bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Plasticity and Aesthetic Identity; or, Why We Need a Spinozist Aesthetics
Authors: Sparrow Tom
Published: January 2017

This essay defends the view that, as embodied, our identities are necessarily dependent on the aesthetic environment. Toward this end, it examines the renewal of the concept of sensation (aisthesis) in phenomenology, but then concludes that the methodology and metaphysics of phenomenology must be abandoned in favor of an ontology that sees corporeal identity as generated by the materiality of aesthetic relations. It is suggested that such an ontology is available in the work of Spinoza, which helps break down the natural/ artificial and human/nonhuman distinctions, and can thereby engender an environmental ethics grounded in aesthetic relations. An explication of body/ world dependence is provided via the concept of plasticity and a properly Spinozist aesthetics is invoked, but remains to be worked out.
Art in an Expanded Field: Wittgenstein and Aesthetics
Authors: Carroll Nöel
Published: January 2017

This article reviews the various ways in which the later writings of Ludwig Wittgenstein have been employed to address the question “What is Art?”. These include the family resemblance model, the cluster concept model and the form of life model. The article defends a version of the form of life approach. Also, addressed the charge that it would have been more profitable had aestheticians explored what Wittgenstein actually said about art instead of trying to extrapolate from his writings an approach to what Nigel Warburton calls the art question.
Aesthetic Judgement and Political Judgement
Authors: Nielsen Henrik Kaare
Published: January 2017

Prominent positions in the contemporary theoretical field of the humanities tend to conceptualize late modern communities in general as aesthetic communities of taste. In regard to political communities, this means reducing the political to an implication of the aesthetic discourse. This article argues for addressing the aesthetic and the political as distinct discourses that are, on the other hand, always engaged with each other in a conflictual interplay. Both discourses draw on and appeal to the ability of judgement, but according to their own distinct principles, and depending on their respective weight in the conflictual interplay, this entails quite different perspectives with regards to political practice and community formation.
The Art to End All Arts
Authors: Entzenberg Claes
Published: January 2017

The death of art has been a notion used in connection with the development and progress of art. This view of the development of art, the movement from one position to another, can go on forever. From another view, we see art as part of a narration, which makes the death of art absolute and final, even though art is still produced (Hegel’s version). In our time, the American philosopher A. C. Danto uses Hegel’s developmental view on history to explain pictorial Western art from the Renaissance up until now. In Danto’s philosophy of art, the final end means that a certain theory of art ends; the development of the theory of art as a sensuous object cannot be developed further. I agree that something happens during the 60s that is extremely important. But what happens is that old systems evaporate and pluralism enters the art scene. To understand this new scene we must give up old grand systems, and see the theory-boundedness of the practices of art we meet today. Yes, this death concerns grand theories, and, by no means, art as theory.
Publications of Aesthetic Interest
Authors: Lund Jacob
Published: January 2017

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The Coming Together of Times: Jean-Luc Godard’s Aesthetics of Contemporaneity and the Remembering of the Holocaust
Authors: Lund Jacob
Published: January 2017

This article reads Jean-Luc Godard’s film essay Histoire(s) du cinéma (1988–1998) as a contemporary artistic endeavour to resist the synchronising, standardising time of global capital, the pervasive uniformity of the global super-present, brought about by today’s televisual and digital communications, which threatens to trivialise the different processes of memory and history, as well as art and culture in general. Taking its point of departure in Bernard Stiegler’s observation that the final stage of capitalism is the control and synchronisation of “available brain time,” the article argues that Godard’s work opposes this control and synchronisation of our minds through an aesthetics of contemporaneity. The argument is based on the development of a theoretical framework that combines recent theories of contemporaneity with reflections on the politics of images. Focusing on the ways in which the Holocaust is remembered in Histoire(s) du cinéma, the article deals with Godard’s image-political creation of temporal contemporaneity through a montage of clips of old films and newsreels, photographs, stills, images of paintings, new footage, advertisements, music, sound and voice recordings, textual citation, narration and commentary.
Defining Contemporaneity: Imagining Planetarity
Authors: Smith Terry
Published: January 2017

If the contemporaneity of difference seems the most striking characteristic of contemporary life today, its conceptual structure continues to elude definition. The same lack of clarity attends a frequently evoked parameter for the most desired resolution of such volatile differences: a cohesive, consensual world picturing, sometimes named “planetarity.” My overall project is a close examination of these two concepts, aimed at finding productive connections between them. Previous attempts to think them, from the confessions of St Augustine to the New York Times columns of Thomas Friedman, reveal a plethora of illuminating insights, but the overall record reveals that both concepts remain inadequately imagined for current circumstances. Temporality and world-being seems to constellate around these concepts: contemporaneity, history, decoloniality, connectivity, artworlds, and planetarity. How might the contemporaneity of difference and the embattled yet emergent planetary commons be imagined in terms appropriate to present need – that is, as contemporaneous, differential and convergent? While this question is obviously of the broadest relevance, my specific goal within the history and theory of art and architecture is to articulate the conceptual structure underlying my recent accounts of the relationships between contemporary art and architecture and contemporary life.
Against Aesthetic/Sensory Dependence
Authors: Benovsky Jiri
Published: January 2017

