bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Onyx Embolization of an Acute Type II Endoleak Causing Recurrent Hemorrhage Post Emergency Endovascular Aortic Aneurysm Repair for Ruptured Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm
Authors: Pugh Justin , Asquith John , Choudhury Shuvro , Morgan Richard , Wells David
Published: May 2018

The authors report a case of ongoing retroperitoneal hemorrhage from a ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) following treatment by endovascular abdominal aortic aneurysm repair (EVAR). Unusually, the continued hemorrhage was secondary to a lumbar type II endoleak. This was successfully embolized with onyx. Only one other similar case has been reported.
Myasthene Syndrome – Stellenwert von Rehabilitation und Sport
Authors: Henze Thomas
Published: May 2018

Patienten mit myasthenen Syndromen werden nur selten in Reha-Kliniken eingewiesen. Sie können aber insbesondere nach einer myasthenen Krise sowie bei schweren Verläufen durchaus von einer Rehabilitation profitieren, insbesondere bei hochgradigen Paresen der Extremitätenmuskeln, hartnäckiger Dysphagie und/oder Sprechstörung sowie respiratorischer Insuffizienz. Ziel ist immer die möglichst umfassende Verringerung bestehender Beeinträchtigungen und dadurch der Erhalt der Teilhabe am sozialen Leben. Voraussetzung für eine erfolgreiche Rehabilitation ist neben detaillierten Kenntnissen der Erkrankung einschließlich potenzieller Komplikationen ein umfassendes Reha-Konzept, welches neben individuellen und multimodalen Trainingsmöglichkeiten zahlreiche weitere Aspekte wie Krankheitsbewältigung, Sozialmedizin, Schulungen, Hilfsmittelversorgung beinhalten muss.
Diagnostik der Myasthenia gravis
Authors: Blaes Franz
Published: May 2018

Die Diagnose einer Myasthenia gravis gründet sich neben der Anamnese und klinischen Untersuchung insbesondere auf laborchemische und neurophysiologische Untersuchungen. Neben den schon lange bekannten Antikörpern gegen nikotinische Acetylcholinrezeptoren finden sich Antikörper gegen muskelspezifische Kinase (MUSK) und gegen das Lipoprotein-Rezeptor-assoziiertes Protein 4 (LRP4). Zudem können bei jüngeren Patienten anti-Titin-Antikörper Hinweise auf ein zugrunde liegendes Thymom liefern. Die neurophysiologische Diagnostik umfasst den Nachweis eines Dekrements mit der repetitiven Stimulation als elektrisches Korrelat der pathologischen Muskelermüdbarkeit. Bei unklaren Fällen trägt die Einzelfaser-Elektromyografie häufig zur Klärung der Diagnose bei. Ein Normalbefund bei letzterer schließt eine neuromuskuläre Übertragungsstörung nahezu aus. Mit der Kombination beider Methoden, Autoimmundiagnostik und neurophysiologische Untersuchung, kann in den allermeisten Fällen die Diagnose gestellt werden. In Zweifelsfällen bleibt die probatorische Gabe von Pyridostigmin zur möglichen Diagnosesicherung.
Was tun, wenn der Staatsanwalt kommt?
Authors: Weidhaas Rüdiger
Published: May 2018

Zum 24.08.2017 hat sich die Rechtslage in einem entscheidenden Punkt geändert. Nunmehr sind Zeugen verpflichtet, auch bei der Polizei zu erscheinen und auszusagen. Die Rechtsänderung hat Auswirkungen auf das Verhalten während einer Durchsuchungsmaßnahme. Denn durchsucht wird nicht nur beim Beschuldigten, sondern auch bei Zeugen. Nach wie vor gilt, dass es meist günstiger ist, zunächst von seinem Schweigerecht Gebrauch zu machen. Dieses in der Praxis durchzusetzen, wird jedoch in Zukunft noch schwieriger sein als bisher. Zivilcourage, die Kenntnis und die Wahrnehmung verbriefter Rechte sind wichtiger als je zuvor. Dazu gehört auch das Insistieren auf die Anwesenheit eines Zeugenbeistands.
Photoelectron spectrometer for liquid and gas-phase attosecond spectroscopy with field-free and magnetic bottle operation modes
Authors: Jordan Inga , Jain Arohi , Gaumnitz Thomas , Ma Jun , Wörner Hans Jakob
Published: May 2018

A compact time-of-flight spectrometer for applications in attosecond spectroscopy in the liquid and gas phases is presented. It allows for altering the collection efficiency by transitioning between field-free and magnetic-bottle operation modes. High energy resolution (ΔE/E = 0.03 for kinetic energies >20 eV) is achieved despite the short flight-tube length through a homogeneous deceleration potential at the beginning of the flight tube. A closing mechanism allows isolating the vacuum system of the flight tube from the interaction region in order to efficiently perform liquid-microjet experiments. The capabilities of the instrument are demonstrated through photoelectron spectra from multiphoton ionization of argon and xenon, as well as photoelectron spectra of liquid and gaseous water generated by an attosecond pulse train.
Luminescence of III-IV-V thin film alloys grown by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition
Authors: Jia Roger , Zhu Tony , Bulović Vladimir , Fitzgerald Eugene A.
Published: May 2018

