bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Patient Satisfaction of Surgical Treatment of Clitoral Phimosis and Labial Adhesions Caused by Lichen Sclerosus
Authors: Flynn Anne N. , King Michelle , Rieff Mollie , Krapf Jill , Goldstein Andrew T.
Published: November 2015

Introduction

Lichen sclerosus (LS) is a chronic inflammatory dermatosis, usually affecting the anogenital skin in women. This chronic inflammation can cause scarring of genitalia including narrowing of the introitus and phimosis of the clitoris. These architectural changes can lead to recurrent tearing during intercourse (vulvar granuloma fissuratum) and decreased clitoral sensation. Surgical correction of vulvar granuloma fissuratum (VGF) and clitoral phimosis can be performed, but there is little data on the patient satisfaction and complications following these surgical procedures.

Aim

To evaluate patient experience and outcomes in women undergoing surgical correction of scarring caused by anogenital LS.

Methods

A retrospective chart review of patients at a vulvar disorders clinic was performed to identify women who had undergone surgical correction of clitoral phimosis or lysis of vulvar adhesions for VGF due to LS. Twenty-eight women were contacted via telephone between 4 and 130 months postoperatively. An eight-question survey was used to determine patient experience and outcomes.

Main Outcome Measures

All participants completed an eight-question survey to evaluate patient satisfaction with the surgery, effects on clitoral sensation, orgasm and pain with intercourse, postoperative symptoms or complications, and the presence of recurrent vulvar scarring.

Results

Participants reported that they were either very satisfied (44%) or satisfied (40%) with the procedure. Of the women who experienced decreased clitoral sensation prior to surgery, 75% endorsed increased clitoral sensitivity postoperatively. Of the women who had dyspareunia prior to surgery, the majority of women reported having pain-free sex (33%) or improved but not completely pain-free sex (58%) after surgery. There were no complications or symptoms made worse by the surgical procedures.

Conclusions

This study shows high patient satisfaction and low complication risk associated with surgical correction of clitoral phimosis and lysis of vulvar adhesions for VGF caused by LS. Patients reported improvement in clitoral sensation and ability to achieve orgasm, as well as decreased dyspareunia. Surgical correction of vulvar scarring is a viable option to restore vulvar anatomy and sexual function in appropriate candidates with anogenital LS.
Characterization of milling fractions from new sources of barley for use in food industry
Authors: Wiege Iva , Sluková Marcela , Vaculová Kateřina , Pančíková Blanka , Wiege Berthold
Published: November 2015

The aim of this work was to characterize three Czech spring and one German winter barley cultivars specifically cultivated for use in the food industry. Two hull‐less and two waxy barleys were roller‐milled and separated into ten milling fractions. Additionally one wholemeal flour was prepared. The chemical composition of flour fractions from all cultivars was compared individually. The starch content was very similar in white flour fraction C1 and coarse bran flour from both waxy genotypes. The highest β‐glucan content was determined in bran fractions in all barley materials. The similar trend was also found for the arabinoxylan content. Czech spring breeding line KM 1057 showed higher arabinoxylan content in all milling fractions than the other varieties. A strong positive correlation between β‐glucan and protein content, as well as β‐glucan and dietary fibre was found. By choosing the suitable milling fractions (flour separated from bran or bran, especially in hull‐less cultivars), as high fibre to starch ratio as 1:0.8 can be achieved. Furthermore these fractions contained a high content of β‐glucan, protein and ash.
Experimental study on fatigue behaviour of CFRP plates externally bonded to concrete substrate
Authors: Zhang Wei
Published: November 2015

The behaviour of the bond between fibre‐reinforced polymers (FRP) and concrete greatly influences the behaviour of concrete structures strengthened with FRP composites. Although numerous experimental studies have investigated this bond, experimental data concerning fatigue tests on carbon FRP plates attached to concrete blocks are still lacking. Therefore, a series of double‐lap shear tests under monotonic and fatigue loadings were performed on concrete prismatic specimens reinforced with CFRP plates. First, a series of experimental investigations are summarized. Thereafter, the fatigue behaviour of CFRP plate debonding is characterized using S‐N diagrams that represent the relationship of the upper‐limit fatigue load with the monotonic load strength and the number of cycles to debonding on a semi‐logarithmic scale.
Investigation of optimal layout of ties in STM developed by topology optimization
Authors: Zhou Lin‐Yun , He Zhi‐Qi , Liu Zhao
Published: November 2015

Strut‐and‐tie models (STMs) have been wildly used for the design of disturbed regions in structural concrete members. The STM developed based on the load path method or with the aid of stress trajectories is not unique and varies with the designer′s intuition and past experience. As a result, topology optimization methods have been adopted to generate STMs in reinforced concrete structures. However, such models are just a preliminary configuration and the detailed layout of ties in an STM cannot be determined by the optimal topology. This is because reinforced concrete is assumed to be a uniform elastic continuum. Therefore, the effect of the steel reinforcement on the load transmission cannot be considered in the optimization process. Recently, the criterion of minimum strain energy has been proposed to determine the optimal layout of STMs obtained by the modified optimization method. However, the strain energy criterion does not work when the minimum strain energy in ties is zero when evaluated by mathematical equations. To address this issue, the maximum stiffness criterion is proposed to discover the optimal layout of ties in STMs by evaluating the stiffnesses of strut ties.
Roles for SUMO in pre‐mRNA processing
Authors: Nuro‐Gyina Patrick K. , Parvin Jeffrey D.
Published: November 2015

