bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Hierarchical safety supervisory control strategy for robot-assisted rehabilitation exercise
Authors: Pan Lizheng , Song Aiguo , Xu Guozheng , Li Huijun , Xu Baoguo , Xiong Pengwen
Published: February 2013

Clinical outcomes have shown that robot-assisted rehabilitation is potential of enhancing quantification of therapeutic process for patients with stroke. During robotic rehabilitation exercise, the assistive robot must guarantee subject's safety in emergency situations, e.g., sudden spasm or twitch, abruptly severe tremor, etc. This paper presents a hierarchical control strategy, which is proposed to improve the safety and robustness of the rehabilitation system. The proposed hierarchical architecture is composed of two main components: a high-level safety supervisory controller (SSC) and low-level position-based impedance controller (PBIC). The high-level SSC is used to automatically regulate the desired force for a reasonable disturbance or timely put the emergency mode into service according to the evaluated physical state of training impaired limb (PSTIL) to achieve safety and robustness. The low-level PBIC is implemented to achieve compliance between the robotic end-effector and the impaired limb during the robot-assisted rehabilitation training. The results of preliminary experiments demonstrate the effectiveness and potentiality of the proposed method for achieving safety and robustness of the rehabilitation robot.
Creative State / Flow State: Flow Theory in Stanislavsky's Practice
Authors: Silberschatz Marc
Published: February 2013

Nearly seventy-five years after his death, Konstantin Stanislavsky remains a toweringly influential figure, and many fundamental ideas about acting can be traced back to his practice. In this article, Marc Silberschatz examines the correspondences with, and divergences from, flow theory – the theory surrounding the psychological state associated with ‘being in the zone’ – in Stanislavsky's practice. Although separated by vast differences in social, cultural, and historical context, some significant and increasing correspondences between flow theory and Stanislavsky's practice are revealed and examined. Additionally, divergences from flow theory are identified and interrogated, suggesting that Stanislavsky's reliance on fixed, repeatable performance scores and divided consciousness are direct impediments to the achievement of flow. Marc Silberschatz is a PhD candidate at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. He is also a professional theatre director whose work has been seen in both the United States and Scotland.
Using Stanislavsky's Toolkit for Shakespeare's Richard III, Part I: Research on the Text and the Play
Authors: Merlin Bella
Published: February 2013

An actor's training continues throughout his/her professional career, yet they rarely have the time or inclination to write in detail about their processes, when building a character, to provide documents for inquisitive peers. In this two-part article, Bella Merlin articulates the discoveries made playing Margaret in Richard III at the Colorado Shakespeare Festival in Summer 2012, directed by internationally acclaimed actor-director Tina Packer (co-founder of Shakespeare and Company with Kristin Linklater in 1978). Merlin highlights how the shift from teacher to actor reactivates the ‘willing vulnerability’ that she demands of her own students. She focuses on Stanislavsky's three avenues of research: on the playtext; on the world of the play and playwright; and on the self. There can be resistance by some theatre practitioners to the application of Stanislavsky's tools to Shakespeare's texts, often due to a perceived over-psychologizing. Here, Merlin challenges some of these resistances. She demonstrates that Packer's insistence on connecting voice with thought to release the imagination implicitly harnesses Shakespeare's structure with Stanislavsky's underpinnings. Packer also lays emphasis on contemporary resonance, freeing the natural voice, and the significance of Shakespeare's female characters in Richard III for awakening an audience to the consequences of violence. The journey is unsettlingly personal and startlingly global. Part I, which follows, addresses research on the text and research on the play, drawing upon history, biography, accounts of grief, and chilling footage of the Rwandan genocide. Part II, planned for the next issue, uses the immediacy of a rehearsal journal to address research on the self. Bella Merlin is an actor, writer and actor-trainer. Acting includes seasons at the National Theatre with Max Stafford-Clark's Out of Joint Company. Publications include The Complete Stanislavsky Toolkit (2007) and Acting: the Basics (2010). She is currently Professor of Acting at the University of California, Davis.
Ugliness and Beauty: the Politics of Landscape in Walter Greenwood's Love on the Dole
Authors: Warden Claire
Published: February 2013

The multi-spatial landscape of the North-West of England (Manchester–Salford and the surrounding area) provides the setting for Walter Greenwood's 1934 play Love on the Dole. Both the urban industrialized cityscape and the rural countryside that surrounds it are vital framing devices for the narrative – these spaces not simply acting as backdrops but taking on character roles. In this article Claire Warden reads the play's presentation of the North through the concept of landscape theatre, on the one hand, and Raymond Williams's city–country dialogism on the other, claiming that Love on the Dole is imbued with the revolutionary possibility that defines the very landscape in which it is set. From claustrophobic working-class kitchen to the open fields of Derbyshire, Love on the Dole has a sense of spatial ambition in which Greenwood regards all landscapes as tainted by the industrial world while maintaining their capacity to function independently. Ugliness and beauty, capitalist hegemony and socialistic hopefulness reside simultaneously in this important under-researched example of twentieth-century British theatre, thereby reflecting the ambivalent, shifting landscape of the North and producing a play that cannot be easily defined artistically or politically. Claire Warden is a Lecturer in Drama at the University of Lincoln. Her work focuses on peripheral British performances in the early to mid-twentieth century. She is the author of British Avant-Garde Theatre (Palgrave MacMillan, 2012) and is currently writing Modernist and Avant-Garde Performance: an Introduction for Edinburgh University Press, to be published in 2014.
Framing the Drift and Drifting the Frame: Walking with Wrights & Sites
Authors: Darby Kris
Published: February 2013

