bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Short‐ and Long‐term Outcomes After Laparoscopic Versus Open Emergency Resection for Colon Cancer: An Observational Propensity Score‐matched Study
Authors: Odermatt Manfred , Miskovic Danilo , Siddiqi Najaf , Khan Jim , Parvaiz Amjad
Published: July 2013

Background

Case series suggest the feasibility and safety of emergency resection of colon cancer by laparoscopy. The present study compares short‐ and long‐term outcomes of laparoscopic and open resection for colon cancers treated as emergencies.

Methods

The study was a propensity score‐matched design based on a prospective database. From October 2006 to December 2011, emergency laparoscopic colon cancer resections were 1:2 propensity score‐matched to open cases. Covariates for match‐estimation were age, gender, American Society of Anesthesiologists grade, procedure type, tumor site, and reason for emergency surgery. Short‐term outcomes included oncological quality surrogates (lymph node harvest and R stage), need for a stoma, length of hospital stay, and postoperative complications. For long‐term outcomes, overall and recurrence‐free survival rates were analyzed with Kaplan–Meier curves.

Results

During the study period, a total of 217 colon cancers were resected (181 open and 36 laparoscopic) as emergencies. The laparoscopic cases were matched to 72 open cases. Median follow‐up was 3.6 [95 % confidence interval (CI) 2.3–4.3] years. The overall 3‐year survival rate was 51 % (95 % CI 35–76) in the laparoscopic group versus 43 % (95 % CI 32–58) in the open group (p = 0.24). The 3‐year recurrence‐free survival rate in the laparoscopic group was 35 % (95 % CI 20–60) versus 37 % (95 % CI 27–50) in the open group (p = 0.53). Median lymph node harvest (17 vs. 13 nodes; p = 0.041) and median length of hospital stay (7.5 vs. 11.0 days; p = 0.019) favored laparoscopy.

Conclusions

Our data suggest that selective emergency laparoscopy for colon cancer is not inferior to open surgery with regard to short‐ and long‐term outcomes. Laparoscopy resulted in a shorter length of hospital stay.
Stakeholders’ Opinions on the Implementation of Pediatric Whole Exome Sequencing: Implications for Informed Consent
Authors: Levenseller Brooke L. , Soucier Danielle J. , Miller Victoria A. , Harris Diana , Conway Laura , Bernhardt Barbara A.
Published: July 2013

Advances in whole genome and whole exome sequencing (WGS/WES) technologies have led to increased availability in clinical settings. Currently, there are few guidelines relating to the process and content of informed consent for WGS/WES, nor to which results should be returned to families. To address this gap, we conducted focus groups to assess the views of professionals, parents, and adolescents for the future implementation of WES. The discussions assessed understanding of the risks and benefits of WES, preferences for the informed consent discussion, process for return of results, and the decision‐making role of the pediatric patient. Professional focus group participants included bioethicists, physicians, laboratory directors, and genetic counselors. Parent focus groups included individuals with children who could be offered sequencing due to a potential genetic cause of the child's condition. On‐line discussion groups were conducted with adolescents aged 13–17 who had a possible genetic disorder. We identified discrepancies between professionals and patient groups regarding the process and content of informed consent, preference for return of results, and the role of the child in decision‐making. Professional groups were concerned with the uncertainty regarding professional obligations, changing interpretation in genomic medicine, and practical concerns of returning results over time. Parent and adolescent groups focused on patient choice and personal utility of sequencing results. Each group expressed different views on the role of the child in decision‐making and return of results. These discrepancies represent potential barriers to informed consent and a challenge for genetic counselors regarding the involvement of pediatric patients in decision‐making and return of results discussions.
Functional MRI investigation of verbal working memory in adults with anorexia nervosa
Authors: Lao-Kaim N.P. , Giampietro V.P. , Williams S.C.R. , Simmons A. , Tchanturia K.
Published: July 2013

Literature regarding verbal working memory (vWM) in anorexia nervosa (AN) has been inconsistent due to a misunderstanding of the key components of vWM and introduction of confounding stimuli. Furthermore, there are no studies looking at how brain function in people with AN relates to vWM performance. The present study used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) with a letter n-back paradigm to study the effect of increasing vWM task difficulty on cortical functioning in the largest AN sample to date (n= 31). Although the AN group had low BMI and higher anxious and depressive symptomology compared to age-matched controls (HC), there were no between-group differences in accuracy and speed at any task difficulty. fMRI data revealed no regions exhibiting significant differences in activation when groups were compared at each difficulty separately and no regions showing group x condition interaction. Although there was a trend towards lower accuracy as duration of illness increased, this was not correlated with activity in regions associated with vWM. These findings indicate that vWM in AN is as efficient and performed using the same cognitive strategy as HC, and that there may not be a need for therapies to pursue remediation of this particular neurocognitive faculty.
Nested Network Effects in Online Free Games with Accessory Selling
Authors: Wu Chi-Cheng , Chen Ying-Ju , Cho Yung-Jan
Published: July 2013

