bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Morphological and molecular characterisation of Heterodera koreana (Vovlas, Lamberti & Choo, 1992) Mundo-Ocampo, Troccoli, Subbotin, Del Cid, Baldwin & Inserra, 2008 (Nematoda: Heteroderidae) from bamboo in Japan
Authors: Sekimoto Shigeyuki , Uehara Taketo , Mizukubo Takayuki
Published: February 2017

The Korean cyst nematode, Heterodera koreana, was recorded for the first time from Japan and characterised morphologically, morphometrically and molecularly. In total, 41 populations were detected from soil samples collected from the rhizosphere of four bamboo species in Japan: 31 populations from moso bamboo (Phyllostachys edulis), seven from madake (P. bambusoides), two from henon bamboo (P. nigra var. henonis) and one from fish pole bamboo (P. aurea). The morphology and morphometrics of the Japanese population were in agreement with those of the original description of H. koreana from South Korea and other subsequent descriptions from China and Iran, with the exception of some minor differences. The results of the phylogenetic analyses of the D2-D3 expansion segments of 28S rRNA gene and ITS rRNA gene sequences confirmed the species identification and phylogenetic relationship of H. koreana with other Heterodera species. The COI mtDNA gene sequences were obtained for the first time for H. koreana. Three COI haplotypes found in Japanese H. koreana populations showed a characteristic geographical distribution in Japan.
A few problems in the generic nomenclature of insects and amphibians, with recommendations for the publication of new generic nomina in zootaxonomy and comments on taxonomic and nomenclatural databases and websites
Authors: DUBOIS ALAIN
Published: February 2017

Dahanukar et al. (2016a) proposed the nomen Walkerana for a new genus of amphibians, but shortly after (2016b) they replaced it by the new nomen Sallywalkerana, believing that their nomen Walkerana was preoccupied by a generic nomen of orthopterans. This was unjustified because the orthopteran nomen ‘Walkerella’ Otte & Perez-Gelabert, 2009a and its new replacement nomen ‘Walkerana’ Otte & Perez-Gelabert, 2009b were both nomina nuda. These recent examples of nomenclatural errors in generic nomenclature are just a few among many in recent zootaxonomic publications. This opportunity is taken to make some general methodological recommendations, in several domains (availability, homonymy, synonymy, neonymy, length and palatability of nomina), for the publication of new generic nomina in zootaxonomy. However, the absence of a comprehensive database and website providing all the relevant information necessary to establish the nomenclatural status of all zoological generic and subgeneric nomina is a brake on the efforts that can be made to avoid nomenclatural errors in zoological generic nomenclature. The international community of taxonomists should seek at establishing such a database and website.
A new species of Pseudocrenilabrus (Perciformes: Cichlidae) from Lake Mweru in the Upper Congo River System
Authors: KATONGO CYPRIAN , SEEHAUSEN OLE , SNOEKS JOS
Published: February 2017

Pseudocrenilabrus pyrrhocaudalis sp. nov. is described from Lake Mweru in the upper Congo River drainage, on the border of the Democratic Republic of Congo and Zambia. This species, which appears to be endemic to the lake, lives in sympatry with P. philander. Pseudocrenilabrus pyrrhocaudalis sp. nov. is distinguished from P. philander in nuptial males by the presence of an orange colour on the ventral part of the body and the proximal parts of the anal and caudal fins, a broad band of bright white on the distal edge of anal and caudal fins, a uniform grey head and dorsum, and a subtruncate caudal fin. In addition, P. pyrrhocaudalis has a shorter snout, a narrower head, a smaller interorbital distance, a smaller pre-anal distance, a more slender caudal peduncle and fewer scales around the caudal peduncle in both sexes.
A new species of freshwater crab of the genus Himalayapotamon Pretzmann, 1966 (Decapoda, Brachyura: Potamidae: Potaminae) from Uttarakhand, northern India
Authors: PATI S.K. , SINGH S.
Published: February 2017

A new species of potamid freshwater crab, Himalayapotamon garhwalense n. sp., is described from a stream near Khanda in Pauri Garhwal district of Uttarakhand, India. The new species is differentiated from all congeners by a suite of carapace and gonopod features, including the short, stout and conical G1 terminal joint with gradually tapered distal portion. Himalayapotamon Pretzmann, 1966, is now represented by 11 species including H. garhwalense n. sp. An identification key to the species in the genus is provided.
Biology and description of Megaprosternum cleonarovorum sp. nov. Hymenoptera: Bethylidae) a gregarious larval ectoparasitoid of Cleonaria bicolor Thomson (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae) from India
Authors: GUPTA ANKITA , RAJESHWARI S. K. , AZEVEDO CELSO O.
Published: February 2017

