bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Propentdyopents as Heme Degradation Intermediates Constrict Mouse Cerebral Arterioles and Are Present in the Cerebrospinal Fluid of Patients With Subarachnoid Hemorrhage
Authors: Joerk Alexander , Ritter Marcel , Langguth Niklas , Seidel Raphael Andreas , Freitag Diana , Herrmann Karl-Heinz , Schaefgen Anna , Ritter Marvin , Günther Milena , Sommer Charline , Braemer Dirk , Walter Jan , Ewald Christian , Kalff Rolf , Reichenbach Jürgen Rainer , Westerhausen Matthias , Pohnert Georg , Witte Otto Wilhelm , Holthoff Knut
Published: April 2019

Rationale:

Delayed ischemic neurological deficit is the most common cause of neurological impairment and unfavorable prognosis in patients with subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH). Despite the existence of neuroimaging modalities that depict the onset of the accompanying cerebral vasospasm, preventive and therapeutic options are limited and fail to improve outcome owing to an insufficient pathomechanistic understanding of the delayed perfusion deficit. Previous studies have suggested that BOXes (bilirubin oxidation end products), originating from released heme surrounding ruptured blood vessels, are involved in arterial vasoconstriction. Recently, isolated intermediates of oxidative bilirubin degradation, known as PDPs (propentdyopents), have been considered as potential additional effectors in the development of arterial vasoconstriction.

Objective:

To investigate whether PDPs and BOXes are present in hemorrhagic cerebrospinal fluid and involved in the vasoconstriction of cerebral arterioles.

Methods and Results:

Via liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry, we measured increased PDP and BOX concentrations in cerebrospinal fluid of SAH patients compared with control subjects. Using differential interference contrast microscopy, we analyzed the vasoactivity of PDP isomers in vitro by monitoring the arteriolar diameter in mouse acute brain slices. We found an arteriolar constriction on application of PDPs in the concentration range that occurs in the cerebrospinal fluid of patients with SAH. By imaging arteriolar diameter changes using 2-photon microscopy in vivo, we demonstrated a short-onset vasoconstriction after intrathecal injection of either PDPs or BOXes. Using magnetic resonance imaging, we observed a long-term PDP-induced delay in cerebral perfusion. For all conditions, the arteriolar narrowing was dependent on functional big conductance potassium channels and was absent in big conductance potassium channels knockout mice.

Conclusions:

For the first time, we have quantified significantly higher concentrations of PDP and BOX isomers in the cerebrospinal fluid of patients with SAH compared to controls. The vasoconstrictive effect caused by PDPs in vitro and in vivo suggests a hitherto unrecognized pathway contributing to the pathogenesis of delayed ischemic deficit in patients with SAH.
Albuminuria as a Predictor of Cardiovascular Outcomes in Patients With Acute Myocardial Infarction
Authors: Mok Yejin , Ballew Shoshana H. , Sang Yingying , Grams Morgan E. , Coresh Josef , Evans Marie , Barany Peter , Ärnlöv Johan , Carrero Juan‐Jesus , Matsushita Kunihiro
Published: April 2019

Background

In patients with myocardial infarction (
MI
), reduced kidney function is recognized as an important predictor of poor prognosis, but the impact of albuminuria, a representative measure of kidney damage, has not been extensively evaluated.

Methods and Results

In the
SCREAM
(Stockholm Creatinine Measurements) project (2006–2012), we identified 2469 patients with incident
MI
with dipstick proteinuria measured within a year before
MI
(427 patients also had urine albumin to creatinine ratio [
ACR
] measured concurrently) and obtained estimates for
ACR
with multiple imputation in participants with data solely on dipstick proteinuria. We quantified the association of
ACR
with the post‐
MI
composite and individual outcomes of all‐cause mortality, cardiovascular mortality, recurrent
MI
, ischemic stroke, or heart failure using Cox models and then evaluated the improvement in
C
statistic. During a median follow‐up of 1.0 year after
MI
, 1607 participants (65.1%) developed the post‐
MI
composite outcome. Higher
ACR
levels were independently associated with all outcomes except for ischemic stroke. Per 8‐fold higher
ACR
(eg, 40 versus 5 mg/g), the hazard ratio of composite outcome was 1.21 (95%
CI
, 1.08–1.35). The addition of the
ACR
improved the
C
statistic of the post‐
MI
composite by 0.040 (95% CI, 0.030–0.051). Largely similar results were obtained regardless of diabetic status and when
ACR
or dipstick was separately analyzed without imputation.

