bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Implementation of an Algorithm Utilizing Saline Versus Albumin for the Treatment of Intradialytic Hypotension
Authors: Yin Ling , Dubovetsky Dennis , Louzon-Lynch Patricia
Published: September 2018

Background: Intradialytic hypotension (IDH) is the most commonly reported complication of hemodialysis (HD) treatment. At our institution, dialysis patients often have both 25% albumin and normal saline ordered as rescue options for management of IDH, without specification of which agent to use first. Objective: The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of an algorithm for IDH management. Methods: A retrospective study was conducted in HD patients who experienced IDH. The primary end point was to evaluate albumin use. Secondary end points included albumin costs, study fluid use per dialysis session, compliance with algorithm, efficacy of hypotension reversal to mean arterial pressure (MAP) ⩾60 mm Hg, percentage of target ultrafiltration achieved, time required to restore systolic blood pressure ⩾90 mm Hg, blood pressure post–study fluids, IDH treatment failure rate, and early termination of dialysis as a result of persistent IDH. Results: Implementation of the algorithm was observed in 94% of patients (n = 90). Total albumin use was significantly reduced from 11 400 to 4700 mL in the pre– (n = 90) and post–algorithm implementation group (n = 90; P < 0.001). The associated total cost of albumin was reduced by 59% ($10 534 vs $4343; P < 0.001). No statistical differences were observed between the 2 groups regarding efficacy of hypotension reversal to MAP ⩾60 mm Hg, early HD termination, or treatment failure rates (all P = 0.99). Conclusion and Relevance: Implementation of an evidence-based, standardized algorithm and pharmacy education to nursing staff can result in a reduction in albumin use and its associated drug costs for IDH management without compromising efficacy of IDH reversal.
Acral Lentiginous Melanoma: Survival Analysis of 715 Cases
Authors: Lino-Silva Leonardo S. , Zepeda-Najar César , Salcedo-Hernández Rosa A. , Martínez-Said Héctor
Published: September 2018

Introduction:

Acral lentiginous melanoma (ALM) is an aggressive variant of melanoma; the incidence, prevalence, and prognosis differ among populations. We analyzed clinicopathological features and survival in Hispanics, a population with high ALM prevalence.

Material and Methods:

From 1144 patients with melanoma, we analyzed 715 ALMs and 429 non-ALMs from the National Referral Cancer Centre and compared survival.

Results:

Of the ALM group, 62.8% were female; the median age was 58 years. The mean Breslow thickness was 3.56 ± 7.16 mm. ALM patients showed an estimated 5-year disease-specific survival (DSS) of 53.3%, 52.7%, and 40.8% for stage I, II, and III, respectively. For non-ALM patients, the DSS rates were 66%, 60.8%, and 48.4% for stage I, II, and III disease, respectively. Overall, the 1-, 3-, and 5-year DSS rates for patients with ALM were 85.1%, 59.4%, and 46.3%, respectively; for non-ALM patients, they were 81.3%, 64.8%, and 55.7%, respectively ( P = .168). In the multivariate analysis, factors associated with decreased DSS were high Breslow thickness, recurrence, ulceration, male sex, and advanced stage.

Conclusions:

The 1-, 3-, and 5-year DSS rates of patients with ALM were not statistically different from those of non-ALM patients. In addition to known adverse prognostic factors, male sex was also associated with worse survival.
Open-Air Cinemas of Istanbul From the 1950s to Today
Authors: Kayhan Müldür Sezen
Published: September 2018

This article explores open-air cinema spectatorship in Istanbul from the 1950s to the contemporary era. Since the 1990s, literary authors, actors, and film critics have been depicting open-air cinemas in their memoirs with a certain sense of nostalgia. This nostalgic sentiment is largely driven by multiplex cinemas, which have changed the spectatorship experience in Istanbul. Besides the post-1980s urban gentrification that led to the building of multiplexes, Istanbul’s cinema-going urbanites encountered a similar, yet less frequently discussed, experience of urban gentrification around the 1950s. This research first examines how urban gentrification projects caused the disappearance of open-air cinemas after the 1950s. It then explores how today’s nostalgic conception of open-air cinemas was formed, and how it is commodified in the new luxury open-air cinemas in hotels, art centers, and shopping malls.
Seeing the child in context: Supporting gender diverse children and their families in multiple ways – An introduction to this special edition
Authors: Langton Trilby , Wren Bernadette , Carmichael Polly
Published: September 2018

This Special Issue of Clinical Child Psychology and Psychiatry includes a group of papers that originated in the work of the Gender Identity Development Service (GIDS), which is the nationally designated National Health Service (NHS) in the United Kingdom to work with children and adolescents experiencing significant concern and distress about their gender. This short introduction to those papers aims to set the context and explain why certain areas have been given a focus.
An analysis of low ambient pressure on fire risks associated with rigid polyurethane building façade insulation under various width constructions
Authors: Ma Xin , Tu Ran , Zeng Yi , Fang Tingyong
Published: September 2018

