bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Perfusion-Weighted Magnetic Resonance Imaging Used in Assessing Hemodynamics following Superficial Temporal Artery-Middle Cerebral Artery Bypass in Patients with Moyamoya Disease
Authors: Li Zhengwei , Zhou Ping , Xiong Zhongwei , Ma Zhao , Wang Sheng , Bian Hongqiang , Chen Jincao
Published: May 2013

Background: The best strategy to assess the changes in brain hemodynamics following superficial temporal artery (STA)-middle cerebral artery (MCA) bypass in patients with Moyamoya disease remains unknown. The purpose of the present study was to assess cerebral hemodynamics using perfusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (PWI) before and after STA-MCA bypass surgery in patients with Moyamoya disease. Methods: STA-MCA bypass surgeries were performed on 23 symptomatic cerebral hemispheres in 21 patients (11 females/10 males, age 11-62 years) with Moyamoya disease due to cerebral ischemic attacks or intracranial hemorrhages. Brain PWI images were obtained in the frontal lobes, the temporal lobes, the occipital lobes, and the basal ganglia before and after STA-MCA bypass surgery. The relative parameters cerebral blood flow (CBF), cerebral blood volume (CBV) and mean transit time (MTT) derived from PWI were calculated. All patients underwent CT angiography or MR angiography after surgery in order to confirm the patency of bypass. Results: According to preoperative PWI, there was significant hypoperfusion in the symptomatic temporal and frontal lobes. According to postoperative PWI, the regional CBF had increased in both the temporal and frontal lobes on the operative side (p < 0.05, versus preoperative data). In the postoperative CBV maps, there was a significant decrease in the occipital lobe on the operative side (p < 0.05, versus preoperative data). The postoperative MTT in the temporal lobe, frontal lobe and basal ganglia area on the operative side was short, relative to the preoperative MTT (p < 0.05). The CT angiography or MR angiography imaging demonstrated patency of the bypass in all patients after surgery. During the follow-up period, all patients showed significant improvement in neurological function postoperatively. Conclusions: This study demonstrates that STA-MCA bypass is a safe and effective surgical treatment for Moyamoya disease. PWI enables an effective and objective assessment of hemodynamics before and after STA-MCA bypass surgery in patients with Moyamoya disease.
Predictors and Timing of Recanalization in Intracranial Carotid Artery and Siphon Dissection: An Ultrasound Follow-up Study
Authors: Vicenzini E. , Toscano M. , Maestrini I. , Petolicchio B. , Lenzi G.L. , Di Piero V.
Published: May 2013

Background: Intra- and extracranial internal carotid artery dissections (ICD) are two different pathological conditions. Extracranial dissection is considered to be among the most frequent causes of stroke in the young and the segment generally reopens in 2 out of 3 cases, completely or partially, within 6 months. Intracranial ICD (IICD) is considered a rare occurrence in stroke and, accordingly, there are few systematic published data. However, it is a clinically significant condition that may cause severely disabling ischemic stroke or subarachnoid hemorrhage. In the past, sole availability of invasive imaging methods for its detection may have induced an underreporting. The aim of the study was to analyze ultrasound findings, timing and predictors of recanalization in patients with IICD. Methods: IICD acute patients admitted to our Stroke Unit were submitted to carotid sonographic seriated monitoring, daily for the 1st week after symptom onset, at day 14, at month 1 and every 3 months thereafter up to a follow-up of 4 years. Contrast carotid ultrasound was performed in patients with persistent occlusion after month 1. Results: Fourteen acute patients with IICD were enrolled. Extracranial internal carotid patency was observed in 8 patients at first ultrasound scans; all of these showed complete intracranial recanalization within the 1st week and oral anticoagulants were withdrawn after 6 months. Conversely, in 6 patients retrograde extracranial internal carotid thrombosis was immediately observed, since the first ultrasound scans. In 4 of these the occlusion persisted after 4 years while 2 of them had only a partial recanalization, with evidence at contrast ultrasound of still late remodeling processes in the extracranial thrombus up to 2 years after the first observation; for this reason, in these 2 patients anticoagulation was not discontinued, while in the 4 patients with persistent, stable, occlusion, therapy was suspended 1 year after the diagnosis. Conclusions: Identification of the site of dissection - i.e. extra- versus intracranial - is fundamental in clinical studies for outcome and prognosis evaluation. Carotid ultrasound strict surveillance is important to monitor eventual recanalization in patients with ICD, even in a late phase. Retrograde internal carotid thrombosis seems to be correlated with persistent occlusion and partial recanalization. Remodeling of thrombotic material in the internal carotid artery may, however, continue for up to 2 years. In these cases, contrast ultrasound evidence of thrombus morphological changes may support the decision to continue anticoagulation.
Noncompaction in Mitochondrial Myopathy: Visible on Microscopy but Absent on Macroscopic Inspection
Authors: Finsterer Josef , Stöllberger Claudia , Grassberger Martin , Gerger Daniel
Published: May 2013

