bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Assembly of non-contractile dorsal stress fibers requires α-actinin-1 and Rac1 in migrating and spreading cells
Authors: Kovac Bianca , Teo Jessica L. , Mäkelä Tomi P. , Vallenius Tea
Published: November 2012

Cell migration and spreading is driven by actin polymerization and actin stress fibers. Actin stress fibers are considered to contain α-actinin crosslinkers and nonmuscle myosin II motors. Although several actin stress fiber subtypes have been identified in migrating and spreading cells, the degree of molecular diversity of their composition and the signaling pathways regulating fiber subtypes remain largely uncharacterized. In the present study we identify that dorsal stress fiber assembly requires α-actinin-1. Loss of dorsal stress fibers in α-actinin-1-depleted cells results in defective maturation of leading edge focal adhesions. This is accompanied by a delay in early cell spreading and slower cell migration without noticeable alterations in myosin light chain phosphorylation. In agreement with the unaltered myosin II activity, dorsal stress fiber trunks lack myosin II and are resistant to myosin II ATPase inhibition. Furthermore, the non-contractility of dorsal stress fibers is supported by the finding that Rac1 induces dorsal stress fiber assembly whereas contractile ventral stress fibers are induced by RhoA. Loss of dorsal stress fibers either by depleting α-actinin-1 or Rac1 results in a β-actin accumulation at the leading edge in migrating and spreading cells. These findings molecularly specify dorsal stress fibers from other actin stress fiber subtypes. Furthermore, we propose that non-contractile dorsal stress fibers promote cell migration and early cell spreading through Rac1-induced actin polymerization.
Feel, smell and see in an egg: emergence of perception and learning in an immature invertebrate, the cuttlefish embryo
Authors: Romagny Sébastien , Darmaillacq Anne-Sophie , Guibé Mathieu , Bellanger Cécile , Dickel Ludovic
Published: November 2012

It is now well established that prenatal sensory experience affects development itself and has long-term consequences in terms of postnatal behavior. This study focused on the functionality of the sensory system in cuttlefish in ovo. Embryos of stage 23, 25 and 30 received a tactile, chemical or visual stimulus. An increase of mantle contraction rhythm was taken to indicate a behavioral response to the stimulus. We clearly demonstrated that tactile and chemical systems are functional from stage 23, whereas the visual system is functional only from stage 25. At stage 25 and 30, embryos were also exposed to a repeated light stimulus. Stage 30 embryos were capable of habituation, showing a progressive decrease in contractions across stimulations. This process was not due to fatigue as we observed response recovery after a dishabituation tactile stimulus. This study is the first to show that cuttlefish embryos behaviorally respond to stimuli of different modalities and that the visual system is the last to become functional during embryonic development, as in vertebrate embryos. It also provides new evidence that the memory system develops in ovo in cuttlefish.
Contingent Valuation: A Practical Alternative when Prices Aren't Available
Authors: Carson Richard T
Published: November 2012

A person may be willing to make an economic tradeoff to assure that a wilderness area or scenic resource is protected even if neither that person nor (perhaps) anyone else will actually visit this area. This tradeoff is commonly labeled “passive use value.” Contingent valuation studies ask questions that help to reveal the monetary tradeoff each person would make concerning the value of goods or services. Such surveys are a practical alternative approach for eliciting the value of public goods, including those with passive use considerations. First I discuss the Exxon Valdez oil spill of March 1989, focusing on why it is important to measure monetary tradeoffs for goods where passive use considerations loom large. Although discussions of contingent valuation often focus on whether the method is sufficiently reliable for use in assessing natural resource damages in lawsuits, it is important to remember that most estimates from contingent valuation studies are used in benefit–cost assessments, not natural resource damage assessments. Those working on benefit–cost analysis have long recognized that goods and impacts that cannot be quantified are valued, implicitly, by giving them a limitless value when government regulations preclude certain activities, or giving them a value of zero by leaving certain consequences out of the analysis. Contingent valuation offers a practical alternative for reducing the use of either of these extreme choices. I put forward an affirmative case for contingent valuation and address a number of the concerns that have arisen.
Labor Market Outcomes and Reforms in China
Authors: Meng Xin
Published: November 2012

Over the past few decades of economic reform, China's labor markets have been transformed to an increasingly market-driven system. China has two segregated economies: the rural and urban. Understanding the shifting nature of this divide is probably the key to understanding the most important labor market reform issues of the last decades and the decades ahead. From 1949, the Chinese economy allowed virtually no labor mobility between the rural and urban sectors. Rural-urban segregation was enforced by a household registration system called “hukou.” Individuals born in rural areas receive “agriculture hukou” while those born in cities are designated as “nonagricultural hukou.” In the countryside, employment and income were linked to the commune-based production system. Collectively owned communes provided very basic coverage for health, education, and pensions. In cities, state-assigned life-time employment, centrally determined wages, and a cradle-to-grave social welfare system were implemented. In the late 1970s, China's economic reforms began, but the timing and pattern of the changes were quite different across rural and urban labor markets. This paper focuses on employment and wages in the urban labor markets, the interaction between the urban and rural labor markets through migration, and future labor market challenges. Despite the remarkable changes that have occurred, inherited institutional impediments still play an important role in the allocation of labor; the hukou system remains in place, and 72 percent of China's population is still identified as rural hukou holders. China must continue to ease its restrictions on rural–urban migration, and must adopt policies to close the widening rural–urban gap in education, or it risks suffering both a shortage of workers in the growing urban areas and a deepening urban–rural economic divide.
A fifteen-year retrospective review of obstetric patients requiring critical care
Authors: L Barrett Helen , Devin Ruth , Clarke Sophie , Dekker Nitert Marloes , Boots Robert , Fagermo Narelle , K Callaway Leonie , Lust Karin
Published: November 2012

