bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Head and neck soft tissue sarcomas: Unique lack of significance of synchronous node metastases
Authors: Smith Valerie A. , Overton Lewis J. , Lentsch Eric J.
Published: May 2012

Background

Regional lymph node metastasis (RLNM) has been identified as a poor prognostic indicator for patients with soft tissue sarcomas (STS) of the extremities and trunk. However, the effect of RLNM on survival in patients with STS of the head and neck (HN) has not previously been explored. Our objective was to analyze RLNM as a prognostic indicator in HN‐STS, and to compare this cohort to patients with STS of non‐head and neck regions (NHN‐STS).

Methods

STS patients were identified using the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results database. Only patients without concurrent distant metastasis who underwent surgery and pathologic node staging were included. Patients were categorized based on tumor location: (1) HN‐STS and (2) NHN‐STS. Clinicopathologic data and disease‐specific survival (DSS) were compared between node‐negative and node‐positive patients in each group.

Results

We identified 183 cases of node‐positive STS (25 HN‐STS, 158 NHN‐STS). In the HN‐STS group, pN1 status was not associated with any of the clinicopathologic factors that we analyzed. DSS was similar among pN0 and pN1 patients with HN‐STS (P = 0.59); however, in the NHN‐STS group, node‐positivity was significantly associated with disease‐specific mortality (P < 0.001).

Conclusions

Synchronous RLNM may not affect DSS in patients HN‐STS. Node‐positive patients with HN‐STS appear to be unique from those with NHN‐STS. J. Surg. Oncol. 2012; 106:837–843. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
A new semi‐automated method for fetal volume measurements with three‐dimensional ultrasound: preliminary results
Authors: Smeets Nicol A. C. , Dvinskikh Natallia A. , Winkens Bjorn , Oei S. Guid
Published: May 2012

Objective

Complications in pregnancy are suggested to be the result of intrauterine conditions in the first trimester of pregnancy. Three‐dimensional ultrasound volume measurements might give more information, compared with two‐dimensional measurements. Commonly available methods for volume measurements are not suited for daily practice. This is a report of preliminary results of a promising, more practical semi‐automated method for volume calculations with three‐dimensional ultrasound.

Method

Volume datasets of 16 objects (10.2–41.5 cm3) were obtained. Euclidean shortening flow and Perona and Malik were used as image enhancement techniques. The image gradient was calculated. The points of interest were detected by the iso‐intensity and the edge‐detection technique. Volume measurements with Volume Computer‐aided AnaLysis (VOCAL) are used as a reference. A volume dataset of a first trimester fetus was acquired to test this method in vivo.

Results

The mathematical calculations with iso‐intensity (Perona and Malik: average = −1.57 cm3, SD = 4.05; and Euclidean shortening flow: average = −1.38 cm3, SD = 2.47) showed results comparable with the VOCAL method (average = +1.28 cm3, SD = 2.07). We also succeeded in detecting all voxels in the whole contour of a 12‐week fetus.

Conclusion

Mathematical volume calculations are possible with the semi‐automated method. We were able to apply this new method on a first trimester fetus. This new method is promising for future use in the daily practice. © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Additivity of current density patterns in altan‐molecules
Authors: Monaco Guglielmo , Memoli Maurizio , Zanasi Riccardo
Published: May 2012

Four molecules of the recently introduced class of altan‐molecules have been studied. They are the altan homologues of naphtalene, pyrene, pyracylene, and kekulene. Their optimized geometries are bowl shaped. The smaller three have current density patterns with an outer paratropic current, as expected for isolated [4n]annulenes, whereas the larger displays an outer weak diatropic circulation. Computed magnetizabilities are consistent with the current density pattern. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Density estimation of a biomedical variable subject to measurement error using an auxiliary set of replicate observations
Authors: Stirnemann J.J. , Comte F. , Samson A.
Published: May 2012

Correcting for measurement error when estimating the density of a routinely collected biomedical variable is an important issue when describing reference values for both healthy and pathological states. The present work addresses the problem of estimating the density of a biomedical variable observed with measurement error without any a priori knowledge on the error density. Assuming the availability of a sample of replicate observations, either internal or external, which is generally easily obtained in clinical settings, we propose an estimator based on the non‐parametric deconvolution theory with an adaptive procedure for cutoff selection, the replicates being used for an estimation of the error density. We illustrate this approach in two applicative examples: (i) the systolic blood pressure distribution density, using the Framingham Study data set, and (ii) the distribution of the timing of onset of pregnancy within the female cycle, using ultrasound measurements in the first trimester of pregnancy. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Postmortem examination of human fetal hearts at or below 20 weeks' gestation: a comparison of high‐field MRI at 9.4 T with lower‐field MRI magnets and stereomicroscopic autopsy
Authors: Votino C. , Jani J. , Verhoye M. , Bessieres B. , Fierens Y. , Segers V. , Vorsselmans A. , Kang X. , Cos T. , Foulon W. , De Mey J. , Cannie M.
Published: May 2012

Objectives

To compare the diagnostic usefulness of high‐field with low‐field magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and stereomicroscopic autopsy for examination of the heart in fetuses at or under 20 weeks' gestation.