We analyze the innovative business model of free online games in which game players do not pay subscription fees and the firms generate their revenue by selling accessories—namely, virtual items within the games. The online game market is modeled as a nested network, with the segment of accessorized buyers embedded within that of game players. Both segments exhibit local network effects within the segments, and they impose crossed network effects on each other. We demonstrate that offering free games emerges as the revenue-maximizing strategy when the positive network effect of the game is high and the negative network effect of the accessory is low. We distinguish between two major types of accessories—namely, weaponries and decoratives—via their network effects. The weaponries impose a threat on the game players and subsequently confine the growth of the game; this negative effect is absent for the decoratives, which can thus be priced higher. We also generalize our findings related to online games to cope with other types of network-based free services, ranging from social networks to various kinds of information intermediaries.
CSF Aβ1‐42 combined with neuroimaging biomarkers in the early detection, diagnosis and prediction of Alzheimer's disease
Authors: Lista Simone , Garaci Francesco G. , Ewers Michael , Teipel Stefan , Zetterberg Henrik , Blennow Kaj , Hampel Harald
Published: July 2013

The development of validated, qualified, and standardized biomarkers for Alzheimer's disease (AD) that allow for an early presymptomatic diagnosis and discrimination (classification) from other types of dementia and neurodegenerative diseases is warranted to accelerate the successful development of novel disease‐modifying therapies. Here, we focus on the value of the 42‐residue‐long amyloid β isoform (Aβ1‐42) peptide in the cerebrospinal fluid as the core, feasible neurobiochemical marker for the amyloidogenic mechanisms in early‐onset familial and late‐onset sporadic AD. We discuss the role and use of Aβ1‐42 in combination with evolving neuroimaging biomarkers in AD detection and diagnosis. Multimodal neuroimaging techniques, directly providing structural‐functional‐metabolic aspects of brain pathophysiology, are supportive to predict and monitor the progression of the disease. Advances in multimodal neuroimaging provide new insights into brain organization and enable the detection of specific proteins and/or protein aggregates associated with AD. The combination of biomarkers from different methodologies is believed to be of incrementally added risk‐value to accurately identify asymptomatic and prodromal individuals who will likely progress to dementia and represent rational biomarker candidates for preventive and symptomatic pharmacological intervention trials.
Continuity and change in Russia’s policy toward Central and Eastern Europe
Authors: Fedorov Yury E.
Published: July 2013

The accession of the CEE states to NATO and the European Union has put an end to the geopolitical ambiguity and implicit insecurity in the region between Russia and the socalled ‘Old Europe’. Instead of being an area of great powers’ rivalry, elements of ‘buffer belts’ lacking meaningful strategic options, objects of raw Nazi-Soviet deals, or zones under Russian occupation and domination, the three Baltic States and the Visegrad group countries became full-fledged members of the European Union and were given NATO’s security guarantees. By the middle of the 2000s, one would conclude that traditional geopolitics had ended in this region.

However, the changes in the strategic situation in CEE have not changed the deep rooted moving forces and long-term strategic goals of the Russian policy toward the region.Moscow seeks to have the position, as its official rhetoric says, of an ‘influential centre of a multipolar world’ that would be nearly equal to the USA, China, or the EU. With this in view Moscow seeks for the establishment of its domination over the new independent states of the former USSR and for the formation of a sphere of influence for itself in Central Eastern Europe. If it achieves these goals, then Europe may return once again to traditional geopolitics fraught with great power rivalries and permanent instabilities radiating far beyond CEE borders.

Yet a few questions remain. Has Russia come to the conclusion that attempting to restore its privileged position of influence in Central-Eastern Europe is wrong? Has Russia enough power to threaten the CEE countries? How credible are NATO’s security guarantees? How may Russian behavior in CEE affect a wider European geopolitical context? These questions are appropriate in the light of Russia’s ‘resurgence’ as a revanchist power and because Russia is, and most probably will remain in the next five to ten years, a weighty economic and strategic factor in areas along the Western borders of the former USSR.
Reinventing ‘new’ Europe: Baltic perspectives on transatlantic security reconfigurations
Authors: Mälksoo Maria , Šešelgytė Margarita
Published: July 2013

This article examines the self-positioning of the three Baltic states in international politics in relation to the major structural pressures challenging the status quo of the transatlantic security configuration. The constitutive role of the Russia-Georgia war of 2008, the global economic recession, the debt crisis in the eurozone, and the shifting policy preferences and force projection of the United States towards Asia are explored as the key sources of the emerging Baltic security predicament. The empirical conclusions of the poststructuralist discourse analysis conducted for this study demonstrate how the Baltic states, in particular Estonia, have recently come to redefine the contents of ‘new’ Europe, thereby shifting the extant fault lines within the European Union.
‘Keeping in the race’: physics, publication speed and national publishing strategies inNature, 1895–1939
Authors: BALDWIN MELINDA
Published: July 2013

