bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Impact of Green Tea Catechin ECG and Its Synthesized Fluorinated Analogue on Prostate Cancer Cells and Stimulated Immunocompetent Cells
Authors: Stadlbauer Sven , Steinborn Carmen , Klemd Amy , Hattori Fumihiko , Ohmori Ken , Suzuki Keisuke , Huber Roman , Wolf Philipp , Gründemann Carsten
Published: February 2018

Among the known or suspected risk factors, inflammation plays an important role in infectious and non-infectious pathways leading to cancer. Green tea polyphenols have been associated with reducing inflammation and protection against carcinogenesis, especially in prostate cancer. While most of the research in this field, so far, has focussed on epigallocatechin-3-O-gallate only, we studied epicatechin-3-O-gallate, the second most abundant green tea polyphenol with essential therapeutic potential, to obtain a more detailed understanding of its anti-tumor and anti-inflammatory action. Furthermore, to improve the bioactivity of (−)-epicatechin-3-O-gallate, we synthesized a difluoro analogue, called (−)-5,7-difluoro-epicatechin-3-O-gallate. Both compounds reduced cell proliferation of human primary inflammatory lymphocytes in an apoptosis-specific fashion, while (−)-5,7-difluoro-epicatechin-3-O-gallate had a significantly higher activity compared to the natural product (−)-epicatechin-3-O-gallate. Treatment of low-metastatic LNCaP and high-metastatic PC-3 prostate cancer cells with (−)-epicatechin-3-O-gallate and (−)-5,7-difluoro-epicatechin-3-O-gallate demonstrated a dose-dependent inhibition of cell viability in the low micromolar range. These effects suggest that (−)-epicatechin-3-O-gallate and the more effective (−)-5,7-difluoro-epicatechin-3-O-gallate could be therapeutically used to inhibit tumorigenesis during initiation, promotion, and progression by diminishing the amount of inflammation due to a reduction of inflammatory lymphocytes. Further studies are needed to prove this in in vivo experiments.
A density functional study of the effect of hydrogen on electronic properties and band discontinuity at anatase TiO2/diamond interface
Authors: Wu Kongping , Liao Meiyong , Sang Liwen , Liu Jiangwei , Imura Masataka , Ye Haitao , Koide Yasuo
Published: February 2018

Tailoring the electronic states of the dielectric oxide/diamond interface is critical to the development of next generation semiconductor devices like high-power high-frequency field-effect transistors. In this work, we investigate the electronic states of the TiO2/diamond 2 × 1–(100) interface by using first principles total energy calculations. Based on the calculation of the chemical potentials for the TiO2/diamond interface, it is observed that the hetero-interfaces with the C-OTi configuration or with two O vacancies are the most energetically favorable structures under the O-rich condition and under Ti-rich condition, respectively. The band structure and density of states of both TiO2/diamond and TiO2/H-diamond hetero-structures are calculated. It is revealed that there are considerable interface states at the interface of the anatase TiO2/diamond hetero-structure. By introducing H on the diamond surface, the interface states are significantly suppressed. A type-II alignment band structure is disclosed at the interface of the TiO2/diamond hetero-structure. The valence band offset increases from 0.6 to 1.7 eV when H is introduced at the TiO2/diamond interface.
Thermal conductivity model for nanofiber networks
Authors: Zhao Xinpeng , Huang Congliang , Liu Qingkun , Smalyukh Ivan I. , Yang Ronggui
Published: February 2018

Understanding thermal transport in nanofiber networks is essential for their applications in thermal management, which are used extensively as mechanically sturdy thermal insulation or high thermal conductivity materials. In this study, using the statistical theory and Fourier's law of heat conduction while accounting for both the inter-fiber contact thermal resistance and the intrinsic thermal resistance of nanofibers, an analytical model is developed to predict the thermal conductivity of nanofiber networks as a function of their geometric and thermal properties. A scaling relation between the thermal conductivity and the geometric properties including volume fraction and nanofiber length of the network is revealed. This model agrees well with both numerical simulations and experimental measurements found in the literature. This model may prove useful in analyzing the experimental results and designing nanofiber networks for both high and low thermal conductivity applications.
Propagation of atmospheric-pressure ionization waves along the tapered tube
Authors: Xia Yang , Wang Wenchun , Liu Dongping , Yan Wen , Bi Zhenhua , Ji Longfei , Niu Jinhai , Zhao Yao
Published: February 2018

Gas discharge in a small radius dielectric tube may result in atmospheric pressure plasma jets with high energy and density of electrons. In this study, the atmospheric pressure ionization waves (IWs) were generated inside a tapered tube. The propagation behaviors of IWs inside the tube were studied by using a spatially and temporally resolved optical detection system. Our measurements show that both the intensity and velocity of the IWs decrease dramatically when they propagate to the tapered region. After the taper, the velocity, intensity, and electron density of the IWs are improved with the tube inner diameter decreasing from 4.0 to 0.5 mm. Our analysis indicates that the local gas conductivity and surface charges may play a role in the propagation of the IWs under such a geometrical constraint, and the difference in the dynamics of the IWs after the taper can be related to the restriction in the size of IWs.
Tunable elastic parity-time symmetric structure based on the shunted piezoelectric materials
Authors: Hou Zhilin , Assouar Badreddine
Published: February 2018

