bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
What Is Different in the Population of the Brazilian Amazon Region so that They Have a Low Frequency of KRAS Gene Mutations
Authors: de Carvalho Luis Eduardo W. , Sarraf Jonathan S. , Oliveira Ana Carolina M. , Neto Nilson D.B. , Câmara Thiago F. , Fonseca Fernando Luiz A. , Adami Fernando
Published: August 2017

Background: Colorectal cancer (CRC) has been described in the medical literature as resulting from many forms of interaction between lifestyle, genetics, and geographical origin. Genetically, the KRAS gene has a negative impact on the general survival and prognosis of patients when mutated. Methods: This study was conducted in Brazil and included information about 60 patients with CRC stage III and IV examined at the Day Hospital Oncológica do Brasil, whose DNA was analyzed with the PCR-DNA method to determine the existence of a KRAS mutation. Results: The results revealed that 18.3% of the individuals analyzed showed a KRAS mutation (24% of mutations were found in men and 14.3% in women), which is a smaller proportion than those found in other large studies across the globe. Conclusion: As our analysis is one of the very first published about this topic, more studies are necessary to understand the role of KRAS mutations and the associated variables in populations such as that of the Amazon region.
Naringin Protects Against High Glucose-Induced Human Endothelial Cell Injury Via Antioxidation and CX3CL1 Downregulation
Authors: Li Guilin , Xu Yurong , Sheng Xuan , Liu Hua , Guo Jingjing , Wang Jiayue , Zhong Qi , Jiang Huaide , Zheng Chaoran , Tan Mengxia , Rao Shenqiang , Yu Yanling , Gao Yun , Li Guodong , Liang Shangdong , Zhu Gaochun
Published: August 2017

Background/Aims: The induction of endothelial injury by hyperglycemia in diabetes has been widely accepted. Naringin is a bio-flavonoid. Some studies showed that naringin alleviates diabetic complications, but the exact mechanisms by which naringin improves diabetic anomalies are not yet fully understood. The aim of this research was to study the protective effect of naringin on high glucose-induced injury of human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs). Methods: HUVECs were cultured with or without high glucose in the absence or presence of naringin for 5 days. The expression of CX3CL1 was determined by quantitative real-time RT-PCR (qPCR) and western blot. The cellular bioenergetic analysis oxygen consumption rate (OCR) was measured with a Seahorse Bioscience XF analyzer. Results: The production of reactive oxygen species (ROS), the expression of CX3CL1 and the level of AKT phosphorylation were increased in HUVECs cultured with high glucose compared with controls. However, naringin rescued these increases in ROS production, CX3CL1 expression and AKT phosphorylation. Nitric oxide (NO) production and OCR were lower in the high glucose group, and naringin restored the changes induced by high glucose. Molecular docking results suggested that Naringin might interact with the CX3CL1 protein. Conclusion: Naringin protects HUVECs from high-glucose-induced damage through its antioxidant properties by downregulating CX3CL1 and by improving mitochondrial function.
Long Non-Coding RNA MEG3 Downregulation Triggers Human Pulmonary Artery Smooth Muscle Cell Proliferation and Migration via the p53 Signaling Pathway
Authors: Sun Zengxian , Nie Xiaowei , Sun Shuyang , Dong Shumin , Yuan Chunluan , Li Yanli , Xiao Bingxin , Jie Dong , Liu Yun
Published: August 2017

Background/Aims: Increasing evidence has demonstrated a significant role of long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) in diverse biological processes, and many of which are likely to have functional roles in vascular remodeling. However, their functions in pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) remain largely unknown. Pulmonary vascular remodeling is an important pathological feature of PAH, leading to increased vascular resistance and reduced compliance. Pulmonary artery smooth muscle cells (PASMCs) dysfunction is involved in vascular remodeling. Long noncoding RNAs are potential regulators of PASMCs function. Herein, we determined whether long noncoding RNA–maternally expressed gene 3 (MEG3) was involved in PAH-related vascular remodeling. Methods: The arterial wall thickness was examined by hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) staining in distal pulmonary arteries (PAs) isolated from lungs of healthy volunteers and PAH patients. The expression level of MEG3 was analyzed by qPCR. The effects of MEG3 on human PASMCs were assessed by cell counting Kit-8 assay, BrdU incorporation assay, flow cytometry, scratch-wound assay, immunofluorescence, and western blotting in human PASMCs. Results: We revealed that the expression of MEG3 was significantly downregulated in lung and PAs of patients with PAH. MEG3 knockdown affected PASMCs proliferation and migration in vitro. Moreover, inhibition of MEG3 regulated the cell cycle progression and made more smooth muscle cells from the G0/G1 phase to the G2/M+S phase and the process could stimulate the expression of PCNA, Cyclin A and Cyclin E. In addition, we found that the p53 pathway was involved in MEG3–induced smooth muscle cell proliferation. Conclusions: This study identified MEG3 as a critical regulator in PAH and demonstrated the potential of gene therapy and drug development for treating PAH.
Endothelial Functions
Authors: Godo Shigeo , Shimokawa Hiroaki
Published: August 2017

