bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Chronic Hydroxychloroquine Improves Endothelial Dysfunction and Protects Kidney in a Mouse Model of Systemic Lupus Erythematosus
Authors: Gómez-Guzmán Manuel , Jiménez Rosario , Romero Miguel , Sánchez Manuel , Zarzuelo María José , Gómez-Morales Mercedes , O’Valle Francisco , López-Farré Antonio José , Algieri Francesca , Gálvez Julio , Pérez-Vizcaino Francisco , Sabio José Mario , Duarte Juan
Published: May 2014

Hydroxychloroquine has been shown to be efficacious in the treatment of autoimmune diseases, including systemic lupus erythematosus. Hydroxychloroquine-treated lupus patients showed a lower incidence of thromboembolic disease. Endothelial dysfunction, the earliest indicator of the development of cardiovascular disease, is present in lupus. Whether hydroxychloroquine improves endothelial function in lupus is not clear. The aim of this study was to analyze the effects of hydroxychloroquine on hypertension, endothelial dysfunction, and renal injury in a female mouse model of lupus. NZBWF1 (lupus) and NZW/LacJ (control) mice were treated with hydroxychloroquine 10 mg/kg per day by oral gavage, or with tempol and apocynin in the drinking water, for 5 weeks. Hydroxychloroquine treatment did not alter lupus disease activity (assessed by plasma double-stranded DNA autoantibodies) but prevented hypertension, cardiac and renal hypertrophy, proteinuria, and renal injury in lupus mice. Aortae from lupus mice showed reduced endothelium-dependent vasodilator responses to acetylcholine and enhanced contraction to phenylephrine, which were normalized by hydroxychloroquine or antioxidant treatments. No differences among all experimental groups were found in both the relaxant responses to acetylcholine and the contractile responses to phenylephrine in rings incubated with the nitric oxide synthase inhibitor N
G
-nitro-
l
-arginine methyl ester. Vascular reactive oxygen species content and mRNA levels of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate oxidase subunits NOX-1 and p47
phox
were increased in lupus mice and reduced by hydroxychloroquine or antioxidants. Chronic hydroxychloroquine treatment reduced hypertension, endothelial dysfunction, and organ damage in severe lupus mice, despite the persistent elevation of anti–double-stranded DNA, suggesting the involvement of new additional mechanisms to improve cardiovascular complications.
The Waziri Chain Shift
Authors: Miller Corey
Published: May 2014

Abstract

The Waziri dialect of the Pashto language, spoken in Afghanistan and Pakistan, features a vowel shift with respect to other varieties of Pashto. Kieffer calls this process metaphony, but referring to it as a vowel shift facilitates comparison with similar phenomena in other languages. This shift involves three standard vowels, /ā/, /o/ and /u/, which in Waziri can shift to /o/, /e/ and /i/, respectively. We will discuss the phonetic processes involved, and find parallels in languages genetically near and far. In addition, we will discuss the status of the change, through the quantitative analysis of three geographically and chronologically separated glossaries (Lorimer, Hallberg, Septfonds).
The Russian Occupation of Beirut, 1773–1774
Authors: du Quenoy Paul
Published: May 2014

The brief and little known Russian occupation of the Levantine port of Beirut in 1773–1774 reveals much about the nature of Russian engagement with the Arab Middle East. Rather than passing as an insignificant episode, it instead complemented a well documented Russian desire to play an expanded role in the Levant and take advantage of Catherine II’s first war with the Ottoman empire (1768–1774) to establish forward positions in the Mediterranean. Alongside the Russian naval victory at Chesme in July 1770, Russia accepted alliance overtures from Egypt’s Mameluk governor Ali Bey, who was in rebellion against the Ottoman Sultan. In a complicated series of diplomatic and military maneuvers, Russian forces offered to aid Ali and his allies. By 1773 this process came to involve an agreement with the Druze Emir Yusuf al-Shihab, who accepted Russian protection as part of a military alliance that called for a Russian attack on Beirut in exchange for tribute. Yusuf’s inability to pay the tribute led to a prolonged Russian presence in Beirut, but the situation’s eventual resolution and the Kücük Kainardja peace treaty of 1774 led to the Russians’ departure. Despite the episode’s brevity, it nevertheless allowed for the development of pronounced Russian intentions to create favorable relationships with the peoples and leaders of the Levant. The Russian relationship with Yusuf and other local potentates, moreover, mirrored Russia’s interactions with peoples and leaders on its vast steppe frontier, indicating another axis of imperial advance.
The Russian Empire’s Changing Views of the Caucasus (1801–1864)
Authors: Mamedov Mikail
Published: May 2014

