bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Multiple Associated Variants Increase the Heritability Explained for Plasma Lipids and Coronary Artery Disease
Authors: Tada Hayato , Won Hong-Hee , Melander Olle , Yang Jian , Peloso Gina M. , Kathiresan Sekar
Published: August 2014

Background—

Plasma lipid levels as well as coronary artery disease (CAD) have been shown to be highly heritable with estimates ranging from 40% to 60%. However, top variants detected by large-scale genome-wide association studies explain only a fraction of the total variance in plasma lipid phenotypes and CAD.

Methods and Results—

We performed a conditional and joint association analysis using summary-level statistics from 2 large genome-wide association meta-analyses: the Global Lipids Genetics Consortium (GLGC) study, and the Coronary Artery Disease Genome-Wide Replication and Meta-Analysis (CARDIoGRAM) study. There were 100 184 individuals from 46 GLGC studies for plasma lipids, and 22 233 cases and 64 762 controls from 14 studies for CAD. We detected several loci where multiple independent single-nucleotide polymorphisms were associated with lipid traits within a locus (12 out of 33 loci for high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, 10 of 35 loci for low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, 13 of 44 loci for total cholesterol, and 8 of 28 loci for triglycerides), reaching genome-wide significance (
P
<5×10
−8
), nearly doubling the heritability explained by genome-wide association studies (from 3.6 to 7.6% for high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, from 5.0 to 8.8% for low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, from 5.5 to 8.8% for total cholesterol, and from 5.7 to 8.5% for triglycerides). Multiple single-nucleotide polymorphisms were also associated with CAD (3 of 15 loci; an increase from 9.6% to 11.4% of heritability explained).

Conclusions—

These results demonstrate that a portion of the missing heritability for lipid traits and CAD can be explained by multiple variants at each locus.
Association of Fat Density With Subclinical Atherosclerosis
Authors: Alvey Nicholas J. , Pedley Alison , Rosenquist Klara J. , Massaro Joseph M. , O'Donnell Christopher J. , Hoffmann Udo , Fox Caroline S.
Published: August 2014

Background

Ectopic fat density is associated with cardiovascular disease (
CVD
) risk factors above and beyond fat volume. Volumetric measures of ectopic fat have been associated with
CVD
risk factors and subclinical atherosclerosis. The aim of this study was to investigate the association between fat density and subclinical atherosclerosis.

Methods and Results

Participants were drawn from the Multi‐Detector Computed Tomography (
MDCT
) substudy of the Framingham Heart Study (n=3079; mean age, 50.1 years; 49.2% women). Fat density was indirectly estimated by computed tomography attenuation (Hounsfield Units [
HU
]) on abdominal scan slices. Visceral fat (
VAT
), subcutaneous fat (
SAT
), and pericardial fat
HU
and volumes were quantified using standard protocols; coronary and abdominal aortic calcium (
CAC
and
AAC
, respectively) were measured radiographically. Multivariable‐adjusted logistic regression models were used to evaluate the association between adipose tissue
HU
and the presence of
CAC
and
AAC
. Overall, 17.1% of the participants had elevated
CAC
(Agatston score [
AS
]>100), and 23.3% had elevated
AAC
(
AS
>age‐/sex‐specific cutoffs). Per 5‐unit decrement in
VAT HU
, the odds ratio (
OR
) for elevated
CAC
was 0.76 (95% confidence interval [
CI],
0.65 to 0.89;
P
=0.0005), even after adjustment for body mass index or
VAT
volume. Results were similar for
SAT HU
. With decreasing
VAT HU
, we also observed an
OR
of 0.79 (95%
CI,
0.67 to 0.92;
P
=0.004) for elevated
AAC
after multivariable adjustment. We found no significant associations between
SAT HU
and
AAC
. There was no significant association between pericardial fat
HU
and either
CAC
or
AAC
.

Conclusions

Lower
VAT
and
SAT HU
, indirect estimates of fat quality, are associated with a lower risk of subclinical atherosclerosis.
Impact of Heme and Heme Degradation Products on Vascular Diameter in Mouse Visual Cortex
Authors: Joerk Alexander , Seidel Raphael Andreas , Walter Sebastian Gottfried , Wiegand Anne , Kahnes Marcel , Klopfleisch Maurice , Kirmse Knut , Pohnert Georg , Westerhausen Matthias , Witte Otto Wilhelm , Holthoff Knut
Published: August 2014

Background

Delayed cerebral vasospasm is the most common cause of mortality and severe neurological impairment in patients who survive subarachnoid hemorrhage. Despite improvements in the field of diagnostic imaging, options for prevention and medical treatment—primarily with the calcium channel antagonist nimodipine or hemodynamic manipulations—are insufficient. Previous studies have suggested that heme and bilirubin oxidation end products, originating from degraded hemoglobin around ruptured blood vessels, are involved in the development of vasospasm by inhibiting large conductance

BK
C

a
potassium channels in vascular smooth muscle cells. In this study, we identify individual heme degradation products regulating arteriolar diameter in dependence of

BK
C

a
channel activity.

