bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Applying Points-of-View Analysis to Individual Variations in Colour Sorting Data
Authors: Bimler David L. , Kirkland John , Uusküla Mari
Published: March 2015

“Points-of-View” analysis has been promoted as an appropriate analysis for similarity data collected with the Method of Sorting. It can be regarded as an extension of Cultural Consensus Analysis (cca). The latter assumes that subjects all base their responses on a single shared ‘model’ of the items to be sorted (while varying in the level of reliability with which they consult that model). Conversely, the titular “points-of-view” are multiple models, sampled singularly by some subjects’ responses, while other subjects combine the models in various proportions. The analysis appears to be comparatively insensitive to the artefacts to which sorting data are prone, which affect how easily they can be interpreted with (for instance) multidimensional scaling (mds). Here we apply the Points-of-View approach to two sets of data from the colour domain, a sensory modality well-suited for the sorting procedure. One study extracted three viewpoints – i.e., factors, prototypal ways of organising the stimuli – with one viewpoint specific to colour-vision-deficient observers, capturing independently-measured differences among the subjects. In the second study, two viewpoints proved to be appropriate: one arranged the items by two dimensions, lightness/saturation as well as hue, while the second was essentially a one-dimensional hue-based arrangement. This distinction could not be recovered from the raw data by applyingmdswith the weighted-Euclidean model of individual difference. We discuss some demographic factors which might dispose subjects to attend to hue only or saturation/lightness as well.
Rethinking the Evolution of Culture and Cognitive Structure
Authors: Stuart-Fox Martin
Published: March 2015

Two recent attempts to clarify misunderstandings about the nature of cultural evolution (Henrich et al., 2008; Gabora, 2011) came to very different conclusions, based on very different understandings of what evolves and how. This paper begins by examining these two ‘clarifications’ in order to reveal their key differences, and goes on to rethink how culture evolves by focussing on the role of cognitive structure, or worldview.
Ugandan Born-Again Christians and the Moral Politics of Gender Equality
Authors: Boyd Lydia
Published: March 2015

In recent years Ugandan born-again Christians have regularly engaged in forms of social protest—against homosexuality, in support of youth sexual abstinence—that they characterize as acts in defense of the African family. At the center of these protests was an overriding concern with the effects of a global discourse of rights-based gender equality on Ugandan cultural norms. Drawing on long-term fieldwork in a born-again church in Kampala, this article examines the underlying moral conflict that shapes born-again women’s and men’s rejections of gender equality. At the center of such conflicts were concerns about the ways rights-based equality undermined other models for moral personhood and gendered interdependence that existed in Uganda, models that were characterized as essential for social stability and personal well-being. This conflict is analyzed in relation to a broader sense of moral insecurity that pervaded discussion of gender and family life in Kampala.
Enforcement of Intra-EU ICSID Awards
Authors: Tietje Christian , Wackernagel Clemens
Published: March 2015

According to the European Commission, enforcement of the ICSID award in Micula constitutes illegal state aid under Article 107 TFEU. At the same time, Articles 53 and 54 ICSID Convention require unconditional enforcement of ICSID awards. So far, the relationship between the ICSID Convention and EU law is unresolved. This article presents different approaches to this relationship. It concludes that both EU law and the ICSID Convention are determining factors for the enforcement of intra-EU ICSID awards. As a result, the legal situation involves two competing legal orders each claiming superiority within their scope of application – an increasingly common situation in multilevel systems of governance. Discussing the various legal issues surrounding enforcement of intra-EU ICSID awards, the article proposes a solution to such problems along the lines of the ECtHR’s Bosphorus jurisprudence.
Impatiens courtallensis (Balsaminaceae), a new species of Impatiens from Western Ghats, Tamil Nadu, India
Authors: R Ramasubbu , G Manikandan , P Mehalingam , AG Pandurangan
Published: March 2015

Impatiens courtallensis, a new species from Tamil Nadu, India is newly described and illustrated. This species is characterized by having typical opposite deccusate leaves, minute flower (≤4mm across), milky white, boat shaped lower sepal with outwardly curved tip, minute spur, seeds with prominent caruncle and typical squarish pollengrains. This combination of characters makes determining the relationships of I. courtallensis difficult.
A new species of Promenaea (Cymbidieae; Epidendroideae; Orchidaceae) from Southeastern Brazil
Authors: Barberena Felipe Fajardo , Barros Fábio de
Published: March 2015

During studies toward a new monograph of Promenaea, a new species was discovered in Southeastern Brazil. Promenaea viridiflora is found in the Atlantic Forest, where it is restricted to São Paulo state. The color of the flower, apex of sepals and petals and callus lip are diagnostic characters that distinguish it from P. stapelioides, the morphologically closest species. Nevertheless, Promenaea viridiflora is phylogenetically closer to P. xanthina than P. stapelioides. Although Promenaea viridiflora has been grown successfully in the greenhouse at the Núcleo de Pesquisa Orquidário do Estado in the Instituto de Botânica (IBt—São Paulo, Brazil), it has not been recollected for over 25 years. According to the criteria of the IUCN Red List of endangered plant species, P. viridiflora is assessed as “Critically Endangered”.
Contribution to the systematic knowledge of Lamium multifidum and L. orientale (Lamiaceae)
Authors: Atasagun Bayram , Aksoy Ahmet , Martin Esra
Published: March 2015

