bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Immunohistochemical Expression of E‐Cadherin in Atypical Parathyroid Adenoma
Authors: Schneider Ralph , Bartsch‐Herzog Stefanie , Ramaswamy Annette , Bartsch Detlef K. , Karakas Elias
Published: July 2015

Background

Atypical parathyroid adenoma (APA) is a rare entity, sharing clinical symptoms like solid palpable mass in the neck, laboratory changes with very high serum calcium and parathyroid hormone levels, and some histopathological features with parathyroid carcinomas (PC). However, clinical behavior of APA seems to comply with benign parathyroid tumors (PA). There is some evidence that loss of the membranous staining pattern of E‐Cadherin (E‐Cad) suggests a key role of epithelial mesenchymal transition in the tumorigenesis of PC. Thus, the aim of this study was to compare clinical and surgical characteristics and immunohistochemical expression of E‐Cad in APA, PC, and PA.

Methods

Data of patients who underwent surgery for primary hyperparathyroidism (pHPT) between 1985 and 2010 were retrospectively evaluated. All data were analyzed with special regard to distinctive criteria of APA, including trabecular growth, broad fibrous bands, nuclear atypia, mitosis, pseudocapsular invasion or strong adherence to the surrounding tissue, and potential invasive growth of a grossly altered and enlarged parathyroid gland. In addition, laboratory and clinical data were evaluated and additional immunohistochemical staining with E‐Cad was performed in suspicious APA patients with available tissue.

Results

In 68 patients (39 female, 29 male), the parathyroid tumor was suspicious for APA. In 46 patients, a bilateral cervical exploration was performed. 15 patients underwent an en bloc resection including a hemithyroidectomy and lymphonodular dissection of the ipsilateral central compartment due to the malignant macroscopic aspect of the parathyroid. In seven patients, a focused parathyroid resection was done. The available parathyroid tissue of 38 APA patients was immunopositive for membranous E‐Cad staining. During follow‐up, only one patient with a successful initial surgery suffered from recurrent pHPT due to another solitary PA 10 years after initial surgery but without evidence of malignancy.

Conclusions

In contrast to PC, parathyroid tumors suspicious for APA are characterized by a strong membranous E‐Cad staining and, like PA, by a benign clinical course.
Natural and engineered biosynthesis of nucleoside antibiotics in Actinomycetes
Authors: Chen Wenqing , Qi Jianzhao , Wu Pan , Wan Dan , Liu Jin , Feng Xuan , Deng Zixin
Published: July 2015

Nucleoside antibiotics constitute an important family of microbial natural products bearing diverse bioactivities and unusual structural features. Their biosynthetic logics are unique with involvement of complex multi-enzymatic reactions leading to the intricate molecules from simple building blocks. Understanding how nature builds this family of antibiotics in post-genomic era sets the stage for rational enhancement of their production, and also paves the way for targeted persuasion of the cell factories to make artificial designer nucleoside drugs and leads via synthetic biology approaches. In this review, we discuss the recent progress and perspectives on the natural and engineered biosynthesis of nucleoside antibiotics.
Modeling of Intermetallic Compounds Growth Between Dissimilar Metals
Authors: Wang Li , Wang Yin , Prangnell Philip , Robson Joseph
Published: July 2015

A model has been developed to predict growth kinetics of the intermetallic phases (IMCs) formed in a reactive diffusion couple between two metals for the case where multiple IMC phases are observed. The model explicitly accounts for the effect of grain boundary diffusion through the IMC layer, and can thus be used to explore the effect of IMC grain size on the thickening of the reaction layer. The model has been applied to the industrially important case of aluminum to magnesium alloy diffusion couples in which several different IMC phases are possible. It is demonstrated that there is a transition from grain boundary-dominated diffusion to lattice-dominated diffusion at a critical grain size, which is different for each IMC phase. The varying contribution of grain boundary diffusion to the overall thickening kinetics with changing grain size helps explain the large scatter in thickening kinetics reported for diffusion couples produced under different conditions.
Influence of Tirofiban maintenance duration on patients with acute myocardial infarction treated by percutaneous coronary intervention
Authors: Ji Zhen‐Guo , Liu Hong‐Bin , Liu Zhi‐Hong , Ma Guo‐Ping , Qin Li‐Qiang , Dong Wei , Wang Li‐Ya
Published: July 2015

Objective

To evaluate the efficacy and short term prognosis of Tirofiban in different treatment duration in patients with acute ST segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) and percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) combined with intracoronary injection.

Methods

A total of 125 patients with acute STEMI were enrolled in this study. They were randomly divided into two groups: control group (n = 61) and Tirofiban group (n = 64). The Tirofiban was used by intracoronary and intravenous administration in Tirofiban group which was randomly divided into three sub‐groups according to the duration of Tirofiban by persistent intravenous injection for 12 hours, 24 hours or 36 hours. Thrombolysis in myocardial infarction flow and myocardial perfusion grades were recorded immediately after PCI. The adverse cardiac events and cardiac death within 180 days of PCI, and the adverse effects (hemorrhage and thrombocytopenia) were compared between the two groups and within Tirofiban sub‐groups.

