bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Interpulse phase corrections for unbalanced pseudo‐continuous arterial spin labeling at high magnetic field
Authors: Hirschler Lydiane , Debacker Clément S. , Voiron Jérôme , Köhler Sascha , Warnking Jan M. , Barbier Emmanuel L.
Published: June 2017

Purpose

To evaluate a prescan‐based radiofrequency phase‐correction strategy for unbalanced pseudo‐continuous arterial spin labeling (pCASL) at 9.4 T in vivo and to test its robustness toward suboptimal shim conditions.

Methods

Label and control interpulse phases were optimized separately by means of two prescans in rats. The mean perfusion as well as the interhemispherical symmetry were measured for several phase combinations (optimized versus theoretical phases) to evaluate the correction quality. Interpulse phases were also optimized under degraded shim conditions (i.e., up to four times the study shim values) to test the strategy's robustness.

Results

For all tested shim conditions, the full arterial spin labeling (ASL) signal could be restored. Without any correction, the relative ASL signal was 1.4 ± 1.7%. It increased to 3.6 ± 1.4% with an optimized label phase and to 5.3 ± 1.2% with optimized label and control phases. Moreover, asymmetry between brain hemispheres, which could be as high as 100% without phase optimization, was dramatically reduced to 1 ± 3% when applying optimized label and control phases.

Conclusions

Pseudo‐continuous ASL at high magnetic field is very sensitive to shim conditions. Label and control radiofrequency phase optimization based on prescans robustly maximizes the ASL signal obtained with unbalanced pCASL and minimizes the asymmetry between hemispheres. Magn Reson Med 79:1314–1324, 2018. © 2017 International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine.
Experimental setup for transfer function measurement to assess RF heating of medical leads in MRI: Validation in the case of a single wire
Authors: Missoffe Alexia , Aissani Sarra
Published: June 2017

Purpose

The measurement of the transfer function is a good tool to evaluate the radiofrequency heating of complex conductive wires, such as pacemaker leads. The aim is to describe precisely the design of a transfer function bench and compare the measurements to simulations.

Methods

The transfer function was measured by mean of an excitation probe and a receiving probe, both connected to a two‐port vector network analyzer. The experimental results were compared with the simulated results, reproducing the excitation scheme. This procedure was applied to two different cables with different geometrical and insulation properties to test the robustness of the setup.

Results

It is possible to touch the cable electrode with the excitation probe without inducing an error in the measured transfer function, which solves the direct coupling problem. There is a good agreement between the measured and simulated transfer function for both tested cables.

Conclusions

A valid transfer function measurement bench is described. Magn Reson Med 79:1766–1772, 2018. © 2017 International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine.
Fundraising for primary schools in England—Moving beyond the school gates
Authors: Body Alison
Published: June 2017

In response to depleting budgets and intensified performance pressures, primary schools are increasingly turning to fundraising as one mechanism for combatting ongoing challenges. Although research identifies that two thirds of primary schools are actively trying to increase their fundraised income, some primary schools are significantly more successful in attracting additional funds than others, whereas many struggle to focus fundraising efforts “beyond the school gates.” This article focuses on 3 case study schools and the individuals tasked with the role of fundraising, which have each adopted different approaches in a successful attempt to increase their fundraised income. The findings propose that when primary schools proactively focus on their fundraising, invest in people in terms of both time and their skills, and create a positive fundraising narrative that embraces both the schools and local communities' needs, primary schools can succeed in attracting significant philanthropic support, which can be transformative for the school community.
Atomically Precise Transformations and Millimeter‐Scale Patterning of Nanoscale Assemblies by Ambient Electrospray Deposition
Authors: Som Anirban , Sarkar Depanjan , Kanhirathingal Sisira , Pradeep Thalappil
Published: June 2017

The performance of semiconductor devices can be fine‐tuned through chemical transformation of their nanostructured components. Such transformations are often carried out in controlled conditions. Herein, the use of electrospray deposition of metal ions from solutions in air is reported, to bring about chemical transformations across mm2‐sized areas of nanostructures. This is illustrated with monolayer assemblies of ultrathin tellurium nanowires (NWs). The process does not require any reducing agent and can transform the NWs chemically, in the solid state itself, under ambient conditions. By using suitable masks, the beam of ions can be patterned to localize such transformations with nanometer precision to obtain aligned multiphasic NWs, containing atomically precise phase boundaries. By controlling the time of exposure of the spray, the scope of the process is further expanded to produce tellurium‐metal telluride core–shell NWs. The method described here represents a crucial step for ambient processing of nanostructured components, useful for applications such as semiconductor device fabrication.
Characterization of GaN films grown on hafnium foils by pulsed sputtering deposition
Authors: Kim Hyeryun , Ohta Jitsuo , Ueno Kohei , Kobayashi Atsushi , Fujioka Hiroshi
Published: June 2017

