bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The Affective Legacy of Silent Spring
Authors: Lockwood Alex
Published: April 2016

In the fiftieth year since the publication of Silent Spring, the importance of Rachel Carson's work can be measured in its affective influence on contemporary environmental writing across the humanities. The ground broken by Silent Spring in creating new forms of writing has placed affect at the very centre of contemporary narratives that call for pro-environmental beliefs and behaviours. A critical public-feelings framework is used to explore these issues and trace their passage from the private and intimate, where they risk remaining denuded of agency, and into the public sphere. The work of Lauren Berlant and Kathleen Stewart and their focus on the struggle of everyday citizenship in contemporary life is helpful in illustrating how Silent Spring mobilised private feelings, particularly anger aimed at environmental destruction, into political action. This template is then explored in two contemporary environmental writers. First, The End of Nature by Bill McKibben is examined for its debt to Silent Spring and its use (and overuse) of sadness in its attempt to bring climate change to the public's attention. Second, Early Spring by Amy Seidl is shown to be a more affective and effective descendant of Silent Spring in its adherence to Carson's narrative procedures, by bringing attention back to the unpredictable and intimate power of ordinary, everyday affects. As such, Silent Spring is shown to occupy a foundational position in the history of the environmental humanities, and a cultural politics concerned with public feelings.
Jane Smiley's A Thousand Acres (1991) and Archival Reimaginations of Eco-Cosmopolitanism
Authors: Hicks Scott
Published: April 2016

This article blurs the boundaries of literature, agriculture, public history, grassroots political activism, and public policymaking in order to problematize the current eco-cosmopolitan trajectory of ecocritical theory, a trajectory promulgated by Ursula K. Heise in important essays and books. Foregrounding the voices of grassroots environmentalists as well as the public-relations campaigns of multinational agribusiness trade groups, materials collected in the special collections of Iowa State University, the article resituates Smiley's prizewinning novel and offers a complication of current conceptualizations of eco-cosmopolitanism. The article aims to show the struggles of rural people to embrace a planetary consciousness—a global awareness that can paradoxically foreground as well as participate in the continued ecological devastation of the landscapes these activists hold dear. These local voices underscore the challenges human subjects face in articulating and narrating environmental relationships—even despite their intimate proximity to these landscapes. Just as Thousand Acres's mastery of a complex environmentalist voice is hard won, so too is that of dozens of rural people across the world. The challenges they face demand the close attention of the environmental humanities, not only to deeply engage appropriate texts, but to engage them with a framework that expands the orchestra and zeros in on the critical problems of global agriculture, planetary health, and human rights.
“Without Evidence, There Is No Answer”: Uncertainty and Scientific Ethos in theSilent Spring[s] of Rachel Carson
Authors: Walker Kenny
Published: April 2016

The 50th year anniversary of Rachel Carson's monumental Silent Spring invites reflection on how the controversy over chemical pesticides shaped environmental discourse in the modern era. This essay focuses on uncertainty as a boundary device that shapes scientific ethos in crucial ways and negotiates a relationship between technical science and public deliberation. Situated in rhetorical analysis, the author takes a comparative approach towards the use of uncertainty and scientific ethos in the Silent Spring controversy. Drawing from Carson's published book, and from the famous CBS Reports investigative television program seven months after the book's publication, this essay demonstrates how CBS Reports directly received, and amplified, Carson's uncertainty frameworks, and used them to drive the public evaluation of scientific ethos. This analysis reveals three ways uncertainty shapes scientific ethos: uncertainty as a probability (ethos of expertise), as a moral certainty (ethos of civic participant), and as an unknown or unconcern (ethos of ignorance). Finally, the author suggests that the circulation of these uncertainty frameworks of scientific ethos helped drive the momentum from the books' publication, to public evaluation, to policy-making, and suggests these uncertainty frameworks are enduring forces in debates about the role of experts in scientific controversies.
‘Happy Cows,’ ‘Happy Beef’: A Critique of the Rationales for Ethical Meat
Authors: Pilgrim Karyn
Published: April 2016

The ethical food movement signals a significant transformation of cultural consciousness in its recognition of the intimate politics of what we eat and what kind of socio-political systems we sustain. The recent resurgence of economic localization exemplifies a grass roots attempt to undermine the hegemony of transnational corporations and build ecologically and economically sustainable communities. Social justice plays a key role in the guiding philosophies of these movements, and yet, while many ecocritical discourses examine the uncomfortable relationship of anthropocentricism and sustainability, some contemporary texts of the ethical food movement evidence a reluctant embrace of omnivorous eating, while simultaneously indicating a gendered, if ironic, machismo at odds with the principles of ethical eating. An analysis of the rhetoric of three popular nonfiction books that construct a similar narrative of the story of meat—Michael Pollan's The Omnivore's Dilemma, Susan Bourette's Meat, a Love Story, and Scott Gold's The Shameless Carnivore—reveals an attempt by these authors to naturalize what is essentially an economic and lifestyle activity. Working within a vegetarian ecofeminist framework, though recognizing that multiple compelling philosophical positions exist for considering the ethics of meat eating, this paper intends to argue, not that “ethical” and “omnivorous” are contradictory terms, but rather that a moral ambivalence prevails in these texts despite these authors' claims to the contrary. In elucidating these authors' reactions to their own participation in “the omnivore's dilemma” this paper pinpoints those areas where a resistance to a deeper examination of human-nonhuman relations is in operation.
Generating Infrastructural Invisibility: Insulation, Interconnection, and Avian Excrement in the Southern California Power Grid
Authors: Benson Etienne
Published: April 2016

