bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Using Porcelain Replicas for Precision Control in Flintknapping Experiments
Authors: Speer Charles A.
Published: December 2017

The experimental replication of lithic artifacts occasionally encounters issues of standardization and control. Two major issues are how to accurately create a large sample population and how to sample from specific stages over the flaking process. Knappable stone is unpredictable due to inclusions, cracks, and differences in size, texture, and fracture toughness. While this aspect of stone is critical to understanding some aspects of human behavior, decision-making, and skill assessment, in some experimental studies it may hinder other areas. Research for a large study assessing the failure of Folsom preforms during the fluting stage required many knappable facsimiles. The process outlined here uses porcelain as a medium for tackling these requirements. The new method presented here illustrates how a 3-D scanner and printer can be used to record and produce a copy of the artifact form. It then describes how to create a plaster mold of the printed artifact form and, finally, how to cast and fire the artifact replica in porcelain.
PRODUCTS OF HUREWICZ SPACES IN THE LAVER MODEL
Authors: REPOVŠ DUŠAN , ZDOMSKYY LYUBOMYR
Published: December 2017

This article is devoted to the interplay between forcing with fusion and combinatorial covering properties. We illustrate this interplay by proving that in the Laver model for the consistency of the Borel’s conjecture, the product of any two metrizable spaces with the Hurewicz property has the Menger property.
On the finiteness of attractors for piecewise maps of the interval
Authors: BRANDÃO P. , PALIS J. , PINHEIRO V.
Published: December 2017

We consider piecewise $C^{2}$ non-flat maps of the interval and show that, for Lebesgue almost every point, its omega-limit set is either a periodic orbit, a cycle of intervals or the closure of the orbits of a subset of the critical points. In particular, every piecewise $C^{2}$ non-flat map of the interval displays only a finite number of non-periodic attractors.
Indiscriminate covers of infinite translation surfaces are innocent, not devious
Authors: HOOPER W. PATRICK , TREVIÑO RODRIGO
Published: December 2017

We consider the interaction between passing to finite covers and ergodic properties of the straight-line flow on finite-area translation surfaces with infinite topological type. Infinite type provides for a rich family of degree-$d$ covers for any integer $d>1$. We give examples which demonstrate that passing to a finite cover can destroy ergodicity, but we also provide evidence that this phenomenon is rare. We define a natural notion of a random degree $d$ cover and show that, in many cases, ergodicity and unique ergodicity are preserved under passing to random covers. This work provides a new context for exploring the relationship between recurrence of the Teichmüller flow and ergodic properties of the straight-line flow.
Conformal trace theorem for Julia sets of quadratic polynomials
Authors: CONNES A. , MCDONALD E. , SUKOCHEV F. , ZANIN D.
Published: December 2017

If$c$is in the main cardioid of the Mandelbrot set, then the Julia set$J$of the map$\unicode[STIX]{x1D719}_{c}:z\mapsto z^{2}+c$is a Jordan curve of Hausdorff dimension$p\in [1,2)$. We provide a full proof of a formula for the Hausdorff measure on$J$in terms of singular traces announced by the first named author in 1996.
Nonlocal Dynamic Stability of DWCNTs Containing Pulsating Viscous Fluid Including Surface Stress and Thermal Effects Based on Sinusoidal Higher Order Shear Deformation Shell Theory
Authors: Mirafzal A. , Fereidoon A. , Andalib E.
Published: December 2017

In this study, the dynamic stability of double-walled carbon nanotubes (DWCNTs) conveying pulsating viscous fluid located on visco-Pasternak medium is investigated. The effects of small scale are considered using Eringen's non-local theory. The surrounding medium of DWCNT is anticipated as a visco-Pasternak foundation including the normal, shear, and damping forces. The van der Waals (vdWs) force is considered among the inner and outer layers of DWCNT. Three types of temperature changes, i.e. uniform, linear and sinusoidal temperature rise, through the thickness are studied. The equations of motion are obtained using higher order sinusoidal shear deformation shell theory (SSDT), in which the surface effects are included. Dynamical equations of DWCNT are extracted using the energy method and Hamilton's principle. Due to orthogonal conditions, the governing equations are solved based on Bolotin method. The effects of different parameters such as surface stress, non-local parameter, fluid velocity, Knudsen's number, fluid density, dimensions ratio and various temperature loadings on the dynamic stability regions of DWCNTs are discussed.
Why Legislative Networks? Analyzing Legislative Network Formation
Authors: Wojcik Stefan
Published: December 2017

Are the social networks of legislators affected more by their political parties or their personal traits? How does the party organization influence the tendency of members to work collectively on a day-to-day basis? In this paper, I explore the determinants of the relationships of legislators in the Brazilian Chamber of Deputies. I use exponential random graph models to evaluate the relative influence of personal traits versus party influence in generating legislator relationships. Despite a focus on personalism in Brazil, the analysis reveals that the effects of political parties on tie formation are roughly equal to the effects of personal traits, suggesting that networks may make political parties much more cohesive than contemporary literature would lead us to believe.
REALISABLE SETS OF CATENARY DEGREES OF NUMERICAL MONOIDS
Authors: O’NEILL CHRISTOPHER , PELAYO ROBERTO
Published: December 2017

