bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
How Were Neolithic Ditches Filled In? Deposition Study of Two Enclosures from Bohemia
Authors: Řídký Jaroslav , Končelová Markéta , Šumberová Radka , Limburský Petr , Květina Petr
Published: June 2014

The aim of this study is to analyse the correlation between finds and ditches, the duration of ditch fills, and the manner of the demise of Late Neolithic rondels (Kreisgrabenanlagen) in the Czech Republic. Two comparable long-term projects are discussed here: Kolín (central Bohemia) and Vchynice (north-west Bohemia). Qualitative, quantitative, and spatial analyses of the different categories of finds (pottery fragments, lithics, daub, and faunal remains) from the ditch fills show that only finds from the bottom layers of the ditches were contemporary with the primary function of the rondels. However, the bottom layers often only contained a few artefacts. The richest parts of the ditches, the middle and upper layers, from both sites illustrated similar characteristics: after the rondels lost their primary function, the ditches were filled by both natural and cultural agents over a long period. As a consequence, some previous, and widely accepted, interpretations of the relationship between individual areas of rondels and their relationship with surrounding features, as well as the relationship of the finds from ditch fills to rondel function and chronology, need to be revisited.
Phase 1 study of weekly dosing with the investigational oral proteasome inhibitor ixazomib in relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma
Authors: Kumar Shaji K. , Bensinger William I. , Zimmerman Todd M. , Reeder Craig B. , Berenson James R. , Berg Deborah , Hui Ai-Min , Gupta Neeraj , Di Bacco Alessandra , Yu Jiang , Shou Yaping , Niesvizky Ruben
Published: June 2014

Key Points

Weekly oral proteasome inhibitor ixazomib appears generally well tolerated with manageable toxicity, limited grade 1/2 neuropathy. Data show that more than 25% of 30 evaluable relapsed/refractory myeloma patients who received the MTD had clinically meaningful responses.
HFE interacts with the BMP type I receptor ALK3 to regulate hepcidin expression
Authors: Wu Xing-gang , Wang Yang , Wu Qian , Cheng Wai-Hang , Liu Wenjing , Zhao Yueshui , Mayeur Claire , Schmidt Paul J. , Yu Paul B. , Wang Fudi , Xia Yin
Published: June 2014

Key Points

HFE increases Smad1/5/8 phosphorylation and hepcidin expression, and inhibition of BMP signaling abolishes HFE-induced hepcidin expression. HFE interacts with ALK3, inhibits ALK3 ubiquitination-proteasomal degradation, and increases ALK3 cell-surface expression.
Infection-related mortality in children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia: an analysis of infectious deaths on UKALL2003
Authors: O’Connor David , Bate Jessica , Wade Rachel , Clack Rachel , Dhir Sunita , Hough Rachael , Vora Ajay , Goulden Nick , Samarasinghe Sujith
Published: June 2014

Key Points

Infection is the major cause of treatment-related mortality in pediatric acute lymphoblastic leukemia and is greatest during the induction phase. Children with Down syndrome are at high risk for infection-related mortality throughout all treatment phases, including the low-intensity maintenance phase.
A tour through the transcriptional landscape of platelets
Authors: Schubert Sebastian , Weyrich Andrew S. , Rowley Jesse W.
Published: June 2014

The RNA code found within a platelet and alterations of that code continue to shed light onto the mechanistic underpinnings of platelet function and dysfunction. It is now known that features of messenger RNA (mRNA) in platelets mirror those of nucleated cells. This review serves as a tour guide for readers interested in developing a greater understanding of platelet mRNA. The tour provides an in-depth and interactive examination of platelet mRNA, especially in the context of next-generation RNA sequencing. At the end of the expedition, the reader will have a better grasp of the topography of platelet mRNA and how it impacts platelet function in health and disease.
A retrospective study on the aetiology, management, and outcome of brain abscess in an 11-year, single-centre study from China
Authors: Zhang Chenran , Hu Liuhua , Wu Xiaojun , Hu Guohan , Ding Xuehua , Lu Yicheng
Published: June 2014

Background

Brain abscesses continue to pose diagnostic and therapeutic challenges in developed and developing countries. Their aetiology and management remain complex and unclear, making improvement of treatments and outcome difficult.

Methods

To determine the demographics, management, and the variables that affect the outcome in subjects with brain abscesses treated at a single centre over an 11-year period, we retrospectively analysed data in 60 patients with brain abscesses surgically treated with stereotactically guided aspiration or open craniotomy excision in Shanghai Changzheng Hospital between January 2001 and December 2011. Such variables as age, gender, Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) score at admission, clinical presentation, location, number of lesions, predisposing factors, mechanism of infection, aetiological agent, and therapy were analysed independently.

Results

Our analysis demonstrated that patient age and gender were factors that influence the occurrence of brain abscess; female patients and patients greater than 40 years of age were most likely to suffer a brain abscess. We also found that a patient’s GCS score upon admission did not influence outcome. While frequency of successful culturing of the infectious agent was low, positive cultures were obtained in only 8 of the cases (13.33%), in which the most common isolate was Streptococcus milleri. Outcome was favourable in 78.33% of the subjects, while the mortality rate was 20%. The outcome of one patient was poor due to the abscess in the basal ganglia region.

