bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Lessons from Ethnic Studies
Authors: Fong Kelly , Lai Clement
Published: January 2015

This chapter argues for interdisciplinary collaboration between historical archaeology and Asian American Studies/Ethnic Studies, and it articulates a Chinese American historical archaeology. Both fields stand to benefit from collaboration, with the potential for contributions to archaeological work in the Chinese diaspora more broadly. Ethnic Studies brings to historical archaeology a more nuanced understanding about race, specifically with regard to theories of racialization and racial triangulation, as well as decades of experience doing politically conscious, community-engaged, anti-racist work. Historical archaeology provides Ethnic Studies with a framework for studying material culture, something that Ethnic Studies scholars have yet to study in depth, in conjunction with oral histories and the documentary record. Furthermore, interdisciplinary collaboration has the potential for reorienting Ethnic Studies towards researching community social histories. The chapter argues for continued interdisciplinary collaboration to promote historical archaeologies of Chinese Americans and of Asian Americans more broadly.
Culture, Language, and Number
Authors: Saxe Geoffrey B.
Published: January 2015

Some time ago, Bryant (1997) remarked, ‘Piaget and Vygotsky set the scene for much of the work that has been done over the last twenty years or so on children’s mathematical understanding.’ (p. 142.) Today, Piaget and Vygotsky’s conceptual and empirical frameworks still define principal contours of contemporary work on cognitive development. In introducing this section on culture, language, and number with chapters by Okamoto, Towse, Nunez and Marghetis, and Sturman, I situate the authors’ contributions in relation to Vygotsky’s and Piaget’s seminal writings and some contemporary strands of empirical and conceptual inquiry. I am particularly attentive to the way the authors extend ideas that were core to Piaget’s and Vygotsky’s writings.
Mothers as Singing Mentors for Infants
Authors: Trehub Sandra E. , Gudmundsdottir Helga Rut
Published: January 2015

Mothers sing expressively while caring for infants. Initially, such singing is for emotion regulation: for promoting tranquility, sleep, playful engagement, or stress reduction, depending on the context. Infants’ responsiveness to such singing encourages further maternal singing. Mothers act as singing mentors even though their mentoring is initially intuitive versus deliberate, emphasizing pleasure/comfort over precision. Their singing also has intuitive didactic aspects in its emphasis on pitch and temporal structure of songs. The face-to-face context provides infants with performances featuring distinctive visual/vocal gestures. As imitators, infants mimic maternal performances, prompting mothers to become deliberate mentors who coax increasingly complex contributions from infants. Initially, infants make single-syllable contributions to such duets, progressing to phrases and songs. Well before age two, many toddlers produce singing that preserves pitch contours, rhythms, and approximate range of familiar songs. Subsequent educator mentoring can build on these achievements if relationship building and maintenance have priority over skill building.
Africa, the Next Intellectual Frontier
Authors: Monga Célestin , Lin Justin Yifu
Published: January 2015

This introductory chapter presents the objectives of this volume and discusses the challenges of producing relevant knowledge. It starts with an exploration of the reasons why Africa has remained neglected in economics, despite its important contributions to the discipline. It then highlights Africa’s enduring intellectual influence on some of the world’s leading economists. It discusses the traditional reasons why that deep positive influence is little known and rarely acknowledged in mainstream economics. It also offers a different explanation of the neglect of Africa as a rich source of economic knowledge, highlighting the fact that economic thinking on Africa has generally mirrored the general evolution of macroeconomics and the dominant frameworks of analysis of the continent’s low-income countries have always been fraught with analytical sins and mimetic choices.
Modeling African Economies
Authors: Berg Andrew , Yang Shu-Chun S. , Zanna Luis-Felipe
Published: January 2015

This chapter presents a stylized framework for modeling African economies using the dynamic stochastic general equilibrium (DSGE) approach. We introduce several features relevant to low-income countries, including a large population without access to financial markets, restricted international capital mobility, low governance quality, and explicit central bank balance-sheet effects. The calibrated model can be useful in addressing important macroeconomic policy issues in many African economies. The applications presented here include (i) reserve accumulation policy responses to aid surges, (ii) government spending, financing schemes, and fiscal multipliers, (iii) management of natural resource revenues, and (iv) public investment surges and debt sustainability.
Economics and Culture in Africa
Authors: Sarr Felwine
Published: January 2015

This chapter examines the articulation of two powerful determiners of individual and collective actions in the African context—culture and economy—from a point of view that could be called civilizational. The question is to determine in what measure the efficiency of an economic system is linked to its degree of adequation with its cultural context on one hand and, on the other, whether the efficiency of the resulting social system is dependent on respect of the functions assigned to each order by the group. A fruitful dialectics between economics and culture requires on one hand the assignation of each order to the finality for which it is the most efficient and, on the other hand, a better rooting of the African economies in their respective sociocultures.
Social Policy, Welfare, and Social Identities, 1900–1950
Authors: Moses Julia
Published: January 2015