The Russian empire annexed Georgia and moved further into the Caucasus for reasons that were typical for the period; that is, the European idea of a civilizing mission. Later, toward the mid-1820s, Russia attempted to use the region as its colony. The Russian advance towards the borders of Iran and Turkey alarmed the British and aggravated Russia’s relations with the European powers. Meanwhile, Russia’s defeat in the Crimean War gave rise to the idea of the Caucasus as a bulwark against a hostile Europe. None of the previous ideas disappeared completely: they co-existed during almost all of the nineteenth century. Thus, the image of the Caucasus in the Russian imperial consciousness was dynamic and flexible, reflecting Russia’s changing history, the political situation in the empire, and threats to the country from outside.
Mikhail Vorontsov’s Statue and Russian Imperial Representation in the South Caucasus in the Mid-Nineteenth Century
Authors: Jahn Hubertus F.
Published: May 2014

This article explores representations of the Russian empire in the Caucasus in the nineteenth century. It focuses on the monument of Viceroy Mikhail Vorontsov, which was unveiled in Tiflis in 1867. Questions of imperial aesthetics, symbolic meaning, urban space, and mental maps among the Russian elites are discussed, as are contemporary interpretations of Russo-Georgian relations. It will be shown that the Russian empire did not have a master plan for the representation and the popularization of imperial power in its borderlands and that much was left to local and private initiative.
Learning Through Practice
Authors: Tanner Harold M.
Published: May 2014

Abstract

American scholars of Chinese history have generally explained the outcome of China’s civil war (1945-1949) by reference to social, economic, and political factors rather than by looking at the conduct of the war itself. Recently, military historians have begun to shift the focus to Communist strategy and operations. However, the question of how the Chinese Communist forces made the transition from guerrilla to conventional warfare has still not received sufficient attention. Using Mao Zedong’s theories of guerrilla warfare and Peter Senge’s model of the “learning organization” to analyze Lin Biao’s conduct of the war against the Nationalists in China’s Northeast (Manchuria), we can better understand how the Northeast People’s Liberation Army transformed itself from a force characterized by “guerrilla-ism” to the powerful army capable of defeating Jiang Jieshi’s best troops. The Communists performed poorly when they first encountered American-trained Nationalist units in the Northeast. Lin Biao and his staff responded to defeat by devising principles of tactics which they applied in a series of campaigns beginning with the “Three Expeditions/Four Defenses” (winter 1946-47). The Communist forces continued to derive lessons from their experience and to incorporate those lessons into programs of education and training. As a result, they made great strides forward in terms of the coordination of infantry, artillery, and armor in order to be able to pull off a conventional combined arms operation on the scale of the Liao-Shen Campaign. The Communist forces would bring these strengths with them when they entered the Korean War in 1950.
Podocoryna loyola, n. sp. (Hydrozoa, Hydractiniidae): a probably introduced species on artificial substrate from southern Brazil
Authors: HADDAD MARIA ANGÉLICA , BETTIM ARIANE LIMA , MIGLIETTA MARIA PIA
Published: May 2014

Podocoryna loyola, a new hydractiniid species, has been found on artificial substrates in Baía de Paranaguá, southern coast of Brazil, since April 2007. Its main morphological characteristics are: (1) polymorphic colonies with reticular stolons or encrusting hydrorhiza not covered by periderm and smooth chitinous spines; (2) newly-released medusae with eight tentacles and small interradial gonads; (3) mature medusae with eight tentacles and unbranched oral lips; gastric peduncle absent. Molecular data show that P. loyola is distinct from all other examined species of Podocoryna, and from P. hayamaensis Hirohito (1988), its sister species from Japan. As the polyps having been noted only quite recently, and in having been found only on man-made objects in port areas and estuaries, the species is most likely exotic to the region.
Three new species of chewing lice of the genus Emersoniella Tendeiro, 1965 (Insecta: Phthiraptera: Ischnocera: Philopteridae) from Papua New Guinean kingfishers and kookaburras (Aves: Coraciiformes: Alcedinidae)
Authors: GUSTAFSSON DANIEL R. , BUSH SARAH E.
Published: May 2014

Three new species of the ischnoceran louse genus Emersoniella (Phthiraptera) are described from four species of New Guinean kingfishers and kookaburras (Coraciiformes: Alcedinidae: Halcyoninae). They are: Emersoniella crassicarina n. sp. ex Dacelo gaudichaud Quoy & Gaimard (rufous-bellied kookaburra) and Dacelo leachii intermedia Salvadori (blue-winged kookaburra); E. reninoda n. sp. ex Melidora macrorrhina macrorhina Lesson (hook-billed kingfisher); and E. persei n. sp. ex Tanysiptera danae Sharpe (brown-headed paradise-kingfisher). In addition, we illustrate Emersoniella regis Emerson & Price, Emersoniella halcyonis Tendeiro, and the male genitalia of Emersoniella galateae Emerson & Price, as well as provide a complete host-louse checklist, and an updated key to all seven species of this genus.
Spatial Accuracy of Climate Networks: A Case Study in Nebraska
Authors: Coop Andrea J. , Hubbard Kenneth G. , Shulski Martha D. , You Jinsheng , Marx David B.
Published: May 2014

