bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
A relationship between attractiveness and performance in professional cyclists
Authors: Postma Erik
Published: February 2014

Females often prefer to mate with high quality males, and one aspect of quality is physical performance. Although a preference for physically fitter males is therefore predicted, the relationship between attractiveness and performance has rarely been quantified. Here, I test for such a relationship in humans and ask whether variation in (endurance) performance is associated with variation in facial attractiveness within elite professional cyclists that finished the 2012 Tour de France. I show that riders that performed better were more attractive, and that this preference was strongest in women not using a hormonal contraceptive. Thereby, I show that, within this preselected but relatively homogeneous sample of the male population, facial attractiveness signals endurance performance. Provided that there is a relationship between performance-mediated attractiveness and reproductive success, this suggests that human endurance capacity has been subject to sexual selection in our evolutionary past.
Complexity analysis of sleep and alterations with insomnia based on non-invasive techniques
Authors: Holloway Philip M. , Angelova Maia , Lombardo Sara , St Clair Gibson Alan , Lee David , Ellis Jason
Published: February 2014

For the first time, fractal analysis techniques are implemented to study the correlations present in sleep actigraphy for individuals suffering from acute insomnia with comparisons made against healthy subjects. Analysis was carried out for 21 healthy individuals with no diagnosed sleep disorders and 26 subjects diagnosed with acute insomnia during night-time hours. Detrended fluctuation analysis was applied in order to look for 1/
f
-fluctuations indicative of high complexity. The aim is to investigate whether complexity analysis can differentiate between people who sleep normally and people who suffer from acute insomnia. We hypothesize that the complexity will be higher in subjects who suffer from acute insomnia owing to increased night-time arousals. This hypothesis, although contrary to much of the literature surrounding complexity in physiology, was found to be correct—for our study. The complexity results for nearly all of the subjects fell within a 1/
f
-range, indicating the presence of underlying control mechanisms. The subjects with acute insomnia displayed significantly higher correlations, confirmed by significance testing—possibly a result of too much activity in the underlying regulatory systems. Moreover, we found a linear relationship between complexity and variability, both of which increased with the onset of insomnia. Complexity analysis is very promising and could prove to be a useful non-invasive identifier for people who suffer from sleep disorders such as insomnia.
Surface electrostatics: theory and computations
Authors: Chatzigeorgiou G. , Javili A. , Steinmann P.
Published: February 2014

The objective of this work is to study the electrostatic response of materials accounting for boundary surfaces with their own (electrostatic) constitutive behaviour. The electric response of materials with (electrostatic) energetic boundary surfaces (surfaces that possess material properties and constitutive structures different from those of the bulk) is formulated in a consistent manner using a variational framework. The forces and moments that appear due to bulk and surface electric fields are also expressed in a consistent manner. The theory is accompanied by numerical examples on porous materials using the finite-element method, where the influence of the surface electric permittivity on the electric displacement, the polarization stress and the Maxwell stress is examined.
Multi-time equations, classical and quantum
Authors: Petrat Sören , Tumulka Roderich
Published: February 2014

Multi-time equations are evolution equations involving several time variables, one for each particle. Such equations have been considered for the purpose of making theories manifestly Lorentz invariant. We compare their status and significance in classical and quantum physics.
Non-additive costs and interactions alter the competitive dynamics of co-occurring ecologically distinct plasmids
Authors: Morton Elise R. , Platt Thomas G. , Fuqua Clay , Bever James D.
Published: February 2014

Plasmids play an important role in shaping bacterial evolution and adaptation to heterogeneous environments. As modular genetic elements that are often conjugative, the selective pressures that act on plasmid-borne genes are distinct from those that act on the chromosome. Many bacteria are co-infected by multiple plasmids that impart niche-specific phenotypes. Thus, in addition to host–plasmid dynamics, interactions between co-infecting plasmids are likely to be important drivers of plasmid population dynamics, evolution and ecology.Agrobacterium tumefaciensis a facultative plant pathogen that commonly harbours two distinct megaplasmids. Virulence depends on the presence of the tumour-inducing (Ti) plasmid, with benefits that are primarily restricted to the disease environment. Here, we demonstrate that a second megaplasmid, the At plasmid, confers a competitive advantage in the rhizosphere. To assess the individual and interactive costs of these plasmids, we generated four isogenic derivatives: plasmidless, pAt only, pTi only and pAtpTi, and performed pairwise competitions under carbon-limiting conditions. These studies reveal a low cost to the virulence plasmid when outside of the disease environment, and a strikingly high cost to the At plasmid. In addition, the costs of pAt and pTi in the same host were significantly lower than predicted based on single plasmid costs, signifying the first demonstration of non-additivity between naturally occurring co-resident plasmids. Based on these empirically demonstrated costs and benefits, we developed a resource–consumer model to generate predictions about the frequencies of these genotypes in relevant environments, showing that non-additivity between co-residing plasmids allows for their stable coexistence across environments.
Community-level education accelerates the cultural evolution of fertility decline
Authors: Colleran Heidi , Jasienska Grazyna , Nenko Ilona , Galbarczyk Andrzej , Mace Ruth
Published: February 2014