The proliferation of pedestrian performances since the beginning of the twenty-first century has led to an active rethinking of the defining parameters of site-based practice. Does the action of walking deterritorialize or strengthen the boundaries of site, or is the terming of ‘site’ itself redundant for these types of performance? In this article Kris Darby examines one of the most influential types of walking practice on this mode of performance, that of the dérive (‘drift’), and its subsequent adoption and renovation by arts collective Wrights & Sites. Beginning with a contextualization of ‘drifting’ within the Situationist International, this study then focuses on key terms derived from the collective's use of this type of walking in their performance work. The three types of drifting defined by Wrights & Sites – reconnaissance, group, and simultaneous – are then analyzed, illustrating how, through ‘framing’, the defining parameters of site begin to shift further. The article concludes by suggesting that Wrights & Sites’ drifting can be termed situation-specific rather than site-specific, due to its movement across multiple places. Kris Darby is a PhD student in the Drama Department of the University of Exeter, whose research concerns an expansion of the defining properties of pedestrian performance.
A Centenary Foretold: the Reception of Eugène Ionesco in his ‘Fatherland’
Authors: Saiu Octavian
Published: February 2013

Eugène Ionesco was born in Romania in 1909, but he died in France in 1994. The name on his birth certificate was Eugen Ionescu, yet the name on his grave in the Montparnasse cemetery is Eugène Ionesco, as he is known across the world. In this article, Octavian Saiu explores these polarities of Ionesco's destiny from the perspective of his reception in Romania, where nationalistic claims are embroiled in contention over his identity. The paradoxes of this situation are clearly illustrated by the conflict surrounding the celebration of his centenary in 2009, when Marie-France Ionesco, the writer's daughter and the trustee of the estate, banned a series of Romanian performances of Ionesco's plays planned for the occasion. Her decision reflected the traumatizing relationship Ionesco had, even beyond his grave, with what he uncompromisingly called his ‘fatherland’. Octavian Saiu is an Associate Professor at the National University of Theatre and Cinematography (NUTC) in Romania and a Guest Lecturer at the University of Otago in New Zealand. He is Vice-President of the Romanian Section of the International Association of Theatre Critics (IATC) and Director of the Eugène Ionesco–Samuel Beckett Research Centre at NUTC.
From Politics to Therapy: Sistren Theatre Collective's Theatre and Outreach Work in Jamaica
Authors: Smith Karina
Published: February 2013

Sistren Theatre Collective has been producing theatre and working with community groups in Jamaica for the last thirty-five years. Over the last decade the company has changed its profile to include male drama specialists and social workers in its team. This has come about due to new funding arrangement with the Jamaican Ministry of National Security, which won a large grant from the Inter-American Development Bank to establish the Citizen Security and Justice Programme (CSJP). The CSJP has a community outreach component in which Sistren has been employed to run socio-drama workshops and provide counselling to residents in Kingston's ‘garrison’ communities. In this article Karina Smith compares Sistren's theatre and outreach work under the CSJP programme with the group's previous theatre productions and workshops, devised when it was the leading women's popular theatre company and Women in Development non-government organization in the Caribbean region. Karina Smith is a Senior Lecturer in Literary and Gender Studies in the College of the Arts at Victoria University, Melbourne, Australia. She has published on Sistren Theatre Collective's work in Modern Drama, Theatre Research International, and in Suzanne Diamond's Compelling Confessions: the Politics of Personal Disclosure (2011). Her monograph on the Caribbean community's oral histories of migration to Victoria is forthcoming from Breakdown Press.
Does Women's Knowledge of Voting Rights Affect their Voting Behaviour in Village Elections? Evidence from a Randomized Controlled Trial in China
Authors: Pang Xiaopeng , Zeng Junxia , Rozelle Scott
Published: February 2013

Officials in China claim that voting rates in rural village elections are high. However, the true voting rate is lower, especially for women. We postulate that women are less likely to vote owing to insufficient knowledge about their rights. The objective of this paper is to test whether the knowledge levels of women and village leaders about women's voting rights can affect women's voting behaviour. We report on the results of a randomized controlled trial (RCT) involving 700 women in China's Fujian and Liaoning provinces. Villages were randomly assigned to either a control group or one of three intervention groups. One intervention provided voting training to women only, another provided training to both women and village leaders, and the third provided training to village leaders only. After women received training, their scores on a test of voting knowledge increased, and they more fully exercised their voting rights. When only village leaders were trained, test scores and voting behaviour were not statistically different from the control villages.
Editorial: Looking Ahead
Authors: CANNING CHARLOTTE
Published: February 2013