The first half of the twentieth century witnessed the dramatic emergence of modern welfare states across Europe. Why did this transformation take form? Was this process uniform across Europe? And what did it mean for relations between individuals and states? This chapter suggests that European social policies in the early twentieth century were characterized by an emphasis on integration and community. This perspective chimed with widespread utopian aspirations for social improvement voiced across the political spectrum and across the Continent. Nonetheless, the relative emphasis on integration and community varied across Europe and over time. Moreover, associated quests for an ideal future held the potential to be both enabling and oppressive. This chapter highlights two related themes that reveal these complexities: work and population politics. It charts developments in social legislation across Europe, including eugenics, labour, and family policies, and it traces the impact of transnational reform movements and international organizations.
The Development of Greek Rhetoric
Authors: Schiappa Edward
Published: January 2015

This chapter presumes that the history of Greek rhetoric is coterminous with the development of a specialized vocabulary deployed to describe and organize activities we recognize now as rhetorical theory, pedagogy, and practice. The origins of Greek rhetorical theory and pedagogy can be traced back to the sophists of the fifth century B.C.E., though the word “rhetoric” (rhētorikē)—along with other “disciplining” words such as dialectic, eristic, and antilogic—cannot be found prior to Plato. Rhetoric becomes disciplined in the fourth-century writings of Aristotle, though a philosophical oratory (or an oratorical philosophy) is described by Isocrates. In the postclassical era, rhetorical theory and pedagogy become increasingly specialized, with Aristotle’s taxonomical approach to theorizing typically combined with an Isocratean approach to practical pedagogy. Other notable developments include the detailed study of style, the emergence of stasis theory, and the advancement of a graduated sequence of rhetorical exercises known as progymnasmata.
Rhetoric and Politics
Authors: Connolly Joy
Published: January 2015

Oratory played a central role in the politics of the Roman Republic, in Cicero’s political thought, and in the memories of republican liberty preserved by Tacitus, which influenced early modern European and American thinkers seeking alternatives to monarchical rule. This chapter considers the republican orator both as an embodiment of traditional senatorial authority and as a participant in a public contest that establishes common ground between elite and mass. Cicero is a prime example of that traditional authority. But by identifying persuasive communication as the core practice of the political community, Cicero’s rhetorical treatises approach politics not primarily or exclusively in terms of laws and institutions but as dynamic relations among citizens energized in the rendering of judgments that draw on common sense, moral values, and taste. In its probing of the contestatory and the aesthetic dimensions of politics, Roman rhetoric retains relevance for contemporary political thought.
Rhetoric and Political Theory
Authors: Norris Andrew
Published: January 2015

This chapter first details the prevailing hostility toward rhetoric and doxa (appearance/opinion) in the tradition of political theory from Plato to Walter Lippmann before turning to a close examination of Hannah Arendt’s critical response to that tradition. Where Plato attacks rhetoric as a deceptive form of domination, Arendt argues that politics is essentially a matter of doxa and hence of rhetoric. Reality itself is, in the polis, a matter of appearing in speech and deed, with the emphasis upon the former. Political action is first and foremost speech that reveals the speaker as “answering, talking back, and measuring up to whatever happened or was done.” Such revelatory speech is most appropriately judged by the standard of glory. Because such speech must inform as well as reveal, so does glorious speech rise to the level of greatness in part because of what is said, to whom, where, and how.
“A Day in the Life”
Authors: Thompson Gordon
Published: January 2015

This chapter examines the issue of censorship in the British Broadcasting Corporation’s controversial decision to ban the final track, “A Day in the Life,” from the Beatles’ album, Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band in 1967 due to its oblique reference to drug use. More specifically, it analyzes the factors underlying the BBC ban within the context of the cultural environment in which company executives interpreted the recording. The chapter also discusses the BBC mission and its “Green Book,” the BBC Variety Programmes Policy Guide for Writers and Producers, which establishes Britain’s standards for taste in broadcasting.
Veiled Voices
Authors: Youssefzadeh Ameneh
Published: January 2015

This chapter examines music censorship in post-revolutionary Iran, from the 1979–1989 revolutionary period to the reconstruction period (1989–1997), the period of political development (1997–2005), and up to the Ahmadinejād era (2005–2013). After providing a brief background on music censorship in Iran prior to the revolution of 1978–1979, the chapter chronicles developments in music censorship in the country, from Ayatollah Khomeini’s ban on all concerts, and especially the radio and television broadcasts of foreign and Iranian classical and popular music, to the relaxation of strict policies on music under President Hāshemi Rafsanjāni. It also discusses Iran’s cultural policy under President Mohammad Khātami and the emergence of a new regime of censorship under President Mahmud Ahmadinejād.
A Strident Silencing
Authors: Sheffi Na'ama
Published: January 2015

This chapter examines the controversy surrounding the Wagner affair in Israel: the ban on composer Richard Wagner (1813–1883) by Israeli authorities following Kristallnacht, the anti-Jewish pogrom that took place in Germany in November 1938. After the State of Israel was created in 1948, Wagner became identified with the racist views of National Socialism and vicious anti-Semitism and his work emerged as one of the explicit symbols of the Holocaust and its atrocities. This chapter considers the fundamental reasons for the opposition to performing Wagner’s work in Israel within a broad cultural and political context, suggesting that his music served as a stark reminder in Israel of the Holocaust of European Jews. It also discusses the cultural, historical, and educational implications of the ban on Wagner.
Anomia and Anomic Aphasia: Implications for Lexical Processing
Authors: Harnish Stacy M.
Published: January 2015

