bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Plankton and Fisheries
Authors: Brander Keith
Published: October 2017

This chapter explores the dependence of fish on plankton and the relationship between plankton productivity and fisheries production. The dependence of fish production on plankton production is self-evident, since carbon fixation by photosynthetic phytoplankton forms the base of the marine food chain that leads to fish. Fisheries production is highest in areas of high plankton production, including upwelling areas (e.g. eastern boundary currents), fronts, and shelf seas with high nutrient supply. Marine mammals, seabirds, and fish that are capable of migrating over long distances often congregate to feed in these high productivity areas. However, it is generally not possible to infer fluctuations in annual fisheries yields from information on primary production, and even the average relationship for the nine areas together may be quite weak.
Sampling, Preservation and Counting of Samples I: Phytoplankton
Authors: Kraberg Alexandra , Metfies Katja , Stern Rowena
Published: October 2017

This chapter reviews phytoplankton sampling and analysis techniques, discussing them in light of their advantages and disadvantages. Different sampling methods have varying levels of precision and accuracy. This means that they affect the ways in which individual data sets can be interpreted, and methods therefore have to be kept consistent within time series to avoid creating artefacts. The discussions cover qualitative and semi-quantitative methods, quantitative methods, sample analysis, automated/semi-automated systems, and molecular methodologies. None of the methods are universally applicable but depend on the right set of tools and the scientific and financial context in which they are used. Molecular techniques hold great promise particularly for taxa that cannot be identified by routine microscopical techniques.
Phytoplankton: Dinoflagellates
Authors: Kraberg Alexandra , Stern Rowena
Published: October 2017

This chapter describes the taxonomy of dinoflagellates. Dinoflagellates occur in marine, brackish, and freshwater habitats, although they are most diverse in the marine environment. About 90% are planktonic and responsible for a large proportion of primary productivity. Their evolutionary history and ability to acquire genes horizontally from unrelated organisms make dinoflagellates a functionally diverse and ecologically important group. The chapter begins with a general description of dinoflagellates. It then discusses their life cycle, ecology and distribution, harmful species, and systematic placement within the tree of life, as well as the key marine representative. It also provides information on the taxonomic authorities responsible for the classification adopted and recent changes which might have occurred, and it lists relevant taxonomic sources.
Protozooplankton: Ciliates
Authors: Kraberg Alex , Stern Rowena , Strüder-Kypke Michaela
Published: October 2017

This chapter describes the taxonomy of ciliates. Ciliates can be found in almost every environment; the majority of species, however, are aquatic and occur in marine, brackish, and freshwater habitats. They play a major role in nutrient cycling in the food web; some are also capable of photosynthesis through acquisition of chloroplasts from their prey. The chapter covers their life cycle, generalized morphology, and ecology and distribution. It includes a section that indicates the systematic placement of the taxon described within the tree of life, and lists the key marine representative illustrated in the chapter (usually to genus or family level). This section also provides information on the taxonomic authorities responsible for the classification adopted, recent changes which might have occurred, and lists relevant taxonomic sources.
Protozooplankton: Foraminifera
Authors: Stern Rowena , Taylor Claire , Sadri Saeed
Published: October 2017

This chapter describes the taxonomy of foraminifera. Foraminifera are one of the most common shelled marine organisms and date back to the Cambrian era where they are responsible for the colour of the sediment on some shorelines. The chapter covers their life cycle, ecology and distribution, and generalized morphology. It includes a section that indicates the systematic placement of the taxon described within the tree of life, and lists the key marine representative illustrated in the chapter (usually to genus or family level). This section also provides information on the taxonomic authorities responsible for the classification adopted, recent changes which might have occurred, and lists relevant taxonomic sources.
Crustacea: Stomatopoda
Authors: Castellani Claudia , Buckland Clare , Lindley Alistair J. , Conway David V.P. , dos Santos Antonina
Published: October 2017

This chapter describes the taxonomy of Stomatopoda. Stomatopods, also known as mantis shrimps, because of their resemblance to a praying mantis, are a small order of marine malacostracan crustaceans related to shrimps, crabs, and lobsters. There are around 450 extant stomatopod species in the world and the majority of them live in tropical and sub-tropical regions, although a few species occur in temperate and boreal waters. The chapter covers their life cycle, ecology, and general morphology. It includes a section that indicates the systematic placement of the taxon described within the tree of life, and lists the key marine representative illustrated in the chapter (usually to genus or family level). This section also provides information on the taxonomic authorities responsible for the classification adopted, recent changes which might have occurred, and lists relevant taxonomic sources.
Anellida: Holoplanktonic Polychaeta
Authors: Castellani Claudia , Camp Robert
Published: October 2017

