensional (3D) cultures for 1 and 3 weeks. Quantification of hNSC differentiation was measured with real-time PCR and axon outgrowth. The miRNA PCR arrays were implemented to investigate differential expression profiles in differentiated hNSCs. Evaluation of miRNA effects on hNSCs was performed by using transfection of miRNA mimics, real-time PCR, Western blot, and immunocytochemistry.

Results

The 3D substrate promoted enhanced hNSC differentiation coupled with a loss of cell proliferation. Differentiated hNSCs exhibited a similar miRNA profiling. However, in 3D samples, the degree and timing of regulation were significantly different in miRNA members of cluster mi-R17 and miR-96-182, and hsa-miR-302a. Overall, hNSC 3D cultures demonstrated differential regulation of miRNAs involved in hNSC stemness, cell proliferation, and differentiation.

The miRNA mimic analysis of hsa-miR-146b-5p and hsa-miR-99a confirmed induction of lineage-committed progenitors. Downregulated miRNAs were more abundant; those most significantly downregulated were selected, and their putative target mRNAs analyzed with the aim of unraveling their functionality. In differentiated hNSCs, downregulated hsa-miR-96 correlated with SOX5 upregulation of gene and protein expression; similar results were obtained for hsa-miR-302a, hsa-miR-182, hsa-miR-7, hsa-miR-20a/b, and hsa-miR-17 and their target NR4A3. Moreover, SOX5 was identified as a direct target gene of hsa-miR-96, and NR43A, a direct target of hsa-miR-7 and hsa-mir-17 by luciferase reporter assays. Therefore, the regulatory role of these miRNAs may occur through targeting NR4A3 and SOX5, both reported as modulators of cell-cycle progression and axon length.

Conclusions

The results provide new insight into the identification of specific miRNAs implicated in hNSC differentiation. These strategies may be exploited to optimize in vitro hNSC differentiation potential for use in preclinical studies and future clinical applications.
S-Zero Stack: A converted wave processing to extract subsurface density information
Authors: Zou Keshan
Published: April 2014

Analyzing the Aki-Richards equation for converted waves, I found that it is possible to decouple the effect of density contrast from that of shear velocity contrast. The two terms were mixed when the P-wave incident angle was less than 30°, but they started to separate at a middle angle range (approximately 40°). The term related to S-wave velocity contrast reached zero at an incident angle around 60°. However, the other term, which was related to the density contrast, did not reverse polarity until 90°. Furthermore, this density term reached almost the maximum (magnitude) around 60°. Based on those characteristics, I designed a new method called “S-Zero Stack” to capture the density contrast reliably at the subsurface interface without going to inversion. S-Zero Stack captured subsurface density anomalies using a special stacking method. It is simple but robust, even when there is noise in the common-conversion-point gathers. Combined with the traditional P-wave amplitude-variation-with-offset technique, S-Zero Stack of PS-waves may help discriminate commercial gas from fizz in gas sand and could be a useful tool in shale gas exploration to locate lower-density anomalies (sweet spots).
The Mutable Subject
Authors: Anson-Cartwright Mark
Published: April 2014

Among the many qualities that set Bach apart from his contemporaries is his manner of transforming his thematic material—most notably his fugue subjects. Bach himself believed that all good fugue writers should know how and when to change (or mutate) their subjects. The consequences of such changes are most often purely tonal in nature, giving rise to modulations that would otherwise take place during episodes. Much less frequently, tonal and rhythmic transformations of the subject may occur simultaneously, as in the fugue from the Sinfonia that opens Partita no. 2 in C minor for keyboard. It turns out that the subject of this fugue is so marked in rhythm and contour that it seems to motivate—and even demand—its own transformation as the fugue unfolds. One consequence of such transformation is a series of metric shifts from triple hypermeter during expositions to duple hypermeter during episodes.
Going ballistic in the plankton: Anisotropic swimming behavior of marine protists
Authors: Schuech Rudi , Menden‐Deuer Susanne
Published: April 2014