This is my first issue as Senior Editor of Theatre Research International. As I have worked I have been conscious of the editors who have preceded me, first and foremost Elaine Aston. Her wit, insight and generosity have been models for me over the three years we worked together. Now, as she has ended her term and I have begun mine, I am more aware than ever of the precedent she has established. I will have to work very hard to match her editorial discernment, wisdom and creativity. But I am also aware of a legacy from previous editors – Freddie Rokem (with whom Elaine was privileged to work as Associate Editor), Christopher Balme (currently President of the International Federation for Theatre Research) and Brian Singleton (also a past IFTR President). What this means to me is that I am privileged to inherit a journal that has long been recognized as a leader across the globe for the best in original content and methodology. Joining me is the new Associate Editor, Paul Rae from the National University of Singapore. He has already proven to be an invaluable colleague, and I am happily anticipating our work together on TRI over the next three years.
The Possibility of Darkness: Blackout and Shadow in Chris Goode'sWho You Are
Authors: WELTON MARTIN
Published: February 2013

Although a rather recent convention, sitting in the dark looking at others in the light has become a standard element of going to see a theatrical performance. Before the introduction of powered lighting systems that focused light on the stage, however, audiences and actors alike were bathed in a shared illumination. As life outside the theatre becomes ever more exposed by light, what are the possibilities presented for and by a performance that takes place in darkness? In this article I discuss these possibilities as they were explored in Chris Goode'sWho You Are, a performance commissioned by Tate Modern for Experiences of the Dark, a series of talks, presentations and other works inside Miroslaw Balka's giant installationHow It Is.
Wii Are Family: Performing Race in Neo-liberal Europe
Authors: SIEG KATRIN
Published: February 2013

This article examines the flash mob danceGlowby the Afro-Norwegian duo Madcon, which was performed at the Eurovision Song Contest in Oslo, Norway, in 2010. The dance was modelled on the format of popular Wii dance games, and coordinated black and white dancers, families, mass publics and prerecorded and live footage in order to choreograph European ‘unity in diversity’. The use of black dancers as avatars urging dancing crowds towards greater kinaesthetic sensitivity raises the questions of how race is figured in neo-liberal visions of cosmopolitan Europe, and what role gaming technology plays in facilitating cross-racial empathy and ethical responsiveness at a time when solidarity is fraying as a consequence of fiscal crises and austerity measures. Finally, the article considers Afro-European academic, activist and artistic practices as alternatives to neo-liberal regimes of race.
Between Sound and Sight: Framing the Exotic in Roysten Abel's The Manganiyar Seduction
Authors: TAN MARCUS CHENG CHYE
Published: February 2013

Roysten Abel's The Manganiyar Seduction is perhaps the most popular performance of Indian folk music on the global festival market today. This performance of Rajasthani folk music is an apt exemplification of an auto-exoticism framed as cultural commodity. Its mise en scène of musicians framed, literally, by illuminated red square boxes ‘theatricalizes’ Rajasthan's folk culture of orality and gives the performance a quality of strangeness that borders on theatre and music, contemporary and traditional. The ‘dazzling’ union of the Manganiyars' music and the scenography of Amsterdam's red-light district engendered an exotic seduction that garnered rave reviews on its global tour. This paper examines the production's performative interstices: the in-betweenness of sound and sight where aural tradition is ‘spectacularized’. It will also analyse the shifting convergences of tradition and cultural consumption and further interrogates the role of reception in the construction of such ‘exotic’ spectacles.
Seed dormancy in four Tibetan Plateau Vicia species and characterization of physiological changes in response of seeds to environmental factors
Authors: Hu Xiaowen , Li Tingshan , Wang Juan , Wang Yanrong , Baskin Carol C. , Baskin Jerry M.
Published: February 2013

Although seed dormancy of temperate legumes is well understood, less is known about it in species that grow in subalpine/alpine areas. This study investigated dormancy and germination of four Vicia species from the Tibetan Plateau. Fresh seeds of V. sativa were permeable to water, whereas those of V. angustifolia, V. amoena and V. unijuga had physical dormancy (PY). One year of dry storage increased the proportion of impermeable seeds in V. angustifolia, but showed no effect on seed coat permeability in V. amoena or V. unijuga. Seeds of all four species also had non-deep physiological dormancy (PD), which was especially apparent in the two annuals at a high germination temperature (20°C). After 1 year of storage, PD had been lost. The hydrotime model showed that fresh seeds obtained a significantly higher median water potential [Ψb(50)] than stored seeds, implying that PD prevents germination in winter for seeds dispersed without PY when water availability is limited. After 6 months on the soil surface in the field, a high proportion of permeable seeds remained ungerminated, further suggesting that PD plays a key role in preventing germination after dispersal. Addition of fluridone, an inhibitor of abscisic acid (ABA) biosynthesis, evened-out the differences in germination between fresh and stored seeds, which points to the key role of ABA biosynthesis in maintaining dormancy. Further, fresh seeds were more sensitive to exogenous ABA than stored seeds, indicating that storage decreased embryo sensitivity to ABA. On the other hand, the gibberellic acid GA3 increased germination rate, which implies that embryo sensitivity to GA is also involved in seed dormancy regulation. This study showed that PY, PD or their combination (PY+PD) plays a key role in timing germination after dispersal, and that different intensities of dormancy occur among these four Vicia species from the Tibetan Plateau.
Early Improvement in Eating Attitudes during Cognitive Behavioural Therapy for Eating Disorders: The Impact of Personality Disorder Cognitions
Authors: Park Emma C. , Waller Glenn , Gannon Kenneth
Published: February 2013

