bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
R2P’s Status as a Norm
Authors: Labonte Melissa
Published: September 2016

The shifting nature of the ‘wicked problems’ that the responsibility to protect (R2P) was formulated to address requires close examination its normative elements, including assessing its status as a norm and exploring whether and to what degree it may be new. Some of the norms expressed through R2P are well established and enjoy widespread acceptance and strong compliance pull, whereas others are new, which sets the scene for norm contestation, and ambiguous and selective implementation that often characterize a norm’s journey across and within its theoretical ‘life cycle’. Moreover, the constitutive and regulative effects R2P norms have had on policy outcomes and actor behaviour remain uneven and thus deserving of further analysis. The international community’s will and ability to deliver on the promise of civilian protection in mass atrocity cases through R2P continues to face considerable challenges even as some of its component norms experience greater acceptance, institutionalization, and consolidation.
Sovereignty
Authors: Glanville Luke
Published: September 2016

The concept of the responsibility to protect (R2P) has been criticized by some scholars on the grounds that it is incompatible with the principle of sovereignty. This chapter examines sovereignty and its relationship to R2P. It contrasts static and ahistorical descriptions of sovereignty with interpretations that more usefully emphasize sovereignty’s historically contingent and contested nature and it shows how sovereignty has been constructed at various times in its history to entail not only rights but responsibilities, including responsibilities for the protection of the population. It then considers the implications of this historically informed account of sovereignty for the understanding and practice of R2P today.
Rethinking Urban Water (In)formality
Authors: Ranganathan Malini
Published: September 2016

Most urban residents around the world access water through a variety of so-called informal means. While “informal” water access is often equated with private water vendors operating outside of the state, this essay argues that informal practices and logics pervade the entire water system, cutting across perceived boundaries separating the formal and informal, state and private, and utility and nonutility. This essay reconceptualizes urban water informality through a postcolonial theoretical lens, arguing that “informal” water does not lie outside of state control and oversight, nor is it strictly separate from “formal” water. Rather, informal water is a product of historically specific forms of state practice that have shaped differentiated and fractured forms of space and infrastructure over time. Central to an understanding of informal water provision is the relationship between state practice, space, and infrastructure. The essay draws from the case of Bangalore, India, to critically rethink urban water informality.
Holy Orders
Authors: Wood Susan K.
Published: September 2016

This chapter considers the Roman Catholic vision of ordained ministry. It takes a broadly historical approach, showing how conceptions of the ministry of bishop, priest, and deacon gradually emerged in the first few centuries of the Church, and how those conceptions evolved. It traces the development of a Eucharist-focused theology of the priesthood developed at the Council of Trent to the more broadly ecclesial and ministerial theology that emerged from the Second Vatican Council, including the restoration of the permanent diaconate. The chapter also gives an account of the revisions in the rite of ordination subsequent to Vatican II.
Nineteenth-Century and Early Twentieth-Century Post-Kantian Philosophy
Authors: Franks Paul
Published: September 2016

This article examines three moments of the post-Kantian philosophical tradition in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries: Kantianism, Post-Kantian Idealism, and Neo-Kantianism. It elucidates the distinctive methods of a tradition that has never entirely disappeared and is now acknowledged once again as the source of contemporary insights. It outlines two problematics—naturalist scepticism and historicist nihilism—threatening the possibility of metaphysics. The first concerns sceptical worries about reason, emerging from attempts to extend the methods of natural science to the study of human beings. Kant’s project of a critical and transcendental analysis of reason, with its distinctive methods, should be considered a response. The second arises from the development of new methods of historical inquiry, seeming to undermine the very possibility of individual agency. Also considered are Kant’s successors’ revisions of the critical and transcendental analysis of reason, undertaken to overcome challenges confronting the original versions of Kant’s methods.
Feminism
Authors: Maitra Neel
Published: September 2016

This article explores feminist work in philosophy. It begins by distinguishing some central questions that feminist philosophers have been concerned with, and taking feminist work in epistemology as a case study, illustrates how those questions have been addressed. The chapter then goes on to consider some tools that feminist philosophers have put to use in addressing these questions. Focusing on some of these (in particular, the sex-gender distinction, oppression, objectification, situated knowledge/situated agency), the chapter discusses why they have been important, and looks at some recent debates regarding how they are best understood. The final section describes some recurring themes in feminist work in philosophy.
Experimental Philosophy
Authors: Mallon Ron
Published: September 2016

Experimental philosophy is an extension of the Naturalists’ Challenge to the use of intuitions in philosophy. This chapter explores this challenge and traditional or “armchair” responses to it, focusing especially on the case of reference. It first considers the role and nature of intuitions, along with two kinds of experimental philosophical challenges to their use: the challenge from irrelevant determination and the challenge from diversity. It then explores using the challenge from diversity to undermine the reliability of intuitions as evidence for the truth of philosophical claims, and examines critical responses to the challenge from diversity. The chapter concludes by evaluating the possibility that diversity in responses to thought experiments occur even within individuals, and the implications of this for the Naturalists’ Challenge.
Critical Philosophy of Race
Authors: Mills Charles W.
Published: September 2016