Some morphological, anatomical, palynological and karyological features of Lamium multifidum and L. orientale (Lamiaceae) naturally occurring in Turkey have been studied. Additional information was added to the previous description of these species. Anatomically, both L. multifidum and L. orientale had an annual taproot, stems quadrangular in cross-section, leaves bifacial. The nutlets were ovoid in outline and trigonous in cross section, blackish-dark brownish, with glabrous surface. The pollen grains of both species were tricolpate, shape subprolate, ornamentation reticulate. In both species, the somatic chromosome number resulted 2n = 14. The anatomical and palynological features, chromosome number and morphological characters of both species were reported for the first time in this study.
A new species of Paspalum, Notata group (Poaceae, Paspaleae), from the Cerrado biome, Brazil: description, chromosome number, and leaf blade anatomy
Authors: Oliveira Regina Célia , VALLS José F.M. , GOMES SUELI MARIA , FAGG CHRISTOPHER W. , POZZOBON MARISA TONIOLO
Published: March 2015

Paspalum cerradoense R.C. Oliveira & Valls, a new species from the “Chapada dos Veadeiros” region, in the Cerrado biome, Brazil, is here described and illustrated. It is included in the informal Notata group of Paspalum, because of the inflorescences with two distal conjugated racemes. The new species has a chromosome number of 2n=20, which is in agreement with the basic chromosome number of other species of the Notata group. As there are similarities between Paspalum cerradoense, P. cromyorhizon, and P. ionanthum, morphological and anatomical characters of these three species are compared. There are at least 30 differences between these species, which corroborate the consistency of their circumscriptions.
Suillus marginielevatus, a new species and S. triacicularis, a new record from Western Himalaya, Pakistan
Authors: Sarwar Samina , SABA MALKA , KHALID ABDUL N. , DENTINGER BRYN M.
Published: March 2015

Suillus marginielevatus sp. nov. and S. triacicularis are reported from Himalayan moist temperate forests of Pakistan in association with conifers. Morphologically S. marginielevatus is close to S. sibiricus, S. granulatus and S. intermedius but it can be distinguished by uplifted pileus margin and curved stipe with no ring at all stages. Phylogenetic analysis of internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region showed that this species form separate clade from other closely related Suillus species. Suillus triacicularis represents a new record for Pakistani mycobiota. Field photographs of fresh basidocarps and line drawings of microcharacters are provided along with phylogenetic tree.
Orbilia laevimarginata sp. nov. and its asexual morph
Authors: Zhang Ying , He Xiaoxia , Baral Hans-Otto , Qiao Min , Weiβ Michael , Liu Bin , Zhang Ke-Qin , Yu Zefen
Published: March 2015

O. laevimarginata is here described as a new species, and also its asexual morph could not be assigned to an existing taxon. Anamorphic strains were obtained from three teleomorph specimens which were collected at different sites and dates. The anamorph is characterized by cylindric-ellipsoid to oblong conidia, mainly 1-septate, growing either singly or mostly from 2–10 denticles in a capitate arrangement on the tip of conidiophores. These morphological characters are similar to those of the nematophagous anamorph genus Arthrobotrys, but the present isolates lack the ability to produce any trapping devices when contacting with nematodes. Phylogenetic analysis inferred from ITS rDNA sequences on different groups within Orbilia showed that the isolates of O. laevimarginata clustered together in a clade separate from Orbilia crenatomarginata (= Hyalinia crystallina). The two species are close to O. scolecospora and an undescribed species, which all have a crenulate to dentate apothecial margin composed of solid glassy processes. The group clustered distant from those species identified within the nematode-trapping anamorph genera Arthrobotrys, Dactylellina and Drechslerella, but also distant from the non-predacious anamorph genus Dactylella. By combining morphological and phylogenetic analysis, we conclude that the three isolates belong to a single undescribed holomorph species. The morphological differences among the three isolated anamorphic strains, and phylogenetic divergence of nematode-trapping fungi and related species are discussed.
Morphometric and flow cytometric evaluations of a putative natural hybrid of Centaurium (Gentianaceae) from Turkey
Authors: Çiçek Mehmet , YAPRAK AHMET EMRE , ALAN ALİ RAMAZAN
Published: March 2015

A putative natural hybrid of Centaurium was discovered in a population composed of C. serpentinicola and C. tenuiflorum subsp. tenuiflorum in the vicinity of Köyceğiz (Muğla province, SW Turkey). Morphometric analysis performed using 14 diagnostic characters supported that the putative natural hybrid as an interspecific hybrid between C. serpentinicola and C. tenuiflorum subsp. tenuiflorum. Flow cytometric measurements revealed that C. serpentinicola and C. tenuiflorum subsp. tenuiflorum have similar nuclear DNA amounts (2.61 and 2.53 pg DNA/2C), whereas the putative hybrid have a significantly higher nuclear DNA amount (2.77 pg DNA/2C), and they have the same ploidy level.
Taxonomic revision of the genus Pseudocodon (Campanulaceae) based on character analysis and molecular phylogeny
Authors: WANG QIANG , HONG DE-YUAN
Published: March 2015