Climate data are increasingly scrutinized for accuracy because of the need for reliable input for climate-related decision making and assessments of climate change. Over the last 30 years, vast improvements to U.S. instrumentation, data collection, and station siting have created more accurate data. This study explores the spatial accuracy of daily maximum and minimum air temperature data in Nebraska networks, including the U.S. Historical Climatology Network (HCN), the Automated Weather Data Network (AWDN), and the more recent U.S. Climate Reference Network (CRN). The spatial structure of temperature variations at the earth’s surface is compared for timeframes 2005–09 for CRN and AWDN and 1985–2005 for AWDN and HCN. Individual root-mean-square errors between candidate station and surrounding stations were calculated and used to determine the spatial accuracy of the networks. This study demonstrated that in the 5-yr analysis CRN and AWDN were of high spatial accuracy. For the 21-yr analysis the AWDN proved to have higher spatial accuracy (smaller errors) than the HCN for both maximum and minimum air temperature and for all months. In addition, accuracy was generally higher in summer months and the subhumid area had higher accuracy than did the semiarid area. The findings of this study can be used for Nebraska as an estimate of the uncertainty associated with using a weather station’s data at a decision point some distance from the station.
Persistent Contrails and Contrail Cirrus. Part I: Large-Eddy Simulations from Inception to Demise
Authors: Lewellen D. C. , Meza O. , Huebsch W. W.
Published: May 2014

Large-eddy simulations with size-resolved microphysics are used to model persistent aircraft contrails and contrail-induced cirrus from a few wing spans behind the aircraft until their demise after many hours. Schemes for dynamic local ice binning and updating coupled radiation dynamically as needed in individual columns were developed for numerical efficiency, along with a scheme for maintaining realistic ambient turbulence over long times. These capabilities are used to study some of the critical dynamics involved in contrail evolution and to explore the simulation features required for adequate treatment of different components. A “quasi 3D” approach is identified as a useful approximation of the full dynamics, reducing the computation to allow a larger parameter space to be studied. Ice crystal number loss involving competition between different crystal sizes is found to be significant for both young contrails and aging contrail cirrus. As a consequence, the sensitivity to the initial number of ice crystals in the contrail above a threshold is found to decrease significantly over time, and uncertainties in the ice deposition coefficient and Kelvin effect for ice crystals assume an increased importance. Atmospheric turbulence is found to strongly influence contrail properties and lifetime in some regimes. Water from fuel consumption is found to significantly reduce aircraft-wake-induced ice crystal loss in colder contrails. Ice crystal shape effects, coupled radiation, and precipitation dynamics are also considered. An extensive set of simulations exploring a large parameter space with this model are analyzed in a companion paper.
An Airborne Study of an Atmospheric River over the Subtropical Pacific during WISPAR: Dropsonde Budget-Box Diagnostics and Precipitation Impacts in Hawaii
Authors: Neiman Paul J. , Wick Gary A. , Moore Benjamin J. , Ralph F. Martin , Spackman J. Ryan , Ward Bill
Published: May 2014

The Winter Storms and Pacific Atmospheric Rivers (WISPAR) experiment was carried out in January–March 2011 from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Dryden Flight Research Center as a demonstration for utilizing unmanned aerial systems in meteorological research and operations over data-sparse oceans. One of the campaign’s three missions was coordinated with a manned National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Gulfstream-IV (G-IV) flight out of Honolulu, Hawaii, on 3–4 March 2011. The G-IV, which flew through a developing atmospheric river (AR) west of Hawaii, represents the cornerstone observing platform for this study and provided the southernmost dropsonde observations of an AR published to date in the subtropical Northern Hemisphere. The AR exhibited characteristics comparable to those observed in previous studies farther north in the subtropics and midlatitudes, save for larger integrated water vapor and weaker winds in the AR core and stronger equatorward vapor fluxes in the shallow post-cold-frontal northeasterly flow. Eight dropsondes released in a ~200-km-wide box formation provided a novel kinematic assessment of tropospheric vorticity, divergence (mass, water vapor, sensible heat), and vertical velocity in the AR region, as well as sea surface fluxes. The budget-box diagnostics were physically consistent with global-gridded reanalysis datasets, while also providing useful additional kinematic and thermodynamic information on the mesoscale. Meteorological impacts of the AR were assessed on Hawaii’s island of Kauai, where the state’s heaviest rainfall was observed for this case. Rainfall on Kauai was modulated significantly by its steep orography, including on the normally dry side of the island where heavy rains fell.
Consensus Statement on Round Window Vibroplasty
Authors: Beltrame Achille M. , Todt Ingo , Sprinzl Georg , Profant Milan , Schwab Burkhard
Published: May 2014

Objective:

This study aimed to review current knowledge regarding implantation of the Vibrant Soundbridge floating mass transducer (FMT) at the round window (round window vibroplasty) as well as to form a consensus on steps for a reliable, stable surgical procedure.

