bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
20th Century Genocides
Authors: Payaslian Simon
Published: March 2013

The scholarship on genocide has grown exponentially since the 1970s. The two general objectives of genocide studies have been to develop more systematic explanations of causes of genocide and a deeper understanding of consequences than previously available in the literature. Genocides in the 20th century are estimated to have cost more than forty million lives. The term genocide was coined by Raphael Lemkin (b. 1900–d. 1959), a Polish-Jewish legal scholar, who, in reaction to the atrocities taking place during World War II, advocated the creation of an international legal instrument to prevent genocide. His efforts led to the UN Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (9 December 1948). The convention is legally binding under international law but has become the subject of much heated debate, mostly regarding contending definitions of “genocide.” A consensus has formed among scholars that genocides in the 20th century encompassed (although were not limited to) the following cases: Herero in 1904–1907, the Armenian genocide in the Ottoman Empire in 1915–1923, the Holodomor in the former Soviet Ukraine in 1932–1933, the Jewish Holocaust in 1938–1945, Bangladesh in 1971, Cambodia in 1975–1979, East Timor in 1975–1999, Bosnia in 1991–1995, and Rwanda in 1994. The diversity of subject areas, theories, and methodologies in genocide studies notwithstanding, most work is primarily concerned with the role of the perpetrator state; the nature of leadership; the ability of the leaders to transform ordinary men into murderers and bureaucracies into instruments of murder; and, finally, how to prevent future genocides. Although a small number of scholarly works have also paid attention to followers and bystanders, this area requires more research, as does genocide prevention. Regardless of the paucity of scholarly literature on genocide prevention, the European Union, in cooperation with the government of Hungary, took the significant step of establishing, in 2011, the Budapest Centre for the International Prevention of Genocide and Mass Atrocities.
Industrialization
Authors: Ashworth William J.
Published: March 2013

According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the term “industry” probably originated from the 14th-century French word industrie and initially meant “intelligent or clever working; skill, ingenuity, dexterity, or cleverness in doing anything” (Oxford English Dictionary [2012], Industry). The word industrialization appears to have been first coined in 1906 to describe “the process of industrializing or fact of being industrialized; also, the conversion of an organization into an industry” (Oxford English Dictionary [2012], Industrialization). The connotation and denotation of the term still embody perceptions of knowledge and levels of skill and loom large in the history of industrialization. In the early 21st century industrialization is explicitly associated with the movement from a predominantly agrarian and handicraft economy to centralized production and machine manufacture. Great Britain was said to be first to experience this transition between c. 1760 and 1830. The British Industrial Revolution has long been seen as the spark to modern industrialization and the commencement of sustained economic growth. In the early 21st century there is far from a consensus over what triggered this revolutionary leap into the modern economic world, but the ghost of Britain’s manufactured past still haunts the halls of economic development, from the type of institutions and culture needed to an evangelical promotion of free trade. In concrete terms this means the need for some form of elected parliament, a national bank, protection of property rights, a limited state, and an emphasis on individualism. However, accompanying the rise of the newly industrializing East there has been a movement away from an Anglocentric focus on industrialization to a much more global emphasis and the underlining of contingent factors.
The Second Sino-Japanese War (1937-1945)
Authors: Phillips Steve
Published: March 2013

The Second Sino-Japanese War (1937–1945), what the Chinese often refer to as the Eight Year War of Anti-Japanese Resistance, began with the Marco Polo Bridge Incident of July 1937 and ended with Japan’s surrender in September 1945. This conflict marked the culmination of almost a half-century of growing Japanese aggression toward China. In 1895, Japan took the island of Taiwan from China’s ailing Qing Dynasty after the First Sino-Japanese War, and in 1931 the Japanese Army occupied Manchuria, China’s three northeastern provinces. Despite the superiority of Japan’s military, by 1937 no Chinese government could accept further territorial losses while maintaining legitimacy with the Chinese people. Japan’s all-out invasion and Chinese resistance would be second only to the clash between Germany and the Soviet Union in terms of destruction and the number of dead. Early scholarship focused on the battlefield. Experts placed the 1937 to 1945 period into different contexts—a China-centered War of Resistance, a regionally based Second Sino-Japanese War or Pacific War, or a global war. One controversial issue is how much Chinese resistance figured in the ultimate defeat of the Japanese. If China’s role was limited, what factors hampered the resistance effort? Later, scholars examined the political aspects of the war. Debate over the nature and effectiveness of Chiang Kai-shek’s Nationalist government dominates much of the English-language material. Did the Nationalists vigorously prosecute the war against the Japanese? Could the United States have done more to assist Chiang Kai-shek and his Nationalist government? The legacy of Communist victory in China’s civil war is another issue confronting those who research Sino-Japanese conflict. Memoirs, oral histories, and the secondary literature on the 1937–1945 period often present the war as a prelude to Communist victory, or as a case study in Nationalist defects that would lead to the regime’s collapse in 1949. As Steven Levine writes in China’s Bitter Victory, “If not for the Sino-Japanese War, it is doubtful whether the Chinese Communist party would ever have come to power.” (Hsiung and Levine 1992, p. xvii; cited under General Overviews) In the past few decades, scholars expanded from military or state-centric topics to issues of collaboration and the impact of war on Chinese society. Japanese atrocities, such as the Nanjing Massacre, and postwar reconciliation also have received more attention from researchers in recent years.
Acoustic Phonetics
Authors: Jongman Allard
Published: March 2013