All taxa of the newly established genus Pseudocodon (= Codonopsis subg. Pseudocodonopsis), except for Pseudocodon rosulatus, form a complicated group extremely controversial on species delimitation. In the present study, numerous field trips were made, 29 populations were observed, and over 800 specimens of the genus preserved in 18 herbaria were critically examined. Statistical analysis of the characters was carried out based on 148 samples from specimens and 16 field populations. Four fragments of chloroplast DNA (atpB, matK, rbcL, petD with petB-petD spacer) and ITS of nuclear DNA were used in the molecular phylogenetic analysis of 40 samples from specimens and 22 field populations. A taxonomic revision of the genus Pseudocodon is presented on the basis of these studies. We recognize eight species: Pseudocodon convolvulaceus, Pse. graminifolius, Pse. grey-wilsonii, Pse. hirsutus, Pse. petiolatus, Pse. retroserratus, Pse. rosulatus, and Pse. vinciflorus. In the present study, one new species and one new subspecies are described, and one new combination is made. In addition, nine taxa are treated as synonyms, and six lectotypes are designated.
Impact of Initial Conditions versus External Forcing in Decadal Climate Predictions: A Sensitivity Experiment*
Authors: Corti Susanna , Palmer Tim , Balmaseda Magdalena , Weisheimer Antje , Drijfhout Sybren , Dunstone Nick , Hazeleger Wilco , Kröger Jürgen , Pohlmann Holger , Smith Doug , Storch Jin-Song von , Wouters Bert
Published: March 2015

The impact of initial conditions relative to external forcings in decadal integrations from an ensemble of state-of-the-art prediction models has been assessed using specifically designed sensitivity experiments (SWAP experiments). They consist of two sets of 10-yr-long ensemble hindcasts for two initial dates in 1965 and 1995 using either the external forcings from the “correct” decades or swapping the forcings between the two decades. By comparing the two sets of integrations, the impact of external forcing versus initial conditions on the predictability over multiannual time scales was estimated as the function of lead time of the hindcast. It was found that over time scales longer than about 1 yr, the predictability of sea surface temperatures (SSTs) on a global scale arises mainly from the external forcing. However, the correct initialization has a longer impact on SST predictability over specific regions such as the North Atlantic, the northwestern Pacific, and the Southern Ocean. The impact of initialization is even longer and extends to wider regions when below-surface ocean variables are considered. For the western and eastern tropical Atlantic, the impact of initialization for the 700-m heat content (HTC700) extends to as much as 9 years for some of the models considered. In all models the impact of initial conditions on the predictability of the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (AMOC) is dominant for the first 5 years.
Pulmonary Rehabilitation After Total Laryngectomy
Authors: Parrilla Claudio , Minni Antonio , Bogaardt Hans , Macri Gian Franco , Battista Mariapina , Roukos Raymond , Pandolfini Manlio , Ruoppolo Giovanni , Paludetti Gaetano , D’Alatri Lucia , de Vincentiis Marco
Published: March 2015

Background:

Both the immediate beneficial physiological changes in a laboratory setting and the long-term clinical outcomes of heat and moisture exchanger (HME) use are well described. So far, there has not been any research published that provides detailed insight in the pattern of changes in both respiratory function and patients’ experiences with HMEs in the first weeks of use.

Methods:

A multicenter time-series study design with a 2-week double baseline period. All patients used the XtraHME for 12 weeks afterward. Data were collected 2 weeks, 6 weeks, and 12 weeks after the start of HME use.

Results:

Data of 30 patients were analyzed. Pulmonary symptoms decreased significantly during the 12 weeks of HME use. After 2 weeks, a significant decrease in daily coughs and daily forced expectorations was seen. The general quality of life showed a significant increase throughout the study. More general physical complaints also significantly decreased with HME use. Patient satisfaction with the HME was high.

Conclusions:

This study shows that there is a significant influence of the XtraHME on pulmonary status that can already be observed after 2 weeks of using the XtraHME and continues to improve further after 6 weeks of XtraHME use.
Pushing the limits of chemistry point-of-care testing for the management of patients under investigation for Ebola virus disease
Authors: LeBlanc Jason J , Heinstein Charles , MacDonald James , Gallant Roy , Roberts Catherine , Jackson Colleen , Lou Amy , Nassar Bassam A , Hatchette Todd F
Published: March 2015

Background

With the recent outbreak in West Africa, hospitals worldwide have been developing protocols for suspect of cases of Ebola virus disease. Patients with Ebola virus disease present with a severe gastroenteritis leading to dehydration and electrolyte abnormalities and as such, routine chemistry analysis is essential for patient management. While point-of-care testing can be used with additional precautions for rapid chemistry analyses in a laboratory setting, significant delays could ensue before specimens arrive to the laboratory. This study evaluated the stability of eight chemistry analytes up to 4 h post-collection.

