bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Solving taxonomic Orthoptera problems by Near Infrared Reflectance Spectroscopy (NIRS): the case of Aganacris Walker, 1871 (Tettigoniidae: Phaneropterinae; Scudderini)
Authors: DA SILVA SOVANO RAFAEL S. , GUTJAHR ANA LÚCIA NUNES , DE MORAIS JOSÉ WELLINGTON
Published: August 2018

Over the last 50 years, the genus Aganacris has undergone several taxonomic changes. In this study, an infrared spectrum analysis as a complementary and alternative analysis method was carried out for 112 Aganacris specimens belonging to five species. Significant differences were observed between males and females of the species, thus taking into account a new taxonomic status for the genus and the revalidation of Aganacris sphex (Rehn) stat. rev. The ability of Near Infrared Reflectance Spectroscopy (NIRS) to reproduce phenotypic (intra and interspecific) patterns in Aganacris populations was also verified. This method was applied, for the first time, as a taxonomic tool in the definition of individual sexual association and for the resolution of a taxonomic problem concerning Orthoptera, Tettigoniidae.
A new species of Neorhynchoplax (Crustacea: Decapoda: Brachyura: Hymenosomatidae) from Taiwan
Authors: HSUEH PAN-WEN
Published: August 2018

A new hymenosomatid crab, Neorhynchoplax chipolini sp. nov., is described from Taiwan. Of the 32 known species of Neorhynchoplax, only five other species possess a posterolateral tooth on the carapace and unarmed ambulatory dactyli as in N. chipolini sp. nov.: i.e. N. attenuipes (Chopra & Das, 1930), N. falcifera Naruse, Mendoza & Ng, 2008, N. sinensis (Shen, 1932), N. tuberculata (Chopra & Das, 1930), and N. venusta Ng, 2015. Neorhynchoplax chipolini sp. nov., however, differs from these congeners by having the median rostral tooth distinctly bent downwards and the presence of a tubercle on the inner anterolateral margin of the first exopod article of the third maxilliped. Brood size, egg diameters, and the protective structure of eggs in N. chipolini sp. nov. are noted. A table for the habitat preferences of all known species of Neorhynchoplax is provided.
Investigations into the Apparent Shape of the Sky
Authors: Miller Albert , Neuberger Hans
Published: August 2018

It is shown that the quantitative estimates of the apparent shape of the sky cannot be explained by the geometric and physical conditions of the atmosphere. Observations of the angular elevation of the midpoint of the arc: Horizon-Zenith, show that with increase in cloudiness the sky appears to become flatter. The effect of different cloudtypes on the apparent shape of the sky is explained by the structure of the clouds themselves. However, no significant relation between the ceiling height and sky shape was found.

Aside from the influence of the angular elevation of the terrestrial horizon, an important factor determining our impression of the shape of the sky is the distance between observer and topographic horizon as well as the contour of the foreground, as is shown by special measurements. This conclusion is confirmed by the relation between visual range and the apparent shape of sky as well as measurements through red color filter.
The Constitution of the Stratosphere*
Authors: Penndorf R.
Published: August 2018

The physical dimensions of the stratosphere, viz. pressure, density, number of molecules per cubic centimeter, mean free path, molecular speed, and number of impacts, have been calculated afresh. The pressure at 100 km agrees very well with the value found empirically, hence the conclusion that the stratosphere must be warm, and some earlier assumptions furnish the corresponding vertical distribution of temperature.
Over-water Refraction of 10-cm Electromagnetic Radiation
Authors: Montgomery R. B.
Published: August 2018

A simple presentation is made of the optics involved in the nearly horizontal propagation of short radio waves above the spherical earth. The refraction produced by various types of atmospheric layers is discussed, especially the refraction in atmospheric layers close to a water surface and the resulting wide variation in possible range of communication between low-altitude terminals. A formula showing how the refractive index of air at radio wave lengths depends on moist-air variables is reproduced. A graph for the determination of potential refractive index is presented. As examples of over-water conditions, the vertical distributions of temperature, dew point, and potential refractive index are shown for two psychrometric ascents by airplane to 1000 feet.
Results of the Air Weather Service Frontal-Analysis Numerical-Scoring Program*
Authors: Alpert, A.C. Leo
Published: August 2018

A frontal-analysis numerical-scoring system employed by the Air Weather Service to obtain a more uniform frontal analysis by different forecasters working with identical data is outlined., Although the system is not a substitute for meteorological knowledge and professional experience, it serves as a means to assure the habit of adequate consideration of all factors involved in frontal analysis.
Behavior of Dust Devils
Authors: Ives Ronald L.
Published: August 2018

Behavior of dust devils in several parts of North America is outlined; field data are presented; and the general behavior of dust devils in these areas found to be in substantial accord with physical theories presented by Humphreys.
A Procedure for Rapidly Forecasting Ocean Swell
Authors: Bates Charles C.
Published: August 2018