GaN films were grown on nearly lattice‐matched Hf foils by pulsed sputtering deposition (PSD) which showed highly c‐axis oriented structures. Unlike GaN films directly grown on Hf foils that showed coexisting zinc blende and wurtzite phases, as a result of interfacial reactions the insertion of HfN reaction barrier layers between GaN and Hf suppressed the inclusion of the zinc blende phase. The utilization of surface‐oxidized AlN interlayers resulted in GaN films on Hf foils with controlled polarity (i.e., Ga‐polar). The residual carrier concentration in the Ga‐polar GaN films was as low as 3.2 × 1016 cm−3. These results revealed that the proposed technique can yield high‐quality Ga‐polar GaN films on Hf foils that can be potentially used in large‐area and flexible GaN‐based optical devices.
Liver-Directed Human Amniotic Epithelial Cell Transplantation Improves Systemic Disease Phenotype in Hurler Syndrome Mouse Model
Authors: Rodriguez Natalie S. , Yanuaria Lisa , Parducho Kevin Murphy R. , Garcia Irving M. , Varghese Bino A. , Grubbs Brendan H. , Miki Toshio
Published: June 2017

Mucopolysaccharidosis type 1 (MPS1) is an inherited lysosomal storage disorder caused by a deficiency in the glycosaminoglycan (GAG)-degrading enzyme α-L-iduronidase (IDUA). In affected patients, the systemic accumulation of GAGs results in skeletal dysplasia, neurological degeneration, multiple organ dysfunction, and early death. Current therapies, including enzyme replacement and bone marrow transplant, improve life expectancy but the benefits to skeletal and neurological phenotypes are limited. In this study, we tested the therapeutic efficacy of liver-directed transplantation of a placental stem cell, which possesses multilineage differentiation potential, low immunogenicity, and high lysosomal enzyme activity. Unfractionated human amniotic epithelial cells (hAECs) were transplanted directly into the liver of immunodeficient Idua knockout mouse neonates. The hAECs engraftment was immunohistochemically confirmed with anti-human mitochondria staining. Enzyme activity assays indicated that hAECs transplantation restored IDUA function in the liver and significantly decreased urinary GAG excretion. Histochemical and micro-computed tomography analyses revealed reduced GAG deposition in the phalanges joints and composition/morphology improvement of cranial and facial bones. Neurological assessment in the hAEC treated mice showed significant improvement of sensorimotor coordination in the hAEC treated mice compared to untreated mice. Results confirm that partial liver cell replacement with placental stem cells can provide long-term (>20 weeks) and systemic restoration of enzyme function, and lead to significant phenotypic improvement in the MPS1 mouse model. This preclinical data indicate that liver-directed placental stem cell transplantation may improve skeletal and neurological phenotypes of MPS1 patients.
Evaluation of dynamics of forehead skin temperature under induced drowsiness
Authors: Bando Shizuka , Oiwa Kosuke , Nozawa Akio
Published: June 2017

Drowsiness is one of the leading causes of traffic accidents. A technique for fast and easy measurement of the level of drowsiness is desirable. The objective of the present paper is to evaluate the dynamics of forehead skin temperature (FHT) under induced drowsiness. With a precursory change associated with drowsiness from the FHT, which is a noninvasive measurement, drowsiness can be detected at an early stage and, possibly, traffic accidents can be prevented. In this study, the measured FHTs were categorized into five drowsiness levels according to facial expressions (Level 1 is awake and Level 5 is extremely drowsy). In an experiment, the thermoregulation process of drowsiness was represented by a decrease in the total peripheral resistance, elevation of the nasal skin temperature, and decline in the tympanum temperature. The experimental results showed a significant decrease in FHT for drowsiness Levels 3–5 compared to the rest state (Mann–Whitney U‐test, p < 0.01). Because FHT did not increase in accordance with the process for nasal skin temperature, FHT could represent both skin and core temperatures. The results suggest that FHT can be an indicator for predicting drowsiness. © 2017 Institute of Electrical Engineers of Japan. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Local characterization‐based load shape factor definition for electricity customer classification
Authors: Piao Minghao , Ryu Keun Ho
Published: June 2017

Normally, electricity customer classification is based on the uncertain customer information found in the customer information system, such as customer type, contract type, and so on. Now that automatic meter‐reading (AMR) system is becoming common, customer classification and load profiling can be done by using actual consumption data.

Different consumption behaviors are represented as different geometrical patterns in the actual consumption data. Based on this fact, in our study, a local characterization‐based method is used to define load shape factors from actual consumption data by detecting the local geometrical patterns of load diagrams. These load shape factors are evaluated during customer classification, and they are proved to be better than actual consumption data for customer classification. © 2017 Institute of Electrical Engineers of Japan. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
A nonintrusive fast residential load identification algorithm based on frequency‐domain template filtering
Authors: Wu Xin , Han Lu , Wang Zhen , Qi Bing
Published: June 2017

