bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Insulin pump users would not rule out using an implantable artificial pancreas
Authors: Taylor MJ , Gregory R , Mitchell H , Alblihed M , Alsabih A , Tomlins P , Sahota TS
Published: January 2014

The aim of this survey was to establish the limitations of open loop continuous subcutaneous insulin infusion (CSII) as perceived by current users of the technology, and to ascertain their interest in and requirements for a non‐electronic implantable closed loop insulin pump, INSmart, currently under development for the treatment of type 1 diabetes. INSmart has been surgically implanted in the peritoneum in animal models and continuously restored normoglycaemia.

A bottom‐up survey design was used to determine both positive and negative experiences of patients currently using CSII to define the performance characteristics they would require from a non‐electronic, implantable closed loop insulin pump.

A total of 360 insulin pump users completed the survey. All respondents had type 1 diabetes, were predominantly from English‐speaking countries and had been diagnosed before age 34 years. Most had well controlled blood glucose (BG) according to their self‐reported HbA1c results. They reported a reduction in this value after transferring to CSII from multi‐dose injections. However, 70% of pump users had more than three hypoglycaemic episodes per week. Eighty percent reported self‐measured BG values >10mmol/L three or more times per month; 94% of respondents considered a (non‐electronic implantable) closed loop insulin pump would make their BG management easier and improve their quality of life.

The majority of respondents felt there were still many disadvantages to current external insulin pumps such as their constant visible presence, rotation of insertion sites and skin inflammation. These shortfalls could be overcome by a device, such as INSmart, that provides a relatively instant feedback mechanism for controlling insulin release due to its proposed location in the peritoneal cavity. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons.
Bifacial concentrator Ag‐free crystalline n‐type Si solar cell
Authors: Untila Gennady G. , Kost Tatiana N. , Chebotareva Alla B. , Zaks Marat B. , Sitnikov Аndrey М. , Solodukha Oleg I. , Shvarts Мaxim Z.
Published: January 2014

We report results obtained using an innovative approach for the fabrication of bifacial low‐concentrator thin Ag‐free n‐type Cz‐Si (Czochralski silicon) solar cells based on an indium tin oxide/(p+nn+)Cz‐Si/indium fluorine oxide structure. The (p+nn+)Cz‐Si structure was produced by boron and phosphorus diffusion from B‐ and P‐containing glasses deposited on the opposite sides of n‐type Cz‐Si wafers, followed by an etch‐back step. Transparent conducting oxide (TCO) films, acting as antireflection electrodes, were deposited by ultrasonic spray pyrolysis on both sides. A copper wire contact pattern was attached by low‐temperature (160°C) lamination simultaneously to the front and rear transparent conducting oxide layers as well as to the interconnecting ribbons located outside the structure. The shadowing from the contacts was ~4%. The resulting solar cells, 25 × 25 mm2 in dimensions, showed front/rear efficiencies of 17.6–17.9%/16.7–17.0%, respectively, at one to three suns (bifaciality of ~95%). Even at one‐sun front illumination and 20–50% one‐sun rear illumination, such a cell will generate energy approaching that produced by a monofacial solar cell of 21–26% efficiency. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
On dimers and complexes of tetracene and the Kasha's molecular excitonic model
Authors: Catalán Javier
Published: January 2014

Aggregation processes that occur in a solution of 3.4 × 10−5 M tetracene in decalin at 213 K and in a 1.3 × 10−4 M solution of anthracene in methylcyclohexane at 135 K show that they are second‐order kinetic processes responsible for generating the corresponding dimeric structures of these acenes. The UV–Vis absorption spectra of these dimeric structures show the presence of isosbestic points. We also show that the rate constants of these processes appear to depend on the viscosity of the solvent employed. Excitonic interactions involved in these dimers are described in the light of Kasha's model.

We also show that a solution of 6.7 × 10−5 of tetracene in toluene at 173 K exhibits aggregation but following a first order kinetics and that the corresponding absorption spectra describing the process at 173 K show no isosbestic points. Consequently, it is concluded that in this solvent, the tetracene does not dimerize, but it forms a complex with toluene. The strong similarity between the first band of the tetracene dimer and the tetracene/toluene complex may give rise to a strong controversy over the excitonic model to be considered. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Carboxypeptidases in disease: Insights from peptidomic studies
Authors: Sapio Matthew R. , Fricker Lloyd D.
Published: January 2014

Carboxypeptidases (CPs) perform many diverse physiological functions by removing C‐terminal amino acids from proteins and peptides. Some CPs function in the degradation of proteins in the digestive tract while other enzymes play biosynthetic roles in the formation of neuropeptides and peptide hormones. Another set of CPs modify tubulin by removing amino acids from the C‐terminus and from polyglutamyl side chains, thereby altering the properties of microtubules. This review focuses on three CPs: carboxypeptidase E, carboxypeptidase A6, and cytosolic carboxypeptidase 1. Naturally occurring mutations in all three of these enzymes are associated with disease phenotypes, ranging from obesity to epilepsy to neurodegeneration. Peptidomics is a useful tool to investigate the relationship between these mutations and alterations in peptide levels. This technique has also been used to define the function and characteristics of CPs. Results from peptidomics studies have helped to elucidate the function of CPs and clarify the biological underpinnings of pathologies by identifying peptides altered in disease states. This review describes the use of peptidomic techniques to gain insights into the normal function of CPs and the molecular defects caused by mutations in the enzymes.
Optimization of process alarm thresholds: A multidimensional kernel density estimation approach
Authors: Hao Zang , Hongguang Li
Published: January 2014