Background:The personality disorders are commonly comorbid with the eating disorders. Personality disorder pathology is often suggested to impair the treatment of axis 1 disorders, including the eating disorders.Aims:This study examined whether personality disorder cognitions reduce the impact of cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) for eating disorders, in terms of treatment dropout and change in eating disorder attitudes in the early stages of treatment.Method:Participants were individuals with a diagnosed eating disorder, presenting for individual outpatient CBT. They completed measures of personality disorder cognitions and eating disorder attitudes at sessions one and six of CBT. Drop-out rates prior to session six were recorded.Results:CBT had a relatively rapid onset of action, with a significant reduction in eating disorder attitudes over the first six sessions. Eating disorder attitudes were most strongly associated with cognitions related to anxiety-based personality disorders (avoidant, obsessive-compulsive and dependent). Individuals who dropped out of treatment prematurely had significantly higher levels of dependent personality disorder cognitions than those who remained in treatment. For those who remained in treatment, higher levels of avoidant, histrionic and borderline personality disorder cognitions were associated with a greater change in global eating disorder attitudes.Conclusions:CBT's action and retention of patients might be improved by consideration of such personality disorder cognitions when formulating and treating the eating disorders.
Effects of Early Thyroid Hormone Deficiency on Children's Autobiographical Memory Performance
Authors: Willoughby Karen A. , McAndrews Mary Pat , Rovet Joanne
Published: February 2013

Memory deficits and hippocampal abnormalities have been described in individuals with thyroid hormone (TH) insufficiencies; however, no study has yet examined their autobiographical memory (AM) abilities, which are known to be compromised by hippocampal damage. Investigations in adults have shown that AM consists of both episodic and semantic components and that the hippocampus is preferentially involved in episodic AM. The present study used the Children's Autobiographical Interview (CAI) to study episodic and semantic AM in 79 children aged 9 to 14 years, including 26 with early-treated congenital hypothyroidism (CH), 23 born to women with inadequately treated hypothyroidism during pregnancy (HYPO), and 30 typically developing controls. Results showed that relative to controls, CH and HYPO groups both exhibited weaknesses in episodic AM, but not semantic AM. In particular, CH and HYPO groups showed difficulty in recalling event details (i.e., the main happenings) and visual details from past experiences. Overall, this study highlights the importance of TH for early neurodevelopment and provides critical new insight into the effects of early treated TH deficiency on long-term memory performance. Furthermore, the present study indicates that the CAI is an effective tool for investigating episodic AM impairment in clinical pediatric populations. (JINS, 2013, 19, 1–11)
Recognition of Positive Vocalizations Is Impaired in Behavioral-Variant Frontotemporal Dementia
Authors: Hsieh Sharpley , Hodges John R , Piguet Olivier
Published: February 2013

Recognition of negative emotions is impaired in behavioral-variant frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD). Less is known about the identification of positive emotions. One limitation likely arises from the stimulus sets used in previous studies. The widely used Ekman 60 Faces Test, for example, consists of four negative emotions (anger, fear, disgust and sadness) but only one positive emotion (happiness). Here, patients with bvFTD (n = 9), AD (n = 9), and controls (n = 15) recognized a range of experimentally-validated positive and negative non-verbal vocalizations (e.g., cheers for triumph; retching for disgust) that have recently become available. The bvFTD group was impaired in the recognition of both positive and negative vocalizations. In contrast, performance in the AD cohort was comparable to that of controls. Findings in the bvFTD group point to a global emotion recognition deficit in this syndrome. These results are consistent with a growing body of research showing that deficits also extend to positive emotions. (JINS, 2013, 19, 1–5)
A common risk classification system for the Actuarial Profession ‐ Abstract of the Edinburgh discussion
Authors: Kelliher Patrick
Published: February 2013

This abstract relates to the following paper:

KelliherP.O.J., WilmotD., VijJ. and KlumpesP.J.M.A common risk classification system for the Actuarial Profession.British Actuarial Journal, doi:10.1017/S1357321712000293
Development and validation of a new model of desirable dietary pattern (N-DDP) score for Chinese diets
Authors: Zhou Zhenghua , Hu Wen , Li Ming , Xu Rongxian , Shi Lei , Huang Chengyu
Published: February 2013

Objective

To develop a new model of desirable dietary pattern (N-DDP) score for Chinese diets and to validate it against the nutrient-rich foods (NRF) index.

Design

The N-DDP score model followed the principles of the traditional DDP (T-DDP) score model (DDP-China for 2000) proposed in 1991 and of food grouping in the dietary pagoda for Chinese residents in 2007, and made detailed ratings by expressing the food weight coefficient, reasonable maximum limit of the score and an algorithm of the deserved score for each group of foods after considering current nutritional problems of Chinese residents. The N-DDP score model was validated against the NRF9·3 index with linear regression analysis and compared with the T-DDP score model.