By the onset of the Second World War, the British scientific periodicalNature– specifically,Nature's ‘Letters to the editor’ column – had become a major publication venue for scientists who wished to publish short communications about their latest experimental findings. This paper argues that the Nobel Prize-winning physicist Ernest Rutherford was instrumental in establishing this use of the ‘Letters to the editor’ column in the early twentieth century. Rutherford's contributions setNatureapart from its fellow scientific weeklies in Britain and helped construct a defining feature ofNature's influence in the twentieth century. Rutherford's participation in the journal influenced his students and colleagues in the field of radioactivity physics and drew physicists like the German Otto Hahn and the American Bertram Borden Boltwood to submit their work toNatureas well, andNaturecame to play a major role in spreading news of the latest research in the science of radioactivity. Rutherford and his colleagues established a pattern of submissions to the ‘Letters to the editor’ that would eventually be adopted by scientists from diverse fields and from laboratories around the world.
The rocky-reef fish assemblages of Malta and Lampedusa islands (Strait of Sicily, Mediterranean Sea): a visual census study in a changing biogeographical sector
Authors: Azzurro E. , La Mesa G. , Fanelli E.
Published: July 2013

The rising impact of invasive species and climate change on Mediterranean fish biodiversity highlight the urgency to evaluate the current status of natural assemblages. Here we investigated the rocky-reef fish of Malta and Lampedusa (Strait of Sicily, Mediterranean Sea), two islands of high biogeographical importance subjected to a different level of protection and anthropic pressure. By using underwater visual census, a total of 192 counts were performed in May–June and September–October 2007 using a hierarchical spatial design and four depth layers. Overall, 23 families and 61 different taxa were recorded. Out of them, two highly invasive species were censused (i.e.Siganus luridusandFistularia commersonii) with relatively low abundances. Native Labridae and Sparidae shape the assemblage structure of both islands, and thermophilic species such asSparisoma cretenseandThalassoma pavooccur with high densities. The fish assemblages of Malta and Lampedusa were relatively similar in species composition, richness and total abundance. Nevertheless, multivariate analysis depicted significant differences between these two islands, mainly attributable to the unevenness of Labridae. Significant differences in the size distribution of the most abundant species were detected between islands, with parallel variation across time. The pattern of spatio-temporal variability of the whole assemblage structure strongly resembled that of nekto-benthic fish, hence pointing out the relevance of this guild as an indicator species group in future monitoring activity. This study will serve as a current baseline against which future changes in the central Mediterranean fish assemblages can be assessed.
Tracing Poverty and Inequality in International Development Discourses: An Algorithmic and Visual Analysis of Agencies’ Annual Reports and Occasional White Papers, 1978–2010
Authors: ESSER DANIEL E. , WILLIAMS BENJAMIN J.
Published: July 2013

Noting limited attention by international development agencies to inequalities compared to global poverty, we ask how these two challenges have been framed in agencies’ policy publications during the past several decades. Following a recent application of algorithmic analysis to health policy narratives in the UK, we use text-mining software to compare the frequency of two alternative conceptualisations of poverty and inequality in three different document categories: the World Bank's World Development Reports, the United Nations Development Programme's (UNDP) Human Development Reports and a set of white papers by bilateral donor agencies. In a second step, we visualise each document's degree of contextual similarity in using the two conceptualisations of poverty and inequality with all documents in the same source category. We find that while references to poverty have, on average, been twice as prominent as references to inequality, conceptualisations of poverty and inequality as well as the textual contexts in which they appear differ both temporally and substantively between agencies included in our sample. We show how such agency-specific framing patterns can be leveraged politically to forge more effective social policy coalitions. We also outline follow-up research capable of capturing the politics of language underpinning our observations.
Domestic architecture in the Early Bronze Age of western Anatolia: the row-houses of Troy I
Authors: Ivanova Mariya
Published: July 2013

Excavators have put forward opposing interpretations of the architectural sequence at the Early Bronze Age site of Troy. C.W. Blegen suggested that freestanding ‘megaron’ houses determined the visual pattern of the earliest settlement, while M.O. Korfmann compared Troy I to the circular layout of the Early Bronze Age site at Demircihüyük (the ‘Anatolian settlement plan’). Post-excavation analysis of the archaeological record from the excavations (1987–1992) in ‘Schliemann's Trench’ at Troy suggests a modification of the views of both Blegen and Korfmann. The local building tradition at Troy I was characterised by flat-roofed, long-room dwellings arranged in rows and sharing lateral walls. This peculiar settlement layout, recurrent at coastal and inland sites in the western part of Anatolia during the early centuries of the third millennium BC but unfamiliar at this time in the neighbouring regions of central Asia Minor and the Aegean, can be described as an Anatolian ‘row-house’ style. The present study applies the concept of vernacular architecture to the architectural record of Troy I and other contemporary ‘row-house’ sites to elucidate the social and cultural factors that shaped the domestic architectural traditions of early third-millennium western Asia Minor.
Wild Goat style ceramics at Troy and the impact of Archaic period colonisation on the Troad
Authors: Aslan Carolyn C. , Pernicka Ernst
Published: July 2013