Explaining why fertility declines as populations modernize is a profound theoretical challenge. It remains unclear whether the fundamental drivers are economic or cultural in nature. Cultural evolutionary theory suggests that community-level characteristics, for example average education, can alter how low-fertility preferences are transmitted and adopted. These assumptions have not been empirically tested. Here, we show that community-level education accelerates fertility decline in a way that is neither predicted by individual characteristics, nor by the level of economic modernization in a population. In 22 high-fertility communities in Poland, fertility converged on a smaller family size as average education in the community increased—indeed community-level education had a larger impact on fertility decline than did individual education. This convergence was not driven by educational levels being more homogeneous, but by less educated women having fewer children than expected, and more highly educated social networks, when living among more highly educated neighbours. The average level of education in a community may influence the social partners women interact with, both within and beyond their immediate social environments, altering the reproductive norms they are exposed to. Given a critical mass of highly educated women, less educated neighbours may adopt their reproductive behaviour, accelerating the pace of demographic transition. Individual characteristics alone cannot capture these dynamics and studies relying solely on them may systematically underestimate the importance of cultural transmission in driving fertility declines. Our results are inconsistent with a purely individualistic, rational-actor model of fertility decline and suggest that optimization of reproduction is partly driven by cultural dynamics beyond the individual.
A novel method for estimating the number of species within a region
Authors: Shtilerman Elad , Thompson Colin J. , Stone Lewi , Bode Michael , Burgman Mark
Published: February 2014

Ecologists are often required to estimate the number of species in a region or designated area. A number of diversity indices are available for this purpose and are based on sampling the area using quadrats or other means, and estimating the total number of species from these samples. In this paper, a novel theory and method for estimating the number of species is developed. The theory involves the use of the Laplace method for approximating asymptotic integrals. The method is shown to be successful by testing random simulated datasets. In addition, several real survey datasets are tested, including forests that contain a large number (tens to hundreds) of tree species, and an aquatic system with a large number of fish species. The method is shown to give accurate results, and in almost all cases found to be superior to existing tools for estimating diversity.
Static antennae act as locomotory guides that compensate for visual motion blur in a diurnal, keen-eyed predator
Authors: Zurek Daniel B. , Gilbert Cole
Published: February 2014

High visual acuity allows parallel processing of distant environmental features, but only when photons are abundant enough. Diurnal tiger beetles (Carabidae: Cicindelinae) have acute vision for insects and visually pursue prey in open, flat habitats. Their fast running speed causes motion blur that degrades visual contrast, forces stop-and-go pursuit and potentially impairs obstacle detection. We demonstrate here that vision is insufficient for obstacle detection during running, and show instead that antennal touch is both necessary and sufficient for obstacle detection. While running, tiger beetle vision appears to be photon-limited in a way reminiscent of animals in low-light habitats. Such animals often acquire wide-field spatial information through mechanosensation mediated by longer, more mobile appendages. We show that a nocturnal tiger beetle species waves its antennae in elliptical patterns typical of poorly sighted insects. While antennae of diurnal species are also used for mechanosensation, they are rigidly held forward with the tips close to the substrate. This enables timely detection of path obstructions followed by an increase in body pitch to avoid collision. Our results demonstrate adaptive mechanosensory augmentation of blurred visual information during fast locomotion, and suggest that future studies may reveal non-visual sensory compensation in other fast-moving animals.
Triadic social interactions operate across time: a field experiment with wild chimpanzees
Authors: Wittig Roman M. , Crockford Catherine , Langergraber Kevin E. , Zuberbühler Klaus
Published: February 2014

Social animals cooperate with bonding partners to outcompete others. Predicting a competitor's supporter is likely to be beneficial, regardless of whether the supporting relationship is stable or transient, or whether the support happens immediately or later. Although humans make such predictions frequently, it is unclear to what extent animals have the cognitive abilities to recognize others’ transient bond partners and to predict others' coalitions that extend beyond the immediate present. We conducted playback experiments with wild chimpanzees to test this. About 2 h after fighting, subjects heard recordings of aggressive barks of a bystander, who was or was not a bond partner of the former opponent. Subjects looked longer and moved away more often from barks of the former opponents’ bond partners than non-bond partners. In an additional experiment, subjects moved away more from barks than socially benign calls of the same bond partner. These effects were present despite differences in genetic relatedness and considerable time delays between the two events. Chimpanzees, it appears, integrate memories of social interactions from different sources to make inferences about current interactions. This ability is crucial for connecting triadic social interactions across time, a requirement for predicting aggressive support even after a time delay.
A phase diagram for gene selection and disease classification
Authors: Li Hong-Dong , Xu Qing-Song , Liang Yi-Zeng
Published: February 2014

Identifying a small subset of discriminate genes is important for predicting clinical outcomes and facilitating disease diagnosis. Based on the model population analysis framework, we present a method, called PHADIA, which is able to output a phase diagram displaying the predictive ability of each variable, which provides an intuitive way for selecting informative variables. Using two publicly available microarray datasets, it’s demonstrated that our method can selects a few informative genes and achieves significantly better or comparable classification accuracy compared to the reported results in the literature. The source codes are freely available at:www.libpls.net.
Enzyme‐Treated Asparagus Extract Promotes Expression of Heat Shock Protein and Exerts Antistress Effects
Authors: Ito Tomohiro , Maeda Takahiro , Goto Kazunori , Miura Takehito , Wakame Koji , Nishioka Hiroshi , Sato Atsuya
Published: February 2014