Conclusions

Stereotactically guided aspiration is an effective treatment for brain abscess with an overall favourable outcome. Mortality due to brain abscess was not directly related to surgery nor surgical technique. Additional studies will continue to reveal patients trends that may improve treatment for brain abscess.
Granulocyte‐to‐dendritic cell‐ratio as marker for the immune monitoring in patients with renal cell carcinoma
Authors: Riemann Dagmar , Hase Sabine , Fischer Kersten , Seliger Barbara
Published: June 2014

Background

Neutrophil‐to‐lymphocyte ratio (NLR) has been shown to be a predictor of patients’ outcome for several types of malignancies.

Findings

Using multicolor flow cytometry we searched for predictive markers to monitor blood immune cells in patients with renal cell carcinoma undergoing surgery of the primary tumor. Due to a high standard deviation, pre‐surgery NLR values did not significantly differ between tumor patients and the control group. In contrast, the granulocyte‐to‐dendritic cell (DC) ratio revealed significant higher values in tumor patients. Whereas NLR values did not differ between patients with early stage tumors and locally advanced tumors, the granulocyte/DC ratio was significantly different in these groups. Additionally, comparison of both ratios before and after tumor resection in the two groups “open surgery” and “laparoscopy” could demonstrate the suitability of granulocyte/DC ratio as a marker for immune monitoring.

Conclusions

Granulocyte/DC ratio may serve as a new putative biomarker for the immune monitoring of tumor patients.
A cyclodextrin-based approach for selective detection of catecholamine hormone mixtures
Authors: Yang Jung-Hoon , Kim Hyun Tae , Kim Hanseup
Published: June 2014

This paper presents an electrochemical sensing approach that enables quantitative detection of three major catecholamine hormones from a mixture by specifically employing a chemically-modified microelectrode array with α-, β- and γ-cyclodextrin (CD) ‘catchers’ holding unique physical matching (size and shape) as well as chemical enticing (stereochemistry and surface charge) properties. The developed neurotransmitter sensor has selectively identified L-tyrosine, dihydroxyphenylalanine (L-DOPA) and dopamine in the absence of ascorbic acid. It exhibited the relatively linear sensitivities to each neurotransmitter with logarithmically increasing concentrations range of 5μM-10mM, while demonstrating stability up to 6 hours from the fabrication and the average accuracy of 91.2%.
Substrate and strain alter the muscle-derived mesenchymal stem cell secretome to promote myogenesis
Authors: De Lisio Michael , Jensen Tor , Sukiennik Richard A , Huntsman Heather D , Boppart Marni D
Published: June 2014

Introduction

Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) reside in a variety of tissues and provide a stromal role in regulating progenitor cell function. Current studies focus on identifying the specific factors in the niche that can alter the MSC secretome, ultimately determining the effectiveness and timing of tissue repair. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the extent to which substrate and mechanical strain simultaneously regulate MSC quantity, gene expression, and secretome.

Methods

MSCs (Sca-1+CD45-) isolated from murine skeletal muscle (muscle-derived MSCs, or mMSCs) via fluorescence-activated cell sorting were seeded onto laminin (LAM)- or collagen type 1 (COL)-coated membranes and exposed to a single bout of mechanical strain (10%, 1 Hz, 5 hours).

Results

mMSC proliferation was not directly affected by substrate or strain; however, gene expression of growth and inflammatory factors and extracellular matrix (ECM) proteins was downregulated in mMSCs grown on COL in a manner independent of strain. Focal adhesion kinase (FAK) may be involved in substrate regulation of mMSC secretome as FAK phosphorylation was significantly elevated 24 hours post-strain in mMSCs plated on LAM but not COL (P <0.05). Conditioned media (CM) from mMSCs exposed to both LAM and strain increased myoblast quantity 5.6-fold 24 hours post-treatment compared with myoblasts treated with serum-free media (P <0.05). This response was delayed in myoblasts treated with CM from mMSCs grown on COL.

Conclusions

Here, we demonstrate that exposure to COL, the primary ECM component associated with tissue fibrosis, downregulates genes associated with growth and inflammation in mMSCs and delays the ability for mMSCs to stimulate myoblast proliferation.
Tumor formation and antitumor immunity; the overlooked significance of histamine
Authors: Falus Andras , Gilicze Anna
Published: June 2014

HA is a biogenic amine, widely distributed throughout the body. Given the observations that HA, the decarboxylated amino acid histidine, can be induced and made available in an unstored, diffusible form in tissues undergoing rapid growth (such as tumors and regenerating tissues), it could have a role in antitumor response beyond the well-studied inflammatory and allergic responses.
Echolocation behaviour of the big brown bat (Eptesicus fuscus) in an obstacle avoidance task of increasing difficulty
Authors: Sändig Sonja , Schnitzler Hans-Ulrich , Denzinger Annette
Published: June 2014

