bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Horizontal Diplopia Following Upper Blepharoplasty
Authors: Ortiz-Basso Tomás , Vigo Rodolfo , Prémoli Eduardo Jorge
Published: September 2014

Diplopia is an infrequent complication after blepharoplasty. Most of the cases are in its vertical form due to trauma of the extraocular muscles. In this article, we present a case of horizontal diplopia following cosmetic upper blepharoplasty; we review the literature on this unexpected complication and offer some recommendations to avoid it.
Clinical Effectiveness of Cardiac Resynchronization Therapy Versus Medical Therapy Alone Among Patients With Heart Failure
Authors: Khazanie Prateeti , Hammill Bradley G. , Qualls Laura G. , Fonarow Gregg C. , Hammill Stephen C. , Heidenreich Paul A. , Al-Khatib Sana M. , Piccini Jonathan P. , Masoudi Frederick A. , Peterson Pamela N. , Curtis Jeptha P. , Hernandez Adrian F. , Curtis Lesley H.
Published: September 2014

Background—

Cardiac resynchronization therapy with defibrillator (CRT-D) reduces morbidity and mortality among selected patients with heart failure in clinical trials. The effectiveness of this therapy in clinical practice has not been well studied.

Methods and Results—

We compared a cohort of 4471 patients from the National Cardiovascular Data Registry’s Implantable Cardioverter-Defibrillator (ICD) Registry hospitalized primarily for heart failure and who received CRT-D between April 1, 2006, and December 31, 2009, to a historical control cohort of 4888 patients with heart failure without CRT-D from the Acute Decompensated Heart Failure National Registry (ADHERE) hospitalized between January 1, 2002, and March 31, 2006. Both registries were linked with Medicare claims to evaluate longitudinal outcomes. We included patients from the ICD Registry with left ventricular ejection fraction ≤35% and QRS duration ≥120 ms who were admitted for heart failure. We used Cox proportional hazards models to compare outcomes with and without CRT-D after adjustment for important covariates. After multivariable adjustment, CRT-D was associated with lower 3-year risks of death (hazard ratio, 0.52; 95% confidence interval, 0.48–0.56;
P
<0.001), all-cause readmission (hazard ratio, 0.69; 95% confidence interval, 0.65–0.73;
P
<0.001), and cardiovascular readmission (hazard ratio, 0.60; 95% confidence interval, 0.56–0.64;
P
<0.001). The association of CRT-D with mortality did not vary significantly among subgroups defined by age, sex, race, QRS duration, and optimal medical therapy.

Conclusions—

CRT-D was associated with lower risks of mortality, all-cause readmission, and cardiovascular readmission than medical therapy alone among patients with heart failure in community practice.
Identifying Future Research Priorities Using Value of Information Analyses: Left Atrial Appendage Occlusion Devices in Atrial Fibrillation
Authors: Micieli Andrew , Bennell Maria C. , Pham Ba’ , Krahn Murray , Singh Sheldon M. , Wijeysundera Harindra C.
Published: September 2014

Background

Left atrial appendage occlusion devices are cost effective for stroke prophylaxis in atrial fibrillation when compared with dabigatran or warfarin. We illustrate the use of value‐of‐information analyses to quantify the degree and consequences of decisional uncertainty and to identify future research priorities.

Methods and Results

A microsimulation decision‐analytic model compared left atrial appendage occlusion devices to dabigatran or warfarin in atrial fibrillation. Probabilistic sensitivity analysis quantified the degree of parameter uncertainty. Expected value of perfect information analyses showed the consequences of this uncertainty. Expected value of partial perfect information analyses were done on sets of input parameters (cost, utilities, and probabilities) to identify the source of the greatest uncertainty. One‐way sensitivity analyses identified individual parameters for expected value of partial perfect information analyses. Population expected value of perfect information and expected value of partial perfect information provided an upper bound on the cost of future research. Substantial uncertainty was identified, with left atrial appendage occlusion devices being preferred in only 47% of simulations. The expected value of perfect information was $8542 per patient and $227.3 million at a population level. The expected value of partial perfect information for the set of probability parameters represented the most important source of uncertainty, at $6875. Identified in 1‐way sensitivity analyses, the expected value of partial perfect information for the odds ratio for stroke with left atrial appendage occlusion compared with warfarin was calculated at $7312 per patient or $194.5 million at a population level.

Conclusion

The relative efficacy of stroke reduction with left atrial appendage occlusion devices in relation to warfarin is an important source of uncertainty. Improving estimates of this parameter should be the priority for future research in this area.
Systemic Inflammation Impairs Tissue Reperfusion Through Endothelin-Dependent Mechanisms in Cerebral Ischemia
Authors: Murray Katie N. , Girard Sylvie , Holmes William M. , Parkes Laura M. , Williams Stephen R. , Parry-Jones Adrian R. , Allan Stuart M.
Published: September 2014

Background and Purpose—

Systemic inflammation contributes to diverse acute and chronic brain pathologies, and extensive evidence implicates inflammation in stroke susceptibility and poor outcome. Here we investigate whether systemic inflammation alters cerebral blood flow during reperfusion after experimental cerebral ischemia.

