bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
TP53 Mutations and Survival in Osteosarcoma Patients: A Meta-Analysis of Published Data
Authors: Chen Zhe , Guo Jiayi , Zhang Kun , Guo Yanxing
Published: April 2016

Several research groups have examined the association between TP53 mutations and prognosis in human osteosarcoma. However, the results were controversial. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the prognostic value of TP53 mutations in osteosarcoma patients. A meta-analysis was conducted with all eligible studies which quantitatively evaluated the relationship between TP53 mutations and clinical outcome of osteosarcoma patients. Eight studies with a total of 210 patients with osteosarcoma were included in this meta-analysis. The risk ratio (RR) with a 95% confidence interval (95% CI) was calculated to assess the effect of TP53 mutations on 2-year overall survival. The quantitative synthesis of 8 published studies showed that TP53 mutations were associated with 2-year overall survival in osteosarcoma patients. These data suggested that TP53 mutations had an unfavorable impact on 2-year overall survival when compared to the counterparts with wild type (WT) TP53 (RR: 1.79; 95% CI: 1.12 to 2.84;P=0.01;I2=0%). There was no between-study heterogeneity. TP53 mutations are an effective prognostic marker for survival of patients with osteosarcoma. However, further large-scale prospective trials should be performed to clarify the prognostic value of TP53 mutations on 3- or 5-year survival in osteosarcoma patients.
Rutin Attenuates Hepatotoxicity in High‐Cholesterol‐Diet‐Fed Rats
Authors: AlSharari Shakir D. , Al-Rejaie Salim S. , Abuohashish Hatem M. , Ahmed Mohamed M. , Hafez Mohamed M.
Published: April 2016

Background and Objective. High‐cholesterol diet (HCD) intends to increase the oxidative stress in liver tissues inducing hepatotoxicity. Rutin is a natural flavonoid (vitamin p) which is known to have antioxidative properties. The aim of the present study was to investigate the potential effects of Rutin on hypercholesterolemia‐induced hepatotoxicity in rats. Materials and Methods. Male Wistar rats were divided into four groups: G‐I control, G‐II Rutin, G‐III HCD, and G‐IV Rutin + HCD. The liver functions and lipid profile were used to evaluate the HCD‐induced hepatotoxicity. Quantitative real time‐PCR was carried out to evaluate the expression levels of genes in TGF‐β/Smad signaling pathway. Results. Rutin in combination with HCD showed a significant protective effect against hepatotoxicity. HCD caused significant increase in the mRNA expression of transforming growth factor beta (TGF-β), Mothers Against Decapentaplegic Homolog 2 (Smad-2), Mothers Against Decapentaplegic Homolog 4 (Smad-4), Bcl‐2‐binding component 3 (Bbc3), caspase-3, P53 and Interleukin‐6 (IL-6) and decrease in the expression levels of Cyclin depended kinase inhibitor (P21) and Interleukin‐3 (IL-3) in hepatic cells. Conclusion. TGF-β/Smad signaling pathway is involved in HCD‐induced hepatotoxicity and Rutin inhibits the hepatotoxicity via suppressing this pathway. Therefore, Rutin might be considered as a protective agent for hepatotoxicity.
Neuropilin-1highCD4+CD25+ Regulatory T Cells Exhibit Primary Negative Immunoregulation in Sepsis
Authors: Gao Yu-Lei , Chai Yan-Fen , Qi An-Long , Yao Ying , Liu Yan-Cun , Dong Ning , Wang Li-Jun , Yao Yong-Ming
Published: April 2016

Regulatory T cells (Tregs) appear to be involved in sepsis-induced immune dysfunction; neuropilin-1 (Nrp-1) was identified as a surface marker for CD4+CD25+Tregs. In the current study, we investigated the negative immunoregulation of Nrp-1highCD4+CD25+Tregs and the potential therapeutic value of Nrp-1 in sepsis. Splenic CD4+CD25+Tregs from cecal ligation and puncture (CLP) mouse models were further segregated into Nrp-1highTregs and Nrp-1lowTregs; they were cocultured with CD4+CD25−  T cells. The expression of forkhead/winged helix transcription factor-3 (Foxp-3), cytotoxic T-lymphocyte associated antigen-4 (CTLA-4), membrane associated transforming growth factor-β (TGF-βm+), apoptotic rate, and secretive ability [including TGF-β and interleukin-10 (IL-10)] for various types of Tregs, as well as the immunosuppressive ability of Tregs on CD4+CD25−  T cells, were determined. Meanwhile, the impact of recombinant Nrp-1 polyclonal antibody on the demethylation of Foxp-3-TSDR (Treg-specific demethylated region) was measured in in vitro study. Sepsis per se markedly promoted the expression of Nrp-1 of CD4+CD25+Tregs. Foxp-3/CTLA-4/TGF-βm+ of Nrp-1highTregs were upregulated by septic challenge. Nrp-1highTregs showed strong resilience to apoptosis and secretive ability and the strongest immunosuppressive ability on CD4+CD25−  T cells. In the presence of lipopolysaccharide (LPS), the recombinant Nrp-1 polyclonal antibody reduced the demethylation of Foxp-3-TSDR. Nrp-1highTregs might reveal primary negative immunoregulation in sepsis; Nrp-1 could represent a new potential therapeutic target for the study of immune regulation in sepsis.
MicroRNA Profiling in Patients with Upper Tract Urothelial Carcinoma Associated with Balkan Endemic Nephropathy
Authors: Popovska-Jankovic Katerina , Noveski Predrag , Jankovic-Velickovic Ljubinka , Stojnev Slavica , Cukuranovic Rade , Stefanovic Vladisav , Toncheva Draga , Staneva Rada , Polenakovic Momir , Plaseska-Karanfilska Dijana
Published: April 2016