This chapter describes the taxonomy of Polychaeta, an almost exclusively marine group of organisms belonging to the phylum Annelida. With over 10,000 species described worldwide, they represent one of the most abundant animal taxa in the marine environment. The chapter covers their life cycle, ecology, and general morphology. It includes a section that indicates the systematic placement of the taxon described within the tree of life, and lists the key marine representative illustrated in the chapter (usually to genus or family level). This section also provides information on the taxonomic authorities responsible for the classification adopted, recent changes which might have occurred, and lists relevant taxonomic sources.
Chaetognatha
Authors: Pierrot-Bults Annelies
Published: October 2017

This chapter describes the taxonomy of Chaetognatha, a small phylum of exclusively marine organisms with approximately 150 species currently recognized, of which about 70 are pelagic. Chaetognatha are also known as arrow worms because of their shape and quick darting movements in the water. The chapter covers their life cycle, ecology, and general morphology. It includes a section that indicates the systematic placement of the taxon described within the tree of life, and lists the key marine representative illustrated in the chapter (usually to genus or family level). This section also provides information on the taxonomic authorities responsible for the classification adopted, recent changes which might have occurred, and lists relevant taxonomic sources.
Brachiopoda
Authors: Fuchs Judith , Altenburger Andreas
Published: October 2017

This chapter describes the taxonomy of Brachiopoda, a phylum of exclusively marine, sessile, filter-feeding invertebrates. Brachiopods are meroplanktonik with a biphasic life cycle including planktonic larvae and sessile benthic adults. The chapter covers their life cycle, ecology, and general morphology. It includes a section that indicates the systematic placement of the taxon described within the tree of life, and lists the key marine representative illustrated in the chapter (usually to genus or family level). This section also provides information on the taxonomic authorities responsible for the classification adopted, recent changes which might have occurred, and lists relevant taxonomic sources.
Phoronida
Authors: Fuchs Judith
Published: October 2017

This chapter describes the taxonomy of Phoronida, a small group of exclusively marine invertebrates found in most of the world's oceans from the intertidal zone to about 400 metres depth. Phoronids are meroplanktonic with a planktonic larval stage usually less than 2 mm in length and a benthic adult whose length ranges from a few cm up to 50 cm. The chapter covers their life cycle, ecology, and general morphology. It includes a section that indicates the systematic placement of the taxon described within the tree of life, and lists the key marine representative illustrated in the chapter (usually to genus or family level). This section also provides information on the taxonomic authorities responsible for the classification adopted, recent changes which might have occurred, and lists relevant taxonomic sources.
4.2 ka BP Megadrought and the Akkadian Collapse
Authors: Weiss Harvey
Published: October 2017

The Akkadians, of southern Mesopotamia, created the first empire ca. 2300 BC with the conquest and imperialization of southern irrigation agriculture and northern Mesopotamian dry-farming landscapes. The Akkadian Empire conquered and controlled a territory of roughly 30,000 square kilometers and, importantly, its wealth in labor and cereal crop-yields. The Empire maintained a standing army, weaponry, and a hierarchy of administrators, scribes, surveyors, craft specialists, and transport personnel, sustainable and profitable for about one hundred years. Archaeological excavations indicate the empire was still in the process of expansion when the 2200 BC–1900 BC/4.2–3.9 ka BP global abrupt climate change deflected or weakened the Mediterranean westerlies and the Indian Monsoon and generated synchronous megadrought across the Mediterranean, west Asia, the Indus, and northeast Africa. Dry-farming agriculture domains and their productivity across west Asia were reduced severely, forcing adaptive societal collapses, regional abandonments, habitat-tracking, nomadization, and the collapse of the Akkadian Empire. These adaptive processes extended across the hydrographically varied landscapes of west Asia and thereby provided demographic and societal resilience in the face of the megadrought’s abruptness, magnitude, and duration.
A Typology of the Evaluation of Qualitative Research
Authors: Cho Jeasik
Published: October 2017

This chapter explores five specific categories of the evaluation of qualitative research (EQR): (1) a general EQR category for a universal set of criteria for any type of qualitative research; (2) a “subtle realist” category that does not necessarily give up on positivist aims while drawing on the insights of constructivist conceptions of social research; (3) a post-criteriology category that views as an impossibility setting up predetermined criteria for qualitative research that uncovers complex meaning-making processes; (4) an art-based research category that consists of six criteria—incisiveness, concision, coherence, generativity, social significance, and evocation and illumination—that serve as a cue for perception that assists audiences in making a better evaluation of an art product; and (5) a post-validity category seeking out openly ideological evaluation criteria. The author’s holistic view of EQR, underpinning a beehive metaphor, is presented as neither unitary nor paradigm-idiosyncratic.
Getting out of the Field
Authors: Cho Jeasik
Published: October 2017

This chapter provides a review of the book, which explores how to conceptually understand and practically evaluate the quality of qualitative research. Despite the fact that there are few scholarly pieces regarding qualitative research, the depth and creativity that the pioneering researchers have demonstrated are profound, and the extent to which they cover not only the broad quality of qualitative research but also most of the specific qualities expected by many different kinds of qualitative research is incredible. This chapter summarizes the major topics of this book. Final remarks on this exciting, creative, but difficult topic are preceded by the following summary: Fortunately, There are commonly agreed, bold standards for evaluating the goodness of qualitative research in the academic research community. These standards are a part of what is generally called “scientific research.”
Introduction
Authors: Harris Andrea
Published: October 2017