Megaprosternum Azevedo (Bethylidae: Scleroderminae) is newly recorded from the Oriental region, and M. cleonarovorum Gupta & Azevedo sp. nov. is described and illustrated from Southern India as a gregarious larval ectoparasitoid of Cleonaria bicolor Thomson (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae) on the host plant Ixora coccinea L. (Rubiacae). This is the first ever documentation of the biology of Megaprosternum Azevedo.
Conservation assessments in climate change scenarios: spatial perspectives for present and future in two Pristidactylus (Squamata: Leiosauridae) lizards from Argentina
Authors: MINOLI IGNACIO , AVILA LUCIANO JAVIER
Published: February 2017

The consequences of global climate change can already be seen in many physical and biological systems and these effects could change the distribution of suitable areas for a wide variety of organisms to the middle of this century. We analyzed the current habitat use and we projected the suitable area of present conditions into the geographical space of future scenarios (2050), to assess and quantify whether future climate change would affect the distribution and size of suitable environments in two Pristidactylus lizard species. Comparing the habitat use and future forecasts of the two studied species, P. achalensis showed a more restricted use of available resource units (RUs) and a moderate reduction of the potential future area. On the contrary, P. nigroiugulus uses more available RUs and has a considerable area decrease for both future scenarios. These results suggest that both species have a moderately different trend towards reducing available area of suitable habitats, the persistent localities for both 2050 CO2 concentration models, and in the available RUs used. We discussed the relation between size and use of the current habitat, changes in future projections along with the protected areas from present-future and the usefulness of these results in conservation plans. This work illustrates how ectothermic organisms might have to face major changes in their availability suitable areas as a consequence of the effect of future climate change.
A Cryptic Invasion in the Western Atlantic: Presence of the Fouling Barnacle Megabalanus zebra (Darwin, 1854) (Crustacea, Cirripedia) in the Caribbean Sea
Authors: PITOMBO FABIO BETTINI , GOBIN JUDITH , ABREU NIVIA MARIA NUNES , JUTE ALANA
Published: February 2017

The barnacle Megabalanus zebra is largely known from ship hulls, with little information on its biology, ecology, and natural range. We identify M. zebra here from the southern Caribbean, based upon specimens collected as early as 2002. Challenges associated with identifying megabalinine species have delayed recognition of this species as distinct from other Caribbean Megabalanus. Sequenced material of M. zebra from Curaçao did not match M. zebra GenBank sequences that could be verified by descriptions or vouchered material. The presence of young M. zebra on vessels that have not left the Caribbean, as well as on pier pilings and resident buoys, indicate that this species is established in the tropical Western Atlantic Ocean, but the timing of its invasion remains unknown.
The Global Aerosol Synthesis and Science Project (GASSP): Measurements and Modeling to Reduce Uncertainty
Authors: Reddington C. L. , Carslaw K. S. , Stier P. , Schutgens N. , Coe H. , Liu D. , Allan J. , Browse J. , Pringle K. J. , Lee L. A. , Yoshioka M. , Johnson J. S. , Regayre L. A. , Spracklen D. V. , Mann G. W. , Clarke A. , Hermann M. , Henning S. , Wex H. , Kristensen T. B. , Leaitch W. R. , Pöschl U. , Rose D. , Andreae M. O. , Schmale J. , Kondo Y. , Oshima N. , Schwarz J. P. , Nenes A. , Anderson B. , Roberts G. C. , Snider J. R. , Leck C. , Quinn P. K. , Chi X. , Ding A. , Jimenez J. L. , Zhang Q.
Published: February 2017

The largest uncertainty in the historical radiative forcing of climate is caused by changes in aerosol particles due to anthropogenic activity. Sophisticated aerosol microphysics processes have been included in many climate models in an effort to reduce the uncertainty. However, the models are very challenging to evaluate and constrain because they require extensive in situ measurements of the particle size distribution, number concentration, and chemical composition that are not available from global satellite observations. The Global Aerosol Synthesis and Science Project (GASSP) aims to improve the robustness of global aerosol models by combining new methodologies for quantifying model uncertainty, to create an extensive global dataset of aerosol in situ microphysical and chemical measurements, and to develop new ways to assess the uncertainty associated with comparing sparse point measurements with low-resolution models. GASSP has assembled over 45,000 hours of measurements from ships and aircraft as well as data from over 350 ground stations. The measurements have been harmonized into a standardized format that is easily used by modelers and nonspecialist users. Available measurements are extensive, but they are biased to polluted regions of the Northern Hemisphere, leaving large pristine regions and many continental areas poorly sampled. The aerosol radiative forcing uncertainty can be reduced using a rigorous model–data synthesis approach. Nevertheless, our research highlights significant remaining challenges because of the difficulty of constraining many interwoven model uncertainties simultaneously. Although the physical realism of global aerosol models still needs to be improved, the uncertainty in aerosol radiative forcing will be reduced most effectively by systematically and rigorously constraining the models using extensive syntheses of measurements.
The Convection, Aerosol, and Synoptic-Effects in the Tropics (CAST) Experiment: Building an Understanding of Multiscale Impacts on Caribbean Weather via Field Campaigns
Authors: Hosannah N. , González J. , Rodriguez-Solis R. , Parsiani H. , Moshary F. , Aponte L. , Armstrong R. , Harmsen E. , Ramamurthy P. , Angeles M. , León L. , Ramírez N. , Niyogi D. , Bornstein B.
Published: February 2017