Conclusions

In patients with
MI
, albuminuria was a potent predictor of subsequent outcomes, suggesting the importance of paying attention to the information on albuminuria, in addition to kidney function, in this high‐risk population.
Spatial distribution of Aegla rostrata Jara, 1977 (Decapoda, Anomura, Aeglidae) in the littoral of Pullinque Lake (39°S, North Patagonia, Chile)
Authors: De Los Ríos Patricio , Avendaño Jorge Farias , Suazo Maria Jesús
Published: April 2019

The freshwater anomuran crabs of the genus Aegla are widespread throughout lakes and rivers in central and southern Chile. They form an important component of the benthic fauna, because the species of the genus are shredders of organic debris and also make an important prey for native and introduced fishes. Nevertheless, the ecology of this genus has been poorly studied in lakes in comparison to rivers. The aim of the present study was a description of the spatial pattern of distribution of an Aegla rostrata population from the littoral zone of Pullinque Lake, in the north of Chilean Patagonia. The results revealed a low density (1.0 ± 0.8 ind/m2), that had a uniform pattern, and has a positive binomial distribution. The results would indicate that the studied species would have territorial behaviour that would be associated with interspecific resource competition. The observed results would agree with observations for the benthic zones in Chilean Patagonian lakes, where Aegla would show territorial behaviour.
Population parameters and size at maturity of Callinectes arcuatus Ordway, 1863 (Decapoda, Portunidae) in Apozahualco Lagoon, Guerrero, Mexico
Authors: Padilla-Serrato Jesús G. , Kuk-Dzul J. Gabriel , Flores-Rodríguez Pedro , Flores-Garza Rafael , Soriano-Reyes Nader
Published: April 2019

The objectives of this study were, to determine the population parameters of size structure, growth, cohorts, and recruitment for Callinectes arcuatus Ordway, 1863, as well as the size at maturity for females. We sampled each fortnight from September 2008 to February 2009 in the coastal lagoon Apozahualco, Guerrero, Mexico. Analysis of size frequency distributions showed three (September) and four (December) cohorts of juveniles. Estimated growth parameters were and , and the phi-prime growth performance index () was 4.2. Recruitment had the highest values during August and September. The size at maturity for females was 72 mm. In conclusion, values of for C. arcuatus were higher in the southern Mexican Pacific (SMP) than in the Gulf of California (GC); and this size at maturity for females followed a decreasing pattern from SMP to GC. These results are essential for fishery management of C. arcuatus in the SMP and GC.
Phenotypic variation across the range of the lined shore crab Pachygrapsus crassipes Randall, 1840 (Decapoda, Grapsidae)
Authors: Canepa James A. , terHorst Casey P.
Published: April 2019

Two isolated clades of the lined shore crab, Pachygrapsus crassipes, live on opposite sides of the northern Pacific, presenting an interesting opportunity for studies of range limits and divergence. Prior to this study, P. crassipes’ Asian range was unclear; we confirmed that it is found throughout the main Japanese Archipelago, though sporadic or absent from the Ryukyu Archipelago. We examined phenotypic variation of this species’ chelae, which are conspicuously colored and larger in males, and found positive allometry for both sexes, which was stronger in males, a common feature of sexually selected ornaments and weapons. We also found that Asian and North American clades differ significantly in chela reflectance — in contrast to previous studies, which stated that these clades were phenotypically identical. We conclude that these clades are diverging phenotypically, but that these differences are not yet sufficient to warrant distinction as separate species.
Zooplankton of a mountain river and highland bogs in a wetlands complex in Atacama, an Altiplano desert, in northern Chile
Authors: Muñoz-Pedreros Andrés , De los Ríos Patricio , González-Urrutia Marilyn
Published: April 2019

The Atacama is the world’s driest desert. It contains various types of wetlands. In general, the diversity and structure of the zooplankton in these wetlands have been very little studied. The object of the present study was to analyse the specific composition and structure of the zooplankton in a transect which included highland bogs and an endorheic mountain river in the Altiplano of northern Chile. In 2017, samples of zooplankton were collected for qualitative and quantitative analysis in two types of wetlands. Eight taxa of zooplanktonic crustaceans were recorded. The results of null models revealed the absence of regulator patterns for all sites in species co-occurrence. Cluster analysis generated two groups with low similarity between them. The results observed in the correlation matrix showed significant direct associations between some species and the level of dissolved oxygen, conductivity and salinity.
Disseminating Time: Durations, Configurations, and Chance
Authors: Vallega-Neu Daniela
Published: April 2019

This essay addresses time’s dissemination both in the sense of an undoing or fracturing of unifying conceptions of time, as well as in the sense of ‘scattering seeds’ by conceiving of manifold temporalizing configurations of living beings, things, and events without an overarching sense of time. After a consideration of traditional conceptions of time, this essay explores the notion of duration in Bergson in order to make it fruitful for thinking duration without centering it in human consciousness. The author suggests that we can begin to think the temporal happening of things and events in terms of different temporal configurations of various degrees and qualities of complexity that may be occasioned by chance, whereby chance is understood as the freeing of time-spaces of indeterminacy in which temporal configurations take shape or manifest themselves.1
Are We a Conversation? Hermeneutics, Exteriority, and Transmittability
Authors: George Theodore
Published: April 2019