The catenary degree is an invariant that measures the distance between factorisations of elements within an atomic monoid. In this paper, we classify which finite subsets of$\mathbb{Z}_{\geq 0}$occur as the set of catenary degrees of a numerical monoid (that is, a co-finite, additive submonoid of$\mathbb{Z}_{\geq 0}$). In particular, we show that, with one exception, every finite subset of$\mathbb{Z}_{\geq 0}$that can possibly occur as the set of catenary degrees of some atomic monoid is actually achieved by a numerical monoid.
Regulation of hepatic lipid deposition by phospholipid in large yellow croaker
Authors: Cai Zuonan , Mai Kangsen , Ai Qinghui
Published: December 2017

Dietary phospholipid (PL) supplementation has been shown to reduce lipid accumulation in the tissues of farmed fish; however, the mechanisms underlying this effect are largely unknown. Thus, the present study was conducted to evaluate the potential impacts of PL on hepatic lipid metabolism bothin vivoandin vitro. Forin vivostudy, four experimental diets – low lipid and low PL diet, as control diet (LL-LP diet, containing 12 % lipid and 1·5 % PL), low-lipid and high-PL diet (containing 12 % lipid and 8 % PL), high-lipid and low-PL diet (HL-LP diet, containing 20 % lipid and 1·5 % PL) and high-lipid and high-PL diet (HL-HP diet, containing 20 % lipid and 8 % PL) – were randomly allocated to four groups of large yellow croaker (Larimichthys crocea) (three cages per group) with similar initial body weight (approximately 8 g). Forin vitrostudy, primary hepatocytes isolated from large yellow croaker were incubated either with graded levels of phosphatidylcholine (PC) (0–250 μm) or small interfering RNA (siRNA) for CTP: choline phosphate cytidylyltranferaseα(CCTα) (siRNA-CCTα). Results showed that survival was independent of dietary treatments (P>0·05). Weight gain and feed efficiency in the HL-HP group were significantly higher than in the LL-LP and HL-LP groups (P<0·05). High level of dietary PL could markedly reduce abnormal hepatic lipid accumulation induced by the HL-LP diet (P<0·05). Similarly, compared with the corresponding controls, a significant decrease/increase in lipid content was observed in primary hepatocytes incubated with PC/siRNA-CCTα(P<0·05). High level of dietary PL reversed the HL-LP diet-induced increased levels of mRNA of fatty acid uptake and lipid synthesis related genes (P<0·05). In addition, High level of dietary PL markedly down-regulated the transcript levels of fatty acid oxidation-related genes and enhanced the transcript levels of VLDL assembly-related genes regardless of dietary lipid levels (P<0·05). Compared with corresponding controls, primary hepatocytes treated with PC showed significantly higher mRNA expression of lipid synthesis and VLDL assembly-related genes and lower mRNA expression of fatty acid oxidation-related genes, with hepatocytes treated with siRNA-CCTαexhibiting the opposite trend (P<0·05). In summary, these results demonstrated that high level of dietary PL might reverse the HL-LP diet-induced abnormal lipid accumulation in the liver through inhibiting fatty acid uptake and lipid synthesis, together with promoting the lipid export at the transcriptional level. Lipid export-promoting effect of PC was confirmed byin vitrostudies. The present study showed for the first time that PL or PC could influence various metabolic pathways to regulate hepatic lipid deposition in fish at least at the transcriptional level.
Clustering of energy balance-related behaviours and parental education in European preschool children: the ToyBox study
Authors: Miguel-Berges María L. , Zachari Konstantina , Santaliestra-Pasias Alba M. , Mouratidou Theodora , Androutsos Odysseas , Iotova Violeta , Galcheva Sonya , De Craemer Marieke , Cardon Greet , Koletzko Berthold , Kulaga Zbigniew , Manios Yannis , Moreno Luis A.
Published: December 2017

Energy balance-related behaviours (EBRB) are established in childhood and seem to persist through to adulthood. A lower parental educational level was associated with unhealthy behavioural patterns. The aim of the study is to identify clusters of EBRB and examine their association with preschool children’s BMI and maternal, paternal and parental education. A subsample of the ToyBox study (n5387) conducted in six European countries was used. Six behavioural clusters (‘healthy diet and low activity’, ‘active’, ‘healthy lifestyle’, ‘high water and screen time; low fruits and vegetables (F&V) and physical activity (PA)’, ‘unhealthy lifestyle’ and ‘high F&V consumers’) emerged. The healthiest group characterised by high water and F&V consumption and high PAzscores (‘healthy lifestyle’) was more prevalent among preschool children with at least one medium- or higher-educated parent and showed markedly healthier trends for all the included EBRB. In the opposite, the ‘unhealthy lifestyle’ cluster (characterised by high soft drinks and screen timezscores, and low water, F&V and PAzscores) was more prevalent among children with lower parental, paternal and maternal education levels. OR identified that children with lower maternal, paternal and parental education levels were less likely to be allocated in the ‘healthy lifestyle’ cluster and more likely to be allocated in the ‘unhealthy lifestyle’ cluster. The ‘unhealthy lifestyle’ cluster was more prevalent among children with parents in lower parental educational levels and children who were obese. Therefore, parental educational level is one of the key factors that should be considered when developing childhood obesity prevention interventions.
Beliefs about Climate Beliefs: The Importance of Second-Order Opinions for Climate Politics
Authors: Mildenberger Matto , Tingley Dustin
Published: December 2017