Settings

One set of dietary data was extracted from the diet recommended by the dietary pagoda for Chinese residents in 2007 and the literature on dietary surveys in China. The other two sets of dietary data were from a dietary survey in 2011. DDP scores for all three dietary data sets were calculated with the N-DDP score model and the T-DDP score model.

Subjects

All items of dietary records in the three dietary data sets were included in the present study.

Results

All DDP scores obtained with the N-DDP score model were positively correlated (P = 0·000) with the NRF9·3 index. DDP scores obtained with the N-DDP score model had higher R2 with the NRF9·3 index than those of the T-DDP score model, as well as higher β values.

Conclusions

It can be considered that the N-DDP score is a more accurate and convenient tool to evaluate current individual and group diet for Chinese residents.
High levels of household food insecurity on the Navajo Nation
Authors: Pardilla Marla , Prasad Divya , Suratkar Sonali , Gittelsohn Joel
Published: February 2013

Objective

To assess levels of and identify factors associated with food insecurity on the Navajo Nation.

Design

A cross-sectional study was conducted utilizing the ten-item Radimer/Cornell food insecurity instrument. Sociodemographic, psychosocial and anthropometric data were collected.

Setting

Navajo Nation, USA.

Subjects

Two hundred and seventy-six members of the Navajo Nation were randomly selected at food stores and other community locations.

Results

Of the sample, 76·7 % had some level of food insecurity. Less education (mean years of schooling:P= 0·0001; non-completion of higher education:P= 0·0003), lower full-time employment rates (P= 0·01), and lower material style of life (P= 0·0001), food knowledge (P= 0·001) and healthy eating self-efficacy (P< 0·0001) scores were all positively associated with food insecurity. Perceived expensiveness (P< 0·0001) and perceived inconvenience (P= 0·0001) of healthy choices were also positively associated with food insecurity.

Conclusions

Food insecurity rates on the Navajo Nation are the highest reported to date in the USA and are likely attributable to the extremely high rates of poverty and unemployment. Reducing food insecurity on the Navajo Nation will require increasing the availability of affordable healthy foods, addressing poverty and unemployment, and providing nutrition programmes to increase demand.
Obesity prevalence in Mexico: impact on health and economic burden
Authors: Rtveladze Ketevan , Marsh Tim , Barquera Simon , Sanchez Romero Luz Maria , Levy David , Melendez Guillermo , Webber Laura , Kilpi Fanny , McPherson Klim , Brown Martin
Published: February 2013

Objective

Along with other countries having high and low-to-middle income, Mexico has experienced a substantial change in obesity rates. This rapid growth in obesity prevalence has led to high rates of obesity-related diseases and associated health-care costs.

Design

Micro-simulation is used to project future BMI trends. Additionally thirteen BMI-related diseases and health-care costs are estimated. The results are simulated for three hypothetical scenarios: no BMI reduction and BMI reductions of 1 % and 5 % across the population.

Setting

Mexican Health and Nutrition Surveys 1999 and 2000, and Mexican National Health and Nutrition Survey 2006.

Subjects

Mexican adults.

Results

In 2010, 32 % of men and 26 % of women were normal weight. By 2050, the proportion of normal weight will decrease to 12 % and 9 % for males and females respectively, and more people will be obese than overweight. It is projected that by 2050 there will be 12 million cumulative incidence cases of diabetes and 8 million cumulative incidence cases of heart disease alone. For the thirteen diseases considered, costs of $US 806 million are estimated for 2010, projected to increase to $US 1·2 billion and $US 1·7 billion in 2030 and 2050 respectively. A 1 % reduction in BMI prevalence could save $US 43 million in health-care costs in 2030 and $US 85 million in 2050.

Conclusions

Obesity rates are leading to a large health and economic burden. The projected numbers are high and Mexico should implement strong action to tackle obesity. Results presented here will be very helpful in planning and implementing policy interventions.
Conscience and Conformity: Some Moral Dilemmas in Seventeenth-Century England
Authors: Haigh Christopher
Published: February 2013

This paper considers how issues of conscience might be considered in seventeenth-century England. It looks at how some of the moral problems arising from the restoration of an episcopal Church of England in 1660 were debated, and focuses on the response of the clergy to the demands for conformity to the Book of Common Prayer, renunciation of the Solemn League and Covenant, and episcopal ordination. A large number of books were published on these subjects, and contemporary diaries show that ministers read these books and discussed the problems among themselves, in reaching difficult and often painful decisions.
Use of antipsychotic drugs and mood stabilizers in women of childbearing age with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder: epidemiological survey
Authors: Barbui C. , Conti V. , Purgato M. , Cipriani A. , Fortino I. , Rivolta A. L. , Lora A.
Published: February 2013

Aims.

To determine the prevalence of women of childbearing age with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder exposed to antipsychotic (AP) drugs and mood stabilizers (MS) in Lombardy, a European region of 10 million inhabitants and 1 752 285 women of childbearing age.

Methods.

The data concerning psychiatric care, drug treatments and pregnancy outcomes were retrieved from local administrative databases during a 12-month census period.

Results.