III-IV-V heterovalent alloys have the potential to satisfy the need for infrared bandgap materials that also have lattice constants near GaAs. In this work, significant room temperature photoluminescence is reported for the first time in high quality III-IV-V alloys grown by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition. Pronounced phase separation, a characteristic suspected to quench luminescence in the alloys in the past, was successfully inhibited by a modified growth process. Small scale composition fluctuations were observed in the alloys; higher growth temperatures resulted in fluctuations with a striated morphology, while lower growth temperatures resulted in fluctuations with a speckled morphology. The composition fluctuations cause bandgap narrowing in the alloys—measurements of various compositions of (GaAs)1-x(Ge2)x alloys reveal a maximum energy transition of 0.8 eV under 20% Ge composition rather than a continuously increasing transition with the decreasing Ge composition. Additionally, luminescence intensity decreased with the decreasing Ge composition. The alloys appear to act as a Ge-like solid penetrating a GaAs lattice, resulting in optical properties similar to those of Ge but with a direct-bandgap nature; a decrease in the Ge composition corresponds to a reduction in the light-emitting Ge-like material within the lattice. An energy transition larger than 0.8 eV was obtained through the addition of silicon to the (GaAs)1-x(Ge2)x alloy. The results indicate significant promise for III-IV-V alloys as potential materials for small bandgap optical devices with previously unachievable lattice constants.
Seismic isolation of buildings using composite foundations based on metamaterials
Authors: Casablanca O. , Ventura G. , Garescì F. , Azzerboni B. , Chiaia B. , Chiappini M. , Finocchio G.
Published: May 2018

Metamaterials can be engineered to interact with waves in entirely new ways, finding application on the nanoscale in various fields such as optics and acoustics. In addition, acoustic metamaterials can be used in large-scale experiments for filtering and manipulating seismic waves (seismic metamaterials). Here, we propose seismic isolation based on a device that combines some properties of seismic metamaterials (e.g., periodic mass-in-mass systems) with that of a standard foundation positioned right below the building for isolation purposes. The concepts on which this solution is based are the local resonance and a dual-stiffness structure that preserves large (small) rigidity for compression (shear) effects. In other words, this paper introduces a different approach to seismic isolation by using certain principles of seismic metamaterials. The experimental demonstrator tested on the laboratory scale exhibits a spectral bandgap that begins at 4.5 Hz. Within the bandgap, it filters more than 50% of the seismic energy via an internal dissipation process. Our results open a path toward the seismic resilience of buildings and a critical infrastructure to shear seismic waves, achieving higher efficiency compared to traditional seismic insulators and passive energy-dissipation systems.
Impact of bootstrap current and Landau-fluid closure on ELM crashes and transport
Authors: Chen J. G. , Xu X. Q. , Ma C. H. , Lei Y. A.
Published: May 2018

Results presented here are from 6-field Landau-Fluid simulations using shifted circular cross-section tokamak equilibria on BOUT++ framework. Linear benchmark results imply that the collisional and collisionless Landau resonance closures make a little difference on linear growth rate spectra which are quite close to the results with the flux limited Spitzer-Härm parallel flux. Both linear and nonlinear simulations show that the plasma current profile plays dual roles on the peeling-ballooning modes that it can drive the low-n peeling modes and stabilize the high-n ballooning modes. For fixed total pressure and current, as the pedestal current decreases due to the bootstrap current which becomes smaller when the density (collisionality) increases, the operational point is shifted downwards vertically in the Jped – α diagram, resulting in threshold changes of different modes. The bootstrap current can slightly increase radial turbulence spreading range and enhance the energy and particle transports by increasing the perturbed amplitude and broadening cross-phase frequency distribution.
Visualizing deceleration-phase instabilities in inertial confinement fusion implosions using an “enhanced self-emission” technique at the National Ignition Facility
Authors: Pickworth L. A. , Hammel B. A. , Smalyuk V. A. , Robey H. F. , Benedetti L. R. , Berzak Hopkins L. , Bradley D. K. , Field J. E. , Haan S. W. , Hatarik R. , Hartouni E. , Izumi N. , Johnson S. , Khan S. , Lahmann B. , Landen O. L. , Le Pape S. , MacPhee A. G. , Meezan N. B. , Milovich J. , Nagel S. R. , Nikroo A. , Pak A. E. , Petrasso R. , Remington B. A. , Rice N. G. , Springer P. T. , Stadermann M. , Widmann K. , Hsing W.
Published: May 2018

