bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Additional data on Iranian trichodorids (Triplonchida: Trichodoridae) and first record of a rare species, Trichodorus variabilis Roca, 1998
Authors: Pedram Majid , Roshan-Bakhsh Ali , Pourjam Ebrahim , Atighi Mohammad Reza , Decraemer Wilfrida , Bagheri Ali
Published: November 2016

Trichodorus variabilis, recovered from three separate locations in natural forests of northern Iran, was studied using morphological, morphometric and molecular data. Variation in position of the ventromedian cervical papillae (CP1 and CP2) with respect to the onchiostyle base in the resting position, and spicule characters (having or lacking striation in distal blade region and bristles in proximal blade region) were observed. Variation was also observed in the nature of the pharyngo-intestinal junction (offset to slight overlapping). The secretory-excretory pore of females also showed slight variation in placement. Molecular phylogenetic studies, using partial 28S rDNA D2-D3 sequences of three studied populations and one sequenced isolate of the species from Greece, revealed T. variabilis has variation in the sequences of this genomic fragment. The similarity percent of four sequences ranged from 96.7 to 99.7%. The species was found for the first time outside of Greece, the country from which it was originally described. A newly recovered population of T. persicus, originally described from Iran, was also included in the molecular phylogenetic analyses.
Threads of Tradition: Design and Meaning in Russian Peasant Clothing and Textile Arts
Authors: Hilton Alison
Published: November 2016

The diverse components and decoration of peasant costumes in the north and south of Russia are the focus of this examination of the materials, stitches, and colors of textile arts. The identification of the wearer’s stage of life, village, kinship, and local traditions is analyzed through the sartorial elements and embroidered designs of garments and headdresses. Other textile work, especially embroidery on towels and bed linens, with repeated patterns and stylized motifs, shows formal similarities with designs on wooden distaffs, suggesting shared historical origins of certain forms. The essay emphasizes both the conservative nature of peasant clothing and the adaptability of textile arts to new materials, techniques, and functions.
The War in Chechnya in Russian Cinematographic Representations
Authors: Makarychev Andrey
Published: November 2016

The paper explores the identitarian context of Russia’s cinematic narratives on the war in Chechnya. It draws on various strategies of war representation through films and uncovers their ideological and political underpinnings. The author explicates how the cinematographic imagery grounded in the Chechen war experience boosts the hegemonic discourse of the Kremlin, and then discusses whether fictional films deliver critical or counter-hegemonic arguments.
Addressing the Mental Health Needs of Latino Children in Immigrant Families
Authors: Caballero Tania Maria , DeCamp Lisa Ross , Platt Rheanna E. , Shah Harita , Johnson Sara B. , Sibinga Erica M. S. , Polk Sarah
Published: November 2016

Latino children in the United States, whether immigrants themselves or children in immigrant families, are at high risk for mental health disorders stemming from poverty, exposure to trauma, assimilation stressors, and discrimination. The timely identification and treatment of mental health disorders in Latino children are compromised by limited healthcare access and quality as well as the lack of routine mental health screening in pediatric primary care. Here we review Spanish-language validity and implementation studies of Bright Futures previsit mental health screening tools and models of care. We identify strengths and weaknesses in the literature and suggest tools for use in mental health care assessment, management, and treatment for Latino children in pediatric primary care. Pediatricians can improve care of Latino children through awareness of risk factors for mental health disorders, integration of evidence-based screening tools, and advocacy for culturally tailored mental health resources.
Saliva and Serum Protein Exchange at the Tooth Enamel Surface
Authors: Heller D. , Helmerhorst E.J. , Oppenheim F.G.
Published: November 2016

The acquired enamel pellicle is an oral, fluid-derived protein layer that forms on the tooth surface. It is a biologically and clinically important integument that protects teeth against enamel demineralization, and abrasion. Tooth surfaces are exposed to different proteinaceous microenvironments depending on the enamel location. For instance, tooth surfaces close to the gingival sulcus contact serum proteins that emanate via this sulcus, which may impact pellicle composition locally. The aims of this study were to define the major salivary and serum components that adsorb to hydroxyapatite, to study competition among them, and to obtain preliminary evidence in an in vivo saliva/serum pellicle model. Hydroxyapatite powder was incubated with saliva and serum, and the proteins that adsorbed were identified by mass spectrometry. To study competition, saliva and serum proteins were labeled with CyDyes, mixed in various proportions, and incubated with hydroxyapatite. In vivo competition was assessed using a split-mouth design, with half the buccal tooth surfaces coated with serum and the other half with saliva. After exposure to the oral environment for 0 min, 30 min and 2 h, the pellicles were analyzed by SDS-PAGE. In pure saliva- or serum-derived pellicles, 82 and 84 proteins were identified, respectively. When present concomitantly, salivary protein adsorbers effectively competed with serum protein adsorbers for the hydroxyapatite surface. Specifically, acidic proline-rich protein, cystatin, statherin and protein S100-A9 proteins competed off apolipoproteins, complement C4-A, haptoglobin, transthyretin and serotransferrin. In vivo evidence further supported the replacement of serum proteins by salivary proteins. In conclusion, although significant numbers of serum proteins emanate from the gingival sulcus, their ability to participate in dental pellicle formation is likely reduced in the presence of strong salivary protein adsorbers. The functional properties of the acquired enamel pellicle will therefore be mostly dictated by the salivary component.
Mathematical analysis of motion control in sectional warping machines
Authors: Eren Recep , Suvari Fatih , Celik Ozge
Published: November 2016