In his book The Metaphysics of Beauty (2001) Nick Zangwill argues for the claim that aesthetic properties metaphysically necessarily depend on sensory properties. This claim plays a role in his argument against physicalist aesthetic realism as well as in the formulation of his own response- dependence view. In this article, I offer reasons to resist the aesthetic/ sensory dependence claim by a discussion of the case of theories, theorems, proofs, and similar theoretical objects, which do possess genuinely aesthetic properties, while these do not depend on any sensory properties. I argue against Zangwill’s claim that such attributions of aesthetic properties are merely metaphorical.
Stage Design at the Crossroads of Different Operational Cultures. Mapping the History of Scenography Education in Finland
Authors: Gröndahl Laura
Published: January 2017

The article maps the development of scenography education in Finland from the early 1970s to the 2000s. Unlike all other disciplines of theatre making, the study program has been located at the University of Industrial Arts, which highlights the double character of scenography as both a visual and a performative art. The hegemonic comprehension of the subject has oscillated between independent design and participation in a collective process. The key question that penetrates the curriculum throughout the decades is how to successfully construct a solid, material space for a temporary, more or less unpredictable theatrical event. The scenographic methods that have been taught vary from the disciplined rational pre-planning and conceptual analysis of the 1970s, to the subjective individualism at the turn of the 1980s and 1990s, and finally to the interactive, self-regulating processes in the 2000s. The different approaches are largely connected to individual teachers, but they can be further contextualized by looking at the more general cultural tendencies in art, theatre and society; as well as to the material conditions, changing university policies and respective organizational reformations.
Análise da infulência de duas faixas granulométricas de microesferas de hidroxiapatita e alginato na fase inicial do reparo ósseo
Authors: Santos George Gonçalves dos , Vasconcelos Luisa Queiroz , Barbosa Júnior Aryon De Almeida , Santos Silvia Rachel De Albuquerque , Rossi Alexandre Malta , Miguel Fúlvio Borges , Rosa Fabiana Paim
Published: January 2017

Introdução: as pesquisas com biomateriais substitutos ósseos têm crescido de forma exponencial nas últimas décadas, em todo o mundo. Estes materiais podem ser produzidos em diferentes geometrias e tamanhos de partículas que, dentre outros fatores físico-químicos, influenciam diretamente a resposta tecidual após a sua implantação in vivo. Objetivo: analisar a influência da diferença entre duas faixas granulométricas de microesferas de hidroxiapatita (HA) nanoestruturada associada ao alginato (HAn/alg), na fase inicial do reparo ósseo de defeito crítico, em calvária de rato. Metodologia: utilizou-se 10 ratos Wistar, machos, para compor os grupos experimentais: M1 – defeito ósseo preenchido com microesferas de HAn/alg, com dimensões de 250-425µm; M2 – defeito ósseo preenchido com microesferas de HAn/alg, com dimensões de 425-600µm, avaliados após 15 dias de implantação. Resultados: na análise histológica, observou-se resposta inflamatória crônica granulomatosa de permeio às microesferas, nos dois grupos, porém mais evidente no M2, no qual as microesferas mostraram fragmentação mais acentuada. Em relação ao reparo ósseo, notou-se neoformação óssea reparativa, adjacente às bordas, tanto no M1 quanto no M2. Contudo, no M1, este achado histológico foi também observado, ora circundante a algumas microesferas, ora no interior destas, principalmente daquelas localizadas próximas às margens do defeito. Conclusão: conclui-se que, na fase inicial do reparo ósseo, o tamanho da microesfera influenciou, principalmente, na disposição espacial das partículas e as microesferas de faixa granulométrica menor, de 250-425µm, apresentaram melhor arcabouço de preenchimento e distribuição ao longo do defeito, mais favoráveis à regeneração óssea, em relação às partículas de faixa granulométrica de 425-600µm.
The preparation of microcrystalline cellulose–nanoSiO2 hybrid materials and their application in tire tread compounds
Authors: Sun Jutao , Liu Xiaoling , Liang Yunhao , Wang Lili , Liu Yao
Published: January 2017

Microcrystalline cellulose (MCC) was hybridized with nano‐SiO2 to improve its interaction with a rubber matrix. The hybrids (MCC–SiO2) were prepared with the “microreactor” and “sol–gel” technologies, using MCC as the carrier and tetraethoxysilane as the precursor. The structure and morphology of the hybrids were studied by infrared spectrometry, thermogravimetric analysis, and scanning electron microscopy. The results showed that the nano‐SiO2 had been loaded successfully on the surface of the MCC with a loading ratio of approximately 30%. The nano‐SiO2 can take on the morphologies of particles, tubes, or rods by controlling the size of the “microreactor”. The hybrids were then used in silica/SSBR compounds to replace part of the silica, and their effects on the physio‐mechanical and dynamic properties were discussed. The results showed that the vulcanizates with the hybrids had improved physio‐mechanical and dynamic properties. The vulcanizates of MCC–SiO2 also had a higher wet‐skid resistance and a lower rolling resistance than did the silica vulcanizates when they were used in tire tread compounds. The SEM photos showed that the interfacial adhesion between the MCC and rubber was improved. The size of the MCC hybrids was also in situ decreased during the processing of the rubber compounds. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2017, 134, 44796.
Assessment and validation of a novel angiographic scoring system for peripheral artery disease
Authors: Morris D R , Singh T P , Moxon J V , Smith A , Stewart F , Jones R E , Golledge J
Published: January 2017

Background

Angiography is used routinely in the assessment of lower-limb arteries, but there are few well validated angiographic scoring systems. The aim of this study was to develop and validate a novel angiographic scoring system for peripheral artery disease.