Modulated by global-, continental-, regional-, and local-scale processes, convective precipitation in coastal tropical regions is paramount in maintaining the ecological balance and socioeconomic health within them. The western coast of the Caribbean island of Puerto Rico is ideal for observing local convective dynamics as interactions between complex processes involving orography, surface heating, land cover, and sea-breeze–trade wind convergence influence different rainfall climatologies across the island. A multiseason observational effort entitled the Convection, Aerosol, and Synoptic-Effects in the Tropics (CAST) experiment was undertaken using Puerto Rico as a test case, to improve the understanding of island-scale processes and their effects on precipitation. Puerto Rico has a wide network of observational instruments, including ground weather stations, soil moisture sensors, a Next Generation Weather Radar (NEXRAD), twice-daily radiosonde launches, and Aerosol Robotic Network (AERONET) sunphotometers. To achieve the goals of CAST, researchers from multiple institutions supplemented existing observational networks with additional radiosonde launches, three high-resolution radars, continuous ceilometer monitoring, and air sampling in western Puerto Rico to monitor convective precipitation events. Observations during three CAST measurement phases (22 June–10 July 2015, 6–22 February 2016, and 24 April–7 May 2016) captured the most extreme drought in recent history (summer 2015), in addition to anomalously wet early rainfall and dry-season (2016) phases. This short article presents an overview of CAST along with selected campaign data.
The Keynotes of the 2016 Political Conventions: The Death of a Genre?
Authors: F. Sheckels Theodore
Published: February 2017

The concept of genre is an important one in rhetorical criticism. Important work has been done on presidential genres as well as more general ones such as the jeremiad and the apologia. In this vein is work on certain genres that recur at the many political party conventions. If one adopts an historical perspective, there are, from early-on, many genres—some explored by scholars, some not: the welcome address, the keynote address, the nominating and seconding speeches, and the vice presidential and presidential nomination acceptance speeches. There are also, more recently, addresses by former presidents, vanquished candidates, and—since the 1990s—prospective first spouses. This essay focuses on just one of these genres, the keynote. I argue that the genre is an important one, one that performs both important rhetorical and political work. Based on the 2016 party conventions, the genre is very much an endangered species of political communication, portending rhetorical problems for the nation’s two parties.
Measuring Memory and Attention to Preview in Motion
Authors: Jagacinski Richard J. , Hammond Gordon M. , Rizzi Emanuele
Published: February 2017

Objective

Use perceptual-motor responses to perturbations to reveal the spatio-temporal detail of memory for the recent past and attention to preview when participants track a winding roadway.

Background

Memory of the recently passed roadway can be inferred from feedback control models of the participants’ manual movement patterns. Similarly, attention to preview of the upcoming roadway can be inferred from feedforward control models of manual movement patterns.

Method

Perturbation techniques were used to measure these memory and attention functions.

Results

In a laboratory tracking task, the bandwidth of lateral roadway deviations was found to primarily influence memory for the past roadway rather than attention to preview. A secondary auditory/verbal/vocal memory task resulted in higher velocity error and acceleration error in the tracking task but did not affect attention to preview. Attention to preview was affected by the frequency pattern of sinusoidal perturbations of the roadway.

Conclusion

Perturbation techniques permit measurement of the spatio-temporal span of memory and attention to preview that affect tracking a winding roadway. They also provide new ways to explore goal-directed forgetting and spatially distributed attention in the context of movement. More generally, these techniques provide sensitive measures of individual differences in cognitive aspects of action.

Application

Models of driving behavior and assessment of driving skill may benefit from more detailed spatio-temporal measurement of attention to preview.
Insight in psychosis: Standards, science, ethics and value judgment
Authors: Jacob KS
Published: February 2017

Background:

The clinical assessment of insight solely employs biomedical perspectives and criteria to the complete exclusion of context and culture and to the disregard of values and value judgments.

Aim:

The aim of this discussion article is to examine recent research from India on insight and explanatory models in psychosis and re-examine the framework of assessment, diagnosis and management of insight and explanatory models.

Methods:

Recent research from India on insight in psychosis and explanatory models is reviewed.

Results:

Recent research, which has used longitudinal data and adjusted for pretreatment variables, suggests that insight and explanatory models of illness at baseline do not predict course, outcome and treatment response in schizophrenia, which seem to be dependent on the severity and quality of the psychosis. It supports the view that people with psychosis simultaneously hold multiple and contradictory explanatory models of illness, which change over time and with the trajectory of the illness. It suggests that insight, like all explanatory models, is a narrative of the person’s reality and a coping strategy to handle with the varied impact of the illness.