User‐side load monitoring is a key technology to realize smart utilization of electric power. Since the traditional intrusive load monitoring involves a comparatively large economic cost and execution complexity, this paper studies a way to rapidly identify residential power load in a nonintrusive monitoring mode. A template‐filtering‐based nonintrusive, rapid residential load identification algorithm is proposed, which is based on frequency‐domain analysis of current signals, in combination with the current model when the nonintrusive monitoring load is in operation, and by making use of the fact that the spectrum components of the current signals working independently are completely contained in the hybrid current spectrum. Characteristic currents of the various loads in the power grid are acquired a priori to establish the characteristic filter, and 0–1 valuation is performed on their spectrum components to get the template filter. The template filter is then used to filter the hybrid current signals captured in the nonintrusive mode, and the operation status of the loads is judged and determined after quantification of the filtered frequency components. For the same type of load under different operating conditions, the template filter can be commonly used. Efficiency of the algorithm is verified by making use of the actually collected power consumption data, which is able to accurately identify the load operation status. Furthermore, the algorithm is shown to be highly efficient and can be realized via fast Fourier transform (FFT), and its hardware packaging can be easily realized. © 2017 Institute of Electrical Engineers of Japan. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
On the improvement of l2‐performance by controller resets
Authors: Wada Nobutaka
Published: June 2017

In this paper, we propose a state reset algorithm that minimizes the upper bound of the l2‐norm of an output signal at an arbitrary sampling time. By this means, we attempt to improve the l2‐performance of a control system. It is shown that the system with the proposed reset algorithm is finite gain l2‐stable and also asymptotically stable. © 2017 Institute of Electrical Engineers of Japan. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Diversity effects under different nutrient addition and cutting frequency environments in experimental plant communities
Authors: Yin Xin , Qi Wei , Du Guozhen
Published: June 2017

The effects of biodiversity on productivity have been well studied in the past decades. However, the responses of these biodiversity effects to modern grassland managements have not been explicitly tested. By establishing a five years diversity‐manipulated experiment with different cutting frequency and nutrient addition levels, we explored the changes of biodiversity effects and the underlying mechanisms under these managements. Our results showed that community biomass increased with species richness. The correlations were observed under all management regimes, but their strengths varied with management intensity. The net biodiversity effects (NE) increased with nutrient supply, but reduced with frequent cutting. These two factors also interactively influenced NE. Importantly, their influences could last 5 years or longer. The NE changes mainly resulted from the variations of complementarity effects (CE), i.e., the aboveground space partitioning of our species. However, the selection effects (SE) were minimally influenced by nutrient addition and cutting frequency, indicating that under these conditions our species had comparably competitive strength. Especially, CE increased over time in highly cutting subplots, suggesting that this relationship was condition–dependent. We conclude that biodiversity is vitally important for ecosystem functioning even when the ecosystems are disturbed by human activities, and is most effective in enhancing biomass productivity under nutrient supply and low cutting frequency conditions. Field studies with species that come from other functional groups are needed to draw a more general conclusion.
Symmetric Amphiphilic Molecules with Hydroxyl‐Cinnamic‐Acid Dimer Cores: Photo‐alterable Aggregation and Thermal Sensitivity
Authors: Zhao Zhongqiang , Xue Xiang , Lu Jun , Liu Huarong , Liu Hewen
Published: June 2017

Photolabile amphiphilic molecules with different lengths of PEG chains attached to hydroxyl cinnamic acid dimer cores (truxillic‐PEG) were synthesized. The truxillic acid core was prepared by UV‐induced dimerization of hydroxyl cinnamic acid. These symmetric truxillic‐PEG molecules formed a dispersion or stable micelles in water, which exhibited PEG chain length‐dependent thermo‐responsive behaviors, with lower critical solution temperature changing from 15 °C (PEG300 branches) to 73 °C (PEG1000 branches). Furthermore, truxillic‐PEG600 was found to form vesicles in water, whereas truxillic‐PEG300, truxillic‐PEG400 and truxillic‐PEG1000 precipitated or formed spherical micelles. If the truxillic acid cores of these truxillic‐PEG were de‐dimerized under UV illumination at 254 nm, the de‐dimerized products became more water soluble, and did not show thermal responsivity at all. The rigid truxillic ester core is very important for the formation of micelles of truxillic‐PEG capable of thermal‐responding and vesicle‐forming. Such amphiphilic polymers with a small but well‐defined hydrophobic core capable of thermal‐responding and vesicle‐forming in water could be interesting not only for academic research, but also for biological or drug application which usually demands well‐defined molecules.
Endothelial dysfunction in cardiovascular disease and Flammer syndrome—similarities and differences
Authors: Barthelmes Jens , Nägele Matthias P. , Ludovici Valeria , Ruschitzka Frank , Sudano Isabella , Flammer Andreas J.
Published: June 2017

The endothelium has increasingly been recognized as a smart barrier and a key regulator of blood flow in micro- and macrovascular beds. Endothelial dysfunction marks a stage of atherosclerosis and is an important prognostic marker for cardiovascular disease. Yet, some people who tend to be slim and physically active and with rather low blood pressure show a propensity to respond to certain stimuli such as emotional stress with endothelial-mediated vascular dysregulation (Flammer syndrome). This leads to characteristic vascular symptoms such as cold hands but also a risk for vascular-mediated diseases such as normal-tension glaucoma. It is the aim of this review to delineate the differences between Flammer syndrome and its “counterpart” endothelial dysfunction in the context of cardiovascular diseases.
Re-conceptualizing the political economy of finance in the post-crisis era
Authors: Selmier W. Travis , Winecoff W. Kindred
Published: June 2017