High-mode perturbations and low-mode asymmetries were measured in the deceleration phase of indirectly driven, deuterium gas filled inertial confinement fusion capsule implosions at convergence ratios of 10 to 15, using a new “enhanced emission” technique at the National Ignition Facility [E. M. Campbell et al., AIP Conf. Proc. 429, 3 (1998)]. In these experiments, a high spatial resolution Kirkpatrick-Baez microscope was used to image the x-ray emission from the inner surface of a high-density-carbon capsule's shell. The use of a high atomic number dopant in the shell enabled time-resolved observations of shell perturbations penetrating into the hot spot. This allowed the effects of the perturbations and asymmetries on degrading neutron yield to be directly measured. In particular, mix induced radiation losses of ∼400 J from the hot spot resulted in a neutron yield reduction of a factor of ∼2. In a subsequent experiment with a significantly increased level of short-mode initial perturbations, shown through the enhanced imaging technique to be highly organized radially, the neutron yield dropped an additional factor of ∼2.
Spin-orbit torque and spin pumping in YIG/Pt with interfacial insertion layers
Authors: Emori Satoru , Matyushov Alexei , Jeon Hyung-Min , Babroski Christopher J. , Nan Tianxiang , Belkessam Amine M. , Jones John G. , McConney Michael E. , Brown Gail J. , Howe Brandon M. , Sun Nian X.
Published: May 2018

We experimentally investigate spin-orbit torque and spin pumping in Y3Fe5O12 (YIG)/Pt bilayers with ultrathin insertion layers at the interface. An insertion layer of Cu suppresses both spin-orbit torque and spin pumping, whereas an insertion layer of Ni80Fe20 (permalloy, Py) enhances them in a quantitatively consistent manner with the reciprocity of the two spin transmission processes. However, we observe a large enhancement of Gilbert damping with the insertion of Py that cannot be accounted for solely by spin pumping, suggesting significant spin-memory loss due to the interfacial magnetic layer. Our findings indicate that the magnetization at the YIG-metal interface strongly influences the transmission and depolarization of pure spin current.
Opposite dispersion bands at the Fermi level in ZrSe2
Authors: Ghafari A. , Moustafa M. , Di Santo G. , Petaccia L. , Janowitz C.
Published: May 2018

The electronic structure of ZrSe2 was studied by high resolution angular resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES) and by density functional theory (DFT). ARPES with distinct horizontal (P) and vertical (S)-polarized synchrotron radiation was performed on the sample kept at room temperature and 20 K to unravel the electronic structure especially at the Fermi energy (EF). The DFT calculations including spin-orbit coupling using the modified Becke-Johnson potential reveal the presence of three occupied valence bands at the Γ(A)-point and show that the minimum indirect bandgap is between the Γ- and L-points of the Brillouin zone (BZ) similar to the experimental results. While the DFT calculations give only a single conduction band at the L and M-points of the BZ, the ARPES data (20 K) show two bands with opposite dispersion at EF. The observation of two bands close to EF was already reported in the charge density wave phase of TiSe2. The underlying mechanism of our observations is possibly a folding of the valence band states of ZrSe2 from the Γ(A) to M(L)-point accompanied by an energy shift due to internal dipolar momenta. Furthermore, at the A-point, the experimental dispersion of the lower occupied valence band and the size of its energy separation to the middle occupied band are not in line with the DFT calculations. Possible reasons of such discrepancies are discussed.
Cross-beam energy transfer: On the accuracy of linear stationary models in the linear kinetic regime
Authors: Debayle A. , Masson-Laborde P.-E. , Ruyer C. , Casanova M. , Loiseau P.
Published: May 2018

We present an extensive numerical study by means of particle-in-cell simulations of the energy transfer that occurs during the crossing of two laser beams. In the linear regime, when ions are not trapped in the potential well induced by the laser interference pattern, a very good agreement is obtained with a simple linear stationary model, provided the laser intensity is sufficiently smooth. These comparisons include different plasma compositions to cover the strong and weak Landau damping regimes as well as the multispecies case. The correct evaluation of the linear Landau damping at the phase velocity imposed by the laser interference pattern is essential to estimate the energy transfer rate between the laser beams, once the stationary regime is reached. The transient evolution obtained in kinetic simulations is also analysed by means of a full analytical formula that includes 3D beam energy exchange coupled with the ion acoustic wave response. Specific attention is paid to the energy transfer when the laser presents small-scale inhomogeneities. In particular, the energy transfer is reduced when the laser inhomogeneities are comparable with the Landau damping characteristic length of the ion acoustic wave.
Relativistic quantum chaos—An emergent interdisciplinary field
Authors: Lai Ying-Cheng , Xu Hong-Ya , Huang Liang , Grebogi Celso
Published: May 2018

Quantum chaos is referred to as the study of quantum manifestations or fingerprints of classical chaos. A vast majority of the studies were for nonrelativistic quantum systems described by the Schrödinger equation. Recent years have witnessed a rapid development of Dirac materials such as graphene and topological insulators, which are described by the Dirac equation in relativistic quantum mechanics. A new field has thus emerged: relativistic quantum chaos. This Tutorial aims to introduce this field to the scientific community. Topics covered include scarring, chaotic scattering and transport, chaos regularized resonant tunneling, superpersistent currents, and energy level statistics—all in the relativistic quantum regime. As Dirac materials have the potential to revolutionize solid-state electronic and spintronic devices, a good understanding of the interplay between chaos and relativistic quantum mechanics may lead to novel design principles and methodologies to enhance device performance.
Resonant electronic Raman scattering of below-gap states in molecular-beam epitaxy grown and liquid-encapsulated Czochralski grown GaAs
Authors: Fluegel B. , Rice A. D. , Mascarenhas A.
Published: May 2018