When political action entails individual costs but group-contingent benefits, political participation may depend on an individual’s perceptions of others’ beliefs; yet detailed empirical attention to these second-order beliefs – beliefs about the beliefs of others – remains rare. We offer the first comprehensive examination of the distribution and content of second-order climate beliefs in the United States and China, drawing from six new opinion surveys of mass publics, political elites and intellectual elites. We demonstrate that all classes of political actors have second-order beliefs characterized by egocentric bias and global underestimation of pro-climate positions. We then demonstrate experimentally that individual support for pro-climate policies increases after respondents update their second-order beliefs. We conclude that scholars should focus more closely on second-order beliefs as a key factor shaping climate policy inaction and that scholars can use the climate case to extend their understanding of second-order beliefs more broadly.
Does Political Sophistication Minimize Value Conflict? Evidence from a Heteroskedastic Graded IRT Model of Opinions toward Climate Change
Authors: Kellstedt Paul M. , Ramirez Mark D. , Vedlitz Arnold , Zahran Sammy
Published: December 2017

When citizens hold multiple values relevant to their policy opinions, they might experience value conflict, value reconciliation or make a value trade-off. Yet, it is unclear which individuals are able to manage their multiple values in these ways. We posit a sophistication-interaction theory of value pluralism where the most politically sophisticated individuals are able to reconcile the existence of multiple values, thus increasing the stability of their policy opinions. We test this hypothesis using a series of heteroskedastic graded item response theory models of public opinion toward policies related to climate change. We find that people structure their policy preferences toward climate change policies in values toward the environment and the economy, but only the most sophisticated citizens are able to reconcile the potential conflict between these values.
Do mothers really know best? Complexities in testing the preference-performance hypothesis in polyphagous frugivorous fruit flies
Authors: Birke A. , Aluja M.
Published: December 2017

The preference-performance hypothesis (PPH) has widely been used to explain host exploitation patterns by phytophagous insects. However, this hypothesis often fails in the case of polyphagous species when compared with specialists. One explanation, validated by the information-processing hypothesis (IPH), considers that polyphagous insects are unable to process a large array of cues, which hinders females from distinguishing between high- and low- quality hosts. Here we analyzedAnastrepha ludensfemale host preference and offspring performance, and tested if neuronal limitations could possibly play a role in the incapacity of the polyphagousA. ludensto make ‘accurate decisions’ and therefore partially explain mismatches related to PPH. Results testing the PPH by correlating female preference to six naturally occurring hosts and its offspring outcomes show thatA. ludensfemales oviposited greater proportions of eggs on fruit according to hierarchical preferences. Infestation level was low in white sapote, the preferential and seemingly putative ancestral host, likely due to sapote defence mechanisms. Pupal weight and adult size were lower whenA. ludenslarvae developed in guava (conditional host that was artificially infested) and peach, a lower ranked host compared with ‘Marsh’ grapefruit, white sapote, and ‘Manila’ mango (three preferred hosts). Larvae reared in ‘Manzano’ pepper, a low-ranked host, performed better than in peach and guava. Results testing the IPH, show that polyphagousA. ludensfemales were less accurate when discerning between a non natural host (guava) when compared with a preferred, natural host (grapefruit): error rate was significantly higher, number of oviposited fruit in a 6-h period was extremely low, time searching and ovipositing took longer, and pupae recovery was extremely low. Our findings indicate that both hypotheses tested are complementary and help better understand host use byA. ludens. However, we also discuss the complexity of polyphagy considering other factors such as plant resistance/defence mechanisms which are not fully addressed in both theories tested.
Cornicle secretions byAphis fabae(Hemiptera: Aphididae) result in age-dependent costs and improved host suitability forLysiphlebus fabarum(Marshall) (Hymenoptera: Braconidae)
Authors: Parvizi Y. , Rasekh A. , Michaud J.P.
Published: December 2017