Balkan endemic nephropathy (BEN) is a disease that affects people that live in the alluvial plains along the tributaries of the Danube River in the Balkan region. BEN is a chronic tubulointerstitial disease with a slow progression to terminal renal failure and has strong association with upper tract urothelial carcinoma (UTUC). There are several hypotheses about the etiology of BEN, but only the toxic effect of aristolochic acid has been confirmed as a risk factor in the occurrence of the disease. Aberrantly expressed miRNAs have been shown to be associated with many types of cancers. A number of studies have investigated the expression of microRNAs in urothelial carcinoma, mainly on urothelial bladder cancer, and only a few have included patients with UTUC. Here we present the first study of microRNA profiling in UTUC tissues from patients with BEN (BEN-UTUC) and patients with UTUC from nonendemic Balkan regions (non-BEN-UTUC) in comparison to normal kidney tissues. We found 10 miRNAs that were differentially expressed in patients with BEN-UTUC and 15 miRNAs in patients with non-BEN-UTUC. miRNA signature determined in BEN-UTUC patients differs from the non-BEN-UTUC patients; only miR-205-5p was mutual in both groups.
Can Clinical Findings Prevent Negative Laparotomy in Parasitosis Mimicking Acute Appendicitis?
Authors: Zorlu Musa , Şahiner İbrahim Tayfun , Yastı Ahmet Çınar , Zobacı Ethem , Kocabaş Ramazan , Şahin Abdullah Fahri , Coşkun Faruk , Dolapçı Mete
Published: April 2016

Objectives. Rates of negative laparotomy (NL) for acute appendicitis have been reported as 15% and parasitosis contributed to 2%. This study was planned to reduce the rates of NL by preoperative determination of parasitosis. Methods. In retrospective examination of 2730 appendectomy specimens in Hitit University Department of General Surgery between 2008 and 2012, 55 patients were determined with parasitosis and compared with 102 age-matched randomly selected patients with lymphoid hyperplasia. Results. The parasite group comprised 63.6% females with a mean age of 15.1 years. The number of patients in the parasitosis group increased from city centre to rural areas of towns and villages (p<0.001). While a lower rate of sonographic findings was found in the parasitosis group, the findings of inflammation in the histopathological evaluation were significantly low (p=0.014, p=0.0011, resp.). A significant difference was determined between groups in respect of the eosinophil and haematocrit values. In the differentiation of patients with parasites, eosinophil of >2.2% was determined as a diagnostic value. Conclusion. It is important to determine parasitosis to prevent NL. When acute appendicitis is considered for young patients living in rural areas, the observation of high eosinophil together with negative sonographic findings should bring Enterobius vermicularis parasitosis to mind and thereby should prevent NL.
Research on Friction Compensation Control for Electric Power Steering System
Authors: Li Shaosong , Niu Jiafei , Cui Gaojian , Yu Zhixin , Sheng Ren
Published: April 2016

A novel friction compensation control method is proposed to compensate both the dynamic and static friction torque of steering system. The change of EPS assist torque under fixed amplitude friction compensation torque can cause the diver’s steering feeling fuzzy. That is due to the fact that the friction torque felt by driver varies with EPS assist gain. Therefore, a further modified friction compensation control method is proposed based on EPS assist gain to make the driver have similar friction feeling. Finally, computer simulation and vehicle test are performed to verify the effectiveness of adaptation method in the proposed controller. Test results indicate that the proposed controller improved the driver’s steering performance.
Vancouver Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement Clinical Pathway
Authors: Lauck Sandra B. , Wood David A. , Baumbusch Jennifer , Kwon Jae-Yung , Stub Dion , Achtem Leslie , Blanke Philipp , Boone Robert H. , Cheung Anson , Dvir Danny , Gibson Jennifer A. , Lee Bobby , Leipsic Jonathan , Moss Robert , Perlman Gidon , Polderman Jopie , Ramanathan Krishnan , Ye Jian , Webb John G.
Published: April 2016