Acoustic phonetics is the study of the acoustic characteristics of speech, including an analysis and description of speech in terms of its physical properties, such as frequency, intensity, and duration. Descriptions of speech sounds in these terms date back as far as 1830 (Willis), but the invention of the sound spectrograph (1945) was the major technological breakthrough that made the analysis and visualization of the speech signal possible. Subsequent developments in digital signal processing, most notably the discrete Fourier transform, have made it possible to conduct all acoustic analyses with a basic microcomputer. Rousselot (b. 1846–d. 1924) is widely regarded as the “father of experimental phonetics.” Rousselot applied the kymograph to the study of speech. The kymograph, invented in the 1840s by Ludwig, was originally used for measuring blood pressure and other physiological processes. For speech, the kymograph consisted of a rotating drum covered with paper coated with soot; speakers spoke into a rubber tube and the sound vibrations were captured by a stylus that registered the variations in air pressure, from which duration, intensity, and pitch could be measured. Edison’s invention of the phonograph in 1877 was of crucial importance since it was the first device that allowed the recording and reproduction of sound. This invention meant that speech was no longer a fleeting event but could be repeatedly heard and analyzed. A number of researchers developed additional devices to visualize and analyze the sound waveforms, including Hermann, Scripture, and Verner. Although the speech waveform (oscillogram) is the basis of all acoustic speech research, it is rarely used as a source. One important reason is that it is “too rich” since it contains information about frequency, intensity, and phase of the signal components, while human perception disregards the latter. Hence, the spectrogram provides a better representation.
Territorial Title
Authors: Yanagihara Masaharu
Published: March 2013

Especially essential for the existence of modern European international law is a state with a “defined territory,” or a “territorial state.” International law cannot exist without a coexistence of several sovereign and territorial states. According to the definition of modern European international law, “territory” is not the same as “territory” in ancient and medieval Europe or “territory” in medieval or early modern East Asia. The concept of state territory composed of land as principal and sea as accessory, as well as the concept of territorial title as facts justifying an acquisition of territory, were developed in the 18th and the early 19th centuries in Europe. State territory in the case of a newly established state, justified by the theory of state recognition, was completely distinguished from the territory defined by the concept of territorial title. The theory of territorial title that asserts five modes of acquiring territory, such as occupation, accretion, cession, subjugation (conquest), and prescription, was elaborated in the latter half of the 19th century and in the beginning of the 20th century, following private law patterns. Discovery as a legal term was extremely controversial, dealing with issues such as whether this category was recognized as a complete title at some point in time, what kind of symbolic acts were required to compel discovery, what is the real meaning of “inchoate title” assigned to discovery, and so on. Currently, the only mode of acquisition of territorial title in operation is accretion and cession. Occupation is not usually relevant given the lack of terrae nullius. Conquest is incompatible with the prohibition of the use of force in international relations. Prescription continues to be one of the most controversial issues among international lawyers as well as in state practices. It is sometimes contended that its ultimate justification lies in the principles of effectiveness, recognition, and acquiescence, or a historic title. Significantly, traditional modes of acquisition have not necessarily played a decisive role in territorial disputes in international tribunals.
International Organizations
Authors: Duxbury Alison
Published: March 2013

Since World War II, both the number and the variety of international organizations operating in the international community has increased. Organizations range from large universal entities with broad political functions, such as the United Nations, to small regional organizations with relatively narrow activities, such as the Benelux. The proliferation of international organizations and the functions they perform have been matched by an increase in the powers granted to individual organizations and their organs by member states. This growth in organizational powers has led commentators to call for international organizations to be more democratic in their operations, to be more accountable to their members and third parties, and to be held responsible for violations of international law. These concerns are evident in more recent attention directed to international organizations—for example, debates surrounding the Brexit vote in the United Kingdom and calls for the United Nations’ immunity to be lifted in the face of allegations that it caused the cholera outbreak in Haiti. Although international organizations differ widely in terms of their membership, functions, powers, and geographical reach, they have a number of common features and face similar problems in terms of their institutional design. This has led to studies of the legal issues facing international organizations and to a growth in commentary on the law of international organizations, otherwise termed “international institutional law.” Such commentary may provide a general overview of the common legal issues facing international organizations or may focus on one specific problem. Readers interested in international relations approaches to the study of international organizations, including literature on specific organizations, should consult the Oxford Bibliographies article titled “International Organizations.”
State Responsibility in International Law
Authors: Borelli Silvia
Published: March 2013