Methods

An angiographic scoring system (the ANGIO score) was developed and applied to a sample of patients from a single vascular surgical department who underwent CT angiography of the lower limbs. The reproducibility of the ANGIO score was compared with those of the Bollinger and Trans-Atlantic inter-Society Consensus (TASC) IIb systems in a series of randomly selected patients. Associations between the ANGIO score and lower-limb ischaemia, as measured by the ankle : brachial pressure index (ABPI), and outcome events (major lower-limb amputations and cardiovascular events – myocardial infarction, stroke and cardiovascular death) were assessed.

Results

Some 256 patients undergoing CT angiography were included. The interobserver reproducibility of the ANGIO score was better than that of the other scoring systems examined (κ = 0·90, P = 0·002). There was a negative correlation between the ANGIO score and ABPI (ρ = −0·33, P = 0·008). A higher ANGIO score was associated with an increased risk of major lower-limb amputation (hazard ratio (HR) for highest versus lowest tertile 9·30, 95 per cent c.i. 1·95 to 44·38; P = 0·005) and cardiovascular events (HR 2·73, 1·31 to 5·70; P = 0·007) following adjustment for established risk factors.

Conclusion

The ANGIO score provided a reproducible and valid assessment of the severity of lower-limb ischaemia and risk of major amputation and cardiovascular events in these patients with peripheral artery disease.
The effect of acculturation and ethnic identification on consumer disidentification and consumption: An investigation of U.S. Hispanics
Authors: Shoham Aviv , Segev Sigal , Gavish Yossi
Published: January 2017

This study examines the antecedents and outcomes of consumer disidentification (CDI) among immigrants and the role that cultural change plays in affecting this consumer orientation. Specifically, it explores the effect of acculturation and ethnic identification on host nation sentiments (i.e., host nation identification, disidentification, and affinity) and how the latter influence CDI. Then, it assesses the effect of CDI on consumer behaviors including product quality judgments and willingness to buy products originating in the host country. Survey data from a convenience sample of 555 adults of Cuban and Puerto Rican origin, who live in the USA, confirm that disidentification with the host nation is the basis of CDI. Acculturation is the process through which disidentification with the host nation and the resulting CDI can be mitigated. However, ethnic identification shows inconsistencies in affecting consumers' sentiments toward the host nation and CDI. While CDI is negatively related to consumers' willingness to buy domestic products, it does not seem to affect consumers' willingness to buy domestic products through their product quality judgments. Practically, this study facilitates strategic marketing decisions that are related to the presentation of country‐of‐origin (COO) product attributes in marketing communication and branding campaigns. This study is one of the few empirical studies on CDI, and it focuses on COO effects of domestic rather than foreign products among subcultures within national boundaries. Understanding COO effects among subnational cultural consumers is of primary importance given the ever‐increasing ethnic diversification of consumer markets.
Transcriptome evaluation of the relation between body mass index and prostate cancer outcomes
Authors: Kim Hyun , Kalchman Ingrid , Santiago‐Jiménez María , Lehrer Jonathan , Guo Jenny , Hermann Gretchen , Yamoah Kosj , Alshalalfa Mohammed , Huang Huei‐Chung , Ross Ashley E. , Schaeffer Edward M. , Davicioni Elai , Erho Nicholas , Yousefi Kasra , Den Robert B.
Published: January 2017

BACKGROUND

Large epidemiological studies indicate that an increased body mass index (BMI) is associated with increased prostate cancer (PCa) mortality. Data indicate that there is no association between elevated metabolic pathway proteins and PCa mortality. There are no published studies evaluating the relation between BMI and metabolic pathways with respect to PCa outcomes with a genomics approach.

METHODS

The Decipher Genomic Resource Information Database was queried for patients who had undergone prostatectomy and had BMI information available. These patients came from Thomas Jefferson University (TJU) and Johns Hopkins Medical Institution (JHMI); the latter provided 2 cohorts (I and II). A high‐BMI group (≥30 kg/m2) and a low‐BMI group (<25 kg/m2) were identified, and genomic data were interrogated for differentially expressed genes with an interquartile range filter and a Wilcoxon test. P values were adjusted for multiple testing with the Benjamini‐Hochberg false‐discovery rate method.

