bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Procedural complexity independent of P2Y12 reaction unit (PRU) values is associated with acute in situ thrombosis in Pipeline flow diversion of cerebral aneurysms
Authors: Jiang Bowen , Bender Matthew T , Westbroek Erick M , Campos Jessica K , Lin Li-Mei , Xu Risheng , Tamargo Rafael J , Huang Judy , Colby Geoffrey P , Coon Alexander L
Published: April 2018

Background

Acute in situ thrombosis is an ischaemic phenomenon during Pipeline embolisation device (PED) procedures with potentially high morbidity and mortality. There is controversy regarding the role of platelet function testing with P2Y12 assay as a predictor of intraprocedural thromboembolic events. There is limited knowledge on whether procedural complexity influences these events.

Methods

Data were collected retrospectively on 742 consecutive PED cases at a single institution. Patients with intraprocedural acute thrombosis were compared with patients without these events.

Results

A cohort of 37 PED cases with acute in situ thrombosis (mean age 53.8 years, mean aneurysm size 8.4 mm) was matched with a cohort of 705 PED cases without intraprocedural thromboembolic events (mean age 56.4 years, mean aneurysm size 6.9 mm). All patients with in situ thrombosis received intra-arterial and/or intravenous abciximab. The two groups were evenly matched in patient demographics, previous treatment/subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) and aneurysm location. There was no statistical difference in postprocedural P2Y12 reaction unit (PRU) values between the two groups, with a mean of 156 in the in situ thrombosis group vs 148 in the control group (p=0.5894). Presence of cervical carotid tortuosity, high cavernous internal carotid artery grade, need for multiple PED and vasospasm were not significantly different between the two groups. The in situ thrombosis group had statistically significant longer fluoroscopy time (60.4 vs 38.4 min, p<0.0001), higher radiation exposure (3476 vs 2160 mGy, p<0.0001), higher rates of adjunctive coiling (24.3% vs 8.37%, p=0.0010) and higher utilisation of balloon angioplasty (37.8% vs 12.2%, p<0.0001). Clinically, the in situ thrombosis cohort had higher incidence of major and minor stroke, intracerebral haemorrhage and length of stay.

Conclusions

Predictors of procedural complexity (higher radiation exposure, longer fluoroscopy time, adjunctive coiling and need for balloon angioplasty) are associated with acute thrombotic events during PED placement, independent of PRU values.
Containing diffusion: the tobacco industry’s multipronged trade strategy to block tobacco standardised packaging
Authors: Crosbie Eric , Eckford Robert , Bialous Stella
Published: April 2018

Objective

To analyse the tobacco industry’s strategy of using trade and investment agreements to prevent the global diffusion of standardised packaging (SP) of tobacco products.

Methods

Review of tobacco industry documents, relevant government documents and media items. The data were triangulated and thematically analysed.

Results

Internal tobacco industry documents reveal that during the early 1990s, tobacco companies developed a multipronged trade strategy to prevent the global diffusion of progressive tobacco packaging and labelling proposals, including SP. This strategy consisted of (1) framing the health issue in terms of trade and investment, (2) detailing alleged legal violations concerning trade barriers, intellectual property and investment rights, (3) threatening legal suits and reputational damage, and (4) garnering third-party support. These efforts helped delay SP until 2010 when Australia became the first country to reintroduce SP proposals, followed by governments in the UK and New Zealand in 2012, Ireland in 2013 and France in 2014. Review of government documents and media sources in each of the five countries indicate the industry continues to employ this multipronged strategy throughout the SP policy’s progression. Although this strategy is tailored towards each domestic context, the overall tobacco industry’s trade strategy remains consistently focused on shifting the attention away from public health and towards the realm of trade and investment with more corporate-friendly allies.

Conclusion

Governments seeking to implement SP need to be prepared to resist and counter the industry’s multipronged trade strategy by avoiding trade diversions, exposing false industry legal and reputational claims, and monitoring third-party support.
Preserving Privacy as Social Responsibility in Online Social Networks
Authors: Kekulluoglu Dilara , Kokciyan Nadin , Yolum Pinar
Published: April 2018

Online social networks provide an environment for their users to share content with others, where the user who shares a content item is put in charge, generally ignoring others that might be affected by it. However, a content that is shared by one user can very well violate the privacy of other users. To remedy this, ideally, all users who are related to a content should get a say in how the content should be shared. Recent approaches advocate the use of agreement technologies to enable stakeholders of a post to discuss the privacy configurations of a post. This allows related individuals to express concerns so that various privacy violations are avoided up front. Existing techniques try to establish an agreement on a single post. However, most of the time, agreement should be established over multiple posts such that the user can tolerate slight breaches of privacy in return of a right to share posts themselves in future interactions. As a result, users can help each other preserve their privacy, viewing this as their social responsibility. This article develops a reciprocity-based negotiation for reaching privacy agreements among users and introduces a negotiation architecture that combines semantic privacy rules with utility functions. We evaluate our approach over multiagent simulations with software agents that mimic users based on a user study.
Never-ending learning
Authors: Mitchell T. , Cohen W. , Hruschka E. , Talukdar P. , Yang B. , Betteridge J. , Carlson A. , Dalvi B. , Gardner M. , Kisiel B. , Krishnamurthy J. , Lao N. , Mazaitis K. , Mohamed T. , Nakashole N. , Platanios E. , Ritter A. , Samadi M. , Settles B. , Wang R. , Wijaya D. , Gupta A. , Chen X. , Saparov A. , Greaves M. , Welling J.
Published: April 2018

