bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Making a Czech Hero: Julius Fučík Through His Writings
Authors: Steiner Peter
Published: December 2011

Peter Steiner's convincing and meticulous analysis of Julius Fucik'sReportage brings to my mind memories that are not particularly enjoyable. For me and those of my contemporaries who shared my political convictions in the early 1950s, the Fucik cult-for he had become the object of an officially enforced cult-was highly unpleasant, if not downright disgusting. There were many anti-Nazi resistance heroes like him, people who, unlike him, had been ready to die if they could take one or two of the enemy with them. But-through no fault of Fucik's-the others, mostly nonCommunist, such as Czechoslovak fighter pilots in the Battle ofBritain or the Czech and Slovak parachutists who killed Heydrich, have been hushed up and eliminated from Czech history. Fortunately not forever. Yet the Communists treated Fucik not just like a primus inter pares, but-so it seemed to us-as the only anti-Nazi fighter worth talking about When I eventually became acquainted with his Reportage during my military service, under curious circumstances described below, the main elements of the book were quoted ad nauseam not only by politruks (officers in charge of political indoctrination) but also by kultprops (officers in charge of cultural activities). This in spite of the claim that Reportage is not a novel and ostensibly is not based on any formula.
Everyday Life After Communism: Some Observations from Lithuania
Authors: McMahon Maeve
Published: December 2011

What Is Everyday Life Like After Communism? East European countries have been experiencing a ~ajor peri~d oftransition. State Communism, dependence, and command economres are bemg superseded by democracy, independence, andcapitalism. Yet, within are latively short period, it has become clear that many East Europeans are ambivalent about these changes. This has been reflected, for example, in the electoral victories of former Communists in various countries. What has been far less clear for many foreign observers is why such ambivalent sentiments have become prevalent.
Citizenship, Nation-and State-Building: The Integration of Northern Dobrogea into Romania, 1878-1913
Authors: Iordachi Constantin
Published: December 2011

Situated in the northeastern extremity of the Balkan Peninsula, between the lower Danube and the Black Sea, the historical province of Dobrogea has a highly individualized geographical character. The arid steppes in the middle of the province are surrounded by an extensive seacoast in the east, the vast Danube delta in the north, the fertile shores of the Danube in the west, and by the Bulgarian mainland in the south, making up a broad ribbon of land, a kind of "irregular oblong with a waist" (see Map I, page ll).This advantageous geopolitical and commercial location accounts for Dobrogea's tumultuous history. From fifteenth century, Dobrogea functioned as a borderland of the Ottoman Empire and one of the most advanced Muslim military bastions in Southeastern Europe.
Making Saints: Canonization and Community in Late Imperial Russia
Authors: Greene Robert H.
Published: December 2011

The story of canonization in late imperial Russia has been told, traditionally, as a political and institutional narrative of church-state relations, of strategic decisions made at the highest levels by high-ranking clerics and members of the imperial family. This essay examines the cults of Anna Kashinskaia and Sofronii Irkutskii as case studies of canonization “from below,” demonstrating that in both instances local believers and clerics played prominent roles in initiating and ultimately securing official recognition for their locally-revered miracle-workers as a gesture of thanks for miracles rendered to the community. The efforts of the local faithful on behalf of their saints speaks both to the deep feelings of reciprocal obligation that characterized believers’ relationships with the holy dead, and to the powerful localized dimension of sanctity. The miracle stories attributed by local believers to Saints Anna and Sofronii reveal how the faithful saw and talked about their saints not as distant fi gures in another world but as hometown heroes forever present in the community where they had lived, served, died, and (most importantly) were buried.
Women Engaged/Engaged Art in Postwar Bosnia: Reconciliation, Recovery, and Civil Society
Authors: Simmons Cynthia
Published: December 2011

In postwar and post-Communist Bosnia-Herzegovina, civil society has been developing along with a signifi cant recasting of women’s roles in public life. Researchers have equated civil society since the war in Bosnia almost exclusively with non-governmental organizations (NGOs). Certainly this has been the most infl uential sphere of both women’s work and of public activities contributing to a nascent civil society. Researchers have given insuffi cient attention, however, to the contributions of women in the burgeoning free press in Bosnia-Herzegovina, as well as to the increasing social engagement and infl uence of women artists and arts administrators. The contribution of the arts to civil society receives little attention, but women writers, artists, and arts administrators are addressing in their work and projects issues of justice, reconciliation, and human rights. Some who began their creative life in Yugoslavia, and who formerly sought independence from ideology in pure aestheticism, now embrace political engagement. They employ the potentially “free zone” of art to encourage the communication and mutual responsibility between the government and citizenry that underlies a civil society. Just as women have taken on new public roles since the war—as directors in non-governmental organizations and as editors and journalists in the independent press—women artists are addressing specifi c postwar themes, and women arts administrators are promoting publications, creating exhibitions, and organizing events that draw attention to issues that are critical to the success of Bosnia’s fl edgling democracy.
Detecting multiple causal rare variants in exome sequence data
Authors: Ye Kenny Q. , Engelman Corinne D.
Published: December 2011