Methods and Results

Using differential interference contrast video microscopy in acute brain slices, we determined diameter changes of intracerebral arterioles in mouse visual cortex. In preconstricted vessels, the specific

BK
C

a
channel blockers paxilline and iberiotoxin as well as iron‐containing hemin caused vasoconstriction. In addition, the bilirubin oxidation end product
Z
‐
BOX
A showed a stronger vasoconstrictive potency than its regio‐isomer
Z
‐
BOX
B. Importantly,
Z
‐
BOX
A had the same vasoconstrictive effect, independent of its origin from oxidative degradation or chemical synthesis. Finally, in slices of Slo1‐deficient knockout mice, paxilline and
Z
‐
BOX
A remained ineffective in changing arteriole diameter.

Conclusions

We identified individual components of the oxidative bilirubin degradation that led to vasoconstriction of cerebral arterioles. The vasoconstrictive effect of
Z
‐
BOX
A and
Z
‐
BOX
B was mediated by

BK
C

a
channel activity that might represent a signaling pathway in the occurrence of delayed cerebral vasospasm in subarachnoid hemorrhage patients.
Morphological, Hemodynamic, and Clinical Independent Risk Factors for Anterior Communicating Artery Aneurysms
Authors: Kaspera Wojciech , Ładziński Piotr , Larysz Patrycja , Hebda Anna , Ptaszkiewicz Krzysztof , Kopera Marek , Larysz Dawid
Published: August 2014

Background and Purpose—

The pathogenesis of cerebral aneurysms still raises some controversies. The aim of this study was to identify morphological, hemodynamic, and clinical independent risk factors for anterior communicating artery (ACoA) aneurysm development.

Methods—

Computed tomography angiography and transcranial color-coded sonography were performed in 77 patients with a nonbleeding ACoA aneurysm and in 73 controls. Symmetry of A1 segments of the anterior cerebral arteries, angles between A1 and A2 segments, tortuosity, diameter, mean velocity (
V
m
), pulsatility index, and volume flow rate in both A1 segments were determined. Moreover, all study participants completed a survey on their medical history. Multivariate backward stepwise logistic regression analysis was performed to identify independent risk factors for ACoA aneurysm development.

Results—

Smoking, hypertension, asymmetry of A1 segments, the angle between A1 and A2 segments, A1 segment diameter,
V
m
, pulsatility index, and volume flow rate turned out to be associated with the occurrence of ACoA aneurysms on univariate analysis. Multivariate analysis identified smoking (odds ratio, 2.036; 95% confidence interval, 1.277–3.245), asymmetry of A1 segments >40% (odds ratio, 2.524; 95% confidence interval, 1.275–4.996), pulsatility index (odds ratio, 0.004; 95% confidence interval, 0.000–0.124), and the angle between A1 and A2 segments ≤100° (odds ratio, 4.665; 95% confidence interval, 2.247–9.687) as independent strong risk factors for ACoA aneurysm development.

Conclusions—

The risk of ACoA aneurysm formation is determined by several independent clinical, morphological, and hemodynamic factors. The strongest independent risk factors include smoking, asymmetry of A1 segments >40%, low blood flow pulsatility, and the angle between A1 and A2 segments ≤100°.
White Matter Lesions Are Associated With Hospital Admissions Because of Hip-Fractures and Trauma After Ischemic Stroke
Authors: Sibolt Gerli , Curtze Sami , Melkas Susanna , Pohjasvaara Tarja , Kaste Markku , Karhunen Pekka J. , Oksala Niku K.J. , Strandberg Timo , Erkinjuntti Timo
Published: August 2014

Background and Purpose—

Cerebral white matter lesions (WMLs), a surrogate for cerebral small-vessel disease, have been shown to be associated with decreasing mobility, gait instability, and falls. The aim of this study was to investigate whether WMLs of the brain are associated with increased incidence of hospital admissions because of any trauma and hip-fractures in a cohort of patients with stroke.

Methods—

We included 383 consecutive patients aged 55 to 85 years with ischemic stroke admitted to the Helsinki University Central Hospital (The Stroke Aging Memory cohort) with a 12-year follow-up. National register data were reviewed for hip-fractures, other traumatic injuries, survival data, and causes of death. WMLs were rated using MRI and dichotomized as none to mild and moderate to severe. The data were analyzed using Kaplan–Meier plots (log-rank) and a complex Cox multivariable hazards models for multiple cases per subject to assess hazard ratios with their 95% confidence intervals.

Results—

During the 12-year follow-up, there were more hip-fractures (13.5% versus 6.5%; log-rank,
P
=0.01) and more hospital admissions because of traumatic injury (22.2% versus 16.7%; log-rank,
P
=0.04) in the moderate-to-severe than in the none-to-mild WMLs group. In the complex samples, Cox multivariable model adjusting for age, sex, National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale, infarct size, and poststroke dementia, moderate-to-severe WMLs were associated with increased incidences of hospital admissions because of hip-fractures (hazard ratio, 3.98; 95% confidence interval, 1.55–10.21) and traumatic injuries including hip-fractures (hazard ratio, 1.72; 95% confidence interval, 1.03–2.87).

