bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Guideline-concordant administration of prothrombin complex concentrate and vitamin K is associated with decreased mortality in patients with severe bleeding under vitamin K antagonist treatment (EPAHK study)
Authors: Tazarourte Karim , Riou Bruno , Tremey Benjamin , Samama Charles-Marc , Vicaut Éric , Vigué Bernard ,   EPAHK study group
Published: April 2014

Introduction

In vitamin K antagonist (VKA)-treated patients with severe hemorrhage, guidelines recommend prompt VKA reversal with prothrombin complex concentrate (PCC) and vitamin K. The aim of this observational cohort study was to evaluate the impact of guideline concordant administration of PCC and vitamin K on seven-day mortality.

Methods

Data from consecutive patients treated with PCC were prospectively collected in 44 emergency departments. Type of hemorrhage, coagulation parameters, type of treatment and seven-day mortality mortality were recorded. Guideline-concordant administration of PCC and vitamin K (GC-PCC-K) were defined by at least 20 IU/kg factor IX equivalent PCC and at least 5 mg of vitamin K performed within a predefined time frame of eight hours after admission. Multivariate analysis was used to assess the effect of appropriate reversal on seven-day mortality in all patients and in those with intracranial hemorrhage (ICH).

Results

Data from 822 VKA-treated patients with severe hemorrhage were collected over 14 months. Bleeding was gastrointestinal (32%), intracranial (32%), muscular (13%), and “other” (23%). In the whole cohort, seven-day mortality was 13% and 33% in patients with ICH. GC-PCC-K was performed in 38% of all patients and 44% of ICH patients. Multivariate analysis showed a two-fold decrease in seven-day mortality in patients with GC-PCC-K (odds ratio (OR) = 2.15 (1.20 to 3.88); P = 0.011); this mortality reduction was also observed when only ICH was considered (OR = 3.23 (1.53 to 6.79); P = 0.002).

Conclusions

Guideline-concordant VKA reversal with PCC and vitamin K within eight hours after admission was associated with a significant decrease in seven-day mortality.
Assessment of packed bed bioreactor systems in the production of viral vaccines
Authors: Rajendran Ramya , Lingala Rajendra , Vuppu Siva Kumar , Bandi Bala Obulapathi , Manickam Elaiyaraja , Macherla Sankar Rao , Dubois Stéphanie , Havelange Nicolas , Maithal Kapil
Published: April 2014

Vaccination is believed to be the most effective method for the prevention of infectious diseases. Thus it is imperative to develop cost effective and scalable process for the production of vaccines so as to make them affordable for mass use. In this study, performance of a novel disposable iCELLis fixed bed bioreactor system was investigated for the production of some viral vaccines like Rabies, Hepatitis-A and Chikungunya vaccines in comparison to conventional systems like the commercially available packed bed system and roller bottle system. Vero and MRC-5 cell substrates were evaluated for growth parameters in all the three systems maintaining similar seeding density, multiplicity of infection (MOI) and media components. It was observed that Vero cells showed similar growth in all the three bioreactors whereas MRC-5 cells showed better growth in iCELLis Nano system and roller bottle system. Subsequently, the virus infection and antigen production studies also revealed that for Hepatitis-A and Chikungunya iCELLis Nano bioreactor system was better to the commercial packed bed bioreactor and roller bottle systems. Although for rabies antigen production commercially available packed bed bioreactor system was found to be better. This study shows that different bioreactor platforms may be employed for viral vaccine production and iCELLis Nano is one of such new convenient and a stable platform for production of human viral vaccines.
Combination of 13-Cis Retinoic Acid and Lovastatin: Marked Antitumor Potential In Vivo in a Pheochromocytoma Allograft Model in Female Athymic Nude Mice
Authors: Nölting Svenja , Giubellino Alessio , Tayem Yasin , Young Karen , Lauseker Michael , Bullova Petra , Schovanek Jan , Anver Miriam , Fliedner Stephanie , Korbonits Márta , Göke Burkhard , Vlotides George , Grossman Ashley , Pacak Karel
Published: April 2014

Currently, there are no reliably effective therapeutic options for metastatic pheochromocytoma (PCC) and paraganglioma. Moreover, there are no therapies that may prevent the onset or progression of tumors in patients with succinate dehydrogenase type B mutations, which are associated with very aggressive tumors. Therefore, we tested the approved and well-tolerated drugs lovastatin and 13-cis-retinoic acid (13cRA) in vitro in an aggressive PCC mouse cell line, mouse tumor tissue-derived (MTT) cells, and in vivo in a PCC allograft nude mouse model, in therapeutically relevant doses. Treatment was started 24 hours before sc tumor cell injection and continued for 30 more days. Tumor sizes were measured from outside by caliper and sizes of viable tumor mass by bioluminescence imaging. Lovastatin showed antiproliferative effects in vitro and led to significantly smaller tumor sizes in vivo compared with vehicle treatment. 13cRA promoted tumor cell growth in vitro and led to significantly larger viable tumor mass and significantly faster increase of viable tumor mass in vivo over time compared with vehicle, lovastatin, and combination treatment. However, when combined with lovastatin, 13cRA enhanced the antiproliferative effect of lovastatin in vivo. The combination-treated mice showed slowest tumor growth of all groups with significantly slower tumor growth compared with the vehicle-treated mice and significantly smaller tumor sizes. Moreover, the combination-treated group displayed the smallest size of viable tumor mass and the slowest increase in viable tumor mass over time of all groups, with a significant difference compared with the vehicle- and 13cRA-treated group. The combination-treated tumors showed highest extent of necrosis, lowest median microvessel density and highest expression of α-smooth muscle actin. The combination of high microvessel density and low α-smooth muscle actin is a predictor of poor prognosis in other tumor entities. Therefore, this drug combination may be a well-tolerated novel therapeutic or preventive option for malignant PCC.
Ancient Ethics and Modern Happiness: A Study of Three Treatises in Enlightenment Britain
Authors: Norton Brian Michael
Published: April 2014