A procedure, based on the work of Sverdrup and Munk, is described by which swell characteristics may be forecast rapidly. Specific wave generating areas defined by the fixed parameters, wind duration and fetch, and the variable parameter, wind velocity, are established. The change in swell characteristics as the swell moves away from these generating areas is illustrated by graphs which may be re-drafted as transparent overlays at the scale of the synoptic weather chart from which swell forecasts are to be made.
Development of Dust Whirls and Similar Small-Scale Vortices*
Authors: Williams Nelson R.
Published: August 2018

Dust whirls observed at the U. S. Naval Ordnance Test Station are described, and explanations are given for their behavior. It is shown that, although the conditions necessary for dust whirl formation are well-known, standard theories do not explain satisfactorily the dynamics of the vortex motion. Field observations, laboratory experiments, and theory all indicate that shearing motion is an important factor in dust whirl formation. It is suggested that the mechanism of small-scale convection currents is not so simple as usually assumed, but is related in many respects to the processes involved during the development of dust whirls.
The Theory and Computation of Single Heading Flights *
Authors: Gringorten Irving I.
Published: August 2018

Single-heading flight is a relatively new and simple system of navigation which generally saves flying time and fuel. To date its use has been restricted to regions where geostrophic winds prevail. The present article presents the theoretical derivation of the formula for single heading and a method for plotting the expected track of the airplane. The use of single-heading flight may be extended over the whole earth, and for variable airspeeds and altitude of flight. This article shows under what circumstances this type of flight planning will yield the path of shortest flying time.
Some Effects of Vertical Wind Shear on Thunderstorm Structure *
Authors: Byers Horace R. , Battan Louis J.
Published: August 2018

Observations of thunderclouds obtained with a 3-cm height-finding radar set are used to obtain a description of the vertical shear of thunderclouds. Several photographs are given which show the shearing of the radar clouds. A scattergram of wind shear plotted against echo shear is presented and shows that the two variables are related, with the former exceeding the latter in almost all cases. Scatter-diagrams are given which verify that strong vertical wind shear tends to restrict the growth of thunderstorms. A series of radar cross sections illustrates the displacement of the upper part of a thundercloud which is subjected to wind shear, and the growth of another cloud column from the lower part of the thundercloud.
Southern Hemisphere Synoptic Analysis *
Authors: Rubin Morton J.
Published: August 2018

The purpose of the Southern Hemisphere Map Analysis Project is discussed and an evaluation of the existing network of land stations and ship reports is made. Techniques and problems of analysis are studied. A sample series of analyzed maps for the period March 18–20, 1949 is presented.
An Airborne Flow Meter for Measuring Rain
Authors: Wolff Edward
Published: August 2018

An automatic airborne flow meter has been developed for the measurement of water in the atmosphere. In this flow meter, the change of position of an oscillating mercury filament in a capillary tube is a measure of the amount of water entering the system. The flow meter has three basic parts, a collector, a measuring unit, and a recorder to provide a permanent record.
Forecasting the Lake Breeze and Its Effects on Visibility at Chicago Midway Airport *
Authors: Hall Clifford D.
Published: August 2018

As a bearer of smoke the lake breeze creates a problem in forecasting visibility. A study of three summers totaling thirty-three occurrences suggests a number of criteria for judging the probability of the lake breeze, time of occurrence, and density of smoke. These include the necessity for nearly clear sky, light winds with a preference shown for northerly winds, and a surface pressure pattern of relatively high pressure. A suggested forecast procedure is included.
On the Determination of 500 mb Height Tendencies
Authors: Hughes Lawrence A.
Published: August 2018

The methods for computing “instantaneous” upper-level pressure or height tendencies are revised to allow computation of the 500 mb height tendency using the observed surface (or sea-level) pressure tendency and an appropriate portion of the 1000–500 mb thickness advection. An evaluation is made as to what constitutes an appropriate portion of the thickness advection. Use of the method is discussed and an example is given.
Evaluation of an Objective Method for the Prediction of Central Pressures of North Pacific Cyclones1
Authors: Snopkowski Edward L. , Welch Paul R.
Published: August 2018

The U. S. Navy's Project-AROWA method of forecasting 24-hr deepening of North Atlantic surface cyclones is applied, with modifications, to the North Pacific for both winter and summer. As in the North Atlantic study, the method successfully separates deepening from non-deepening cases about 90 per cent of the time. Comparison of the forecast and observed values of deepening is also presented.
Some Observations of the Mountain Wave in Eastern Colorado
Authors: MacDonald Norman J. , Harrison Henry T.
Published: August 2018

Observations of the mountain wave that forms just to the east of the north-south mountain range in eastern Colorado were collected over a four-year period. Analysis of the circulation in the middle troposphere shows that mountain waves in general and strong waves in particular are more likely to form with a northwesterly wind than with wind from any other direction.
Apparatus Using Radioactive Probes for Measuring the Vertical Component of Atmospheric Potential Gradient from an Airplane
Authors: Vonnegut Bernard , Moore Charles B.
Published: August 2018