The fire risk associated with the use of rigid polyurethane foam (PUR) as thermal insulation material in building façades was investigated. To assess the effect of ambient pressure, the combustion of PUR boards was examined at both Lhasa (with an ambient pressure of 66.5 kPa) and Hefei (99.8 kPa) in China, utilizing pool fire theory. The effects of pressure and sample width on important combustion parameters were analysed including flame spreading rate, flame height and mass loss rate. Effects of pressure on the combustion mechanism of the PUR were determined based on resulting data. The mass loss rate at lower pressure was found to be slower and unique, and relatively stable melting-flowing pool fire flame front was observed. In this respect, the combustion behaviour of PUR was different to that of other solid fuels commonly applied to building façades. Data obtained at the lower pressure using various widths showed that the average flame spreading rate was proportional to the pressure raised to an exponent ranging from 0.47 to 0.73. This result is similar to trends normally observed when the burning rate is largely driven by radiative heat transfer. The flame height was only minimally affected by pressure but increased with increases in the sample width. Finally, a linear relationship was determined between the pressure index values obtained from plots of flame height versus pressure and the sample width.
Publishing in predatory tourism and hospitality journals: Mapping the academic market and identifying response strategies
Authors: Alrawadieh Zaid
Published: September 2018

The exponential growth of open access publishing has sadly encouraged the emergence of numerous predatory publishers and journals harming the scientific community and threatening scholarly communication. While the issue has received some attention from the academic community in medical and applied sciences, much less work has been done within the realm of social sciences. Specifically, despite the gravity of predatory publishing as unethical practice and its negative effect on the progress and quality of tourism and hospitality research, empirical investigation on the topic remains very limited. The present study used a mixed method design combining data from 612 articles published in 13 potential tourism and hospitality predatory journals with data from two surveys drawing on authors’ experiences as well as tourism and hospitality most prolific scholars’ perceptions. The findings reveal that predatory journals are succeeding in targeting a wide range of researchers regardless of their career experience from both developed and developing countries. Lack of awareness of predatory journals, pressure for publication, and high rejection rates in legitimate journals were found to be the key motivations for publishing in predatory journals. Raising awareness of predatory journals and reconsidering tenure and promotion requirements were suggested as the best response strategies to curb predatory publishing. The study offers several theoretical and practical implications and proposes avenues for future research.
Developing an intelligent virtual agent to stratify people with cognitive complaints: A comparison of human–patient and intelligent virtual agent–patient interaction
Authors: Walker Traci , Christensen Heidi , Mirheidari Bahman , Swainston Thomas , Rutten Casey , Mayer Imke , Blackburn Daniel , Reuber Markus
Published: September 2018

Previous work on interactions in the memory clinic has shown that conversation analysis can be used to differentiate neurodegenerative dementia from functional memory disorder. Based on this work, a screening system was developed that uses a computerised ‘talking head’ (intelligent virtual agent) and a combination of automatic speech recognition and conversation analysis-informed programming. This system can reliably differentiate patients with functional memory disorder from those with neurodegenerative dementia by analysing the way they respond to questions from either a human doctor or the intelligent virtual agent. However, much of this computerised analysis has relied on simplistic, nonlinguistic phonetic features such as the length of pauses between talk by the two parties.

To gain confidence in automation of the stratification procedure, this paper investigates whether the patients’ responses to questions asked by the intelligent virtual agent are qualitatively similar to those given in response to a doctor. All the participants in this study have a clear functional memory disorder or neurodegenerative dementia diagnosis.

Analyses of patients’ responses to the intelligent virtual agent showed similar, diagnostically relevant sequential features to those found in responses to doctors’ questions. However, since the intelligent virtual agent’s questions are invariant, its use results in more consistent responses across people – regardless of diagnosis – which facilitates automatic speech recognition and makes it easier for a machine to learn patterns. Our analysis also shows why doctors do not always ask the same question in the exact same way to different patients. This sensitivity and adaptation to nuances of conversation may be interactionally helpful; for instance, altering a question may make it easier for patients to understand. While we demonstrate that some of what is said in such interactions is bound to be constructed collaboratively between doctor and patient, doctors could consider ensuring that certain, particularly important and/or relevant questions are asked in as invariant a form as possible to be better able to identify diagnostically relevant differences in patients’ responses.
Unhealthy Behaviors Among Canadian Men Are Predictors of Comorbidities: Implications for Clinical Practice
Authors: Punjani Nahid , Flannigan Ryan , Oliffe John L. , McCreary Donald R. , Black Nick , Goldenberg S. Larry
Published: September 2018