The introduction presents the core historiographical problem that Making BalletAmerican aims to correct: the idea that George Balanchine’s neoclassical choreography represents the first successful manifestation of an “American” ballet. While this idea is pervasive in dance history, little scholarly attention has been paid to its construction. The introduction brings to light an alternative, more complex historical context for American neoclassical ballet than has been previously considered. It places Lincoln Kirstein’s 1933 trip to Paris, famous for bringing Balanchine to the United States, within a transnational and interdisciplinary backdrop of modernism, during a time when the global art world was shifting significantly in response to the international rise of fascism. This context reverberates throughout to the book’s examination of American ballet as a form that was embedded in and responsive to a changing set of social, cultural, and political conditions over the period covered, 1933–1963.
Making Ballet 1
Authors: Harris Andrea
Published: October 2017

Making Ballet 1 provides a choreographic analysis of the ballet Billy the Kid, produced by Ballet Caravan in 1938 with choreography by Eugene Loring, music by Aaron Copland, design by Jared French, and libretto by Lincoln Kirstein. This analysis challenges previous readings of the ballet as patriotic or conservative Americana. Instead, it places Billy the Kid within the internationalism and antifascism of the cultural wing of the Popular Front, in which its creative team was deeply enmeshed. Given those origins, the ballet exemplifies the cultural front’s initiative to critique the nation’s past and re-imagine its future. Drawing on archival sources and movement analysis, this interchapter argues that Billy the Kid was an attempt to infuse American ballet with international modernist theories of how to intensify the social relevance of the theatre.
Making Ballet 2
Authors: Harris Andrea
Published: October 2017

Making Ballet 2 provides a choreographic analysis of the ballet Rodeo, produced by Sergei J. Denham’s Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo in 1942 with choreography and libretto by Agnes de Mille, music by Aaron Copland, and design by Oliver Smith. Drawing on archival sources and movement analysis, it argues that Rodeo narrates a jubilant portrayal of the resolution of social dissatisfactions into a unified nation during wartime. At the same time, however, new archival information is mobilized to argue that embedded in Rodeo’s production history is a political silencing of the socially conscious aesthetic of the 1930s. This phenomenon has not been acknowledged previously in scholarship on Rodeo. This interchapter contributes a more complicated understanding of this iconic American ballet that takes into account the deeper conflicts created by pressures of wartime unity and consensus, particularly for women, that lie beneath its lighthearted, comic surface.
Edwin Denby’s Objectivist Modernism and the New York School
Authors: Harris Andrea
Published: October 2017

Whereas chapter 2 examines the emergence of a social modernist theory of ballet in the 1930s, chapter 3 illustrates a new ballet modernism arising in the 1940s through the contributions of Edwin Denby. Denby’s primary innovation to American ballet theory was to reassign dance meaning from social or political themes to the intrinsic properties of the movement itself. This chapter takes a biographical approach to Denby’s criticism to situate this theoretical shift in ballet within the interdisciplinary New York School, in which he was extensively involved, and in which similar challenges to the relation of art and politics were being made by painters, photographers, and composers. This chapter demonstrates that Denby was the architect of a new objectivist theory of dance, which relocates the emergence of objectivism to a much earlier point in dance history, and in a different genre, than previously acknowledged. More than any other critic, Denby was responsible for connecting this objectivist theory of dance to Balanchine’s American neoclassicism, formulating the set of aesthetic principles that still shapes our idea of American ballet to date.
Making Ballet 3
Authors: Harris Andrea
Published: October 2017

Making Ballet 3 provides a choreographic analysis of the ballet Western Symphony, produced by the New York City Ballet in 1954 with choreography by George Balanchine, music by Hershy Kay, scenery by John Boyt, and costumes by Karinska. It brings to light the multitude of intertextual allusions that occur throughout the ballet, playfully intermingling references of “America” with an entire lineage of nineteenth-century European classicism. Although Western Symphony has no story line, it crafts a deliberate message: a long, transatlantic genealogy of Western classicism that, in the twentieth century, has come to rest in America. Drawing on archival sources and movement analysis, this interchapter argues that Western Symphony incorporates parody to present a revisionist ballet history in which the high cultural lineages of Europe and America are intimately entwined. Ultimately, this message reinforced the Atlanticist politics of private and state anticommunist groups in the cultural Cold War, the historical setting for its production and performance.
Conclusion
Authors: Harris Andrea
Published: October 2017

