bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Should We Confine the Cardio Hepatic Syndrome Only in Congestive Cardiac Failure Patients?
Authors: Rajendra B. , Sukanya B. , Joshi Nayana
Published: May 2018

Introduction: Liver function abnormalities are not uncommon in patients with heart failure. Multiple reasons have been cited like impaired perfusion or elevated right-sided cardiac pressures, or are secondary to drug toxicity. In this study, we analyzed the patients admitted at our center to detect the profile of cardio-hepatic syndrome. This analysis may explore new etiologies for cardio-hepatic syndrome.

Materials And Methods: This is an observational retrospective study done at our institute. We collected the liver function tests which were conducted in patients admitted in cardiology in 2015 (Jan to Dec at our center. Patients having abnormal liver function tests were analyzed for various etiologies. SGPT value > 45 Units per liter is considered as elevated.

Results: Out of the patients admitted to cardiology department, SGPT and SGOT values are available in 2803 and 4577 patients respectively. Mean age of these patients was 58±12.9 yrs.

In SGPT group 1881 were males. In 432(15.4%) patients SGPT was elevated. In them 326 (76%) were males. Among the patients in whom SGPT is elevated, also had elevated CPK and CPK-MB due to MI were in 154 patients (35.6%). In 24 patients (5.6%) SGPT was elevated along with NT pro BNP levels. Rest of the SGPT elevated patients (254 – 58.8%) does not come under CCF or MI category and out these patients about 146 patients were on either on statin or other drugs which can increase the liver enzymes. Still we require to evaluate the cause of hepatic abnormality in 106(24.5%) patients admitted with cardiac disease.

Conclusions: Cardio-hepatic syndrome is not just confined to heart failure. Though heart failure, MI and drug induced hepatic dysfunction accounted for 75.5% of the etiology, we require to see present unknown the etiology for this sub group of cardio hepatic syndrome. Further elucidating the etiology for the remaining 24.5% cardio hepatic syndrome is of much interest.
Complex Cardiac Defect in a Fetus with Trisomy 18: A Case Report
Authors: Aggarwal Shagun
Published: May 2018

This is a case report of a foetus which was brought for postmortem evaluation following antenatal detection of a complex cardiac defect. Presence of dysmorphism and other malformations like gut malrotation, bladder outlet obstruction, and esophageal stenosis led to suspicion of a syndromic diagnosis. Fetal karyotyping confirmed a diagnosis of Trisomy 18 (Edwards syndrome). This facilitated appropriate genetic counseling of the family and guidance for prenatal diagnosis in subsequent pregnancies.
Post PCI Vascular and Bleeding Complications in Patients with or Without CKD
Authors: Oruganti Harish , Maddury Jyotsna
Published: May 2018

BACKGROUND: There is increasing trend of both Cardiovascular disease (CVD) and chronic kidney diseases (CKD) in general populations. The individuals with CKD are more likely to die of CVD than of kidney failure. Both diagnostic and therapeutic interventions are crucial in management of CKD patients with coronary artery disease. As CKD itself is associated with more bleeding complications we aim to study the incidence of vascular complications (vessel thrombosis, distal embolisation, dissection, poorly controlled bleeding at puncture site, pseudoaneurysm, arteriovenous fistula, retroperitoneal hematoma, and development of femoral neuropathy) in Percutaneous intervention (PCI) patients with renal failure.

METHODS: 950 patients who underwent PCI procedures were classified into CKD (GFR<60ml/min/m2) (n=380, 40%) and non-CKD (n=570, 60%) groups. Two groups were analyzed for the occurrence of vascular complications post PCI.

RESULTS: Vascular complications were seen in 28 out of 380 patients with CKD (7.37%) and 17 out of 570 patients without CKD (2.98%). Patients with renal failure (GFR<60ml/min/m2) were found to have higher risk of vascular complications post PCI. [p = 0.03, OR = 2.588 (1.344-5.017)]. Non access site complications were more common in patients with CKD compared to non CKD. 16 patients with CKD developed non access site complications compared to 9 in patients without CKD.[p=0.001, odds ratio 2.793(1.15-6.916)

CONCLUSIONS: This study demonstrates higher risk of vascular complications post-PCI in patients with CKD compared to non CKD patients. Higher incidence of non access site complications was also observed in CKD patients.
Pulmonary Hypertension Due to Left Heart Disease
Authors: Basha S. , Deepthi G.
Published: May 2018

The most common cause of pulmonary hypertension is left heart disease, arising in response to increased left ventricular or left a trial filling pressures[1,2,3]. During the 5th World Symposium held in Nice, France, in 2013, the consensus was reached to maintain the general scheme of previous clinical classifications, placing the Pulmonary Hypertension due to left heart disease in Group 2 [4]. PH is defined by a mean pulmonary arterial pressure >25 mmHg. In the case of PH associated with LHD, this is associated with a pulmonary capillary wedge pressure >15 mmHg or left ventricular end-diastolic pressure (LVEDP) > 18 mm Hg [1,5]. Pulmonary hypertension due to left-sided heart disease is associated with higher morbidity and mortality [6,7,8]. This study is done to know the pattern of clinical presentation of pulmonary hypertension and to see the gender difference.
Cardiac Resynchronization Therapy in Women
Authors: Sharada K.
Published: May 2018