State responsibility constitutes a central institution of the system of public international law. The law of state responsibility encompasses a variety of issues. First, it defines the circumstances in which a state will be held to have breached its international obligations, as well as the limited catalogue of justifications and defenses a state may rely upon in order to avoid responsibility for an otherwise wrongful act. Second, it covers the consequences of the breach of an international obligation, including in particular the central obligation to make full reparation, as well as the obligation to put an end to continuing wrongful acts. Finally, it deals with the way the responsibility arising from breach of an international obligation is implemented, in particular governing which states may invoke the responsibility of the wrongdoing state, as well as the means by which responsibility may be implemented, in particular through the adoption of countermeasures. The primary point of reference in relation to the law of state responsibility is the Articles on the Responsibility of States for Internationally Wrongful Acts (the ILC Articles), adopted by the International Law Commission (ILC) in 2001, which constitute the fruit of the ILC’s attempt to codify and progressively develop the law in this area. The work of the ILC on the topic has exerted a profound influence in setting the terms of the debate. Since 2001, discussion of particular issues of state responsibility has generally been framed by—or is avowedly a reaction to—the approach taken by the ILC. Even prior to 2001, and in particular since the early 1970s, much of the literature discussed questions of state responsibility primarily by reference to the state of the ILC’s work as it stood at the time. To the extent that the approach of the ILC on specific questions evolved over the course of its work, some caution is necessary in referring to older literature. That is not to say, however, that literature prior to the adoption of the ILC Articles has been entirely superseded. In relation to a number of issues, in particular questions of the theory of state responsibility, some of the older literature remains of great relevance. Similarly, to the extent that particular questions, for instance the notion of “state crimes” or the classification of obligations, were eventually not included in the final version of the ILC Articles, the older literature remains the primary source of reference.
Space Law
Authors: von der Dunk Frans
Published: March 2013

Space law is best defined as the law dealing in a substantial manner with human activities in outer space. Traditionally conceived as a branch of general public international law, space law was originally taken to refer in particular to a handful of United Nations–originating treaties of general scope, UN resolutions, and special multilateral or bilateral agreements specifically addressing space activities (such as establishing international space organizations or the framework for the international space station). Due to the indispensability of the use of radio frequencies for all space activities, certain aspects of international telecommunications law, developed in the context of the International Telecommunication Union, were also considered part of space law. Finally, in view of the political and military overtones of many space activities, major arms control agreements came to be considered part of space law. In the early days of space law, there was only a marginal body of customary international law that applied to it, and no jurisprudence. Over time, increasing technological developments gave rise to commercialization, and ultimately privatization, in many areas of space activities. Thus, on the one hand, other legal regimes became part of space law as they started to impact (certain) space activities, such as copyright law as a tool to protect investments in satellite remote sensing, international trade law to handle commercial satellite services being offered around the globe, or international financing law when it came to handling risks in satellite projects. On the other hand, the incursion of private entities into many areas of space activities resulted in a growth of national law and regulation (and in the specific European context, both European Union and European Space Agency law and regulation) in order to make sure such private activities would be appropriately subjected to, as well as accommodated by, the applicable international rules. Consequently, this article will address space law at international, national, and European levels, as well as address the major areas of space activities, including the military uses of outer space, launching, satellite communications, satellite remote sensing (including disaster monitoring), satellite navigation, space station operations, space debris and its mitigation, space resource utilization, space project financing, private human spaceflight (also known as space tourism), and dispute settlement issues regarding space activities.
Developmental Psychology (Social)
Authors: Rodkin Philip C. , Roisman Glenn I.
Published: March 2013

The central questions of child social development bear upon the essential nature of human existence, including the lasting importance of the infant’s first social relationships, the stability of human personality, nature-nurture, the way to properly socialize children to be moral and successful, and the importance of family and friends. Social development research has broad relevance to issues in education, public policy, prevention, social work, and the life sciences. In this overview, we begin with some basic information on source material, history, and common journals in the field. Then comes coverage of critical issues in the child’s early social development: attachment to a loving adult, the importance of temperament, the study of genetic and other biological factors in development, and the relationship between ontogeny (the development of the individual) and phylogeny (the development of the species). Next comes a focus on some key behaviors that are seen as essential for successful socialization: moral and prosocial behavior, the motivation to achieve, and (the lack of) aggressive and antisocial behavior. We consider classic and recent research on the role of gender, ethnicity, and intergroup relations on children’s development as children learn to be part of a larger society. Finally comes research on two critical domains of influence in children’s social development: families and peers. The field of children’s social development is vibrant, exciting, and increasingly interconnected with other areas in prevention, education, and the biological and social sciences.
Physical Geography
Authors: Welford Mark
Published: March 2013

