bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Academic Language as a Predictor of Reading Comprehension in Monolingual Spanish‐Speaking Readers: Evidence From Chilean Early Adolescents
Authors: Meneses Alejandra , Uccelli Paola , Santelices María Verónica , Ruiz Marcela , Acevedo Daniela , Figueroa Javiera
Published: June 2017

Although literacy achievement has improved in Chile, adolescents’ underperformance in reading comprehension is still a serious concern. In English, core academic‐language skills (CALS) have been found to significantly predict reading comprehension, even controlling for academic vocabulary knowledge.CALSare high‐utility language skills that support reading comprehension across school content areas. Guided by an operational definition of SpanishCALS(S‐CALS), three goals drove this study: to develop two psychometrically reliable tests, the S‐CALSInstrument and the Spanish Academic Vocabulary (S‐AVoc) Test; to explore the dimensionality of core academic‐language proficiencies, as measured by these two tests; and to examine the contribution of core academic‐language proficiencies to reading comprehension. A cross‐sectional sample of 810 Chilean students (grades 4–8) participated in four assessments that measured standardized reading comprehension, word‐reading fluency, Spanish academic vocabulary, and S‐CALS. Using classical test theory and item response theory analyses, results yielded robust reliability evidence for both instruments. Consistent with prior research, S‐CALSand academic vocabulary scores displayed upward trends in higher grades yet considerable within‐grade variability. Confirmatory factor analysis revealed that S‐CALSand S‐AVoc were best conceptualized as part of a higher order construct, the Spanish core academic‐language and vocabulary skills (S‐CALVS). The aggregated S‐CALVSscores predicted reading comprehension, beyond the contribution of grade, school factors, and word‐reading fluency. This study advances our scientific understanding ofCALSas relevant for adolescent literacy beyond the English language. The high‐utility school‐relevant language and vocabulary skills offer promising tools to inform and evaluate innovative reading comprehension interventions for Spanish‐speaking adolescents.
A new VLAD‐based control chart for detecting surgical outcomes
Authors: Yue Jin , Lai Xin , Liu Liu , Lai Paul B. S.
Published: June 2017

The timely detection of surgical quality changes is becoming increasingly important. Variable life‐adjusted display (VLAD) has a wide range of applications in the medical field. However, the control limits of VLAD are not defined; thus, the charts alone cannot reveal whether surgical quality underwent a significant change. This paper proposes a new risk‐adjusted exponentially weighted moving average VLAD (RAEV) chart and provides a control limit that can be used with the VLAD. The RAEV chart is designed to detect shifts in the odds ratios of patients' surgical risk. Simulation is used to demonstrate that the proposed RAEV chart efficiently detects shifts of various magnitudes, and an example is provided to illustrate the implementation of the RAEV control limits in a VLAD chart. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
2,5‐Dihydro‐1,2‐oxaphosphol‐2‐ium Ions, as Highly Reactive Phosphorus‐Centered Electrophiles: Generation, NMR Study, and Reactions
Authors: Lozovskiy Stanislav V. , Ivanov Alexander Yu. , Bogachenkov Alexander S. , Vasilyev Aleksander V.
Published: June 2017

Diphenyl allenyl phosphonates are cyclized into 2,5‐dihydro‐1,2‐oxaphosphol‐2‐ium ions in Brønsted acids (TfOH, H2SO4, FSO3H). These species have been studied by means of 1H, 13C, 31P NMR. The cations react with various nucleophiles (H2O, MeOH, EtOH, Et2NH, PhH) on the phosphorus atom. The obtained products are very labile and undergo decomposition. Contrary to Brønsted acids, under the action of Lewis acids AlX3 (X=Cl, Br), these diphenyl allenyl phosphonates lead to another kind of heterocycles, 2,5‐dihydrobenzo[f][1,2]oxaphosphepine‐2‐oxides.
Liquid‐Metal Indium Catalysis for Direct Dehydrogenative Conversion of Methane to Higher Hydrocarbons
Authors: Nishikawa Yuta , Ogihara Hitoshi , Yamanaka Ichiro
Published: June 2017

Catalysts for dehydrogenative conversion of methane (DCM) to higher hydrocarbons are worthy of attention. Indium supported on silica (In/SiO2) was found for effective catalyst for the DCM reaction above 1023 K. Products were ethane, ethylene, acetylene, propylene, benzene, toluene, naphthalene and hydrogen. A highest selectivity of sum of products was 96 % at 1098 K and a steady‐state sum yield was 2.1 % with 63 % selectivity at 1173 K. Characterization studies using temperature‐programed X‐ray diffraction (TP‐XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) indicated that the working state of indium catalyst was liquid metal. Effects of reaction temperature on the product distribution and studies of temperature‐programed‐reaction (TPR) indicated that liquid‐metal indium activated methane and selectively converted to ethane. Higher hydrocarbons were produced from ethane in the gas phase without catalyst.
Direct Conversion of Carbohydrates into 5‐Ethoxymethylfurfural (EMF) and 5‐Hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) catalyzed by Oxomolybdenum complexes
Authors: Pereira Juliana G. , Sousa Sara C. A. , Fernandes Ana C.
Published: June 2017