Hermeneutics is widely celebrated as a call for “conversation”—that is, a manner of inquiry characterized by humility and openness to the other that eschews the pretenses of calculative rationality and resists all finality of conclusions. In this, conversation takes shape in efforts to understand and interpret that always unfold in the transmission of meaning historically in language. Yet, the celebration of hermeneutics for humility and openness appears, at least, to risk embarrassment in light of claims found in Heidegger and Gadamer that conversation is always contingent on “prior accord.” Critics of hermeneutics have, for some decades, interpreted this claim of prior accord to refer to a common tradition, so that the understanding achieved in conversation is restricted to those who belong to the same heritage. In this essay, the author argues that although Heidegger and Gadamer often suggest this prior accord is a matter of common tradition, crucial threads of Gadamer’s thought, in particular, recommend a different view. Gadamer, in these threads, offers that “prior accord” concerns not a common tradition, but, on the contrary, the call to participate in hermeneutic transmission as such, even—and no doubt especially—when those in conversation are not familiar with the tradition or language of the other. With this, we are called to converse not first by what the other says, but by the fact that we do not yet understand, that we have already misunderstood, and that we perhaps cannot understand.
Heidegger on the Semblance of the Beautiful
Authors: Balay Joe
Published: April 2019

In his Nietzsche lectures, Heidegger states that there is a concealed discordance between beauty, semblance, and truth in Platonism. This paper explores this claim in detail to show how such a discordance haunts not only Platonism, but the beginnings and ends of Western philosophy. This commences with Plato’s claim that beauty’s radiance is both the reminder of the non-sensible εἴδη and a semblance belonging to the sensible world. This discordance is not overcome in the ensuing Western tradition, however, but made more dreadful. This is because in Nietzsche’s anti-platonic retrieval of sensible beauty over non-sensible truth, the platonic reminder of the εἴδη is transformed into the dangerous production of new forms of power. In both cases, however, Heidegger proposes that this metaphysical thinking of Being-as-form conceals the early Greek insight that beauty’s tragic radiance lets Being appear as both truth and semblance.
Taxonomy and its Pleasures
Authors: O’Byrne Anne
Published: April 2019

Taxonomy is our response to the proliferating variety of the natural world on the one hand, and the principle of unrelieved universality on the other. From Aristotle, through Porphyry to Linneaus, Kant and others, thinkers have struggled to develop taxonomies that could order what we know and also what we do not yet know, and this essay is a reflection on the existential desire that propels this effort. Porphyry’s tree of logic is an exhaustive account of the things we can say about the sort of beings we are; Linneaus’s system of nature reaches completion in the classification of humans; Kant discovers a way to have natural and logical forms coincide in the thought of natural purpose and purposiveness. The stakes are high. When we order the world, we order ourselves: when we enter the taxonomy, it enters us and confronts us with our judgments of kind, race and kin.
Unpacking Saʿdallāh Wannūs’ Private Library: On the (After)Lives of Books
Authors: Mejcher-Atassi Sonja
Published: April 2019

The private library of the Syrian playwright and public intellectual Saʿdallāh Wannūs (1941-1997) arrived at the American University of Beirut in 2015. This article sets out to read Wannūs through his library. After presenting a brief overview of the books in Wannūs’ library, their subject matter, and their provenance, it examines personal book inscriptions, which unravel a rich intellectual network and provide insight into Wannūs’ trajectory and recognition as a playwright and public intellectual. It then explores the conditions under which Wannūs’ library came into existence and flourished in a Syria marked by the Baʿth party and the al-Asad regime’s authoritarian control of the political and cultural fields, under which it migrated from Damascus to Beirut in the wake of the 2011 Syrian revolution-turned-war. Wannūs’ library, the article argues, opened an Arabic and world literary space, both physical and metaphorical, from which Wannūs emerged as a modern Arabic and world-renowned playwright.
Jews, Real and Imagined, at San Isidoro de León and Beyond
Authors: Harris Julie A.
Published: April 2019

From the tenth to the fifteenth centuries, medieval León possessed a thriving Jewish community whose presence can be traced via archaeological and documentary remains. As regards the treasury of San Isidoro de León, however, there is no evidence for the involvement of living Jews with its luxury objects—an involvement that has been documented in comparable centers elsewhere in Iberia and Europe. Apart from a possible but unproven relationship to its textiles, a Jewish connection to the Treasury of San Isidoro remains ideological and limited to the presence of Abraham’s relics in a single treasury object. However, both living and ideological Jews can be associated with León’s cathedral, where a portion of the Jewish community’s annual taxes was earmarked to light its altars and where the sculptural program featured the blind synagogue.
Is the R2P Failing? The Controversy about Norm Justification and Norm Application of the Responsibility to Protect
Authors: Deitelhoff Nicole
Published: April 2019

Recurring contestation of the application of the Responsibility to Protect (
R2P
) in conflict situations has given rise to assessments that portray R2P as not a norm at all, but rather a norm-to-be or one in decay. This article aims to show that norms do not lose their validity because they are contested. All norms rely on applicatory discourses to establish their appropriateness for given situations. Contestation regarding their application can even strengthen norms when it provokes learning processes. Norm validity is at risk if contestation radicalises, that is, turns into norm justification. As yet there are only few signs of radicalisation of the contestation of
R2P
.
Norm Contestation and Norm Adaptation: R2P’s Reframing over Time
Authors: Hofmann Gregor P. , Suthanthiraraj Kavitha
Published: April 2019