A novel enzyme‐treated asparagus extract (ETAS) has been developed as a functional material produced from asparagus stem. Studies were conducted to determine the effect of ETAS on heat shock protein 70 (HSP70) expression and alleviation of stress. HeLa cells were treated with ETAS, and HSP70 mRNA and protein levels were measured using a reverse transcription‐polymerase chain reaction (RT‐PCR) assay and an enzyme‐linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), respectively. ETAS showed significant increases in HSP70 mRNA at more than 0.125 mg/mL and the protein at more than 1.0 mg/mL. The antistress effect was evaluated in a murine sleep‐deprivation model. A sleep‐deprivation stress load resulted in elevation of blood corticosterone and lipid peroxide concentrations, while supplementation with ETAS at 200 and 1000 mg/kg body weight was associated with significantly reduced levels of both stress markers, which were in the normal range. The HSP70 protein expression level in mice subjected to sleep‐deprivation stress and supplemented with ETAS was significantly enhanced in stomach, liver, and kidney, compared to ETAS‐untreated mice. A preliminary and small‐sized human study was conducted among healthy volunteers consuming up to 150 mg/d of ETAS daily for 7 d. The mRNA expression of HSP70 in peripheral leukocytes was significantly elevated at intakes of 100 or 150 mg/d, compared to their baseline levels. Since HSP70 is known to be a stress‐related protein and its induction leads to cytoprotection, the present results suggest that ETAS might exert antistress effects under stressful conditions, resulting from enhancement of HSP70 expression.
Humoral Immune Responses to HIV in the Mucosal Secretions and Sera of HIV‐Infected Women
Authors: Mestecky Jiri , Wei Qing , Alexander Rashada , Raska Milan , Novak Jan , Moldoveanu Zina
Published: February 2014

Although sera and all external secretions contain antibodies to human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), their levels, specificity, isotypes, and relevant effector functions display a great degree of variability. Antibodies that bind HIV antigens and neutralize the virus are predominantly associated with the IgG isotype in sera and in all external secretions, even where total levels of IgG are much lower than those of IgA. Rectal fluid that contains high IgA, but low IgG levels, displayed low neutralizing activity independent of antibodies. Therefore, external secretions should be evaluated before and after selective depletion of Ig. At the systemic level, HIV‐specific IgA may interfere with the effector functions of IgG, as suggested by recent studies of individuals systemically immunized with an experimental HIV vaccine. Although HIV‐specific IgG and IgA antibodies may exhibit their protective activities at mucosal surfaces through interference with viral entry and local neutralization at the systemic level, such antibodies may display discordant effector functions.
Expression of Natural Cytotoxicity Receptors on Peritoneal Fluid Natural Killer Cell and Cytokine Production by Peritoneal Fluid Natural Killer Cell in Women with Endometriosis
Authors: Funamizu Ayano , Fukui Atsushi , Kamoi Mai , Fuchinoue Kohei , Yokota Megumi , Fukuhara Rie , Mizunuma Hideki
Published: February 2014

Problem

To investigate the relationship between the expression of natural cytotoxicity receptors (NCRs) on peritoneal fluid (PF) natural killer (NK) (pfNK) cells and cytokine production by pfNK cells in women with endometriosis.

Method of study

Peritoneal fluid was collected from women with endometriosis undergoing laparoscopic surgery (n = 21) and controls without endometriosis (n = 28). The expression of NK cell surface antigens such as CD16 and NCRs (NKp46, NKp44 and NKp30) on pfNK cells, and cytokines production by pfNK cells [tumor necrosis factor (TNF)‐α, IFN‐γ, IL‐4, IL‐10, GM‐CSF and transforming growth factor (TGF)‐β1] were measured using multicolor flow cytometry.

Results

The percentages of CD56+/NKp46+ cells and CD56dim/NKp46+ cells in severe endometriosis group were significantly lower than that in controls. TNF‐α and IFN‐γ production by pfNK cells in severe endometriosis group was significantly higher than those in controls.