Sectional warping is the most widely used warp preparation method in weaving, as it enables warping from all kind of yarns with color or type repeat. The quality of warping is directly dependent on the precision of motion control of machine mechanisms. This paper presents a mathematical analysis of motions of a sectional warping machine. Experimental work is also carried out on industrial sectional warping machines. It is shown that the results of mathematical equations derived for motions of a sectional warping machine match well with experimental results and they can be used for computer control of a sectional warping machine.
Identification of MHC Haplotypes Associated with Drug-induced Hypersensitivity Reactions in Cynomolgus Monkeys
Authors: Wu Hong , Whritenour Jessica , Sanford Jonathan C. , Houle Christopher , Adkins Karissa K.
Published: November 2016

Drug-induced hypersensitivity reactions can significantly impact drug development and use. Studies to understand risk factors for drug-induced hypersensitivity reactions have identified genetic association with specific human leukocyte antigen (HLA) alleles. Interestingly, drug-induced hypersensitivity reactions can occur in nonhuman primates; however, association between drug-induced hypersensitivity reactions and major histocompatibility complex (MHC) alleles has not been described. In this study, tissue samples were collected from 62 cynomolgus monkeys from preclinical studies in which 9 animals had evidence of drug-induced hypersensitivity reactions. Microsatellite analysis was used to determine MHC haplotypes for each animal. A total of 7 haplotypes and recombinant MHC haplotypes were observed, with distribution frequency comparable to known MHC I allele frequency in cynomolgus monkeys. Genetic association analysis identified alleles from the M3 haplotype of the MHC I B region (B*011:01, B*075:01, B*079:01, B*070:02, B*098:05, and B*165:01) to be significantly associated (χ2 test for trend, p < 0.05) with occurrence of drug-induced hypersensitivity reactions. Sequence similarity from alignment of alleles in the M3 haplotype B region and HLA alleles associated with drug-induced hypersensitivity reactions in humans was 86% to 93%. These data demonstrate that MHC alleles in cynomolgus monkeys are associated with drug-induced hypersensitivity reactions, similar to HLA alleles in humans.
Histopathologic Effects of Onabotulinum Toxin A Treatment in Pediatric Submandibular Glands
Authors: Mosseri Ashley , Cardona Isabel , Blumenkrantz Miriam , Daniel Sam J.
Published: November 2016

Onabotulinum toxin A (OBTXA) is an effective treatment for drooling. Our objective was to determine if there are histologic changes in the submandibular glands (SMGs) after repetitive OBTXA injections. The study included blinded histologic analysis and comparison of SMGs with ≥4 OBTXA injections versus controls who never received OBTXA. The number of acinar cells were counted, and the morphology of the cells was evaluated within each histologic sample of the SMGs. Thirty‐one glands were analyzed (14 control, 17 cases). No physical differences were observed between the 2 acinar cell groups. There was no significant difference in the number acinar cells per surface area in the control group as compared with the OBTXA group (1.29 ± 0.13 vs 1.17 ± 0.11 cells/μm2, respectively). To conclude, no significant histologic findings were established in this first human study on SMGs post‐OBTXA treatment.
Modeling Individual Patient Preferences for Colorectal Cancer Screening Based on Their Tolerance for Complications Risk
Authors: Taksler Glen B. , Perzynski Adam T. , Kattan Michael W.
Published: November 2016