Recent advances in sequencing technology have presented both opportunities and challenges, with limited statistical power to detect a single causal rare variant with practical sample sizes. To overcome this, the contributors to Group 1 of Genetic Analysis Workshop 17 sought to develop methods to detect the combined signal of multiple causal rare variants in a biologically meaningful way. The contributors used genes, genome location proximity, or genetic pathways as the basic unit in combining the information from multiple variants. Weaknesses of the exome sequence data and the relative strengths and weaknesses of the five approaches are discussed. Genet. Epidemiol. 35:S18–S21, 2011. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Soil particle accumulation in termite (Macrotermes bellicosus) mounds and the implications for soil particle dynamics in a tropical savanna Ultisol
Authors: Abe Susumu S. , Kotegawa Takashi , Onishi Taisuke , Watanabe Yoshinori , Wakatsuki Toshiyuki
Published: December 2011

This study investigated the influence of mound‐building termites on soil particle dynamics on the land surface and in soil‐forming processes by examining the amount of soil particles in mound structures of Macrotermes bellicosus in a highly weathered Ultisol of tropical savanna. Soil particle turnover via the mounds was estimated using particle stock data and soil turnover data from previous studies. A 4‐ha study plot with six mounds of relatively uniform shape and size was investigated. Soil mass constituting the mounds was 6,166 ± 1,581 kg mound−1 within which the mound wall and nest body accounted for 5,002 ± 1,289 and 1,164 ± 293 kg, respectively. The mound wall contained a significantly larger amount of clay (252 ± 9.97 g kg−1) balanced with a lower sand content (676 ± 26.5 g kg−1) than in the adjacent surface (Ap1) horizon, (46.4 ± 12.8 g clay kg−1; 866 ± 83.2 g sand kg−1); the nest body had much higher clay content (559 ± 51.0 g kg−1) but less sand (285 ± 79.2 g kg−1) than the mound wall. As a result, the mounds of M. bellicosus accumulated clay of 2,874 ± 781 kg ha−1 (corresponding to 2.52% of clay stock in the Ap1 horizon) along with an estimated clay turnover rate of 169 kg ha−1 year−1. These findings suggest a positive feedback effect from termite mound‐building activity on soil particle dynamics in tropical savanna ecosystems: M. bellicosus preferentially use subsoil material for mound construction, resulting in relocation of illuvial clay in the subsoil to the land surface where clay eluviation from the surface soil and its illuviation in the subsoil are major soil‐forming processes.
Nature and distribution of the volatile components in the different regions of an artisanal ripened sheep cheese
Authors: Guillén María D , Abascal Begoña
Published: December 2011

The distribution of the volatile components in four regions, Rind, Exterior, Intermediate, and Interior, of hand-made Idiazabal cheese which had been ripened for two months was studied in detail. It is proved that the headspace of this ripened sheep cheese is non-homogeneous in the different cheese regions. The Rind is the richest region in volatile compounds, followed by the Exterior region. A large number of compounds with different functional groups have their greatest abundances in the Rind with negative abundance gradients towards the interior regions. Many of these are undetectable in the Intermediate and Interior regions. Other compounds such as aldehydes having a great number of carbon atoms, and most of the acids have their greatest abundances in the Exterior region. Alcohols, ketones and esters of small size have their greatest abundances in the Intermediate region. And finally, a reduced number of compounds are distributed homogeneously in all cheese regions. The origin of the compounds, the conditions that favour their formation, their functional groups, size, shape and reactivity could be factors involved in their distribution in the cheese, which in turn is associated with the microbial ecology, chemical reactions and physical effects.
A comparison of two methods for estimating conifer live foliar moisture content
Authors: Jolly W. Matt , Hadlow Ann M.
Published: December 2011

Foliar moisture content is an important factor regulating how wildland fires ignite in and spread through live fuels but moisture content determination methods are rarely standardised between studies. One such difference lies between the uses of rapid moisture analysers or drying ovens. Both of these methods are commonly used in live fuel research but they have never been systematically compared to ensure that they yield similar results. Here we compare the foliar moisture content of Pinus contorta (lodgepole pine) at multiple sites for an entire growing season determined using both oven-drying and rapid moisture analyser methods. We found that moisture contents derived from the rapid moisture analysers were nearly identical to oven-dried moisture contents (R2 = 0.99, n = 68) even though the rapid moisture analysers dried samples at 145°C v. oven-drying at 95°C. Mean absolute error between oven-drying and the rapid moisture analysers was low at 2.6% and bias was 0.62%. Mean absolute error was less than the within-sample variation of an individual moisture determination method and error was consistent across the range of moisture contents measured. These results suggest that live fuel moisture values derived from either of these two methods are interchangeable and it also suggests that drying temperatures used in live fuel moisture content determination may be less important than reported by other studies.
Not just a matter of taste: palatability of bait markers is influenced by the need to search for alternative food
Authors: Weerakoon Malith K. , Banks Peter B.
Published: December 2011