This essay approaches Enlightenment theories of happiness through three forgotten but once highly popular treatises: John Norris’s An Idea of Happiness (1683), Thomas Nettleton’s A Treatise on Virtue and Happiness (1742), and James Harris’s “Concerning Happiness: A Dialogue” (1744). I propose that the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries saw the rise of a new, more subjective model of happiness that threatened its time-honored ties with virtue, raising the disquieting possibility that happiness could be pursued by amoral, or even immoral, means. The article also argues that thinkers like Norris, Nettleton, and Harris responded to this challenge by drawing on eudaemonistic ethics to make a kind of last-ditch argument in defense of virtue. In fleshing out their particular ideas, the essay emphasizes the range and eclecticism of Enlightenment thinking about happiness: Norris’s text is Neoplatonist and Latitudinarian, Nettleton’s is Epicurean and empiricist, and Harris’s is Stoic and deistic, each employing its own distinct methodology, its own views on pleasure, determinism, and sociability, and its own way of understanding the nature of happiness and its precise relation to virtue. Common to all, however, is a shared conception of the “formal requirements of happiness,” namely, that it be durable, and, as much as possible, within one’s own control. According to Norris, Nettleton, and Harris—and countless other writers of the period—only virtue could completely fulfill these requirements.
Working the Digital Humanities: Uncovering Shadows between the Dark and the Light
Authors: Chun Wendy Hui Kyong , Rhody Lisa Marie
Published: April 2014

Situating digital humanities within larger changes to university funding and structures, Chun and Rhody complicate rhetoric surrounding “the digital” as the bright future of the humanities and higher education. Chun confronts a general euphoria surrounding technology and education by invoking Lauren Berlant’s term cruel optimism and challenges assertions that technical savvy yields more jobs for undergraduates and that moocs reduce the cost of higher education. Chun insists that if the humanities are at risk, it is because they have capitulated to a bureaucratic technocratic logic, and if the academy is at risk, it is because it has fueled false hopes that college degrees guarantee jobs and continues to sink students into debt. Rhody extends Chun’s assertion, pointing to ways in which digital humanities are often touted as a “bright hope” for all of the humanities—as a source of limitless grants and soft money, as a guarantee of employment, and as a site of uncomplicated acceptance of technological determinism. Revisiting the evolution of “bright” and “dark” imagery as it relates to digital humanities, Rhody revisits the terms’ uses just following the 2009 mla Convention, pointing to how “bright” imagery refers to digital humanities not as a “solution,” but as a rallying point for hybrid scholars to address shared interests. Chun and Rhody demonstrate how the “dark side” of “the digital” is the “bright hope” that sustains the academy in the short term, as it reifies the existing, systemic dysfunction that threatens higher education as well as the humanities and its students.
The Dark Side of Digital Humanities: Dispatches from Two Recent mla Conventions
Authors: Grusin Richard
Published: April 2014

Digital humanities (DH) finds itself at a crossroads, particularly in its relation to the traditional humanities. As evidenced in current discussions of the future of the humanities, in print, online, and at recent mla conventions, there is a stark contrast, and according to this essay a growing tension, between the outlooks and prospects of DH faculty and graduate students and those of faculty and graduate students in the mainstream humanities. This divide is not only economic but theoretical as well. Put most starkly, academics on the left blame the crisis in the humanities on the corporatization of the academy and the neoliberal insistence that the value of higher education is chiefly economic. Conversely, it is precisely because of the apparently instrumental or utilitarian value of the digital humanities that university administrators, foundation officers, and government agencies are so eager to fund DH projects, create DH undergraduate and graduate programs, and hire DH faculty. And because there is no sign that these funding streams are going to dry up any time soon, there is great potential for increased tension between the “haves” of the digital humanities community and the “have-nots” of the mainstream humanities.
The Digital Humanities and National Security
Authors: Lennon Brian
Published: April 2014

Umberto Eco has suggested that we imagine a methodological bifurcation in the intellectual culture of late medieval missionary Christianity, a bifurcation presenting two quite distinct responses to the biblical story of Babel and the post-Roman allegory of “Europe” it represents. This essay suggests that we reconsider some of the most important debates in u.s.-based literary and cultural studies during the last two decades and imagine them as genealogically sprung from this bifurcation in responses to linguistic diversity during the formation of the idea of Europe. Over the last twenty years or so, responding to world-historical transitions like those of 1989-91 and 2001, the discipline of comparative literature has reexamined some of its key concepts (world, comparison, translation) as well as what is probably the most distinctive aspect of its method, acquired professional multilingualism. It is only more recently that a nominally newer formation based more exclusively in departments of English studies has re-presented us with comparative literature’s methodological counterpart or other, and with its own intellectual and also ethical challenges. That formation is the digital humanities, understood as what the author calls, adapting a phrase from David Golumbia, a culture of computation—and grasped in its emergence after 2001, alongside a surge of u.s. national security legislation and institution-building.
Designing for Difference
Authors: McPherson Tara
Published: April 2014