Data Sources:

Review of the literature and experimental observations by the authors.

Conclusion:

Round window (RW) vibroplasty has been established as a reliable procedure that produces good and stable results for patients with conductive or mixed hearing loss. The experience gained over the past few years of the authors’ more than 200 implantations has led to consensus on several key points: (1) a wide and bloodless access to the middle ear with facial nerve monitoring, (2) the careful and correct identification and exposure of the round window membrane, (3) a good setup for efficient energy transition of the FMT, namely, perpendicular placement of the FMT with no contact to bone and the placement of cartilage behind the FMT to create a preloaded “spring” function, and (4) 4 points of FMT fixation: a rim of the round window bony overhang left intact both anterior and posterior to the FMT, conductor link stabilization, and cartilage behind the FMT. In addition, the FMT should be covered with soft tissue.
Discipline and punish? Strategy discourse, senior manager subjectivity and contradictory power effects
Authors: Dick Penny , Collings David G
Published: May 2014

Responding to calls to incorporate a more dispersed and localized conceptualization of power in the study of strategy as discourse, in this article we illustrate that while investing senior managers with the authority to speak and enact strategy, at one and the same time strategy discourse renders this group highly visible and vulnerable. Using a Foucauldian-inspired discursive psychology approach to provide a critical analysis of brief stretches of talk in a research interview, we expose the inherent instability and contingency of strategy discourse as it is used to construct and reconcile contradictory accounts of corporate success, failure and senior manager subjectivity. Our core contribution is to show that resistance to strategy discourse is discernible not only through how lower level or other actors contest or undermine this discourse but also by observing the efforts of corporate elites to manage temporary breakdowns (Sandberg and Tsoukas, 2011) that disrupt the background consensus that ordinarily provides strategy discourse with its ‘taken-for-granted’ quality. Resistance, we argue, is not only an intentional and oppositional practice but also inheres within the fine grain of strategy discourse itself, manifested as a ‘hindrance and stumbling block’ (Foucault, 1978) in the highly occasioned and local level of mundane interaction.
Putting context into organizational intervention design: Using tailored questionnaires to measure initiatives for worker well-being
Authors: Nielsen Karina , Abildgaard Johan Simonsen , Daniels Kevin
Published: May 2014

Realistic evaluation emphasizes the importance of exploring the mechanisms through which organizational interventions are effected. A well-known mechanism in organizational interventions is the screening process. Standardized questionnaires, in popular use, neither consider individuals’ appraisals of working conditions nor the specific context of the workplace. Screening with items tailored to intervention contexts may overcome the limitations of standardized questionnaires. In the present study, we evaluate an approach to develop a tailored questionnaire to measure employees’ appraisals of their specific working conditions. First, we interviewed 56 employees and 17 managers and, later, developed tailored items focused on the working conditions in a postal service. In follow-up interviews, we explore participants’ experiences with the tailored questionnaire, including the development of initiatives, compared with their previous experiences with the company’s annual attitude survey that used standardized scales. Results indicated that participants felt the tailored questionnaire highlighted issues that had previously been ignored, that initiatives were easier to develop owing to its specificity and that the feedback strategy was useful in prioritizing questionnaires. Overall, it can be concluded that tailored questionnaires may be appropriate for use in organizational intervention research and more broadly that evaluations of organizational interventions need to be contextually grounded.
Contemporary Afrikaans fiction in the world: The Englishing of Marlene van Niekerk
Authors: Attridge Derek
Published: May 2014

Many of the most ambitious and important South African novels of the past fifty years have been written in Afrikaans, but in order to reach a global audience the authors have had to turn to translators. Focusing on Marlene van Niekerk’s Triomf and Agaat, this article examines the challenges that this fiction, and the particular character and social status of different varieties of Afrikaans, present to the translator, and discusses the significance of the differences between versions addressed to an English-speaking South African readership and versions addressed to a global readership.
Karl Rahner, Friedrich Schelling, and Original Plural Unity
Authors: Fritz Peter Joseph
Published: May 2014

Despite the common perception that Rahner’s affinity with German Idealism places him near either Kant or Hegel, his thought accords better with that of Friedrich Schelling, whom he studied under Heidegger. The author examines this historical point, and then reads several of Rahner’s works to identify systematic resonances with Schelling. The article argues that the thought of Rahner and Schelling are well paired because both insist that at the origin of reality lies a plural unity. This Rahner–Schelling commonality regarding metaphysical pluralism could contribute to a theological aesthetic centered on freedom.
Episcopal Conferences Worldwide and Catholic Social Thought, in Theory and Praxis: An Update
Authors: McGoldrick Terence A.
Published: May 2014