This work reports the first methodology for one‐pot synthesis of 5‐ethoxymethylfurfural (EMF) and 5‐hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) from various carbohydrates catalyzed by oxo‐molybdenum complexes. The best results of EMF (53‐60 %) were obtained using a mixture of ethanol/THF (5:2) catalyzed by MoO2Cl2(H2O)2 at 120 °C, after 17 h. This dioxo‐molybdenum complex also promoted the synthesis of EMF from other carbohydrates such as inulin and sucrose. The selective conversion of fructose into HMF was achieved in good yield (75 %) from fructose using MoO2Cl2(H2O)2 in DMSO at 120 °C after 30 minutes. This novel methodology has the advantages of using an inexpensive, environmental friendly and air stable catalyst with an easy preparation.
Symmetric multiprocessing from boot to virtualization
Authors: Denz Robert , Brookes Scott , Osterloh Martin , Kuhn Stephen , Taylor Stephen
Published: June 2017

The x86 multicore processor architecture and the concepts associated with symmetric multiprocessing have become the linchpin of modern operating systems and cloud computing. A solid understanding of these technologies has become critical to any developer entering the field. Unfortunately, the complexity associated with discovering, enabling, using, and virtualizing multiple cores has created a paucity in the available documentation, transferable knowledge, and readable code exemplars. This paper describes our experience in overcoming these hurdles in the design of a from scratch, multi‐core operating system––Bear––for secure and resilient cloud computing. In particular, we trace the intricacies involved in the development of a multi‐core microkernel with an integrated multi‐core hypervisor. By exploring the implementation details, from bootstrapping through core virtualization to process scheduling, this paper aims to fill the knowledge gaps, highlight potential pitfalls, and introduce multicore development in a concise start‐to‐finish exemplar.
Event tree algorithms to generate test sequences for composite Web services
Authors: Endo Andre Takeshi , Simao Adenilso
Published: June 2017

In service‐oriented architecture testing, the behaviour of a composite service and its partner services can be represented as an event graph (model). As test cases are derived from such a model, the Chinese postman problem (CPP) algorithm is applied to cover all edges. Although CPP provides an optimal solution, there is a lack of alternative algorithms to obtain not only a faster execution but also a satisfactory solution. This paper introduces the event tree algorithm (ETA) to generate test cases from event sequence models for Web service compositions. Two strategies are also proposed to improve ETA: First, a greedy strategy to build the tree is defined based on the cost of expanding given edges. Second, redundant elements are eliminated (pruned) in the tree. Four versions of ETA are compared with CPP with respect to test suite size, generation time, number of test sequences, and test sequence length.
Bamboo‐reinforced self‐compacting concrete beams for sustainable construction in rural areas
Authors: Adom‐Asamoah Mark , Osei Banahene Jack , Obeng Jacqueline , Antwi Boasiako Eugene
Published: June 2017

The use of bamboo as longitudinal reinforcement, coupled with the application of self‐compacted concrete (SCC) in the construction industry, may be a promising solution to issues involving sustainable development in developing countries. This study seeks to investigate the flexural performance of bamboo‐reinforced SCC beams with adequate transverse reinforcement. The major design parameters were the shear span‐to‐depth ratio, the percentage of longitudinal reinforcement, and the maximum size of coarse aggregate. The load–deflection curves, serviceability and ultimate failure characteristics, cracking behavior, and ductility measures were evaluated and discussed among tested beams. Results indicated that their structural performance at service and ultimate failure would be adequate when a material reduction factor of three is used with BS 8110 design code. However, to achieve maximum ductility, the level of longitudinal reinforcement should be in range of 2.6–3.1%. Furthermore, an increase in the size of coarse aggregate will greatly impact the degree of ductility.
The impact of a Framework‐aligned science professional development program on literacy and mathematics achievement of K‐3 students
Authors: Paprzycki Peter , Tuttle Nicole , Czerniak Charlene M. , Molitor Scott , Kadervaek Joan , Mendenhall Robert
Published: June 2017

This study investigates the effect of a Framework‐aligned professional development program at the PreK‐3 level. The NSF funded program integrated science with literacy and mathematics learning and provided teacher professional development, along with materials and programming for parents to encourage science investigations and discourse around science in the home. This quasi‐experimental study used a three‐level hierarchical linear model to compare the Renaissance STAR Early Literacy, Reading, and Mathematics scores from 2015 to 2016 of K‐3 students in treatment and control classrooms in a large Midwestern urban school district. The statistically significant results indicate that, on average, every year that a student has a program teacher adds 8.6 points to a student's spring STAR Early Literacy score, 17.0 points to a student's STAR Mathematics score, and 41.4 points to a student's STAR Reading score compared to control students. Implications for early elementary teacher education and policy are discussed. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 54:1174–1196, 2017
Cloudburst, weather bomb or water bomb? A review of terminology for extreme rain events and the media effect
Authors: Harris Andrew J. L. , Lanfranco Massimo
Published: June 2017