This piece considers some recent variations on the debate around the role of cultural theory within the digital humanities, code studies, and platform studies in order to argue for a theoretically explicit form of digital praxis within the digital humanities. It takes seriously Gary Hall’s recent claim that the very goals of critical theory and of quantitative or computational analysis may in fact be incommensurable. The author argues that there is something particular to the very forms of digital culture that encourage a separation of technological investigation from cultural contexts, a portioning off that also plays out in the increasing specialization of academic fields and even in the formation of many modes of identity politics. We need conceptual models for the digital humanities and for digital media studies that integrate theory and practice as well as technology and culture. Feminist theory has much to offer in this regard. As such, the author asks what it might mean to design—from their very conception—digital tools and applications that emerge from the concerns of cultural theory and, in particular, from a feminist concern for difference. Put differently, this essay poses this question: can software be feminist? In answering that question, McPherson turns to the scholarship of Anne Balsamo, Karen Barad, and others to examine two digital media projects that she has been involved in, the journal Vectors and the publishing platform Scalar.
Characterization of Particulate Matters in the Pripyat River in Chernobyl Related to Their Adsorption of Radiocesium with Inhibition Effect by Natural Organic Matter
Authors: Suga Hiroki , Fan Qiaohui , Takeichi Yasuo , Tanaka Kazuya , Kondo Hiroaki , Kanivets Vladimir V , Sakaguchi Aya , Kato Kenji , Inami Nobuhito , Mase Kazuhiko , Ono Kanta , Takahashi Yoshio
Published: April 2014

Although cesium adsorbs onto the interlayer of clay minerals, coexisting natural organic matter (NOM) can inhibit this adsorption because of their blocking effect. A large amount of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) in the Pripyat River (= 18 mg L−1) is responsible for the large dissolved fraction of cesium in the river as suggested by cesium LIII-edge EXAFS. In addition, the carbon K-edge NEXAFS by STXM showed that humic acid coats clay minerals in the Pripyat River, which is responsible for the blocking effect.
Immobilization of a Redox-active Catecholato Pt(II) Complex on an Indium-doped Tin Oxide Electrode via Phosphonate Anchors
Authors: Honda Hirotaka , Matsumoto Takeshi , Tamura Ryo , Kanaizuka Katsuhiko , Kobayashi Atsushi , Kato Masako , Haga Masa-aki , Chang Ho-Chol
Published: April 2014

The reaction of tetraethyl [2,3-dihydroxy-1,4-phenylenebis(methylene)]bisphosphonate (Et4LH2) with [PtCl2(DTBbpy)] (DTBbpy: 4,4′-di-tert-butyl-2,2′-bipyridine) afforded [Pt(Me4L)(DTBbpy)] (1), [Pt(Bn4L)(DTBbpy)] (2), Na2[Pt(Me2L)(DTBbpy)] (3), and [Pt(H4L)(DTBbpy)] (4) with tetramethyl-, tetrabenzyl-, half-protected, and fully-deprotected groups under different reaction conditions. The introduction of phosphonatomethyl groups at the 3,6-position of a redox-active catecholato unit led to slight shifts in charge-transfer bands and catecholato-centered redox processes in solution. The presence of deprotonated anchors in 3 resulted in the immobilization of the complex onto an indium-doped tin oxide electrode, demonstrating a well-defined redox response from the tethered complex.
Porous Ionic Crystals Modified via Coordination Programming through Single-crystal-to-single-crystal Transformation: Effect of Basicity
Authors: Uchida Sayaka , Mizuno Kosuke , Kawahara Ryosuke , Takahashi Eri , Mizuno Noritaka
Published: April 2014

By utilizing the idea of Coordination Programming, postsynthesis modification of a porous ionic crystal K2[Cr3O(OOCH)6(mepy)3]2[α-SiW12O40]·8H2O (mepy: 4-methylpyridine) (1) proceeded in a single-crystal-to-single-crystal manner. Basicities of the pyridine derivatives and potassium salts were keys to the selective formation of [Cr3O(OOCH)6(mepy)2(H2O)]+ as a macrocation. Results of the alcohol sorption isotherms showed that the sorption capacity increased almost twice without changes in the size of the channel opening by the postsynthesis modification.
Electrochemical Carbon Dioxide Reduction Catalyzed by a Dinuclear Ruthenium Complex with a Flexible Bridging Ligand
Authors: Kuramochi Satoshi , Newton Graham N , Shiga Takuya , Oshio Hiroki
Published: April 2014

A dinuclear Ru complex, [{Ru(tpy)Cl}2(µ-L)](PF6)2 (1), was synthesized by the reaction of the flexible bridging ligand L (= N,N′-bis(5-bipyridylhexyl)-cis-1,4-cyclohexanediamine) with [Ru(tpy)Cl3]. The complex contained two [Ru(tpy)(bpy)Cl]+ moieties linked by L, and the reaction of 1 with AgNO3 allowed for isolation of the ligand-exchanged product [{Ru(tpy)(Solv.)}2(µ-L)](PF6)4 (2). The behavior of 2 as a CO2 reduction electrocatalyst was investigated in acetonitrile. Under N2, two reduction peaks appeared at Ep,c = −1.08 (tpy/tpy•−) and −1.40 V (bpy/bpy•−) vs. NHE. In a saturated CO2 solution, a further reduction peak, at Ep,c = −1.60 V, showed significant current enhancement consistent with electrocatalytic CO2 reduction. The primary product of the CO2 reduction was CO, and the turnover frequency was calculated to be ca. 1.4 s−1.
Synthesis and Physical Properties of Tetrathiafulvalene Derivatives with Ferrocene-terminated Substituents
Authors: Tatewaki Yoko , Mizuguchi Kei , Kato Chisato , Nishihara Sadafumi , Okada Shuji
Published: April 2014