Methods

Prior to invasive stereomicroscopic autopsy, MRI scans at 9.4, 3.0 and 1.5 T were performed on 24 fetuses between 11 and 20 weeks' gestation, including 10 fetuses with cardiac abnormalities. The ability to visualize different heart structures was evaluated according to the different field strength MRI magnets used and gestational age at examination.

Results

On 1.5‐ and 3.0‐T MRI, only the heart situs and four‐chamber view could be visualized consistently (in 75% or more of cases) when the fetus was beyond 16 weeks' gestation, but other heart structures could not be visualized for fetuses at any gestational age. In contrast, using high‐field MRI at 9.4 T, the heart situs, four‐chamber view and the outflow tracts could be visualized in all fetuses irrespective of gestational age. Using high‐field MRI, the sensitivity for detecting an abnormality of the four‐chamber view was 66.7% (95% CI, 30.1–92.1%) with a specificity of 80.0% (95% CI, 51.9–95.4%). For abnormalities of the outflow tracts, sensitivity was 75.0% (95% CI, 20.3–95.9%) and specificity 100.0% (95% CI, 83.3–100.0%). Eight fetuses out of 10 with congenital heart disease (CHD) were classified as having major CHD. High‐field MRI at 9.4 T was able to identify seven out of the eight cases of major CHD.

Conclusion

High‐field MRI at 9.4 T seems to be an acceptable alternative approach to invasive stereomicroscopic autopsy for fetuses with CHD at or below 20 weeks' gestation. Copyright © 2012 ISUOG. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Climate change regional review: Poland
Authors: Kundzewicz Zbigniew W. , Matczak Piotr
Published: May 2012

Poland is a country where a climate change warming signal can be detected in temperature, but observed changes in other variables, and especially in precipitation, are complex. Temperature projections indicate further warming, but models do not agree as to seasonal distribution of changes in precipitation. This article reviews evidence for climate change and its impacts in Poland, in the context of observations and projections. It also reviews various aspects of climate change mitigation policy in the country whose energy supply is more coal‐dominated than any other country. This is one reason why climate change mitigation efforts are modest and climate policy largely passive. The dramatic decline of industrial production involving a rapid decline in CO2 emissions during 1989–1992 was the crucial element of the Poland's position in the negotiations of international agreements. The European Union (EU) accession in 2004 tied Poland to EU climate policy. This cautious approach is largely in harmony with public attitudes. Poles are aware of climate change, but it is not considered as a priority issue and public opinion is divided about the issues of mitigation. Adaptation to climate change impacts in Poland is driven by the fact that observed impacts are not very large and there is no persuasive attribution of these impacts to greenhouse gas emissions. Reactive adaptation to climate change is preferred over anticipatory adaptation. There are several ‘special care’ areas in Poland in terms of adaptation: the mountains; the coastal zone of the Baltic Sea; and the river valleys. WIREs Clim Change 2012 doi: 10.1002/wcc.175

This article is categorized under:

Trans‐Disciplinary Perspectives > National Reviews
Sex and the circuitry: progress toward a systems‐level understanding of vertebrate sex determination
Authors: Munger Steven C. , Capel Blanche
Published: May 2012

In vertebrates, the gonad arises as a bipotential primordium that can differentiate as a testis or ovary. Cells are initially primed to adopt either fate by balanced antagonistic signaling pathways and transcription networks. Sexual fate is determined by activating the testis or ovarian pathway and repressing the alternative pathway. A complex, dynamic transcription network underlies this process, as approximately half the genome is being transcribed during this period, and many genes are expressed in a sexually dimorphic manner. This network is highly plastic; however, multiple lines of evidence suggest that many elements of the pathway converge on the stabilization or disruption of Sox9 expression. The single gene mutational approach has led to the identification of ∼30 additional genes involved in vertebrate sex determination. However, >50% of human disorders of sexual development (DSDs) are not explained by any of these genes, suggesting many critical elements of the system await discovery. Emerging technologies and genetic resources enable the investigation of the sex determination network on a global scale in the context of a variable genetic background or environmental influences. Using these new tools we can investigate how cells establish a bipotential state that is poised to adopt either sexual fate, and how they integrate multiple signaling and transcriptional inputs to drive a cell fate decision. Elucidating the genetic architecture underlying sex determination in model systems can lead to the identification of conserved modules correlated with phenotypic outcomes, and critical pressure points in the network that predict genes involved in DSDs in humans. WIREs Syst Biol Med 2012 doi: 10.1002/wsbm.1172

This article is categorized under:

Biological Mechanisms > Cell Fates

Models of Systems Properties and Processes > Organ, Tissue, and Physiological Models
The Laboratory‐Clinician Team: A Professional Call to Action to Improve Communication and Collaboration for Optimal Patient Care in Chromosomal Microarray Testing
Authors: Wain Karen E. , Riggs Erin , Hanson Karen , Savage Melissa , Riethmaier Darlene , Muirhead Andrea , Mitchell Elyse , Packard Bethanny Smith , Faucett W. Andrew
Published: May 2012