Methods—

Serial diffusion and perfusion-weighted MRI was performed after reperfusion in Wistar rats given systemic (intraperitoneal) interleukin-1β or vehicle before 60-minute transient middle cerebral artery occlusion. The expression and location of endothelin-1 was assessed by polymerase chain reaction, ELISA, and immunofluorescence.

Results—

Systemic interleukin-1 caused a severe reduction in cerebral blood flow and increase in infarct volume compared with vehicle. Restriction in cerebral blood flow was observed alongside activation of the cerebral vasculature and upregulation of the vasoconstricting peptide endothelin-1 in the ischemic penumbra. A microthrombotic profile was also observed in the vasculature of rats receiving interleukin-1. Blockade of endothelin-1 receptors reversed this hypoperfusion, reduced tissue damage, and improved functional outcome.

Conclusions—

These data suggest patients with a raised inflammatory profile may have persistent deficits in perfusion after reopening of an occluded vessel. Future therapeutic strategies to interrupt the mechanism identified could lead to enhanced recovery of penumbra in patients with a heightened inflammatory burden and a better outcome after stroke.
Effects of Extracranial Carotid Stenosis on Intracranial Blood Flow
Authors: Shakur Sophia F. , Hrbac Tomas , Alaraj Ali , Du Xinjian , Aletich Victor A. , Charbel Fady T. , Amin-Hanjani Sepideh
Published: September 2014

Background and Purpose—

The hemodynamic effects of extracranial carotid stenosis on intracranial blood flow are not well characterized. We sought to determine the impact of degree of stenosis, stenosis length, and residual lumen on intracranial blood flow in patients with extracranial carotid stenosis.

Methods—

Carotid stenosis patients who had undergone both vessel flow rate measurements using quantitative magnetic resonance angiography and digital subtraction angiography were examined. The impact of the anatomic measurements of the stenosis relative to ipsilateral internal carotid artery (ICA) flow and ipsilateral-to-contralateral middle cerebral artery (MCA) flow ratio were assessed.

Results—

Forty-four patients (mean age, 67 years; 64% symptomatic) were included. Higher percentage stenosis and smaller residual lumen were associated with a significant decrease in ICA flow (
P
<0.01 and 0.04, respectively). On multivariate analysis, percentage stenosis remained as the primary predictor of ICA flow (
P
<0.001). MCA flow ratio was not significantly associated with percentage stenosis, stenosis length, or residual lumen. However, mean MCA flow ratio was significantly lower in symptomatic compared with asymptomatic patients (0.92 versus 1.22;
P
=0.001). In contrast, mean ICA flow ratio was similar among these 2 groups (0.55 versus 0.55;
P
=0.99).

Conclusions—

Percentage stenosis and residual lumen are significantly associated with ICA but not MCA flow, suggesting that local hemodynamic effects of carotid stenosis do not translate directly to distal vasculature, because intracranial flows can be maintained through collaterals. The lower MCA flow ratio in symptomatic patients highlights the potential importance of distal hemodynamics in symptomatic presentation.
Clinical Outcomes of Carotid Endarterectomy in Patients With Carotid Artery Tandem Lesions
Authors: Han Youngjin , Park Hojong , Kwon Sun U. , Kang Dong-Wha , Lee Deok Hee , Kwon Hyunwook , Kwon Tae-Won , Cho Yong-Pil , Kim Geun-Eun
Published: September 2014

Background and Purpose—

When carotid artery tandem lesions are present, the benefits of carotid endarterectomy (CEA) to reduce recurrent stroke remain uncertain. The present retrospective cohort study aimed to determine the clinical outcomes of CEA for carotid artery tandem stenosis that was diagnosed by contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance angiography.

Methods—

Six hundred forty-seven consecutive patients underwent CEA between January 2001 and December 2010. Tandem stenosis, defined as a significant carotid bifurcation stenosis and identifiable stenosis of ≥50% of any downstream distal cerebral artery, was identified in 92 patients (14.2%) by contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance angiography. Patients with and without tandem stenosis were compared in terms of CEA outcomes. The primary end point was the composite of any stroke, myocardial infarction, or death during the periprocedural period or ipsilateral stroke within 4 years after CEA.

Results—

Tandem stenosis did not associate with ipsilateral stroke during postoperative follow-up. The 2 groups did not differ in terms of estimated 4-year primary end point rates (8.7% versus 3.8%;
P
=0.07) or ipsilateral stroke-free (
P
=0.56), any stroke-free (
P
=0.89), or overall survival (
P
=0.41) rates.