Physical geography is the study of the processes that shape the Earth’s surface, the animals and plants that inhabit it, and the spatial patterns they exhibit. Self-identified in the mid- to late 1800s, physical geographers and in particular geomorphologists dominated the discipline of geography to the late 1930s. But emphasis on description and classification of climates, landforms, and biomes and an unhealthy dose of environmental determinism weakened physical geography to its low point in the 1950s. Physical geography along with human geography underwent radical quantification in the late 1950s and early 1960s. This was followed in the 1970s by a period of intense disciplinary specialization, resulting in the recognition of five broad divisions of physical geography: geomorphology, climatology, biogeography, soil science, and Quaternary environmental change. Within each broad division exists a plethora of subdisciplines and specializations. In the early 21st century, physical geographers and their discipline are undergoing a renaissance in large part due to physical geography’s broad subject matter, its intrinsic interdisciplinary nature, and the accelerating pace of global environmental change. This renaissance is evident in Nicholas J. Clifford’s redefinition of physical geography in “Globalization: A Physical Geography Perspective” (Clifford 2009, cited under General Overviews): “At a fundamental level, Physical Geography has always sought to describe and understand the multiple subsystems of the environment and their connections with human activity: it is global and globalizing at its very roots.” This updated definition stresses the notion that physical geographers must embrace “larger-scale issues of environment and development and environmental change.” Human activity is creating a new geologic era—the Anthropocene. In reaction to this theme, many have argued that physical geographers must become more interdisciplinary while retaining a spatioanalytic approach to their study of human-environmental interactions. Irrespective of disciplinary membership, in the coming decades, if a more integrative physical geographic discipline continues to emerge, physical geographers will become indispensable—global warming will affect the spatial and temporal patterns of local, regional, and global temperatures; precipitation; and evapotranspiration, which affect the following processes (among many others): weathering rates, soil erosion, shallow landslide occurrence, flood hydrologies and river planforms, animal and plant distributions, sea level, and glacier and permafrost melting. Finally, remote sensing and digital mapping and analysis are among many exciting new arenas in physical geography. It is possible, inter alia, to predict soil attributes by using terrain analysis, to predict high spatial and temporal resolution rainfall, to estimate ice-sheet surface lowering, and to estimate soil moisture.
Vulnerability, Risk, and Hazards
Authors: Haney Jennifer J. , Montz Burrell E. , Tobin Graham A.
Published: March 2013

Consideration of the nexus between the geophysical and social components of natural hazards can be dated to Gilbert White’s recognition in 1942 that “floods are acts of God, but flood losses are largely acts of man [sic].” Since that time, hazards researchers have sought to understand the extent to which the losses from extreme natural events can be explained by physical processes of the events and characteristics of those at risk. This has led to considerations of how risk and vulnerability are conceptualized, measured, and mitigated. Some researchers have focused on geophysical risk and the vulnerability of locations, while others have been concerned with understanding vulnerability comprising social, demographic, and economic factors, no matter what the risk. As a result, the body of literature is diverse, with foci ranging from works addressing a physical perspective of risk to those documenting vulnerability as a product of the political-economic systems in which people reside. With this diversity has come a variety of definitions of the terms “risk” and “vulnerability.” For instance, risk analysts often define risk as the product of the probability of an event’s occurrence and its magnitude (i.e., probability × magnitude = risk), while hazards researchers in geography and other disciplines tend to view this relationship as including an exponent to account for social values or societal impacts (i.e., probability × magnitude n), although n may be difficult to measure. Similarly, much discussion in the literature deals with defining vulnerability, with some works equating it with risk and others expressing it in relationship to resilience. Yet, it has been recognized that the mitigation and adaptation options available to reduce risk and vulnerability may be quite different. This article addresses these topics by focusing on works that seek to improve our understanding of the complexities of each term and then turning to research that has advanced our understanding of how risk and vulnerability might be measured and, ultimately, mitigated to reduce losses. The references cited do not compose a definitive list of publications on vulnerability and risk but instead represent a sample of those available. The references have been organized into different categories based on general vulnerability factors, such that readers will see a cross-section of the available literature. However, many citations could easily fit into two or more categories; indeed, it is the overlapping and interdisciplinary nature of the topic that exemplifies this area of research.
Animal Geographies
Authors: Urbanik Julie
Published: March 2013