Results

Grade 3 in myocardial perfusion was significantly better in Tirofiban group than control group (85.94% vs. 72.13%, P = 0.03) after PCI. There was one cardiac death in control group in 180 days after PCI. The adverse cardiac event rates between two groups was significant difference (16 patients in control group and only 8 in Tirofiban group, P = 0.047). There was no significant difference in incidence of hemorrhage complications and platelet counts between two groups. Nevertheless, hemorrhage complications in the 12‐ and 24‐hour subgroups were less than 36‐hour subgroup (P = 0.01).

Conclusions

Intravenous Tirofiban treatment reduced the adverse cardiac events and improved short term prognosis without increasing the adverse reactions of the drugs in patients undergoing PCI. The less rate of hemorrhage complication can be achieved in short‐duration of Tirofiban by intravenous injection after PCI.
Impact of elevated aspartate and alanine aminotransferase on metabolic syndrome and its components among adult people living in Ningxia, China
Authors: He Kun‐Peng , Zhao Chuan , Qiang Yan , Liu He‐Rong , Chen Nan , Tao Xiu‐Juan , Chen Li‐Li , Song Hui
Published: July 2015

Objective

Metabolic syndrome (MS) is a combination of medical disorders that increase the risk for cardiovascular disease and diabetes mellitus. It suggests an association between an elevated serum aminotransferase level and MS. Little data show the relationship between the levels of serum aminotransferase and the incidence of MS in Ningxia, China.

Methods

A total of 5415 subjects who received medical health checkups from 2007 to 2009 were enrolled in the study. The participants were interviewed by trained health workers under a structured questionnaire. MS was defined according to the modified ATPIII criteria for Asian Americans by the American Heart Association (AHA‐ATP III).

Results

The prevalence of elevated aspartate aminotransferase (AST) and ALT (>40 U/L) were 7.1% and 22.2% in males, and 2.1% and 4.8% in females respectively. The prevalence of MS was 32.1% in males and 15.4% in females. The components of MS were significantly more in the group with elevated aminotransferase levels than in the group with normal aminotransferase levels. The odds ratios (95% CI) for elevated AST were 1.90 (1.49, 2.42), 2.59 (2.01, 3.39), 1.68 (1.32, 2.15), and 1.81 (1.36, 2.42) in the adults with abdominal obesity, high serum triglycerides levels, high blood pressure, and high plasma glucose levels respectively. After adjustment for age, the odds ratios (95% CI) for elevated ALT were 3.08 (2.63, 3.61), 4.30 (3.64, 5.08), 1.26 (1.08, 1.48), 2.16 (1.93, 2.65) and 2.38 (1.96, 2.87) in adults with abdominal obesity, high serum triglycerides levels, low serum high‐density lipoproteincholesterol (HDL‐C), high blood pressure, and high plasma glucose levels respectively. The odds ratios (95% CI) for elevated AST were 1.67 (1.06, 2.63), 2.28 (1.46, 3.63), 2.59 (1.59, 4.21) and for elevated ALT 2.02 (1.50, 2.73), 2.68 (1.96, 3.65), 3.94 (2.86, 5.43) for the subjects with 1, 2, and ≥3 risk factors after adjustment for age, gender, and BMI.

Conclusion

The serum aminotransferase levels were higher in males compared to females, and serum ALT level was more closely associated with MS than the AST level in adults in Ningxia, China. With an increasing the number of components of MS, the aminotransferase levels and the risks for elevated aminotransferase increase, whereas the AST/ALT ratios decrease.
A synthetic tRNA for EF‐Tu mediated selenocysteine incorporation in vivo and in vitro
Authors: Miller Corwin , Bröcker Markus J. , Prat Laure , Ip Kevan , Chirathivat Napon , Feiock Alexander , Veszprémi Miklós , Söll Dieter
Published: July 2015

Incorporation of selenocysteine (Sec) in bacteria requires a UGA codon that is reassigned to Sec by the Sec‐specific elongation factor SelB and a conserved mRNA motif (SECIS element). These requirements severely restrict the engineering of selenoproteins. Earlier, a synthetic tRNASec was reported that allowed canonical Sec incorporation by EF‐Tu; however, serine misincorporation limited its scope. We report a superior tRNASec variant (tRNAUTuX) that facilitates EF‐Tu dependent stoichiometric Sec insertion in response to UAG both in vivo in Escherichia coli and in vitro in a cellfree protein synthesis system. We also demonstrate recoding of several sense codons in a SelB supplemented cell‐free system. These advances in Sec incorporation will aid rational design and directed evolution of selenoproteins.
Characteristics, management, and outcomes of repair of rectovaginal fistula among 1100 consecutive cases of female genital tract fistula in Ethiopia
Authors: Browning Andrew , Whiteside Sigrid
Published: July 2015

Objective

To characterize the incidence, presentation, management, and outcomes of rectovaginal fistula (RVF) in Ethiopia.

Methods

In a retrospective study, demographic and clinical data were obtained for all women with genital tract fistulas admitted to the Barhirdar Hamlin Fistula Hospital, Ethiopia, for fistula repair surgery between January 2005 and October 2008.