Methods

Blood was collected by venipuncture from 20 healthy volunteers and tested at times 0, 30, 60, 90, 120 and 240 h. Approximately 100 µl of blood was dispensed into a CHEM 8+Cartridge and processed on a model 300 i-STAT 1 Analyzer (Abbott Point of Care Inc.) and ANOVA was used to assess statistical significant difference from the initial time point.

Results

While the manufacturer recommends testing within 30 min of collection, no significant variation was observed for most analytes with time points extending up to 4 h. In contrast, glucose concentrations decreased significantly ( P < 0.0001) over time at an average rate of 0.0032 mmol/L per min.

Conclusions

This study provides supporting data suggesting that delays up to 4 h can be tolerated, giving ample time for collection and transport of specimens to the clinical laboratory. For glucose, POC testing could still be used, taking into account the collection time and the average rate of decrease.
What is the relationship between long working hours, over-employment, under-employment and the subjective well-being of workers? Longitudinal evidence from the UK
Authors: Angrave David , Charlwood Andy
Published: March 2015

Are long working hours, over-employment and under-employment associated with a reduction in subjective well-being? If they are, is the association long or short-lasting? This article answers these questions through within-person analysis of a nationally representative longitudinal survey from the United Kingdom. The results suggest that long working hours do not directly affect subjective well-being, but in line with theories of person–environment fit, both over-employment and under-employment are associated with lower subjective well-being. However, over-employment is more likely for those who work the longest hours. The duration of the subjective well-being penalty associated with over-employment and under-employment is typically short, but subjective well-being levels tend to remain depressed for those who remain over-employed for two years or more. Results imply that state and organizational policies that reduce the incidence of long hours working are likely to enhance aggregate well-being levels.
Institutionalizing a global anti-corruption regime: Perverse effects on country outcomes, 1984–2012
Authors: Cole Wade M
Published: March 2015

A global anti-corruption movement rapidly mobilized and institutionalized during the mid-1990s. Using data for 119 countries between 1984 and 2012, I examine the effects of this movement on rated levels of perceived corruption. Results from multivariate regression analyses show that the global surge in anti-corruption organizing, monitoring, and legalization was paradoxically associated with an increase in rated levels of corruption, over and above a host of political, economic, social, and cultural factors shown in previous research to explain perceived corruption. With the international standardization, scrutinization, and stigmatization of corruption, activities once hidden from view or previously regarded as ‘standard operating procedure’ came to be denominated, detected, and decried as illegitimate. In turn, these processes gave the impression that corruption worsened, when in fact it may have remained stable or even improved. These findings lend support to institutional approaches in sociology and the ‘information paradox’ concept in political science.
The Role of Ethnic and Rural Discrimination in the Relationship Between Income Inequality and Health in Guatemala
Authors: Poder Thomas G. , He Jie
Published: March 2015

This article seeks to understand in the ways in which income inequality can affect children’s health (z-score of stunting) in Guatemala. We postulate that there are several transmission channels through which income inequality can affect health and that the children’s ethnic and rural origins influence the size and direction of this effect. The methodology employed is systems of simultaneous equations (three-stage least squares and generalized method of moments). Our results highlight the importance of rural and indigenous characteristics in the relationship between income inequality and child health and indicate that the most important transmission channels are household income levels and maternal education.
“The Major Forces that Need to Back Medical Tourism Were … in Alignment”
Authors: Johnston Rory , Crooks Valorie A. , Snyder Jeremy , Whitmore Rebecca
Published: March 2015

Governments around the world have expressed interest in developing local medical tourism sectors, framing the industry as an opportunity for economic growth and health system improvement. This article addresses questions about how the desire to develop a medical tourism sector in a country emerges and which stakeholders are involved in both creating momentum and informing its progress. Presenting a thematic analysis of 19 key informant interviews conducted with domestic and international stakeholders in Barbados’s medical tourism sector in 2011, we examine the roles that “actors” and “champions” at home and abroad have played in the sector’s development. Physicians and the Barbadian government, along with international investors, the Medical Tourism Association, and development agencies, have promoted the industry, while actors such as medical tourists and international hospital accreditation companies are passively framing the terms of how medical tourism is unfolding in Barbados. Within this context, we seek to better understand the roles and relationships of various actors and champions implicated in the development of medical tourism in order to provide a more nuanced understanding of how the sector is emerging in Barbados and elsewhere and how its development might impact equitable health system development.
Transnational Corporations and Health
Authors: Baum Frances Elaine , Margaret Anaf Julia
Published: March 2015

Transnational corporations (TNCs) are part of an economic system of global capitalism that operates under a neoliberal regime underpinned by strong support from international organisations such as the World Trade Organization, World Bank, and most nation states. Although TNCs have grown in power and influence and have had a significant impact on population health over the past three decades, public health has not developed an integrated research agenda to study them. This article outlines the shape of such an agenda and argues that it is vital that research into the public health impact of TNCs be pursued and funded as a matter of priority. The four areas of the agenda are: assessing the health and equity impacts of TNCs; evaluating the effectiveness of government regulation to mitigate health and equity impacts of TNCs; studying the work of activist groups and networks that highlight adverse impacts of TNCs; and considering how regulation of capitalism could better promote a healthier and more equitable corporate sector.
Symphysiotomy
Authors: Armon Peter
Published: March 2015

