bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Economics and the Study of Corruption in Africa
Authors: Thomas M. A.
Published: September 2014

Historically economists have turned to principal-agent models to explain corruption and expected utility models to model bribe transactions. These models depend on a definition of corruption that assumes a government with separate public and private spheres. However, the existence of separate public and private roles cannot be assumed in a number of countries, including some African countries. As political economists bridge the gap between the political science and economics literatures on corruption, bringing wider awareness of governments that hold power through the distribution of private goods to elites, traditional economic models of corruption must become more contextualized. “Africa” is not an analytically useful category for the study of corruption.
The Economics of Total War and Reconstruction, 1914–1922
Authors: Blum Matthias , Eloranta Jari
Published: September 2014

This chapter features a discussion of the economy and mobilization for the First World War. The authors analyse the implications and cost of total war, concluding with an examination of its contradictory legacies. In studying the war’s impact on Germany in particular, the chapter provides an in-depth look at the consequences of war on Europe’s strongest pre-war economy, without the complications of separating out the issues of a developing country, which can mimic those faced in wartime. The economic challenges that warring parties faced during the war included mobilization, warfare, labour shortage, impaired domestic economic activity, restricted international trade, a systematic redistribution of resources towards the war economy, food rationing, the predictable emergence of black markets, and a drop in living standards. The authors also discuss strategies to meet the significant financial demands associated with the war, and its tumultuous economic and political aftermath.
Jahm b. Ṣafwān (d. 128/745–6) and the ‘Jahmiyya’ and Ḍirār b. ʿAmr (d. 200/815)
Authors: Schöck Cornelia
Published: September 2014

The chapter is a first step on the way to classify the earliest Muslim theologians according to their position and role in the history of natural theology and philosophy. It argues that Jahm b. Ṣafwān and Ḍirār b. ʿAmr represent an empiristic theory according to which the sensible reality outside the mind corresponds one-to-one to the perception inside the human mind. God’s creation is by composition of bundles of properties; man’s knowledge is by decomposition of the property bundles into their parts by means of perception. The perceptions of substantial and qualitative change supply the empirical data by which the intuition of God as the cause of all generation, corruption, and change in corporeal things happens. They refuse a principle of form and essence in things as well as natural causes and powers of generation and alteration in the created cosmos.
Hume on Pride and the Other Indirect Passions
Authors: Taylor Jacqueline
Published: September 2014

In the Treatise, Hume focuses on pride as an “indirect passion,” one indicative of self-valuing and moral virtue and contributing positively to our sense of who we are and, in particular, to our moral identity. This essay examines those features of pride that make Hume’s account of the indirect passions so distinctive, beginning with an examination of his application of the experimental method to explain the origin of the indirect passions and the double relation of ideas and impressions as the efficient causes of these passions. Also examined is the relationship Hume draws between the principle of sympathy, pride, and the causes of pride; the relations among pride in virtuous character, moral confidence and, competence; and Hume’s account of pride in the Enquiry concerning the Principles of Morals. Finally, the author considers the view of Humean moral agency as heteronomous in nature.
Hume and the Problem of Causation
Authors: Beebee Helen
Published: September 2014

This chapter traces Hume’s search for the impression-source of the idea of necessary connection through Book 1 of the Treatise. It then sketches and evaluates the main interpretative positions concerning Hume’s account of causation. These positions characterize Hume either as a regularity theorist who thinks that causation is merely a matter of temporal priority, contiguity, and constant conjunction, a projectivist who takes causal talk to have an essential non-representational element, or a skeptical realist who believes in, and believes that we genuinely refer to, real causal powers. Finally, it briefly discusses rival interpretations of Hume’s famous “two definitions” of causation.
Inclusion, Exclusion, and the Making of American Nationality
Authors: Gerstle Gary
Published: September 2014

Any examination of American nationalism must contend with its contradictory character. On the one hand, this nationalism harbors a civic creed promising all Americans equal rights irrespective of race, religion, sex, or national origin. On the other hand, certain religious and racial traditions within American nationalism have defined the United States in exclusionary ways. Thus, while America proclaimed itself an open society, it also saw itself as a Protestant nation with a mission to save the world from Catholicism and other false faiths; and while it proclaimed that all men are created equal, it aspired, for much of its history, to be a white republic. This chapter analyzes the balance between American nationalism’s inclusive and exclusionary traditions during different periods of American history, and how and why the balance between the civic, religious, and racial traditions has changed over time.
The Meaning of Deceive in Experimental Economic Science
Authors: Wilson Bart J.
Published: September 2014

Deceiving someone in our everyday lives is a moral failing, one that we are adept at detecting and quick to judge in the words and actions of others. In our professional lives as economic scientists we are also quick to judge experimental procedures as deceptive, but we have problems articulating what that means. Rather than classifying experimental procedural details as deception or not based on what experimenters and participants may or may not know about the experiment and each other, I propose a general rule for adjudging the actions of experimenters as deceptive: Did the experimenters mislead the participants by false appearance or statement? If the answer is yes, then the experimenters have deceived the participants.
Drug Dependence During Pregnancy and the Postpartum Period
Authors: Unger Annemarie , Fischer Gabriele , Finnegan Loretta P.
Published: September 2014