Background:

Maternal mortality is a rare occurrence in developed nations. Given the low maternal mortality rate, other markers must be used to assess maternal risk and quality of obstetric care. One such is admission to critical care.

Aims:

To determine the rate of admission, diagnosis and management of women from conception and up to 6 weeks postpartum to critical care units including coronary care (CCU), high dependency unit (HDU) and intensive care units (ICU).

Methods:

We performed a retrospective review of obstetric patients requiring critical care admission from January 1995 to August 2010. Demographic details, obstetric history, place of admission (CCU, HDU or ICU) and fetal/neonatal outcomes were examined as were initial indication for critical care admission, final diagnosis and treatment administered.

Results:

Data were available from 308 admission incidents. There were 259 (84%) admissions to ICU and 49 (15.9%) to CCU. More than a third of women were transferred from another institution. Those women transferred were more unwell and had a higher mortality rate than local women. Primary diagnoses: obstetric haemorrhage (ICU 30.9%), hypertensive disorders of pregnancy (ICU 16.2%, CCU 12.2%), infection (ICU 14.2%, CCU 6.1%), pre-existing cardiac disease (ICU 9.3%, CCU 55.1%).

Conclusions:

The obstetric population represents only a small percentage of critical care utilisation and overall morbidity and mortality. However, this population is an important and growing group. Increased surveillance peripartum in a critical care facility allows earlier detection of maternal compromise and detailed management. Analysis of these ‘near misses’ in obstetrics aims to improve pregnancy outcomes.
History and ethics of hand transplants
Authors: Errico Michael , Metcalfe Neil H , Platt Alastair
Published: November 2012

Hand transplantation is a form of composite tissue allotransplantation, whereby the hand of a cadaveric donor is transferred to the forearm of an amputee. The aim of such a procedure is to achieve better outcomes in terms of functionality and appearance when compared with prosthetics. The microsurgical techniques required have been well established for many years. In addition, advances in immunosuppressive therapy have meant that hand transplantation is a feasible therapeutic option. However this is not a life-saving procedure, requiring lifelong antirejection treatment with potentially serious side-effects. Hand transplantation is therefore a controversial concept with ethical, financial and psychological implications that need careful consideration. Before this treatment can be fully accepted, further research is still required; this should be directed towards achieving immunological tolerance, while minimizing costs and potential side-effects of post-transplant therapy.
Inflammatory bowel disease in central India: a single centre experience over five years
Authors: Jain Ajay K , Sircar Shohini , Jain Mayank , Adkar Sagar , Waghmare Chandrashekhar
Published: November 2012

In this retrospective study, the records of all patients diagnosed with inflammatory bowel disease between 2005 and 2010 were analysed. Ulcerative colitis is far more common than Crohn's disease in our setting. The incidence is similar in both sexes and the age at diagnosis for both is similar. Limited left-sided ulcerative colitis is more common. Crohn's disease is difficult to diagnose and is commonly treated as tuberculosis in our setting.
A Model of the “It” Products in Fashion
Authors: Kuksov Dmitri , Wang Kangkang
Published: November 2012

One of the characteristics of the fashion marketplace is the unpredictability and apparent randomness of fashion hits. Another one is the information asymmetry among consumers. In this paper, we consider fashion as a means consumers use to signal belonging to a higher social rank and propose an analytical model of fashion hits in the presence of competition and consumers who can coordinate on which product to use. We show that, consistent with the observed market phenomenon, in equilibrium, consumer coordination involves randomization between products chosen, i.e., in randomness of fashion hits. Analyzing optimal consumer choice, we find that whenever low-type consumer demand for a product is positive, a price increase results in a higher probability of high-type consumers choosing this product but lower low-type consumer demand. We also show that although high-type consumers may prefer (higher) prices that would lead to complete separation of the high- and the low-type consumers through product use, in equilibrium, firms always price as to attract positive demand from low-type consumers. The equilibrium price and profits turn out to be nonmonotonic in the low-type consumer valuation of being recognized as belonging to a higher social rank. Equilibrium profits first increase and then decrease in this valuation.
The Pitfalls of Subsystem Integration: When Less Is More
Authors: Erat Sanjiv , Kavadias Stylianos , Gaimon Cheryl
Published: November 2012