Anomia is a term that describes the inability to retrieve a desired word, and is the most common deficit present across different aphasia syndromes. Anomic aphasia is a specific aphasia syndrome characterized by a primary deficit of word retrieval with relatively spared performance in other language domains, such as auditory comprehension and sentence production. Damage to a number of cognitive and motor systems can produce errors in word retrieval tasks, only subsets of which are language deficits. In the cognitive and neuropsychological underpinnings section, we discuss the major processing steps that occur in lexical retrieval and outline how deficits at each of the stages may produce anomia. The neuroanatomical correlates section will include a review of lesion and neuroimaging studies of language processing to examine anomia and anomia recovery in the acute and chronic stages. The assessment section will highlight how discrepancies in performance between tasks contrasting output modes and input modalities may provide insight into the locus of impairment in anomia. Finally, the treatment section will outline some of the rehabilitation techniques for forms of anomia, and take a closer look at the evidence base for different aspects of treatment.
A Computationally Motivated Approach to Cognition Studies in Improvisation
Authors: Magerko Brian
Published: January 2015

This chapter presents the guiding design rationale for the Georgia Institute of Technology’s Digital Improv Project, which studies human cognition as a means of informing the creation of interactive narrative experiences. This work serves as an example of studying human co-creativity with the end goal of developing computer/human systems that have similar control, knowledge, and status in a creative task. The chapter describes the novel iterative design and development model used in the project and its relevance to practices in the broader interactive narrative community.
Carl Schmitt and Modernity
Authors: Balke Friedrich
Published: January 2015

Carl Schmitt’s political and juridical thought is anchored in a specific diagnosis of modernity. He develops the concept of the political because of how the location and address of the political become fundamentally questionable under modern conditions. Romanticism disempowers the state, the government, indeed all political-public structures and processes, turning them into mere “scenery” or simulacrums that hide an actual or substantial reality. This chapter traces the continued effects of Schmitt’s thought on various diagnoses of a political dialectic of modernity. Each has the changing form and function of sovereign power at its center. The work of Michel Foucault, Giorgio Agamben, Judith Butler, and Zygmunt Bauman shows that Schmitt’s thought is applicable to the paradox by which sovereign power of decision continues to have a latent effect under the conditions of a constitutional state.
Transatlantic Music Studies
Authors: Goodman Glenda
Published: January 2015

Transatlantic music studies is a growing field in music scholarship that investigates music, musicians, and ideas about music that circulated around the Atlantic Ocean from the fifteenth century to today. It is an interdisciplinary field that draws on Atlantic history to understand how music was shaped by—and helped to shape—the Atlantic world. Transatlantic music studies makes two significant contributions to musicology: it brings a distinctly transnational orientation to scholarship, and it highlights the important role of intercultural encounter and the contributions of non-white musicians in Western music history, particularly in the early modern period. This essay outlines the parameters and theoretical precepts of transatlantic music studies and delineates three methods for pursuing research: tracing the circulation of ideas and materials; conducting micro-historical investigations of the experiences of individuals; and mapping key locations in the cis- and circum-Atlantic world.
GWAS‐Identified Common Variants With Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease in Chinese Children
Authors: Shang Xiao‐Rui , Song Jie‐Yun , Liu Fang‐Hong , Ma Jun , Wang Hai‐Jun
Published: January 2015

Objectives:

Three genome‐wide association studies were previously done for nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) among individuals of Western countries and identified several genetic variants associated with NAFLD. The study aimed to identify whether 7 GWAS‐identified common variants (GCKR rs780094, PDGFA rs343064, FDFT1 rs2645424, COL13A1 rs1227756, EHBP1L1 rs6591182, NCAN rs2228603, and PNPLA3 rs738409) were associated with NAFLD in Chinese children.

Methods:

This case‐control study recruited 1027 Chinese children of age 7 to 18 years, including 162 children with NAFLD and 865 children without NAFLD. Anthropometric measurements, alanine transaminase (ALT) detection, liver ultrasound examination, and genotyping of 7 variants were performed.

Results:

The G‐allele of PNPLA3 rs738409 was associated with NAFLD (odds ratio [OR] 1.55, 95% confidence interval 1.13–2.11, P = 0.006) and moderate‐to‐severe steatosis (OR 3.77, 95% confidence interval 1.78–7.98, P = 0.001) adjusted for age, sex, and BMI standard deviation score. In addition, we found each G‐allele of rs738409 increased ALT level by 1.09 IU/L (P = 0.011). Subjects carrying 10 or more risk alleles of 7 variants had an OR of 4.76 (P = 0.025) for NAFLD compared with subjects carrying 3 or fewer risk alleles.

Conclusions:

The PNPLA3 rs738409 G‐allele was associated with NAFLD and ALT level in Chinese children. It had stronger association with moderate‐to‐severe steatosis. Children carrying 10 or more risk alleles of 7 variants were susceptible for NAFLD.
MMPs‐2 and ‐14 Are Elevated in Eosinophilic Esophagitis and Reduced Following Topical Corticosteroid Therapy
Authors: Beppu Lisa , Yang Tom , Luk Michelle , Newbury Robert O. , Palmquist Jacob , Dohil Ranjan , Kurten Richard C. , Broide David H. , Aceves Seema S.
Published: January 2015

Objectives:

Eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE) is a chronic, antigen‐mediated disease in children and adults associated with substantial esophageal remodeling and fibrosis. The expression of the remodeling‐associated matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) has not been previously detailed in EoE.