The chaotic lives of women who are drug dependent and their frequent lack of consistent prenatal care put them at risk for many medical problems during pregnancy. Illicit drug use during pregnancy also places women at increased risk for obstetrical complications. The complexity of medical problems in the pregnant drug abuser is complicated by the attendant psychosocial problems and psychiatric comorbidities seen in this population. Psychiatric diagnoses, treatment, and patient compliance are often hindered when the main focus of attention is on drug-related problems. The stigma associated with maternal drug use and difficult life circumstances are additional burdens to successful treatment entry and adherence for women. The basis for stabilizing most opioid-dependent pregnant women is agonist maintenance therapy in the context of comprehensive services, and the treatment of psychiatric comorbidities is a key component in optimizing pregnancy and child outcomes.
Best Practices in Assessment for Couple Therapy
Authors: Balderrama-Durbin Christina M. , Fissette Caitlin L. , Snyder Douglas K.
Published: September 2014

Couple distress is not only highly prevalent but also detrimental to individual emotional, behavioral, and physical well-being. Moreover, relationship problems can impede treatment response for a wide range of psychological disorders. Understanding couple distress requires that assessment extend beyond individual factors to include the broader relational and socioecological context. This chapter describes the multifaceted etiological considerations in couple assessment and provides brief screening measures and methods for the diagnosis of couple distress. Assessment techniques capable of evaluating behavioral, cognitive, and affective components of couple distress are highlighted. The chapter emphasizes the best practices in conceptualizing and assessing couple distress for the purpose of treatment planning and evaluation. Best practice recommendations and potential areas for future research are explicated.
Creating the Hybrid Field of Political Communication
Authors: Jamieson Kathleen Hall
Published: September 2014

This chapter tracks the byways that led to the emergence of a cross-disciplinary cadre of scholars identified with the hybrid field of political communication. Concentrating on the period between the Columbia election studies of the 1940s and 1993, it telegraphs the influence of the disciplines of sociology, political science, psychology and communication on the emerging field, indicates how scholars such as Elihu Katz, Kurt and Gladys Lang, Murray Edelman, and Doris Graber seeded the intellectual ground from which the field would grow, catalogues the emergence of a concept of effects that includes such phenomena as learning, the construction of political meaning, and agenda setting, and features a study that isolated the role of communication in activating the variables from which forecasting models predict presidential election outcomes.
Ethnography of Politics and Political Communication
Authors: Luhtakallio Eeva , Eliasoph Nina
Published: September 2014

The ethnographic approach has particular potential for studying political communication through enlarging understandings of political institutions and expanding definitions of “politics.” First, widening institutional understanding takes advantage of ethnography’s capacity to open windows that traditional analysis of political institutions leaves shut. Second, ethnography is uniquely able to examine new forms of engagement that people have not yet defined as “politics.” Third, studying political communication ethnographically means expanding the modes of communication and activity examined to include nonverbal and virtual communication. Politics is one of the principal arenas in which “culture” unfolds and becomes observable, yet in ways that are not limited to political institutions or decision-making practices. Common to political ethnographies is the capability to show how “how” and “why” are linked: how a political process or practice takes place enables finding out why it does.
The Political Effects of Entertainment Media
Authors: Delli Carpini Michael X.
Published: September 2014

In recent years political communication scholars have begun to build a small but important body of quantitative research suggesting that the consumption of entertainment media can affect how citizens learn about, think about, and act in the political world. However, we have limited our ability to understand this relationship by treating entertainment media as a distinct and ghettoized area of study and by an overreliance on theories originating in the study of news and other overtly public affairs media. This chapter argues that what constitutes “politics,” “political engagement,” “political effects,” and “politically relevant media” is not based on inherent qualities of a particular genre, medium, or topic, but is rather are socially constructed. This has always been true, but it is arguably more so in the information environment of the twenty-first century, which for a variety of reasons challenges the presumed distinction between “news” and “entertainment.”
Self-censorship, the Spiral of Silence, and Contemporary Political Communication
Authors: Hayes Andrew F. , Matthes Jörg
Published: September 2014

This chapter introduces the tenets of spiral of silence theory as a theory of group dynamics as it relates to the interplay among the media, interpersonal talk, and political discussion. After reviewing some of the findings related to its key propositions, its applicability to modern political communication and mass media research is questioned and fine-tuned. An argument is made that future researchers should abandoned the quest for evidence whether public opinion expression is guided by perceptions of the opinion climate, especially using ad hoc measures that have not been validated. Rather attention should be directed toward examining the role of social pressures in motivating information seeking about the opinion climate and how individual differences such as fear of isolation, attitude certainty, and moral conviction can influence the effect of those perceptions on publicly-observable political behavior.
Press–Government Relations in a Changing Media Environment
Authors: Bennett W. Lance
Published: September 2014