We theoretically and numerically report on the tunable elastic Parity-Time (PT) symmetric structure based on shunted piezoelectric units. We show that the elastic loss and gain can be archived in piezoelectric materials when they are shunted by external circuits containing positive and negative resistances. We present and discuss, as an example, the strongly dependent relationship between the exceptional points of a three-layered system and the impedance of their external shunted circuit. The achieved results evidence that the PT symmetric structures based on this proposed concept can actively be tuned without any change of their geometric configurations.
Double wedge prism based beam deflector for precise laser beam steering
Authors: Tyszka Krzysztof , Dobosz Marek , Bilaszewski Tomasz
Published: February 2018

Aiming to increase laser beam pointing stability required in interferometric measurements, we designed a laser beam deflector intended for active laser beam stabilization systems. The design is based on two wedge-prisms: the deflecting wedge driven by a tilting piezo-platform and the fixed wedge to compensate initial beam deflection. Our design allows linear beam steering, independently in the horizontal or vertical direction, with resolution of less than 1 μrad in a range of more than 100 μrad, and no initial deflection of the beam. Moreover, the ratio of the output beam deflection angle and the wedge tilt angle is less than 0.1; therefore, the noise influence is significantly reduced in comparison to standard mirror-based deflectors. The theoretical analyses support the designing process and can serve as a guide to wedge-prism selection. The experimental results are in agreement with theory and confirm the advantages of the presented double wedge system.
Raman effect in multiferroic Bi5Fe1+xTi3−xO15 solid solutions: A temperature study
Authors: Rodríguez Aranda Ma. Del Carmen , Rodríguez-Vázquez Ángel G. , Salazar-Kuri Ulises , Mendoza María Eugenia , Navarro-Contreras Hugo R.
Published: February 2018

In this work, a Raman study of powder samples of multiferroic Bi5Fe1+xTi3−xO15 solid solutions and Bi6Fe2Ti3O18 as a function of temperature from 27 °C (room temperature) to 850 °C is presented. The values of x (i.e., the Fe composition) for the solid solutions were 1.0, 1.1, 1.3, and 1.4. The temperature coefficients of eight phonon frequencies were determined for all the samples. The large observed phonon broadenings with increasing temperature precluded the observation of several of the phonon bands above defined temperatures in the range of 200–700 °C depending on the sample. These phonon broadenings were explained on the basis of the Klemens model, which considers that the broadenings are due to the thermal expansion of the lattice with a major contribution in terms of magnitude from anharmonic phonon–phonon interactions. However, some evidence for the presence of several of the phonons persisted up to 800–850 °C. These solid solutions are expected to exhibit a ferroelectric–paraelectric phase transition at 742 to 750 °C and a ferromagnetic–antiferromagnetic transition at 426 °C. We also observed changes in the slopes of the temperature dependence of the phonon frequencies for the lines at 228 cm−1 for Bi5FeTi3O15 and 330 cm−1 for Bi6Fe2Ti3O18 at temperatures of 247 °C and 347 °C, respectively. No similar temperature–frequency slope changes indicative of possible phase transitions were observed for any of the phonon lines of the other three Bi5Fe1+xTi3−xO15 solid solutions examined.
Characterization of individual layers in a bilayer electron system produced in a wide quantum well
Authors: Dorozhkin S. I. , Kapustin A. A. , Fedorov I. B. , Umansky V. , von Klitzing K. , Smet J. H.
Published: February 2018

Here, we report on a transparent method to characterize individual layers in a double-layer electron system, which forms in a wide quantum well, and to determine their electron densities. The technique relies on the simultaneous measurement of the capacitances between the electron system and gates located on either side of the well. Modifications to the electron wave function due to the population of the second subband and the appearance of an additional electron layer can be detected. The magnetic field dependence of these capacitances is dominated by quantum corrections caused by the occupation of Landau levels in the nearest electron layer. The technique should be equally applicable to other implementations of a double layer electron system.
Mechanochemical induced structural changes in sucrose using the rotational diamond anvil cell
Authors: Ciezak-Jenkins Jennifer A. , Jenkins Timothy A.
Published: February 2018

The response of sucrose to high-pressure and shear conditions has been studied in a rotational diamond anvil cell. Previous experiments conducted by Bridgman and Teller showed divergent behavior in regard to the existence of a rheological explosion under mechanochemical stimuli. Raman spectroscopy confirmed the existence of the isostructural Phase I to Phase II transition near 5 GPa. When subjected to high-pressure and shear, Raman spectra of Phase I showed evidence that while the sucrose molecule underwent significant molecular deformation, there was no evidence of a complete chemical reaction. In contrast, Phase II showed a near-total loss of the in-situ Raman signal in response to shear, suggesting the onset of amorphization or decomposition. The divergent behaviors of Phase I and Phase II are examined in light of the differences in the hydrogen bonding and plasticity of the material.
Reference Correlation for the Thermal Conductivity of n-Hexadecane from the Triple Point to 700 K and up to 50 MPa
Authors: Monogenidou S. A. , Assael M. J. , Huber M. L.
Published: February 2018