In various industries end-product manufacturers acquire core subsystems from upstream technology provider firms and focus primarily on efficient end-product integration. We examine the strategic interactions between a technology firm that introduces a new subsystem and the respective end-product manufacturers (“integrators”). We analyze how the fraction of end-product functionalities prepackaged into the subsystem impacts the optimal introduction strategy and the relative value appropriation power across the industries. Offering a subsystem that performs many end-product functions has a dual effect on the provider's profits. On the positive side, the provider extracts a higher ease-of-use rent from the integrators because of the easier/cheaper integration. On the negative side, such subsystems may curtail the adopters' ability for competitive differentiation and render adoption less valuable. We discuss the role of subsystem functionality in value appropriation in technology markets, and we highlight the perils of subsystem overintegration.

This paper was accepted by Kamalini Ramdas, entrepreneurship and innovation.
Facilitating Fit Revelation in the Competitive Market
Authors: Gu Zheyin (Jane) , Xie Ying
Published: November 2012

This study examines firms' strategic decisions in the competitive market regarding whether to engage in marketing activities to assist consumers in finding the fit between their personal tastes and products' horizontal attributes. We find that competitive firms' strategies to facilitate fit revelation critically depend on the product qualities they offer. In particular, a firm offering a high-quality product is more likely to facilitate fit revelation in the competitive market than it would as a market monopolist, whereas a firm offering a low-quality product is less likely to do so. In addition, the firm offering the high-quality product implements fit-revealing activities in a greater intensity than its rival that offers the low-quality product, if the quality difference between the two products is small and both products' qualities are sufficiently high.

This paper was accepted by J. Miguel Villas-Boas, marketing.
An Economic Order Quantity Model for Nonconforming Quality Products
Authors: Sana Shib Sankar
Published: November 2012

The inventory literature is replete with claims on business strategy to maximize operational efficiency and customers' goodwill regarding the quality of products. A service system is composed of a number of entities, such as inventory of resources, trade credit financing, and the prediction of the demand and quality of products, among others. Drawing upon relevant research in inventory theory, in light of trade credit financing for uncertain demand of the customers, this study empirically develops a framework of an economic order quantity model for conforming and nonconforming quality products, while the nonconforming items, a random proportionate of the total products, are sold at a reduced price after a 100% screening process. In general, a trade credit policy is offered to the retailer by the supplier to buy more items. In this point of view, different delay periods with different purchasing costs are settled for the retailer. The associated expected average profit for both conforming and nonconforming products by trading off selling prices, inventory costs, interest earned from selling items, interest charged for delayed payments of purchasing cost, and shortage costs is maximized analytically. Numerical examples are illustrated to justify the model. Sensitivity analysis of the key parameters is also carried out for various issues.
Breast reconstruction with deep inferior epigastric perforator flaps
Authors: Cubitt J , Barber Z , Khan AA , Tyler M
Published: November 2012

INTRODUCTION

Approximately 45,000 women are diagnosed with breast cancer in the UK each year. The success of screening and the introduction of adjuvant therapies have meant that prognosis is improving and an increasing number of patients are seeking reconstruction following mastectomy. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the deep inferior epigastric perforator (DIEP) flap reconstructions performed in Stoke Mandeville Hospital and, through analysis of complications, detail the evolution of the current care pathway.

METHODS

A retrospective analysis was performed of all the DIEP flap reconstructions performed by the senior author (MT) between July 2003 and December 2010.

RESULTS

Overall, 159 flaps were performed on 141 patients (including 36 bilateral flaps). The average patient age was 49 years (range: 28–70 years) and 13% of flaps were risk reducing for BRCA1/2. Twenty-six per cent of patients suffered one or more complication post-operatively, including systemic complications (pulmonary embolism 2%) and flap specific complications (partial flap necrosis 9%, reanastomosis 3%, fat necrosis 9%). Seventy-four per cent had further elective operations including nipple reconstruction (72%), contralateral breast reduction (36%) and scar revision (21%).

CONCLUSIONS

DIEP flaps are a safe and reliable option for breast reconstructions. This series illustrates the significant leaning curve, with complications, operative time and ischaemic time reducing through the series and post-operative haemoglobin increasing. The complications experienced in this series of 159 flaps with no total flap loss provide the framework for the evolution of the current care pathway including pre-operative imaging, peri-operative deep vein thrombosis prophylaxis and analgesia.
Prophylactic mesh placement of permanent stomas at index operation for colorectal cancer
Authors: Ventham NT , Brady RR , Stewart RG , Ward BM , Graham C , Yalamarthi S , Jones M , Daniel T
Published: November 2012

INTRODUCTION

Parastomal herniation occurs in 30–50% of colostomy formations. The aim of this study was to radiologically evaluate the mechanical defects at stoma sites in patients who had previously undergone a permanent colostomy with or without mesh at the index operation for colorectal cancer.