Conclusions—

Patients with ischemic stroke and moderate-to-severe WMLs are at high risk, who experience serious traumatic injuries and especially hip-fractures requiring hospital treatment.
Neural Entrainment to the Rhythmic Structure of Music
Authors: Tierney Adam , Kraus Nina
Published: August 2014

The neural resonance theory of musical meter explains musical beat tracking as the result of entrainment of neural oscillations to the beat frequency and its higher harmonics. This theory has gained empirical support from experiments using simple, abstract stimuli. However, to date there has been no empirical evidence for a role of neural entrainment in the perception of the beat of ecologically valid music. Here we presented participants with a single pop song with a superimposed bassoon sound. This stimulus was either lined up with the beat of the music or shifted away from the beat by 25% of the average interbeat interval. Both conditions elicited a neural response at the beat frequency. However, although the on-the-beat condition elicited a clear response at the first harmonic of the beat, this frequency was absent in the neural response to the off-the-beat condition. These results support a role for neural entrainment in tracking the metrical structure of real music and show that neural meter tracking can be disrupted by the presentation of contradictory rhythmic cues.
Voice Identity Recognition: Functional Division of the Right STS and Its Behavioral Relevance
Authors: Schall Sonja , Kiebel Stefan J. , Maess Burkhard , von Kriegstein Katharina
Published: August 2014

The human voice is the primary carrier of speech but also a fingerprint for person identity. Previous neuroimaging studies have revealed that speech and identity recognition is accomplished by partially different neural pathways, despite the perceptual unity of the vocal sound. Importantly, the right STS has been implicated in voice processing, with different contributions of its posterior and anterior parts. However, the time point at which vocal and speech processing diverge is currently unknown. Also, the exact role of the right STS during voice processing is so far unclear because its behavioral relevance has not yet been established. Here, we used the high temporal resolution of magnetoencephalography and a speech task control to pinpoint transient behavioral correlates: we found, at 200 msec after stimulus onset, that activity in right anterior STS predicted behavioral voice recognition performance. At the same time point, the posterior right STS showed increased activity during voice identity recognition in contrast to speech recognition whereas the left mid STS showed the reverse pattern. In contrast to the highly speech-sensitive left STS, the current results highlight the right STS as a key area for voice identity recognition and show that its anatomical-functional division emerges around 200 msec after stimulus onset. We suggest that this time point marks the speech-independent processing of vocal sounds in the posterior STS and their successful mapping to vocal identities in the anterior STS.
Absolute Pitch: Evidence for Early Cognitive Facilitation during Passive Listening as Revealed by Reduced P3a Amplitudes
Authors: Rogenmoser Lars , Elmer Stefan , Jäncke Lutz
Published: August 2014

Absolute pitch (AP) is the rare ability to identify or produce different pitches without using reference tones. At least two sequential processing stages are assumed to contribute to this phenomenon. The first recruits a pitch memory mechanism at an early stage of auditory processing, whereas the second is driven by a later cognitive mechanism (pitch labeling). Several investigations have used active tasks, but it is unclear how these two mechanisms contribute to AP during passive listening. The present work investigated the temporal dynamics of tone processing in AP and non-AP (NAP) participants by using EEG. We applied a passive oddball paradigm with between- and within-tone category manipulations and analyzed the MMN reflecting the early stage of auditory processing and the P3a response reflecting the later cognitive mechanism during the second processing stage. Results did not reveal between-group differences in MMN waveforms. By contrast, the P3a response was specifically associated with AP and sensitive to the processing of different pitch types. Specifically, AP participants exhibited smaller P3a amplitudes, especially in between-tone category conditions, and P3a responses correlated significantly with the age of commencement of musical training, suggesting an influence of early musical exposure on AP. Our results reinforce the current opinion that the representation of pitches at the processing level of the auditory-related cortex is comparable among AP and NAP participants, whereas the later processing stage is critical for AP. Results are interpreted as reflecting cognitive facilitation in AP participants, possibly driven by the availability of multiple codes for tones.
Who’s Afraid of Canaan’s Curse?
Authors: Knust Jennifer
Published: August 2014

The story of Noah’s curse of his grandson Canaan (Gen. 9:18–29) is especially well suited to an interpretive style Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick has labeled “paranoid reading.” Oft exploited by those invested in xenophobia and racism, this passage appears to present an intrinsically identitarian plot that cannot be shaken off, either by historicizing or by other kinds of critical engagement. Indeed, historical critical analysis has tended to confirm rather than undermine the story’s determination to justify disinheritance on the basis of some vague form of sexual perversion. In her later work, however, Sedgwick began to call such paranoid readings into question, advocating a more open, descriptive, and anti-foundational approach to texts and histories. These “reparative reading” practices cede paranoia’s determination to be “in the know” to descriptive multiplicity and more limited acts of noticing. Inspired by Sedgwick’s insights, this essay considers the advantages of paranoid reading strategies, especially when it comes to this story, even as it acknowledges the serious limits of such readings, which have yet to succeed if the goal is to undermine the stickiness of sexualized and racialized blaming rooted in this difficult biblical text.
Moses: The Face of Fear
Authors: Koosed Jennifer L.
Published: August 2014