For the past four years, we have been tracking the British, French and Italian press to examine the genesis and establishment of a new weather term: the ‘water bomb’ or ‘bomba d'acqua’ in Italian. The term has, today, become established in Italy to describe a cloudburst (‘nubifragio’ in Italian) that is newsworthy. That is, the cloud bursts to produce heavy rain over a populated area within the newspaper catchment to cause localised damage. The term became well established during the stormy and damaging summer of 2014 in Italy, being used 54 times across 64 Italian newspapers over the period of analysis (13 July–16 August 2014). The establishment of the term is interesting, and it shows how terminology can be introduced by the media, without regard for existing terms that are already appropriate. It can also cause confusion due to direct conflict with well‐established terms for the same phenomena or with terms that use the same syntax, such as ‘weather bomb’, but which are used for entirely different phenomena.
Evaluation of the X‐ray distribution of a syringe‐needle type proton‐induced X‐ray source by Geant4 simulation
Authors: Hu Y. , Fukuda H. , Oguri Y.
Published: June 2017

The accelerator‐based syringe needle‐type proton‐induced X‐ray source, which was proposed by the authors in 2013 as an alternative for prostate cancer brachytherapy, has an essential issue in that its dose distribution is affected by many factors, such as the structure of the needle and incident proton beam conditions. In this paper, as a method of evaluating dose distribution, we propose a Geant4 simulation to study the effect of the incident proton beam condition on the spectrum and distribution of X‐ray emission, using experimentally measured proton beam emittance as input data. The results showed that the effect of beam misalignment was significant and confirmed the effectiveness of this method. It is expected that improving this method will clarify the other factors that affect X‐ray distribution, so that finally, we can optimize such factors in designing a special dose distribution for the irradiation of tumors of arbitrary size and shape in the tissue. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Introduction
Authors: Zimmermann Martina
Published: June 2017

The introduction gives an overview on sociopolitical and research-related developments regarding dementia, and attempts explanations for why the interest in dementia of critical scholarship continues to be very limited and particularly focused on caregiver accounts. It illustrates that an understanding of the obvious neglect of dementia patient narratives sheds some light onto the ethical implications and challenges of critically reading such narratives: these narratives seem least of all fit to match classical survivor illness literature, and serious impairment in the ability to tell or understand stories has been taken as motivation to neglect patient narratives. Approaches highlighting the importance of pre-narrative identity and a growing body of psycho-philosophical work demand a closer scrutiny of patient narratives, which would also amplify their author-narrators’ advocacy.
Conclusion
Authors: Zimmermann Martina
Published: June 2017

The conclusion considers the changes both caregiver and patient life-writing have gone through over a thirty-year period. It identifies these changes in a multilanguage approach as, partly, conditioned by the rising number of individuals with dementia and the increasing societal presence of the disease. At the same time, these changes have propelled forward a patient-centred development. More and more patients aim actively to participate in shaping the mainstream dementia discourse, which especially involves shifting notions of selfhood. A deliberation on very recent third-person caregiver narratives, including a graphic novel and a film documentary, highlights that this evolution in patient perception has reached broader societal levels, and promises to shift values in healthcare planning and socio-economic as well as cultural approaches to the condition.
The Quality of MOOCs: How to Improve the Design of Open Education and Online Courses for Learners?
Authors: Stracke Christian M.
Published: June 2017

This paper presents the current status of Open Education and MOOCs and discusses their quality following the main question: How can we introduce new design and evaluation methods and personalization strategies to improve the learning quality of Open Education? First, the dimensions of Open Education are differentiated. Then the dimensions of holistic quality development are transferred to Open Education and discussed for the design of MOOCs leading to recommendations for personalization. A new quality indicator for evaluating the quality of MOOCs is introduced: It is proposed not to measure the traditional drop-out rates but the completion of individual goals and intentions by the MOOC learner. It is concluded that Open Education and MOOCs have got the potential for the next revolution in learning experiences.
Focus on what works and why it works: bridging the gap between research knowledge and practical knowledge
Authors: Van Tartwijk Jan , Kluijtmans Manon
Published: June 2017

None
Experienced vs. inexperienced participants in the lab: do they behave differently?
Authors: Benndorf Volker , Moellers Claudia , Normann Hans-Theo
Published: June 2017

We analyze whether subjects with extensive laboratory experience and first-time participants, who voluntarily registered for the experiment, differ in their behavior. Subjects play four one-shot, two-player games: a trust game, a beauty contest, an ultimatum game, a traveler’s dilemma and, in addition, we conduct a single-player lying task and elicit risk preferences. We find few significant differences. In the trust game, experienced subjects are less trustworthy and they also trust less. Furthermore, experienced subjects submit fewer non-monotonic strategies in the risk elicitation task. We find no differences whatsoever in the other decisions. Nevertheless, the minor differences observed between experienced and inexperienced subjects may be relevant because we document a potential recruitment bias: the share of inexperienced subjects may be lower in the early recruitment waves.
Media Politics in China
Authors: Repnikova Maria
Published: June 2017

Who watches over the party-state? In this engaging analysis, Maria Repnikova reveals the webs of an uneasy partnership between critical journalists and the state in China. More than merely a passive mouthpiece or a dissident voice, the media in China also plays a critical oversight role, one more frequently associated with liberal democracies than with authoritarian systems. Chinese central officials cautiously endorse media supervision as a feedback mechanism, as journalists carve out space for critical reporting by positioning themselves as aiding the agenda of the central state. Drawing on rare access in the field, Media Politics in China examines the process of guarded improvisation that has defined this volatile partnership over the past decade on a routine basis and in the aftermath of major crisis events. Combined with a comparative analysis of media politics in the Soviet Union and contemporary Russia, the book highlights the distinctiveness of Chinese journalist-state relations, as well as the renewed pressures facing them in the Xi era.
Prosecutorial Politics: The ICC's Influence in Colombian Peace Processes, 2003–2017
Authors: Urueña René
Published: June 2017