This article introduces a special issue ofBusiness and PoliticsonProperty Rights, Financial Risk, and the Politics of a Networked Global Financial System. We introduce aspects of the articles in the issue and situate them within existing literatures in financial economics, public policy, political economy, regulation and governance, and network science. We do this through examining four key contributions in the special issue. First, we show that common conceptualizations of property rights in financial markets ignore the multidimensional nature of financial goods; examples of all goods types can be found in modern finance, and this fact has important implications for the politics and regulation of these markets. Second, we argue that models of financial actors as independent, atomistic agents neglect the relational nature of financial markets, and argue that theory and methodology from network science, financial economics and political economy provide useful ways to analyze these interdependent systems. Third, we discuss how the relational nature of risk leads to hierarchical patterns of financial interdependence, which bequeaths substantial amounts of power—within both market and political systems—to those actors that occupy core positions within the structure of interdependence. Fourth, we integrate ideas from papers in this special issue and related literature with concepts from the Ostrom School of political economy to consider how monitoring, self-governance, and polycentric applications might improve financial market governance. This issue's papers thus constitute one of the first combined attempts to bring the Ostrom School into substantive conversation with financial market governance and risk analysis through comparative and international political economy disciplines.
An institutional perspective on governance, power, and politics of financial risk
Authors: Selmier W. Travis
Published: June 2017

Avoidance of risk and increasing returns are the two main motivators in finance. Returns are better understood and perhaps more easily regulated than financial risk, which is a complex and slippery concept. Financial risk may be best conceived of as a complementary good, but the nature of this good varies as the size of the investment position scales up. That is, the effects of financial risk may be conceived of as a private good for a small financial actor, but becomes a club good, then a common pool, and occasionally a public good as the impact of the investment position's financial risk spreads to affect more of society. Examining banking history shows us that banks and bankers have offset risk while retaining returns through structuring financial products and investment vehicles as club goods, thereby enabling financial actors to jointly benefit from ownership while harming those outside the club walls. Not surprisingly, this capacity to push risk outside club walls has grown commensurate with the political influence of banks and bankers. Laying out governance strategies and concepts, I suggest that in some circumstances pervasive club good structures in finance may be employed to gather regulation-enhancing information, to better understand the networked nature of financial risk and to craft self-governance structures.
Acquisition of a 3 min, two-dimensional glacier velocity field with terrestrial radar interferometry
Authors: VOYTENKO DENIS , DIXON TIMOTHY H. , HOLLAND DAVID M. , CASSOTTO RYAN , HOWAT IAN M. , FAHNESTOCK MARK A. , TRUFFER MARTIN , DE LA PEÑA SANTIAGO
Published: June 2017

Outlet glaciers undergo rapid spatial and temporal changes in flow velocity during calving events. Observing such changes requires both high temporal and high spatial resolution methods, something now possible with terrestrial radar interferometry. While a single such radar provides line-of-sight velocity, two radars define both components of the horizontal flow field. To assess the feasibility of obtaining the two-dimensional (2-D) flow field, we deployed two terrestrial radar interferometers at Jakobshavn Isbrae, a major outlet glacier on Greenland's west coast, in the summer of 2012. Here, we develop and demonstrate a method to combine the line-of-sight velocity data from two synchronized radars to produce a 2-D velocity field from a single (3 min) interferogram. Results are compared with the more traditional feature-tracking data obtained from the same radar, averaged over a longer period. We demonstrate the potential and limitations of this new dual-radar approach for obtaining high spatial and temporal resolution 2-D velocity fields at outlet glaciers.
THE RATIONALITY OF THE MODULI SPACE OF ONE-POINTED INEFFECTIVE SPIN HYPERELLIPTIC CURVES VIA AN ALMOST DEL PEZZO THREEFOLD
Authors: TAKAGI HIROMICHI , ZUCCONI FRANCESCO
Published: June 2017

Using the geometry of an almost del Pezzo threefold, we show that the moduli space ${\mathcal{S}}_{g,1}^{0,\text{hyp}}$ of genus $g$ one-pointed ineffective spin hyperelliptic curves is rational for every $g\geqslant 2$.
Introduction to the special issue on multilayer networks
Authors: MAGNANI MATTEO , WASSERMAN STANLEY
Published: June 2017

During the last century, networks of several types have been used to model a wide range of physical, biological and social systems. For example, Moreno (1934) studied social networks with multiple types of ties, later called multiplex networks (Verbrugge, 1979; Minor, 1983; Lazega & Pattison, 1999) as well as networks with multiple types of actors. Networks with multiple types of actors and relational ties have often been used together: relevant examples are the extensions of two-mode networks studied by Wasserman & Iacobucci (1991), multi-level networks (Lazega & Snijders, 2016), and heterogeneous information networks (Sun et al., 2012). More recently, researchers in physics and computer science have developed models for different types of interconnected networks known as networks of networks (Buldyrev et al., 2010; D'Agostino & Scala, 2014), multilayer social networks (Magnani & Rossi, 2011), and interconnected networks (Dickison et al., 2012).
Nongovernmental Campaign Communication Providing Ballot Secrecy Assurances Increases Turnout: Results From Two Large-Scale Experiments
Authors: Gerber Alan S. , Huber Gregory A. , Fang Albert H. , Gooch Andrew
Published: June 2017