Resonant electronic Raman (ER) scattering is used to compare the below-gap excitations in molecular-beam epitaxially grown GaAs and in undoped semi-insulating GaAs substrates. The measurement geometry was designed to eliminate common measurement artifacts caused by the high optical transmission below the fundamental absorption edge. In epitaxial GaAs, ER is a clear Raman signal from the two-electron transitions of donors, eliminating an ambiguity encountered in previous results. In semi-insulating GaAs, ER occurs in a much broader dispersive band well below the bound exciton energies. The difference in the two materials may be due to the occupation of the substrate acceptor states in the presence of the midgap state EL2.
The desert dweller: forging a career in arid zone ecology
Authors: Moseby K. E.
Published: May 2018

Australia’s deserts can appear to be desolate and harsh environments, but they are extremely dynamic places that support a range of species adapted to the boom and bust conditions. Despite the resilience of the arid zone, extinction rates in arid Australia are the highest in the country and the majority of medium-sized mammals have been lost since European settlement. Katherine Moseby is a conservation biologist who lives and works in the Australian arid zone, with a particular focus on threatened species and reintroductions. She provides a brief background on arid zone ecology in Australia and the story of how she went from city slicker to desert dweller. A discussion on what it means to be a woman in conservation science is included with some insights into juggling a career and a family in a remote location.
Insulin promotes preantral follicle growth and antrum formation through temporal expression of genes regulating steroidogenesis and water transport in the cat
Authors: Thongkittidilok Chommanart , Singh Ram Pratap , Comizzoli Pierre , Wildt David , Songsasen Nucharin
Published: May 2018

The aims of the present study were to determine the effects of insulin, in vitro, on: (1) the viability and growth of domestic cat ovarian follicles; (2) mRNA expression of genes regulating steroidogenesis (cytochrome P450 family 17 subfamily, A polypeptide 1 (Cyp17a1), cytochrome P450 family 19 subfamily, A polypeptide 1 (Cyp19a1) and steroidogenic acute regulatory protein (Star)) and water transport (aquaporins (AQPs) Aqp1, Aqp3, Aqp7, Aqp9); and (3) steroid production (17β-oestradiol (E2), progesterone (P4), androstenedione (A4)). Cat secondary follicles were isolated from ovarian cortices and cultured in 0 (Control), 1 or 10 µg mL−1 insulin for 14 days (Day 0 = culture onset). Follicle and oocyte viability (based on neutral red staining), diameter and antrum formation were assessed every 72 h and at the end of incubation (Day 14). Expression of steroidogenic and water transport genes was evaluated on Days 0, 6 and 12, and E2, P4 and A4 concentrations in the culture medium were determined on Day 12. By Day 14, 1 and 10 µg mL−1 insulin had significantly promoted (P < 0.05) both antrum formation in a mean (± s.e.m.) 26.9 ± 9.0% and 78.0 ± 10.0% of follicles respectively, and follicle growth (diameter 151.4 ± 4.5 and 169.9 ± 10.5 µm respectively) compared with Control (antrum formation in 3.3 ± 3.3% of follicles and follicle diameter 129.1 ± 6.6 µm). High insulin (10 µg mL−1) treatment increased follicle viability compared with Control (86.0 ± 9.8% vs 38.1 ± 10.9% respectively; P < 0.05). However, insulin had no beneficial effect (P > 0.05) on oocyte diameter. Cyp17a1 expression on Days 6 and 12 was higher (P < 0.05) in follicles cultured in the low (1 µg mL−1) compared with high (10 µg mL−1) insulin treatment, with no significant difference between low or high insulin vs Control groups. Star expression was higher (P < 0.01) in the low insulin compared with Control group on Day 6, but Star was undetectable in the high insulin group by Day 12. Compared with high insulin, low insulin increased (P < 0.05) Aqp1 expression on Day 6, but there were no significant differences between these two groups on Day 12. In contrast, high insulin decreased (P < 0.05) Aqp9 transcript levels compared with Control. Only P4 production was affected by insulin, with P4 concentrations in the medium being higher (P < 0.05) in the low compared with high insulin and Control groups. In summary, the findings indicate that insulin promotes cat ovarian follicle growth and survival in vitro, including enhanced antrum formation, with the likely mechanism involving temporal expression of Cyp17a1, Star and Aqp9 genes.
Autism-associated neuroligin-4 mutation selectively impairs glycinergic synaptic transmission in mouse brainstem synapses
Authors: Zhang Bo , Gokce Ozgun , Hale W. Dylan , Brose Nils , Südhof Thomas C.
Published: May 2018

In human patients, loss-of-function mutations of the postsynaptic cell-adhesion molecule neuroligin-4 were repeatedly identified as monogenetic causes of autism. In mice, neuroligin-4 deletions caused autism-related behavioral impairments and subtle changes in synaptic transmission, and neuroligin-4 was found, at least in part, at glycinergic synapses. However, low expression levels precluded a comprehensive analysis of neuroligin-4 localization, and overexpression of neuroligin-4 puzzlingly impaired excitatory but not inhibitory synaptic function. As a result, the function of neuroligin-4 remains unclear, as does its relation to other neuroligins. To clarify these issues, we systematically examined the function of neuroligin-4, focusing on excitatory and inhibitory inputs to defined projection neurons of the mouse brainstem as central model synapses. We show that loss of neuroligin-4 causes a profound impairment of glycinergic but not glutamatergic synaptic transmission and a decrease in glycinergic synapse numbers. Thus, neuroligin-4 is essential for the organization and/or maintenance of glycinergic synapses.
RTG-dependent Mitochondria-to-Nucleus Signaling Is Regulated byMKS1and Is Linked to Formation of Yeast Prion [URE3]
Authors: Sekito Takayuki , Liu Zhengchang , Thornton Janet , Butow Ronald A.
Published: May 2018