Introduction. Recommendations for colorectal cancer screening encourage patients to choose among various screening methods based on individual preferences for benefits, risks, screening frequency, and discomfort. We devised a model to illustrate how individuals with varying tolerance for screening complications risk might decide on their preferred screening strategy. Methods. We developed a discrete-time Markov mathematical model that allowed hypothetical individuals to maximize expected lifetime utility by selecting screening method, start age, stop age, and frequency. Individuals could choose from stool-based testing every 1 to 3 years, flexible sigmoidoscopy every 1 to 20 years with annual stool-based testing, colonoscopy every 1 to 20 years, or no screening. We compared the life expectancy gained from the chosen strategy with the life expectancy available from a benchmark strategy of decennial colonoscopy. Results. For an individual at average risk of colorectal cancer who was risk neutral with respect to screening complications (and therefore was willing to undergo screening if it would actuarially increase life expectancy), the model predicted that he or she would choose colonoscopy every 10 years, from age 53 to 73 years, consistent with national guidelines. For a similar individual who was moderately averse to screening complications risk (and therefore required a greater increase in life expectancy to accept potential risks of colonoscopy), the model predicted that he or she would prefer flexible sigmoidoscopy every 12 years with annual stool-based testing, with 93% of the life expectancy benefit of decennial colonoscopy. For an individual with higher risk aversion, the model predicted that he or she would prefer 2 lifetime flexible sigmoidoscopies, 20 years apart, with 70% of the life expectancy benefit of decennial colonoscopy. Conclusion. Mathematical models may formalize how individuals with different risk attitudes choose between various guideline-recommended colorectal cancer screening strategies.
Do Social Functioning Problems of Premature Children Persist Between 7 and 11 Years of Age?
Authors: Nadeau Line , Oslejskova Eva , Tessier Réjean
Published: November 2016

A number of studies report that from the first years of life, preterm children have more difficulty self-regulating and communicating in their social group. If these children show signs of difficulty adjusting socially, the question then is whether or not these problems continue and persist over time. The objective is to observe the combined effects of birth status and the passage of time on the resolution/persistence of the social problems. At age 7, the social adjustment of 96 extremely preterm (EP) children was assessed in a school setting, and 82 (85%) were followed at 11 years, and matched with three healthy term peers of the same sex and socioeconomic status (SES) recruited in the same classroom. A total of 375 children have been “casted” by their classmates in social roles through a sociometric interview at 7 and 11 years. The findings indicate a customary stability in term children but persistent or even increasing problems of victimization in EP children and a decrease of aggressiveness over time in the EP boys subgroup. Moreover, we found persistent social isolation problems in the subgroup of EP girls at 7 and 11 years. It can be concluded that prematurity is associated with a process of social marginalization that results from both the children’s very limitations and the resultant reputation effects. At these ages, any discrepancy is quickly judged as a weakness that children do not want to be associated with. Furthermore, the passage of time confirms this and reinforces the marginalization process.
Modified unscented Kalman filter for X-ray pulsar-based navigation system in the presence of measurement outliers
Authors: Li Xiaoyu , Jin Jing , Shen Yi
Published: November 2016

In order to eliminate the influence of outlier in measurement to X-ray pulsar based navigation system, a modified unscented Kalman filter-based filtering algorithm is proposed. First, the outlier detection function is established based on the statistical information of measurement residuals to detect whether the fault occurs in the measurements. Then, the filter gain in regular unscented Kalman filter algorithm is modified so that the dramatic changes of measurement residual are avoided. The modified unscented Kalman filter filtering algorithm is tested on the existing high earth orbit to verify the validity in the presence of the measurement with outliers. Simulation results show that the proposed modified unscented Kalman filter can effectively reduce the impact of the outliers on X-ray pulsar-based navigation system and has higher accuracy than the unscented Kalman filter method.
Factors that can influence feelings towards and interactions with people living with HIV/AIDS in rural Central Kenya
Authors: Kingori Caroline , Haile Zelalem T , Ngatia Peter , Nderitu Ruth
Published: November 2016

Background

In Kenya, HIV incidence and prevalence have declined. HIV rates are lower in rural areas than in urban areas. However, HIV infection is reported higher in men in rural areas (4.5%) compared to those in urban areas (3.7%).

Objectives

This study examined HIV knowledge, feelings, and interactions towards HIV-infected from 302 participants in rural Central Kenya.

Methods

Chi square tests and multivariable logistic regression analyzed variables of interest.

Results

Most participants exhibited positive feelings in their interaction with people living with HIV and AIDS (PLWHA). Association between HIV knowledge and socio-demographic characteristics revealed that the proportion of participants with a correct response differed by gender, age, level of education, and marital status ( p < 0.05). Compared to those with inadequate knowledge of HIV/AIDS, participants with adequate HIV/AIDS knowledge were nearly three times as likely to disagree that PLWHA should be legally separated from others to protect public health (adjusted odds ratio: aOR (95% CI) (2.76 (1.12, 6.80).

Conclusions

HIV stigma continues to impact HIV prevention strategies particularly in rural Central Kenya. Culturally, appropriate interventions addressing HIV knowledge among those with lower levels of education, single, older, and male are warranted. Review of HIV policies separating high-risk populations from the general population is needed to reduce stigma.
Reconciling Theory and Evidences for Corporate Financing in India
Authors: Chauhan Gaurav Singh
Published: November 2016

The article tries to reconcile theoretical predictions of the two most important capital structure theories with evidences for corporate financing in India. We identify that while the pattern of leverage supports the prediction of pecking order hypotheses strongly, the key arguments of the theory are missing. We also found a significant explanation for incremental changes in debt ratios caused by mechanical stock price movement as compared to the changes caused by the overall issuance activities of firms. Firms do not seem to readjust their debt ratios to counter the drift caused by these stock-related movements in debt ratios.