Conclusion:

This article argues that the assessment of insight necessarily involves value entailments, commitments and consequences. It supports a need for a broad-based approach to assess awareness, attribution and action related to mental illness and to acknowledge the role of values and value judgment in the evaluation of insight in psychosis.
Culture, Styles of Institutional Interactions, and Inequalities in Healthcare Experiences
Authors: Gage-Bouchard Elizabeth A.
Published: February 2017

In this study, I examine how parents’ cultural knowledge shapes experiences navigating the healthcare system after a child is diagnosed with cancer and the extent to which differential styles of health-related advocacy contribute to inequalities in healthcare experiences. I combine data from parents’ perspectives, physicians’ perspectives, and direct observation of clinical interactions and find three overarching styles of health-related advocacy. Findings show that cultural dispositions and competencies shape parents’ abilities to effectively navigate the healthcare system, and physicians differentially reward each style of health-related advocacy. Parents’ styles of advocacy shape relationships with clinicians, physicians’ perceptions of families, and physicians’ strategies for interacting with families. These findings refine understanding of the mechanisms through which social class manifests in clinical interactions, shapes patient–physician relationships, and contributes to unequal healthcare experiences.
Taking care of ourselves and others
Authors: Nazareno Lori , Krafel Alysia
Published: February 2017

Not all schools are obsessed with ensuring high test scores for students. Some schools have designed themselves around a priority of creating safe, empathetic learning environments. The Chrysalis Charter School in Palo Cedro, Calif., has a mission of developing a culture of kindness. The Minnesota New Country School in Henderson, Minn., has embraced mindfulness practices as a strategy for defusing the emphasis on competition and helping students tune into their own learning and behavior.
Washington View
Authors: Ferguson Maria
Published: February 2017

Seismic shifts in both the United States and the United Kingdom during the 2016 elections have introduced changes in the education space as well. Worries about jobs, immigration, and shifting demographics underlie policy proposals in both countries. Where the U.S. is trying to drive change to the state and local level, however, Britain is moving toward centralization.
Jesus and the challenging gift of the other: An expository article on Mark 7:24–30
Authors: Sayles Guy
Published: February 2017

Mark 7:24–30 tells the story of Jesus’ surprising encounter and sharp verbal exchange with a Syrophoenician woman who sought healing for her demon-oppressed daughter. The woman embodies otherness in many dimensions: religious, ethnic, status, and gender. Jesus’ initial response to her request, expressed in a harsh-sounding parabolic proverb, is resistance and reluctance. This article explores possible reasons for that reluctance and suggests that Jesus initially understood that the Reign of God would be realized first among Jews and only later among Gentiles. The woman’s clever response to Jesus, as well as her insistence on the inclusiveness of divine mercy, served to change Jesus’ mind about the order and timing of the fulfillment of God’s in-breaking rule and reign. This article takes the view that Jesus’ change of mind can serve as a model for contemporary followers of Jesus who sometimes struggle to receive the challenging gifts of otherness. It also affirms that “the others” often have both insights and courage which may be catalytic for the growth of those who encounter them.
Clinical and laboratory factors associated with mortality in dengue
Authors: Saroch Atul , Arya Vivek , Sinha Nitin , Taneja RS , Sahai Pooja , Mahajan RK
Published: February 2017

Dengue is endemic in more than 100 countries, giving rise to an increased number of deaths in the last five years in the South-East Asian region. We report our findings from a retrospective study of adults admitted with confirmed dengue at our institution. We studied the clinical and laboratory parameters associated with mortality in these patients. Of the 172 hospitalised patients studied, 156 (90.69 %) recovered while 16 (9.3%) died. Univariate analysis showed altered sensorium on presentation, lower haemoglobin and haematocrit levels, higher serum creatinine, higher serum transaminase and lower serum albumin levels to be significantly associated with mortality in dengue. Further, using stepwise multivariate logistic regression, altered sensorium ( P = 0.006) and hypoalbuminemia ( P = 0.013) were identified as independent predictors of mortality in dengue. Identification of these parameters early in the course of disease should prompt intensification of treatment in dengue cases.
Slacking Off in Comfort: A Dual-Pathway Model for Psychological Safety Climate
Authors: Deng Hong , Leung Kwok , Lam Catherine K. , Huang Xu
Published: February 2017

Research on psychological safety climate has primarily focused on its salutary effects on group risk-taking behaviors. We developed a group-level dual-pathway model in which psychological safety climate also exerts a simultaneous negative effect on risk-taking behaviors by diminishing group average work motivation. In a field survey, we found that psychological safety climate was positively related to group learning behavior and voice through a reduction in group average fear of failure but negatively related to them through a reduction in group average work motivation. This dual-pathway model and its mechanisms were conceptually replicated in a laboratory experiment with group creativity as a different risk-taking behavior. In this experiment, we examined the moderating effects of group individualism/collectivism and found that psychological safety climate increased the originality and flexibility dimensions of group creativity through a reduction in group average fear of failure only in groups with a collectivistic orientation and reduced the fluency dimension of and time spent on creativity through a reduction in group average work motivation only in individualistic groups.
Similarity versus relatedness: A novel approach in extractive Persian document summarisation
Authors: Shafiee Fatemeh , Shamsfard Mehrnoush
Published: February 2017