Despite underrepresentation of women in cardiac resynchronization therapy studies, it has been conclusively shown that women demonstrate greater benefit than men in functional status, reverse cardiac remodeling, and survival and female gender remains an independent predictor of greater response to cardiac resynchronization therapy after adjustment for various other factors. Eligible female patients are less likely to receive this beneficial therapy and various performance enhancement initiatives can reduce this gender-based disparity with favorable outcomes.
Idopathic Pulmonary Hypertension Mimicking Pulmonary Veno-Occlusive Disease – A Case Report.
Authors: Prasad K. , Kumar A.
Published: May 2018

PVOD is rare cause of pulmonary artery hypertension which is associated with worse prognosis and limited treatment options apart from lung transplantation. Differentiating IPAH patients from PVOD is sometimes difficult relying on catheterization data alone. But differentiation between these two diseases is important as there are many evolved treatment options for IPAH. Here we are reporting a case of IPAH where catheterization data shows conflicting results which on further evaluation diagnosis confirmed as idiopathic pulmonary hypertension.
Reversible Cardiomyopathy in Cushing Syndrome-A Rare Presentation
Authors: Rao D.
Published: May 2018

Cushing syndrome (CS) is the result of extended exposure to excessive glucocorticoids from endogenous or exogenous sources. Cushing's syndrome (CS) is associated with reduced life quality and increased mortality, mostly due to cardiovascular disease. We report the case of a 26-year-old female patient who presented with heart failure who was found to have Cushing syndrome and recovered after supportive treatment.
Outcomes with Longterm Dual Antiplatelet Therapy After Coronary Angioplasty
Authors: Arigonda Ashok , Prasad K. , Hareesh O. , Keerthika R.
Published: May 2018

Introduction: The optimal duration of dual antiplatelet therapy (DAPT) after drug-eluting stent (DES) implantation is an important, unanswered question. This study was designed to evaluate the association of varying durations of DAPT on clinical outcomes after DES implantation for the treatment of coronary artery disease.

Methods: Registry is maintained about the follow up of patients on DAPT therapy post percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (PTCA) and the complications are noted in the follow up period between December 2015and May 2016 in NIMS hospital. Results were analyzed using appropriate Statistical tests.

Results: The number of evaluated patients was 127 with median age of 62 years. There were 27 females in them. Mean DAPT score was 1.68, with majority in the score range of one or two. Mean follow up period was 5.92 years (1 to 15 years). Among 127patients only 4 patients had complications, 3 of them had chronic stable angina and one had ischaemic stroke with no bleeding complication.

Conclusion: DAPT beyond one year has benefits in terms of low associated complications and low incidence of coronary events.
Incidence and Outcomes of Patients with Peri-Procedural Creatine Kinase (CK-MB) Elevation
Authors: Gundam S , Saibaba K.
Published: May 2018

Aims: Peri-procedural myocardial infarction (MI) is not an uncommon complication of percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). We investigated the incidence and clinical outcomes of patients with peri-procedural creatine kinase elevation over one year followup.

Methods: We prospectively evaluated the consecutive patients undergoing PCI either with acute coronary syndrome (ACS) or chronic stable angina (CSA) as presentation in our unit from July 2014 to December 2015. The term enzymatic infarct (EI) is used to include all patients with peri-procedural CK-MB elevation more than upper limit of normal (ULN). These patients are divided into three categories based on level of enzyme elevation and type of presentation. Type A includes those with CK-MB between 1 to 3 times the ULN, type B includes true peri-procedural MI that means CK-MB >3 times ULN, type C includes patients with baseline CK-MB elevation due to acute MI. We used the PMI definition from the third universal definition of MI: creatine kinase (CK-MB)>3 times upper limit of normal. We followed them up to one year for the major adverse cardiovascular events (MACES) and other complications. We compared the mortality rate between peri-procedural enzymatic infarct group and non peri-procedural enzymatic infarct patients along with incidence of peri-procedural EI in CSA versus ACS subgroups and tested for the significance.

Results: Out of total 748 patients who undergone PCI in our unit, the total incidence of peri-procedural EI was 7.7%. Among total 58 peri-procedural EI events, 23(3%) were in patients with ACS presentation (p=0.001) and 34(4.5%) were in patients with CSA presentation (p=0.0001). Patients with peri-procedural EI had significantly higher risk of mortality than those without peri-procedural EI (5.1% versus 0.2%, p= 0.001). In subgroup analysis among patients with peri-procedural EI the mortality is higher in patients with ACS presentation compared to those with CSA as presentation (8.6% versus 2.9%(p=0.01)), and the total mortality is confined to the type B enzymatic infarct group.