When the small ubiquitin‐like modifier (SUMO)‐1 protein is localized on the genome, it is found on proteins bound to the promoters of the most highly active genes and on proteins bound to the DNA‐encoding exons. Inhibition of the SUMO‐1 modification leads to reductions in initiation of messenger RNA (mRNA) synthesis and splicing. In this review, we discuss what is known about the SUMOylation of factors involved in transcription initiation, pre‐mRNA processing, and polyadenylation. We suggest a mechanism by which SUMO modifications of factors at the promoters of high‐activity genes trigger the formation of an RNA polymerase II complex that coordinates and integrates the stimulatory signals for each process to catalyze an extremely high level of gene expression. WIREs RNA 2016, 7:105–112. doi: 10.1002/wrna.1318

This article is categorized under:

RNA Interactions with Proteins and Other Molecules > Protein–RNA Interactions: Functional Implications

RNA Processing > Splicing Regulation/Alternative Splicing
Radically Healing Black Lives: A Love Note to Justice
Authors: Ginwright Shawn A.
Published: November 2015

This chapter describes how present conditions in Black communities have fostered the development of new modes of youth leadership that focus on hope, love, and joy, and are ultimately restorative and redemptive.
International Perspectives on Youth Leadership Development Through Community Organizing
Authors: Govan Rashida H. , Fernandez Jesica Siham , Lewis Deana G. , Kirshner Ben
Published: November 2015

This chapter details the ways youth community organizing strategies can inform leadership educators’ approaches to engaging marginalized youth in leadership development for social change.
The resultant linear six‐field theory of elastic shells: What it brings to the classical linear shell models?
Authors: Pietraszkiewicz Wojciech
Published: November 2015

Basic relations of the resultant linear six‐field theory of shells are established by consistent linearization of the resultant 2D non‐linear theory of shells. As compared with the classical linear shell models of Kirchhoff‐Love and Timoshenko‐Reissner type, the six‐field linear shell model contains the drilling rotation as an independent kinematic variable as well as two surface drilling couples with two work‐conjugate surface drilling bending measures are present in description of the shell stress‐strain state. Among new results obtained here within the six‐field linear theory of elastic shells there are: 1) formulation of the extended static‐geometric analogy; 2) derivation of complex BVP for complex independent variables; 3) description of deformation of the shell boundary element; 4) the Cesáro type formulas and expressions for the vectors of stress functions along the shell boundary contour; 5) discussion on explicit appearance of gradients of 2D stress and strain measures in the resultant stress working.
Diabetes Mellitus in Patients Presenting with Adhesive Small Bowel Obstruction: Delaying Surgical Intervention Results in Worse Outcomes
Authors: Karamanos Efstathios , Dulchavsky Scott , Beale Elizabeth , Inaba Kenji , Demetriades Demetrios
Published: November 2015

Introduction

The impact of diabetes mellitus (DM) on outcomes in patients undergoing emergency laparotomy for adhesive small bowel obstruction (ASBO) remains unknown.

Methods

Low‐risk (ASA class of I and II) patients requiring emergency operation for ASBO were identified using the ACS NSQIP database. Propensity score matching was used to match patients with DM to those without DM in a ratio of 1:3. Mortality, infectious complications, acute renal failure (ARF), and myocardial infarction (MI) were compared between the two groups. The impact of delaying OR ≥24 h was also analyzed in the two groups.

Results

A total of 1,608 patients were matched, 402 with DM and 1,204 without DM. Overall, patients with DM were significantly more likely to develop infections, ARF and MI. Diabetes had no negative impact on outcomes if the operation was performed within 24 h of admission. However, delaying surgery >24, significantly increased infections, ARF and MI.

Conclusions

DM in low‐risk patients has no negative impact on outcomes in patients undergoing surgery for ASBO within 24 h. However, delaying surgery >24 h resulted in worse outcomes.
Four types of cannabimimetic indazole and indole derivatives, ADB-BINACA, AB-FUBICA, ADB-FUBICA, and AB-BICA, identified as new psychoactive substances
Authors: Qian Zhenhua , Hua Zhendong , Liu Cuimei , Jia Wei
Published: November 2015

We identified four cannabimimetic indazole and indole derivatives in new illegal psychoactive substances seized from a clandestine laboratory in China. These four derivatives included N-(1-amino-3,3-dimethyl-1-oxobutan-2-yl)-1-benzyl-1H-indazole-3-carboxamide (ADB-BINACA, 1), N-(1-amino-3-methyl-1-oxobutan-2-yl)-1-(4-fluorobenzyl)-1H-indole-3-carboxamide (AB-FUBICA, 2), N-(1-amino-3,3-dimethyl-1-oxobutan-2-yl)-1-(4-fluorobenzyl)-1H-indole-3-carboxamide (ADB-FUBICA, 3), and N-(1-amino-3-methyl-1-oxobutan-2-yl)-1-benzyl-1H-indole-3-carboxamide (AB-BICA, 4). These compounds were identified by liquid chromatography–high-resolution mass spectrometry, gas chromatography–mass spectrometry, and nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. No chemical or pharmacological data about compound 4 has appeared until now, making this the first report on this compound. Compounds 1, 2, and 3 have previously been reported to have a high affinity for cannabinoid CB1 and CB2 receptors, but this is the first report of their presence in illegal products.
Patients with chronic pain: One-year follow-up of a multimodal rehabilitation programme at a pain clinic
Authors: Hållstam Andrea , Löfgren Monika , Svensén Christer , Stålnacke Britt-Marie
Published: November 2015