Context Bait palatability is a key issue influencing the uptake of toxic baits or non-toxic bait markers. Animals often reject baits with high concentrations of the active compound (whether it is a toxin, vaccine or marker) because of poor palatability, thus reducing the efficacy of baiting. Foraging theory predicts that palatability will be affected not only by the taste of active ingredients in bait but also by an animal’s ability to access alternative foods. Yet few studies of bait palatability are measured in the context of an animal’s need to search and forage for other food types. Aims The present study examined whether the palatability of Rhodamine B (RB) baits for black rats (Rattus rattus) was affected when foraging constraints were placed on access to alternative food compared with when alternative food was freely accessible. Rhodamine B is a bait marker and was used as a surrogate for other active ingredients likely to be used in pest control management. Methods Each day, RB bait at one of four concentrations was provided to an individual rat along with an alternative food that was either freely available (spatially clumped with foraging constraints absent) or hidden within a matrix of tubes (spatially scattered, thus with foraging constraints present). Key results Black rats exhibited a gradient in how palatable they found RB and preferred baits that contained the lowest concentrations of RB. Importantly, RB baits were more palatable when access to alternative food was made more difficult by applying a foraging constraint. In particular, a 0.2% RB concentration appeared to represent a threshold in palatability where intake at or above this concentration was significantly affected by a rat’s ability to freely access alternative foods. The ingestion of RB dye (mg kg–1) was highest in rats that consumed the highest concentrations, even though food intake was reduced. Conclusions The consumption of baits at high RB concentrations was greatly affected by the ease of access to other foods. We suggest the willingness of the animal to consume the bait can be influenced by the effort needed to find alternative foods. Implications A higher incidence of marking in the whiskers or hair of target individuals in the field will only be achieved with the use of the most palatable concentrations of RB and environments providing low alternative food access and abundance. A trade-off between reliable marking and palatability of RB at varying concentrations must be achieved if actual bait uptake in the field is to be more accurately represented. A re-evaluation of palatability experiments may be required as access to alternative foods can have profound impacts on bait uptake.
A specificity determinant for phosphorylation in a response regulator prevents in vivo cross-talk and modification by acetyl phosphate
Authors: Boll Joseph M. , Hendrixson David R.
Published: December 2011

Bacterial two-component systems (TCSs) sense stimuli and transduce signals intracellularly through phosphotransfer between cognate histidine kinases (HKs) and response regulators (RRs) to alter gene expression or behavioral responses. Without high phosphotransfer specificity between cognate HKs and RRs, cross-phosphorylation or cross-talk between different TCSs may occur and diminish responses to appropriate stimuli. Some mechanisms to reduce cross-talk involve HKs controlling levels of cognate RR phosphorylation. Conceivably, some RRs may have evolved HK-independent strategies to insulate themselves from cross-talk with acetyl phosphate (AcP) or other small phosphodonor metabolites. Initial steps in flagellar biosynthesis in
Campylobacter jejuni
stimulate phosphotransfer from the FlgS HK to the FlgR RR to promote σ
54
-dependent flagellar gene expression. We discovered that the FlgR C-terminal domain (CTD), which commonly functions as a DNA-binding domain in the NtrC RR family, is a specificity determinant to limit in vivo cross-talk from AcP. FlgR lacking the CTD (FlgR
ΔCTD
) used FlgS or AcP as an in vivo phosphodonor and could be reprogrammed in Δ
flgS
mutants to respond to cellular nutritional status via AcP levels. Even though exclusive AcP-mediated activation of FlgR
ΔCTD
promoted WT flagellar gene expression, proper flagellar biosynthesis was impaired. We propose that the FlgR CTD prevents phosphotransfer from AcP so that FlgR is solely responsive to FlgS to promote proper flagellar gene expression and flagellation. In addition to mechanisms limiting cross-talk between noncognate HKs and RRs, our work suggests that RRs can possess domains that prevent in vivo cross-talk between RRs and the endogenous metabolite AcP to ensure signaling specificity.
Topological spatial representation across and within languages
Authors: Zhang Yuan , Segalowitz Norman , Gatbonton Elizabeth
Published: December 2011

This paper examines the commonalities and variations between and within groups of English and Chinese (Mandarin) speakers in using terms to refer to the topological spatial concepts of containment (expressed by in and related terms in English) and support (expressed by on and related terms in English). In addition to crosslinguistic similarities, systematic differences in the use of linguistic expressions by Mandarin and English speakers for these topological spatial relationships were found, as well as systematic individual differences within each language group. Together, these findings point to potential underlying differences in how speakers of English and Mandarin conceptualize these two topological spatial categories.
Treatment effect of adalimumab and infliximab in Japanese psoriasis patients: Results in a single community‐based hospital
Authors: NODA Shinji , MIZUNO Kyoko , ADACHI Makoto
Published: December 2011

Because adalimumab and infliximab were approved in Japan for psoriasis treatment only 1 year ago, therapeutic efficacy of these agents is not well studied in a Japanese psoriasis population. Moreover, the evaluation of scalp psoriasis treated with biologics has never been reported in these subjects. In this study, 21 patients with moderate to severe plaque psoriasis were assigned to receive adalimumab 40 mg every other week with an initial loading dose of 80 mg (n = 11), or infliximab 5 mg/kg at weeks 0, 2, 6, 14 and 22 (n = 10). The treatment efficacy was evaluated by the proportion of patients who achieved at least 75% improvement in Psoriasis Area and Severity Index (PASI 75) and Psoriasis Scalp Severity Index score (PSSI 75) from baseline at weeks 4, 8, 16 and 24. A patient selection bias existed between the two groups in body surface area and PASI (44.0 ± 24.7 vs 30.2 ± 13.5, P = 0.12 and 22.2 ± 9.3 vs 15.6 ± 7.75, P = 0.09, respectively). At week 16, 81.8% of adalimumab‐treated patients and 60.0% of infliximab‐treated patients achieved PASI 75 response, but no statistically significant difference was found between these response rates. There was a tendency toward a reduced PSSI 75 response rate in the adalimumab‐treated group compared to the infliximab‐treated group (54.5% vs 90% at week 16, P = 0.15). In conclusion, both of the tumor necrosis factor‐α inhibitors demonstrated good therapeutic response similar to that in the previously reported randomized controlled trials, without any severe adverse reactions. Treatment response in scalp lesions tended to be lower in adalimumab‐treated patients, possibly because of delayed treatment onset of adalimumab.
Total population investigation of dental hospitalizations in Indigenous children under five years in Western Australia using linked data
Authors: Slack‐Smith LM , Read AW , Colvin LJ , Leonard H , Kilpatrick N , McAullay D , Messer LB
Published: December 2011