The endothelium plays important roles in modulating vascular tone by synthesizing and releasing a variety of endothelium-derived relaxing factors, including vasodilator prostaglandins, NO, and endothelium-dependent hyperpolarization factors, as well as endothelium-derived contracting factors. Endothelial dysfunction is mainly caused by reduced production or action of these relaxing mediators. Accumulating evidence has demonstrated that endothelial functions are essential to ensure proper maintenance of vascular homeostasis and that endothelial dysfunction is the hallmark of a wide range of cardiovascular diseases associated with pathological conditions toward vasoconstriction, thrombosis, and inflammatory state. In the clinical settings, evaluation of endothelial functions has gained increasing attention in view of its emerging relevance for cardiovascular disease. Recent experimental and clinical studies in the vascular biology field have demonstrated a close relationship between endothelial functions and cardiovascular disease and the highlighted emerging modulators of endothelial functions, new insight into cardiovascular disease associated with endothelial dysfunction, and potential therapeutic and diagnostic targets with major clinical implications. We herein will summarize the current knowledge on endothelial functions from bench to bedside with particular focus on recent publications in
Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis, and Vascular Biology
.
Omega-3 Fatty Acids and Incident Ischemic Stroke and Its Atherothrombotic and Cardioembolic Subtypes in 3 US Cohorts
Authors: Saber Hamidreza , Yakoob Mohammad Yawar , Shi Peilin , Longstreth W.T. , Lemaitre Rozenn N. , Siscovick David , Rexrode Kathryn M. , Willett Walter C. , Mozaffarian Dariush
Published: August 2017

Background and Purpose—

The associations of individual long-chain n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids with incident ischemic stroke and its main subtypes are not well established. We aimed to investigate prospectively the relationship of circulating eicosapentaenoic acid, docosapentaenoic acid (DPA), and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) with risk of total ischemic, atherothrombotic, and cardioembolic stroke.

Methods—

We measured circulating phospholipid fatty acids at baseline in 3 separate US cohorts: CHS (Cardiovascular Health Study), NHS (Nurses’ Health Study), and HPFS (Health Professionals Follow-Up Study). Ischemic strokes were prospectively adjudicated and classified into atherothrombotic (large- and small-vessel infarctions) or cardioembolic by imaging studies and medical records. Risk according to fatty acid levels was assessed using Cox proportional hazards (CHS) or conditional logistic regression (NHS, HPFS) according to study design. Cohort findings were pooled using fixed-effects meta-analysis.

Results—

A total of 953 incident ischemic strokes were identified (408 atherothrombotic, 256 cardioembolic, and 289 undetermined subtypes) during median follow-up of 11.2 years (CHS) and 8.3 years (pooled, NHS and HPFS). After multivariable adjustment, lower risk of total ischemic stroke was seen with higher DPA (highest versus lowest quartiles; pooled hazard ratio [HR], 0.74; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.58–0.92) and DHA (HR, 0.80; 95% CI, 0.64–1.00) but not eicosapentaenoic acid (HR, 0.94; 95% CI, 0.77–1.19). DHA was associated with lower risk of atherothrombotic stroke (HR, 0.53; 95% CI, 0.34–0.83) and DPA with lower risk of cardioembolic stroke (HR, 0.58; 95% CI, 0.37–0.92). Findings in each individual cohort were consistent with pooled results.

Conclusions—

In 3 large US cohorts, higher circulating levels of DHA were inversely associated with incident atherothrombotic stroke and DPA with cardioembolic stroke. These novel findings suggest differential pathways of benefit for DHA, DPA, and eicosapentaenoic acid.
Transport Infrastructure and the Decentralization of Cities in the People's Republic of China
Authors: Baum-Snow Nathaniel , Turner Matthew A.
Published: August 2017

It is widely believed that transport infrastructure has important impacts on the development of cities. Until recently, however, there has been little systematic evidence with which to evaluate claims about the effects of transport infrastructure on the development of cities and regions. In this paper, we describe the evolution of transport infrastructure in the People's Republic of China and how it relates to the evolution of location patterns of population and production in Chinese cities and their surrounding regions. We summarize empirical evidence from Baum-Snow et al. ( 2017 ) on the causal effects of various types of transport infrastructure on the decentralization of cities in the People's Republic of China. Finally, we put our results in the context of the existing literature on the effects of infrastructure on productivity and the allocation of resources across locations.
Natural City Growth in the People's Republic of China
Authors: Egger Peter H. , Loumeau Gabriel , Püschel Nicole
Published: August 2017

This paper analyzes the growth of Metropolitan Statistical Areas in the PRC between 1992 and 2013 by focusing on the night-light radiance—a measure of economic activity—of connected subcity places that we refer to as a natural city. This paper documents the rapid growth of natural cities in the PRC between 1992 and 2009 that was followed by a slight reduction in the size of some natural cities between 2010 and 2013 in the aftermath of the recent global financial crisis. Institutional factors—such as the location of places near Special Economic Zones, the ramifications of legal migration from rural to urban areas following reforms to the hukou (household registration) system, and infrastructure accessibility—are found to be important drivers of the integration of peripheral places into natural cities.
Determinants of Urban Land Supply in the People's Republic of China: How Do Political Factors Matter?
Authors: Hsu Wen-Tai , Li Xiaolu , Tang Yang , Wu Jing
Published: August 2017