Conclusion: Among patients undergoing PCI, the occurrence of peri-procedural EI measured by CK-MB mass assay was 7.7% and Peri-procedural EI type B was associated with significant increase in mortality over one year followup.
Use of Modified CHA2DS2-VASC Score for Risk Prediction in Patients Undergoing PCI
Authors: Kumar M. , Koul Subhash
Published: May 2018

Background: Most of the existing risk prediction models include angiographic or procedural variables thus making it difficult for their application in decision making at the outset of treatment. This study we used modified CHA2DS2-VASC score as a simple tool for risk stratification of patients with PCI, regardless of atrial fibrillation (AF).

Methods: This is a prospective observation study of patients who had undergone PCI, with diagnosis of either ACS or chronic stable angina between the age group of 18 to 85 years. Modified CHA2DS2-VASC score (CAD presence was not given one point) was calculated in the patients before PCI and followed for occurrence of MACCE or death. Score was correlated with primary outcome death or MACCE.

Results: Total of 676 patients were considered for this study, Mean modified CHA2DS2-VASC score of the study population is 1.86± 1.26. Sub group analysis of the patients by dividing into groups with a score less than 1 and greater than 1 revealed that there is no statistical difference in either MACCE ( p = 0.31) or death (p=0.6) between the groups. Subgroup analysis of ≤1 and ≥5 modified CHA2DS2VASc score has no statistically significant difference in MACCE (p=0.45), but has statistically significant difference in death rate by Fischer exact test(p=0.02) and by chi-square Yates correction (p=0.01). Further analysis also shows that patients with score ≥5 had 13 times increased risk of death when compared with score ≤1.

Conclusion: Modified CHA2DS2-VASc Score is a simple clinical tool for predicting outcome in patients planned for PCI. Risk of death clearly correlate with the score when score was more than 5 point.
Post MI Pericardial Effusion-“Size Does Matter”
Authors: Varma G.
Published: May 2018

Post myocardial infarction pericardial effusion (PE) is a relatively common, however the prognosis and management is not always straightforward in patients with moderate pericardial effusion (MPE). This article describes four case scenarios we encountered and reviews existing literature regarding etiology and management of post MI pericardial effusion.
Sub-Massive Pulmonary Thromboembolism with Out Deep Vein Thrombosis
Authors: Vankudoth Seetharam , banoth Madhurima
Published: May 2018

Venous thromboembolism, causing Pulmonary Embolism (PE), is one of the major cardiovascular causes of death. We are reporting three cases of pulmonary thromboembolism without deep vein thrombosis and with normal levels of homocysteine, protein C and S, anti-thrombin III levels. All three cases managed with thrombolysis with streptokinase, out of three cases two cases systemic thrombolysis given and one case catheter guided thrombolysis given and discharged on oral anticoagulant with target range of PT with INR 2-3.on subsequent follow-up one case was diagnosed lymphoma and he was treated successfully in our institution.
Elastic mismatch induced reduction of the thermal conductivity of silicon with aluminum nano-inclusions
Authors: Donovan Brian F. , Jensen Wade A. , Chen Long , Giri Ashutosh , Poon S. Joseph , Floro Jerrold A. , Hopkins Patrick E.
Published: May 2018

We use aluminum nano-inclusions in silicon to demonstrate the dominance of elastic modulus mismatch induced scattering in phonon transport. We use time domain thermoreflectance to measure the thermal conductivity of thin films of silicon co-deposited with aluminum via molecular beam epitaxy resulting in a Si film with 10% clustered Al inclusions with nanoscale dimensions and a reduction in thermal conductivity of over an order of magnitude. We compare these results with well-known models in order to demonstrate that the reduction in the thermal transport is driven by elastic mismatch effects induced by aluminum in the system.
Simultaneous reflectometry and interferometry for measuring thin-film thickness and curvature
Authors: Arends A. A. , Germain T. M. , Owens J. F. , Putnam S. A.
Published: May 2018

A coupled reflectometer-interferometer apparatus is described for thin-film thickness and curvature characterization in the three-phase contact line region of evaporating fluids. Validation reflectometry studies are provided for Au, Ge, and Si substrates and thin-film coatings of SiO2 and hydrogel/Ti/SiO2. For interferometry, liquid/air and solid/air interferences are studied, where the solid/air samples consisted of glass/air/glass wedges, cylindrical lenses, and molded polydimethylsiloxane lenses. The liquid/air studies are based on steady-state evaporation experiments of water and isooctane on Si and SiO2/Ti/SiO2 wafers. The liquid thin-films facilitate characterization of both (i) the nano-scale thickness of the absorbed fluid layer and (ii) the macro-scale liquid meniscus thickness, curvature, and curvature gradient profiles. For our validation studies with commercial lenses, the apparatus is shown to measure thickness profiles within 4.1%–10.8% error.
Electronic and optical properties of CH3NH3Pb1-xAgxI3 from the first-principles calculations
Authors: Si Fengjuan , Tang Fuling , Xue Hongtao , Louise Liu Jingbo
Published: May 2018