Whereas people learn many different types of knowledge from diverse experiences over many years, and become better learners over time, most current machine learning systems are much more narrow, learning just a single function or data model based on statistical analysis of a single data set. We suggest that people learn better than computers precisely because of this difference, and we suggest a key direction for machine learning research is to develop software architectures that enable intelligent agents to also learn many types of knowledge, continuously over many years, and to become better learners over time. In this paper we define more precisely this
never-ending learning
paradigm for machine learning, and we present one case study: the Never-Ending Language Learner (NELL), which achieves a number of the desired properties of a never-ending learner. NELL has been learning to read the Web 24hrs/day since January 2010, and so far has acquired a knowledge base with 120mn diverse, confidence-weighted beliefs (e.g.,
servedWith(tea,biscuits)
), while learning thousands of interrelated functions that continually improve its reading competence over time. NELL has also learned to reason over its knowledge base to infer new beliefs it has not yet read from those it has, and NELL is inventing new relational predicates to extend the ontology it uses to represent beliefs. We describe the design of NELL, experimental results illustrating its behavior, and discuss both its successes and shortcomings as a case study in never-ending learning. NELL can be tracked online at http://rtw.ml.cmu.edu, and followed on Twitter at @CMUNELL.
Scale or fail
Authors: Repenning Alexander
Published: April 2018

Moving beyond self-selected computer science education in Switzerland.
Síndrome compartimental agudo en quemadura eléctrica
Authors: Orozco Chinome Javier Esteban , Picón Jaimes Yelson Alejandro , Villabona Rosales Sergio Alberto , Alviar Rueda Juan Dario
Published: April 2018

Introducción: El síndrome compartimental agudo es el aumento anormal de la presión en los compartimentos musculares en las primeras horas posteriores a la lesión, generando isquemia, necrosis e, incluso, la muerte de la extremidad afectada. Su tratamiento consiste en la rápida descompresión quirúrgica, con lo cual se preserva la vitalidad de los tejidos. El síndrome compartimental es una entidad poco frecuente en la práctica clínica, y el tratamiento depende de su sospecha y pronto diagnóstico. Métodos: Reportamos el caso clínico de un adulto medio con quemadura eléctrica en miembros superiores, quien durante estancia hospitalaria presentó síndrome compartimental, se realizó el diagnóstico oportuno y fue llevado a fasciotomía temprana con adecuada evolución. Este manuscrito tiene como objetivo realizar una revisión de la literatura e informar al lector sobre los aspectos fundamentales para la sospecha de esta patología.  Resultados: Dentro de las características de este síndrome se incluye la disminución de la perfusión tisular, con compresión mecánica del flujo vascular por aumento del contenido en el compartimento y por disminución del continente. El principal síntoma es dolor exagerado con respecto a la lesión, asociado a parestesias, palidez y frialdad. Conclusiones: Además de la limitación en la movilidad de los dedos y la mano, el síntoma principal del síndrome compartimental es el dolor. Un dolor excesivo debe alertarnos siempre y hacernos sospechar un síndrome compartimental. Además, el dolor causado por el estiramiento pasivo de los músculos es un hallazgo clínico más sensible en un síndrome compartimental en desarrollo.
РЕОЛОГІЧНІ ДОСЛІДЖЕННЯ ПАСТИ ЦЕОЛІТУ ПРИРОДНОГО З КРЕМНІЮ ДІОКСИДОМ
Authors: Rybachuk V. D. , Ruban O. A.
Published: April 2018

Мета роботи. Вивчити реологічні властивості пасти цеоліту природного (кліноптилоліту) з кремнію діоксидом як загущувачем для вибору їх оптимальних концентрацій.Матеріали і методи. Об’єктами дослідження були модельні композиції паст, що містили в якості діючої речовини порошок цеоліту природного (кліноптилоліт) у концентраціях 15 %, 20 %, 25 % та 30 %, а в якості загущувача кремнію діоксид у концентраціях 5,0 %, 6,0 %, 7,0 % та 8,0 %. Визначення реологічних параметрів проводили при температурі (20±2) °С на віскозиметрі MYR VR3000 (Іспанія), робота якого основана на методі Брукфельда. Дослідження проводили у діапазоні швидкості зсуву від 1 с-1 до 200 с-1 з використанням коаксіальних циліндрів.Результати й обговорення. Визначено, що досліджені зразки належать до тиксотропно-структурованих псевдопластичних систем зі структурою коагуляційного типу. Цеоліт природний (кліноптилоліт) разом із кремнію діоксидом чинять структуруючий вплив на дисперсну систему, а їх оптимальні концентрації, що забезпечують достатнє структуроутворення, становлять 25–30 % та 7–8 % відповідно.Висновок. Вивчено реологічні властивості пасти цеоліту природного (кліноптилоліту) з кремнію діоксидом як загущувачем, та обрані їх оптимальні структуроутворюючі концентрації. Отримані результати будуть використані при розробці складу паст ентеросорбентів із цеолітом природним.
Inflammation, Autophagy, and Apoptosis After Myocardial Infarction
Authors: Wang Xianwei , Guo Zhikun , Ding Zufeng , Mehta Jawahar L.
Published: April 2018

Background

There is evidence for inflammation, autophagy, and apoptosis in the ischemic heart. Autophagy is a physiologic process for tissue survival. Apoptosis, on the other hand, is a mechanism that serves to clear the debris in the setting of tissue injury. The balance between autophagy and apoptosis may be important in cell survival and cardiac function.