The Conclusion briefly examines the current state of the New York City Ballet under the auspices of industrial billionaire David H. Koch at Lincoln Center. In so doing, it to introduces a series of questions, warranting still more exploration, about the rapid and profound evolution of the structure, funding, and role of the arts in America through the course of the twentieth century. It revisits the historiographical problem that drives Making Ballet American: the narrative that George Balanchine was the sole creative genius who finally created an “American” ballet. In contrast to that hagiography, the Conclusion reiterates the book’s major contribution: illuminating the historical construction of our received idea of American neoclassical ballet within a specific set of social, political, and cultural circumstances. The Conclusion stresses that the history of American neoclassicism must be seen as a complex narrative involving several authors and discourses and crossing national and disciplinary borders: a history in which Balanchine was not the driving force, but rather the outcome.
Introduction
Authors: Kenney Padraic
Published: October 2017

This chapter introduces the political prisoner and the cases explored in the book, presenting the idea of political incarceration as a “dance in chains.” It also introduces problems of trust and uncertainty as essential to understanding the political prisoner experience. It briefly outlines the book: Chapter 1 argues that political prisoners appear in the second half of the nineteenth century. Chapter 2 explores the mechanisms of control that a political regime exerts on political prisoners. Chapter 3 examines the question of who is a political prisoner. Chapter 4 considers how prisoners interact with the movements that claim to represent them and how communication works across a supposedly impenetrable boundary. Chapter 5 examines the role of international movements of prisoner aid. The last four chapters investigate how political prisoner communities produce new political realities as they organize and protest the rules of the prison and the politics of the regime.
“But I Have No Wish to Be Discharged”
Authors: Kenney Padraic
Published: October 2017

Political imprisonment originated in the mid-nineteenth century, as European states turned away from the use of exile (to places such as Australia or Siberia) and increasingly placed opponents in state prisons for lengthy periods. At the same time, opposition movements became more organized around coherent ideologies and developed the capability of celebrating and publicizing their imprisoned comrades. This era would see the first concentration camps, the first genocides, and the first civilian refugees. It is not surprising that political prisoners would take their place on stage at the same time. The Fenian movement in Ireland, the socialists in the Russian Empire (especially in Poland), the British suffragettes, and Gandhi’s satyagraha resisters in British South Africa are the primary examples used.
Night and Fog
Authors: Kenney Padraic
Published: October 2017

What do states do with the opponents they have imprisoned? This chapter explores the treatment of prisoners as a way to understand political incarceration. For political prisoners, arbitrary and uncertain rules replace rights in the twentieth century. Prisoners see rules as capricious, but the capriciousness undermines prisoners’ sense of themselves and of their fate. Prison denies ordinary sensations and strips prisoners of their identity, even of their humanity. It instills uncertainty through the use of informers, purposeless labor, and torture. Examples in the chapter include Nazi Germany, Poland in the 1930s and in the Stalinist era, British Northern Ireland during the Troubles, and apartheid South Africa.
“Why Wouldn’t I Laugh, When I Win Either Way?”
Authors: Kenney Padraic
Published: October 2017

Through examination of five major hunger strikes in Poland, Ireland, Northern Ireland, and South Africa, this chapter considers the potential and the limits of this form of collective action. The hunger strike attracts more attention than any other form of prisoner protest because its outcome is so uncertain. Prisoners usually declare or imply their readiness to die, yet the protest is sufficiently protracted that they can negotiate with the administration. Even so, the hunger strike involves terrible self-denial. The regime can only guess whether the prisoners’ inner resolve matches their outward defiance, and how they might respond to repression or concession. Strike participants face challenges as well in maintaining unity and clarity in the face of physical and mental hardship. Strikes considered include those by Irish Republicans in 1917–1920 and in 1923, in South Africa in 1966, and in Poland.
“This Purgatory Is Useful”
Authors: Kenney Padraic
Published: October 2017

Prisoners and their supporters often refer to the experience as a “prison university.” Time in prison among people of the same movement gave prisoners the opportunity to learn and to develop politically. Prisoners who might never have met outside grew together as they studied and shared knowledge. Disparities of knowledge and political experience made communal education possible. Everything from mathematics to foreign languages to the basics of ideology brought prisoners together in a common activity. Prisoners on Robben Island used the management of sports to hone their administrative abilities. IRA men in Long Kesh developed new approaches to the fight against British rule in Northern Ireland.
Electronic Works (1957–58)
Authors: Levy Benjamin R.
Published: October 2017

This chapter examines the compositional processes used in Ligeti’s three electronic pieces. After his flight from Hungary during the 1956 revolution and his arrival in Cologne in 1957, Ligeti began to work at the electronic music studio of the Westdeutscher Rundfunk. There he met luminaries of the Western European avant-garde including Karlheinz Stockhausen, Gottfried Michael Koenig, and Mauricio Kagel. Immersing himself in the experimental techniques that they expounded, he produced two finished works for tape, Glissandi and Artikulation. In between time spent on these he started another, now called Pièce électronique no. 3 but originally conceived under the title Atmosphères. These works show a remarkable assimilation of ideas from Stockhausen but also reveal diverging aesthetic goals that anticipate Ligeti’s future direction.
Apparitions and Atmosphères (1958–61)
Authors: Levy Benjamin R.
Published: October 2017