Automatic text summarisation is the process of creating a summary from one or more documents by eliminating the details and preserving the worthwhile information. This article presents a single/multi-document summariser using a novel clustering method for creating summaries. First, a feature selection phase is employed. Then, FarsNet, the Persian WordNet, is utilised to extract the semantic information of words. Therefore, the input sentences are categorised into three main clusters: similarity, relatedness and coherency. Each similarity cluster contains similar sentences to its core, while each relatedness cluster contains sentences that are related (but not similar) to its core. The coherency clusters show the sentences that should be kept together to preserve the coherency of the summary. Finally, the centroid of each similarity cluster having the most feature score is added to an empty summary. The summary is enlarged by including related sentences from relatedness clusters and excluding similar sentences to its content iteratively. Coherency clusters are applied to the created summary in the last step. The proposed method has been compared with three known existing text summarisation systems and techniques for the Persian language: FarsiSum, Parsumist and Ijaz. Our proposed method leads to improvement in experimental results on different measurements including precision, recall, F-measure, ROUGE-N and ROUGE-L.
A grounded theory of online coping by parents of military service members
Authors: Basinger Erin D. , Knobloch Leanne K.
Published: February 2017

Although parents of adult service members play a pivotal role in the dynamics of military family life, they tend to be overlooked in research on military families. We seek to shed light on their experiences by investigating online discourse about having a son or daughter serving in the U.S. military. We used grounded theory methods to create a model depicting the process by which parents communicated in the online forums. At the heart of the model was the central theme of parents coping with the stress of military life. Parents were troubled by losing time with their child and feeling alone because of his or her absence, which led them to feel chaotic emotions. They coped with their stress by seeking support, relating to others with similar experiences, and focusing on the positive. We consider both the theoretical implications of these findings for understanding coping and supportive communication and the practical implications for meeting the needs of military parents.
‘Powerlessness’ or ‘doing the right thing’ – Moral distress among nursing home staff caring for residents at the end of life: An interpretive descriptive study
Authors: Young Amanda , Froggatt Katherine , Brearley Sarah G
Published: February 2017

Background:

Caring for dying people can contribute to moral distress experienced by healthcare professionals. Moral distress can occur when this caring is restricted by organisational processes, resources or the provision of futile care. These factors apply to end of life care in nursing homes but research is lacking.

Aim:

To describe how nursing home staff experience moral distress when caring for residents during and at the end of life.

Methods:

An interpretive descriptive design, using the critical incident technique in semi-structured interviews to collect data from nursing home staff. Data were analysed using a thematic analysis approach.

Setting:

Four nursing homes in one large metropolitan area.

Participants:

A total of 16 staff: 2 nurse managers, 4 nurses and 10 care assistants.

Findings:

Participants described holding ‘good dying’ values which influenced their practice. The four practice-orientated themes of advocating, caring, communicating and relating with residents were found to influence interactions with residents, relatives, general practitioners, and colleagues. These led staff to be able to ‘do the right thing’ or to experience ‘powerlessness’, which could in turn lead to staff perceiving a ‘bad death’ for residents.

Conclusion:

When there are incongruent values concerning care between staff and others involved in the care of residents, staff feel powerless to ‘do the right thing’ and unable to influence care decisions in order to avoid a ‘bad death’. This powerlessness is the nature of their moral distress.
Constructing and mobilizing ‘the consumer’: Responsibility, consumption and the politics of sustainability
Authors: Evans David , Welch Daniel , Swaffield Joanne
Published: February 2017

This paper advances critical perspectives on the governance of sustainable consumption by exploring the ways in which ‘the consumer’ is constructed and mobilized by strategic actors and organizations. Existing approaches draw on theories of practice to emphasize the limitations of governing through behaviour change. Whilst this provides a welcome corrective to the overemphasis on individual responsibility in sustainability research and policy, fundamental questions concerning changes over time, variation across substantive domains, and the mechanisms through which authorities and intermediaries responsibilize ‘the consumer’ are neglected. By way of rejoinder, we suggest that attention should be paid to the project of sustainable consumption and – following Clive Barnett, Nick Clarke and colleagues’ analysis of ethical consumption campaigning – the ways in which it engages consuming subjects and mobilizes the rhetorical figure of ‘the consumer’. To illustrate, we present the findings from an empirical study – drawing on documentary sources as well as 38 key informant interviews – of how the challenge of food waste reduction has been framed, interpreted and responded to in the UK. Our analysis suggests that initial responses to the issue made claims on the responsibilities of individuals as consumers, but that this quickly gave way to an emergent sense of shared and distributed responsibility. To conclude we argue for the importance of exploring specific instances of sustainable consumption governance and their underlying political rationalities, as well as periodizing these accounts.
Protective effect of medicinal fungus Xylaria nigripes mycelia extracts against hydrogen peroxide-induced apoptosis in PC12 cells
Authors: Divate Rupesh D , Wang Pei-Ming , Wang Chiun-Chuang , Chou Su-Tze , Chang Chen-Tien , Chung Yun-Chin
Published: February 2017