In August 2016, in Havana, Cuba, the Colombian Government signed a peace agreement with theFuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia-Ejército del Pueblo, FARC-EP, after four years of negotiations. The agreement provided a window of hope that Colombia's fifty-year armed struggle, the longest-running conflict in Latin America, would finally come to a close. One actor in these negotiations, whose considerable influence has been underappreciated, is the Office of the Prosecutor (OTP) of the International Criminal Court (ICC). Colombia has been under preliminary examination by the OTP since 2004. In addition to discharging its investigatory function, the ICC prosecutor has actively influenced the negotiation of two peace processes: first, the 2005 peace process with the paramilitaries; and more recently, the tumultuous negotiations with the FARC. This Comment explores the specific pathways of the OTP's influence in the Colombian peace process, and the broader lessons this episode holds for the ICC's work and for the continuing negotiations in Colombia.
Laminar free shear layer modification using localized periodic heating
Authors: Yeh Chi-An , Munday Phillip M. , Taira Kunihiko
Published: June 2017

The application of local periodic heating for control of a spatially developing shear layer downstream of a finite-thickness splitter plate is examined by numerically solving the two-dimensional Navier–Stokes equations. At the trailing edge of the plate, an oscillatory heat flux boundary condition is prescribed as the thermal forcing input to the shear layer. The thermal forcing introduces a low level of oscillatory surface vorticity flux and baroclinic vorticity at the actuation frequency in the vicinity of the trailing edge. The vortical perturbations produced can independently excite the fundamental instability that accounts for shear layer roll-up as well as the subharmonic instability that encourages the vortex pairing process farther downstream. We demonstrate that the nonlinear dynamics of a spatially developing shear layer can be modified by local oscillatory heat flux as a control input. We believe that this study provides a basic foundation for flow control using thermal-energy-deposition-based actuators such as thermophones and plasma actuators.
Comparison of variational balance models for the rotating shallow water equations
Authors: Dritschel David G. , Gottwald Georg A. , Oliver Marcel
Published: June 2017

We present an extensive numerical comparison of a family of balance models appropriate to the semi-geostrophic limit of the rotating shallow water equations, and derived by variational asymptotics in Oliver (J. Fluid Mech., vol. 551, 2006, pp. 197–234) for small Rossby numbers$Ro$. This family of generalized large-scale semi-geostrophic (GLSG) models contains the$L_{1}$-model introduced by Salmon (J. Fluid Mech., vol. 132, 1983, pp. 431–444) as a special case. We use these models to produce balanced initial states for the full shallow water equations. We then numerically investigate how well these models capture the dynamics of an initially balanced shallow water flow. It is shown that, whereas the$L_{1}$-member of the GLSG family is able to reproduce the balanced dynamics of the full shallow water equations on time scales of$O(1/Ro)$very well, all other members develop significant unphysical high wavenumber contributions in the ageostrophic vorticity which spoil the dynamics.
High precision U/Th dating of the rock paintings at Mt. Huashan, Guangxi, southern China
Authors: Shao Qing-Feng , Pons-Branchu Edwige , Zhu Qiu-Ping , Wang Wei , Valladas Hélène , Fontugne Michel
Published: June 2017

The rock art and the associated natural scenery at 38 sites located in the Zuojiang River valley, in the southwest of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, southern China, were inscribed recently on UNESCO’s World Heritage List. The painted panel at the site of Mt. Huashan is probably the largest known rock art panel in the world, consisting of approximately 1900 identifiable figures and occupying an area of approximately 8000 m2. To determine a precise age on the rock art at Mt. Huashan, 56 secondary carbonate layers above and below the paintings were studied for their mineralogy, oxygen, and carbon isotopic compositions and dated by the 230Th/U method. The 230Th/U dating results demonstrate that ages of the rock paintings can be bracketed between 1856±16 and 1728±41yr BP corresponding to the middle to the end of the Eastern Han dynasty (AD 25 to 220). The results imply that the rock painting practices at Mt. Huashan probably lasted more than a century, and the Zuojiang rock art is younger than that at Baiyunwan and Cangyuan in Yunnan Province by 1 to 10 centuries.
The Company Oracle: Corporate Security and Diviner-Detectives in Angola's Diamond Mines
Authors: Calvão Filipe
Published: June 2017

In 1957, the security force of Angola's colonial diamond mining company recruited African diviners to help them solve a case of diamond theft in Lunda. This event reveals a peculiar convergence of divinatory practices with techniques of corporate surveillance in Lunda's political economy of security. In their overlapping features of secrecy and control, divination and corporate security can be understood as historically aligned evidentiary practices, or what I call “corporate divination.” By examining divinatory rituals in tandem with the “occult” apparatus of corporate surveillance, and the figure of a colonial sorcerer-detective renowned for his “divinatory” prowess, I ask how such seemingly opposed modes of knowledge production eroded or shored up colonial rule. The cultural significance of divination within the context of a mining company, I suggest, exposes the conditions under which a colonial corporation appropriates the social world in which it intervenes, and conversely, the cultural resources that potentially shape or undermine corporate life in a colonial context.
Oil in the Caribbean: Refineries, Mangroves, and the Negative Ecologies of Crude Oil
Authors: Bond David
Published: June 2017