We describe the development, implementation, and evaluation of a standardized clinical pathway to facilitate safe discharge home at the earliest time after transfemoral transcatheter aortic valve replacement. Between May 2012 and October 2014, the Heart Team developed a clinical pathway suited to the unique requirements of transfemoral transcatheter aortic valve replacement in contemporary practice. The components included risk-stratified minimalist periprocedure approach, standardized postprocedure care with early mobilization and reconditioning, and criteria-driven discharge home. Our aim was to reduce variation in care, identify a subgroup of patients suitable for early discharge (≤48 hours), and decrease length of stay for all patients. We addressed barriers related to historical practices, complex multidisciplinary stakeholder engagement, and adoption of length of stay as a quality indicator. We retrospectively reviewed the experiences of 393 consecutive patients; 150 (38.2%) were discharged early. At baseline, early discharge patients had experienced less previous balloon aortic valvuloplasty, had higher left ventricular ejection fraction, better cognitive function, and were less frail than the standard discharge group (>48 hours). Early discharge was associated with the use of local anesthesia, implantation of balloon expandable device, avoidance of urinary catheter, and early removal of temporary pacemaker. Median length of stay was 1 day for early discharge and 3 days for other patients; 97.7% were discharged home. There were no differences in 30-day mortality (1.3%), disabling stroke (0.8%), or readmission (10.7%). The implementation of a transcatheter aortic valve replacement clinical pathway shifted the program’s approach to combine standardized processes and individual risk stratification. The Vancouver transcatheter aortic valve replacement clinical pathway requires a rigorous assessment to determine its efficacy, safety, and reproducibility.
Weekend Effect in Children With Stroke in the Nationwide Inpatient Sample
Authors: Adil Malik M. , Vidal Gabriel , Beslow Lauren A.
Published: April 2016

Background and Purpose—

Studies have demonstrated differences in clinical outcomes in adult patients with stroke admitted on weekdays versus weekends. The study’s objective was to determine whether a weekend impacts clinical outcomes in children with ischemic stroke and hemorrhagic stroke.

Methods—

Children aged 1 to 18 years admitted to US hospitals from 2002 to 2011 with a primary discharge diagnosis of ischemic stroke or hemorrhagic stroke were identified by
International Classification of Disease
, 9th Revision, codes. Logistic regression estimated odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals for in-hospital mortality and discharge to a nursing facility among children admitted on weekends (Saturday and Sunday) versus weekdays (Monday to Friday), adjusting for potential confounders.

Results—

Of 8467 children with ischemic stroke, 28% were admitted on a weekend. Although children admitted on weekends did not have a higher in-hospital mortality rate than those admitted on weekdays (4.1% versus 3.3%;
P
=0.4), children admitted on weekends had a higher rate of discharge to a nursing facility (25.5% versus 18.6%;
P
=0.003). After adjusting for age, sex, and confounders, the odds of discharge to a nursing facility remained increased among children admitted on weekends (odds ratio, 1.5; 95% confidence interval, 1.1–1.9;
P
=0.006). Of 10 919 children with hemorrhagic stroke, 25.3% were admitted on a weekend. Children admitted on weekends had a higher rate of in-hospital mortality (12% versus 8%;
P
=0.006). After adjusting for age, sex, and confounders, the odds of in-hospital mortality remained higher among children admitted on weekends (odds ratio, 1.4; 95% confidence interval, 1.1–1.9;
P
=0.04).

Conclusions—

There seems to be a weekend effect for children with ischemic and hemorrhagic strokes. Quality improvement initiatives should examine this phenomenon prospectively.
Mining Parallel Corpora from Sina Weibo and Twitter
Authors: Ling Wang , Marujo Luís , Dyer Chris , Black Alan W. , Trancoso Isabel
Published: April 2016

Microblogs such as Twitter, Facebook, and Sina Weibo (China's equivalent of Twitter) are a remarkable linguistic resource. In contrast to content from edited genres such as newswire, microblogs contain discussions of virtually every topic by numerous individuals in different languages and dialects and in different styles. In this work, we show that some microblog users post “self-translated” messages targeting audiences who speak different languages, either by writing the same message in multiple languages or by retweeting translations of their original posts in a second language. We introduce a method for finding and extracting this naturally occurring parallel data. Identifying the parallel content requires solving an alignment problem, and we give an optimally efficient dynamic programming algorithm for this. Using our method, we extract nearly 3M Chinese–English parallel segments from Sina Weibo using a targeted crawl of Weibo users who post in multiple languages. Additionally, from a random sample of Twitter, we obtain substantial amounts of parallel data in multiple language pairs. Evaluation is performed by assessing the accuracy of our extraction approach relative to a manual annotation as well as in terms of utility as training data for a Chinese–English machine translation system. Relative to traditional parallel data resources, the automatically extracted parallel data yield substantial translation quality improvements in translating microblog text and modest improvements in translating edited news content.
Gray Box Optimization for Mk Landscapes (NK Landscapes and MAX-kSAT)
Authors: Whitley L. Darrell , Chicano Francisco , Goldman Brian W.
Published: April 2016

This article investigates Gray Box Optimization for pseudo-Boolean optimization problems composed of M subfunctions, where each subfunction accepts at most k variables. We will refer to these as Mk Landscapes. In Gray Box Optimization, the optimizer is given access to the set of M subfunctions. We prove Gray Box Optimization can efficiently compute hyperplane averages to solve non-deceptive problems in [Formula: see text] time. Bounded separable problems are also solved in [Formula: see text] time. As a result, Gray Box Optimization is able to solve many commonly used problems from the evolutional computation literature in [Formula: see text] evaluations. We also introduce a more general class of Mk Landscapes that can be solved using dynamic programming and discuss properties of these functions. For certain type of problems Gray Box Optimization makes it possible to enumerate all local optima faster than brute force methods. We also provide evidence that randomly generated test problems are far less structured than those found in real-world problems.
Kinship Transition and Political Polarization: The Spread of Radicalism in the Swiss Alps
Authors: Guzzi-Heeb Sandro
Published: April 2016