METHODS

A study was performed of all colorectal cancer patients (n=41) having an end colostomy between 2002 and 2010, with or without Prolene® mesh plication, with blinded evaluation of the annual follow-up staging computed tomography (CT) for stomal characteristics. The presence of parastomal hernias, volume, dimensions, grade of the parastomal hernia and abdominal wall defect size were measured by two independent radiologists, and compared with demographic and operative variables.

RESULTS

In those patients with radiological evidence of a parastomal hernia, Prolene® mesh plication significantly reduced the incidence of bowel containing parastomal hernias at one year following the procedure (p<0.05) and also reduced the diameter of the abdominal wall defect (p=0.006).

CONCLUSIONS

Prophylactic mesh placement at the time of the index procedure reduces the diameter of abdominal wall aperture and the incidence of parastomal hernias containing bowel. Future studies should use both objective radiological as well as clinical endpoints when assessing parastomal hernia development with and without prophylactic mesh.
Spontaneously perforated pyometra: an unusual cause of acute abdomen and pneumoperitoneum
Authors: Shapey IM , Nasser T , Dickens P , Haldar M , Solkar MH
Published: November 2012

Pneumoperitoneum is usually associated with gastrointestinal perforation or following surgical and endoscopic procedures. We report a rare case of spontaneously perforated pyometra presenting with generalised peritonitis and pneumoperitoneum. Perforation of the uterus is also unusual and often associated with the presence of an intrauterine device, a gravid uterus or malignancy. Our case illustrates the importance of clinical knowledge of acute and neoplastic gynaecological diseases, which are not uncommonly encountered by the general surgeon. Moreover, good appreciation of pelvic anatomy and close collaboration with gynaecology colleagues is essential as operative intervention is often required.
Reconstruction of the pelvis and perineum with a free latissimus dorsi myocutaneous flap: a case report
Authors: Kieran I , Nugent N , Riordain M Ó , Kelly J
Published: November 2012

Reconstruction of the perineum and pelvic cavity in continuity is an uncommon and difficult challenge. This case describes a 66-year-old man who presented following recurrence of a Dukes’ B rectosigmoid adenocarcinoma that had been treated nine years previously by anterior resection, 5-fluorouracil and radiotherapy. His recurrent disease was treated with radical pelvic exenteration with formation of an end colostomy and urinary ileal conduit.

A post-operative pelvic collection necessitated incisional drainage via the perineum. This resulted in a perineal defect in continuity with the pelvic cavity, neither of which healed in spite of alternate day packing with antiseptic dressings. The perineum and cavity were reconstructed successfully with a microvascular transfer of the latissimus dorsi using the primary gracilis pedicle as recipient donor vessels.
Consultant Attitudes to 'St' Higher Surgical Trainees
Authors: Rashid A , Al-Hadithy N , Rossouw D , Mellor S
Published: November 2012

The Modernising Medical Careers 2005 report on SHO training concluded that there was a need to minimise the SHO years that had, until then, involved short-term posts, poor training opportunities and indifferent career progression. In response to this, 'run-through training' was introduced in August 2007. However, numerous problems were highlighted with this system, including lack of confidence in the selection process, concern about how to counsel failing trainees, concerns about staffing the wards at the junior level if all trainees were to have realistic anticipation of promotion and difficulty reconfiguring hospital services to support high-quality training. Consequently, run-through training was uncoupled at CT2 and ST3, reverting back to a system of competitive entry into higher surgical training. Nevertheless, junior doctors in new core training posts could still potentially progress to higher surgical training programmes with as little as nine months of experience in their chosen subspecialty.
A toast to the Faculty of Dental Surgery at its 65th anniversary dinner
Authors: Barnard David
Published: November 2012

The anniversary dinner takes place every year to celebrate formally the founding of the Faculty of dental surgery in 1947. This article is based on the Toast to the Faculty given at this year's dinner on 22 June.
Hong Kong Cinema, the Boat People, and To Liv(e)
Authors: Williams Tony
Published: November 2012

Over the past few decades, most representations of the Vietnam War in literature and film tended to concentrate on American and European depictions. This has been mostly a result of the difficulty of obtaining directly visual representations of the Vietnamese side of the conflict because
of the cultural and economic embargo the United States imposed. As far as literary depictions go, the current appearance of translated works by publishers such as Curbstone Press and the long involvement of figures such as Lady Borton and Le Ly Hyslip opposing cultural and institutional amnesia
has somewhat remedied matters.
The Opium War in the Movies: History, Politics and Propaganda
Authors: Xiao Zhiwei
Published: November 2012

Historians of modern China may debate many things, but few will question the significance of the Opium War (1839-1842) in shaping thecourse of modern Chinese history. As an indication of the importance of this watershed event, three feature films have been made about the Opium War during
the past half century. They are Wanshiliufang (Eternity, 1943,dir. Bu Wancang), Lin Zexu (1959, dir. Zheng Junli) and Yapian zhanzheng (The opium war, 1997, dir. Xie Jin). Each reflects a particular set of ideological concerns and socio-political conditions of the times of production. Like
its two predecessors, the most recent production, The Opium War, provides a window to the dynamics and confusions of politics and culture in today's China. This paper is an attempt to situate this film in the context of contemporary discourse on nationalism, history, and modernity in China
and examine the complex relationship between politics and arts.
Assassins and Children: The Mythology of the Lone Wolf and Cub Films
Authors: Pusateri John
Published: November 2012