The optical and electronic properties of CH3NH3Pb1−xAgxI3 (MAPb1−xAgxI3) (x = 0, 0.025, 0.050, 0.075, 0.100) are researched using first-principles calculations. The formation energy of the system increases with the increase in the doping concentration. When the doping concentration reaches 5%, it can be easily found that the valence band shifts toward high energy levels and the Fermi energy enters the valence band, and this indicates that MAPb0.95Ag0.05I3 has a p-type conductive behavior. The optical band gap of MAPbI3 is about 1.56 eV and the optical band gap increase of MAPb1−xAgxI3 is about 3.11 eV with Ag doping concentrations from 5% to 30%. The high-frequency dielectric constant of MAPbI3 is 7.19.
Fabrication and characterization of a piezoelectric energy harvester with clamped-clamped beams
Authors: Cui Yan , Yu Menglin , Gao Shiqiao , Kong Xiangxin , Gu Wang , Zhang Ran , Liu Bowen
Published: May 2018

This work presents a piezoelectric energy harvester with clamped-clamped beams, and it is fabricated with MEMS process. When excited by sinusoidal vibration, the energy harvester has a sharp jumping down phenomenon and the measured frequency responses of the clamped-clamped beams structure show a larger bandwidth which is about 56Hz, more efficient than that with cantilever beams. When the exciting acceleration ac is 12m/s2, the energy harvester achieves to a maximum open-circuit voltage of 94mV on one beam. The load voltage is proportional to the load resistance, and it increased with the increase of load resistance. Connected four beams in series, the output power reaches the maximum value of 730 nW and the optimal load is 15KΩ to one beam.
High-frequency magnetodielectric response in yttrium iron garnet at room temperature
Authors: Zhu Jie , Liu Yuan , Jia Longfei , Zhang Baoshan , Yang Yi , Tang Dongming
Published: May 2018

Magnetic and dielectric properties of Yttrium Iron Garnet are measured over a frequency ranging from 0.5 GHz to 10 GHz with a magnetic field applied parallel to the propagation direction of the microwave. At the same time, the magnetodielectric phenomena are detected quantitatively. The maximum amplitude of the magnetodielectric coefficient is acquired at the ferromagnetic resonance frequency, and the value is up to 1.2% with the magnetic field of 1500 Oe applied. The phenomena have been explained by the Faraday's electromagnetic induction of the precession of the magnetic moments in the electromagnetic field at the ferromagnetic resonance frequency.
Linear magnetic field dependence of the magnetodielectric effect in eutectic BaTiO3-CoFe2O4 multiferroic material fabricated by containerless processing
Authors: Fukushima J. , Ara K. , Nojima T. , Iguchi S. , Hayashi Y. , Takizawa H.
Published: May 2018

To maximize the formation of an anisotropic interface between the magnetostrictive phase and the electrostrictive phase, a eutectic BaTiO3-CoFe2O4 multiferroic material is fabricated by containerless processing. The composites in this process had a fine eutectic structure, especially at a eutectic composition of BaTiO3:CoFe2O4 = 62:38. TEM observations revealed that the (1 0 0) plane of tetragonal BaTiO3 and the (1 0 0) plane of CoFe2O4 were oriented in parallel. In addition to the largest magnetodielectric effect in the eutectic-composition samples, we confirmed the permittivity is controlled linearly by applying a high magnetic field through forced magnetostriction. So far, the peak of the magnetodielectric effect around 0.25 T has been only found in the sintered CoFe2O4 polycrystalline sample. Thus, the containerless processing provides us a route to produce an ideal microstructure without accompanying 90° domain wall process and rotational magnetization process, which enhances the magnetodielectric effect.
Relative phase shifts for metaplectic isotopies acting on mixed Gaussian states
Authors: de Gosson Maurice A. , Nicacio Fernando
Published: May 2018

We address in this paper the notion of relative phase shift for mixed quantum systems. We study the Pancharatnam–Sjöqvist phase shift φ(t)=ArgTr(U^tρ^) for metaplectic isotopies acting on Gaussian mixed states. We complete and generalize the previous results obtained by one of us, while giving rigorous proofs. The key actor in this study is the theory of the Conley–Zehnder index which is an intersection index related to the Maslov index.
Nested multi-objective PSO for optimal allocation and sizing of renewable energy distributed generation
Authors: Eltamaly Ali M. , Al-Saud M. S.
Published: May 2018