We examined the life history consequences of cornicle secretion byAphis fabaeScopoli in second and fourth instars, and its effects on host suitability for its parasitoid,Lysiphlebus fabarum(Marshall). Cornicle secretion did not affect aphid fecundity, but secretion in the second instar enhanced life table parameters, whereas secretion in the fourth instar affected them negatively, suggesting a higher cost of secretion in later instars. Secretion in either instar improved host suitability forL. fabarum. Although control and treated aphids were parasitized at similar rates, and with similar success, wasps developed faster and emerged as larger adults in aphids that had secreted, regardless of instar. Transgenerational effects were also evident. Progeny emergence was higher when parental wasps developed in fourth instars than in seconds, whether aphids secreted or not, and progeny were larger when parental hosts secreted in the second instar, but not in the fourth. Secreting fourth instars were preferred to controls byL. fabarumfemales in choice tests, but not secreting second instars, and fourth-instar secretion improved wasp emergence. When control aphids were attacked, second instars were more likely to secrete than fourth instars, whereas the latter were more likely to kick the parasitoid. Cornicle secretion reduced the probability of subsequent secretion events and the frequency of other aphid defensive behaviors, indicating energetic tradeoffs among defensive tactics. Overall, our results revealed that cornicle secretion by immatureA. fabaeexacts both physiological and behavioral costs and results in improved host suitability for its parasitoid.
Use of electromagnetic radiation for potential forecast of earthquakes
Authors: RABINOVITCH AVINOAM , FRID VLADIMIR , BAHAT DOV
Published: December 2017

A forecast of an earthquake should identify the first stages of earthquake development: nucleation and stick-slip. We show that a forecast cannot be achieved by seismic measurements due to their high attenuation, but can be obtained by judicial filtering of electromagnetic radiation. Results show that electromagnetic radiation emitted from fractures (FEMR) during the early stages of an earthquake is less attenuated than seismic measurements due to the high frequencies involved, but could be cluttered by external noise. Based on our previous studies, an analysis of FEMR constructed on a profile of individual pulses can remove part of the clatter.
Ralph J. Perk, the “New Ethnicity” and the Making of Urban Ethnic Republicans
Authors: MERTON JOE
Published: December 2017

Historians seeking to explain the late twentieth-century rightward shift of urban ethnic whites have tended to ignore the shifting meaning and content of white ethnic identity in this transition, and the utility of these changes to conservative political discourse. This article, focussing on the ethnic strategies of the Republican mayor of Cleveland, Ralph Perk, seeks to illustrate the importance of the “New Ethnicity” of the 1970s, and its reconceptualization of white ethnicity as a series of “values,” in the making of urban ethnic Republicans. In doing so it reorients our understanding of Perk – the “Ethnic Mayor” – and places ethnicity at the heart of the conservative insurgency reshaping urban and national politics during this period.
Vitamin D in adolescence: evidence-based dietary requirements and implications for public health policy
Authors: Smith Taryn J. , Tripkovic Laura , Lanham-New Susan A. , Hart Kathryn H.
Published: December 2017

Vitamin D is a unique nutrient. First, it acts as a pro-hormone and secondly, the requirement for vitamin D can be met by both endogenous synthesis from sunlight and by dietary sources. This complicates the determination of dietary requirements for vitamin D, which along with the definition of optimal vitamin D status, have been highly controversial and much debated over recent years. Adolescents are a population group at high risk of low vitamin D status, which is concerning given the important role of vitamin D, and calcium, in promoting normal bone mineralisation and attainment of peak bone mass during this rapid growth phase. Dietary vitamin D recommendations are important from a public health perspective in helping to avoid deficiency and optimise vitamin D status for health. However limited experimental data from winter-based dose–response randomised trials in adolescents has hindered the development of evidence-based dietary requirements for vitamin D in this population group. This review will highlight how specifically designed randomised trials and the approach adopted for estimating such requirements can lead to improved recommendations. Such data indicate that vitamin D intakes of between 10 and about 30 µg/d may be required to avoid deficiency and ensure adequacy in adolescents, considerably greater than the current recommendations of 10–15 µg/d. Finally this review will consider the implications of this on public health policy, in terms of future refinements of vitamin D requirement recommendations and prioritisation of public health strategies to help prevent vitamin D deficiency.
Effects of anti-poaching patrols on the distribution of large mammals in Taï National Park, Côte d'Ivoire
Authors: Kablan Yves Aka , Diarrassouba Abdoulaye , Mundry Roger , Campbell Geneviève , Normand Emmanuelle , Kühl Hjalmar S. , Koné Inza , Boesch Christophe
Published: December 2017

The effectiveness of protected area management is a major concern. In Taï National Park, Côte d'Ivoire, recurrent human pressure challenges the ability of law enforcement authorities to protect wildlife. During 2010–2015 we studied the implementation of law enforcement in the Park to determine (1) the potential for improvement of the protection of large mammals and (2) the minimum patrolling effort needed to obtain increases in their populations. We recorded presence of large mammals and illegal activities in two areas within the Park, the research area (210 km2) and the rest of the Park (5,150 km2), and compiled data about patrolling efforts from the Park authorities. Using a generalized linear mixed model we identified a relationship between increased patrolling effort and the relative abundance of large mammals, especially for monkey groups, pygmy hippopotamusesChoeropsis liberiensisand duikers. At low patrolling efforts duiker encounter rates remained stable, whereas rates of encounter with monkey groups and pygmy hippopotamuses decreased. ChimpanzeePan troglodytes verusencounter rates were slower to respond and remained stable at higher patrolling effort, but decreased at low patrolling effort. Our findings suggest that a minimum of 1.32 patrol days per km2over 2 years is required for chimpanzee and monkey populations to increase, whereas a patrolling effort of 0.48 days per km2over 2 years would lead to an increase in duiker and pygmy hippopotamus populations. We maintain that the patrolling effort required to ensure an increase in wildlife can be estimated relatively precisely from multi-year biomonitoring programmes.
Why does the United Kingdom (UK) have inconsistent preferences on financial regulation? The case of banking and capital markets
Authors: James Scott , Quaglia Lucia
Published: December 2017