Methods:

MMP‐2 and ‐14 expression and cellular localization were assessed using real‐time quantitative polymerase chain reaction and immunohistochemistry/immunofluorescence in EoE fibroblasts, active and inactive pediatric EoE biopsies, and nondiseased control biopsies. The effect of transforming growth factor (TGF)‐β1 treatment on MMP‐2 expression in cultured esophageal epithelial (HET1A) cells was analyzed.

Results:

MMP‐2 and ‐14 mRNA were expressed in EoE fibroblasts and biopsies. Proliferating epithelial cells produced MMP‐14 more abundantly in EoE than in controls (P < 0.001) and the degree of epithelial MMP‐14 expression correlated positively with basal zone hyperplasia (r = 0.65, P = 0.002). EoE lamina propria had higher numbers of MMP‐2‐ and ‐14‐positive cells (906 ± 167 and 701 ± 93 cells/mm2) as compared with controls (258 ± 93 cells/mm2, P < 0.01 and 232 ± 54 cells/mm2, P < 0.01), and MMP‐14 expression correlated with the severity of fibrosis. Following therapy with topical corticosteroids, MMP‐14 and ‐2 were significantly diminished (P < 0.01). TGF‐β1 increased the expression and secretion of MMP‐2 from esophageal epithelial HET1A cells.

Conclusions:

MMP‐2 and ‐14 are elevated in pediatric patients with EoE and significantly decrease following topical corticosteroid therapy. TGF‐β1 increases MMP‐2 in esophageal epithelial cells. This alludes to previously unappreciated role for MMPs in EoE‐associated esophageal remodeling and a potential positive feedback loop via TGF‐β1.
Use of Lactobacillus casei rhamnosus to Prevent Cholangitis in Biliary Atresia After Kasai Operation
Authors: Lien Tien‐Hau , Bu Ling‐Nan , Wu Jia‐Feng , Chen Huey‐Ling , Chen An‐Chyi , Lai Ming‐Wei , Shih Hsiang‐Hung , Lee I‐Hsien , Hsu Hong‐Yuan , Ni Yen‐Hsuan , Chang Mei‐Hwei
Published: January 2015

Objectives:

Recurrent cholangitis may aggravate cholestatic liver cirrhosis in biliary atresia (BA) after the Kasai operation. This pilot study aimed to investigate whether Lactobacillus casei rhamnosus has the prophylactic efficacy for recurrent cholangitis in comparison with the conventional neomycin prophylaxis.

Methods:

Twenty jaundice‐free patients with BA ages 0 to 3 years who underwent a Kasai operation were enrolled and randomized into 2 groups with 10 patients each: neomycin (25 mg · kg−1 · day−1 for 4 days/wk) and L casei rhamnosus (8 × 108 colony‐forming unit per day) groups. The treatment duration was 6 months. Bacterial stool cultures were performed before treatment and 1, 3, and 6 months after starting treatment. In addition, 10 patients with BA with similar status but without prophylaxis served as the historical control group.

Results:

In the Lactobacillus group, 2 patients (20%, mean 0.03 ± 0.07 episodes per month) developed cholangitis during the study period, with the same frequency as in the neomycin group and significantly lower than that in the control group (80%, P = 0.005, mean 0.22 ± 0.16 episodes per month). The mean change in body weight z score during the 6 months in the Lactobacillus group was 0.97 ± 0.59, which was significantly better than that in the control group (−0.01 ± 0.79, P = 0.006). In bacterial stool cultures, the Lactobacillus and Escherichia coli populations significantly increased and decreased, respectively, in the Lactobacillus group.

Conclusions:

The use of L casei rhamnosus was as effective as neomycin in preventing cholangitis in patients with BA who underwent Kasai operation, and therefore could be considered as a potential alternative prophylactic regimen.
Laboratory Procedures Update on Hirschsprung Disease
Authors: Takawira Catherine , D'Agostini Stephanie , Shenouda Suzan , Persad Rabin , Sergi Consolato
Published: January 2015

Objectives:

The detection of ganglion cells in rectal biopsies of infants or toddlers with severe constipation is routinely performed by pediatric pathologists in many institutions. Hirschsprung disease (HD) is defined by the lack of ganglion cells (aganglionosis). The early recognition and the prompt implementation of surgical procedures obviously protect infants affected with HD from potential life‐threatening conditions, including enterocolitis and debilitating constipation. Image‐based and non–image‐based clinical techniques and some laboratory tests have been reevaluated along the years, but often fragmentarily. Immunohistochemical markers have been increasingly used in pathology laboratories to detect ganglion cells and nerve fibers. Recently, calretinin, a vitamin D–dependent calcium‐binding protein with expression in ganglion cells and nerves, has been described as an adjunctive or primary diagnostic test in HD. The aim of the present study was to systematically summarize and update laboratory procedures targeting ganglion cells in rectal biopsies.