A TTF derivative with ferrocene-terminated substituents TTF-4Fc was found to form elliptic nanoaggregates by the interaction of the hydrogen-bond networks of amide groups. Electric conductivity of the film composed of TTF-4Fc–F2TCNQ is determined to be 1.6 × 10−4 S cm−1.
Structure of Copper(I) π Complex of N,N′-Etheno-bridged Porphyrin and Its Oxidation to Di(µ-hydroxo)dicopper(II) Diporphyrin
Authors: Setsune Jun-ichiro , Su Chuen Lin , Takao Yuko
Published: April 2014

The structure of the Cu(I) complex of N,N′-etheno-bridged porphyrin with ligation of two pyrrole nitrogens and the C=C bridge was determined. The Cu–C distances are the shortest of the so far reported Cu(I)–alkene π complexes. The Cu(I) complex was oxidized aerially to afford di(µ-hydroxo)dicopper(II) diporphyrin.
Intracellular Delivery of Anionic meso-Tetraarylporphyrin–Per-O-methylated β-Cyclodextrin Supramolecular Complexes by an Oligoarginine Carrier Peptide
Authors: Kitagishi Hiroaki , Minami Keiko , Kano Koji
Published: April 2014

A 1:2 inclusion complex composed of 5-[4-(tetraglutaminylglutaramido)phenyl]-10,15,20-tris(4-sulfonatophenyl)porphyrin and per-O-methylated β-cyclodextrin interacted electrostatically with a dodecaarginine in aqueous solution. Such a ternary complex dispersed in a serum-containing culture medium was efficiently taken up by HeLa cells. This cellular uptake was achieved owing to the interaction between the tetraglutamate chain of the porphyrin and dodecaarginine carrier peptide.
Microwave-assisted Production of Chlorinated Graphene Dispersion
Authors: Okimoto Haruya , Tada Ryota , Sano Masahito
Published: April 2014

Chemically modified graphene and its dispersions are promising materials for several applications. The chemically inert characteristics of graphene, however, mean that chemical exfoliation and functionalization require a strong reactant and a long reaction time. To resolve the issues, we describe a novel microwave-assisted graphene modification technique using chloroform, by which chlorinated graphene was exfoliated and dispersed directly in the chloroform after irradiation for 15 min.
Capacitor-like Behavior of Molecular Crystal β-DiCC[Ni(dmit)2]
Authors: Saiki Tomoko , Mori Shigeki , Ohara Keishi , Naito Toshio
Published: April 2014

β-DiCC[Ni(dmit)2] (dmit: 1,3-dithiole-2-thione-4,5-dithiolato and DiCC: 3,3′-dihexyloxacarbocyanine) is a charge-transfer salt with redox activity. When voltages are applied, it brings about a reversible, hysteretic, solid-state-electrolytic reaction exhibiting a capacitor-like electric response. Based on the electron spin resonance spectra, the resistivity behavior, and the tight-binding band calculation, it is indicated that one can finely and reversibly control the redox equilibrium between DiCC+ and [Ni(dmit)2]− molecules by applying voltages.
Analysis of Molecular Orientation and Conformation of Poly(3-hexylthiophene) Thin Films on Silicon by Infrared p-Polarized Multiple-angle Incidence Resolution Spectrometry
Authors: Shioya Nobutaka , Shimoaka Takafumi , Hasegawa Takeshi
Published: April 2014

Infrared (IR) p-polarized multiple-angle incidence resolution spectrometry (p-MAIRS) has been employed for the first time to reveal the molecular orientation in two different poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT) thin films having face-on and edge-on orientations. The C–H out-of-plane deformation vibration mode (ca. 820 cm−1) of the thiophene ring is found to be highly localized on the ring, which is quite useful for molecular orientation analysis coupled with IR p-MAIRS. On the other hand, the C–H stretching vibration region is useful for determining the molecular order, conformation, and folding of the hexyl chain via MAIRS dichroism.
The Daredevils of Sassoun: The Deep Structure of the Plot
Authors: Zolyan Suren
Published: April 2014

The plot can be considered as the content, as well as the pattern of semantic organization of the text. In this regard we suggest making a distinction between deep and surface levels of the plot. In respect to the Armenian epic The Daredevils of Sassoun this distinction provides real opportunity to reveal the integrity and coherence of the epic viewed as a unified set of all of its various branches, versions, episodes and even variants, – despite that, on the surface level, the cohesion between and within the various branches of the epic is rather weak. The underlying semantic structure is based on two associated axes (patrilineage – matrilineage; patrilocality – matrilocality) and two fundamental oppositions (masculine – feminine; own – alien). The deep plot of the epic can be understood as a representation of the transition from the matrilineal (matrilocal) system in its radical form (denying men’s role in childbirth) to the opposing radical patrilineal system denying women’s role in its absolute and, therefore, tragic form (denying continuation of life). The well-known Lévi-Straussian quasi-algebraic formula of the semantics of myth can be used as an instrument for examining a formal representation of this plot.
Surgical management of presacral bleeding
Authors: Celentano V , Ausobsky JR , Vowden P
Published: April 2014

Introduction

Presacral venous bleeding is an uncommon but potentially life threatening complication of rectal surgery. During the posterior rectal dissection, it is recommended to proceed into the plane between the fascia propria of the rectum and the presacral fascia. Incorrect mobilisation of the rectum outside the Waldeyer’s fascia can tear out the lower presacral venous plexus or the sacral basivertebral veins, causing what may prove to be uncontrollable bleeding.