Apparatus is described for measuring and recording the atmospheric potential gradient from an aircraft. It consists of two radioactive probes connected through an electromechanical coupling device to a conventional electrometer and recorder.
Air Pollution Potential East of the Rocky Mountains: Fall 1959
Authors: Boettger Carl M.
Published: August 2018

The weather over the eastern two-thirds of the United States was monitored, and air pollution potential forecasts were made and disseminated to affected cities. The experiment allowed for air sampling under a variety of synoptic patterns, and the results strengthen the validity of the previously developed criteria as indicators of prolonged periods of two or more days of high air pollution. Other considerations are indicated for the prediction of isolated days (not prolonged periods) of high pollution.
Mesoscale Horizontal Kinetic Energy Spectra of a Tropical Cyclone
Authors: Wang Yuan , Zhang Lifeng , Peng Jun , Liu Saisai
Published: August 2018

A high-resolution cloud-permitting simulation with the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) Model is performed to investigate the mesoscale horizontal kinetic energy (HKE) spectra of a tropical cyclone (TC). The spectrum displays an arc-like shape in the troposphere and a quasi-linear shape in the lower stratosphere for wavelengths below 500 km during the mature period of the TC, while they both develop a quasi −5/3 slope. The total HKE spectrum is dominated by its rotational component in the troposphere but by its divergent component in the lower stratosphere. Further spectral HKE budget diagnosis reveals a generally downscale cascade of HKE, although a local upscale cascade gradually forms in the lower stratosphere. However, the mesoscale energy spectrum is not only governed by the energy cascade, but is evidently influenced also by other physical processes, among which the buoyancy effect converts available potential energy (APE) to HKE in the mid- and upper troposphere and converts HKE to APE in the lower stratosphere, the vertically propagating inertia–gravity waves transport the HKE from the upper troposphere to lower and higher layers, and the vertical transportation of convection always transports HKE upward.
Response of Subtropical Stationary Waves and Hydrological Extremes to Climate Warming in Boreal Summer
Authors: Yuan Jiacan , Li Wenhong , Kopp Robert E , Deng Yi
Published: August 2018

Subtropical stationary waves may act as an important bridge connecting regional hydrological extremes with global warming. Observations show that the boreal summer stationary-wave amplitude (SWA) had a significantly positive trend during 1979–2013. Here, we investigate the past and future responses of SWA to increasing climate forcing using 31 CMIP5 GCMs. Twenty-four out of 31 models display a consistent increase in climatological-mean SWA in response to warming. To assess the detectability of a trend in SWA, we compared half-century trends between preindustrial control (PiControl), historical, and RCP8.5 simulations. The probability distribution of the normalized SWA trend obtained through bootstrapping shows neither positive nor negative tendencies of SWA trend in PiControl simulations. Twenty-two of 31 historical simulations exhibit a positive SWA trend. The SWA trends in 26 of 31 RCP8.5 simulations are positive. The finding supports the hypothesis that the positive SWA trend is at least partially driven by increasing external forcing. The linear regression of interannual variability in hydrological extreme frequency on SWA suggests that high SWA is related to increased heavy-rainfall-day frequency over South Asia, the Indochinese Peninsula, and southern China (SA-EA), and to increased dry-spell-day frequency over the northwestern and central United States (NUS) and the southern United States and Mexico (SUS-MEX). The projected amplification of SWA, combined with the relationships between SWA and number of hydrological extremes, may partially explain projected increases in the number of dry spells over NUS and SUS-MEX and the number of heavy-rainfall days over SA-EA.
Structure and Forcing of Observed Exchanges across the Greenland–Scotland Ridge
Authors: Bringedal Carina , Eldevik Tor , Skagseth Øystein , Spall Michael A. , Østerhus Svein
Published: August 2018

The Atlantic meridional overturning circulation and associated poleward heat transport are balanced by northern heat loss to the atmosphere and corresponding water-mass transformation. The circulation of northward-flowing Atlantic Water at the surface and returning overflow water at depth is particularly manifested—and observed—at the Greenland–Scotland Ridge where the water masses are guided through narrow straits. There is, however, a rich variability in the exchange of water masses across the ridge on all time scales. Focusing on seasonal and interannual time scales, and particularly the gateways of the Denmark Strait and between the Faroe Islands and Shetland, we specifically assess to what extent the exchanges of water masses across the Greenland–Scotland Ridge relate to wind forcing. On seasonal time scales, the variance explained of the observed exchanges can largely be related to large-scale wind patterns, and a conceptual model shows how this wind forcing can manifest via a barotropic, cyclonic circulation. On interannual time scales, the wind stress impact is less direct as baroclinic mechanisms gain importance and observations indicate a shift in the overflows from being more barotropically to more baroclinically forced during the observation period. Overall, the observed Greenland–Scotland Ridge exchanges reflect a horizontal (cyclonic) circulation on seasonal time scales, while the interannual variability more represents an overturning circulation.
Sebastian Moore, Redemptive Transformation, and the Law of the Cross
Authors: Loewe William P
Published: August 2018