Throughout the twentieth century, the popular cultures of Japan and the United States have developed intriguing connections. No where is this more clearly seen than in the oddly linked cultural mythologies which are reflected in the Japanese Samurai Film and the American cinematic Western.
While the concept of a Mythic West has long been accepted and discussed by western scholars, the purely mythic space in which the Samurai Film resides has been largely ignored. The genre reflects a potent and highly developed mythology, complete with its own mythological system. The Samurai
Film, too often dismissed by westerners as being simply "low brow," offers a glimpse of both Japanese culture and the workings of myth and culture in general.
Green My Favela – An act of defiance
Authors: Rekow Lea
Published: November 2012

This article looks at socially-engaged artistic structures that open up physical and conceptual possibilities within sites of contestation. It asks: what happens when the rules and boundaries of our marginalized systems are challenged through critical arts practice; how does this relate
to the material production of knowledge; and how does this open up potential to redress systems of control and to reprogramme space? Specifically, it examines recent cultural activism within Rio de Janeiro’s notorious Rocinha favela, Brazil’s largest slum.
The psychoanalytic trap in Dario Argento’s L’uccello dalle piume di cristallo/The Bird With the Crystal Plumage (1970)
Authors: Balmain Colette
Published: November 2012

In horror cinema, psychoanalysis remains the dominant methodology for interpreting the relationship between gender and genre, both in terms of characters within the diegesis and the extradiegetic cinematic spectator. This Oedipalization of horror cinema relies on the disturbing sight/site
of female sexuality, the embodiment of male fears of dispossession and castration. However, as Donato Totaro points out, such psychoanalytical models of horror cinema rely mainly on analyses of the American cinematic tradition, rooted in a puritanical tradition; as such, they fail to account
for the more liberal ‘gender-political range’ of European horror cinema. Totaro points out that,

in the European horror film there are many instances where (a) the victims are exclusively or mainly male, and (b) the male victim/hero is sexually attracted to the female killer,
not repulsed, as with the monstrous-feminine, and hence there can be no disavowal of her femininity.

2002

In this article, I use Dario Argento’s directorial debut, L’Uccello dalle piume di cristallo/The Bird With the Crystal Plumage (1970), as a demonstrative paradigm of
Totaro’s argument concerning the limitations of psychoanalytical models in relation to international horror cinema, where the killer is as likely to be female as male and female sexuality is not predetermined as monstrous, but rather provides a place of renegotiation of gendered norms.
Specifically, I utilize Deleuze’s taxonomy of the time-image in order to explore the multiple ways in which The Bird With the Crystal problematizes not only the process of detection, but also the very possibility of detection, a process that calls into question the applicability of psychoanalysis
to specific forms of horror cinema, represented here in the form of the Italian giallo.
REVIEWS
Authors: McRobert Neil , Blake Linnie , Stephanou Aspasia
Published: November 2012

HORROR AFTER 9/11: WORLD OF FEAR, CINEMA OF TERROR, AVIVA BRIEFEL AND SAM J. MILLER, EDS(2012) Austin: University of Texas Press, 263 pp., ISBN: 978-0-292-72662-8, p/bk, $55.00

HITCHCOCK AND THE CINEMA OF SENSATIONS: EMBODIED FILM THEORY AND CINEMATIC RECEPTION, PAUL ELLIOTT
(2011) London and New York: I. B. Taurus, 231 pp., ISBN: 978-1-84885-587-8, h/bk, £56.50

THE THEOLOGY OF DRACULA: READING THE BOOK OF STOKER AS SACRED TEXT, NOËL MONTAGUE-ÉTIENNE RARIGNAC (2012) Jefferson, North Carolina, and London: McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers,
246 pp., ISBN: 978-0-7864-6499-9, p/bk, $40.00, £34.95 (print), ISBN: 978-0-7864-8709-7, $25.21, £15.96 (Ebook)
Playful mobile communication: Services supporting the culture of play
Authors: Mäyrä Frans
Published: November 2012

Communication has many functions; from linguistics to social psychology, there is ample evidence that communication fundamentally defines our ways of being, which is the reason changes in communicational practices and technologies are particularly interesting. This article focuses on
the recent developments in playful mobile communication, firstly discussing play and playful practices in general, then moving on to contextualize the discussion in terms of contemporary mobile technology. Not just restricted to formal game play (ludus) but also including more improvisational
forms of being playful (paidia), mobile play allows us some creative distance from the routine ways of communicating and is consequently more free-form than the more immediately utilitarian communicative acts. Playfulness also has certain distinctive features and it is possible to identify
and discuss playfulness as it is expressed in the  design of new tools for communication, as well as in the communicative practices and attitudes dopted by the participants. This article provides an introduction to the study of playful communication, and proposes three key evaluation
criteria for playfulness. It then proceeds to test these criteria in contemporary playful mobile communication services.
‘Never grow old, never die’: Vampires, narcissism and simulacra
Authors: Godwin Victoria L.
Published: November 2012