Doubts about the integrity of ballot secrecy persist and depress political participation among the American public. Prior experiments have shown that official communications directly addressing these doubts increase turnout among recently registered voters who had not previously voted, but evaluations of similar messages sent by nongovernmental campaigns have yielded only suggestive effects. We build on past research and analyze two large-scale field experiments where a private nonpartisan nonprofit group sought to increase turnout by emphasizing ballot secrecy assurances alongside a reminder to vote in a direct mail voter mobilization campaign during the 2014 midterm election. Our main finding is that a private group’s mailing increases turnout by about 1 percentage point among recently registered nonvoters. This finding is precisely estimated and robust across state political contexts, but is not statistically distinguishable from the effect of a standard voter mobilization appeal. Implications and directions for future research are discussed.
Enhancement of butyrate production in the rat caecocolonic tract by long-term ingestion of resistant potato starch
Authors: Le Blay Gwenaëlle , Michel Catherine , Blottière Hervé M. , Cherbut Christine
Published: June 2017

Some data suggest that the colonic microflora may adapt to produce more butyrate if given time and the proper substrate. To test this hypothesis, we investigated the effect of prolonged feeding of resistant potato starch on butyrate production. Rats were fed on either a low-fibre diet (basal) or the same diet supplemented with 90 g resistant potato starch/kg (PoS) for 0·5, 2 and 6 months. Short-chain fatty acid (SCFA) concentrations were determined in caecal and colonic contents at the end of each ingestion period. Total SCFA concentration increased over time throughout the caecocolonic tract with PoS, but was not modified with the basal diet. While propionate concentration was unchanged, butyrate concentration was highly increased by PoS at each time period in both the caecum and colon. Moreover, the butyrogenic effect of PoS increased over time, and the amount of butyrate was increased 6-fold in the caecum and proximal colon and 3-fold in the distal colon after 6 months compared with 0·5 months. Accordingly, the ratio butyrate: - total SCFA increased over time throughout the caecocolonic tract (12·6 (SE 2·8)v. 28 (SE 1·8) % in the caecum, 10·5 (SE 1·4)v. 26·8 (SE 0·9) % in the proximal colon, and 7·3 (SE 2·4)v.23·9 (SE 2·7) % in the distal colon at 0·5v. 6 months respectively), while the proportion of acetate decreased. Neither the proportion nor the concentration of butyrate was modified over time with the basal diet. Butyrate production was thus promoted by long-term ingestion of PoS, from the caecum towards the distal colon, which suggests that a slow adaptive process occurs within the digestive tract in response to a chronic load of indigestible carbohydrates.
RING ROAD: BIRMINGHAM AND THE COLLAPSE OF THE MOTOR CITY IDEAL IN 1970s BRITAIN
Authors: GUNN SIMON
Published: June 2017

Reconstructing Britain's cities to accommodate the ‘motor revolution’ was an integral part of urban renewal in the post-war decades. This article shows how opposition to urban motorways had a pivotal role in the retreat from urban modernism in the 1970s. It takes as its case-study Birmingham, Britain's premier motor city, headquarters of the motor industry, and with heavy investment in roads, including the Inner Ring, Britain's first urban motorway completed in 1971. The article traces the collapse of the motor city ideal in Birmingham sparked by controversy over car pollution at Spaghetti Junction, the growth of roads protest, and the implication of the Inner Ring in municipal corruption. In so doing, it identifies the intersection of environmental, political, and economic factors that lay behind the volte-face in urban policy and compares Birmingham with other cities which witnessed similar revolts. It argues that the 1970s in Britain saw the end of a specific engineering vision of the post-war city, centred on the car and the ‘citizen-driver’.
Magnetic resonance imaging findings in Ménière's disease
Authors: Patel V A , Oberman B S , Zacharia T T , Isildak H
Published: June 2017

Objectives:

To identify and evaluate cranial magnetic resonance imaging findings associated with Ménière's disease.

Methods:

Seventy-eight patients with a documented diagnosis of Ménière's disease and 35 controls underwent 1.5 T or 3 T magnetic resonance imaging of the brain. Patients also underwent otological, vestibular and audiometric examinations.

Results:

Lack of visualisation of the left and right vestibular aqueducts was identified as statistically significant amongst Ménière's disease patients (left,p= 0.0001, odds ratio = 0.02; right,p= 0.0004, odds ratio = 0.03). Both vestibular aqueducts were of abnormal size in the Ménière's disease group, albeit with left-sided significance (left,p= 0.008, odds ratio = 10.91; right,p= 0.49, odds ratio = 2.47).