RESULTS

A total of 477 patients with a median follow‐up of 108 months had BMI information available. Two genes were found to interact with BMI in both the JHMI I cohort and the TJU cohort, but there was no statistical significance after adjustments for multiple comparisons. Aberrant metabolic gene expression was significantly correlated with distant metastases (P < .05). No relation was found between BMI and metastases or overall survival (both P values > .05).

CONCLUSIONS

In a genomic analysis of prostatectomy specimens, metabolic gene expression, but not BMI, was associated with PCa metastases. Cancer 2017;123:2240–2247. © 2017 American Cancer Society.
Integration of Platinum Group Metal‐Free Catalysts and Bilirubin Oxidase into a Hybrid Material for Oxygen Reduction: Interplay of Chemistry and Morphology
Authors: Rojas‐Carbonell Santiago , Babanova Sofia , Serov Alexey , Artyushkova Kateryna , Workman Michael J. , Santoro Carlo , Mirabal Alex , Calabrese Barton Scott , Atanassov Plamen
Published: February 2017

Catalytic activity toward the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) of platinum group metal‐free (PGM‐free) electrocatalysts integrated with an enzyme (bilirubin oxidase, BOx) in neutral media was studied. The effects of chemical and morphological characteristics of PGM‐free materials on the enzyme enhancement of the overall ORR kinetics was investigated. The surface chemistry of the PGM‐free catalyst was studied using X‐ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy. Catalyst surface morphology was characterized using two independent methods: length‐scale specific image analysis and nitrogen adsorption. Good agreement of macroscopic and microscopic morphological properties was found. Enhancement of ORR activity by the enzyme is influenced by chemistry and surface morphology of the catalyst itself. Catalysts with a higher nitrogen content, specifically pyridinic moieties, showed the greatest enhancement. Furthermore, catalysts with a higher fraction of surface roughness in the range of 3–5 nm exhibited greater performance enhancement than catalysts lacking features of this size.
In situ monitoring of H and O stable isotopes in soil water reveals ecohydrologic dynamics in managed soil systems
Authors: Oerter Erik J. , Bowen Gabriel
Published: February 2017

The water cycle in urban and hydrologically managed settings is subject to perturbations that are dynamic on small spatial and temporal scales; the effects of which may be especially profound in soils. We deploy a membrane inlet‐based laser spectroscopy system in conjunction with soil moisture and temperature sensors to monitor soil water dynamics and H and O stable isotope ratios (δ2H and δ18O values) in a seasonally irrigated urban‐landscaped garden soil over the course of 9 months between the cessation of irrigation in the autumn and the onset of irrigation through the summer. We find that soil water δ2H and δ18O values predominately reflect seasonal precipitation and irrigation inputs. A comparison of total soil water by cryogenic extraction and mobile soil water measured by in situ water vapor probes reveals that initial infiltration events after long periods of soil drying (the autumn season in this case) emplace water into the soil matrix that is not easily replaced by, or mixed with, successive pulses of infiltrating soil water. Tree stem xylem water H and O stable isotope composition did not match that of available water sources. These findings suggest that partitioning of soil water into mobile and immobile “pools” and resulting ecohydrologic separation may occur in engineered and hydrologically managed soils and not be limited to natural settings. The laser spectroscopy method detailed here has potential to yield insights in a variety of critical zone and vadose zone studies, potential that is heightened by the simplicity and portability of the system.
Diffusion‐weighted MRI treatment monitoring of primary hypofractionated proton and carbon ion prostate cancer irradiation using raster scan technique
Authors: Wolf Maya B. , Edler Christopher , Tichy Diana , Röthke Matthias C. , Schlemmer Heinz‐Peter , Herfarth Klaus , Bonekamp David
Published: February 2017

Purpose

To investigate parametric changes in the apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) at multiple timepoints during and after completion of primary proton and carbon ion irradiation of prostate cancer (PCa) as compared with normal‐appearing prostate parenchyma.

Materials and Methods

In all, 92 patients with histologically confirmed PCa received either proton or carbon ion hypofractionated radiotherapy (RT). All were prospectively evaluated with diffusion‐weighted magnetic resonance imaging (DWI‐MRI) at five timepoints: baseline, day 10 during therapy and 6 weeks, 6 months, and 18 months after treatment. Linear mixed models (LMM) were used to evaluate the effects of radiation, antihormonal therapy, time, and type of particle irradiation on manual ADC measurements. ADC differences related to prostate‐specific antigen (PSA) relapse according to PSA thresholds and to Vancouver rules and Phoenix criteria were examined using LMM and unpaired Student's t‐test.

Results

A measurable and continuous increase of tumor ADC measurements from baseline (1.194 × 10−3 mm2/s) during (1.350 × 10−3 mm2/s, day 10, P = 0.006) and after treatment (1.355/1.430/1.490 × 10−3 mm2/s, week 6 / month 6 / month 18, P = 0.001/<0.001/<0.001) was found. ADC values of normal‐appearing control tissue remained unchanged. Androgen deprivation (P ≥ 0.320), different PSA thresholds (P = 0.634), and PSA relapse criteria according to Vancouver rules (P ≥ 0.776) had no effect. A weak association between 18‐month measurements and Phoenix criteria (P = 0.046) was found.