JEL Classification: G32, G20, H25, H62, E62
Clinical teaching and supervision in postgraduate psychiatry training: the trainee perspective
Authors: Stephan Alice , Cheung Gary
Published: November 2016

Objective:

We aimed to explore psychiatry trainees’ perspectives on clinical teaching and supervision as well as how this might be improved.

Method:

New Zealand trainees ( n=51) completed online the Maastricht Clinical Teaching Questionnaire (MCQT) and three open-ended questions.

Results:

The majority rated ‘agree’ or ‘strongly agree’ to all items of the MCQT. Weaknesses in the feedback process including observation, feedback provision, and formulating learning goals were highlighted. College training requirements and workplace environment were identified as factors impacting on clinical teaching and supervision.

Conclusions:

A model was proposed to enhance awareness of the various factors involved in the feedback process.
Instrument Design and Principle Components Factor Analysis of the Productive Processes Inventory
Authors: D’Aniello Carissa , Tambling Rachel B.
Published: November 2016

Many clients drop out of therapy before reaching their goals; and research has yet to develop a thorough understanding of the factors that lead to dropout. Some have suggested that experiencing therapy as helpful or productive is key to therapy persistence. A small body of qualitative research has investigated client perspectives about things that happen during therapy sessions to produce change or therapy productiveness. The present study describes the process of developing and refining an instrument used to measure client perception of therapy productiveness in a sample of participants seeking therapy with a marriage and family therapist. Seventy-two participants engaged in therapy and completed the Productive Processes Inventory (PPI). Procedures used to establish reliability and validity are presented and discussed. Results of a principle components analysis revealed three factors. Results support the potential usefulness of the PPI as a measure of therapy productiveness.
Persons as the products and the producers of social acts
Authors: Harré Rom
Published: November 2016

The topic opened with a review of several well known accounts of persons, particularly by Strawson and Stern. Persons are the originators of culturally distinct conversations. They come into being in conversational processes such as those investigated by Vygotsky. The role of indexical pronouns is made intelligible by tying them to the presentation of persons as unique fundamental social beings.
‘Better safe than sorry’: Women’s stories of sex and intimate relationships on the path out of drug abuse
Authors: Skårner Anette , Månsson Sven-Axel , Svensson Bengt
Published: November 2016

This article focuses on the role of sexuality and intimate relationships during women’s exit processes from drug abuse. Drawing from qualitative interviews with Swedish women the article explores how their sexual practice is played out both during drug use and in the new drug-free life situation. The conflictual transition process evolves around the individual’s attempts to adapt to various sexual scripts made available to them. An element of shame regarding past sexual experiences is enforced by a strong desire to create a new identity as ‘ordinary’. The safest option then is to abstain from sex even if it may lead to frustration and longing. To some, toning down sexuality is a welcome respite, to others a meaningless wait. Why does the beautiful, lovely sexuality never come?
Promising Compounds From Murraya exotica for Cancer Metastasis Chemoprevention
Authors: He Su-Dan , Yang Xing-Tian , Yan Cui-Cui , Jiang Zhou , Yu Su-Hong , Zhou Yu-Yang , Jia Lee
Published: November 2016

Most of the present anticancer drugs are highly cytotoxic and focus mainly on killing tumor cells rather than slowing the progress of cancer metastasis. Evidence has been reported that bridges the mechanisms of inflammation and tumor invasion. Therefore, we evaluated the potency in cancer metastasis chemoprevention of compounds and a coumarin extracted from Murraya exotica, which is known for its anti-inflammation bioactivity. By carrying out experiments in vitro, we found the root extracts more efficient than the leaf extracts in restraining cell migration of MDA-MB-231 cells, while leaf extracts presented slightly stronger inhibition of tumor cell adhesion at low concentrations. In addition, compared to root extracts, a novel coumarin identified previously from root extracts showed equal inhibition on cancer cell adhesion and less inhibition on cell migration. All extracts used in this study presented low cytotoxicity in vitro. Through comparison of the contents of leaf and root extracts from M exotica, several compounds are considered promising against cancer metastasis. This study evaluates the worth of further development of M exotica to find its effect on cancer metastasis chemoprevention.
Output-only subspace identification of structural properties and unknown ground excitation for shear-beam buildings
Authors: Shi Yuanfeng , Li Zhen , Chang CC
Published: November 2016