Background and aims

Multimodal rehabilitation (MMR) programmes, including, physical training, educational and psychological interventions by an interdisciplinary team are found to be more successful for patients with disabling chronic pain compared with less comprehensive treatments. MMR programmes are based on the biopsychosocial model and the goal is usually to improve function, quality of life and facilitate and enable return to work. As pain clinics traditionally offer conventional medical pain treatment, there is limited knowledge about MMR given in this context. The aim of our study was to describe characteristics of patients with chronic pain, treated with a MMR programme at a conventional pain clinic, to evaluate patient-reported outcome measures (PROM) from start to one year after, and to study possibly associated factors for the improvement of health-related quality of life after one year.

Methods

A prospective, observational study with a one-year follow-up was performed.

Subjects

A total of 42 individuals (38 females, age 44.0 ± 12.3 years and 4 men age 40 ± 8.5 years) with different pain diagnoses were included. After a team assessment, the patients began a programme that lasted about three months. The MMR programme contained coordinated, individually adapted treatments administered individually or in groups, and was based on cognitive behavioural principles. Questionnaires regarding health-related quality of life (HRQoL) (EQ-5D), insomnia (ISI), mental health (HADS), painrelated disability (PDI), kinesiophobia (TSK), current pain intensity (VAS) and sense of coherence (SOC) were used at the start of the MMR and at follow-up. Demographic data were collected from the patient records.

Results

The PROM at baseline showed substantial pain problems with low HRQoL (EQ-5D index of 0.1 ± 0.282, and EQ VAS of 32.67 ± 20.1), moderate insomnia (ISI 18.95 ± 6.7), doubtful cases of depression and anxiety (HADS-depression 9.35 ± 4.1 and HADS-anxiety 9.78 ± 3.95), presence of pain-related disability (PDI 39.48 ±12.64), kinesiophobia (TSK 40.8 ± 9.8), as well as moderate current pain (VAS 61.31 ± 20.4). The sense of coherence was weak (SOC of 51.37 ± 14). At one-year follow-up, significant (p ≥ 0.05) improvement occurred on the EQ-5D index, EQ VAS, ISI, PDI and TSK. In the logistic regression analysis, no significant associations could be identified.

Conclusions

MMR for patients with complex pain problems can be a successful treatment alternative at conventional pain clinics.

Implications

Since access to rehabilitation clinics in Sweden may be limited, the availability of MMR can increase by providing this type of intervention in pain clinics. Increased knowledge of MMR in different settings can also contribute to increased understanding and collaboration between pain clinics and rehabilitation units.
Impaired recognition memory and cognitive flexibility in the ratL5–L6 spinal nerve ligation model of neuropathic pain
Authors: Moriarty Orla , Gorman Claire L. , McGowan Fiona , Ford Gemma K. , Roche Michelle , Thompson Kerry , Dockery Peter , McGuire Brian E. , Finn David P.
Published: November 2015

Background and aims

Although neuropathic pain is known to negatively affect cognition, the neural mechanisms involved are poorly understood. Chronic pain is associated with changes in synaptic plasticity in the brain which may impact on cognitive functioning. The aim of this study was to model neuropathic pain in mid-aged rats using spinal nerve ligation (SNL). Following establishment of allodynia and hyperalgesia, behaviour was assessed in a battery of cognitive tests. Expression of the presynaptic protein, synaptophysin, and its colocalisation with the vesicular GABA and glutamate transporters (vGAT and vGLUT, respectively), was investigated in the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) and hippocampus.

Methods

Nine month old male Sprague Dawley rats underwent L5-L6 spinal nerve ligation or a sham procedure. Mechanical and cold allodynia and thermal hyperalgesia were assessed using von Frey, acetone and Hargreaves tests, respectively. Cognition was assessed in the novel-object recognition, air-puff passive avoidance and Morris water maze behavioural tasks. Immunohistochemistry was used to examine the expression of synaptophysin in the mPFC and CA1 region of the hippocampus and double labelling of synaptophysin and the vesicular transporters vGAT and vGlut was used to investigate the distribution of synaptophysin on GABAergic and glutamatergic neurons.

Results

SNL rats displayed impaired performance in the novel-object recognition task. Passive-avoidance responding, and spatial learning and memory in the Morris water maze, were unaffected by SNL surgery. However, in the water maze reversal task, pain-related impairments were evident during training and probe trials. SNL surgery was not associated with any differences in the expression of synaptophysin or its colocalisation with vGAT or vGLUT in the mPFC or the hippocampal CA1 region.