Conclusion

ADC parametric changes were distinct in tumor tissue, highlighting the ability of diffusion MRI to evaluate different aspects of the microscopic pathophysiology. Although promising, their use as noninvasive imaging biomarkers requires further validation.

Level of Evidence: 1

Technical Efficacy: Stage 1

J. MAGN. RESON. IMAGING 2017;46:850–860
Morphological switching of unimolecular micelles of ternary graft copolymers in different solvents
Authors: Mo Yangmiao , Liu Guojun , Tu Yuanyuan , Lin Shudong , Song Jun , Hu Jiwen , Liu Feng
Published: January 2017

A series of ternary graft copolymers with poly(3‐azido‐2‐hydroxypropyl methacrylate) (P(GMA‐N3)) as the main chain, end‐functionalized poly(ethylene glycol) methyl ether (MPEG), poly(t‐butyl acrylate) (PtBA), and poly(2‐cinnamoyloxyethyl methacrylate) (PCEMA) as the side‐chains, was synthesized via the combination of atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) and click chemistry. The formation of well‐defined ternary graft copolymers was confirmed by both size exclusion chromatography (SEC) and 1H NMR spectroscopy The loose and worm‐like morphology of the ternary graft copolymer in a common solvent (N,N‐dimethylformamide) for both the backbone and the grafts was directly visualized via atomic force microscopy (AFM). The average height, width, and length of these solvated macromolecules were about 1.5, 17, and 45 nm, respectively. The ternary graft copolymers underwent self‐assembly in different selective solvents (dichloromethane, methanol, and water) and thus yielded unimolecular micelles (UMs) with different morphologies. The morphological transitions in response to variations in the selective solvents was investigated by AFM as well as/or transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Experimental results showed that the micellar morphology of the ternary graft copolymer changed from a pearl‐necklace to a worm‐like structure and then to a spherical structure when the selective solvent was respectively changed from CH2Cl2 to CH3OH and then to H2O. SEC characterization revealed that the compact globules formed in H2O with PCEMA/PtBA as the hydrophobic core arose due to intramolecular folding. Thus, multicompartment UMs were generated. The volume ratio of the multicompartment UMs formed in H2O was in close agreement with their molecular weight ratio. The hydrodynamic diameters (Dh) of the acquired multicompartment UMs and their polydispersity indices were characterized by dynamic light scattering. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2017, 55, 1021–1030
Remote sensing training in African conservation
Authors: de Klerk Helen Margaret , Buchanan Graeme
Published: January 2017

The potential of remote sensing (RS) to assist with conservation planning, implementation and monitoring is well described, and particularly relevant in African areas that are inaccessible due to terrain, finances or politics. We provide an African perspective on remote sensing (RS) training for conservation and ecology over the last decade through investigating (1) recent use of RS in African conservation literature, (2) use of RS in African conservation agencies, (3) RS training by African institutions and (4) RS capacity development by ad hoc events. Africa does not produce most of the research using RS in conservation and ecological studies conducted on Africa, with authors with correspondence addresses in the USA predominating (33% of a bibliometric analysis), although South Africa‐based authors constituted 20% (with an increase between 2000 and 2015), Kenya 6% and Tanzania and Ethiopia 4% each. Ideally research should be conducted close to the point of use to ensure relevance and data residence in the country concerned. This is a point for attention, possibly through international funding to increase the capacity of African academic institutions to conduct research using RS to answer conservation questions. Part of this will need to include attention on data and software costs, internet speeds and human capacity. Data costs have been alleviated by free Landsat and MODIS data, and the Copernicus programs, but there is need for higher resolution imagery to be freely available for certain conservation projects. Open Source software may well offer a long‐term solution to software costs. This would require that teaching is realigned to employer requirements, which are shifting in many countries and agencies from proprietary software to Open Source due to licensing costs. Low internet connectivity in many areas of Africa might limit the uptake of new data processing options that require connectivity, although over time these tools may become available to more users. However, human capacity is developing. Of the 72 academic institutions surveyed, a number of conservation programs supplied either tailored RS teaching or used ‘service modules’ to provide RS skills to young graduating conservation professionals, showing a recognition of the importance of RS in conservation in Africa. This study highlights the success of capacity development in Africa, and the increasing use of remote sensing for conservation in Africa.
Pottery abrasion and the preparation of African grains
Authors: Reid Andrew , Young Ruth
Published: January 2017

The lack of botanical remains from farming sites in Africa remains a serious archaeological problem. This paper discusses how the indirect evidence of pottery may help to evaluate grain farming in African archaeology.
The Society for American Archaeology's ‘Teaching archaeology in the 21st century’ initiative
Authors: Smith George S. , Bender Susan J.
Published: January 2017

Stewardship, diverse pasts, social relevance, ethics and values, written and oral communication, basic archaeological skills and real world problem solving — these issues are at the very core of archaeology as an evolving, dynamic discipline, in order to understand, interpret, manage, and protect the past. The profession and the people who practice it, in all its diverse applications, are and have been influenced by shifting paradigms and changing levels of understanding. We now use, every day, terms and technology that did not exist just a few years ago, in a constantly changing discipline.
Opening the ground: archaeology and education in Ireland
Authors: Cooney Gabriel
Published: January 2017