Conclusion

The differential expression of NKp46, TNF‐α, and IFN‐γ on pfNK cells in women with severe endometriosis may allow the proliferation and angiogenesis of endometriotic cells.
Coping with the Refugee Wait: The Role of Consumption, Normalcy, and Dignity in Refugee Lives at Kakuma Refugee Camp, Kenya
Authors: Oka Rahul Chandrashekhar
Published: February 2014

The relief discourse has long treated refugee camp economies and the resulting black markets and commercial consumption as detrimental for the relief process and the refugees. The consumption of “luxuries and comforts” is regarded as costly, trivial, unreasonable, and nonessential. However, despite the negative effects and the high costs of consumption, refugees make strenuous efforts to participate in these commercial economies. I analyze refugee commercial consumption at Kakuma Refugee Camp, Kenya, to argue that, despite its problems, the consumption is important, reasonable, and even essential. Using ethnographic data collected between 2008 and 2011, I suggest that this consumption has tangible benefits beyond the ability to fill relief gaps. It provides a forum whereby refugees can feel “normal” and gain “dignity,” and cope with the long wait and the static transience of refugee life. Attaining normalcy and dignity through consumption may even enable structural stability amid the dangerous and volatile conditions of refugee settlements as well as mitigate the long‐term effects of relief‐induced agonism. Given these benefits, I stress the importance of further research into the complexities of refugee commerce and consumption for policy makers and relief workers.
How Does Macroeconomic Change Affect Social Identity (and Vice Versa?): Insights from the European Context
Authors: Abrams Dominic , Vasiljevic Milica
Published: February 2014

Economic strategies are largely driven by political and economic considerations. However, we contend that social psychological processes, particularly involving social identity, play an important role and should also be a focus for policy strategies. We review evidence on how changes in the macroeconomy can impact social identities, and vice versa. Drawing on social psychological theories of identity and categorization, and using the current European context as a main example, we consider how large scale events (both positive and negative) affect the economy and how this articulates with people's identities. The review considers how consumerism, consumption patterns, and consumer confidence relate to changes in identity. It also considers the consequences of macroeconomic change for social cohesion. We describe a novel model that sets out the likely opportunities and challenges for individuals, groups, and society, in the context of future macroeconomic scenarios: recession, stagnation, and growth. The review highlights the bidirectional nature of the relationship between the economy and social identity, and calls for policy makers to consider social psychological perspectives when developing economic strategies.
A route from olive oil production to natural dyeing: valorisation of prina (crude olive cake) as a novel dye source
Authors: Erdem İşmal Özlenen
Published: February 2014

An attempt has been made to valorise an agroindustrial solid waste in natural textile dyeing as a novel dye source. The dyeing and fastness properties of prina (crude olive cake/pomace) extract were evaluated to fill the gap in this field. This very cheap biomass was utilised (80 g/l) by applying chemical solvent‐free aqueous extraction to dye wool fabric with only small amounts (0.2, 0.4, 0.8, and 1.6 g/l) of metallic mordants, namely alum, iron(II) sulfate, copper(II) sulfate, stannous chloride, and potassium dichromate, and avoiding the use of alkali, acid, chemicals, and auxiliaries in dyeing and washing processes. Colour shades of beige, cream, sandy, apricot, straw, cumin, mustard, olive, and khaki were obtained. Significant differences in colour strength and CIELab coordinates were observed, depending on mordant type and mordanting method. Copper(II) sulfate and iron(II) sulfate ensured the most significant colour changes and nuances, the darkest colours, and the best light fastness values. Prina extract itself (without mordant) has a light fastness of 3 (fair) and excellent wash fastness of 4–5, both for colour change and bleeding. Irrespective of the concentration and mordanting method, alum, stannous chloride, and potassium dichromate did not generate a light fastness improvement compared with the control sample. Although good light and wash fastness values have been achieved without mordants, it is necessary to use them to widen the colour gamut and to obtain increased colour strength.
Hemimegalencephaly: what happens when children get older?
Authors: Wu Nicky , Borlot Felippe , Ali Anfal , Krings Timo , Andrade Danielle M
Published: February 2014

Aims

Hemimegalencephaly (HME) is a rare congenital malformation of cortical development, usually associated with developmental delay and severe epilepsy. This condition has rarely been reported in adults. The aim of this study was to examine and compare neurological findings in adult patients with HME.

Method

We retrospectively examined adult patients with HME by evaluating the presence of neurocutaneous disorders, current cognitive development, seizure control, and documentation of therapies for seizure management and outcomes.

Results

Five patients were included in the study (three males, two females; mean age 23y 9mo [SD 6y 1mo], range 18–34y). Four patients had HME that was associated with neurocutaneous syndromes and the remaining patient had isolated HME. Two patients required surgical treatment for seizures in childhood. One patient had no intellectual disability, while one had mild, and three severe intellectual disability. All patients presented motor deficits ranging from mild hemiparesis in two patients to non‐ambulation in one patient. Patients in whom seizure onset occurred after the 7 years of age had better seizure control and psychomotor development in adulthood than patients in whom seizure onset occurred in the first year of life.

Interpretation

In our small sample of adults with HME, age at seizure onset, cognitive disability, and seizure control were found to be associated.
Rasch analysis of The Melbourne Assessment of Unilateral Upper Limb Function
Authors: Randall Melinda , Imms Christine , Carey Leeanne M , Pallant Julie F
Published: February 2014

Aim

This study investigated the internal construct validity and dimensionality of the Melbourne Assessment of Unilateral Upper Limb Function (Melbourne Assessment), a widely‐used measure of quality of upper limb movement, valid for children aged 2 years 6 months to 15 years with cerebral palsy.