Men’s poor health behaviors are an increasingly prevalent issue with long-term consequences. This study broadly samples Canadian men to obtain information regarding health behaviors as a predictor of downstream medical comorbidities. A survey of Canadian men included questions regarding demographics, comorbidities, and health behaviors (smoking and alcohol consumption, sleep and exercise behaviors, and dietary habits). Health behaviors were classified as either healthy or unhealthy based upon previous studies and questionnaire thresholds. Multivariate regression was performed to determine predictors for medical comorbidities. The 2,000 participants were aged 19–94 (median 48, interquartile range 34–60). Approximately half (47.4%) were regular smokers, 38.7% overused alcohol, 53.9% reported unhealthy sleep, 48.9% had low levels of exercise, and 61.8% had unhealthy diets. On multivariate analysis, regular smoking predicted heart disease (OR 2.08, p < .01), elevated cholesterol (OR 1.35, p = .02), type 2 diabetes (OR 1.57, p = .02), osteoarthritis (OR 1.43, p = .04), and depression (OR 1.62, p < .01). Alcohol overuse predicted hypertension (OR 1.40, p < .01) and protected against type 2 diabetes (OR 0.61, p < .01). Unhealthy sleep predicted hypertension (OR 1.46, p < .01), erectile dysfunction (OR 1.50, p = .04), and depression (OR 1.87, p < .01). Low levels of exercise predicted hypertension (OR 1.30, p = .03) and elevated cholesterol (OR 1.27, p = .05). Finally, unhealthy diet predicted depression (OR 1.65, p < .01). This study confirms the association of poor health behaviors and comorbidities common to middle-aged and older men. The results emphasize the potential scope of targeted gender-sensitized public awareness campaigns and interventions to reduce common male disease, morbidity, and mortality.
Men’s Health in Industries: Plastic Plant Pollution and Prevalence of Pre-diabetes and Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus
Authors: Meo Sultan Ayoub , AlMutairi Faris Jamal , Alasbali Majed Mohammed , Alqahtani Turki Badr , AlMutairi Saad Saeed , Albuhayjan Rakan Abdulaziz , Al Rouq Fawziah , Ahmed Naseer
Published: September 2018

Plastic production is prominently increasing and its pollution is an emerging environmental global health concern. This study aimed to investigate the occurrence of pre-diabetes and type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) among nonsmoking plastic industry workers. Three hundred and forty volunteers male plastic industry workers were interviewed after medical history and examination; finally, 278 nonsmoking plastic industry workers were selected. The mean age for the participants was 38.03 ± 10.86 years and body mass index was 25.52 ± 3.15 (kg/m)2. The plastic industry workers had been exposed to plastic plant pollution for 8 hr daily, 6 days in a week. Subjects with glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) less than 5.7% were considered non-diabetics; HbA1c 5.7%–6.4% were pre-diabetics; and subjects with HbA1c greater than 6.4% were considered diabetics. In plastic industry workers, the prevalence of pre-diabetes was 176 (63.30%) and T2DM was 66 (23.74%); however, 36 (12.95%) plastic plant workers were normal. The prevalence of pre-diabetes and T2DM among plastic industry workers was significantly increased with duration of working exposure in plastic industry ( p = .0001). Exposure to plastic plant pollution is associated with the prevalence of pre-diabetes and T2DM among plastic industry workers. The prevalence was associated with the duration of working exposure in plastic industry. The occupational and environmental health executives must take priority steps to minimize the plastic plant pollution from plastic industries to reduce the occurrence of pre-diabetes and T2DM among the plastic industrial workers and save the men’s health in industries.
Examining deceptive behaviours by attackers in rugby union: The influence of decoy runners on defensive performance
Authors: Sherwood Sebastian , Masters Rich SW , Smith Tiaki Brett
Published: September 2018

Background

Deceptive tactics are commonly used in sport; however, the psychological mechanisms underpinning the effectiveness of these tactics are unclear. Increasingly, in rugby union, decoy runners are used to cause deception. Multiple players in an attacking team run option lines off the ball carrier, making it possible that any of the players could receive the ball. Runners who do not receive the ball are decoys. The aim of the tactic is for the decoys to attract attention from defending players, which creates confusion about which player will receive the ball.

Aim

To identify behaviours of option line runners that can be used to improve the effectiveness of this deceptive tactic.

Method

Observational analysis of completed scrums from the 2015 Super Rugby season (n = 260) during which decoy runners were used by the attacking side. Decoy characteristics, including Hands Up, Line Change and Hands Up with Line Change were noted following each scrum. Gainline success was used as a dependent measure of the efficacy of the decoy characteristics. Characteristics were included in a binary logistic regression analysis to develop a best-fit model for gainline success.

Results

Hands Up, Line Change and Hands Up with Line Change significantly improved the likelihood of gainline success seven, eight and six times, respectively.

Discussion

We discuss possible mechanisms that underpin the effectiveness of decoy runners and make recommendations for coaches.
Analysis of “Capillary and Venous Blood Glucose Accuracy in Blood Glucose Meters Versus Reference Standards: The Impact of Study Design on Accuracy Evaluations”
Authors: Thorpe Gary H.
Published: September 2018

The article by Macleod and coauthors outlines an accuracy study of two blood glucose monitoring systems (BGMSs) against glucose-oxidase- and hexokinase-based assays showing how the reference/comparison method and inappropriate sample comparisons can affect accuracy conclusions. The dangers of independent institutions producing inappropriate conclusions when the methodology used for product regulatory or registration accuracy requirements is not according to best practice are stressed. The authors highlight several important aspects of a multistep accuracy evaluation protocol. However, it is essential that anyone undertaking or reporting BGMS accuracy studies should have a clear understanding of each and every protocol point, best practice, and how each can influence accuracy conclusions. Claims against regulatory accuracy criteria should be made only if the detailed specified protocol design and analysis is followed.
C-Terminal Cross-Linked Telopeptides of Type II Collagen as Biomarker for Radiological Knee Osteoarthritis: A Meta-Analysis
Authors: Cheng HongBin , Hao Baoxi , Sun Jingtao , Yin Mingxi
Published: September 2018

Background

C-terminal cross-linked telopeptides of type II collagen (CTX-II) are one of the most frequently assessed markers for osteoarthritis (OA) diagnosis. The aim of this meta-analysis was to confirm the diagnostic value of urinary CTX-II in knee OA.