Conclusion:

Lack of vestibular aqueduct visualisation on magnetic resonance imaging was statistically significant in Ménière's disease patients compared to the general population. The study findings suggest that magnetic resonance imaging can be useful to rule out retrocochlear pathology and provide radiological data to support the clinical diagnosis of Ménière's disease.
Lineage-specific expansion and loss of tyrosinase genes across platyhelminths and their induction profiles in the carcinogenic oriental liver fluke, Clonorchis sinensis
Authors: KIM SEON-HEE , BAE YOUNG-AN
Published: June 2017

Tyrosinase provides an essential activity during egg production in diverse platyhelminths by mediating sclerotization of eggshells. In this study, we investigated the genomic and evolutionary features of tyrosinases in parasitic platyhelminths whose genomic information is available. A pair of paralogous tyrosinases was detected in most trematodes, whereas they were lost in cyclophyllidean cestodes. A pseudophyllidean cestode displaying egg biology similar to that of trematodes possessed an orthologous gene. Interestingly, one of the paralogous tyrosinases appeared to have been multiplied into three copies in Clonorchis sinensis and Opisthorchis viverrini. In addition, a fifth tyrosinase gene that was minimally transcribed through all developmental stages was further detected in these opisthorchiid genomes. Phylogenetic analyses demonstrated that the tyrosinase gene has undergone duplication at least three times in platyhelminths. The additional opisthorchiid gene arose from the first duplication. A paralogous copy generated from these gene duplications, except for the last one, seemed to be lost in the major neodermatans lineages. In C. sinensis, tyrosinase gene expressions were initiated following sexual maturation and the levels were significantly enhanced by the presence of O2 and bile. Taken together, our data suggest that tyrosinase has evolved lineage-specifically across platyhelminths related to its copy number and induction mechanism.
Amblyomma birmituma new species of hard tick in Burmese amber
Authors: CHITIMIA-DOBLER LIDIA , DE ARAUJO BRUNO CANCIAN , RUTHENSTEINER BERNHARD , PFEFFER TIMO , DUNLOP JASON A.
Published: June 2017

Amblyomma birmitumsp. nov. is formally described as a new record from 99 Ma old Burmese amber from Myanmar. This confirms the presence of the extant hard tick genusAmblyommaC.L. Koch, 1844 (Ixodida: Ixodidae) in the Late Cretaceous. This discovery is placed in its wider context and some reports of fossil hard ticks, such as aHyalommaC.L. Koch, 1844 in Eocene Baltic amber, are misidentifications. The genusAmblyommabelongs to the clade Metastriata, a group which probably also accommodates two extinct genera,CornupalpatumPoinar and Brown, 2003 andCompluriscutataPoinar and Buckley, 2008, also found in Burmese amber. All three fossils are thus only a little younger than published molecular divergence time estimates (ca. 124 ± 17 Ma) for the Metastriata lineage.Amblyommahas a largely Gondwanan distribution today. However, in some biogeographical scenarios, e.g. the Samafrica model, its predicted radiation time postdates the dissolution of the original Gondwana supercontinent raising questions about how its current distribution pattern was achieved.
Impact of dysfunctional maternal personality traits on risk of offspring depression, anxiety and self-harm at age 18 years: a population-based longitudinal study
Authors: Pearson R. M. , Campbell A. , Howard L. M. , Bornstein M. H. , O'Mahen H. , Mars B. , Moran P.
Published: June 2017

Background

The impact of underlying parental psychological vulnerability on the future mental health of offspring is not fully understood. Using a prospective cohort design, we investigated the association between dysfunctional parental personality traits and risks of offspring self-harm, depression and anxiety.

Methods

The association between dysfunctional parental personality traits (monotony avoidance, impulsivity, anger, suspicion, and detachment), measured in both mothers and fathers when offspring were age 9 years, and risk of offspring depression, anxiety and self-harm at age 18 years, was investigated in a population-based cohort (ALSPAC) from over 8000 parents and children.

Results

Higher levels of dysfunctional maternal, but not paternal, personality traits were associated with an increased risk of self-harm, depression, and anxiety in offspring. Maternal associations were best explained by the accumulation of dysfunctional traits. Associations were strongest for offspring depression: Offspring of mothers with three or more dysfunctional personality traits were 2.27 (1.45–3.54, p < 0.001) times as likely to be depressed, compared with offspring of mothers with no dysfunctional personality traits, independently of maternal depression and other variables.

Conclusions

The accumulation of dysfunctional maternal personality traits is associated with the risk of self-harm, depression, anxiety in offspring independently of maternal depression and other confounding variables. The absence of associations for equivalent paternal traits makes a genetic explanation for the findings unlikely. Further research is required to elucidate the underlying mechanism. Mothers with high levels of dysfunctional personality traits may benefit from additional support to reduce the risk of adverse psychological outcomes occurring in their offspring.
The soldier’s tale: Problematising Foucault’s military foundations
Authors: Powel Brieg
Published: June 2017

The popularity of Foucauldian understandings of government in International Relations (IR) has led to a vibrant debate over the utility of Foucault’s work for the discipline, especially over its applicability outside Western liberal societies. By concentrating on governmentality’s international applicability, however, IR scholarship has neglected Foucault’s account of the foundations of modern social mentalities, apparatuses, and techniques. Foucault frequently based his ideas on historical research, with warfare and military affairs featuring prominently in his accounts of discipline and governmentality.