This article seeks to shed light on the question of how ‘meanings’ of an international norm adapt to norm contestation and asks whether and how R2P is being adapted to contestation. We contend that the reframing of an existing international norm by norm proponents in order to adapt it to dynamics of norm contestation have not been discussed adequately in the literature to date. Constructivist research on norm contestation could benefit from taking into account concepts in the new institutionalist literature. By combining the institutionalist concepts of ‘borrowing’ and ‘sharing’ with the literature on norm entrepreneurs and their framing-attempts in norm diffusion processes, we conjecture that an expansion in contestation increases the likeliness of the adaptation of the norm in question along the line of the contested issues. We aim to trace this adaptation by analysing the dynamics of R2P’s change in meaning and focus in its process of implementation.
Taxonomy and phylogenetic relationships of the coral genera Australomussa and Parascolymia (Scleractinia, Lobophylliidae)
Authors: Arrigoni Roberto , Richards Zoe T. , Chen Chaolun Allen , Baird Andrew H. , Benzoni Francesca
Published: April 2019

Novel micromorphological characters in combination with molecular studies have led to an extensive revision of the taxonomy and systematics of scleractinian corals. In the present work, we investigate the macro- and micromorphology and the phylogenetic position of the genera Australomussa and Parascolymia, two monotypic genera ascribed to the family Lobophylliidae. The molecular phylogeny of both genera was addressed using three markers, the partial mitochondrial COI gene and the nuclear histone H3 and the ribosomal ITS region. Based on molecular data, Australomussa and Parascolymia belong to the Lobophylliidae and they cluster together with the genera Lobophyllia and Symphyllia within the same clade. While A. rowleyensis and P. vitiensis are closely related based on the three gene regions examined, their macro and micromorphology suggest that these species are distinct, differing in several characters, such as continuity and thickness of the costosepta, the number of septa, septal tooth height, spacing, and shape, and the distribution and shape of granules. Thus, we revise the taxonomic status of the genus Australomussa as a junior synonym of Parascolymia.
Molecular phylogenetics and comparative anatomy of Kimberleytrachia Köhler, 2011 – a genus of land snail endemic to the coastal Kimberley, Western Australia with description of new taxa (Gastropoda, Camaenidae)
Authors: Criscione Francesco , Köhler Frank
Published: April 2019

Kimberleytrachia Köhler, 2011 is a genus of camaenid land snail endemic to the Western Australian Kimberley region. It comprises twelve previously recognised species, all of which occur within the high precipitation zone along the north-western coast between the Admiralty Gulf and King Sound and within less than about 50 km distance from the coast. By evaluating the variation in shell and genital anatomy as well as the differentiation in the mitochondrial markers 16S and COI, we assess the monophyly of Kimberleytrachia with respect to other camaenid genera from north-western Australia. In addition, we newly describe six species (K. jacksonensis n. sp., K. leopardus n. sp., K. nelsonensis n. sp., K. serrata n. sp., K. setosa n. sp. and K. silvaepluvialis n. sp.) based on comparative morphology and mitochondrial DNA differentiation. We found that a rather smooth, weakly elevated shell and, in particular, the complex penial anatomy are key morphological characteristics of Kimberleytrachia. Its constituent species are differentiated by a combination of shell and genital features and their morphological disparity appears to be more pronounced when species occur in sympatry. While island species are usually narrowly endemic to one or a few islands, the mainland species have much larger distributional ranges. One new species from the Maret and Berthier Islands, Bonaparte Archipelago, is phylogenetically and morphologically so distinct from Kimberleytrachia that it is recognized as a new monotypic genus, Succochlea n. gen.
Taxonomic utility of female copulation organs in Sericini chafers (Coleoptera, Scarabaeidae), with special reference to asymmetry
Authors: Özgül-Siemund Alev , Ahrens Dirk
Published: April 2019

Female genitalia are widely underrepresented in taxonomic studies. Here we investigate the morphological variation among female copulation organs for a group of scarab beetles (Sericini) with similar ecology, external morphology and copulation mechanics. We examined traits qualitatively and quantitatively based on 80 and 18 species (genus Pleophylla), respectively. Additionally we explored whether female genitalia are affected by asymmetry. The vast diversity of slerotised structures including their shapes illustrated the high taxonomic and phylogenetic utility of female genitalia in this group. The morphometric analysis of Pleophylla, confirmed that sclerotisations in the ductus bursae are very suitable for species-level taxonomic purposes. Stable interspecific variation is more hardly discernable in other parts such as the vaginal palps (shape and size) or the other membranous structures such as the shape of the bursa copulatrix. Asymmetric genitalia that arose multiple times independently among insects are found in most of the examined Sericini species. Asymmetries regarded either the bursa copulatrix, or both the bursa copulatrix and ductus bursae and comprised sclerotised and non-sclerotised structures being most common in modern Sericini. Here, highly asymmetric sclerotised structures are linked with strong asymmetry of the male copulation organs. Widespread asymmetry among megadiverse Sericini with a complex male-female genital asymmetry suggests that the shift to asymmetry is phylogenetically rather conserved. From the range of hypotheses, sexual selection seems to be the most reasonable to explain the evolution and stability of asymmetry in chafer genitalia.
The phylogenetic position of Dinogeophilus and a new evolutionary framework for the smallest epimorphic centipedes (Chilopoda: Epimorpha)
Authors: Bonato Lucio , Minelli Alessandro , Drago Leandro , Pereira Luis Alberto
Published: April 2019