A novel output-only subspace identification method is proposed to estimate the structural parameters of a shear-beam building under unknown ground excitation. The unique feature of the method is that both the structural parameters and the ground acceleration can be identified using only the absolute acceleration response, and no displacement and velocity responses are required. The method uses two subspace identification techniques sequentially and iteratively. The first technique extracts modal parameters of the building (natural frequencies, damping ratios, and mode shapes) using the absolute acceleration response and assumed or identified ground acceleration. These modal parameters further lead to the estimation of the building’s structural parameters when the mass properties of the building are known. The second technique then estimates the ground acceleration using the absolute acceleration and the obtained structural parameters from the first technique. The two techniques are performed iteratively until the estimated structural parameters converge. A numerical example and a laboratory test are used to illustrate the proposed identification method. Results show that the estimation of structural parameters is fairly robust to the presence of measurement noise while the unknown ground acceleration is not in high frequency range. Factors influencing the performance of the technique are also studied and discussed.
Impacts of sensor layouts on the performance of a long-stroke nano-positioning stage
Authors: Wang Fu-Cheng , Wang Kuo-An , Chen Yi-Yi , Chen Hsueh-Ju , Yen Jia-Yush
Published: November 2016

This article develops a long-stroke nano-positioning stage and discusses the impacts of sensor layouts on the positioning performance. The stage consists of a piezoelectric-transducer stage and a motor stage. First, we obtain the transfer functions of the two stages by experiments and design robust loop-shaping controllers to improve their performance. Second, we integrate the two stages and designed two sensor layouts, a local sensor layout using encoders and a global sensor layout using laser interferometers, to achieve precision positioning for large travels. Finally, we implement the designed controllers and sensor layouts for experimental verification. Based on the results, the proposed combined stage is deemed effective in accomplishing nano-positioning for long displacements. In addition, the local sensor layout can achieve high precision but with global misalignments, while the global sensor layout can eliminate the global misalignments but suffer large sensor noises. Therefore, we further constructed a modified sensor layout that can combine the merits and achieve precision positioning with a root-mean-square error of 5 nm and a misalignment error of 16 nm for a 10-cm travel.
Computational fluid dynamics and population balance modelling of nucleate boiling of cryogenic liquids: Theoretical developments
Authors: Yeoh Guan Heng , Zhang Xiaobin
Published: November 2016

The main focus in the analysis of pool or flow boiling in saturated or subcooled conditions is the basic understanding of the phase change process through the heat transfer and wall heat flux partitioning at the heated wall and the two-phase bubble behaviours in the bulk liquid as they migrate away from the heated wall. This paper reviews the work in this rapid developing area with special reference to modelling nucleate boiling of cryogenic liquids in the context of computational fluid dynamics and associated theoretical developments. The partitioning of the wall heat flux at the heated wall into three components – single-phase convection, transient conduction and evaporation – remains the most popular mechanistic approach in predicting the heat transfer process during boiling. Nevertheless, the respective wall heat flux components generally require the determination of the active nucleation site density, bubble departure diameter and nucleation frequency, which are crucial to the proper prediction of the heat transfer process. Numerous empirical correlations presented in this paper have been developed to ascertain these three important parameters with some degree of success. Albeit the simplicity of empirical correlations, they remain applicable to only a narrow range of flow conditions. In order to extend the wall heat flux partitioning approach to a wider range of flow conditions, the fractal model proposed for the active nucleation site density, force balance model for bubble departing from the cavity and bubble lifting off from the heated wall and evaluation of nucleation frequency based on fundamental theory depict the many enhancements that can improve the mechanistic model predictions. The macroscopic consideration of the two-phase boiling in the bulk liquid via the two-fluid model represents the most effective continuum approach in predicting the volume fraction and velocity distributions of each phase. Nevertheless, the interfacial mass, momentum and energy exchange terms that appear in the transport equations generally require the determination of the Sauter mean diameter or interfacial area concentration, which strongly governs the fluid flow and heat transfer in the bulk liquid. In order to accommodate the dynamically changing bubble sizes that are prevalent in the bulk liquid, the mechanistic approach based on the population balance model allows the appropriate prediction of local distributions of Sauter mean diameter or interfacial area concentration, which in turn can improve the predictions of the interfacial mass, momentum and energy exchanges that occur across the interface between the phases. Need for further developments are discussed.
Objects Versus Shadows as Influences on Perceived Object Motion
Authors: Ouhnana Marouane , Kingdom Frederick A. A.
Published: November 2016

The motion trajectory of an object’s cast shadow has been shown to alter the perceived trajectory of a casting object, an effect that holds even if the cast shadow appears unrealistic. This raises the question of whether a cast shadow per se is necessary for this influence, a question that has been studied only with stationary targets. We examined the relative influence of a shadow and a spherical object on the perceived motion trajectory of an identical spherical object, using a paradigm similar to Kersten, Mamassian, and Knill's ball-in-box animation. We recorded both depth and height estimates of the perceived end-point of the target trajectory as a function of various target and context trajectories. Both shadows and objects significantly influenced the perceived trajectory of the target, though the influence of the shadow was overall stronger. We conjecture that the influence of the object reveals the assumption that similar objects moving at the same speed and in similar directions are perceived to move within the same plane, a plane subject to a fronto-parallel bias.
Collective action problems in the contracting of public services
Authors: Provost Colin , Esteve Marc
Published: November 2016