Methods

A systematic search of the MEDLINE® and Embase™ databases was performed to obtain primary data published in the period between 1 January 1960 and 31 July 2013. Each article describing variables such as incidence of presacral venous bleeding, surgical approach, number of cases treated and success rate was included in the analysis.

Results

A number of creative solutions have been described that attempt to provide good tamponade of the presacral haemorrhage, eliminating the need for second operation. However, few cases are reported in the literature.

Conclusions

As conventional haemostatic measures often fail to control this type of haemorrhage, several alternative methods to control bleeding definitively have been described. We propose a practical comprehensive classification of the available techniques for the management of presacral bleeding.
Low energy fractures of the acetabulum
Authors: Papadakos N , Pearce R , Bircher MD
Published: April 2014

Introduction

Acetabular fractures due to high energy injuries are common and well documented; those secondary to low energy mechanisms are less well described. We undertook a retrospective study of the acetabular fracture referrals to our unit to evaluate the proportion of injuries resulting from a low energy mechanism.

Methods

A total of 573 acetabular fractures were evaluated from 1 January 2005 to 31 December 2008. The plain radiography and computed tomography of those sustaining a low energy fracture were assessed and the fracture patterns classified.

Results

Of the 573 acetabular fractures, 71 (12.4%) were recorded as being a result of a low energy mechanism. The male-to-female ratio was 2.4:1 and the mean patient age was 67.0 years (standard deviation: 19.1 years). There was a significantly higher number of fractures (p<0.001) involving the anterior column (with or without a posterior hemitransverse component) than in a number of previously conducted large acetabular fracture studies.

Conclusions

Our results demonstrate that low energy fractures make up a considerable proportion of acetabular fractures with a distinctly different fracture pattern distribution. With the continued predicted rise in the incidence of osteoporosis, life expectancy and an aging population, it is likely that this type of fracture will become increasingly more common, posing difficult management decisions and leading to procedures that are technically more challenging.
As much through manner as through matter: The ‘Postmanist’ approach to social research
Authors: Rose Ellen
Published: April 2014

Marshall McLuhan’s mosaic style has been excessively scrutinized; however, the elegant prose of fellow media ecologist Neil Postman has garnered little attention. This article argues that what we find in Postman, if we look beyond the content of his work to the way in which it is presented, is an important philosophy and related approach to social research that can and should be abstracted from his treatments of advertising as parable, television as first curriculum, and technology as ideology. Intended as a counter to pseudo-scientific approaches, ‘Postmanist’ social research is undertaken not in order to amass data but ‘to contribute to human understanding and decency’ and ‘improve social life’.
Remote Control? The shaping of communities of tennis spectators through the BBC’s large TV screen coverage of Wimbledon
Authors: Chittenden Tara
Published: April 2014

In 1997, the All England Lawn Tennis Club revealed the addition of a large TV screen facing the grassy embankment opposite Court One. The placement of this screen altered the nature of the live Wimbledon event, as well as spectators’ experience of it, and in the process constructed the incline as ‘Henman Hill’. Media ecology recognizes the dynamics of culture and social groups as intricately intertwined with communication and communication technologies. Unpacking how the BBC coverage of Wimbledon transforms the experiences of spectatorship and frames relations between different types of spectators helps explain this ‘medium’, in Marshall McLuhan’s words, as ‘a complex and effective set of events which change our outlook and the posture of entire groups of people’. I argue that understanding the variety of spectator identities and practices that emerge from technosocial situations such as Henman Hill poses unique opportunities and challenges for media ecologists.
Diachronic phenomenology: A methodological thread within media ecology
Authors: Anton Corey
Published: April 2014

This article identifies and outlines a method of thought and line of research that can be found throughout media ecology. The methodology and research line, ‘diachronic phenomenology’, explores the many ways that conscious life and social organization (in its essential dimensions, modalities, properties and functioning) resonates with particular environments and media forms, and correspondingly grows, develops and becomes itself. The article thus synthesizes and co-adapts media ecology and phenomenology: media ecology benefits from more robust phenomenological grounding and methodological considerations, while phenomenology benefits from recognizing how various noetic and eidetic economies, as well as invariant features of contemporary life, have been culturally and historically effected and affected by social environments and communicative forms (writing, currency, mirrors, clocks, drugs, etc.). The article walks through a wide range of samples and illustrations and then briefly identifies possible future directions by considering recent developments within the fields of brain science and embodied cognition.
Mourning and melancholia at the Harare International Festival of the Arts
Authors: Piotrowska Agnieszka
Published: April 2014