Detailed analysis shows that cultural change did not emerge as a general and unilateral revolutionary process in the Swiss Alps, as many studies have suggested, but as strains within certain political, religious, social, or sexual milieus. What occurred was a growing diversification of social groups rather than a global transformation. Marriages between relatives became, especially in the nineteenth century, special relationships within these milieus, reinforcing political or ideological solidarities. Nor was politics the decisive factor in the restructuring of kinship networks; social and economic perspectives were also important. Economic change, social mobility, class, and sexual behavior, for example, certainly contributed to the re-definition of kinship reproduction.
Crimes Committed by U.S. Soldiers in Europe, 1945–1946
Authors: Kehoe Thomas J. , Kehoe E. James
Published: April 2016

Accounts from victims and observers, including new research in the U.S. National Archives and the Bavarian National Archives, suggest that American soldiers committed crimes against persons—especially rape and various forms of assault—and against property in Europe after World War II more often than statistics about charges and prosecutions at the time indicated. More importantly, previously unexamined statistical summaries of crimes committed by American troops, as recorded by the U.S. Provost Marshal, provide unprecedented quantitative information about these crimes in the European Theater of Operations (eto) during the first postwar year, May 1945 to June 1946. The absolute number of crimes decreased as the number of troops declined, but the rate of crime (number per 10,000 troops) increased during the same period.
Visualizing the Evolution of Programming Languages
Authors: Valverde Sergi
Published: April 2016

The study of cultural evolutionary patterns, particularly when dealing with artifacts, is constrained by a lack of powerful quantitative methods. In this work, the project team shows that a simple network approach can reconstruct phylogenetic trees from existing databases of recorded artifact influences. They created novel network tools to visualize the large-scale evolution of programming languages. The simple idea of trees of influence can be extended to many other fields beyond the study of programming languages, offering a new theoretical framework to rigorously quantify cultural and technological evolution.
Property, Control and Separated Human Biomaterials
Authors: Maddox Neil
Published: April 2016

This article examines the relationship between the existence of control rights and property in separated human biomaterials. Much of the theory as to what constitutes property is examined and it is contended that Article 22 of the Convention on Human Rights and Biomedicine does not presuppose property in such materials. An analysis is undertaken of the case-law relating to control and property in sperm and embryos from the uk, Australia and the us and the shortcomings of utilising the property paradigm in these disputes are highlighted.
Allopolyploid speciation in Siberian Dactylorhiza (Orchidaceae, Orchidoideae)
Authors: EFIMOV PETR G. , PHILIPPOV EVGENIJ G. , KRIVENKO DENNIS A.
Published: April 2016

Morphological and allozyme analyses of Siberian dactylorchids have revealed the presence of a new, previously undescribed allopolyploid that is described here as species new to science. The genetic constitution as revealed by allozyme analysis of this species confirms that its parents are the diploid Siberian D. fuchsii and D. incarnata, and it is 2n=80, representing the first such count from the Asiatic Russia. In most literature surveys of Siberia, the new species has been identified as D. baltica, which is different in the allele composition of the pgi locus. Morphologically, both allotetraploids are similar; D. sibirica is distinguishable due to the absence of spots on the leaves and a narrower lip with narrower lateral lobes. A brief summary of Dactylorhiza allopolyploids from Siberia (Russia) is presented.
A new species, Stemonitis sichuanensis, and a newly recorded species, Stemonitis marjana (Myxogastria) from China
Authors: BO ZHANG , YU LI
Published: April 2016

A new species, Stemonitis sichuanensis, collected in Gexigou National Natural Reserve, Sichuan province, China, is described herein. This new species has a columella that usually ends in an ovoid to triangular expansion at the apex of the sporotheca and small spores (about 6–7 μm in diam.). We present a scanning electron micrograph study of S. sichuanensis and a key to the species in the genus Stemonitis. Holotype specimens of S. sichuanensis are deposited in the Herbarium of the Mycological Institute of Jilin Agricultural University (HMJAU), Changchun, China. We also report a new record of another species of Stemonitis, S. marjana Y. Yamam., in this paper, specimens of which are also deposited in the HMJAU.
Hurricane Intensity Predictability
Authors: Kieu Chanh Q. , Moon Zachary
Published: April 2016

Weather has long been projected to possess limited predictability due to the inherent chaotic nature of the atmosphere; small changes in initial conditions could lead to an entirely different state of the atmosphere after some period of time. Given such a limited range of predictability of atmospheric flows, a natural question is, how far in advance can we predict a hurricane’s intensity? In this study, it is shown first that the predictability of a hurricane’s intensity at the 4–5-day lead times is generally determined more by the large-scale environment than by a hurricane’s initial conditions. This result suggests that future improvement in hurricane longer-range intensity forecasts by numerical models will be most realized as a result of improvement in the large-scale environment rather than in the storm’s initial state. At the mature stage of a hurricane, direct estimation of the leading Lyapunov exponent using an axisymmetric model reveals, nevertheless, the existence of a chaotic attractor in the phase space of the hurricane scales. This finding of a chaotic maximum potential intensity (MPI) attractor provides direct information about the saturation of a hurricane’s intensity errors around 8 m s−1, which prevents the absolute intensity errors at the mature stage from being reduced below this threshold. The implication of such intensity error saturation to the limited range of hurricane intensity forecasts will be also discussed.
NASA’s Hurricane and Severe Storm Sentinel (HS3) Investigation
Authors: Braun Scott A. , Newman Paul A. , Heymsfield Gerald M.
Published: April 2016