This article probes the relationship between Sebastian Moore’s psychologically informed soteriology and Bernard Lonergan’s proposal that the Law of the Cross articulates the essence of redemption.
Paterson Educates the Handicapped
Authors: Rich Frank M.
Published: August 2018

The public schools of Paterson have set a pace for many larger cities in the maintenance of classes for unfortunates. Pupils are grouped in eight divisions according to their infirmities. The director of the work points out the advantages of public school instruction over asylum care.
Detroit Prefers “Intermediate Schools”
Authors: Harrington H. L.
Published: August 2018

Why Detroit chose the title, “Intermediate Schools” in preference to “Junior High Schools,” is clearly told here, along with many other facts regarding the development of the city's program for the separate housing and instruction of adolescents. This article contains material of value to every one concerned in the management of Grades Seven, Eight and Nine.
Summer Program of a Utah District
Authors: Jensen D. C.
Published: August 2018

Several thousand children of Jordan District are guided to the discovery of proper activities, in work and play, through the efforts of the public schools. Results have far outweighed the very moderate costs.
A Schoolman Looks at Scouting
Authors: Burkhard Russell
Published: August 2018

“The Boy and Girl Scout organizations with their wide activity programs providing adequately for achievement and success, cannot fail to be welcomed more and more heartily by the educator.”
Commercial Law for Everybody
Authors: Gabriel P.
Published: August 2018

“The difference between the lawyer and the business man is often only this, that the lawyer knows how to look up the law he wants to know … Commercial law should be taught to all students in high school.”
Tony Squares Himself
Authors: Harmon Margaretta V.
Published: August 2018

Awarded First Prize in the Journal of Education's Second Annual Short Story Contest
Citizen Maria
Authors: Berry Edith M.
Published: August 2018

This story, which was awarded Fourth Prize in the Journal of Education's Short Story Contest, is a tribute to the patriotism of teachers.
Why Other Teachers Fail
Authors: Chrisman Lewis H.
Published: August 2018

No teacher can succeed who is asked to do the impossible or to work under impossible conditions.
Physical Education at Litchfield
Authors: Bailey James H.
Published: August 2018

This is not just another syllabus but a lively account of what is actually taking place in one school system.
Longitudinal Evaluation on the Operation Index Applied to Public Hospitals in Pudong New District of Shanghai, China
Authors: Liu Shanshan , Huang Jiaoling , Li Yanting , Fan Jincheng , Liang Hong , Lou Jiquan , Jing Yuan , Zhang Yimin
Published: August 2018

The public hospital reform has lasted 5 years in China; however, the operation development status and trends of public hospitals have not been systematically evaluated in Pudong New District. We first applied the technology of longitudinal index to assess the development of public hospitals there. The quantitative data were mainly gathered by taking health statistics database from 2009 to 2014. The results showed that overall operating index presented a down-up trend, with the highest point in 2014 and the lowest point in 2012. Overall operating index, development foundation index, and management condition index were found to be statistically different ( P = .010, P = .016, P = .031) in different years, whereas the service operation index and financial risk index were not so ( P = .543, P = .228). Moreover, the results demonstrated that no obvious difference was observed in the overall operating index between the general and specialized hospitals ( P = .327), which was the same in the 4 first-class indexes. However, there were statistical differences in the overall operating index and development foundation index among these 5 years ( P = .018, P = .036), but none in the service operation index, management condition index, and financial risk index ( P = .503, P = .062, P = .177). No interaction effects were discovered between year and hospital categories in the current study ( P = .673, P = .375, P = .885, P = .152, P = .288).
Downstream Effects of Dispositional Inferences on Confirmation Biases
Authors: Costabile Kristi A. , Madon Stephanie
Published: August 2018

Although research has given substantial attention to understanding the antecedents of dispositional inferences, less attention has been directed at the consequences of these inferences, such that evidence linking dispositional inferences to downstream effects is relatively scarce. The present investigation examined whether dispositional inferences formed during initial observations elicited confirmatory processing of subsequent information about observed targets. Because confirmation biases influence a variety of information processing strategies, four experiments examined the extent to which dispositional inferences guided memory of new information (Experiment 1), interpretation of ambiguous information (Experiment 2), and information-seeking behavior (Experiments 3 and 4). Results indicated that biased processing of subsequent information was more likely when dispositional inferences were encouraged (i.e., impression formation objective) versus discouraged (i.e., narrative construction objective). This investigation highlights the role of causal inferences on confirmation biases and reveals the ease with which biases can be both bolstered and attenuated.
A Comparison of the NCDB and SEER Database for Research Involving Head and Neck Cancer
Authors: Janz Tyler A. , Graboyes Evan M. , Nguyen Shaun A. , Ellis Mark A. , Neskey David M. , Harruff E. Emily , Lentsch Eric J.
Published: August 2018

Objective

To determine whether structural differences in data sampling between the National Cancer Database (NCDB), a non‐population‐based cancer registry, and Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER), a population‐based cancer registry, result in differences in patient characteristics or oncologic outcomes.

Study Design

Retrospective cohort study.

Setting

NCDB and SEER database.