The place of symphysiotomy, as an alternative to Caesarean section (CS), in the management of established obstructed labour in low- and middle-income, resource-poor countries (LMICs), is reviewed. It is suggested that it does have a very definite place, especially in mothers of low age and parity, in circumstances where medical facilities are limited, where antenatal care and hospital delivery are not assured in a future pregnancy, and in cultures where it is important to the woman that a vaginal delivery is achieved.
Normalizing Complaint
Authors: Holloway Kelly Joslin
Published: March 2015

In recent decades, academic science has increasingly been directed toward commercializable ends by neoliberal governments. In this article, I outline a concern that academic scientists have not been consulted about the transformation of science, but nevertheless, in some ways accept commercialization as the way things are done. I focus on the ways in which academic scientists attempt to exercise agency, albeit within the parameters of the neoliberal knowledge economy. In this economy, scientific inquiry has transformed to be focused more on producing marketable products. In order to explore the parameters of scientists’ agency in the context of that transformation, I first elaborate on the idea of agency’s “parameters” and argue that the literature on commercialization lacks attention to how researchers’ agency is encouraged and discouraged in the context of academic research in the United States and Canada; second, I make a case for using the concept of hegemony to understand the ideas and practices of contemporary science; third, I propose a methodological direction that can attend to researchers’ agency in the contemporary context of the neoliberal knowledge economy.
Morals, Materials, and Technoscience
Authors: Tidwell Abraham S. D. , Smith Jessica M.
Published: March 2015

This article advances recent scholarship on energy security by arguing that the concept is best understood as a sociotechnical imaginary, a collective vision for a “good society” realized through technoscientific-oriented policies. Focusing on the 1952 Resources for Freedom report, the authors trace the genealogy of energy security, elucidating how it establishes a morality of efficiency that orients policy action under the guise of security toward the liberalizing of markets in resource states and a robust program of energy research and development in the United States. This evidence challenges the pervasive historical anchoring of the concept in the 1970s and illustrates the importance of the genealogical approach for the emerging literature on energy and sociotechnical imaginaries. Exploring the genealogy of energy security also unpacks key social, political, and economic undercurrents that disrupt the seeming universality of the language of energy, leading the authors to question whether energy security discourse is appropriate for guiding policy action during ongoing global energy transitions.
How Entrepreneurs Become Skilled Cultural Operators
Authors: Überbacher Florian , Jacobs Claus D. , Cornelissen Joep P.
Published: March 2015

Cultural entrepreneurship and symbolic management perspectives portray entrepreneurs as skilled cultural operators and often assume them to be capable from the outset to purposefully use ‘cultural resources’ in order to motivate resource-holding audiences to support their new ventures. We problematize this premise and develop a model of how entrepreneurs become skilful cultural operators and develop the cultural competences necessary for creating and growing their ventures. The model is grounded in a case study of an entrepreneur who set up shop and sought to acquire resources in a culturally unfamiliar setting. Our model proposes that two adaptive sensemaking processes – approval-driven sensemaking and autonomy-driven sensemaking – jointly facilitate the gradual development of cultural competences. These processes jointly enable entrepreneurs to gain cultural awareness and calibrate their symbolic enactments. Specifically, while approval-driven sensemaking facilitates recognizing cultural resources to symbolically couple a venture’s identity claims more tightly with the cultural frames of targeted audiences and gain legitimate distinctiveness, autonomy-driven sensemaking enables recognizing cultural constraints and more effective symbolic decoupling to shield the venture from constraining cultural frames and defend the venture’s autonomy and resources. We conclude the paper with a discussion of the theoretical implications of our study for cultural entrepreneurship and symbolic management research.
Knowledge of Nutritional and Health Needs of Children Among Rural Residents of Enugu North Senatorial Zone in Enugu State, Nigeria
Authors: Okoye Uzoma O. , Ngwu Christopher N. , Tanyi Perpetua L.
Published: March 2015

The article assessed knowledge of the nutritional and health needs of children among rural dwellers in Nigeria. Focus group discussions were conducted with all male and female groups in four purposively chosen rural communities in Nsukka Senatorial zone of Enugu State. These generated data on participants’ knowledge on the nutritional and health needs of the children as well as their socio-demographic characteristics. All the participants were married with mean age of 41 and 36 years for males and females, respectively. The participants had six and four children on the average for male and female participants, respectively. Findings show that participants demonstrate knowledge of basic dietary needs of children; however, actual practice is lacking. Men believe women have the sole responsibility for children’s nutrition. Exclusive breastfeeding is not adhered to by participants. Some reservation still exists about immunization. Sustained health education on exclusive breastfeeding and child immunization targeting both sexes is still needed.
Vulvar sarcomas: Short guideline for histopathological recognition and clinical management. Part 1
Authors: Chokoeva AA , Tchernev G , Cardoso JC , Patterson JW , Dechev I , Valkanov S , Zanardelli M , Lotti T , Wollina U
Published: March 2015