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s (NASA) Hurricane and Severe Storm Sentinel (HS3) investigation was a multiyear field campaign designed to improve understanding of the physical processes that control hurricane formation and intensity change, specifically the relative roles of environmental and inner-core processes. Funded as part of NASA’s Earth Venture program, HS3 conducted 5-week campaigns during the hurricane seasons of 2012–14 using the NASA Global Hawk aircraft, along with a second Global Hawk in 2013 and a WB-57f aircraft in 2014. Flying from a base at Wallops Island, Virginia, the Global Hawk could be on station over storms for up to 18 h off the East Coast of the United States and up to about 6 h off the western coast of Africa. Over the 3 years, HS3 flew 21 missions over nine named storms, along with flights over two nondeveloping systems and several Saharan air layer (SAL) outbreaks. This article summarizes the HS3 experiment, the missions flown, and some preliminary findings related to the rapid intensification and outflow structure of Hurricane Edouard (2014) and the interaction of Hurricane Nadine (2012) with the SAL.
Quantifying the Roles of Changing Albedo, Emissivity, and Energy Partitioning in the Impact of Irrigation on Atmospheric Heat Content
Authors: Pryor S. C. , Sullivan R. C. , Wright T.
Published: April 2016

Introduction of irrigated agriculture changes the partitioning of the surface energy flux between sensible and latent heat (H vs LE) and alters the albedo α and emissivity ε. In the absence of changes in the radiation components of the surface energy balance, the change in the Bowen ratio due to irrigation typically suppresses the local air temperature T but increases the total near-surface atmospheric heat content (as measured using equivalent potential temperature θe). While the effect of irrigation on surface energy partitioning due to enhanced surface and subsurface water availability has long been acknowledged, the roles of associated changes in ε and α have received less attention, and the scales and magnitudes of these effects remain uncertain. A new methodology designed for application to in situ and remote sensing data is presented and used to demonstrate that the net impact of irrigation on T and θe is strongly dependent on the regional climate, land cover in surrounding areas, and the amount of irrigation in the upwind fetch. The results suggest that the impact of the radiative forcing terms on net available energy is not negligible and may amplify or offset the impact from changed energy partitioning on T and θe depending on the specific regional climate and land cover.
Global Meteorological Drought: A Synthesis of Current Understanding with a Focus on SST Drivers of Precipitation Deficits
Authors: Schubert Siegfried D. , Stewart Ronald E. , Wang Hailan , Barlow Mathew , Berbery Ernesto H. , Cai Wenju , Hoerling Martin P. , Kanikicharla Krishna K. , Koster Randal D. , Lyon Bradfield , Mariotti Annarita , Mechoso Carlos R. , Müller Omar V. , Rodriguez-Fonseca Belen , Seager Richard , Seneviratne Sonia I. , Zhang Lixia , Zhou Tianjun
Published: April 2016

Drought affects virtually every region of the world, and potential shifts in its character in a changing climate are a major concern. This article presents a synthesis of current understanding of meteorological drought, with a focus on the large-scale controls on precipitation afforded by sea surface temperature (SST) anomalies, land surface feedbacks, and radiative forcings. The synthesis is primarily based on regionally focused articles submitted to the Global Drought Information System (GDIS) collection together with new results from a suite of atmospheric general circulation model experiments intended to integrate those studies into a coherent view of drought worldwide. On interannual time scales, the preeminence of ENSO as a driver of meteorological drought throughout much of the Americas, eastern Asia, Australia, and the Maritime Continent is now well established, whereas in other regions (e.g., Europe, Africa, and India), the response to ENSO is more ephemeral or nonexistent. Northern Eurasia, central Europe, and central and eastern Canada stand out as regions with few SST-forced impacts on precipitation on interannual time scales. Decadal changes in SST appear to be a major factor in the occurrence of long-term drought, as highlighted by apparent impacts on precipitation of the late 1990s “climate shifts” in the Pacific and Atlantic SST. Key remaining research challenges include (i) better quantification of unforced and forced atmospheric variability as well as land–atmosphere feedbacks, (ii) better understanding of the physical basis for the leading modes of climate variability and their predictability, and (iii) quantification of the relative contributions of internal decadal SST variability and forced climate change to long-term drought.
Interannual Shift of the Tropical Upper-Tropospheric Trough and Its Influence on Tropical Cyclone Formation over the Western North Pacific
Authors: Wang Chao , Wu Liguang
Published: April 2016