Based on a problematisation of the military aspects of Foucault’s thought, this article challenges Foucauldian IR scholarship to revisit governmentality’s foundations and reconsider the contemporary relevance of Foucault’s account of government. Foucault neglected the heterogeneity of European militaries, such as their reliance on impermanent, auxiliary, and non-Western forces. He thereby missed the opportunity to develop a more sophisticated account of the relationship between force, the military, government, discipline, and biopolitics. Moreover, this article challengesFoucauldian IR scholarship to revisit the empirical foundations of Foucault’s work and reconsider the geographical and temporal extent of the relevance of Foucault’s account of government as a result.
The Italian Way(s). A special issue on Italian popular music
Authors: PLASTINO GOFFREDO , SANTORO MARCO
Published: June 2017

Popular music studies have experienced a strange fate in Italy. After a promising beginning in the 1970s and the early 1980s (with the direct contribution by musicians and scholars like Franco Fabbri and Umberto Fiori to the new intellectual formation), a situation of stasis followed. The latter was characterised by the presence of individual important voices but without the support of a constituency strong enough to guarantee in Italy the institutionalisation of this new field of research.
Putting spanners in the works: the politics of the 99 Posse
Authors: om Behan T
Published: June 2017

This article examines the politics of the Neapolitan rap band 99 Posse. Growing up in a city characterised by high unemployment and crime, individual band members independently gravitated towards far left politics, and emerged in late 1991 as the house band of the ‘Officina99’, an autonomist squat in the east of the city which gave the group its name. This article examines their political commitment through their songs, covering subjects from youth unemployment to the exploitation of casual workers. Another theme is how, over a decade, their initial denunciation of ‘communism’ mutated into sympathy. It is argued that the reason for their huge success – apart from their rather controversial decision to sign up with a major multinational such as BMG – lies in their ability to make these themes relevant to disaffected young people.
The mountain flora of Greece with special reference to the Anatolian element
Authors: Strid Arne
Published: June 2017

Synopsis

Greece is estimated to have between 4,650 and 4,900 species of vascular plants, about 742 of which are endemic. The Mountain Flora of Greece covers about one-third of the total number of species and a considerably larger proportion of the endemics. Of 926 taxa (species and subspecies) treated in volume 1 (1986), no less than 304, or c. 33%, were either not recorded for Greece in Flora Europaea or were recorded under a different name or with a different rank or both. Phytogeographical analysis shows that 51% of the taxa are “narrows” (restricted to the Balkan Peninsula + Italy or the Balkan Peninsula + Anatolia), and 49% are more widely distributed. Crete is particularly rich in regional endemics, and Peloponnisos and Sterea Ellas have the highest numbers of Greek endemics. An Anatolian element is well-represented in Crete and in the north cast, reflecting the 2 principal routes of migration. Examples of Greek-Anatolian distributional patterns arc given, including some distributions that are widely disjunct.
The phytogeographical position of Rodhos
Authors: Carlström Annette
Published: June 2017

Synopsis

The phytogeography of Rodhos is briefly sketched. The flora of Rodhos holds a dual position having affinities with the S Aegean islands as well as with the E Aegean islands and SW Anatolia. The present distribution of species on Rodhos corresponds with the palaeogeographic history of the area.

Differentiation has apparently taken place in several taxa since the separation of Rodhos from the S Aegean islands and SW Anatolia, which is shown by the occurrence of many allopatric taxa. The occurrence of many local variants without taxonomic rank shows that this process of speciation is still not complete. Areas of ophiolithic rock are shown to influence the species composition, since many species avoid or are more or less restricted to these areas. Many taxa of the ultrabasic areas show at least a slight morphological distinction from non-serpentine populations of the same species, and some are distinctive enough to recognise at species rank. Both these areas of ophiolithic rock and the limestone cliffs have apparently provided refugia for taxa with formerly wider distributions.
Plant life in the Rub' al-Khali (the Empty Quarter), south-central Arabia
Authors: Mandaville James P.
Published: June 2017

Synopsis

The hyperarid climate of the Rub' al-Khali strongly conditions plant life in this subtropical hot desert. There is fossil evidence of a more humid climate here in late Tertiary and Pleistocene times and of a lakeforming phase as recent as 9000–6000 BP. Today rain may not occur for years in some parts, with annual means less than 25 mm, yet the extensive sands provide more scope for plant growth than do some rock and gravel tracts in less arid northern Arabia. The sand vegetation is characterised by very diffuse shrub communities led respectively by an endemic subspecies of Calligonum crinitum, the endemic saltbush Cornulaca arabica and, locally, by Haloxylon persicum. Cyperus conglomeratus, Dipterygium glaucum, Limeum arabicum, and Zygophyllum mandavillei are widespread associates. Sand-free gravel floors or salt flats, relatively small in extent, are nearly or entirely sterile. Tree forms are absent except for rare individuals on some borderlands. Floristic diversity is very restricted; only about 37 species (listed), of which hardly 10 are important in the vegetation, are recorded from an area of 500,000 km2. Annual plants are virtually absent, a situation contrasting sharply with that in Arabia to the N where more than half the desert species are therophytes.
Interactions among plants, man and climate: historical evidence from Israel
Authors: Waisel Y.
Published: June 2017