This paper presents a new wide-ranging correlation for the thermal conductivity of n-hexadecane based on critically evaluated experimental data. The correlation is designed to be used with a recently developed equation of state, and it is valid from the triple point up to 700 K and pressures up to 50 MPa. We estimate the uncertainty at a 95% confidence level to be 4% over the aforementioned range, with the exception of the dilute-gas range where the uncertainty is 2.7% over the temperature range 583–654 K. The correlation behaves in a physically reasonable manner when extrapolated to the full range of the equation of state, but the uncertainties are larger outside of the validated range, and also in the critical region.
Stabilization of a magnetic island by localized heating in a tokamak with stiff temperature profile
Authors: Maget Patrick , Widmer Fabien , Février Olivier , Garbet Xavier , Lütjens Hinrich
Published: February 2018

In tokamaks plasmas, turbulent transport is triggered above a threshold in the temperature gradient and leads to stiff profiles. This particularity, neglected so far in the problem of magnetic island stabilization by a localized heat source, is investigated analytically in this paper. We show that the efficiency of the stabilization is deeply modified compared to the previous estimates due to the strong dependence of the turbulence level on the additional heat source amplitude inside the island.
Perovskite solar cells reveal excitonic optical transitions
Authors: Wolverton Mark
Published: February 2018

Electroabsorption studies show an excitonic signature based on bound electron-hole pairs.
Modern hexaploid wheat differs from diploid and tetraploid ancestors in the importance of stress tolerance versus stress avoidance
Authors: Li P. F. , Ma B. L. , Xiong Y. C.
Published: February 2018

Combined high temperature and weak radiation stress negatively influences wheat production. However, related eco-physiological mechanisms across wheat species of different genetic backgrounds are not well documented. A pot-culture experiment was conducted in growth chambers to analyse the prevailing strategies of wheat genotypes with different ploidy levels under combined high temperature and weak radiation (30°C−25°C, 200 µmol m−2 s−1 photosynthetically active radiation (PAR)) stress compared with normal growth conditions (20°C−15°C; 400 µmol m−2 s−1 PAR). The diploid and tetraploid wheat genotypes showed better avoidance ability to high temperature and weak radiation stress than the hexaploids. These diploids and tetraploids produced high vegetative biomass under control conditions but this was reduced substantially under the stress. The adaptive response to avoid the stress was a strong reduction in vegetative organs, mainly leaf area. Consequently, these genotypes produced lower yields. By contrast, modern hexaploid wheat varieties displayed a stronger tolerance to the stress and produced higher yields through greater green leaf area, higher relative leaf water content, and higher proline and soluble sugar contents. The relative importance of these tolerance and avoidance strategies was estimated to account for 60% and 22%, respectively, of the variations in grain yield. Our study demonstrated that modern hexaploid wheat has acquired a greater proportion of tolerance rather than avoidance strategy in response to high temperature and weak radiation stress.
Mapping quantitative trait loci for cold tolerance at the booting stage in rice by using chromosome segment substitution lines
Authors: Lei Jianguo , Zhu Shan , Shao Caihong , Tang Shusheng , Huang Renliang , Zhu Changlan , Yan Song
Published: February 2018

Low temperature at the booting stage in rice (Oryza sativa L.) can cause male sterility, resulting in yield losses. A set of chromosome segment substitution lines derived from the varieties Sasanishiki (cold-tolerant, ssp. japonica) and Habataki (cold-susceptible, ssp. indica) was used for analysis across two natural, low-temperature environments to study the genetic basis for cold tolerance at the booting stage. Spikelet fertility was used as the evaluation index for cold tolerance identification. Eight quantitative trait loci (QTLs) for cold tolerance were detected, two of which were located on chromosomes 3 (qCTSF3.1 and qCTSF3.2), and the others on chromosomes 4 (qCTSF4), 5 (qCTSF5), 6 (qCTSF6), 7 (qCTSF7), 8 (qCTSF8) and 9 (qCTSF9). The phenotypic variation explained by each QTL ranged from 5.4% to 25.3%. Of the eight QTLs, six (qCTSF3.2, qCTSF5, qCTSF6, qCTSF7, qCTSF8, qCTSF9) were repeatedly detected in two environments. QTLs qCTSF3.1, qCTSF7 and qCTSF9 overlapped with previously reported QTLs. All tolerant alleles for all QTLs were contributed by Sasanishiki.
Effect of addition of tin on the microstructure and machinability of α-brass
Authors: Rajabi Zahra , Doostmohammadi Hamid
Published: February 2018

This study was aimed at developing lead-free brass alloys with the goal of substituting lead element with tin. For this purpose, lead-free alloys with tin were developed and the microstructure, hardness and machining behaviour of the Cu–30%Zn alloy was compared with Cu–30%Zn– x%Sn ( x =  1.2, 3.2, 5.4, 8, 11.4, 13.9, 17.4). The results showed that the addition of Sn to single-α phase brass led to the formation of duplex (α  + β′) brass and then the formation of (β ′ + Ɣ ) brass both with increased hardness. In addition, the addition of Sn to Cu–30%Zn alloy led to the decrement of equivalent machining forces ( Fm), surface roughness and also the promotion of chip fragmentation due to the formation of the β ′ phase, which is an improvement in machinability.
Upgraded curriculum? An analysis of knowledge boundaries in teaching under the Swedish subject‐based curriculum*
Authors: Adolfsson Carl-Henrik
Published: February 2018