What explains national preferences concerning international and regional financial regulation? This article focusses on one of the main financial jurisdictions worldwide, the United Kingdom (UK). It is puzzling that since the crisis this jurisdiction has pursued stringent harmonised regulation in certain areas (banking), but not others (capital markets). We explain this in terms of how the demands of powerful economic interests are mediated by the political process and regulatory institutions. In banking, there was strong political pressure to restore financial stability, and regulatory institutions were significantly strengthened. This enabled UK regulators to resist industry lobbying and pursue more stringent harmonised rules at the international and European Union levels (“trading up”). In the case of capital markets, by contrast, UK regulators lacked political support for tougher regulation and were institutionally much weaker. As a result, the industry was far more effective in shaping UK preferences aimed at protecting the sector’s competitiveness (“trading down”).
Management of late presentation congenital heart disease
Authors: Iyer Parvathi U. , Moreno Guillermo E. , Fernando Caneo Luiz , Faiz Tahira , Shekerdemian Lara S. , Iyer Krishna S.
Published: December 2017

In many parts of the world, mostly low- and middle-income countries, timely diagnosis and repair of congenital heart diseases (CHDs) is not feasible for a variety of reasons. In these regions, economic growth has enabled the development of cardiac units that manage patients with CHD presenting later than would be ideal, often after the window for early stabilisation – transposition of the great arteries, coarctation of the aorta – or for lower-risk surgery in infancy – left-to-right shunts or cyanotic conditions. As a result, patients may have suffered organ dysfunction, manifest signs of pulmonary vascular disease, or the sequelae of profound cyanosis and polycythaemia. Late presentation poses unique clinical and ethical challenges in decision making regarding operability or surgical candidacy, surgical strategy, and perioperative intensive care management.
Fifty Years of Prefrontal Cortex Research: Impact on Assessment
Authors: Burgess Paul W. , Stuss Donald T.
Published: December 2017

Our knowledge of the functions of the prefrontal cortex, often called executive, supervisory, or control, has been transformed over the past 50 years. After operationally defining terms for clarification, we review the impact of advances in functional, structural, and theoretical levels of understanding upon neuropsychological assessment practice as a means of identifying 11 principles/challenges relating to assessment of executive function. Three of these were already known 50 years ago, and 8 have been confirmed or emerged since. Key themes over this period have been the emergence of the use of naturalistic tests to address issues of “ecological validity”; discovery of the complexity of the frontal lobe control system; invention of new tests for clinical use; development of key theoretical frameworks that address the issue of the role of prefrontal cortex systems in the organization of human cognition; the move toward considering brain systems rather than brain regions; the advent of functional neuroimaging, and its emerging integration into clinical practice. Despite these huge advances, however, practicing neuropsychologists are still desperately in need of new ways of measuring executive function. We discuss pathways by which this might happen, including decoupling the two levels of explanation (information processing; brain structure) and integrating very recent technological advances into the neuropsychologist’s toolbox. (JINS, 2017,23, 755–767)
Emotions Are Rising: The Growing Field of Affect Neuropsychology
Authors: McDonald Skye
Published: December 2017

Thirty years ago, the neuropsychology of emotion started to emerge as a mainstream topic. Careful examination of individual patients showed that emotion, like memory, language, and so on, could be differentially affected by brain disorders, especially in the right hemisphere. Since then, there has been accelerating interest in uncovering the neural architecture of emotion, and the major steps in this process of discovery over the past 3 decades are detailed in this review. In the 1990s, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans provided precise delineation of lesions in the amygdala, medial prefrontal cortex, insula and somatosensory cortex as underpinning emotion disorders. At the same time, functional MRI revealed activation that was bilateral and also lateralized according to task demands. In the 2000s, converging evidence suggested at least two routes to emotional responses: subcortical, automatic and autonomic responses and slower, cortical responses mediating cognitive processing. The discovery of mirror neurons in the 1990s reinvigorated older views that simulation was the means to recognize emotions and empathize with others. More recently, psychophysiological research, revisiting older Russian paradigms, has contributed new insights into how autonomic and other physiological indices contribute to decision making (the somatic marker theory), emotional simulation, and social cognition. Finally, this review considers the extent to which these seismic changes in understanding emotional processes in clinical disorders have been reflected in neuropsychological practice. (JINS, 2017,23, 719–731)
Brain-Based Biomarkers for the Treatment of Depression: Evolution of an Idea
Authors: Waters Allison C. , Mayberg Helen S.
Published: December 2017