Conclusions—

After diagnosis by contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance angiography, patients with and without tandem stenosis had similar rates of stroke and death.
William Ockham on the Scope and Limits of Consciousness
Authors: Brower-Toland Susan
Published: September 2014

William Ockham (ca. 1287-1347) holds what nowadays would be characterized as a “higher-order perception” theory of consciousness. Historically speaking, one of the most persistent objections to this type of theory is the charge that it gives rise to an infinite regress in higher-order states. In this paper, I examine Ockham’s efforts to respond to the regress problem, focusing in particular on his attempts to restrict the scope of consciousness so as to avoid it. In his earlier writings, Ockham holds that we are conscious only of those states to which we explicitly attend. This view, I go on to argue, is inadequate on both phenomenological and philosophical grounds. Interestingly, and perhaps for this very reason, in later works, Ockham goes on to develop an alternative explanation for his account of the limited scope of consciousness.
Suárez on Consciousness
Authors: Perler Dominik
Published: September 2014

It seems quite natural that we have cognitive access not only to things around us, but also to our own acts of perceiving and thinking. How is this access possible? How is it related to the access we have to external things? And how certain is it? This paper discusses these questions by focusing on Francisco Suárez’s (1548-1617) theory, which gives an account of various forms of access to oneself and thereby presents an elaborate theory of consciousness. It argues that Suárez clearly distinguishes between first-order sensory consciousness (we have immediate access to our acts of perceiving because there is a special experience built into these acts) and second-order intellectual consciousness (we have access to our acts of thinking because we can produce reflexive acts directed at them). Moreover, Suárez attempts to explain the unity of consciousness by referring to a single soul with hierarchically ordered faculties that is responsible both for first-order and for second-order consciousness.
Absence of variation in body size of the alpine salamander between allotopic and syntopic populations in a contact zone with the fire salamander
Authors: Werner Philine , Lötters Stefan , Schmidt Benedikt R.
Published: September 2014

Competition can lead to differences in body size between syntopic and allotopic conspecific populations. Salamandra atra and S. salamandra are parapatric but have narrow contact zones where the two species are likely to compete. To test for divergence in functional traits in S. atra, we compared its body size and mass between locations where the species is syntopic or allotopic with S. salamandra. Using mixed-effect models, we found no significant differences in body size or mass between syntopic and allotopic locations. This suggests either that the two species do not compete or that competition does not lead to divergence in body size in S. atra.
New insights on phylogeography and distribution of painted frogs (Discoglossus) in northern Africa and the Iberian Peninsula
Authors: Vences Miguel , de Pous Philip , Nicolas Violaine , Díaz-Rodríguez Jesús , Donaire David , Hugemann Karen , Hauswaldt J. Susanne , Amat Felix , Barnestein Juan A.M. , Bogaerts Sergé , Bouazza Abdellah , Carranza Salvador , Galán Pedro , González de la Vega Juan Pablo , Joger Ulrich , Lansari Aziza , El Mouden El Hassan , Ohler Annemarie , Sanuy Delfi , Slimani Tahar , Tejedo Miguel
Published: September 2014

Painted frogs (Discoglossus) contain five to six species of Western Palearctic anurans that are mainly distributed in allopatry. We here provide the first comprehensive assessment of the phylogeography of the Moroccan species D. scovazzi and geographically characterize its contact zone with D. pictus in Eastern Morocco. Discoglossus scovazzi shows, in general, a weak phylogeographic structure across Morocco on the basis of mitochondrial DNA sequences of the cytochrome b gene, with only populations centered in the Atlas Mountains characterized by the presence of slightly divergent haplotypes. In eastern Morocco, all populations east of the Moulouya River were clearly assignable to D. pictus. This species was also found along the Mediterranean coast west of the Moulouya, in the cities of Nador and Melilla, suggesting that not the river itself but the wide arid valley extending along much of the river (except close to the estuary) acts as a possible distributional barrier to these frogs. No sympatry of D. scovazzi with D. pictus was observed, and all specimens were concordantly assigned to either species by DNA sequences of cytochrome b and of the nuclear marker RAG1. Species distribution models of the two taxa show largely overlapping areas of suitable habitat, and the two species’ niches are significantly more similar than would be expected given the underlying environmental differences between the regions in which they occur. Comparative data are also presented from the southern Iberian contact zone of D. galganoi galganoi and D. g. jeanneae. These taxa showed less clear-cut distributional borders, extensively shared RAG1 haplotypes, and had instances of sympatric occurrence on the basis of cytochrome b haplotypes, in agreement with the hypothesis of a yet incomplete speciation. In this wide contact zone area we found mitochondrial sequences containing double peaks in electropherograms, suggesting nuclear pseudogenes or (less likely) heteroplasmy, possibly related to the ongoing admixture among the lineages.
Beavers (Castor fiber) increase habitat availability, heterogeneity and connectivity for common frogs (Rana temporaria)
Authors: Dalbeck Lutz , Janssen Joyce , Luise Völsgen Sophie
Published: September 2014

Beavers (Castor fiber), as typical ecosystem engineers, alter living conditions especially for amphibians through the building of dams and felling of trees, thereby changing the hydroperiod and substantially affecting forest succession stages. In this study we quantify the effects of beavers on the availability of amphibian breeding waters in the Hürtgenwald, a woodland area in the Central European Rhenish Massif, its colonisation by common frogs (Rana temporaria) and the effects of age and succession stage of beaver ponds on ovipositional site selection. In 2013, beaver ponds comprised about half (49%) of all lentic water bodies but contained 82.5% of all common frog egg masses. Mature beaver ponds (>6 years old) harboured approximately half of the egg masses (), but new beaver ponds (1-3 years old) can also be home to large breeding aggregations. Abandoned beaver ponds are of minor importance as ovipositional sites for common frogs. High egg mass counts were also found in artificially-dammed ponds (). We believe that common frogs prefer occupied beaver ponds as ovipositional sites because of high insolation and a permanent hydroperiod, which lead to rapid tadpole emergence. Beaver ponds are generally located in close proximity to each other, facilitating movement and rapid colonisation by common frogs. Our research provides additional evidence to show that beavers enhance habitat availability, heterogeneity and connectivity, thereby fostering amphibian populations at a landscape level. As natural elements of small streams, beaver ponds must be taken into account in the context of the EU Water Framework Directive.
Inter-seasonal and inter-habitat variations in the diet of the African fire skink, Lygosoma fernandi, from southern Nigeria
Authors: Eniang Edem A. , Amadi Nioking , Petrozzi Fabio , Vignoli Leonardo , Akani Godfrey C. , Luiselli Luca
Published: September 2014