In Ireland I think it could be said that while archaeology plays an important role in national identity, this role is implicit and not very welldefined. Images of monuments in mist or glorious sunshine and artefacts displayed as treasure or jewellery are very widely deployed. This constructed past serves a variety of different purposes for a rapidly changing present, from utilization as a symbol of the long tradition of Ireland's high technological expertise — nowadays being best expressed in the computing industry, as a backdrop for the sustained (as opposed to sustainable) drive to increase tourism, to the context for a call of a revitalization of Celtic spirituality (see discussion in Gibbons 1996). More traditionally, of course, material remains played a very important role in the construction of national identities in Ireland (e.g. Crooke 1999). For these varied reasons archaeology is seen in a positive light, as a positive project, both by political decision-makers and the public. One illustration of this is the Discovery Programme, a government-funded research initiative set up in 1991 to enhance knowledge of Ireland’s past through integrated programmes of archaeological research (Waddell 1997; Eogan 1998).
The social context of early pottery in the Lingnan region of south China
Authors: Pearson Richard
Published: January 2017

Late Pleistocene and early post-Pleistocene communities in East Asia experimented with pottery production and the domestication of plants and animals. What was the nature of the social organisation of these early small-scale societies? Some North American writers consider pottery making to be a ‘prestige technology’ sponsored by aggrandising individuals. However, examples from south of the Nanling Mountains and other areas have simple tool assemblages and site plans showing very little evidence of social differences. Judging from recent debates about social agency, there are more appropriate explanations for the earliest pottery making, which focus on the collective rather than the individual.
The ownership of time: approved 14C calibration or freedom of choice?
Authors: van Andel Tjeerd H.
Published: January 2017

Rapid extension of 14C-age dating into the Last Glaciation due to a rising interest in high-resolution climate events is demanding ever greater emphasis on accurate stratigraphic placement of samples relative to events or objects to be dated. This shifts the primary responsibility for date quality from the producer of dates, who is responsible for their precision, to geological and archaeological consumers, who are responsible for their stratigraphic and calibrated accuracy. It is essential that both sides accept the partial switch of mutual roles and collaborate constructively and respect the traditional freedom of choice that marks basic research.
Biological and ecological evidences suggestStipa krylovii(Pooideae), contributes to optimal growth performance and population distribution of the grasshopperOedaleus asiaticus
Authors: Huang X.B. , McNeill M.R. , Ma J.C. , Qin X.H. , Tu X.B. , Cao G.C. , Wang G.J. , Nong X.Q. , Zhang Z.H.
Published: January 2017

Oedaleus asiaticusBey. Bienko is a significant grasshopper pest species occurring in north Asian grasslands. Outbreaks often result in significant loss in grasses and economic losses. Interestingly, we found this grasshopper was mainly restricted toStipa-dominated grassland. We suspected this may be related to the dominant grasses species,Stipa kryloviiRoshev, and hypothesized thatS. kryloviicontributes to optimal growth performance and population distribution ofO. asiaticus. A 4 year investigation showed thatO. asiaticusdensity was positively correlated to the above-ground biomass ofS. kryloviiandO. asiaticusgrowth performance variables (survival rate, size, growth rate) were significantly higher inStipa-dominated grassland. A feeding trial also showed thatO. asiaticushad a higher growth performance when feeding exclusively onS. krylovii. In addition, the choice, consumption and the efficiency of conversion of ingested food (ECI) byO. asiaticuswas highest forS. kryloviicompared with other plant species found in the Asian grasslands. These ecological and biological traits revealed whyO. asiaticusis strongly associated withStipa-dominated grasslands. We concluded that the existence ofS. kryloviibenefited the growth performance and explained the distribution ofO. asiaticus.These results are useful for improved pest management strategies and developing guidelines for the monitoring of grasshopper population dynamics against the background of vegetation succession and changing plant communities in response to activities such as grazing, fire and climate change.
For better or worse, or for a change?
Authors: Bouret Sebastien
Published: January 2017

The noradrenergic system is intimately related to the autonomic system and is thought to play a key role at the interface between arousal and cognition. The GANE (glutamate amplifies noradrenergic effects) theory proposes a complete account of that role, with an emphasis on the quantitative effect of noradrenaline on stimulus processing. This is in marked contrast to network reset theory, which emphasizes the qualitative effect of noradrenaline of updating the representation of the environment.
Bidirectional synaptic plasticity can explain bidirectional retrograde effects of emotion on memory
Authors: Strange Bryan A. , Galarza-Vallejo Ana
Published: January 2017

Emotional events can either impair or enhance memory for immediately preceding items. The GANE model explains this bidirectional effect as a glutamate “priority” signal that modulates noradrenaline release depending on arousal state. We argue for an alternative explanation: that priority itself evokes phasic noradrenaline release. Thus, contrasting E-1 memory effects are explained by a mechanism based on the Bienenstock–Cooper–Munro theory.
Emotionally arousing context modulates the ERP correlates of neutral picture processing: An ERP test of the GANE model
Authors: Talmi Deborah , Barnacle Gemma E.
Published: January 2017