Results

Of 1100 cases, 1057 were suitable for analysis. Vesicovaginal fistula (VVF) without RVF was present in 933 (88.3%) cases, combined VVF and RVF in 79 (7.5%), and isolated RVF in 45 (4.3%). Only 4 (0.4%) women had isolated RVFs that could be attributed to prolonged obstructed labor; the remaining 41 RVFs were due to trauma (including sexual trauma), iatrogenic causes, infection, perineal tears, or previous failed repairs. All RVFs were managed with a flap‐splitting operative technique, without grafts or diverting colostomies. Overall, 120 (98.4%) of 122 RVFs repaired at the study hospital remained closed at discharge. Combined VVF and RVF was associated with a longer labor (P < 0.001), more stillbirths (P = 0.028), a larger and lower VVF (P < 0.001 for both), and more vaginal scarring than was isolated VVF (P < 0.001).

Conclusion

An obstetric RVF represents a more severe injury process than does a VVF. RVFs rarely occur without a VVF if due to obstructed labor. However, they can be managed successfully without diverting colostomies or grafts.
Chronic pain-related patient-provider communication: The significance of health related quality of life and satisfaction
Authors: Jonsdottir T. , Gunnarsdottir S. , Jonsdottir H.
Published: July 2015

Aims

To investigate patients’ perception of chronic pain related patient-provider communication in relation to socio-demographic and pain-related variables.

Methods

Apostal questionnaire measuring socio-demographic variables, pain characteristics, health-related quality of life (HRQoL), pain-related health care utilization and perceived patient provider communication, was sent to a sample of 4500 individuals randomly drawn from the national population of Iceland. Relationships between patient perceived patient-provider communication and perceived outcome, satisfaction with care as well as sociodemographic and pain-related variables were tested by using bivariate and multivariate statistical analysis.

Results

The prevalence of chronic pain (≥3months) among respondents was 47.5%. Among participants reporting chronic pain, 53.2% had consulted a health care provider for pain during the previous six months. Patients’ perception of providers’ behaviour and control in the communication was mostly related to pain impact on daily life and physical components of HRQoL as well as to patients’ satisfaction with health care providers. The more pain interfered with daily life and impaired patients’ physical health, the more they felt that the provider did not spend time to listen to their concerns and discuss symptoms and treatment options. Patients’ perception of own activity and control in the patient-provider communication and participation in care was related to socio-demographic variables but not with pain related variables.

Conclusions

To be understood as an individual and having their concerns legitimized by the health care provider is crucial for patients when consulting health care for chronic pain. The more pain interferes with daily life and impairs HRQoL, the more important this is. Patients’ perception of own control in patient-provider communication and participation in care is more related to socio-demographics than pain related variables.
Blockage of lysophosphatidic acid reverses arthritis-induced hypersensitivity and Cavα2δ1 and P2X3 expression in dorsal root ganglia
Authors: Su J. , Delaney A. , Matteo R. , Bartlett B. , Kultima K. , Hökfelt T. , Svensson C.I.
Published: July 2015

Aims

The lysophosphatidic acid (LPA) is an important mediator involved in neuropathic and bone cancer pain models. We are investigating if LPA is involved in arthritis-induced pain in the collagen antibody-induced arthritis (CAIA) mice model.

Methods

Arthritis was induced in male CBA mice by injection of 1.5 mg collagen type II antibody cocktail. Mechanical and thermal sensitivity and the degree of arthritis were assessed with von Frey filaments, Hargreaves box (heat), acetone test (cold) and visual scoring, respectively. LPA antibody and control IgG (10mg/kg), or saline was injected s.c. twice a week from day 12 through day 47. qPCR and immunohistochemical studies were undertaken in dorsal root ganglia (DRGs) to explore the expression of pain-related ion channels.

Results

Administration of LPA antibody treatment reversed CAIA-induced mechanical and thermal hypersensitivity (p < 0.05) while had no effect on the early clinical signs of arthritis (p > 0.05). mRNA levels for the LPA synthesizing enzyme autotaxin were elevated in the CAIA group. On day 48, expression of the voltage-gated calcium channel Cavα2δ1 and the ATP-gated P2X3 receptor were significantly increased in the CAIA DRGs, which were completely prevented by LPA antibody treatment. Of note, based on in vitro experiment, LPA stimulation upregulated Cavα2δ1 and P2X3 expression in primary adult mouse DRG cultures.

Conclusions

Blocking the action of systemic LPA reverses arthritis-induced hypersensitivity, potentially through regulation of Cavα2δ1 and P2X3 expression in peripheral neurons. Thus, our data point to that LPA may serve as a target for providing pain relief in arthritis.
Holding Others in Contempt: the Moderating Role of Power in the Relationship Between Leaders’ Contempt and their Behavior Vis-à-vis Employees
Authors: Sanders Stacey , Wisse Barbara M. , Van Yperen Nico W.
Published: July 2015

The purpose of the present research was to investigate if and when leaders’ trait-like tendency to experience contempt would result in a lack of constructive attitudes and behaviors towards subordinates and an increase in destructive attitudes and behaviors towards subordinates. Previous research shows that increased power aligns individuals’ behavior with their trait-like tendencies. Accordingly, we hypothesized that leader contempt and power will interact to predict leaders’ people orientation, ethical leadership, dehumanization, and self-serving behavior. Across three studies, we indeed found that contempt was more negatively associated with leaders’ people orientation and ethical leadership, and more positively associated with dehumanization and leaders’ self-serving behavior, when the leader had higher levels of power rather than lower levels of power. These results are discussed in the context of corporate ethical scandals demonstrating leaders’ focus on personal gain to the detriment of the needs of their subordinates.
Policy Representation by Party Leaders and Followers: What Drives UK Prime Minister’s Questions?
Authors: Bevan Shaun , John Peter
Published: July 2015