Distribution generation (DG) opened a new era for using renewable energy sources to face the future load expansion and enhance the stability of the power system. A methodology for allocating and sizing and analysis for renewable energy sources as DG sources are introduced. Allocation criteria for weaken bus-bars are introduced in this paper. The selected bus-bars are then supported with optimized DG sources in order to enhance the system capability to withstand any future expansion in load. The voltage weakening index is used to compare the voltage of the post-load increase with the base voltage at normal load. A new proposed nested particle swarm optimization (PSO) technique is introduced to design the optimal size of renewable energy source capacity. Two objective functions have been designed for optimal allocation and sizing of the DG; they are the generation and operation energy cost and the transmission line losses (TLLs). The allocation methodology is performed using multi-objective particle swarm optimization. Different scenarios for the optimal operation under different operating conditions are introduced. The new contribution of this paper is the use of the new nested PSO technique for optimal sizing taking the time variation into consideration which has not been revealed before in the literature. The results obtained using the new proposed optimization program show a great potential of deployment of DG renewable energy sources in terms of reducing the cost of energy and TLLs and improving the system operational conditions.
Effect of poloidal density asymmetries on shear flows and radial electric field at the plasma edge
Authors: Aydemir A. Y.
Published: May 2018

Mass flows and radial electric field driven by edge poloidal density asymmetries can be used as a highly effective control mechanism for the edge and thus the global confinement in tokamaks. The underlying physics can be demonstrated entirely within a simple magnetohydrodynamic equilibrium model that addresses the poloidal pressure asymmetry self-consistently. As an example, strong dependence of the low to high transition power threshold on the magnetic topology, an experimental observation still poorly understood, can be easily explained within this framework. Similar arguments indicate that the ITER fueling ports above the midplane may lead to higher input power requirements.
A bioassay for prosulfocarb, pyroxasulfone and trifluralin detection and quantification in soil and crop residues
Authors: Khalil Yaseen , Siddique Kadambot H. M. , Ward Phil , Piggin Colin , Bong Sze How , Nambiar Shabarinath , Trengove Robert , Flower Ken
Published: May 2018

Three experiments were conducted to develop a bioassay method for assessing the bioavailability of prosulfocarb, pyroxasulfone and trifluralin in both crop residue and soil. In preliminary experiments, Italian ryegrass (Lolium multiflorum Lam.), cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.) and beetroot (Beta vulgaris L.) were tested as bioassay plant species for the three pre-emergent herbicides. Four growth parameters (shoot length, root length, fresh weight and dry weight) were measured for all plant species. Shoot-length inhibition was identified as the most responsive to the herbicide application rates. Italian ryegrass was the most sensitive species to all tested herbicides, whereas beetroot and cucumber had lower and similar sensitivity to shoot inhibition for the three herbicides. The bioassay species performed similarly in wheat and canola residues collected a few days after harvest. In bioassay calibration experiments, dose–response curves were developed for prosulfocarb, pyroxasulfone and trifluralin in a sandy loam soil typical of the grain belt of Western Australia and with wheat residue. The developed bioassay uses ryegrass shoot inhibition for relatively low suspected concentrations of herbicide, and cucumber shoot inhibition for higher rates. The bioassay was validated by spraying the three herbicides separately onto wheat residue and soil and comparing the concentrations derived from chemical analysis with those from the bioassay. All of the linear correlations between concentrations derived from chemical analyses and the bioassays were highly significant. These results indicate that the bioassay calibration curves are suitable for estimating herbicide concentrations in crop residue collected soon after harvest and a sandy-loam soil, low in organic matter.
Abundance and genetic diversity responses of a lizard (Eulamprus heatwolei) to logging disturbance
Authors: Lyndon-Gee Francesca , Sumner Joanna , Hu Yang , Ciofi Claudio , Jessop Tim S.
Published: May 2018

Rotational logging practices are used with the goal of reducing forest disturbance impacts on biodiversity. However, it is poorly understood whether such forest management practices conserve the demographic and genetic composition of animal populations across logged landscapes. Here we investigated whether rotational logging practices alter patterns of landscape-scale population abundance and genetic diversity of a forest-dwelling lizard (Eulamprus heatwolei) in south-eastern Australia. We sampled lizards (n = 407) at up to 48 sites across a chronosequence of logging disturbance intervals (<10 to >60 years after logging) to assess site-specific population changes and genetic diversity parameters. Lizard abundances exhibited a significant curvilinear response to time since logging, with decreased numbers following logging (<10 years), increased abundance as the forest regenerated (10–20 years), before decreasing again in older regenerated forest sites (>30 years). Lizard genetic diversity parameters were not significantly influenced by logging disturbance. These results suggest that logging practices, whilst inducing short-term changes to population abundance, had no measurable effects on the landscape-scale genetic diversity of E. heatwolei. These results are important as they demonstrate the value of monitoring for evaluating forest management efficacy, and the use of different population-level markers to make stronger inference about the potential impacts of logging activities.
Dynamic regimes of electrified liquid filaments
Authors: Kong Tiantian , Stone Howard A. , Wang Liqiu , Shum Ho Cheung
Published: May 2018

Significance

A viscous liquid filament subjected to an axial electric field exhibits different behaviors including jetting, coiling, and whipping, which result from the delicate interplay of viscous, electrostatic, and surface tension stresses. Control over these dynamic behaviors of electrified liquid filaments is crucial for applications such as the fabrication of nanosized architectures and analytical instrumentation. However, due to the narrow window of system parameters, the three dynamic regimes are never reported in a single system, which has prevented the investigation of transitions among these regimes. Using a low-interfacial-tension liquid−liquid system, we systematically characterize the transitions among all three dynamic regimes and elucidate underlying mechanisms, thus providing an important missing piece of the puzzle to the physics of electrified liquid filaments.
Oxygen radicals, nitric oxide, and peroxynitrite: Redox pathways in molecular medicine
Authors: Radi Rafael
Published: May 2018