An important function of the RTG signaling pathway is maintenance of intracellular glutamate supplies in yeast cells with dysfunctional mitochondria. Herein, we report that MKS1is a negative regulator of the RTG pathway, acting between Rtg2p, a proximal sensor of mitochondrial function, and the bHLH transcription factors Rtg1p and Rtg3p. In mks1Δcells, RTG target gene expression is constitutive, bypassing the requirement for Rtg2p, and is no longer repressible by glutamate. We show further that Mks1p is a phosphoprotein whose phosphorylation pattern parallels that of Rtg3p in response to activation of the RTG pathway, and that Mks1p is in a complex with Rtg2p. MKS1 was previously implicated in the formation of [URE3], an inactive prion form of a negative regulator of the nitrogen catabolite repression pathway, Ure2p.rtgΔ mutations induce [URE3] and can do so independently of MKS1. We find that glutamate suppresses [URE3] formation, suggesting that the Mks1p effect on the formation of [URE3] can occur indirectly via regulation of theRTG pathway.
Use of a β1 Integrin-deficient Human T Cell to Identify β1 Integrin Cytoplasmic Domain Sequences Critical for Integrin Function
Authors: Romzek Nadine C. , Harris Estelle S. , Dell Cheryl L. , Skronek Jeffrey , Hasse Elizabeth , Reynolds Pamela J. , Hunt Stephen W. , Shimizu Yoji
Published: May 2018

T cell activation rapidly and transiently regulates the functional activity of integrin receptors. Stimulation of CD3/T cell receptor, CD2 or CD28, as well as activation with phorbol esters, can induce within minutes an increase in β1 integrin-mediated adhesion of T cells to fibronectin. In this study, we have produced and utilized a mutant of the Jurkat T cell line, designated A1, that lacks protein and mRNA expression of the β1 integrin subunit but retains normal levels of CD2, CD3, and CD28 on the cell surface. Activation-dependent adhesion of A1 cells to fibronectin could be restored upon transfection of a wild-type human β1 integrin cDNA. Adhesion induced by phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate-, CD3-, CD2-, and CD28 stimulation did not occur if the carboxy-terminal five amino acids of the β1 tail were truncated or if either of two well-conserved NPXY motifs were deleted. Scanning alanine substitutions of the carboxy-terminal five amino acids demonstrated a critical role for the tyrosine residue at position 795. The carboxy-terminal truncation and the NPXY deletions also reduced adhesion induced by direct stimulation of the β1 integrin with the activating β1 integrin-specific mAb TS2/16, although the effects were not as dramatic as observed with the other integrin-activating signals. These results demonstrate a vital role for the amino-terminal NPXY motif and the carboxy-terminal end of the β1 integrin cytoplasmic domain in activation-dependent regulation of integrin-mediated adhesion in T cells. Furthermore, the A1 cell line represents a valuable new cellular reagent for the analysis of β1 integrin structure and function in human T cells.
European Literature and Book History in the Middle Ages, c. 600-c. 1450
Authors: Mortensen Lars Boje
Published: May 2018

Medieval European literature is both broader and deeper in its basis than what is usually offered in literary histories with their focus only on a narrow canon and on vernacular languages. One way to see this bigger canvas is to consider technical and statistical book-historical factors together with the authority of the two Roman Empires (Western and Eastern) and of their religious hierarchies (the papacy and the patriarchate). A coordinated reading of developments in the Latin West and the Greek East—though rarely directly related—brings out some main features of intellectual and literary life in most of Europe. With this focus, a literary chronology emerges—as a supplement to existing narratives based on either national or formal (genre) concerns: the period c. 600 to c. 1450 can be considered a unity in book-historical terms, namely the era dominated the hand-written codex. It is also delimited by the fate of the Roman Empire with the Latin West effectively separated from the Greek Empire by c. 600 and the end of Constantinople in 1453. Within this broad framework, three distinctive phases of book- and intellectual history can be discerned: the exegetical (c. 600–c. 1050), the experimental (c. 1050–c. 1300), and the critical (c. 1300–c. 1450). These three headings should be understood as a shorthand for what was new in each phase, not as a general characteristic, especially because exegesis in various forms continued to lie at the heart of reading and writing books in all relevant languages.
Culture, Ethics, and Communication
Authors: Baldwin John , Ioannidis Iraklis , Huegel Robert
Published: May 2018

The global world brings people increasingly into contact with those from other cultures, or else they read about them in the media, leading them to make comparative judgments about their behavior. Sometimes people make these judgments at a national or international level as nations, multinational organizations, and social action organizations seek to discuss human rights across cultures. Contemporary Western ethics find their origins in discussions of ethics and morality by Immanuel Kant (deontological ethics) and Aristotle (teleological ethics). These and other ethical approaches are certainly relevant to communication scholars and practitioners in general, but those working across cultures face particular ethical dilemmas. Unfortunately, interculturalists often do not discuss ethics, or if they do, they discuss them in a brief and superficial way, which might give way to their own ethical stance to color their understanding of others.