This article offers a contribution to the current debate about knowledge and the curriculum, especially initiated by social realist writers. The enacted Swedish subject‐based curriculum for compulsory schooling is examined and is also used as a significant case with the aim of discussing practical implications of social realist claims regarding knowledge and the curriculum. Video‐recorded lessons from grade six in six different Swedish schools, in combination with teacher interviews, are explored within the scope of a curriculum theory framework with the purpose of illuminating dominant patterns of knowledge boundaries and knowledge conceptions. The study shows how the Swedish subject‐based curriculum frames teaching in a direction where a disciplinary knowledge conception with fixed knowledge boundaries predominates over other knowledge forms. The subject‐based curriculum also appears to produce an ‘overloading’ of content, which implies that pupils’ questions and experiences are avoided and dismissed in the teaching practice.
Influences: Life lessons from Anita Zimmerman
Authors: Gordon Sharona E.
Published: February 2018

JGP’s Editor-in-Chief describes the powerful influence of her PhD supervisor.
Spontaneous topological charging of tactoids in a living nematic
Authors: Genkin Mikhail M , Sokolov Andrey , Aranson Igor S
Published: February 2018

Living nematic is a realization of an active matter combining a nematic liquid crystal with swimming bacteria. The material exhibits a remarkable tendency towards spatio-temporal self-organization manifested in formation of dynamic textures of self-propelled half-integer topological defects (disclinations). Here we report on the study of such living nematic near normal inclusions, or tactoids, naturally realized in liquid crystals close to the isotropic-nematic (I–N) phase transition. On the basis of the computational analysis, we have established that tactoid’s I–N interface spontaneously acquire negative topological charge which is proportional to the tactoid’s size and depends on the concentration of bacteria. The observed negative charging is attributed to the drastic difference in the mobilities of +1/2 and −1/2 topological defects in active systems. The effect is described in the framework of a kinetic theory for point-like weakly-interacting defects with different mobilities. Our dedicated experiment fully confirmed the theoretical prediction. The results hint into new strategies for control of active matter.
Speciation of heavy metals Cu, Ni and Zn by modified BCR sequential extraction procedure in sediments from Banten Bay, Banten Province, Indonesia
Authors: Lestari  , Budiyanto F , Hindarti D
Published: February 2018

Banten Bay is categorized as a marine area that is busy with marine tourism activities, settlements and also industries. One potential impact of the condition is the occurrence of pollution from both industrial and domestic sources, erosion and sedimentation in the coastal environment. Samples were collected from 25 representative stations in April 2016. Chemical speciation of three heavy metals (Cu, Ni, and Zn) was studied using a modified sequential extraction procedure proposed by the European Standard, Measurements and Testing (SM&T) program, formerly the Community Bureau of Reference (BCR). The aims of this study are to determine geochemical speciation of 4 bounds of metal: acid-soluble, reducible, oxidizable and residual, and to assess their impacts in the sediments of Banten Bay, Indonesia. The result shows that the percentage of Copper (45.90-83.75%), Nickel (18.28-65.66%), and Zinc (30.45-79.51%) were mostly accumulated in residual fraction of the total concentrations. The Risk Assessment Code (RAC) reveals that about 0-7.07% of Copper and 1.11-24.35 % of Zinc at sites exist in exchangeable fraction and therefore, they are in low risk category. While 7.34-34.90 of Ni at sites exists in exchangeable fraction and therefore, it is in medium risk category to aquatic environment.
2. The concept of God
Authors: Bayne Tim
Published: February 2018

Religions differ widely in their conceptions of God’s nature, from God as a unity to God as a triune and God as a supernatural being or the totality of all that there is. ‘The concept of God’ restricts its attention to what philosophers of religion call ‘classical monotheism’ because monotheism—or theism—has dominated philosophy of religion within the Western world. Theism lies at the heart of the Abrahamic religions of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, and is found in certain strands of Hinduism. Theists regard God as the creator of the world; a perfect being of unlimited knowledge, power, and goodness; and the proper object of our worship.
MARSI: metabolite analogues for rational strain improvement
Authors: Cardoso João G R , Zeidan Ahmad A , Jensen Kristian , Sonnenschein Nikolaus , Neves Ana Rute , Herrgård Markus J
Published: February 2018

Metabolite analogues (MAs) mimic the structure of native metabolites, can competitively inhibit their utilization in enzymatic reactions, and are commonly used as selection tools for isolating desirable mutants of industrial microorganisms. Genome-scale metabolic models representing all biochemical reactions in an organism can be used to predict effects of MAs on cellular phenotypes. Here, we present the metabolite analogues for rational strain improvement (MARSI) framework. MARSI provides a rational approach to strain improvement by searching for metabolites as targets instead of genes or reactions. The designs found by MARSI can be implemented by supplying MAs in the culture media, enabling metabolic rewiring without the use of recombinant DNA technologies that cannot always be used due to regulations. To facilitate experimental implementation, MARSI provides tools to identify candidate MAs to a target metabolite from a database of known drugs and analogues.