This article links up the disastrous history of fossil fuels with the celebrated ecology of mangroves. Building on ethnographic and historical research in Puerto Rico and St. Croix, it outlines the often neglected but quite consequential place of crude oil in the Caribbean. Following the construction of what became the second largest refinery in the world, I describe how the imperial energy networks of the United States first came to the Caribbean. Troubling a popular origin story of the Caribbean, colonial and industry leaders voiced a robust critique of the plantation in order to justify the introduction of these enclave refineries. Imperial energy networks welcomed an unprecedented problem to the region: coastal oil spills. The scientific and legal response to these spills brought new attention to the vital relationality of mangroves. Rather perversely, the destruction of the mangroves in the Caribbean—in which crude oil played the leading role—opened mangroves up to new forms of knowledge and care. While many claim that fossil fuels helped cultivate a modern disregard for the natural world, I show how the negative ecologies of fossil fuels also instigated new scientific and political appreciations for the liveliness of the natural world. This story of oil in the Caribbean has implications for scholarly debates around the so-called Anthropocene. Against scholarship that looks at the coming disaster of crude oil as an epochal break in thought and politics, this paper instead describes the long history of acknowledging and managing the disastrous qualities of fossil fuels.
Insurgent Rule as Sovereign Mimicry and Mutation: Governance, Kingship, and Violence in Civil Wars
Authors: Klem Bart , Maunaguru Sidharthan
Published: June 2017

This article uses the case of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) to make a conceptual argument about sovereignty. Despite its aura of natural order, sovereignty is ultimately self-referential and thus somewhat arbitrary and potentially unstable. At the heart of this unsteadiness, we posit, lies the paradox between the systematic tenets of rational governance and the capricious potential of sublime violence. Both are highly relevant to the LTTE case: the movement created de facto state institutions to mimic governance, but simultaneously deployed an elaborate transcendental register of sacrifice, meaning, and intractable power wielded by a mythical leader. To capture this paradox, we connect the literature on rebel governance with anthropological debates about divine kingship. We conceptualize sovereignty as a citational practice that involves the adaptation, imitation, and mutation of different idioms of authority: political and religious, modern and traditional, rational and mythical. Understanding sovereignty in this way debunks the idea that insurgent movements are merely lagging behind established states. As sites of mimicry, bricolage, and innovation, they transform the way sovereignty is practiced and understood, thus affecting the frame that sovereignty is.
Debt and Its Attachments: Collateral as an Object of Knowledge in Nineteenth-Century Liberalism
Authors: Suter Mischa
Published: June 2017

This essay partakes in the dialogue between history, anthropology, and social theory on the topic of debt as a social relation. Drawing on sources from nineteenth-century Switzerland, it examines everyday routines of debt collection in liberalism by taking the seized collateral object to the center of historical analysis. It is shown how the attached goods in a debtor's household became an object of knowledge for nineteenth-century framers of law as well as for ordinary debtors. I make use of anthropological theory in order to describe the legal techniques of delineating and extracting collateral, and show how these legal techniques implied specific knowledge practices. I then look at two borderline cases of collateralization: the pawning of mobile goods and the imprisonment of insolvent debtors. Further, I discuss how, by the 1880s, the limits of debt collection were debated, when certain goods were exempt for seizure in a projected federal law. Overall, on an epistemological level, debt collection appears as a double movement: it provided basic tools to untangle property relationships, yet all the while it created new, unpredictable complications. Thus debt collection was a distinctive arena in which the uneasy conceptual relationship between people and things in nineteenth-century liberalism unfolded. From this conceptual node I propose a historical epistemology of the collateral object.
PERFORMANCE AND SURVIVAL OF PERENNIAL RICE DERIVATIVES (ORYZA SATIVA L./ORYZA LONGISTAMINATA) IN LAO PDR
Authors: SAMSON BENJAMIN K. , VORADETH SINGTTY , ZHANG SHILAI , TAO DAYUN , XAYAVONG SISAVANH , KHAMMONE THIRAVONG , DOUANGBOUPHA KHAMSOUK , SIHATHEP VORACHITH , SENGXUA PHENG , PHIMPHACHANHVONGSOD VIENGSAVANH , BOUAHOM BOUNTHONG , JACKSON TAMARA , HARNPICHITVITAYA DOME , HU FENGYI , WADE LEN J.
Published: June 2017