Method

Rasch analysis was used to assess of Melbourne Assessment raw scores for 163 children (94 males, 69 females; mean age 8y, SD 3y 5mo). Analysis was undertaken on the full scale comprising 37 scores and on groups of scores separated into four distinct movement subscales: range of movement, accuracy, dexterity, and fluency. Tests were conducted to evaluate overall model fit, item fit, suitability of the response options, unidimensionality, and differential item functioning (DIF) for sex, child age, and different raters.

Results

The results did not support the unidimensionality of the 37‐score scale. The four subscales showed adequate model fit after removal of some score items, and rescaling of others. The resulting subscales showed good internal consistency and no DIF for sex or child age.

Interpretation

This study provides empirical support for a revised version of the Melbourne Assessment which comprises 14 tasks and 30 movement scores grouped across four separate subscales. Further testing is required to assess the responsiveness of subscales to clinically important change.
Visceral fat accumulation is associated with cerebral small vessel disease
Authors: Yamashiro K. , Tanaka R. , Tanaka Y. , Miyamoto N. , Shimada Y. , Ueno Y. , Urabe T. , Hattori N.
Published: February 2014

Background and purpose

Obesity is associated with the risk of coronary artery disease and stroke. Visceral fat plays a significant role in the atherogenic effects of obesity. Whether visceral fat accumulation, as measured by computed tomography (CT), is an independent risk factor for the presence of cerebral small vessel disease (SVD) was investigated.

Methods

This study comprised 506 Japanese subjects 35–74 years of age (mean 55.3 years) without a history of symptomatic cerebrovascular disease who underwent health screening tests, including brain magnetic resonance imaging, carotid echography and measurements of the visceral fat area (VFA) and subcutaneous fat area (SFA) on abdominal CT. Visceral fat accumulation was defined as VFA ≥ 100 cm2. Logistic regression analysis was performed to examine the associations between visceral fat accumulation and cerebral SVD such as white matter lesions (WMLs) and silent lacunar infarction (SLI).

Results

The prevalence of WMLs and SLI but not carotid plaque were significantly higher in subjects with VFA ≥ 100 cm2 than those with VFA < 100 cm2. A VFA ≥ 100 cm2 was associated with WMLs and SLI independent of age, cardiovascular risk factors and other measurements of obesity, such as waist circumference and body mass index. A large waist circumference was independently associated with SLI. SFA, the combination of VFA and SFA, and body mass index were not associated with WMLs or SLI.

Conclusions

Visceral fat accumulation was independently associated with the presence of cerebral SVD in subjects without a history of symptomatic cerebrovascular disease.
Transforming growth factor‐β1 regulates expression of the matrix metalloproteinase 20 (Mmp20) gene through a mechanism involving the transcription factor, myocyte enhancer factor‐2C, in ameloblast lineage cells
Authors: Gao Yuguang , Zhang Li , Xiang Lili , Li Bohan , Liu Xiaoying , Wang Yumin , Sun Yan
Published: February 2014

Matrix metalloproteinase‐20 (Mmp20) plays an essential role in amelogenesis during tooth development and is regulated by transforming growth factor‐β1 (TGF‐β1) in mouse ameloblast lineage cells (ALCs). The objective of this study was to explore the role of myocyte enhancer factor‐2C (MEF2C), a key transcription factor in craniofacial development, in TGF‐β1‐induced Mmp20 gene expression. We investigated Mmp20 expression in ALCs over‐expressing MEF2C and in ALCs with MEF2C knocked down. We also analyzed activity of the Mmp20 promoter using a transient reporter gene‐expression assay in cultured ALCs. Putative transcription factor‐binding sites for MEF2C and TGF‐β1 on the Mmp20 promoter were analyzed with bioinformatics tools and examined using an electrophoretic mobility shift assay (EMSA) and chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP). The expression of Mmp20 was induced, in a dose‐dependent manner, by MEF2C over‐expression, and TGF‐β1‐induced Mmp20 expression was blocked by MEF2C knockdown in ALCs. There was a TGF‐β1/MEF2C‐responsive region, including a putative MEF2‐binding site, between base pairs −356 and −73 of the Mmp20 promoter. Mutation of the putative MEF2‐binding site significantly reduced Mmp20 promoter activity upon activation with MEF2C or TGF‐β1. In conclusion, TGF‐β1‐induced Mmp20 expression in ALCs was regulated through the MEF2‐binding site on the Mmp20 promoter and thus mediated by the MEF2C signaling pathway.
Non‐Redundant Social Information Use in Avian Flocks with Multisensory Stimuli
Authors: Randolet Jacquelyn , Lucas Jeffrey R. , Fernández‐Juricic Esteban
Published: February 2014