Malignant tumors of the female reproductive system are a serious health and social problem, as they are the second most common cause of death among women, after breast cancer. Their incidence has increased dramatically during recent years, probably due to the different sexual habits and changes in the prevalence of HIV/ AIDS and HPV virus carriers, among other factors. Vulvar tumors represent only 4% of all gynecological neoplasms, and they are fourth in frequency after tumors of the cervix, uterus, and ovary. Ninety eight percent of all vulvar tumors are benign and only 2% are malignant. The overall incidence of tumors with vulvar location is between two and seven cases per 100,000 women, and it increases with age, while the death rate is estimated at 0.7 per 100,000 women. Sarcomas of the vulva comprise approximately 1–3% of all vulvar cancers, with leiomyosarcomas, epithelioid sarcomas, and rhabdomyosarcomas being the most common among them. They are characterized by rapid growth, high metastatic potential, frequent recurrences, aggressive behavior, and high mortality rate. In this paper, we present the most common forms of sarcomas of the vulva (leiomyosarcoma, epithelioid sarcoma, malignant rhabdoid tumor, rhabdomyosarcoma) in order to emphasize the broad differential diagnosis, rare appearance, non-specific clinical picture, aggressive course, and high mortality.
Should an increase in cerebral neurochemicals following head kicks in full contact karate influence return to play?
Authors: Graham MR , Pates J , Davies B , Cooper SM , Bhattacharya K , Evans PJ , Baker JS
Published: March 2015

Background:

Cerebral neurochemicals are markers of traumatic brain injury (TBI).

Objectives:

The aim of the study was to determine whether kicks to the head (KTH) in full contact karate significantly increased serum concentrations of protein S-100B, and neurone specific enolase (NSE). Kicks to the body (KTB) were also quantified to asses muscle tissue injury. Muscle damage was assessed by analysis of serum total creatine kinase (CK).

Methods:

Twenty-four full contact karate practitioners were observed and filmed during actual competition and divided into two main groups post event: (1) Kicks to the head and body group (KTH): n = 12; mean ± SD; age, 30.4 ± 6.7 years; height, 1.74 ± 0.1 m; weight, 79.1 ± 2.1 kg; and (2): Kicks to the body group (KTB): n = 12; mean ± SD; age, 28.2 ± 6.5 years; height, 1.75 ± 0.1 m; weight, 79.2 ± 1.7 kg. The KTH group received direct kicks to the head, while group KTB received kicks and punches to the body. Blood samples were taken before and immediately post-combat for analysis of serum S-100B, NSE, CK and cardiac troponin.

Results:

Significant increases in serum concentrations of S-100B (0.12 ± 0.17 vs. 0.37 ± 0.26, µg.L−1) and NSE (11.8 ± 4.1 vs. 20.2 ± 9.1 ng.mL−1) were encountered after combat in the KTH group and CK (123 ± 53 vs. 184 ± 103 U.L−1) in the KTB group (all P <0.05).

Conclusions:

Head kicks in full contact karate cause elevation of neurochemical markers associated with damaged brain tissue. The severity of injury is related to the early post-traumatic release of protein S-100B and NSE. The early kinetics and appearance post injury can reflect intracranial pathology, and suggest S-100B and NSE are extremely sensitive prognostic markers of TBI.
Oxymatrine suppresses proliferation and induces apoptosis of hemangioma cells through inhibition of HIF-1a signaling
Authors: Fei Z-W , Qiu M-K , Qi X-Q , Dai Y-X , Wang S-Q , Quan Z-W , Liu Y-B , Ou J-M
Published: March 2015

Oxymatrine (OMT), a natural quinolizidine alkaloid, has been known to have anti-inflammation, anti-anaphylaxis, and chemopreventive effects on various cancer cells. To clarify the underlying role and molecular mechanisms of OMT in human hemangioma (HA), in the present study, we examined the expression of hypoxia-inducible factor-1a (HIF-1a) and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) in different phases of human HA. After HA derived endothelial cells (HDEC) were pretreated with different concentrations of OMT, cell proliferation, apoptosis, and cycle distribution were evaluated by MTT assay and flow cytometry analysis, respectively. The effects of OMT on expression of HIF-1a signaling were determined by real-time PCR and western blot assays. Our results showed that, the expression of HIF-1a and VEGF was significantly increased in proliferating phase HA, but decreased in involuting phase HA. Moreover, OMT in vitro inhibited proliferative activities and induced cell apoptosis and cycle arrest in G0/G1 phase in HA cells with decreased expression of HIF-1a, VEGF, Bcl-2, and CyclinD1, and increased expression of p53. Taken together, our findings suggest that, the expression of HIF-1a and VEGF is increased in proliferating phase HA, and OMT suppresses cell proliferation and induces cell apoptosis and cycle arrest in proliferative phase HA through inhibition of the HIF-1a signaling pathway, suggesting OMT may provide a novel therapeutic strategy for the treatment of HA.
Public Opinion About Gun Control Post–Sandy Hook
Authors: Wozniak Kevin H.
Published: March 2015