Materials and Methods

PubMed, ScienceDirect, and EMBASE were searched for studies measured urinary CTX-II in patients with knee OA and in healthy controls. Urinary CTX-II levels were compared between knee OA patients and controls. Differences between groups were expressed as standardized mean differences (SMD) when individual outcomes were measured with different scales. Otherwise, outcomes were presented as mean differences (MD). Subgroup analyses were also conducted to compare efficiency of urinary CTX-II between Kellgren-Lawrence (KL) classification, genders, ethnicities, and study size.

Results

Thirteen studies involved a total of 2856 participants were included. Pooled SMD showed that urinary CTX-II levels were significantly elevated in knee OA group compared to controls (SMD 0.82; 95% CI 0.41-1.24; P < 0.0001). For KL 3 to 4 versus KL 2, higher urinary CTX-II levels were found in severe knee OA patients. Subgroup analyses revealed that urinary CTX-II performed better in females as compared with males and in European subjects as compared with Asian population. Also, study size did not influence the statistic results.

Conclusion

This is the largest scale meta-analysis assessing the diagnostic performance of urinary CTX-II levels as biomarker for knee OA. According to our findings, urinary CTX-II levels have a potential to distinguish knee OA patients from healthy controls which can serve as biomarker for knee OA.
Acceptance of Blended Learning in Executive Education
Authors: Dakduk Silvana , Santalla-Banderali Zuleima , van der Woude David
Published: September 2018

This article evaluates the factors involved in the acceptance of Blended Learning (BL) with executives based on the Extended Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT2) model in executive education. The empirical analysis uses data from 307 responses to an online questionnaire by senior and middle-ranking managers. The confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling demonstrated the applicability of the UTAUT2 model in BL in executive education. The results showed that hedonic motivation, performance expectancy, and effort expectancy predict the intention to adopt BL. Results also prove no significant effect on social influence and habits. The relevance of this article is to contribute to the understanding of the factors that influence the intention to adopt BL in a group not typically considered in higher education research.
War Trauma, Collective Memory, and Cultural Productions in Conflict Zones: Kashmir in Focus
Authors: Hanif Samia , Ullah Inayat
Published: September 2018

Euro-American exclusivity has mostly been responsible for eclipsing the universalizing appeal of trauma studies. In a bid to cater for trauma accounts of the Global South, the present study attempts to look into the trauma of people living in Kashmir, a conflict zone in the middle of the third-world Asian countries. Kashmir is one of the disputed regions and a center point of conflict between India and Pakistan since the partition of the Indian subcontinent in 1947. The political turbulence as well as the resulting militarization has rendered the entire Kashmiri community listless and prone to traumatic experiences. Despite the serious nature of the traumatic experiences of the people living in Kashmir, and as depicted in the literature produced therein, little scholarly attention has been given to it to voice out these accounts, which are necessary for claiming the truthful depiction of the Kashmiris. This article uses Jeffery C. Alexander et al.’s Cultural Trauma and Collective Identity and Kai. T. Erikson’s Collective Trauma as the theoretical framework to analyze the selected Kashmiri Anglophone literary text titled The Collaborator by Mirza Waheed. The study finds that the traumatic memories of Kashmiri people, as a community, are no different from the likewise traumatized people of the Global North. Here, the Kashmiri narrative takes the responsibility of presenting the reality of life. The investigation concludes that fictional narratives, through memory of the past, bring a compelling tale of eternal suffering, establishing the fact that it is not the individual that must bear the moral responsibility; rather, it should be the collective.
Social Anxiety and Social Behavior: A Test of Predictions From an Evolutionary Model
Authors: Tone Erin B. , Nahmias Eddy , Bakeman Roger , Kvaran Trevor , Brosnan Sarah F. , Fani Negar , Schroth Elizabeth A.
Published: September 2018

An influential evolutionary model proposed that social anxiety biases people to treat social interactions as competitive struggles with the primary goal of avoiding status loss. Among subordinate nonhuman primates in highly hierarchical social groups, this goal leads to adaptive submissive behavior; for humans, however, affiliative responses may be more effective. We tested three predictions about social anxiety and social cognitions, emotions, and behavior that Trower and Gilbert advanced. College students ( N = 122) whose self-reported social anxiety ranged from minimal to extremely high played the Prisoner’s Dilemma game three times. Consistent with two model-based predictions, social anxiety was positively associated with self-reported competitive goals and with nervousness during game play. Unexpectedly, however, social anxiety was associated with a tendency to engage with coplayers in an ostensibly hostile, rather than appeasing, manner. We discuss implications of these findings for updated models of socially anxious behavior.
The Persistence of the Power Elite: Presidential Cabinets and Corporate Interlocks, 1968–2018
Authors: Gill Timothy M.
Published: September 2018