In this paper, we examine collective action problems in the UK government in the process of contracting public services to the private sector. In particular, we examine the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) and its evolution in contract monitoring as part of a larger effort of the government to join up departments in contract management. By analyzing MoJ’s management of the electronic tagging contract with G4S and Serco, we show that a lack of coordination within the department and with other departments was a major reason for the overbilling by the two companies. Recent efforts to join up contract management efforts throughout government show promise in rectifying these contracting issues.
MoRe-T2 (mobility research trajectory tracker): validation and application
Authors: Ezeh Chinemelu , Holloway Catherine , Carlson Tom
Published: November 2016

It is important to assess the suitability of mobility aids before prescribing them to patients. This assessment is often subjectively completed by a therapist and it often includes a variety of basic practical tests. An objective assessment of a patient's capability, which captures not only speed of task completion and success, but also accuracy and risk of manoeuvres, would be both a fairer and safer approach. Yet until now such an assessment would have been cost-prohibitive, especially in low resource settings. We pave the way towards this end goal, by describing, validating and demonstrating a low-cost computer vision based system called MoRe-T2 (mobility research trajectory tracker). The open-source MoRe-T2 system uses low-cost off-the-shelf webcams to track the pose of fiducial markers, which are simply printed onto regular office paper. In this article, we build upon previous work and benchmark the accuracy of MoRe-T2 against an industry standard motion capture system. In particular, we show that MoRe-T2 achieves accuracy comparable to CODA motion tracking system. We go on to demonstrate a use case of MoRe-T2 in assessing wheelchair manoeuvrability over a relatively large area. The results show that MoRe-T2 is scalable at a much lower cost than typical industry-standard motion trackers. Therefore, MoRe-T2 can be used to develop more objective and reliable assessments of mobility aids, especially in low-resource settings.
Radiological imaging features of glioblastoma with oligodendroglioma component: a comparison with conventional glioblastoma
Authors: Kanoto Masafumi , Kirii Kazukuni , Toyoguchi Yuuki , Nishihara Masashi , Sakurai Keita , Murayama Kazuhiro , Noguchi Tomoyuki , Matsuda Kenichiro , Sakurada Kaori , Sonoda Yukihiko , Hosoya Takaaki
Published: November 2016

Background

Glioblastoma with oligodendroglioma component (GBMO) is a subtype of conventional glioblastoma (cGBM), which is categorized as WHO grade IV. GBMO can be histopathologically distinguished from cGBM and the prognosis of GBMO is better than that of cGBM. However, no systematic review of GBMO imaging findings has been published to date.

Purpose

To clarify the radiological imaging features of GBMO compared with those of cGBM.

Material and Methods

The participants were 15 patients with GBMO and 32 patients with cGBM as a control group, all of whom were histopathologically diagnosed. A radiologist retrospectively reviewed the imaging findings of both computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) for density, signal intensity, contrast medium enhancement (CE), cortical swelling, and cortical swelling without CE. We statistically analyzed the imaging findings by Chi-squared test.

Results

Cortical swelling without CE in GBMO was significantly greater than that in cGBM ( P = 0.004). Non-CE and heterogeneous solid enhancement were observed significantly more often in GBMO ( P = 0.004). No other findings were significant.

Conclusion

There was significant difference in the findings of the CE, which exhibited solid heterogeneous enhancement in GBMO. Cortical swelling without CE can be considered significantly characteristic of GBMO.
Social Reproduction and the Agrarian Question of Women’s Labour in India
Authors: Naidu Sirisha C. , Ossome Lyn
Published: November 2016

Using a social reproduction framework, this article explores how reproduction of rural working class households is rearticulated to capitalist production in India. Our analysis of the conditions in India reveals that the interaction of three institutions—market, state and household—has imposed the burden of reproduction on women. In turn, women’s work is dependent on private and common lands. This link, between the role of women’s unpaid labour in reproducing rural households and the fact that this work remains largely dependent on land, constitutes a failure of the Indian economy to provide decent livelihoods. It also reasserts gender equity as a contemporary and unresolved question in the midst of India’s agrarian transition and underscores the importance of instituting agrarian reforms and state intervention at levels sufficient for social reproduction.
Sealing Occlusal Dentin Caries in Permanent Molars
Authors: Qvist V. , Borum M.K. , Møller K.D. , Andersen T.R. , Blanche P. , Bakhshandeh A.
Published: November 2016