Methods and Results

We examined the interplay of inflammation and myocyte autophagy and apoptosis during the ischemic process. We subjected mice to total left coronary artery ligation and studied these animals for up to 4 weeks. The inflammatory (tumor necrosis factor [
TNF
]‐α, monocyte chemoattractant protein‐1, interleukin‐6, and interleukin‐1β) and autophagic signals (light chain‐3 and beclin‐1) were strongest during the first week and then began to decline. However, the apoptotic signals peaked at week 2 after left coronary artery ligation, and the elevated levels persisted until the end of the fourth week. To elucidate the role of inflammation in the regulation of myocyte autophagy and apoptosis, we administered
TNF
‐α inhibitor (
CAS
1049741‐03‐8, Millipore, Burlington, MA) to the mice daily during the first week of myocardial infarction. Anti‐
TNF
‐α therapy reduced the levels of inflammatory cytokines and the inflammatory cell infiltration in and around the infarct area. However, cardiac function measured by echocardiography (fractional shortening and ejection fraction) worsened with anti‐
TNF
‐α therapy. More importantly, application of
TNF
‐α inhibitor markedly inhibited autophagy and promoted myocyte apoptosis in the border zone.

Conclusions

These observations suggest that inflammatory response may be protective in the early stage of the myocardial infarction through stimulation of myocyte autophagy. Anti‐inflammatory treatment early after coronary occlusion may have an adverse effect.
DASH Score and Subsequent Risk of Coronary Artery Disease: The Findings From Million Veteran Program
Authors: Djoussé Luc , Ho Yuk‐Lam , Nguyen Xuan‐Mai T. , Gagnon David R. , Wilson Peter W.F. , Cho Kelly , Gaziano J. Michael , Halasz Ildiko , Federman Daniel , Beckham Jean , Sherman Scott E. , Sriram Peruvemba , Tsao Philip S. , Boyko Edward J. , Xu Junzhe , Lederle Frank , Dellitalia Louis J. , McArdle Rachel , Kaminsky Laurence , Swann Alan C. , Hamner Mark B. , Florez Hermes J. , Pandya Prashant , Villarreal Gerardo , Wilson Peter , Morgan Timothy R. , Davis Lori , Hurley Robin A. , Meyer Laurence , Ahuja Sunil K. , Konicki Eric P. , Cohen David , Lichy Jack , Whittle Jeffrey , Haddock Kathlyn Sue , Straub Karl D. , Callaghan John T. , Aguayo Samuel M. , Gupta Samir , Washburn Ronald G. , Oehlert Mary E. , Hung Adriana M. , Wallbom Agnes , Keith Robert , Sonel Elif , Schifman Ronald B. , Childress Richard D. , Godschalk Michael F. , Shuldiner Alan R. , Rastogi Padmashri , Gutierrez Salvador , Fernando Ronald , Iruvanti Pran R. , Jhala Darshana , Rosado‐Rodriguez Carlos , Mastorides Stephen M. , Harley John B. , Mattocks Kristin , Striker Robert T. , Rauchman Michael , Wells John , Ballas Zuhair K. , Woods Susan S. , Yeh Shing , Ratcliffe Nora R. , Klein Jon B. , Golden Adam G. , Ginzburg Harold M. , Sharma Satish , Oursler Kris Ann K. , Whooley Mary A. , Gibson Gretchen
Published: April 2018

Background

While adherence to healthful dietary patterns has been associated with a lower risk of coronary artery disease (CAD) in the general population, limited data are available among US veterans. We tested the hypothesis that adherence to Dietary Approach to Stop Hypertension (DASH) food pattern is associated with a lower risk of developing CAD among veterans.

Methods and Results

We analyzed data on 153 802 participants of the Million Veteran Program enrolled between 2011 and 2016. Information on dietary habits was obtained using a food frequency questionnaire at enrollment. We used electronic health records to assess the development of CAD during follow‐up. Of the 153 802 veterans who provided information on diet and were free of CAD at baseline, the mean age was 64.0 (SD=11.8) years and 90.4% were men. During a mean follow‐up of 2.8 years, 5451 CAD cases occurred. The crude incidence rate of CAD was 14.0, 13.1, 12.6, 12.3, and 11.1 cases per 1000 person‐years across consecutive quintiles of Dietary Approach to Stop Hypertension score. Hazard ratios (95% confidence interval) for CAD were 1.0 (ref), 0.91 (0.84–0.99), 0.87 (0.80–0.95), 0.86 (0.79–0.94), and 0.80 (0.73–0.87) from the lowest to highest quintile of Dietary Approach to Stop Hypertension score controlling for age, sex, body mass index, race, smoking, exercise, alcohol intake, and statin use (
P
linear trend, <0.0001).