This article has a twofold purpose: first, I look at the Harare International Festival of the Arts (HIFA) as a site of mourning and melancholia – to use the phrase that was first used by Sigmund Freud in his seminal paper and which was reformulated more recently by a postcolonial scholar Ranjana Khanna. I suggest that unconscious mechanisms, which are expressions of loss on the part of both black and white Zimbabweans, are acted out in the festival. In particular, on the part of white Zimbabweans it might be an expression of the so-called ‘white alienation’ experienced after the loss of domination. Second, I also look at assertions of a feminist academic, Sara Ahmed, who claims in her book Embodied Strangers that it is difficult, if at all possible, to circumvent the embodied and cultural context of an encounter between a representative of a western culture and the Other. I present a case study of the opening show at HIFA 2011, which seems to confirm this theory. However, I also suggest that it might be possible to subvert this expected narrative through a Winnicottian notion of a space for creativity and play. I look at two different examples of such encounters and cite the poem by Charmaine Mujeri in which she describes her hybrid identity.
Book Review
Authors: Edwards Ben
Published: April 2014

People Apart: 1950s Cape Town Revisited. Photographs by Bryan Heseltine, Darren Newbury, Amanda Hopkins, Vivian Bickford-Smith and Sean field (2013) London: Black Dog Publishing, 192 pp., ISBN-10: 1907317856 (pbk), ISBN-13: 9781907317859, £15.91
A clash between journalistic and capitalist values? How advertisers meddle in journalists’ decisions at the Nation Media Group in Kenya
Authors: Maweu Jacinta Mwende
Published: April 2014

This article seeks to examine how advertisers meddle in journalists’ ethical decisions at the Nation Media Group (NMG) in Kenya. Grounded in the critical political economy of the media tradition, it is argued in the article that, in the highly commercialized media environment in Kenya today, market forces pose the greatest threat to media freedom and responsibility. Through in-depth qualitative interviews of twenty journalists from the NMG, the article shows how the expectation of private media to be purveyors of public interest while trying to maximize profits for shareholders leads to a clash of journalistic and capitalist values. The article answers the following questions: how do advertisers meddle in journalists’ ethical decisions at the Nation Media? How do journalists respond to advertisers’ influence? How does their response compromise their professional ethics? The findings show that there is a clash of journalistic values and capitalist values as journalists strive to meet shareholders’ expectations and maximize profits for owners.
The Maestro Film Project
Authors: Uys Gerhard
Published: April 2014

The South African film industry, due to its inability to handle American Film Imperialism and put in place effective strategies to develop the South African film industry, has been virtually stagnant for decades. Arguably the most serious challenge, as often highlighted in research, is of ‘an industry fighting against the Hollywood machine’. The question that immediately comes to mind is: How does the United States manage to maintain world film domination? Although the SA film industry was established before Hollywood came into existence, the United States today accounts for 75 per cent of the world’s feature film market, while South Africa accounts for less than 1 per cent. This places an obligation on SA film-makers to design a turn-around strategy. During the 1980s when the French film industry (which pioneered motion pictures) was struggling, having encountered the same problem, a project similar to that advocated in this article, was initiated by the Minister of Culture, Jack Lang. French President Francois Mitterrand increased financial aid to the French film industry and the film Jean de Florette (Berrie, 1986) was produced. Jean de Florette attained commercial and critically acclaimed success and it is still making money to this day. In the United States Jean de Florette was hailed as the best foreign language film of 1986 and it went on to win numerous international awards. Jean de Florette was in 2010, for example, hailed by Empire Magazine as ranked no. 60 of the 100 best films of world cinema (Wikipedia 2014). In The Maestro Film Project, a partial solution to the deplorable state of feature film production in South Africa will be put forward. Although a total turn-around strategy is multi-dimensional and extremely complex, a step in the right direction would be to produce a three-dimensional artefact-driven film model (feature film, 50 instructional DVDs and 50 articles) that; identifies existing artistic communication codes (some 300) that influence the dramatic impact of a film and captures each one in an instructional DVD; researches these codes to gain an understanding of how they contribute to increasing a film’s dramatic impact; and implements, in a feature film, these codes using the best film-makers in South Africa (maestros) to test their efficacy. This model, as an instructional tool, will be unique in the world as no such project has ever been produced. The closest to it would be ‘the making of’ productions frequently seen on television. The major difference is that these productions have a promotional objective with very little instructional value (the prime objective of the 50 instructional DVDs). First, the model can be used by experienced film-makers to gain insight and second, to train future film-makers who, in time, will contribute to the development of the SA film industry.
Nigerian newspapers’ coverage of the effect of Boko Haram activities on the environment
Authors: Nwabueze Chinenye , Ekwughe Victoria
Published: April 2014

This study examined how Nigerian newspapers cover the effect of Boko Haram violence on the environment, the areas of the environment mostly affected by the Boko Haram violence, the prominence given to the coverage of the Boko Haram violence, the perspective from which the media reported the violence within the period of study and the forms of presentation of the reports on Boko Haram violence in Nigerian newspapers. The sample size for the study was 162 editions of three national dailies – The Punch, the Vanguard and the Daily Sun. The instrument of data collection was the coding guide and coding sheet because the research methodology was content-analysis of selected newspapers – The Punch, the Vanguard and the Daily Sun. Two hypotheses were tested using the chi-square analytical tool and the results showed that Nigerian dailies did not give prominence to Boko Haram-induced environmental problems during the period of study (December 2011, January 2012 and February 2012) and that Boko Haram violence significantly affects the environment. The result of the research revealed that the violence affects the environment, especially the land, which bears most of the brunt. The Nigerian dailies gave prominence to the Boko Haram insurgence, but little attention was paid to the environmental implications of the violence. On the basis of the findings, the researchers recommended to mass media operators that environmental beats should be given utmost priority in their organizations especially by separating this beat from property and housing beats, which are often merged with the environmental beat in most organizations. This merger could be playing down the pertinence of environmental reporting. Feature stories and editorial comments should be used more while presenting the environmental effects of Boko Haram activities in order to give a more in-depth interpretation to such happenings.
The concept of public service broadcasting in a changing Africa: A Tanzanian experience
Authors: Millanga Amani
Published: April 2014