This article tries to provide a genealogy for, and a characterization of, “critical philosophy of race,” which has only recently begun to gain formal recognition as a subject within the discipline. After discussing the contested periodization of race and racism, the author turns to the related question of whether they have affected the history of Western philosophy from the classical epoch to modernity. Then he reviews contemporary scholarship in critical philosophy of race, looking at standard divisions of the field: metaphysics (the metaphysics of race); epistemology (social epistemology, standpoint theory, and “whiteness”); aesthetics (race and structures of feeling, racism and anti-racism in works of art); ethics (the moral challenges of slavery, white supremacy, and their ongoing legacy); social and political philosophy (competing analyses of racism as a concept, competing etiologies of racism as a reality, racial domination and racial justice); and existentialism, phenomenology, and pragmatism (the lived experience of race).
The Methodology of the History of Philosophy
Authors: Normore Calvin
Published: September 2016

What are the methodological consequences of the fact that Philosophy has a history and that Philosophy incorporates the products of the history of Philosophy into its current practice? Is an internal ‘philosophical’ history of Philosophy possible and desirable or is the history of Philosophy best approached as a branch of Intellectual History and/or Cultural History. This chapter first sketches some of the history of the study of philosophy’s past and contrasts some widely employed ‘doxological’, ‘anthropological’, and sociological approaches to that study with the approaches employed in a particular, historically recent discipline, History of Philosophy. It argues that History of Philosophy has a distinctive methodological structure which poises it interestingly between the disciplines of History and Philosophy and which can be usefully compared with, but is quite distinct from, that of the History of Science.
Logical Empiricism
Authors: Pincock Christopher
Published: September 2016

At different times logical empiricists engaged one another in debates about the proper problems and methods for philosophy or its successor discipline. The most pressing problem focused on how to coordinate the abstract statements of the sciences with what can be experienced and tested. While the new logic was the main tool for coordination for Moritz Schlick, Hans Reichenbach, and Rudolf Carnap, there was no agreement on the nature of logic or its role in coordination. Otto Neurath and Philipp Frank countered with a sophisticated alternative that emphasized the social and political context within which science is done. All told, one finds in logical empiricism a high level of methodological awareness as well as a healthy skepticism about the appropriate aims and methods of philosophy.
Philosophy of Mathematics
Authors: Shapiro Stewart
Published: September 2016

This article examines a number of issues and problems that motivate at least much of the literature in the philosophy of mathematics. It first considers how the philosophy of mathematics is related to metaphysics, epistemology, and semantics. In particular, it reviews several views that account for the metaphysical nature of mathematical objects and how they compare to other sorts of objects, including realism in ontology and nominalism. It then discusses a common claim, attributed to Georg Kreisel that the important issues in the philosophy of mathematics do not concern the nature of mathematical objects, but rather the objectivity of mathematical discourse. It also explores irrealism in truth-value, the dilemma posed by Paul Benacerraf, epistemological issues in ontological realism, ontological irrealism, and the connection between naturalism and mathematics.
Analytic–Synthetic and A Priori–A Posteriori History
Authors: Weatherson Brian
Published: September 2016

This article focuses on the distinction between analytic truths and synthetic truths (i.e. every truth that isn’t analytic), and between a priori truths and a posteriori truths (i.e. every truth that isn’t a priori) in philosophy, beginning with a brief historical survey of work on the two distinctions, their relationship to each other, and to the necessary/contingent distinction. Four important stops in the history are considered: two involving Kant and W. V. O. Quine, and two relating to logical positivism and semantic externalism. The article then examines questions that have been raised about the analytic–synthetic and a priori–a posteriori distinctions, such as whether all distinctively philosophical truths fall on one side of the line and whether the distinction is relevant to philosophy. It also discusses the argument that there is a lot more a priori knowledge than we ever thought, and concludes by describing epistemological accounts of analyticity.
Intuitions
Authors: Weinberg Jonathan M.
Published: September 2016

This article examines the philosophical methodology of intuitions beginning with an argument developed by Max Deutsch and Herman Cappelen over the descriptive adequacy of what Cappelen calls “methodological rationalism”, and their own preferred view, “intuition nihilism”. Based on inadequacies in both accounts, it offers a descriptive take on intuition-deploying philosophical practice today via what it calls “Protean Crypto-Rationalism”. It then describes the epistemic profile of the appeal to intuition, listing four key aspects of the basic shape of intuition-deploying philosophical practice: primacy of cases, flexibility of report format, freedom of stipulation, and interpretation-hungry. It also considers several sources of error for intuitions featured in at least the informal methodological lore of philosophy, namely: misconstruals, modal confusions, pragmatics/semantics confusion, and “tin ear”. Finally, it explores the problem of methodological ignorance and inferential demand, particularly the typical practices of philosophical inference that operate on the premises delivered by appeal to intuitions.
Modeling
Authors: Weisberg Michael
Published: September 2016