Conclusions

Our data are consistent with an inverse association between Dietary Approach to Stop Hypertension diet score and incidence of CAD among US veterans.
“It’s My Language, My Culture, and it’s Personal!” Migrant Mothers’ Experience of Language Use and Identity Change in Their Relationship With Their Children: An Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis
Authors: Farr Joanna , Blenkiron Laura , Harris Richard , Smith Jonathan A.
Published: April 2018

The question of how migrants’ language use affects their ethnic identity has received considerable attention in the literature. There is, however, little understanding of how this relationship manifests or is negotiated in interethnic families. This article presents an in-depth exploration of Spanish mothers’ experiences of Spanish- and English-language interactions with their English-born children. Semistructured interviews were conducted with Spanish mothers living in Britain in interethnic partnerships and transcripts were subjected to interpretative phenomenological analysis. Analysis reveals a process of identity change where participants’ shifting ethnic identifications with host and heritage culture is intimately related to their language use with their children. Pivotal to this process is the participants’ need to maintain their “Spanish mother” identity, a desire that can only be fulfilled by transferring their heritage language to their children and speaking it with them. Findings reveal how this dynamic affects perception of family roles, relationship quality, and psychological well-being.
Validity and Diagnostic Accuracy of Early Written Expression Screeners in Kindergarten
Authors: Keller-Margulis Milena A. , Ochs Sarah , Reid Erin K. , Faith Erin L. , Schanding G. Thomas
Published: April 2018

Many students struggle with the basic skill of writing, yet schools lack technically adequate screening measures to identify students at risk in this area. Measures that allow for valid screening decisions that identify students in need of interventions to improve performance are greatly needed. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the validity and diagnostic accuracy of early writing screeners. Two early writing screening measures, Picture Word and Word Dictation, were administered to a diverse sample of 95 kindergarten students, almost half of whom were classified as English language learners and almost 70% identified ethnically as Hispanic. It was hypothesized that the early writing screening measures would demonstrate moderate to strong relationships with a standardized norm-referenced measure of written expression and adequate diagnostic accuracy for identifying kindergarten students at risk. Findings indicate that concurrent validity coefficients for both Picture Word and Word Dictation tasks ranged from .32 to .70 with the Written Expression cluster of the Woodcock–Johnson Tests of Achievement–IV and .26 to .61 with the Writing Samples and Sentence Writing Fluency subtests. Diagnostic accuracy results suggest these measures are a promising option for screening early writing skills. Implications for practice and directions for future research are discussed.
Is Sexual Objectification and Victimization of Females in Video Games Associated With Victim Blaming or Victim Empathy?
Authors: Beck Victoria , Rose Chris
Published: April 2018

The goal of this study was to investigate whether the sexual objectification and virtual violence against females in video games increases negative attitudes toward females, when addressing a variety of noted methodological issues. Study participants were randomly assigned to a control group, where participants played Madden NFL 12, or an experimental group, where participants played Grand Theft Auto. In the experimental group, participants played the game with a confederate, who exposed participants to sexual objectification and violence against females. Study results indicated that both the experimental and control groups had equivalently low levels of rape myth acceptance prior to game play. Immediately after game play, there still was no statistically significant difference in rape myth acceptance between groups; however, there was a decrease in rape myth acceptance for the experimental group. The decrease in rape myth acceptance continued and magnified for the experimental group, over time, to the point of creating a statistically significant difference between the two groups for the follow-up measure at the end of the study.
Retirement, Leisure Activity Engagement, and Cognition Among Older Adults in the United States
Authors: Lee Yura , Chi Iris , Palinkas Lawrence A.
Published: April 2018

Objective: Retirement is a salient later-life transition that may influence cognition. Leisure activities can help individuals better adjust to life after significant life transitions. This study examined the role of leisure activity engagement in the relationship between retirement and cognition. Method: A path analysis ( N = 2,827) was conducted using three waves of the Health and Retirement Study (2004, 2006, 2008) and its supplementary Consumption and Activities Mail Survey, to test the association between retirement (categorized as remained working, transitioned to retirement, remained retired) and cognition (memory, working memory, attention, and processing speed) via leisure (mental, physical, social, household) activity engagement. Results: Older adults who remained retired showed significantly lower cognition than those who remained working. Moreover, this negative association between retirement and cognition was attenuated by greater engagement mental activities. Discussion: Interventions that encourage mental activities among retired individuals are strongly suggested to help maintain cognitive function.
Making Advantaged Racial Groups Care About Inequality: Intergroup Contact as a Route to Psychological Investment
Authors: Tropp Linda R. , Barlow Fiona Kate
Published: April 2018

Racial inequality remains an objective reality in the United States and around the world, yet members of advantaged racial groups often deny or minimize its existence. Although we have well-developed theories to explain why advantaged racial groups would be motivated to deny or minimize inequality, at present we know relatively little about why Whites and other advantaged racial groups might be willing to acknowledge or care about racial inequality. In this article, we propose that contact between racial groups offers one of the most promising pathways to advance these outcomes. We review established and emerging research literature suggesting that contact contributes to these outcomes by encouraging members of advantaged racial groups to become psychologically invested in the perspectives, experiences, and welfare of members of disadvantaged racial groups. We propose that psychological processes such as building empathy, enhancing personal relevance, and humanizing other people can facilitate the extent to which contact leads to greater psychological investment in other racial groups. We conclude by discussing several factors that may serve as obstacles to psychological investment across racial lines and the relevance of contact and establishing connections between racial groups in light of current social divisions and racial tensions.
Impact of Symptom and Social Support on Fertility Intention in Reproductive-Age Women With Breast Cancer
Authors: Huang Sheng-Miauh , Tseng Ling-Ming , Lai Jerry Cheng-Yen , Tsai Yi-Fang , Lien Pei-Ju , Chen Ping-Ho
Published: April 2018