The purpose of this study was to investigate the possibility of postponing restorative intervention of manifest occlusal caries in young, permanent dentition by non-invasive sealing. This RCT-designed study included 521 occlusal lesions in 521 patients aged 6 to 17 y. Based on clinical and radiographic assessments, all lesions required restorative treatment. After randomization (ratio 2:1), 368 resin sealings and 153 composite–resin restorations were performed by 68 dentists in 9 municipalities. The primary aims were to 1) analyze survival of sealings until replacement by restoration, 2) compare longevity of sealings and restorations until retreatments, and 3) compare effectiveness of sealings and restorations to halt caries progression in sealed lesions and beneath restorations. Furthermore, we aimed to identify factors influencing longevity and the effectiveness of sealings and restorations. Treatments were annually controlled, clinically and radiographically. After 7 y, the drop out rate was 8%, and 54% of the treatments were completed due to age. Of the sealings, 48% were retreated, including 31% replaced by restorations; 12% were still functioning. Of the restorations, 7% were repaired/renewed and 20% were still functioning. No endodontics was performed. Kaplan–Meier and Cox regression survival analyses were performed on 341 sealings and 152 restorations in first and second molar teeth. The 7-y survival was 37% (CI, 29% to 45%) for sealings and 91% (CI, 85% to 96%) for restorations (P < 0.001). The median survival time for sealings not replaced by restorations was 7.3 y (CI, 6.4 y to NA). Survival of sealings was increased in patients with low caries risk and/or excellent oral hygiene, second molars compared with first molars, and lesions not extending the middle one-third of the dentin. Survival of sealings was not influenced by municipality, sex, eruption stage or clinical surface cavitation. The results underline that it is possible to postpone or avoid restorative intervention of occlusal dentin caries lesions in young permanent teeth by non-invasive sealing.

Knowledge Transfer Statement: The first restoration can ultimately be fatal for a young permanent tooth. A restoration may not be the final treatment but the start of an ongoing treatment with still more loss of tooth substance. The present study shows the possibility of treating occlusal dentin caries lesions with non-invasive resin sealings instead of conventional resin composite restorations in children and adolescents. Improved oral health can be expected.
Vacant Land Plots in Afghan Cities: A Problem and an Opportunity
Authors: French Matthew , Turkstra Jan , Farid Mohammad
Published: November 2016

Vacant land plots in and around the cities of Afghanistan are a major phenomenon. They are defined as subdivided but unoccupied parcels of land. Due to their scale and dubious ownership, they pose a major problem for effective land management and administration, urban governance and urban planning. This article examines the quantitative scale of the vacant plots in the 34 provincial capitals based on data interpreted from recent high-resolution satellite imagery. It shows that, on an average, 27 per cent of the built-up area of Afghan cities consists of vacant plots conforming to two broad typologies based on location: small-scale inner city plots and plots in large-scale land subdivisions and townships on the urban periphery. The article goes on to examine how these plots have come to be and remained vacant, as a result of incremental occupation by households; land sales by municipalities; and land-grabbing/usurpation, especially by the elite, warlords and informal power brokers, often in collusion with state actors—all buoyed by a decade of strong economic growth and the rise of a highly speculative urban real estate market. The article concludes by presenting key policy and programme options to address this phenomenon in order to improve urban land administration, redress injustices, generate revenues from land taxes, increase access to land and promote urban inclusion.
Clustering of disulfide-rich peptides provides scaffolds for hit discovery by phage display: application to interleukin-23
Authors: Barkan David T. , Cheng Xiao-li , Celino Herodion , Tran Tran T. , Bhandari Ashok , Craik Charles S. , Sali Andrej , Smythe Mark L.
Published: November 2016

Background

Disulfide-rich peptides (DRPs) are found throughout nature. They are suitable scaffolds for drug development due to their small cores, whose disulfide bonds impart extraordinary chemical and biological stability. A challenge in developing a DRP therapeutic is to engineer binding to a specific target. This challenge can be overcome by (i) sampling the large sequence space of a given scaffold through a phage display library and by (ii) panning multiple libraries encoding structurally distinct scaffolds. Here, we implement a protocol for defining these diverse scaffolds, based on clustering structurally defined DRPs according to their conformational similarity.

Results

We developed and applied a hierarchical clustering protocol based on DRP structural similarity, followed by two post-processing steps, to classify 806 unique DRP structures into 81 clusters. The 20 most populated clusters comprised 85% of all DRPs. Representative scaffolds were selected from each of these clusters; the representatives were structurally distinct from one another, but similar to other DRPs in their respective clusters. To demonstrate the utility of the clusters, phage libraries were constructed for three of the representative scaffolds and panned against interleukin-23. One library produced a peptide that bound to this target with an IC50 of 3.3 μM.