Animal geography is the study of how nonhuman animals intersect with human societies. Animal geographers explore these relationships temporally and spatially in order to understand why and how different human-animal configurations move in and out of being and also try to gain an understanding of nonhuman subjectivities. Although animals have always been of interest to geographers, the ways in which they are studied have developed over time. The earliest animal geography focused on cataloging wild species, their spatial distributions, and their environmental adaptations. A second wave of animal geography work was dominated by the study of domesticated animals and the ways in which livestock were enmeshed in human cultures, as well as the impact of livestock on the landscape. The third wave of animal geography emerged in the 1990s in tandem with the rising visibility of animal-based social movements, new scientific understandings of animals as well as human impact on biodiversity, and new developments in social theory around ideas of the subject. This wave of animal geography focuses on the full socioeconomic spectrum of human-animal relations—which includes wild and farmed animals as well as pets, captive animals, research animals, and entertainment animals—and the ways in which animals are used as cultural signifiers in one way or another. Animal geography, with its emphasis on space, place, and scale, is a unique contributor to the larger, multidisciplinary field of human-animal studies.
PT
symmetry in classical and quantum statistical mechanics
Authors: Meisinger Peter N. , Ogilvie Michael C.
Published: March 2013

-symmetric Hamiltonians and transfer matrices arise naturally in statistical mechanics. These classical and quantum models often require the use of complex or negative weights and thus fall outside the conventional equilibrium statistical mechanics of Hermitian systems.

-symmetric models form a natural class where the partition function is necessarily real, but not necessarily positive. The correlation functions of these models display a much richer set of behaviours than Hermitian systems, displaying sinusoidally modulated exponential decay, as in a dense fluid, or even sinusoidal modulation without decay. Classical spin models with

-symmetry include Z(
N
) models with a complex magnetic field, the chiral Potts model and the anisotropic next-nearest-neighbour Ising model. Quantum many-body problems with a non-zero chemical potential have a natural

-symmetric representation related to the sign problem. Two-dimensional quantum chromodynamics with heavy quarks at non-zero chemical potential can be solved by diagonalizing an appropriate

-symmetric Hamiltonian.
Increasing zooplankton size diversity enhances the strength of top‐down control on phytoplankton through diet niche partitioning
Authors: Ye Lin , Chang Chun‐Yi , García‐Comas Carmen , Gong Gwo‐Ching , Hsieh Chih‐hao
Published: March 2013

The biodiversity‐ecosystem functioning debate is a central topic in ecology. Recently, there has been a growing interest in size diversity because body size is sensitive to environmental changes and is one of the fundamental characteristics of organisms linking many ecosystem properties. However, how size diversity affects ecosystem functioning is an important yet unclear issue.

To fill the gap, with large‐scale field data from the East China Sea, we tested the novel hypothesis that increasing zooplankton size diversity enhances top‐down control on phytoplankton (H1) and compared it with five conventional hypotheses explaining the top‐down control: flatter zooplankton size spectrum enhances the strength of top‐down control (H2); nutrient enrichment lessens the strength of top‐down control (H3); increasing zooplankton taxonomic diversity enhances the strength of top‐down control (H4); increasing fish predation decreases the strength of top‐down control of zooplankton on phytoplankton through trophic cascade (H5); increasing temperature intensifies the strength of top‐down control (H6).

The results of univariate analyses support the hypotheses based on zooplankton size diversity (H1), zooplankton size spectrum (H2), nutrient (H3) and zooplankton taxonomic diversity (H4), but not the hypotheses based on fish predation (H5) and temperature (H6). More in‐depth analyses indicate that zooplankton size diversity is the most important factor in determining the strength of top‐down control on phytoplankton in the East China Sea.

Our results suggest a new potential mechanism that increasing predator size diversity enhances the strength of top‐down control on prey through diet niche partitioning. This mechanism can be explained by the optimal predator–prey body‐mass ratio concept. Suppose each size group of zooplankton predators has its own optimal phytoplankton prey size, increasing size diversity of zooplankton would promote diet niche partitioning of predators and thus elevates the strength of top‐down control.
Legislative Behaviour in the Northern Ireland Assembly, 2007–11: Conflict and Consensus in a Developing Consociational Democracy
Authors: Conley Richard S. , Dahan Charles
Published: March 2013