Moses is the only prophet in the tradition to see God “face-to-face,” and this intimate contact transforms his very body – when he comes down from the mountain, his face is altered, and he must veil (Exod. 34:29–35). Both the altered face and the veiled face have strange interpretive histories. What may have begun in Hebrew as rays of light streaming from Moses’ visage become in Greek and Latin horns sticking out of his head; thus a history of interpretation begins which first avers the horns as symbols of power and divinity but later shifts to associate the horns with animals and demons. The veil may have also begun as a powerful symbol of prophecy, but its meaning also shifts, and it later becomes associated with passivity and femininity. These multivalent images reveal deeper realities and resonances. Moses is something other than, something beyond, the human and its gendered bifurcation. He is at the nexus where the human, the animal, and the divine meet and converge. And between the glowing face/horns and the veil lies fear, the fear of the Israelites when they behold their leader, and the fear of the Bible’s readers when they are faced with Moses’ ambiguities. Using affect theory, especially Sara Ahmed’s critical work on emotion, this paper will explore the meanings of Moses’ face, covered and uncovered, as it moves through time and community.
Seeing is Feeling
Authors: Kotrosits Maia
Published: August 2014

Most scholarship of the last few decades on the book of Revelation has focused on its colonial conditions and heated, even forceful, political engagement, making conflicting conclusions about to what extent it “reproduces” or “resists” imperial ideology. Of particular focus has been the striking image of the lamb on the throne, an image that ambiguously imparts both conquest and victimhood. This essay builds on and steps to the side of this work by addressing the image of the lamb on the throne as an expressive and emotionally, rather than ideologically, ambivalent image. Placing this image alongside other affectively rich spectacles in Revelation’s context, I suggest that the enthroned lamb gives voice to conflicted feelings about imperial life: attachment and loss, extravagant dreams of sovereignty and victory, as well as the painful realities of vulnerability and subjection, all in complex inter-implication.
Time and Trace: The Mirror of Time
Authors: Schweidler Walter
Published: August 2014

Diego Velázquez’s Las Meninas is certainly one of the philosophically most interesting, most ambitious and most discussed paintings of all times. It contains a philosophical thesis or insight that can be interpreted in several ways but that also forces the interpreter to come to a precise decision concerning the concrete scenery that is reproduced in this painting. The content of this decision can be characterized quite concretely by the question of the painting’s mirror, which is constitutive for that scenery. The question is if this constitutive mirror is the one that we see in the painting, that is, the visible mirror showing the appearance (or the portrait) of the Spanish royal couple, or if it is an invisible mirror that has disappeared in the painting as we see it now. If the second interpretation is right, then the whole painting is essentially covering the tracks of what is going on in the picture. But what is going on in it? This question has an answer that is widely shared by philosophical interpreters: Las Meninas is a “painting of painting” or a “picture of picture,” that is, a monument of self-referentiality. When we accept this widely shared view and if we apply to it the second interpretation (the hypothesis of the hidden mirror), then the result is that what is at the same time shown and hidden in this picture is the time in which it has been painted. It is—like perhaps every picture or painting—in its essence a transformation of succession into simultaneity; but it is—unlike perhaps any other painting—a presentation not of the result of this transformation but of the process in which it is going on. It presents the time of its creation as a trace covered up by itself.
The Evanescent Thing: Heidegger and Ozu
Authors: Kerimov Khafiz , Kerimov Tapdyg
Published: August 2014

A fundamental consequence of Heidegger’s destruktion of classical metaphysics consists in a radical rethinking of the sense of presence. Nowhere is the verbal and processual sense of presence as strongly articulated as in Heidegger’s work. For Heidegger, things are never merely present. Rather, they must be ceaselessly brought into presence. Herein lies Heidegger’s non-onto-theological thinking of continuous creation: the world must be born anew from out of the anonymous event of presence at each moment of time. Such understanding of presence, in turn, opens into a phenomenology of evanescence or transience wherein every entity repeatedly vanishes and is produced again through the es gibt of being. Things can no longer be taken as persisting tenaciously throughout all that happens. Things are nothing but continuous ex nihilo creation; they exist as verbs and never as nouns. What sustains entities in presence is their perpetual passing away and coming to be. The permanence or constancy of things, then, only lies in their impermanence or, better, in their permanent evanescence. In this way, the article argues for a new understanding of transience: transience must be grasped as grounded not only in the inevitable future disintegration of a certain thing but also in the permanent evanescence or withdrawal of this thing in its very presence. In this respect, the article performs a close reading of the vase sequence from Yasujiro Ozu’s 1949 film Late Spring. As this article argues, what is presented in Ozu’s vase sequence is the continuous passing away and renewal of the thing, the affecting image of permanent evanescence.
The Integrative Worldview and its Potential for Sustainable Societies
Authors: Hedlund-de Witt Annick
Published: August 2014