The article surveys the work of the world’s episcopal conferences (ECs) on Catholic social thought (CST) over the past 15 years. This updates an earlier study on a century of the ECs’ socioeconomic statements. After noting significant developments around the world, the article focuses on three countries of the Global South, showing a trend toward more social activism and fewer statements. It then argues that those developments not only refine CST but that CST cannot be understood apart from the communities that live it in theory and practice.
Explaining Eucharistic “Real Presence”: Moving beyond a Medieval Conundrum
Authors: Prusak Bernard P.
Published: May 2014

Understandings of body and resurrected bodiliness in the early centuries shaped the explanations of Christ’s presence in the Eucharist. Medieval writers debated how Jesus’ body, which was at the right of the Father, could also be present in the Eucharist. The concept of transubstantiation and Thomas Aquinas’s emphasis on a substantial presence sought to resolve that conundrum. This article shows how contemporary theological perspectives on body and resurrected bodiliness, on the human personality of Jesus, and on symbolic reality open up a new path toward explaining eucharistic real presence.
Smartphone Use in Everyday Life and Travel
Authors: Wang Dan , Xiang Zheng , Fesenmaier Daniel R.
Published: May 2014

The smartphone penetrates many facets of everyday life, including travel. As such, this article argues that since travel can be considered a special stage of technology use, understanding how the smartphone shapes the tourist experience cannot be separated from the way it is used in one’s everyday life. On the basis of a study of American travelers, this study uses adaptive structuration theory as a lens to identify a number of spillover effects from smartphone use in everyday life into travel. The results of this study offer several important implications for both research and practice as well as future directions for the study of mobile technology in tourism.
In Search of Alternatives
Authors: Wald Navé
Published: May 2014

Social mobilization in Latin America today is often characterized by the adoption of discourses and praxes of radical democracy by social movements. Principles of wider participation in decision making are central to the collective communal economic ventures for capitalizing on peasant production of raw materials of the Movimiento Campesino de Santiago del Estero–Vía Campesina, a peasant organization that is fighting for secure land tenure and higher standards of living in one of Argentina’s least urbanized and poorest provinces. Although at present the economic impact of these activities is not particularly notable, their importance lies in their contribution to the development of economic, social, and political consciousness among the members of the organization.

La movilización social en América Latina hoy en día se caracteriza frecuentemente por la adopción por parte de los movimientos sociales de los discursos y praxis asociados con la democracia radical. Principios de una mayor participación en la toma de decisiones son fundamentales para los colectivos comunales de empresas económicas para la capitalización de la producción campesina de las materias primas del Movimiento Campesino de Santiago del Estero–Via Campesina, una organización campesina que lucha por la tenencia segura de la tierra y mejores niveles de vida en una de las provincias menos urbanizadas y más pobres de la Argentina. Aunque en la actualidad el impacto económico de estas actividades no es particularmente notable, su importancia radica en su contribución al desarrollo de la conciencia económica, social y política entre los miembros de la organización.
Dimensionality reduction-based dynamic reconstruction algorithm for electrical capacitance tomography
Authors: Lei J , Liu WY , Liu S
Published: May 2014

The image reconstruction task in electrical capacitance tomography (ECT) is an ill-posed problem, in which image reconstruction methods play a vital role in real applications. In this paper, a multiple measurement vector-based dimensionality reduction dynamic reconstruction model that simultaneously utilizes the ECT measurement information and the dynamic evolution information of a dynamic object is proposed. A robust sparse orthogonal projective non-negative matrix factorization (RSOPNMF) method is proposed for extracting the basis vectors from a set of snapshots, and the split Bregman iteration (SBI) algorithm is used to solve the RSOPNMF model. The original unknown variables are projected onto the subspaces spanned by a set of the basis vectors extracted by the RSOPNMF method from a set of snapshots to obtain a low-dimensional model, where the images are indirectly reconstructed by solving the corresponding low-dimensional coefficient vector, and thus the dimensionality of the unknown variables is reduced and the computational cost are decreased. Based on the multiple measurement vectors and the dimensionality reduction model, an objective functional that incorporates the ECT measurement information, the dynamic evolution information of a dynamic object, the spatial constraint and the temporal constraint is proposed, in which the unknown variables are solved in a batching pattern. An iterative scheme that integrates the beneficial advantages of the SBI method and the forward–backward splitting algorithm is developed for solving the proposed objective functional. Numerical simulation results validate the feasibility of the proposed algorithm.
The high performance control for small rotary-wing unmanned aircraft based on composite control method
Authors: Lei Xusheng , Lu Pei , Liu Fang
Published: May 2014

To improve flight performance of small rotary-wing unmanned aircraft under complex environment, a composite control method based on internal model control (IMC) and adaptive radial basis neural network (RBFNN) is proposed. With the analysis of the characteristics of system disturbance, an IMC system is constructed to eliminate system errors. Furthermore, an adaptive RBFNN without prior training is proposed to eliminate residual estimation errors to augment the control performance. The effectiveness of the composite control method is validated by a series of flight tests. Compared with the feedback control method, the composite control method can yield good tracking performance under wind disturbances.
Theory of mind and language of mind in narratives: Developmental trends from kindergarten to primary school
Authors: Gamannossi Beatrice Accorti , Pinto Giuliana
Published: May 2014