The centipedes of the clade Epimorpha change slightly during post-embryonic growth but there is huge variation between species in the maximum body size. New specimens of the rarely collected Neotropical genus Dinogeophilus provide further evidence that this genus comprises the smallest species of the Epimorpha, with a recorded maximum length of 5.5 mm. Up to now Dinogeophilus has been invariantly classified in Geophilidae but different sources of evidence (examination by SEM, cladistic evaluation of morphology, similarity and phylogenetic analysis of molecular data) agree on a very different phylogenetic hypothesis: Dinogeophilus is actually a derived lineage of Schendylidae, only distantly related to Geophilidae, and possibly belong to a mainly Neotropical subgroup of schendylids. A comparison of Dinogeophilus with the most closely related taxa suggests that body miniaturization was accompanied by possibly paedomorphic traits, including lower number of some multiple elements (antennal sensilla, processes on the mouth-parts, coxal organs) and shorter setae. Possibly associated with miniaturization are also a few novel features of Dinogeophilus, among which the unique subterminal denticles of the forcipules, suggesting a possible change in the feeding behaviour.
An integrated approach to delimiting species borders in the genus Chrysotoxum Meigen, 1803 (Diptera: Syrphidae), with description of two new species
Authors: Nedeljković Zorica , Ačanski Jelena , Đan Mihajla , Obreht-Vidaković Dragana , Ricarte Antonio , Vujić Ante
Published: April 2019

Integrative taxonomy tests the validity of taxa using methods additional to traditional morphology. The existence of two different morphotypes in specimens identified as Chrysotoxum vernale Loew (Diptera: Syrphidae) prompted their taxonomic study using an integrative approach that included morphology, wing and male-surstylus geometric morphometrics, genetic and ecological analyses. As a result, a new species is recognised, Chrysotoxum montanum Nedeljković & Vujić sp. nov., and C. vernale is re-defined. A lectotype and paralectotypes are designated for C. vernale to stabilize this concept. An additional species, Chrysotoxum orthostylum Vujić sp. nov., with distinctive male genitalia is also described. The three species share an antenna with the basoflagellomere shorter than the scape plus pedicel and terga with yellow fasciae not reaching the lateral margins. This study confirms the value of integrative approach for resolving species boundaries.
Meiofaunal cryptic species challenge species delimitation: the case of the Monocelis lineata (Platyhelminthes: Proseriata) species complex
Authors: Scarpa Fabio , Cossu Piero , Lai Tiziana , Sanna Daria , Curini-Galletti Marco , Casu Marco
Published: April 2019

Given the pending biodiversity crisis, species delimitation is a critically important task in conservation biology, but its efficacy based on single lines of evidence has been questioned as it may not accurately reflect species limits and relationships. Hence, the use of multiple lines of evidence has been portrayed as a means to overcome identification issues arising from gene/species tree discordance, morphological convergence or recent adaptive radiations. Here, the integrative taxonomic approach has been used to address the study of the Monocelis lineataspecies complex. The taxonomic resolution of the complex is challenging, as the species lacks sclerotised copulatory structures, which as a rule of thumb aid identification in Proseriata. Eighteen populations, which encompass most of the geographic range of the complex, were studied using morphology, karyology, crossbreeding experiments and molecular analysis. These different markers provided evidence of four (karyology) to eight (morphology) discrete entities, whereas crossings showed various degrees of intersterility among the tested populations. Molecular species delimitation revealed a different number of candidate species, spanning from five (ABGD and K/θ) to 11 (GMYC). Such incongruences reflect the multifaceted evolutionary history of M. lineata s.l.and hamper the full taxonomic resolution of the complex. However, two candidate species were consistently validated by all of the markers and are described as new species: Monocelis algicolanov. sp. and M. exquisitanov. sp. The latter species appear to have a restricted distribution, and the possibility that meiofaunal taxa may be of conservation concern is discussed.
Anatomy, functional morphology, evolutionary ecology and systematics of the invasive gastropod Cipangopaludina japonica (Viviparidae: Bellamyinae)
Authors: Van Bocxlaer Bert , Strong Ellen E.
Published: April 2019

The anatomy, functional morphology and evolutionary ecology of the Viviparidae, and the subfamily Bellamyinae in particular, are incompletely known. Partly as a result, genealogical relationships within the family remain poorly understood. Because of this lack in knowledge, few informed hypotheses exist on ancestral states, how differences in body plans between the subfamilies evolved, and how the peculiar biogeographic distribution patterns of viviparids have arisen. Here we document the anatomy, morphology, life history and systematics of Cipangopaludina japonica, a Japanese species that has been introduced into North America, to resolve taxonomic confusion and to improve our understanding of how form and function are related in bellamyines. Anatomical and histological examinations demonstrate marked differences between C. japonicaand other bellamyines in the radula, salivary gland, kidney, nerve ring and reproductive organs. Substantial differences also exist between male and female body organization, but conchological differences between sexes in semi-landmark morphometric analyses are limited. The volume of the brood pouch of females, and hence body and shell size, appear to be good predictors of reproductive success, and the species’ ecological versatility may relate to high fecundity and the ability to alternate between feeding modes. Comparing our observations on C. japonicawith other viviparids and basal Architaenioglossa, we identify several persistent misinterpretations in the literature on how form and function are related in viviparids, not in the least as to female reproductive anatomy. Our reinterpretations improve understanding of the evolution of Viviparidae and its subfamilies, and hopefully will allow future workers to isolate key traits that shaped the evolution of viviparids at the taxonomic levels of their interest for more detailed studies.
The early polychelidan lobster Tetrachela raiblana and its impact on the homology of carapace grooves in decapod crustaceans
Authors: Audo Denis , Hyžný Matúš , Charbonnier Sylvain
Published: April 2019