Subjects and Methods

Patients with head and neck cancer (HNC) were included from 2004 to 2014. The primary outcome, weighted differences in characteristics between the databases, was evaluated for each head and neck subsite (oral cavity [OC], oropharynx [OP], hypopharynx [HP], and larynx [LX]). The secondary outcome measure, overall survival (OS), was evaluated using Kaplan‐Meier (KM) estimates of survival and Cox proportional hazards (PH) regression modeling.

Results

In total, 112,007 and 340,420 HNC cases were registered in SEER and the NCDB, respectively. The mean age at diagnosis for the 4 head and neck subsites differed by no more than 1.1 years between the 2 databases. The largest difference in patient or tumor characteristics was the frequency of OC subsite lip cancer (weighted proportional difference, 6.9%; 95% confidence interval, 6.5%‐7.3%). Unadjusted KM estimates of 5‐year OS differed by no more than 2% (OP, HP, and LX subsites). On Cox PH modeling, adjusted hazard ratios ranged from 0.89 to 0.91 for patients of different head and neck subsites in the NCDB relative to SEER.

Conclusions

Patients with HNC in the SEER database and NCDB do not greatly differ in terms of demographics, treatment, and survival. Decisions to use either database should be driven by the data fields, which vary between the registries.
Marxist Ideology and Colonial Interpretation of The Boatman of the Padma
Authors: Bhaduri Leena Sarkar
Published: August 2018

This article offers an analytical study of how changes in the social relationship between humans and nature are depicted through an extensive amplification of the Bengali novel The Boatman of the Padma, written in 1936 by Manik Bandopadhyay. It explores the interactive process between Marxist ideology and arguments of the literary movement in the turbulent political times of the 1930s, a period that sensitised litterateurs to the relationship between marginal subaltern populations and their respective environment. Seen through the prism of class relations, issues of Marxist ideology, colonial encounter and critique, and also some assertions of self-hood, are brought out in this analysis.
Hotspot geopolitics versus geosocial solidarity: Contending constructions of safe space for migrants in Europe
Authors: Mitchell Katharyne , Sparke Matthew
Published: August 2018

This article examines how contending constructions of safe space for migrants reflect the geopoliticization of humanitarianism and its geosocial discontents. It contrasts geopolitical constructions of safe space that have been used by European authorities to justify and administer Hotspots with geosocial efforts to construct safe space through practices of solidaristic accommodation. The article documents the ways in which Hotspots have made migrants unsafe, even as they have been simultaneously justified in humanitarian terms as making both Europe and refugees safer. It further illustrates, by contrast, how counter-constructions of safe space can take divergent geosocial forms. These varied geosocial formations of accommodation emerge out of embodied space-making struggles for physical safety, personal dignity, organizational autonomy, radical democracy, spatial liberty, and social community. They create context-contingent alternatives to Hotspot geopolitics as well as opportunities for migrants and their allies to critique the limits of official humanitarianism. But they also remain overdetermined by the dominant border politics that Hotpots are supposed to secure. For these reasons, the borderlands between the abstract geopolitics of Hotspot humanitarianism and the embodied geosocial constructions of solidarity show safe space to be at once complex, compromised, and constantly contested.
Floating grandparents: Rethinking family obligation and intergenerational support
Authors: Qi Xiaoying
Published: August 2018

Discussion of China’s internal migration typically focuses on the movement of young rural workers to cities and, correspondingly, on the women, children and elderly who remain in villages and small towns, the so-called ‘left-behind’. This article fills a gap in the literature by examining the situation of grandparents who join their migrant adult children to facilitate their workforce participation by providing childcare. The article shows how grandparents and their adult children reinterpret and negotiate intergenerational family obligation in constructing their own lives. Based on extensive interview data the article provides a theoretically-informed and empirically-based understanding of intergenerational relations in China’s internal labor migration.
The effects of haloperidol on microglial morphology and translocator protein levels: An in vivo study in rats using an automated cell evaluation pipeline
Authors: Bloomfield Peter S , Bonsall David , Wells Lisa , Dormann Dirk , Howes Oliver , Paola Vincenzo De
Published: August 2018

Background:

Altered microglial markers and morphology have been demonstrated in patients with schizophrenia in post-mortem and in vivo studies. However, it is unclear if changes are due to antipsychotic treatment.

Aims:

Here we aimed to determine whether antipsychotic medication affects microglia in vivo.

Methods:

To investigate this we administered two clinically relevant doses (0.05 mg n=12 and 2.5 mg n=7 slow-release pellets, placebo n=20) of haloperidol, over 2 weeks, to male Sprague Dawley rats to determine the effect on microglial cell density and morphology (area occupied by processes and microglial cell area). We developed an analysis pipeline for the automated assessment of microglial cells and used lipopolysaccharide (LPS) treatment ( n=13) as a positive control for analysis. We also investigated the effects of haloperidol ( n=9) or placebo ( n=10) on the expression of the translocator protein 18 kDa (TSPO) using autoradiography with [3H]PBR28, a TSPO ligand used in human positron emission tomography (PET) studies.