Rationality of alarm systems enormously impacts safety and economic performances of process plants, which definitely demands for process alarm threshold optimization. In this work, first, we analyze the assignable causes of missed alarms and false alarms from the probability theory perspectives before formulating corresponding calculation metrics based on Bayesian Inference. Then, we minimize missed alarm probability (MAP) and false alarm probability (FAP) in a multidimensional space, where the kernel density estimation method is invoked to estimate joint probability density functions using process historical data. Mathematical models associated with multivariable process alarm threshold optimization are established on the basis of density functions, and gradient descent algorithms are employed to achieve advisable alarm thresholds. An industrial application shows that this approach effectively reduces MAP of the plant, as well as lowers FAP to a relatively reasonable level. © 2014 American Institute of Chemical Engineers Process Saf Prog 33: 292–298, 2014
Development of a steel component combustion model for fires involving pure oxygen systems
Authors: Cox Brenton L. , Dee Sean J. , Hart Ryan J. , Morrison Delmar R.
Published: January 2014

Pure oxygen systems pose significant fire and explosion risk to equipment, operations, and personnel if a loss of oxygen containment occurs. In industrial oxygen systems, combustion of metal can be initiated by a variety of ignition sources. The combustion of process vessel walls, components, or piping can result in loss of containment of pressurized oxygen. Automatic shutdown and isolation systems are designed to detect loss of containment, incipient loss of containment due to process parameters (e.g., pressure drop), or internal fire conditions. The effectiveness of these isolation systems is dependent upon the speed with which they activate after the initiating event.

The prediction of failure modes and time scales can be an important tool in the design, operation, and maintenance of industrial high purity oxygen systems. Modeling of metal consumption in oxygen fueled fires requires consideration of multiple ignition mechanisms. Previously published experimentation has been motivated by the need to compare the relative burn resistance of metals and nonmetals under a variety of operating conditions, but has not produced a tool to inform the potential for loss of containment in oxygen systems based on the different ignition mechanism failure modes.

This work aims to develop a series of theoretical models using experimental results and kinetic relationships in order to predict loss of containment in piping for industrial systems for combinations of different failure modes. Using this type of analysis, process designers can make informed decisions on the design of high purity oxygen systems, the timescale required by emergency shutdown systems, and schedules for routine maintenance and inspection. © 2014 American Institute of Chemical Engineers Process Saf Prog 33: 299–304, 2014
Variable‐range hopping conductance in Si whiskers
Authors: Druzhinin Anatoly , Ostrovskii Ihor , Khoverko Yuriy , Nichkalo Stepan , Koretskyy Roman , Kogut Iurii
Published: January 2014

Impedance spectroscopy studies for Si wires with dopant concentrations in the vicinity to metal–insulator transition in the low temperature range 4.2–70 K and frequencies 0.01–250 kHz have been conducted. The studies allowed us to determine the parameters of hopping conduction (localization radius, density of localized states, and average length of carrier hopping) in silicon whiskers and to compare them with theoretical data.
Chaotic map‐based three‐party authenticated key agreement
Authors: Lin Han‐Yu
Published: January 2014

Three‐party authenticated key exchange protocols are designed for facilitating secure communication between two users with the assistance of an authentication server. To achieve this purpose, encrypted key exchanges are commonly adopted mechanisms to generate a shared session key for both users. However, this approach usually utilizes the server's public key to encrypt communication messages and hence raises the issue of key management. Without executing time‐consuming modular exponentiation, recently, chaos‐based systems have been widely employed in many security protocols. In this paper, the author will propose a chaotic map‐based three‐party authenticated key agreement without using the server's public key. Additionally, the computational efficiency with related mechanisms is also demonstrated. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Fostering Inference Generation With Emergent and Novice Readers
Authors: Dougherty Stahl Katherine A.
Published: January 2014

Inference generation makes a strong, unique contribution to reading comprehension. Young children engage in many of the same inference generation processes as sophisticated readers. This article discusses instructional practices that can be used in prekindergarten through grade two to help children think beyond the words of the text. Suggestions are made for planning lessons for narratives that incorporate asking powerful questions and think‐alouds. The article provides descriptions of the effective use of teacher read‐alouds, videos, wordless picture books, and shared reading to improve the narrative comprehension of young children. A sample lesson plan series is provided
Finding Common Ground
Authors: Lorenz Lindy
Published: January 2014

View From the Chalkboard essays share readers' reflections on teaching experiences, advice for new teachers, and perspectives on current issues.
Lessons learned from a data‐driven college access program: The National College Advising Corps
Authors: Horng Eileen L. , Evans Brent J. , antonio anthony l. , Foster Jesse D. , Kalamkarian Hoori S. , Hurd Nicole F. , Bettinger Eric P.
Published: January 2014