Several complex changes affect the legacy press system: failing business models and diminished journalistic capacity, the proliferation of dubiously sourced information flowing into the mass media through interconnected digital networks, and news audiences exercising greater choice about what news to follow and believe. These trends raise questions about traditional approaches to understanding news: Where, and with what consequences, does indexing—the journalistic filtering of news sources and content through perceived government power balances—continue to hold sway? Is there evidence for a decline in gatekeeping and an increase in narrative-driven news? What are the consequences of a changing news system for public engagement and democratic legitimacy? This discussion explores the implications of the increasing democratization of truth as the news system loses the capacity to assess evidence, reject groundless narratives, and anchor public debates in reasonable standards.
Agenda-Setting Theory
Authors: McCombs Maxwell , Valenzuela Sebastián
Published: September 2014

This chapter discusses contemporary directions of agenda-setting research. It reviews the basic concept of agenda setting, the transfer of salience from the media agenda to the public agenda as a key step in the formation of public opinion, the concept of need for orientation as a determinant of issue salience, the ways people learn the media agenda, attribute agenda setting, and the consequences of agenda setting that result from priming and attribute priming. Across the theoretical areas found in the agenda-setting tradition, future studies can contribute to the role of news in media effects by showing how agenda setting evolves in the new and expanding media landscape as well as continuing to refine agenda setting’s core concepts.
Uses and Gratifications
Authors: Holbert R. Lance
Published: September 2014

This chapter summarizes uses and gratifications, a media research framework that asks why people consume certain media forms. The author explains the general framework of this approach to media, outlines the explanatory principles undergirding work of this kind, and identifies what is needed to move this research agenda toward more formal theory development. The issue of how best to measure gratifications sought, gratifications obtained, and media use is discussed. The chapter identifies three areas for potential developments (i.e., dynamic modeling, complementarity, expansion of communication inputs) within the uses and gratifications framework that may benefit political communication scholars. This issue of what media should be defined as “political” is also addressed, with an argument made for the inclusion of entertainment outlets.
Political Communication, Information Processing, and Social Groups
Authors: Valentino Nicholas A. , Vandenbroek L. Matthew
Published: September 2014

This chapter discusses the notion that the mass media influence political attitudes and behaviors by activating group identities and thus stoking group conflicts. Three domains of influence are examined: (1) group cues altering perceptions of group members by changing beliefs, stereotypes, or attitudes; (2) mass media altering the salience of preexisting beliefs and stereotypes; and (3) group cues triggering emotions that lead to changes in information processing and the willingness to take political risks. The chapter argues that while mass media effects are often subtle and require sophisticated methods to detect, they can under certain circumstances powerfully influence information processing and decision making.
Implicit Political Attitudes
Authors: Cassino Dan , Lodge Milton , Taber Charles S.
Published: September 2014

This chapter reviews recent work on implicit political attitudes, detailing how, when, and why unconscious processes impact the explicit expression of political beliefs, attitudes, and preferences. The authors begin by discussing thresholds of awareness, defining implicit attitudes and how the circumstances under which they reach conscious awareness. The ubiquity of unconscious effects in everyday life is considered, and two research paradigms for measuring implicit attitudes are discussed. The resulting dual-process model, in which influences can be either conscious or subconscious, allows us to understand how sensory input works its way through the mind to influence attitudes and behaviors in ways that are rarely evident to the individual. These influences often include factors that the individual would never consider as being important, but nevertheless hold enormous power over effortful decision-making.
Conditions for Political Accountability in a High-Choice Media Environment
Authors: Prior Markus
Published: September 2014

Communication technology has increased availability of public affairs information, but many citizens ignore it. How do greater availability and less widespread consumption of news affect political accountability? Not all citizens have to follow the news for media coverage to improve accountability. Under some conditions, higher levels of news exposure and political knowledge in a relatively small subset of the population could strengthen accountability, even when other citizens follow the news less than in the past. For this to work, news junkies must effectively represent the interests of those who are tuning out. If news junkies have different interests than the rest of the population, their efforts to monitor officials and raise concerns may lead to less representative government and lower accountability. As a result of more media choice, the task of holding elected officials accountable rests increasingly on a small segment of the population.
Digital Media and Perceptions of Source Credibility in Political Communication
Authors: Flanagin Andrew , Metzger Miriam J.
Published: September 2014