This study describes the fertility intention and explores factors related to fertility intention in reproductive-age women with breast cancer in Taiwan. In this cross-sectional study, women of childbearing age who had been diagnosed with breast cancer completed a face-to-face survey that included demographic, disease, and symptom-related data, and social support and fertility intention information. The mean fertility intention score among the 223 participants was “medium” ( M ± SD = 41.18 ± 12.62). Higher symptom severity, especially for distress, was related to lower fertility intention. Instrumental support from families and friends was positively associated with fertility intention score. Younger women had better fertility intention scores than older women. The Sobel test showed that age mediated menopause and fertility intention. The findings offer the evidence of the needs to control symptoms and provide sufficient instrumental support regarding fertility after completing chemotherapy.
Economic Value of Improved Accuracy for Self-Monitoring of Blood Glucose Devices for Type 1 and Type 2 Diabetes in England
Authors: McQueen Robert Brett , Breton Marc D. , Craig Joyce , Holmes Hayden , Whittington Melanie D. , Ott Markus A. , Campbell Jonathan D.
Published: April 2018

Objective:

The objective was to model clinical and economic outcomes of self-monitoring blood glucose (SMBG) devices with varying error ranges and strip prices for type 1 and insulin-treated type 2 diabetes patients in England.

Methods:

We programmed a simulation model that included separate risk and complication estimates by type of diabetes and evidence from in silico modeling validated by the Food and Drug Administration. Changes in SMBG error were associated with changes in hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) and separately, changes in hypoglycemia. Markov cohort simulation estimated clinical and economic outcomes. A SMBG device with 8.4% error and strip price of £0.30 (exceeding accuracy requirements by International Organization for Standardization [ISO] 15197:2013/EN ISO 15197:2015) was compared to a device with 15% error (accuracy meeting ISO 15197:2013/EN ISO 15197:2015) and price of £0.20. Outcomes were lifetime costs, quality-adjusted life years (QALYs) and incremental cost-effectiveness ratios (ICERs).

Results:

With SMBG errors associated with changes in HbA1c only, the ICER was £3064 per QALY in type 1 diabetes and £264 668 per QALY in insulin-treated type 2 diabetes for an SMBG device with 8.4% versus 15% error. With SMBG errors associated with hypoglycemic events only, the device exceeding accuracy requirements was cost-saving and more effective in insulin-treated type 1 and type 2 diabetes.

Conclusions:

Investment in devices with higher strip prices but improved accuracy (less error) appears to be an efficient strategy for insulin-treated diabetes patients at high risk of severe hypoglycemia.
Consensus Statement on Use of Continuous Subcutaneous Insulin Infusion Therapy in the Hospital
Authors: Thompson Bithika , Korytkowski Mary , Klonoff David C. , Cook Curtiss B.
Published: April 2018

In May 2017, the Diabetes Technology Society convened a panel of US experts on inpatient diabetes management to discuss the current and potential role of continuous subcutaneous insulin infusion (CSII) therapy in the hospital. The panel (1) discussed evidence for current use of CSII in the hospital, (2) recommended contraindications for use in the hospital, and (3) recommended guidelines to maximize chances for safe use of CSII in the hospital. Panel members agreed that larger, prospective, randomized studies are needed to evaluate safety and efficacy of CSII use in the hospital. As CSII technology becomes more complex and its use increases, it is imperative that institutional protocols be in place to ensure safe use of this technology and safe transitions across care areas. Providers need to be cognizant that not all patients currently using CSII as an outpatient are appropriate candidates for continued use in the hospital. This consensus statement provides guidelines for practitioners who may encounter patients using this technology in the inpatient setting.
Framing the Taxation-Democratization Link: An Automated Content Analysis of Cross-National Newspaper Data
Authors: Kananovich Volha
Published: April 2018

Taxpaying constitutes a major opportunity for citizens to relate to their governments. Although it is true that paying taxes is a responsibility, it also entitles citizens to claim control over government spending, which may facilitate a greater democratization of a country’s political regime. Consistent with this reasoning, a growing body of scholarship has documented a positive relationship between the size of tax revenues extracted by the state and the adherence of the country’s regime to democratic values. What has been left underexplored is the role in this relationship of the media, a commonly available and relied-upon source of information about taxpaying for the public. This study offers a first contribution in this direction, by exploring the relationship between the nature of the political regime and the rhetorical construction of the concept of a taxpayer in the national press. Based on an automated content analysis of articles (N=24,969) published by ninety-two newspapers and news agencies in fifty-one countries using a set of pretrained and validated machine-learning algorithms, the study demonstrates that the less democratic a state is, the more likely it is for the national press to frame a taxpayer as a subordinate in a hierarchical relationship with the state, by discussing taxpaying in tax collection, rather than public spending, terms. The study furthers a more nuanced understanding of the place of the media in the taxation-democratization link and demonstrates the applicability of the supervised machine-learning approach to classifying frames in large cross-national samples of newspaper data.
Epidermal expression of a sterol biosynthesis gene regulates root growth by a non-cell-autonomous mechanism in Arabidopsis
Authors: Short Eleri , Leighton Margaret , Imriz Gul , Liu Dongbin , Cope-Selby Naomi , Hetherington Flora , Smertenko Andrei , Hussey Patrick J. , Topping Jennifer F. , Lindsey Keith
Published: April 2018