The fact that industrial infrastructures are embedded in complex environments animated by unexpected agencies is often invisible to their users—at least those who live in rich, industrialized societies with reliable systems for distributing water, power, and other goods and services. This article investigates how that invisibility is generated through a case study of electric power transmission in California in the early twentieth century. In the 1910s, the Pacific Light and Power Company constructed a 150,000-volt transmission line that delivered power from the Big Creek hydroelectric complex in the Sierra Nevada to customers in Los Angeles, more than 240 miles (386 kilometers) away. When the Southern California Edison Company upgraded this line to 220,000 volts in the early 1920s, the rate of disruptive “flashovers” on the line jumped dramatically. After months of investigation, the cause was determined to be excrement from birds perching on the transmission towers. To render this and other sources of interruption invisible to users, two techniques were used: insulation and interconnection. These kinds of humble techniques of separation and resilience are ubiquitous in modern infrastructure. By creating and maintaining divisions, they make it possible for new kinds of agency to emerge. Infrastructures become animate: responsive to their environments in ways that allow them to persist in the face of continual change.
In search of the mechanisms of ketamine’s antidepressant effects: How robust is the evidence behind the mTor activation hypothesis
Authors: Popp Susanna , Behl Berthold , Joshi Jaya Julie , Lanz Thomas A. , Spedding Michael , Schenker Esther , Jay Therese M , Svenningsson Per , Caudal Dorian , Cunningham Jacob I. , Deaver Daniel , Bespalov Anton
Published: April 2016

Extensive evidence on rapid and long-lasting antidepressant effects of intravenous ketamine motivated efforts to identify underlying mechanisms that would enable development of novel drugs with similar efficacy, but improved safety and pharmacokinetic profiles. It has been suggested that the antidepressant-like action of ketamine may be mediated by the activation of mTOR-dependent intracellular cascades. Therefore, without any coordination or pre-existing agreement, research labs at AbbVie, Servier, Pfizer and Alkermes started independent experiments aiming to reproduce and extend published evidence. More than a dozen experiments conducted by these four independent teams failed to detect robust effects of ketamine on markers reported to be affected in the original study by Li et al. (2010). Thus, detection of the effects of ketamine on mTOR seem to require special conditions that are difficult to identify and establish, at least in some labs. Present results emphasize the importance of publishing detailed methods either within the paper or as supplementary material. This information is essential for follow-up studies that any significant research is likely to trigger. Further, our efforts to identify individual labs that tried to establish ketamine’s effects on mTOR highlight the need for a peer-to-peer mechanism of information exchange such as the one being developed by the ECNP Preclinical Data Forum.
CyLineUp: A Cytoscape app for visualizing data in network small multiples
Authors: Costa Maria Cecília D. , Slijkhuis Thijs , Ligterink Wilco , Hilhorst Henk W.M. , de Ridder Dick , Nijveen Harm
Published: April 2016

CyLineUp is a Cytoscape 3 app for the projection of high-throughput measurement data from multiple experiments/samples on a network or pathway map using “small multiples”. This visualization method allows for easy comparison of different experiments in the context of the network or pathway. The user can import various kinds of measurement data and select any appropriate Cytoscape network or WikiPathways pathway map. CyLineUp creates small multiples by replicating the loaded network as many times as there are experiments/samples (e.g. time points, stress conditions, tissues, etc.). The measurement data for each experiment are then mapped onto the nodes (genes, proteins etc.) of the corresponding network using a color gradient. Each step of creating the visualization can be customized to the user’s needs. The results can be exported as a high quality vector image.
On Linguistic Expert Examination of Draft Laws
Authors: Batyushkina Marina
Published: April 2016

The article is devoted to the problem of determination of the subject of linguistic expert examination of draft laws on the basis of the current legislation analysis in the aspect of theoretical and applied linguistics. In this research the author uses the comparative, statistical methods, as well as induction, analysis and synthesis. The article analyzes different types of definitions of linguistic expert examination of draft laws, and examines some problems related to the expert analysis of draft laws. The author of the article notes certain features of correlation between linguistic expert examination of draft laws and legal expert examination of draft laws. The author expresses her own position in relation to the concept and content of linguistic expert examination of draft laws, on the basis of the current practice in the rule-making sphere. The author pays attention to the criteria for evaluation of the text of the draft law: “consistency of presentation” (allows analyzing and evaluating linguistic units and the text of the draft law as a voice unit), “literacy” (allows checking the draft law text for grammar, spelling, punctuation, slips, factual or technical mistakes) and “matching style” (allows analyzing and evaluating the draft law text talking into account the compliance to stylistic features of drafting legislative texts).
Problems of Property Law in Modern Russian Law
Authors: Sukhanov Evgeniy
Published: April 2016