This chapter discusses the collaboration between a national college access program, the National College Advising Corps (NCAC), and its research and evaluation team at Stanford University. NCAC is currently active in almost four hundred high schools and through the placement of a recent college graduate to serve as a college adviser provides necessary information and support for students who may find it difficult to navigate the complex college admission process. The advisers also conduct outreach to underclassmen in an effort to improve the school‐wide college‐going culture. Analyses include examination of both quantitative and qualitative data from numerous sources and partners with every level of the organization from the national office to individual high schools. The authors discuss balancing the pursuit of evaluation goals with academic scholarship. In an effort to benefit other programs seeking to form successful data‐driven interventions, the authors provide explicit examples of the partnership and present several examples of how the program has benefited from the data gathered by the evaluation team.
Is traditional financial aid too little, too late to help youth succeed in college? An introduction to The Degree Project promise scholarship experiment
Authors: Harris Douglas N.
Published: January 2014

One of the key barriers in accessing postsecondary opportunities for many students is financial aid. This chapter begins by providing a review of prior evidence on the relationship between financial aid and postsecondary outcomes. One type of financial aid intervention that challenges traditional aid and scholarship options are “promise programs.” These programs make commitments to low‐income students when they are much younger than when students typically apply for aid and have the potential to encourage students to better prepare during high school, develop the social capital they need to navigate the path to college, and pay for growing college costs. In this chapter, the author describes the design and rationale for The Degree Project (TDP), which is the first randomized trial of a promise scholarship in the United States. In addition to the important new evidence the demonstration program will generate, TDP also shows how educators and researchers can work together to provide the insight and answers policy makers need to address very real education gaps.
Comparing the Characteristics of Homeless Adults in Poland and the United States
Authors: Toro Paul A. , Hobden Karen L. , Wyszacki Durham Kathleen , Oko-Riebau Marta , Bokszczanin Anna
Published: January 2014

This study compared the characteristics of probability samples of homeless adults in Poland (N = 200 from two cities) and the United States (N = 219 from one city), using measures with established reliability and validity in homeless populations. The same measures were used across nations and a systemic translation procedure assured comparability of measurement. The two samples were similar on some measures: In both nations, most homeless adults were male, many reported having dependent children and experiencing out‐of‐home placements when they themselves were children, and high levels of physical health problems were observed. Significant national differences were also found: Those in Poland were older, had been homeless for longer, showed lower rates on all psychiatric diagnoses assessed (including severe mental and substance abuse disorders), reported less contact with family and supportive network members, were less satisfied when they sought support from their networks, and reported fewer recent stressful life events and fewer risky sexual behaviors. Culturally‐informed interpretations of these findings and their implications are presented.
Community Matters: Intimate Partner Violence Among Rural Young Adults
Authors: Edwards Katie M. , Mattingly Marybeth J. , Dixon Kristiana J. , Banyard Victoria L.
Published: January 2014

Drawing on social disorganization theory, the current study examined the extent to which community‐level poverty rates and collective efficacy influenced individual reports of intimate partner violence (IPV) perpetration, victimization, and bystander intervention among a sample of 178 young adults (18–24; 67.4 % women) from 16 rural counties across the eastern US who completed an online survey that assessed demographic information, IPV perpetration, victimization, bystander intervention, and collective efficacy. We computed each county's poverty rate from the 2007–2011 American Community Survey. Generalized estimating equations demonstrated that after controlling for individual‐level income status, community‐level poverty positively predicted IPV victimization and perpetration for both men and women. Collective efficacy was inversely related to IPV victimization and perpetration for men; however, collective efficacy was unrelated to IPV victimization and perpetration for women. Whereas IPV bystander intervention was positively related to collective efficacy and inversely related to individual‐level income status for both men and women, community‐level poverty was unrelated to IPV bystander intervention for both men and women. Overall, these findings provide some support for social disorganization theory in explaining IPV among rural young adults, and underscore the importance of multi‐level IPV prevention and intervention efforts focused around community‐capacity building and enhancement of collective efficacy.
Gut Microbial Metabolites of Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids Correlate with Specific Fecal Bacteria and Serum Markers of Metabolic Syndrome in Obese Women
Authors: Druart Céline , Dewulf Evelyne M. , Cani Patrice D. , Neyrinck Audrey M. , Thissen Jean‐Paul , Delzenne Nathalie M.
Published: January 2014

The aim of this human study was to assess the influence of prebiotic‐induced gut microbiota modulation on PUFA‐derived bacterial metabolites production. Therefore, we analyzed the circulating fatty acid profile including CLA/CLnA in obese women treated during 3 months with inulin‐type fructan prebiotics. In these patients, we had already determined gut microbiota composition by phylogenetic microarray and qPCR analysis of 16S rDNA. Some PUFA‐derived bacterial metabolites were detected in the serum of obese patients. Despite the prebiotic‐induced modulation of gut microbiota, including changes in CLA/CLnA‐producing bacteria, the treatment did not impact significantly on the circulating level of these metabolites. However, some PUFA‐derived bacterial metabolites were positively correlated with specific fecal bacteria (Bifidobacterium spp., Eubacterium ventriosum and Lactobacillus spp.) and inversely correlated with serum cholesterol (total, LDL, HDL). These correlations suggest a potential beneficial effect of some of these metabolites but this remains to be confirmed by further investigation.
The Multidimensional Structure of Subjective Well-Being In Later Life
Authors: Vanhoutte Bram
Published: January 2014