Lay Abstract

Plankton are a critically important group of oceanic organisms, comprising the base of marine food webs and accounting for half of all biological carbon fixation on Earth. Although plankton have traditionally been thought of as passive drifters in the ocean, many of these organisms have the ability to move of their own accord. The twisting paths that swimming protists (single‐cell eukaryotic plankton) traced out in previous laboratory studies have frequently been compared with the paths that a molecule follows as it moves randomly through space due to thermal energy in a process called diffusion. However, it is also well known that many protists in the ocean undergo large vertical migrations of several meters or more, which can be explained only if the cells were able to swim in essentially straight vertical lines, known as ballistic motion. Although there have been a few direct observations of ballistic motion of protists in the laboratory, little quantitative proof has been accumulated thus far. We assembled a large data set of relatively long‐duration, three‐dimensional swimming paths for several protist species, both plant‐ and animal‐like, and calculated how long they tended to swim straight before turning. Since almost all the cells moved primarily in the vertical direction, we separated the horizontal dimensions from the vertical in this analysis. All the protist species observed here did make frequent horizontal (left/right) turns, matching a diffusion model at scales greater than a few seconds or fractions of a millimeter. However, turns in the vertical direction were extremely rare for almost all species, indicating vertical ballistic motion (i.e., moving either up or down without switching direction) at swimming speeds that match the large‐scale field observations of migratory behavior. Our observations show ballistic swimming for much longer than in several previous studies—up to 120 s or 6 mm for organisms sized about the diameter of a human hair. The habitat and biogeochemical footprint of these planktonic protists are therefore much larger than one might expect based on their microscopic size.
Repeatability of quantitative metrics derived from MR diffusion tractography in paediatric patients with epilepsy
Authors: Paldino M J , Hedges K , Rodrigues K M , Barboriak D P
Published: April 2014

Objective:

To quantify the test–retest repeatability of mean diffusivity (MD) and fractional anisotropy (FA) derived from diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) tractography in a cohort of paediatric patients with localization-related epilepsy.

Methods:

30 patients underwent 2 DTI acquisitions [repetition time/echo time (ms), 7000/90; flip, 90°; b-value, 1000 s mm−2; voxel (mm), 2 × 2 × 2]. Two observers used Diffusion Toolkit and TrackVis (www.trackvis.org) to segment and analyse the following tracts: corpus callosum, corticospinal tracts, arcuate fasciculi, inferior longitudinal fasciculi and inferior fronto-occipital fasciculi. Mean MD and mean FA were calculated for each tract. Each observer independently analysed one of the DTI data sets for every patient.

Results:

Segmentation identified all tracts in all subjects, except the arcuate fasciculus. There was a highly consistent relationship between repeated observations of MD (r = 0.993; p < 0.0001) and FA (r = 0.990; p < 0.0001). For each tract, coefficients of variation ranged from 0.9% to 2.1% for MD and from 1.5% to 2.8% for FA. The 95% confidence limits (CLs) for change ranged from 2.8% to 6% for MD and from 4.3% to 8.6% for FA. For the arcuate fasciculus, Cohen's κ for agreement between the observers (identifiable vs not identifiable) was 1.0.

Conclusion:

We quantified the repeatability of two commonly utilized scalar metrics derived from DTI tractography. For an individual patient, changes greater than the repeatability coefficient or 95% CLs for change are unlikely to be related to variability in their measurement.

Advances in knowledge:

Reproducibility of these metrics will aid in the design of future studies and might one day be used to guide management in patients with epilepsy.
Simultaneously Discovering and Quantifying Risk Types from Textual Risk Disclosures
Authors: Bao Yang , Datta Anindya
Published: April 2014