The establishment of colonies along the Hellespont by inhabitants of Ionia, Athens and Lesbos is well-known from historical texts. Recently, stratified contexts at Troy as well as other surveys and excavations have yielded new information about the chronology and material markers of Archaic period settlements in the Troad and the Gallipoli peninsula. The archaeological evidence for colonisation in this region is not clearly seen until the late seventh to early sixth century BC when there is a dramatic change in the material culture. Destruction evidence from Troy indicates that the new settlers probably entered a weakened and depopulated region in the second half of the seventh century BC. The Ionian colonists transplanted their pottery traditions and started production of East Greek style ceramics in the Troad. Neutron Activation Analysis of Wild Goat style ceramics found at Troy offers further confirmation for the existence of Hellespontine Wild Goat style ceramic production centres. The Wild Goat style examples from Troy help to define the characteristics of the Hellespontine group, as well as the chronology and impact of colonisation in this area.
The cathedral complex at Nisibis
Authors: Keser-Kayaalp Elif , Erdoğan Nihat
Published: July 2013

The cathedral complex at Nisibis sits within what is currently a large excavation site. The excavations, continuing on and off over the last 12 years, have yielded exciting discoveries. This article is not a report of the excavations as such, but, in the light of them, it revisits the cathedral complex in an attempt to reconstruct the possible cathedral on the site and to establish the building phases of the only standing structure on the site, known as the ‘Church of Mor Yaqub’, which was the baptistery of the cathedral.
Dwelling in Hacıveliler: social-engineering policies in the context of space, place and landscape in rural, western Turkey
Authors: Luke Christina , Cobb Elvan
Published: July 2013

The Gediz valley of modern, western Turkey is a major gateway linking the Aegean spheres with the central Anatolian plateau. The making of cultural heritage in Anatolia plays out in very different ways depending on the physical location of the community and the level of implementation of the post-1923 social- and political-engineering agendas of the authorities of the Republic of Turkey. In this case-study we analyse one community, a village of just under 200 people known as Hacıveliler in the Marmara Lake basin of the Gediz valley in western Turkey (province of Manisa). We explore how this community continues to (re)define its heritage (from the 19th century to the present day) in light of contemporary policies. The approach combines historiographical, archaeological, preservation and ethnographical datasets.
Spin effects in nonlinear Compton scattering in ultrashort linearly-polarized laser pulses
Authors: Krajewska K. , Kamiński J. Z.
Published: July 2013

The nonlinear Compton scattering by a linearly polarized laser pulse of finite duration is analyzed, with a focus on the spin effects of target electrons. We show that, although the Compton scattering accompanied by the electron no-spin flip is dominant, for some energy regions of Compton photons their emission is dominated by the process leading to the electron spin flip. This feature is observed for different pulse durations, and can be treated as a signature of quantum behavior. Similar conclusions are reached when analyzing the scattered electron energy spectra. This time, the sensitivity of spin effects to the carrier-envelope phase of the driving pulse is demonstrated. The possibility of electron acceleration by means of Compton scattering is also discussed.
YOUR MONEY OR YOUR LIFE: COMPARING JUDGEMENTS IN TROLLEY PROBLEMS INVOLVING ECONOMIC AND EMOTIONAL HARMS, INJURY AND DEATH
Authors: Gold Natalie , Pulford Briony D. , Colman Andrew M.
Published: July 2013

There is a long-standing debate in philosophy about whether it is morally permissible to harm one person in order to prevent a greater harm to others and, if not, what is the moral principle underlying the prohibition. Hypothetical moral dilemmas are used in order to probe moral intuitions. Philosophers use them to achieve a reflective equilibrium between intuitions and principles, psychologists to investigate moral decision-making processes. In the dilemmas, the harms that are traded off are almost always deaths. However, the moral principles and psychological processes are supposed to be broader than this, encompassing harms other than death. Further, if the standard pattern of intuitions is preserved in the domain of economic harm, then that would open up the possibility of studying behaviour in trolley problems using the tools of experimental economics. We report the results of two studies designed to test whether the standard patterns of intuitions are preserved when the domain and severity of harm are varied. Our findings show that the difference in moral intuitions between bystander and footbridge scenarios is replicated across different domains and levels of physical and non-physical harm, including economic harms.
EXPERIMENTAL PHILOSOPHY OF ECONOMICS
Authors: Nagatsu Michiru
Published: July 2013

This article is a prelude to an experimental study of the preference concept in economics. I argue that a new empirical approach calledexperimental philosophy of scienceis a promising approach to advance the philosophy of economics. In particular, I discuss two debates in the field, the neuroeconomics controversy and the commonsensible realism debate, and suggest how experimental and survey techniques can generate data that will inform these debates. Some of the likely objections from philosophers and economists are addressed, and possible ways of operationalizing different preference concepts are illustrated.
HEALTH TECHNOLOGY ASSESSMENT, VALUE-BASED DECISION MAKING, AND INNOVATION
Authors: Henshall Chris , Schuller Tara
Published: July 2013

Background: Identifying treatments that offer value and value for money is becoming increasingly important, with interest in how health technology assessment (HTA) and decision makers can take appropriate account of what is of value to patients and to society, and in the relationship between innovation and assessments of value.