For more than five decades the political, economic and sociocultural landscape of Africa has been changing. Africa witnessed a change from colonialism to independence, which was immediately followed by one-party states and militarization. With the fall of the Berlin Wall and the collapse of the Soviet Union, the wind of change brought multiparty democracy and neo-liberalism into Africa. public service broadcasting (PSB) has been at the centre of these changes as a tool for legitimizing them. The central argument in this article is that the concept of PSB in ‘a changing Africa’ has been changing, reflecting the changes in political, economic and sociocultural sceneries in Africa. Thus, from a Tanzanian experience, this article is an overview of the concept of PSB in Africa from the colonial period to the present and concludes that lack of political will is an obstacle to the realization of the concept of PSB in Africa.
You, Hope, Her & Me: Liminoid Invitations and Liminoid Acts
Authors: Bucknall Joanna
Published: April 2014

The purpose of this article is to explicate the nature of micro-performance dramaturgies and the ontology of the agency that this generates for the participants, through a consideration of KeepHouse Performance’s You, Hope, Her & Me. This article presents a localized understanding of the one-to-one style micro-performance strategies through an empirically responsible cognitive materialism lens, employing notions of the liminal and liminoid to conceptualize the nature of the performance space and participative dramaturgy. This article also considers the nature of the documentation practices embedded within those liminoid acts.
Archaeological Protein Residues: New Data for Conservation Science
Authors: Barker Andrew
Published: April 2014

The utility of zooarchaeological data for addressing wildlife management and conservation research has been increasingly recognized over the past two decades. As the field of ‘applied zooarchaeology’ continues to grow, newfound opportunities for discovery have arisen via collaborative interdisciplinary approaches. The burgeoning field of proteomics, in particular, has provided numerous opportunities for enhancing the degree to which meaningful information can be recovered from the archaeological record. Archaeological protein residues can inform conservation biologists about paleobiogeography and ecological/evolutionary history and thereby provide insight into wildlife management strategies. In addition to pointing out several cases where archaeological protein residues may be of benefit, I justify the use of protein residues in particular and discuss areas for improvement.
Paleozoogeography of the Wine Mouse (Akodon oenos) & Late Holocene Paleoenvironments in South-Central Mendoza, Argentina
Authors: Fernández Fernando Julián
Published: April 2014

Cranial remains of the wine mouse (Akodon oenos) are documented from an archaeological site in south-central Mendoza, Argentina (Agua de La Mula, 35º22' S, 68º15' W), which dates to the end of the late Holocene (1610 ± 60; 1260 ± 60; 1000 ± 50 C14 yr B.P.). The taxonomic status of this small rodent is currently being assessed, but these remains represent the first fossil record for the morphotaxon A. oenos. The species’ present distribution is restricted to a few records from Mendoza province. Analysis of the remains supports paleoenvironmental reconstruction using the small mammal assemblage recovered from this site. From the late Holocene into modernity temperature decreased and winter precipitation increased, resulting in advance of Patagonian steppe grading with altitude into Monte desert. Holocene climatic conditions may explain the relatively late human occupation of ecologically marginal environments in this region, which probably favored effective human occupation of the Payunia region at sites such as Agua de La Mula between 1600 and 1000 years B.P.
A Reply to van der Voort's Response to Welch's Review of "Urihi A: A Terra‐ Floresta Yanomami"
Authors: Welch James R.
Published: April 2014

A Reply to van der Voort's Response to Welch's Review of Urihi A: A Terra‐ Floresta Yanomami. Bruce Albert and William Milliken with Gale Goodwin Gomez. São Paulo: Instituto Socioambiental, 2009. 207 pp., illustrations, tables, bibliography, appendices, index. Paperback ISBN: 978‐85 85994‐72‐3.
A Response to Welch's Review of "Urihi A: A Terra‐Floresta Yanomami"
Authors: Van der Voort Hein
Published: April 2014

A Response to Welch's Review of Urihi A: A Terra‐Floresta Yanomami. Bruce Albert and William Milliken with Gale Goodwin Gomez. São Paulo: Instituto Socioambiental, 2009. 207 pp., illustrations, tables, bibliography, appendices, index. Paperback ISBN: 978‐85‐85994‐72‐3.
Landscape, Process and Power: Re-evaluating Traditional Environmental Knowledge
Authors: O'Brien Colleen Marie
Published: April 2014

Review of Landscape, Process and Power: Re-evaluating Traditional Environmental Knowledge. Serena Heckler, ed. 2009. Berghahn Books, New York. Pp. 304, 21 illustrations, bibliography, index. $95.00 (hardback). ISBN 978-1-84545-549-1
Birds in the Daily Life of the Toba Indigenous People from the West of the Province of Formosa (Argentina)
Authors: Scarpa Gustav F.
Published: April 2014