The article analyzes the progress and further prospects of development of the Russian civil legislation in terms of actual and appropriate improvement of the proprietary legal regulation. The author notes the historical prerequisites of and, substantiates the possible areas for, development of the Russian civil law in terms of traditions of the European private law which originates from the Roman law and the law of pandects; in this connection, the author substantiates the necessity for systemic development of the legislative regulation of limited proprietary rights. In line with the existing specific features of legal regulation of proprietary relations in the Russian law, the author considers advantages of regulation of rights to land plots, which are in the public domain, by means of forms and types of limited proprietary rights; in this connection, the author demonstrates inefficiency of extending mechanisms of law of obligations only, mainly the models of lease contracts, on land relations. The author analyzes differences between legal regulation of homogeneous relations within the civil legislation and the land legislation as a temporary phenomenon and a feature of the transitional stage in the development of the Russian civil legislation.
On Absolute Legal Force of Obligations
Authors: Kasatkin Sergey
Published: April 2016

The article considers the recent legislative changes that allow the extension of the notion of an obligation as a relative relationship. Based on judicial practice and the positions of well-known jurists, the author comes to the conclusion that an obligation does not only connect the debtor with the creditor, but also generates passive duty for all the subjects of law to refrain from creating obstacles to the creditor in the exercise of its subjective rights. Meanwhile a creditor has the right to protect subjective rights from violations not only on the part of the debtor but also on the part of any third party. However, in a number of statutory cases, the creditor may be denied the opportunity to refer to the obligation in relations with third parties. Such legal consequences occur, in particular, in case of non-fulfillment of legislative requirements on the necessity of state registration of the contract, and in case of violation of the rules of the notification on the pledge of movables. The author proposes to refer to legal significance of relative relationship for third parties as an absolute legal force of obligations.
Extraordinary (Special) Administrative-Legal Regimes
Authors: Zyryanov Sergey
Published: April 2016

Legal regimes as complexes of legal means which help to establish more or less stable, sustainable administrative legal procedures for functioning of certain facilities or activities of certain subjects, are of considerable theoretical and practical interest in modern legal reality, characterized by high volatility, instability, because they ensure manageability not only under normal conditions, but also in emergency situations. The article discusses problems of systematizing administrative-legal regimes, determines the role of extraordinary regimes and proves the necessity of their introduction. The author comes to the conclusion, that extraordinary regimes are a variety of special administrative legal regimes introduced in emergency situations, temporarily, until the liquidation of such situations or when they naturally cease to exist or until mitigation of the effects from such emergency situations. Temporary nature of such regimes is conditioned by peculiarities of their content, among which there is excessiveness of measures envisaged by them under normal conditions, change in management system, suspension in functioning of enterprises and organizations.
Procedural Defects of Administrative Acts
Authors: Andreev Denis
Published: April 2016

The article addresses the problem of procedural defectiveness of administrative acts, which has not yet been examined extensively in Russian legal literature. The article provides a definition of procedural defects of administrative acts and offers a brief comparative overview of the issue in legal systems of France, Germany, the UK, Bulgaria and Poland. The paper demonstrates historical development of the theme in the Russian legal doctrine while special attention is paid to the analysis of the current Russian law and application thereof. By a number of examples the author substantiates the thesis that contemporary administrative law of Russia contains sufficient ground for theoretical conceptualization of the notion of substantial procedural defects of administrative acts. The author puts forward a set of criteria for classification of procedural defects into substantial and non-substantial and argues that such differentiation constitutes a particular manifestation of general legal trends.
Use of smartphone attached mobile thermography assessing subclinical inflammation: a pilot study
Authors: Kanazawa T. , Nakagami G. , Goto T. , Noguchi H. , Oe M. , Miyagaki T. , Hayashi A. , Sasaki S. , Sanada H.
Published: April 2016

Objective:

To verify the reliability and validity of FLIR ONE, a device connected to a smartphone, for the assessment of inflammation based on relative temperature increase compared with the thermography routinely used in pressure ulcer (PU) and diabetic foot assessment.

Method:

Participants in this pilot cross-sectional observational study were recruited from the patients in the PU team rounds and the diabetic foot outpatient clinic at the university hospital in January 2015. Cohen's kappa coefficient with its 95% confidence intervals was used to evaluate the criterion-related validity and inter- and intra-rater reliability for the thermal imaging assessment. For assessing criterion-related validity, a hand-held high-end infrared thermography device was used to provide reference data. Comparison of thermal images between the smartphone-connected device and the hand-held device was performed with both a ‘predetermined range’ and an ‘automatically-set range.’ For assessing inter-rater reliability, two assessors evaluated the thermal images taken by the mobile thermography. For assessing intra-rater reliability, one assessor evaluated the thermal images twice. The thermal images were shown to the assessors at random.