Animals generally live in multisensory worlds; however, our understanding of multisensory perception is rather limited, despite its relevance for explaining the mechanisms behind social interactions, such as collective detection while foraging in groups. We tested how multisensory stimuli affected the antipredator behavior of dark‐eyed juncos (Junco hyemalis) using alarm calls as an auditory signal and flushing behavior as a visual cue. We varied the degree of risk within the group by manipulating the number of group mates alarm calling and/or flushing using robotic birds. We assumed that alarm calling and flushing were redundant stimuli and predicted that they could generate one of three types of responses (enhancement, equivalence, or antagonism) depending on the mechanism of multisensory perception. We set up an artificial flock with three robotic juncos surrounding a live junco and controlled for multiple confounding factors (e.g., identity of the focal, body mass, food deprivation time). We found that the degree of alarm of live juncos increased when at least one robot flushed. However, the time it took the live individuals to react to the robots' behavior increased, rather than decreased, with at least one alarm call. This could be the result of an orienting response or sensory overload, as live juncos increased scanning behavior after being exposed solely to alarm calls. Contrary to some theoretical assumptions, alarm calling and flushing behavior elicited independent unimodal responses, suggesting that they are non‐redundant stimuli and that together they could reduce the occurrence of false alarms and facilitate flock cohesion.
The Partners for Life Program: A Couples Approach to Cardiac Risk Reduction
Authors: Sher Tamara , Braun Lynne , Domas Andrea , Bellg Albert , Baucom Donald H. , Houle Timothy T.
Published: February 2014

Morbidity and mortality are reliably lower for the married compared with the unmarried across a variety of illnesses. What is less well understood is how a couple uses their relationship for recommended lifestyle changes associated with decreased risk for illness.Partners for Lifecompared a patient and partner approach to behavior change with a patient only approach on such factors as exercise, nutrition, and medication adherence. Ninety‐three patients and their spouses/partners consented to participate (26% of those eligible) and were randomized into either the individual or couples condition. However, only 80 couples, distributed across conditions, contributed data to the analyses, due to missing data and missing data points. For exercise, there was a significant effect of couples treatment on the increase in activity and a significant effect of couples treatment on the acceleration of treatment over time. In addition, there was an interaction between marital satisfaction and treatment condition such that patients who reported higher levels of marital distress in the individuals condition did not maintain their physical activity gains by the end of treatment, while both distressed and nondistressed patients in the couples treatment exhibited accelerating gains throughout treatment. In terms of medication adherence, patients in the couples treatment exhibited virtually no change in medication adherence over time, while patients in the individuals treatment showed a 9% relative decrease across time. There were no condition or time effects for nutritional outcomes. Finally, there was an interaction between baseline marital satisfaction and treatment condition such that patients in the individuals condition who reported lower levels of initial marital satisfaction showed deterioration in marital satisfaction, while non satisfied patients in the couples treatment showed improvement over time.
Long non‐coding RNA UCA1 increases chemoresistance of bladder cancer cells by regulating Wnt signaling
Authors: Fan Yu , Shen Bing , Tan Mingyue , Mu Xinyu , Qin Yan , Zhang Fang , Liu Yong
Published: February 2014

Chemotherapy is a reasonable alternative to cystectomy in patients with invasive and advanced bladder cancer. However, bladder cancer cells often develop drug resistance to these therapies, and ~ 50% of patients with advanced bladder cancer do not respond to chemotherapy. Recent studies have shown that long non‐coding RNA (lncRNA) is involved in the development of chemoresistance. Here we investigated the role of the urothelial cancer‐associated 1 (UCA1) lncRNA in cisplatin resistance during chemotherapy for bladder cancer. We showed that cisplatin‐based chemotherapy results in up‐regulation of UCA1 expression in patients with bladder cancer. Similarly, UCA1 levels are increased in cisplatin‐resistant bladder cancer cells. Over‐expression of UCA1 significantly increases the cell viability during cisplatin treatment, whereas UCA1 knockdown reduces the cell viability during cisplatin treatment. UCA1 inhibition also partially overcomes drug resistance in cisplatin‐resistant T24 cells. Furthermore, we showed that UCA1 positively regulates expression of wingless‐type MMTV integration site family member 6 (Wnt6) in human bladder cancer cell lines. UCA1 and Wnt6 expression is also positively correlated in vivo. Up‐regulation of UCA1 activates Wnt signaling in a Wnt6‐dependent manner. We finally demonstrate that UCA1 increases the cisplatin resistance of bladder cancer cells by enhancing the expression of Wnt6, and thus represents a potential target to overcome chemoresistance in bladder cancer.
The time aspect of bioenergy – climate impacts of solid biofuels due to carbon dynamics
Authors: Zetterberg Lars , Chen Deliang
Published: February 2014

The climate impacts from bioenergy involve an important time aspect. Using forest residues for energy may result in high initial emissions, but net emissions are reduced over time since, if the residues were left on the ground, they would decompose and release CO2 to the atmosphere. This article investigates the climate impacts from bioenergy with special focus on the time aspects. More specifically, we analyze the climate impacts of forest residues and stumps where combustion related emissions are compensated by avoided emissions from leaving them on the ground to decompose. These biofuels are compared with fossil gas and coal. Net emissions are defined as emissions from utilizing the fuel minus emissions from a reference case of no utilization. Climate impacts are estimated using the measures radiative forcing and global average surface temperature. We find that the climate impacts from using forest residues and stumps depend on the decomposition rates and the time perspective over which the analysis is done. Over a 100 year perspective, branches and tops have lower climate impacts than stumps which in turn have lower impacts than fossil gas and coal. Over a 20 year time perspective, branches and tops have lower climate impacts than all other fuels but the relative difference is smaller. However, stumps have slightly higher climate impacts over 20 years than fossil gas but lower impacts than coal. Regarding metrics for climate impacts, over shorter time scales, approximately 30 years or less, radiative forcing overestimates the climate impacts compared with impacts expressed by global surface temperature change, which is due to the inertia of the climate system. We also find that establishing willow on earlier crop land may reduce atmospheric CO2, provided new land is available. However, these results are inconclusive since we haven't considered the effects of producing the agricultural crops elsewhere.
Geographies of E‐waste: Towards a Political Ecology Approach to E‐waste and Digital Technologies
Authors: Pickren Graham
Published: February 2014