The rich research heritage on source credibility is fundamentally linked to processes of political communication and the provision of political information. Networked digital technologies, however, have recently complicated the assessment of source credibility by modifying people’s ability to determine source expertise and trustworthiness, which are the foundations upon which credibility evaluations have traditionally rested. This chapter explores source credibility in online contexts by examining the credibility of digital versus traditional channels, the nature of political information conveyed by social media, and the dynamics of political information online. In addition, this chapter considers related research concerns, including the link between credibility and selective exposure, the potential for group polarization, and the role of social media in seeking and delivering credible political information. These concerns suggest challenges and opportunities as information consumers navigate the contemporary information environment in search of the knowledge to make them informed members of a politically engaged citizenry.
Journalism and the Public-Service Model
Authors: Coleman Stephen
Published: September 2014

Amongst the loftiest of journalism’s grand claims has been the ideal of “public service,” a term suggesting the antithesis of self-serving mendacity or mean-spirited motivation. To characterize oneself as a public servant is to profess a certain kind of civic virtue: an intention to act for all rather than some. This chapter addresses the question: What does it mean for journalists to provide a public service? The chapter considers the claims of journalists to be providers of a public service and the conditions that allow or inhibit the realization of such a high-minded aspiration. Further discussion explores the grounds upon which journalists have claimed to serve the public and concludes by offering a normative framework for public-service journalism within the contemporary media ecology.
Aging Out of Foster Care in Emerging Adulthood
Authors: Greeson Johanna K.P. , Thompson Allison E.
Published: September 2014

The transition from adolescence to adulthood is a significant developmental stage. When foster youth age out of the child welfare system, they are at risk of having to transition without family support. This chapter applies the life course perspective to describe the theoretical and contextual foundation that explains the hardships foster youth experience when emancipated from the US child welfare system. Next, the theoretical basis for natural mentoring among foster youth is explored using the resiliency perspective to frame the discussion. Then, current research on natural mentoring among foster youth is reviewed. Implications are drawn for US child welfare practice, policy, and research with respect to how to improve outcomes for youth who age out of foster care through the cultivation of natural mentoring relationships. The chapter concludes with an examination of systems in place to support transitioning foster youth from England, Israel, and Australia.
On the Horizon
Authors: Willoughby Brian J. , Carroll Jason S.
Published: September 2014

This chapter overviews marriage formation patterns and beliefs about marriage during emerging adulthood. Although marriage is no longer a transition occurring during emerging adulthood for many individuals, this chapter describes how marriage still has an important impact on emerging adult development and trajectories. The authors first note the major international demographic shifts in marriage that have occurred among emerging adults over the past several decades. They then highlight how research findings on beliefs about marriage have offered evidence that how emerging adults perceive their current or future marital transitions is strongly associated with other decisions during emerging adulthood. The chapter overviews major theoretical advancements in this area including marital paradigm theory and marital horizon theory. Research is summarized focusing on the age of marriage to highlight and discuss how marriage during emerging adulthood may impact well-being. Suggestions are provided for future directions of research in this area of scholarship.
Leaving Home
Authors: Seiffge-Krenke Inge
Published: September 2014

In the past, the tasks of establishing psychological and practical independence were linked in time. Today, these transitions are no longer successively manageable sequences; rather, they are characterized by fluctuations, discontinuities, and reversals. In this review, research findings on factors contributing to the diversity in emerging adults’ leaving home patterns (including early leaving, late leaving, or continued residence in the parents’ home) are summarized. These findings show that although culture, gender, social class, and education shape leaving home patterns, individual factors (e.g., emerging adults’ attachment representations or their progress in the domains of love and work) and parenting strategies that essentially keep the child emotionally and physically in close proximity are also influential. The review reveals that leaving home is an important developmental task for both emerging-adult children and their parents and illustrates how linked their lives are.
Developing Self-Authorship in College to Navigate Emerging Adulthood
Authors: Magolda Marcia Baxter , Taylor Kari B.
Published: September 2014

Many emerging adults find themselves navigating the complex transition from adolescence to adulthood while enrolled in college. The key to navigating the demands of college (and emerging adulthood) is not simply what decisions one makes but also how one makes them. This chapter foregrounds college student development research regarding the developmental capacities that underlie young adults’ decision-making processes. Drawing upon two longitudinal studies of college student and young adult development, the authors show how young adults move from uncritically following external formulas learned in childhood toward gaining the capacity for self-authorship—a journey that involves developing internal criteria for crafting one’s identities, relationships, and beliefs and yields the ability to navigate external demands. The authors emphasize that diverse combinations of personal characteristics, experiences, and meaning-making capacities yield diverse pathways toward self-authorship. They also highlight how higher education can promote self-authorship and explore further research to better understand self-authorship’s relevance across cultures.
Contours of Outline Shapes Derived from Everyday Objects
Authors: Wagemans Johan
Published: September 2014

Computational theories of shape perception predicted that shape information is concentrated along the contour, primarily at locations where curvature takes on special values (maxima, minima, and inflection points). Psychophysical studies inspired by the computational theories explored how humans encode shape and how they identify and segment outlines of everyday objects. These studies found that shape information was distributed along the contour as predicted. But the local neighborhoods and global configurations in which the curvature singularities were embedded also played an important role. This work revealed highly flexible interaction of local and global processes that change as visual processing unfolds over time. The results provide benchmarks for computational models of shape-based object encoding.
Coherence Intervals of Large-Scale Brain Activity and Perceptual Organization
Authors: van Leeuwen Cees , Nikolaev Andrey R.
Published: September 2014