The inter-habitat and inter-seasonal variations in the taxonomic diet composition of the African fire skink, Lygosoma fernandi, one of the largest Scincidae of the Afrotropical regions, were studied by analysis of excrements collected from live individuals that were captured in some areas of the Niger Delta region, southern Nigeria. 22 prey types, mostly arthropods, were found in the diet of this species, with significant differences in prey composition between seasons. Isopoda and Coleoptera dominated in the dietary samples, with very few prey types exclusive of one habitat type and/or season (e.g. Formicidae in dry forest in both seasons and lizards in swamp forest in wet season). Overall, no difference between forest types and seasons was found as for diversity and evenness indices except for that prey diversity was higher in feces collected in the dry forest in dry season, whereas dominance and evenness did not show any significant variation across forest types.
A novel mitogenomic rearrangement for Odorrana schmackeri (Anura: Ranidae) and phylogeny of Ranidae inferred from thirteen mitochondrial protein-coding genes
Authors: Li Yongmin , Zhang Huabin , Wu Xiaoyou , Xue Hui , Yan Peng , Wu Xiaobing
Published: September 2014

We determined the complete nucleotide sequence of the mitochondrial genome of Odorrana schmackeri (family Ranidae). The O. schmackeri mitogenome (18 302 bp) contained 13 protein-coding genes, 2 rRNA genes, 21 tRNA genes and a single control region (CR). In the new mitogenome, the distinctive feature is the loss of tRNA-His, which could be explained by a hypothesis of gene substitution. The new sequence data was used to assess the phylogenetic relationships among 23 ranid species mostly from China using maximum likelihood (ML) and Bayesian inference (BI). The phylogenetic analyses support two families (Ranidae, Dicroglossidae) for Chinese ranids. In Ranidae, we support the genus Amolops should be retained in the subfamily Raninae rather than in a distinct subfamily Amolopinae of its own. Meanwhile, the monophyly of the genus Odorrana was supported. Within Dicroglossidae, four tribes were well supported including Occidozygini, Dicroglossini, Limnonectini and Paini. More mitochondrial genomes and nuclear genes are required to decisively evaluate phylogenetic relationships of ranids.
Swimming of the pea crab (Pinnotheres pisum)
Authors: Versteegh Corstiaen P.C. , Muller Mees
Published: September 2014

Aquatic organisms have to deal with different hydrodynamic regimes, depending on their size and speed during locomotion. The pea crab swims by beating the third and fourth pereiopod on opposite sides as pairs. Using particle tracking velocimetry and high-speed video recording, we quantify the kinematics and vortices in the wake of the pea crab. Where the proximal parts of the pereiopods beat in antiphase, their distal parts show an overlapping beat period. By using four instead of two limbs for propulsion, an uninterrupted forward movement is established, reducing the influence of the acceleration reaction. Before body speed is maximal, force generation of the pereiopods seems most active when passing an orthogonal position with the body.
‘UhuRuto’ and Other Leviathans: The International Criminal Court and the Kenyan Political Order
Authors: Kendall Sara
Published: September 2014

The International Criminal Court’s intervention in Kenya emerged from a complex and contested political history, with different actors advocating for domestic solutions and others arguing for an international legal process in The Hague. Earlier positions have been disavowed and others have changed in the dynamic Kenyan political environment. The icc intervention has produced a number of political effects, including the imbrication of the icc process with electoral politics. This article takes up the case study of the Kenyan situation as a site of political contestation mediated through legal discourse. It considers these dynamics on two registers: at the geopolitical level (considering the relationships between the icc, the African Union, and the United Nations Security Council) as well as at the domestic level (both state and civil society). By tracing the discourses through which these contestations transpire, this article highlights some of the themes, strategies, and practices through which the icc’s intervention has been received.
The King’s Power Dominating Society—A Re-examination of Ancient Chinese Society
Authors: Zehua Liu
Published: September 2014

Abstract

In terms of social formation, the most important characteristic of traditional Chinese society was how the king’s power dominated the society. Ever since the emergence of written records, we see that ancient China has had a most prominent interest group, that of the nobility and high officials, centered around the king (and later the emperor). Of all the kinds of power exerted on Chinese society, the king’s was the ultimate power. In the formation process of kingly power, a corresponding social structure was also formed. Not only did this central group include the king or emperor, the nobles, and the bureaucratic landlords, but the “feudal landlord ecosystem” which was formed within that group also shaped the whole society in a fundamental way. As a special form of economic redistribution, corruption among officials provided the soil for the growth of bureaucratic landlords. At the foundation of this entire bureaucratic web was always the king and his authority. In short, ancient Chinese society is a power-dependent structure centered on the king’s power. The major social conflict was therefore the conflict between the dictatorial king’s power and the rest of society.
A new species and a new natural hybrid of Laelia (Orchidaceae) from Oaxaca, Mexico
Authors: Salazar Gerardo A. , Jiménez-Machorro Rolando , Huerta Héctor M. , Hágsater Eric
Published: September 2014