While most research has focused on the executive in Northern Ireland, this study examines behavioural dynamics in the legislative assembly by focusing sharply on division votes and the use of procedural mechanisms in the four sessions from 2007 to 2011. By assessing patterns of coalition configurations and employing Poole's ‘Optimal Classification’ method for examining dimensionality on division votes, the analysis explores the basis for the relative consensus and conflict that have marked legislative behaviour in the most recent attempt at power sharing. This research uncovers two essential dimensions to legislative behaviour: a cross-community dimension that diminished over time in advance of the 2011 election, and a more traditional left–right and nationalist–unionist divide. The study accentuates, however, that unionist and nationalist parties do not vote consistently as cohesive, monolithic blocs. The empirical analysis further shows that use of the ‘minority veto’ was sparing and reserved largely for the most controversial issues of importance to each community.
Rules, Strategies and Words: The Content of the 2010 Prime Ministerial Debates
Authors: Allen Nicholas , Bara Judith , Bartle John
Published: March 2013

This article investigates the verbal content of the 2010 prime ministerial debates using computer-aided text analysis (CATA) and functional analysis. It seeks to provide reliable measures of what the leaders said, develop our theoretical understanding of televised debates in British elections, open up the 2010 debates for potential comparison with others, and provide additional evidence by which the democratic value of the debates might be assessed. The article demonstrates that the leaders focused more on policy than on personality, that most content was devoted to positive reasons for supporting parties rather than negative attacks on opponents, and that there was variation in the attention paid to general themes and specific issues and in the nature of the leaders' appeals to voters. The findings offer qualified support for issue ownership and functional theories, but knowledge of the specific political context remains necessary for understanding the content.
The Combined Impact of Decentralisation and Personalism on the Nationalisation of Party Systems
Authors: Simón Pablo
Published: March 2013

In this article I address the impact of decentralisation on the nationalisation of party systems. Many scholars have argued that when a country decentralises, candidates have greater incentives to compete locally and party system nationalisation is eroded. However, the empirical results are inconclusive, particularly in Western European countries, so it is necessary to revisit this causal link. My argument is that the impact of decentralisation on the nationalisation of party systems is conditional on the extent to which electoral law encourages personal voting. When electoral laws are candidate-centred, party labels are not very relevant in politicians' (re-)election; this makes candidates more likely to compete locally in a decentralised country and to weaken party system nationalisation. Through two different indices of nationalisation and statistical techniques, I test the robustness of this argument by drawing on data from national legislative elections held in seventeen Western European countries. The evidence confirms the main argument as well as the de-nationalising effect of ethnic fragmentation and district magnitude.
Election Closeness, Habit Formation and Voter Turnout: Evidence from Sixteen Swedish Elections
Authors: Górecki Maciej A.
Published: March 2013

The developmental model of voter turnout posits that the propensity to vote (or abstain) is a habit acquired during the period of a young adult's socialisation to the electoral process. Once acquired, the habit tends to persist and the individual becomes fairly ‘immune’ to the potential influences hypothesised to affect turnout. In particular, Franklin proposes that electoral context will have a strong impact on those who have no or little experience of voting (or abstaining) in democratic elections but virtually no impact on those whose ‘electoral experience’ is more substantial. Tests of the above crucial hypothesis have focused mostly on the heterogeneous effects of electoral competitiveness (election closeness) on turnout. I follow the same route but also point to potential drawbacks of the tests performed so far. At the same time, I propose what I claim is a superior test of experience-conditioned impact of closeness on turnout. My test – utilising data on sixteen Swedish elections conducted between 1956 and 2006 – yields suggestive results supporting Franklin's hypothesis.
Cervical Carcinoma Cells Stimulate the Angiogenesis through TSLP Promoting Growth and Activation of Vascular Endothelial Cells
Authors: Xie Feng , Meng Yu‐Han , Liu Li‐Bing , Chang Kai‐Kai , Li Hui , Li Ming‐Qing , Li Da‐Jin
Published: March 2013

Problem

To explore whether cervical carcinomas cells‐derived thymic stromal lymphopoietin (TSLP) modulates the biologic behavior of vascular endothelial cells and herein participates in the angiogenesis in the cervical cancer pathogenesis.

Method of study

We analyzed expression of TSLP and its receptor (TSLPR) in cervical cancer cells by immunohistochemistry, ELISA, and flow cytometry, respectively. We further investigated the effects of TSLP on the proliferation, apoptosis, activation, and angiogenesis in vitro of human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs).

Results

It has been found that the cervical cancer cells translate TSLP and endothelial cells express TSLPR in cervical cancer tissues. Both HeLa and CaSki cells secret TSLP in a time‐dependent manner, and the ratio of TSLPR‐positive HUVECs is about 30%. It has been showed that recombinant human TSLP (rhTSLP) can significantly increase Ki67 and CD62E expression in HUVECs and interleukin‐6 (IL‐6) levels from HeLa and CaSki cells; on the contrary, anti‐human TSLP or TSLPR neutralizing antibody down‐regulates the expression of Ki67, angiogenesis‐relative molecules CD62E, and CD105 in HUVECs cocultured with HeLa or CasKi cells and inhibits IL‐6 secretion from HeLa and CaSki cells. Moreover, both rhTSLP and endogenous TSLP from HeLa or CaSki cells obviously stimulate the proliferation, activation, and angiogenesis, but not influence the apoptosis of HUVECs in vitro.