Large-scale brain networks constitute the highest level of integration in the visual processing hierarchy. Patterns of correlated activity in these networks reflect the functional topography of communicating areas. The authors studied the dynamics of coherent spontaneous and evoked brain activity using human scalp-recorded electroencephalograms (EEG). In the spontaneous activity, the dynamics of coherent intervals is characterized by chaotic itinerancy that provides the brain with flexibility of response to varieties of stimuli. In the evoked activity, duration of the coherent intervals is associated with the amount of visual pattern information in a stimulus. The authors propose that the coherent intervals reflect open temporal windows of communication in which information transfers within the brain. At the level of large-scale brain networks, the opened window may facilitate cooperation of various visual functions and result in perceptual organization.
Perceptual Multistability in Figure–Ground Organization
Authors: Wagemans Johan , Kogo Naoki
Published: September 2014

In this chapter, some essential characteristics of perceptual multistability in figure–ground organization are reviewed, including competition for border ownership, how ownership is settled at the global, configural level, how it is influenced by top-down feedback, and how it changes dynamically over time as a result of adaptation and recovery from adaptation. A computational model is described that explains these properties of human perceptual organization.
Neuroimaging in Sport Concussion
Authors: Bigler Erin D.
Published: September 2014

Neuroimaging is an integral part of clinical assessment, management, and research involving concussion. Typically, in sports concussion, conventional neuroimaging studies are unrevealing, likely reflecting the rapid homeostatic return of baseline neural functioning in most concussions. However, a number of advanced neuroimaging methods hold great promise in furthering the study and identification of subtle neuropathological changes associated with concussion, which are reviewed here.
Cannabinoid Receptor Type 1 Antagonist, AM251, Attenuates Mechanical Allodynia and Thermal Hyperalgesia after Burn Injury
Authors: Ueda Masashi , Iwasaki Hajime , Wang Shuxing , Murata Eri , Poon K. Y. Trudy , Mao Jianren , Martyn J. A. Jeevendra
Published: September 2014

Background:

Burn injury causes nociceptive behaviors, and inflammation-related pathologic pain can lead to glial cell activation. This study tested the hypothesis that burn injury activates glial cells, and cannabinoid receptor 1 (CB1R) antagonist, AM251, will decrease burn pain.

Methods:

Anesthetized rats received 0.75-cm2 third-degree burn on dorsal hind paw. Vehicle or AM251 30 μg intrathecally (older rats, n = 6 per group) or, either vehicle, 0.1 or 1.0 mg/kg intraperitoneally (younger rats, n = 6 per group), started immediate postburn, was administered for 7 days. Mechanical allodynia and thermal hyperalgesia were tested on ventral paw for 14 days. Microglial and astroglial activity was assessed by immunocytochemistry.

Results:

Allodynia, observed on burn side from day 1 to 14, was significantly (P < 0.05) attenuated by intrathecal and intraperitoneal AM251 (1 mg/kg) starting from 3 to 14 days. Hyperalgesia, observed from day 3 to 12, was completely (P < 0.05) reversed by intrathecal and intraperitoneal AM251 (1 mg/kg). AM251 0.1 mg/kg had no effect. Microglial activity (n = 3 per time point) increased (P < 0.05) 18.5 ± 7.5 and 12.3 ± 1.6 (mean ± SD) fold at 7 and 14 days, respectively. Astroglial activity (n = 4 per time point) increased 2.9 ± 0.3 fold at day 7 only. Glial activities were unaltered by AM251.

Conclusions:

AM251 inhibited nociceptive behaviors after burn even beyond 7-day period of administration. Although many studies have documented the utility of CB1R agonists, this study indicates that endogenous cannabinoids may have an unexpected pronociceptive effect during development of burn pain, explaining why CB1R antagonist, AM251, improves nociceptive behaviors. The decreased nociception with AM251 without altering glial activity indicates that AM251 acts further downstream of activated glial cells.
Equipotent Subanesthetic Concentrations of Sevoflurane and Xenon Preventing Cold-stimulated Vocalization of Neonatal Rats
Authors: Gill Hannah , Thoresen Marianne , Bishop Sarah , Smit Elisa , Liu Xun , Walloe Lars , Dingley John
Published: September 2014

Background:

The effects of inhaled anesthetics on the developing brain are studied using neonatal rodents exposed to fractions of minimum alveolar concentration (to avoid cardiorespiratory compromise). However, these fractions cannot be assumed to be equipotent. Xenon’s anesthetic and neuroprotective properties warrant investigation in these models. Therefore, equipotent, subanesthetic concentrations of inhaled anesthetics are needed.