Significance

Aerobic life in humans imposes the hazard of excess oxidation in cell and tissue components that may compromise cell function and viability. The formation and accumulation of oxidized products in biomolecules such as proteins and lipids are observed in various pathologies and during the normal aging process. This review article aims to integrate some early and remarkable discoveries in the field, with more recent developments that helped to define a causative role of oxygen radicals, nitric oxide, and peroxynitrite in human physiology and pathology. These aspects of human redox biochemistry contribute to the understanding of the molecular basis of diseases and aging and open avenues for the development of preventive and therapeutic strategies in molecular medicine.
Conversation analysis
Authors: Gardner Rod
Published: May 2018

The first part of this paper presents the view that ordinary conversation is the most basic form of talk, and that Conversation Analysis (CA) in the ethnomethodological tradition, whilst widely known in Australian applied linguistics, has been very little used here as a set of research tools. The distinctiveness of the CA approach is presented, and it is argued that CA has the potential to make a more substantial contribution to applied linguistic research than it has hitherto. Second, the paper considers how some basic CA research – into receipt tokens such as mm,yeah, ohand others in Australian English – might be applied to a language teaching, and specifically into the development of teaching materials in an adult ESL context. It is argued that CA has the potential for wider application in Australian applied linguistics alongside some of the more widespread and better known qualitative research methods.
Social Movement Media and Media Activism
Authors: Downing John D. H.
Published: May 2018

Social movements are the matrix of many forms and formats (technologies, genres) of media that contest dominant power. Such media are in many ways the lifeblood of such movements. Media activism denotes collective communication practices that challenge the status quo, including established media. Frequently, such media are underfunded or unfunded and have a much shorter life cycle than capitalist, state, or religiously funded media. They are a “tribe” within a much larger continent of nanomedia (also called alternative media and citizens’ media). Their functions may spill over at times within the operation of established media, especially in times of social turbulence and crisis.

The “dominant power” in question may be quite variously perceived. Extreme-right populist movements, as in several European countries, may define the political establishment as having betrayed the supposed racial purity of the nation, or in the case of India’s Islamophobic Hindutva movement, as having traduced the nation’s religious purity. Labor movements may attack capital, feminist movements, or patriarchal and sexist structures. Sometimes these movements may be local, or regional; other times, they are transnational.

The impact of these media is still a matter of considerable debate. Often, the debate begins from a false premise—namely, the frequently small size and/or duration of many social movement media projects. Yet women’s right to vote and the abolition of slavery in the Americas were not won overnight, and neither was the dismantling of South Africa’s racist apartheid system. The Hindutva movement goes back over a century. We should not hold social movement media to a higher standard of impact, any more than we should ascribe instantaneous power to established media.

Social movements wax and wane, and so do their media projects. But the persistence of some such media activism between the peaks of movement activism is generally essential to the regeneration of social movements.
Psychological Challenges in Communicating about Climate Change and Its Uncertainites
Authors: Ho Emily H. , Budescu David V. , Por Han Hui
Published: May 2018

The overwhelming majority of the scientific community agrees that climate change (CC) is occurring and is caused by anthropogenic, or human-caused, forcing. The global populace is aware of this phenomenon but appears to be unconcerned about CC and is slow to adopt potential mitigative actions. CC is a unique and complex phenomenon affected by various kinds of uncertainty, rendering communicative efforts particularly challenging. The compound and, potentially, conflicting uncertainties inherent in CC engender public ambivalence about the issue. The treatment of uncertainty in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s (IPCC’s) reports have been shown to be confusing to policymakers and the general public, further confounding public outreach efforts. Given diverse communication styles and the multifaceted nature of CC, an assortment of strategies has been recommended to maximize understanding and increase salience. In particular, using evidence-based approaches to communicate about probabilistic outcomes in CC increases communicative efficiency.
Agricultural Extension and Climate Change Communication
Authors: Prokopy Linda S. , Bartels Wendy-Lin , Burniske Gary , Power Rebecca
Published: May 2018

Agricultural extension has evolved over the last 200 years from a system of top-down dissemination of information from experts to farmers to a more complex system, in which a diversity of knowledge producers and farmers work together to co-produce information. Following a detailed history of the evolution of extension in the United States, this article describes an example from the southeastern United States that illustrates how innovative institutional arrangements enable land-grant universities to actively engage farmers and extension agents as key partners in the knowledge generation process. A second U.S. example shows that private retailers are more influential than extension in influencing large-scale farmers’ farm management decisions in the midwestern United States. However, these private retailers trust extension as a source of climate change information and thus partnerships are important for extension. Nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) have been an important source of extension services for smallholder farmers across the world, and examples from the NGO CARE indicate that a participatory and facilitative approach works well for climate change communication. Collectively, these examples emphasize that the role of agricultural extension in climate change communication is essential in the context of both developed and developing countries and with both smallholder farmers and large-scale farmers. These case studies illustrate the effectiveness of a co-production approach, the importance of partners and donors, and the changing landscape of agricultural extension delivery.
Emotions and Foreign Policy
Authors: Dolan Thomas
Published: May 2018