Genotype by environment (G x E) interactions for grain yield were investigated in 13 perennial rice (Oryza sativa L./Oryza longistaminata) derivatives over three sites and 2 years in Lao PDR. Genotype accounted for 29.0% of the total sum of squares, with environment and the G x E interaction responsible for 60.2 and 10.8%, respectively. Cluster analysis identified three environment and six genotype groups, which accounted for 49.7, 98.0 and 42.8% of the E, G and G x E sums of squares, respectively. Principal component axes 1, 2 and 3 accounted for 54.0, 30.6 and 11.7% of the G x E sum of squares, respectively, with PCA1 indicating yield potential, PCA2 timing of cessation of rainfall in the 2011 wet season, and PCA3 environmental stresses affecting regrowth in the 2012 wet season. Genotype groups differed in adaptation to these contrasting conditions. G6 (Line 213, 240 and RD23) was widely adapted to all environments, with G5 (Line 248) being especially adapted to the 2012 environments. G3 and G4 were neutral, though G3 (Line 53) showed some preference for the Na Pok environments. G1 and G2 were poorly adapted everywhere, with the tall and late G1 (Line 11) being especially poor at Na Pok 2011 in a dry finish. While yields were lower in 2012, all derivatives survived the dry season with access to life-saving irrigation. This is promising, as the annual rice RD23 was unable to ratoon under these conditions, and had to be re-sown. Importantly, Line 213, 240 and 248 yielded comparably to RD23 from regrowth in 2012. Development of perennial rice should target rainfed and especially upland environments.
‘A BEACON OF HOPE FOR THE COMMUNITY’: THE ROLE OF CHAVAKALI SECONDARY SCHOOL IN LATE COLONIAL AND EARLY INDEPENDENT KENYA
Authors: SAETEURN MUEY CHING
Published: June 2017

Situated in the densely populated former North Nyanza District of western Kenya, Chavakali secondary school was the site where the colonial regime, the nationalist government, and international ‘developmentalists’ attempted to dictate the nature of education and by extension the place of the rural citizenry during the late 1950s and throughout the 1960s. This goal, however, was not easily achieved because ordinary Kenyans rejected the vocational-agricultural curriculum that school officials and development specialists championed as the ideal education program for rural communities. Chavakali students from Maragoliland, in particular, recognized the inherent contradiction of the Kenyan government's agriculture-as-development model continued from the colonial era – lack of land. Realizing how bankrupt the agrarian development model really was, they used their educational training to enter the wage labor sector on better terms than as simple laborers. Chavakali's nonsensical curriculum thus hardly produced the agrarian revolution that the state hoped would stabilize the countryside in the postcolony.
THE ‘INTERIOR WORLD’ OF THE NINETEENTH-CENTURY MALOTI-DRAKENSBERG MOUNTAINS
Authors: KING RACHEL , CHALLIS SAM
Published: June 2017

Over the last four decades researchers have cast the Maloti-Drakensberg Mountains as a marginal refuge for ‘Bushmen’ amidst constricting nineteenth-century frontiers. Rock art scholarship has expanded on this characterisation of mountains as refugia, focusing on heterogeneous raiding bands forging new cultural identities. Here, we propose another view of the Maloti-Drakensberg: a dynamic political theatre in which polities that engaged in illicit or ‘heterodox’ activities like cattle raiding and hunter-gatherer lifeways set the terms of colonial encounters. We employ the concept of the ‘interior world’ to refigure the region as one fostering subsistence and political behaviours that did not conform to the expectations of colonial authority. Paradoxically, such heterodoxies over time constituted widespread social logics within the Maloti-Drakensberg, and thus became commonplace and meaningful. We synthesise historical and archaeological evidence (new and existing) to illustrate the significance of the nineteenth-century Maloti-Drakensberg, offering a revised southeast-African colonial landscape and directions for future research.
MAKING RAIN, MAKING MAPS: COMPETING GEOGRAPHIES OF WATER AND POWER IN SOUTHWESTERN AFRICA
Authors: MCKITTRICK MEREDITH
Published: June 2017

This article explores the alchemy whereby ritual and political worlds invisible to Europeans were rendered visible on European maps. It begins with a puzzle: representations of southwestern Africa's rivers on those maps bear little resemblance to physical reality as the cartographers would have understood it. Using GIS technology to georeference a series of maps and highlight the placement of rivers on them illustrates the convergence of cartographers’ representations and regional political cosmologies linking power to control over water. Travelers’ accounts and colonial archives illuminate how knowledge was produced and why African ideas about geography were inadvertently embedded in those maps well into the twentieth century. This method opens a window into otherwise-obscured African intellectual history and demonstrates that even something as apparently and unambiguously ‘European’ as modern mapping was the result of on-the-ground negotiations well into the colonial period.
MAU MAU'S ARMY OF CLERKS: COLONIAL MILITARY SERVICE AND THE KENYA LAND FREEDOM ARMY IN KENYA'S NATIONAL IMAGINATION
Authors: PARSONS TIMOTHY H.
Published: June 2017

Scholarly and popular histories of Kenya largely agree that African Second World War veterans played a central role in the Kenya Land Freedom Army. Former African members of the colonial security forces have reinforced these assumptions by claiming to have been covert Mau Mau supporters, either after their discharge, or as serving soldiers. In reality, few Mau Mau generals had actual combat experience. Those who served in the colonial military usually did so in labor units or support arms. It therefore warrants asking why so many Kenyans accept that combat veterans played such a central role in the KLFA and in Kenyan history. Understanding how veterans of the colonial army have become national heroes, both for their wartime service and their supposed leadership of Mau Mau, reveals the capacity of popular history to create more useful and inclusive forms of African nationalism.
Hot and cold executive functions in youth with psychotic symptoms
Authors: MacKenzie L. E. , Patterson V. C. , Zwicker A. , Drobinin V. , Fisher H. L. , Abidi S. , Greve A. N. , Bagnell A. , Propper L. , Alda M. , Pavlova B. , Uher R.
Published: June 2017

Background

Psychotic symptoms are common in children and adolescents and may be early manifestations of liability to severe mental illness (SMI), including schizophrenia. SMI and psychotic symptoms are associated with impairment in executive functions. However, previous studies have not differentiated between ‘cold’ and ‘hot’ executive functions. We hypothesized that the propensity for psychotic symptoms is specifically associated with impairment in ‘hot’ executive functions, such as decision-making in the context of uncertain rewards and losses.