Objectives: Disappearance of left ventricular hypertrabeculation (LVHT) over time has been occasionally recognized, but absence on echocardiography and autopsy and presence on histological examination after autopsy has not been reported. Methods: Routine investigations such as chocardiography, cardiac MRI and coronary angiography were applied. Autopsy studies included macroscopic inspection and dissection but also histological work-up. Results: In a 64-year-old male, LVHT was diagnosed at age 51 years during diagnostic work-up for hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. He had a history of mitochondrial myopathy which was diagnosed long before the cardiac problem became evident. Thickening of the left ventricular myocardium increased over years, resulting also in thickening of the trabeculations and the disappearance of the intertrabecular recesses. This is why LVHT was no longer visible on echocardiography shortly before death at age 64 years. The autopsy revealed that macroscopically no LVHT was visible but upon histological work-up the preformed recesses were still visible but had become unfolded. Conclusions: This case shows that LVHT may disappear due to thickening of the trabeculations but may remain visible on postmortem histological examination in patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy from a mitochondrial myopathy.
The Rising Tide of Overweight among Kuwaiti Children: Study from Al-Adan Hospital, Kuwait
Authors: Al-Refaee Fawaz Abdullah , Al-Qattan Shaima A. , Jaber Shahira M. , Al-Mutairi Alyah A. , Al-Dhafiri Sarah S. , Nassar May Fouad
Published: May 2013

Objective: This study was designed to screen patients who sought medical services in the Pediatric Outpatient Department, Al-Adan Hospital, Kuwait for overweight. Subjects and Methods: Body mass index (BMI) was used to screen 361 children (≤10 years old) for risk of overweight and overweight (BMI between 85th and 94th, and ≥95th percentile, respectively). Overweight children were fully examined and abdominal ultrasound was done for each of them. Results: Of the 361 children, 52 (14.41%) and 77 (21.33%) were at risk of overweight and overweight, respectively. There was a slight male predominance for overweight (40 males, 51.95%, compared to 37 females, 48.05%) and within the overweight category; 28 males (70%) and 26 females (70.27%) were above 6 years of age. In overweight children over 6 years, 4 (7.41%) had hepatomegaly with fatty changes and 3 (5.56%) had blood pressure above the 95th percentile for age and sex. Conclusion: Childhood overweight at Al-Adan Hospital was high and increased with age. Hence childhood screening for overweight is recommended at an early age because it is an important risk factor of chronic diseases.
Endothelial Lipase Is a Critical Determinant of High-Density Lipoprotein–Stimulated Sphingosine 1-Phosphate–Dependent Signaling in Vascular Endothelium
Authors: Tatematsu Satoru , Francis Sanjeev A. , Natarajan Pradeep , Rader Daniel J. , Saghatelian Alan , Brown Jonathan D. , Michel Thomas , Plutzky Jorge
Published: May 2013

Objective—

In addition to an extensively characterized role of high-density lipoprotein (HDL) in reverse cholesterol transport, bioactive lipids bound to HDL can also exert diverse vascular effects. Despite this, integration of HDL action in the vasculature with pathways that metabolize HDL and release bioactive lipids has been much less explored. The effects of HDL on endothelial cells are mediated in part by HDL-associated sphingosine 1-phosphate (S1P), which binds to S1P
1
receptors and promotes activation of endothelial NO synthase (eNOS) and the kinase Akt. In these studies, we characterized the role of endothelial lipase (EL) in the control of endothelial signaling and biology, including those mediated by HDL-associated S1P.

Approach and Results—

HDL-induced angiogenesis in aortic rings from EL-deficient (EL
−/−
) mice was markedly decreased compared with wild-type controls. In cultured endothelial cells, small interfering RNA–mediated knockdown of EL abrogated HDL-promoted endothelial cell migration and tube formation. Small interfering RNA–mediated EL knockdown also attenuated HDL-induced phosphorylation of eNOS
1179
and Akt
473
. S1P stimulation restored HDL-induced endothelial migration and Akt/eNOS phosphorylation that had been blocked by small interfering RNA–mediated EL knockdown. HDL-induced endothelial cell migration and Akt/eNOS phosphorylation were completely inhibited by the S1P
1
antagonist W146 but not by the S1P
3
antagonist CAY10444.

Conclusions—

EL is a critical determinant of the effects of HDL on S1P-mediated vascular responses and acts on HDL to promote activation of S1P
1
, leading to Akt/eNOS phosphorylation and subsequent endothelial migration and angiogenesis. The role of EL in HDL-associated S1P effects provides new insights into EL action, the responses seen through EL and HDL interaction, and S1P signaling.
Aging Impairs Electrical Conduction Along Endothelium of Resistance Arteries Through Enhanced Ca2+-Activated K
+
Channel Activation
Authors: Behringer Erik J. , Shaw Rebecca L. , Westcott Erika B. , Socha Matthew J. , Segal Steven S.
Published: May 2013

Objective—

Intercellular conduction of electrical signals underlies spreading vasodilation of resistance arteries. Small- and intermediate-conductance Ca
2+
-activated K
+
channels of endothelial cells serve a dual function by initiating hyperpolarization and modulating electrical conduction. We tested the hypothesis that regulation of electrical signaling by small- and intermediate-conductance Ca
2+
-activated K
+
channels is altered with advancing age.