Availability and implementation

The code is freely available at https://github.com/biosustain/marsi under the Apache License V2. MARSI is implemented in Python.

Supplementary information

Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.
Schlafen-8 is essential for lymphatic endothelial cell activation in experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis
Authors: Nakagawa Katsuhiro , Matsuki Takanori , Zhao Liang , Kuniyoshi Kanako , Tanaka Hiroki , Ebina Isao , Yoshida Kenta J , Nabeshima Hiroshi , Fukushima Kiyoharu , Kanemaru Hisashi , Yamane Fumihiro , Kawasaki Takahiro , Machida Tomohisa , Naito Hisamichi , Takakura Nobuyuki , Satoh Takashi , Akira Shizuo
Published: February 2018

Schlafen-8 (Slfn8) is a member of the Schlafen family of proteins, which harbor helicase domains and are induced by LPS and interferons. It has been reported that the Schlafen family are involved in various cellular functions, including proliferation, differentiation and regulation of virus replication. Slfn8 has been implicated in T-cell differentiation in the thymus. However, the roles of Slfn8 in the immune system remains unclear. In this study, we generated Slfn8 knockout mice (Slfn8−/−) and investigated the immunological role of Slfn8 using the T-cell-mediated autoimmune model experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE). We found that the clinical score was reduced in Slfn8−/− mice. IL-6 and IL-17A cytokine production, which are associated with EAE onset and progression, were decreased in the lymph nodes of Slfn8−/− mice. Immune cell populations in Slfn8−/− mice, including macrophages, neutrophils, T cells and B cells, did not reveal significant differences compared with wild-type mice. In vitro activation of Slfn8−/− T cells in response to TCR stimulation also did not reveal significant differences. To confirm the involvement of non-hematopoietic cells, we isolated CD45− CD31+ endothelial cells and CD45−CD31− gp38+ fibroblastic reticular cells by FACS sorting. We showed that the levels of IL-6 and Slfn8 mRNA in CD45− CD31+ endothelial cells were increased after EAE induction. In contrast, the level of IL-6 mRNA after EAE induction was markedly decreased in CD31+ endothelial cells from Slfn8−/− mice. These results indicate that Slfn8 may play a role in EAE by regulating inflammation in endothelial cells.
The Effects of Mismatches between Survey Question Stems and Response Options on Data Quality and Responses
Authors: Smyth Jolene D , Olson Kristen
Published: February 2018

Several questionnaire design texts emphasize a dual role of question wording: the wording needs to express what is being measured and tell respondents how to answer. Researchers tend to focus heavily on the first of these goals, but sometimes overlook the second, resulting in question wording that does not match the response options provided (i.e., mismatches). Common examples are yes/no questions with ordinal or nominal response options, open-ended questions with closed-ended response options, and check-all-that apply questions with forced-choice response options. A slightly different type of mismatch utilizes a question stem that can be read as asking for two different types of answers with no indication of which type should be provided. In this paper, we report the results of twenty-two experimental comparisons of data quality indicators (i.e., item nonresponse and response time) and response distributions across matched and mismatched versions of questions from a postal mail survey and a telephone survey. We find that mismatched items generally have lower data quality than matched items and that substantive results differ significantly across matched and mismatched designs, especially in the telephone survey. The results suggest that researchers should be wary of mismatches and should strive for holistic design.
Maurice Blanchot
Authors: Potts Adam
Published: February 2018

Maurice Blanchot (b. 1907–d. 2003) is a profoundly unique and influential figure of the 20th century. Sitting between philosophy and literature, his work explores the philosophical significance of literature by considering the demand it places on thought. For Blanchot, when thought is pushed to its absolute limit, we encounter the impossible, the singular, the outside—a radical region that is unthematizable. This, he argues, is ultimately the region of literature. Where everyday language tries to represent the world and where philosophical language tries to secure meaning, literary language, by contrast, is subversive as it does not carry the responsibility of representation or clarification. Words are not self-identical in literature, which means that the space of literature, as Blanchot refers to it, is characterized by an “atmosphere of uncertainty” (Blanchot 1985, p. 52, cited under Récit). This uncertainty is what drags us to the limit of possibility. Somewhat paradoxically, this limit/impossibility is not an invitation to nihilism, but rather the very condition of thought itself. It is no exaggeration to say that to understand Blanchot one must come to terms with this idea. Not only does this idea occupy his writing, but he also sees it in poets like Mallarmé, Rilke, Lautréamont; in the surrealists; and in novelists like Kafka, Proust, and Beckett. Much of his writing is dedicated to such figures. Given this demand placed on thought by literature, literature has the capacity to raise profound philosophical questions. Literature works like a springboard for Blanchot, impelling him to engage with the limit as it exists in philosophical figures like Heraclitus, Hegel, Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, Heidegger, and Weil. Of particular importance are his engagements with Emmanuel Levinas and Georges Bataille. In Levinas’s account of the Other, Blanchot sees the ethical and political impetus of literature. In Bataille’s work, Blanchot sees a companion of the unthinkable and an explorer of the impossible. Such a range of topics means Blanchot’s writing is voluminous and varied, comprising his early journalism, his critical writings, his own works of fiction, and his fragmentary texts. In these writings, Blanchot shows himself to be an attentive, nuanced, and very demanding thinker. Reading Blanchot requires that we read with the historical, political, and cultural contexts in view, where disaster (e.g., the Second World War) looms or echoes and where culture is at a breaking point. This article will offer a selective bibliography to help one grapple with the demands Blanchot places on us and on thought itself.
Sidney Lumet
Authors: Rapf Joanna E.
Published: February 2018