Results:

Here we demonstrated that haloperidol at either dose does not alter microglial measures compared with placebo control animals ( p > 0.05). Similarly there was no difference in [3H]PBR28 binding between placebo and haloperidol tissue ( p > 0.05). In contrast, LPS was associated with greater cell density ( p = 0.04) and larger cell size ( p = 0.01).

Conclusion:

These findings suggest that haloperidol does not affect microglial cell density, morphology or TSPO expression, indicating that clinical study alterations are likely not the consequence of antipsychotic treatment. The automated cell evaluation pipeline was able to detect changes in microglial morphology induced by LPS and is made freely available for future use.
Modulator of apoptosis-1 is a potential therapeutic target in acute ischemic injury
Authors: Chan Su Jing , Zhao Hui , Hayakawa Kazuhide , Chai Chou , Tan Chong Teik , Huang Jiawen , Tao Ran , Hamanaka Gen , Arumugam Thiruma V , Lo Eng H , Yu Victor Chun Kong , Wong PeterTsun-Hon
Published: August 2018

Modulator of apoptosis 1 (MOAP-1) is a Bax-associating protein highly enriched in the brain. In this study, we examined the role of MOAP-1 in promoting ischemic injuries following a stroke by investigating the consequences of MOAP-1 overexpression or deficiency in in vitro and in vivo models of ischemic stroke. MOAP-1 overexpressing SH-SY5Y cells showed significantly lower cell viability following oxygen and glucose deprivation (OGD) treatment when compared to control cells. Consistently, MOAP-1−/− primary cortical neurons were observed to be more resistant against OGD treatment than the MOAP-1+/+ primary neurons. In the mouse transient middle cerebral artery occlusion (tMCAO) model, ischemia triggered MOAP-1/Bax association, suggested activation of the MOAP-1-dependent apoptotic cascade. MOAP-1−/− mice were found to exhibit reduced neuronal loss and smaller infarct volume 24 h after tMCAO when compared to MOAP-1+/+ mice. Correspondingly, MOAP-1−/− mice also showed better integrity of neurological functions as demonstrated by their performance in the rotarod test. Therefore, both in vitro and in vivo data presented strongly support the conclusion that MOAP-1 is an important apoptotic modulator in ischemic injury. These results may suggest that a reduction of MOAP-1 function in the brain could be a potential therapeutic approach in the treatment of acute stroke.
Economically Efficient Hepatitis C Virus Treatment Prioritization Improves Health Outcomes
Authors: Cipriano Lauren E. , Liu Shan , Shahzada Kaspar S. , Holodniy Mark , Goldhaber-Fiebert Jeremy D.
Published: August 2018

Background. The total cost of treating the 3 million Americans chronically infected with hepatitis C virus (HCV) represents a substantial affordability challenge requiring treatment prioritization. This study compares the health and economic outcomes of alternative treatment prioritization schedules. Methods. We developed a multiyear HCV treatment budget allocation model to evaluate the tradeoffs of 7 prioritization strategies. We used optimization to identify the priority schedule that maximizes population net monetary benefit (NMB). We compared prioritization schedules in terms of the number of individuals treated, the number of individuals who progress to end-stage liver disease (ESLD), and population total quality-adjusted life years (QALYs). We applied the model to the population of treatment-naive patients with a total annual HCV treatment budget of US$8.6 billion. Results. First-come, first-served (FCFS) treats the fewest people with advanced fibrosis, prevents the fewest cases of ESLD, and gains the fewest QALYs. A schedule developed from optimizing population NMB prioritizes treatment in the first year to patients with moderate to severe fibrosis who are younger than 65 years, followed by older individuals with moderate to severe fibrosis. While this strategy yields the greatest population QALYs, prioritization by disease severity alone prevents more cases of ESLD. Sensitivity analysis indicated that the differences between prioritization schedules are greater when the budget is smaller. A 10% annual treatment price reduction enabled treatment 1 year sooner to several patient subgroups, specifically older patients and those with less severe liver fibrosis. Conclusion. In the absence of a sufficient budget to treat all patients, explicit prioritization targeting younger people with more severe disease first provides the greatest health benefits. We provide our spreadsheet model so that decision makers can compare health tradeoffs of different budget levels and various prioritization strategies with inputs tailored to their population.
Common Pitfalls in Analysis of Tissue Scores
Authors: Meyerholz David K. , Tintle Nathan L. , Beck Amanda P.
Published: August 2018