According to several authors, our contemporary cultural landscape is characterized by an emergent, integrative cultural movement and worldview, which attempts to reconcile rational thought and science with a spiritual sense of awe for the cosmos. This rational “cosmic piety” may hold important potentials for sustainable development. This study aims to generate insight into this worldview by qualitatively exploring it in in-depth interviews with twenty “integrative” environmental leaders. The results demonstrate that these individuals tend to: share an evolutionary/developmental, spiritual-unitive perspective on the nature of reality (ontology), hold a positive view on human nature as characterized by a vast, though generally unrealized, potential (anthropology), emphasize an internalization of authority, as well as an integration of multiple modes of knowing (epistemology), and engage in their sustainability-work from a spiritual foundation (axiology). The results also show how these premises logically flow forth in an imaginary of a more sustainable society, or a “sustainable social imaginary” (societal vision) which tends to be 1) positive; 2) emancipatory; 3) inclusive of post-rational ways of working/knowing; and 4) integrative/synthetic. The article concludes that this social imaginary may serve the important task of public communication and large-scale mobilization for sustainable solutions to our pressing, planetary issues.
Spiritual Roots of the Land
Authors: Golden Christopher
Published: August 2014

The spiritual cosmology for the local Betsimisaraka and Tsimihety in the Maroantsetra region, northeastern Madagascar, is a complex network of actors struggling between good and evil. The spiritual pantheon of this cosmology intervenes in the daily lives of all Malagasy and mediates their relationship with their environment. The purpose of this report is to describe the relationships and hierarchies in the spiritual cosmology and explain how this cosmology and moral framework of good versus evil affect human-environment interactions. Local people and the spiritual cosmology are mutually constitutive, where local people’s belief and sacrifice for the spiritual realm perpetuates its existence, while the spiritual cosmology shapes local identities and creates a unique sense of place and interaction with the environment. It is critical for conservation managers to understand local people’s cosmology because it speaks directly to the ways in which they value the land. Local people find the land to be both productive in its utility and also a space of spiritual communion and moral structure. Without this recognition, conservation managers cannot hope to engage local people in protecting forested areas when the value system incentivizing protection is highly divergent. This is not a call to use local people’s spiritual beliefs to further the goals of conservation. Rather, it is my hope that conflicts may be avoided by conservation managers understanding sources of potential tension, synergy and solidarity based on divergent conceptions of ecological, productive and spiritual functions of the land.
Religion and Sustainability in Global Civil Society
Authors: Berry Evan
Published: August 2014

This paper presents basic empirical research about the role of religion and religious actors in the global politics of sustainability. Drawing on insights from three overlapping fields of study—environmental politics, religious transnationalism, and religion and ecology—this study analyzes data gathered through ethnographic interviews with representatives of religious non-governmental organizations at the 2012 United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development, known as Rio+20. These interviews asked respondents to discuss their understanding of the meaning, role, and position of religion within civil society efforts to address sustainability concerns. Content analysis of interview responses suggests that religious actors hold divergent views about the salience of religion to global sustainability politics. The central finding is that the boundary between religious and secular civil society groups is a permeable one.
Public Theology and the Postsecular Turn
Authors: Cady Linell E.
Published: August 2014

This article considers the emergence, development and future of public theology in relation to its broader intellectual and social contexts, focusing primarily on the United States. Although some of the conditions that gave rise to the genre of public theology endure, developments and trends associated with a postsecular turn have created a strikingly different context, with new challenges and opportunities. In the article, it is argued that a primary task of public theology today consists in the critical engagement and reconfiguration of the reigning bipolar religion-secular model that fosters competing and mutually deficient religious and secular formations, and obscures forms of religiosity operating outside its conventional boundaries.
From Sufism to Universal Vision: Murat Yagan and the Teaching of Kebzeh
Authors: Bram Chen , Hatina Meir
Published: August 2014

This article examines aspects of cultural exchange between the Middle East and the West in which Sufism, Christianity, the traditions of the Circassians and New Age concepts played a central role. It focuses on the teaching of Murat Yagan, of Abkhaz-Circassian origin who grew up in Turkey and immigrated to Canada in the 1960s, where he developed his philosophy, Ahmsta Kebzeh (“the knowledge of the art of living”). The Kebzeh way of life emphasizes modesty, mutual responsibility and compassion. Yagan linked these values to the ancient ethos of the Caucasus Mountains which he sought to revive as the basis of a universal vision. The nature of Kebzeh was influenced by the cosmopolitan environment in which Yagan was educated in Turkey; by his enrollment with Sufi circles in North America; and by the multicultural Canadian atmosphere. These diverse influences enabled him to devise an ecumenical model of dialogue between cultures. The article provides a first-time survey and analysis of Kebzeh ideological and communal features. It sheds new light on the role of ethnicity and cultural heritage in immigrant societies in the context of the evolution of spirituality in Canada, a relatively unexplored milieu in comparison to the United States and Europe.
Miscellaneous New Species of Brazilian Bromeliaceae – III
Authors: Leme Elton M. C. , Till Walter , Kollmann Ludovic J.C. , Moura Ricardo L. de , Ribeiro Otavio B.C.
Published: August 2014

The authors describe and illustrate 14 new Bromeliaceae species: Aechmea avaldoana, Ae. gregaria, Ae. timida, Alcantarea lanceopetala, A. nana, A. recurvifolia, Billbergia matogrossensis, Bromelia amplifolia, Cryptanthus walkerianus, Encholirium viridicentrum, Vriesea bifida, V. lilliputiana, V. magnibracteata and V. tubipetala.
Baccharis nebularis (Asteraceae, Astereae): a new species of B. subgen. Tarchonanthoides sect. Curitybenses from the mountains of Southern Brazil
Authors: Heiden Gustavo , Pirani José Rubens
Published: August 2014