The epidermis is hypothesized to play a signalling role during plant development. One class of mutants showing defects in signal transduction and radial patterning are those in sterol biosynthesis. The expectation is that living cells require sterols, but it is not clear that all cell types express sterol biosynthesis genes. The HYDRA1 (HYD1) gene of Arabidopsis encodes sterol Δ8-Δ7 isomerase, and although hyd1 seedlings are defective in radial patterning across several tissues, we show that the HYD1 gene is expressed most strongly in the root epidermis. Transgenic activation of HYD1 transcription in the epidermis of hyd1 null mutants reveals a major role in root patterning and growth. HYD1 expression in the vascular tissues and root meristem, though not endodermis or pericycle, also leads to some phenotypic rescue. Phenotypic rescue is associated with rescued patterning of the PIN1 and PIN2 auxin efflux carriers. The importance of the epidermis in controlling root growth and development is proposed to be, in part, due to its role as a site for sterol biosynthesis, and auxin is a candidate for the non-cell-autonomous signal.
Neural stem cell quiescence and stemness are molecularly distinct outputs of the Notch3 signalling cascade in the vertebrate adult brain
Authors: Than-Trong Emmanuel , Ortica-Gatti Sara , Mella Sébastien , Nepal Chirag , Alunni Alessandro , Bally-Cuif Laure
Published: April 2018

Neural stem cells (NSCs) in the adult vertebrate brain are found in a quiescent state and can preserve long-lasting progenitor potential (stemness). Whether and how these two properties are linked, and to what extent they can be independently controlled by NSC maintenance pathways, is unresolved. We have previously identified Notch3 signalling as a major quiescence-promoting pathway in adult NSCs of the zebrafish pallium. We now show that Notch3 also controls NSC stemness. Using parallel transcriptomic characterizations of notch3 mutant NSCs and adult NSC physiological states, we demonstrate that a set of potentially direct Notch3 target genes distinguishes quiescence and stemness control. As a proof of principle, we focus on one ‘stemness’ target, encoding the bHLH transcription factor Hey1, that has not yet been analysed in adult NSCs. We show that abrogation of Hey1 function in adult pallial NSCs in vivo, including quiescent NSCs, leads to their differentiation without affecting their proliferation state. These results demonstrate that quiescence and stemness are molecularly distinct outputs of Notch3 signalling, and identify Hey1 as a major Notch3 effector controlling NSC stemness in the vertebrate adult brain.
GSK-3 promotes S-phase entry and progression in C. elegans germline stem cells to maintain tissue output
Authors: Furuta Tokiko , Joo Hyoe-Jin , Trimmer Kenneth A. , Chen Shin-Yu , Arur Swathi
Published: April 2018

Adult C. elegans germline stem cells (GSCs) and mouse embryonic stem cells (mESCs) exhibit a non-canonical cell cycle structure with an abbreviated G1 phase and phase-independent expression of Cdk2 and cyclin E. Mechanisms that promote the abbreviated cell cycle remain unknown, as do the consequences of not maintaining an abbreviated cell cycle in these tissues. In GSCs, we discovered that loss of gsk-3 results in reduced GSC proliferation without changes in differentiation or responsiveness to GLP-1/Notch signaling. We find that DPL-1 transcriptional activity inhibits CDK-2 mRNA accumulation in GSCs, which leads to slower S-phase entry and progression. Inhibition of dpl-1 or transgenic expression of CDK-2 via a heterologous germline promoter rescues the S-phase entry and progression defects of the gsk-3 mutants, demonstrating that transcriptional regulation rather than post-translational control of CDK-2 establishes the abbreviated cell cycle structure in GSCs. This highlights an inhibitory cascade wherein GSK-3 inhibits DPL-1 and DPL-1 inhibits cdk-2 transcription. Constitutive GSK-3 activity through this cascade maintains an abbreviated cell cycle structure to permit the efficient proliferation of GSCs necessary for continuous tissue output.
Brain mitochondrial bioenergetics change with rapid and prolonged shifts in aggression in the honey bee, Apis mellifera
Authors: Rittschof Clare C. , Vekaria Hemendra J. , Palmer Joseph H. , Sullivan Patrick G.
Published: April 2018

Neuronal function demands high-level energy production, and as such, a decline in mitochondrial respiration characterizes brain injury and disease. A growing number of studies, however, link brain mitochondrial function to behavioral modulation in non-diseased contexts. In the honey bee, we show for the first time that an acute social interaction, which invokes an aggressive response, may also cause a rapid decline in brain mitochondrial bioenergetics. The degree and speed of this decline has only been previously observed in the context of brain injury. Furthermore, in the honey bee, age-related increases in aggressive tendency are associated with increased baseline brain mitochondrial respiration, as well as increased plasticity in response to metabolic fuel type in vitro. Similarly, diet restriction and ketone body feeding, which commonly enhance mammalian brain mitochondrial function in vivo, cause increased aggression. Thus, even in normal behavioral contexts, brain mitochondria show a surprising degree of variation in function over both rapid and prolonged timescales, with age predicting both baseline function and plasticity in function. These results suggest that mitochondrial function is integral to modulating aggression-related neuronal signaling. We hypothesize that variation in function reflects mitochondrial calcium buffering activity, and that shifts in mitochondrial function signal to the neuronal soma to regulate gene expression and neural energetic state. Modulating brain energetic state is emerging as a critical component of the regulation of behavior in non-diseased contexts.
Potmarks from Tell el-Murra and Tell el-Farkha Cemeteries (Seasons 2011-2016)
Authors: Kazimierczak Magdalena
Published: April 2018