Narrative competence can be considered an indicator of children’s knowledge about other people’s minds. The present study investigates the relations between, on the one hand, children’s narrative competence and their second order language of mind (comprehension of deception) and, on the other, their developmental trends from kindergarten to primary school. Participants in the study included 142 Italian-speaking children (63 attending their last year in kindergarten and 79 attending first grade in primary school). Children were given a narrative task containing a deception. The ability to detect and comprehend deception increased significantly from kindergarten to primary school. Regression analyses showed that narrative competence influences the comprehension of deception. Findings confirm the importance of narratives as a research tool and the possibility to use mental language to assess different levels of theory of mind mastery.
“I Have a Fear of Really Screwing It Up”
Authors: Layne Linda L.
Published: May 2014

Since the 1980s, a growing number of American women are choosing to start a family without a male partner. Not only are these women going against the norm, they do so in an era of “intensive mothering,” which places enormous responsibility on mothers to assure that their children have every possible advantage and judges mothers for the way their children turn out. An intensive case study of one American single mother by choice illuminates a range of worries produced as a result of engaging in intensive parenting in an age of anxiety and highlights some of the special stresses that may pertain to doing so as an intentionally single mother.
Characteristics Influencing Weight Reduction Among Veterans in the MOVE!® Program
Authors: Garvin Jane T. , Marion Lucy N. , Narsavage Georgia L. , Finnegan Lorna
Published: May 2014

Obesity is a common health problem for veterans. This study explored background and program characteristics associated with a 5% weight reduction for veterans enrolled in MOVE!®, a weight management program. For data analysis, 404 veteran records were examined using logistic regression. Background characteristics included socio-demographic variables, comorbidity, body mass index, rurality, and Veterans Administration (VA) priority group. Program characteristics included the program type (group attendee or self-managed) as well as the number and type of provider contacts. Thirteen percent of participants achieved a 5% weight reduction. Age in years (odds ratio [OR] = 1.04) and the number of group visits (OR = 1.05) were significant predictors for achieving a 5% weight reduction. Given the importance of weight reduction, health professionals should consider these significant predictors when planning weight-reduction programs for veterans.
Modified commissural patch repair in a child with active mitral endocarditis
Authors: Ishimaru Kazuhiko , Nishigaki Kyoichi , Kanaya Tomomitsu , Araki Kanta , Shibata Toshihiko
Published: May 2014

A 9-year-old patient with massive destruction of the mitral apparatus caused by active infective endocarditis underwent mitral valve plasty using a modified commissural autologous pericardial patch repair. This procedure is a clinically relevant and feasible technique for pediatric patients with active mitral valve endocarditis.
Convergence in Emerging Markets: The Case of Abuse of Dominant Position in Competition Policy
Authors: Singh Poonam
Published: May 2014

The literature on competition policy in emerging markets is divided into two conflicting schools of thought. One school argues in favour of convergence with the efficiency-based policy, framework in advanced countries. The other school advocates a broad competition policy specific to the requirements of the emerging markets, based on both economic and non-economic goals. Taking the case of India, an emerging market economy, with special focus on abuse of dominant position, this paper shows that there is a tendency towards convergence to the efficiency-based approach of advanced countries with some weightage given to domestic goals. This could be attributed to emerging market’s increased requirement of the efficiency-based analysis and growing interdependence on other economies in the post-liberalization period, on one hand, and lack of expertise in the emerging markets to develop indigenous competition law, on the other. Moreover, owing to more similarity in economic, regulatory and institutional conditions, there is convergence with the competition policy in the European Union rather than that in the United States. The article also shows that the specific convergence approach adopted by emerging markets may not always be in their domestic interest.

JEL: K21, L41, O1
Successful repair of iatrogenic inferior vena cava injury during cardiac surgery
Authors: Narayan P , Das D , Saha A , Das M
Published: May 2014

Iatrogenic injury to the supra-diaphragmatic inferior vena cava (IVC) is uncommon, but can lead to a potentially complicated situation. Injury to the IVC is encountered usually during re-operative and congenital surgery, but can occur during the course of routine cardiac surgery as well. Depending on the mechanism, injury may involve the anterior or posterior wall of the IVC. A short adherent IVC, redo surgery and female sex are incremental risk factors for injury. Control of bleeding, adequate exposure and prevention of extension of the tear are the important considerations at the time of repair. While a number of management techniques have been reported, we describe a very simple maneuver that allows swift control of bleeding, adequate exposure and minimizes the risk of further extension and a satisfactory repair.
Role of Thymic Epithelial Cells in Lymphoid Depletion After Experimental Infection With the Noncytopathogenic BVDV1 Strain 7443
Authors: Raya A. I. , Gomez-Villamandos J. C. , Bautista M. J.
Published: May 2014