Baccharis nebularis, a new species belonging to B. subgen. Tarchonanthoides sect. Curitybenses, is described, illustrated, and compared to B. chionolaenoides and B. curitybensis. A key for its identification is provided. The new species occurs in patches of cloud forest thickets mixed with high altitude tropical grasslands in the southern Brazilian mountains. Data on distribution and habitat, phenology, conservation status, as well as a list of specimens examined are also presented.
Three New Species from Gunung Kanthan, a Limestone Tower Karst in Perak, Malaysia
Authors: Pei Chih Tan Joanne , R. KIEW , L.G. SAW , A.R. UMMUL-NAZRAH
Published: August 2014

Three new species, Gymnostachyum kanthanense Kiew (Acanthaceae), Meiogyne kanthanensis Ummul-Nazrah & J.P.C. Tan (Annonaceae) and Vatica kanthanensis Saw (Dipterocarpaceae), from Gunung Kanthan, Perak, are described and illustrated. All three are Critically Endangered CR B2ab (iii, iv), D1 being known from very small, restricted populations at the type locality. Gunung Kanthan is currently being quarried for cement on a large scale, which if it continues threatened all three species with extinction.
Miconia indicoviolacea (Melastomataceae: Miconieae): a new Colombian species from the western flanks of the cordillera Occidental
Authors: Gamba Diana , Almeda Frank , Alvear Marcela
Published: August 2014

Miconia indicoviolacea is described from the western slopes of the western cordillera in the Chocó biogeographic region of Colombia, illustrated, and compared with superficially similar species that are also endemic to the country. It is readily recognized by its prevailingly purple to dark blue inflorescence branches, peduncles, and internodes, minute glandular-puberulent vegetative and hypanthial indumentum, caudate foliar apex, dorsally inclined anther pores, glabrous rounded to truncate dorso-basal staminal appendages, and seeds with a conspicuous appendage at the chalazal end and a raphal zone that is approximately double the size of the seed corpus.
A new species of Neottia (Orchidaceae, Epidendroideae) from southwestern China
Authors: Jin Xiaohua
Published: August 2014

Neottia bicallosa, a new species from China, is described and illustrated. Neottia bicallosa is similar to Neottia karoana and N. microphylla, but differs from them by having oblong and erect lateral lobes with two fleshy calli between them, middle lobe elliptic and 3-lobed, and lateral lobules dentate.
Studies in Guatemalan Caelifera: New grasshoppers and monkey grasshoppers (Orthoptera: Caelifera: Acridoidea & Eumastacoidea) and an updated checklist
Authors: CADENA-CASTAÑEDA OSCAR J. , MONZÓN-SIERRA JOSÉ
Published: August 2014

We describe six species of Acridomorpha, Orthoptera from Guatemala: Paralethus rowelli n. sp., Paralethus cerezoi n. sp., Episactus schusteri n. sp. (Episactidae: Episactinae), Pararhicnoderma eniocanoi n. sp. (Romaleidae: Bactrophorinae), Tela neumanni n. sp. and Leioscapheus faustinoi n. sp. (Acrididae: Proctolabinae). four genera and five species are recorded for Guatemala and, at the same time a checklist is provided for Caelifera species found so far in the country.
World Catalogue of the Family Tanypezidae (Diptera: Schizophora)
Authors: LONSDALE OWEN
Published: August 2014

Family, genus and species group names in the family Tanypezidae (Diptera: Schizophora) are catalogued, providing references to occurrence in the literature and nomenclature. Full synonymies are provided, including generic combinations for species, type localities, and repositories and sex for name-bearing types. Species distributions by country are provided, noting biogeographic region(s). The Tanypezidae are known from 28 species in two genera (Tanypeza Fallén and Neotanypeza Hendel).
Macropharyngodon pakoko, a new species of wrasse (Teleostei: Labridae) endemic to the Marquesas Islands, French Polynesia
Authors: DELRIEU-TROTTIN ERWAN , WILLIAMS JEFFREY T. , PLANES SERGE
Published: August 2014

A new species of wrasse, Macropharyngodon pakoko, is described from the Marquesas Islands, bringing the total number of species of the genus Macropharyngodon to 12. Macropharyngodon pakoko was found at depths from 0-42 m and is endemic to the Marquesas Islands. Macropharyngodon pakoko is similar to M. meleagris, which is widely distributed from the central and western Pacific to Cocos-Keeling in the Indian Ocean, but differs genetically and in several coloration characters: males with irregularly curved black humeral blotch with incomplete iridescent blue border; inverted irregular “U”- shaped band on the cheek; a small black spot at the upper base of the pectoral fin; and background color of the body greenish with faint bluish black spots on each scale. Females lack black pigment on the chest posterior to the ventral attachment of the gill membranes; reddish black blotches on the body are widely spaced, particularly on the head where they are more reddish and half the size of those on body; caudal fin with small, bright yellow spots arranged in narrow vertical bands with pale interspaces; pelvic fins pale with three reddish yellow cross-bands; a small black spot at the upper base of the pectoral fin; and small reddish spots along the base of the anal fin. Juveniles have irregular black blotches on the body, a small black spot instead of an ocellus posteriorly on the dorsal fin and lack large black spots and ocellus on the anal fin.
Description of two new species of Portanus Ball, 1932 (Hemiptera: Cicadellidae: Portanini) from Northeastern Brazil
Authors: DE SOUZA STEPHANIE PEREIRA , TAKIYA DANIELA MAEDA
Published: August 2014