This paper explores whether and how corruption and competition-for-promotion motives affect urban land supply in the People's Republic of China. Conditional on demand-side factors, we find that corruption is highly correlated with an increase in land supply. The corruption effects are strongest for commercial land, followed by residential land, and then industrial land. To shed light on the competition motives among prefectural leaders, we examine how the number of years in office affects land supply and distinguish among different hypotheses. Our empirical results show robust rising trends in land sales. These results are consistent with the hypothesis that among prefectural leaders the impatience and anxiety in later years from not being promoted may contribute to an increase in land sales revenue in later years. We also find that prefectural leaders may aim for more land sales revenue over their first few years in office instead of seeking higher revenue in their first 1–2 years.
Urban Agglomeration Effects in India: Evidence from Town-Level Data
Authors: Hasan Rana , Jiang Yi , Rafols Radine Michelle
Published: August 2017

Combining multiple data sets for India, we estimate the elasticity of wages with respect to town population and density between 1% and 2%, which is smaller than estimates in the literature based on district-level analysis. We also find that the employment share of firms with 10 or more workers—which typically describes firms that operate in the formal sector—is positively associated with city population and negatively associated with city density. Town characteristics such as infrastructure availability, geographic location, educational services, and industrial structure also play a role in explaining city productivity and the presence of relatively large firms. Overall, we interpret our results to suggest that there is scope to realize more fully urbanization's potential by addressing issues related to urban planning, infrastructure, and public service delivery, as has been emphasized previously by observers of Indian urbanization.
Will Climate Change Cause Enormous Social Costs for Poor Asian Cities?
Authors: Kahn Matthew E.
Published: August 2017

Climate change could significantly reduce the quality of life for poor people in Asia. Extreme heat and drought, and the increased incidence of natural disasters will pose new challenges for the urban poor and rural farmers. If farming profits decline, urbanization rates will accelerate and the social costs of rapid urbanization could increase due to rising infectious disease rates, pollution, and congestion. This paper studies strategies for reducing the increased social costs imposed on cities by climate change.
Child Welfare in Victorian Newspapers: Corpus-Based Discourse Analysis
Authors: Atkinson Paul , Gregory Ian N.
Published: August 2017

Corpus linguistics enables the analysis of patterns in large bodies of written material. The use of this approach to trace discourses about infant mortality in all of the text published by four newspapers in England and Wales between 1870 and 1900 detects systematic variations in views about infant welfare by locality. It also reveals some of the strengths and weaknesses inherent in interrogating digitized text with linguistic tools in historical research.
Sexe et genre dans les textes de la tradition juive
Authors: Chouraqui Jean-Marc
Published: August 2017

A partir du texte biblique et de ses commentaires talmudiques, midrachiques et cabalistiques, se déploie une problématique complexe aux multiples ramifications sur la question du rapport de l’Un à la dualité, à la différenciation/séparation en écho au concept de « sainteté » / « distinction », dont la transcendance serait le paradigme.

Le texte biblique repère un processus qui s’amorce avec un modèle androgyne (Adam) dans lequel s’entrelace l’Un et la dualité (masculine et féminine) jusqu’à une altérité radicale entre l’Homme et la Femme induisant une sexualité spécifique combinant, dans le droit, plaisir et procréation, et excluant de ce fait l’acte homosexuel. Une lecture cabalistique réaménage le rapport entre unité et dualité « En Haut », et s’interroge sur ce qu’il est advenu « En Bas ».
“I revealed my mysteries to those who are mine”: Transmission and Interpretation of Jesus’ Words in some Johannine Writings (2nd-3rd century ce)
Authors: Tripaldi Daniele
Published: August 2017

Some early Christian writings deeply enrooted in a Johannine worldview and religious practice, and usually labeled “Gnostic”, cite or allude to words attributed to Jesus as authoritative utterances. The article attempts to shed light on the process of transmission and production of such Johannine or Johannine-like sayings of Jesus. It appears that such a process might predate the redaction of texts and surely continues irrespective of the written tradition of Jesus’ logoi, both “canonical” and “apocryphal”. Conclusions are finally drawn on the ideological matrix fostering the process, as well as on the socio-religious scenario which it presupposes.
The Politics of Treaty Signature: The Role of Diplomats and Ties that Bind
Authors: Elsig Manfred , Karolina Milewicz
Published: August 2017

The literature on international cooperation through legal commitments focuses chiefly on treaty ratification. What has received much less attention is that before states ratify treaties, they commit to treaties through the act of signature. This article addresses this research gap by investigating how a state’s decision to sign a treaty is affected by its diplomatic representation during treaty negotiations. Conceptualizing signature as a commitment step, we argue that participation in treaty negotiations translates into a “ties-that-bind” effect creating incentives for diplomats to support the treaty text leading to treaty signature. Our empirical analysis uses a new data set on signature and tests the argument for 52 multilateral treaties concluded between 1990 and 2005. Results confirm that participation in treaty making matters for signature but not necessarily for ratification.
The Coherence of Public Reason
Authors: Lister Andrew
Published: August 2017