Conclusion

This study has demonstrated that TSLP secreted by cervical carcinomas cells is involved in the angiogenesis of cervical cancer in a paracrine manner.
Improved intensive care unit survival for critically ill allogeneic haematopoietic stem cell transplant recipients following reduced intensity conditioning
Authors: Townsend William M. , Holroyd Ailsa , Pearce Rachel , Mackinnon Stephen , Naik Prakesh , Goldstone Anthony H. , Linch David C. , Peggs Karl S. , Thomson Kirsty J. , Singer Mervyn , Howell David C. J. , Morris Emma C.
Published: March 2013

The use of allogeneic haematopoietic stem cell transplantation (Allo‐HSCT) is a standard treatment option for many patients with haematological malignancies. Historically, patients requiring intensive care unit (ICU) admission for transplant‐related toxicities have fared extremely poorly, with high ICU mortality rates. Little is known about the impact of reduced intensity Allo‐HSCT conditioning regimens in older patients on the ICU and subsequent long‐term outcomes. A retrospective analysis of data collected from 164 consecutive Allo‐HSCT recipients admitted to ICU for a total of 213 admissions, at a single centre over an 11·5‐year study period was performed. Follow‐up was recorded until 31 March 2011. Autologous HSCT recipients were excluded. In this study we report favourable ICU survival following Allo‐HSCT and, for the first time, demonstrate significantly better survival for patients who underwent Allo‐HSCT with reduced intensity conditioning compared to those treated with myeloablative conditioning regimens. In addition, we identified the need for ventilation (invasive or non‐invasive) as an independently significant adverse factor affecting short‐term ICU outcome. For patients surviving ICU admission, subsequent long‐term overall survival was excellent; 61% and 51% at 1 and 5 years, respectively. Reduced intensity Allo‐HSCT patients admitted to ICU with critical illness have improved survival compared to myeloablative Allo‐HSCT recipients.
Overexpression of the insulin‐like growth factor 1 receptor (IGF‐1R) is associated with malignancy in familial pheochromocytomas and paragangliomas
Authors: Fernandez María Celia , Martin Ayelen , Venara Marcela , Calcagno María de Luján , Sansó Gabriela , Quintana Silvina , Chemes Héctor E. , Barontini Marta , Pennisi Patricia A.
Published: March 2013

Context

Pheochromocytomas and paragangliomas (pheo/pgl) are neuroendocrine tumours derived from chromaffin cells. Although mostly benign, up to 26% of pheo/pgl will undergo malignant transformation. Reliable histological signs to differentiate benign pheo/pgl from malignant tumours are currently lacking. Increased IGF‐1R expression has been shown during progression to metastatic phenotypes of several types of cancer.

Objective

To analyse the distribution and expression of the IGF‐1R in pheo/pgl of different genetic origin and degree of malignancy.

Measurements

We studied the expression of the IGF‐1R protein by immunohistochemistry, in 40 primary tumours from patients with pheo/pgl from different genetic aetiology (11 of 29 metastatic/nonmetastatic diseases).

Results

We found a strong association between increased expression of IGF‐1R and malignant behaviour regardless of the age at diagnosis and the genetic aetiology. IGF‐1R labelling was mostly weak in primary tumours from patients with nonmetastatic pheo/pgl. Conversely, intense IGF‐1R labelling was predominant in cases of pheo/pgl with confirmed metastatic disease. The risk of metastases was 11·7 times higher if tumour IGF‐1R labelling was intense independently of age at diagnosis. The probability of remaining free of metastases was higher in patients with pheo/pgl scored weak for IGF‐1R at 60 months and more than twofold higher at 120 months of follow‐up than in patients with intense IGF‐1R labelling in their primary tumours.

Conclusions

Our results strongly suggest that IGF‐1R is associated with malignancy in familial pheo/pgl and that IGF‐1R expression in the primary tumour might be a useful tool to detect those patients harbouring pheo/pgl who have an increased risk of metastasis.
Moderate and severe malnutrition alters proliferation of spleen cells in rats
Authors: Cortés‐Barberena E. , Ceballos‐Olvera I. , González‐Márquez H. , Ortiz‐Muñiz R.
Published: March 2013

Objectives

Previous studies have shown alterations in bone marrow cell proliferation in malnourished rats, during lactation. The objective of this study was to determine in vivo effects of moderate and severe malnutrition on spleen cell proliferation in 21‐day‐old rat pups.