Methods:

Forty-eight Wistar rats (Charles River Laboratories, Kent, United Kingdom) on postnatal day 9 were randomized to eight concentrations of inhaled anesthetics: isoflurane, sevoflurane, or xenon. Exposure was closely monitored in individual metal-based chambers resting on a 35°C mat to maintain normothermia. A 25°C mat was used to stimulate vocalization and a sound recording made (1 min, 1 to 100 kHz). Rectal temperature or partial pressure of carbon dioxide and pH of mixed arteriovenous blood were measured immediately after the exposure. Concentration–response models were constructed using logistic regression (dependent variable: vocalization and explanatory variable: concentration). The effects of all other explanatory variables were assessed by inserting them individually into the model.

Results:

The effective inhaled concentrations preventing cold-stimulated vocalization in 50 and 95% of neonatal rats (EiC50 and EiC95) on postnatal day 9 were 0.46 and 0.89% sevoflurane and 20.15 and 34.81% xenon, respectively. The effect on the EiC50 of all other explanatory variables, including duration, was minimal. Stability of EiC50 isoflurane was not achieved over three durations (40, 80, and 120 min exposure). Partial pressure of carbon dioxide and pH in mixed arteriovenous blood appeared normal.

Conclusions:

The authors report equipotent subanesthetic concentrations of sevoflurane and xenon in neonatal rats with preserved cardiopulmonary function. This may be useful in designing neonatal rodent models of anesthesia.
Extracellular Histones Play an Inflammatory Role in Acid Aspiration-induced Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome
Authors: Zhang Yanlin , Wen Zongmei , Guan Li , Jiang Ping , Gu Tao , Zhao Jinyuan , Lv Xin , Wen Tao
Published: September 2014

Background:

Systemic inflammation is a key feature in acid aspiration-induced acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), but the factors that trigger inflammation are unclear. The authors hypothesize that extracellular histones, a newly identified inflammatory mediator, play important roles in the pathogenesis of ARDS.

Methods:

The authors used a hydrochloric acid aspiration-induced ARDS model to investigate whether extracellular histones are pathogenic and whether targeting histones are protective. Exogenous histones and antihistone antibody were administered to mice. Heparin can bind to histones, so the authors studied whether heparin could protect from ARDS using cell and mouse models. Furthermore, the authors analyzed whether extracellular histones are clinically involved in ARDS patients caused by gastric aspiration.

Results:

Extracellular histones in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid of acid-treated mice were significantly higher (1.832 ± 0.698) at 3 h after injury than in sham-treated group (0.63 ± 0.153; P = 0.0252, n = 5 per group). Elevated histones may originate from damaged lung cells and neutrophil infiltration. Exogenous histones aggravated lung injury, whereas antihistone antibody markedly attenuated the intensity of ARDS. Notably, heparin provided a similar protective effect against ARDS. Analysis of plasma from ARDS patients (n = 21) showed elevated histones were significantly correlated with the degree of ARDS and were higher in nonsurvivors (2.723 ± 0.2933, n = 7) than in survivors (1.725 ± 0.1787, P = 0.006, n = 14).

Conclusion:

Extracellular histones may play a contributory role toward ARDS by promoting tissue damage and systemic inflammation and may become a novel marker reflecting disease activity. Targeting histones by neutralizing antibody or heparin shows potent protective effects, suggesting a potentially therapeutic strategy.
Transition Readiness in Pediatric Patients With Inflammatory Bowel Disease
Authors: Whitfield Emily P. , Fredericks Emily M. , Eder Sally J. , Shpeen Benjamin H. , Adler Jeremy
Published: September 2014

Objective:

Transition may be associated with poor health outcomes, but limited data exist regarding inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Acquisition of self‐management skills is believed to be important to this process. IBD‐specific checklists of such skills have been developed to aid in transition, but none has been well studied or validated. This study aimed to describe self‐assessment ability to perform tasks on one of these checklists and to explore the relation between patient age and disease duration.

Methods:

Patients ages 10 to 21 years with IBD were recruited. An iPad survey queried the patients for self‐assessment of ability to perform specific self‐management tasks. Task categories included basic knowledge of IBD, doctor visits, medications and other treatments, and disease management. Associations with age and disease duration were tested with Spearman rank correlation.

Results:

A total of 67 patients (31 boys) with Crohn disease (n = 40), ulcerative colitis (n = 25), and indeterminate colitis (n = 2) participated in the study. Mean patient age was 15.8 ± 2.5 years, with median disease duration of 5 years (2 months–14 years). The proportion of patients who self‐reported ability to complete a task without help increased with age for most tasks, including “telling others my diagnosis” (ρ = 0.43, P = 0.003), “telling medical staff I do not like or am having trouble following a treatment” (ρ = 0.37, P = 0.003), and “naming my medications” (ρ = 0.28, P = 0.02). No task significantly improved with disease duration.