A new species, Laelia halbingeriana, and a new natural hybrid, Laelia ×oaxacana, both from the Sierra Madre Oriental in northern Oaxaca, Mexico, are described and illustrated. Laelia halbingeriana is similar to L. superbiens, from Chiapas through Nicaragua, differing in the proportionately shorter, stouter pseudobulbs, low, entire, distally white keels of the labellum and obscurely bilobed anther. Laelia ×oaxacana is applied to a hybrid swarm between L. halbingeriana and sympatric L. anceps. The hybrid can be distinguished from L. halbingeriana by the distichous (vs. spiral) raceme and the spreading petals oriented vertically (vs. distinctly arcuate and oriented horizontally), and from L. anceps in the stouter plants with two-leaved pseudobulbs and the proportionately narrower, waved sepals and petals.
Nomenclatural novelties in the fern genus Tectaria (Tectariaceae)
Authors: Dong Shi-Yong
Published: September 2014

Based on recent molecular data and morphology, here I propose eight new combinations and five new names to accommodate the species of Heterogonium in Tectaria.
NOAA’s African Desk: Twenty Years of Developing Capacity in Weather and Climate Forecasting in Africa
Authors: Thiaw Wassila M. , Kumar Vadlamani B.
Published: September 2014

Drought is one of the leading causes of death in Africa because of its impact on access to sanitary water and food. This challenge has mobilized the international community to develop famine early warning systems (FEWS) to bring safe food and water to populations in need. Over the past several decades, much attention has focused on advance risk planning in agriculture and water and, more recently, on health. These initiatives require updates of weather and climate outlooks. This paper describes the active role of NOAA’s African Desk in FEWS and in enhancing the capacity of African institutions to improve forecasts. The African Desk was established in 1994 to provide services to U.S. agencies and African institutions. Emphasis is on the operational products across all time scales from weather to climate forecasts in support of humanitarian relief programs. Tools to provide access to real-time weather and climate information to the public are described. These include the downscaling of the U.S. National Multimodel Ensemble (NMME) to improve seasonal forecasts. The subseasonal time scale has emerged as extremely important to many socioeconomic sectors. Drawing from advances in numerical models, operational subseasonal forecasts are included in the African Desk product suite. These capabilities along with forecast skill assessment, verifications, and regional hazards outlooks for food security are discussed. Finally, the African Desk residency training program, an effort aimed at enhancing the capacity of African institutions to improve forecasts, and supported by this seamless approach to operational forecasting, is described.
Spatiotemporal Snowfall Trends in Central New York
Authors: Hartnett Justin J. , Collins Jennifer M. , Baxter Martin A. , Chambers Don P.
Published: September 2014

Central New York State, located at the intersection of the northeastern United States and the Great Lakes basin, is impacted by snowfall produced by lake-effect and non-lake-effect snowstorms. The purpose of this study is to determine the spatiotemporal patterns of snowfall in central New York and their possible underlying causes. Ninety-three Cooperative Observer Program stations are used in this study. Spatiotemporal patterns are analyzed using simple linear regressions, Pearson correlations, principal component analysis to identify regional clustering, and spatial snowfall distribution maps in the ArcGIS software. There are three key findings. First, when the long-term snowfall trend (1931/32–2011/12) is divided into two halves, a strong increase is present during the first half (1931/32–1971/72), followed by a lesser decrease in the second half (1971/72–2011/12). This result suggests that snowfall trends behave nonlinearly over the period of record. Second, central New York spatial snowfall patterns are similar to those for the whole Great Lakes basin. For example, for five distinct regions identified within central New York, regions closer to and leeward of Lake Ontario experience higher snowfall trends than regions farther away and not leeward of the lake. Third, as compared with precipitation totals (0.02), average air temperatures had the largest significant (ρ < 0.05) correlation (−0.56) with seasonal snowfall totals in central New York. Findings from this study are valuable because they provide a basis for understanding snowfall patterns in a region that is affected by both non-lake-effect and lake-effect snowstorms.
Equatorial Pacific Easterly Wind Surges and the Onset of La Niña Events*
Authors: Chiodi Andrew M. , Harrison D. E.
Published: September 2014