Theories of public reason face a dilemma. If their standard of reasonableness is low, the view will be unacceptably anarchic and self-refuting, while if it is high, the exclusion of unreasonable views will manifest unequal treatment. This paper shows how to avoid this dilemma by distinguishing two models of public reason. The coercion model is vulnerable to the worry about anarchy but not self-defeat, while the reasons model is vulnerable to self-defeat but not anarchy. The coercion model can avoid anarchy without idealizing heavily via aggregation of individual policies into packages. The reasons model can avoid self-refutation by making acceptance of public reason one of the conditions for counting as fully reasonable, which is a natural constraint if the justification of the principle is relational.
In Place/Out of Place
Authors: RAJI WUMI
Published: August 2017

This essay focuses on the transformation of the experience of crossings and transnationalism in Sarah Ladipo Manyika’s In Dependence. Manyika’s novel is a story of crosscultural love. The two main characters, one male, black, and Nigerian; and the other female, white and British, first come across each other as students in Oxford. The relationship which consequently develops between them passes through phases of turbulence, spans a period of three decades and is acted out in three continents. In the end, the author’s point seems to be that humanities in general share dependent relationships with each other. Though of different racial origins, Manyika places her two major characters in the novel on equal pedestals. Both are of middle class backgrounds, excel in their studies, and later distinguish themselves in their chosen careers. My intention in this essay is to elaborate on the perspective of transnationalism and cross-cultural interconnectedness as articulated in the novel.
Resident Aliens
Authors: OLUFUNWA HARRY
Published: August 2017

Identity-politics refers to the way in which a specific section of a given society agitates for equal rights, increased recognition and greater opportunities based on the specific ethnic, religious, gender or other characteristic that simultaneously binds it together as a social group and sets it apart from other groups. This essay looks at the changing nature of identity-politics in the drama of the contemporary Nigerian dramatist Ahmed Yerima. It argues that the playwright traces crucial shifts in relationships that obtain between and within the individuals and social groups depicted in his plays as part of his overall concern with the nature of society.
Childless Mothers and Motherless Children
Authors: COUNIHAN CLARE
Published: August 2017

Mma Ramotswe, the heroine of the No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency novels and their adaptations, is proud of “being a traditionally built African lady unlike these terrible stick-like creatures one saw in the advertisements.” This crisis of the ‘traditional’ and the ‘modern’ erupts in the representation in the novels and television series of Mma Ramotswe’s sexuality and mothering, the texts’ failures to acknowledge or negotiate the inconsistencies of its deployment of the ‘traditional’ and the ‘modern’, and the resulting dilemma of (national) reproduction when sex is not an option. Further, neither text integrates its explicit celebration of ‘traditional values’ with the professional opportunities that ‘being modern’ affords Mma Ramotswe. Attempting to negotiate this disjunction, the texts divest Mma Ramotswe of any ‘modern’ sexual attitudes or actions – the ones that produce offspring – while still providing her with those fruits: children. Both written and visual representations systematically negate any possibility that Mma Ramotswe might participate in any reproductive activity of her own. A mother without children to children without mothers, Mma Ramotswe figures postcolonial reproduction as a sexless, passionless transaction, while both texts align any sex with the probability of pain, betrayal, and death.
Motherhood and the Measure of Truth in J.M. Coetzee’s Age of Iron
Authors: KHAN MAHRUKH
Published: August 2017

Ambiguous mother-figures dominate the fictional world of J.M Coetzee’s novel Age of Iron. Sterility emerges as a central motif in the novel, corresponding to South Africa’s apartheid history of racial hatred, discrimination, and violence. The struggling motherfigures are a product of the flawed times and emerge as symptomatic of social and cultural crisis. Elizabeth Curren, the novel’s tortured first-person narrator, highlights the racially divided nation as socially, culturally, and morally impeded. Through her “stubborn will to give, to nourish,” she engages in a struggle against the “scavengers of Cape Town”: the “pitiless” heirs of a legacy of hate. Curren comes from a colonial history but seeks to decolonize her mind and voice as she writes a letter to her expatriate daughter, who, absent from the narrative, represents the need for change in values and historical perspective. Her strategic absence, significantly, communicates her incompatibility with the existing public and political discourse, thereby also suggesting an engagement with the future of ethics and aesthetics. While Elizabeth Curren’s inscribed poetic plea for her daughter to return home self-reflexively acknowledges the constraints of a banal medium and provokes its lapses, there is also a need to realize what may as yet be un-semanticized. Elizabeth Curren aspires to redeem herself through the nurturing symbolism embodied in motherhood. Accordingly, and deploying Julia Kristeva’s terminology, the essay argues for a return to a “maternal territory” where the semiotic process (an established communicative code of signs that determines our understanding of reality) is still in its intuitive and instinctual stage and allows Curren to transcend the constraints of her spoken medium. In Curren’s case, the letter serves as a redrawn semantic map, possibly exceeding its established boundaries of signification and meaning.
A Hegelian Critique of Richard Rorty’s Contingency, Irony, and Solidarity
Authors: Hogan Brandon
Published: August 2017