Thymic epithelial cells could play an important role in lymphoid depletion during bovine viral diarrhea virus (BVDV) infection. To evaluate this hypothesis, we examined proliferation of lymphocytes, expression of cytokeratins by thymic epithelial cells, and ultrastructural features at sequential time points after experimental infection of colostrum-deprived calves with the noncytopathogenic BVDV1 strain 7443. Ten clinically healthy Friesian calves were used. Eight were inoculated with the virus, and 2 were used as uninfected controls. Calves were sedated and euthanized in batches between 3 and 14 days postinoculation. At necropsy, thymus samples were collected for structural, immunohistochemical, and ultrastructural study. Thymic lymphoid depletion was accompanied by a decrease in lymphocyte proliferation and immunohistochemical and ultrastructural changes in thymic epithelial cells. Immunohistochemical and ultrastructural results reflect a disturbance of the thymic epithelial cell network, which may explain the decrease in lymphocyte proliferation by defective thymocyte-epithelial cell interactions.
The Impact of External Pressure on Voting Outcomes in Transition Economies
Authors: Miljkovic Dragan
Published: May 2014

The public choice model developed in this paper explains how increased external intervention and monitoring may lead to lessening of the intrinsic motivation within transitional economies to pursue reforms as prescribed by the Washington Consensus. This may lead to the slowdown of economic and institutional reforms sometimes followed by a lack of support for reform in popular votes at election time. Conditions under which this situation may occur are identified. The model is empirically tested for the period 1990-2001, encompassing more than fifteen East European countries. Results of the analysis suggest that the impact of external pressure expressed as the amount of U.S. loans on voting outcomes in transitional countries is significant. Consistent with prior expectations, a new class of private landowners and farmers support further privatization and market orientation and consequently vote for Western-oriented parties. Likewise, a new system of market based economies brings along more volatility and uncertainty creating an income based population segmentation and inequality. Higher fertility rates which are typically associated with lower income levels lead to fewer votes going to reformist, pro-market parties. Hence, foreign investors will clearly have to target the more affluent segment of populations in transitional economies for more support.
Two Kinds of MELT and Their Determinations
Authors: Meng Jie
Published: May 2014

In an article published in 2011 in this journal, Fred Moseley tries to discuss how the value of inconvertible credit money is determined in a Marxian theoretical tradition. In this critical comment, while sharing some crucial views with Moseley, the author makes a critique to some views in Moseley. The first critique concerns the so-called circular reasoning in the MELT as defined by the New Interpretation. The second concerns the relationship between Moseley’s MELT and capital accumulation. In his definition of MELT with inconvertible credit money, Moseley seems to overlook a theoretical tradition embodied especially in the work of Okishio-Foley-Kotz, which to different extents points out that the incentive and the real magnitude of capital accumulation or new investment play a crucial role in determining the value of inconvertible credit money.
Effects of sample orientation on pyrolysis and piloted ignition of wood
Authors: Chen Xiao , Zhou Zhihui , Li Pan , Zhou Dechuang , Wang Jian
Published: May 2014

In this work, the pyrolysis and piloted ignition behavior of thermally thick paulownia wood brick for different orientations has been experimentally investigated, by using the conical heater. Three typical orientations were adopted, that is, upward, downward, and vertical cases with the incident heat flux ranging from 12 to 39 kW/m2. A numerical approach was used to test the effect of heat convection and radiation blockage on pyrolysis. The ignition time was observed to be strongly dependent on orientation. In detail, the shortest ignition time turns to be for downward orientation, but longest ignition time for vertical orientation. Total mass loss at ignition is weakly dependent on orientation. Meanwhile, critical mass flux increases with external heat flux rising and varies somewhat with orientation.
The Role of Employee Ownership in the Total Rewards Strategy
Authors: Greene Robert J.
Published: May 2014

Employee ownership of organizations can promote motivation to contribute to the success of those organizations. “Ownership” can be economic and/or psychological and both forms align the interests of employees and the organizations. The benefits of psychological ownership can be realized by ensuring that employees understand what the organization needs and managing in a manner that convinces them they will be positively affected by success. Economic ownership must provide benefits in the form of tangible results that outweigh the costs of making employees owners. Each organization must determine the role that economic ownership should play in its rewards strategy based on a cost–benefit analysis.
Ethnic identity and racial contestation in cyberspace: Deconstructing the Chineseness of Lou Jing
Authors: Frazier Robeson Taj , Zhang Lin
Published: May 2014

This article examines Chinese cyberspace debates over the racial and national identity of a television show contestant Lou Jing, a biracial woman of Chinese and African American descent. We argue that the online commentary about her offers a productive entry point into contemporary Chinese cultural struggles over race. In particular, we consider how the Internet and other digital communication technologies are being mobilized as discursive sites for articulations of Chinese anti-black racism, as well as discursive sites of contestation, knowledge production, and cultural exchange regarding Chinese constructions of race and nationality.
Strategic ambiguity about military capacity with multiple adversaries
Authors: Hummel Patrick
Published: May 2014