Two new species of Portanus Ball, 1932 are described and illustrated from Brazil. P. hastatus sp. nov. from Ceará State, can be recognized by its acute pygofer apex and aedeagus with pair of apical processes directed dorsally. Portanus phoenicius sp. nov. from Piauí State, can be recognized by its rounded pygofer lobe with dorsal tooth turned inwardly, aedeagus apex with pair of elongate processes and pair of rounded flanges directed ventrally. Portanus boliviensis is newly recorded from Brazil. These findings double the number of species of Portanini recorded from Northeastern Brazil.
Analysis of Potassium Titanyl Phosphate Laser Settings and Voice Outcomes in the Treatment of Reinke’s Edema
Authors: Young VyVy N. , Mallur Pavan S. , Wong Adrienne W. , Mandal Rajarsi , Staltari Giuseppe V. , Gartner-Schmidt Jackie , Rosen Clark A.
Published: August 2014

Objective:

Despite increased clinical utility of the 532-nm potassium titanyl phosphate (KTP) laser, no studies have examined outcomes for Reinke’s edema (RE) as a function of laser parameters and initial treatment effects. Variability in delivery parameters, fiber-to-tissue distance, and immediate end-tissue effects limits universal application of existing study outcomes. We examine voice outcomes using standardized treatment classification, providing justification for laser parameter selection and immediate tissue effect in clinical use.

Methods:

Retrospective review of 9 patients who underwent KTP laser treatment for RE. Demographics, RE severity, laser settings, total laser energy, and immediate tissue effects were correlated with quantified voice outcomes.

Results:

An average of 157 joules (6-640 J) was delivered over a 0.369-second exposure time (0.1-0.9 seconds). Immediate tissue effects varied from nonablative treatment (type I and type II) to ablation without tissue removal (type III). Overall, Voice Handicap Index-10 (VHI-10) decreased by 8.23; improvement was most pronounced with type II treatments (delta VHI-10 = 12). No complications were encountered.

Conclusion:

Potassium titanyl phosphate laser can be safely and effectively used to improve voice in RE patients regardless of severity. This is the first study to provide detailed information on laser settings, energy delivery, and treatment effect in RE management; these results may guide clinical use of this modality, especially for novice laser surgeons.
Toward a Tactile Language for Human–Robot Interaction
Authors: Barber Daniel J. , Reinerman-Jones Lauren E. , Matthews Gerald
Published: August 2014

Objective:

Two experiments were performed to investigate the feasibility for robot-to-human communication of a tactile language using a lexicon of standardized tactons (tactile icons) within a sentence.

Background:

Improvements in autonomous systems technology and a growing demand within military operations are spurring interest in communication via vibrotactile displays. Tactile communication may become an important element of human–robot interaction (HRI), but it requires the development of messaging capabilities approaching the communication power of the speech and visual signals used in the military.

Method:

In Experiment 1 ( N = 38), we trained participants to identify sets of directional, dynamic, and static tactons and tested performance and workload following training. In Experiment 2 ( N = 76), we introduced an extended training procedure and tested participants’ ability to correctly identify two-tacton phrases. We also investigated the impact of multitasking on performance and workload. Individual difference factors were assessed.

Results:

Experiment 1 showed that participants found dynamic and static tactons difficult to learn, but the enhanced training procedure in Experiment 2 produced competency in performance for all tacton categories. Participants in the latter study also performed well on two-tacton phrases and when multitasking. However, some deficits in performance and elevation of workload were observed. Spatial ability predicted some aspects of performance in both studies.

Conclusions:

Participants may be trained to identify both single tactons and tacton phrases, demonstrating the feasibility of developing a tactile language for HRI.

Application:

Tactile communication may be incorporated into multi-modal communication systems for HRI. It also has potential for human–human communication in challenging environments.
Canada and contracted war: Afghanistan and beyond
Authors: Spearin Christopher
Published: August 2014

It is important to recognize the multifaceted, and sometimes necessary, role military and security contracting played in supporting the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) in Afghanistan. It is also important to assess the degree to which this expeditionary experience might shape later Canadian engagement with the private sector. To do so, the paper first identifies the four key areas of CAF military and security contracting pertaining to the mission in Afghanistan: logistics and support personnel, equipment, training, and defensive security. Regarding this last form of contracting, the paper then focuses on Canadian engagement in the development of the Montreux Document and the subsequent creation of the draft National Defence Directive on the Selection and Use of Private Military and Security Contractors on Deployed Operations. Unlike other endeavours, this activism explicitly recognized Canadian reliance on contractors and the need to manage the risk associated with contracting. The paper’s final section suggests the manner in which the directive will shape future contracting decisions, especially given the growing connections between contracting for logistics, training, and defensive security.
Statistical evaluation of the effect of carbon nanofibre content on tribological properties of epoxy nanocomposites
Authors: Khanam Afroza , Mordina Bablu , Tiwari RK
Published: August 2014