The International Standards for Cytogenomic Arrays (ISCA) Consortium is a worldwide collaborative effort dedicated to optimizing patient care by improving the quality of chromosomal microarray testing. The primary effort of the ISCA Consortium has been the development of a database of copy number variants (CNVs) identified during the course of clinical microarray testing. This database is a powerful resource for clinicians, laboratories, and researchers, and can be utilized for a variety of applications, such as facilitating standardized interpretations of certain CNVs across laboratories or providing phenotypic information for counseling purposes when published data is sparse. A recognized limitation to the clinical utility of this database, however, is the quality of clinical information available for each patient. Clinical genetic counselors are uniquely suited to facilitate the communication of this information to the laboratory by virtue of their existing clinical responsibilities, case management skills, and appreciation of the evolving nature of scientific knowledge. We intend to highlight the critical role that genetic counselors play in ensuring optimal patient care through contributing to the clinical utility of the ISCA Consortium's database, as well as the quality of individual patient microarray reports provided by contributing laboratories. Current tools, paper and electronic forms, created to maximize this collaboration are shared. In addition to making a professional commitment to providing complete clinical information, genetic counselors are invited to become ISCA members and to become involved in the discussions and initiatives within the Consortium.
Abnormal brain function of the rat neonate in a prenatal 5‐bromo‐2′‐deoxyuridine (BrdU)‐induced developmental disorder model
Authors: Ogawa Tetsuo , Kuwagata Makiko , Muneoka Katsumasa , Wakai Chizu , Senuma Mika , Kubo Hiroko , Shioda Seiji
Published: May 2012

Neonatal brain function was investigated in a prenatal BrdU‐induced developmental disorder model, which has been reported to exhibit behavioral abnormalities such as locomotor hyperactivity, impaired learning and memory, and lower anxiety in offspring. After 1 h home cage deprivation we observed an increase in the number of c‐Fos (neuronal activity marker) immunoreactive cells in several brain regions of the olfactory and stress‐related areas in normal neonates at 11 days. Next, pregnant rats were exposed to 50 mg/kg of BrdU from gestation days 9–15, and their offspring at 11 days were home‐cage deprived. Compared to vehicle control, the number of c‐Fos immunoreactive cells in BrdU group was found to be decreased in the piriform cortex and locus coeruleus, which are known to play an important role in neonatal learning and memory. We also analyzed Pearson product–moment correlation coefficient of the number of c‐Fos immunoreactive cells, focusing on the piriform cortex and locus coeruleus versus numerous other brain areas (11 areas including amygdala). Numerous significant correlations were observed in the vehicle control group, however, correlations of the locus coeruleus disappeared in the BrdU group. By observing c‐Fos immunoreactivity after home cage deprivation our study uncovers abnormal brain functions as early as postnatal day 11 in this disorder model. Based on these results, we propose a new histological approach for functional characterization of developmental disorder models.
Omega 3 fatty acids and cognitive health in older people
Authors: Dangour Alan D. , Andreeva Valentina A. , Sydenham Emma , Uauy Ricardo
Published: May 2012

Oily fish and other sources of long-chain n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (n-3 LCPs) have been proposed as protective against dementia and age related cognitive impairment. The basic mechanisms underlying these proposed benefits have been postulated and experimental studies supporting the plausibility of the putative effects have been published. Observational epidemiological and case control studies also largely support a protective role of fish consumption on cognitive function with advancing age, albeit with important unexplained heterogeneity in findings. In this review we report the findings of the latest Cochrane review on the benefits of n-3 LCP supplementation on cognitive function among cognitively healthy older people and expand the review by including trials conducted with individuals with prevalent poor cognitive function or dementia. We identified seven relevant trials, four among cognitively healthy older people, and three among individuals with pre-existing cognitive decline or dementia, and overall conclude that there is no evidence to support the routine use of n-3 LCPs supplements for the prevention, or amelioration, of cognitive decline in later life. We identified several challenges in the design of intervention studies for the prevention of dementia and cognitive decline in older people that require careful consideration especially in recruitment and retention in long-term trials. Whether the lack of agreement in findings from mechanistic and observational data and from intervention studies reflects a real absence of benefit on cognitive function from n-3 LCP supplementation, or whether it reflects intrinsic limitations in the design of published studies remains open to question.
Omega-3 fatty acids and blood pressure
Authors: Cabo Jorge , Alonso Rodrigo , Mata Pedro
Published: May 2012

Epidemiological and clinical studies suggest that consumption of omega (ω-3) polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) contributes to the reduction of cardiovascular mortality through different mechanisms including modulation of cellular metabolic functions, gene expression and beneficial effects on lipid profile or blood pressure. The aim of the study is to review the effects of ω-3 PUFA supplemented as fish oil or blue fish in blood pressure. The analysis of different studies suggests that high doses ω-3 PUFA ( ≥  3 g/day) produces a small but significant decrease in blood pressure, especially systolic blood pressure, in older and hypertensive subjects; however, the evidence is not consistent among different studies. ω-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids consumption might have a place in the control of patients with mild hypertension before starting drug treatment and of those who prefer changes of lifestyles like diet.
Cylindrical and spherical solitary waves in a dusty non-thermal plasma
Authors: ISLAM S. , MAMUN A.A. , MANNAN A.
Published: May 2012