This chapter examines Ligeti’s breakthrough orchestral works Apparitions and Atmosphères. These successful compositions translate some of the ideas developed in the electronic music studio into orchestral writing, in particular, techniques for organizing rhythm and for handling sound masses to create a static surface with a sense of internal motion. In interviews Ligeti claimed to have attempted to move in this direction while still in Hungary with the unfinished pieces Víziók and Sötét és Világos. A comparison of the extant sketches for these works shows the degree to which his experiences in the electronic studio resulted in a refinement of compositional technique, nuanced textures, and original orchestration.
Fluxus and the Absurd (1961–62)
Authors: Levy Benjamin R.
Published: October 2017

After John Cage’s 1958 Darmstadt lectures, many European composers developed an interest in absurdity and artistic provocation. Although Ligeti’s fascination with Cage and his association with the Fluxus group was brief, the impact it had on his composition was palpable and lasting. A set of conceptual works, The Future of Music, Trois Bagatelles, and Poème symphonique for one hundred metronomes, fall clearly into the Fluxus model, even as the last has taken on a second life as a serious work. This spirit, however, can also be seen in the self-satire of Fragment and the drama and irony of Volumina, Aventures, and Nouvelles Aventures. The sketches for Aventures not only show the composer channeling this humor into a major work but also prove to be a fascinating repository of ideas that Ligeti would reuse in the years to come.
Introduction
Authors: Clarke Andrew
Published: October 2017

This introduces the subject, laying out the organisation of the book and emphasising the importance of both simple underlying physical mechanisms and evolutionary variability to thermal ecology. It distinguishes physical mechanism from statistical description, and the importance of evolutionary processes in comparisons across species.
Temperature and its measurement
Authors: Clarke Andrew
Published: October 2017

Temperature is that property of a body which determines whether it gains or loses energy in a particular environment. In classical thermodynamics temperature is defined by the relationship between energy and entropy. Temperature can be defined only for a body that is in thermodynamic and thermal equilibrium; whilst organisms do not conform to these criteria, the errors in assuming that they do are generally small. The Celsius and Fahrenheit temperature scales are arbitrary because they require two fixed points, one to define the zero and the other to set the scale. The thermodynamic (absolute) scale of temperature has a natural zero (absolute zero) and is defined by the triple point of water. Its unit of temperature is the Kelvin. The Celsius scale is convenient for much ecological and physiological work, but where temperature is included in statistical or deterministic models, only thermodynamic temperature should be used. Past temperatures can only be reconstructed with the use of proxies, the most important of which are based on isotope fractionation.
Temperature and reaction rate
Authors: Clarke Andrew
Published: October 2017

All other things being equal, physiological reaction rate increases roughly exponentially with temperature. Organisms that have adapted over evolutionary time to live at different temperatures can have enzyme variants that exhibit similar kinetics at the temperatures to which they have adapted to operate. Within species whose distribution covers a range of temperatures, there may be differential expression of enzyme variants with different kinetics across the distribution. Enzymes adapted to different optimum temperatures differ in their amino acid sequence and thermal stability. The Gibbs energy of activation tends to be slightly lower in enzyme variants adapted to lower temperatures, but the big change is a decrease in the enthalpy of activation, with a corresponding change in the entropy of activation, both associated with a more open, flexible structure. Despite evolutionary adjustments to individual enzymes involved in intermediary metabolism (ATP regeneration), many whole-organism processes operate faster in tropical ectotherms compared with temperate or polar ectotherms. Examples include locomotion (muscle power output), ATP regeneration (mitochondrial function), nervous conduction and growth.
Metabolism
Authors: Clarke Andrew
Published: October 2017

Metabolism is driven by redox reactions, in which part of the difference in potential energy between the electron donor and acceptor is used by the organism for its life processes (with the remainder being dissipated as heat). The key process is intermediary metabolism, by which the energy stored in reserves (glycogen, starch, lipid, protein) is transferred to ATP. In aerobic respiration the electrons released from reserves are passed to oxygen, which is thereby reduced to water. Not all ATP regeneration involves oxygen as the final electron acceptor, and not all oxygen is used for ATP regeneration, but oxygen consumption is often the simplest and most practical way to measure the rate of intermediary metabolism and the errors in doing so are believed to be small. The costs of existence, as estimated by resting metabolism, represent only a part (~ 25%) of the daily energy expenditure of organisms. The costs of the organism’s ecology (growth, reproduction, movement and so on) are additional to existence costs. Resting metabolic rate increases with cell temperature, indicating that it costs more energy to maintain a warm cell than it does a cool or cold cell. The temperature sensitivity of resting metabolism is highly conserved across organisms.
Temperature regulation
Authors: Clarke Andrew
Published: October 2017