Sidney Lumet (b. 1924–d. 2011) was adamantly anti-auteurist, always emphasizing the collaborative nature of making movies (he avoided the words “film” and “cinema” as pretentious). He was that rare director who refused the possessory credit, “a film by . . .” which may be the reason he lacks the name recognition of a Spielberg, Scorsese, or Coppola. However, his movies are among the classics of the second half of the twentieth century, including his first feature, the courtroom drama Twelve Angry Men. Lumet explores such diverse topics as the story of a holocaust survivor in The Pawnbroker; corruption in the New York police department in Serpico, and Prince of the City. Others include a thwarted bank robbery by a bisexual Vietnam veteran in Dog Day Afternoon; the power of television in the prescient Network; and medical malpractice and the Catholic Church in The Verdict. He made over forty features and was nominated by the Motion Picture Academy for Best Director four times and once for screenwriting. In 2005, he finally received a long overdue Oscar for Lifetime Achievement. He began his career as a child actor in New York, the son of Baruch Lumet, a well-known Yiddish actor. His Broadway debut was in Sidney Kingsley’s Dead End in 1935, and he continued to perform regularly on and off Broadway as a child. Again portraying a slum kid, he starred in the film One Third of a Nation, directed by Dudley Murphy in 1939. Perhaps because of his own acting experience, actors loved working with him and appreciated his sensitivity to their needs. In 1941, he joined the Army Signal Corps. After World War II, he founded an off-Broadway acting group and began directing. However, it was the so-called Golden Age of television that really gave him his start as a director, and he credits those television years with teaching him how to shoot quickly and efficiently, how to edit in the camera, and how to use lenses to help tell a story. Besides his skill as a technician, Lumet also brought to his early television projects his humanity and ongoing concern for social justice. He was fascinated by the human cost involved in following passions and commitments, as well as the cost those passions and commitments inflict on others. This concern is at the core of most of his movies, exploring the complexities of human behavior. Human Rights First, a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization based in New York City and Washington, has honored the humanitarian impact of his career by creating the “Sidney Lumet Award for Integrity in Entertainment” to pay tribute to works of popular culture that advance understanding of pressing human rights issues.
Buczacz
Authors: Bartov Omer
Published: February 2018

Buczacz (in its Polish spelling, or Buchach as transliterated from Ukrainian) is a small town located today in western Ukraine, about 100 miles southeast of Lviv. Initially owned by the Buczacki family, in 1612 it came into the hands of the noble Polish Potocki clan. As of the 1500s Buczacz was populated mostly by Jews and Poles, while much of the surrounding rural population was made up of Ruthenians. Following the devastation of the Cossack and Turkish wars in the 17th century, Buczacz prospered in the 18th century, at which time its most famous edifices were built. It came under Habsburg Austrian rule in the first partition of Poland in 1772 as part of the newly created province of Galicia. By the 1880s Jews comprised two-thirds of its 10,000 residents, although their share declined somewhat by 1914, with Poles constituting the second-largest group. Heavily damaged in World War I and the Ukrainian-Polish and Polish-Bolshevik wars that followed it, Buczacz remained part of the Second Polish Republic throughout the rest of the interwar period. Annexed by the Soviet Union in 1939, Buczacz experienced mass deportations and other repressive measures in line with Soviet policies throughout eastern Poland. Following the German occupation in 1941, the city saw the mass murder of its Jewish population by the German Security Police, gendarmerie, and auxiliary Ukrainian police units. Altogether about 10,000 Jews from Buczacz and its vicinity were either murdered in situ or deported to the extermination camp of Bełżec. As of late 1943 the Polish population was subjected to a campaign of ethnic cleansing by Ukrainian nationalists; the surviving Poles were removed in accordance with a population exchange agreement between the Soviet and communist Polish authorities in the wake of the war. Buczacz became a largely Ukrainian town under Soviet rule and it has remained so since Ukrainian independence in 1991. It has few remnants or memories of its multiethnic past and of the violent destruction of its Jewish and Polish inhabitants. It does have, however, a major place in Jewish memory and literary representation. Among its best-known sons were the historian Emanuel Ringelblum, the founder of the “Oneg Shabbat” (Yiddish: Oyneg Shabes) archive of the Warsaw Ghetto; the “Nazi hunter” Simon Wiesenthal, and the Nobel Prize laureate Shmuel Yosef Agnon, much of whose writing was dedicated to Buczacz as representative of the lost world of eastern European Jewry.
EFFICACY AND SAFETY OUTCOMES OF INTRAVITREAL AFLIBERCEPT FOCUSING ON PATIENTS WITH DIABETIC MACULAR EDEMA FROM JAPAN
Authors: Terasaki Hiroko , Shiraki Kunihiko , Ohji Masahito , Metzig Carola , Schmelter Thomas , Zeitz Oliver , Sowade Olaf , Kobayashi Masato , Vitti Robert , Berliner Alyson , Shiraga Fumio
Published: February 2018

Purpose:

To evaluate the efficacy and safety of intravitreal aflibercept injection (IAI) in Japanese patients with diabetic macular edema (DME).