Background:  The aim of this study was to compare dental hospital admissions in a total state birth population of Indigenous and non‐Indigenous children aged under five years in Western Australia.

Methods:  Midwives’ notification data were linked to databases of deaths, admissions, birth defects and intellectual disability. Births during 1980–1995 were followed until five years of age (n = 383 665). Dental admissions were classified by ICD‐9 principal diagnosis categories.

Results:  There were 738 dental admissions for 665 children aged up to five years of Indigenous mothers (n = 20 921). Indigenous children comprised 6.3% of all children having a dental admission in this age group; 3.2% of children with Indigenous mothers had a dental admission compared with 2.7% of non‐Indigenous children. Overall, 8.7% (n = 58) of Indigenous children with a dental admission had a birth defect and 5.5% (n = 23) had an intellectual disability (compared to 8.8% and 3.2%). Indigenous children were four times more likely to be diagnosed with oral soft tissue diseases than non‐Indigenous children, and less likely to be categorized as having diseases of the dental hard tissues. Indigenous children were more likely to have a longer dental admission.

Conclusions:  These analyses provide important findings regarding hospital admissions for Indigenous children. Admissions for disorders of the soft tissues are more common in Indigenous children.
Kähler groups, real hyperbolic spaces and the Cremona group. With an appendix by Serge Cantat
Authors: Delzant Thomas , Py Pierre
Published: December 2011

Generalizing a classical theorem of Carlson and Toledo, we prove thatanyZariski dense isometric action of a Kähler group on the real hyperbolic space of dimension at least three factors through a homomorphism onto a cocompact discrete subgroup of PSL2(ℝ). We also study actions of Kähler groups on infinite-dimensional real hyperbolic spaces, describe some exotic actions of PSL2(ℝ) on these spaces, and give an application to the study of the Cremona group.
Antibiotics in Feed Induce Prophages in Swine Fecal Microbiomes
Authors: Allen Heather K. , Looft Torey , Bayles Darrell O. , Humphrey Samuel , Levine Uri Y. , Alt David , Stanton Thaddeus B.
Published: December 2011

Antibiotics are a cost-effective tool for improving feed efficiency and preventing disease in agricultural animals, but the full scope of their collateral effects is not understood. Antibiotics have been shown to mediate gene transfer by inducing prophages in certain bacterial strains; therefore, one collateral effect could be prophage induction in the gut microbiome at large. Here we used metagenomics to evaluate the effect of two antibiotics in feed (carbadox and ASP250 [chlortetracycline, sulfamethazine, and penicillin]) on swine intestinal phage metagenomes (viromes). We also monitored the bacterial communities using 16S rRNA gene sequencing. ASP250, but not carbadox, caused significant population shifts in both the phage and bacterial communities. Antibiotic resistance genes, such as multidrug resistance efflux pumps, were identified in the viromes, but in-feed antibiotics caused no significant changes in their abundance. The abundance of phage integrase-encoding genes was significantly increased in the viromes of medicated swine over that in the viromes of nonmedicated swine, demonstrating the induction of prophages with antibiotic treatment. Phage-bacterium population dynamics were also examined. We observed a decrease in the relative abundance of
Streptococcus
bacteria (prey) when
Streptococcus
phages (predators) were abundant, supporting the “kill-the-winner” ecological model of population dynamics in the swine fecal microbiome. The data show that gut ecosystem dynamics are influenced by phages and that prophage induction is a collateral effect of in-feed antibiotics.

IMPORTANCE
This study advances our knowledge of the collateral effects of in-feed antibiotics at a time in which the widespread use of “growth-promoting” antibiotics in agriculture is under scrutiny. Using comparative metagenomics, we show that prophages are induced by in-feed antibiotics in swine fecal microbiomes and that antibiotic resistance genes were detected in most viromes. This suggests that in-feed antibiotics are contributing to phage-mediated gene transfer, potentially of antibiotic resistance genes, in the swine gut. Additionally, the so-called “kill-the-winner” model of phage-bacterium population dynamics has been shown in aquatic ecosystems but met with conflicting evidence in gut ecosystems. The data support the idea that swine fecal
Streptococcus
bacteria and their phages follow the kill-the-winner model. Understanding the role of phages in gut microbial ecology is an essential component of the antibiotic resistance problem and of developing potential mitigation strategies.
Isotope Shifts in High Lying Levels of Dy I and Er I by High‐Resolution UV Laser Spectroscopy
Authors: Jin Wei-Guo , Ono Hiroaki , Minowa Tatsuya
Published: December 2011