This article focuses on the methodology of modeling and how it can be applied to philosophical questions. It looks at various traditional views of modeling and defends the idea that modeling is a form of surrogate reasoning involving two distinct steps: indirect representation of a target system using a model and analysis of that model. The article considers different accounts of model/target representational relations, defending an account of similarity. It concludes by presenting several examples of the use of models in philosophy, suggestions for philosophers new to modeling, and an assessment of the relationship between thought experiments and models.
Faith and Reason
Authors: Zagzebski Linda
Published: September 2016

This article examines the potential conflict between faith and reason, with emphasis on the relation between beliefs arising from revelation and beliefs arising from reason. It analyses the reasonableness or unreasonableness of faith, focusing on the conditions that make believing what one is told reasonable, or unreasonable, and the sense of reasonable intended when applied to faith. In order to have a method for determining the reasonableness of a belief, it considers two kinds of epistemic reasons: theoretical and deliberative. The chapter argues that trust in ourselves when we are epistemically conscientious is more basic than either theoretical or deliberative reasons, and more basic than any norms of reasoning. It concludes by considering the place of faith in the epistemically conscientious person and suggesting that faith has a component of belief on the word of God which does not conflict with reason directly, but which can be reasonable or unreasonable.
Ordinary Language Philosophy
Authors: Baz Avner
Published: September 2016

The article presents, clarifies, defends, and shows the contemporary relevance of ordinary language philosophy (OLP), as a general approach to the understanding and dissolution of at least very many traditional and contemporary philosophical difficulties. The first section broadly characterizes OLP, points out its anticipation in Immanuel Kant’s dissolution of metaphysical impasses in the ‘Transcendental Dialectic’ of the Critique of Pure Reason, and then shows its contemporary relevance by bringing its perspective to bear on the recent debates concerning the philosophical ‘method of cases’. The second section responds to a series of common objections to, and misunderstandings of, OLP.
Philosophical and Conceptual Analysis
Authors: King Jeffrey C.
Published: September 2016

This article examines the main lines of contemporary thinking about analysis in philosophy. It first considers G. E. Moore’s statement of the paradox of analysis. It then reviews a number of accounts of analysis that address the paradox of analysis, including the account offered by Ernest Sosa 1983 and others by Felicia Ackerman (1981, 1986, 1991); the latter gives an account of analysis on which properties are the objects of analysis. It also discusses Jeffrey C. King’s (1998, 2007) accounts of philosophical analysis, before turning to views of analysis that are not aimed at addressing the paradox of analysis, including those associated with David Lewis, Frank Jackson, and David Chalmers. In particular, it comments on Lewis’s argument that conceptual analysis is simply a means for picking out the physical state that occupies a certain role, where formulating what that role is constitutes a conceptual analysis of the relevant notion.
The Methodology of Legal Philosophy
Authors: Langlinais Alex , Leiter Brian
Published: September 2016

This article examines methodological debates in legal philosophy by focusing on two (related) methodological claims in H. L. A. Hart’s 1961 book, The Concept of Law: that Hart’s theory is both general and descriptive, and an exercise in both linguistic analysis and descriptive sociology. It considers what these claims reveal about Hart’s theoretical ambitions and methodological commitments, and what light they shed on debates in legal philosophy since then. In particular, it discusses the most important elements of Hart’s theory, such as the union of primary and secondary rules in law, the “rule of recognition” as a social rule, and the relationship between legal and moral norms. It also explores several objections to Hart’s approach to the problems of legal philosophy, including one that questions the fruitfulness of the methodology of conceptual analysis. Finally, it analyzes the argument of Hart and all legal positivists that legal systems are social constructs.
Polysemy
Authors: Sennet Adam
Published: September 2016

Polysemy is an interesting phenomenon that concerns cases in which a word or phrase enjoys multiple, related meanings. This article distinguishes polysemy from similar phenomena and presents some tests for determining the presence of polysemy. In addition, polysemy is differentiated from other phenomena that involve potential multiplicity of meaning. Later in the article, a few potential cases of polysemy are explored. The final two sections deal with the (so-called) polysemy paradox and consider ways in which types of polysemy can be characterized and categorized. Concepts are outlined with the use of several examples, allowing polysemes and ambiguities to be examined in context.
Why Medical Schools Should Embrace Wikipedia: Final-Year Medical Student Contributions to Wikipedia Articles for Academic Credit at One School
Authors: Azzam Amin , Bresler David , Leon Armando , Maggio Lauren , Whitaker Evans , Heilman James , Orlowitz Jake , Swisher Valerie , Rasberry Lane , Otoide Kingsley , Trotter Fred , Ross Will , McCue Jack D.
Published: September 2016

Problem

Most medical students use Wikipedia as an information source, yet medical schools do not train students to improve Wikipedia or use it critically.

Approach

Between November 2013 and November 2015, the authors offered fourth-year medical students a credit-bearing course to edit Wikipedia. The course was designed, delivered, and evaluated by faculty, medical librarians, and personnel from WikiProject Medicine, Wikipedia Education Foundation, and Translators Without Borders. The authors assessed the effect of the students’ edits on Wikipedia’s content, the effect of the course on student participants, and readership of students’ chosen articles.