Methods:

VIVID-DME was a Phase 3 study comprising patients with DME randomized 1:1:1 to IAI 2 mg every 4 weeks (2q4), IAI 2 mg every 4 weeks until Week 16 then 8-week dosing (2q8), and laser. A total of 403 patients (76 Japanese) were included in this study. VIVID-Japan (72; all Japanese patients) was a nonrandomized, open-label study comprising Japanese patients with DME receiving IAI 2q4 until Week 16, then 2q8. Primary efficacy endpoint (Week 52) of VIVID-DME was mean change from baseline in best-corrected visual acuity; VIVID-Japan evaluated safety and tolerability.

Results:

Mean change in best-corrected visual acuity (letters) for 2q4, 2q8, and laser groups was +10.6, +10.9, and +1.2 and +9.8, +9.5, and +1.1 in the non-Japanese and Japanese populations of VIVID-DME, respectively. In VIVID-Japan, it was +9.3 for IAI 2q8. Intravitreal aflibercept injection also provided consistently greater benefits for anatomical outcomes versus laser. Adverse events were consistent with the known safety profile of IAI.

Conclusion:

In Japanese patients with DME, IAI treatment was superior to laser for visual and anatomical outcomes and resulted in efficacy and safety outcomes similar to those in a non-Japanese patient population.
ROUTINE FUNDUS SCREENING OF FAMILIES OF CHILDREN WITH RETINOBLASTOMA
Authors: Kaliki Swathi , Gupta Rathi Shweta , Patel Anamika
Published: February 2018

Purpose:

To discuss the importance of routine ophthalmic examination of parents and siblings of retinoblastoma (RB) patients.

Methods:

Prospective nonrandomized observational/interventional case series of consecutive families of 131 RB patients.

Results:

Routine ophthalmic examination of families (parents and siblings) of 131 consecutive newly diagnosed RB patients, including 262 parents and 23 siblings, revealed spontaneously regressed RB in at least 1 parent of 10 (8%) patients and active RB in at least 1 sibling of 3 (2%) patients. Of the 10 parents with spontaneously regressed RB, the lesions were unilateral (n = 7) or bilateral (n = 3). The regression patterns (n = 13) were comparable with postirradiation regression patterns Type 1 (n = 3), Type 2 (n = 2), Type 3 (n = 2), and Type 4 (n = 3), and spontaneous phthisis bulbi (n = 3). Fundus screening of siblings revealed active RB in at least 1 sibling of 3 (2%) patients. Of these 3 siblings, 2 had unilateral and 1 had bilateral disease. The mean age at detection of RB was 15 months (median, 6 months; range, 2–36 months). The disease was unilateral in 2 and bilateral in 1 patient. Based on International Classification of Intraocular Retinoblastoma, the tumors (n = 4) were classified as Group A (n = 2) and Group B (n = 2).

Conclusion:

Routine fundus screening of siblings allows for early detection of RB in otherwise asymptomatic children. Detection of spontaneously regressed RB in parents may act as a surrogate marker for germline RB1 mutation and is helpful in genetic counseling.
Intra-Aortic Balloon Pump Use Before Left Ventricular Assist Device Implantation: Insights From the INTERMACS Registry
Authors: DeVore Adam D. , Hammill Bradley G. , Patel Chetan B. , Patel Manesh R. , Rogers Joseph G. , Milano Carmelo A. , Hernandez Adrian F.
Published: February 2018

Use of durable, continuous-flow left ventricular assist devices (LVADs) has expanded rapidly, although data are limited regarding optimization strategies before LVAD implantation. We examined current use of intra-aortic balloon pumps (IABPs) before LVAD implantation and compared outcomes of patients with IABP use to those without. We analyzed data from the Interagency Registry for Mechanical Assisted Circulatory Support (INTERMACS) on patients who underwent LVAD implantation between 2006 and 2014. We limited the analysis to patients with an admitting diagnosis of LVAD placement. The primary exposure was IABP use within 48 hours before LVAD implantation. We used propensity scores to compare 30 day postoperative outcomes to reduce treatment selection bias. Of 2,446 patients, 433 (18%) received an IABP before LVAD placement. Patients with IABP use, compared with those without, had markers of more advanced disease, including worse renal and liver function, worse right ventricular function, and use of mechanical ventilation (p< 0.05 for all comparisons). A composite outcome of post-operative right heart failure, hepatic dysfunction, renal dysfunction, or death occurred in 83 (19.2%) patients with IABP use, compared with 342 (17.1%) patients without IABP use (unadjusted hazard ratio, 1.13; 95% confidence interval, 0.89–1.44; adjusted hazard ratio, 1.02; 95% confidence interval, 0.78–1.33). IABP use before LVAD placement was common. Despite markers of higher risk in patients with IABP use, we found no significant difference in 30 day outcomes compared to those without. The results suggest that IABP use may mitigate risk of early postoperative adverse outcomes in select patients.
Primary Cervical Malignant Melanoma: 2 Cases and a Literature Review
Authors: Yin Can , Yang Anqiang , Zhang Ying , Tao Lin , Zou Hong , Ren Yan , Liang Weihua , Jiang Jinfang , Zhao Jin , Zhang Wenjie , Li Feng , Jia Wei
Published: February 2018