Those who discuss ethics face a major tension between seeking a single ethical approach that applies to all cultures (i.e., ethical absolutism) and letting each culture determine its own ethical direction (i.e., cultural relativism, one form of the broader notion of ethical relativism). Various authors have proposed deriving a stance from what ethical stances seem to be universal, much as the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights seems to do. Others propose peace or humanitarian ethics that would leave most cultural elements alone in other cultures, but speak when actions, policies, or social situations work against the human dignity of individuals.

Jürgen Habermas, on the other hand, proposes that people seek ideal speech situations, where people can have open dialogue without restraints, such as power differentials. Finally, as a way out of the ethical maze, others have proposed a dialogic or communicative approach that is not relative, but with which people involved in ethical decisions enter discussions with each other, often considering a wide array of contextual factors that might affect ethical outcomes.
Feminist Organizational Communication
Authors: Arendt Colleen E. , Buzzanell Patrice M.
Published: May 2018

Feminist organizational communication scholarship can be framed in four ways. The four frames display how feminisms encourage: (a) questioning gender difference; (b) performing/queering organizing; (c) disrupting online and offline organizations and their alternatives; and (d) challenging macro-Discourses and structures of gender inequality. In discussing discourses and structures, it is important to include how feminist organizational communication scholars generate knowledge(s) within and across particularities and unities, engage contradiction, and unveil neoliberalism, especially meritocracy and ideal worker norms. In discussing feminist organizational communication, the emerging trends in discovery, learning, and engagement focus on: (a) contradiction, (b) context, (c) difference, and (d) resistance through and by human and nonhuman agents.
Critical Whiteness Studies
Authors: Sullivan Shannon
Published: May 2018

Critical whiteness studies can be understood in terms of three overlapping waves ranging from the national to the international and from the 19th to the 21st centuries. Beginning in the Reconstruction era in the United States, the first wave criticized whiteness in the form of protection of white femininity, possessive ownership, and the public and psychological wages paid to white people during Jim Crow America. The second wave began after the end of World War II, when challenges to legalized racial segregation and European colonialism flourished. The third wave, whose beginning can be marked roughly at the end of the 20th century, is distinguished by increased examination of nonblack immigrants’ relation to whiteness, the growing number of white authors contributing to the field, and a blossoming international range of critical studies of whiteness.
Quaternary Climate Variation in West Africa
Authors: Shanahan Timothy M.
Published: May 2018

West Africa is among the most populated regions of the world, and it is predicted to continue to have one of the fastest growing populations in the first half of the 21st century. More than 35% of its GDP comes from agricultural production, and a large fraction of the population faces chronic hunger and malnutrition. Its dependence on rainfed agriculture is compounded by extreme variations in rainfall, including both droughts and floods, which appear to have become more frequent. As a result, it is considered a region highly vulnerable to future climate changes. At the same time, CMIP5 model projections for the next century show a large spread in precipitation estimates for West Africa, making it impossible to predict even the direction of future precipitation changes for this region. To improve predictions of future changes in the climate of West Africa, a better understanding of past changes, and their causes, is needed. Long climate and vegetation reconstructions, extending back to 5−8 Ma, demonstrate that changes in the climate of West Africa are paced by variations in the Earth’s orbit, and point to a direct influence of changes in low-latitude seasonal insolation on monsoon strength. However, the controls on West African precipitation reflect the influence of a complex set of forcing mechanisms, which can differ regionally in their importance, especially when insolation forcing is weak. During glacial intervals, when insolation changes are muted, millennial-scale dry events occur across North Africa in response to reorganizations of the Atlantic circulation associated with high-latitude climate changes. On centennial timescales, a similar response is evident, with cold conditions during the Little Ice Age associated with a weaker monsoon, and warm conditions during the Medieval Climate Anomaly associated with wetter conditions. Land surface properties play an important role in enhancing changes in the monsoon through positive feedback. In some cases, such as the mid-Holocene, the feedback led to abrupt changes in the monsoon, but the response is complex and spatially heterogeneous. Despite advances made in recent years, our understanding of West African monsoon variability remains limited by the dearth of continuous, high- resolution, and quantitative proxy reconstructions, particularly from terrestrial sites.
Intraseasonal Modulation of the Indian Summer Monsoon
Authors: Wang Bin
Published: May 2018