Results:

Among 16 thermal images obtained from eight patients, kappa coefficients for each value were as follows: for the predetermined range and automatically-set range, respectively, the criterion-related validity was 1.00 (95% confidence interval 1.00–1.00) and 1.00 (95% confidence interval 1.00–1.00); the inter-rater reliability was 1.00 (95% confidence interval 1.00–1.00) and 1.00 (95% confidence interval 1.00–1.00); and the intra-rater reliability was 1.00 (95% confidence interval 1.00–1.00) and 1.00 (95% confidence interval 1.00–1.00).

Conclusion:

This pilot study suggests that FLIR ONE can work as an alternative device for assessing subclinical inflammation in PUs and the diabetic foot in clinical settings. Our results may facilitate clinicians in accepting the routine use of thermal imaging assessment at the patients' bedside.
On the Existence of Infinite Sequences of Ordered Positive Solutions of Nonlinear Elliptic Eigenvalue Problems
Authors: Corrêa Francisco Júlio S. A. , Carvalho Marcos L. M. , Gonçalves José Valdo A. , Silva Kaye O.
Published: April 2016

In this work, we employ minimization arguments and topological degree theory for mappings of type

S
+

${S_{+}}$

to prove the existence of infinite sequences of ordered solutions for a class of nonlinear equations in which the semilinear term vanishes an infinite number of times. Our results extend earlier ones by Hess [10] and by Loc and Schmitt [15].
Brain Drain, Contracts, and Moral Obligation
Authors: Callies Daniel Edward
Published: April 2016

In this paper I first argue that when answering the question of whether or not governments may restrict emigration, Brock and Blake are staking out positions not astronomically far from one another. Despite the ostensibly large philosophical gap between the two, both think that certain governments may restrict emigration when such restriction is agreed to in a morally binding contract. Secondly, both authors think that there are specific “circumstances” or “conditions” under which a contract that restricts emigration can be morally binding. This second part of the paper will pose some questions that explore these various circumstances or conditions. The ultimate aim of the paper is to help point the debate in the right direction so as to further develop an answer to the question of whether or not governments may restrict emigration.
Taxation of Partnerships - Economic general report for the Nordic Tax Research Council′s annual meeting on 22 May 2015 in Aarhus
Authors: Birket-Smith Anna Holst
Published: April 2016

From an economic perspective a partnership is an odd construction. Generally, an economist will distinguish between physical persons and companies. However, partnerships are a combination of a person and a company. This report will attempt to give an overview of how the taxation of partnerships affects the organization of businesses and the role played by partnerships in the business structure in the Nordic countries.

The Economic General Report is based on the Economic National Reports from Denmark, Sweden, Norway, and Iceland. This report will include relevant information from the four reports. It is not an exhaustive study of the effects of the tax treatment of partnerships. However, it will examine how taxation of partnerships changes the incentive to choose a certain form of organization and it will give an illustration on how the different tax rules in the Nordic countries work. Particularly, it seeks to identify asymmetries in the taxation of different types of company structures, and the role of partnerships in the business structure.
Pre-analytical issues in effusion cytology
Authors: Michael Claire W. , Davidson Ben
Published: April 2016

Effusions or body cavity fluids are amongst the most commonly submitted samples to the cytology laboratory. Knowledge of proper collection, storage, preservation and processing techniques is essential to ensure proper handling and successful analysis of the sample. This article describes how the effusions should be collected and proper conditions for submission. The different processing techniques to extract the cellular material and prepare slides satisfactory for microscopic evaluation are described such as direct smears, cytospins, liquid based preparations and cell blocks. The article further elaborates on handling the specimens for additional ancillary testing such as immunostaining and molecular tests, including predictive ones, as well as future research approaches.
Zur Interpretation entscheidungstheoretischer Kalküle – Eine Erwiderung
Authors: Tutić Andreas
Published: April 2016

In dieser Erwiderung auf Linnebach (2016) werden zwei methodologische Argumente für die Axiomatisierung der soziologischen Handlungstheorie diskutiert.
Detección de necesidades de aprendizaje mediante el uso de una red social y del vídeo en una clase de francés lengua extranjera / Detection of learning needs by means of a social network and video in a class of french as a foreign language
Authors: Alvarez Alvarez Alfredo
Published: April 2016

Las redes sociales ofrecen en el momento actual numerosas posibilidades en el aula. La red social pedagógica plantea un espacio en el que desarrollar gran cantidad de actividades innovadoras para el estudiante. En esa línea, la utilización del vídeo puede aportar elementos novedosos en los que el docente encontrará argumentos, tanto en lo que se refiere a motivación como al aprendizaje de los estudiantes, para integrar en su clase recursos que estos utilizan habitualmente en la vida diaria. En las líneas que siguen se presentan los resultados de un estudio cuyo objetivo ha sido analizar las necesidades de aprendizaje de un grupo de estudiantes de lengua francesa como lengua extranjera a partir de la utilización en clase de una red social en uso combinado con el vídeo. Para ello, se procedió a crear un espacio virtual en una red social de código abierto, que se utilizó como dispositivo aglutinador y centralizador de las actividades del grupo a lo largo del cuatrimestre objeto de estudio.
Topographical Organization of Attentional, Social, and Memory Processes in the Human Temporoparietal Cortex
Authors: Igelström Kajsa M. , Webb Taylor W. , Kelly Yin T. , Graziano Michael S. A.
Published: April 2016