Methods

In a cohort of 156 youth (mean age 12.5, range 7–24 years) enriched for familial risk of SMI, we measured cold and hot executive functions with the spatial working memory (SWM) task (total errors) and the Cambridge Gambling Task (decision-making), respectively. We assessed psychotic symptoms using the semi-structured Kiddie Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia interview, Structured Interview for Prodromal Syndromes, Funny Feelings, and Schizophrenia Proneness Instrument – Child and Youth version.

Results

In total 69 (44.23%) youth reported psychotic symptoms on one or more assessments. Cold executive functioning, indexed with SWM errors, was not significantly related to psychotic symptoms [odds ratio (OR) 1.36, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.85–2.17, p = 0.204). Poor hot executive functioning, indexed as decision-making score, was associated with psychotic symptoms after adjustment for age, sex and familial clustering (OR 2.37, 95% CI 1.25–4.50, p = 0.008). The association between worse hot executive functions and psychotic symptoms remained significant in sensitivity analyses controlling for general cognitive ability and cold executive functions.

Conclusions

Impaired hot executive functions may be an indicator of risk and a target for pre-emptive early interventions in youth.
Neurocognitive subtypes in patients with bipolar disorder and their unaffected siblings
Authors: Russo M. , Van Rheenen T. E. , Shanahan M. , Mahon K. , Perez-Rodriguez M. M. , Cuesta-Diaz A. , Larsen E. , Malhotra A. K. , Burdick K. E
Published: June 2017

Background

Our previous work revealed substantial heterogeneity in the cognitive profile of bipolar disorder (BD) due to the presence of three underlying cognitive subgroups characterized as: globally impaired, selectively impaired, or cognitively intact. In an effort to determine whether these subgroups are differentially related to genetic risk for the illness, we investigated whether cognitive deficits were more pronounced in unaffected siblings (UAS) of BD probands within identified clusters.

Methods

Cluster analysis was used to identify cognitive clusters in BD (N = 60). UAS (N = 49) were classified into groups according to their proband sibling's cluster assignment; comparisons were made across all clusters and healthy controls (HCs; N = 71).

Results

Three cognitive clusters in BD emerged: a globally impaired (36.7%), a selectively impaired (30%), and a cognitively intact cluster (33.3%). UAS showed a qualitatively similar pattern to their BD siblings; UAS of the globally impaired BD cluster showed verbal memory and general cognitive impairments relative to HCs. In contrast, UAS of the other two clusters did not differ from HCs.

Conclusions

This study corroborates findings from prior work regarding the presence of cognitive heterogeneity in BD. UAS of subjects in the globally impaired BD cluster presented with a qualitatively similar cognitive profile to their siblings and performed worse than all other BD clusters and UAS groups. This suggests that inherited risk factors may be contributing to cognitive deficits more notably in one subgroup of patients with BD, pointing toward differential causes of cognitive deficits in discrete subgroups of patients with the disorder.
A material turn in International Relations: the 4x4, intervention and resistance
Authors: Mac Ginty Roger
Published: June 2017

This article explores how analysis of material objects offers insights into international intervention and reactions to that intervention. Building on studies that examine the 4x4 as emblematic of intervention, the article argues that the 4x4 can also be seen as an object of resistance and agency. To do so, it uses the case study of 4x4 usage in Darfur and draws on primary data including interviews and a UN security incident database. The article is mindful of the limitations of a ‘material turn’ in the study of International Relations, especially in relation to how it might encourage us to overlook agency and structural power. While finding new materialism arguments largely convincing, the case study encourages a note of caution and proposes the notion of ‘materialism+’, which allows for the further investigation of the human/non-human interface, but is circumspect about tendencies towards neophilia, dematerialism, and posthumanism.
ppGpp and cytotoxicity diversity in Shiga toxin-producingEscherichia coli(STEC) isolates
Authors: STELLA A. E. , LUZ D. , PIAZZA R. M. F. , SPIRA B.
Published: June 2017

Shiga toxin-producingEscherichia coli(STEC) is a known food pathogen, which main reservoir is the intestine of ruminants. The abundance of different STEC lineages in nature reflect a heterogeneity that is characterised by the differential expression of certain genotypic characteristics, which in turn are influenced by the environmental conditions to which the microorganism is exposed. Bacterial homeostasis and stress response are under the control of the alarmone guanosine tetraphosphate (ppGpp), which intrinsic levels varies across theE. colispecies. In the present study, 50 STEC isolates from healthy sheep were evaluated regarding their ppGpp content, cytotoxicity and other relevant genetic and phenotypic characteristics. We found that the level of ppGpp and cytotoxicity varied considerably among the examined strains. Isolates that harboured thestx2 gene were the least cytotoxic and presented the highest levels of ppGpp. Allstx2 isolates belonged to phylogroup A, while strains that carriedstx1 or bothstx1 andstx2 genes pertained to phylogroup B1. All but twostx2 isolates belonged to thestx2b subtype. Strains that belonged to phylogroup B1 displayed on average low levels of ppGpp and high cytotoxicity. Overall, there was a negative correlation between cytotoxicity and ppGpp.
Folate status in women of childbearing age with obesity: a review
Authors: Maffoni Silvia , De Giuseppe Rachele , Stanford Fatima Cody , Cena Hellas
Published: June 2017