This article demonstrates how party leaders (frontbenchers) and backbenchers use their access to UK Prime Minister’s Questions (PMQs) to represent the policy agenda. Building on comparative research on parliamentary questions and agenda-setting as well as taking account of the particular context of PMQs, we argue that party leaders and followers draw attention to different kinds of policy topics with the express purpose of influencing the government. Based on a content analysis of over 9,000 questions between 1997 and 2008, we demonstrate how the posing of questions affects subsequent agenda, varying according to whether questions come from the front or backbench, from government and opposition and from different parties. The findings demonstrate that PMQs helps both the opposition and backbenchers draw attention to issues that the government and opposition party leadership does not always wish to attend to.
Lyman Alpha Emitting Galaxies in the Nearby Universe
Authors: Hayes Matthew
Published: July 2015

The Lyman alpha emission line (Lyα) of neutral hydrogen (Hi) is intrinsically the brightest emission feature in the spectrum of astrophysical nebulae, making it a very attractive observational feature with which to survey galaxies. Moreover as an ultraviolet resonance line, Lyα possesses several unique characteristics that make it useful to study the properties of the interstellar medium and ionising stellar population at all cosmic epochs. In this review, I present a summary of Lyα observations of galaxies in the nearby universe. By ultraviolet continuum selection, at the magnitudes reachable with current facilities, only ≈ 5% of the local galaxy population shows a Lyα equivalent width (WLyα) that exceeds 20 Å. This fraction increases dramatically at higher redshifts, but only in the local universe can we study galaxies in detail and assemble unprecedented multi-wavelength datasets. I discuss many local Lyα observations, showing that when galaxies show net Lyα emission, they ubiquitously also produce large-scale halos of scattered Lyα, that dominate the integrated luminosity. Concerning global measurements, we discuss how WLyα and the Lyα escape fraction (fLyαesc) are higher (WLyα ≳ 20 Å and fLyαesc ≳ 10%) in galaxies that represent the less massive and younger end of the distribution for local objects. This is connected with various properties, such that Lyα-emitting galaxies have lower metal abundances (median value of 12 + log(O/H) ~ 8.1) and dust reddening. However, the presence of galactic outflows/winds is also vital to Doppler shift the Lyα line out of resonance with the atomic gas, and high WLyα is found only among galaxies with winds faster than ~ 50 km s−1. The empirical evidence is then assembled into a coherent picture, and the requirement for star-formation-driven feedback is discussed in the context of an evolutionary sequence where the interstellar medium is accelerated and/or subject to hydrodynamical instabilities, which reduce the scattering of Lyα. Concluding remarks take the form of perspectives upon future developments, and the most pressing questions that can be answered by observation.
Drawing Your Senator from a Jar:Term Length and Legislative Behavior
Authors: Titiunik Rocío
Published: July 2015

This paper studies the effects of term duration on legislative behavior using field experiments that occur in the Arkansas, Illinois, and Texas Senates in the United States. After mandatory changes in senate district boundaries, state senators are randomly assigned to serve either two-year or four-year terms, providing a rare opportunity to study legislative behavior experimentally. Despite important differences across states, when considered together, the results show that senators serving two years abstain more often, introduce fewer bills, and do not seem to be more responsive to their constituents than senators serving four years. In addition, senators serving shorter terms raise and spend significantly more money, although in those states where funds can be raised continuously during the legislative term, the differences arise only when the election is imminent.
Diets and morbid tissues – history counts, present counts
Authors: Henkin Yaakov , Kovsan Julia , Gepner Yftach , Shai Iris
Published: July 2015

Body fat distribution, especially visceral fat accumulation, may contribute more than total fat massper seto the development of metabolic and cardiovascular disorders. Early prevention highly improves health outcomes later in life, especially when considering such cumulative conditions as atherosclerosis. However, as these processes emerge to be partly reversible, dietary and lifestyle interventions at any age and health condition are greatly beneficial. Given the worldwide abundance of metabolic and cardiovascular disorders, the identification and implementation of strategies for preventing or reducing the accumulation of morbid fat tissues is of great importance for preventing and regressing atherosclerosis. This review focuses on dietary strategies and specific food components that were demonstrated to alter body fat distribution and regression of atherosclerosis. Different properties of various adipose depots (superficial subcutaneous, deep subcutaneous and visceral fat depots) and their contribution to metabolic and cardiovascular disorders are briefly discussed. Visceral obesity and atherosclerosis should be approached as modifiable rather than ineluctable conditions.
Krishna's Neglected Responsibilities: Religious devotion and social critique in eighteenth-century North India
Authors: WILLIAMS RICHARD DAVID
Published: July 2015