For many organisms there is a fitness advantage to being warm. Many organisms use behavioural thermoregulation to maintain a high body temperature during the day, basking in the sun to warm up and retreating to the shade to avoid overheating. This option is not open to most aquatic organisms, or those living in soil or sediment. It is also generally not possible for small or nocturnal organisms. A small number of active predatory fish utilise a counter-current heat exchanger (rete mirabile) to retain metabolic heat and warm their muscles, brain or eyes. A few have modified optical muscles as heater organs, and a range of plants generate heat to aid dispersal of scent and attract pollinators. A wide range of larger insects use rapid but unsynchronised muscle contraction to elevate their body temperature prior to flight, or other activity. In hot climates organisms may need to dissipate heat to avoid overheating. The major behavioural mechanism is shade-seeking, or for small organisms stilting or climbing onto objects such as plants to move out of the hottest air net to the ground. Larger mammals may tolerate a limited degree of warming during the day, releasing this in the cool of the night. Evaporative cooling is very effective at losing heat, but because it loses valuable water it can only be used sparingly in arid areas.
Endothermy
Authors: Clarke Andrew
Published: October 2017

Endothermy is the maintenance of a high and relatively constant internal body temperature, where the principal source of heat is a high metabolic rate at rest. The main sources of this heat are the visceral organs (especially the liver, spleen and gut), which tend to be larger and with greater metabolic capacity than in ectotherms. An important contribution also comes from heat produced by muscular activity during routine daily activity. Among living animals, only mammals and birds are true endotherms. Body temperatures are generally higher in bird than in mammals, and in both groups mean body temperature varies with lineage, environmental temperature and diet. Within the thermoneutral zone (TNZ) endotherms regulate their body temperature by controlling the loss of sensible heat. Below the TNZ, endotherms generate extra heat by uprating the metabolic rate of viscera, shivering, increased activity and in some mammals, switching on a specialised heat generating tissue (brown adipose tissue, BAT). Above the TNZ, endotherms lose heat by evaporation of water. Endotherms vary their insulation seasonally and depending on climate. Endothermy evolved independently in mammals and birds, but the precise timing of its evolution is not clear in either lineage.
Torpor and hibernation
Authors: Clarke Andrew
Published: October 2017

A diurnal (circadian) rhythm in body temperature is a widespread, and possibly universal, feature of endotherms. Some mammals and birds down-regulate their metabolic rate significantly by night, allowing their body temperature to drop sufficiently that they become inactive and enter torpor. Both the minimum temperature achieved and the duration of torpor are highly variable. Daily torpor is principally a response to reduced energy intake, and a drop in ambient temperature. Hibernation is essentially an extreme form of torpor. Small mammals hibernating at high latitudes have regular arousals during which they urinate and may feed. Bears hibernate with relatively high body temperature, and do not undergo arousal. Only one bird, the poorwill, is known to hibernate. Rewarming during arousal may be fuelled exclusively by metabolism (for example in small mammals in the Arctic) or with significant energy input from basking (for example in subtropical arid areas). The capacity for torpor appears to be an ancestral character in both mammals and birds, possibly related to the origin of endothermy in small species subject to marked diurnal and/or seasonal variation in body temperature. Both deep hibernation and strict endothermy are probably derived characteristics.
Global temperature and life
Authors: Clarke Andrew
Published: October 2017

The extreme meteorological surface air temperatures recorded to date are –89.2 oC in Antarctica, and 56.7 oC in Death Valley, California. Ground temperatures can be higher or lower than these air temperatures. The bulk of oceanic water is cold (< 4 oC) and thermally stable. Whilst data on limits to survival attract considerable attention, the thermal limits to completion of the life cycle (which define the limits to life) are much less well known. Currently identified upper thermal limits for growth are 122 oC for archaeans, 100 oC for bacteria and ~60 oC for unicellular eukaryotes. No unicells appear to grow below –20 oC, a limit that is probably set by dehydration-linked vitrification of the cell interior. The lower thermal limits for survival in multicellular organisms in the natural world extend to at least –70 oC. However in all cases known to date, completion of the life cycle requires summer warmth and the lowest temperature for completion of a multicellular eukaryote life cycle appears to be ~0 oC for invertebrates in glacial meltwater and ~–2 oC for marine invertebrates and fish living on the continental shelves around Antarctica.
Justifiable Risking
Authors: Oberdiek John
Published: October 2017

Specifying the content of the right against risking falls to an ancillary moral theory, and Chapter 5 takes up the challenge of defending a non-consequentialist approach to justifiably risking that can account for well-settled intuitions about the permissibility of our practices of imposing risk. Rejecting the inevitability of characterizing the permissibility of modernity’s prosaic risks in consequentialist terms, this chapter defends a contractualist account of justifiable risking that turns not on interpersonal aggregation, wherein moral risks imposed on some are justified by virtue of benefitting many more others, but rather on intrapersonal aggregation, wherein permissible risks are permissible because they can be justfied to everyone affected by them as individuals.
A Quantitative Analysis of Microcirculation in Skin Defects Covered with Topical Wound Dressings or a Newly Developed Collagen Matrix
Authors: Held Manuel , Medved Fabian , Petersen Wiebke , Tolzmann Dascha Sophie , Rahmanian-Schwarz Afshin , Schaller Hans-Eberhard , Rothenberger Jens
Published: October 2017

OBJECTIVE:

Innovative skin substitutes and temporary wound dressings are frequently used in the treatment of superficial and partial-thickness wounds. The aim of this study was to compare 2 commonly used temporary skin dressings with a newly developed collagen matrix to determine changes in microcirculation as measured by blood flow, hemoglobin oxygenation, and relative hemoglobin values during healing of partial-thickness skin defects.