Approach and Results—

Intact endothelial tubes (60 µm wide; 1–3 mm long) were freshly isolated from male C57BL/6 mouse (Young: 4–6 months; Intermediate: 12–14 months; Old: 24–26 months) superior epigastric arteries. Using dual intracellular microelectrodes, current was injected (±0.1–3 nA) at site 1 while recording membrane potential (
V
m
) at site 2 (separation distance: 50–2000 µm). Across age groups, greatest differences were observed between Young and Old. Resting
V
m
in Old (−38±1 mV) was more negative (
P
<0.05) than Young (−30±1 mV). Maximal hyperpolarization to both direct (NS309) and indirect (acetylcholine) activation of small- and intermediate-conductance Ca
2+
-activated K
+
channels was sustained (Δ
V
m
≈−40 mV) with age. The length constant (λ) for electrical conduction was reduced (
P
<0.05) from 1630±80 µm (Young) to 1320±80 µm (Old). Inhibiting small- and intermediate-conductance Ca
2+
-activated K
+
channels with apamin+charybdotoxin or scavenging hydrogen peroxide (H
2
O
2
) with catalase improved electrical conduction (
P
<0.05) in Old. Exogenous H
2
O
2
(200 µmol/L) in Young evoked hyperpolarization and impaired electrical conduction; these effects were blocked by apamin+charybdotoxin.

Conclusions—

Enhanced current loss through Ca2+-activated K+ channel activation impairs electrical conduction along the endothelium of resistance arteries with aging. Attenuating the spatial domain of electrical signaling will restrict the spread of vasodilation and thereby contribute to blood flow limitations associated with advanced age.
Toll-Like Receptor 2–Blocking Antibodies Promote Angiogenesis and Induce ERK1/2 and AKT Signaling via CXCR4 in Endothelial Cells
Authors: Wagner Nana-Maria , Bierhansl Laura , Nöldge-Schomburg Gabriele , Vollmar Brigitte , Roesner Jan Patrick
Published: May 2013

Objective—

Toll-like receptor 2 (TLR2) inhibition by function blocking antibodies (ABs) is associated with enhanced preservation of endothelial cell function during vascular disease. In the present study, we investigated the capacity of TLR2-blocking ABs to modulate the angiogenic response of endothelial cells in vitro and in vivo.

Approach and Results—

Incubation of endothelial cells with mono- or polyclonal anti-TLR2 ABs resulted in increased tube formation, sprouting, and migration of endothelial cells compared with controls. In a mouse model of hindlimb ischemia, using TLR2-deficient or anti-TLR2 AB–treated wild-type mice resulted in increased new capillary formation and enhanced reperfusion. The effects of anti-TLR2 ABs were similar to those exerted by stromal cell–derived factor-1, and we show that anti-TLR2 ABs yet not TLR2 ligands lead to comparable activation of extracellular signal–regulated kinase1/2 and AKT but not p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase as activation of the CXCR4 canonical signal transduction pathways by stromal cell–derived factor-1. Immunoprecipitation of TLR2 revealed that anti-TLR2 ABs initiate an association of TLR2 with CXCR4 and mitogen-activated protein kinase activation. The proangiogenic properties of anti-TLR2 ABs were abolished by both G-protein inhibition and CXCR4 knockdown in endothelial cells.

Conclusions—

Our results provide evidence for a proangiogenic effect of TLR2-blocking ABs on endothelial cells in vitro and in vivo. They identify a novel molecular mechanism linking TLR2 to angiogenic processes that is independent from the activation of inflammatory cascades and further support the concept of a beneficial effect of TLR2 inhibition for endothelial cell function in vascular disease.
Effects of Cell Grafting on Coronary Remodeling After Myocardial Infarction
Authors: Weyers Jill J. , Schwartz Stephen M. , Minami Elina , Carlson Dara D. , Dupras Sarah K. , Weitz Kevin , Simons Michael , Cox Timothy C. , Murry Charles E. , Mahoney William M.
Published: May 2013

Background

With recent advances in therapeutic applications of stem cells, cell engraftment has become a promising therapy for replacing injured myocardium after infarction. The survival and function of injected cells, however, will depend on the efficient vascularization of the new tissue. Here we describe the arteriogenic remodeling of the coronary vessels that supports vascularization of engrafted tissue postmyocardial infarction (post‐
MI
).

Methods and Results

Following
MI
, murine hearts were injected with a skeletal myoblast cell line previously shown to develop into large grafts. Microcomputed tomography at 28 days postengraftment revealed the 3‐dimensional structure of the newly formed conducting vessels. The grafts elicited both an angiogenic response and arteriogenic remodeling of the coronary arteries to perfuse the graft. The coronaries upstream of the graft also remodeled, showing an increase in branching, and a decrease in vascular density. Histological analysis revealed the presence of capillaries as well as larger vascular lumens within the graft. Some graft vessels were encoated by smooth muscle α‐actin positive cells, implying that vascular remodeling occurs at both the conducting arterial and microvascular levels.