Four big brown bats (Eptesicus fuscus) were challenged in an obstacle avoidance experiment to localize vertically stretched wires requiring progressively greater accuracy by diminishing the wire-to-wire distance from 50 to 10 cm. The performance of the bats decreased with decreasing gap size. The avoidance task became very difficult below a wire separation of 30 cm, which corresponds to the average wing span of E. fuscus. Two of the bats were able to pass without collisions down to a gap size of 10 cm in some of the flights. The other two bats only managed to master gap sizes down to 20 and 30 cm respectively. They also performed distinctly worse at all other gap sizes. With increasing difficulty of the task, the bats changed their flight and echolocation behaviour. Especially at gap sizes of 30 cm and below, flight paths increased in height and flight speed was reduced. In addition, the bats emitted approach signals which were arranged in groups. At all gap sizes the largest numbers of pulses per group were observed in the last group before passing the obstacle. The more difficult the obstacle avoidance task, the more pulses there were in the groups and the shorter the within-group pulse intervals. In comparable situations, the better performing bats always emitted groups with more pulses than the less well-performing individuals. We hypothesize that the accuracy of target localization increases with the number of pulses per group and that each group is processed as a package.
The oxidative cost of unstable social dominance
Authors: Beaulieu Michaël , Mboumba Sylvère , Willaume Eric , Kappeler Peter M. , Charpentier Marie J. E.
Published: June 2014

High social rank is expected to incur fitness costs under unstable social conditions. A disruption of the oxidative balance may underlie such effects, but how markers of oxidative stress vary in relation to social rank and stability is unknown. We examined in mandrills whether the mating season characterized by social instability between males (but not between females) affected their oxidative balance differently according to their social rank. Outside the mating season, high-ranking males showed the lowest levels of oxidative damage, while during the mating season, they were the only males to experience increased oxidative damage. In contrast, in females, the mating season increased oxidative stress for all of them, irrespective of their social rank. These results support the hypothesis that the coupling between social rank and social stability is responsible for differential costs in terms of oxidative stress, which may explain inter-individual differences in susceptibility to socially-induced health issues.
Fast and slow processes underlie the selection of both step frequency and walking speed
Authors: Pagliara Renato , Snaterse Mark , Donelan J. Maxwell
Published: June 2014

People prefer gaits that minimize their energetic cost. Research focused on step frequency selection suggests that a fast predictive process and a slower optimization process underlie this energy optimization. Our purpose in this study was to test whether the mechanisms controlling step frequency selection are used more generally to select one of the most relevant characteristics of walking — preferred speed. To accomplish this, we contrasted the dynamic adjustments in speed following perturbations to step frequency against the dynamic adjustments in step frequency following perturbations to speed. Despite the use of different perturbations and contexts, we found that the responses were very similar. In both experiments, subjects responded to perturbations by first rapidly changing their speed or step frequency towards their preferred pattern, and then slowly adjusting their gait to converge onto their preferred pattern. We measured similar response times for both the fast processes (1.4±0.3 s vs. 2.7±0.6 s) and the slow processes (74.2±25.4 s vs. 79.7±20.2 s). We also found that the fast process, while quite variable in amplitude, dominated the adjustments in both speed and step frequency. These distinct but complementary experiments demonstrate that people rely heavily on prediction to rapidly select the most relevant aspects of their preferred gait, and then gradually fine-tune that selection, perhaps using direct optimization of energetic cost.
Net cardiac shunts in anuran amphibians: physiology or physics?
Authors: Hillman Stanley S. , Hedrick Michael S. , Kohl Zachary F.
Published: June 2014

Amphibians have a single ventricle and common conus arteriosus that produces an equal pressure to the parallel pulmocutaneous and systemic vascular circuits. The distribution of blood flows between the pulmocutaneous () and systemic () circuits (net cardiac shunt) varies with a number of environmental conditions and behaviours; although autonomic regulation of pulmonary vascular resistance conductance has been emphasized, little attention has been paid to the possible contribution of the passive physical characteristics of the two circuits to pressure changes associated with variation in cardiac output. In this study, we re-analysed three recent studies that recorded net cardiac shunts in the cane toad (Rhinella marina) under a variety of conditions and treatments. In all three studies, and were linearly related to cardiac output (), but the slope was threefold higher for compared with as predicted by relative conductance increases associated with increases in pressure from perfused preparations where autonomic regulation and humoral control were eliminated. Our analysis indicates that the net cardiac shunt in the cane toad is predicted primarily by the physical, rather than physiological, characteristics of the parallel pulmonary and systemic vascular circuits.
High fatty acid oxidation capacity and phosphorylation control despite elevated leak and reduced respiratory capacity in northern elephant seal muscle mitochondria
Authors: Chicco Adam J. , Le Catherine H. , Schlater Amber E. , Nguyen Alex D. , Kaye Spencer D. , Beals Joseph W. , Scalzo Rebecca L. , Bell Christopher , Gnaiger Erich , Costa Daniel P. , Crocker Daniel E. , Kanatous Shane B.
Published: June 2014