In his seminal text, The Power Elite, C. Wright Mills initially drew critical attention to U.S. state power, asserting that economic, political, and military elites flow through a revolving door, cycling in and out of positions of power. Following its publication, several social scientists began to examine the nature of the U.S. state, including individuals like G. William Domhoff and Michael Useem. One particular work by Peter Freitag examined the class composition of presidential cabinets. Freitag examined whether presidential cabinet members came from the elite corporate sphere, went into the elite corporate sphere following their tenure in office, the extent of interlocks among the Democratic and Republican Parties, and whether particular cabinet positions were more interlocked with the elite corporate sphere than others. In this article, I examine these same questions, looking at presidential cabinets between 1968 and 2018, that is, across the last half-century. In doing so, I find consistency with many of Freitag’s initial findings: most presidential cabinets remain heavily interlocked, there is little difference between Democratic and Republican cabinets, and there is a significant amount of cabinet members that come from and enter the elite corporate sphere following their time in office.
Adding a Baccalaureate Degree to a Graduate Public Health Program While Addressing Stakeholder Concerns
Authors: Nelson-Hurwitz Denise C. , Buchthal O. Vanessa , Tagorda Michelle , Braun Kathryn L.
Published: September 2018

Professional public health training has traditionally been at the graduate level. Adding undergraduate public health degree programs not only expands the number of individuals with needed public health expertise but also creates challenges for traditional graduate-only educational programs. Our purpose was to discuss the degree development process and examine challenges of adding the Bachelors of Arts in Public Health (BA PH) to a traditional graduate-only program, with illustrations from the University of Hawai’i at Mānoa, which opened its BA PH in 2014. Challenges were encountered for four groups of primary stakeholders: (1) administrators (infrastructure, staffing, funding), (2) faculty (buy-in, undergraduate teaching skills), (3) students (assuring courses fit undergraduate education requirements, adding student support systems), and (4) community preceptors (establishing appropriate expectations for undergraduate vs. graduate students). Barriers and solutions identified for these four primary stakeholder groups may help other schools and programs of public health in adding a baccalaureate public health degree.
Evaluating the Benefits of New Drugs in Health Technology Assessment Using Multiple Criteria Decision Analysis: A Case Study on Metastatic Prostate Cancer With the Dental and Pharmaceuticals Benefits Agency (TLV) in Sweden
Authors: Angelis Aris
Published: September 2018

Background. Multiple criteria decision analysis (MCDA) has been identified as a prospective methodology for assisting decision makers in evaluating the benefits of new medicines in health technology assessment (HTA); however, limited empirical evidence exists from real-world applications. Objective. To test in practice a recently developed MCDA methodological framework for HTA, the Advance Value Framework, in a proof-of-concept case study with decision makers. Methods. A multi-attribute value theory methodology was adopted applying the MACBETH questioning protocol through a facilitated decision-analysis modelling approach as part of a decision conference with four experts. Settings. The remit of the Swedish Dental and Pharmaceutical Benefits Agency (Tandvårds- och läkemedelsförmånsverket [TLV]) was adopted but in addition supplementary value dimensions were considered. Patients. Metastatic castrate-resistant prostate cancer patients were considered having received prior chemotherapy. Interventions. Abiraterone, cabazitaxel, and enzalutamide were evaluated as third-line treatments. Measurements. Participants’ value preferences were elicited involving criteria selection, options scoring, criteria weighting, and their aggregation. Results. Eight criteria attributes were finally included in the model relating to therapeutic impact, safety profile, socioeconomic impact, and innovation level with relative importance weights 44.5%, 33.3%, 14.8%, and 7.4% per cluster, respectively. Enzalutamide scored the highest overall weighted preference value score, followed by abiraterone and cabazitaxel. Dividing treatments’ overall weighted preference value scores by their costs derived “costs per unit of value” for ranking the treatments based on value-for-money grounds. Limitations. Study limitations included lack of comparative clinical effects across treatments and the small sample of participants. Conclusion. The Advance Value Framework has the prospects of facilitating the evaluation process in HTA and health care decision making; additional research is recommended to address technical challenges and optimize the use of MCDA for policy making.
DSCAM differentially modulates pre- and postsynaptic structural and functional central connectivity during visual system wiring
Authors: Santos Rommel A. , Fuertes Ariel J. C. , Short Ginger , Donohue Kevin C. , Shao Hanjuan , Quintanilla Julian , Malakzadeh Parinaz , Cohen-Cory Susana
Published: September 2018

Background

Proper patterning of dendritic and axonal arbors is a critical step in the formation of functional neuronal circuits. Developing circuits rely on an array of molecular cues to shape arbor morphology, but the underlying mechanisms guiding the structural formation and interconnectivity of pre- and postsynaptic arbors in real time remain unclear. Here we explore how Down syndrome cell adhesion molecule (DSCAM) differentially shapes the dendritic morphology of central neurons and their presynaptic retinal ganglion cell (RGC) axons in the developing vertebrate visual system.

Methods

The cell-autonomous role of DSCAM, in tectal neurons and in RGCs, was examined using targeted single-cell knockdown and overexpression approaches in developing Xenopus laevis tadpoles. Axonal arbors of RGCs and dendritic arbors of tectal neurons were visualized using real-time in vivo confocal microscopy imaging over the course of 3 days.

Results

In the Xenopus visual system, DSCAM immunoreactivity is present in RGCs, cells in the optic tectum and the tectal neuropil at the time retinotectal synaptic connections are made. Downregulating DSCAM in tectal neurons significantly increased dendritic growth and branching rates while inducing dendrites to take on tortuous paths. Overexpression of DSCAM, in contrast, reduced dendritic branching and growth rate. Functional deficits mediated by tectal DSCAM knockdown were examined using visually guided behavioral assays in swimming tadpoles, revealing irregular behavioral responses to visual stimulus. Functional deficits in visual behavior also corresponded with changes in VGLUT/VGAT expression, markers of excitatory and inhibitory transmission, in the tectum. Conversely, single-cell DSCAM knockdown in the retina revealed that RGC axon arborization at the target is influenced by DSCAM, where axons grew at a slower rate and remained relatively simple. In the retina, dendritic arbors of RGCs were not affected by the reduction of DSCAM expression.