A theoretical investigation of the basic characteristics of cylindrical and spherical dust-ion-acoustic (DIA) solitary waves (SWs) is made in a dusty non-thermal plasma, whose constituents are non-thermal electrons, inertial ions, and arbitrarily charged stationary dust. The reductive perturbation method is used to derive the modified Gardner equation. The latter is numerically analyzed for both positively and negatively charged dust. The basic features of cylindrical and spherical DIA SWs, which are found to exist in such a dusty non-thermal plasma, are identified. The implications of our results to both space and laboratory plasma situations are also discussed briefly.
The Creation of the English Hippocrates
Authors: Anstey Peter
Published: May 2012

This article examines the process by which the London physician Thomas Sydenham (1624–89) rose to fame as the English Hippocrates in the late seventeenth century. It provides a survey of the evidence for the establishment of Sydenham’s reputation from his own writings, his professional relations, and the writings of his supporters and detractors. These sources reveal that in the first decades of his career Sydenham had few supporters and faced much opposition. However, by the end of the seventeenth century, Sydenham was the object of extraordinary outbursts of adulation and had become renowned for his decrying of hypotheses and speculative theory, his promotion of natural histories of disease, and the purported similarities between his medical method and that of Hippocrates. It is argued that Sydenham’s positive reputation owed little to his achievements in medicine: it was almost entirely the result of his promotion by the philosopher John Locke and a small group of sympathetic physicians. It was they who created the English Hippocrates.
The Crisis, the Humanities and Medical History
Authors: Luckin Bill
Published: May 2012

Non-controversially, the full version of this article argues that the crisis in British higher education will impoverish teaching and research in the arts and humanities; cut even more deeply into these areas in the post-1992 sector; and threaten the integrity of every small sub-discipline, including the history of medicine. It traces links between the Thatcherite reforms of the 1980s and the near-privatisation of universities proposed by the Browne Report and partly adopted by the coalition. The article ends by arguing that it would be mistaken to expect any government-driven return to the status quo ante. New ideas and solutions must come from within. As economic and cultural landscapes are transformed, higher education will eventually be rebuilt, and the arts and social sciences, including medical history, reshaped in wholly unexpected ways. This will only happen, however, if a more highly politicised academic community forges its own strategies for recovery.
Coronary Heart Disease and Heart Attacks, 1912–2010
Authors: Howell Joel D.
Published: May 2012

This paper was originally written for a conference entitled ‘The Future of Medical History. Now it ought to be clear – certainly to historians – that the future of anything is hard to predict; but at least in the short term, any future for medical history seems likely to include the history of disease, and the history of coronary heart disease (CHD) provides an excellent example of what the history of disease has to offer to a wide range of audiences.
Medical Archives and Digital Culture: From WWI to BioShock
Authors: Biernoff Suzannah
Published: May 2012

Over the last few years my research has focused on representations of the injured body and face in First World War Britain. Some of the most intriguing cases are those in which art and medicine seem to converge or redefine each other, as in Henry Tonks' delicate pastel portraits of British servicemen with severe facial injuries, and the equally exquisite – and unsettling – prosthetic masks made by the sculptor Francis Derwent Wood for some of these patients to conceal their disfigurement when surgical reconstruction was impossible. In both of these examples, art could be said to ameliorate – and in different ways to aestheticise – the horrors of war, and to humanise men who had suffered what were considered at the time to be the most dehumanising of injuries. In both cases, the sources that have survived contain assumptions – often unspoken – about how, where and by whom the injured body may be seen – assumptions that have changed over time. My current project considers the afterlives of some of these documents. When we encounter medical images in art galleries or on television – or in the pages of an academic journal – what kind of cultural and imaginative work do they perform? Are there ethical considerations raised by their re-deployment or appropriation within the contexts of art and entertainment, education and academic research?
Veterinary Medicines in Britain: Output and Industry Organisation since 1900
Authors: Godley Andrew , Corley T.A.B.
Published: May 2012

The historical development and economic impact of pharmaceuticals in the UK are nowadays reasonably well documented. That industry has become the most profitable and fast growing of the country's high-tech industries. Its member firms undertake more than one-fifth of the national research and development (R&D) activities, one half being carried out in Britain, and currently achieve a £2.4 billion favourable trade balance with the rest of the world.
Professional Heresy: Edmund Gurney (1847–88) and the Study of Hallucinations and Hypnotism
Authors: Sommer Andreas
Published: May 2012

The English music theorist and philosophical writer Edmund Gurney was the first ‘fulltime’ psychical researcher in history. While he was primarily concerned with empirical evidence for telepathy, Gurney significantly contributed to the late nineteenth-century literature on hallucinations in the sane, and the psychology of hypnotism and dissociation. He conducted the first large-scale survey of hallucinations in the general public and, with Pierre Janet, was the first to publish experimental data suggesting dissociated streams of consciousness in hypnotism. This paper sketches Gurney's contributions to psychology and dynamic psychiatry in the context of his friendship with Frederic W.H. Myers and William James. It is argued that although Gurney's research into hallucinations and hypnotism had been embraced and assimilated by contemporary psychologists such as William James, Alfred Binet and others, his contributions to psychology have subsequently been marginalised because of the discipline's paradigmatic rejection of controversial research questions his findings were entangled with.
Shocking Waves at the Museum: The Bini–Cerletti Electro-shock Apparatus
Authors: Aruta Alessandro
Published: May 2012