Several studies have described a positive association between elevated BMI and birth defects risk. Data on plasma concentration of folate in pregnant women with obesity have shown values far below those recommended, regardless of diet, while folate levels should increase before pregnancy to reduce neural tube defects. We report a descriptive review of the most recent studies (from 2005 to 2015) to evaluate folate status through a population of women of childbearing age affected by obesity. The literature contains few studies, which present conflicting results regarding folate status in non-pregnant women of childbearing age affected by obesity, and it appears that there is a modification in folate metabolism, with a reduction in plasma folate levels and an increase in erythrocyte folate uptake. In conclusion, the folate status in women of childbearing age should be assessed by both plasma and erythrocyte levels to start a personalised and more adequate supplementation before conception. Further studies need to be conducted in a larger population, which take into account variables that can affect folate metabolism, such as dietary intake, lifestyle and genetic factors, oral contraceptives or other drug use, previous weight-loss programmes, or a history of bariatric surgery.
Accurate diagnosis of CHD by Paediatricians with Expertise in Cardiology
Authors: Jacob Hannah C. , Massey Hannah , Yates Robert W. M. , Kelsall A. Wilfred
Published: June 2017

Introduction

Paediatricians with Expertise in Cardiology assess children with a full history, examination, and often perform an echocardiogram. A minority are then referred to an outreach clinic run jointly with a visiting paediatric cardiologist. The accuracy of the echocardiography diagnosis made by the Paediatrician with Expertise in Cardiology is unknown.

Materials and methods

We conducted a retrospective review of clinic letters for children seen in the outreach clinic for the first time between March, 2004 and March, 2011. Children with CHD diagnosed antenatally or elsewhere were excluded. We recorded the echocardiography diagnosis made by the paediatric cardiologist and previously by the Paediatrician with Expertise in Cardiology.

Results

The Paediatrician with Expertise in Cardiology referred 317/3145 (10%) children seen in the local cardiac clinics to the outreach clinic over this period, and among them 296 were eligible for inclusion. Their median age was 1.5 years (range 1 month–15.1 years). For 244 (82%) children, there was complete diagnostic agreement between the Paediatrician with Expertise in Cardiology and the paediatric cardiologist. For 29 (10%) children, the main diagnosis was identical with additional findings made by the paediatric cardiologist. The abnormality had resolved in 17 (6%) cases by the time of clinic attendance. In six (2%) patients, the paediatric cardiologist made a different diagnosis. In total, 138 (47%) patients underwent a surgical or catheter intervention.

Discussion

Paediatricians with Expertise in Cardiology can make accurate diagnoses of CHD in children referred to their clinics. This can allow effective triage of children attending the outreach clinic, making best use of limited specialist resources.
‘So very unequal to the place’? The Legal Apprenticeship of John Williams, Lord Keeper, c. 1605–1621
Authors: Nicholls Andrew D.
Published: June 2017

In the spring of 1621, James I sent the Great Seal of England to his newly appointed Lord Keeper, John Williams, the Dean of Westminster. Naming an ecclesiastic to this position shocked contemporary legal and political commentators, and subsequent historians have generally shared this negative appraisal. Even more positive analyses have held that Williams’ primary attraction for the king lay in his intellect and learning, and an expectation that he would do James’ bidding on the Court of Chancery. Williams actually possessed both stronger legal qualifications than have traditionally been recognized, and a politico-legal philosophy that had helped to modify James’ own views of the role of his prerogative courts and powers. An examination of Williams’ career prior to 1621 reveals the development of a candidate uniquely placed to fill this particular role at that specific moment in James’ reign.
Performance Goals and Task Performance
Authors: Crouzevialle Marie , Butera Fabrizio
Published: June 2017

Abstract. Recent years have seen an increased interest in understanding how high-stakes evaluative contexts, which are pervasive in the academic arena, may influence crucial outcomes such as performance and achievement. The salience of grades, as well as the importance to distinguish oneself in the eyes of teachers to have access to valued diplomas, encourages the adoption of performance-approach goals (i.e., the desire to outperform others). Consistent with literature documenting the cognitive costs of high-pressure situations, recent findings have highlighted the detrimental consequences of performance-approach goals on availability of working memory resources, pointing at distraction as the cause of this phenomenon. We review and discuss this result in the light of the achievement goal literature. We then present both methodological and theoretical arguments to clarify and reconcile the apparent contradictions between this emerging evidence and the well-documented positive impact of performance-approach goal pursuit on achievement in the classroom. Throughout, we highlight how the study of performance-approach goal-related interference has the potential to enrich our understanding of how evaluative contexts do generate distraction.
Can Ocean Tides Be Powerful Indicators of Climate Change?
Authors: Witman Sarah
Published: June 2017

A new study simulates how ocean warming due to climate change will affect the electromagnetic signal emitted by ocean tides over the next century.