Review of Birds in the Daily Life of the Toba Indigenous People from the West of the Province of Formosa (Argentina). Pastor Arenas & Gustavo Porini. 2009. Tiempo de Historia, Asunción. Pp. 300 + xxvi. $27.00 (paperback). ISBN 9789995381660.
Shroom: A Cultural History of the Magic Mushroom
Authors: Yamin‐Pasternak Sveta
Published: April 2014

Review of Shroom: A Cultural History of the Magic Mushroom. Andy Letcher. 2007. Ecco HarperCollins, New York. Pp. 384. $14.99 (paperback). ISBN 9780060828295.
The Pursuit of Ecotopia: Lessons from Indigenous and Traditional Societies for the Human Ecology of Our Modern World
Authors: Wolverton Steve
Published: April 2014

Review of The Pursuit of Ecotopia: Lessons from Indigenous and Traditional Societies for the Human Ecology of Our Modern World. Eugene N. Anderson. 2010. Praeger Publishers, Santa Barbara. Pp. 251. $44.95 (Hardcover). ISBN 0313381305.
Quantitative Paleozoology
Authors: Wolverton Steve
Published: April 2014

Review of Quantitative Paleozoology. R. Lee Lyman. 2008. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge. Pp. 348, black-and-white illustrations. $29.34 (paper). ISBN 9780521715362.
Grass Roots: African Origins of an American Art
Authors: Anderson E. N.
Published: April 2014

Review of Grass Roots: African Origins of an American Art. Dale Rosengarten, Theodore Rosengarten, and Enid Schildkrout, eds. 2008. Museum for African Art, New York. Distributed by University of Washington Press, Seattle. Pp. 269, copiously illustrated in black-and-white and color. ISBN (cloth) 978-0-945802-50-1, (paper) 978-0-945802-51-8.
Material Choices: Refashioning Bast and Leaf Fibers in Asia and the Pacific
Authors: Anderson E. N.
Published: April 2014

Review of Material Choices: Refashioning Bast and Leaf Fibers in Asia and the Pacific. Roy W. Hamilton and B. Lynne Milgram, eds. 2008. Fowler Museum at UCLA, Los Angeles. Pp. 187, bibliography, index, copious color illustrations. $30.00 (paper). ISBN-13 9780974872988.
Tusk or Bone? An Example of Ivory Substitute in the Wildlife Trade
Authors: Sims Margaret E. , Baker Barry W. , Hoesch Robert M.
Published: April 2014

Bone carvings (and other ivory substitutes) are common in the modern-day lucrative international ivory trade.  Souvenirs for unknowing travelers and market shoppers can be made of non-biological material (plastic "ivory" beads) or skillfully crafted natural objects made to resemble something other than their true origin.  Many of these items are received at the U. S. National Fish and Wildlife Forensics Laboratory (NFWFL) for species identification as part of law enforcement investigations.  Morphologists at the Lab often receive uniquely carved ivory items that have been imported with little or no documentation.  In recent years, analysts examined several purported ivory tusks suspected to be walrus, a protected marine mammal.  After examination, the Lab determined their origin as carved leg bones of cattle using principles and methods of zooarchaeology and ancient DNA analysis.  The naturally long and straight ungulate metapodials had been cut, carved, filled, stained, and polished to closely resemble unmodified ivory tusks.  Morphological species identification of these bones proved to be a challenge since diagnostic characters of the bones had been altered and country of origin was unknown. Genetic analysis showed that the bones originated from cattle.  While bone is commonly used as a substitute for ivory, this style of artifact was not previously documented in the wildlife trade prior to our analysis.  Archaeological ethnobiologists commonly encounter bone tools and other forms of material culture from prehistoric and historic contexts; in this case bone tools come from a modern context, thus the application of methods common in zooarchaeology are situated in wildlife forensics.  In addition, results reported here pertain to cross-cultural ivory trade and conservation science.
Indigenous Knowledge, Ecology, and Evolutionary Biology
Authors: Anderson E. N.
Published: April 2014

Review of Indigenous Knowledge, Ecology, and Evolutionary Biology. Raymond Pierotti. 2011. Routledge (Taylor & Francis Group), New York.  Pp. Xv + 264, Bibliography, index.  ISBN13: 978-0-415-87924-8 (hbk), 978-0-203-84711-4 (ebk).
Paleonutrition
Authors: Hockett Bryan
Published: April 2014

Review of Paleonutrition. Mark Q. Sutton, Kristin D. Sobolik, and Jill Gardner. 2010. University of Arizona Press, Tucson. Pp. 384, black‐and-white illustrations. $75.00 (hardback). ISBN 9780816527946.
Ethics in Ethnobiology Publication
Authors: Welch James R.
Published: April 2014

With the recent multiplication of traditional and electronic venues for publishing in ethnobiology, the social sciences, the life sciences, and related fields, it is increasingly important that authors practice self-diligence to ensure that the contents of their publications meet criteria of veracity and ethical soundness. Although the peer-review process encourages high standards, it is an insufficient means for verifying the ethical worthiness of most publications. The ethical merits of published research derive from a cumulative process including formulating a research design, obtaining permissions, collecting and analyzing data, and finally composing and submitting a manuscript. Unfortunately, there is no failsafe ethical gatekeeper at any stage of the process. The importance of ethical publishing is all the more important in the field of ethnobiology, as professionals in the field  often cross the intellectual and methodological boundaries between disciplines, and their research often involves multiple stakeholders in widespread jurisdictions.