Subjective well-being can be measured in different ways, depending on the conceptual perspective one adopts. Hedonic well-being, emphasising emotions and evaluation, is often contrasted with eudemonic well-being, stressing self-actualisation and autonomy. In this paper we investigate the background, structure and compatibility of empirical measures of hedonic and eudemonic well-being in the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA). We use a confirmatory factor approach to investigate the internal of structure of the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ), Centre for Epidemiological Studies Depression scale (CES-D), Satisfaction with Life scale (SWLS) and CASP, a measure of quality of life in old age. In a second step, we examine the higher order structure of well-being using these measures. Next to highlighting specific issues about the structure of these measures in connection to older populations, we illustrate that a threefold structure, distinguishing affective, cognitive and eudemonic aspects of well-being, is more informative than the two dimensional hedonic and eudemonic well-being that is often propagated.
Middle Paleozoic basaltic and kimberlitic magmatism in the northwestern shoulder of the Vilyui Rift, Siberia: relations in space and time
Authors: Kiselev A.I. , Yarmolyuk V.V. , Ivanov A.V. , Egorov K.N.
Published: January 2014

A Middle Paleozoic tectonothermal event in the eastern Siberian craton was especially active in the area of the Vilyui rift, where it produced a system of rift basins filled with Devonian–Early Carboniferous volcanics and sediments, as well as long swarms of mafic dikes on the rift shoulders. Basalts occur mostly among Middle Devonian sediments and are much less spread in Early Carboniferous formations. The dolerite dikes of the Vilyui–Markha swarm in the northwestern rift border coexist with the Mirnyi and Nakyn fields of diamond-bearing kimberlites. The voluminous dikes and sills intruded before the emplacement of kimberlites. The Mir kimberlite crosscuts a dolerite sill and a dike in the Mirnyi field, while a complex dolerite dike (monzonite porphyry) cuts through the Nyurba kimberlite in the Nakyn field. Thus, the kimberlites correspond to a longer span of Middle Paleozoic basaltic magmatism. The basalts in Middle Paleozoic sediments have faunal age constraints, but the age of dolerite dikes remains uncertain. The monzonite porphyry dike in the Nyurba kimberlite has been dated by the 40Ar/39Ar method, and the obtained age must be the upper bound of the dike emplacement. The space and time relations between basaltic and kimberlitic magmatism were controlled by Devonian plume–lithosphere interaction.
Noble-metal ore genesis and mantle–crust interaction
Authors: Goryachev N.A.
Published: January 2014

The mineral and geochemical compositions of noble-metal (first of all, gold) deposits of the Fennoscandian, Siberian, and Northeast Asian orogenic belts are considered. These deposits are of several types: Au (disseminated Au–sulfide and Au–quartz), Au–Bi, Au–Ag, Au–Sb, Ag–Sb, Au–Sb–Hg, and Ag–Hg. They formed in different geodynamic settings as a result of the active motion of crustal tectonic blocks of different nature. Subduction processes (both at the front and at the rear of continent-marginal and island-arc magmatic arcs) resulted in Au–Ag, Ag–Sb, Ag–Hg, Au–Sb–Hg, and Au–Bi deposits. Collision events gave rise to Au and Au–Bi deposits. Intraplate continental rifting and formation of orogenic belts along the boundaries of block (plate) sliding led to the origin of Au and Au–Bi ores in association with Au–Ag, Au–Sb–Hg, and complex ores. In all cases, the formation of noble-metal mineralization was accompanied by magmatism of different types and metamorphism. Because of this diversity of ores, there is no single concept of the genesis of noble-metal mineralization. Several competing models of genesis exist: hydrothermal-metamorphic, pluton-metamorphic, plutonic, activity of mantle fluid flows, and multistage concentration during the crust–mantle interaction with the leading role of sedimentary complexes.
Upending a ‘Totality’: Re-evaluating Corded Ware Variability in Late Neolithic Europe
Authors: Furholt Martin
Published: January 2014