Conclusions

Together, our observations implicate DSCAM in the control of both pre- and postsynaptic structural and functional connectivity in the developing retinotectal circuit, where it primarily acts as a neuronal brake to limit and guide postsynaptic dendrite growth of tectal neurons while it also facilitates arborization of presynaptic RGC axons cell autonomously.
Models and Tools for Studying Enteroendocrine Cells
Authors: Goldspink Deborah A , Reimann Frank , Gribble Fiona M
Published: September 2018

Gut hormones produced by gastrointestinal enteroendocrine cells modulate key physiological processes including glucose homeostasis and food intake, making them potential therapeutic candidates to treat obesity and diabetes. Understanding the function of enteroendocrine cells and the molecular mechanisms driving hormone production is a key step toward mobilizing endogenous hormone reserves in the gut as a therapeutic strategy. In this review, we will discuss the variety of ex vivo and in vitro model systems driving this research and their contributions to our current understanding of nutrient-sensing mechanisms in enteroendocrine cells.
A-Kinase Anchoring Protein 13 (AKAP13) Augments Progesterone Signaling in Uterine Fibroid Cells
Authors: Ng Sinnie Sin Man , Jorge Soledad , Malik Minnie , Britten Joy , Su Szu-Chi , Armstrong Charles R , Brennan Joshua T , Chang Sydney , Baig Kimberlyn Maravet , Driggers Paul H , Segars James H
Published: September 2018

Context

Uterine leiomyomata (fibroids) are prevalent sex hormone‒dependent tumors with an altered response to mechanical stress. Ulipristal acetate, a selective progesterone receptor (PR) modulator, significantly reduces fibroid size in patients. However, PR signaling in fibroids and its relationship to mechanical signaling are incompletely understood.

Objective

Our prior studies revealed that A-kinase anchoring protein 13 (AKAP13) was overexpressed in fibroids and contributed to altered mechanotransduction in fibroids. Because AKAP13 augmented nuclear receptor signaling in other tissues, we sought to determine whether AKAP13 might influence PR signaling in fibroids.

Methods and Results

Fibroid samples from patients treated with ulipristal acetate or placebo were examined for AKAP13 expression by using immunohistochemistry. In immortalized uterine fibroid cell lines and COS-7 cells, we observed that AKAP13 increased ligand-dependent PR activation of luciferase reporters and endogenous progesterone-responsive genes for PR-B but not PR-A. Inhibition of ERK reduced activation of PR-dependent signaling by AKAP13, but inhibition of p38 MAPK had no effect. In addition, glutathione S-transferase‒binding assays revealed that AKAP13 was bound to PR-B through its carboxyl terminus.

Conclusion

These data suggest an intersection of mechanical signaling and PR signaling involving AKAP13 through ERK. Further elucidation of the integration of mechanical and hormonal signaling pathways in fibroids may provide insight into fibroid development and suggest new therapeutic strategies for treatment.
The Contemporary Novel and Postdemocratic Form
Authors: Smith Rachel Greenwald
Published: September 2018

Neoliberalism and authoritarianism: it is clear that aspects of both of these concepts are explanatory of our current moment, one in which neoliberal policies have continued to expand even as certain sociopolitical features of authoritarianism have been on the rise. How to account for the convergence of these two seemingly opposed political logics? This essay argues that contemporary discussions of literary form can help us define the precise aspects of both neoliberalism and authoritarianism that make this convergence possible. Contemporary literary criticism, it argues, is dominated by a skepticism toward the ideologically laden polarizations that once prevailed in the twentieth century. This skepticism, a critical attitude the author calls “compromise aesthetics,” reflects how the political imperative to grapple with the effects of different forms of authority—a grappling that is necessary for democracy—has, in neoliberal politics and aesthetics alike, been largely jettisoned in favor of expediency and the fantasy of total individual freedom. Turning to a reading of Rachel Kushner's novel The Flamethrowers, the essay finds that Kushner plays with the functions of author and narrator, revealing the degree to which an authoritative figure—the author—lies behind an apparent lack of ideological interest or direction, figured in the novel through its development of a radically passive narrator. The novel therefore demonstrates formally how political authority seizes upon the vacuum left behind by the abdication of politics, or, in other words, how authoritarian tendencies can arise out of the depoliticization of neoliberalism.
History's Happy Ending: Bare Theory and the Novel
Authors: Rasberry Vaughn
Published: September 2018

Reading British writer Francis Spufford's 2008 novel Red Plenty, a fictionalized account of life in the Soviet Union during the early Khrushchev years, this essay defends a bare theory of race against what it calls a novelistic theory of race. Whereas the latter—powerfully dramatized in novels like Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man (1952) and Richard Wright's The Outsider (1953)—stresses the (long-denied) depth and complexity of black subjectivity, the former eschews considerations of black particularity for a punitive, state-sponsored approach to racial injustice.
Trawling ban impact on the stock density of shrimps in the Java Sea, Indonesia
Authors: TIRTADANU TIRTADANU , SUPRAPTO SUPRAPTO
Published: September 2018