Polychelidan lobsters, as the sister group of Eureptantia (other lobsters and crabs), have a key-position within decapod crustaceans. Their evolutionary history is still poorly understood, although it has been proposed that their Mesozoic representatives largely inhabited shallow-marine environment and only later sought refuge in deep water. This view has recently been challenged, so the evolutionary history of polychelidans is in a need of re-appraisal. The earliest representatives, such as Tetrachela from the Late Triassic of Austria and Italy, are of great importance because of their potential in investigation of life habits of early polychelidans. Tetrachela lived in a relatively deep water, however, its well-developed eyes suggest an environment where light was still present. With its massive dorsoventrally flattened body plan, Tetrachela was probably benthic; the shape of its mandible and stocky first pereiopods suggest it was a scavenger and/or fed on slowly moving or sedentary animals. The carapace of Tetrachela has a peculiar groove pattern, which leads us to redefine some elements of the nomenclature of grooves used for polychelidans. Based on the present revision we propose that the second incision and its associated groove correspond to the hepatic groove, not the postcervical or the branchiocardiac grooves as interpreted previously. This revision allows us to review the homologies of cephalothoracic groove between polychelidans and other notable groups of decapod crustaceans.
Sexual behaviour and morphological variation in the millipede Megaphyllum bosniense (Verhoeff, 1897)
Authors: Vujić Vukica , Ilić Bojan , Jovanović Zvezdana , Pavković-Lučić Sofija , Selaković Sara , Tomić Vladimir , Lučić Luka
Published: April 2019

Sexual selection can be a major driving force that favours morphological evolution at the intraspecific level. According to the sexual selection theory, morphological variation may accompany non-random mating or fertilization. Here both variation of linear measurements and variation in the shape of certain structures can significantly influence mate choice in different organisms. In the present work, we quantified sexual behaviour of the millipede Megaphyllum bosniense (Verhoeff, 1897) as characterized by several sequences. These are: mating latency, duration of copulation, contact to copulation time, duration of contact without copulation, time from entrance (time-point when individuals were placed in boxes in which tests occurred) to contact with copulation, and time from entrance to contact without copulation. Further, we analysed the influence of morphological variation (both variation of linear measurements and variation in the shape of several structures) on mating success. Variation of body length, antennal length, length of the walking legs, trunk width, and trunk height was analysed by traditional morphometrics, while variation in size and shape of the antennae, walking legs, head, and gonopods (promeres, opisthomeres) was analysed using geometric morphometrics. More than half of all physical contacts detected among the millipedes resulted in copulation. Based on the value of sexual selection coefficients, preferences toward the previous partner were found to be prevalent in both female and male choice tests. Individuals with different mating status significantly differed in some morphological traits (body mass, head centroid size, head shape, and promere shape). Our study yielded new information about the sexual behaviour of millipedes and variation of morphological traits as a potential basis for mate preferences.
Bioluminescent-like squamation in the galeomorph shark Apristurus ampliceps (Chondrichthyes: Elasmobranchii)
Authors: Ferrón Humberto G. , Paredes-Aliaga María Victoria , Martínez-Pérez Carlos , Botella Héctor
Published: April 2019

Galeomorph sharks constitute the most taxonomically and ecologically diverse superorder of living selachians. Despite comprising several typically deep-water taxa, no bioluminescent species have been reported in this group so far. Interestingly, the study of shark squamation has been revealed in recent years to be a good proxy for inferring some ecological aspects of poorly known species. In particular, the high morphological specificity of the dermal denticles and the squamation patterns of all currently-known bioluminescent sharks could constitute a potential tool for predicting bioluminescence in both fossil and living taxa. Following this idea, we provide the first evidence supporting the possible existence of bioluminescence among galeomorph sharks by means of the quantitative study of Apristurus ampliceps squamation pattern. Classical morphometric analysis and multivariate statistical procedures have allowed us to determine that A. ampliceps squamation, composed mainly of bristle-shaped dermal denticles, is highly convergent with that of the bioluminescent shark Etmopterus spinax. The ecology of A. ampliceps, being a species that exclusively inhabits aphotic waters, is in agreement with such a morphofunctional interpretation, but finding photophores is imperative to confirm this prediction.
Deceptive conservatism of claws: distinct phyletic lineages concealed within Isohypsibioidea (Eutardigrada) revealed by molecular and morphological evidence
Authors: Gąsiorek Piotr , Stec Daniel , Morek Witold , Michalczyk Łukasz
Published: April 2019