Methods: This study summarizes points from an Health Technology Assessment International (HTAi) Policy Forum discussion, drawing on presentations, discussions among attendees, and background papers.

Results and Conclusions: Various perspectives on value were considered; most place patient health at the core of value. Wider elements of value comprise other benefits for: patients; caregivers; the health and social care systems; and society. Most decision-making systems seek to take account of similar elements of value, although they are assessed and combined in different ways. Judgment in decisions remains important and cannot be replaced by mathematical approaches. There was discussion of the value of innovation and of the effects of value assessments on innovation. Discussion also included moving toward “progressive health system decision making,” an ongoing process whereby evidence-based decisions on use would be made at various stages in the technology lifecycle. Five actions are identified: (i) development of a general framework for the definition and assessment of value; development by HTA/coverage bodies and regulators of (ii) disease-specific guidance and (iii) further joint scientific advice for industry on demonstrating value; (iv) development of a framework for progressive licensing, usage, and reimbursement; and (v) promoting work to better adapt HTA, coverage, and procurement approaches to medical devices.
Soil texture and altitude, respectively, largely determine the floristic gradient of the most diverse fog oasis in the Peruvian desert
Authors: Muenchow Jannes , Hauenstein Simon , Bräuning Achim , Bäumler Rupert , Rodríguez Eric Frank , von Wehrden Henrik
Published: July 2013

Studying species turnover along gradients is a key topic in tropical ecology. Crucial drivers, among others, are fog deposition and soil properties. In northern Peru, a fog-dependent vegetation formation develops on mountains along the hyper-arid coast. Despite their uniqueness, these fog oases are largely uninvestigated. This study addresses the influence of environmental factors on the vegetation of these unique fog oases. Accordingly, vegetation and soil properties were recorded on 66 4 × 4-m plots along an altitudinal gradient ranging from 200 to 950 m asl. Ordination and modelling techniques were used to study altitudinal vegetation belts and floristic composition. Four vegetation belts were identified: a low-elevationTillandsiabelt, a herbaceous belt, a bromeliad belt showing highest species richness and an uppermost succulent belt. Different altitudinal levels might reflect water availability, which is highest below the temperature inversion at around 700 m asl. Altitude alone explained 96% of the floristic composition. Soil texture and salinity accounted for 88%. This is in contrast with more humid tropical ecosystems where soil nutrients appear to be more important. Concluding, this study advances the understanding of tropical gradients in fog-dependent and ENSO-affected ecosystems.
The changing antibiotic susceptibility of bloodstream infections in the first month of life: informing antibiotic policies for early- and late-onset neonatal sepsis
Authors: BLACKBURN R. M. , VERLANDER N. Q. , HEATH P. T. , MULLER-PEBODY B.
Published: July 2013

This study describes the association between antibiotic resistance of bacteria causing neonatal bloodstream infection (BSI) and neonatal age to inform empirical antibiotic treatment guidelines. Antibiotic resistance data were analysed for 14 078 laboratory reports of bacteraemia in neonates aged 0–28 days, received by the Health Protection Agency's (now Public Health England) voluntary surveillance scheme for England and Wales between January 2005 and December 2010. Linear and restricted cubic splines were used in logistic regression models to estimate the nonlinear relationship between age and resistance; the significance of confounding variables was assessed using likelihood ratio tests. An increase in resistance in bacteria causing BSI in neonates aged <4 days was observed, which was greatest between days 2–3 and identified an age (4–8 days, depending on the antibiotic) at which antibiotic resistance plateaus to almost unchanging levels. Our results indicate important age-associated changes in antibiotic resistance and support current empirical treatment guidelines.
Emissaries, allies, accomplices and enemies: married women's work in eighteenth-century urban Sweden
Authors: ÅGREN MARIA
Published: July 2013