Outcomes

Forty-three enrolled students made 1,528 edits (average 36/student), contributing 493,994 content bytes (average 11,488/student). They added higher-quality and removed lower-quality sources for a net addition of 274 references (average 6/student). As of July 2016, none of the contributions of the first 28 students (2013, 2014) have been reversed or vandalized. Students discovered a tension between comprehensiveness and readability/translatability, yet readability of most articles increased. Students felt they improved their articles, enjoyed giving back “specifically to Wikipedia,” and broadened their sense of physician responsibilities in the socially networked information era. During only the “active editing months,” Wikipedia traffic statistics indicate that the 43 articles were collectively viewed 1,116,065 times. Subsequent to students’ efforts, these articles have been viewed nearly 22 million times.

Next Steps

If other schools replicate and improve on this initiative, future multi-institution studies could more accurately measure the effect of medical students on Wikipedia, and vice versa.
AMPAkines Target the Nucleus Accumbens to Relieve Postoperative Pain
Authors: Su Chen , Lin Hau Yeuh , Yang Runtao , Xu Duo , Lee Michelle , Pawlak Natalie , Norcini Monica , Sideris Alexandra , Recio-Pinto Esperanza , Huang Dong , Wang Jing
Published: September 2016

Background

AMPAkines augment the function of α-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazolepropionic acid (AMPA) receptors in the brain to increase excitatory outputs. These drugs are known to relieve persistent pain. However, their role in acute pain is unknown. Furthermore, a specific molecular and anatomic target for these novel analgesics remains elusive.

Methods

The authors studied the analgesic role of an AMPAkine, CX546, in a rat paw incision (PI) model of acute postoperative pain. The authors measured the effect of AMPAkines on sensory and depressive symptoms of pain using mechanical hypersensitivity and forced swim tests. The authors asked whether AMPA receptors in the nucleus accumbens (NAc), a key node in the brain’s reward and pain circuitry, can be a target for AMPAkine analgesia.

Results

Systemic administration of CX546 (n = 13), compared with control (n = 13), reduced mechanical hypersensitivity (50% withdrawal threshold of 6.05 ± 1.30 g [mean ± SEM] vs. 0.62 ± 0.13 g), and it reduced depressive features of pain by decreasing immobility on the forced swim test in PI-treated rats (89.0 ± 15.5 vs. 156.7 ± 18.5 s). Meanwhile, CX546 delivered locally into the NAc provided pain-relieving effects in both PI (50% withdrawal threshold of 6.81 ± 1.91 vs. 0.50 ± 0.03 g; control, n = 6; CX546, n = 8) and persistent postoperative pain (spared nerve injury) models (50% withdrawal threshold of 3.85 ± 1.23 vs. 0.45 ± 0.00 g; control, n = 7; CX546, n = 11). Blocking AMPA receptors in the NAc with 2,3-dihydroxy-6-nitro-7-sulfamoyl-benzo[f]quinoxaline-2,3-dione inhibited these pain-relieving effects (50% withdrawal threshold of 7.18 ± 1.52 vs. 1.59 ± 0.66 g; n = 8 for PI groups; 10.70 ± 3.45 vs. 1.39 ± 0.88 g; n = 4 for spared nerve injury groups).

Conclusions

AMPAkines relieve postoperative pain by acting through AMPA receptors in the NAc.
FUNDUS ALBIPUNCTATUS ASSOCIATED WITH CONE DYSFUNCTION
Authors: Kuehlewein Laura , Nasser Fadi , Gloeckle Nicola , Kohl Susanne , Zrenner Eberhart
Published: September 2016

Purpose:

To describe a case of cone dysfunction associated with fundus albipunctatus.

Methods:

This report is an observational case report. The examination included multimodal imaging, electrophysiological recordings after standard and prolonged dark adaption, and disease targeted gene panel sequencing.

Results:

In this report, the authors present a 55-year-old Chinese male with findings on fundus examination, optical coherence tomography, and full-field electroretinography after standard and prolonged dark adaption consistent with fundus albipunctatus associated with cone dysfunction. Disease targeted gene panel sequencing revealed two heterozygous mutations in RDH5 (c.124C>T; p.Arg42Cys and c.500G>A; p.Arg167His).

Conclusion:

The authors report the case of a patient with ophthalmic findings characteristic for cone dysfunction in the setting of genetically confirmed fundus albipunctatus.
Opioid prescribing for patients with cancer in the last year of life: a longitudinal population cohort study
Authors: Ziegler Lucy , Mulvey Matthew , Blenkinsopp Alison , Petty Duncan , Bennett Michael I.
Published: September 2016