Materials and methods

Spleen cell proliferation was determined following administration of bromodeoxyuridine (BrdUrd) over a time course of 2, 4, 6 and 8 h. Incorporation of BrdUrd was detected using FITC‐conjugated anti‐BrdUrd monoclonal antibodies and total DNA content was detected and evaluated using propidium iodide using flow cytometry.

Results

Proportions of cells in S and G2/M were reduced in the rats with moderate (MN2nd) and severe (MN3rd) malnutrition. BrdUrd incorporation was lower in both groups of malnourished rat. In cells of MN2nd individuals, length of G1 became shorter, while length of S‐phase increased. In contrast, fraction of cells in proliferation was significantly lower in both groups of malnourished rat, with MN3rd group having lowest percentage of cell population growth. In this study, severe malnutrition did not significantly affect duration of phases of the cell cycle, although fractions of proliferating cells were dramatically reduced.

Conclusion

Moderate malnutrition increased time of cells in DNA synthesis and time of total cell cycle and severe malnutrition reduced growth fraction of spleen cells in malnourished rats during lactation.
Fractone‐heparan sulphates mediate FGF‐2 stimulation of cell proliferation in the adult subventricular zone
Authors: Douet V. , Kerever A. , Arikawa‐Hirasawa E. , Mercier F.
Published: March 2013

Objectives: Fractones are extracellular matrix structures that form a niche for neural stem cells and their immediate progeny in the subventricular zone of the lateral ventricle (SVZa), the primary neurogenic zone in the adult brain. We have previously shown that heparan sulphates (HS) associated with fractones bind fibroblast growth factor‐2 (FGF‐2), a powerful mitotic growth factor in the SVZa. Here, our objective was to determine whether the binding of FGF‐2 to fractone‐HS is implicated in the mechanism leading to cell proliferation in the SVZa.

Materials and methods: Heparitinase‐1 was intracerebroventricularly injected with FGF‐2 to N‐desulfate HS proteoglycans and determine whether the loss of HS and of FGF‐2 binding to fractones modifies FGF‐2 effect on cell proliferation. We also examined in vivo the binding of Alexa‐Fluor‐FGF‐2 in relationship with the location of HS immunoreactivity in the SVZa.

Results: Heparatinase‐1 drastically reduced the stimulatory effect of FGF‐2 on cell proliferation in the SVZa. Alexa‐Fluor‐FGF‐2 binding was strictly co‐localized with HS immunoreactivity in fractones and adjacent vascular basement membranes in the SVZa.

Conclusions: Our results demonstrate that FGF‐2 requires HS to stimulate cell proliferation in the SVZa and suggest that HS associated with fractones and vascular basement membranes are responsible for activating FGF‐2. Therefore, fractones and vascular basement membranes may function as a HS niche to drive cell proliferation in the adult neurogenic zone.
The link between logic, mathematics and imagination: evidence from children with developmental dyscalculia and mathematically gifted children
Authors: Morsanyi Kinga , Devine Amy , Nobes Alison , Szűcs Dénes
Published: March 2013

This study examined performance on transitive inference problems in children with developmental dyscalculia (DD), typically developing controls matched on IQ, working memory and reading skills, and in children with outstanding mathematical abilities. Whereas mainstream approaches currently consider DD as a domain‐specific deficit, we hypothesized that the development of mathematical skills is closely related to the development of logical abilities, a domain‐general skill. In particular, we expected a close link between mathematical skills and the ability to reason independently of one's beliefs. Our results showed that this was indeed the case, with children with DD performing more poorly than controls, and high maths ability children showing outstanding skills in logical reasoning about belief‐laden problems. Nevertheless, all groups performed poorly on structurally equivalent problems with belief‐neutral content. This is in line with suggestions that abstract reasoning skills (i.e. the ability to reason about content without real‐life referents) develops later than the ability to reason about belief‐inconsistent fantasy content.A video abstract of this article can be viewed at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=90DWY3O4xx8
Bridging developmental systems theory and evolutionary psychology using dynamic optimization
Authors: Frankenhuis Willem E. , Panchanathan Karthik , Clark Barrett H.
Published: March 2013

Interactions between evolutionary psychologists and developmental systems theorists have been largely antagonistic. This is unfortunate because potential synergies between the two approaches remain unexplored. This article presents a method that may help to bridge the divide, and that has proven fruitful in biology: dynamic optimization. Dynamic optimization integrates developmental systems theorists’ focus on dynamics and contingency with the ‘design stance’ of evolutionary psychology. It provides a theoretical framework as well as a set of tools for exploring the properties of developmental systems that natural selection might favor, given particular evolutionary ecologies. We also discuss limitations of the approach.