Conclusions

Following
MI
and skeletal myoblast engraftment, the murine coronary vessels exhibit plasticity that enables both arteriogenic remodeling of the preexisting small branches of the coronary arteries and development of large and small smooth muscle encoated vessels within the graft. Understanding the molecular mechanisms underlying these 2 processes suggests mechanisms to enhance the therapeutic vascularization in patients with myocardial ischemia.
Risk Factors, Clinical Presentation, and Neuroimaging Findings of Neonatal Perforator Stroke
Authors: Ecury-Goossen Ginette M. , Raets Marlou M.A. , Lequin Maarten , Feijen-Roon Monique , Govaert Paul , Dudink Jeroen
Published: May 2013

Background and Purpose—

To date, studies on neonatal stroke have mainly focused on cortical stroke. We have focused on perforator strokes, noncortical strokes in the arterial vascular perforator area. We sought to identify risk factors and evaluate clinical presentation and neuroimaging findings for neonatal perforator stroke, which seems to be under-recognized.

Methods—

All infants admitted to our tertiary intensive care unit in ≈12 years, whose perforator stroke was diagnosed with postnatal brain imaging, were enrolled in this study. Demographic, perinatal, and postnatal data were evaluated.

Results—

Seventy-nine perforator strokes were detected in 55 patients (28 boys), with a median gestational age of 37 1/7 weeks (range 24 1/7 to 42 1/7 weeks, 25 preterm). Perforator stroke was asymptomatic in most patients (58%). Initial diagnosis was predominantly made with cranial ultrasound (80%) in the first week of life (60%). Risk factors for stroke were present in all cases: maternal, fetal, and perinatal. Likely pathogenic mechanisms were prolonged birth asphyxia (16%), hypoxia or hypotension (15%), embolism (15%), infection (15%), acute blood loss (9%), and birth trauma (9%).

Conclusions—

Previously described risk factors for developing neonatal main artery stroke are probably also associated with neonatal perforator stroke. Perforator stroke is often asymptomatic, but cranial ultrasound is a reliable diagnostic tool in diagnosing perforator stroke.
Stroke Patients Develop Antibodies That React With Components of
N
-Methyl-
d
-Aspartate Receptor Subunit 1 in Proportion to Lesion Size
Authors: Kalev-Zylinska Maggie L. , Symes Wymond , Little Kevin C.E. , Sun Peng , Wen Daying , Qiao Linzi , Young Deborah , During Matthew J. , Barber P. Alan
Published: May 2013

Background and Purpose—

Antibodies against neuronal antigens develop in patients after stroke and some may serve as biomarkers of neuronal injury. We aimed to determine whether antibodies against subunit 1 (GluN1) of the
N
-methyl-
d
-aspartate receptor also develop after stroke and if so, whether they correlate with stroke characteristics.

Methods—

Forty-eight patients with ischemic stroke and 96 healthy controls were tested for the presence of serum antibodies targeting GluN1. Testing was conducted using 20-kDa recombinant GluN1-S2 peptide (by ELISA and Western blotting) and on rat brain tissue (by Western blotting and immunohistochemistry). Clinical examinations and computed tomographic brain scans were performed to assess clinical state and infarct size and location.

Results—

Of the 48 patients with ischemic stroke, 21 (44%) had antibodies that reacted with the recombinant GluN1-S2. There was no evidence of antibody binding to intact GluN1 in brain tissue. Western blot appearances suggested reactivity with GluN1 degradation products. Patients with anti–GluN1-S2 antibodies were more likely to have higher National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale scores, larger infarcts, and more frequent cortical involvement. Of the 96 controls, only 3 (3%), all aged >50 years, had antibodies that reacted with GluN1-S2 at low levels.

Conclusions—

Antibodies that bind recombinant GluN1-S2 peptides (but not the intact GluN1 protein) develop transiently in patients after stroke in proportion to infarct size, suggesting that these antibodies are raised secondarily to neuronal damage. The anti–GluN1-S2 antibodies may provide useful information about the presence and severity of cerebral infarction. This will require confirmation in larger studies.
Combinatorial Neural Codes from a Mathematical Coding Theory Perspective
Authors: Curto Carina , Itskov Vladimir , Morrison Katherine , Roth Zachary , Walker Judy L.
Published: May 2013

Shannon's seminal 1948 work gave rise to two distinct areas of research: information theory and mathematical coding theory. While information theory has had a strong influence on theoretical neuroscience, ideas from mathematical coding theory have received considerably less attention. Here we take a new look at combinatorial neural codes from a mathematical coding theory perspective, examining the error correction capabilities of familiar receptive field codes (RF codes). We find, perhaps surprisingly, that the high levels of redundancy present in these codes do not support accurate error correction, although the error-correcting performance of receptive field codes catches up to that of random comparison codes when a small tolerance to error is introduced. However, receptive field codes are good at reflecting distances between represented stimuli, while the random comparison codes are not. We suggest that a compromise in error-correcting capability may be a necessary price to pay for a neural code whose structure serves not only error correction, but must also reflect relationships between stimuli.
Keeping the Faith: Divine Protection and Flood Prevention in Modern Buddhist Ladakh
Authors: Butcher Andrea
Published: May 2013