During a 12-month census period, 2893 women of childbearing age with schizophrenia (74.8% of all women of childbearing age with schizophrenia) and 918 with bipolar disorder (80.1% of all women of childbearing age with bipolar disorder) were exposed to AP drugs or MS, yielding a prevalence of exposure for women with schizophrenia of 1.65 (95% confidence interval (CI) 1.59–1.71) per 1000 female inhabitants, and for women with bipolar disorder of 0.52 (95% CI 0.49–0.55) per 1000 female inhabitants. Persistent exposure to potentially teratogenic medications accounted for one in every 1000 women of childbearing age. Of the 57 pregnancies in women with schizophrenia, normal delivery was recorded in 23 (40%) cases; of the 26 pregnancies in women with bipolar disorder, normal delivery was recorded in 10 (38%) cases.

Conclusions.

In women of childbearing age with severe mental disorders, exposure to psychotropic drugs is substantial, which suggests that the issue of reproductive health is epidemiologically relevant and a major public health concern.
Interaction of NuMA protein with the kinesin Eg5: its possible role in bipolar spindle assembly and chromosome alignment
Authors: Iwakiri Yuko , Kamakura Sachiko , Hayase Junya , Sumimoto Hideki
Published: February 2013

Bipolar spindle assembly in mitotic cells is a prerequisite to ensure correct alignment of chromosomes for their segregation to each daughter cell; spindle microtubules are tethered at plus ends to chromosomes and focused at minus ends to either of the two spindle poles. NuMA (nuclear mitotic apparatus protein) is present solely in the nucleus in interphase cells, but relocalizes during mitosis to the spindle poles to play a crucial role in spindle assembly via focusing spindle microtubules to each pole. In the present study we show that the kinesin-5 family motor Eg5 is a protein that directly interacts with NuMA, using a proteomics approach and various binding assays both in vivo and in vitro. During mitosis Eg5 appears to interact with NuMA in the vicinity of the spindle poles, whereas the interaction does not occur in interphase cells, where Eg5 is distributed throughout the cytoplasm but NuMA exclusively localizes to the nucleus. Slight, but significant, depletion of Eg5 in HeLa cells by RNA interference results in formation of less-focused spindle poles with misaligned chromosomes in metaphase; these phenotypes are similar to those induced by depletion of NuMA. Since NuMA is less accumulated at the spindle poles in Eg5-depleted cells, Eg5 probably contributes to spindle assembly via regulating NuMA localization. Furthermore, depletion of cytoplasmic dynein induces mislocalization of NuMA and phenotypes similar to those observed in NuMA-depleted cells, without affecting Eg5 localization to the spindles. Thus dynein appears to control NuMA function in conjunction with Eg5.
Eukaryotic initiation factor 5A dephosphorylation is required for translational arrest in stationary phase cells
Authors: Chung Janete , Rocha Antonio A. , Tonelli Renata R. , Castilho Beatriz A. , Schenkman Sergio
Published: February 2013

The protein known as eIF5A (eukaryotic initiation factor 5A) has an elusive role in translation. It has a unique and essential hypusine modification at a conserved lysine residue in most eukaryotes. In addition, this protein is modified by phosphorylation with unknown functions. In the present study we show that a phosphorylated state of eIF5A predominates in exponentially growing Trypanosoma cruzi cells, and extensive dephosphorylation occurs in cells in stationary phase. Phosphorylation occurs mainly at Ser2, as shown in yeast eIF5A. In addition, a novel phosphorylation site was identified at Tyr21. In exponential cells, T. cruzi eIF5A is partially associated with polysomes, compatible with a proposed function as an elongation factor, and becomes relatively enriched in polysomal fractions in stationary phase. Overexpression of the wild-type eIF5A, or eIF5A with Ser2 replaced by an aspartate residue, but not by alanine, increases the rate of cell proliferation and protein synthesis. However, the presence of an aspartate residue instead of Ser2 is toxic for cells reaching the stationary phase, which show a less-pronounced protein synthesis arrest and a decreased amount of eIF5A in dense fractions of sucrose gradients. We conclude that eIF5A phosphorylation and dephosphorylation cycles regulate translation according to the growth conditions.
Polaron formation: Ehrenfest dynamics vs. exact results
Authors: Li Guangqi , Movaghar Bijan , Nitzan Abraham , Ratner Mark A.
Published: February 2013

We use a one-dimensional tight binding model with an impurity site characterized by electron-vibration coupling, to describe electron transfer and localization at zero temperature, aiming to examine the process of polaron formation in this system. In particular we focus on comparing a semiclassical approach that describes nuclear motion in this many vibronic-states system on the Ehrenfest dynamics level to a numerically exact fully quantum calculation based on the Bonca-Trugman method [J. Bonča and S. A. Trugman, Phys. Rev. Lett. 75, 2566 (1995)]10.1103/PhysRevLett.75.2566. In both approaches, thermal relaxation in the nuclear subspace is implemented in equivalent approximate ways: In the Ehrenfest calculation the uncoupled (to the electronic subsystem) motion of the classical (harmonic) oscillator is simply damped as would be implied by coupling to a Markovian zero temperature bath. In the quantum calculation, thermal relaxation is implemented by augmenting the Liouville equation for the oscillator density matrix with kinetic terms that account for the same relaxation. In both cases we calculate the probability to trap the electron by forming a polaron and the probability that it escapes to infinity. Comparing these calculations, we find that while both result in similar long time yields for these processes, the Ehrenfest-dynamics based calculation fails to account for the correct time scale for the polaron formation. This failure results, as usual, from the fact that at the early stage of polaron formation the classical nuclear dynamics takes place on an unphysical average potential surface that reflects the distributed electronic population in the system, while the quantum calculation accounts fully for correlations between the electronic and vibrational subsystems.
Association effects in pure methanol via Monte Carlo simulations. I. Structure
Authors: Gómez-Álvarez Paula , Romaní Luis , González-Salgado Diego
Published: February 2013