Methods:

Procedures and tests have been reviewed and values of specificity and sensitivity have been calculated according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta‐Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines.

Results:

Contrast enema has the lowest sensitivity and specificity of all of the 3‐index investigations under the lens: contrast enema, anorectal manometry, and biopsy with histology. The latter procedure seems to have the highest sensitivity and specificity. Acetylcholinesterase staining on fresh‐frozen material has been found to have slightly higher rates of sensitivity and specificity when compared with hematoxylin and eosin only. Calretinin staining may be supportive for the diagnosis, although some cases with false‐positivity may be of some concern.

Conclusions:

Hematoxylin and eosin with or without acetylcholinesterase remains the criterion standard according to our PRISMA‐based data. In our opinion, the number of false‐positive results with potential overtreatment may limit the increasing advocacy for calretinin staining. Both the “primum non nocere” dictum and the “loss aversion heuristic” need to be satisfied harmoniously by preventing harm from unnecessary surgery.
Celiac Disease Can Be Predicted by High Levels of Anti‐Tissue Transglutaminase Antibodies in Population‐Based Screening
Authors: Webb Charlotta , Norström Fredrik , Myléus Anna , Ivarsson Anneli , Halvarsson Britta , Högberg Lotta , Lagerqvist Carina , Rosén Anna , Sandström Olof , Stenhammar Lars , Carlsson Annelie
Published: January 2015

Objectives:

The aim of the present study was to evaluate any potential correlation between anti‐tissue transglutaminase antibodies of type immunoglobulin A (tTG‐IgA) and the degree of gluten‐induced enteropathy in children participating in a screening study for celiac disease (CD) and to assess to what extent the revised European Society for Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology, and Nutrition (ESPGHAN) guidelines cover this group of patients.

Methods:

The present study is a substudy of a cross‐sectional CD screening study, Exploring the Iceberg of Celiacs in Sweden, a 2‐phased study performed during 2005 to 2006 and 2009 to 2010. The 13,279 participating children had a blood test obtained, and those with positive tTG‐IgA were recommended a small intestinal biopsy. The tTG‐IgA levels at the time of biopsy were compared with those at the assessment of the biopsy.

Results:

There were 267 children included, of whom 230 were diagnosed as having CD. Of all of the children, 67 children had low tTG‐IgA levels (<5 U/mL), of whom 55% had Marsh 3 lesions. All of the children with tTG‐IgA levels exceeding 10 times the upper limit of normal values of 5 U/mL, that is, 50 U/mL, were diagnosed as having CD. Lowering the cutoff to 3 U/mL, all but 1 child with 30 U/mL got CD diagnosis.

Conclusions:

By adopting the revised ESPGHAN criteria, biopsies could have been omitted in one‐fourth of all of the patients. Our results indicate that the criteria may be useful even in screened children. Further studies are needed to confirm whether the 2012 ESPGHAN guidelines should be revised to also apply to the populations being screened.
Dietary Nucleotide and Nucleoside Exposure in Infancy and Atopic Dermatitis, Recurrent Wheeze, and Allergic Sensitization
Authors: Timmermans Marijke J.C. , Dagnelie Pieter C. , Theunisz Esther H.E. , Ewalds Doreen , Thijs Carel , Mommers Monique , Arts Ilja C.W.
Published: January 2015

We hypothesized that early life exposure to nucleotides and nucleosides lowers the risk of recurrent wheeze, atopic dermatitis, and allergic sensitization among n = 429 children. Concentrations in breast milk were established by high‐performance liquid chromatography; concentrations in formula milks were obtained from manufacturers. Questionnaires and home visits were used to assess outcomes. Adjusted odds ratios in the highest tertile compared with those in the lowest tertile of exposure ranged from 1.11 to 1.99 in predominantly formula‐fed children, and from 0.40 to 0.53 in predominantly breast‐fed children, but were not significant. Thus, we found no evidence for association between nucleotide and nucleoside exposure and the development of atopic outcomes in children up to 2 years.
Early Introduction of Complementary Foods in Preterm Infants
Authors: Braid Susan , Harvey Elizabeth M. , Bernstein Jenny , Matoba Nana
Published: January 2015

Objectives:

The aim of the present study was to determine the odds of early introduction of solid foods in a nationally representative sample of preterm infants when compared with term infants and to examine whether factors associated with early introduction are the same for preterm and term infants.

Methods:

Our sample of 7650 came from the first wave of the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Birth Cohort (2001–2002). We performed multivariable logistic regression to determine whether preterm infants were introduced to solid foods more frequently before 4 months than term infants using adjusted age for preterm infants and chronological age for term infants. In a separate analysis in preterm infants, we used multivariable logistic regression to determine whether the factors associated with early introduction in term infants were the same in the preterm sample.

Results:

Infants born 22 to 32 weeks' gestation had a 9.90 (95% confidence interval 5.54–18.0) odds of being fed solid food before 4 months compared with term infants, and infants born 33 to 36 weeks' gestation had a 6.19 (95% confidence interval 4.58–8.36) odds. Race/ethnicity and maternal smoking were the only factors that predicted early solid feeding in both preterm and term infants; the remaining predictors differed.