This article builds upon examinations of vampires’ metaphoric threat to individuality as part of its larger argument concerning vampires’ mainstream popularity. Tensions between narcissism and simulacra illuminate how vampires express intersecting cultural concerns over
mechanical, cultural and biological reproduction. First, vampires reflect cultural anxieties over monoculture and loss of individuality by reducing individuals to a means to transmit information: like media images, or Jean Baudrillard’s clones. Rather than marking yet another victim
as Other, vampires actually subjugate yet another individual to monoculture, converting yet another body into a medium for cultural reproduction and the reproduction of desire. Second, reproduced images’ false permanence undermines narcissistic fantasies of eternal vampire life. Third,
people and love become commodities enhancing self-image but not self-development. Finally, whereas vampirism arrests physical ageing, the Peter Pan syndrome arrests emotional maturation. Children never grow up, and their continued dependence never reminds parents of ageing, death and replacement
by new generations.
Across the great divide
Authors: Brooks Julian , Brooks Joanna , Tremblay Pierre Alexandre
Published: November 2012

Free Libre Open Source Software (FLOSS) is licensed to allow users the freedom to copy, reuse, study and develop the software. As a term which efficiently encompasses both ‘free software’ and ‘open-source’ models, FLOSS may offer music practitioners and researchers
the opportunity to develop and use such software without becoming mired in a particular stance. In this article, parallels between FLOSS and experimental music are explored, with a view to highlighting their compatibility. Through reflection on the recent composition, recording and distribution
of three text scores, this article examines how the application of a FLOSS framework may assist with such work in an academic setting and how FLOSS tools might be utilized in such settings in the future as they become more prevalent, more reliable and more stable.
Abunch, a tool to teach live electronics in pre-college music education
Authors: Roels Hans
Published: November 2012

This article proposes an outline for a live electronics course in pre-college music education, examines whether open source music software is suited to teach live electronics and finally presents Abunch, a library in Pure Data created by the author, as a solution for the potential educational
disadvantages of open-source music software.
Creativity-centred design for ubiquitous musical activities: Two case studies
Authors: De Lima Maria Helena , Keller Damián , Pimenta Marcelo Soares , Lazzarini Victor , Miletto Evandro Manara
Published: November 2012

This study is among the first that attempt to define a methodology for creativity-centred software design in educational contexts, more specifically for musical activities in ubiquitous settings. We propose and apply a set of design techniques – the Ubimus Planning and the Ubimus
Design protocols – as alternatives to experimental procedures that leave out relevant aspects of social and procedural dimensions in educational research. Two workshops were conducted to assess both technological and domain-specific requirements for support of creative musical activities.
The first workshop was conducted with music teachers and school teachers that had no formal musical training. The objective of this workshop was to assess domain-specific requirements for musical creative activities by educational staff. The second workshop focused on technological support
for tool development by non-musicians. This workshop yielded two software projects that involved user evaluations of creative processes. Participants in t e corresponding user studies included both musicians and non-musicians. The Ubimus Planning protocol served to raise important questions
regarding technological usage by musicians and naive subjects in educational contexts. Non-technical approaches, such as those proposed by traditional soundscape activities, may not be suited for introducing non-musicians to sonic composition. Naive subjects may respond better to technologically
based approaches, such as those used in ecocomposition.The Ubimus Design approach proved to be effective to test the usability of musical tools at early stages of development. Prototypes were implemented and usability studies were carried out by undergraduate IT students within a three-week
time slot. Sharp differences were observed in the type of requirements expressed by musicians and non-musicians regarding creativity support tools. Nevertheless, both groups of subjects assessed the use of software prototypes within exploratory musical activities as being fun and expressive.
Differential Gating of Thalamocortical Signals by Reticular Nucleus of Thalamus during Locomotion
Authors: Marlinski Vladimir , Sirota Mikhail G. , Beloozerova Irina N.
Published: November 2012

The thalamic reticular nucleus (RE) provides inhibition to the dorsal thalamus, and forms a crucial interface between thalamocortical and corticothalamic signals. Whereas there has been significant interest in the role of the RE in organizing thalamocortical signaling, information on the activity of the RE in the awake animal is scant. Here we investigated the activity of neurons within the “motor” compartment of the RE in the awake, unrestrained cat during simple locomotion on a flat surface and complex locomotion along a horizontal ladder that required visual control of stepping. The activity of 88% of neurons in this region was modulated during locomotion. Neurons with receptive fields on the shoulder were located dorsally in the nucleus and had regular discharges; during locomotion they had relatively low activity and modest magnitudes of stride-related modulation, and their group activity was distributed over the stride. In contrast, neurons with receptive fields on the wrist/paw were located more ventrally, often discharged sleep-type bursts during locomotion, were very active and profoundly modulated, and their group activity was concentrated in the swing and end of stance. Seventy-five percent of RE neurons had different activity during the two locomotion tasks. We conclude that during locomotion the RE differentially gates thalamocortical signals transmitted during different phases of the stride, in relation to different parts of the limb, and the type of locomotion task.
Differential Feedback Modulation of Center and Surround Mechanisms in Parvocellular Cells in the Visual Thalamus
Authors: Jones Helen E. , Andolina Ian M. , Ahmed Bashir , Shipp Stewart D. , Clements Jake T. C. , Grieve Kenneth L. , Cudeiro Javier , Salt Thomas E. , Sillito Adam M.
Published: November 2012