METHODS:

This animal study involved 28 adult male Lewis rats. On the back of each rat, 2 standardized partial-thickness skin defects were generated through a skin dermatome (n = 56). Then, wounds were treated with polylactide-based copolymer skin substitute (Suprathel, PolyMedics, Denkendorf, Germany; n = 14), biosynthetic skin dressing (Biobrane, Smith & Nephew, Hamburg, Germany; n = 14), or Collagen Cell Carrier (CCC; Naturin Viscofan, Weinheim, Germany; n = 14). The remaining control wounds were left untreated (n = 14).

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES:

Perfusion dynamics were assessed every 10 days for 80 days with the O2C device (LEA Medizintechnik, Gieβen, Germany) to determine blood flow, hemoglobin oxygenation, and relative amount of hemoglobin.

MAIN RESULTS:

Blood flow was increased in all wounds for at least 30 days after wound generation. The relative amounts of hemoglobin were increased in superficial layers (2 mm) for 10 to 20 days. Hemoglobin oxygenation in the superficial layers decreased in the polylactide-based copolymer skin substitute and biosynthetic skin dressing–treated groups and initially increased in the untreated wounds and CCC groups on day 10; these values also decreased.

CONCLUSIONS:

The presented results demonstrate the complex changes in microcirculation in the course of healing partial-thickness wounds with different wound dressings and contribute to a better understanding of these wounds. However, based on the results of the study, a clear recommendation for a specific substitute is not yet possible.
Oxidized Regenerated Cellulose/Collagen Dressings: Review of Evidence and Recommendations
Authors: Wu Stephanie , Applewhite Andrew J. , Niezgoda Jeffrey , Snyder Robert , Shah Jayesh , Cullen Breda , Schultz Gregory , Harrison Janis , Hill Rosemary , Howell Melania , Speyrer Marcus , Utra Howard , de Leon Jean , Lee Wayne , Treadwell Terry
Published: October 2017

OBJECTIVE:

Healthcare systems are being challenged to manage increasing numbers of nonhealing wounds. Wound dressings are one of the first lines of defense in wound management, and numerous options exist. The oxidized regenerated cellulose (ORC)/collagen dressing may offer healthcare providers a robust and cost-effective tool for use in a variety of wounds.

DESIGN:

A multidisciplinary panel meeting was convened to discuss the use of ORC/collagen dressings in wound care and provide practice recommendations. A literature search was conducted to provide a brief review of the peer-reviewed studies published between January 2000 and March 2016 to inform the meeting.

SETTING:

A 2-day panel meeting convened in February 2017.

PARTICIPANTS:

Healthcare providers with experience using ORC/collagen dressings. This multidisciplinary panel of 15 experts in wound healing included podiatrists, wound care specialists (doctors, certified wound care nurses, and research scientists), and an orthopedist.

RESULTS:

The literature search identified 58 articles, a majority of which were low levels of evidence (69.3% were level 3 or lower). Panel members identified wound types, such as abrasions, burns, stalled wounds, diabetic foot ulcers, and pressure injuries, where ORC/collagen dressing use could be beneficial. Panel members then provided recommendations and technical pearls for the use of ORC/collagen dressings in practice. Barriers to ORC/collagen dressing use were discussed, and potential resolutions were offered.

CONCLUSIONS:

An ORC/collagen dressing can be a critical tool for clinicians to help manage a variety of wounds. Clinical and economic studies comparing standard-of-care dressings and plain collagen dressings to ORC/collagen dressings are needed.
Pharmacomechanical Thrombolysis for Deep Vein Thrombosis in May-Thurner Syndrome
Authors: Roy Mayank , Sasson Morris , Rosales-Velderrain Armando , Moon Savannah , Grove Mark , King Terry
Published: October 2017

Objective

Patients with May-Thurner syndrome presenting with acute deep vein thrombosis benefit from early lysis of clot and endovascular treatment. We evaluated the outcome of patients with May-Thurner syndrome who presented with deep vein thrombosis, managed with pharmacomechanical thrombolysis as the primary mode of intervention, in combination with angioplasty and stent placement.

Methods

We reviewed all patients with May-Thurner syndrome managed in our institution between January 2009 to December 2015. Patency rate and postthrombotic syndrome were evaluated as primary end points.