The processes responsible for the onset of La Niña events have not received the same attention as those responsible for the onset of El Niño events, for which westerly wind events (WWEs) in the tropical Pacific have been identified as important contributors. Results here show that synoptic-scale surface easterly wind surges (EWSs) play an important role in the onset of La Niña events, akin to the role of WWEs in the onset of El Niño events. It is found that EWSs are a substantial component of zonal wind stress variance along the equatorial Pacific. Using reanalysis wind stress fields, validated against buoy measurements, 340 EWS events are identified between 1986 and 2012. Their distributions in space, time, and El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) state are described. About 150 EWSs occur during ENSO-neutral conditions, during the months associated with La Niña initiation and growth (April–December). Composites of changes in sea surface temperature anomaly (SSTA) following these ~150 events show statistically significant cooling (0.1°–0.4°C) along the oceanic waveguide that persists for 2–3 months following the EWSs. Experiments with EWS forcing of an ocean general circulation model show SSTA patterns like those in the observations. It is suggested that EWSs play an important role in the onset of La Niña waveguide surface cooling and deserve additional study.
Utility of the Transnasal Esophagoscope in the Management of Chemoradiation-Induced Esophageal Stenosis
Authors: Peng Kevin A. , Feinstein Aaron J. , Salinas Jonathan B. , Chhetri Dinesh K.
Published: September 2014

Objective:

This study aimed to describe management of esophageal stenosis after chemoradiation therapy for head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC), with particular emphasis on techniques and outcomes with the use of the transnasal esophagoscope (TNE) in the office as well as operating room settings.

Methods:

Retrospective analysis of all patients with esophageal stenosis following head and neck cancer radiation, with or without chemotherapy, and managed with TNE-assisted esophageal dilation over a 5-year period. Preoperative and postoperative swallowing function were assessed objectively with the Functional Outcome Swallowing Scale (FOSS; ranging from score 0, a normal diet, to score 5, complete dependence on nonoral nutrition).

Results:

Twenty-five patients met inclusion criteria. The mean pretreatment FOSS score was 4.4, whereas the mean posttreatment FOSS score was 2.7 (Wilcoxon signed-rank test, P < .001). Prior to dilation, 16 patients were completely gastrostomy-tube dependent (FOSS 5), of whom 12 (75%) were able to tolerate oral nutrition for a majority of their diet following treatment according to our protocol. No complications were noted.

Conclusion:

Dysphagia following chemoradiation therapy for HNSCC is often related to esophageal stenosis. With the aid of TNE, we have developed a successful treatment strategy for esophageal stenosis with improved success rates.
Polymer Nanocarriers for Dentin Adhesion
Authors: Osorio R. , Osorio E. , Medina-Castillo A.L. , Toledano M.
Published: September 2014

To obtain more durable adhesion to dentin, and to protect collagen fibrils of the dentin matrix from degradation, calcium- and phosphate-releasing particles have been incorporated into the dental adhesive procedure. The aim of the present study was to incorporate zinc-loaded polymeric nanocarriers into a dental adhesive system to facilitate inhibition of matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs)-mediated collagen degradation and to provide calcium ions for mineral deposition within the resin-dentin bonded interface. PolymP- nActive nanoparticles (nanoMyP) were zinc-loaded through 30-minute ZnCl2 immersion and tested for bioactivity by means of 7 days’ immersion in simulated body fluid solution (the Kokubo test). Zinc-loading and calcium phosphate depositions were examined by scanning and transmission electron microscopy, elemental analysis, and x-ray diffraction. Nanoparticles in ethanol solution infiltrated into phosphoric-acid-etched human dentin and Single Bond (3M/ESPE) were applied to determine whether the nanoparticles interfered with bonding. Debonded sticks were analyzed by scanning electron microscopy. A metalloproteinase collagen degradation assay was also performed in resin-infiltrated dentin with and without nanoparticles, measuring C-terminal telopeptide of type I collagen (ICTP) concentration in supernatants, after 4 wk of immersion in artificial saliva. Numerical data were analyzed by analysis of variance (ANOVA) and Student-Newman-Keuls multiple comparisons tests ( p < .05). Nanoparticles were effectively zinc-loaded and were shown to have a chelating effect, retaining calcium regardless of zinc incorporation. Nanoparticles failed to infiltrate demineralized intertubular dentin and remained on top of the hybrid layer, without altering bond strength. Calcium and phosphorus were found covering nanoparticles at the hybrid layer, after 24 h. Nanoparticle application in etched dentin also reduced MMP-mediated collagen degradation. Tested nanoparticles may be incorporated into dental adhesive systems to provide the appropriate environment in which dentin MMP collagen degradation is inhibited and mineral growth can occur.
Distinguishing Models of Professional Development
Authors: Koellner Karen , Jacobs Jennifer
Published: September 2014

We posit that professional development (PD) models fall on a continuum from highly adaptive to highly specified, and that these constructs provide a productive way to characterize and distinguish among models. The study reported here examines the impact of an adaptive mathematics PD model on teachers’ knowledge and instructional practices as well as on students’ achievement over time. Results indicate at least modest impacts in each of these areas. Our findings demonstrate that adaptive models of PD can be subjected to investigations of impact based on quantitative research methodologies; moreover, we argue that utilizing a wider variety of methodologies to study adaptive models is increasingly needed as these models gain in popularity and usage.
Development of an Expanded Measure of Physical Functioning for Older Persons in Epidemiologic Research
Authors: Gross Alden L. , Jones Richard N. , Inouye Sharon K.
Published: September 2014