Northern elephant seals (Mirounga angustirostris) are extreme, hypoxia-adapted endotherms that rely largely on aerobic metabolism during extended breath-hold dives in near freezing water temperatures. While many aspects of their physiology have been characterized to account for these remarkable feats, the contribution of adaptations in the aerobic powerhouses of muscle cells, the mitochondria, are unknown. In the present study, the ontogeny and comparative physiology of elephant seal muscle mitochondrial respiratory function was investigated under a variety of substrate conditions and respiratory states. Intact mitochondrial networks were studied by high-resolution respirometry in saponin-permeabilized fiber bundles obtained from primary swimming muscles of pup, juvenile, and adult seals, and compared to fibers from adult human vastus laterais. Results indicate that seal muscle maintains a high capacity for fatty acid oxidation despite a progressive decrease in total respiratory capacity as animals mature from pups to adults. This is explained by a progressive increase in phosphorylation control and fatty acid utilization over pyruvate in adult seals compared to humans and seal pups. Interestingly, despite higher indices of oxidative phosphorylation efficiency, juvenile and adult seals also exhibit a ~50% greater capacity for respiratory leak compared to humans and pups. The ontogeny of this phenotype suggests it is an adaptation of muscle to the prolonged breath-hold exercise and highly variable ambient temperatures experienced by mature elephant seals. These studies highlight the remarkable plasticity of mammalian mitochondria to meet the demands for both efficient ATP production and endothermy in a cold, oxygen-limited environment.
Strong negative effects of simulated heat waves in a tropical butterfly
Authors: Fischer Klaus , Klockmann Michael , Reim Elisabeth
Published: June 2014

Climate change poses a significant challenge to all natural systems on Earth. Especially increases in extreme weather events such as heat waves have the potential to strongly affect biodiversity, though their effects are poorly understood due to a lack of empirical data. Therefore, we here explore the sensitivity of a tropical ectotherm, which are in general believed to have a low warming tolerance, to experimentally simulated climate change using ecologically realistic diurnal temperature cycles. Increasing the mean temperature permanently by 3°C had mostly minor effects on developmental traits in the butterfly Bicyclus anynana. Simulated heat waves (strongly elevated temperatures for some time though retaining the same overall temperature mean), in contrast, caused strong negative effects by prolonging development time (by up to 10%) and reducing body mass (-21%), especially when combined with reduced relative humidity. Detrimental effects were carried over into the adult stage, diminishing subsequent performance. Most strikingly, higher temperatures suppressed adult immune function (haemocytes: -54%, lysozyme activity: -32%), which may potentially change the way species interact with antagonists. Heat waves thus reduced fitness parameters by 10-25% for development time and body mass and by up to 54% for immune parameters even in this plastic and widespread butterfly, exemplifying the potentially dramatic impact of extreme weather events on biodiversity.
Policies to increase the social value of science and the scientist satisfaction. An exploratory survey among Harvard bioscientists.
Authors: Ballabeni Andrea , Boggio Andrea , Hemenway David
Published: June 2014

Basic research in the biomedical field generates both knowledge that has a value per se regardless of its possible practical outcome and knowledge that has the potential to produce more practical benefits. Policies can increase the benefit potential to society of basic biomedical research by offering various kinds of incentives to basic researchers. In this paper we argue that soft incentives or “nudges” are particularly promising. However, to be well designed, these incentives must take into account the motivations, goals and views of the basic scientists. In the paper we present the results of an investigation that involved more than 300 scientists at Harvard Medical School and affiliated institutes. The results of this study suggest that some soft incentives could be valuable tools to increase the transformative value of fundamental investigations without affecting the spirit of the basic research and scientists’ work satisfaction. After discussing the findings, we discuss a few examples of nudges for basic researchers in the biomedical fields.
Communicative Parameter in the Integral Approach to Language
Authors: Сулименко  , Sulimenko Nadezhda
Published: June 2014

The article deals with the role of communicative criterion in the integral approach

to language, its interrelation with other parameters in the study of

their determination both by linguistic, and extralinguistic parameters.
Risk Attitude, Beliefs Updating, and the Information Content of Trades: An Experiment
Authors: Bisière Christophe , Décamps Jean-Paul , Lovo Stefano
Published: June 2014

We conduct a series of experiments that simulate trading in financial markets. We find that the information content of the order flow varies with the strength of subjects' prior beliefs about fundamentals. The presence of intrinsic uncertainty about the asset's fundamentals reduces informational efficiency. This originates from subjects' risk attitudes and biases in the way some subjects update their beliefs. The behavior of approximately 63% of the subjects is consistent with the expected utility maximization. These subjects are either risk averse (52%) or risk loving (11%). About 22% of the subjects display non-Bayesian updating of beliefs: underconfidence emerges for weak prior beliefs, and confirmation bias occurs for strong prior beliefs. Non-Bayesian belief updating reduces market efficiency when subjects' prior beliefs are weak and increases it when the prior beliefs are strong.

Data, as supplemental material, are available at http://dx.doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.2013.1886 .

This paper was accepted by Jerome Detemple, finance.
The Erosion of Expert Control Through Censure Episodes
Authors: Huising Ruthanne
Published: June 2014

Organizations depend on experts to oversee and execute complex tasks. When faced with pressures to reduce their dependence on experts, managers encounter a control paradox: they require experts to explicate the very knowledge and discretionary approaches that are the basis of their control for the purpose of undercutting this control. Experts rarely consent to such a situation; therefore, attempts to reduce dependence on experts and control their work are more often aspirational than actual. Drawing on an ethnography of an organization that was required by a government agency to transfer the work responsibilities of experts to employees throughout the organization, this paper describes how a network of actors developed a discursive, political process to renegotiate control of expert work practices. Through censure episodes, long-standing and largely successful expert practices were examined one by one and relabeled as problematic in relation to established goals. The constructed breaches opened expert practices to evaluation, questioning, and eventual delegitimation within the organization. This process depended on the introduction of new roles that revised dependencies and generated new resources. This paper contributes to the understanding of control in organizations by theorizing how the emergent, symbolic work of censure episodes are a means of gradually subverting expert control. Further, these struggles are reconceptualized as multiple-role negotiations rather than bilateral manager–expert struggles.
On the genus Xantholinus Dejean of Turkey: three new species, new and additional records, with distributional checklist (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Staphylininae: Xantholinini)
Authors: Anlaş Sinan
Published: June 2014