Xylaria nigripes ( XN) is a medicinal fungus that was used traditionally as a diuretic, nerve tonic, and for treating insomnia and trauma. In this study, we elucidated possible mechanisms of neuroprotective effects of XN mycelia extracts. XN mycelia were produced by fermentation. Hot water extract and 70% ethanol extract of XN mycelia were evaluated on hydrogen peroxide (H2O2)-induced apoptosis in PC12, a rat pheochromocytoma cell line. Both XN extracts effectively protected PC12 cells against H2O2-induced cell damage by inhibiting release of lactate dehydrogenase, decreasing DNA damage, restoring mitochondrial membrane potential, and arresting abnormal apoptosis through upregulation of Bcl-2 and downregulation of Bax and caspase 3. Compared to water extract, ethanol extract showed not only greater neuroprotective effects but also a higher antioxidant activity by scavenging DPPH radicals, inhibiting lipid peroxidation, and reducing power. High phenolic content and antioxidant activity may provide the neuroprotective properties of XN ethanol extract.
Hospital waste management in developing countries: A mini review
Authors: Ali Mustafa , Wang Wenping , Chaudhry Nawaz , Geng Yong
Published: February 2017

Health care activities can generate different kinds of hazardous wastes. Mismanagement of these wastes can result in environmental and occupational health risks. Developing countries are resource-constrained when it comes to safe management of hospital wastes. This study summarizes the main issues faced in hospital waste management in developing countries. A review of the existing literature suggests that regulations and legislations focusing on hospital waste management are recent accomplishments in many of these countries. Implementation of these rules varies from one hospital to another. Moreover, wide variations exist in waste generation rates within as well as across these countries. This is mainly attributable to a lack of an agreement on the definitions and the methodology among the researchers to measure such wastes. Furthermore, hospitals in these countries suffer from poor waste segregation, collection, storage, transportation and disposal practices, which can lead to occupational and environmental risks. Knowledge and awareness regarding proper waste management remain low in the absence of training for hospital staff. Moreover, hospital sanitary workers, and scavengers, operate without the provision of safety equipment or immunization. Unsegregated waste is illegally recycled, leading to further safety risks. Overall, hospital waste management in developing countries faces several challenges. Sustainable waste management practices can go a long way in reducing the harmful effects of hospital wastes.
Just-in-Time Urbanization? Managing Migration, Citizenship, and Schooling in the Chinese City
Authors: Friedman Eli
Published: February 2017

In this article I argue that the Chinese state is responding to tensions wrought by high-speed growth by attempting to develop a form of technocratic biopolitics I refer to as ‘just-in-time (JIT) urbanization’. Mirroring techniques of the Toyota Production System (of which JIT is a constituent element), large Chinese cities have sought to avoid the costs associated with the production and warehousing of surplus populations. Under this system, migrants are granted access to local citizenship and public education for their children if they fulfill a specific, state-determined, need in the labor market. The hope is to be able to precisely deploy specific kinds of labor power as needed, at as low a cost as possible, while avoiding waste, overpopulation, and (presumed) attendant political chaos. The social consequence of this approach is that nominally public resources such as education have been funneled to elites in what I term an ‘inverted means test’.
Numerical analysis of flow characteristics in diesel injector nozzles with convergent-divergent orifices
Authors: Salvador Francisco J. , de la Morena Joaquin , Carreres Marcos , Jaramillo David
Published: February 2017

The geometry of diesel injector nozzles is known to significantly affect the characteristic spray behavior and emissions formation. In this paper, a novel nozzle concept, consisting of orifices with a convergent–divergent shape, is investigated through Computational Fluid Dynamics techniques. Three of these nozzles, characterized by different degrees of conicity, are compared to a nozzle with cylindrical orifices, which acts as a baseline. A homogeneous equilibrium model, validated against experimental data in previous works by the authors, is used to calculate the eventual cavitation formation inside these orifices. Additionally, the characteristics of the flow at the orifice outlet are analyzed for the four aforementioned nozzles in terms of their steady-state mass flow, effective outlet velocity and area coefficient. The results show that convergent-divergent nozzles exhibit a high cavitation intensity, located in the transition between the convergent and the divergent sections. This high cavitation intensity tends to compensate for the expected velocity decrease induced by the divergent shape, producing effective velocity values similar to those achieved by the cylindrical nozzle in many of the simulated conditions. The characteristics of the flow, together with the higher spray opening angles expected due to the divergent section of the nozzle, may improve atomization and fuel-air mixing processes.
Book Review: Suhayl Abidi and Manoj Joshi, The VUCA Company
Authors: Mitra Suddhachit
Published: February 2017