Isohypsibioidea are most likely the most basally branching evolutionary lineage of eutardigrades. Despite being second largest eutardigrade order, phylogenetic relationships and systematics within this group remain largely unresolved. Broad taxon sampling, especially within one of the most speciose tardigrade genera, Isohypsibius
Thulin, 1928, and application of both comparative morphological methods (light contrast and scanning electron microscopy imaging of external morphology and buccal apparatuses) and phylogenetic framework (18S + 28S rRNA sequences) resulted in the most comprehensive study devoted to this order so far. Two new families are erected from the currently recognised family Isohypsibiidae: Doryphoribiidae fam. nov., comprising all aquatic isohypsibioids and some terrestrial isohypsibioid taxa equipped with the ventral lamina; and Halobiotidae fam. nov., secondarily marine eutardigrades with unique adaptations to sea environment. We also split Isohypsibius into four genera to accommodate phylogenetic, morphological and ecological variation within the genus: terrestrial Isohypsibius s.s. (Isohypsibiidae), with smooth or sculptured cuticle but without gibbosities; terrestrial Dianea gen. nov. (Isohypsibiidae), with small and pointy gibbosities; terrestrial Ursulinius gen. nov. (Isohypsibiidae), with large and rounded gibbosities; and aquatic Grevenius gen. nov. (Doryphoribiidae fam. nov.), typically with rough cuticle and claws with branches of very similar heigths. Claw morphology is reviewed and, for the first time, shown to encompass a number of morphotypes that correlate with clades recovered in the molecular analysis. The anatomy of pharynx and cuticle are also shown to be of high value in distinguishing supraspecific taxa in Isohypsibioidea. Taxonomy of all isohypsibioid families and genera is discussed, with special emphasis on the newly erected entities. Finally, a dychotomous diagnostic key to all currently recognised isohypsibioid families and genera is provided.
Milk and Milk Packaging in the Soviet Union: Technologies of Production and Consumption, 1950s–70s
Authors: Kochetkova Elena
Published: April 2019

This article examines the nature of Soviet consumption and technological development through the history of milk and milk packaging between the 1950s and 1970s. Based on published and archival materials, the paper focuses on the role that milk played in Soviet nutrition and the role that packaging played in Soviet consumption. The article also examines the modernization of technology for making packaging as well as technology transfer from the West. It concludes that, as in many Western countries, both the Soviet state and Soviet specialists saw it as important to increase the consumption of milk after the war, but the meaning of milk changed. Milk, a basic staple for nutrition, became a matter of science and specialists sought to explain its positive effects. In addition, due to the development of the paper and chemical industries, new forms of milk packaging, more practical in their uses, were introduced in the West. Soviet leaders and specialists saw the new packaging as a desirable feature of modernity, but were unsuccessful in launching domestic technologies for manufacturing such packaging. While experimenting with domestic technology, Soviet producers also received foreign equipment for making milk packaging. Nevertheless, the capacity of such foreign equipment was not enough to satisfy growing demand and the consumption of “modern packaging” remained lower than in the West until the introduction of capitalism and, with it, foreign companies into the Russian market in the 1990s.
Trends and Reflections
Authors: Huang Jianbo , Hu Mengyin
Published: April 2019

Christianity in China has achieved a rapid growth in population since the 1980s. This article mainly reviews empirical studies on Christianity from 2000 to the present. Drawing on statistics from the China Academic Journal Network Publishing Database (cajd), this article begins with an analysis of the trends in both quantity and research interests of large-scale empirical studies. Categories of churches are defined and applied to the analysis of various topics related to Christianity in China and to academic questions addressed by Chinese scholars. The article also discusses theoretical frameworks used to explain the dynamics behind the revival of Christianity and studies of the social functions of Christian churches. In addition, the article reviews investigations of Christianity in social life in contemporary China, studies of religious boundaries and civil society, the causal relationship between Christianity and economic development, its functions in urbanization, and other related subjects. It ends with discussions of Christianity’s global dimension, its identity as a global religion, and its relation to the emergence of a global China.
Reshaping Hinduism for gharvāpasī of Indian Christians: A Case from the Nineteenth Century Collected Works of Pundit Lekhramjī
Authors: Singh David Emmanuel
Published: April 2019

I have previously focused on Pundit Lekhramjī’s purpose in many of his writings contained in kulliyāt. I have argued against his characterization as a ‘malicious Arya’ responsible for communalism in the 19th century Punjab and have demonstrated that Lekhramjī’s intent behind much of his writings was to persuade Indian Christians (and Muslims) to consider gharvāpasī (homecoming). I am building on this paper and here the aim is to look for more evidence for addressing the question: how did Lekhramjī seek to persuade Indian Christians to reconvert? Based on evidence from a number of primary sources, I highlight his two-fold strategy towards this end: i. A critique of Christian missionaries/Christianity (here I present new evidence particularly focussing on his notion of Jesus Christ) and importantly also the ii. Reformation of Hinduism for those reconsidering home-coming. What this meant was that there was a home to return to sans the socio-religious inequalities which may have triggered their departure in the first place.
The Aggrieved Community
Authors: Hart Kevin
Published: April 2019