Tirtadanu, Suprapto. 2017. Trawling ban impact on the stock density of shrimps in the Java Sea, Indonesia. Ocean Life 1: 49- 54. The level of over-exploitation of shrimps and the use of destructive fishing gear in the Java Sea caused the goverment of Indonesia to ban the trawl operation since 2015. Information on the stock density of shrimps in the Java Sea is needed for evaluation of the management regime. The aims of this research was to study the impact of the trawling ban on the density of shrimps in the Java Sea. The research was conducted in October-November 2015 and October-November 2017 using a swept area trawl method. The results showed that the biomass of demersal fish and rays has increased but the biomass of shrimps in the Java Sea has decreased that might be due to the predator-prey relationship.The biomass of some smaller-size shrimps such as Metapenaeopsis palmensis, Trachypenaeus malaiana and Metapenaeopsis stridulans decreased, while the biomass of larger shrimps such as Metapenaeus ensis, Penaeus merguiensis and Penaeus monodon increased. This condition caused the changes of dominant shrimps in Java Sea where the dominant shrimps before the trawling ban were M. palmensis, while the dominant shrimps after two years trawling ban were M. ensis. From the results, there is an assumption that the ecosystem is more stable after two years of the trawling ban. Most of the density of larger-sized shrimp increased only in the middle of Java Sea, while the density in the coastal zone still decreased. We suggest regulations to control the quota of fishing vessels in the coastal waters to ensure the sustainability of shrimp resources.
Variable PSII functioning and bleaching conditions of tropical scleractinian corals pre-and post-bleaching event
Authors: MATTAN-MOORGAWA SUSHMA , RUGHOOPUTH SOONIL DDV , BHAGOOLI RANJEET
Published: September 2018

Abstract. Mattan-Moorgawa S, Rughooputh SDDV, Bhagooli R. 2018. Variable PSII functioning and bleaching conditions of tropical scleractinian corals pre-and post-bleaching event. Ocean Life 1: 1-10. This study compared pre-bleaching and post-bleaching conditions of eight reef-building corals, Acropora cytherea, Acropora hyacynthus, Acropora muricata, Acropora sp., Pocillopora damicornis, Pocillopora eydouxi, Galaxea fascicularis and Fungia sp., in terms of visual coloration (non-bleached (NB), pale (P), partially bleached (PB) and bleached (B)) and chlorophyll fluorescence yield at photosystem II (PSII)). A total of twenty colonies from twelve stations along four transects were surveyed at Belle-Mare, Mauritius, from October 2008 to October 2009, and compared to the CoralWatch Coral Health Chart. PSII functioning, measured as Fv/Fm, were recorded in coral samples using a pulse-amplitude-modulated (PAM) fluorometer. Physico-chemical parameters (sea surface temperature, dissolved oxygen, salinity and pH) were recorded in situ. An increase in SST up to 31.4ºC in February 2009 triggered the bleaching event observed in May 2009 at the site. Acroporids showed the first sign of bleaching and paling as from January 2009 when mean SST was at 30ºC. Branching coral (P. eydouxi) and solitary coral (Fungia sp.) exhibited only 15% of their colonies showing paling by April 2009. A. cytherea, A. hyacynthus, and A. muricata showed varying bleaching conditions [Pale (P), Partially-bleached (PB) and Bleached (B)] at onset of the bleaching event whilst Acropora sp. showed only a paling of its colonies. Post-bleaching data indicated a differential recovery in visual coloration and PSII functioning among the corals. P. eydouxi and Fungia sp. showed no bleaching conditions throughout the study. P. damicornis and G. fascicularis indicated a quick coloration recovery from P to NB after the bleaching event, although their maximum quantum yield at PSII did not show significant changes in P and NB samples. A. muricata recovered faster than A. hyacynthus and A. cytherea in terms of PSII functioning. A differential recovery was observed post-bleaching event among the eight coral species, in terms of recovery of color and PSII functioning. The order of recovery was as follows: massive-like/ solitary corals > branching and semi-bulbous corals > tabular corals.
Migration: Language, bereavement and re-birth
Authors: Naidu Vayu
Published: September 2018

This article aims to capture certain emotive consequences of migration, after its geographical and physical occurrence. It deals especially with the selection of the English language, by myself and other writers, to try to integrate the challenge of transposition of references across cultures, that could get lost in translation. The context for the bi-lobial nature of migration here is British colonial history in south India or the Madras Presidency 1857–1916, and ancient or undated myths of oral and literary texts as illustrated in my novel The Sari of Surya Vilas (Naidu 2017). While acknowledging the medicinal and other benefits, I also propose the history of colonial plant hunting, and especially the trade in chocolate and tea, as an appropriate paradigm for the forgotten account of migration.
‘Like snow in a dark night’: Exile and displacement in the poetics of Robert Graves
Authors: Joseph Michael
Published: September 2018