This study for the first time evaluated quantitatively the effect of carbon nanofibre (CNF) reinforcement on tribological properties of epoxy nanocomposites. Nanocomposites containing 0.0, 0.5, 1.0, 1.5, 2.0, 2.5 and 3.0 wt% CNF were fabricated by casting technique after dispersing CNFs in epoxy resin by ultrasonication and mechanical stirring. Sliding and abrasive wear were investigated using a pin-on-disc apparatus and evaluated statistically for the effect of CNF reinforcement by one-way ANOVA. Sliding wear test revealed that CNF content significantly affected specific wear rate but not frictional coefficient. Reinforcement with 0.5 to 2.5 wt% CNF reduced the specific wear rate compared to the control (neat epoxy). However, specific wear rate was increased at 3.0 wt% CNF. Abrasive wear test showed that CNF reinforcement causes numerical decrease in wear rate but the effect was statistically non-significant. Surface morphology was investigated by SEM to obtain the possible wear mechanism of the nanocomposites.
Simplification of DES models of M/M/1 tandem queues by approximating WIP-dependent inter-departure times
Authors: Huber Daniel , Fowler John , Armbruster Dieter
Published: August 2014

This paper presents two algorithms to analytically approximate work in process (WIP)-dependent inter-departure times for tandem queues composed of a series of M/M/1 systems. The first algorithm is used for homogeneous tandem queues, the second for such with bottlenecks. Both algorithms are based on the possible combinations of distributing the WIP on the queues. For each combination the time to the next departure is estimated. A weighted average of all estimated times of each WIP level is calculated to get the expected mean inter-departure time. The generated inter-departure times are used in a simple model of the tandem queue. The inter-departure times, the average WIP and average cycle time of the tandem queue and the simple model are compared in several tandem queue parameterizations. Results show only a small error between the simple model and the tandem queue, rendering this approach applicable in many applications.
Distribution of Tocopherols and Tocotrienols in Guinea Pig Tissues Following Parenteral Lipid Emulsion Infusion
Authors: Xu Zhidong , Harvey Kevin A. , Pavlina Thomas M. , Zaloga Gary P. , Siddiqui Rafat A.
Published: August 2014

Background: Tocopherols and tocotrienols possess vitamin E activity and function as the major lipid‐soluble antioxidants in the human body. Commercial lipid emulsions are composed of different oils and supply different amounts of vitamin E. The objective of this study was to measure all 8 vitamin E homologs within 4 different commercial lipid emulsions and evaluate their distribution in guinea pig tissues. Materials and Methods: The distribution of vitamin E homologs within plasma and guinea pig tissues was determined using a high‐performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) system. Lipid hydroperoxides in lipid emulsions were determined using a commercial kit (Cayman Chemical Company, Ann Arbor, MI), and malondialdehyde tissue levels were determined using an HPLC system. Results: The lipid emulsions contained variable amounts of tocopherols, which were significantly different between emulsions. Tocotrienols were present at very low concentrations (≤0.3%). We found no correlation between the amount of vitamin E present in the lipid emulsions and lipid peroxidation. Hydroperoxides were the lowest with an olive oil–based emulsion and highest with a fish oil emulsion. The predominant vitamin E homolog in guinea pig tissues was α‐tocopherol. No tissues had detectable levels of tocotrienols. Vitamin E levels (primarily α‐tocopherol and γ‐tocopherol) were highly variable among organ tissues. Plasma levels were a poor reflection of most tissue levels. Conclusion: Vitamin E levels within different lipid emulsions and plasma/tissues are highly variable, and no one tissue or plasma sample serves as a good proxy for levels in other tissues. All study emulsions were well tolerated and did not significantly increase systemic lipid peroxidation.
Corporeal realism and victimology
Authors: Spencer Dale C
Published: August 2014

This article introduces corporeal realism to victimology and incorporates work on the sociology of the body to manifest a critical victimology focused on the body–society relationship. It reviews the current literature in the sociology of the body and situates corporeal realism within this oeuvre. This article challenges how the body has often been neglected or treated at the abstract level in victimology and how corporeal realism can provide a basis for analysis of the manifold elements within the purview of victimology. The significance of corporeal realism for victimology is shown by recognizing the role of structure and embodied agency in relation to victims and victimization. In addition, this article evinces epistemological implications of corporeal realism for victimological research.
On “Brand”—Whether a Semiotic Marketing System or Not
Authors: Gaski John F.
Published: August 2014

Problems of definition and conceptualization have plagued the word “brand” for longer than any reader’s professional memory. Conejo and Wooliscroft have recently addressed this issue in their creative and radical Journal of Macromarketing article challenging especially the American Marketing Association’s official definition of brand. The following note offers response to the central content of the authors’ framework and discusses derived semantic and conceptual concerns, while endeavoring to contribute to a coherent and viable understanding of the brand construct and its surrounding conceptual system, but from a different posture than their approach. Unless a generally accepted understanding of the elemental brand term and construct is settled upon, shoring up our field’s conceptual underpinning, one large part of the body of marketing theory will remain ethereal.