‘Corded Ware’ in central and eastern Europe is an archaeological phenomenon that has generated multiple ideas and myths about the origins of the Indo-European language, large scale migrations from the eastern Steppes and radical ideological turnovers after 3000bc. These ideas have been fostered in large part by the over-emphasis placed by successive generations of archaeologists on its extraordinarily large geographical extent and on the seemingly uniform pattern of Corded Ware material culture. The traditional model is characterised by the presence of an early phase, the so-called A-horizon, showing pan-European unity in material culture, and a successive phase characterised by increasing regional variability. However, over the last 15 years, a number of new studies, especially those focusing on the rigorous radiocarbon dating of Corded Ware contexts, bring into question several of the fundamental aspects of this old model. New results strongly suggest that the different components of the Corded Ware A-horizon emerged in several different regions, and that the previously claimed cultural uniformity is instead due to the co-occurrence of some special elements, while regional variability stands out as being much more prominent than hitherto assumed throughout all Corded Ware phases. Here, a new interpretation built on the diversity and regional variability of material culture and burial practices is proposed, one that challenges the view of Corded Ware as an expression of a social totality. This new model argues that several interlinked networks facilitated the flow of new practices and symbols into very diverse regional settings. Rather than viewing the Corded Ware phenomenon as representing a singular identity, ideology, or tradition, it may be more appropriate to regard it as a set of symbols and practices that were selectively incorporated into, and transformed by, local societies; it is this which produced the diversity attested for in the archaeological record
Bovine lactoferrin ingestion protects against inflammation via IL-11 induction in the small intestine of mice with hepatitis
Authors: Kuhara Tetsuya , Tanaka Azusa , Yamauchi Koji , Iwatsuki Keiji
Published: January 2014

Accumulating evidence suggests that orally ingested lactoferrin protects against inflammation. To assess the efficacy of orally administered bovine lactoferrin (bLF) against hepatitis and to identify the underlying mechanism, in the present study, we used four mouse models of hepatitis induced byd-galactosamine (GalN), carbon tetrachloride (CCl4), GalN plus lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and zymosan plus LPS. Intraperitoneal (i.p.) injection of GalN (500 mg/kg body weight) in mice treated with bovine serum albumin (BSA) for 14 d significantly increased serum aspartate aminotransferase (AST) concentrations compared with the untreated mice. However, orally administered bLF reduced AST concentrations compared with BSA treatment. In mice that received a single injection (0·4 ml/kg) and twice-weekly injections (0·08 ml/kg) of CCl4for 24 weeks and pretreated with bLF for 14 d and 24 weeks, respectively, significantly suppressed alanine aminotransferase and AST concentrations were observed compared with the BSA-treated control. Oral administration of bLF for 14 d before i.p. injection of LPS (5 mg/kg) plus GalN (1 g/kg) significantly improved the survival rate. In mice that received intravenous injection of zymosan (25 mg/kg) and LPS (15 μg/kg) at 7 d intervals, bLF reduced the elevation of AST concentrations and enhanced the production of IL-11 and bone morphogenetic protein 2 in the small intestine compared with the BSA-treated control. To evaluate the effects of IL-11, we used IL-11 receptor α-null mice treated with GalN, CCl4and zymosan plus LPS. In this group, the activity of bLF was not significantly different from that of BSA. These data indicate that orally ingested bLF enhances the expression of IL-11 in the small intestine and up-regulates protective activity in mice with hepatitis.
Exome analysis resolves differential diagnosis of familial kidney disease and uncovers a potential confounding variant
Authors: GIBSON JANE , GILBERT RODNEY D. , BUNYAN DAVID J. , ANGUS ELIZABETH M. , FOWLER DARREN J. , ENNIS SARAH
Published: January 2014

A girl aged 6 presented with haematuria and her sister (aged 5) presented with haematuria and proteinuria. Family history showed multiple individuals suffering from end stage renal failure from the paternal side of the pedigree. Following kidney biopsy in the father and paternal grandmother, the pathological diagnosis was of focal segmental glomerulosclerosis (FSGS). Exome sequencing was undertaken in the proband's sister and grandmother. Genetic variants shared by both affected individuals were interrogated to identify the genetic cause of disease. Candidate variants were then sequenced in all the family members to determine segregation with the disease. A mutation of COL4A5 known to cause Alport syndrome segregated with disease from the paternal side of the pedigree and a variant in NPHS1 was present in both paediatric cases and inherited from their mother. This study highlights the advantages of exome sequencing over single gene testing; disease presentation can be heterogeneous with several genes representing plausible candidates; candidate gene(s) may be unavailable as a diagnostic test; consecutive, single gene testing typically concludes once a single causal mutation is identified. In this family, we were able to confirm a diagnosis of Alport syndrome, which will facilitate testing in other family members.
Canton and Nagasaki Compared in the Context of Global and World History
Authors: Masashi Haneda
Published: January 2014

In December 2007, our Chinese and Dutch colleagues organised an international conference in Guangzhou and Macao entitled “Canton and Nagasaki Compared, 1730–1830: Dutch, Chinese, Japanese Relations.” I participated with seven Japanese colleagues. With more than twenty-five papers, the conference was a great success and participants were eager to deepen their discussions and to enlarge the scope of their inquiries. And so, stimulated by the co-editor of this special issue of Itinerario, Professor Leonard Blussé of Leiden University, I took up the responsibility of organising the follow-up conference in Japan on the same theme, but placed in a broader temporal context: “Canton and Nagasaki Compared.” Comparing the two port cities Canton in South China (nowadays called Guangzhou) and Nagasaki at the western end of the Japanese archipelago, between 1600 and 1850 would yield new historic insights and reveal new perspectives for further research. The articles presented in this issue bear the fruit of this exclusive intellectual exchange.