The historian of science, Lorraine Daston, has written about things that talk. But how much can an artefact in a museum communicate its history to the public? Artefacts in museums speak, but it is not necessarily, or even at all, in the language of their original time and place. Cultural baggage, memories, and imagination all come into play, including those held by museum curators, and not least those contained within the operational and historical frameworks of such institutions. At the Museo di Storia della Medicina della Sapienza at the University of Rome we are organising an exhibition around an artefact that more than any other elicits emotive reactions – the Bini–Cerletti apparatus for the administration of electro-shock. This prototype of the first ECT machine, along with various historical documents, manuals, and textbooks relating to it, is a valued part of the Museo's collection. We are proud of it, yet as a display item, it is also something of golden chalice. Leaving aside the ethical question of whether we can (or should) convey to visitors the anxiety and pain of the patients who once submitted to the device, and leaving aside the different loads of historical and contemporary baggage that visitors will bring to it, how can such an object be represented in an historically honest way? This is the problem, for while we might be true to the context of its emergence, within that context (of Fascist Italy) the Bini–Cerletti apparatus was at one and the same time a blessing, a hope, a lie, and a profitable commercial product.
Bruised Witness: Bernard Spilsbury and the Performance of Early Twentieth-Century English Forensic Pathology
Authors: Burney Ian , Pemberton Neil
Published: May 2012

This article explores the status, apparatus and character of forensic pathology in the inter-war period, with a special emphasis on the ‘people’s pathologist’, Bernard Spilsbury. The broad expert and public profile of forensic pathology, of which Spilsbury was the most prominent contemporary representative, will be outlined and discussed. In so doing, close attention will be paid to the courtroom strategies by which he and other experts translated their isolated post-mortem encounters with the dead body into effective testimony.

Pathologists built a high-profile practice that transfixed the popular, legal and scientific imagination, and this article also explores, through the celebrated 1925 murder trial of Norman Thorne, how Spilsbury’s courtroom performance focused critical attention on the practices of pathology itself, which threatened to destabilise the status of forensic pathology. In particular, the Thorne case raised questions about the interrelation between bruising and putrefaction as sources of interpretative anxiety. Here, the question of practice is vital, especially in understanding how Spilsbury’s findings clashed with those of rival pathologists whose autopsies centred on a corpse that had undergone further putrefactive changes and that had thereby mutated as an evidentiary object. Examining how pathologists dealt with interpretative problems raised by the instability of their core investigative object enables an analysis of the ways in which pathological investigation of homicide was inflected with a series of conceptual, professional and cultural difficulties stemming in significant ways from the materiality of the corpse itself.

This article presents early findings of a larger study of twentieth-century English homicide investigation which focuses on the interaction between two dominant forensic regimes: the first, outlined in part here, is a body-centred forensics, associated with the lone, ‘celebrity’ pathologist, his scalpel and the mortuary slab; the second is a ‘forensics of things’ centred on the laboratory and its associated technologies of trace analysis (hair, blood, fibres), deployed in closed technician-dominated spaces and in the regimentally managed crime scene. Future work will seek to illuminate the shifting landscape of English forensics by following the historical interplay between these two powerful investigative models.
‘The Solution to his Own Enigma’: Connecting the Life of Montague David Eder (1865–1936), Socialist, Psychoanalyst, Zionist and Modern Saint
Authors: Thomson Mathew
Published: May 2012

This article examines the career of pioneer British psychoanalyst David Eder (1865–1936). Credited by Freud as the first practising psychoanalyst in England, active in early British socialism and then a significant figure in Zionism in post-war Palestine, and in between an adventurer in South America, a pioneer in the field of school medicine, and a writer on shell-shock, Eder is a strangely neglected figure in existing historiography. The connections between his interest in medicine, psychoanalysis, socialism and Zionism are also explored. In doing so, this article contributes to our developing understanding of the psychoanalytic culture of early twentieth-century Britain, pointing to its shifting relationship to broader ideology and the practical social and political challenges of the period. The article also reflects on the challenges for both Eder’s contemporaries and his biographers in making sense of such a life.
Visual Objects and Universal Meanings: AIDS Posters and the Politics of Globalisation and History
Authors: Stein Claudia , Cooter Roger
Published: May 2012