This article examines the literary strategies employed by a devotional poet who wrote about recent events in the eighteenth century, in order to shed light on contemporary notions of social responsibility. Taking the poetic treatment of Ahmad Shah Abdali's invasion of North India and the sacking of Vrindavan in 1757 as its primary focus, the article will discuss how political and theological understandings of lordship converged at a popular level, such that a deity could be called to account as a neglectful landlord as well as venerated in abhakticontext. It examines the redaction of tropes inherited from bothvaisnavaliterature and late Mughal ethical thought, and considers the parallels between theHarikala Beli, a Braj Bhasha poem, and immediately contemporary developments in Urdu literature, particularly theshahr ashobgenre. As such, it uses poetic responses to traumatic events as a guide to the interaction between multiple intellectual systems concerned with human and divine expectations and obligations.
A review of Russian ice-breaking tariff policy on the northern sea route 1991–2014
Authors: Gritsenko Daria , Kiiski Tuomas
Published: July 2015

In recent years, interest in the economic potential of the Arctic has been mounting, facilitated by environmental developments caused by climate change. In this context, the viability of shipping in Arctic waters is pivotal. This article explores the interplay of market considerations and the non-market drivers (climatic, navigational and political components) regarding the viability of the most prominent Arctic shipping route, the northern sea route (NSR), as a global shipping route. In particular, it concentrates on the Russian ice-breaking tariff policy on the NSR and presents a review from 1991, when the route was officially opened to international shipping, until 2014. The study integrates qualitative and longitudinal quantitative data related to NSR traffic, ice-breaking tariffs and ice conditions. The paper shows that the ice-breaking fees play a key role for the functioning of the NSR by providing a source of funding for the ice-breaking fleet, which constitutes a basis for safe shipping. However, the development of the NSR into a competitive transcontinental shipping route is determined by a dynamic mixture of factors in which the Russian ice-breaking fee represents an additional cost item for shipping companies and shippers. It is argued that the development of ice-breaking tariff policy has been guided by structural changes in external factors consequently influencing the demand for ice-breaking services (a derivative of NSR demand), which limits the extent to which tariff policy influences the attractiveness of the NSR in a global context.
Revisiting Karl Barth's doctrine of baptism from a perspective on prayer
Authors: Cocksworth Ashley
Published: July 2015

This article focuses on Karl Barth's mature doctrine of baptism, as it is developed in the final part-volume of theChurch Dogmatics. Published in 1967 (English translation in 1969) as a fragment of the ethics of the doctrine of reconciliation, Barth's theology of baptism is not without its controversy. Among the critiques that the baptism fragment has generated, one of the most significant concerns is over its presentation of the relation between divine agency and human agency. The formal division in the baptism fragment (and its sharp distinction between ‘Spirit baptism’ and ‘water baptism’) is taken to imply an uncharacteristic separation of divine agency and human agency, which renders his doctrine of baptism inconsistent with other areas of his thought. The argument proposed in this article, however, is that better clarity as to what Barth is theologically up to in the baptism fragment can be gained by reading his mature theology of baptism in connection with his theology of prayer. Barth's theology of prayer is rich and extensive. Although very present across all of his writings, his thinking on prayer (and indeed theChurch Dogmaticsitself) culminates in an intriguing set of meditations on the petitions of the Lord's Prayer. Although unfinished, these lectures on prayer were published posthumously asThe Christian Lifein 1976 (English translation 1981). Together with his doctrine of baptism and his unwritten doctrine of the Lord's Supper, the finished lectures on prayer would have formed the ethics of reconciliation. Importantly, Barth insists that baptism and the Lord's Supper were to be understood not only in the context of prayer but actually as prayer, as ‘invocation’. Rooted in the motif of ‘correspondence’, which is deployed at a number of key points throughout theChurch Dogmatics, Barth's theology of invocation is based on a highly participative account of the divine–human relation: divine agency and human agency ‘correspond’ in the crucible of prayer. From the perspective provided by his writings on prayer, invocation and the motif of the ‘correspondence’ of divine and human agency, this article revisits the critique that Barth unduly separates divine and human agency in the baptism fragment.
A Sharp Uniform Bound for the Distribution of Sums of Bernoulli Trials
Authors: BAILLON JEAN-BERNARD , COMINETTI ROBERTO , VAISMAN JOSÉ
Published: July 2015

In this note we establish a uniform bound for the distribution of a sum Sn=X1+···+Xn of independent non-homogeneous Bernoulli trials. Specifically, we prove that σn(Sn = j) ≤ η, where σn denotes the standard deviation of Sn, and η is a universal constant. We compute the best possible constant η ~ 0.4688 and we show that the bound also holds for limits of sums and differences of Bernoullis, including the Poisson laws which constitute the worst case and attain the bound. We also investigate the optimal bounds for n and j fixed. An application to estimate the rate of convergence of Mann's fixed-point iterations is presented.
Cognitive Predictors of Reasoning through Treatment Decisions in Patients with Newly Diagnosed Brain Metastases
Authors: Gerstenecker Adam , Duff Kevin , Meneses Karen , Fiveash John B. , Nabors Louis B. , Triebel Kristen L.
Published: July 2015