Conclusions

These results suggest that the SNL model of neuropathic pain is associated with deficits in recognition memory and cognitive flexibility, but these deficits are not associated with altered synaptophysin expression or distribution in the mPFC and CA1.

Implications

Cognitive complaints are common amongst chronic pain patients. Here we modelled cognitive impairment in a well-established animal model of neuropathic pain and investigated the neural mechanisms involved. A better understanding of this phenomenon is an important prerequisite for the development of improved treatment of patients affected.
Company Responses to Human Rights Reports: An Empirical Analysis
Authors: KAMMINGA Menno T.
Published: November 2015

How do companies respond to their critics? Are there significant differences in responsiveness between industrial sectors, between the countries in which companies are based, and between the companies themselves? Do responses reflect the belief that companies have a responsibility to respect human rights? Do companies that participate in the UN Global Compact react more responsibly than those that do not? This article attempts to answer these questions by examining company responses to civil society reports contained in the company response database of the Business & Human Rights Resource Centre. The analysis covers responses to 1877 requests made by the Resource Centre from 2005–2014.
Inertial particle acceleration in strained turbulence
Authors: Lee C.-M. , Gylfason Á. , Perlekar P. , Toschi F.
Published: November 2015

The dynamics of inertial particles in turbulence is modelled and investigated by means of direct numerical simulation of an axisymmetrically expanding homogeneous turbulent strained flow. This flow can mimic the dynamics of particles close to stagnation points. The influence of mean straining flow is explored by varying the dimensionless strain rate parameter $Sk_{0}/{\it\epsilon}_{0}$ from 0.2 to 20, where $S$ is the mean strain rate, $k_{0}$ and ${\it\epsilon}_{0}$ are the turbulent kinetic energy and energy dissipation rate at the onset of straining. We report results relative to the acceleration variances and probability density functions for both passive and inertial particles. A high mean strain is found to have a significant effect on the acceleration variance both directly by an increase in the frequency of the turbulence and indirectly through the coupling of the fluctuating velocity and the mean flow field. The influence of the strain on the normalized particle acceleration probability distribution functions is more subtle. For the case of a passive particle we can approximate the acceleration variance with the aid of rapid-distortion theory and obtain good agreement with simulation data. For the case of inertial particles we can write a formal expression for the accelerations. The magnitude changes in the inertial particle acceleration variance and the effect on the probability density function are then discussed in a wider context for comparable flows, where the effects of the mean flow geometry and of the anisotropy at small scales are present.
Weakly nonlinear optimal perturbations
Authors: Pralits Jan O. , Bottaro Alessandro , Cherubini Stefania
Published: November 2015

A simple approach is described for computing spatially extended, weakly nonlinear optimal disturbances, suitable for maintaining a disturbance-regeneration cycle in a simple shear flow. Weakly nonlinear optimals, computed over a short time interval for the expansion used to remain tenable, are oblique waves which display a shorter streamwise and a longer spanwise wavelength than their linear counterparts. Threshold values of the initial excitation energy, separating the region of damped waves from that where disturbances grow without bounds, are found. Weakly nonlinear optimal solutions of varying initial amplitudes are then fed as initial conditions into direct numerical simulations of the Navier–Stokes equations and it is shown that the weakly nonlinear model permits the identification of flow states which cause rapid breakdown to turbulence.
Les liaisons dangereuses: resource surveillance, uranium diplomacy and secret French–American collaboration in 1950s Morocco
Authors: ADAMSON MATTHEW
Published: November 2015

This study explores the origins and consequences of a unique, secret, French–American collaboration to prospect for uranium in 1950s Morocco. This collaboration permitted mediation between the United States and France. The appearance of France in an American-supported project for raw nuclear materials signalled American willingness to accept a new nuclear global order in which the French assumed a new, higher position as regional nuclear ally as opposed to suspicious rival. This collaboration also permitted France and the United States to agree tacitly to the same geopolitical status for the French Moroccan Protectorate, a status under dispute both in Morocco and outside it. The secret scientific effort reassured the French that, whatever the Americans might say publicly, they stood behind the maintenance of French hegemony in the centuries-old kingdom. But Moroccan independence proved impossible to deny. With its foreseeable arrival, the collaboration went from seductive to dangerous, and the priority of American and French geologists shifted from finding a major uranium lode to making sure that nothing was readily available to whatever post-independence interests might prove most powerful. Ultimately, the Kingdom of Morocco took a page out of the French book, using uranium exploration to assert sovereignty over a different disputed territory, its de facto colony of the Western Sahara.
Dietary magnesium, calcium:magnesium ratio and risk of reflux oesophagitis, Barrett’s oesophagus and oesophageal adenocarcinoma: a population-based case–control study
Authors: Dai Qi , Cantwell Marie M. , Murray Liam J. , Zheng Wei , Anderson Lesley A. , Coleman Helen G.
Published: November 2015