Histopathology remains an important source of descriptive biological data in biomedical research. Recent petitions for enhanced reproducibility in scientific studies have elevated the role of tissue scoring (semiquantitative and quantitative) in research studies. Effective tissue scoring requires appropriate statistical analysis to help validate the group comparisons and give the pathologist confidence in interpreting the data. Each statistical test is typically founded on underlying assumptions regarding the data. If the underlying assumptions of a statistical test do not match the data, then these tests can lead to increased risk of erroneous interpretations of the data. The choice of appropriate statistical test is influenced by the study’s experimental design and resultant data (eg, paired vs unpaired, normality, number of groups, etc). Here, we identify 3 common pitfalls in the analysis of tissue scores: shopping for significance, overuse of paired t-tests, and misguided analysis of multiple groups. Finally, we encourage pathologists to use the full breadth of resources available to them, such as using statistical software, reading key publications about statistical approaches, and identifying a statistician to serve as a collaborator on the multidisciplinary research team. These collective resources can be helpful in choosing the appropriate statistical test for tissue-scoring data to provide the most valid interpretation for the pathologist.
Political geography II: Institutions
Authors: Kuus Merje
Published: August 2018

Modern power is bureaucratized power, institutionalized formally through governmental and non-governmental structures and informally through unwritten social conventions. This report reviews recent political geographic work on the institutional arrangements that enable and constrain all political practice. Institutions here refer to organizations as well as looser semi-institutionalized patterns in public and private life. The report will first examine the scholarship on formal organizations and it will then review the research on professional fields and popular culture. The conclusion highlights the transnationalization and neoliberalization of institutions as a theme that runs through much of contemporary political geography.
Privacy and libraries in the case of Japan
Authors: Inoue Yasuyo
Published: August 2018

This essay introduces the concept of privacy from the perspective of the East Asian nation of Japan. Firstly, it provides background context to how privacy is viewed in the country; then it discusses relevant legislative approaches to the protection of privacy in Japan. It goes on to discuss privacy in relation to its relevance to libraries, illustrated with two case studies, before concluding with some suggestions as to the way forward in Japan.
Comparison of Pedestrian Count Expansion Methods: Land Use Groups versus Empirical Clusters
Authors: Griswold Julia B. , Medury Aditya , Schneider Robert J. , Grembek Offer
Published: August 2018

Expansion factors based on the trends in long-term count data are useful tools for estimating daily, weekly, or annual volumes from short-term counts, but it is unclear how to differentiate locations by activity pattern. This paper compares two approaches to developing factor groups for hour-to-week pedestrian count expansion factors. The land use (LU) classification approach assumes that surrounding LUs affect the pedestrian activity at a location, and it is easy to apply to short-term count locations based on identifiable attributes of the site. The empirical clustering (EC) approach uses statistical methods to match locations based on the actual counts, which may produce more accurate volume estimates, but presents a challenge for determining which factor group to apply to a location. We found that both the LU and EC approaches provided better weekly pedestrian volume estimates than the single factor approach of taking the average of all locations. Further, the differences between LU and EC estimation errors were modest, so it may be beneficial to use the intuitive and practical LU approach. LU groupings can also be modified with insights from the EC results, thus improving estimates while maintaining the ease of application. Ideal times for short-term counts are during peak activity periods, as they generally produce estimates with fewer errors than off-peak periods. Weekly volume estimated from longer-duration counts (e.g., 12 h) is generally more accurate than estimates from shorter-duration counts (e.g., 2 h). Practitioners can follow this guidance to improve the quality of weekly pedestrian volume estimates.
Visualization of erythrocyte deformation induced by supraphysiological shear stress
Authors: Watanabe Nobuo , Shimada Takahiro , Hakozaki Masaya , Hara Ryohei
Published: August 2018

To elucidate development of shear-induced damage in erythrocytes, it is necessary to visualize erythrocytes under high-shear flow. Therefore, we prototyped a special shear flow chamber with a counter-rotating mechanism consisting of a transparent acrylic cone and a glass plate. The flow chamber was mounted on an inverted microscope and illuminated by a 350-W metal halide lamp. This experimental system made it possible for a digital video camera to record through the microscopes’ objective lens the rheological behavior in shear flow of erythrocytes diluted in highly viscous polyvinyl pyrrolidone. We successfully visualized the blood cells’ ellipsoidal deformation response to an unphysiological, high shear stress of 288 Pa, their shift into abnormal rheological behavior, and final collapse. When abnormality first appeared, the membrane surface of some ellipsoidal erythrocytes started undulating and their shape became more asymmetric. Finally, the erythrocytes appeared to fragment, although the fragments continued tumbling together suggesting that they were all still connected. One such abnormal erythrocyte became segmented through collision with other cell. The undulation of the membrane surface when erythrocytes experienced trauma suggests possible detachment of the lipid bilayer from the membrane cytoskeleton. As the damage increased, the morphological abnormality of cells became greater with less tank-treading, and then, the erythrocytes started tumbling. This unstable behavior increases the volume of flow region occupied by the erythrocytes and increases the chance that neighboring cells will hit them and break them into segmented pieces. This study clearly showed that the beginning of erythrocytes’ morphological abnormality was induced by shear stress.
Evidence for a Coupled Oscillator Model of Endocrine Ultradian Rhythms
Authors: Grant Azure D. , Wilsterman Kathryn , Smarr Benjamin L. , Kriegsfeld Lance J.
Published: August 2018