In August 2010 the Himalayan Region of Ladakh, Northwest India, experienced severe flash-flooding and mudslides, causing widespread death and destruction. The causes cited were climate change, karmic retribution, and the wrath of an agentive sentient landscape. Ladakhis construct, order and maintain the physical and moral universe through religious engagement with this landscape. The Buddhist monastic incumbents—the traditional mediators between the human world and the sentient landscape—explain supernatural retribution as the result of karmic demerit that requires ritual intervention. Social, economic, and material transformations have distorted the proper order, generating a physically and morally unfamiliar landscape. As a result, the mountain deities that act as guardians and protectors of the land below are confused and angry, sending destructive water to show their displeasure. Thus, the locally-contextualized response demonstrates the agency of the mountain gods in establishing a moral universe whereby water can give life and destroy it.
From Living Water to the “Water of Death”: Implicating Social Resilience in Northeastern Siberia
Authors: Crate Susan A.
Published: May 2013

Rural inhabitants of the Arctic sustain their way of life via refined adaptations to the extreme climate of the North, and subsequent generations continue to adapt. Viliui Sakha, Turkic-speaking horse and cattle breeders of northeastern Siberia, Russia, have been successful through their ancestral adaptations to local water access, in both a solid and liquid state, at specific times and in specific amounts. Viliui Sakha’s activities to access and utilize water are grounded in a belief system where water is spirit-filled, gives life, and can interplay with death. In the context of contemporary global climate change, water’s solid-liquid balance is disrupted by changing seasonal patterns, altered precipitation regimes, and an overall “softening” of the extreme annual temperature range. Inhabitants are finding ways to adapt but at increasing labor and resource costs. In this paper, I analyze Viliui Sakha’s adaptations to altered water regimes on both the physical and cosmological levels to grasp how water is understood in Sakha’s belief system as the water of life, how it becomes “the water of death,” and the implications for social resilience.
Water as a Vital Substance in Post-Socialist Kyrgyzstan
Authors: Bunn Stephanie J.
Published: May 2013

In Kyrgyzstan, water can be a highly charged substance. Coming from snow-melt and glacial sources in the mountains and associated with all that is clean and cleansing, it is both politically significant and deemed to have the power to heal. Compared to other Central Asian states, there is an abundance of water in Kyrgyzstan. However, its use in hydro-electric power creates significant tensions between Kyrgyz and down-stream Uzbeks who lack water, negotiating for it in exchange for gas. But as well as being negotiated for power, water has its own power. At mazars (holy sites) people come to the waterfalls and springs to collect water for healing, carrying wheel-chairs across the rocks, and taking the water away in bottles. In the Soviet era, healing springs were transformed into sanatoria, or hot baths, the minerals contained in the water listed on posters to reinforce the “scientific” reasons for them being beneficial for health. In contemporary Kyrgyzstan, healers can imbue water with power, but it can also have its own force and affect people, cleansing and protecting them. This paper explores the range of manifestations of power in water and the different kinds of reasoning people apply to explain its potency in the region.
Analogy and Difference
Authors: Pantin Isabelle
Published: May 2013

Medicine and astronomy were both scientific disciplines to which visual demonstration proved helpful, were taught in the universities, and were deeply influenced by humanism and by the development of print culture, but they did not use printed images in the same way. Thus, all the aspects of astronomical activity benefited from the accompaniment of printed images, whereas, even for anatomy, illustration does not seem to have been seen as a necessity in Renaissance medical books. To explore such a difference, the chronology of the development of illustration in both fields (from the first illustrated incunabula to the mid-sixteenth century) is compared, and some explanations (economical, epistemological, cultural) are proposed and questioned.
Fragments of War and Animation: Dahna Abourahme’s Kingdom of Women and Soudade Kaadan’s Damascus Roofs: Tales of Paradise
Authors: Van de Peer Stefanie
Published: May 2013

In this article, the author addresses the meaning of animated fragments in documentary films. She analyzes a Syrian and a Lebanese film, and illustrates the role and function of the hybrid form as a means through which women are now able to express themselves. Dahna Abourahme’s film Ein El Hilweh: Kingdom of Women (Lebanon, 2010) and Soudade Kaadan’s film Damascus Roofs: Tales of Paradise (Syria, 2010) are used as recent examples of documentaries addressing taboo issues by way of animated fragments. The author places these films in the wider context of the contemporary developments in animation in the Middle East, paying special attention to women’s contributions in the field. Both documentaries use animation not only for aesthetic appeal but also to enhance understanding and deepen engagement with topics and events that are necessarily situated beyond the knowledge and experience of a transnational audience. The author contends that animation creates a different film experience, and the audience must deal with the seduction of the animation.
Mainstreaming the Responsibility to Protect in the United Nations System: Dilemmas, Challenges and Opportunities
Authors: Bellamy Alex J.
Published: May 2013