Evidence suggests a role of Mg and the ratio of Ca:Mg intakes in the prevention of colonic carcinogenesis. The association between these nutrients and oesophageal adenocarcinoma – a tumour with increasing incidence in developed countries and poor survival rates – has yet to be explored. The aim of this investigation was to explore the association between Mg intake and related nutrients and risk of oesophageal adenocarcinoma and its precursor conditions, Barrett’s oesophagus and reflux oesophagitis. This analysis included cases of oesophageal adenocarcinoma (n218), Barrett’s oesophagus (n212), reflux oesophagitis (n208) and population-based controls (n252) recruited between 2002 and 2005 throughout the island of Ireland. All the subjects completed a 101-item FFQ. Unconditional logistic regression analysis was applied to determine odds of disease according to dietary intakes of Mg, Ca and Ca:Mg ratio. After adjustment for potential confounders, individuals consuming the highest amounts of Mg from foods had significant reductions in the odds of reflux oesophagitis (OR 0·31; 95 % CI 0·11, 0·87) and Barrett’s oesophagus (OR 0·29; 95 % CI 0·12, 0·71) compared with individuals consuming the lowest amounts of Mg. The protective effect of Mg was more apparent in the context of a low Ca:Mg intake ratio. No significant associations were observed for Mg intake and oesophageal adenocarcinoma risk (OR 0·77; 95 % CI 0·30, 1·99 comparing the highest and the lowest tertiles of consumption). In conclusion, dietary Mg intakes were inversely associated with reflux oesophagitis and Barrett’s oesophagus risk in this Irish population.
The Donation of Zeno: St. Barnabas and the Modern History of the Cypriot Archbishop's Regalia Privileges
Authors: Huffman Joseph P.
Published: November 2015

Modern church historians have roundly accepted the ancient pedigree of imperial regalia privileges exercised by the archbishops of Cyprus, yet new research has shown that their origins are actually to be found in the mid-sixteenth century and within a decidedly western intellectual and ecclesial orbit. This article builds on such findings by documenting the modern history of these privileges and their relationship to the emerging political role of the archbishops of Cyprus as ethnarchs as well as archbishops of the Cypriot community under both Ottoman and British empires. Travelling across the boundaries of western and non-western cultures and employing a rich interdisciplinary array of evidence (chronicles, liturgy and liturgical vestments, hagiography, iconography, insignia, painting, cartography, diplomacy, and travel literature), this article presents a coherent reconstruction of the imperial regalia tradition's modern historical evolution and its profound impact on modern Cypriot church history. This study integrates the often compartmentalized English, French, Italian, German, and Greek scholarship of many subfields, producing a new holistic understanding of how the archbishop's ethnarchic aspirations could produce a spiritual culture in which St. Barnabas, the island's founding patron saint and once famous apostolic reconciler, became transformed into an ethnarchic national patriot and defender against foreign conquerors.
Future Lending Income and Security Value
Authors: Prado Melissa Porras
Published: November 2015

I test the Duffie, Gârleanu, and Pedersen hypothesis that security prices incorporate expected future securities lending income. To determine whether institutional investors anticipate gains from future lending of securities, I examine their trading behavior around loan-fee increases. The evidence suggests that institutions buy shares in response to an increase in lending fees, and that this could explain the premium associated with high-lending-fee stocks. Expected future lending income affects stock prices, although the effect seems to be attenuated by the negative information that arises from short selling.
Current status of fasciolosis in Vietnam: an update and perspectives
Authors: Bui T.D. , Doanh P.N. , Saegerman C. , Losson B.
Published: November 2015

Vietnam is recognized to be endemic for fasciolosis. However, most of the available publications have not been published in international journals. This review is based on national and international Vietnamese publications and highlights the current status of fasciolosis in Vietnam. It also provides some information available for neighbouring countries. Updated data on responsible species, distribution, transmission and control aspects are summarized. The central region of Vietnam is reported as being highly endemic for fasciolosis, with a high number of human patients (more than 20,000 in 2011). Fasciola gigantica is reported to be the main species in Vietnam. However, hybrids between F. gigantica and F. hepatica were identified. Both humans and animals are infected by the ingestion of raw vegetables and possibly contaminated drinking water. Three lymnaeid snail species (Austropeplea viridis, Radix auricularia and Radix rubiginosa) may act as intermediate hosts of Fasciola spp. However, due to the likely misidentification of snail species and cercariae during the past decade the critical analysis of published data is difficult. A better understanding of transmission aspects of fasciolosis would allow the implementation of preventive measures of this important neglected zoonotic disease.
Active subjects of passive monitoring: responses to a passive monitoring system in low-income independent living
Authors: BERRIDGE CLARA
Published: November 2015

Passive monitoring technology is beginning to be reimbursed by third-party payers in the United States of America. Given the low voluntary uptake of these technologies on the market, it is important to understand the concerns and perspectives of users, former users and non-users. In this paper, the range of ways older adults relate to passive monitoring in low-income independent-living residences is presented. This includes experiences of adoption, non-adoption, discontinuation and creative ‘misuse’. The analysis of interviews reveals three key insights. First, assumptions built into the technology about how older adults live present a problem for many users who experience unwanted disruptions and threats to their behavioural autonomy. Second, resident response is varied and challenges the dominant image of residents as passive subjects of a passive monitoring system. Third, the priorities of older adults (e.g. safety, autonomy, privacy, control, contact) are more diverse and multi-faceted than those of the housing organisation staff and family members (e.g. safety, efficiency) who drive the passive monitoring intervention. The tension between needs, desires and the daily lives of older adults and the technological solutions offered to them is made visible by their active responses, including resistance to them. This exposes the active and meaningful qualities of older adults’ decisions and practices.
Spontaneous and artificial direct nanostructuring of solid surface by extreme ultraviolet laser with nanosecond pulses
Authors: Kolacek K. , Schmidt J. , Straus J. , Frolov O. , Prukner V. , Melich R. , Psota P.
Published: November 2015