Managers and researchers alike have long recognized the importance of corporate textual risk disclosures. Yet it is a nontrivial task to discover and quantify variables of interest from unstructured text. In this paper, we develop a variation of the latent Dirichlet allocation topic model and its learning algorithm for simultaneously discovering and quantifying risk types from textual risk disclosures. We conduct comprehensive evaluations in terms of both conventional statistical fit and substantive fit with respect to the quality of discovered information. Experimental results show that our proposed method outperforms all competing methods, and could find more meaningful topics (risk types). By taking advantage of our proposed method for measuring risk types from textual data, we study how risk disclosures in 10-K forms affect the risk perceptions of investors. Different from prior studies, our results provide support for all three competing arguments regarding whether and how risk disclosures affect the risk perceptions of investors, depending on the specific risk types disclosed. We find that around two-thirds of risk types lack informativeness and have no significant influence. Moreover, we find that the informative risk types do not necessarily increase the risk perceptions of investors—the disclosure of three types of systematic and liquidity risks will increase the risk perceptions of investors, whereas the other five types of unsystematic risks will decrease them.

Data, as supplemental material, are available at http://dx.doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.2014.1930 .

This paper was accepted by Alok Gupta, special issue on business analytics.
Repoliticising depoliticisation: theoretical preliminaries on some responses to the American fiscal and Eurozone debt crises
Authors: Jessop Bob
Published: April 2014

Politicisation, depoliticisation, and repoliticisation are basic and interrelated concepts in political analysis. They may also describe specific political strategies in relatively stable, turbulent or crisisprone periods or concrete conjunctures. This article aims to clarify the chameleon-like concept of depoliticisation by distinguishing its different levels and forms. It also applies these distinctions to two cases of ‘depoliticisation’ in the fiscal politics of the North Atlantic Financial Crisis (NAFC). The magnitude, duration, and depth of this crisis have prompted an intriguing mix of de- and repoliticisation strategies. These are evident in the manufactured hysteria about the ‘fiscal cliff’ in the USA and the attempts to impose technocratic government and a new economic constitution in the Eurozone. The conclusion offers some general reflections.
Depoliticisation: economic crisis and political management
Authors: Burnham Peter
Published: April 2014

This article places the study of depoliticisation within a framework that highlights the crisis-ridden character of capitalist development. It suggests that by linking depoliticisation to the activities of state managers engaged in crisis management, the concept scores highly in terms of clarity and precision over more expansive uses that lack a cutting edge and result in the assertion that ‘depoliticisation is everywhere’. In a context characterised by the continued crisis of global capital it is argued that the politicisation of social relations threatens the basis not only of individual governments but of the liberal capitalist form of the state itself.
Acute Bouts of Assisted Cycling Improves Cognitive and Upper Extremity Movement Functions in Adolescents With Down Syndrome
Authors: Ringenbach Shannon D. R. , Albert Andrew R. , Chen Chih-Chia (JJ) , Alberts Jay L.
Published: April 2014

The aim of this study was to examine the effectiveness of 2 modes of exercise on cognitive and upper extremity movement functioning in adolescents with Down syndrome (DS). Nine participants randomly completed 3 interventions over 3 consecutive weeks. The interventions were: (a) voluntary cycling (VC), in which participants cycled at their self-selected pedaling rate; (b) assisted cycling (AC), in which the participants' voluntary pedaling rates were augmented with a motor to ensure the maintenance of 80 rpm; and (c) no cycling (NC), in which the participants sat and listened to music. Manual dexterity improved after AC, but not after VC or NC. Measures of cognitive function, including reaction time and cognitive planning, also improved after AC, but not after the other interventions. Future research will try to uncover the mechanisms involved in the behavioral improvements found after an acute bout of assisted cycling in adolescents with DS.
Evaluating Representativeness and Cancer Screening Outcomes in a State Department of Developmental Services Database
Authors: Wilkinson Joanne , Lauer Emily , Greenwood Nechama W. , Freund Karen M. , Rosen Amy K.
Published: April 2014