A methodology for the determination of the oligomers residing in a pure associated fluid was developed in the framework of the molecular simulation technique. First, the number of hydrogen bonds between each pair of molecules of the fluid is computed by using a specific criterion to define the hydrogen bonding formation. Secondly, sets of molecules linked by hydrogen bonds are identified and classified as linear chains, cyclic aggregates, branched linear chains, branched cyclic aggregates, and the rest of clustering. The procedure is applied over all the configurations produced in usual Monte Carlo simulations and allows the computation of the following properties characterizing the structure of the fluid: the fraction of molecules in the monomer or associated state, the fraction of each type of aggregate with a given size (and of molecules belonging to them), and the most probable and the average cluster size for each type. In addition, the degree of branching in branched linear chains and the type of ring in branched cyclic clusters can be obtained. In this work, all these quantities were computed for OPLS methanol using NpT Monte Carlo simulations at atmospheric pressure for 298.15 K (room conditions) and from 800 K to 350 K (gas phase), and along several supercritical isobars: 25, 50, 100, 200, and 500 MPa from 250 K to 1000 K. An analysis of the results has provided a comprehensive structural picture of methanol over the whole thermodynamic state space.
Space-time phase transitions in the East model with a softened kinetic constraint
Authors: Elmatad Yael S. , Jack Robert L.
Published: February 2013

The East model has a dynamical phase transition between an active (fluid) and inactive (glass) state. We show that this phase transition generalizes to “softened” systems where constraint violations are allowed with small but finite probabilities. Moreover, we show that the first order coexistence line separating the active and inactive phases terminates in a finite-temperature space-time critical point. Implications of these results for equilibrium dynamics are discussed.
Tensor products of $U^{\prime }_q\bigl (\widehat{sl}(2)\bigr )$Uq′sl̂(2)-modules and the big q2-Jacobi function transform
Authors: Gade R. M.
Published: February 2013

Four tensor products of evaluation modules of the quantum affine algebra \documentclass[12pt]{minimal}\begin{document}$U^{\prime }_q\bigl (\widehat{sl}(2)\bigr )$\end{document}Uq′sl̂(2) obtained from the negative and positive series, the complementary and the strange series representations are investigated. Linear operators R(z) satisfying the intertwining property on finite linear combinations of the canonical basis elements of the tensor products are described in terms of two sets of infinite sums \documentclass[12pt]{minimal}\begin{document}$\lbrace \tau ^{(r,t)}\rbrace _{r,t\in \mathbb {Z}_{\ge 0}}$\end{document}{τ(r,t)}r,t∈Z≥0 and \documentclass[12pt]{minimal}\begin{document}$\lbrace \check{\tau }^{(r,t)}\rbrace _{r,t\in \mathbb {Z}_{\ge 0}}$\end{document}{τ̌(r,t)}r,t∈Z≥0 involving big q2-Jacobi functions or related nonterminating basic hypergeometric series. Inhomogeneous recurrence relations can be derived for both sets. Evaluations of the simplest sums provide the corresponding initial conditions. For the first set of sums the relations entail a big q2-Jacobi function transform pair. An integral decomposition is obtained for the sum τ(r, t). A partial description of the relation between the decompositions of the tensor products with respect to \documentclass[12pt]{minimal}\begin{document}$U_q\bigl (sl(2)\bigr )$\end{document}Uqsl(2) or with respect to its complement in \documentclass[12pt]{minimal}\begin{document}$U^{\prime }_q\bigl (\widehat{sl}(2)\bigr )$\end{document}Uq′sl̂(2) can be formulated in terms of Askey-Wilson function transforms. For a particular combination of two tensor products, the occurrence of proper \documentclass[12pt]{minimal}\begin{document}$U^{\prime }_q\bigl (\widehat{sl}(2)\bigr )$\end{document}Uq′sl̂(2)-submodules is discussed.
Short time dynamics of viscous drop spreading
Authors: Eddi A. , Winkels K. G. , Snoeijer J. H.
Published: February 2013

Liquid drops start spreading directly after coming into contact with a solid substrate. Although this phenomenon involves a three-phase contact line, the spreading motion can be very fast. We experimentally study the initial spreading dynamics, characterized by the radius of the wetted area, for viscous drops. Using high-speed imaging with synchronized bottom and side views gives access to 6 decades of time resolution. We show that short time spreading does not exhibit a pure power-law growth. Instead, we find a spreading velocity that decreases logarithmically in time, with a dynamics identical to that of coalescing viscous drops. Remarkably, the contact line dissipation and wetting effects turn out to be unimportant during the initial stages of drop spreading.
A density functional study of the structure of small OCS@3HeN clusters
Authors: Mateo David , Pi Martí , Navarro Jesús , Toennies J. Peter
Published: February 2013