I use data from a national public opinion poll conducted 4 months after the mass shooting of teachers and students in Sandy Hook Elementary School to analyze the content and predictors of public opinion about gun control and gun control politics. I find that a slim majority of Americans favors a semiautomatic weapon ban and proposals to make gun control laws stricter, and a large majority supports a federal background check law. Consistent with previous research, I also find that both instrumental concerns and cultural beliefs are significantly related to people’s opinions about gun control, but the strongest, most consistent predictors of people’s gun control preferences are their political beliefs and affiliations. I conclude by discussing the implications of these findings for the national gun control debate.
Wavelet packet transform-based compression for teleoperation
Authors: Kuzu Ahmet , Baran Eray A , Bogosyan Seta , Gokasan Metin , Sabanovic Asif
Published: March 2015

This paper introduces a codec scheme for compressing the control and feedback signals in networked control and teleoperation systems. The method makes use of Wavelet Packet Transform (WPT) and Inverse Wavelet Packet Transform (IWPT) for coding and decoding operations, respectively. Data compression is carried out in low-pass filter output by reducing the sampling rate, and in high-pass filter output by truncating the wavelet coefficients. The proposed codec works on both directions of signal transmission between a master robot and a slave robot over a networked motion control architecture. Following the formulation of the compression/decompression methodology, experimental validation is conducted on a single-degree-of-freedom motion control system. In the experiments, responses from different Wavelet structures are analyzed and a comparative study is carried out considering the factors of compression rate, reconstruction power error and real-time computational complexity. It is confirmed that the controller using the proposed compression algorithm performs very close to the uncompressed one while enabling transmission of much less data over the network.
Can argyrophilic nucleolar organizing region-associated protein amount be used for the detection of cardiac damage?
Authors: Kandiş H , Afacan MA , Eröz R , Colakoglu S , Bayramoglu A , Oktay M , Saritas A , Colak S , Kaya M , Kara İH
Published: March 2015

Introduction:

Carbon monoxide (CO) is a colorless, tasteless, odorless, nonirritant gas and CO poisoning affects all organ systems.

Aim:

We aimed to detect any possible effects of CO exposure on the argyrophilic nucleolar organizing region (AgNOR)-associated protein synthesis of heart cells and whether there is any relationship between AgNOR protein amount and both carboxyhemoglobin (COHb) level and histopathological evaluation methods used for the detection of damage in heart tissue after CO exposure.

Materials and Methods:

The rats were divided into four groups (control, 1000, 3000, and 5000 ppm), each containing six rats. After CO intoxication, COHb levels were measured and the animals were killed on the 7th day. AgNOR staining was performed in the heart tissue. One hundred nuclei per rat were evaluated, and total AgNOR area/nuclear area and mean AgNOR number were analyzed for each nucleus. The CO exposure groups had significantly higher AgNOR values than the control group ( p < 0.0001). According to cardiomyopathy (CMY) scoring methods, the differences between groups 3 and 4 and groups 1 and 2 were significant ( p < 0.05). A significant positive correlation between AgNOR values and both CMY and COHb levels were detected.

Conclusion:

The detection of AgNOR protein amount may give information about the CMY levels and be used to detect the CO intoxication levels instead of COHb in later periods.
The ecology of social time: An outline of an empirical analytic framework of the sociology of time
Authors: Cheng Tsuo-Yu
Published: March 2015

The purpose of this paper is to outline the “ecology of social time” as an empirical concept of time to bridge the gap between theory and empirical research in the sociology of time. First, this paper proposes that social time could be considered as an institutionalized referential mechanism that enables social interactions to occur at a specific time point by coordinating the social actions of various agents. Examining the condition of temporal coordination and diagnosing its fairness critically may be the tasks involved in the sociology of time. Second, this paper suggests that the ecology of social time is a useful concept for integrating the theses and tasks applied in the sociology of time. Finally, this paper presents an ecological model of social time as a possible framework for subsequent empirical research in the sociology of time.
Life in a Megacity: Livelihood Strategies and Survival Mechanisms of Rickshaw Pullers in Dhaka City
Authors: Tamanna Meheri , Hasan Md. Kamrul
Published: March 2015

The informal sector plays an important role in the urban economy in developing countries. Rickshaw pulling is an informal sector occupation in which a large number of people in Bangladesh are employed. This article focuses on livelihood vulnerabilities, capital utilization, strategies for dealing with these vulnerabilities and challenges encountered by rickshaw pullers in the informal urban economy. A qualitative study was conducted in Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh which today has become one of the fastest-growing developing country megacities. Moser’s and Rakodi’s livelihood frameworks were utilized to assess rickshaw pullers’ livelihood situations and challenges. The study applied focus group and in-depth interview methods to collect data from rickshaw pullers of Dhaka city. This article demonstrates that the rickshaw pullers attempt to use their human capital, social capital, productive capital and financial capital to mitigate their livelihood vulnerabilities and challenges. This article suggests that this poor urban occupational group carefully manage these capital assets to secure a better livelihood compared to their livelihood options in the rural areas. Social policies may be directed to better address their vulnerabilities by supporting the rickshaw pullers’ attempt to accumulate and maximize assets.
Contextualizing Political Security in South Asia
Authors: Singh Baljit
Published: March 2015