Conclusions:

Self‐assessment of ability to perform some key tasks of transition appears to improve with age, but not with disease duration. More important, communication with the medical team did not improve with age, despite being of critical importance to functioning within an adult care model.
Parenteral Nutrition–Associated Liver Injury and Increased GRP94 Expression Prevented by ω‐3 Fish Oil–Based Lipid Emulsion Supplementation
Authors: Zhu Xueping , Xiao Zhihui , Chen Xiaoqian , Li Yanhong , Zhang Xiaomin , Xu Yumin , Feng Xing , Wang Jian
Published: September 2014

Objective:

Parenteral nutrition in infants with gastrointestinal disorders can be lifesaving, but it is also associated with parenteral nutrition–associated liver disease. We investigated the effects of incorporating ω‐3 fish oil in a parenteral nutrition mixture on signs of parenteral nutrition–associated liver disease and explored the mechanism involved in this process.

Methods:

Seven‐day‐old New Zealand rabbits were divided into 3 groups of 8, and for 1 week they were infused via the right jugular vein with standard total parenteral nutrition with soybean oil (TPN‐soy) or TPN with ω‐3 fish oil–based lipid emulsion (TPN‐FO), or naturally nursed with rabbit milk (control). Serum and liver tissues were analyzed for serological indicators and pathology, respectively. Reverse‐transcriptase polymerase chain reaction was used to evaluate the messenger RNA levels of the endoplasmic reticulum stress chaperone protein glucose‐regulated protein 94 (GRP94) in liver tissues and GRP94 protein levels were compared through immunohistochemistry and Western blot assays.

Results:

TPN‐soy animals had significantly higher serum total bilirubin, direct bilirubin, and γ‐glutamyl transpeptidase and lower serum albumin than the controls (P < 0.01, each) or the TPN‐FO group, which were similar to the controls (P < 0.01 cf. TPN). Damage to liver tissues of the TPN‐FO group was much less than that of the TPN‐soy group. GRP94 messenger RNA and protein levels in liver tissues of TPN‐soy animals were significantly higher than that of the controls or TPN‐FO rabbits, which were similar to the controls.

Conclusions:

Incorporating ω‐3 fish oil in parenteral nutrition emulsion greatly prevented liver dysfunction and liver tissue damage in week‐old rabbit kits, possibly by preventing endoplasmic reticulum stress.
Antifungal susceptibility and virulence attributes of animal-derived isolates of Candida parapsilosis complex
Authors: Brilhante Raimunda Sâmia Nogueira , Rodrigues Terezinha de Jesus Santos , Castelo-Branco Débora de Souza Collares Maia , Teixeira Carlos Eduardo Cordeiro , Macedo Ramila de Brito , Bandeira Silviane Praciano , Pereira de Alencar Lucas , Monteiro André Jalles , Cordeiro Rossana de Aguiar , Bandeira Tereza de Jesus Pinheiro Gomes , Moreira José Luciano Bezerra , Sidrim José Júlio Costa , Rocha Marcos Fábio Gadelha
Published: September 2014

This study aimed to identify strains of the Candida parapsilosis complex isolated from animals, as well as to assess their in vitro antifungal susceptibility profile and in vitro production of virulence attributes. We used 28 isolates of C. parapsilosis sensu lato recovered from clinically healthy animals. The strains were characterized phenotypically, followed by molecular identification of the species through PCR-restriction enzyme analysis. The susceptibility of the strains to amphotericin B, itraconazole, voriconazole, fluconazole and caspofungin was assessed through broth microdilution. Additionally, the ability of the strains to produce biofilm, phospholipases and proteases was analysed. Molecular analysis showed 13 C. parapsilosis sensu stricto, 10 Candida orthopsilosis and five Candida metapsilosis strains. In vitro resistance to fluconazole was observed in three strains of C. parapsilosis sensu stricto and two C. metapsilosis. All tested strains were able to form biofilms and 23/28 isolates presented protease production, whilst none was able to produce phospholipases. Our study showed that C. parapsilosis sensu stricto and C. orthopsilosis are the most common species of the C. parapsilosis species complex and that these cryptic species present no significant phenotypical differences.
Synthetic logic circuits using RNA aptamer against T7 RNA polymerase
Authors: Kim Jongmin , Quijano Juan F. , Yeung Enoch , Murray Richard M.
Published: September 2014

Recent advances in nucleic acids engineering introduced several RNA-based regulatory components for synthetic gene circuits, expanding the toolsets to engineer organisms. In this work, we designed genetic circuits implementing an RNA aptamer previously described to have the capability of binding to the T7 RNA polymerase and inhibiting its activityin vitro. Usingin vitrotranscription assays, we first demonstrated the utility of the RNA aptamer in combination with programmable synthetic transcription networks. As a step to quickly assess the feasibility of aptamer functionsin vivo, a cell-free expression system was used as a breadboard to emulate thein vivoconditions ofE. coli. We tested the aptamer and its three sequence variants in the cell-free expression system, verifying the aptamer functionality in the cell-free testbed.In vivoexpression of aptamer and its variants demonstrated control over GFP expression driven by T7 RNA polymerase with different response curves, indicating its ability to serve as building blocks for both logic circuits and transcriptional cascades. This work elucidates the potential of RNA-based regulators for cell programming with improved controllability leveraging the fast production and degradation time scales of RNA molecules.
Cross-population Joint Analysis of eQTLs: Fine Mapping and Functional Annotation
Authors: Wen Xiaoquan , Luca Francesca , Pique-Regi Roger
Published: September 2014