Increasingly, scholars are recognizing the influences of emotion on foreign policy decision-making processes. Not merely feelings, emotions are sets of sentimental, physiological, and cognitive processes that typically arise in response to situational stimuli. They play a central role in psychological and social processes that shape foreign policy decision-making and behavior. In recent years, three important areas of research on emotion in foreign policy have developed: one examining the effects of emotion on how foreign policy decision makers understand and think-through problems, another focused on the role of emotion in diplomacy, and a third that investigates how mass emotion develops and shapes the context in which foreign policy decisions are made.

These literatures have benefitted greatly from developments in the study of emotion by psychologists, neuroscientists, and others. Effectively using emotion to study foreign policy, however, requires some understanding of how these scholars approach the study of emotion and other affective phenomena. In addition to surveying the literatures in foreign policy analysis that use emotion, then, this article also addresses definitional issues and the different theories of emotion common among psychologists and neuroscientists.

Some of the challenges scholars of emotion in foreign policy face: the interplay of the psychological and the social in modelling collective emotions, the issues involved in observing emotions in the foreign policy context, the theoretical challenge of emotion regulation, and the challenge of winning broader acceptance of the importance of emotion in foreign policy by the broader scholarly community.
Policing Sex Workers
Authors: Dewey Susan
Published: May 2018

Regulatory and legal approaches to prostitution are subject to considerable debate among researchers, policymakers, and those tasked with the everyday enforcement of measures intended to control, abate, or otherwise manage the sex industry. Law, policy, and everyday policing practices all contribute to the de jure and de facto organization of the sex industry at the levels of policy formulation, coordination between police, social services, and other socio-institutional forces, and encounters between sex workers and criminal justice professionals. Despite considerable cultural-contextual variations, researchers have ascertained three predominant approaches to regulating prostitution worldwide: criminalization, legalization, and decriminalization. Each of these approaches takes a unique form in the specific cultural context in which local authorities implement them, thereby generating special issues for policing with respect to ideological frameworks and police–sex worker encounters. Taken together, the philosophical and pragmatic concerns raised by policing or otherwise regulating prostitution encompass an extraordinary gamut of deeply human concerns regarding political power, sexual behavior, individual rights, historically rooted inequalities, and state responsibility
Jellyfish Locomotion
Authors: Satterlie Richard
Published: May 2018

Two dichotomies exist within the swim systems of jellyfish—one centered on the mechanics of locomotion and the other on phylogenetic differences in nervous system organization. For example, medusae with prolate body forms use a jet propulsion mechanism, whereas medusae with oblate body forms use a drag-based marginal rowing mechanism. Independent of this dichotomy, the nervous systems of hydromedusae are very different from those of scyphomedusae and cubomedusae. In hydromedusae, marginal nerve rings contain parallel networks of neurons that include the pacemaker network for the control of swim contractions. Sensory structures are similarly distributed around the margin. In scyphomedusae and cubomedusae, the swim pacemakers are restricted to marginal integration centers called rhopalia. These ganglionlike structures house specialized sensory organs. The swim system adaptations of these three classes (Hydrozoa, Scyphozoa, and Cubozoa), which are constrained by phylogenetics, still adhere to the biomechanical efficiencies of the prolate/oblate dichotomy. This speaks to the adaptational abilities of the cnidarian nervous system as specialized in the medusoid forms.
Queer Studies in Education
Authors: Ingrey Jennifer C.
Published: May 2018

A survey of key contributors and theoretical tensions in the applications of queer studies in education is purposefully partial namely because of the impartiality embedded in the nature of ‘queer’, a verb whose action unsettles, dismantles and interrogates systems of normalization, beginning with heteronormativity and heterosexism. Queer theory emerged in the 1990s before influencing education, including both elementary and secondary schooling; however, queer is complex in that it involves the signifier or signified term: it is both the integration of queer content in curriculum as well as the practice of queering educational practices (i.e., curriculum, pedagogy and practice). The queering of pedagogy involves the queering of the educational subject, both teachers and students. In such a survey of queer in education, the ontological groundings for queer are important to consider given the paradoxical nature of queer to unpack and unsettle whilst maintaining its hold on an identity category in order to do its unsettling work. Indeed, the consequent recognition of the subjecthood of queer in educational contexts is a significant note in this attention to queer’s application in education. Queer also moves beyond not only an inclusion of queer content, but also exceeds queer sexualities to cohere and contrast with trans-infused approaches. Queer theory considers that the future of queer may well exceed beyond sexuality and gender altogether to become a practice of unsettling or critique more generally. Its continuity in education studies as well as its potentially impending expiration are concerns of scholars in the field.
Money and Currency in African History
Authors: Guyer Jane I. , Pallaver Karin
Published: May 2018