I read Rorty’s Contingency, Irony, and Solidarity as an attempt to reconcile two, seemingly conflicting, sources of authority and obligation. Some believe that persons are obligated by reason or God to promote just institutions. While others locate authority and obligation solely in the self. Rorty tells us that we need not choose between these sources of normativity, but can see each as applicable to two, non-conflicting parts of our lives. I contend that Rorty’s solution rests on a misunderstanding of the upshots of contingency and of the conditions of personhood. I argue that Hegel provides a more compelling resolution of the tension between public obligation and private autonomy.
Paintbrushes and Crowbars: Richard Rorty and the New Public-Private Divide
Authors: Anderson John P.
Published: August 2017

In an often-quoted passage, Richard Rorty wrote that “J.S. Mill’s suggestion that governments devote themselves to optimizing the balance between leaving people’s lives alone and preventing suffering seems to me pretty much the last word.” In this article, I show why, for Rorty, maintaining a strong public-private divide that cordons off final vocabularies – the religious, racial, ethnic, sexual, gender, philosophical, and other terms so important for citizens’ private pursuits of self-creation and self-perfection – from public political discourse is a crucial means to accomplishing both of these goals in post-secular liberal democracies. Public political justifications should instead be articulated in the foundation-neutral terms of a shared national vocabulary. Like paintbrushes and crowbars, final and shared vocabularies are different tools for different purposes, and a strong public-private divide helps ensure that no harm comes from their misuse.
Classification of Russian Parties
Authors: Korgunyuk Yury
Published: August 2017

This article attempts to classify Russian parties by various criteria and with the help of various methods. Cluster analysis shows that only 10 of the 75 parties registered by the Ministry of Justice can be considered as actual political actors. They can be broken into three clusters: 1) United Russia; 2) parliamentary opposition – cprf, ldpr and A Just Russia; 3) six parties with a various degree of participation in national political debates and rare regional and municipal deputies. Factor analysis enables us to build a 2D-map of the policy space where parties participating actively in national debates form a kind of triangle: the first vertex consists of six parties including cprf, ldpr and jr, the second one is represented by United Russia alone, the third – by liberals (Yabloko and parnas). From the organizational point of view, United Russia and cprf try to look like mass parties, other resemble cadre parties (most of them), business firms (ldpr), associations of soul-mate clubs (Yabloko).
Tools of Government for Russian Development: The Case of Housing
Authors: Khmelnitskaya Marina
Published: August 2017

The article analyses the use of policy tools in the Russian housing sector, associated with the government’s objective of development, and examines the pattern of complementarity that exists between the policy tools. Building on the insights of historical institutionalist and public policy literatures, it argues that the choices of policy tools are determined by institutional and policy sector specific structural factors and temporal calculations by the policy makers leading them to adopt specific ‘bundles’ of policy instruments as well as doubling policy arrangements.
What’s the Point of the Eurasian Economic Union?
Authors: Mohammeddinov Mikhail
Published: August 2017

This article evaluates the eaeu through lenses of four salient regional integration theories: neofunctionalism, liberal intergovernmentalism, social constructivism and neorealism, in four corresponding dimensions of integration: economic, politico-institutional, cultural and geostrategic. It concludes that the eaeu is not a useful undertaking for Russia in any of the listed dimensions. The bloc’s economic consequences for the smaller states will be harmful. They will experience major production cutbacks and huge adjustment costs because of their undersized firms.
Examining the Climatology of Shortwave Radiation in the Northeastern United States
Authors: Hanrahan Janel , Maynard Alexandria , Murphy Sarah Y. , Zercher Colton , Fitzpatrick Allison
Published: August 2017

As demand for renewable energy grows, so does the need for an improved understanding of renewable energy sources. Paradoxically, the climate change mitigation strategy of fossil fuel divestment is in itself subject to shifts in weather patterns resulting from climate change. This is particularly true with solar power, which depends on local cloud cover. However, because observed shortwave radiation data usually span a decade or less, persistent long-term trends may not be identified. A simple linear regression model is created here using diurnal temperature range (DTR) during 2002–15 as a predictor variable to estimate long-term shortwave radiation (SR) values in the northeastern United States. Using an extended DTR dataset, SR values are computed for 1956–2015. Statistically significant decreases in shortwave radiation are identified that are dominated by changes during the summer months. Because this coincides with the season of greatest insolation and the highest potential for energy production, financial implications may be large for the solar energy industry if such trends persist into the future.
Evaluation of Multiple Planetary Boundary Layer Parameterization Schemes in Southeast U.S. Cold Season Severe Thunderstorm Environments
Authors: Cohen Ariel E. , Cavallo Steven M. , Coniglio Michael C. , Brooks Harold E. , Jirak Israel L.
Published: August 2017