Mapping expression quantitative trait loci (eQTLs) has been shown as a powerful tool to uncover the genetic underpinnings of many complex traits at the molecular level. In this paper, we present an integrative analysis approach that leverages eQTL data collected from multiple population groups. In particular, our approach effectively identifies multiple independentcis-eQTL signals that are consistently presented across populations, accounting for heterogeneity in allele frequencies and patterns of linkage disequilibrium. Furthermore, our analysis framework enables integrating high-resolution functional annotations into analysis of eQTLs. We applied our statistical approach to analyze the GEUVADIS data consisting of samples from five population groups. From this analysis, we concluded that i) joint analysis across population groups greatly improves the power of eQTL discovery and the resolution of fine mapping of causal eQTLs; ii) many genes harbor multiple independent eQTLs in theircisregions; iii) genetic variants that disrupt transcription factor binding are significantly enriched in eQTLs (p-value = 4.93 × 10−22).

Author Summary

Expression quantitative trait loci (eQTLs) are genetic variants associated with gene expression phenotypes. Mapping eQTLs enables us to study the genetic basis of gene expression variation across individuals. In this study, we introduce a statistical framework for analyzing genotype-expression data collected from multiple population groups. We show that our approach is particularly effective in identifying multiple independent eQTL signals that are consistently presented across populations in the proximity of a gene. In addition, our analysis framework allows effective integration of genomic annotations into eQTL analysis, which is helpful in dissecting the functional basis of eQTLs.
The projection of a test genome onto a reference population and applications to humans and archaic hominins
Authors: Yang Melinda A. , Harris Kelley , Slatkin Montgomery
Published: September 2014

We introduce a method for comparing a test genome with numerous genomes from a reference population. Sites in the test genome are given a weightwthat depends on the allele frequencyxin the reference population. The projection of the test genome onto the reference population is the average weight for eachx,. The weight is assigned in such a way that if the test genome is a random sample from the reference population,. Using analytic theory, numerical analysis, and simulations, we show how the projection depends on the time of population splitting, the history of admixture and changes in past population size. The projection is sensitive to small amounts of past admixture, the direction of admixture and admixture from a population not sampled (a ghost population). We compute the projection of several human and two archaic genomes onto three reference populations from the 1000 Genomes project, Europeans (CEU), Han Chinese (CHB) and Yoruba (YRI) and discuss the consistency of our analysis with previously published results for European and Yoruba demographic history. Including higher amounts of admixture between Europeans and Yoruba soon after their separation and low amounts of admixture more recently can resolve discrepancies between the projections and demographic inferences from some previous studies.
Glucose-lactate metabolic cooperation in cancer: insights from a spatial mathematical model and implications for targeted therapy
Authors: McGillen Jessica B. , Kelly Catherine J. , Martíez-González Alicia , Martin Natasha K. , Gaffney Eamonn A. , Maini Philip K. , Pérez-García Vıctor M.
Published: September 2014

A recent hypothesis has proposed a glucose-lactate metabolic symbiosis between adjacent hypoxic and oxygenated regions of a developing tumour, and proposed a treatment strategy to target this symbiosis. However,in vivoexperimental support remains inconclusive. Here we develop a minimal spatial mathematical model of glucose-lactate metabolism to examine, in principle, whether metabolic symbiosis is plausible in human tumours, and to assess the potential impact of inhibiting it. We find that symbiosis is a robust feature of our model system—although on the length scale at which oxygen supply is diffusion-limited, its occurrence requires very high cellular metabolic activity—and that necrosis in the tumour core is reduced in the presence of symbiosis. Upon simulating therapeutic inhibition of lactate uptake, we predict that targeted treatment increases the extent of tissue oxygenation without increasing core necrosis. The oxygenation effect is correlated strongly with the extent of wildtype hypoxia and only weakly with wildtype symbiotic behaviour, and therefore may be promising for radiosensitisation of hypoxic, lactate-consuming tumours even if they do not exhibit a spatially well-defined symbiosis. Finally, we conduct a set ofin vitroexperiments on the U87 glioblastoma cell line to facilitate preliminary speculation as to where highly malignant tumours might fall in our parameter space, and find that these experiments suggest a weakly symbiotic regime for U87 cells, which raises the new question of what relationship exists between symbiosis—if indeed it occursin vivo—and tumour malignancy.