To examine the association between reasoning through medical treatment decisions and cognition in a sample of patients with brain metastasis. The association between reasoning and cognition was examined using data from 41 patients with diagnosed brain metastasis. All diagnoses were made by a board-certified radiation oncologist and were verified histologically. In total, 41 demographically matched, cognitively healthy controls were also included to aid in classifying patients with brain metastasis according to reasoning status (i.e., intact or impaired). Results indicate that measures of episodic memory and processing speed were associated with reasoning. Using these two predictors, actuarial equations were constructed that can be used to help screen for impaired reasoning ability in patients’ with brain metastasis. The equations presented in this study have clinical significance as they can be used to help identify patients at risk for possessing a diminished ability to reason through medical treatment decisions and, thus, are in need of a more comprehensive evaluation of their medical decision-making capacity. (JINS, 2015, 21, 412–418)
Extending Musical Form Outwards in Space and Time: Compositional strategies in sound art and audiovisual installations
Authors: Basanta Adam
Published: July 2015

Sound and media installations are rarely considered from a time-based, formal perspective. In order to enable a greater understanding of temporal form in sound installations, I suggest a cross-disciplinary adaptation of musical form to the installation context. Due to the differences between concert and installation presentation practices – including, but not limited to, the increased agency of the mobile visitor – I re-examine form in installation contexts as the particular temporal experience co-produced by the first-person subject as they navigate in, through and out of the work’s frame. By applying this musical perspective to macro-scale formal structures, a set of tools and concepts become available for the analysis of temporal form in existing sound or audiovisual installations. Using practice-based observation and analysis, I describe several compositional strategies through which musical concepts of material and form can be extended in space and time: each of these strategies provides means with which to shape or constrain the visitor’s co-production of experiential form. Finally, I discuss several strategies that can be used for the creation of large-scale form, with particular reference to algorithmic design principles used in my recent audiovisual installation, Room Dynamics.
Corporeality of Music and Sound Sculpture
Authors: Keylin Vadim
Published: July 2015

This article aims to sketch a theory of sound sculpture, one that would explain the variety of forms this artistic practice might take on and define it in relation to other art forms. My hypothesis is that in order to do this we must focus on the traits of sound sculpture connecting it to music rather than on those separating the two. A useful instrument to analyse this connection is Harry Partch’s concept of corporeal music. In contrast to Western classical music, which he viewed as abstract and devoid of life, Partch envisioned a music that would emphasise the physicality of sound-making and engage the listener on a more visceral level. Investigating a number of works from all parts of the sound sculpture spectrum, I argue that all the various practices that comprise the art form present the core traits of Partch’s musical ideal (physicality of music, audience engagement, and unity of the sonic and the visual) to a substantial extent. Analysing sound sculpture in light of its connection to music brings to the fore a number of musical issues for which this new art form provides a new perspective. Among these are the agency of the composer and the listener, the function and nature of a score, as well as the role of technology in music-making. These issues, along with the general idea of corporeality of music, compose a discourse that transcends the boundaries of different subgenres of sound sculpture, allowing for theorisation of the art form as a whole.
Acoustic Art Forms in the Age of Recordability
Authors: Fiebig Gerald
Published: July 2015

Many theoretical accounts of sound art tend to treat it as a subcategory of either music or visual art. I argue that this dualism prevents many works of sound art from being fully appreciated. My subsequent attempt of finding a basis for a more comprehensive aesthetic of acoustic art forms is helped along by Trevor Wishart’s concept of ‘sonic art’. I follow Wishart’s insight that the status of music was changed by the invention of sound recording and go on to argue that an even more important ontological consequence of recording was the new possibility of storing and manipulating any acoustic event. This media-historic condition, which I refer to as ‘recordability’, spawned three distinct art forms with different degrees of abstraction – electroacoustic music in the tradition of Pierre Schaeffer, gallery-oriented sound art and radiogenic Ars Acustica. Introducing Ars Acustica, or radio art, as a third term provides some perspective on the music/sound art binarism. A brief look at the history of radio art aims at substantiating my claim that all art forms based on recordable sounds can be fruitfully discussed by appreciating their shared technological basis and the multiplicity of their reference systems rather than by subsuming one into another.
Sound Pedagogy: Teaching listening since Cage
Authors: Tinkle Adam
Published: July 2015

This article proposes that teaching peoplehowto listen is a central and underappreciated facet of post-Cagean experimental music and sound art. Under a new analytical framework that I call ‘sound pedagogy’, I trace a history of linguistic discourses about listening, from John Cage’s talking pieces to Fluxus text scores, Max Neuhaus’s soundwalks, R. Murray Schafer’s ear cleaning exercises and Pauline Oliveros’sSonic Meditations. I show how all these artists attempt to transform auditory perception in the everyday life of the subject. A central debate here is whether this more ‘open’ listening should be viewed as a new, cultivated practice, or, more problematically, as a primordial condition to which we must return. Framed as a polemical antidote to our harmful auditory enculturation (which privileges Western art music and alienates us from potential auditory aesthesis in the lived space of daily life), these sound pedagogies are, as I will show, ripe for deconstruction and critique. Yet, more hopefully, they may also open up broader and more immediate forms of participation than Western art music has typically allowed.
Selfless Persons: Goodness in an Impersonal World?
Authors: Baker Lynne Rudder
Published: July 2015