Based on so-called Excise court records, this article argues that in eighteenth-century urban Sweden much of middling women's work took place in the interstices between households, as ‘help’ given to other women, often across social divides. These forms of work are often difficult to track in the historical records and, consequently, they have remained unnoticed, creating the erroneous picture that women did not contribute to their households through paid work. The lack of attention to these kinds of work has also overemphasized the closed character of early modern households which were, in fact, both flexible and permeable units.
Glial fibrillary acidic protein in children with congenital heart disease undergoing cardiopulmonary bypass
Authors: Brunetti Marissa A. , Jennings Jacky M. , Easley R. Blaine , Bembea Melania , Brown Anna , Heitmiller Eugenie , Schwartz Jamie M. , Brady Ken M. , Vricella Luca A. , Everett Allen D.
Published: July 2013

Objective:To determine whether blood levels of the brain-specific biomarker glial fibrillary acidic protein rise during cardiopulmonary bypass for repair of congenital heart disease.Methods:This is a prospective observational pilot study to characterise the blood levels of glial fibrillary acidic protein during bypass. Children <21 years of age undergoing bypass for congenital heart disease at Johns Hopkins Hospital and Texas Children's Hospital were enrolled. Blood samples were collected during four phases: pre-bypass, cooling, re-warming, and post-bypass.Results:A total of 85 patients were enrolled between October, 2010 and May, 2011. The median age was 0.73 years (range 0.01–17). The median weight was 7.14 kilograms (range 2.2–86.5). Single ventricle anatomy was present in 18 patients (22%). Median glial fibrillary acidic protein values by phase were: pre-bypass: 0 ng/ml (range 0–0.35); cooling: 0.039 (0–0.68); re-warming: 0.165 (0–2.29); and post-bypass: 0.112 (0–0.97). There were significant elevations from pre-bypass to all subsequent stages, with the greatest increase during re-warming (p = 0.0001). Maximal levels were significantly related to younger age (p = 0.03), bypass time (p = 0.03), cross-clamp time (p = 0.047), and temperature nadir (0.04). Peak levels did not vary significantly in those with single ventricle anatomy versus two ventricle repairs.Conclusion:There are significant increases in glial fibrillary acidic protein levels in children undergoing cardiopulmonary bypass for repair of congenital heart disease. The highest values were seen during the re-warming phase. Elevations are significantly associated with younger age, bypass and cross-clamp times, and temperature nadir. Owing to the fact that glial fibrillary acidic protein is the most brain-specific biomarker identified to date, it may act as a rapid diagnostic marker of brain injury during cardiac surgery.
Tradition and Transformation: Addressing the gap between electroacoustic music and the middle and secondary school curriculum
Authors: Martin Jeffrey
Published: July 2013

Given the growing acceptance of information and communication technology (ICT) as integral to today's middle and secondary school classrooms, electroacoustic music would seem on the surface to be a central feature of the music curriculum. However, models that approximate actual practices of electroacoustic music in the classroom are rare, with many schools focusing squarely on ICT, either as tools to facilitate traditional musical contexts or to explore innovative uses of that technology. Also, with the exception of some notable recent developments, there are few initiatives to bring middle and secondary students, or their teachers, into contact with the practices of electroacoustic music communities. The purpose of this article is to explore this problematic gap between the education and electroacoustic music communities in an attempt to identify some of the issues that lie at the foundation of an effective curriculum. The position taken is that these foundational matters need to be addressed prior to any discussion of ‘best practices’ for middle and secondary electroacoustic music education.
EarSketch: An integrated approach to teaching introductory computer music
Authors: McCoid Scott , Freeman Jason , Magerko Brian , Michaud Christopher , Jenkins Tom , Mcklin Tom , Kan Hera
Published: July 2013

EarSketch is an all-in-one approach to supporting a holistic introductory course to computer music as an artistic pursuit and a research practice. Targeted to the high school and undergraduate levels, EarSketch enables students to acquire a strong foundation in electroacoustic composition, computer music research and computer science. It integrates a Python programming environment with a commercial digital audio workstation program (Cockos’ Reaper) to provide a unified environment within which students can use programmatic techniques in tandem with more traditional music production strategies to compose music. In this paper we discuss the context and goals of EarSketch, its design and implementation, and its use in a pilot summer camp for high school students.
An Action–Sound Approach to Teaching Interactive Music
Authors: Jensenius Alexander Refsum
Published: July 2013

The conceptual starting point for an ‘action–sound approach’ to teaching music technology is the acknowledgment of the couplings that exist in acoustic instruments between sounding objects, sound-producing actions and the resultant sounds themselves. Digital music technologies, on the other hand, are not limited to such natural couplings, but allow for arbitrary new relationships to be created between objects, actions and sounds. The endless possibilities of such virtual action–sound relationships can be exciting and creatively inspiring, but they can also lead to frustration among performers and confusion for audiences. This paper presents the theoretical foundations for an action–sound approach to electronic instrument design and discusses the ways in which this approach has shaped the undergraduate course titled ‘Interactive Music’ at the University of Oslo. In this course, students start out by exploring various types of acoustic action–sound couplings before moving on to designing, building, performing and evaluating both analogue and digital electronic instruments from an action–sound perspective.
Failure, Neuroscience and Success: Differentiating the pedagogies of music technology from electroacoustic composition
Authors: Keyes Christopher J.
Published: July 2013