Nanostructuring can be either spontaneously appearing (such as laser-induced periodic surface structures, and diffraction patterns – for example, in windows of grid proximity-standing at the ablated target-surface) or artificially created (like – as we hoped – interference patterns) that can be in some extend controlled. Due to that a new interferometer (belonging to wave-front division category) with two aspheric mirrors has been developed. Each of these mirrors reflects approximately one half of incoming laser beam and focuses it into a point image. Both focused beams have to intersect each other, and in the intersection region an interference pattern was expected. However, the first tests showed that some other spontaneously appearing interference pattern with substantially larger fringe-pitch is generated. The origin of this idle interference pattern is discussed.
Jewish Martyrdom without Persecution: The Murder of Gumpert May, Frankfurt am Main, 1781
Authors: Fram Edward , Kasper-Marienberg Verena
Published: November 2015

Sometime in the afternoon of Wednesday, August 22, 1781, in one of the narrow houses along the Jewish lane (Judengasse) in Frankfurt am Main, Gumpert (Gumperz, in Hebrew sources, Gumpel) Aaron May (Mai) prepared himself to go out to attend to some business matters. Like many of his contemporaries involved in trade, Gumpert's business activities did not focus on just one line of work; he did his best to turn a profit in a number of ways, including selling wine and lending money at interest. Gumpert, who was in his thirties or perhaps even early forties, wore underneath his shirt a fringed garment (ẓiẓit, see Num. 15:37–41), as religious custom obligated Jewish males to do. His green jacket had silver clasps and his partially bald pate was covered by a wig with two curls in the back, topped by a hat. His elegant appearance made it clear to all observers that he was from a well-situated family, and that he had adopted some of the modes of contemporary fashion. Indeed, Gumpert came from what would soon be, if it was not already, one of the wealthiest Jewish families in Frankfurt.
The Rabbinic and Roman Laws of Personal Injury
Authors: Pomeranz Jonathan A.
Published: November 2015

This paper studies the varied forms of interaction between the rabbinic and Roman legal systems by investigating similarities between the laws of personal injury found in the eighth chapter of Mishnah Bava Kamma and the contemporaneous Roman law. The rabbinic shift away from the talion happened under the influence of the Roman statutes that had replaced the talion with monetary compensation centuries earlier. Roman norms of shame prompted an expansion of the significance of shame in the rabbinic reckoning of damages. Influence, however, is rarely a matter of the passive reception by a minority culture of the dominant culture's norms. The rabbis adapted and reshaped Roman norms in line with the Torah's discomfort with the concept of personal honor. Personal injury laws in the Babylonian Talmud also bear a striking resemblance to the classical Roman laws, though this should not be attributed to direct Roman influence on the rabbis. The Babylonian rabbis shared the Romans' discomfort with evaluating free people as slaves in order to determine compensation for injury. Because rabbinic statements are terse and enigmatic, whereas Roman law is elaborated in detail, the Roman laws shed light on obscure rabbinic teachings and the cultural concerns that they reflect.
The Sin of Protesting God in Rabbinic and Patristic Literature
Authors: Weiss Dov
Published: November 2015

Scholars of rabbinic literature have often noted the widespread tendency to question and argue with God in rabbinic literature. Oddly, they have largely ignored the unequivocal antiprotest traditions found in these writings. Responding to this scholarly lacuna, this essay collects anti-protest traditions of the midrash and Talmud, and explicates their exegetical and conceptual basis. In the process, the paper makes two central arguments: First, that later anti-protest texts intensify or radicalize their opposition; while early anti-protest traditions merely prohibit one from challenging God, later aggadot tend to attach harsh punishments to that prohibition. Second, from a comparative perspective, rabbinic anti-protest sentiments diverge from similar sentiments voiced by the church fathers. While both critique the act of protest on exegetical and (similar) conceptual grounds, they have different ways of harmonizing their conservative attitudes with a biblical tradition that problematically, at least for them, seems to tolerate, if not valorize, confronting God. More specifically, whereas the rabbinic position tends to retell the biblical confrontation by having God castigate or punish the protester, early Christian thinkers, by stark contrast, tend to reject the literal reading of Scripture altogether: any apparent protest by a biblical hero is deemed a dangerous misreading.
Reimagining Enoch in Sasanian Babylonia in Light of Zoroastrian and Manichaean Traditions
Authors: Kiel Yishai
Published: November 2015

The article examines the reception and transmission of traditions about the figure of Enoch/Metatron in Sasanian Babylonia, and particularly the emergence of Metatron speculation in the Babylonian Talmud and 3 Enoch, by reading these traditions in light of Zoroastrian and Manichaean reports of the Iranian hero, Yima. The figure of Enoch/Metatron was reimagined and reconfigured by the Babylonian authors so as to resemble local Yima traditions, though the process of translating and repackaging the figure of Enoch in the image of his Iranian counterpart was not merely a conscious act of comparison, in which an analogy is drawn in an attempt to highlight particular aspects common to both figures; it was an expression of a more comprehensive discourse of identification.