The strongest Indian summer monsoon (ISM) on the planet features prolonged clustered spells of wet and dry conditions often lasting for two to three weeks, known as active and break monsoons. The active and break monsoons are attributed to a quasi-periodic intraseasonal oscillation (ISO), which is an extremely important form of the ISM variability bridging weather and climate variation. The ISO over India is part of the ISO in global tropics. The latter is one of the most important meteorological phenomena discovered during the 20th century (Madden & Julian, 1971, 1972). The extreme dry and wet events are regulated by the boreal summer ISO (BSISO). The BSISO over Indian monsoon region consists of northward propagating 30–60 day and westward propagating 10–20 day modes. The “clustering” of synoptic activity was separately modulated by both the 30–60 day and 10–20 day BSISO modes in approximately equal amounts. The clustering is particularly strong when the enhancement effect from both modes acts in concert. The northward propagation of BSISO is primarily originated from the easterly vertical shear (increasing easterly winds with height) of the monsoon flows, which by interacting with the BSISO convective system can generate boundary layer convergence to the north of the convective system that promotes its northward movement. The BSISO-ocean interaction through wind-evaporation feedback and cloud-radiation feedback can also contribute to the northward propagation of BSISO from the equator. The 10–20 day oscillation is primarily produced by convectively coupled Rossby waves modified by the monsoon mean flows. Using coupled general circulation models (GCMs) for ISO prediction is an important advance in subseasonal forecasts. The major modes of ISO over Indian monsoon region are potentially predictable up to 40–45 days as estimated by multiple GCM ensemble hindcast experiments. The current dynamical models’ prediction skills for the large initial amplitude cases are approximately 20–25 days, but the prediction of developing BSISO disturbance is much more difficult than the prediction of the mature BSISO disturbances. This article provides a synthesis of our current knowledge on the observed spatial and temporal structure of the ISO over India and the important physical processes through which the BSISO regulates the ISM active-break cycles and severe weather events. Our present capability and shortcomings in simulating and predicting the monsoon ISO and outstanding issues are also discussed.
Fighting Abroad, Fighting at Home (and Vice Versa ): Identifying the Relationship Between Civil and Interstate Conflict with Fewer Assumptions
Authors: Colaresi Michael
Published: May 2018

There has been increasing scholarly attention paid to the relationship between civil war and international disputes. Although this literature includes a rich set of theoretical expectation, the empirical evidence offered to support them thus far has included several important shortcomings. Most crucially, previous influential models of the effect of civil war on interstate disputes assume that civil war initiation and duration is exogenous from underlying international hostilities. This assumption neither matches the theoretical mechanisms being analyzed, nor is it necessary to bring quantitative evidence to bear on the interstices of domestic and interstate conflict. Special regressor methods (as suggested by Lewbel in 2001) help account for the cross-level, monadic-to-dyadic, relationship, as well as the potential for endogeneity. Conventional single-equation approaches, as well as parametric bivariate probit models, produce biased inferences on the effect of civil war on interstate disputes. Using the negative of the log of inter-capital distance as the special regressor, there is an absence of clear evidence for an exogenous effect of civil war on interstate conflict. Instead, more research should explore the role of dynamic international hostility in causing both conflict processes.
Sexuality and Gang Involvement
Authors: Panfil Vanessa R.
Published: May 2018

Recent gang research has explored various dimensions of diversity including sexuality and has provided important insights regarding sexual identity and sexual behavior within the context of youth street gang involvement. Insights include the experiences of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or questioning (LGBTQ) gang members such as their prevalence rates, reasons for joining, gang activities, homophobia within youth street gangs, and how gang structure and composition affect their ability to be open about their sexuality within the gang context. These insights were preceded by scholars’ descriptions of the “homosexual activities” of gang members, particularly in mid-20th-century works, but early-21st-century works include empirical research and documentaries that explore the lived experiences of self-identified LGBTQ gang members. Another major area of study explores the ways that young women are subjected to various forms of sexual violence within gangs, partially because female gang members are often viewed as sex objects. Girls may be “sexed in” to a gang, targeted for sexual violence to exact retribution, raped as a tool of control, or coerced into commercial sexual exploitation. Sexual behavior and sexual identity are often linked with gendered processes and expectations for gang members, which similarly factor into our understanding of the youth street gang experience. Other topics of interest in this field include determining the relationships between childhood sexual abuse and later gang involvement; how to better research sexual autonomy and sexual agency (choice) that may become available to young people within their gangs; as well as addressing extensions of sexuality, such as by examining the relationship between pregnancy or parenthood and leaving the gang, focusing on shifts in available time, priorities, and identity.
Promoting Student Success in Low-Performing Schools
Authors: Barnett Bruce G.
Published: May 2018

The growing economic and employment disparities between members of different socioeconomic groups often paint a bleak future for people living in marginalized communities. These conditions are reflected in many low-performing urban schools where dropouts, behavioral problems, and poor academic performance prevail. In the United States, large numbers of adolescents have a sense of hopelessness, particularly among racial and ethnic minority groups. Despite these challenging circumstances, school leaders are well positioned to build these urban students’ hope for a bright future. Using hope theory—goal development, agency, and pathways—as a foundation, the article describes ways school leaders can become agents of hope, which is reinforced by research from an international study of leadership in low-performing schools. The article concludes by examining how leadership preparation and development programs can influence aspiring and practicing school leaders’ capacities to become agents of hope.
Achievement Motivation in Education
Authors: Meece Judith , Agger Charlotte
Published: May 2018