This article examines the challenges and opportunities for mainstreaming RtoP within the UN system and proposes a way forward. First, it examines what is meant by ‘mainstreaming’ in the UN context and progress made thus far. Second, it reviews some of the principal dilemmas that have arisen in different parts of the UN system, notably in relation to the system’s political work, humanitarian activities, peacekeeping operations, human rights promotion and protection, and capacity-building. Third, it considers the extent to which the Secretary-General’s vision accommodates these concerns. Finding that, to a great extent, it does, the final section offers some recommendations for moving forward which harnesses the basic principles for mainstreaming outlined by the Secretary-General and develops into four areas: incorporating an ‘atrocity prevention lens’, information sharing, capacity building and lessons learning.
A Model Case of R2P Prevention? Mediation in the Aftermath of Kenya’s 2007 Presidential Elections
Authors: Crossley Noële
Published: May 2013

The Responsibility to Protect (R2P) comprises the responsibility to prevent, to react, and to rebuild. What sets R2P apart from the previously prevailing idea of humanitarian intervention is, first, an emphasis on prevention, and second, a stated preference for a multilaterally coordinated response to crises. The third and perhaps newest feature of R2P is the idea that regional organisations have an important role to play in facilitating conflict resolution and the implementation of the Responsibility to Protect. Kenya’s post-election violence in 2007 was widely viewed as the first case of ‘R2P prevention’. International mediation efforts by the African Union Panel of Eminent Personalities, under the leadership of the former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, and with the support of the UN and other actors, were successful at resolving the conflict without the use of coercive measures. Kenya was seen as R2P’s success story – multilaterally orchestrated action to prevent an escalation of conflict, with heavy reliance on regional actors. This paper questions to what extent this account holds true, and whether the Kenyan case really was a successful instance of ‘R2P prevention’. An analysis of the Kenyan case ultimately leads to the conclusion that the application of R2P was, in fact, unrelated to the success of the conflict mitigation efforts. The Kenyan context was one which was favourable to the success of the mediation, and it is unlikely R2P would have succeeded without these contingent factors. Nevertheless, the application of R2P to the Kenyan case served to promote R2P as a framework that emphasises non-coercive, preventative intervention facilitated through regional actors.
A Sceptic Looks at Art (but not Very Closely): Sextus Empiricus on Music
Authors: Bett Richard
Published: May 2013

The paper examines Sextus Empiricus’ Against the Musicians (M 6), one of the least studied portions of Sextus’ surviving work, against the background of the more general question why he has so little to say on questions that for us would fall under aesthetics. The structure and goals of the book are considered, along with some puzzles about the consistency of his aims. Each of the two main parts is then analyzed separately, including a comparison between the first part and Philodemus’ On Music. Sextus’ apparent lack of interest in aesthetics is explained primarily by his quite general tendency to focus on foundational questions, of which the second part of M 6 is a notable instance; another, connected factor is the common ancient habit (illustrated in the first part of M 6) of treating aesthetic questions in conjunction with ethical or political ones.
Pick Your Poison: Beg the Question or Embrace Circularity
Authors: McCain Kevin , Rowley William
Published: May 2013

According to Roderick Chisholm, there are three ways of responding to the Problem of the Criterion and they all leave something to be desired. Michael DePaul, Paul Moser, and Earl Conee have each proposed variations of a fourth way of responding to this problem that rely on reflective equilibrium. We argue that these four options for responding to the Problem of the Criterion leave one with a tough choice: accept one of the three that Chisholm describes or DePaul’s reflective equilibrium approach and beg the question or accept a reflective equilibrium response of the sort Conee and Moser propose and embrace epistemic circularity.
Cathayan Arrows and Meteors: The Origins of Chinese Rocketry
Authors: Haw Stephen G.
Published: May 2013

Abstract

Although it is now generally accepted that the rocket was invented in China, there is little agreement about exactly when this occurred. Various conflicting claims have been made, usually on the basis of dubious evidence. This article examines these claims and rejects all of them. It also discounts the hypothesis that the rocket developed from a kind of firework called a “fire-rat.” Instead, it suggests that the rocket very probably developed from Chinese fire-arrows, which carried charges of incendiary gunpowder. These became rocket-assisted arrows, fired from bows or, very often, arbalests. They achieved great ranges, of the order of two miles. They were used by the Mongols during their conquests in the mid-thirteenth century and may have formed part of the weaponry of the Chinese Song dynasty at an earlier period. The earliest reference to what were very probably true rockets, launched by their own propulsion, dates from 1272. It occurs in an account of events that took place during the siege of Xiangyang by Mongol forces. These rockets were used for signaling. There is no evidence that self-launching rockets were utilized as weapons in the mid-thirteenth century. Rockets as weapons are unlikely to have been developed any earlier than the late 1200s.
A War Within a War: The Road to the New Fourth Army Incident in January 1941
Authors: Lai Sherman Xiaogang
Published: May 2013