Though it is widely recognized that people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) face significant health disparities, the comprehensive data sets needed for population-level health surveillance of people with IDD are lacking. This paucity of data makes it difficult to track and accurately describe health differences, improvements, and changes in access. Many states maintain administrative health databases that, to date, have not been widely used for research purposes. In order to evaluate the feasibility of using administrative databases for research purposes, the authors attempted to validate Massachusetts' administrative health database by comparing it to a large safety net hospital system's patient data regarding cancer screening, and to the state's service enrollment tables. The authors found variable representativeness overall; the sub-population of adults who live in 24-hr supported residences were better represented than adults who live independently or with family members. They also found a fairly low false negative rate for cancer screening data as compared with the “gold standard” of hospital records. Despite some limitations, these results suggest that state-level administrative databases may represent an exciting new avenue for health research. These results should lend context to efforts to study cancer and health screening variables using administrative databases. The present study methods may also have utility to researchers in other states for critically evaluating other state IDD service databases. This type of evaluation can assist researchers in contextualizing their data, and in tailoring their research questions to the abilities and limitations of this kind of database.
Characterizing and Diminishing Autofluorescence in Formalin-fixed Paraffin-embedded Human Respiratory Tissue
Authors: Davis A. Sally , Richter Anke , Becker Steven , Moyer Jenna E. , Sandouk Aline , Skinner Jeff , Taubenberger Jeffery K.
Published: April 2014

Tissue autofluorescence frequently hampers visualization of immunofluorescent markers in formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded respiratory tissues. We assessed nine treatments reported to have efficacy in reducing autofluorescence in other tissue types. The three most efficacious were Eriochrome black T, Sudan black B and sodium borohydride, as measured using white light laser confocal Λ2 (multi-lambda) analysis. We also assessed the impact of steam antigen retrieval and serum application on human tracheal tissue autofluorescence. Functionally fitting this Λ2 data to 2-dimensional Gaussian surfaces revealed that steam antigen retrieval and serum application contribute minimally to autofluorescence and that the three treatments are disparately efficacious. Together, these studies provide a set of guidelines for diminishing autofluorescence in formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded human respiratory tissue. Additionally, these characterization techniques are transferable to similar questions in other tissue types, as demonstrated on frozen human liver tissue and paraffin-embedded mouse lung tissue fixed in different fixatives.
The format business: Franchising television content
Authors: Esser Andrea
Published: April 2014

The new millennium has seen the franchising of television content escalate. The trade in so-called TV formats, like Big Brother or The X Factor, sold internationally for local adaptation, has multiplied. This article aims to illuminate the development of the format trade and the reasons
for its acceleration and globalization in the early twenty-first century. It will be argued that franchising has come to play and will continue to play a prominent role in the TV content business: First, because of digital television’s highly competitive, commercial multi-platform ecosystem.
Second, because ongoing internationalization and gradual convergence of TV systems globally diminish national barriers of structure and agency; and third, because of the popularity of light entertainment, coupled with formats’ multiple advantages as compared to locally developed programming,
specifically TV fiction.
Reviews
Authors: Donders Karen , Evens Tom
Published: April 2014

UNDERSTANDING MEDIA POLICIES: A EUROPEAN PERSPECTIVE, EVANGELIA PSYCHOGIOPOULOU (ED.) (2012) Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 304 pp., ISBN: 978-0-230-34812-7, h/bk, £55

POLITICAL ECONOMIES OF THE MEDIA: THE TRANSFORMATION OF THE GLOBAL MEDIA, DWAYNE WINSECK AND DAL YONG JIN
(EDS) (2011) London: Bloomsbury Academic, 272 pp., ISBN: 978-1-84966-353-3, h/bk, £21.99
Co-opetition of TV broadcasters in online video markets: A winning strategy?
Authors: Evens Tom
Published: April 2014

This article focuses on TV broadcasters adopting co-opetition strategies for launching online video services. It is claimed that the emergence of online video platforms like YouTube and Netflix is driving TV broadcasters to collaborate with their closest competitors to reduce costs and reach the necessary scale in the global marketplace. The article sheds light on online video platforms that were developed following a co-opetition strategy (Hulu and YouView). The establishment of joint ventures in online video, however, has been scrutinized by competition authorities which fear that collaboration between close competitors lessens rivalry and reduces consumer choice. Therefore, several co-opetition projects (among others BBC’s Kangaroo and Germany’s Gold) have been prohibited by competition authorities.