An ambition of depression biomarker research is to augment psychometric and cognitive assessment of clinically relevant phenomena with neural measures. Although such applications have been slow to arrive, we observe a steady evolution of the idea and anticipate emerging technologies with some optimism. To highlight critical themes and innovations in depression biomarker research, we take as our point of reference a specific research narrative. We begin with an early model of frontal-limbic dysfunction, which represents a conceptual shift from localized pathology to understanding symptoms as an emergent property of distributed networks. Over the decades, this model accommodates perspectives from neurology, psychiatry, clinical, and cognitive neuroscience, and preserves past insight as more complex methods become available. We also track the expanding mission of brain biomarker research: from the development of diagnostic tools to treatment selection algorithms, measures of neurocognitive functioning and novel targets for neuromodulation. To conclude, we draw from this particular research narrative future directions for biomarker research. We emphasize integration of measurement modalities to describe dynamic change in domain-general networks, and we speculate that a brain-based framework for psychiatric problems may dissolve classical diagnostic and disciplinary boundaries. (JINS, 2017,23, 870–880)
Alzheimer’s Disease: Past, Present, and Future
Authors: Bondi Mark W. , Edmonds Emily C. , Salmon David P.
Published: December 2017

Although dementia has been described in ancient texts over many centuries (e.g., “Be kind to your father, even if his mind fail him.” – Old Testament: Sirach 3:12), our knowledge of its underlying causes is little more than a century old. Alzheimer published his now famous case study only 110 years ago, and our modern understanding of the disease that bears his name, and its neuropsychological consequences, really only began to accelerate in the 1980s. Since then we have witnessed an explosion of basic and translational research into the causes, characterizations, and possible treatments for Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and other dementias. We review this lineage of work beginning with Alzheimer’s own writings and drawings, then jump to the modern era beginning in the 1970s and early 1980s and provide a sampling of neuropsychological and other contextual work from each ensuing decade. During the 1980s our field began its foundational studies of profiling the neuropsychological deficits associated with AD and its differentiation from other dementias (e.g., cortical vs. subcortical dementias). The 1990s continued these efforts and began to identify the specific cognitive mechanisms affected by various neuropathologic substrates. The 2000s ushered in a focus on the study of prodromal stages of neurodegenerative disease before the full-blown dementia syndrome (i.e., mild cognitive impairment). The current decade has seen the rise of imaging and other biomarkers to characterize preclinical disease before the development of significant cognitive decline. Finally, we suggest future directions and predictions for dementia-related research and potential therapeutic interventions. (JINS, 2017, 23, 818–831)
Longitudinal Associations among Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Symptoms, Traumatic Brain Injury, and Neurocognitive Functioning in Army Soldiers Deployed to the Iraq War
Authors: Vasterling Jennifer J. , Aslan Mihaela , Lee Lewina O. , Proctor Susan P. , Ko John , Jacob Shawna , Concato John
Published: December 2017

Objectives: Military deployment is associated with increased risk of adverse emotional and cognitive outcomes. Longitudinal associations involving posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), relatively mild traumatic brain injury (TBI), and neurocognitive compromise are poorly understood, especially with regard to long-term outcomes, and rigorous research is necessary to better understand the corresponding relationships. The objective of this study was to examine short-term and long-term (>5 years) longitudinal associations among PTSD, neurocognitive performance, and TBI following military deployment. Methods: In this prospective study, N=315 U.S. Army soldiers were assessed at military installations before (2003–2005) and after (2004–2006) an index deployment to the Iraq War, and again an average of 7.6 years later (2010–2014) as a nationally dispersed cohort of active duty soldiers, reservists, and veterans. Thus, the study design allowed for two measurement intervals over which to examine changes. All assessments included the PTSD Checklist, civilian version, and individually-administered performance-based neurocognitive tests. TBI history was derived from clinical interview. Results: Autoregressive analyses indicated that visual reproduction scores were inversely related to subsequent PTSD symptom severity at subsequent assessments. Conversely, increases in PTSD symptom severity over each measurement interval were associated with poorer verbal and/or visual recall at the end of each interval, and less efficient reaction time at post-deployment. TBI, primarily mild in this sample, was associated with adverse PTSD symptom outcomes at both post-deployment and long-term follow-up. Conclusions: These results suggest longitudinal relationships among PTSD symptoms, TBI, and neurocognitive decrements may contribute to sustained emotional and neurocognitive symptoms over time. (JINS, 2018, 24, 311–323)
HIV-Associated Neurocognitive Disorders: A Global Perspective
Authors: Saloner Rowan , Cysique Lucette A.
Published: December 2017

The present review on HIV-associated neurocognitive disorders (HAND) provides a worldwide overview of studies that have investigated the rate and neuropsychological (NP) profile of HAND research since the inception of the 2007 HAND diagnostic nomenclature. In the first part, the review highlights some of the current controversies around HAND prevalence rates. In the second part, the review critically assesses some solutions to move the field forward. In the third part, we present the cross-sectional NP profile in non-Western HIV+ cohorts and in relation to Western cohorts’ findings. The adopted global perspective highlights the successful expansion of NP studies in HIV infection to culturally diverse low- to medium-income countries with high HIV burden. These studies have produced interestingly similar rates of HAND whether patients were naïve or treated and/or virally suppressed compared to the rich income countries where the NP research in NeuroHIV has originated. The perspective also demonstrates that globally, the group which is the most representative of the HIV epidemic, and thus at risk for HAND are persons with chronic HIV infection and survivors of past immunosuppression, while in relative terms, those who have been treated early with long-term viral suppression represent a minority. In the last part, we present a review of the naturalistic longitudinal NP global studies in HIV+cohorts, discuss the role of longitudinal design in solving issues around the question of asymptomatic neurocognitive impairment, and the question of biomarker discovery. Finally, we conclude by calling for greater methods and data harmonization at a global level. (JINS, 2017,23, 860–869)
The Closing-In Phenomenon in an Ecological Walking Task
Authors: De Lucia Natascia , Grossi Dario , Milan Graziella , Trojano Luigi
Published: December 2017