Conclusions:

Preterm infants are significantly more likely to be introduced to complementary foods early compared with term infants. The predictors of early solid feeding differ for preterm infants. Given the health implications, specific guidelines for preterm infants should be developed and future research should examine predictors of early introduction in preterm infants.
Lungs of the first amniotes: why simple if they can be complex?
Authors: Lambertz Markus , Grommes Kristina , Kohlsdorf Tiana , Perry Steven F.
Published: January 2015

We show—in contrast to the traditional textbook contention—that the first amniote lungs were complex, multichambered organs and that the single-chambered lungs of lizards and snakes represent a secondarily simplified rather than the plesiomorphic condition. We combine comparative anatomical and embryological data and show that shared structural principles of multichamberedness are recognizable in amniotes including all lepidosaurian taxa. Sequential intrapulmonary branching observed during early organogenesis becomes obscured during subsequent growth, resulting in a secondarily simplified, functionally single-chambered lung in lepidosaurian adults. Simplification of pulmonary structure maximized the size of the smallest air spaces and eliminated biophysically compelling surface tension problems that were associated with miniaturization evident among stem lepidosaurmorphs. The remaining amniotes, however, retained the multichambered lungs, which allowed both large surface area and high pulmonary compliance, thus initially providing a strong selective advantage for efficient respiration in terrestrial environments. Branched, multichambered lungs instead of simple, sac-like organs were part and parcel of the respiratory apparatus of the first amniotes and pivotal for their success on dry land, with the sky literally as the limit.
Mutation accumulation and the formation of range limits
Authors: Henry Roslyn C. , Bartoń Kamil A. , Travis Justin M. J.
Published: January 2015

The dynamics of range formation are important for understanding and predicting species distributions. Here, we focus on a process that has thus far been overlooked in the context of range formation; the accumulation of mutation load. We find that mutation accumulation severely reduces the extent of a range across an environmental gradient, especially when dispersal is limited, growth rate is low and mutations are of intermediate deleterious effect. Our results illustrate the important role deleterious mutations can play in range formation. We highlight this as a necessary focus for further work, noting particularly the potentially conflicting effects dispersal may have in reducing mutation load and simultaneously increasing migration load in marginal populations.
Cytoskeleton remodelling of confluent epithelial cells cultured on porous substrates
Authors: Rother Jan , Büchsenschütz-Göbeler Matthias , Nöding Helen , Steltenkamp Siegfried , Samwer Konrad , Janshoff Andreas
Published: January 2015

The impact of substrate topography on the morphological and mechanical properties of confluent MDCK-II cells cultured on porous substrates was scrutinized by means of various imaging techniques as well as atomic force microscopy comprising force volume and microrheology measurements. Regardless of the pore size, ranging from 450 to 5500 nm in diameter, cells were able to span the pores. They did not crawl into the holes or grow around the pores. Generally, we found that cells cultured on non-porous surfaces are stiffer, i.e. cortical tension rises from 0.1 to 0.3 mN m−1, and less fluid than cells grown over pores. The mechanical data are corroborated by electron microscopy imaging showing more cytoskeletal filaments on flat samples in comparison to porous ones. By contrast, cellular compliance increases with pore size and cells display a more fluid-like behaviour on larger pores. Interestingly, cells on pores larger than 3500 nm produce thick actin bundles that bridge the pores and thereby strengthen the contact zone of the cells.
A new inverse regression model applied to radiation biodosimetry
Authors: Higueras Manuel , Puig Pedro , Ainsbury Elizabeth A. , Rothkamm Kai
Published: January 2015

Biological dosimetry based on chromosome aberration scoring in peripheral blood lymphocytes enables timely assessment of the ionizing radiation dose absorbed by an individual. Here, new Bayesian-type count data inverse regression methods are introduced for situations where responses are Poisson or two-parameter compound Poisson distributed. Our Poisson models are calculated in a closed form, by means of Hermite and negative binomial (NB) distributions. For compound Poisson responses, complete and simplified models are provided. The simplified models are also expressible in a closed form and involve the use of compound Hermite and compound NB distributions. Three examples of applications are given that demonstrate the usefulness of these methodologies in cytogenetic radiation biodosimetry and in radiotherapy. We provide R and SAS codes which reproduce these examples.
Scaling of phloem structure and optimality of photoassimilate transport in conifer needles
Authors: Ronellenfitsch Henrik , Liesche Johannes , Jensen Kaare H. , Holbrook N. Michele , Schulz Alexander , Katifori Eleni
Published: January 2015

The phloem vascular system facilitates transport of energy-rich sugar and signalling molecules in plants, thus permitting long-range communication within the organism and growth of non-photosynthesizing organs such as roots and fruits. The flow is driven by osmotic pressure, generated by differences in sugar concentration between distal parts of the plant. The phloem is an intricate distribution system, and many questions about its regulation and structural diversity remain unanswered. Here, we investigate the phloem structure in the simplest possible geometry: a linear leaf, found, for example, in the needles of conifer trees. We measure the phloem structure in four tree species representing a diverse set of habitats and needle sizes, from 1 (
Picea omorika
) to 35 cm (
Pinus palustris
). We show that the phloem shares common traits across these four species and find that the size of its conductive elements obeys a power law. We present a minimal model that accounts for these common traits and takes into account the transport strategy and natural constraints. This minimal model predicts a power law phloem distribution consistent with transport energy minimization, suggesting that energetics are more important than translocation speed at the leaf level.
Ventrolateral and dorsomedial frontal cortex lesions impair mnemonic context retrieval
Authors: Chapados Catherine , Petrides Michael
Published: January 2015