Achievement motivation theories are used to understand gender discrepancies in motivation across various academic domains. Early on in the field of motivation research, researchers commonly used an attribution framework to study achievement-related outcomes among men and women. Self-efficacy theory and a revised expectancy-value theory of achievement-related choices dominate the current literature on gender differences and achievement motivation. Current trends in research on gender and academic motivation include the shifting and expanding of theoretical frameworks, a new focus on the motivation and achievement of male students, and the use of advanced methodologies and cross-national data to conduct comparative research on gender and patterns of motivation.
Tea, Porcelain, and Silk: Chinese Exports to the West in the Early Modern Period
Authors: Po Ronald C.
Published: May 2018

Tracing the social lives of tea, porcelain, and silk, it is discernible that the world had been living with commodities made in and exported from China for a fairly long period of time. Particularly, when tea slowly became more common in England during the 18th century, most Britons tended to purchase tea leaves planted in the Yangtze River Delta and the Fujian region. When Europeans first encountered Chinese porcelain, it was so fine, translucent, and superior to anything that they could possibly manufacture at the time. They thus concluded that it must be a magic substance and astonishingly called it “white gold.” The Western obsession about Chinese porcelain, in turn, encouraged Europeans to produce their own imitations in terms of both production processes and marketing strategies. When silkworm disease ruined European sericulture in the middle of the 19th century, Chinese silk, including silk textiles and spun and raw silks, fulfilled a need in a demanding Euro-American market. These examples, among many others, conceivably reveal that China has played a crucial role in the global history of the dissemination and consumption of commodities since the early modern period.
The Uyghurs in Modern China
Authors: Thum Rian
Published: May 2018

The Uyghurs are a Turkic-speaking ethnic group, most of whom live today within the People’s Republic of China. Virtually all Uyghurs are Muslims, and most are oasis farmers, small-time traders, or craftsmen. They constitute the majority population of the Tarim Basin, a region that eventually fell under Chinese rule after the Qing conquest of 1759. Although Turkic speakers predominated in the Tarim Basin for several centuries, the modern Uyghur identity was only named and formalized in the 20th century. During that period, a succession of Chinese states gradually transformed Uyghur lands from a loosely held dependency under the Qing to a closely monitored, assimilationist, settler colony in the 21st century, ruled by a Han Chinese–dominated bureaucracy. Uyghurs inherit traditions rooted in Turko-Persianate Central Asia, elaborated in the 20th century by strong influences from Soviet Central Asia and continually adapted to a political context of shifting outsider regimes punctuated by briefly successful independence movements.
Ancient Developments in the Middle Senegal Valley and the Inland Niger Delta
Authors: Dème Alioune
Published: May 2018

The study of West Africa has contributed to the expansion of comparative arid-lands floodplain prehistory, from both the data collection (cultural and historical) and the theoretical aspects. The neoevolutionary approach that often pictures Africa as a backward continent has been successfully challenged. In the Middle Senegal Valley and in the Inland Niger Delta, research on their societies’ complexity done along these two subcontinent’s floodplains has described new processes (including urbanization) that were not previously featured in the archaeological literature. The two floodplains, because of their ecological diversity, with the richness of their ecological diversity, attracted Saharan populations affected by drought at the end of the second millennium and the first millennium BC. However, after their initiation occupation the two areas took different trajectories in complexity and settlement organization. Large complex settlements have been found at Jenne-jeno and in the Ile a Morphil that illustrate whole new trajectories of civilization. These forms of complexity, found in areas with historically known polities, were not included in the range of possibilities predicted by standard complexity theories regarding civilizational development. Ethnographic and historical data, reveal the existence of societies with a central authority embedded within and balanced by a diffuse, segmented and heterarchical power structure; often as a strategy to resist the individual consolidation of power. These societies exhibit evidence of horizontal differentiation and consensus-based decision making. All these types of organization are characterized by the presence of several sources of power vested in corporate entities, such as lineages, age groups, cults and secret societies.
The African Rinderpest Panzootic, 1888–1897
Authors: Sunseri Thaddeus
Published: May 2018

Between 1888 and 1897, rinderpest virus (cattle plague) spread throughout sub-Saharan Africa, presumably for the first time, killing over 90 percent of African cattle and countless wildlife, expedited by European colonial conquest. Beginning in the Eritrean port of Massawa, the virus was transmitted across the Sahel, reaching the Senegal River by 1891. The epizootic spread south out of the Horn of Africa, into the western and eastern Rift valleys, and likely by sea with coastal commerce, infecting East Africa after 1891. Although slowed by the Zambezi River, in 1896 rinderpest reached the regions of modern Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Botswana, South Africa, Namibia, and southern Angola before it burned out or was arrested by breakthroughs in vaccine therapy by 1900. South of the Zambezi, early European methods of stanching rinderpest by destroying all cattle exposed to the virus often elicited protest, resistance, and sometimes rebellion. Rinderpest was eliminated from southern Africa shortly after the turn of the 20th century but became enzootic in other parts of the continent, often in wildlife, until eradicated globally in 2011. In each region of infection, local ecologies, trade patterns, agricultural bases, social structures, and power dynamics shaped the impact of rinderpest. Almost everywhere, rinderpest was preceded by drought and locust plagues, and followed by human diseases, especially smallpox and malnutrition.