Many cells in both the central visual system and other sensory systems exhibit a center surround organization in their receptive field, where the response to a centrally placed stimulus is modified when a surrounding area is also stimulated. This can follow from laterally directed connections in the local circuit at the level of the cell in question but could also involve more complex interactions. In the lateral geniculate nucleus (LGN), the cells relaying the retinal input display a concentric, center surround organization that in part follows from the similar organization characterizing the retinal cells providing their input. However, local thalamic inhibitory interneurons also play a role, and as we examine here, feedback from the visual cortex too. Here, we show in the primate (macaque) that spatially organized cortical feedback provides a clear and differential influence serving to enhance both responses to stimulation within the center of the receptive field and the ability of the nonclassical surround mechanism to attenuate this. In short, both center and surround mechanisms are influenced by the feedback. This dynamically sharpens the spatial focus of the receptive field and introduces nonlinearities from the cortical mechanism into the LGN.
Gene Expression Identifies Distinct Ascending Glutamatergic Pathways to Frequency-Organized Auditory Cortex in the Rat Brain
Authors: Storace Douglas A. , Higgins Nathan C. , Chikar Jennifer A. , Oliver Douglas L. , Read Heather L.
Published: November 2012

A conserved feature of sound processing across species is the presence of multiple auditory cortical fields with topographically organized responses to sound frequency. Current organizational schemes propose that the ventral division of the medial geniculate body (MGBv) is a single functionally homogenous structure that provides the primary source of input to all neighboring frequency-organized cortical fields. These schemes fail to account for the contribution of MGBv to functional diversity between frequency-organized cortical fields. Here, we report response property differences for two auditory fields in the rat, and find they have nonoverlapping sources of thalamic input from the MGBv that are distinguished by the gene expression for type 1 vesicular glutamate transporter. These data challenge widely accepted organizational schemes and demonstrate a genetic plurality in the ascending glutamatergic pathways to frequency-organized auditory cortex.
Long-Term Changes in Trigeminal Ganglionic and Thalamic Neuronal Activities following Inferior Alveolar Nerve Transection in Behaving Rats
Authors: Tseng Wan-Ting , Tsai Meng-Li , Iwata Koichi , Yen Chen-Tung
Published: November 2012

The transection of the inferior alveolar nerve (IANx) produces allodynia in the whisker pad (V2 division) of rats. Ectopic discharges from injured trigeminal ganglion (TG) neurons and thalamocortical reorganization are possible contributors to the sensitization of uninjured V2 primary and CNS neurons. To test which factor is more important, TG and ventroposterior medial nucleus (VPM) neurons were longitudinally followed before, during, and after IANx for up to 80 d. Spontaneous discharges and mechanical stimulation-evoked responses were recorded in conscious and in anesthetized states. Results show (1) a sequential increase in spontaneous activities, first in the injured TG neurons of the IAN (2–30 d), followed by uninjured V2 ganglion neurons (6–30 d), and then VPM V2 neurons (7–30 d) after IANx; (2) ectopic discharges included burst and regular firing patterns in the IAN and V2 branches of the TG neurons; and (3) the receptive field expanded, the modality shifted, and long-lasting after-discharges occurred only in VPM V2 neurons. All of these changes appeared in the late or maintenance phase (7–30 d) and disappeared during the recovery phase (40–60 d). These observations suggest that ectopic barrages in the injured IAN contribute more to the development of sensitization, whereas the modality shift and evoked after-discharges in the VPM thalamic neurons contribute more to the maintenance phase of allodynia by redirecting tactile information to the cortex as nociceptive.
Within-Digit Functional Parcellation of Brodmann Areas of the Human Primary Somatosensory Cortex Using Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging at 7 Tesla
Authors: Sanchez-Panchuelo Rosa M. , Besle Julien , Beckett Alex , Bowtell Richard , Schluppeck Denis , Francis Susan
Published: November 2012