Southeast U.S. cold season severe weather events can be difficult to predict because of the marginality of the supporting thermodynamic instability in this regime. The sensitivity of this environment to prognoses of instability encourages additional research on ways in which mesoscale models represent turbulent processes within the lower atmosphere that directly influence thermodynamic profiles and forecasts of instability. This work summarizes characteristics of the southeast U.S. cold season severe weather environment and planetary boundary layer (PBL) parameterization schemes used in mesoscale modeling and proceeds with a focused investigation of the performance of nine different representations of the PBL in this environment by comparing simulated thermodynamic and kinematic profiles to observationally influenced ones. It is demonstrated that simultaneous representation of both nonlocal and local mixing in the Asymmetric Convective Model, version 2 (ACM2), scheme has the lowest overall errors for the southeast U.S. cold season tornado regime. For storm-relative helicity, strictly nonlocal schemes provide the largest overall differences from observationally influenced datasets (underforecast). Meanwhile, strictly local schemes yield the most extreme differences from these observationally influenced datasets (underforecast) in a mean sense for the low-level lapse rate and depth of the PBL, on average. A hybrid local–nonlocal scheme is found to mitigate these mean difference extremes. These findings are traced to a tendency for local schemes to incompletely mix the PBL while nonlocal schemes overmix the PBL, whereas the hybrid schemes represent more intermediate mixing in a regime where vertical shear enhances mixing and limited instability suppresses mixing.
Does Snoring Time Always Reflect the Severity of Obstructive Sleep Apnea?
Authors: Hong Seung-No , Yoo Jun , Song In Sik , Joo Jae Woo , Yoo June Hyuk , Kim Tae Hoon , Lee Heung Man , Lee Sang Hag , Lee Seung Hoon
Published: August 2017

Objectives:

Although it is commonly believed that the degree of snoring reflects the severity of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), there is often a mismatch between the improvement in OSA and the decrease of snoring time following OSA treatment. The aim of this study was to determine the relationship between OSA severity and snoring time.

Methods:

A total of 280 subjects who complained of snoring were divided by apnea-hypopnea index (AHI) into 5 groups. The snoring rate (the amount of sleep time spent snoring divided by the total sleep time) and the clinical data including polysomnographic findings were compared and analyzed.

Results:

There was no significant correlation between AHI and snoring rate (r = −0.038, P = .524). The snoring rate in the control group was significantly lower than that in the moderate ( P < .001) and severe ( P = .003) groups. The snoring rate in the very severe group was significantly lower than those in the mild ( P < .001), moderate ( P < .001), and severe ( P < .001) groups. However, there was no significant difference between snoring rates in the control group and the very severe group ( P = .832).

Conclusions:

The change in snoring rate according to the severity of AHI showed an inverted U-shaped pattern, with a peak in the moderate OSA group.
Impact of the economic crisis on health-related behaviors in Italy
Authors: Mattei Giorgio , De Vogli Roberto , Ferrari Silvia , Pingani Luca , Rigatelli Marco , Galeazzi Gian Maria
Published: August 2017

Background:

Evidence exists supporting the impact of the Great Recession on health-related behaviors internationally, though few studies are available concerning the Italian population.

Aim:

To assess the impact of the late 2000s economic crisis on health-related behaviors linked to population mental health in Italy.

Methods:

Descriptive study. Health indicators came from the Italian Institute of Statistics database (years 2000–2015). Statistics performed by means of linear regression models.

Results:

Increased smokers (β = 1.68, p = .03), heavy smokers, that is, people smoking 11–20 cigarettes per day (β = 2.18, p = .04) or more than 20 cigarettes per day (β = 1.04, p < .01) and mean number of smoked cigarettes per day (β = 0.56, p = .02) were noticeable. Also, prevalence of overweight increased (β = 0.91, p = .04), while the Italian families’ expenditure for alcoholic beverages decreased (β = –812.80, p = .01). Alcohol consumption decreased (β = –0.60, p < .01), especially in men (β = –0.95, p < .01); binge drinking increased in years 2009–2010. No change was noticeable in the diet indicators collected.

Conclusion:

The economic crisis may have increased smoking, overweight and binge drinking in Italy (though data on the latter phenomenon are not conclusive), and reduced overall alcohol consumption.
Preaching to the Converted: Parliament and the Proscription Ritual
Authors: Jarvis Lee , Legrand Tim
Published: August 2017

This article explores UK Parliamentary debate around the proscription – or banning – of terrorist organisations. It argues that these debates are usefully conceptualised as a form of political ritual organised around a core script, established participant roles, a shared respect for the performance of democracy and a predictable outcome. Taking these ritualistic aspects seriously extends research on proscription by highlighting the importance of the procedures through which such organisations are produced as requiring exclusion from the UK’s body politic. The article therefore makes three contributions. First, it provides a sustained empirical analysis of data from every relevant UK Parliamentary debate on proscription between 2001 and 2014. Second, it moves academic debate on proscription beyond questions of the power’s effectiveness and legitimacy. And, third, it contributes to contemporary work on political ritual by offering a new heuristic for the analysis thereof centred on four dimensions: orchestration, constitutivity, sedimentation and performativity.
Integrated Sociology Program Assessment: Inclusion of a Senior Portfolio Graduation Requirement
Authors: Crockett Jason L. , Fu Albert S. , Greenwood Joleen L. , John Mauricia A.
Published: August 2017