The temporoparietal junction (TPJ) is activated in association with a large range of functions, including social cognition, episodic memory retrieval, and attentional reorienting. An ongoing debate is whether the TPJ performs an overarching, domain-general computation, or whether functions reside in domain-specific subdivisions. We scanned subjects with fMRI during five tasks known to activate the TPJ, probing social, attentional, and memory functions, and used data-driven parcellation (independent component analysis) to isolate task-related functional processes in the bilateral TPJ. We found that one dorsal component in the right TPJ, which was connected with the frontoparietal control network, was activated in all of the tasks. Other TPJ subregions were specific for attentional reorienting, oddball target detection, or social attribution of belief. The TPJ components that participated in attentional reorienting and oddball target detection appeared spatially separated, but both were connected with the ventral attention network. The TPJ component that participated in the theory-of-mind task was part of the default-mode network. Further, we found that the BOLD response in the domain-general dorsal component had a longer latency than responses in the domain-specific components, suggesting an involvement in distinct, perhaps postperceptual, computations. These findings suggest that the TPJ performs both domain-general and domain-specific computations that reside within spatially distinct functional components.
Movement Enhances the Nonlinearity of Hippocampal Theta
Authors: Sheremet Alex , Burke Sara N. , Maurer Andrew P.
Published: April 2016

The nonlinear, metastable dynamics of the brain are essential for large-scale integration of smaller components and for the rapid organization of neurons in support of behavior. Therefore, understanding the nonlinearity of the brain is paramount for understanding the relationship between brain dynamics and behavior. Explicit quantitative descriptions of the properties and consequences of nonlinear neural networks, however, are rare. Because the local field potential (LFP) reflects the total activity across a population of neurons, nonlinearites of the nervous system should be quantifiable by examining oscillatory structure. We used high-order spectral analysis of LFP recorded from the dorsal and intermediate regions of the rat hippocampus to show that the nonlinear character of the hippocampal theta rhythm is directly related to movement speed of the animal. In the time domain, nonlinearity is expressed as the development of skewness and asymmetry in the theta shape. In the spectral domain, nonlinear dynamics manifest as the development of a chain of harmonics statistically phase coupled to the theta oscillation. This evolution was modulated across hippocampal regions, being stronger in the dorsal CA1 relative to more intermediate areas. The intensity and timing of the spiking activity of pyramidal cells and interneurons was strongly correlated to theta nonlinearity. Because theta is known to propagate from dorsal to ventral regions of the hippocampus, these data suggest that the nonlinear character of theta decreases as it travels and supports a hypothesis that activity dissipates along the longitudinal axis of the hippocampus.

SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENTWe describe the first explicit quantification regarding how behavior enhances the nonlinearity of the nervous system. Our findings demonstrate uniquely how theta changes with increasing speed due to the altered underlying neuronal dynamics and open new directions of research on the relationship between single-neuron activity and propagation of theta through the hippocampus. This work is significant because it will encourage others to consider the nonlinear nature of the nervous system and higher-order spectral analyses when examining oscillatory interactions.
Memory Reactivation Predicts Resistance to Retroactive Interference: Evidence from Multivariate Classification and Pattern Similarity Analyses
Authors: Koen Joshua D. , Rugg Michael D.
Published: April 2016

Memory reactivation—the reinstatement of processes and representations engaged when an event is initially experienced—is believed to play an important role in strengthening and updating episodic memory. The present study examines how memory reactivation during a potentially interfering event influences memory for a previously experienced event. Participants underwent fMRI during the encoding phase of an AB/AC interference task in which some words were presented twice in association with two different encoding tasks (AB and AC trials) and other words were presented once (DE trials). The later memory test required retrieval of the encoding tasks associated with each of the study words. Retroactive interference was evident for the AB encoding task and was particularly strong when the AC encoding task was remembered rather than forgotten. We used multivariate classification and pattern similarity analysis (PSA) to measure reactivation of the AB encoding task during AC trials. The results demonstrated that reactivation of generic task information measured with multivariate classification predicted subsequent memory for the AB encoding task regardless of whether interference was strong and weak (trials for which the AC encoding task was remembered or forgotten, respectively). In contrast, reactivation of neural patterns idiosyncratic to a given AB trial measured with PSA only predicted memory when the strength of interference was low. These results suggest that reactivation of features of an initial experience shared across numerous events in the same category, but not features idiosyncratic to a particular event, are important in resisting retroactive interference caused by new learning.

SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENTReactivating a previously encoded memory is believed to provide an opportunity to strengthen the memory, but also to return the memory to a labile state, making it susceptible to interference. However, there is debate as to how memory reactivation elicited by a potentially interfering event influences subsequent retrieval of the memory. The findings of the current study indicate that reactivating features idiosyncratic to a particular experience during interference only influences subsequent memory when interference is relatively weak. Critically, reactivation of generic contextual information predicts subsequent source memory when retroactive interference is either strong and weak. The results indicate that reactivation of generic information about a prior episode mitigates forgetting due to retroactive interference.
Brain-Wide Insulin Resistance, Tau Phosphorylation Changes, and Hippocampal Neprilysin and Amyloid-β Alterations in a Monkey Model of Type 1 Diabetes
Authors: Morales-Corraliza Jose , Wong Harrison , Mazzella Matthew J. , Che Shaoli , Lee Sang Han , Petkova Eva , Wagner Janice D. , Hemby Scott E. , Ginsberg Stephen D. , Mathews Paul M.
Published: April 2016

Epidemiological findings suggest that diabetic individuals are at a greater risk for developing Alzheimer's disease (AD). To examine the mechanisms by which diabetes mellitus (DM) may contribute to AD pathology in humans, we examined brain tissue from streptozotocin-treated type 1 diabetic adult male vervet monkeys receiving twice-daily exogenous insulin injections for 8–20 weeks. We found greater inhibitory phosphorylation of insulin receptor substrate 1 in each brain region examined of the diabetic monkeys when compared with controls, consistent with a pattern of brain insulin resistance that is similar to that reported in the human AD brain. Additionally, a widespread increase in phosphorylated tau was seen, including brain areas vulnerable in AD, as well as relatively spared structures, such as the cerebellum. An increase in active ERK1/2 was also detected, consistent with DM leading to changes in tau-kinase activity broadly within the brain. In contrast to these widespread changes, we found an increase in soluble amyloid-β (Aβ) levels that was restricted to the temporal lobe, with the greatest increase seen in the hippocampus. Consistent with this localized Aβ increase, a hippocampus-restricted decrease in the protein and mRNA for the Aβ-degrading enzyme neprilysin (NEP) was found, whereas various Aβ-clearing and -degrading proteins were unchanged. Thus, we document multiple biochemical changes in the insulin-controlled DM monkey brain that can link DM with the risk of developing AD, including dysregulation of the insulin-signaling pathway, changes in tau phosphorylation, and a decrease in NEP expression in the hippocampus that is coupled with a localized increase in Aβ.

SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENTGiven that diabetes mellitus (DM) appears to increase the risk of developing Alzheimer's disease (AD), understanding the mechanisms by which DM promotes AD is important. We report that DM in a nonhuman primate brain leads to changes in the levels or posttranslational processing of proteins central to AD pathobiology, including tau, amyloid-β (Aβ), and the Aβ-degrading protease neprilysin. Additional evidence from this model suggests that alterations in brain insulin signaling occurred that are reminiscent of insulin signaling pathway changes seen in human AD. Thus, in anin vivomodel highly relevant to humans, we show multiple alterations in the brain resulting from DM that are mechanistically linked to AD risk.
A new highly sensitive and specific overnight combined screening and diagnostic test for primary aldosteronism
Authors: Tsiavos Vaios , Markou Athina , Papanastasiou Labrini , Kounadi Theodora , Androulakis Ioannis I , Voulgaris Nick , Zachaki Aglaia , Kassi Eva , Kaltsas Gregory , Chrousos George P , Piaditis George P
Published: April 2016

Context

Primary aldosteronism (PA) is the most common cause of endocrine hypertension that is diagnosed following a two-step process: an initial screening test, based on the serum aldosterone-to-renin ratio (ARR), followed by a relatively laborious and time-consuming confirmatory test to document autonomous aldosterone (ALD) secretion.

Objective

The aim of this study is to develop a simple overnight test for the early and definite diagnosis of PA.

Patients and methods

Totally, 148 hypertensive patients underwent a fludrocortisone–dexamethasone suppression test (FDST) and the new overnight diagnostic test (DCVT) using pharmaceutical RAAS (renin–angiotensin–aldosterone system) blockade with dexamethasone, captopril and valsartan.

Results

Of the 148 patients, 45 were diagnosed as having PA and they all normalized their elevated blood pressure (BP) after administration of spironolactone or eplerenone. The remaining 103 patients were considered as having essential hypertension and served as controls. Using ROC analysis, the estimated sensitivity and specificity were 91 and 100%, respectively, for the post-FDST ARR, whereas 98% and 89% and 100% and 82% for the post-DCVT ARR and post-DCVT ALD, respectively, with selected cutoffs of 0.32ng/dL/μU/mL and 3ng/dL respectively. However, considering these cutoffs simultaneously, the estimated sensitivity and specificity were 98 and 100% respectively. Applying these cutoffs, the diagnosis of PA was confirmed in 44 (98%) of the 45 patients who were considered to have the disease.