The east–west migration of the tropical upper-tropospheric trough (TUTT) on the interannual time scale and its influence on tropical cyclone (TC) formation over the western North Pacific (WNP) is investigated in this study. Climatologically, the TUTT can be identified from 100 to 400 hPa with a relative vorticity maximum between 150 and 200 hPa. In addition to the strong westerly vertical wind shear in the south flank of the TUTT, this study shows that the cold-core system is associated with low relative humidity and subsidence to the east of the trough axis. As a result, the TC formation is enhanced (suppressed) in the eastern portion of the WNP when the TUTT shifts eastward (westward) on the interannual time scale. The interannual TUTT shift is closely associated with the SST anomalies in the central and eastern tropical Pacific or ENSO phases. The warm (cold) phase of ENSO corresponds to the eastward (westward) shift of the TUTT. The physical factors found to be responsible for the influence of ENSO on TC formation can be associated with the east–west shift of the TUTT. It is shown that the interannual variations of TC formation in the eastern part of the WNP basin are closely associated with the east–west shift of the TUTT due to the associated environmental conditions that are generally not favorable for TC formation.
An Object-Based Forecast Verification Tool for Synoptic-Scale Rossby Waveguides
Authors: Giannakaki Paraskevi , Martius Olivia
Published: April 2016

An accurate representation of synoptic-scale Rossby waves in numerical weather forecast models is very important as these waves are closely linked to weather formation at the surface. Enhanced potential vorticity (PV) gradients at the tropopause levels act as waveguides for synoptic-scale Rossby waves, so spatial errors in the waveguides imply errors in the amplification and propagation of Rossby waves. This paper focuses on evaluating the forecast representation of these waveguides and presents an object-based forecast verification tool. In both forecast and the verification data, Rossby waveguide objects are defined based on enhanced PV gradient fields on isentropic surfaces. The tool automatically pairs the complex objects, compares their properties, and assesses the number of objects without a matching partner in either the forecast or the reanalysis. In the last step, error measures are calculated for the area and the location of the objects. As proof-of-concept application of the method for the year 2008, five lead times of the Integrated Forecast System (IFS) from the ECMWF are compared with the ECMWF reanalysis dataset. The majority of the waveguide objects are found to be in the correct position, and there are no systematic positional errors; however, the forecast objects and hence the areas of enhanced PV gradients are smaller.
Tracing Spasmodic Dysphonia
Authors: Lorch Marjorie Perlman , Whurr Renata
Published: April 2016

Objectives:

Since the mid–20th century, one citation is given historical priority as the first description of spasmodic dysphonia (SD): Ludwig Traube’s 1871 case of the “spastic form of nervous hoarseness.” Our objective is to understand how this case serves as the foundation of understanding laryngeal movement disorders.

Methods:

The original German paper was located and translated. Bibliographical and bibliometric methods are used to determine the citation history of this original source over the past 140 years.

Results:

Although secondary citations in contemporary publications typically credit Traube for establishing the clinical entity SD, his case does not conform to currently accepted diagnostic features. Citation patterns indicate the source of Traube’s priority is publications by Arnold and Luchsinger, mid–20th-century ENT clinicians, particularly their influential 1965 textbook used to train US and UK clinicians on voice disorders for several generations.

Conclusions:

Sometimes secondary citations in medical literature lead to the inadvertent perpetuation of factual misrepresentation. The clinical picture of Traube’s original case does not represent what clinicians would recognize as SD today. The rich 19th-century literature on voice disorders is a valuable resource for present day clinicians.
Combined Surgical Approach to Giant Cholesteatoma
Authors: Cazzador Diego , Favaretto Niccolò , Zanoletti Elisabetta , Martini Alessandro
Published: April 2016

Objectives:

Cholesteatomas can grow to a remarkable size before clinically making their presence felt. Managing giant cholesteatomas and their complications can become a challenge for the otological surgeon.

Methods:

We describe a case of a giant congenital cholesteatoma of the mastoid in an adult. The lesion extended to the sigmoid sinus, jugular bulb, carotid canal, occipital condyle, and the lateral portion of the first cervical vertebra. Surgical excision was performed using a combined microscopic and endoscopic surgical approach.

Results:

Our combined surgical technique enabled a more accurate removal of the cholesteatoma than a microscopic approach alone, with no surgical complications or damage to the structures affected by the disease.

Conclusions:

Using endoscopic instruments to manage giant cholesteatomas can help to avoid complications and improve surgical radicality.
Developing a broad categorisation scheme to describe risk factors for mental illness, for use in prevention policy and planning
Authors: Furber Gareth , Leach Matthew , Guy Sophie , Segal Leonie
Published: April 2016

Objectives:

The prevention of mental illness involves identifying and modifying those characteristics and exposures of an individual that threaten their mental health – commonly referred to as risk factors. Existing categorisations of risk factors for mental illness are either limited in their scope or oversimplified in their description. As part of a large mental health workforce and service planning project, we set out to develop a more detailed and comprehensive categorisation scheme to describe risk factors for mental illness.

Methods:

We conducted a rapid review of MEDLINE and Google Scholar for meta-analytic studies that examined the characteristics and exposures that typify the population with mental illness in order to identify and categorise potential risk factors.

Results:

The search uncovered 1628 relevant studies, from which 10 primary and 23 secondary categories of risk factors were identified, ranging from genetic and biomedical to psychological and sociocultural. The review revealed interesting distortions in the focus of the literature, with the majority of studies focused on a few disorders (schizophrenia, depression and neurodegenerative disorders) and genetic, psychological and physiological risks. In contrast, environmental (e.g. media exposure) and occupational (e.g. employee health) were under-represented.