I present a model in which a nation must decide whether to reveal its military capacity when the nation faces two possible adversaries. One adversary would be inclined to attack if the country has a weak military capacity, and the other adversary would be inclined to attack preemptively if the country is developing a strong military capacity. I derive conditions under which it is an equilibrium for the nation to be ambiguous about its military capacity as a function of the hawkishness of the adversaries and the accuracy of the adversaries’ national intelligence.
Dimensional variation stream modeling of investment casting process based on state space method
Authors: Liu Changhui , Jin Sun , Lai Xinmin , Wang Yulian
Published: May 2014

Investment casting process produces high-precision castings, but there is a constant demand for improving the process capabilities, including dimensional accuracy and consistency. In this article, a state space modeling approach of investment casting process for dimensional variation is developed. This research focuses on the linear dimensional change (expansion or shrinkage) in the investment casting process. The generation, propagation and accumulation of the dimensional variation in the investment casting process are interpreted. In order to develop a mathematical model to describe the procedure above, a notion, the dimensional variation stream, is employed, and several key concepts, such as dimensional change rate, state vector and process parameter variation vector, are defined. The inherent relationships among these components are uncovered and finally bring about a State Space Model that describes the dimensional variation stream in the whole investment casting process. In the end, the usages of the developed model are illustrated and summarized via studying a case.
Development of a multiplex amplification refractory mutation system reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction assay for the differential diagnosis of Feline leukemia virus vaccine and wild strains
Authors: Ho Chia-Fang , Chan Kun-Wei , Yang Wei-Cheng , Chiang Yu-Chung , Chung Yang-Tsung , Kuo James , Wang Chi-Young
Published: May 2014

A multiplex amplification refractory mutation system reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (ARMS RT-PCR) was developed for the differential diagnosis of Feline leukemia virus (FeLV) vaccine and wild-type strains based on a point mutation between the vaccine strain (S) and the wild-type strain (T) located in the p27 gene. This system was further upgraded to obtain a real-time ARMS RT-PCR (ARMS qRT-PCR) with a high-resolution melt analysis (HRMA) platform. The genotyping of various strains of FeLV was determined by comparing the HRMA curves with the defined wild-type FeLV (strain TW1), and the results were expressed as a percentage confidence. The detection limits of ARMS RT-PCR and ARMS qRT-PCR combined with HRMA were 100 and 1 copies of transcribed FeLV RNA per 0.5 ml of sample, respectively. No false-positive results were obtained with 6 unrelated pathogens and 1 feline cell line. Twelve FeLV Taiwan strains were correctly identified using ARMS qRT-PCR combined with HRMA. The genotypes of the strains matched the defined FeLV wild-type strain genotype with at least 91.17% confidence. A higher degree of sequence polymorphism was found throughout the p27 gene compared with the long terminal repeat region. In conclusion, the current study describes the phylogenetic relationship of the FeLV Taiwan strains and demonstrates that the developed ARMS RT-PCR assay is able to be used to detect the replication of a vaccine strain that has not been properly inactivated, thus acting as a safety check for the quality of FeLV vaccines.
Successful Aging in the United States and China
Authors: Ji Hong , Ling Jiying , McCarthy Valerie Lander
Published: May 2014

Successful aging is gaining increasing attention given the growth in the older adult population. Criteria and definitions within multiple disciplines vary greatly in Western literature, with no consensus on its meaning. Sociocultural, economic, and political differences between the Western view of successful aging and its view in China add to the confusion. Similarities and differences in the meaning of successful aging in the United States and China are examined, and potential for a common definition useful to nursing in both countries is explored. Using concept analysis, shared criteria for successful aging were the following: decreased incidence of disease and disability, life satisfaction, meaning and purpose in life, and ability to cope effectively to achieve goals based on personal values and priorities. A comprehensive, multidimensional definition of successful aging for nursing and a midrange nursing theory of successful aging were identified that may be useful to guide nursing research, practice, and policy.
Participative and Team-Oriented Leadership Styles, Countries’ Education Level, and National Innovation
Authors: Rossberger Robert J. , Krause Diana E.
Published: May 2014

The present study aims to provide insights into the leadership–innovation relationship on the national level by considering national-level contingency factors. We argue that the impact of a prevailing leadership style on innovation is mediated by economic and political factors and innovation-related cultural practices. Moreover, it is argued that the educational level of a country is related to the prevailing leadership style and economic factors. We propose a model and test its explanatory power with a sample of 55 countries using variance-based structural equation modeling. The results show that the prevailing leadership style has no direct relationship with national innovation but is mediated by the abovementioned factors. The results also show that the level of education within a country is positively related to participative leadership and negatively to team-oriented leadership. Furthermore, the level of education is directly related to economic and political factors and indirectly to national innovation.