High‐resolution atomic‐beam ultraviolet (UV) laser spectroscopy in Dy I and Er I has been performed. Isotope shifts have been measured for two transitions in Dy I and one transition in Er I. Specific mass shifts and field shifts have been derived for the studied transitions, and large differences between the two 4f106s2–4f106s6p transitions in Dy I have been found. From the derived specific mass shifts and field shifts, configuration mixing at the upper levels of transitions has been discussed.
On Asymptotic Behaviour of Solutions to n‐Dimensional Systems of Neutral Differential Equations
Authors: Šamajová H. , Špániková E.
Published: December 2011

This paper presents the properties and behaviour of solutions
to a class of n‐dimensional functional differential systems of neutral type.
Sufficient conditions for solutions to be either oscillatory, or limt→∞yi(t) = 0, or limt→∞|yi(t)| = ∞, i = 1,2, …, n, are established. One example is given.
The Effect of Multidentate Biopolymer Based on Polyacrylamide Grafted onto Kappa‐Carrageenan on the Spectrofluorometric Properties of Water‐Soluble CdS Quantum Dots
Authors: Rezanejade Bardajee Ghasem , Hooshyar Zari , Pourhasan Yousof
Published: December 2011

A new fluorescent composite based on CdS quantum dots immobilized on the multidentate biopolymer matrix is prepared through the graft copolymerization of the acrylamide onto kappa‐Carrageenan. A variety of techniques like thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT‐IR) was used to confirm the structure of the obtained samples. To investigate the spectrofluorometric properties, fluorescence spectroscopy of the obtained quantum dots was studied.
Are We There Yet?: the Impact of the Lisbon Treaty on the EU Children's Rights Agenda
Authors: Stalford Helen , Schuurman Mieke
Published: December 2011

The EU's Lisbon Treaty presents the most important opportunity for the development of children's rights since the EU's existence. This article sets out the broader constitutional changes made that are of relevance to children and the implications of changes to the legislative procedure, including a discussion on whether the new Citizens' Initiative might be exploited as a lobbying tool for specific children's rights issues and its relation to the right of children to participate. The impact of the EU's enhanced fundamental rights agenda on children's rights is assessed, including the Charter of Fundamental Rights, the General Principles of EU Law and the ECHR. In addition, the Lisbon Treaty presents new opportunities for integrating children's rights into all stages of the decision-making and implementation process. It also provides sharper tools to develop adequate non-legislative responses to the diverse range of needs that children have, such as policy, budgetary and research initiatives.
The Responsibility to Protect and its Critics: Explaining the Consensus
Authors: Serrano Mónica
Published: December 2011

While critics have claimed that the Responsibility to Protect (R2P) is a North-South polarising issue and is therefore controversial, this is a deliberate misrepresentation in a rhetorical war led by a small minority of UN member states. The first section of this article briefly reviews the evolution of this emerging norm from its inception in the 2001 report by the International Commission on State Sovereignty and Intervention (ICISS), to its endorsement in 2005 by more than 150 heads of states in the 2005 World Summit Outcome Document, to its more recent configuration in a three-pillar structure. The next part seeks to identify the main criticisms that have been levelled at R2P. It touches on some of the myths and allegations that have long accompanied R2P, as well as on the chief legitimate concerns underlying the shift towards implementation. The third and concluding section briefly touches upon the impact of the interventions in Libya and Côte D'Ivoire upon the evolving R2P consensus, and critically assesses the implications of a normative strategy that has put a premium on unanimity and unqualified consensus.
Challenges and directions: an analysis of Genetic Analysis Workshop 17 data by collapsing rare variants within family data
Authors: Lin Peng , Hamm Michael , Hartz Sarah , Zhang Zhehao , Rice John P
Published: December 2011

Recent studies suggest that the traditional case-control study design does not have sufficient power to discover rare risk variants. Two different methods—collapsing and family data—are suggested as alternatives for discovering these rare variants. Compared with common variants, rare variants have unique characteristics. In this paper, we assess the distribution of rare variants in family data. We notice that a large number of rare variants exist only in one or two families and that the association result is largely shaped by those families. Therefore we explore the possibility of integrating both the collapsing method and the family data method. This combinational approach offers a potential power boost for certain causal genes, including VEGFA, VEGFC, SIRT1, SREBF1, PIK3R3, VLDLR, PLAT, and FLT4, and thus deserves further investigation.
Relative validity of a food-frequency questionnaire developed to assess food intake of schoolchildren living in the Brazilian Western Amazon
Authors: Scagliusi Fernanda Baeza , Garcia Mariana Tarricone , Indiani Ana Luiza Coutinho , Cardoso Marly Augusto
Published: December 2011