Mark Johnston takes reality to be wholly objective or impersonal, and aims to show that the inevitability of death does not obliterate goodness in such a naturalistic world. Crucial to his argument is the claim that there are no persisting selves. After critically discussing Johnston's arguments, I set out a view of persons that shares Johnston's view that there are no selves, but disagrees about the prospects of goodness in a wholly impersonal world. On my view, a wholly objective world is ontologically incomplete: Persons have irreducible first-person properties. My aim is to show that we can (and should) reject selves, but that we can (and should) retain persons and their essential first-person properties as ontologically significant.
The Mental States of Persons and their Brains
Authors: Crane Tim
Published: July 2015

Cognitive neuroscientists frequently talk about the brain representing the world. Some philosophers claim that this is a confusion. This paper argues that there is no confusion, and outlines one thing that ‘the brain represents the world’ might mean, using the notion of a model derived from the philosophy of science. This description is then extended to make apply to propositional attitude attributions. A number of problems about propositional attitude attributions can be solved or dissolved by treating propositional attitudes as models.
Actual Consciousness: Database, Physicalities, Theory, Criteria, No Unique Mystery
Authors: Honderich Ted
Published: July 2015

(i) Is disagreement about consciousness largely owed to no adequate initial clarification of the subject, to people in fact answering different questions – despite five leading ideas of consciousness? (ii) Your being conscious in the primary ordinary sense, to sum up a wide figurative database, is initially clarified assomething's being actual– clarified asactual consciousness. (iii) Philosophical method like the scientific method includes transition from the figurative to literal theory or analysis. (iv) A new theory will also satisfy various criteria not satisfied by many existing theories. (v) Theobjective physicalworld has specifiable general characteristics including spatiality, lawfulness, being in science, connections with perception, and so on. (vi)Actualism, the literal theory or analysis of actual consciousness, deriving mainly from the figurative database, is that actual consciousness has counterpart but partly different general characteristics. Actual consciousness is thussubjectively physical.So physicality in general consists in objective and also subjective physicality. (vii) Consciousness in the case of perception isonlythe dependent existence of a subjective external physical world out there, often a room. (viii) But cognitive and affective consciousness, various kinds of thinking and wanting, differently subjectively physical, is internal – subjectively physical representations-with-attitude, representations that also are actual. They differ from the representations that are lines of type, sounds etc. by being actual. (ix) Thus they involve a subjectivity or individuality that is a lawful unity. (x) Actualism, both an externalism and an internalism, does not impose on consciousness a flat uniformuity, and it uniquely satisfies the various criteria for an adequate theory, including naturalism. (xi) Actual consciousness isaright subject and is a necessary part ofanyinquiry whatever into consciousness. (xii) All of it is a subject for more science, a workplace. (xiii) There is no unique barrier or impediment whatever to science, as often said, no want of understanding of the mind-consciousness connection (Nagel), no known unique hard problem of consciousness (Chalmers), no insuperable difficulty having to do with physicality and the history of science (Chomsky), no arguable ground at all of mysterianism (McGinn).
Group Minds and Explanatory Simplicity
Authors: Sprevak Mark , Statham David
Published: July 2015

This paper explores the claim that explanation of a group's behaviour in term of individual mental states is, in principle, superior to explanation of that behaviour in terms of group mental states. We focus on the supposition that individual-level explanation is superior because it is simpler than group-level explanation. In this paper, we consider three different simplicity metrics. We argue that on none of those metrics does individual-level explanation achieve greater simplicity than a group-level alternative. We conclude that an argument against group minds should not lay weight on concerns of explanatory simplicity.
‘The Secrets of All Hearts’: Locke on Personal Identity
Authors: Strawson Galen
Published: July 2015

Many think John Locke's account of personal identity is inconsistent and circular. It's neither of these things. The root causes of the misreading are [i] the mistake of thinking that Locke uses ‘consciousness’ to mean memory, [ii] failure to appreciate the importance of the ‘concernment’ that always accompanies ‘consciousness’, on Locke's view, [iii] a tendency to take the term person, in Locke's text, as if it were (only) some kind of fundamental sortal term like ‘human being’ or ‘thinking thing’, and to fail to take proper account of Locke's use of it as a ‘forensic’ term (§26). It's well known that Locke uses person as a forensic term, but the consequences of this have still not been fully worked out.
Package size and manufacturer-recommended serving size of sweet beverages: a cross-sectional study across four high-income countries
Authors: Poelman Maartje P , Eyles Helen , Dunford Elizabeth , Schermel Alyssa , L’Abbe Mary R , Neal Bruce , Seidell Jacob C , Steenhuis Ingrid HM , Ni Mhurchu Cliona
Published: July 2015

Objective

To assess the mean package size and manufacturer-recommended serving size of sweet beverages available in four high-income countries: Australia, Canada, the Netherlands and New Zealand.

Design

Cross-sectional surveys.

Setting

The two largest supermarket chains of each country in 2012/2013.

Subjects

Individual pack size (IPS) drinks (n891) and bulk pack size (BPS) drinks (n1904).