We scaled a measure of physical functioning to a population-based normative sample by extending self-reported basic and instrumental activities of daily living with items from the Medical Outcomes Study 12-Item Short Form Survey. We used item response theory to place items administered to a sample of older elective surgery patients on a common metric linked to the Patient Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS) normative sample using published data. The summary measure for physical functioning was internally consistent (Cronbach’s α = .83), reliable across a broad range of functioning, and was moderately correlated with walking speed ( r = .52) and energy expenditure ( r = .40). Demonstrating predictive criterion validity, less impaired scores were associated with lower risk of discharge to a rehabilitation facility (odds ratio = .38, 95% confidence interval [CI] [0.22, 0.66]) and shorter hospital stays (incidence rate ratio [IRR] = 0.87, 95% CI [0.79, 0.97]). Our approach may facilitate direct comparison of physical functioning measures across existing and future studies using a common, population-based metric, when overlapping items with the National Institutes of Health (NIH) PROMIS item bank are present.
My Better Half
Authors: Lavy Shiri , Littman-Ovadia Hadassah , Bareli Yariv
Published: September 2014

Character strengths, representing positive attributes of individuals, have been linked with several positive psychological qualities, such as life satisfaction and well-being. However, the effects of character strengths and their deployment on married couples, at the dyadic level, have not been studied to date. The present study focuses on married partners’ strengths endorsement and on their opportunities to deploy their strengths in the relationship, and explores the associations between these variables and both partners’ relationship satisfaction. The results reveal significant associations of strengths endorsement and deployment with relationship satisfaction, as expected. However, unexpectedly, men’s idealization of their wives’ character strengths was negatively associated with relationship satisfaction. These findings hold theoretical and practical implications for couples and therapists, regarding dyadic effects of strengths endorsement and deployment, and their perception.
Cyborg Resistance on the Digital Assembly Line: Global Connectivity as a Terrain of Struggle for the Commons in Alex Rivera’s Sleep Dealer
Authors: Jeffries Fiona
Published: September 2014

This article explores the politics of global connectivity in Alex Rivera’s film Sleep Dealer (2008), focusing on this science fic\tion film’s critical engagement with the problems and possibilities of connectivity in digital capitalism. Through its depiction of an imaginable, near-future world governed by digital connectivity, the film reflects back on contemporary global connectivity as a terrain of proliferating antagonisms. In so doing, Sleep Dealer dispatches celebratory technological fetishism and totalizing technological pessimism alike by evoking the political possibilities offered by emergent transnational networks of social cooperation amid an increasingly clenched and contested infrastructure of digital connectivity.
Effects of propofol versus isoflurane on liver function after open thoracotomy
Authors: Dabir Shideh , Mohammad-Taheri Zohreh , Parsa Tahereh , Abbasi-Nazari Mohammad , Radpay Badiozaman , Radmand Golnar
Published: September 2014

Background

Anesthetic agents and type of surgery may contribute to postoperative hepatic injury. Inhalational anesthetics have been associated with hepatic dysfunction after surgery, however, propofol is expected to have a lower potential for postoperative liver injury. This prospective double-blind randomized clinical study was planned to determine whether postoperative liver function differs after anesthesia with isoflurane and total intravenous anesthesia with propofol in patients undergoing a posterolateral thoracotomy.

Methods

Eighty-eight patients in American Society of Anesthesiologists physical status 1 or 2, aged 16–60 years, and scheduled for an elective posterolateral thoracotomy, were randomly assigned to an anesthetic protocol: propofol ( n = 44) or isoflurane ( n = 44). Induction of anesthesia was similar in both groups. Serum levels of aspartate aminotransferase, alanine aminotransferase, alkaline phosphatase, lactate dehydrogenase, total bilirubin, and γ-glutamyltransferase were measured before induction of anesthesia and on the first and third days after either propofol or isoflurane anesthesia.

Results

Mild changes in postoperative serum levels of liver enzymes were significant within each group but the differences between groups were not significant.

Conclusions

Propofol and isoflurane anesthesia have a comparable minor effect on liver function after an elective posterolateral thoracotomy.
Representing the City: Non-Representation, Digital Archives and Megacity Phenomena
Authors: Dawes Simon
Published: September 2014

Taking technological developments in urban mapping and the megacity phenomena of rapid change and sprawling space as its starting point, this essay provides a history of the present through a genealogy of maps of Montpellier in France, a rapidly growing modern city that provides examples from the earliest printed maps of the 16th century through to the most recent innovations in public-sponsored 3D mapping. By tracing the shifting correlations of narrative elements, it places in historical perspective the relationship between those concepts, such as verticality and horizontality, and perception and representation, which are problematized in the contemporary contexts of megacities and digital technology.
Neoliberalism: A Bibliographic Review
Authors: Davies William
Published: September 2014

In recent years, there has been a surge in critical and historical work, dedicated to uncovering the roots of neoliberal thinking. In the process, the concept of ‘neoliberalism’ has become used in a far more nuanced way, contrary to the frequent allegation that it is merely a pejorative slogan used against capitalism generally. This bibliographic review identifies the texts that have mapped out this more sophisticated account of neoliberalism, and which distinguish between its different varieties and trajectories. In particular, the recognition that neoliberalism is not simply about laissez-faire economics becomes a basis on which to interrogate neoliberalism more sociologically, learning especially from Foucault’s lectures on the topic. The review concludes by identifying those texts which point towards possible futures for neoliberalism.
A Response to Nicholas Gane’s ‘The Emergence of Neoliberalism’
Authors: Davies William
Published: September 2014