The time scale of the effects of emotional arousal on neutral information processing is crucial for the predictions of the glutamate amplifies noradrenergic effects (GANE) model. GANE suggests that when emotional and neutral stimuli are presented in a sequence, neutral information processing will change. We review the literature on event-related potentials, including our own data set, to test this prediction.
Task demand not so damning: Improved techniques that mitigate demand in studies that support top-down effects
Authors: Balcetis Emily , Cole Shana
Published: January 2017

Firestone & Scholl's (F&S's) techniques to combat task demand by manipulating expectations and offering alternative cover stories are fundamentally flawed because they introduce new forms of demand. We review five superior techniques to mitigate demand used in confirmatory studies of top-down effects. We encourage researchers to apply the same standards when evaluating evidence on both sides of the debate.
Perception, as you make it
Authors: Vinson David W. , Abney Drew H. , Amso Dima , Chemero Anthony , Cutting James E. , Dale Rick , Freeman Jonathan B. , Feldman Laurie B. , Friston Karl J. , Gallagher Shaun , Jordan J. Scott , Mudrik Liad , Ondobaka Sasha , Richardson Daniel C. , Shams Ladan , Shiffrar Maggie , Spivey Michael J.
Published: January 2017

The main question that Firestone & Scholl (F&S) pose is whether “what and how we see is functionally independent from what and how we think, know, desire, act, and so forth” (sect. 2, para. 1). We synthesize a collection of concerns from an interdisciplinary set of coauthors regarding F&S's assumptions and appeals to intuition, resulting in their treatment of visual perception as context-free.
God’s Awful Majesty Before Our Eyes: Kant’s Moral Justification for Divine Hiddenness
Authors: Paytas Tyler
Published: January 2017

The problem of ‘divine hiddenness’ arises from the lack of an explanation for why an all-loving God would choose not to make his existence evident. I argue that Kant provides a compelling solution to this problem in an often overlooked passage located near the end of the secondCritique.Kant’s suggestion is that God’s revealing himself would preclude the development of virtue because we would lose the experience of conflict between self-interest and the moral law. I provide a reconstruction and defence of Kant’s argument, and I explain why it is consistent with his overall position in the secondCritique.
Environmentally Relevant Aspects of Nanomaterials in Products at the End-of-life Phase
Authors: Gazsó André , Fuchs Daniela , Greßler Sabine , Gruber Iris , Part Florian , Huber-Humer Marion
Published: January 2017

This section is meant to give readers an insight into the emerging field of nanotechnologies and risk regulation. It informs and updates readers on the latest European and international developments in nanotechnologies and risk regulation across different sectors (e.g., chemicals, food, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals) and policy areas (e.g., environmental protection, occupational health and consumer product, food and drug safety). The section analyzes how existing regulatory systems deal with new kinds of risks and reviews recent regulatory developments with a focus on how best to combine scientific freedom and technological progress with a responsible development and commercialization of nanotechnologies.
Clinical Trials Regulation: A Further Step towards Increased Medical Innovation in the EU
Authors: Pavlou Anna , Saurat Emmanuel
Published: January 2017

On 27 May 2014, after two years of debates and extensive amendments by the EU’s law-making institutions, the EU Clinical Trial Regulation1 was published. The Regulation repeals and replaces the Clinical Trials Directive, an instrument described by the European Commission as “arguably the most heavily criticised piece of EU-legislation in the area of pharmaceuticals”. The Clinical Trials Regulation is intended to improve the existing framework, and will become applicable at the earliest on 28 May 2016. This report reviews the most significant changes to the existing system brought about by the Clinical Trials Regulation, and how this Regulation purports to strike a balance between its objective of increasing clinical trial activity in the EU and the need to protect clinical trial subjects’ rights, safety and well-being.
NF-κB suppresses apoptosis and promotes bladder cancer cell proliferation by upregulating survivin expression in vitro and in vivo
Authors: Cui Xiaolu , Shen Dezhi , Kong Chuize , Zhang Zhe , Zeng Yu , Lin Xuyong , Liu Xiankui
Published: January 2017

Nuclear factor kappa-B (NF-κB) activation is a common phenomenon in cancers, which results in the aberrant expression of NF-κB target genes and leads to malignant transformation, metastatic dissemination, abnormal cell proliferation or resistance to cell death. Survivin is a unique member of the IAP family, a well-known cancer-specific molecule and a molecular marker of poor clinical outcome in several cancer types, including bladder cancer. YM-155, a potent survivin suppressor, has been shown to have anti-tumor activity in preclinical cell lines, xenograft models and phase I/II studies. In the present study, we investigated the function of the NF-κB/survivin pathway in bladder cancer. We found that NF-κB can promote cell cycle progression and reduce apoptosis by upregulating survivin expression, thereby increasing cellular proliferation. We further confirmed the tumorigenic function of the NF-κB/survivin pathway in vivo using a xenograft tumor model of stable NF-κB-overexpressing 5637 cells. Moreover, we found that YM-155 significantly induced apoptosis and decreased cellular proliferation as well as tumor growth in mice. Our results demonstrate the carcinogenic function of the NF-κB/survivin pathway in bladder cancer and the role of YM-155 as a promising agent for the strategic treatment of bladder cancer.
The PRC2-binding long non-coding RNAs in human and mouse genomes are associated with predictive sequence features
Authors: Tu Shiqi , Yuan Guo-Cheng , Shao Zhen
Published: January 2017