Kohn-Sham density functional calculations are reported for the structures of clusters consisting of a carbonyl sulfide (OCS) molecule with N = 1, 8, 18, and 40 attached 3He atoms. The N = 1 cluster ground state is highly localized at the molecular waist (donut ring position), but for higher levels of excitation becomes increasingly delocalized. The first magic cluster with 8 atoms has a significant density at both ends of the molecule in addition to the donut ring. With N = 18 3He atoms the molecule is enclosed by a magic number closed shell. Another magic stable structure consisting of two nearly isotropically spherical closed shells is found at N = 40. A comparison with calculations for the same sized 4He clusters show some important similarities, e.g., pile up at the donut ring position but altogether a more diffuse, less anisotropic structure. These results are discussed in the light of the recently analyzed infrared spectra measured in large pure 3He droplets (N ≈ 1.2 × 104) [B. Sartakov, J. P. Toennies, and A. F. Vilesov, J. Chem. Phys. 136, 134316 (2012)]10.1063/1.3697475. The moments of inertia of the 11 atom spherical shell structure, which is consistent with the experimental spectrum, lies between the predicted moments of inertia for N = 8 and N = 18 clusters. Overall the calculations reveal that the structures and energies of small doped 3He are only slightly more diffuse and less energetic than the same 4He clusters.
Experimental study of planar opposed jets with acoustic excitation
Authors: Li Wei-Feng , Huang Guo-Feng , Tu Gong-Yi , Liu Hai-Feng , Wang Fu-Chen
Published: February 2013

Oscillation behaviors of planar opposed jets with acoustic excitation were experimentally investigated. The flow regimes of planar opposed jets at various exit air velocities, nozzle separations, excitation frequencies, and excitation amplitudes have been identified by a flow visualization technique combining with a high-speed camera. Results show that planar opposed jets exhibit horizontal instability at L/H ≤ 4 (where L is the nozzle separation and H is the slit height of the planar nozzle) and deflecting oscillation at L/H ≥ 6. The deflecting oscillation is originally started by the antisymmetric structures in the planar jets and is self-sustained by the periodic changes of the velocity field and the pressure field. At L/H ≤ 4, the acoustic excitation results in the horizontal periodic oscillation, whose frequency is equal to the excitation frequency. The acoustic excitation of oscillation amplitude less than 10% has negligible influence on the deflecting oscillation; for synchronous or asynchronous excitation with higher amplitude, the transition from the deflecting oscillation to a steady state or horizontal oscillation occurs.
Self-consistent phonons revisited. II. A general and efficient method for computing free energies and vibrational spectra of molecules and clusters
Authors: Brown Sandra E. , Georgescu Ionuţ , Mandelshtam Vladimir A.
Published: February 2013

The self-consistent phonons (SCP) method provides a consistent way to include anharmonic effects when treating a many-body quantum system at thermal equilibrium. The system is then described by an effective temperature-dependent harmonic Hamiltonian, which can be used to estimate the system's properties, such as its free energy or its vibrational spectrum. The numerical bottleneck of the method is the evaluation of Gaussian averages of the potential energy and its derivatives. Several algorithmic ideas/tricks are introduced to reduce the cost of such integration by orders of magnitude, e.g., relative to that of the previous implementation of the SCP approach by Calvo et al. [J. Chem. Phys. 133, 074303 (2010)10.1063/1.3465554]. One such algorithmic improvement is the replacement of standard Monte Carlo integration by quasi-Monte Carlo integration utilizing low-discrepancy sequences. The performance of the method is demonstrated on the calculation of vibrational frequencies of pyrene. It is then applied to compute the free energies of five isomers of water hexamer using the WHBB potential of Bowman and co-workers [J. Chem. Phys. 134, 094509 (2011)10.1063/1.3554905]. The present results predict the hexamer prism being thermodynamically most stable, with the free energy of the hexamer cage being about 0.2 kcal mol−1 higher at all temperatures below T = 200 K.
The origin of viscosity as seen through atomic level stress correlation function
Authors: Levashov V. A. , Morris J. R. , Egami T.
Published: February 2013

The atomic level origin of viscosity and of various relaxation times is of primary interest in the field of supercooled liquids and the glass transition. Previously, by starting from the Green-Kubo expression for viscosity and by decomposing it into correlation functions between local atomic level stresses, we showed that there is a connection between shear stress waves and viscosity, and that the range of propagation of shear waves is also the range that is relevant for viscosity. Here, the behavior of the atomic level stress correlation function at different temperatures is discussed in more detail. The comparison of different time scales of the system shows that the long time decay of the stress correlation function (τS) is approximately three times shorter than the long time decay of the intermediate self-scattering function (τα), while the the Maxwell relaxation time (τM) is approximately five times shorter than τα. It is demonstrated how different timescales of the stress correlation function contribute to the Maxwell relaxation time. Finally, we discuss the non-trivial role of periodic boundary conditions.