Objectives: Alzheimer’s disease (AD) patients may show the Closing-in (CI), a tendency to reproduce figures close to or superimposed on the model. AD patients with CI might manifest reduced functional independence compared to AD patients without CI, but no study directly assessed if CI can hamper common daily living activities. To address this issue here we investigated whether AD patients with CI veer their walking trajectory toward irrelevant objects more often than AD patients without CI. Methods: Fifty AD individuals, and 20 age- and education-matched healthy adults, underwent a graphic copying task to detect CI and a newly developed walking task to assess the tendency to veer toward irrelevant objects and to bump into them. All participants also completed a comprehensive neuropsychological battery to assess dementia severity; impairments in frontal/executive, visuo-spatial, visuo-constructional, and memory domains; and functional independence in daily living activities. Results: Graphic CI occurred in 34/50 (68%) AD patients (AD-CI group) who achieved significantly lower scores on frontal/executive abilities, and daily living functioning than AD individuals not showing CI. Most AD-CI patients (20/34; 58.8%) also showed at least one veering error in the walking task. Participants with CI and veering errors showed significantly poorer performance on Stroop test, and lower level of functional independence than AD individuals with CI in isolation. Conclusions: CI on graphic tasks can identify difficulties in walking and in complying with everyday activities in AD patients. These observations demonstrate the value of assessing CI in copying tasks. (JINS, 2018, 24, 437–444)
Exploring the association of urban or rural county status and environmental, nutrition- and lifestyle-related resources with the efficacy of SNAP-Ed (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program-Education) to improve food security
Authors: Rivera Rebecca L , Dunne Jennifer , Maulding Melissa K , Wang Qi , Savaiano Dennis A , Nickols-Richardson Sharon M , Eicher-Miller Heather A
Published: December 2017

Objective

To investigate the association of policy, systems and environmental factors with improvement in household food security among low-income Indiana households with children after a Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program-Education (SNAP-Ed) direct nutrition education intervention.

Design

Household food security scores measured by the eighteen-item US Household Food Security Survey Module in a longitudinal randomized and controlled SNAP-Ed intervention study conducted from August 2013 to April 2015 were the response variable. Metrics to quantify environmental factors including classification of urban or rural county status; the number of SNAP-authorized stores, food pantries and recreational facilities; average fair market housing rental price; and natural amenity rank were collected from government websites and data sets covering the years 2012–2016 and used as covariates in mixed multiple linear regression modelling.

Setting

Thirty-seven Indiana counties, USA, 2012–2016.

Subjects

SNAP-Ed eligible adults from households with children (n328).

Results

None of the environmental factors investigated were significantly associated with changes in household food security in this exploratory study.

Conclusions

SNAP-Ed improves food security regardless of urban or rural location or the environmental factors investigated. Expansion of SNAP-Ed in rural areas may support food access among the low-income population and reduce the prevalence of food insecurity in rural compared with urban areas. Further investigation into policy, systems and environmental factors of the Social Ecological Model are warranted to better understand their relationship with direct SNAP-Ed and their impact on diet-related behaviours and food security.
Melatonin Elicits Stimulatory Action on the Adrenal Gland of Soay Ram: Morphometrical, Immunohistochemical, and Ultrastructural Study
Authors: Mokhtar Doaa M. , Hussein Manal T. , Hassan Ahmed H. S.
Published: December 2017