This article presents information about the planning, implementation, and findings of an assessment-based student portfolio designed by the faculty of a sociology program at Kutztown University of Pennsylvania, a midsized public regional liberal arts institution. First, we briefly present the rationale for implementing a portfolio system and the thought process by which our particular portfolio assessment tool was created. Then, we explain our findings using the portfolio assessment system and how these findings were used to modify and strengthen the program as well as serve as a basis for long-term planning for the program.
What Constitutes Poor Teaching? A Preliminary Inquiry Into the Misbehaviors of Not-So-Good Instructors
Authors: Busler Jessica , Kirk Claire , Keeley Jared , Buskist William
Published: August 2017

Across three phases, we investigated college students’ perceptions of poor college teaching to develop a typology of poor teaching behaviors. In Phase 1, students generated a list of qualities representative of poor teaching. In Phase 2, another group of students assigned behavioral correspondents to these qualities, resulting in a list of 15 poor teaching qualities and their attendant misbehaviors. Finally, in Phase 3, yet another group of students generated a “top 5” list of qualities and behaviors that their most ineffective teachers have exhibited. Across participants in Phase 3, the top 5 list included, in order, being disrespectful, offering unrepresentative and unfair student learning assessments, having unrealistic expectations for student learning, being less than knowledgeable on course content, and having poor communication skills. These findings provide practical guidance on which particular behaviors teachers should avoid adopting in their instructional repertoires.
Student Success in Introductory Psychology
Authors: Wu Jennifer , Kraemer Philipp
Published: August 2017

This project describes the results from a large enrollment introductory psychology course specially designed to improve performance of first-year students. The main objective of the project was to identify early indicators of student success to inform future teaching and promote classroom engagement. Variables representing academic preparation, academic self-concept (e.g., growth mind-set), and behavioral indicators of academic engagement were analyzed with respect to course performance measures, including scores on the first test, midterm grades, and final grades. Academic preparation variables, growth mind-set scores, and some classroom behavior variables correlated with performance measures. Additionally, ACT scores and behavioral indicators of academic engagement were significant predictors of final grades. Findings are discussed in terms of strategies that teachers can use to promote student success in large enrollment, lecture-based courses such as introductory psychology.
Relationship Between Course Length and Graduate Student Outcome Measures
Authors: Carman Carol A. , Bartsch Robert A.
Published: August 2017

One method to increase flexibility in class offerings is through the use of compressed courses, classes that have the same number of contact hours but over a shorter time period (e.g., 8 weeks vs. 15 weeks). Before offering these courses, it is important to determine whether they lead to equivalent or better student outcomes. This study examined 11 traditional-length and 8 compressed sections of the same graduate-level statistics course. Results indicated students in the compressed class scored significantly higher on both the third exam and final course grade. Student course evaluations were also significantly higher in the compressed courses. Graduate students rated traditional-length and compressed courses similar in difficulty. Implications for course offerings are discussed.
Synthesis of Applied Behavior Analytic Interventions for Packing in Pediatric Feeding Disorders
Authors: Silbaugh Bryant C. , Swinnea Samantha , Penrod Becky
Published: August 2017

Packing, which consists of holding food in the mouth for an extended time during meals, is a form of disordered feeding associated with pediatric feeding disorders. The behavior can disrupt the pace and completion of a meal and lead to increased risk of choking, inadequate food and liquid intake, and elevated caregiver stress associated with mealtimes. Applied behavior analysis research has developed and evaluated behavioral interventions to improve feeding by reducing packing. This systematic review extends prior research by synthesizing characteristics of the packing intervention literature, evaluating the certainty of the evidence provided by studies, identifying potential directions for future research, and discussing the results in the context of evidence-based practice.
The Role of Conscious Attention in How Weight Serves as an Embodiment of Importance
Authors: Zestcott Colin A. , Stone Jeff , Landau Mark J.
Published: August 2017

Inconsistency among findings in the embodied cognition literature suggests a need for theoretical boundary conditions. The current research proposes that conscious attention of a bodily state can moderate its influence on social judgment. Three studies tested this possibility in the case of the demonstrated effect of weight sensations on judgments of an abstract idea’s importance. Studies 1 and 2 showed that participants rated a topic as more important when holding a moderately heavy, compared with light, clipboard. However, when the clipboard was very heavy, participants rated the survey topic as less important compared with when the clipboard was moderately heavy. The differences in importance ratings were not caused by derogation of the topic or the activation of a different metaphor. In Study 3, the importance rating difference between light and moderately heavy clipboards was eliminated by explicitly drawing perceiver’s attention to the clipboard’s weight. Implications and future directions are discussed.
3D Tendon Strain Estimation Using High-frequency Volumetric Ultrasound Images: A Feasibility Study
Authors: Carvalho Catarina , Slagmolen Pieter , Bogaerts Stijn , Scheys Lennart , D’hooge Jan , Peers Koen , Maes Frederik , Suetens Paul
Published: August 2017