The prefrontal cortex appears to contribute to the mnemonic retrieval of the context within which stimuli are experienced, but only under certain conditions that remain to be clarified. Patients with lesions to the frontal cortex, the temporal lobe and neurologically intact individuals were tested for context memory retrieval when verbal stimuli (words) had been experienced across multiple (unstable context condition) or unique (stable context condition) contexts; basic recognition memory of these words-in-contexts was also tested. Patients with lesions to the right ventrolateral prefrontal cortex (VLPFC) were impaired on context retrieval
only
when the words had been seen in multiple contexts, demonstrating that this prefrontal region is critical for active retrieval processing necessary to disambiguate memory items embedded across multiple contexts. Patients with lesions to the left dorsomedial prefrontal region were impaired on both context retrieval conditions, regardless of the stability of the stimulus-to-context associations. Conversely, prefrontal lesions sparing the ventrolateral and dorsomedial regions did not impair context retrieval. Only patients with temporal lobe excisions were impaired on basic recognition memory. The results demonstrate a basic contribution of the left dorsomedial frontal region to mnemonic context retrieval, with the VLPFC engaged, selectively, when contextual relations are unstable and require disambiguation.
Sinomonas humi sp. nov., an amylolytic actinobacterium isolated from mangrove forest soil
Authors: Lee Learn-Han , Azman Adzzie-Shazleen , Zainal Nurullhudda , Yin Wai-Fong , Mutalib Nurul-Syakima Ab , Chan Kok-Gan
Published: January 2015

Strain MUSC 117T was isolated from mangrove soil of the Tanjung Lumpur forest in Pahang, Malaysia. This bacterium was yellowish-white pigmented, Gram-staining-positive, rod–coccus shaped and non-motile. On the basis of 16S rRNA gene sequence, strain MUSC 117T exhibited highest sequence similarity to

Sinomonas atrocyanea

DSM 20127T (98.0 %),

Sinomonas albida

LC13T (97.9 %) and

Sinomonas soli

CW 59T (97.8 %), and lower (<97.6 %) sequence similarity to other species of the genus

Sinomonas

. DNA–DNA hybridization experiments revealed a low level of DNA–DNA relatedness (less than 27 %) between strain MUSC 117T and closely related species. Chemotaxonomically, the peptidoglycan type was A3α, containing the amino acids lysine, serine, glycine, alanine, glutamic acid and muramic acid. The whole-cell sugars detected were rhamnose, ribose, glucose, galactose and a smaller amount of mannose. The polar lipids consisted of diphosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylinositol and five unidentified glycolipids. The major fatty acids (>10.0 %) of the cell membrane were anteiso-C15 : 0 (39.4 %), C18 : 1ω7c (17.7 %), anteiso-C17 : 0 (17.2 %) and iso-C16 : 0 (11.4 %). The predominant respiratory quinones detected were MK-9(H2) and MK-9. The DNA G+C content was 67.3 mol%. A comparison of BOX-PCR fingerprints indicated that strain MUSC 117T represented a unique DNA profile. Results based on a polyphasic approach showed that strain MUSC 117T represents a novel species of the genus

Sinomonas

, for which the name Sinomonas humi sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain of Sinomonas humi sp. nov. is MUSC 117T ( = DSM 29362T = MCCC 1K00410T = NBRC 110653T).
Flavobacterium palustre sp. nov., isolated from wetland soil
Authors: Feng Hao , Zeng Yanhua , Huang Yili
Published: January 2015

A Gram-staining-negative, non-motile, yellow-coloured, rod-shaped bacterium, designated S44T, was isolated from bankside soil of Xixi wetland, located in Zhejiang province, China. Growth of strain S44T was observed at 6–37 °C (optimum, 28 °C) and at pH 6.0–9.0 (optimum, 7.0). No growth occurred in the presence of >2 % (w/v) NaCl. Phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequences revealed that strain S44T represented a member of the genus

Flavobacterium

, showing the highest sequence similarities to the sequences from

Flavobacterium succinicans

DSM 4002T (96.9 %),

Flavobacterium reichenbachii

WB 3.2-61T (96.6 %) and

Flavobacterium glycines

NCBI 105008T (96.5 %). The G+C content of the genomic DNA was 33.6 mol%. The predominant cellular fatty acids were C15 : 0, iso-C15 : 0, anteiso-C15 : 0 and summed feature 3 (comprising C16 : 1ω7c and/or iso-C15 : 0 2-OH), and the major respiratory quinone was menaquinone 6 (MK-6). The major polar lipids were phosphatidylethanolamine, two unknown aminolipids, two unknown aminophospholipids and four unknown polar lipids. On the basis of the phenotypic and genotypic data, it is proposed that the isolate S44T be classified as representing a novel species of the genus