In this study, twenty four Xantholinus species are reported from Turkey. Amongst them, X. (Calolinus) bayrami sp. nov. from Konya province, X. (Helicophallus) ceviki sp. nov. from Ardahan and Erzurum provinces, and X. (H.) khachikovi sp. nov. from Muş province are described, and their diagnostic characters are illustrated. In addition, X. (Heterolius) fortepunctatus Motschulsky, 1860 is redescribed and illustrated. Numerous new and additional records of Xantholinus species from Turkey are presented. A distributional checklist of the thirty eight species of Xantholinus represented in Turkey is provided. The distributions of Turkish Helicophallus species are mapped.
Comparison of Three Small-Scale Devices for the Investigation of the Electrical Conductivity/Resistivity of Swelling and Other Clays
Authors: Kaufhold S. , Grissemann C. , Dohrmann R. , Klinkenberg M. , Decher A.
Published: June 2014

Electrical measurements are used in various fields of geoscience and technology, e.g. gas/oil exploration or landslide-barrier monitoring. Although clays are amongst the most conducting geomaterials their electrical properties are not yet fully understood. For example, in a recent high-level-radioactive-waste repository large-scale test, a bentonite barrier was monitored geoelectrically. To facilitate interpretation of the results, the reasons for the observed differences in the electrical conductivity must be understood (e.g. changes in water content, temperature, salinity of pore water, etc.). To improve understanding of the electrical properties of clay minerals, in situ measurements must be combined with laboratory measurements. In situ measurements allow the characterization of the material in its natural state and laboratory measurements, for small sample amounts, allow the user to vary relevant parameters systematically such as water content, temperature, the salinity of the pore water, or even the cation population if swelling clay minerals are present. In situ measurements using different electrode distances, from m to cm range, proved that small-scale investigations are essential because of small-scale material heterogeneities. In the laboratory, all the relevant parameters mentioned above can be controlled more easily for small sample amounts. In the present study three different small-scale devices (SSM1–SSM3) were compared. The geometry factor, K, was determined both by calculation and by a calibration against solutions of different conductivity. Calculated and measured geometry factors were in good agreement. SSM1 and SSM2 — both with four pin-shaped electrodes — were found to be particularly applicable for in situ measurements. SSM2, with point contacts at the tips of the pins, was considered to be an improvement over SSM1 because the effects of both water content and temperature gradients (which are particularly relevant near the surface) were less pronounced using SSM2. SSM3, in which the contacts are placed at the bottom of a 4.5 mL trough, proved to be useful when systematically varying all of the parameters influencing the electrical properties in the laboratory.
Influence of Molecular Structure of Quaternary Phosphonium Salts on Thai Bentonite Intercalation
Authors: Prahsarn Chureerat , Roungpaisan Nanjaporn , Suwannamek Nattaphop , Klinsukhon Wattana , Hayashi Hiromichi , Kawasaki Kazunori , Ebina Takeo
Published: June 2014

A comprehensive study of the intercalation of organo-phosphonium salts into Thai bentonite (Mt) was conducted to investigate the influence of the molecular structures of organic moieties, including chain types (alkyl vs. aryl), chain length, and structural symmetry, on their intercalation. A series of quaternary phosphonium salts with systematically varied molecular structures (tetraphenyl phosphonium, TPP-Br; tetrabutyl phosphonium, TBP-Br; tetraoctyl phosphonium, TOP-Br; methyl triphenyl phosphonium, MTPP-Br; and butyl triphenyl phosphonium, BTPP-Br) was intercalated into Mt via an ion-exchange reaction. From thermogravimetric analysis results, tetrabutyl phosphonium-modified Mt (TBP) with shorter alkyl chain length began to decompose at a slightly lower temperature (263 vs. 351°C), yet showed comparable thermal stability (i.e. maximum decomposition temperature) at 470°C, compared to tetraoctyl phosphonium-modified Mt (TOP). Aryl phosphonium-modified Mt (TPP) showed a higher thermal decomposition temperature (576 vs. 470°C) than those of alkyl phosphonium-modified Mts (TBP and TOP). Introducing short alkyl chains into the aryl phosphonium moiety (MTPP, BTPP) caused a slight decrease in thermal decomposition temperature, but an increase in cation loadings of their modified Mts (71 and 73%, respectively). X-ray diffraction analysis showed that the flexibility of alkyl chains in TBP yielded smaller increases in basal spacing, i.e. lower degree of intercalation, compared to the rigid aryl structure in TPP. Increasing chain length resulted in greater basal spacing in alkyl phosphonium-modified Mts (1.67 nm. in TBP vs. 2.46 nm. in TOP). Such an effect, however, was less significant in aryl phosphonium-modified Mt.
Covering news with provincial characteristics: Comparing news coverage on health crises in China’s Guangdong and Henan provinces
Authors: Dong Dong
Published: June 2014