Behind the redoubtable self-confidence of a poet who Randall Jarrell famously declared, ‘could explain anything’, and characterized bad poetry as ‘yours, when I do not like it or understand it’, Robert Graves was profoundly divided. One can trace that division in his self-exile from England in 1929 and the manner in which he thereafter arranged his life between Mallorca and England. His memoir, Good-Bye to All That, features only one side of his nature – the desire to turn his back on modernity and all it symbolized, and to immerse himself in the ahistorical world of the Goddess – but there was another side as well: deterministically modern, civilized, historical, ironic, English. In ‘Like Snow in a Dark Night’, I discuss this fundamental yet understudied split in Graves’s character in terms of its metaphorical presence in his poetry, in which images of exile, displacement, liminality, indeterminacy and elusiveness appear to evoke and celebrate a condition of being both here and there, and neither here nor there, as the essential condition for inspiration.
Ezra Pound and Ernst Kantorowicz: From medieval to modern autocracies
Authors: Feldman Matthew
Published: September 2018

Ezra Pound became a leading anglophone propagandist for fascist Italy – a kind of Romanesque Lord Haw-Haw – which subsequently coloured both his politics and his poetry. Between summer 1940 and spring 1945, and already building several dozen gratis propaganda texts lauding Italy’s imperial conquest of Abyssinia, supporting an ‘international fascism’ that embraced both Mosley’s British Union of Fascists and Hitler’s Germany, Pound wrote or broadcast thousands of radio items, first for Italy’s state-run EIAR, and then for the Salò Republic. In doing so, he never ceased his well-paid propaganda activities, using at least a dozen pseudonymous ‘personae’ in order to continue his radio transmissions throughout the war. This article examines the influence of Ernst Kantorowicz’s Frederick II, 1194–1250 ([1927] 1931) – a text described only 25 years ago as a ‘fascist classic’ – may have had on Pound’s embrace of Italian Fascism and later sacralization of Mussolini’s dictatorship. This article also includes new research into Pound’s handwritten annotations in his personal copy of Kantorowicz’s book, now in the Ezra Pound Collection of The Harry Ransom Center, University of Texas in Austin.
Rebel Youths: English-language anarchist periodicals of the Great Depression, 1932–1939
Authors: Brodie Morris
Published: September 2018

This article examines the function of anarchist periodicals in the United States during the Great Depression. Periodicals acted as forums for debate, where ideas were constantly challenged and important theoretical issues were aired. This was both within anarchism and between the wider radical movement. In addition, periodicals were important organisational tools, creating networks that connected activists across the country and helped to build the movement. Young anarchists identified English-language periodicals as vital for breaking through the linguistic barriers erected by the older generation of immigrant anarchists. The new cohort felt that the reluctance of older anarchists to engage in English-language organising was contributing to the stagnation of the movement and produced three periodicals – Vanguard, Spanish Revolution and Challenge – to address the problem. This article shows how these periodicals helped to reform and sustain anarchist militant identities in the U.S. in the 1930s. It highlights the importance of periodical networks in this process, emphasising their social and cultural value in addition to their political and financial significance. Although all the periodicals had folded by the end of 1939, they left an important legacy for the movement and provided an introduction to anarchist organising for a fresh cadre of activists.
Sociologie, Individus, Épreuves. Entretien avec Danilo Martuccelli
Authors: Martuccelli Danilo , Lits Grégoire
Published: September 2018

Danilo Martuccelli est chargé de recherche au CNRS-CLERSE-IFRESI. Il vient de publier Forgé par l’épreuve. L’individu dans la France contemporaine aux éditions Armand Colin.

Ces propos furent recueillis par Grégoire Lits à l’occasion de la venue du professeur Martuccelli à Louvain-la-Neuve les 3 et 4 décembre 2008 dans le cadre des conférences Jacques Leclercq organisées par l’unité d’anthropologie et de sociologie de l’UCL et le Laboratoire LaGIS (Laboratoire « Globalisation, Institution, Subjectivation »).
Luis Martínez – Religion sans rédemption. Contradictions sociales et rêve éveillé en Amérique latine
Authors: De Meeûs Guénaëlle
Published: September 2018

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Nicolas Marquis – Du bien-être au marché du malaise. La société du développement personnel
Authors: Froment Quentin
Published: September 2018

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Gerenciamento dos processos de negócio: uma análise dos modelos de ciclo de vida BPM
Authors: Bezerra Maria Clara da Cunha , Tavares Maryana Scoralick de Almeida , Silva Ricardo Moreira da
Published: September 2018

A gestão por processos representa um instrumento de melhoria de desempenho das instituições de negócios, porém muitas empresas ainda não se encontram orientadas para os processos. Neste contexto, insere-se a abordagem de gerenciamento dos processos de negócio (business process management ou BPM), que envolve um ciclo feedback sem fim para assegurar que os processos de negócio estejam alinhados com a estratégia organizacional e o foco do cliente. A literatura propõe vários modelos para orientar as organizações à gestão por processos. O objetivo deste trabalho foi analisar modelos de BPM propostos nos últimos 10 anos, a partir de uma síntese descritiva destes, comparação de suas fases, levantando suas convergências e variações, como também a partir do alinhamento desses modelos com atributos chaves ao BPM, que foram identificados a partir da literatura. A contribuição deste trabalho se dá pela utilidade destas análises para pesquisadores ao buscarem estudar sobre diferentes modelos de gerenciamento de processos. Bem como este trabalho também apresenta contribuição prática pois pode ajudar profissionais a adotar modelos e promover o BPM.