Whereas long-period temporal structures in endocrine dynamics have been well studied, endocrine rhythms on the scale of hours are relatively unexplored. The study of these ultradian rhythms (URs) has remained nascent, in part, because a theoretical framework unifying ultradian patterns across systems has not been established. The present overview proposes a conceptual coupled oscillator network model of URs in which oscillating hormonal outputs, or nodes, are connected by edges representing the strength of node-node coupling. We propose that variable-strength coupling exists both within and across classic hormonal axes. Because coupled oscillators synchronize, such a model implies that changes across hormonal systems could be inferred by surveying accessible nodes in the network. This implication would at once simplify the study of URs and open new avenues of exploration into conditions affecting coupling. In support of this proposed framework, we review mammalian evidence for (1) URs of the gut-brain axis and the hypothalamo-pituitary-thyroid, -adrenal, and -gonadal axes, (2) UR coupling within and across these axes; and (3) the relation of these URs to body temperature. URs across these systems exhibit behavior broadly consistent with a coupled oscillator network, maintaining both consistent URs and coupling within and across axes. This model may aid the exploration of mammalian physiology at high temporal resolution and improve the understanding of endocrine system dynamics within individuals.
Accountability: A magic bullet for emergency care delays and healthcare access blocks
Authors: Innes Grant
Published: August 2018

Emergency care delays are one link in a chain of access blocks that permeate our healthcare system. Community patients blocked in hospitals, in-patients blocked in emergency departments, emergent patients blocked in ambulances. The root cause is failure to define, expect, or manage accountability. The easy response to a heavy patient surge is to block access. This protects programs from care demands that would otherwise mandate innovation, and displaces problems to leaders who cannot solve them—a recipe for perpetual dysfunction. Accountability is the evolutionary stressor required to drive system change. The key is a framework defining accountability zones and program expectations. This article focuses on emergency access block, but the proposed solution is relevant across the system.
The mental demands of leadership in complex adaptive systems
Authors: Petrie David A. , Swanson Robert Chad
Published: August 2018

After a decade of calls for healthcare transformation, there is a convergence of themes in our general orienting models. The core metaphor of health system as machine (with closed boundaries, linear functions, and controlled predictable outputs) has given way to health as ecosystem (with open boundaries, non-linear functions, multiple interdependencies, and no single locus of control over outcomes). Current developmental psychology theory suggests that people construct their reality, and interact with their world, based on the epistemology (or “action-logic” or “mindset”) of their stage of development. Through this lens, the skills for leading large-scale change in our increasingly complex world require significant cognitive and interpersonal development. The concept of vertical development may be an underemphasized aspect of system change. This article will discuss a new set of leadership skills and frameworks that emerge in the nexus of complex adaptive systems and adult development theory.
One province, one healthcare system: A decade of healthcare transformation in Alberta
Authors: Veitch David
Published: August 2018

Nearly a decade has passed since Alberta folded nine regional health authorities and three government agencies into one province-wide health system: Alberta Health Services (AHS). Deemed a reckless experiment by some at the time, there is now mounting evidence province-wide integration of services across the healthcare continuum is an enabler of improved quality, safety, and financial sustainability. The article highlights specific examples of how AHS is strengthening partnerships, standardizing best practices, and driving innovation, making Alberta a national and international leader in areas such as stroke care and potentially inappropriate use of antipsychotics in long-term care. It also shows how province-wide integration is being leveraged to build workplace culture, enhance patient safety, and find operational efficiencies that result in cost savings and cost avoidance.
The Emotional-Ambiguity Hypothesis: A Large-Scale Test
Authors: Brainerd C. J.
Published: August 2018

Valence and arousal are core dimensions of emotion, but the relation between them has eluded scientific consensus. The emotional-ambiguity hypothesis is the first new model of this relation to appear in some years. It introduces the novel principle that the relation between valence and arousal is controlled by a variable that is not traditionally measured: the uncertainty of perceived valence. A comprehensive evaluation of this principle was conducted using publicly available emotional word and emotional picture databases. There was compelling support for the hypothesis in both types of databases and for both positive and negative valence: The strength of the relation between perceived arousal and perceived positivity or negativity decreased linearly as valence perceptions became more ambiguous. These results explain some puzzling facts about the valence–arousal relation that figure prominently in literature reviews, and they provide a solution to the problem of how to remove arousal confounds from valence effects.
Dealing with austerity and migration in the northern European cleaning sector: Social partner strategies to strengthen wage floors
Authors: Trygstad Sissel , Larsen Trine P , Nergaard Kristine
Published: August 2018

Industrial cleaning shares some common features across countries. Institutions for collective wage regulation are fragile, the market is highly price-sensitive and skewed competition has exerted pressure on wages and conditions. Increased cross-border mobility of labour and enterprises after EU enlargement brought new sources of competitive pressure, which was amplified by the subsequent economic crisis. We study changes in collective regulation in industrial cleaning in Denmark, Germany, Norway and the UK since the turn of the century, and find that the social partners have responded differently to the challenges. We discuss these responses in the light of national differences in industrial relations regimes and the regulatory tools available for the organized actors.