Conclusions

Most DRP clusters contained members that were diverse in sequence, host organism, and interacting proteins, indicating that cluster members were functionally diverse despite having similar structure. Only 20 peptide scaffolds accounted for most of the natural DRP structural diversity, providing suitable starting points for seeding phage display experiments. Through selection of the scaffold surface to vary in phage display, libraries can be designed that present sequence diversity in architecturally distinct, biologically relevant combinations of secondary structures. We supported this hypothesis with a proof-of-concept experiment in which three phage libraries were constructed and panned against the IL-23 target, resulting in a single-digit μM hit and suggesting that a collection of libraries based on the full set of 20 scaffolds increases the potential to identify efficiently peptide binders to a protein target in a drug discovery program.
Revisiting the Past and Roberto Fernández Retamar's Calibán
Authors: Luis William
Published: November 2016

This essay examines Roberto Fernández Retamar's groundbreaking Calibán (1971) and his revision “Calibán revisitado” (1986), within their historical, political, and literary contexts. A few months before the publication of Calibán, the arrest of Cuban poet Heberto Padilla produced dissention among European and Latin American intellectual supporters of Cuba's revolution. Castro's condemnation of “bourgeois intellectuals” became the basis of Fernández Retamar's essay, and Shakespeare's The Tempest best addressed the relationship between the oppressor and the oppressed in Cuba and Latin America. Fernández Retamar traced the main characters from their inception in Shakespeare's play to his own essay; for him, the United States exemplifies Prospero and Cuba is Caliban. Fifteen years later, Fernández Retamar revisited his essay—he attacks certain Latin American intellectuals but is conciliatory toward others. Ongoing events in the Cuban Revolution—in particular, the 1980 Mariel boatlift and subsequent efforts by Cuba's youth to abandon the island—provide a framework for understanding why Fernández Retamar revised a position that made him one of the leading critics of Cuba and Latin America's intellectual world.
The Hispanic Caribbean Question: On Geographies of Knowledge and Interlaced Human Landscapes
Authors: Torres-Saillant Silvio
Published: November 2016

This essay sustains that to earn credibility as a field seeking academic identity de lege, Hispanic Caribbean studies must address the legacy of the colonial past that keeps people in the Antillean world from communicating productively across national borders and language blocs. The field needs to help us address the following problems: relying on the insular metaphor to name a region whose population in large part inhabits continental land masses; making pan-Caribbean claims based on the knowledge (often partial) of only one linguistic zone; uncritically embracing transnationalism to explain the Antillean person's mobility across polities; and conflating the tellurian geography of the region with the diasporic locales of Caribbean-descended citizens of Western metropolises. The essay advises the humble recognition of the Caribbean as a not easily learned culture area, one rife with internal diversity and a checkered history, and urges serious consideration of the interlaced human landscape pervading the region.
Spanish Caribbean Literature: A Heuristic for Colonial Caribbean Studies
Authors: Miguel Yolanda Martínez-San
Published: November 2016

This essay reflects on the colonial Spanish Caribbean as a heuristic that enriches Caribbean studies. First, it meditates on the usefulness and limitations of applying the category of the Spanish Caribbean to the analysis of some pre- and post-seventeenth-century texts. Then it focuses on the meaning of the nineteenth century in the Spanish Caribbean, with particular attention to the Caribbean confederation and 1898 as key moments in the colonial and decolonial process of this region. Then the essay turns to the notion of criollismo in the Spanish Caribbean and its dialectic relationship with creole and creoleness as two different fictive ethnicities that are signified differently in Latin America and the French and Anglo-Caribbean, respectively. The essay concludes with a proposal for the Spanish Caribbean as a heuristic that reconnects Spanish, Anglo-, and French Caribbean literatures in a comparative Caribbbean studies framework.
Effect of Amine Structure on CO2 Adsorption of Modified Poly(ethyleneimine)-Impregnated Mesostructured Silica Sorbents
Authors: Jo Dong Hyun , Jung Hyunchul , Jeon Sunbin , Kim Sung Hyun
Published: November 2016

Poly(ethyleneimine) (PEI) was modified to study the effect of amine type and introduced hydroxy groups on its ability to capture carbon dioxide. Amines were impregnated in as-synthesized mesostructured silica (MSU-F) to fabricate solid amines, and the resulting samples were characterized via 13C nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy and diffuse reflectance infrared Fourier transform spectroscopy. Nitrogen contents, structural properties, adsorption capacity, and sorbent durability during CO2 adsorption/desorption processes were measured to study the CO2 sorption performances of the sorbents.

Reaction between PEI and propylene oxide (PO) altered the ratio of primary, secondary, and tertiary amines and also produced hydroxy groups on amine molecules. With a specific reactant ratio, a modified amine-impregnated sorbent (M-EP10) showed a CO2 adsorption capacity and amine efficiency of 13.90 wt % and 0.37, respectively, which were higher than that of the pristine PEI-impregnated sorbent. The new adsorbents also showed excellent stability in cyclic adsorption–desorption operations, even under pure CO2 desorption conditions in which commercial PEI adsorbents are known to lose CO2 adsorption capacity owing to urea formation.