The articles deal with wide ranging subjects, from urban fires to the art of translation, and cover the broad period 1600–1850s. All contributors have taken the comparison of the two port cities at heart. We have grouped the thirteen contributions along four major research themes that emerged out of the conference: shipping networks and the state; managing trade flows; mediating trade; and urban and cultural life. The contributions bear witness of what I would call the four major benefits of the comparative history approach, which will be discussed further below.
Peeking into the Empires: Dutch Embassies to the Courts of China and Japan
Authors: Blussé Leonard
Published: January 2014

In the 1660s the renowned publishing company of Jacob van Meurs in Amsterdam published three richly illustrated monographs that fundamentally changed the European perceptions of the empires of China and Japan. It all started with the publication in 1665 of the travel notes and sketches that Joan Nieuhof had made ten years earlier, while travelling in the retinue of two Dutch envoys to the Manchu court in Peking. With no less than 150 copper prints, this book aroused so much interest in travel topics—it was published in Dutch, French, German, Latin, and English—that Van Meurs did not hesitate to launch a whole series of illustrated volumes about faraway countries. To keep the China lovers happy, he published a reprint of the richly illustratedChina Monumentisby the German Jesuit Athanasius Kircher. In 1668, another monumental illustrated work appeared in Dutch (and later also German, English and French editions) time about Africa written by the Amsterdam physician Olfert Dapper, and shortly afterwards, when that publication also proved to be a smashing success, Van Meurs asked for the right to publish two more works, one on Japan and one on China. That privilege was obtained on March 1669. The book on Japan,Gedenkwaerdige Gesantschappen der Oost-Indische Maetschappij aen de Kaisaren van Japan, or “Memorable embassies of the (Dutch) East India Company to the Emperors of Japan,” was compiled by Arnoldus Montanus, a learned Dutch clergyman, who according to the preface had already published fifty-three monographs. The book on China was authored by Olfert Dapper, who this time edited the travelogues of the second and third Dutch embassies to China. What made these books so interesting is that they all were based on eyewitness accounts of the interior of the widely known but little explored empires of China and Japan by servants of the Dutch East India Company (VOC). The reason why it was possible for the Dutch merchants to travel where few other westerners had gone before was that they had been sent by the directors of the company as envoys bearing tribute presents to the rulers of both realms to secure privileged trading rights.
“The Border of Japan” for Chinese Arrivals in Nagasaki, Satsuma, and Ryukyu
Authors: Miki Watanabe
Published: January 2014

When entering a foreign country, one usually fills out an immigration form asking for a set of personal details such as one's name, nationality, date of departure, destination, and the purpose of one's visit. In addition, one needs to answer several questions, for example, whether he has any banned substances or objects like drugs or weapons, whether he have a criminal record, and so on. Furthermore, one has to waive any rights to appeal an immigration officer's decision and finally declare and sign that all answers are true and correct.

While many assume that this familiar system is specific to the modern age, historical documents show us that this supposition is not valid. In fact, we can find a similar system in the early modern Ryukyu Kingdom, though little attention has been paid to it. To demonstrate this system, I will begin introducing a document left by a shipwrecked Chinese captain coming to Ryukyu in the late eighteenth century:

The captain Li Zhenchun states that: We received a permit for sailing from the government of Min prefecture in Fujian on December 24, 1770, loaded wood under the Nantai bridge on May 13 in the next year, sailed from Min'anzhen for Shandong on May 24, and arrived on June 24. Though we left for Fujian on December 2, after purchasing beans, on the next day, a storm broke our mast and halyards, which made it impossible for us to navigate and caused our ship to drift into Yaeyama Island in your country on the 22nd. Now we are living on board here. There is no Christian missionary, arsenic, Epicanta gorhami [, which is a terribly virulent insect including cantharis], or any other poison with us. None of us are disguised as Chinese people clothed in Chinese clothes. Also we have no weapons. If you find any violation as such, we should be tried by the national laws. There is no lie in this report.
Research Statement: Portuguese–Dutch Conflicts and the Macao–Nagasaki Trade in the Early Seventeenth Century
Authors: Shaoxin Dong
Published: January 2014

The Macao–Nagasaki connection in the early seventeenth century involved a complex set of interrelationships with regard to trade, mission, cultural intercourse, and other important topics between China, Japan, Portugal, Spain, and the Netherlands. The rise to importance of Macao and Nagasaki was the result of the interruption of Sino–Japanese trade relations and the policy adjustments by the governments of China and Japan to bring the Portuguese under their control and administration. One of the main differences between Macao and Nagasaki was that the former remained a Portuguese settlement for centuries, while the latter was an enclave first of the Portuguese and later of the Dutch. This short article, mainly based on secondary sources by C. R. Boxer, Leonard Blussé, and others, is a tentative study of the international relations in East Asia and their changes after the appearance of the Portuguese and the Dutch in the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries.

Two important facts make the sixteen-century international relations in East Asia different from the situation before: the appearance of the Portuguese in this area and the deterioration of Sino–Japanese relations.