Flavobacterium

, for which the name Flavobacterium palustre sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is S44T ( = CGMCC 1.12811T = NBRC 110389T).
Garicola koreensis gen. nov., sp. nov., isolated from saeu-jeot, traditional Korean fermented shrimp
Authors: Lo Naysim , Lee Se Hee , Jin Hyun Mi , Jung Ji Young , Schumann Peter , Jeon Che Ok
Published: January 2015

A novel Gram-staining-positive, non-endospore-forming, aerobic bacterium, designated strain SJ5-4T, was isolated from seau-jeot, a traditional food that is made by fermentation of highly salted [approximately 25 % (w/v)] shrimp in Korea. Cells were moderately halophilic, non-motile cocci or short rods that showed catalase- and oxidase-positive reactions. Growth of strain SJ5-4T was observed at 15–40 °C (optimum, 30 °C), at pH 6.0–9.5 (optimum, pH 6.5–7.0) and in the presence of 1–17 % (w/v) NaCl (optimum, 6 %). The major cellular fatty acids of strain SJ5-4T were anteiso-C15 : 0, iso-C15 : 0, anteiso-C17 : 0, iso-C16 : 0 and C16 : 0. Phosphatidylglycerol, diphosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylinositol, an unidentified phospholipid, three glycolipids and an unidentified lipid were detected as the polar lipids. Strain SJ5-4T belonged to the exceptionally small group of strains within the order

Micrococcales

that show a peptidoglycan cross-linked according to the A-type but containing 2,4-diaminobutyric acid. The G+C content of the genomic DNA was 61.8 mol%. MK-7, MK-8 and MK-9 were detected as the isoprenoid quinones. Strain SJ5-4T was most closely related to members of the genus

Nesterenkonia,
with 16S rRNA gene sequence similarities of 93.1–94.8 %. However, phylogenetic inference based on 16S rRNA gene sequences showed that strain SJ5-4T formed a phyletic lineage distinct from members of the genus

Nesterenkonia

within the family

Micrococcaceae

. On the basis of its phenotypic and molecular features, strain SJ5-4T represents a novel genus and species of the family

Micrococcaceae

, for which the name Garicola koreensis gen. nov., sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain of Garicola koreensis is SJ5-4T ( = KACC 16909T = JCM 18572T = DSM 28238T).
Understanding the Biochemical Basis of Temperature-Induced Lipid Pathway Adjustments in Plants
Authors: Li Qiang , Zheng Qian , Shen Wenyun , Cram Dustin , Fowler D. Brian , Wei Yangdou , Zou Jitao
Published: January 2015

Glycerolipid biosynthesis in plants proceeds through two major pathways compartmentalized in the chloroplast and the endoplasmic reticulum (ER). The involvement of glycerolipid pathway interactions in modulating membrane desaturation under temperature stress has been suggested but not fully explored. We profiled glycerolipid changes as well as transcript dynamics under suboptimal temperature conditions in three plant species that are distinctively different in the mode of lipid pathway interactions. In Arabidopsis thaliana, a 16:3 plant, the chloroplast pathway is upregulated in response to low temperature, whereas high temperature promotes the eukaryotic pathway. Operating under a similar mechanistic framework, Atriplex lentiformis at high temperature drastically increases the contribution of the eukaryotic pathway and correspondingly suppresses the prokaryotic pathway, resulting in the switch of lipid profile from 16:3 to 18:3. In wheat (Triticum aestivum), an 18:3 plant, low temperature also influences the channeling of glycerolipids from the ER to chloroplast. Evidence of differential trafficking of diacylglycerol moieties from the ER to chloroplast was uncovered in three plant species as another layer of metabolic adaptation under temperature stress. We propose a model that highlights the predominance and prevalence of lipid pathway interactions in temperature-induced lipid compositional changes.
I worship, so I download? Idol worship, music purchase and piracy by young consumers in Taiwan
Authors: Huang Yu-An , Lin Chad , Su Hung-Jen , Tung Mei-Lien
Published: January 2015

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to examine the effect of parental and peer norms on idol worship as well as the effect of idol worship on the intention to purchase and obtain the idol’s music products legally and illegally.

Design/methodology/approach

– A stratified, two-stage, cluster sampling procedure was applied to a list of high schools obtained from the Ministry of Education in Taiwan. A return rate of 80 per cent yielded 723 usable questionnaires, the data from which were analysed by the LISREL structural equation modelling software.

Findings

– The results suggest that both social worship and personal worship have a significant and positive impact on the intention to purchase music. However, personal worship has a negative impact on the intention to pirate music while social worship appears to strengthen it.

Research limitations/implications

– The findings suggest that idol worship is more complex than previously understood. The constructs chosen in this research should be seen only as a snapshot but other variables such as vanity trait, autonomy, romanticism or involvement are not taken into account. Future studies would benefit from inclusion of these variables and a wider geographical scope.

Practical implications

– The findings contain many implications to help marketing executives and planners better revise their existing marketing and communication strategies to increase their revenue.

Originality/value

– Existing research has tended to examine the impact of idol worship as a whole on the reduction of music piracy, but overlook the two-dimensional aspects of idol worship, hence ignoring the fact that many music firms have not properly utilised idol worship to deal with the challenges associated with music piracy. The findings broaden existing understanding about the causes of two different dimensions of idol worship and their different impacts on the intention to music piracy.