We linked UK cancer registry data with the corresponding electronic primary care medical records of 6080 patients who died of cancer over a 7-year period in a large United Kingdom city. We extracted all prescriptions for analgesics issued to each patient in the linked cohort during the 12 months before death and analysed the extent and duration of strong opioid treatment with clinical and patient characteristics. Strong opioids were prescribed for 48% of patients in the last year of life. Median interval between first prescription of a strong opioid and death was 9 weeks (interquartile range 3-23). Strong opioid prescribing was not influenced by cancer type, duration of illness, or gender but was adversely influenced by older age. Compared with patients who died in a hospice, those who died in a hospital were 60% less likely to receive a strong opioid in primary care before admission (relative risk ratio 0.4, CI 0.3-0.5, P < 0.01). The study provides the first detailed analysis of the relatively late onset and short duration of strong opioid treatment in patients with cancer before death in a representative UK cohort. This pattern of prescribing does not match epidemiological data which point to earlier onset of pain. Although persistent undertreatment of cancer pain is well documented, this study suggests that strategies for earlier pain assessment and initiation of strong opioid treatment in community-based patients with cancer could help to improve pain outcomes.
Low Rate of Adverse Events Associated With Inpatient Parenteral Prostacyclins
Authors: Awdish Rana L. , Mendez Michael P. , MacDonald Nancy , Yessayan Lenar , Jennings Jeffrey H. , Albujoq Kamelia , Hegab Sara , Cajigas Hector R.
Published: September 2016

Parenteral prostacyclin is the most-effective therapy for patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension. Administration is complex, and administration errors are potentially life threatening. Hospital policies to minimize the risk to patients are necessary, but their effectiveness has not been well studied. We quantified the adverse event incident rate per at-risk patient day in a tertiary care hospital with an established parenteral prostacyclin policy. Patients on parenteral prostacyclin including new initiations from January 2003 to January 2013 were identified, encompassing 386 discrete admissions. Reports of adverse events were obtained from the inpatient risk feedback–reporting process and detailed chart review. Policy-divergent events were analyzed both categorically and by the degree of severity. Overall, 153 total policy-divergent events were identified. Data analysis indicated an incident rate of 45.9 per 1,000 patient days. In total, 21 of 153 potential errors reached the patient, translating to an incident rate of 6.3 per 1,000 patient days. Incident rate for “serious symptomatic” or “catastrophic” policy-divergent events was 3.3 per 1,000 patient days. Even with specific prostacyclin training and administration policy, there remains a small risk of adverse events in hospitalized pulmonary hypertension patients receiving parenteral prostacyclin.
Meta-Analysis of Clinical Trials That Evaluate the Effectiveness of Hospital-Initiated Postdischarge Interventions on Hospital Readmission
Authors: Branowicki Patricia M. , Vessey Judith A. , Graham Dionne A. , McCabe Margaret A. , Clapp Alison L. , Blaine Kevin , O'Neill Margaret R. , Gouthro Julie A. , Snydeman Colleen K. , Kline Nancy E. , Chiang Vincent W. , Cannon Courtney , Berry Jay G.
Published: September 2016

Under pressure to avoid readmissions, hospitals are increasingly employing hospital-initiated postdischarge interventions (HiPDI), such as home visits and follow-up phone calls, to help patients after discharge. This study was conducted to assess the effectiveness of HiPDI on reducing hospital readmissions using a systematic review of clinical trials published between 1990 and 2014. We analyzed twenty articles on HiPDI (from 503 reviewed abstracts) containing 7,952 index hospitalizations followed for a median 3 months (range 1–24) after discharge for readmission. The two most common HiPDI included follow-up phone calls (n = 14, 70%) or home visits (n = 11, 55%); eighty-five percent (n = 17) of studies had multiple HiPDI. In meta-analysis, exposure to HiPDI was associated with a lower likelihood of readmission (odds ratio [OR], 0.8 [95% CI, 0.7–0.9]). Patients receiving ≥2 postdischarge home visits or ≥2 follow-up phone calls had the lowest likelihood of readmission (OR, 0.5 [95% CI, 0.4–0.8]). Hospital-initiated postdischarge interventions seem to have an effect on reducing hospital readmissions. Together, multiple home visits and follow-up phone calls may be the most effective HiPDI to reduce hospital readmission.
State Variation in Enrollment Gap, Sexual Activity, and Chlamydia Testing Rate Among Young Medicaid Women
Authors: Tao Guoyu , Patel Chirag G.
Published: September 2016

Objectives

To assess state variations in eligibility criteria based on enrollment length and sexual activity on chlamydia testing rates among Medicaid female enrollees aged 15 to 25 years and potential impact of the representatives of testing rates.

Methods

We used 2010 Medicaid Analytic eXtract to estimate and compare the overall and state-level prevalence of gaps in coverage of ≥ 2 consecutive months, service utilization associated with sexuality, and chlamydia testing rates among Medicaid female enrollees aged 15 to 25 years who had ≥ 1 month of the full scope of Medicaid benefits and had ≥ 1 health service claim. The chlamydia testing rate was calculated as the proportion of sexually active Medicaid female enrollees who received a chlamydia test in 2010.

Results

Of 5.7 million women aged 15 to 25 years enrolled in Medicaid in 2010, 42.3% had a 2-month gap of enrollment coverage in 2010. The proportion of women who had a 2-month gap varied from 26.1% to 73.2% across states. The proportion of women identified as sexually active was 59.8% among women who had a 2-month gap and 57.1% among women who had no 2-month gap. The chlamydia testing rate was 44.0% among sexually active women with a 2-month gap and 44.2% among sexually active women without a 2-month gap. Eleven states had ≥10% difference in sexual activity or chlamydia testing rates between women with a 2-month gap and women without a 2-month gap.