Conclusions

In this study, a highly sensitive and specific, low-cost, rapid, safe, and easy-to-perform diagnostic test (DCVT) for PA is described, which could be utilized on an outpatient basis potentially substituting conventional laborious testing.
Foreign Students Enrolled in the Medicine and Pharmacy Higher Education in Romania (1975-1989)
Authors: Maier Valentin
Published: April 2016

After 1948 the Romanian higher education entered a period of important developments, controlled by the communist regime, which meant thathigher educationinstitutions autonomy was severely obstructed, while politicalpurges affected the teaching staff and students alike. Nevertheless, new types of higher education were introduced and new institutions of higher education and specializations were established. The number of students and graduates increased accordingly. Also, after 1975, the number of foreign students in Romanian higher education registered a significant increase mainly in medicine and pharmacy . More than half of foreign students attracted by the Romanian higher education were studying medicine and pharmacy. Many interesting aspects of this situation are presented in this article: reasons for this attraction, statistics of total number of students, number of freshmen, number of graduates and the contribution of each institution of medicine and pharmacy higher education in attracting the foreign students.
RESPIRATORY MANIFESTATIONS IN ENDOCRINE DISEASES
Authors: Lencu Codruţa , Alexescu Teodora , Petrulea Mirela , Lencu Monica
Published: April 2016

The control mechanisms of respiration as a vital function are complex: voluntary – cortical, and involuntary – metabolic, neural, emotional and endocrine. Hormones and hypothalamic neuropeptides (that act as neurotrasmitters and neuromodulators in the central nervous system) play a role in the regulation of respiration and in bronchopulmonary morphology. This article presents respiratory manifestations in adult endocrine diseases that evolve with hormone deficit or hypersecretion. In hyperthyroidism, patients develop ventilation disorders, obstructive and central sleep apnea, and pleural collection. The respiratory abnormalities in hyperthyroidism as a result of the hypermetabolic action of thyroid hormones are hyperventilation, myopathy and cardiovascular involvement; recent studies have reported pulmonary arterial hypertension in Graves’ disease, as a result of the association of several mechanisms. Thyroid hypertrophy can induce through compression of the upper airways dyspnea, stridor, wheezing and cough. The respiratory disorders in acromegaly are ventilatory dysfunction and sleep apnea, which contribute to an unfavorable evolution of the disease. Respiratory changes in parathyroid, adrenal and reproductive system diseases have been described. Respiratory disorders should be recognized, investigated and monitored by medical practitioners of various specialties (family physicians, internists, endocrinologists, pneumologists, cardiologists). They are frequently severe, causing an unfavorable evolution of the associated endocrine and respiratory disease.
The reconstruction of F. Kuršaitis syllable tones: initiation of new discusion
Authors: Švageris Evaldas
Published: April 2016

It is well known, that tones of Lithuanian language for the first time have been described and illustrated using musical notes in the mid of 19th century by Friedrich Kurschat (lt. Frydrichas Kuršaitis). No single attempt was made in order to analyze in-depth what specific prosodic features were covered by this material since the article of prof. A. Girdenis appeared in 2008. He concluded, that tone distribution is generally based on pitch range and contour differences (i.e. rising vs falling tone opposition). An alternative way of reconstruction proposed here reveals additional features which should be taken in to account as well. Measurements of prosodic parameters (i.e. pitch range, shape and vowel length) show that tones differ in terms of rate of pitch change and duration. Rising tone (or to be more precise – sustained tone)  can be defined as having longer duration and less intensive rate of pitch change while the falling tone has opposite parameters – shorter duration and abrupt, steep pitch change. The phonetic nature of Lithuanian language tones therefore should be considered as a complex one.
Respiratory Decompensation and Immunization of Preterm Infants
Authors: Montague Edwin Clark , Hilinski Joseph A. , Williams Helen O. , McCracken Courtney E. , Giannopoulos Helen T. , Piazza Anthony J.
Published: April 2016

BACKGROUND:

Concern for respiratory decompensation after immunization in premature infants, particularly those with bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD), may lead to delayed and altered immunization schedules.

METHODS:

A retrospective cohort of premature infants at <32 weeks’ gestational age cared for in a tertiary level 4 NICU and immunized during their hospital stay were evaluated for respiratory decompensation within 72 hours of immunization. Respiratory measurements including change in respiratory support, mean fraction of inspired oxygen, and apnea, bradycardia, and desaturation events were compared between those infants with BPD and those without. The primary outcome was the difference in respiratory decompensation defined as a composite of increased respiratory support or increased fraction of inspired oxygen ≥10% within 72 hours of immunization.

RESULTS:

Of 403 infants admitted to the NICU and immunized, 240 met the study criteria. Of those infants, 172 had a diagnosis of BPD. There was no difference in the primary outcome of respiratory decompensation after immunization between groups (P = .65). There was also no significant difference in apnea, bradycardia, and desaturation events between groups (P = .51).