Drawing on recent visual and spatial turns in history writing, this paper considers AIDS posters from the perspective of their museum ‘afterlife’ as collected material objects. Museum spaces serve changing political and epistemological projects, and the visual objects they house are not immune from them. A recent globally themed exhibition of AIDS posters at an arts and crafts museum in Hamburg is cited in illustration. The exhibition also serves to draw attention to institutional continuities in collecting agendas. Revealed, contrary to postmodernist expectations, is how today’s application of aesthetic display for the purpose of making ‘global connections’ does not radically break with the virtues and morals attached to the visual at the end of the nineteenth century. The historicisation of such objects needs to take into account this complicated mix of change and continuity in aesthetic concepts and political inscriptions. Otherwise, historians fall prey to seductive aesthetics without being aware of the politics of them. This article submits that aesthetics is politics.
Kinematics/statics and workspace analysis of a 3-leg 5-DoF parallel manipulator with a UPU-type composite active constrained leg
Authors: Lu Yi , Zhang Xuili , Sui Chunping , Han Jianda , Hu Bo
Published: May 2012

A novel 3-leg 5-DoF parallel manipulator (PM) with a UPU-type composite active constrained leg is proposed and its kinematics and statics are analyzed systematically. First, the formulae are derived for solving the inverse/forward displacements, inverse/forward velocities, and active/constraint forces. Second, the formulae are derived for solving inverse/forward accelerations. Third, a simulation mechanism of this PM is created and its workspace is constructed and analyzed. Finally, the analytic results are verified by its simulation mechanism.
Twentieth-century borrowings from French into English – an overview
Authors: Schultz Julia
Published: May 2012

French has long served as the donor language par excellence in the history of English. French has enriched the English vocabulary throughout the centuries since before the Norman Conquest (Serjeantson, 1935: 104–5). The French impact on the English lexicon has received much attention in studies of the language and its development. However, French borrowings which have recently been introduced into English have figured little if at all in research thus far.
J'ai failli attendre: a guide to emergency translation
Authors: Smith Ross
Published: May 2012

Quality or speed: that is the question. The big problem for professional translators nowadays is that our clients want both. We are required, on a daily basis, to try to do the impossible, to square the circle, to attempt to maintain a satisfactory degree of accuracy and style while meeting deadlines that at times can only be described as sadistic. Levels of translator stress have gradually risen, though sadly they have not been accompanied by a commensurate rise in translation rates. I cannot help but wonder, as I glance nervously at the clock, how we have ended up in this sorry state of calendarial bondage, in which we would hardly be surprised to hear an indignant client remark, in the immortal words of Louis XIV: ‘I almost had to wait!’
The enregisterment of English in rap braggadocio: a study from English-Afrikaans bilingualism in Cape Town
Authors: Williams Quentin E.
Published: May 2012

For the last three decades, globalization has been a major theme of sociolinguistics and studies of multilingualism, in keeping with large scale changes evident in late-modern societies (Blommaert, 2010). One of several stances within this research is the importance accorded to English in processes of linguistic globalization (see Leung et al, 2009). Three theoretical stances in particular have dealt with English globalization: World Englishes (e.g. Kachru, 1986), Linguistic Imperialism (e.g. Phillipson, 1992) and more recently Global Englishes within a context of modern-day rapid transport, electronic media, cultural hybridities and economic migration (Pennycook, 2007). All three approaches emphasise different aspects of the nature of English insertion in multilingual contexts.
Beyond and behind the tables – a reply to Michael Bulley: Why no mips?
Authors: Huber Daniel
Published: May 2012

In a recent article in ET 109 Michael Bulley (2012: 35) presents ‘the permutations for monosyllables in common use in standard British English having the phonetic pattern: single consonant + short vowel + single consonant’, using the OED as his source for data. While acknowledging the usefulness of Bulley's tables for pedagogical purposes, I wish to offer a very distinct answer to the question why certain words are missing from the contemporary English lexicon although they could have occurred as possible words.
Direct evidence of aeolian deposition of marine diatoms to an ice sheet
Authors: Budgeon A.L. , Roberts D. , Gasparon M. , Adams N.
Published: May 2012

Antarctic snow samples collected from the Wilkins Runway, c. 50 km inland from the Windmill Islands, East Antarctica, contain aeolian-derived diatoms. The diatom assemblage preserved is exclusively of marine origin. As diatoms are excellent indicators of source conditions, we are able to confirm that an unusual weather event, with anomalous north-westerly winds blowing at around 10 m s-1, resulted in the deposition of coastal marine species at the Wilkins Runway. The composition of the floral assemblage collected indicate that the parent water mass was from a coastal marine region undergoing typical Antarctic summer conditions with periods of both consolidated sea ice and open water. On inspection of available satellite imagery, these conditions were found upwind of the deposition site. This study provides a methodology for diatoms found within ice cores to be identified and the source region to be determined. It also provides evidence for a large-scale aeolian deposition of marine diatoms to an ice sheet, which may have implications for the interpretation of controversial marine diatoms found in sediments that have been used as evidence for the retreat of the East Antarctic Ice Sheet.
Additive noise effects in active nonlinear spatially extended systems
Authors: PRADAS M. , PAVLIOTIS G.A. , KALLIADASIS S. , PAPAGEORGIOU D.T. , TSELUIKO D.
Published: May 2012