Abstract

The New Fourth Army (N4A) Incident is the name given to the destruction by the Chinese Nationalist government of the headquarters of the N4A, one of the two legal armies under the command of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) during the Sino-Japanese War, in southern Anhui province in January 1941, together with the killing of about nine thousand CCP soldiers. It was the largest and the last armed conflict between the Nationalists and the CCP during the Sino-Japanese War (1937-1945). This article argues that this tragedy came from Joseph Stalin’s paranoia toward the West and Mao’s resulting limited pre-emptive offensives against the Nationalist government, as well as their misreading of Chiang Kai-shek during 1939-1940.
Book Reviews
Authors: KITLV Redactie
Published: May 2013

- J. van Baal, J. Boelaars, Papoea’s aan de Mappi. Utrecht/Antwerpen, zonder jaartal; 264 pp.- T. Volker, Kristoff Glamann, Dutch-Asiatic Trade 1620-1740. Kristoff Glamann. Den Haag-Kopenhagen 1958.- ,
Book Reviews
Authors: Bosch F.D.K. , Goris Roelof , Drewes G.W.J. , Akkeren Ph.
Published: May 2013

- G.W.J. Drewes, Ph. van Akkeren, Een gedrocht en toch de volmaakte mens. De Javaanse Suluk Gatolotjo, uitgegeven, vertaald en toegelicht. Proefschrift R.U. te Utrecht, 1951. Uitgeverij “Excelsior”, ‘s-Gravenhage. 161 blz. met afz. 28 blz. varianten.- F.D.K. Bosch, Roelof Goris, Prasasti Bali, diterbitkan oleh Lembaga Bahasa dan Budaja Universitet Indonesia I, N.V. Masa Baru, Bandung, 1954. Inscripties voor Anak Wungcu, door Dr. Roelof Goris (Band I).- ,
Book Reviews
Authors: KITLV Redactie
Published: May 2013

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Substance use in a large sample of patients with schizophrenia or related disorders and co-morbid obsessive–compulsive symptoms
Authors: Dekker Nienke , Swets Marije ,   GROUP Investigators*, Kahn René S , Cahn Wiepke , Linszen Don H , de Haan Lieuwe , van Os Jim , Krabbendam Lydia , Myin-Germeys Inez , Wiersma Durk , Bruggeman Richard
Published: May 2013

Objective:

The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between obsessive–compulsive symptoms (OCS) and substance use in patients with a non-affective psychotic disorder.

Method:

The data were derived from the Genetic Risk and Outcome of Psychosis study. Using the Yale–Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale, three groups of in- and outpatients with non-affective psychotic disorder (76.6% male, mean age 27.7 years, mean duration of illness 4.5 years) were distinguished: patients without OCS ( N = 777), patients with mild OCS ( N = 143) and patients with more severe OCS ( N = 85). These three groups were compared using various substance use variables, including quantitative substance use variables and severity of substance use [Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, fourth edition (DSM-IV) misuse disorders].

Results:

We found no statistically significant differences in smoking and other substance use variables between the three patients groups according to the severity of OCS.

Conclusions:

Our large study sample and detailed comparison of substance use rates strongly adds to the evidence that schizophrenia patients with OCS do not differ in prevalence of substance use compared to patients without OCS. This suggests that in clinical practice, enquiring into (problematic) substance use is relevant in both schizophrenia patients with co-morbid OCS and patients without OCS.
Co-occurring mental disorder and intellectual disability in a large sample of Australian prisoners
Authors: Dias Shannon , Ware Robert S , Kinner Stuart A , Lennox Nicholas G
Published: May 2013

Objective:

Prisoners with intellectual disability who have a coexisting mental health issue often have unmet health needs and are more likely to reoffend than those with intellectual disability alone. The aims of this study were to estimate the prevalence of co-occurring mental disorder among prisoners with intellectual disability and to explore the association between intellectual disability and mental disorder.

Methods:

Cross-sectional study of adult prisoners within 6 weeks of release from custody in seven prisons in Queensland, Australia between August 2008 and July 2010. Intellectual disability was assessed using a practical composite screening tool. Prisoners who scored <85 on the Hayes Ability Screening Index and reported either having attended a special school or having been diagnosed with intellectual disability were identified as having an intellectual disability. Mental health was assessed using self-reported psychiatric diagnoses, the Kessler Psychological Distress Scale (K-10), and the Mental Component Summary score of the Short-Form-36 health survey version 2. The association between intellectual disability and mental health was assessed using univariate and multivariate logistic regression.

Results:

Overall, 1279 prisoners completed the HASI: 316 (24%) scored below the recommended cut off for further diagnostic assessment of intellectual disability, 181 (14%) reported attending a special school, and 56 (4%) reported that they had been diagnosed with an intellectual disability. On our composite measure, 115 (9%) participants were identified as having an intellectual disability. Among prisoners with intellectual disability, the estimated lifetime and current prevalence of co-occurring mental disorders was 52.5% (95% CI 43.3–61.5) and 37.2% (95% CI 28.8–46.5), respectively. Of those with intellectual disability, 13.5% (95% CI 8.3–21.1) reported very high psychological distress, as measured by the K10. Prisoners with intellectual disability were significantly more likely than their non-disabled peers to report a current diagnosis of depression [adjusted odds ratio (AOR) 1.8, 95% CI 1.1–3.2] or substance dependence (AOR 3.7, 95% CI 1.6–8.4], after adjusting for potentially confounding variables. Prisoners with intellectual disability were also significantly more likely than their non-disabled peers to use antipsychotic medication (AOR 1.7, 95% CI 1.0–2.8).