Beyond close parallels in the depictions of these figures, the connections between Metatron speculation and the Zoroastrian and Manichaean Yima traditions are supported by an identification of Yima with the son of man implied in two Sogdian fragments of the Manichaean Book of Giants. The syncretic atmosphere that pervaded Sasanian culture in general and the Manichaean identification of Yima with the son of man in particular facilitated, and perhaps reinforced, the refiguring of Enoch/Metatron in the Babylonian Talmud and 3 Enoch in the image of local Yima traditions.
Examination of the Factor Structure of a Global Cognitive Function Battery across Race and Time
Authors: Barnes Lisa L. , Yumoto Futoshi , Capuano Ana , Wilson Robert S. , Bennett David A. , Tractenberg Rochelle E.
Published: November 2015

Older African Americans tend to perform more poorly on cognitive function tests than older Whites. One possible explanation for their poorer performance is that the tests used to assess cognition may not reflect the same construct in African Americans and Whites. Therefore, we tested measurement invariance, by race and over time, of a structured 18-test cognitive battery used in three epidemiologic cohort studies of diverse older adults. Multi-group confirmatory factor analyses were carried out with full-information maximum likelihood estimation in all models to capture as much information as was present in the observed data. Four different aspects of the data were fit to each model: comparative fit index (CFI), standardized root mean square residuals (SRMR), root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA), and model
$$\chi ^{2} $$
. We found that the most constrained model fit the data well (CFI=0.950; SRMR=0.051; RMSEA=0.057 (90% confidence interval: 0.056, 0.059); the model
$$\chi ^{2} $$
=4600.68 on 862 df), supporting the characterization of this model of cognitive test scores as invariant over time and racial group. These results support the conclusion that the cognitive test battery used in the three studies is invariant across race and time and can be used to assess cognition among African Americans and Whites in longitudinal studies. Furthermore, the lower performance of African Americans on these tests is not due to bias in the tests themselves but rather likely reflect differences in social and environmental experiences over the life course. (JINS, 2016, 22, 66–75)
Performance study of a 248 GHz voltage controlled hetero-integrated source in InP-on-BiCMOS technology
Authors: Hossain Maruf , Ostermay Ina , Weimann Nils G. , Schmueckle Franz Josef , Borngraeber Johannes , Meliani Chafik , Lisker Marco , Tillack Bernd , Krueger Olaf , Krozer Viktor , Heinrich Wolfgang
Published: November 2015

This paper presents the performance study of a 248 GHz voltage-controlled hetero-integrated signal source using indium phosphide (InP)-on-bipolar complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (BiCMOS) technology. The source consists of a voltage controlled oscillator (VCO) in 0.25 µm BiCMOS technology and a frequency multiplier in 0.8 µm transferred-substrate InP-heterojunction bipolar transistor technology, which is integrated on top of the BiCMOS monolithic microwave integrated circuit in a wafer-level based benzocyclobutene bonding process. The vertical transitions from BiCMOS to InP in this process exhibit broadband properties with insertion losses below 0.5 dB up to 325 GHz. The VCO operates at 82.7 GHz with an output power of 6 dBm and the combined circuit delivers −9 dBm at 248 GHz with 1.22% tuning range. The phase noise of the combined circuit is −85 dBc/Hz at 1 MHz offset. The measured output return loss of the hetero-integrated source is >10 dB within a broad frequency range. This result shows the potential of the hetero integrated process for THz frequencies.
Space Arms Control:Lex Lataand Currently Active Proposals
Authors: SU Jinyuan
Published: November 2015

The inadequacy of existing international law in the prevention of an arms race in outer space leaves uncertainties to international peace and security. The resurgence of aggressive space programmes in the new millennium has intensified concerns over the possible degradation of outer space into an area of conflicts, prompting various initiatives aimed to fill this loophole. The year 2014 witnessed the release of the revised draft PPWT proposed by China and Russia at the CD, the fifth public edition of the ICoC promoted by the EU, and the adoption of the Resolution on “No first placement of weapons in outer space” in the General Assembly. This paper attempts to make a comparison between the three initiatives in terms of their postulated primary-level obligations, namely to what extent space weapons are prohibited on the chain of “research, development, testing, placement and use”, and the verification of compliance with these obligations.
DNA Methylation Changes in theIGF1RGene in Birth Weight Discordant Adult Monozygotic Twins
Authors: Tsai Pei-Chien , Van Dongen Jenny , Tan Qihua , Willemsen Gonneke , Christiansen Lene , Boomsma Dorret I. , Spector Tim D. , Valdes Ana M. , Bell Jordana T.
Published: November 2015