The production and circulation of electronic waste, or e‐waste, has garnered significant popular and academic attention over the last decade and a half. While much of this work has come from the fields of waste management, engineering, chemistry, and public policy, geographers have made significant contributions to understanding this uniquely modern problem in a number of areas: mapping e‐waste flows at multiple scales; exploring informal e‐waste economies through ethnographic fieldwork; and critically engaging with development schemes and policies designed to mitigate the many hazards associated with electronics recycling. The main body of the paper charts how these empirical contributions have advanced broader debates about global economic linkages and governance. In the concluding section of the paper, I outline a few directions for future research that can continue to push the e‐waste literature beyond a managerial focus towards a broader problematization of the social and ecological foundations of digital technologies and economies. I suggest that geographers, particularly those who identify with the questions, methods, and modes of explanation found in political ecology, are well‐suited to such a task.
Toward Expanding Links Between Political Geography and African Studies
Authors: Myers Garth Andrew
Published: February 2014

Africa receives limited attention from political geographers, and African studies scholars pay too little attention to political geography. In reviewing the recent literature on African political geography, several themes emerge. This essay concentrates on three of these: the new scramble for Africa, political ecology, and electoral geography. The first two are areas in which a fair amount of political geography work has been done, but where more focus on particularly urban dimensions is warranted. The third arena of research is found to be highly under‐represented in recent scholarship, despite its palpable potential for yielding new insights and greater synergies between African studies and the sub‐field of political geography.
In Vitro Suppression of Dendritic Cells by Helicobacter pylori OipA
Authors: Teymournejad Omid , Mobarez Ashraf M. , Hassan Zuhair M. , Moazzeni Seyed M. , Ahmadabad Hassan N.
Published: February 2014

Background

Outer inflammatory protein A (OipA) has an important role in Helicobacter pylori pathogenesis. In this study, we purified the outer membrane protein and evaluated the effects of this protein on maturation and cytokine production by dendritic cells (DCs).

Materials and Methods

The oipA gene was inserted into pET28a, and this construct was transformed into Escherichia coli BL21 (DE3). Purification of the recombinant protein was performed by Ni‐NTA affinity chromatography. Immature DCs were purified from spleen of C57BL/6 mice with more than 90% purity and were treated with several concentrations of OipA (1–20 μg/mL) overnight. Expression of maturation markers (CD86, CD40, and MHC‐II) on the surface of DCs and production of IL‐10 and IL‐12 were assessed by flow cytometry and ELISA, respectively.

Results

The expression of DC maturation markers CD40, CD86, and MHC‐II was downregulated on the surface of OipA‐treated DCs at concentrations of 10 and 20 μg/mL compared with negative control. Production of IL‐10 decreases with increasing OipA concentration at a concentration of 5 μg/mL, but we detected no change in IL‐12 production.

Conclusion

Inability to eliminate H. pylori from stomach is partly due to the evasion of the bacteria from the immune response. DCs are central mediators between innate and adaptive immunity, and DC cytokines direct the types of adaptive immune response. This study indicated that OipA of H. pylori is a DC maturation suppression factor. Previous studies have shown that H. pylori manage tolerogenic programming in DCs leading to long‐time gastric colonization. In conclusion, H. pylori OipA helps the establishment of chronic infection with reduction in IL‐10 and suppression of DC maturation.
THE REFLEXIVE TEST OF HAYDEN WHITE'S METAHISTORY
Authors: WILSON ADRIAN
Published: February 2014

This paper assesses Hayden White's Metahistory through the test of reflexivity; that is, it asks whether the book's “general theory of the structure of that mode of thought which is called ‘historical”’ applies, as it should, to its own history of nineteenth‐century “historical consciousness.” Most components of the theoretical apparatus—the various concepts invoked in the “theory of the historical work” and in the “theory of tropes”—fail the reflexivity test; further, it emerges that those same components are also seriously flawed on other grounds. The sole and partial exception is the concept of emplotment, which passes the reflexivity test, albeit with qualifications, but more particularly has the virtue of illuminating the traditional history of history against which Metahistory's own story was pitched; and this result provides an ironic and unexpected vindication of Metahistory's underlying vision. Thus the book's fundamental insight—that the form of historical writing is epistemologically consequential—can be retained, even though its two theories should now be set aside.
MODERNITY: A PROBLEMATIC CATEGORY IN THE HISTORY OF EMOTIONS
Authors: Rosenwein Barbara H.
Published: February 2014