Endogenous melatonin is a hormone secreted by pineal gland; it has several roles in metabolism, reproduction, and remarkable antioxidant properties. Studies on the melatonin effect on the adrenal glands which are important endocrine organs, controlling essential physiological functions, are still deficient. In this study, we attempted to investigate the effect of exogenous melatonin treatment on the adrenal cortex and medulla using several approaches. Adrenal glands of 15 Soay ram were examined to detect the effect of melatonin treatment. Our results revealed that the cells of adrenal cortex of the treated animals were separated by wide and numerous blood sinusoids and showed signs of increase steroidogenic activity, which are evidenced by functional hypertrophy with increase profiles of mitochondria, smooth endoplasmic reticulum, and lipid droplets. The most striking ultrastructural features in the medulla of the treated group were the engorgement of chromaffin cells with enlarged secretory granules enclosed within a significantly increased diameter of these cells. The cytoplasm of these cells showed numerous mitochondria, rough endoplasmic reticulum (rER), Golgi apparatus, lysosomes, and glycogen granules. Exocytosis of secretory granules to the lumen of blood vessels was evident in the treated group. Piecemeal degranulation mode of secretion was recorded after melatonin treatment. Chromaffin cells in the control group expressed moderate immunoreactivity to Synaptophysin and tyrosine hydroxylase, compared with intensified expression after melatonin treatment. The ganglion cells of the melatonin-treated group showed a significant increase in diameter with numerous rER. The most interesting feature in this study is the presence of small granule chromaffin cells (SGC) and telocytes (TCs) for the first time in the adrenal glands of sheep. Moreover, these SGC cells, Schwann cells, fibroblasts, and progenitor stem cells showed a stimulatory response. The TCs were small branched cells scattered in the adrenal glands around cortical cells, chromaffin cells, nerve fibers, and blood vessels. These cells increased significantly in number, length of their telopodes, and secretory activity after melatonin treatment. In addition, multiple profiles of unmyelinated nerve fibers were demonstrated in all treated specimens. These results indicated that melatonin treatment caused a stimulatory action on all cellular and neuronal elements of the adrenal gland. This study may act as a new direction for treatment of adrenal insufficiency.
Study of dosimetric indices and dose constraints to critical organs for head and neck tumours treated with inverse planned simultaneous integrated boost intensity-modulated radiotherapy
Authors: Atiq Atia , Atiq Maria , Iqbal Khalid , Shamsi Qurat-ul-ain , Ahmad Buzdar Saeed
Published: December 2017

Aim

This study aimed to investigate tolerance dose to organs at risk (OARs) as well as degree of conformity and homogeneity for head and neck cancer patients by using simultaneous integrated boost intensity-modulated radiotherapy technique (SIB IMRT).

Materials and methods

This study analysed 15 head and neck cancer patients receiving treatment using inverse planned SIB IMRT technique. Using a beam energy of 6 MV, two dose levels of 70 and 55·4 Gy were used to treat the tumour. Doses of 2 Gy in 35 fractions and 1·68 Gy in 33 fractions were simultaneously delivered for effective planning target volume (PTV1) and boost planning target volume (PTV2), respectively.

Results

Dose distribution in PTV and critical organs lies within tolerance dose guidelines protecting spinal cord, brain stem, optic chiasm, optic nerve, thus reducing the risk of damage to normal tissues. Minor deviation from tolerance limit was observed for parotid glands. This technique provided highly conformal and homogenous dose distribution as well as better sparing of OARs, hence verifying quality assurance results to be satisfactory.

Findings

SIB IMRT technique offers best solution for preserving organ function by keeping dose below tolerance level. Treatment of head and neck carcinoma using SIB IMRT is feasible, more efficient, and dose escalation is achieved in a single plan.
FROM ECLIPSE OF REASON TO THE AGE OF REASONS? HISTORICIZING HABERMAS AND THE FRANKFURT SCHOOL
Authors: SPECTER MATTHEW
Published: December 2017

Two new works historicize the human faculty of reason. The first, a biography of Jürgen Habermas, traces the evolution of his postmetaphysical theory of reason from its origins to its most recent iterations. The second offers a far broader genealogy of the concept of reason in modern thought, especially in Kant, Hegel, Marx, and the Frankfurt school. Both depict Habermas as one of the most important protagonists in contemporary philosophy, but offer differing accounts of his place in the history of the “Frankfurt school.” The two also contextualize Habermas very differently. While Müller-Doohm locates Habermas firmly within a postwar German, European, and to a lesser extent transatlantic frame, Jay opts for the longue durée of German Idealist thought and its critics from Kant to the first generation of the Frankfurt school. Both help us assess the merits of the procedural rationality that Habermas considers the only valid conception of reason available to us as moderns—Müller-Doohm by sketching its many facets and spheres of application, Jay by scrutinizing the arguments for and against Habermas's account of reason. As Jay puts it,

it is fair to say that a paradigm shift has occurred in our appreciation of the stakes involved in defending reason as a ground of critique against those who have reduced it to a tool in the service of some deeper purpose . . . put in a nutshell, it might be said—or at least plausibly hoped—that both the Enlightenment's Age of Reason and the Counter-Enlightenment's Age of Reason's Other have been left behind, and in their place is dawning a new Age of Reasons” (148, original emphasis).
The Coming of Age of the Court’s Jurisdiction in the Common Foreign and Security Policy
Authors: Butler Graham
Published: December 2017

EU external relations law – Court of Justice of the European Union – Common Foreign and Security Policy – Judicial actors – International courts – Jurisdiction – EU law – Primacy – Damages – Infringements – Direct actions – Preliminary references – the Opinion procedure – Staffing – Future scenarios
Comparative Constitutional Law – an Indispensable Tool for the Creation of Transnational Law
Authors: Bartole Sergio
Published: December 2017

The continuing importance of the study of comparative constitutional law – A European perspective – The Venice Commission and international monitoring of national constitutional systems – Authoritarian tendencies and the European Constitutional Heritage – Interpretation and application of constitutional provisions depends on the context – Comparative law as a common endeavour of judges, lawyers, and scholars