Conclusions

States which exclude a substantial proportion of Medicaid enrollees from inclusion in the chlamydia testing denominator may have less representative testing estimates because those excluded tend to be women aged 19 to 25 years.
Gonorrhea in Indonesia: High Prevalence of Asymptomatic Urogenital Gonorrhea but No Circulating Extended Spectrum Cephalosporins-Resistant Neisseria gonorrhoeae Strains in Jakarta, Yogyakarta, and Denpasar, Indonesia
Authors: Hananta I Putu Yuda , van Dam Alje P , Bruisten Sylvia Maria , Schim van der Loeff Maarten Franciscus , Soebono Hardyanto , de Vries Henry John Christiaan
Published: September 2016

Background

Little is known about the epidemiology of asymptomatic urogenital gonorrhea and antimicrobial susceptibility of Neisseria gonorrhoeae (NG) strains circulating in Indonesia. We studied these issues in 3 large Indonesian cities.

Methods

In 2014, participants were recruited from sexually transmitted infection clinics and through outreach in Jakarta, Yogyakarta, and Denpasar. Neisseria gonorrhoeae detection in genital specimens was performed with NG-qPCR at the Public Health Service in Amsterdam. Antimicrobial susceptibility was investigated using the Etest.

Results

Among 992 participants, 781 were asymptomatic and included in the risk factors analysis: 439 (56.2%) men, 258 (33.0%) women, and 84 (10.8%) transwomen. They differed significantly in age and were mostly men who have sex with men (35.2%) and female sex workers (29.3%).

Overall, 175 (22.4%) asymptomatic participants had a positive NG-qPCR result. Factors positively associated with asymptomatic urogenital gonorrhea were being recruited through outreach (vs clinic-based), inconsistent condom use, and being divorced/widowed (vs single).

Among 79 urogenital cultured isolates derived from 27 symptomatic and 52 asymptomatic participants, all isolates were susceptible to ceftriaxone and cefixime, and 98.7% of isolates were susceptible to azithromycin. In contrast, resistance to doxycycline (98.7%) and ciprofloxacin (97.4%) was common.

Conclusions

Prevalence of asymptomatic urogenital gonorrhea among Indonesian key populations is very high. Little to no resistance against extended spectrum cephalosporins and azithromycin was observed. However, almost all isolates were resistant to doxycycline and ciprofloxacin. Strengthening outreach sexually transmitted infections services, composing guidelines to screen asymptomatic individuals, and implementing periodical antimicrobial resistance surveillance are recommended.
Mechanical Micronization of Lipoaspirates: Squeeze and Emulsification Techniques
Authors: Mashiko Takanobu , Wu Szu-Hsien , Feng Jingwei , Kanayama Koji , Kinoshita Kaori , Sunaga Ataru , Narushima Mitsunaga , Yoshimura Kotaro
Published: September 2016

Background:

Condensation of grafted fat has been considered a key for achieving better outcomes after fat grafting. The authors investigated the therapeutic potential of two mechanical tissue micronizing procedures: squeeze and emulsification.

Methods:

Human aspirated fat was centrifuged (centrifuged fat) and fragmented with an automated slicer (squeezed fat). Alternatively, centrifuged fat was emulsified by repeated transfer between two syringes through a small-hole connecter and then separated by mesh filtration into two portions: residual tissue of emulsified fat and filtrated fluid of emulsified fat. The four products were examined for cellular components.

Results:

Histologic and electron microscopic analyses revealed that squeezed fat and residual tissue of emulsified fat contained broken adipocytes and fragmented capillaries. Compared with centrifuged fat, the squeezed fat and residual fat products exhibited increased specific gravity and increased numbers of adipose-derived stem/stromal cells and endothelial cells per volume, suggesting successful cell/tissue condensation in both squeezed fat and residual tissue of emulsified fat. Although cell number and viability in the stromal vascular fraction were well maintained in both squeezed fat and residual fat, stromal vascular fraction culture assay showed that adipose-derived stromal cells were relatively damaged in residual tissue of emulsified fat but not in squeezed fat. By contrast, no adipose-derived stromal cells were cultured from filtrated fluid of emulsified fat.

Conclusions:

The authors’ results demonstrated that mechanical micronization is easily conducted as a minimal manipulation procedure, which can condense the tissue by selectively removing adipocytes without damaging key components, such as adipose-derived stromal cells and endothelial cells. Depending on the extent of adipocyte removal, the product may be a useful therapeutic tool for efficient tissue volumization or therapeutic revitalization/fertilization.

CLINICAL QUESTION/LEVEL OF EVIDENCE:

Therapeutic, V.
Depression and Risk of Sudden Cardiac Death and Arrhythmias: A Meta-Analysis
Authors: Shi Shaobo , Liu Tao , Liang Jinjun , Hu Dan , Yang Bo
Published: September 2016

Objective

Depression is an independent risk factor for cardiac events and mortality in individuals with or without cardiovascular disease (CVD), although the underlying mechanisms involved in sudden cardiac death (SCD) and arrhythmias remain unclear. This meta-analysis aimed to assess the relationship between depression and risk of SCD and arrhythmias.