This study aimed to assess the relative validity of a food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) developed to assess food intake of schoolchildren from the Brazilian Western Amazon. The dietary intakes of 61 schoolchildren, aged between six and nine 9 years, were measured using two 24-hour dietary recalls and one FFQ, conducted with the children's, mother or guardians. Validity of the FFQ compared to the mean of the two dietary recalls was assessed using Pearson's correlation coefficient adjusted for attenuation and energy intake, Bland & Altman plots and evaluation of agreement levels between the two assessment methods. Energy-adjusted and deattenuated correlation coefficients ranged from -0.03 for vitamin C, to 0.93 for calcium. The mean coefficient was 0.46. The mean proportion of subjects classified within one quintile by the two methods was 66%. The Bland & Altman plots indicated good agreement for almost all nutrients, with a mean limit of agreement of 108%. These results indicate that, although there was a lack of accuracy for certain nutrients, such as vitamins A and C, the FFQ ensures reliable estimates of intake of most nutrients.
Detailed comparisons of airborne formaldehyde measurements with box models during the 2006 INTEX-B and MILAGRO campaigns: potential evidence for significant impacts of unmeasured and multi-generation volatile organic carbon compounds
Authors: Fried A. , Cantrell C. , Olson J. , Crawford J. H. , Weibring P. , Walega J. , Richter D. , Junkermann W. , Volkamer R. , Sinreich R. , Heikes B. G. , O'Sullivan D. , Blake D. R. , Blake N. , Meinardi S. , Apel E. , Weinheimer A. , Knapp D. , Perring A. , Cohen R. C. , Fuelberg H. , Shetter R. E. , Hall S. R. , Ullmann K. , Brune W. H. , Mao J. , Ren X. , Huey L. G. , Singh H. B. , Hair J. W. , Riemer D. , Diskin G. , Sachse G.
Published: December 2011

Abstract. Detailed comparisons of airborne CH2O measurements acquired by tunable diode laser absorption spectroscopy with steady state box model calculations were carried out using data from the 2006 INTEX-B and MILARGO campaign in order to improve our understanding of hydrocarbon oxidation processing. This study includes comparisons over Mexico (including Mexico City), the Gulf of Mexico, parts of the continental United States near the Gulf coast, as well as the more remote Pacific Ocean, and focuses on comparisons in the boundary layer. Select previous comparisons in other campaigns have highlighted some locations in the boundary layer where steady state box models have tended to underpredict CH2O, suggesting that standard steady state modeling assumptions might be unsuitable under these conditions, and pointing to a possible role for unmeasured hydrocarbons and/or additional primary emission sources of CH2O. Employing an improved instrument, more detailed measurement-model comparisons with better temporal overlap, up-to-date measurement and model precision estimates, up-to-date rate constants, and additional modeling tools based on both Lagrangian and Master Chemical Mechanism (MCM) runs, we have explained much of the disagreement between observed and predicted CH2O as resulting from non-steady-state atmospheric conditions in the vicinity of large pollution sources, and have quantified the disagreement as a function of plume lifetime (processing time). We show that in the near field (within ~4 to 6 h of the source), steady-state models can either over-or-underestimate observations, depending on the predominant non-steady-state influence. In addition, we show that even far field processes (10–40 h) can be influenced by non-steady-state conditions which can be responsible for CH2O model underestimations by ~20%. At the longer processing times in the 10 to 40 h range during Mexico City outflow events, MCM model calculations, using assumptions about initial amounts of high-order NMHCs, further indicate the potential importance of CH2O produced from unmeasured and multi-generation hydrocarbon oxidation compounds, particularly methylglyoxal, 3-hydroxypropanal, and butan-3-one-al.
The Hungarian Parliament in Transition
Authors: Racz Barnabas
Published: December 2011

Most socialist states have shown some transformation of their political institutions in the eighties, but the Hungarian experimentation with reforms is significantly different from that of other socialist states. The 1985 national and local elections were held on the basis of a hitherto unique electoral law; citizens were able to nominate candidates of their own choosing. The Hungarian Socialist Workers' Party (HSWP) Central Committee clearly approved of the expanded responsibilities forthe new National Assembly (also called in Hungarian the Parliament or Orszag gyules) and held that it should play a more active role in the legislative and political systems. This, of course, would be impossible without major organizational and/or functional changes on the plenary, committee and procedural levels.
Ligachev on Glasnost and Perestroika
Authors: Harris Jonathan
Published: December 2011

General Secretary MikhaiJ S. Gorbachev's bold program of economic and political reform makes it difficult for Western students of the USSR to conceptualize the rapidly changing regime with much assurance. Gorbachev's initial program seemed relatively easy to understand; his overriding stress on economic modernization seemed to be the logical extension of the program begun by General Secretary Andropov in 1982- 1984. However, Gorbachev subsequently launched a series of fundamental political reforms which cannot be easily explained with the formulations designed to analyze the USSR in the past. Gorbachev's vigorous support for more open discussion of virtually all aspects of public policy, both past and present, his efforts to restore internal democracy in the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU), to revive the CPSU's dynamism by recasting the relationship between its full-time officials and its rank and file, his attempt to extend the authority of soviets at both the central and local level and simultaneously broaden his own authority as an indirectly elected President of the Supreme Soviet can hardly be integrated under a single formula.
The 1982 Reorganization of Agricultural Administration in the Soviet Union: The Role of the Communist Party in Agenda Setting
Authors: Chotiner Barbara Ann
Published: December 2011