Estimation of strain in tendons for tendinopathy assessment is a hot topic within the sports medicine community. It is believed that, if accurately estimated, existing treatment and rehabilitation protocols can be improved and presymptomatic abnormalities can be detected earlier. State-of-the-art studies present inaccurate and highly variable strain estimates, leaving this problem without solution. Out-of-plane motion, present when acquiring two-dimensional (2D) ultrasound (US) images, is a known problem and may be responsible for such errors. This work investigates the benefit of high-frequency, three-dimensional (3D) US imaging to reduce errors in tendon strain estimation. Volumetric US images were acquired in silico, in vitro, and ex vivo using an innovative acquisition approach that combines the acquisition of 2D high-frequency US images with a mechanical guided system. An affine image registration method was used to estimate global strain. 3D strain estimates were then compared with ground-truth values and with 2D strain estimates. The obtained results for in silico data showed a mean absolute error (MAE) of 0.07%, 0.05%, and 0.27% for 3D estimates along axial, lateral direction, and elevation direction and a respective MAE of 0.21% and 0.29% for 2D strain estimates. Although 3D could outperform 2D, this does not occur in in vitro and ex vivo settings, likely due to 3D acquisition artifacts. Comparison against the state-of-the-art methods showed competitive results. The proposed work shows that 3D strain estimates are more accurate than 2D estimates but acquisition of appropriate 3D US images remains a challenge.
Regulatory Forum Opinion Piece*: Effective Sectioning of Spinal Cord during Regulatory-type Nonclinical Toxicity Studies
Authors: Bolon Brad
Published: August 2017

Regulatory guidelines for nonclinical neurotoxicity testing require spinal cord evaluation but do not specify a trimming scheme. The Society of Toxicologic Pathology (STP) “best practices” for nervous system sampling during nonclinical general toxicity studies recommend that spinal cord be assessed in both longitudinal/oblique and transverse sections. This article defines possible longitudinal/oblique orientations, describes their benefits and challenges, and provides an expert recommendation regarding suitable trimming planes. Longitudinal parasagittal (LP) sections follow a vertical plane just lateral to the midline, revealing sensory and motor tracts but little gray matter. Longitudinal horizontal sections transect only sensory or motor tracts and variable quantities of gray matter. Oblique vertical (OV) sections angle across the spinal cord from side to side. Oblique transverse (OT) sections slant through from top (dorsal [posterior]) to bottom (ventral [anterior]). Compared to longitudinal planes, oblique orientations demonstrate considerably more gray matter and white matter. Current STP “best practices” explicitly recommend the LP and OV options; the OT orientation also will yield suitable sections while permitting assessment of anatomic symmetry. Selection among the LP, OT, and OV planes should be at the discretion of the study pathologist. The bilaterally symmetrical OT sections likely will be analyzed most easily by nonneuropathologists.
Vascular Imaging of Matrix Metalloproteinase Activity as an Informative Preclinical Biomarker of Drug-induced Vascular Injury
Authors: Gonzalez Raymond J. , Lin Shu-An , Bednar Bohumil , Connolly Brett , LaFranco-Scheuch Lisa , Mesfin Gebre M. , Philip Thomas , Patel Shetal , Johnson Timothy , Sistare Frank D. , Glaab Warren E.
Published: August 2017

Lack of biomarkers specific to and either predictive or diagnostic of drug-induced vascular injury (DIVI) continues to be a major obstacle during drug development. Biomarkers derived from physiologic responses to vessel injury, such as inflammation and vascular remodeling, could make good candidates; however, they characteristically lack specificity for vasculature. We evaluated whether vascular remodeling–associated protease activity, as well as changes to vessel permeability resulting from DIVI, could be visualized ex vivo in affected vessels, thereby allowing for visual monitoring of the pathology to address specificity. We found that visualization of matrix metalloproteinase activation accompanied by increased vascular leakage in the mesentery of rats treated with agents known to induce vascular injury correlated well with incidence and severity of histopathological findings and associated inflammation as well as with circulating levels of tissue inhibitors of metalloproteinase 1 and neutrophil gelatinase–associated lipocalin. The weight of evidence approach reported here shows promise as a composite DIVI preclinical tool by means of complementing noninvasive monitoring of circulating biomarkers of inflammation with direct imaging of affected vasculature and thus lending specificity to its interpretation. These findings are supportive of a potential strategy that relies on translational imaging tools in conjunction with circulating biomarker data for high-specificity monitoring of VI both preclinically and clinically.
Launching Successful Beginnings for Early Career Faculty Researchers
Authors: Conn Vicki S. , Anderson Cindy M. , Killion Cheryl , Bowers Barbara J. , Wyman Jean F. , Herrick Linda M. , Zerwic Julie J. , Smith Carol E. , Cohen Marlene Z. , Benefield Lazelle E. , Topp Robert , Fahrenwald Nancy L. , Titler Marita G. , Larson Janet L. , Varty Maureen M. , Jefferson Urmeka T.
Published: August 2017

Junior faculty follow a research path replete with challenges as they strive to create knowledge in their area of interest while balancing new responsibilities. Unlike graduate school, where students focus inward on personal development, junior faculty must add responsibilities in ways that hold them accountable as members of a university. This special article deals with three themes of interest to new junior faulty launching research programs: personal development, collaboration and team development within university settings, and funding advice. Strategies in these areas provide guidance on navigating early careers and finding success in the academic setting.