African peoples have managed multiple currencies, for all the classic four functions of money, for at least a thousand years: within each society’s own circuits, in regional exchange, and across the continent’s borders with the rest of the world. Given the materials of some of these currencies, and the general absence of formalized denominations until the colonial period, some early European accounts defined certain transactions as barter. The management of multiplicity is traced through four eras: a) the precolonial period, with some monies locally produced and acquired, and others imported through intercontinental trades, such as the Atlantic slave trade, and eventually under the expansion of capitalism to Africa; b) the colonial period, when precolonial monies, in some places, still circulated with official monies; c) postcolonial national monies for the new African states; and d) the most recent phase of multiplicity in use, due to migration and sales across borders as well as to the use of new technologies, such as mobile money. The management of multiplicity thereby has a long history and continues to be an inventive frontier. History and ethnography meet on common ground to address these dynamics through empirical study of money in practice, and broader scholarship has drawn on a large variety of original sources.
Encounters Between Ethiopia and Europe, 1400–1660
Authors: Salvadore Matteo
Published: May 2018

By the early 1400s, diplomatic representatives and pilgrims from the Christian Kingdom of Ethiopia had traveled to the Italian peninsula for political and religious reasons. In doing so, they inaugurated an era of Ethiopian–European relations that unfolded for more than 200 years: Ethiopians reached multiple locales across Latin Europe to forge political alliances, acquire technology, and pursue religious knowledge. They drew the attention of European observers, especially those with an interest in the overseas. Secular and religious personalities, but also average merchants, began their quests for the Ethiopian highlands, lured by the tales of their visitors who were believed with growing certainty to be subjects of the mythical Prester John, the imaginary Christian sovereign believed to rule the Indies. Their journeys enabled cultural exchanges, technological transfer, and the forging of one of the first Euro-African political alliances, that between the kingdoms of Ethiopia and Portugal.

In the 15th century, Ethiopian pilgrims flocked to Rome, and diplomatic representatives found hospitality in the Venetian Republic and at the Aragonese and papal courts. Concurrently with Ethiopian arrivals in Europe, European adventurers and representatives began reaching Ethiopia, eventually leading to the establishing of Portuguese–Ethiopian relations. The exchanges climaxed with a Portuguese military intervention to support the Ethiopian monarchy against the sultanate of Adal in 1541. In the decades following the conflict, Jesuit missionaries began operating in the country: after a difficult inception in the 1620s, the fathers experienced ephemeral successes, followed by a dramatic expulsion that ended early modern Ethiopian–European relations.
Economic Sanctions and International Security
Authors: Rowe David M.
Published: May 2018

Economic sanctions are a versatile instrument of statecraft used by states to try to influence the behavior of foreign actors by threatening or restricting customary cross-border trade or financial flows to an intended target. Examples of economic sanctions are retaliatory tariffs imposed in trade disputes and the complete cessation of economic flows aimed at undermining a certain regime. The importance of economic sanctions to policy makers has spawned a substantial amount of scholarly work dominated by two questions: whether sanctions “work” and whether states should use them. The long-running scholarly debate about whether sanctions work is essentially a dispute over how to classify cases. However, comparing cases of success and failure is problematic, in part because the very notion of what constitutes the successful use of sanctions is not clear and policy makers rarely seek to influence a single target or pursue a single policy goal when using sanctions. One of the most promising developments in the literature has been the increasing use of game theory to analyze sanctions, but this approach does not adequately determine the appropriateness of sanctions as a policy instrument. Sanctions research should focus instead on the basic strategic dynamics of the sanctions episode in order to identify those factors that contribute most strongly to the effective use of sanctions and to enable policy makers to understand more about the consequences of using sanctions as an instrument of statecraft.
Geography and International Studies: The Foundations
Authors: Johnston Ron
Published: May 2018

The discipline of geography is built around four key concepts—environment, place, space, and scale—that form a matrix for exploring and appreciating many aspects of contemporary society. The environment is the ultimate source of human sustenance; people have created places to realize that potential; and a spatial structure—nodes, routes, surfaces and bounded territories—has been erected within which human interactions are organised.

The relationships between human societies and their environments—now very much changed from their pre-human “natural” state—involve competition for and conflicts over resources, of increasing intensity. Resolution of all but the smallest scale of those conflicts requires a body that is independent of the actors involved and can ensure that agreements are reached and then implemented. Such a body is the state, a territorially bounded apparatus that, through the operation of territoriality strategies, can ensure conflict resolution among its citizenry and thereby resolve environmental problems.

Many of those problems—the most severe being global climate change resulting from anthropomorphically induced global warming—are not contained, and cannot be contained, within an individual state’s territory, however. Tackling them requires inter-state co-operation, at a global scale, but the absence of a super-national body with the power to require actions by individual states is a major constraint to problem resolution.