Against the theoretical background of media transformation and social change, this study delivers empirical evidence to support a recent theoretical call for ‘scaling’ and ‘rescaling’ media in China. A case study is used to illustrate how news institutions from different geographical locations within China differ in their news construction. News coverage of two health incidences sampled from six Chinese newspapers are analysed and compared. Two sets of hypotheses are tested. The study concludes that only by considering both the degree of commercialization and the geographical differences can we exhibit a relatively precise measurement of the everyday journalistic practice and its products.
Physical isolation and failed socialization on Pitcairn Island: A warning for the future?
Authors: Sheppard Si
Published: June 2014

In this essay I will attempt to account for the failure of state formation on Pitcairn Island by the Bounty mutineers in 1790. I will track the course of the mutiny itself, the settlement on Pitcairn, and the ensuing collapse of the polity. I will list the proximate reasons for this outcome, including gender imbalance, a racially stratified social order and the absence of representative conflict resolution mechanisms. I conclude that the ultimate cause for the anarchic quality of life on Pitcairn is the distinctive contribution of its effectively perfect geopolitical isolation. This historical exemplar should serve as a warning to the would-be founding fathers of the future if the next wave of human colonization commences with the possible establishment of settlements in the even greater isolation of outer space.
Fossil capacities in the work of Janet Frame
Authors: Delrez Marc
Published: June 2014

The Guyanese novelist and critic Wilson Harris defines the word ‘fossil’ in an idiosyncratic sense, to invoke ‘a rhythmic capacity to re-sense contrasting spaces and to suggest that a curious rapport exists between ruin and origin as latent to arts of genesis’ (Harris 1974: 1) – prior to hinting that such a ‘heterogeneous scale’ (Harris 1981: 111) of temporality can be seen to exist within the fictional universe fashioned by Janet Frame. This, in turn, implies that any appreciation of her work’s embeddedness in local (South Pacific) realities must simultaneously take account of the depths of spatiality created by means of her particular aesthetics. This article attempts to address Frame’s strange interest in ghostly vestiges of superseded experience, which she expresses through recurring allusions to subterranean strata of landscape encrypting a sense of ‘epochs and ages gone’– as she phrases this in Living in the Maniototo (Frame 1979: 154). Indeed, her settings beg the question of a ‘native capacity’ (another Harrisian phrase; see Harris 1981: 49) possibly underlying her approach to New Zealand contemporary culture. Intriguingly, she probes the matter through her repeated evocation of reputedly extinct animal species – dinosaur, moa, takahe – which she sees in some cases to be gesturing towards the possibility of resuscitation, as with the tuatara mentioned in Towards Another Summer, and quite in keeping with an aesthetics of excavation subordinated to her quest for occulted forms of being and knowing. As some of Frame’s characters conceive this, it is a matter of realizing that human vision is untrustworthy and must be supplemented through a form of third-eye vision paradoxically inherited in spite of the losses of history.
IUPAC Symposia on Photochemistry
Authors: Braslavsky Silvia E.
Published: June 2014

The IUPAC Symposium on Photochemistry was started in 1964 by the initiative of George Hammond, and held in Strasbourg, France.2 It was then called International Symposium on Organic Photochemistry. Since 1967, its name is IUPAC Symposium on Photochemistry and it is regularly held in even years, usually at the end of July.3 This Symposium was only once held outside Europe in 2006, in Kyoto, Japan (see table) and is planned to be in Japan again in 2016. The number of Japanese participants in the Symposia has been very large for many years.
From the Editor
Authors: Meyers Fabienne
Published: June 2014

It is difficult to remember a time when one asked a question and wondered how to even find the answer. Now, obviously, we have the World Wide Web and whatever your question, it is likely that Wikipedia will help you find exactly what you’re looking for. In just a few years, Wikipedia has changed our ability to search.
The International Council for Science
Authors: Black David
Published: June 2014

The mission of the International Council for Science (ICSU) is to strengthen international science for the benefit of society. Its long-term vision is for a world where excellence in science is effectively translated into policymaking and socioeconomic development. In such a world, universal and equitable access to scientific data and information would be a reality and all countries would have the scientific capacity to use these and to contribute to the new generation of knowledge.
Novel Fe-Pd/SiO2 catalytic materials for degradation of chlorinated organic compounds in water
Authors: Kustov Leonid M. , Al-Abed Souhail R. , Virkutyte Jurate , Kirichenko Olga A. , Shuvalova Elena V. , Kapustin Gennady I. , Mishin Igor V. , Nissenbaum Vera D. , Tkachenko Olga P. , Finashina Elena D.
Published: June 2014