Recently, long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) have emerged as an important class of molecules involved in many cellular processes. One of their primary functions is to shape epigenetic landscape through interactions with chromatin modifying proteins. However, mechanisms contributing to the specificity of such interactions remain poorly understood. Here we took the human and mouse lncRNAs that were experimentally determined to have physical interactions with Polycomb repressive complex 2 (PRC2), and systematically investigated the sequence features of these lncRNAs by developing a new computational pipeline for sequences composition analysis, in which each sequence is considered as a series of transitions between adjacent nucleotides. Through that, PRC2-binding lncRNAs were found to be associated with a set of distinctive and evolutionarily conserved sequence features, which can be utilized to distinguish them from the others with considerable accuracy. We further identified fragments of PRC2-binding lncRNAs that are enriched with these sequence features, and found they show strong PRC2-binding signals and are more highly conserved across species than the other parts, implying their functional importance.
Nutritional background changes the hypolipidemic effects of fenofibrate in Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus)
Authors: Ning Li-Jun , He An-Yuan , Lu Dong-Liang , Li Jia-Min , Qiao Fang , Li Dong-Liang , Zhang Mei-Ling , Chen Li-Qiao , Du Zhen-Yu
Published: January 2017

Peroxisome proliferation activated receptor α (PPARα) is an important transcriptional regulator of lipid metabolism and is activated by high-fat diet (HFD) and fibrates in mammals. However, whether nutritional background affects PPARα activation and the hypolipidemic effects of PPARα ligands have not been investigated in fish. In the present two-phase study of Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus), fish were first fed a HFD (13% fat) or low-fat diet (LFD; 1% fat) diet for 10 weeks, and then fish from the first phase were fed the HFD or LFD supplemented with 200 mg/kg body weight fenofibrate for 4 weeks. The results indicated that the HFD did not activate PPARα or other lipid catabolism-related genes. Hepatic fatty acid β-oxidation increased significantly in the HFD and LFD groups after the fenofibrate treatment, when exogenous substrates were sufficiently provided. Only in the HFD group, fenofibrate significantly increased hepatic PPARα mRNA and protein expression, and decreased liver and plasma triglyceride concentrations. This is the first study to show that body fat deposition and dietary lipid content affects PPARα activation and the hypolipidemic effects of fenofibrate in fish, and this could be due to differences in substrate availability for lipid catabolism in fish fed with different diets.
Deliberate Switching of Single Photochromic Triads
Authors: Maier Johannes , Pärs Martti , Weller Tina , Thelakkat Mukundan , Köhler Jürgen
Published: January 2017

Photochromic molecules can be reversibly converted between two bistable conformations by light, and are considered as promising building blocks in novel macromolecular structures for sensing and imaging techniques. We have studied individual molecular triads consisting of two strong fluorophores (perylene bisimide) that are covalently linked via a photochromic unit (dithienylcyclopentene) and distinguished between deliberate switching and spontaneous blinking. It was verified that the probability for observing deliberate light-induced switching of a single triad (rather than stochastic blinking) amounts to 0.8 ± 0.1. In a few exceptional cases this probability can exceed 0.95. These numbers are sufficiently large for application in sensitive biosensing, and super-resolution imaging. This opens the possibility to develop devices that can be controlled by an external optical stimulus on a truly molecular length scale.
Ice-core evidence of earliest extensive copper metallurgy in the Andes 2700 years ago
Authors: Eichler A. , Gramlich G. , Kellerhals T. , Tobler L. , Rehren Th. , Schwikowski M.
Published: January 2017

The importance of metallurgy for social and economic development is indisputable. Although copper (Cu) was essential for the wealth of pre- and post-colonial societies in the Andes, the onset of extensive Cu metallurgy in South America is still debated. Comprehensive archaeological findings point to first sophisticated Cu metallurgy during the Moche culture ~200–800 AD, whereas peat-bog records from southern South America suggest earliest pollution potentially from Cu smelting as far back as ~2000 BC. Here we present a 6500-years Cu emission history for the Andean Altiplano, based on ice-core records from Illimani glacier in Bolivia, providing the first complete history of large-scale Cu smelting activities in South America. We find earliest anthropogenic Cu pollution during the Early Horizon period ~700–50 BC, and attribute the onset of intensified Cu smelting in South America to the activities of the central Andean Chiripa and Chavin cultures ~2700 years ago. This study provides for the first time substantial evidence for extensive Cu metallurgy already during these early cultures.