We examine the effects of pure additive noise on spatially extended systems with quadratic nonlinearities. We develop a general multi-scale theory for such systems and apply it to the Kuramoto–Sivashinsky equation as a case study. We first focus on a regime close to the instability onset (primary bifurcation), where the system can be described by a single dominant mode. We show analytically that the resulting noise in the equation describing the amplitude of the dominant mode largely depends on the nature of the stochastic forcing. For a highly degenerate noise, in the sense that it is acting on the first stable mode only, the amplitude equation is dominated by a pure multiplicative noise, which in turn induces the dominant mode to undergo several critical state transitions and complex phenomena, including intermittency and stabilisation, as the noise strength is increased. The intermittent behaviour is characterised by a power-law probability density and the corresponding critical exponent is calculated rigorously by making use of the first-passage properties of the amplitude equation. On the other hand, when the noise is acting on the whole subspace of stable modes, the multiplicative noise is corrected by an additive-like term, with the eventual loss of any stabilised state. We also show that the stochastic forcing has no effect on the dominant mode dynamics when it is acting on the second stable mode. Finally, in a regime which is relatively far from the instability onset so that there are two unstable modes, we observe numerically that when the noise is acting on the first stable mode, both dominant modes show noise-induced complex phenomena similar to the single-mode case.
Evocative Listening: Mediated practices in everyday life
Authors: Chaves Rui , Rebelo Pedro
Published: May 2012

The history of sonic arts is charged with transgressive practices that seek to expose the social, aural and cultural thresholds across various listening experiences, posing new questions in terms of the dialogue between listener and place. Recent work in sonic art exposes the need for an experiential understanding of listening that foregrounds the use of new personal technologies, environmental philosophy and the subject–object relationship. This paper aims to create a vocabulary that better contextualises recent installations and performances produced within the context of everyday life, by researchers and artists at the Sonic Arts Research Centre at Queen's University Belfast.
The MMPI-2-Restructured Form and the Standard MMPI-2 Clinical Scales in Relation to DSM-IV
Authors: van der Heijden Paul T. , Egger Jos I. M. , Rossi Gina M. P. , Grundel Gitte , Derksen Jan J. L.
Published: May 2012

In a Dutch sample of psychiatric outpatients (N = 94), we linked the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory–2 (MMPI-2; Butcher et al., 2001) Clinical scales and MMPI-2-Restructured Form (MMPI-2-RF; Ben-Porath & Tellegen, 2008) Higher-Order (H-O) scales, Restructured Clinical (RC) scales and Specific Problem scales to the Structured Clinical Interview for the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV, 4th ed.; American Psychiatric Association, 1994) by First, Spitzer, Gibbon, and Williams (1995). Overall, the H-O scales, RC scales, and Specific Problem scales display meaningful relationships to Axis I and Axis II disorders conceptualized by the DSM-IV. In addition, the RC scales demonstrate a moderate improvement in validity over the standard Clinical scales. Theoretical and clinical implications are considered.
Development and Validation of the German Test for (Highly) Intelligent Kids – T(H)INK
Authors: Baudson Tanja Gabriele , Preckel Franzis
Published: May 2012

Background: Currently, no recently normed group intelligence test for primary school children is available in Germany to cover verbal, numerical, and figural reasoning abilities. Furthermore, no test for this age group is difficult enough to be able to differentiate especially at the upper end of the intelligence distribution. Aims: The Test for (Highly) Intelligent Kids – T(H)INK was developed to fill this gap. Methods: A total of 1,629 children from grades 1 to 3 of primary school took the 36-item test (one version per class level). Results: At all three class levels, the test proved sufficiently reliable (Cronbach’s α = .73–.80 for the full scale). Retest reliabilities after 1 year, assessed for a random subsample, ranged from .61 to .73. Factorial validity was established by exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses, with a g factor explaining 57.61–63.67% of the variance. Furthermore, convergent validity (correlations with a nonverbal intelligence test, teacher and parent ratings, grades, and the probability for the child to be nominated for a gifted and talented program) was satisfying, as was the predictive validity for average marks a year later. Discussion: Implications of the findings and ideas for future research and development of the test are discussed.
Chalcophile element systematics in volcanic glasses from the northwestern Lau Basin
Authors: Jenner F. E. , Arculus R. J. , Mavrogenes J. A. , Dyriw N. J. , Nebel O. , Hauri E. H.
Published: May 2012

The Lau Backarc Basin (S.W. Pacific) hosts numerous spreading centers and rifts, including the Rochambeau Rifts (RR), Northwest Lau Spreading Center (NWLSC), and Central Lau Spreading Center (CLSC). Samples from the NWLSC, RR and CLSC show no evidence for a subduction‐derived component in their mantle source regions or evidence for S loss during eruption. The contents of S in glasses from the NWLSC and many from the CLSC and the RR are lower than MORB at a given FeOTOT, indicating melts were initially sulfide‐undersaturated. During differentiation, the decrease in Cu and Ag contents at ∼7 wt% MgO and the concomitant change in chalcophile element ratios marks the onset of sulfide saturation. The initially sulfide‐undersaturated compositions of samples from the NWLSC are attributed to partial melting at pressures higher than parental MORB. The NWLSC and some of the CLSC and RR samples are strikingly enriched in Cu and Ag compared with MORB. This is a characteristic shared by basalts generated in many plume‐related tectonic settings. The only plume‐related samples that appear to be sulfide‐saturated during differentiation and plot within the MORB array are alkaline basalts from the nearby Samoan islands. RR and CLSC basalts have a range in Cu contents, which can be explained by variable mixing between a high‐Cu NWLSC‐type melt with low‐Cu sources from the Samoan plume (RR) and MORB‐type mantle (CLSC). The RR alone of these three suites have markedly positive Pb, As, Tl and subtle Mo anomalies, possibly related to assimilation of old, hydrothermally altered, Vitiaz Arc crust.
Nitrate removal in deep sediments of a nitrogen‐rich river network: A test of a conceptual model
Authors: Stelzer Robert S. , Bartsch Lynn A.
Published: May 2012