Although the pedagogy of music technology more closely resembles that of other academic subjects, the teaching of electroacoustic composition involves a significant degree of creativity, and thus relies on different creativity-specific parts of the brain and memory systems (Lehmann 2007). This paper reviews recent neuroscientific research that may assist differentiation between effective pedagogical approaches of these two subjects where knowledge is stored in separate, discrete and sometimes competing long-term memory locations (Cotterill 2001). It argues that, because of these differences, the learning of music technology and electroacoustic composition is best kept separate, at least in the beginning stages. These points are underscored by an example of a demonstrably failed pedagogical model for teaching electroacoustic composition contrasted with a subsequent highly successful model employed in the same university music programme; an experience that may translate well to other learning environments.
Consilient Spheres of Influence in a Land Grant Setting
Authors: Ballora Mark , Craig Curtis
Published: July 2013

At Penn State, music technology is something of a stranger in a strange land. As a programme, it began in the early twenty-first century, when the necessity of the moment was an anticipated revision to the guidelines from the National Association of Schools of Music (NASM), the North American accrediting body. Music schools were charged with ensuring that music majors were exposed to ‘relevant technologies’. It was left largely to individual institutions to interpret what this meant. At Penn State, a course was created to address this guideline, and it generated interest among students. This course then spawned a series of related courses. These courses eventually created enough of a curricular presence to warrant creating an undergraduate minor. We now expect that the minor will spawn an undergraduate major. The music technology programme's locus lies not solely within the School of Music; rather, it overlaps as an interdisciplinary area with a variety of programmes throughout the university's offerings. These overlaps are a unique feature of the programme. It is an unusual arrangement, but it is a product of its time and place. Three populations of students have coalesced, and the pedagogical challenge has been to create a curriculum that can serve all of them. The programme might be thought of as series of concentric spheres; each is centred around the same general concept structure, but with expanding breadth for different levels of student involvement.
A Collaborative Approach to Teaching Sound Sculpting, Embodied Listening and the Materiality of Sound
Authors: Van Nort Doug
Published: July 2013

This paper presents recent work in engaging both students and working professionals from a variety of disciplines and backgrounds with the practice of collective and site-specific electroacoustic music creation. The emphasis is placed on embodied, deep listening in tandem with a manual approach to sonic art creation that bridges an understanding of the interplay between digital sound manipulation, larger composed structures and the physical presentation of a work in a given space. Through a practice-oriented approach, participants gain insights into areas such as the abstract world of digital sound recording and representation, the extreme influence on this content enacted by a given sound delivery system and a given space, and the subjective experience of listening to sounds from a variety of orientations and postures, and with varying levels of understanding of the original source recordings. Finally, through a group approach to composing larger structures, participants begin to understand the often mysterious and unsaid processes involved in the normally solitary act of composing electroacoustic music.
DISJUNCTIVE CIRCLES: MODERN INTELLECTUAL CULTURE IN CUZCO AND THE JOURNEYS OF INCAN ANTIQUITIES,C.1877–1921
Authors: GÄNGER STEFANIE
Published: July 2013

This essay explores the journeys of Andean pre-Columbian antiquities across the Americas and the Atlantic during the late nineteenth century along the veins of intellectual networks, between Andean communities and European, North American and Creole collectors and museums. Centred on the studies and collection of José Lucas Caparó Muñíz, the essay focuses on the Creole and European practice of lifting pre-Columbian objects preserved or “still” in use in Andean communities out of their context and taking them to European and Creole private and public collections. Intellectual history has long paid scant attention to the many voices that its authors silenced, disfigured and suppressed. By looking at the journeys of Andean artefacts—at their owners, their brokers and their losers—this erssay traces the systemic hierarchies and the chasms of an expanding modern intellectual culture.
The relationship between national plant genetic resources programmes and practitioners promoting on-farm management: results from a global survey
Authors: Nilsen Linn Borgen , Subedi Abishkar , Dulloo Mohammad Ehsan , Ghosh Kakoli , Chavez-Tafur Jorge , Blundo Canto Genowefa Maria , de Boef Walter Simon
Published: July 2013

A global survey was conducted among a wide range of stakeholders to gain insight into the state of on-farm management (OFM) as a strategy for enhancing the conservation and sustainable use of plant genetic resources for food and agriculture (PGRFA). The results show that OFM is not considered a priority in national PGRFA programmes (NPGRPs), and that OFM practitioners and their organizations are not always aware of, or involved in, NPGRPs. The survey also highlighted the lack of awareness, understanding and collaboration between OFM practitioners and the managers and policy-makers associated with NPGRPs. The outcome of the analysis supports a hypothesis that OFM is, to a large extent, supported by stakeholders who are not directly engaged in the conservation and use of PGRFA, and therefore not associated with NPGRPs. This should be taken into consideration when seeking to improve the performance and impact of national programmes, and their commitment to safeguard PGRFA and contribute to food security, poverty alleviation and sustainable agriculture.
Altering cell death pathways as an approach to cure HIV infection
Authors: Badley A D , Sainski A , Wightman F , Lewin S R
Published: July 2013