Methods

We systematically searched MEDLINE, Elsevier, and PsycINFO databases for articles (January 1990 to June 2015) describing the correlation of depression (“depressive symptoms,” “depression,” or “depressive disorder”) with SCD or arrhythmias (ventricular tachycardia/ventricular fibrillation [VT/VF], or atrial fibrillation [AF]). Data were meta-analyzed with random-effects models.

Results

A total of 17 studies met the inclusion criteria: 4 of SCD (n = 83,659), 8 of VT/VF (n = 4,048), and 5 of AF (n = 31,247). The total sample consisted of 8,533 individuals with and 110,421 individuals without previous CVD. Depression was associated with increased risk of SCD (hazard risk [HR], 1.62; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.37–1.92; p < .001), VT/VF (HR, 1.47; 95% CI, 1.23–1.76; p < .001) and AF recurrence (HR, 1.88; 95% CI, 1.54–2.30; p < .001). There was no significant association, however, between depression and risk of new-onset AF (HR, 0.96; 95% CI, 0.87–1.04; p = .311).

Conclusions

Depression (clinical depression and depressive symptoms) is associated with increased risk of SCD, VT/VF, and AF recurrence. These findings suggest that arrhythmias play an important role in the association between depression and increased mortality in individuals with or without CVD. Systematic evaluation and treatment of depression may contribute to the prevention of lethal cardiac events in the general population and in high-risk individuals with CVD.
Misinformed leaders lose influence over pigeon flocks
Authors: Watts Isobel , Nagy Máté , Burt de Perera Theresa , Biro Dora
Published: September 2016

In animal groups where certain individuals have disproportionate influence over collective decisions, the whole group's performance may suffer if these individuals possess inaccurate information. Whether in such situations leaders can be replaced in their roles by better-informed group mates represents an important question in understanding the adaptive consequences of collective decision-making. Here, we use a clock-shifting procedure to predictably manipulate the directional error in navigational information possessed by established leaders within hierarchically structured flocks of homing pigeons (Columba livia). We demonstrate that in the majority of cases when leaders hold inaccurate information they lose their influence over the flock. In these cases, inaccurate information is filtered out through the rearrangement of hierarchical positions, preventing errors by former leaders from propagating down the hierarchy. Our study demonstrates that flexible decision-making structures can be valuable in situations where ‘bad’ information is introduced by otherwise influential individuals.
A new proof of the generalized Hamiltonian–Real calculus
Authors: Xu Dongpo , Gao Hua , Mandic Danilo P.
Published: September 2016

The recently introduced generalized Hamiltonian–Real (GHR) calculus comprises, for the first time, the product and chain rules that makes it a powerful tool for quaternion-based optimization and adaptive signal processing. In this paper, we introduce novel dual relationships between the GHR calculus and multivariate real calculus, in order to provide a new, simpler proof of the GHR derivative rules. This further reinforces the theoretical foundation of the GHR calculus and provides a convenient methodology for generic extensions of real- and complex-valued learning algorithms to the quaternion domain.
Colour vision and background adaptation in a passerine bird, the zebra finch (
Taeniopygia guttata
)
Authors: Lind Olle
Published: September 2016

Today, there is good knowledge of the physiological basis of bird colour vision and how mathematical models can be used to predict visual thresholds. However, we still know only little about how colour vision changes between different viewing conditions. This limits the understanding of how colour signalling is configured in habitats where the light of the illumination and the background may shift dramatically. I examined how colour discrimination in zebra finch (
Taeniopygia guttata
) is affected by adaptation to different backgrounds. I trained finches in a two-alternative choice task, to choose between red discs displayed on backgrounds with different colours. I found that discrimination thresholds correlate with stimulus contrast to the background. Thresholds are low, and in agreement with model predictions, for a background with a red colour similar to the discs. For the most contrasting green background, thresholds are about five times higher than this. Subsequently, I trained the finches for the detection of single discs on a grey background. Detection thresholds are about 2.5 to 3 times higher than discrimination thresholds. This study demonstrates close similarities in human and bird colour vision, and the quantitative data offer a new possibility to account for shifting viewing conditions in colour vision models.
Offspring sex preferences among patrilineal and matrilineal Mosuo in Southwest China revealed by differences in parity progression
Authors: Mattison Siobhán M. , Beheim Bret , Chak Bridget , Buston Peter
Published: September 2016