Many estimates of nitrogen removal in streams and watersheds do not include or account for nitrate removal in deep sediments, particularly in gaining streams. We developed and tested a conceptual model for nitrate removal in deep sediments in a nitrogen‐rich river network. The model predicts that oxic, nitrate‐rich groundwater will become depleted in nitrate as groundwater upwelling through sediments encounters a zone that contains buried particulate organic carbon, which promotes redox conditions favorable for nitrate removal. We tested the model at eight sites in upwelling reaches of lotic ecosystems in the Waupaca River Watershed that varied by three orders of magnitude in groundwater nitrate concentration. We measured denitrification potential in sediment core sections to 30 cm and developed vertical nitrate profiles to a depth of about 1 m with peepers and piezometer nests. Denitrification potential was higher on average in shallower core sections. However, core sections deeper than 5 cm accounted for 70% on average of the depth‐integrated denitrification potential. Denitrification potential increased linearly with groundwater nitrate concentration up to 2 mg NO3‐N/L, but the relationship broke down at higher concentrations (>5 mg NO3‐N/L), a pattern that suggests nitrate saturation. At most sites groundwater nitrate declined from high concentrations at depth to much lower concentrations prior to discharge into the surface water. The profiles suggested that nitrate removal occurred at sediment depths between 20 and 40 cm. Dissolved oxygen concentrations were much higher in deep sediments than in pore water at 5 cm sediment depth at most locations. The substantial denitrification potential in deep sediments coupled with the declines in nitrate and dissolved oxygen concentrations in upwelling groundwater suggest that our conceptual model for nitrate removal in deep sediments is applicable to this river network. Our results suggest that nitrate removal rates can be high in deep sediments of upwelling stream reaches, which may have implications for efforts to understand and quantify nitrogen transport and removal at larger scales.
Effects of Oral and Gastric Stimulation on Appetite and Energy Intake
Authors: Wijlens Anne G.M. , Erkner Alfrun , Alexander Erin , Mars Monica , Smeets Paul A.M. , de Graaf Cees
Published: May 2012

Appetite is regulated by many factors, including oro‐sensory and gastric signals. There are many studies on contributions of and possible interaction between sensory and gastric stimulation, but there are few studies in humans using simultaneous oral and gastric stimulation. We investigated the effect of simultaneous, but independently manipulated, oral and gastric stimulation on appetite ratings and energy intake. We hypothesized that compared with no stimulation, oral and gastric stimulation would equally and additively decrease appetite ratings and energy intake. Healthy men (n = 26, 21 ± 2 years, BMI 22 ± 3 kg/m2) participated in a randomized crossover trial with four experimental conditions and a control condition. Experimental conditions consisted of oral stimulation, with either 1 or 8 min modified sham feeding (MSF), and gastric stimulation, with either 100 or 800 ml intragastrically infused liquid (isocaloric, 99 kcal, 100 ml/min). The control condition consisted of no oral or gastric stimulation. Outcome measures were energy intake 30 min after the treatment and appetite ratings. Compared with the control condition, energy intake decreased significantly after the 8 min/100 ml (19% lower, P = 0.001) and 8 min/800 ml conditions (15% lower, P = 0.02), but not after the 1 min/100 ml (14% lower, P = 0.06) and 1 min/800 ml conditions (10% lower, P = 0.39). There was no interaction of oral and gastric stimulation on energy intake. Hunger and fullness differed across all conditions (P ≤ 0.01). In conclusion, duration of oral exposure was at least as important in decreasing energy intake as gastric filling volume. Oral and gastric stimulation did not additively decrease energy intake. Longer oro‐sensory stimulation, therefore, may be an important contributor to a lower energy intake.
Plasmons in graphene nanostructures
Authors: Yin Haifeng , Zhang Hong
Published: May 2012

The collectivity of the electronic motion in graphene nanostructures is studied by time-dependent density functional theory (TDDFT). Compared with the plasmon in the homogeneous graphene, the plasmon in the graphene nanostructure has some different properties due to the effect of the size and the all dimensional confinement. In lower-energy resonance zone, spectral band is greatly broadening, even extending to the near-infrared spectral area, and the photoabsorption strength line splits. The absorption spectrum also depends on the edge configuration of the graphene nanostructure. The armchair-edge and the zigzag-edge play different roles in the absorption spectrum. Moreover, our results also demonstrate that most low-energy resonances are localized in the boundary region.