Suhayl Abidi and Manoj Joshi, The VUCA Company. Mumbai: JAICO Publishing House, 2015, 283 pp., ₹350 (ISBN: 978-81-8495-662-7)
MicroRNA-185 induces potent autophagy via AKT signaling in hepatocellular carcinoma
Authors: Zhou Li , Liu Shunai , Han Ming , Feng Shenghu , Liang Jinqiu , Li Zhongshu , Li Yaru , Lu Hongping , Liu Ting , Ma Yanhua , Cheng Jun
Published: February 2017

Studies have demonstrated that microRNA 185 may be a promising therapeutic target in liver cancer. However, its role in hepatocellular carcinoma is largely unknown. In this study, the proliferation of human HepG2 cells was inhibited by transfection of microRNA 185 mimics. Cell-cycle analysis revealed arrest at the G0/G1 phase. Transfection of HepG2 cells with microRNA 185 mimics significantly induced apoptosis. These data confirmed microRNA 185 as a potent cancer suppressor. We demonstrated that microRNA 185 was a compelling inducer of autophagy, for the first time. When cell autophagy was inhibited by chloroquine or 3-methyladenine, microRNA 185 induced more cell apoptosis. MicroRNA 185 acted as a cancer suppressor by regulating AKT1 expression and phosphorylation. Dual-luciferase reporter assays indicated that microRNA 185 suppressed the expression of target genes including RHEB, RICTOR, and AKT1 by directly interacting with their 3′-untranslated regions. Binding site mutations eliminated microRNA 185 responsiveness. Our findings demonstrate a new role of microRNA 185 as a key regulator of hepatocellular carcinoma via autophagy by dysregulation of AKT1 pathway.
Paclitaxel resistance development is associated with biphasic changes in reactive oxygen species, mitochondrial membrane potential and autophagy with elevated energy production capacity in lung cancer cells: A chronological study
Authors: Datta Satabdi , Choudhury Diptiman , Das Amlan , Das Mukherjee Dipanwita , Das Nabanita , Roy Sib Sankar , Chakrabarti Gopal
Published: February 2017

Paclitaxel (Tx) is one of the first-line chemotherapeutic drugs used against lung cancer, but acquired resistance to this drug is a major challenge against successful chemotherapy. In this work, we have focused on the chronological changes of various cellular parameters and associated effect on Tx (10 nM) resistance development in A549 cell line. It was observed, at initial stage, the cell death percentage due to drug treatment had increased up to 20 days, and thereafter, it started declining and became completely resistant by 40 days. Expressions of βIII tubulin and drug efflux pumps also increased over the period of resistance development. Changes in cellular autophagy and reactive oxygen species generation showed a biphasic pattern and increased gradually over the course of upto 20 days, thereafter declined gradually; however, their levels remained higher than untreated cells when resistance was acquired. Increase in extracellular acidification rates and oxygen consumption rates was found to be directly correlated with acquisition of resistance. The depolarisation of mitochondrial membrane potential was also biphasic; first, it increased with increase of cell death up to 20 days, thereafter, it gradually decreased to normal level along with resistance development. Increase in activity of catalase, glutathione peroxidase and glutathione content over these periods may attribute in bringing down the reactive oxygen species levels and normalisation of mitochondrial membrane potential in spite of comparatively higher reactive oxygen species production by the Tx-resistant cells.
Halting natural resource depletion: Engaging with economic and political power
Authors: Lindenmayer David
Published: February 2017

Globally, fisheries and forestry have been characterised by substantial ecological and economic problems. Both sectors have become notorious for depleting the stocks on which they depend, eroding the value of harvested natural resources over time and having significant negative ‘by-catch’ impacts on non-target natural resources. Problems of resource overuse and potential ecosystem collapse inherently derive from poor decisions influenced by those with undue or excessive economic, political and labour market power. Solutions to problems of unsustainability of resource management will need to engage with these economic drivers and beneficiaries, and require strategies including better and more independent assessments of the status and condition of resources. Deep-seated problems caused by resource over-commitment need more robust approaches to resource assessment that (1) better account for uncertainty (including uncertainty resulting from stock losses due to disturbance), (2) avoid ratchet effects and (3) provide appropriate ecological parameters for resource harvest. The United Nations framework for environmental and economic accounting methods can help assess the economic and other contributions of different resource-based industries and inform decisions about trade-offs between competing interests. Finally, there is value in examining successful and unsuccessful industry restructuring, in which decisions to transition away from demonstrably unsustainable resource industries have been made.
Precision contouring control of five degree of freedom robot manipulators with uncertainty
Authors: Nuchkrua Thanana , Chen Shyh-Leh
Published: February 2017

In this article, we apply a result in equivalent errors to a contouring control problem of five degree of freedom robot manipulators. The proposed technique, fuzzy Proportional Integral Derivative (PID) with the robust extended Kalman filter, is employed to stabilize the dynamic of equivalent errors of robot manipulators. The shape of membership functions and rules of fuzzy PID controller are tuned following operating conditions that make the control performance to improve significantly. A desired path in terms of the position of the end-effector of the robot manipulators is described in generalized coordinates defined by the dynamic of equivalent. The simulation and experimental results demonstrate the excellent performance of the proposed technique.
The relational responsibilities of scientists: (Re) considering science as a practice
Authors: Bezuidenhout Louise
Published: February 2017