Conclusions:

Prisoners with an intellectual disability were more likely than their non-disabled peers to have elevated rates of psychiatric comorbidity and unmet treatment needs. There is a need for enhanced collaboration between specialist intellectual disability psychiatric services and mainstream prison mental health services, to ensure coordinated service delivery for this dually disadvantaged group.
Breaking Out of the Coup Trap
Authors: Lehoucq Fabrice , Pérez-Liñán Aníbal
Published: May 2013

This article systematically assesses whether open political competition ends the coup trap. We use an original data set of coup reports, electoral competition, and socioeconomic data spanning the 20th century in 18 Latin American countries. Our models, which are robust to multiple-comparison tests, generate support for a central claim: While recent experience with military coups increases the risk of incumbents being overthrown, the establishment of open political competition ends cycles of political instability. The risk of being overthrown consequently declines with time for presidents in noncompetitive systems, but remains stable—and, on average, substantially lower—in competitive polities. Coups do not vary with levels of development or of inequality, economic growth rates, or the legislative powers of the presidency.
From a Managerial Imperative to a Learning Imperative
Authors: Terosky Aimee LaPointe
Published: May 2013

Purpose: This article examines the experiences of urban, public school principals noted for their instructional leadership and highlights a leadership approach grounded in a learning imperative. Framework: This article explores the concept of instructional leadership, defined as attending to instructional matters, as embedded in an urban public school district characterized by a managerial context. Based on common themes in the data, this article adds to the extant literature on leading for learning by putting forth the concept of a learning imperative for consideration. Research Methods: This qualitative, interpretive, multicase study of 18 New York City K-12 public school principals applied purposeful sampling by soliciting and vetting nominations from supervisors, staff, and students/parents. Evidence included interviews, time surveys, observations, and document analysis. Findings: Data analysis and interpretation characterized participants’ work contexts as consistent with a managerial imperative and highlighted limitations to the phrase “instructional leadership.” Further analysis found that participants followed a leadership approach grounded in a learning imperative, defined as a principal’s obligation to prioritize, attend to, and act on matters of learning. Participants’ perspectives and actions on a learning imperative followed two common themes: (a) grounding the purpose of a school in learning and (b) valuing and fostering the learning and professional growth of the adults working with the school’s students. Implications: Findings contribute to the instructional leadership and leading for learning literatures by placing learning in the forefront and emphasizing the need to prioritize learning. Suggestions for ways to operationalize a learning imperative are provided.
Three Paradigms of Gifted Education
Authors: Dai David Yun , Chen Fei
Published: May 2013

The purpose of the article is to articulate and compare three major approaches or paradigms of gifted education, so that researchers and practitioners can be more explicit about their assumptions, goals, and educational strategies in their research and practice. We first define the term paradigm, and then delineate three paradigms in the historical context. We then compare and contrast the three paradigms to elucidate their continuities and discontinuities. Finally, we discuss the importance of articulating the paradigmatic nature of approaches for educational and research purposes. The ultimate purpose of articulating the distinct approaches is to seek a common research agenda with clarity, rigor, and relevance.
Twice-Exceptional Learners
Authors: Foley-Nicpon Megan , Assouline Susan G. , Colangelo Nicholas
Published: May 2013

Twice-exceptionality is gaining increasing recognition in the gifted education literature but little is understood about the knowledge and awareness of this concept within the educational and psychological community, or about professionals’ experience working with this population of learners. Three-hundred and seventeen individuals completed an online Twice-Exceptional Needs Assessment, which consisted of 14 questions assessing issues pertaining to twice-exceptionality knowledge and experience, as well as knowledge of policies relevant to both gifted and special education. Results indicated that educators were more familiar with standards within their specific area of expertise (e.g., gifted or special education) and that fewer professionals were familiar with the use of Response to Intervention with twice-exceptional children. Gifted education professionals had significantly more knowledge and experience with twice-exceptionality than did professionals in other domains. We conclude with implications for educators and recommendations for expanding professional understanding of twice-exceptionality outside the field of gifted education to meet twice-exceptional students’ multifaceted needs.
What Are the Odds of That? A Primer on Understanding Logistic Regression
Authors: Huang Francis L. , Moon Tonya R.
Published: May 2013

The purpose of this Methodological Brief is to present a brief primer on logistic regression, a commonly used technique when modeling dichotomous outcomes. Using data from the National Education Longitudinal Study of 1988 (NELS:88), logistic regression techniques were used to investigate student-level variables in eighth grade (i.e., enrolled in a gifted class, gender, and socioeconomic status) that were associated with taking an Advanced Placement course in the 10th grade. Through the use of the NELS:88 data, the authors provide an example of how to interpret both categorical and continuous independent variables and illustrate how model fit can be assessed.