Synopsis

Changes in the distribution pattern of various woody species in Israel have occurred during the last 5000 years. Such changes in plant composition indicate that the climate of Israel is gradually becoming drier and warmer. Overuse of plants by man and the consequent denudation of large areas may have intensified such a process of desertification.
On the Maximum Number of Spanning Copies of an Orientation in a Tournament
Authors: YUSTER RAPHAEL
Published: June 2017

For an orientation H with n vertices, let T(H) denote the maximum possible number of labelled copies of H in an n-vertex tournament. It is easily seen that T(H) ≥ n!/2e(H), as the latter is the expected number of such copies in a random tournament. For n odd, let R(H) denote the maximum possible number of labelled copies of H in an n-vertex regular tournament. In fact, Adler, Alon and Ross proved that for H=Cn, the directed Hamilton cycle, T(Cn) ≥ (e−o(1))n!/2n, and it was observed by Alon that already R(Cn) ≥ (e−o(1))n!/2n. Similar results hold for the directed Hamilton path Pn. In other words, for the Hamilton path and cycle, the lower bound derived from the expectation argument can be improved by a constant factor. In this paper we significantly extend these results, and prove that they hold for a larger family of orientations H which includes all bounded-degree Eulerian orientations and all bounded-degree balanced orientations, as well as many others. One corollary of our method is that for any fixed k, every k-regular orientation H with n vertices satisfies T(H) ≥ (ek−o(1))n!/2e(H), and in fact, for n odd, R(H) ≥ (ek−o(1))n!/2e(H).
Corners Over Quasirandom Groups
Authors: ZORIN-KRANICH PAVEL
Published: June 2017

Let G be a finite D-quasirandom group and A ⊂ Gk a δ-dense subset. Then the density of the set of side lengths g of corners
$$
\{(a_{1},\dotsc,a_{k}),(ga_{1},a_{2},\dotsc,a_{k}),\dotsc,(ga_{1},\dotsc,ga_{k})\} \subset A
$$
converges to 1 as D → ∞.
Expression and localization of tubulin cofactors TBCD and TBCE in human gametes
Authors: Jiménez-Moreno Victoria , Agirregoitia Ekaitz
Published: June 2017

The tubulin cofactors TBCD and TBCE play an essential role in regulation of the microtubule dynamics in a wide variety of somatic cells, but little information is known about the expression of these cofactors in human sperm and oocytes. In this study, we focused on the investigation of the presence of, and the differential distribution of, the tubulin cofactors TBCD and TBCE in human sperm and during human oocyte maturation. We performed expression assays for TBCD and TBCE by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), western blot and immunofluorescence and verified the presence of both cofactors in human gametes. TBCD and TBCE were located mainly in the middle region and in the tail of the sperm while in the oocyte the localization was cytosolic. The mRNA of both tubulin cofactors were present in the human oocytes but not in sperm cells. This finding gives a first insight into where TBCD and TBCE could carry out their function in the continuous changes that the cytoskeleton experiences during gametogenesis and also prior to fertilization.
A FAIR PLAY ACCOUNT OF LEGITIMATE POLITICAL AUTHORITY
Authors: Tosi Justin
Published: June 2017

There is an emerging consensus among political philosophers that state legitimacy involves something more than—or perhaps other than—political obligation. Yet the principle of fair play, which many take to be a promising basis for political obligation, has been largely absent from discussions of the revised conception of legitimacy. This paper shows how the principle of fair play can generate legitimate political authority by drawing on a neglected feature of the principle—its stipulation that members of a cooperative scheme must reciprocate specifically by submitting to the scheme's rules.
Radical Critique, Scepticism and Commonsense
Authors: Gaita Raimond
Published: June 2017

Suppose that someone writes an argument on a blackboard which leads to the conclusion that he may, at that time, be dreaming. He goes over it, considers its validity, the truth of its premises, its assumptions and so on, and then to his dismay, he judges that he is compelled to conclude that he may be dreaming. He goes over the argument repeatedly and carefully, but finds the conclusion ‘inescapable’. If reviewing the argument on the blackboard may be taken as an analogue of reviewing thoughts before one's mind, then his condition seems like the condition which Descartes describes at the beginning of the Second Meditation: ‘The meditation of yesterday filled my mind with so many doubts that it is no longer in my power to forget them. And yet I do not see in what manner I can resolve them; and just as if I had all of a sudden fallen into very deep water, I am so disconcerted that I can neither make certain of setting my feet on the bottom, nor can I swim and support myself on the surface.’
Getting the Subject back into the World: Heidegger's Version
Authors: Kerr Fergus
Published: June 2017

In a footnote to the preface to the second edition of hisCritique of Pure Reason(1787) Kant remarked that ‘it still remains a scandal to philosophy and to human reason in general that the existence [Dasein] of things outside us … must be accepted onfaith, and that if anyone thinks good to doubt their existence, we are unable to counter his doubts by any satisfactory proof’ (B XL). InBeing and Time(1927) Heidegger remarks, somewhat less famously, that the scandal of philosophy, far from being the continuing absence of philosophically satisfactory proof of the existence of the world outside human subjectivity, is rather-the-very idea that such proof need be sought at all: ‘IfDaseinis understood correctly, it defies such proofs, because, in its being, it alreadyiswhat subsequent proofs deem necessary to demonstrate for it’ (BT, 205).