For the first thirty years after the Portuguese arrived on the coast of Guangdong in 1514, encounters between them and the Chinese were rife with misunderstandings and conflicts, because Portugal was not a tributary country of China; the Portuguese were totally new to the Chinese. As the Portuguese could not establish formal commercial relations with China, in order to acquire Chinese goods they sought close relations with Chinese and later Japanese smugglers and pirates. They even engaged in the slave trade, which gave them a very bad name in China.
The Privileges of Working with the VOC: Supplementary Incomes of the Interpreters in Nagasaki and Canton
Authors: Tanaka-Van Daalen Isabel
Published: January 2014

In order to “describe world history from a new angle,” Professor Haneda Masashi has set up the framework of “Comparative Studies on the Cross-cultural Contacts in Asian Port Cities in the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries.” One of the proposed points of comparison concerned communications between Europeans and local people and the indispensable role of interpreters, on whose work “the Dutch trade representatives relied utterly in their business and daily life” in Canton as well as Nagasaki.

Whereas Professor Yao Keisuke, elsewhere in this special issue, has emphasised the different roles of the interpreters in both port cities, Professor Haneda is more in favour of pointing out the similarities. He has identified state control of foreign trade, motivated by concerns over “security, social stability, and the prosperity of the state,” as a fundamental feature common to both countries in this period. Because of a clear distinction between the local people as “insiders” and Europeans as “outsiders,” the foreigners' activities were strictly controlled and contacts between locals and Westerners restricted to a minimum. The interpreters stood between both parties as mediators and were intentionally used by the authorities as “tools of control,” sometimes functioning as spies reporting on suspicious activities, but also acting as safety shields against direct Dutch confrontations or breaches of etiquette and protocol. Mechanisms to control the interpreters themselves were built in as well.
Daily Life of the Dutch in Canton and Nagasaki: A Comparison Based on the VOC Dagregisters and Other Sources
Authors: Viallé Cynthia
Published: January 2014

These few words were entered from time to time in the dagregisters, the official diaries kept by the heads of the Dutch East India Company trade in Canton and Nagasaki during their stay there. Fortunately, they do not occur too often, otherwise we would know far less about the lives and circumstances of the Dutch in China and Japan than we do. As it is, the dagregisters provide us with a wealth of information on a wide range of topics ranging from commercial matters, social and trade relations between Europeans and East Asians, political matters, the importation and use of Western technology and medicine in Japan, natural disasters, crimes, and, very important, the weather. The entries in the dagregisters recorded what happened on the day and they give us descriptions, sometimes in great detail, of the activities of the Dutch and their fellow Europeans in Canton and Nagasaki and of their interactions with their Chinese and Japanese hosts. They are the best sources for an understanding of the patterns of everyday life of the Dutchmen in the foreign settlements in the port cities of Canton and Nagasaki.

The instruction to keep dagregisters (diaries) dates back as far as 1621, when the Heren Zeventien (the Gentlemen Seventeen, the board of governors of the Dutch East India Company in the Netherlands) wrote to the governor-general and councillors of the Indies in Batavia (present-day Jakarta), the VOC headquarters in Asia: “We think it necessary that not only in the General Comptoir [Office] in Batavia, but also in those in the Moluccas, Amboina, Banda, Patani, Japan, Jambi, Paliacatta, and Surat, in sum, in all those places where we have offices, our people keep a daily journal of everything that happens there and concerns our people, both in regard to the English, as to any other people, whoever it may be, in any way.
Salient values, social trust, and attitudes toward wolf management in south-western Alberta, Canada
Authors: SPONARSKI CARLY C. , VASKE JERRY J. , BATH ALISTAIR J , MUSIANI MARCO M.
Published: January 2014

Shared values, public trust in an agency, and attitudes can influence support for successful conservation initiatives. To understand these relationships, this paper examines the role of social trust as a partial mediator between salient values similarity and attitudes toward wolves in south-western Alberta, Canada. Rural residents in this area face increasing wolf depredation on livestock. Data were obtained from a mail questionnaire (n= 566 respondents, response rate = 70%) sent to rural residents in three municipal districts in south-western Alberta. Attitudes were predicted to directly influence behavioural intention to support or oppose wolf management. Most respondents held slightly similar values as the management agency and minimally trusted the agency to effectively manage wolves. As predicted, social trust in the agency served as a partial mediator between salient value similarity and attitudes toward wolves. Salient value similarity was also a strong predictor of attitudes toward wolves. Attitudes toward wolves predicted behavioural support. Thus, social trust of the management agency can influence attitudes and management preferences concerning a species. When dealing with human-wildlife conflict, social trust should be examined to understand the context of the problem.
Birth and adoptive parent anxiety symptoms moderate the link between infant attention control and internalizing problems in toddlerhood
Authors: Brooker Rebecca J. , Neiderhiser Jenae M. , Ganiban Jody M. , Leve Leslie D. , Shaw Daniel S. , Reiss David
Published: January 2014