Low birth weight (LBW) can have an impact on health outcomes in later life, especially in relation to pre-disposition to metabolic disease. Several studies suggest that LBW resulting from restricted intrauterine growth leaves a footprint on DNA methylation in utero, and this influence likely persists into adulthood. To investigate this further, we performed epigenome-wide association analyses of blood DNA methylation using Infinium HumanMethylation450 BeadChip profiles in 71 adult monozygotic (MZ) twin pairs who were extremely discordant for birth weight. A signal mapping to theIGF1Rgene (cg12562232,p= 2.62 × 10−8), was significantly associated with birth weight discordance at a genome-wide false-discovery rate (FDR) of 0.05. We pursued replication in three additional independent datasets of birth weight discordant MZ pairs and observed the same direction of association, but the results were not significant. However, a meta-analysis across the four independent samples, in total 216 birth-weight discordant MZ twin pairs, showed a significant positive association between birth weight and DNA methylation differences atIGF1R(random-effects meta-analysisp= .04), and the effect was particularly pronounced in older twins (random-effects meta-analysisp= .008, 98 older birth-weight discordant MZ twin pairs). The results suggest that severe intra-uterine growth differences (birth weight discordance >20%) are associated with methylation changes in theIGF1Rgene in adulthood, independent of genetic effects.
Gender, Professional Networks, and Subjective Career Success Within	Early Academic Science Careers
Authors: Spurk Daniel , Meinecke Annika L. , Kauffeld Simone , Volmer Judith
Published: November 2015

Abstract. The present study analyzed (a) gender differences in the gender composition (i.e., the proportion of male to female contacts) of professional support networks inside and outside an individual’s academic department and (b) how these differences in gender composition relate to subjective career success (i.e., perceived career success and perceived external marketability). Results showed that the networks’ gender composition is associated with subjective career success. Men’s networks consist of a higher proportion of male to female supporters, which, in turn, was positively related to subjective career success. Additional analyses revealed that the findings could not be accounted for by alternative factors, such as network size, networking behaviors, and career ambition.
Profiling of primary peripheral blood‐ and monocyte‐derived dendritic cells using monoclonal antibodies from the HLDA10 Workshop in Wollongong, Australia
Authors: Autenrieth Stella E , Grimm Sabrina , Rittig Susanne Malaika , Grünebach Frank , Gouttefangeas Cécile , Bühring Hans‐Jörg
Published: November 2015

Dendritic cells (DCs) arise from hematopoietic stem cells and develop into a discrete cellular lineage distinct from other leucocytes. Mainly three phenotypically and functionally distinct DC subsets are described in the human peripheral blood (PB): plasmacytoid DCs (pDCs), which express the key marker CD303 (BDCA‐2), and two myeloid DC subsets (CD1c+ DC (mDC1) and CD141+ DC (mDC2)), which express the key markers CD1c (BDCA‐1) and CD141 (BDCA‐3), respectively. In addition to these primary cell subsets, DCs can also be generated in vitro from either CD34+ stem/progenitor cells in the presence of Flt3 (Fms‐related tyrosine kinase 3) ligand or from CD14+ monocytes (monocyte‐derived DCs (mo‐DCs)) in the presence of granulocyte–macrophage colony‐stimulating factor+interleukin‐4 (GM‐CSF+IL‐4). Here we compare the reactivity patterns of HLDA10 antibodies (monoclonal antibody (mAb)) with pDCs, CD1c+ DCs and CD141+ DCs, as well as with CD14+‐derived mo‐DCs cultured for 7 days in the presence of 100 ng/ml GM‐CSF plus 20 ng/ml IL‐4. A detailed profiling of these DC subsets based on immunophenotyping and multicolour flow cytometry analysis is presented. Using the panel of HLDA10 Workshop mAb, we could verify known targets selectively expressed on discrete DC subsets including CD370 as a selective marker for CD141+ DCs and CD366 as a marker for both myeloid subsets. In addition, vimentin and other markers are heterogeneously expressed on all three subsets, suggesting the existence of so far not identified DC subsets.
Transcription factor Batf3 is important for development of CD8+ T‐cell response against a phagosomal bacterium regardless of the location of antigen
Authors: Patel Rajen , Sad Subash
Published: November 2015

Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium (ST) is a virulent intracellular bacterium that conceals itself in the phagosomes of infected cells. Although CD8+ T cells promote protection against various intracellular pathogens, the role of CD8+ T cells against virulent ST has been unclear due to early fatality of susceptible (B6) mice. Herein, we generated MHC I‐deficient mice on the resistant (129SvJ) and susceptible (Nramp1 transgenic B6) background to evaluate the role of CD8+ T cells against virulent ST. Our results indicate that CD8+ T cells have a critical protective role in host survival during infection with virulent ST. As antigen presentation and CD8+ T‐cell activation against phagosomal antigens are considered to operate through the cross‐presentation pathway, we have evaluated CD8+ T‐cell response against ST in Batf3‐deficient mice that lack CD8α dendritic cells (DCs). Using a recombinant of ST that expresses antigen (ST‐OVA) mainly in the phagosomes of infected cells, we show that CD8+ T‐cell response is compromised throughout the duration of infection in Batf3‐deficient mice. In contrast, when ST delivers antigen to the cytosol of infected cells (ST‐OVA‐C), CD8+ T‐cell response against the cytosolic antigen was compromised only in the short term in the absence of CD8α DCs, with wild‐type and Batf3‐deficient mice generating similar CD8+ T‐cell response in the long term. Thus, Batf3 has an important role in CD8+ T‐cell priming regardless of antigenic location; however, its role is redundant at later time intervals against cytosolic antigen.