Primary cervical malignant melanoma (MM) is an extremely rare tumor, and we are only aware of 44 reported cases. Further information is needed with regard to this disease’s clinicopathologic features. Two patients (55 and 81 yr old) with postmenopausal vaginal bleeding were diagnosed with primary cervical MM on the basis of hematoxylin-eosin staining and immunohistochemistry findings. Our literature review revealed that the average age in cases of primary cervical MM was 59 yr (range, 34–81 yr); 93% of patients presented with vaginal bleeding, and 82% of patients were diagnosed at an early clinical stage (International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics stages I–II). Primary cervical MM is an extremely rare cervical tumor and is associated with a poor prognosis. Histologic morphology and immunohistochemistry are very important considerations for diagnosing this disease, which must be differentiated from cervical undifferentiated carcinoma, leiomyosarcoma, and malignant peripheral schwannoma.
Autoantibodies against N-methyl-d-aspartate receptor 1 in health and disease
Authors: Ehrenreich Hannelore
Published: February 2018

Purpose of review

Humoral autoimmunity has gained highest interest in neurology and psychiatry. Despite numerous recent articles on this hot topic, however, the biological significance of natural autoantibodies (AB) and the normal autoimmune repertoire of mammals remained quite obscure. AB may contribute to disorder-relevant phenotypes and are even believed to induce diseases themselves, but the circumstances under which AB become pathogenic are not fully understood. This review will focus on the highly frequent AB against the N-methyl-d-aspartate receptor 1 (NMDAR1-AB) as an illustrating example and provide a critical overview of current work (please note that the new nomenclature, GluN1, is disregarded here for consistency with the AB literature). In particular, it will demonstrate how little is known at this point and how many conclusions are drawn based on small numbers of individuals, fragmentary experimental approaches or missing controls.

Recent findings

NMDAR1-AB were investigated by clinicians world-wide with numerous small studies and case reports appearing yearly. Many publications were on ‘anti-NMDAR encephalitis’ cases or tried to separate those from other NMDAR1-AB associated conditions. Original exclusivity claims (e.g. electroencephalogram, EEG or functional magnetic resonance imaging, fMRI findings) turned out not to be exclusive for ‘anti-NMDAR encephalitis’. Systematic analyses of representative NMDAR1-AB positive sera of all immunoglobulin (Ig) classes showed comparable distribution of different epitopes, often polyspecific/polyclonal, across health and disease. Sophisticated imaging tools provided findings on synapse trafficking changes induced by NMDAR1-AB from psychotic subjects but still lack epitope data to support any claimed disorder link. Persistently high titers of NMDAR1-AB (IgG) in immunized mice with open blood–brain barrier (BBB)-induced psychosis-like symptoms but failed to induce inflammation in the brain. Knowledge on peripheral NMDAR, for example in the immune system, and on potential inducers of NMDAR1-AB is only slowly increasing.

The present knowledge on the (patho) physiological role of NMDAR1-AB is very limited and still characterized by adamant rumors. Much more experimental work and more solid and informative clinical reports, including large numbers of subjects and adequate control groups, follow-up investigations and interdisciplinary approaches will be necessary to obtain a better understanding of the significance of humoral autoimmunity in general (in focus here: NMDAR1-AB) and its disease-relevance in particular.
Predicting the Effects of Hemlock Woolly Adelgid on Microhabitat Structure and Small Mammal Communities
Authors: Degrassi Allyson L.
Published: February 2018

Hemlock woolly adelgid (HWA) invasion and preemptive logging practices alter the habitat structure of New England forests and may indirectly affect associated small mammal communities. Microhabitat structure was measured and small mammals were censused in eight large experimental plots to quantify and predict these effects. The Harvard Forest Long-Term Ecological Research experiment is a replicated two-block design that includes four 0.81-ha canopy treatments: 1) Hemlock Control, 2) Hardwood Control, 3) Girdled Treatment, in which hemlock trees were killed by girdling in 2005 and left standing to simulate HWA invasion, and 4) Logged Treatment, in which trees were removed to simulate preemptive logging management practices. Nine microhabitat characteristics were measured from plot photos revealing differences among microhabitat structure. Small mammals were censused with arrays of 49 Sherman traps per plot and population sizes of common species were estimated with mark-recapture analysis. Between 6 and 8 mammal species were recorded in all treatments and species composition varied slightly. Populations of two common rodents (Peromyscus spp.) were not affected by treatment, but the southern red-backed vole population was greatest in the Girdled treatment. Estimated species richness was greater in the Girdled treatment than the Hemlock control, but richness did not differ between Girdled and Logged treatments, which suggests preemptive logging is as detrimental to some small mammal species as HWA invasion. Overall, nine years post disturbance, there is little evidence of a major shift in small mammal community structure in response to woolly adelgid invasion, with only minor changes in relative abundance.