The primary somatosensory cortex (S1) can be subdivided cytoarchitectonically into four distinct Brodmann areas (3a, 3b, 1, and 2), but these areas have never been successfully delineatedin vivoin single human subjects. Here, we demonstrate the functional parcellation of four areas of S1 in individual human subjects based on high-resolution functional MRI measurements made at 7 T using vibrotactile stimulation. By stimulating four sites along the length of the index finger, we were able to identify and locate map reversals of the base to tip representation of the index finger in S1. We suggest that these reversals correspond to the areal borders between the mirrored representations in the four Brodmann areas, as predicted from electrophysiology measurements in nonhuman primates. In all subjects, maps were highly reproducible across scanning sessions and stable over weeks. In four of the six subjects scanned, four, mirrored, within-finger somatotopic maps defining the extent of the Brodmann areas could be directly observed on the cortical surface. In addition, by using multivariate classification analysis, the location of stimulation on the index finger (four distinct sites) could be decoded with a mean accuracy of 65% across subjects. Our measurements thus show that within-finger topography is present at the millimeter scale in the cortex and is highly reproducible. The ability to identify functional areas of S1in vivoin individual subjects will provide a framework for investigating more complex aspects of tactile representation in S1.
The Small G Protein H-Ras in the Mesolimbic System Is a Molecular Gateway to Alcohol-Seeking and Excessive Drinking Behaviors
Authors: Ben Hamida Sami , Neasta Jeremie , Lasek Amy W. , Kharazia Viktor , Zou Mimi , Carnicella Sebastien , Janak Patricia H. , Ron Dorit
Published: November 2012

Uncontrolled consumption of alcohol is a hallmark of alcohol abuse disorders; however, the central molecular mechanisms underlying excessive alcohol consumption are still unclear. Here, we report that the GTP binding protein, H-Ras in the nucleus accumbens (NAc) plays a key role in neuroadaptations that underlie excessive alcohol-drinking behaviors. Specifically, acute (15 min) systemic administration of alcohol (2.5 g/kg) leads to the activation of H-Ras in the NAc of mice, which is observed even 24 h later. Similarly, rat operant self-administration of alcohol (20%) also results in the activation of H-Ras in the NAc. Using the same procedures, we provide evidence suggesting that the exchange factor GRF1 is upstream of H-Ras activation by alcohol. Importantly, we show that infection of mice NAc with lentivirus expressing a short hairpin RNA that targets the H-Ras gene produces a significant reduction of voluntary consumption of 20% alcohol. In contrast, knockdown of H-Ras in the NAc of mice did not alter water, quinine, and saccharin intake. Furthermore, using two-bottle choice and operant self-administration procedures, we show that inhibiting H-Ras activity by intra-NAc infusion of the farnesyltransferase inhibitor, FTI-276, produced a robust decrease of rats' alcohol drinking; however, sucrose consumption was unaltered. Finally, intra-NAc infusion of FTI-276 also resulted in an attenuation of seeking for alcohol. Together, these results position H-Ras as a central molecular mediator of alcohol's actions within the mesolimbic system and put forward the potential value of the enzyme as a novel target to treat alcohol use disorders.
Comparative study on the radioactivity of TE-NORM in different components of oil separator tanks
Authors: Attallah M. F. , El Afifi E. M. , Awwad Nasser S. , Aly Hisham F.
Published: November 2012

Natural radioactivity in the crude oil, produced water, sludge and scale wastes from the petroleum industry on the Suez gulf (Abu Redeis), Egypt were investigated. A low radioactivity was found in the produced water and crude oil samples. In the sludge waste samples, the levels of radioactivity were found to be 11.96 and 1.75 kBq kg−1 for Ra-226 (of U-series) and Ra-228 (of Th-series), respectively. In the scale waste samples, the levels of radioactivity were 11.7 and 4.2 kBq kg−1 for Ra-226 and Ra-228, respectively. Leaching of different radionuclides in the sludge and scale wastes was investigated using mineral acid alone or after treatment with certain carbonate solutions. The different parameters affecting the treatment were optimized. It is found that high removal of Ra-226 was achieved from sludge and scale wastes when pretreated with 10% sodium carbonate solution, followed by acid dissolution. Removal % of Ra-226 reached 77 and 87% from the sludge and scale wastes, respectively.
The covariance structure of cml-estimates in the Rasch model
Authors: Strasser Helmut
Published: November 2012

In this paper we consider conditional maximum likelihood (cml) estimates for item parameters in the Rasch model under random subject parameters. We give a simple approximation for the asymptotic covariance matrix of the cml-estimates. The approximation is stated as a limit theorem when the number of item parameters goes to infinity. The results contain precise mathematical information on the order of approximation.

The results enable the analysis of the covariance structure of cml-estimates when the number of items is large. Let us give a rough picture. The covariance matrix has a dominating main diagonal containing the asymptotic variances of the estimators. These variances are almost equal to the efficient variances under ml-estimation when the distribution of the subject parameter is known. Apart from very small numbersnof item parameters the variances are almost not affected by the numbern. The covariances are more or less negligible when the number of item parameters is large. Although this picture intuitively is not surprising it has to be established in precise mathematical terms. This has been done in the present paper.

The paper is based on previous results [6] of the author concerning conditional distributions of non-identical replications of Bernoulli trials. The mathematical background are Edgeworth expansions for the central limit theorem. These previous results are the basis of approximations for the Fisher information matrices of cml-estimates. The main results of the present paper are concerned with the approximation of the covariance matrices.

Numerical illustrations of the results and numerical experiments based on the results are presented in Strasser [5].