CONCLUSIONS:

In this cohort, respiratory decompensation requiring clinical intervention after immunization of preterm infants both with and without BPD was uncommon and not significantly different between groups. Consideration for immunization of this vulnerable population should not be delayed out of concern for clinical deterioration.
Mejoramiento participativo: herramienta para la conservación de cultivos subutilizados y olvidados
Authors: Caetano Creucí Maria , Peña Cuellar Richard Danilo , Maigual Juajibioy José Luis , Vásquez Ávila Linda Nataly , Caetano Nunes Diego Geraldo , Caetano Nunes de Pazdiora Bruna Rafaela
Published: April 2016

A pesar de un número significativo de especies vegetales ser reconocidas como alimenticias, solo una pequeña fracción cumple con la demanda proteica de la población mundial. Los cultivos mejorados, con una base genética muy limitada, muy posiblemente no podrán contrarrestar los efectos adversos del cambio climático. Por lo contrario, los cultivos considerados subutilizados, infrautilizados, olvidados, huérfanos, obsoletos o menores,
pueden contener en sus genomas las respuestas para garantizar la seguridad y la soberanía alimentaria y nutricional de las poblaciones. Esas variedades locales, debidamente adaptadas a condiciones agroclimáticas extremas, como las de maíz criollo e indígena colombiano, hacen parte del patrimonio cultural de muchos
grupos étnicos o pueblos originarios, que las seleccionan, las utilizan y las conservan. Además de estos, otro concepto se refiere a los recursos promisorios, igualmente poco utilizados, aunque por razones diferentes. Así, el Mejoramiento Participativo (MP) es una herramienta para promocionar variedades locales o cultivos
tradicionales subutilizados, para atender las necesidades de las comunidades. En el Fitomejoramiento Participativo, los miembros de la cadena de valores o productiva (agricultores, fitomejoradores, técnicos y otros) trabajan juntos en el proceso de desarrollo de las variedades, en un proceso descentralizado y participativo.
Un programa de MP con germoplasma de maíz colombiano resultó en la promoción de algunas variedades locales. Paralelamente se describieron nuevas razas de maíz para Colombia.
Uso de Infusión de oreganón Plectranthus amboinicus (Lour.) Spreng y del vinagre en la crianza de pollos “Acriollados” (Gallus gallus domesticus) mejorados
Authors: Chiriboga Chuchuca Carlos , Sánchez Quinche Angel Roberto , Vargas González Oliverio Napoleón , Hurtado Flores Luis Santiago , Quevedo Guerrero José Nicasio
Published: April 2016

La presente investigación se realizó en la Granja Santa Inés, perteneciente a la Universidad Técnica de Machala, utilizando para ello 160 pollos acriollados (Gallus gallus domesticus) mejorados, los mismos que se alojaron tratando de cumplir las mejores condiciones de manejo y sanidad, sin embargo para provocar desafíos no se administró vacunas, ni antibiótico en la granja. El objetivo fue determinar la eficacia del vinagre e infusión de oreganón Plectranthus amboinicus en la crianza de pollos acriollados. La investigación duró 42 días, se distribuyeron 16 grupos al azar de 10 pollos cada uno, considerando 4 tratamientos (T1= vinagre, T2= vinagre + infusión de oreganón, T3= infusión de oreganón, T4= testigo) con 4 repeticiones cada uno. Se administró balanceado libre de antibióticos, se tomaron datos de consumo de alimento y de agua tratada diariamente, los pesos de las aves semanalmente; las muestras de heces se colectaron al inicio, mitad y final de la investigación. Como conclusión, las variables de campo no obtuvieron diferencias estadísticamente significativas en los tratamientos, pero sí en la parte microbiológica, el T1, T2 y T3 mostraron eficiencias de disminución al compararlos con el T4, aunque el T3 al final de la investigación se diferenció del T1, T2, T4. Asumiendo que la infusión de oreganón Plectranthus amboinicus, induce a una reducción en la cantidad de UFC tanto en la Flora total y Coliformes.
Caracterización de sistemas agroecológicos para el establecimiento de cacao (Theobroma cacao L.), en comunidades afrodescendientes del Pacífico Colombiano (Tumaco- Nariño, Colombia)
Authors: Espinosa-Alzate Juan Antonio , Ríos-Osorio Leonardo Alberto
Published: April 2016

El objetivo de esta investigación fue caracterizar agroecológicamente, los sistemas de producción de cacao en el municipio de Tumaco – Pacífico colombiano, tanto sistemas de producción tradicional como convencional. La metodología diseñada se basó en un análisis de contexto donde todas las dimensiones de la sostenibilidad proporcionaron una mirada holística de la realidad y se evaluó la eficiencia energética. Como resultados del estudio se identificó que los sistemas productivos de cacao se abordan con dos sistemas tecnológicos contrastantes: 1) de forma tradicional o sistemas complejos locales, dentro del concepto de integralidad de manejo del territorio, y 2) en sistemas de explotación comercial moderna (alta densidad de siembra, uso de controles químicos, patrones introducidos y material vegetal de clones importados). Algunos miembros de la comunidad manifiestan que la tendencia a aumentar las densidades de siembra del cacao se distancia de la visión de algunos pobladores de mantener bajas densidades (400 árboles ha-1). La amplia gama de circunstancias ambientales del territorio y la alta complejidad social y ecosistémica establecen retos muy particulares que permiten identificar la sostenibilidad de los sistemas productivos desde la eficiencia energética y de la inserción a los mercados.