The Necropolis at Tell el-Murra site, situated in the north-eastern part of the Nile Delta just several kilometres east of Tell el-Farkha, contains 22 marked vessels distributed in nine graves. The tall jars discovered there (wine jars and jars decorated with half-bows) were the most commonly marked items, but signs were also found on other types of vessels: broad-shouldered jars, a barrel-shaped jar, small jars with broad-shoulders, red-coated plates and a bowl. In the course of excavations carried out between 2011 and 2016 at Tell el-Farkha cemetery four vessels with potmarks were found. Marks from both cemeteries correspond with signs published in corpuses from other sites dated to the Early Dynastic period: Tell el-Farkha, Minshat Abu Omar, Kafr Hassan Dawood, Abydos, Abu Roash and others.
White-Ground Lekythoi in the Princess Czartoryski Museum in Krakow
Authors: Gorzelany Dorota
Published: April 2018

In the collection of the Princes Czartoryski Museum there are three white-ground lekythoi originating from purchases made by Prince Władysław Czartoryski and Professor Marian Sokołowski. The article contains the results of chemical tests and an iconographic analysis of the scenes decorating these vases, leading to the confirmation that two of them were subject to thorough reconstruction of the layer of paint in 19th-century Athens.
To Light Antiquity: Perspectives for Research on Clay Oil Lamps from the Agora in Nea Paphos, Cyprus
Authors: Kajzer Małgorzata
Published: April 2018

Oil lamps as archaeological finds and in museum collections provide a wealth of information. Various types of studies may be applied to investigate their meaning in ancient times. When several methods are used simultaneously, the objects may be interpreted according to distinct aspects, enabling us to study this group of ceramic objects from a multidisciplinary, comprehensive perspective. Such aspects are described in this paper, supplemented by a case study concerning oil lamps from the Agora in Nea Paphos, Cyprus.
Władysław Szczepański's Journey Through Arabia Petraea in 1905 and 1906
Authors: Wawrzynkiewicz Marta
Published: April 2018

This paper presents the figure of Władysław Szczepański – a Polish Jesuit and a world-renowned biblical scholar interested mainly in biblical archaeology and philology, whose journey through Arabia Petraea has been forgotten and is rarely mentioned nowadays. The first part of Szczepański’s journey of 1905 was focused on the eastern part of Arabia Petraea, the Jordanian and Galilean regions. Szczepański was accompanied then by Henri Lammens, Louis Jalabert and Urban Holzmeister. In 1906 Szczepański and Franz Fellinger became the first people to enter the area of the Sinai Peninsula after the border between Egypt and the Ottoman Empire was established anew. This time the scholars concentrated on the western part of Arabia Petraea, which is according to Szczepański, after Israel, the most informative area for every biblical scholar. When Szczepański returned from his expeditions he published two volumes: ‘In Arabia Petraea. On the Basis of a Journey of 1905’ and ‘In Sinai. On the Basis of a Journey of 1906’. Those two publications shed light on the unknown and forgotten Arabia Petraea – they picture its geography, climate, and ancient history with references to biblical records and the present-day life of its inhabitants.
Temporary Contract Adjustment to a Retailer with a Private Demand Forecast
Authors: Nasser Sherif , Turcic Danko
Published: April 2018

This paper analyzes a setting in which a manufacturer (he) and a retailer (she) face uncertain demand, but the retailer has an information advantage in the form of a private demand forecast. Such information asymmetry causes the manufacturer to incur a hidden information cost. The results show that a manufacturer can leverage his timing advantage to strategically implement a temporary contract adjustment (TCA) mechanism, which allows him to counter his informational disadvantage and either eliminate or reduce the hidden information cost. The manufacturer implements the TCA mechanism by designing the supply contract with two sets of terms: presignal and postsignal. Presignal terms engage the retailer before observing the forecast signal and induce her to decide under high uncertainty. As a result, she overinvests when the forecast signal is low. Postsignal terms engage her after the signal, allowing her to make use of the information and purchase additional stock efficiently based on the forecast signal. This ability to utilize the forecast information allows the manufacturer to set more efficient contract terms. By applying the TCA mechanism to a simple wholesale price contract, the manufacturer can achieve the effect of free, partial information revelation as if he observes a coarse version of the retailer’s private forecast. By applying the TCA mechanism to a (stronger) quantity-transfer menu, the manufacturer can achieve the effect of free, full information revelation (i.e., full information profits) as if he fully observes the same version of the forecast, without the retailer directly sharing her private information.

The online appendix is available at https://doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.2017.2942 .