Emotions in History: Lost and Found by Ute Frevert is a lively introduction to some of the issues that historians must address when writing about emotions. Emotions in History notes some of the uses emotions have had in both public and private life, and it charts the changing fate of several emotions—particularly acedia, honor, and compassion—that have been either “lost” or “found” over time. Nevertheless, it suffers from a notion of modernity that obscures rather than clarifies. Making “modernity” the cause of changes in emotional ideas, comportment, and feeling, it cuts today's society off from its earlier roots and fails to see the continuities not only in emotions themselves but also in the mechanisms by which emotions have changed over time. Frevert's assumption that only the modern world has been interested in emotions is belied by eloquent learned writings on the topic in the medieval period (though not using the term “emotions”). Further, modernity is not alone in having effective mechanisms by which ideal standards of emotions and their expression are transmitted to a larger public.
TWO CONTRASTING FRENCH APPROACHES TO HISTORIOGRAPHY
Authors: Iggers Georg G.
Published: February 2014

This essay reviews two books in the French Que Sais‐je? series by Charles‐Olivier Carbonell in 1981 and by Nicolas Offenstadt in 2011 on the topic of historiography. Offenstadt's volume is intended to bring Carbonell's up to date, but goes in very different directions. There is general agreement among historians that a fundamental reorientation has taken place in historical thought and writing in the past half century, about which quite a bit has been written in recent years in the West, including in Latin America, East Asia, and India. But this is not the theme of either of these volumes. Carbonell tells the history of history from the ancient Greeks to the twentieth‐century Annales; Offenstadt is not interested in examining major trends in historiography as much of the historiographical literature has done, but in analyzing the changes that the key concepts that guide contemporary historical studies have undergone. For Carbonell's chronological narrative of the history of historical writing, theory has no place; for Offenstadt, who proceeds analytically, history and theory are inseparable. He deals specifically with changes in conceptions of historical time, of the role of documents, of the place of history within the social sciences, of the centrality of narrative, and finally of historical memory.
Changes of microwave structure/dielectric properties during microwave freeze‐drying process banana chips
Authors: Jiang Hao , Zhang Min , Mujumdar Arun S. , Lim Rui X.
Published: February 2014

This experimental study investigated the trend of structure and dielectric properties during microwave freeze‐drying process banana chips. The mass of banana samples was 160 g, the microwave power set as 2 W g−1 and the highest drying temperature set as 55 °C. The whole drying process can be finished within 6 h. A network analyser and light microscope were used to determine the dielectric properties and structure. The dielectric properties, ε′ (from 20.80 to 1.20) and ε′′ (from 7.74 to 0.15), and the size of cell get smaller as the drying process continues, especially during the 3–4 h drying, which is the end of primary drying stage and the beginning of secondary drying stage. The trend of dielectric properties and microstructure of samples during drying can be an exact indication of drying stage of MFD.
Biochemical, textural and microstructural changes in whole‐soya bean cotyledon sufu during fermentation
Authors: Xia Xuejuan , Li Guannan , Zheng Jiong , Ran Chunxia , Kan Jianquan
Published: February 2014

This study aims to investigate the nutritional value of sufu and reduce environmental problems caused by okara, which results from the traditional processing method of sufu. The feasibility of the whole‐soya bean cotyledon sufu (WSCS) processing method, which does not produce okara, was investigated. WSCS was prepared by ripening okara‐containing tofu through various hydrolytic enzymes secreted by Actinomucor elegans for 70 days. After fermentation, total nitrogen, amino nitrogen and lipid contents were found to be lower in WSCS than in traditional sufu (TS), whereas contents of reducing sugar, dietary fibre, isoflavone aglycone and soya bean polysaccharide were higher in WSCS than in TS. The hardness, springiness and adhesiveness of WSCS were 249.703 ± 0.500 g, 0.606 ± 0.008 and 8.393 ± 0.032 J, respectively. The corresponding values for TS were 264.863 ± 0.572 g, 0.615 ± 0.007 and 7.516 ± 0.031 J, respectively. In addition, microstructural changes in WSCS and TS during fermentation were observed through scanning electron microscopy. The results from this study may provide a basis for industrial production of WSCS.
Some vagaries of neonatal lumbar epidural anaesthesia
Authors: VAS L. , NAREGAL P. , SANZGIRI S. , NEGI A.
Published: February 2014

Regional anaesthesia and analgesia offer unique advantages of reduction in general anaesthesia requirements and the demands on NICU resources while improving the general outcome. We assessed the feasibility of continuous lumbar epidural analgesia in 20 neonates for various major surgical procedures lasting from 60–260 min. The babies were aged 18 h to 34 days. They were born at a gestational age of 31–40 weeks. We had difficulty in passing the epidural catheter from the lumbar route in two patients, so we had to resort to the caudal route. The problems associated with the placement of the catheter from the lumbar route are discussed. The analgesia was provided for up to 72 h. Nineeteen of the babies could be extubated in the operating theatre. They were awake but comfortable at the time of extubation. There were no complications due to the technique. Subsequent to this study, epidural analgesia either by lumbar or caudal route has become the routine in our hospital for all major thoraco‐abdominal surgical procedures in neonates.