Studies of science are increasingly drawing attention to the highly communal nature of research. Ethics, sociology, philosophy, and anthropology of science all emphasize the key role that collaborative actions play in the generation of scientific knowledge. Nonetheless, despite the increasing interest in these communal aspects of scientific research, studies on the relationships underpinning communality are commonly focused on the how the individual interacts with their peers and contributes to the epistemic activities of science. In contrast, there is little literature that broadens out the scope of this analysis to consider the multidimensional nature of these research relationships. In particular, little is said about how scientists mediate their social interactions with peers during daily laboratory research. Less, indeed, is said about the tradition of ‘learning through example’ that characterizes most in situ laboratory training.

All of these relational activities are of critical importance in sustaining and perpetuating the practice of science. It therefore becomes important to ask how we understand these relational activities directed towards building and sustaining relationships in different loci for the primary purpose of strengthening the practice of research and sustaining the traditions of scientific research. Moreover, it is vital to consider how discussions on responsibility may be cached out for individual scientists.

This article employs a virtue ethics approach to consider these issues. It begins by sketching out the plethora of different relationships present in daily laboratory practice using existing ethnographic studies. It then uses virtue ethics to identify specific responsibilities that individual scientists have in cultivating and safeguarding the development of these relationships. It concludes by suggesting ways in which these issues may be taken up in teaching responsible conduct to scientists.
Bearing fault diagnosis of a wind turbine based on variational mode decomposition and permutation entropy
Authors: An Xueli , Pan Luoping
Published: February 2017

Variational mode decomposition is a new signal decomposition method, which can process non-linear and non-stationary signals. It can overcome the problems of mode mixing and compensate for the shortcomings in empirical mode decomposition. Permutation entropy is a method which can detect the randomness and kinetic mutation behavior of a time series. It can be considered for use in fault diagnosis. The complexity of wind power generation systems means that the randomness and kinetic mutation behavior of their vibration signals are displayed at different scales. Multi-scale permutation entropy analysis is therefore needed for such vibration signals. This research investigated a method based on variational mode decomposition and permutation entropy for the fault diagnosis of a wind turbine roller bearing. Variational mode decomposition was adopted to decompose the bearing vibration signal into its constituent components. The components containing key fault information were selected for the extraction of their permutation entropy. This entropy was used as a bearing fault characteristic value. The nearest neighbor algorithm was employed as a classifier to identify faults in a roller bearing. The experimental data showed that the proposed method can be applied to wind turbine roller bearing fault diagnosis.
Conceptualising force in the context of the Arab Revolutions: A comparative analysis of international mass media reports and Twitter posts
Authors: Ullmann Stefanie
Published: February 2017

The events surrounding the ‘Arab Spring’ have attracted an enormous amount of attention by the international press as well as on social media platforms, especially in its initial phase in early 2011. This article investigates how violent and forceful (inter)actions during the ‘Arab Revolutions’ were conceptualised linguistically by incorporating notions of Cognitive Semantics in a critical comparative study of press reports and Twitter posts. Focus is placed specifically on combining Talmy’s theory of Force Dynamics with methods of Critical Discourse Studies in order to investigate diverging forms of schematisation of forceful interactions among protest participants. The most frequently recurring opposing force-dynamic patterns identified are defying a hindrance, prevailing stability and causation of action as well as inaction. Notable differences may be observed between mass media and social media in regard to the representation of dynamic power relations between police and protesters.
Comparison of cellular assays for TLR activation and development of a species-specific reporter cell line for cattle
Authors: Tombácz Kata , Mwangi Duncan , Werling Dirk , Gibson Amanda J
Published: February 2017

PRRs are sentinels of the innate immune system, with TLRs being the most important. Assays for TLR ligand interactions have been used to gain insights into their function and signaling pathways. As significant differences exist between species with regard to ligand recognition, it is necessary to adapt these tools for TLRs of other species. In the present work, we describe a species-specific cell-based assay adapted for the analysis of single PRRs. Human embryonic kidney 293T cells were stably transfected with the NF-κB-inducible reporter gene secreted embryonic alkaline phosphatase (SEAP) together with bovine TLR2. We compared the SEAP response with an existing luciferase NF-κB reporter assay for correlation with IL-8 production. A dose-dependent response was detected upon stimulation using both methods with good correlation to IL-8 secretion. Lower stimulant concentrations were detected by SEAP assay than IL-8 secretion. The luciferase assay produced high non-specific background for all ligand concentrations. Of all assays tested, we found the bovine-specific SEAP reporter assay to be the most convenient and delivered results in the shortest time. The developed reporter cell line would lend well to rapid, high-throughput TLR ligand screening for cattle.