Conclusion:

The categorisation scheme developed in this paper is a step towards a more detailed taxonomy of risk factors for mental illness; this will be most useful in guiding clinicians, researchers and policy-makers in driving the prevention agenda forward.
The ‘comfort women’ issue and the embedded culture of sexual violence in contemporary Japan
Authors: Kazue Muta
Published: April 2016

For over two decades, survivors of Japanese military sexual slavery during the Asia-Pacific War, euphemistically called ‘comfort women’ ( ianfu), have been demanding the Japanese government take responsibility for past atrocities to restore their dignity. They have yet to obtain a satisfactory response; indeed, their demands have frequently been met with verbal attacks from the right-wing, including influential politicians. This article seeks to identify and explain some of the reasons why the problem has remained a highly controversial, but stubbornly unresolved issue. It begins by offering a brief history of the issue and then maps out the contemporary controversy. It shows that right-wing attacks should be understood as stemming from a systemic and deeply embedded bifurcation of women in Japanese society that allows the adoration of some women to comfortably coexist with misogyny, powerful rape myths, and a porn culture. These deeply permeate many areas of society, including its courts.
Class Social Situation and Cultural Value Prediction Factors of the Academic Entitlement of College Students
Authors: Hong Fu-Yuan , Huang Der-Hsiang , Lin Min-Pei , Lin Hung-Yu
Published: April 2016

This study measured the level of academic entitlement in college students using a performance promotion goal questionnaire, an academic entitlement group norm questionnaire, a cultural value orientation questionnaire, and an academic entitlement questionnaire, with 297 college students. The research findings of this study could be used to identify teachers’ behavior and class situation factors that could significantly predict the academic entitlement of college students. The academic entitlement group norm could be regarded as a normative mechanism affecting the relationship between individualism and academic entitlement, as well as between performance promotion goals and academic entitlement. Finally, the research results were discussed, and relevant suggestions were proposed for schools, teachers, and future research.
Reform With Reinvestment: Values and Tensions in Gentrifying Urban Schools
Authors: Siegel-Hawley Genevieve , Thachik Stefani , Bridges Kimberly
Published: April 2016

As cities across the country experience an influx of White and middle- to upper-class residents, new opportunities for the integration of urban schools emerge. Yet crucial challenges persist even when equity and inclusion are a focus for new stakeholders. This article explores the story of a largely White group of parents committed to investing in and reforming their gentrifying neighborhood’s elementary school. Given the numerous tensions that ensued, fostering leadership, equity, and intercultural awareness remains vital to ensuring that the new urban diversity also produces just and inclusive schools.
African Democracy and Political Exploitation: An Appraisal of Xenophobia and the Removal of the Rhodes Statue in South Africa
Authors: Kangwa Jonathan
Published: April 2016

In recent years, there have been numerous tragic incidents resulting from the special vulnerability of migrants in Africa and Europe. In South Africa, threats against foreign nationals have been precipitated by the myth that their presence contributes to high unemployment levels in the country. This development has led many observers to turn their attention to the state of democracy in Africa. The present article examines the underlying causes of both the recent xenophobic attacks on foreign nationals and the removal of the Rhodes statue at the University of Cape Town. First, the felling of the Rhodes statue is analysed. Thereafter, the problem of xenophobic attacks by black South Africans on foreign nationals in townships is examined. The article argues that xenophobia and the removal of the Rhodes statue are both forms of protest against political oppression and economic exploitation in South Africa. Lastly, the article proposes an African-Christian model of political praxis that re-affirms the Christian mandate to make positive contributions to the creation of a life-giving democracy in South Africa.
Pentecostalisation of Mainline Churches in Africa: The Case Of The United Church of Zambia
Authors: Kangwa Jonathan
Published: April 2016

The spread of Pentecostal-charismatic churches is changing the Christian landscape in Africa. In the process mainline churches, including the Roman Catholic Church, are getting transformed. The present article considers the impact of the Pentecostal-charismatic movement on one African mainline church, namely the United Church of Zambia (UCZ). Based on relevant research and using social change theory as an analytical tool, the article concludes that the Pentecostal-charismatic movement in Africa is challenging mainline churches to redefine ways in which they do mission and respond to people’s spiritual, physical, social, and economic needs.
Vito Mancuso in English: Presenting the Thought of a Contemporary Radical Catholic Theologian and Philosopher to the English-Speaking World
Authors: Simuț Corneliu C.
Published: April 2016

Vito Mancuso is an Italian theologian and philosopher of religion, who deflects from traditional Catholic theology with the intention to draft a new perspective on how theology should be understood, not only in the academy but also in public and private life. This is why he resorts to Hegelian concepts, which redefine most of what traditional theology has held dear throughout history, with a specific focus on how to turn theology from ideas defined by divinity to notions explained by anthropology. A prolific writer, Mancuso has written almost one book per year for the past decade or so, while he is also very active in the media by giving interviews and writing short articles for famous Italian newspapers, such as La repubblica. In all his endeavors, Mancuso attempts to provide contemporary society with a view of God which is essentially human and profoundly anthropologic in nature in the hope that such an understanding of God will make sense of humanity’s current issues and struggles. Despite the rather controversial fame he acquired in Italy, Mancuso is virtually unknown to the English-speaking public, so this paper is an attempt to present him to those who are not only versed in English theology and philosophy of religion, but also to those who still believe that theology and philosophy of religion may be valuable instruments for the information and transformation of today’s society.
Doing and undoing gender in innovation: Femininities and masculinities in innovation processes
Authors: Pecis Lara
Published: April 2016