This article examines four hypotheses. First, political security is a broader canvas that includes human security apart from state security. The political insecurity is perennial source of social and economic securities for human beings and an existential threat to the state at large. Second, the people and the states in the South Asian region are suffering from the syndrome of political insecurity. A major source of political insecurity is exclusive nationalism that has made the ideology of state, the most contested terrain and thereby undermined the basis of South Asian states leading to the crisis of legitimacy. Third, undemocratic political structures and fragile democratic structures have further complicated the security scenario by hampering the organizational stability of the state in the South Asian region. Fourth, the systemic dilemma of governments in South Asia is that the institutions of governance often bypass people already deprived on multiple counts and thereby not only drive such people towards political violence but also enhance the legitimacy deficit for the South Asian states.
Recursive Health Care Structures and Choice in the Manner of Our Dying
Authors: Wackers Ger
Published: March 2015

Science has shaped our understanding of the diseases we are diagnosed with. Medical treatment has transformed their natural courses. The law has married medical knowledge and experience to the legal competence of physicians to make ultimate decisions for the patient at the end of life. When it is our time to die, we will confront a pre-structured health care landscape affording some courses of action while limiting others. In this article, I provide an auto-ethnographic account of the dying of one woman, my wife, diagnosed with ovarian cancer. It speaks of our meeting with oncology, her refusal of aggressive treatment, and the palliative care allies we found for her way of dying. It also speaks of the opportunities for choice in dying that emerge when participants in the care collective accept that one of them must die while the others live on.
Creativity and Bipolar Disorder
Authors: Johnson Sheri L. , Moezpoor Michelle , Murray Greg , Hole Rachelle , Barnes Steven J. ,   CREST.BD, Michalak Erin E.
Published: March 2015

Bipolar disorder (BD) has been related to heightened creativity, yet core questions remain unaddressed about this association. We used qualitative methods to investigate how highly creative individuals with BD understand the role of symptoms and treatment in their creativity, and possible mechanisms underpinning this link. Twenty-two individuals self-identified as highly creative and living with BD took part in focus groups and completed quantitative measures of symptoms, quality of life (QoL), and creativity. Using thematic analysis, five themes emerged: the pros and cons of mania for creativity, benefits of altered thinking, the relationship between creativity and medication, creativity as central to one’s identity, and creativity’s importance in stigma reduction and treatment. Despite reliance on a small sample who self-identified as having BD, findings shed light on previously mixed results regarding the influence of mania and treatment and suggest new directions for the study of mechanisms driving the creative advantage in BD.
Inquiry Theatre
Authors: Vanover Charles
Published: March 2015

Inquiry theatre is a form of ethnodrama that investigates core issues raised by interview data and communicates research participants’ experience with passion. Audience members work with the research team to read, discuss, and ask questions about verbatim interview texts that are also performed at the session in a reader’s theatre format. Dialogue and inquiry deepen audience members’ connection to the texts and help them enter imaginatively into research participants’ worlds. Suggestions for successful performance and a vivid analysis of the strengths and weakness of the form are offered at the conclusion.
A Three-Dimensional Conceptual Framework of Corporate Water Responsibility
Authors: Martinez Fabien
Published: March 2015

This article offers a conceptual framework that comprehensively describes essential aspects of corporate water responsibility. What heretofore has been essentially regarded as an issue to be tackled by governmental institutions, and therefore not perceived as an important component of the value that is created for the institutional and private owners of profit-driven companies, is explicitly treated here as a corporate responsibility. Bridging knowledge domains, I review major research works conducted by management, corporate sustainability, and (welfare) economics scholars and focusing on water management issues to unveil the conditions under which corporations are likely to manage, or to be challenged in managing, water in responsible/sustainable ways. Three types of “tensions” that confront academics and managers alike are discussed: voluntary actions versus coercion, free riding versus cooperation, and economic versus corporate water responsibility motives. I propose a three-dimensional framework of corporate water responsibility for thinking through the managerial response patterns contemplated to address these tensions.
The Prevalence of ADHD in Fayoum City (Egypt) Among School-Age Children: Depending on a DSM-5-Based Rating Scale
Authors: Aboul-ata Mohammad A. , Amin Fatma A.
Published: March 2015

Objective: In the present study, we created a new valid rating scale to estimate the prevalence of ADHD among school-age children in Fayoum City. Method: We conducted two consequential studies (Studies 1 and 2). In Study 1, the sample comprised 106 children. The ages of the sample participants ranged between 6 and 14 years. The purpose of that study was to validate a new Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (5th ed.; DSM-5)-based ADHD rating scale. In Study 2, the sample consisted of 420 children with ages ranging from 6 to 14 years. We used the new rating scale to estimate the prevalence of ADHD. Results: The first study showed that the new rating scale for ADHD was valid. The second study revealed that the prevalence of ADHD in Fayoum City was 20.5%, with 33.8% among boys and 6.8% among girls. Conclusion: We validated a new ADHD rating scale and estimated the prevalence of ADHD in Fayoum City for the first time in Egypt.