This commentary responds to Nicholas Gane’s article on the early history of neoliberalism. Gane contends that many histories, Foucault’s in particular, do not account for the very earliest period of neoliberal thought, during the 1920s, which was dominated by Ludwig von Mises. Gane also argues that by ignoring this period, critical scholars have misidentified the critical distantiation from John Stuart Mill that was definitive for early neoliberalism. In response to Gane, this piece argues, partly in defence of Foucault, that the key moments in the history of neoliberalism (and liberalism) concern the penetration of economic rationalities into the state. Hence, while the history of economics has intrinsic merits, figures such as Mill may be less significant for the shaping of political rationalities.
Metabolism: Utopian Urbanism and the Japanese Modern Architecture Movement
Authors: Tamari Tomoko
Published: September 2014

The Fukushima catastrophe has led to important practical and conceptual shifts in contemporary Japanese architecture which in turn has led to a re-evaluation of the influential 1960s Japanese modern architecture movement, Metabolism. The Metabolists had the ambition to create a new Japanese society through techno-utopian city planning. The new generation of Japanese architects, after the Fukushima event, no longer seek evolutionally social change; rather, the disaster has made them re-consider what architecture is and what architects can do for people who had everything snatched from them by technology (nuclear power station) and nature (earthquake and tsunami). Drawing on the architectural projects of Tange Kenzo and Metabolists in the 1960s and Ito Toyo’s ‘Home-for-All project’ in 2011, the paper explores this major paradigm shift in Japanese architectural theory and practices.
Life goal attainment in the adaptation process after acquired brain injury: the influence of self-efficacy and of flexibility and tenacity in goal pursuit
Authors: Brands Ingrid , Stapert Sven , Köhler Sebastian , Wade Derick , van Heugten Caroline
Published: September 2014

Objective:

To investigate attainment of important life goals and to examine whether self-efficacy, tenacity in goal pursuit and flexibility in goal adjustment contribute to adaptation by affecting levels of emotional distress and quality of life in patients with newly acquired brain injury.

Methods:

Data were collected from a prospective clinical cohort study of 148 patients assessed after discharge home (mean time since injury = 15 weeks) and one year later. At follow-up, attainment of life goals (set at baseline) and satisfaction with attainment was scored (10-point scale) and patients were asked how they adjusted unattained goals. Emotional distress was measured with the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS), quality of life with the Life Satisfaction Questionnaire (LiSat-9), self-efficacy with the TBI Self-efficacy Questionnaire (SEsx) and tenacity and flexibility with the Assimilative/Accommodative Coping Questionnaire (AACQ). Random effects regression analyses and structural equation modelling were used.

Results:

In total, only 13 % of initial life goals were achieved in one year. Patients who maintained efforts to reach their original goals had higher average levels of tenacity, but did not differ in level of self-efficacy compared with patients that disengaged. Patients with higher self-efficacy were more successful in attaining important life goals, which correlated with higher quality of life. Patients with higher self-efficacy, higher tenacity in goal pursuit, and higher flexibility in goal adjustment were less emotionally distressed, again correlating with higher quality of life.

Conclusions:

To optimise adaptation it seems appropriate to promote self-efficacy and both tenacity and flexibility during rehabilitation treatment.
Interspecies Relations, International Relations: Rethinking Anthropocentric Politics
Authors: Youatt Rafi
Published: September 2014

International politics is widely assumed to be an exclusively human activity. This article argues that rethinking this assumption is necessary in order to find a practical and ethically appropriate relationship with nature and nonhuman animals, and in order to call into question the violent logics that underpin the category of the human in existing international politics. The article inquires into the ways that anthropocentrism structures thinking about contemporary international politics, focusing in particular on how the ‘language objection’ works. It concludes that we might turn instead towards an interspecies conception of politics, one that does not stop at the boundary of a human that we were never able to fully pinpoint in the first place.
Culture, Religion and Violence: René Girard’s Mimetic Theory
Authors: Thomas Scott M.
Published: September 2014

This article introduces René Girard’s mimetic theory to examine the relationship between culture, religion and violence. It challenges the way the problem of religion and violence is narrowly conceptualised as a problem of ‘religious violence’ (i.e. religious terrorism and civil war). When the problem of religion and violence is constructed in this way, purportedly to take religion seriously, it does so by not taking culture or politics seriously. It is a limited conception since religion as a concept is always socially, culturally and politically contested, negotiated and constructed. It is not a neutral descriptor of a reality in the world, which causes violence under certain conditions. Moreover, this limited conception of religion fits what critical theorists call a problem-solving approach to theory. It ignores the fact that how, by whom and in whose interests the problem of religion and violence is constructed is itself a form of power in international relations. Therefore, the way the problem of religion and violence is constructed can be challenged as an example of the scapegoat mechanism in mimetic theory, and how it operates in the West as well as in the religion and violence in countries that are the object of Western foreign policy. This is demonstrated in two case studies: the invention of religious violence, and ethno-religious conflict in the Balkans in the 1990s.