Attention control plays an important role in the development of internalizing symptoms in children. We explored the degree to which infants' genetic and environmentally based risk moderated the link between attention control and internalizing problems during toddlerhood. These associations were examined within a prospective adoption design, enabling the disentanglement of genetic and environmental risk for internalizing problems. Attention control in adopted infants was observed during periods of distress at age 9 months. Birth parents' anxiety symptoms were used as an index of genetic risk, while adoptive parents' anxiety symptoms were used as an index of environmental risk. Adoptive mothers and fathers reported on children's internalizing problems when children were 18 and 27 months old. Greater attention control in infancy appeared to mitigate genetically based risk for internalizing problems during toddlerhood when children were raised by adoptive parents who were low in anxiety. Findings suggest that for genetically susceptible children who are raised in low-risk environments, attention control may provide a protective factor against developing internalizing problems across early life.
Women Bishops and the Recognition of Orders
Authors: Adam Will
Published: January 2014

The autumn of 2013 saw two landmark decisions in the Anglican churches of the British Isles. On 12 September 2013 the Governing Body of the Church in Wales voted in favour of legislation to permit the ordination of women as bishops. On 20 September 2013 it was announced that on the previous day the Revd Patricia Storey had been elected as Bishop of Meath and Kildare. She was duly consecrated on 30 November 2013 and enthroned in her two cathedrals in early December. The Scottish Episcopal Church permits the ordination of women to the episcopate, but to date none has been elected to an episcopal see.
The “Polar Light Sign” is a useful tool to detect discrete membranous supravalvular mitral stenosis
Authors: Hertwig Christine , Haas Nikolaus A. , Habash Sheeraz , Hanslik Andreas , Kececioglu Deniz , Sandica Eugen , Laser Kai-Thorsten
Published: January 2014

Mitral valve stenosis caused by a discrete supravalvular membrane is a rare congenital malformation haemodynamically leading to significant mitral valve stenosis. When the supravalvular mitral stenosis consists of a discrete supravalvular membrane adherent to the mitral valve, it is usually not clearly detectable by routine echocardiography. We report about the typical echocardiographic finding in three young patients with this rare form of a discrete membranous supravalvular stenosis caused by a membrane adherent to the mitral valve. These cases present a typical echocardiographic feature in colour Doppler generated by the pathognomonic supramitral flow acceleration. Whereas typical supravalvular mitral stenosis caused by cor triatriatum or a clearly visible supravalvular ring is easily detectable by echocardiography, a discrete supravalvular membrane adjacent to the mitral valve leaflets resembling valvular mitral stenosis is difficult to differentiate by routine echocardiography. In our opinion, this colour phenomenon does resemble the visual impression of polar lights in the northern hemisphere; owing to its typical appearance, it may therefore be named as “Polar Light Sign”. This phenomenon may help to detect this anatomical entity by echocardiography in time and therefore improve the prognosis for repair.
Viterbi training in PRISM
Authors: SATO TAISUKE , KUBOTA KEIICHI
Published: January 2014

VT (Viterbi training), or hard expectation maximization (EM), is an efficient way of parameter learning for probabilistic models with hidden variables. Given an observation y, it searches for a state of hidden variables x that maximizes p(x,y | θ) by coordinate ascent on parameters θ and x. In this paper we introduce VT to PRogramming In Statistical Modeling (PRISM), a logic-based probabilistic modeling system for generative models. VT improves PRISM in three ways. First, VT in PRISM converges faster than EM in PRISM due to VT's termination condition. Second, parameters learned by VT often show good prediction performance compared with those learned by EM. We conducted two parsing experiments with probabilistic grammars while learning parameters by a variety of inference methods, i.e. VT, EM, MAP and VB. The result is that VT achieved the best parsing accuracy among them in both experiments. Also, we conducted a similar experiment for classification tasks where a hidden variable is not a prediction target unlike probabilistic grammars. We found that in such a case VT does not necessarily yield superior performance. Third, since VT always deals with a single probability of a single explanation, Viterbi explanation, the exclusiveness condition imposed on PRISM programs is no more required if we learn parameters by VT. Last but not least, we can say that as VT in PRISM is general and applicable to any PRISM program, it largely reduces the need for the user to develop a specific VT algorithm for a specific model. Furthermore, since VT in PRISM can be used just by setting a PRISM flag appropriately, it makes VT easily accessible to (probabilistic) logic programmers.
A Tale of Two Cities: A Comparative Study on the Welfare Regimes of Hong Kong and Macao
Authors: Lai Dicky W. L. , Chui Ernest W. T.
Published: January 2014

Despite their geographical proximity, and similarities in ethnic composition and political contexts, Hong Kong's and Macao's social policies have not been compared in the literature. This article aims to compare the welfare regimes between these two city-states. The comparison involves two dimensions: the pattern of welfare mix, and the modification impact of social policy on the capitalist social structure. It is found that the two states’ patterns of welfare mix have much in common, and their social policies are both marked by a relatively low level of modification impact. Therefore, the conclusion is drawn that Hong Kong and Macao can be grouped into a distinct welfare regime. The major contributions of this study are that it helps add to the understanding of East Asian social policy and suggests a useful framework for comparing welfare regimes.