Novel reactive materials for catalytic degradation of chlorinated organic compounds in water at ambient conditions have been prepared on the basis of silica-supported Pd-Fe nanoparticles. Nanoscale Fe-Pd particles were synthesized inside porous silica supports using (NH4)3[Fe(C2O4)3] and [Pd(NH3)4]Cl2 or Pd acetate as reaction precursors. According to temperature programmed reduction (TPR) studies, Pd introduction decreased the reduction temperature of the supported Fen+ species and nearly complete reduction with H2 was observed at 400 °C. The successful surface loading with Pd was confirmed by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) analysis. Characterization of the samples by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and X-ray absorption near-edge structure + extended X-ray absorption fine structure (XANES + EXAFS) verified the presence of highly dispersed Pd0, Pdx Fe1–x and Fe0 phases. Reduction of the supported precursors in hydrogen resulted in materials that were highly active in perchloroethene (PCE) degradation and 2-chlorobiphenyl (2-ClBP) dechlorination. It was found that highly dispersed amorphous Fe-Pd bimetallic nanoparticles on silica support showed superior catalytic activity against PCE dechlorination in comparison to the free-standing Fe-Pd nanoparticles. For the samples with the same Fe content, the conversion of chlorinated organics as well as the stability increased with the Pd loading, e.g., the most effective degradation of PCEs and 2-ClBP was achieved at a Pd loading of 2.3–3.2 wt. %.
The stimuli-response characters of hydrogels prepared using ultrasound
Authors: Ebrahimi Rajabali , Ebrahimi Mahnoush
Published: June 2014

The present work was an attempt to investigate the parameters that can affect the process of hydrogel formation in the presence of ultrasound. These parameters were concentrations of the reactants, the reaction medium, and acoustic factors. The monomers were acrylic acid and acrylamide, and the cross-linker was methylene bis acrylamide. Pulsed power ultrasound was irradiated to the reaction mixture from the tip of a probe unit. The swelling behaviors of the obtained hydrogels were investigated in various buffer solutions, at different temperature values, and using different ionic salts. The results show that ultrasonic irradiation significantly reduces reaction time and increases efficiency. Additionally, increasing glycerol in the solution changes the viscosity of the reaction for the better and increases the reaction rate. However, ionic strength and pH were not significantly effective in this respect. Another major finding was that increasing ultrasonic power and pulse hastens the reaction. Cationic salts were effective in this order: Na+>Ca2+>Fe3+. The hydrogel was responsive to pH, temperature, and salts. These findings provide a better understanding of hydrogel synthesis and enable us to control the pertinent parameters.
Electron beam modified nylon 6-clay nanocomposites: morphology and water absorption behavior
Authors: Chowdhury Subhendu Ray , Francis Sanju , Sarma Kuppa Sivasankara
Published: June 2014

A series of nylon 6-clay nanocomposites were prepared by melt mixing, followed by electron beam (EB) crosslinking at various doses. Effects of crosslinking on clay dispersion, gel content, crystallinity and water absorption properties (hygrothermal) were studied. No change of the dispersion pattern of clay in nanocomposites was observed after crosslinking [from X-ray diffraction (XRD) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM)]. Gel content, i.e., degree of crosslinking is seen to keep on increasing with irradiation dose, although clays hinder crosslinking of polymers to some extent. Crystallinity of polymers is reduced after incorporation of clay as well as crosslinks. However, water absorption rate and maximum water content of nanocomposites are found to increase and saturation time to decrease with clay content. However, these changes become opposite after crosslinking of polymers. The water absorption for all samples is noticed to increase with temperature. Thus, EB crosslinking, without affecting the nanocomposite morphology, i.e., properties derived from nano interface generation, decreases the water absorption properties of nanocomposites.
The Boom List
Authors: Staff Boom
Published: June 2014

A list of interesting things to do, see, and read around California in the summer of 2014.
Clement Street
Authors: Lee David
Published: June 2014

Chinese are leaving the Chinese city of San Francisco at the very moment that San Francisco has become, spectacularly, America’s most important Chinese city, with all the political prestige and potential pitfalls that ascendance implies. Middle- and lower-income Chinese Americans may be responding to the city’s affordability crisis by having fewer babies or by moving to the suburbs. But in an equally potent trend for the city’s future, overseas Chinese investment activity in San Francisco’s real estate is at a fever pitch. What no one doubts in San Francisco—in either the corridors of power or in the small shops along Clement Street—is that the city is now the great American Asian city. What we are just learning is how economics trumps race or ethnicity. The capital city of Asian America is becoming too expensive for many Asian Americans.
The Boom Interview
Authors: Solnit Rebecca
Published: June 2014

An interview with writer Rebecca Solnit, about San Francisco’s ongoing upheaval during the tech boom. Topics covered include tech commuter shuttles (aka Google Buses), Silicon Valley, San Francisco’s history as a place where culture flourishes, and how the city is becoming an expensive bedroom community for tech workers who commute to jobs in Silicon Valley.
Who You Calling a Techie?
Authors: Reich Leah
Published: June 2014

The author explains her ambivalence and conflict over working in the technology sector in the Bay Area. The conflict comes from her perception that some in her industry are making San Francisco a less welcoming and inclusive place to live, while also appreciating the opportunities the industry has offered her.
Die [Fill in the Blank] Scum
Authors: Powers Annie
Published: June 2014

A brief history of the phrase “Die Techie Scum,” which has been appeared as graffiti on San Francisco walls, handed out on postcards, printed on shirts, and yelled at commuters to Silicon Valley. The die [fill in the blank] scum construction has been used frequently in the past thirty years, most often when issues of gentrification are at play, such as “Die Yuppie Scum,” used in protests in New York City in the 1980s.
The Valency of Music Has Different Effects on the Emotional Responses of Those with Autism Spectrum Disorders and a Comparison Group
Authors: Kopec Justin , Hillier Ashleigh , Frye Alice
Published: June 2014