Results

A total of seven patients (6 females, 1 male) with a mean ± SD age of 48 ± 17 years and mean ± SD body mass index of 29.64 ± 7.25 kg/m2 were identified. Six patients presented with acute deep vein thrombosis and one presented with chronic venous insufficiency. Five patients underwent pharmacomechanical thrombolysis (TRELLIS and altepase) with concomitant stenting of the common iliac vein, one had only angioplasty with stent placement, and one had only pharmacomechanical thrombolysis. Median time from presentation to pharmacomechanical thrombolysis was 4 days (range = 1–9). Patency rate and postthrombotic syndrome at 12 months were 100% and 0%, respectively. No patient experienced major bleeding or pulmonary embolism. The median length of stay was 3 days (range = 0–4). There was no mortality associated with the procedure. The mean ± SD follow-up was 26 ± 15 months.

Conclusions

In patients with May-Thurner syndrome, pharmacomechanical thrombolysis is an effective approach for the management of acute deep vein thrombosis, decreasing thrombus burden, and long-term postthrombotic syndrome when used in conjunction with stenting.
The uncertainty of old aliquots of cell lines: e-CAS or m-CAS?
Authors: Evans Elizabeth , Paillot Romain , López-Álvarez María Rocío
Published: October 2017

The 3Rs principles (Replacement, Reduction and Refinement) are focused on finding alternatives to the use of animals in research. In this regard, cell lines are popular and useful tools for the replacement of primary cells in in vitro studies. However, around 15-30% of cell lines used in research have been misidentified or cross-contaminated generating concerns about the results obtained from experiments that use them. Here we described how old aliquots of an equine macrophage cell line (e-CAS) stored at the Animal Health Trust did not contain equine cells but macrophages of murine origin (m-CAS).
Designing oil palm landscapes to retain biodiversity using insights from a key ecological indicator group
Authors: Gray Claudia L. , Slade Eleanor M. , Mann Darren J. , Lewis Owen T.
Published: October 2017

Oil palm expansion threatens biodiverse ecosystems across the tropics. However, palm oil is a widely used and profitable crop, so identifying strategies that mitigate the impact of oil palm expansion on biodiversity is important. Riparian reserves (strips of forest along rivers) are protected in many countries for hydrological reasons and also support species that would not otherwise persist in oil palm. However, management guidelines for riparian zones have been informed by relatively few ecological studies. We assessed how the structural features and landscape context of riparian reserves in Sabah, Malaysia affected dung beetle communities. We also tested the use of flight intercept traps to study movement of dung beetles along linear forest corridors. Overall, dung beetle abundance in riparian reserves was 54% lower than in logged forest areas, but all species observed in the logged forest were found in at least one riparian reserve site and both species richness and diversity increased with reserve width. Distance from a large block of continuous forest affected dung beetle community composition but not species richness, abundance, or functional diversity. The amount of forest cover in the surrounding landscape improved the retention of species within riparian reserves, and increases in vegetation complexity corresponded with higher functional richness and functional dispersion. The flight intercept traps did not indicate that there is net movement of individuals out of logged forest areas into the riparian reserves. The species richness of 30 m reserves (the suggested requirement of reserves in Sabah) was only 10% lower than in logged forest, but our data indicate that riparian reserves of at least 50 – 80 m are needed for species richness and diversity to equal that in nearby logged forest. These findings, particularly if they apply more widely to forest-dependent taxa, should be taken into account when setting policy and sustainability guidelines for oil palm plantations, both in areas undergoing conversion from forest and in existing oil palm plantations where forest restoration is required.
Auditory Motion Does Not Modulate Spiking Activity in the Middle Temporal and Medial Superior Temporal Visual Areas
Authors: Chaplin Tristan A. , Allitt Benjamin J. , Hagan Maureen A. , Rosa Marcello G.P. , Rajan Ramesh , Lui Leo L.
Published: October 2017

The integration of multiple sensory modalities is a key aspect of brain function, allowing animals to take advantage of concurrent sources of information to make more accurate perceptual judgments. For many years, multisensory integration in the cerebral cortex was deemed to occur only in high-level “polysensory” association areas. However, more recent studies have suggested that cross-modal stimulation can also influence neural activity in areas traditionally considered to be unimodal. In particular, several human neuroimaging studies have reported that extrastriate areas involved in visual motion perception are also activated by auditory motion, and may integrate audio-visual motion cues. However, the exact nature and extent of the effects of auditory motion on the visual cortex have not been studied at the single neuron level. We recorded the spiking activity of neurons in the middle temporal (MT) and medial superior temporal (MST) areas of anesthetized marmoset monkeys upon presentation of unimodal stimuli (moving auditory or visual patterns), as well as bimodal stimuli (concurrent audio-visual motion). Despite robust, direction selective responses to visual motion, none of the sampled neurons responded to auditory motion stimuli. Moreover, concurrent moving auditory stimuli had no significant effect on the ability of single MT and MST neurons, or populations of simultaneously recorded neurons, to discriminate the direction of motion of visual stimuli (moving random dot patterns with varying levels of motion noise). Our findings do not support the hypothesis that direct interactions between MT, MST and areas low in the hierarchy of auditory areas underlie audiovisual motion integration.