This paper was accepted by Juanjuan Zhang, marketing.
Optimal Procurement Auctions Under Multistage Supplier Qualification
Authors: Chen Wei , Dawande Milind , Janakiraman Ganesh
Published: April 2018

We consider a firm that solicits bids from a fixed-sized pool of yet-to-be-qualified suppliers for an indivisible contract. The contract can only be awarded to a supplier who passes a multistage qualification process. For each stage of the qualification process, the buyer incurs a fixed testing cost for each supplier she chooses to test. The buyer seeks an optimal mechanism—that is, one that minimizes her total expected cost. Motivated by the buyer’s urgency (or the lack of it) of time for completing the qualification process, we obtain optimal mechanisms for two testing environments: (1) simultaneous testing, where in each stage, the buyer selects a subset of those suppliers who have passed all the previous stages and tests them simultaneously; and (2) nonsimultaneous testing, where the simultaneous-testing requirement is not imposed. Under simultaneous testing, the admission policy for selecting suppliers at each stage is based on nonuniform reserve-price thresholds. Under nonsimultaneous testing, too, the admission policy is threshold based, but the selection process is sequential in nature. The relative increase in cost due to the simultaneous-testing requirement is (under a mild condition) monotonically increasing in the number of suppliers, the expected multistage testing cost, and the overall passing probability. We also study the optimal sequencing of the qualification stages and show that the buyer should schedule the stages in increasing order of the ratio of their testing cost to their failing probability. Finally, for the simpler setting of a single-stage qualification process and a single supplier, we study a two-dimensional mechanism design problem where, in addition to cost, the passing probability is also private to the supplier. Here, too, threshold-based admission remains optimal, and the buyer offers either a pooling or a separating contract.

The online appendix is available at https://doi.org/10.1287/msom.2017.0664 .
Use of Different Agroindustrial Waste and Produced Water for Biosurfactant Production
Authors: Silvino dos Santos Everaldo , Magalhães Emilianny Rafaely Batista , Silva Francinaldo Leite , Sousa Magna Angélica dos Santos Bezerra
Published: April 2018

The high and increasing environmental concern about chemical surfactants triggers attention to more eco-friendly compounds, which are capable of presenting low toxicity and biodegradable nature. This study has evaluated the emulsifying potential of broths obtained from production of rhamnolipids by Pseudomonas aeruginosa AP 029/GLVIIA using different agro-industrial wastes as carbon source, and the influence of using produced water in the culture medium then acting as an inducer. There were used residues of coconut, cashew, sugar cane, carnauba, and moringa seeds. These materials were chemically characterized and used in the production of biosurfactant broths. The emulsifying activity and the surface tension were used as indirect analysis for determining the production of rhamnolipids on biosurfactant broth. For coconut and cashew residues the pH emulsion was observed along time at different temperatures such as 4ºC, 25ºC and 40ºC The emulsification index of all broths were assessed with and without presence of produced water in the culture medium and has indicated the stability of the emulsion along time. Coconut and cashew residues showed a better stability of oil/water emulsion than the other ones, evidencing their potential surfactants. The lowest surface tension about 40 N/m and the highest contact angle (approximately 69 o) were observed for the coconut residue.
Genotype, Row Spacing and Environment Interaction for Productivity and Grain Quality of Pigeonpea (Cajanus cajan) in sub-tropical Australia
Authors: C.N.Rachaputi Rao , Motuma Bedane Guta , James Broad Ian , Sepp Deifel Kurt
Published: April 2018

The pigeonpea (Cajanus cajan) is grown between the 45oN and 45oS as a summer food legume, and consumed by billions of people in the world. Recent renewed interest from Australian growers prompted the current study to evaluate high-yielding varieties and develop agronomic parameters for this crop. Performance of four selected pigeonpea genotypes were assessed under three row spacing (25, 50 and 100 cm) treatments and at one plant density (30 plants/m2) in two diverse Australian environments (Kingaroy and Gatton) in Queensland. Decreasing row spacing from 100cm to 25cm led to a linear increase in mean shoot dry matter (DM) at both sites. However, maximum grain yields of up to 2.9 t/ha were achieved at 50cm row spacing but the yields declined at 25cm spacing at both sites. Genotypic variation for radiation use efficiency (RUE) measured at Gatton site ranged from 1.40 to 1.76 g/MJ, which accounted for 76% of variation in DM. There was a significant effect of site and genotype on grain N and 100-seed mass. The study demonstrated that pigeonpea could be grown as a legume break crop in subtropical Australia, with potential export market opportunities.
Curcumin Reduce Sodium Fluoride-Induced Oxidative Stress in Rat Brain
Authors: Kiran Kumar Nagapuri , Nageshwar Mesram , Pratap Reddy Karnati
Published: April 2018

This study reports the ameliorative role of curcumin against sodium fluoride (NaF) induced oxidative stress in the brain of rats. The rats were divided into control, NaF (20 mg/kg), NaF+Curcumin (20mg/kg) and Curcumin (20mg/kg) groups respectively and treated at everyday interval for 60 consecutive days. Oxidative stress markers in the brain were measured at 60th day. NaF treatment significantly increased LPO content, but decreased the level of GSH and activities of SOD, GPx, and CAT the brain of rats in comparison to the control rats. Oral administration of curcumin to fluoride exposed rats significantly reversed the content of lipid peroxidation, as well as enhanced the level of GSH and SOD, GPx and CAT activities to normal compared to NaF exposed rats. Thus, curcumin showed the potential to prevent sodium fluoride induced oxidative damage in the brain of rats and curcumin may be useful agents against neurodegeneration in the brain.