Results

For all IPS drinks, the mean package size was larger than the mean serving size (mean (sd)=412 (157) ml and 359 (159) ml, respectively). The mean (sd) package size of IPS drinks was significantly different for all countries (range: Australia=370 (149) ml to New Zealand=484 (191) ml;P<0·01). The mean (sd) package size of Dutch BPS drinks (1313 (323) ml) was significantly smaller compared with the other countries (New Zealand=1481 (595) ml, Australia=1542 (595) ml, Canada=1550 (434) ml;P<0·01). The mean (sd) serving size of BPS drinks was significantly different across all countries (range: Netherlands=216 (30) ml to Canada=248 (31) ml;P<0·00). New Zealand had the largest package and serving sizes of the countries assessed. In all countries, a large number of different serving sizes were used to provide information on the amount appropriate to consume in one sitting.

Conclusions

At this point there is substantial inconsistency in package sizes and manufacturer-recommended serving sizes of sweet beverages within and between four high-income countries, especially for IPS drinks. As consumers do factor serving size into their judgements of healthiness of a product, serving size regulations, preferably set by governments and global health organisations, would provide consistency and assist individuals in making healthier food choices.
Legal personhood and the firm: avoiding anthropomorphism and equivocation
Authors: GINDIS DAVID
Published: July 2015

From the legal point of view, ‘person’ is not co-extensive with ‘human being’. Nor is it synonymous with ‘rational being’ or ‘responsible subject’. Much of the confusion surrounding the issue of the firm's legal personality is due to the tendency to address the matter with only these, all too often conflated, definitions of personhood in mind. On the contrary, when the term ‘person’ is defined in line with its original meaning as ‘mask’ worn in the legal drama, it is easy to see that it is only the capacity to attract legal relations that defines the legal person. This definition, that avoids the undesirable emotional associations and equivocations that often plague the debate, is important for a legally grounded view of the firm.
Lifetime and 12-month prevalence, severity and unmet need for treatment of common mental disorders in Japan: results from the final dataset of World Mental Health Japan Survey
Authors: Ishikawa H. , Kawakami N. , Kessler R. C. ,   the World Mental Health Japan Survey Collaborators
Published: July 2015

Background.

The aim of this study is to estimate the lifetime and 12-month prevalence, severity and treatment of Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders fourth edition (DSM-IV) mental disorders in Japan based on the final data set of the World Mental Health Japan Survey conducted in 2002–2006.

Methods.

Face-to-face household interviews of 4130 respondents who were randomly selected from Japanese-speaking residents aged 20 years or older were conducted from 2002 to 2006 in 11 community populations in Japan (overall response rate, 56%). The World Mental Health version of the World Health Organization Composite International Diagnostic Interview (WMH-CIDI), a fully structured, lay administered psychiatric diagnostic interview, was used for diagnostic assessment.

Results.

Lifetime/12-month prevalence of any DSM-IV common mental disorders in Japan was estimated to be 20.3/7.6%. Rank-order of four classes of mental disorders was anxiety disorders (8.1/4.9%), substance disorders (7.4/1.0%), mood disorders (6.5/2.3%) and impulse control disorders (2.0/0.7%). The most common individual disorders were alcohol abuse/dependence (7.3/0.9%), major depressive disorder (6.1/2.2%), specific phobia (3.4/2.3%) and generalized anxiety disorder (2.6/1.3%). While the lifetime prevalence of any mental disorder was greater for males and the middle-aged, the persistence (proportion of 12-month cases among lifetime cases) of any mental disorder was greater for females and younger respondents. Among those with any 12-month disorder, 15.3% were classified as severe, 44.1% moderate and 40.6% mild. Although a strong association between severity and service use was found, only 21.9% of respondents with any 12-month disorder sought treatment within the last 12 months; only 37.0% of severe cases received medical care. The mental health specialty sector was the most common resource used in Japan. Although the prevalence of mental disorders were quite low, mental disorders were the second most prevalent cause of severe role impairment among chronic physical and mental disorders.

Conclusions.

These results suggest lower prevalence of mental disorders in Japan than that in Western countries, although the general pattern of disorders, risk factors and unmet need for treatment were similar to those in other countries. Greater lifetime prevalence for males and greater persistence for females seems a unique feature of Japan, suggesting a cultural difference in gender-related etiology and course of disorders. The treatment rate in Japan was lower than that in most other high-income countries in WMH surveys.
Twin Classics: Research That Always Inspires/Twin Studies: Elder Twin Relationships; Superfecundated Twinning in Chimpanzees; Conjoined Twinning and Embryo Transfer; Reduced Frequency of In Vitro Multiples/Professional and Human Interest: First Identical Twin Renal Transplant; Identical Triplet Wedding; Spanakos Twins: Boxers; Twins in Space; Political Twins
Authors: Segal Nancy L.
Published: July 2015

Ten classic works in twin research are described. These volumes are rich in data, interpretation, and impact, and contain life history material that adds depth and dimension to the quantitative findings. Next, research on social relationships in older twins, superfecundated twinning in chimpanzees; effects of embryo transfer on conjoined twinning and the reduced frequency of in vitro multiples is reviewed. Finally, there has been considerable public interest surrounding the first identical twin renal transplant, an identical triplet wedding; identical twin boxers, a twin living in space, and a politically active twin pair.
Samuel J. Bame Jr. (1924–2014)
Authors: Feldman Bill , McComas Dave , Thomsen Michelle
Published: July 2015

The pioneering space physicist made fundamental discoveries about space plasmas, including first measurements of solar wind structures and magnetic reconnection at the Earth's magnetopause.