Son preference predominates in China, yet there are patterned exceptions to this rule. In this paper, we test whether lineality (patrilineal versus matrilineal inheritance and descent) is associated with son versus daughter preference among the ethnic Mosuo (Na) of Southwest China. Our results show (i) an increased probability of continued fertility among matrilineal women after having a son compared with a daughter and (ii) an increased probability of continued fertility among patrilineal women after having a daughter compared with a son. These results are consistent with son preference among patrilineal Mosuo and more muted daughter preference among the matrilineal Mosuo. Furthermore, we show (iii) the lowest probability of continued fertility at parity 2 once women have one daughter and one son across both systems, suggesting that preferences for at least one of each sex exist alongside preferences for the lineal sex. The Mosuo are the only known small-scale society in which two kinship systems distinguish sub-groups with many otherwise shared cultural characteristics. We discuss why this, in conjunction with differences in subsistence, may shed light on the evolutionary underpinnings of offspring sex preferences.
Quantifying uncertainty in partially specified biological models: how can optimal control theory help us?
Authors: Adamson M. W. , Morozov A. Y. , Kuzenkov O. A.
Published: September 2016

Mathematical models in biology are highly simplified representations of a complex underlying reality and there is always a high degree of uncertainty with regards to model function specification. This uncertainty becomes critical for models in which the use of different functions fitting the same dataset can yield substantially different predictions—a property known as structural sensitivity. Thus, even if the model is purely deterministic, then the uncertainty in the model functions carries through into uncertainty in model predictions, and new frameworks are required to tackle this fundamental problem. Here, we consider a framework that uses partially specified models in which some functions are not represented by a specific form. The main idea is to project infinite dimensional function space into a low-dimensional space taking into account biological constraints. The key question of how to carry out this projection has so far remained a serious mathematical challenge and hindered the use of partially specified models. Here, we propose and demonstrate a potentially powerful technique to perform such a projection by using optimal control theory to construct functions with the specified global properties. This approach opens up the prospect of a flexible and easy to use method to fulfil uncertainty analysis of biological models.
Efficient methods for linear Schrödinger equation in the semiclassical regime with time-dependent potential
Authors: Bader Philipp , Iserles Arieh , Kropielnicka Karolina , Singh Pranav
Published: September 2016

We build efficient and unitary (hence stable) methods for the solution of the linear time-dependent Schrödinger equation with explicitly time-dependent potentials in a semiclassical regime. The Magnus–Zassenhaus schemes presented here are based on a combination of the Zassenhaus decomposition (Bader
et al.
2014
Found. Comput. Math.
14
, 689–720. (
doi:10.1007/s10208-013-9182-8
)) with the Magnus expansion of the time-dependent Hamiltonian. We conclude with numerical experiments.
Decadal variability of extreme wave height representing storm severity in the northeast Atlantic and North Sea since the foundation of the Royal Society
Authors: Santo H. , Taylor P. H. , Gibson R.
Published: September 2016

Long-term estimation of extreme wave height remains a key challenge because of the short duration of available wave data, and also because of the possible impact of climate variability on ocean waves. Here, we analyse storm-based statistics to obtain estimates of extreme wave height at locations in the northeast Atlantic and North Sea using the NORA10 wave hindcast (1958–2011), and use a 5 year sliding window to examine temporal variability. The decadal variability is correlated to the North Atlantic oscillation and other atmospheric modes, using a six-term predictor model incorporating the climate indices and their Hilbert transforms. This allows reconstruction of the historic extreme climate back to 1661, using a combination of known and proxy climate indices. Significant decadal variability primarily driven by the North Atlantic oscillation is observed, and this should be considered for the long-term survivability of offshore structures and marine renewable energy devices. The analysis on wave climate reconstruction reveals that the variation of the mean, 99th percentile and extreme wave climates over decadal time scales for locations close to the dominant storm tracks in the open North Atlantic are comparable, whereas the wave climates for the rest of the locations including the North Sea are rather different.
Mathematical and numerical framework for metasurfaces using thin layers of periodically distributed plasmonic nanoparticles
Authors: Ammari Habib , Ruiz Matias , Wu Wei , Yu Sanghyeon , Zhang Hai
Published: September 2016

In this paper, we derive an impedance boundary condition to approximate the optical scattering effect of an array of plasmonic nanoparticles mounted on a perfectly conducting plate. We show that at some resonant frequencies the impedance blows up, allowing for a significant reduction of the scattering from the plate. Using the spectral properties of a Neumann–Poincaré type operator, we investigate the dependency of the impedance with respect to changes in the nanoparticle geometry and configuration.
Time-variant species pools shape competitive dynamics and biodiversity–ecosystem function relationships
Authors: Armitage David W.
Published: September 2016

Biodiversity–ecosystem function (BEF) experiments routinely employ common garden designs, drawing samples from a local biota. The communities from which taxa are sampled may not, however, be at equilibrium. To test for temporal changes in BEF relationships, I assembled the pools of aquatic bacterial strains isolated at different time points from leaves on the pitcher plantDarlingtonia californicain order to evaluate the strength, direction and drivers of the BEF relationship across a natural host-associated successional gradient. I constructed experimental communities using bacterial isolates from each time point and measured their respiration rates and competitive interactions. Communities assembled from mid-successional species pools showed the strongest positive relationships between community richness and respiration rates, driven primarily by linear additivity among isolates. Diffuse competition was common among all communities but greatest within mid-successional isolates. These results demonstrate the dependence of the BEF relationship on the temporal dynamics of the local species pool, implying that ecosystems may respond differently to the addition or removal of taxa at different points in time during succession.