Soviet politics under Mikhail S. Gorbachev became the arena for wide-ranging institutional and policy change across a broad spectrum of issue areas. These alterations were supported and opposed by sometimes unpredictable coalitions; victories were engineered using novel as well as familiar techniques. As a consequence, there has often been a tendency to treat the political scene in the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) from March 1985 through August 1991 as almost sui generis. In many respects, the period of Gorbachev's General Secretaryship of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) has been treated as the antithesis of the political regime during the so-called "era of stagnation" under Leonid I. Brezhnev.
The Fate of a Russian Bebel: Semen Ivanovich Kanatchikov, 1905-1940
Authors: Zelnik Reginald E.
Published: December 2011

The former worker-revolutionary Semen Kanatchikov ended his autobiography, From the Story of My Life, with his departure from Saratov at the onset of the 1905 Revolution. "I left for Moscow to face the revolutionary storm," he wrote. "There I chose a new specialization-I became a professional revolutionary. " When my translation of that work appeared in 1986, there was little information available with which to reconstruct Kanatchikov 's life between the time when his own account broke off and his death at the age of 61 in 1940. My brief "Postscript," barely four printed pages, gave only a thumbnail account of the highlights of his later career, and concluded with the speculation that something went awry for Kanatchikov, now an "Old Bolshevik," around 1936, though I was still somewhat hopeful that he died a natural death.
The Struggle in the East: Opposition Politics in Siberia, 1918
Authors: Rupp Susan
Published: December 2011

In comparison with the events of 1917, the Russian Civil War has been little studied, resulting in a problematic historiography that depicts the war as a struggle between Reds and Whites, with the opposition to the Bolsheviks reduced to reactionary officers and restorationist political forces. Soviet historians long made a virtual industry out of studying the civil war, but their work was most often distorted by the constraints of Marxist theory and party orthodoxy. Most Western studies of the political opposition focus on a single party and are often limited to the period prior to the outbreak of the civil war. Over the last decade, dramatic political changes in the former Soviet Union, accompanied by the opening of previously inaccessible archives, have spurred renewed interest in the revolutionary period and the various political groups active during that time. This examination of the opposition in Siberia prior to the Kolchak coup in November 1918 addresses a seldom explored chapter of the civil war and reveals the divisions among the forces of the political center, particularly the fracture between moderate socialists and erstwhile liberals, which fatally undermined the viability of a democratic alternative to the Bolshevik regime.
Soldiers at War: German Propaganda and Soviet Army Morale During the Battle of Leningrad, 1941-44
Authors: Lomagin Nikita
Published: December 2011

These words, spoken by Stalin at a victory celebration in the Kremlin, may be true, but the main question-why the Russian people "did not take this path"-remains to be answered. Indeed, what was behind this choice: Patriotism? Security agents ready to shoot down their own troops if they turned and retreated? German policy which made Russians fight against the Wehrmacht? Was the Soviet regime truly close to political collapse in 1941? Why did the great losses in the beginning of war and the severe situation during the siege of Leningrad not result in revolt?
Cold War Lithuania: National Armed Resistance and Soviet Counterinsurgency
Authors: Reklaitis George
Published: December 2011

Following the defeat of Nazi Germany, the Soviet Union sought to reestablish its control over the areas of Eastern Europe that it had occupied prior to the RussoGerman war. These areas included Western Ukraine, Byelorussia, and the Baltic States of Lithuanian, Latvia, and Estonia.2 In these regions, the Soviets found wellorganized underground resistance movements that were determined to hold off the complete Sovietization of their homelands, a task the Soviets had initially begun in 1940 and 1941, but which had been interrupted by war. While complete victory over the Soviets was recognized as an unreachable goal, these resistance fighters fought on in the hope that either the Soviets would grow weary of waging war or, as the above statement by Juozas Luksa suggests, the Western powers would return to finish the job of liberating Europe. Therefore, the period of 1944 to 1953 in this region is marked by an intense conflict between Eastern European guerrillas and Soviet counterinsurgency forces.
Updated Estimate of the Number of Extreme Risk Protection Orders Needed to Prevent 1 Suicide
Authors: Miller Matthew , Zhang Yifan , Studdert David M. , Swanson Sonja
Published: June 2024

Importance

Extreme risk protection orders (ERPOs)—also known as red flag, risk warrant, and gun violence restraining orders—authorize law enforcement, family members, and sometimes others to petition a court to remove firearms from and prevent the acquisition of new firearms by a person judged to pose an immediate danger to themselves or others. Previous estimates suggest that 1 suicide is prevented for every 10 ERPOs issued, a number needed to treat that depends critically on the counterfactual estimate of the proportion of suicidal acts by ERPO respondents that would have involved firearms in the absence of ERPOs.

Objective

To empirically inform updated estimates of the number of ERPOs needed to prevent 1 suicide.

Design, Setting, and Participants

This cohort study used data from California for method-specific suicides by handgun ownership (October 18, 2004, to December 31, 2015). Handgun-owning suicide decedents in California were identified using individual-level registry data about lawful handgun ownership linked to cause-specific mortality for a cohort of more than 25 million adults. The study also used data from Connecticut for method-specific suicides among ERPO respondents who died by suicide, extracted from published data (October 1999 to June 2013). Data analysis was performed in December 2023.

Exposure

Handgun ownership.

Main Outcomes and Measures

The primary outcomes were the number and distribution of suicidal acts by handgun owners in California, estimated using method-specific suicide mortality data and published case fatality ratios, and the counterfactual number and distribution of suicidal acts and deaths among ERPO respondents in Connecticut had no ERPOs been issued.