Does “community” contain an ineradicable memory of “communion,” and thereby inevitably have conceptual ties to Christianity, if not to fascism? Or can the word, rather, indicate a new way of being in common, one that became briefly visible in the communist experiment, understood first as the appearing of the truth of democracy before it collapsed under the weight of ideology and militarism? While Jean-Luc Nancy identifies motifs from Maurice Blanchot’s early right-wing political commitments in his later left-wing thought, this essay addresses and critiques another of Nancy’s claims: that despite Blanchot’s affirmation of a community unregulated by a reference to unity, he is, in fact, committed to the Christian notion of communion. However, Blanchot distanced his notion of inter-subjectivity from any conception of God, proposing, instead, a “dissymmetric” rather than asymmetric relation, grounded in the encounter of the Other’s death rather than in some trace of the divine.
The Discarnate Madman
Authors: Falque Emmanuel , Horton Sarah
Published: April 2019

Phenomenology must begin to acknowledge the organic, animal nature of the body instead of focusing only on the pure subjectivity of the flesh. Mediating between Descartes’s extended body (a mere object that is entirely distinct from the self) and Husserl’s lived body (the flesh that is the self), the spread body is the organic body that I have, that is not simply myself and yet is mine. This essay reveals the steep cost of phenomenology’s neglect of the body, which produces a discarnation, or dissolution of the flesh itself. The “flesh without body” vanishes into transparency, exemplified by Descartes’ “madmen” who lose all connection to their organic bodies, to the point of supposing that their bodies are glass. Because organicity is in fact proper to us, denying or rejecting its import can lead only to madness.
The Importance of the Ice-Phase Microphysics Parameterization for Simulating the Effects of Changes to CCN Concentrations in Deep Convection
Authors: Jouan Caroline , Milbrandt Jason A.
Published: April 2019

Simulations of a well-observed squall line that occurred during the Midlatitude Continental Convective Clouds Experiment (MC3E) were conducted using a mesoscale model with a horizontal grid spacing of 1 km to examine the importance of parameterized ice-phase processes to changes in concentrations of activated cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) in a detailed two-moment bulk microphysics scheme. Numerical experiments showed that the simulated squall-line structure was sensitive to changes in activated CCN concentration not only from the direct impacts on cloud droplet sizes and autoconversion rates, but also because of changes in the growth rates and spatial distribution of ice-phase condensate. A microphysical budget analysis highlighted the importance of graupel in rain production and the sensitivity of graupel growth rates on changes to CCN concentrations. Sensitivity tests on the level of detail in the representation of graupel, specifically the treatment of its bulk density and the number of prognostic moments, indicated that changes in the reflectivity and precipitation structure of the simulated storm due to changes in CCN were sensitive to the graupel parameterization. The results suggest that the proper representation of graupel and possibly other ice-phase categories in microphysics schemes may be crucial for correctly simulating the effects of changes to CCN concentrations for continental deep convective systems.
The Influence of Vertical Wind Shear on Moist Thermals
Authors: Peters John M. , Hannah Walter , Morrison Hugh
Published: April 2019

Although it is well established that vertical wind shear helps to organize and maintain convective systems, there is a longstanding colloquial notion that it inhibits the development of deep convection. To investigate this idea, the vertical momentum budgets of sheared and unsheared moist thermals were compared in idealized cloud model simulations. Consistent with the idea of vertical wind shear inhibiting convective development, convection generally deepened at a slower rate in sheared simulations than in unsheared simulations, and the termination heights of thermals in sheared runs were correspondingly lower. These differences in deepening rates resulted from weaker vertical acceleration of thermals in the sheared compared to the unsheared runs. Downward-oriented dynamic pressure acceleration was enhanced by vertical wind shear, which was the primary reason for relatively weak upward acceleration of sheared thermals. This result contrasts with previous ideas that entrainment or buoyant perturbation pressure accelerations are the primary factors inhibiting the growth of sheared convection. A composite thermal analysis indicates that enhancement of dynamic pressure acceleration in the sheared runs is caused by asymmetric aerodynamic lift forces associated with shear-driven cross flow perpendicular to the direction of the thermals’ ascent. These results provide a plausible explanation for why convection is slower to deepen in sheared environments and why slanted convection tends to be weaker than upright convection in squall lines.
Combined Kalman Filter and Universal Kriging to Improve Storm Wind Speed Predictions for the Northeastern United States
Authors: Samalot Alexander , Astitha Marina , Yang Jaemo , Galanis George
Published: April 2019

The scope of this study is to assess a combination of well-known techniques for bias reduction and spatial interpolation in an attempt to improve wind speed prediction for storms on a gridded domain. This is accomplished by implementing Kalman filter (KF) for bias reduction and universal kriging (UK) for spatial interpolation as postprocessing steps for the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) Model. It is shown that for surface wind speed, a linear KF is adequate for eliminating systematic model errors with the available storm history. KF-estimated wind speed biases at station locations are then interpolated across the model domain using UK. The combined KF–UK approach improves the wind speed forecast median bias by 55% and RMSE by 15% (bulk statistics), while benefits obtained at station-specific locations can reach maximum improvements of 72% for RMSE and 100% for bias. Contingency statistics that inform on model performance over four categories of wind speed magnitude reveal that calm/moderate winds are successfully corrected but strong/gale winds cannot be adequately corrected by the combination of KF and UK, which is a disadvantage for improving prediction of severe storm conditions.