Recent cases of successful control of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) by bone marrow transplant in combination with suppressive antiretroviral therapy (ART) and very early initiation of ART have provided proof of concept that HIV infection might now be cured. Current efforts focusing on gene therapy, boosting HIV-specific immunity, reducing inflammation and activation of latency have all been the subject of recent excellent reviews. We now propose an additional avenue of research towards a cure for HIV: targeting HIV apoptosis regulatory pathways. The central enigma of HIV disease is that HIV infection kills most of the CD4 T cells that it infects, but those cells that are spared subsequently become a latent reservoir for HIV against which current medications are ineffective. We propose that if strategies could be devised which would favor the death of all cells which HIV infects, or if all latently infected cells that release HIV would succumb to viral-induced cytotoxicity, then these approaches combined with effective ART to prevent spreading infection, would together result in a cure for HIV. This premise is supported by observations in other viral systems where the relationship between productive infection, apoptosis resistance, and the development of latency or persistence has been established. Therefore we propose that research focused at understanding the mechanisms by which HIV induces apoptosis of infected cells, and ways that some cells escape the pro-apoptotic effects of productive HIV infection are critical to devising novel and rational approaches to cure HIV infection.
Sulfur oxidizers dominate carbon fixation at a biogeochemical hot spot in the dark ocean
Authors: Mattes Timothy E , Nunn Brook L , Marshall Katharine T , Proskurowski Giora , Kelley Deborah S , Kawka Orest E , Goodlett David R , Hansell Dennis A , Morris Robert M
Published: July 2013

Bacteria and archaea in the dark ocean (>200 m) comprise 0.3–1.3 billion tons of actively cycled marine carbon. Many of these microorganisms have the genetic potential to fix inorganic carbon (autotrophs) or assimilate single-carbon compounds (methylotrophs). We identified the functions of autotrophic and methylotrophic microorganisms in a vent plume at Axial Seamount, where hydrothermal activity provides a biogeochemical hot spot for carbon fixation in the dark ocean. Free-living members of the SUP05/Arctic96BD-19 clade of marine gamma-proteobacterial sulfur oxidizers (GSOs) are distributed throughout the northeastern Pacific Ocean and dominated hydrothermal plume waters at Axial Seamount. Marine GSOs expressed proteins for sulfur oxidation (adenosine phosphosulfate reductase, sox (sulfur oxidizing system), dissimilatory sulfite reductase and ATP sulfurylase), carbon fixation (ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase oxygenase (RuBisCO)), aerobic respiration (cytochrome c oxidase) and nitrogen regulation (PII). Methylotrophs and iron oxidizers were also active in plume waters and expressed key proteins for methane oxidation and inorganic carbon fixation (particulate methane monooxygenase/methanol dehydrogenase and RuBisCO, respectively). Proteomic data suggest that free-living sulfur oxidizers and methylotrophs are among the dominant primary producers in vent plume waters in the northeastern Pacific Ocean.
Microbial and viral metagenomes of a subtropical freshwater reservoir subject to climatic disturbances
Authors: Tseng Ching-Hung , Chiang Pei-Wen , Shiah Fuh-Kwo , Chen Yi-Lung , Liou Jia-Rong , Hsu Ting-Chang , Maheswararajah Suhinthan , Saeed Isaam , Halgamuge Saman , Tang Sen-Lin
Published: July 2013

Extreme climatic activities, such as typhoons, are widely known to disrupt our natural environment. In particular, studies have revealed that typhoon-induced perturbations can result in several long-term effects on various ecosystems. In this study, we have conducted a 2-year metagenomic survey to investigate the microbial and viral community dynamics associated with environmental changes and seasonal variations in an enclosed freshwater reservoir subject to episodic typhoons. We found that the microbial community structure and the associated metagenomes continuously changed, where microbial richness increased after typhoon events and decreased during winter. Among the environmental factors that influenced changes in the microbial community, precipitation was considered to be the most significant. Similarly, the viral community regularly showed higher relative abundances and diversity during summer in comparison to winter, with major variations happening in several viral families including Siphoviridae, Myoviridae, Podoviridae and Microviridae. Interestingly, we also found that the precipitation level was associated with the terrestrial viral abundance in the reservoir. In contrast to the dynamic microbial community (L-divergence 0.73±0.25), we found that microbial metabolic profiles were relatively less divergent (L-divergence 0.24±0.04) at the finest metabolic resolution. This study provides for the first time a glimpse at the microbial and viral community dynamics of a subtropical freshwater ecosystem, adding a comprehensive set of new knowledge to aquatic environments.