Results

A total of 1216 handgun owners (mean [SD] age, 50 [18] years; 1019 male [83.8%]) died by suicide during the study period. Among male handgun owners in California, 28% of suicidal acts involved firearms, 54% involved drug poisoning, 9% involved cutting or piercing, 3% involved hanging or suffocation, 2% involved poisoning with solids and/or liquids, and the remaining 4% involved other methods. Assuming this distribution approximates the counterfactual distribution among ERPO respondents in Connecticut in the absence of ERPOs, 1 suicide death was prevented for every 22 ERPOs issued.

Conclusions and Relevance

The estimates produced by this cohort study of California handgun owners suggest that ERPOs can play an important role in averting deaths among high-risk individuals.
Insurance Denials and Patient Treatment in a Large Academic Radiation Oncology Center
Authors: Shin Jacob Y. , Chino Fumiko , Cuaron John J. , Washington Charles , Jablonowski Margaret , McBride Sean , Gomez Daniel R.
Published: June 2024

Importance

Insurance barriers to cancer care can cause significant patient and clinician burden.

Objective

To investigate the association of insurance denial with changes in technique, dose, and time to delivery of radiation oncology treatment.

Design, Setting, and Participants

In this single-institution cohort analysis, data were collected from patients with payer-denied authorization for radiation therapy (RT) from November 1, 2021, to December 8, 2022. Data were analyzed from December 15, 2022, to December 31, 2023.

Exposure

Insurance denial for RT.

Main Outcomes and Measures

Association of these denials with changes in RT technique, dose, and time to treatment delivery was assessed using χ2 tests.

Results

A total of 206 cases (118 women [57.3%]; median age, 58 [range, 26-91] years) were identified. Most insurers (199 [96.6%]) were commercial payers, while 7 (3.4%) were Medicare or Medicare Advantage. One hundred sixty-one patients (78.2%) were younger than 65 years. Of 206 cases, 127 (61.7%) were ultimately authorized without any change to the requested RT technique or prescription dose; 56 (27.2%) were authorized after modification to RT technique and/or prescription dose required by the payer. Of 21 cases with required prescription dose change, the median decrease in dose was 24.0 (range, 2.3-51.0) Gy. Of 202 cases (98.1%) with RT delivered, 72 (34.9%) were delayed for a mean (SD) of 7.8 (9.1) days and median of 5 (range, 1-49) days. Four cases (1.9%) ultimately did not receive any authorization, with 3 (1.5%) not undergoing RT, and 1 (0.5%) seeking treatment at another institution.

Conclusions and Relevance

In this cohort study of patients with payer-denied cases, most insurance denials in radiation oncology were ultimately approved on appeal; however, RT technique and/or effectiveness may be compromised by payer-mandated changes. Further investigation and action to recognize the time and financial burdens on clinicians and clinical effects on patients caused by insurance denials of RT is needed.
Sodium-Glucose Cotransporter-2 Inhibitors and Nephritis Among Patients With Systemic Lupus Erythematosus
Authors: Yen Fu-Shun , Wang Shiow-Ing , Hsu Chih-Cheng , Hwu Chii-Min , Wei James Cheng-Chung
Published: June 2024

Importance

Lupus nephritis is a major complication of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). Randomized clinical trials have shown nephroprotective and cardioprotective effects of sodium-glucose cotransporter-2 inhibitors (SGLT2is).

Objective

To investigate whether the use of SGLT2is is associated with the onset and progression of lupus nephritis and other kidney and cardiac outcomes in patients with SLE and type 2 diabetes.

Design, Setting, and Participants

This multicenter cohort study used the US Collaborative Network of the TriNetX clinical data platform to identify patients with SLE and type 2 diabetes from January 1, 2015, to December 31, 2022. Data collection and analysis were conducted in September 2023.

Exposures

Individuals were categorized into 2 groups by SGLT2i use or nonuse with 1:1 propensity score matching.

Main Outcomes and Measures

The Kaplan-Meier method and Cox proportional hazards regression models were used to calculate the 5-year adjusted hazard ratios (AHRs) of lupus nephritis, dialysis, kidney transplant, heart failure, and mortality for the 2 groups.

Results

From 31 790 eligible participants, 1775 matched pairs of SGLT2i users and nonusers (N = 3550) were selected based on propensity scores. The mean (SD) age of matched participants was 56.8 (11.6) years, and 3012 (84.8%) were women. SGLT2i users had a significantly lower risk of lupus nephritis (AHR, 0.55; 95% CI, 0.40-0.77), dialysis (AHR, 0.29; 95% CI, 0.17-0.48), kidney transplant (AHR, 0.14; 95% CI, 0.03-0.62), heart failure (AHR, 0.65; 95% CI, 0.53-0.78), and all-cause mortality (AHR, 0.35; 95% CI, 0.26-0.47) than SGLT2i nonusers.

Conclusions and Relevance

In this cohort study of patients with SLE and type 2 diabetes, SGLT2i users had a significantly lower risk of lupus nephritis, dialysis, kidney transplant, heart failure, and all-cause mortality than nonusers. The findings suggest that SGLT2is may provide some nephroprotective and cardioprotective benefits.