Despite the rising interest in the intertwining of individuals, organizations and institutions in innovation research, scant attention has been paid to the ways that their relations produce and reproduce specific gender dynamics throughout the innovation process. Innovation research has been characterized by a gender blindness that conceals the gendered nature of innovation processes. This article draws on the material collected through an ethnographic investigation conducted in two research organizations to illustrate how innovation processes are gendered when specific forms of masculinities and femininities are constructed, enacted and resisted by men and women. This article contributes towards developing a gendered understanding of innovation by introducing the term ‘positions of displacement’ to signal the fluidity and messiness of doings and undoings of femininities and masculinities through innovation practices.
Reforming the judiciary through standards: agency empowerment and centre (re)building in Italy, 2001–2015
Authors: Piana Daniela
Published: April 2016

The Italian judiciary has been under the spotlight for more than two decades. The key criticism addressed to it has been the lack of organizational capacity, which is reflected in the trial time frame. After 2000, European institutions launched a new and comprehensive policy stream, targeting the administrative and organizational capacities of courts and public prosecutor offices. The pivotal policy instrument is represented by standards and soft law in general. By referring to four case studies, analysed in depth on the basis of a qualitative approach, this work engages in a critical appraisal of the New Public Management-inspired judicial policies and the way in which they have been implemented in the judicial sector in Italy.

Points for practitioners

This article makes a point about the structural and institutional conditions that turn out as pivotal factors to ensure an effective and efficient governance by standards. In other terms, the argument deployed herein concerns the function of a regulative agency, which might have the shape and the format of a ministerial unit, where the uniformity and the equality of the services delivered by a public institution or a network of public institutions are the outcome of the implementation of legally binding and non-legally binding norms. This is a key point, then, for public officers serving not only in the judicial sector.
Some improvements on Sun–Chen’s one-parameter plasticity model for fibrous composites – Part I: Constitutive modelling for tension–compression asymmetry response
Authors: Wang Jie , Xiao Yi
Published: April 2016

Herein, a one-parameter plasticity model proposed by Sun and Chen [Sun CT and Chen JL. A simple flow rule for characterizing nonlinear behavior of fiber composites. J Compos Mater 1989; 23: 1009–1020] demonstrates features that make it highly attractive for characterizing non-linear responses of fibrous composites. However, a detailed exploitation of the model’s potential has been halted by unresolved problems that include tension–compression asymmetry in stress–strain curves, FEM implementation as well as optimal parameters determination, which are addressed in this investigation as well as proposed solutions are presented. The major focus in Part I of this three-part study was devoted to developing a simple model for predicting the tension–compression asymmetry in stress–strain curves for fibrous composites, which was based on Sun and Chen’s one-parameter plasticity model. A generalized Hill yield criterion was proposed from combinations of the Drucker–Prager yield criterion that considers the effect of hydrostatic pressure for isotropic materials and the Hill yield criterion suitable for anisotropic materials. By incorporating the yield strength-differential effect on the plastic flow rule in composite laminates, the one-parameter plasticity model was extended to a strength-differential effect-incorporated model. The improved model has been calibrated and validated by off-axis tension and compression tests on unidirectional carbon/epoxy (IM600/Q133) composite laminates. Results verified that the proposed model captured the complex tension–compression asymmetry in observed non-linear responses of stress–strain curves.
Effect of waste polyethylene terephthalate content on the durability and mechanical properties of composites with tire rubber matrix
Authors: Cosnita Mihaela , Cazan Cristina , Duta Anca
Published: April 2016

The paper investigates new composites fully based on wastes of polyethylene terephthalate, rubber, high-density polyethylene, and wood, aiming at multifunctional, environmental-friendly materials, for indoor and outdoor applications. The rubber: polyethylene terephthalate: high-density polyethylene: wood ratio and compression molding temperatures are optimized considering the output mechanical properties, focusing on increasing the waste polyethylene terephthalate content. To investigate the durability in the working conditions, the water-stable composites, with good tensile and compression strengths were exposed to surfactant systems, saline aerosols, and ultraviolet radiations. The results prove that surfactant immersion improves the interfaces and the mechanical properties and a pre-conditioning step involving the dodecyltrimethylammonium bromide surfactant is recommended, prior application. The interfaces and the bulk composites were investigated by X-ray diffraction, Fourier-transform infrared, differential scanning calorimetry, contact angle measurements, scanning electron microscopy, atomic force microscopy, to identify the properties that influence the mechanical behavior and durability. The composites containing 30% of polyethylene terephthalate, obtained at 160℃ and 190℃ have a good combination of mechanical properties and durability that is enhanced by the plasticizing effect of water and surfactants. The compressive strength of the composite processed at 190℃ was 51.2 MPa and the value increased to 58.4 MPa after water immersion. The ultraviolet and saline exposure slightly diminished this effect; however, long time testing (120 h) ended up with values higher than those corresponding to the pristine composite: 55.3 MPa after ultraviolet and 57.1 MPa after saline exposure.