Emotion perception deficits are commonly observed in individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Numerous studies have documented deficits in emotional recognition of social stimuli among those with ASD, such as faces and voices, while far fewer have investigated emotional recognition of nonsocial stimuli in this population. In this study, participants with ASD and a comparison group of typically developing (TD) control participants listened to song clips that varied in levels of pleasantness (valence) and arousal. Participants then rated emotions they felt or perceived in the music, using a list of eight emotion words for each song. Results showed that individuals with ASD gave significantly lower ratings of negative emotions in both the felt and perceived categories compared to TD controls, but did not show significant differences in ratings of positive emotions. These findings suggest that deficits in processing emotions in music among those with ASD may be valence specific.
Affective Priming in Music Listening
Authors: Timmers Renee , Crook Harriet
Published: June 2014

Three behavioral experiments were conducted to investigate the hypothesis that perceived emotion activates expectations for upcoming musical events. Happy, sad, and neutral pictures were used as emotional primes. In Experiments 1 and 2, expectations for the continuation of neutral melodic openings were tested using an implicit task that required participants to judge the tuning of the first note of the melodic continuation. This first note was either high or low in pitch (Experiment 1) or followed either a narrow or wide melodic interval (Experiment 2). Experiment 3 assessed expectations using an explicit task and required participants to rate the quality of melodic continuations, which varied in register and interval size. Experiments 1 and 3 confirmed that emotion indeed modulates expectations for melodic continuations in a high or low register. The effect of emotion on expectations for melodic intervals was significant only in Experiment 3, although there was a trend for happiness to increase expectations for wide intervals in Experiment 2.
The SNARE protein vti1a functions in dense‐core vesicle biogenesis
Authors: Walter Alexander M , Kurps Julia , de Wit Heidi , Schöning Susanne , Toft‐Bertelsen Trine L , Lauks Juliane , Ziomkiewicz Iwona , Weiss Annita N , Schulz Alexander , Fischer von Mollard Gabriele , Verhage Matthijs , Sørensen Jakob B
Published: June 2014

The SNARE protein vti1a is proposed to drive fusion of intracellular organelles, but recent data also implicated vti1a in exocytosis. Here we show that vti1a is absent from mature secretory vesicles in adrenal chromaffin cells, but localizes to a compartment near the trans‐Golgi network, partially overlapping with syntaxin‐6. Exocytosis is impaired in vti1a null cells, partly due to fewer Ca2+‐channels at the plasma membrane, partly due to fewer vesicles of reduced size and synaptobrevin‐2 content. In contrast, release kinetics and Ca2+‐sensitivity remain unchanged, indicating that the final fusion reaction leading to transmitter release is unperturbed. Additional deletion of the closest related SNARE, vti1b, does not exacerbate the vti1a phenotype, and vti1b null cells show no secretion defects, indicating that vti1b does not participate in exocytosis. Long‐term re‐expression of vti1a (days) was necessary for restoration of secretory capacity, whereas strong short‐term expression (hours) was ineffective, consistent with vti1a involvement in an upstream step related to vesicle generation, rather than in fusion. We conclude that vti1a functions in vesicle generation and Ca2+‐channel trafficking, but is dispensable for transmitter release.
The Origins and Development of Ṣūfī Orders (Tarekat) in Southeast Asia
Authors: Bruinessen Martin van
Published: June 2014

Any Theory of the Islamization of the Malay Archipelago will have to at least explain why the process began when it did, instead of some centuries earlier or later. Foreign Muslims has probably been resident in the trading ports of Sumatra and Java for many centuries, but it is only towards the end of the 13th century that the find traces of apparently indigenous Muslims. The first evidence is from the north coast Sumatra, where a few tini muslim kingdoms, or rather harbour states, arose; Perlak and the twin kingdoms of Samudra and Pasai. During the 14th and 15th centuries, Islam gradually spread across the coasts of Sumatra and the Malay peninsula, to the northern coast of Java and to the spice island in the east.DOI: 10.15408/sdi.v1i1.864
The Indies Chinese and the Sarekat lslam: AnAccount of the Anti-Chinese Riots in ColonialIndonesia
Authors: Azra Azyumardi
Published: June 2014

Educational policy towards the native Dutch 19th century has been a lot of encouraging the emergence of the seeds of nationalism (proto-nationalism). This policy allows certain native circles to get the Dutch education. Although the number is very small, the role of native Dutch school graduates is very important. They became the backbone of the national people's attitudes develop bumiputera.DOI: 10.15408/sdi.v1i1.865
Al-Ummah fī Indūnīsīya: Mafhūmuhā, Wāqi‘uhā wa Tajrībatuhā
Authors: Shihab M. Quraish
Published: June 2014

Islam has undergone several renewals throughout its long history in Indonesia. These renewals have resulted in stratifications leading to the formation of sects within Indonesian Muslim community. Meanwhile, Hinduism and Buddhism -  the two dominant religions which came before Islam - still exist amongst a small number of the population, and Christianity is gaining more adherents. In effect Indonesia is becoming an ethnically, religiously and professionally pluralistic nation. Differences in opinion are thus unavoidable.DOI: 10.15408/sdi.v1i1.867