bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Economics in African Studies
Authors: Dalton George
Published: February 2017

At universities with Programs of African Studies, the question arises how best to train graduate students in economics who intend to specialize in African economic development: which particular fields within the corpus of pure and applied economics should be stressed, and which other subjects should be added which are not included in traditional economics curricula?

The answer depends upon one's judgment of what African development consists of and which problems of development are most common and most pressing in Africa.
United States Economic Aid to Africa: II. AID Program in the Sudan
Authors: Conroy F. Dennis
Published: February 2017

U.S. assistance to the Republic of the Sudan began in April 1958 when an economic aid office was established in Khartoum, following a bilateral agreement for economic, technical and related assistance. In the six-year period ending with fiscal year 1963 (June 30, 1963), the United States has committed $75.6 million in assistance. The two governments are cooperating in a program to assist in achieving the objectives of Sudan's ten-year Development Plan. Projects are concentrated in portions of four sectors of the economy with an additional underlying emphasis on technical and professional training: 1) educational assistance is channeled toward the goal of expanding and strengthening academic, teacher training and technical education through the secondary level; 2) agricultural extension and research programs are focused on diversification to reduce the dependence of the economy on cotton; 3) infrastructure assistance is concentrated on highway demonstration and training although AID does finance some feasibility studies and provides development loans for selected transportation and public utility projects; 4) industrial development in the private sector is promoted through assistance in establishing an Industrial Bank, selected feasibility studies to encourage formation of small and medium industries and loans to private enterprise.
African Studies in the United States
Authors: Brokensha David
Published: February 2017

Previous listings of African studies offered at American universities have appeared in the Bulletin, most recently in March 1963. This year the information is given in a slightly different form, as it is now possible to describe the general pattern of most African Studies programs in the U.S. If more information is desired, inquiries should be addressed to the directors of the programs. The Editor thanks those who kindly supplied the information, welcomes additional information and will be happy to include it in a subsequent issue of the Bulletin.

Most universities and colleges which have an organized African Studies Program have some or all of certain characteristics, which are for convenience listed here, with individual variations described for each institution. The organization generally consists of a “Program,” “Center,” or “Committee” which is largely an administrative device to bring together members of different disciplines, and to systematize and expand existing courses and seminars. Participating faculty members come mainly from the departments of Political Science, Anthropology, History, Economics, Geography and Sociology. They usually offer such general courses as “Government and Politics of Tropical Africa,” “Problems in Economic Anthropology,” “Peoples of East Africa,” “History of West Africa” and the like. In addition, many institutions have some specialization in discipline and in regional emphasis: such specialization is indicated.
North Africa and the Middle East
Authors: Halpern Manfred , Moore Clement
Published: February 2017

The sixth annual meeting of the African Studies Association was held at the Sir Francis Drake Hotel in San Francisco. The opening plenary session included three papers concerned with North African affairs. Benjamin Rivlin of Brooklyn College, considering “The Maghreb and Pan-Arabism,” began with a series of questions. Were the aspirations of the Maghreb states for Arab unity incompatible with their African vocation? Ought the Maghreb to be considered as a part of Africa, or was this precluded by the region's commitment to the Arab East? What was the extent of this commitment, and what identity did the Maghreb seek?
The African-American Institute
Authors: Engel Julien
Published: February 2017

The African-American Institute quietly rounds its first decade this year, as vastly transformed within during this eventful period as Africa has been without. The Institute's anniversary marks a significant milestone in the history of contemporary U.S. - African relations. The event is perhaps no less noteworthy for the history of area-oriented private American organizations.

The early work of the Institute addressed itself mainly to assisting African students and visitors in this country, and to informing an American public still largely unaware of Africa's growing ferment. It was in 1956, for instance, that AFRICA REPORT began publication, quickly gaining for itself an influential place as America's leading publication on contemporary African affairs.
Folklore as an Agent of Nationalism
Authors: Fernandez James W.
Published: February 2017

Hopefully there has been enough contact between humanists and social scientists in recent years and enough attempt at creating a common concern with common problems so that the one no longer entirely distrusts the cold and myopic eye of science peering into the literary intricacies of folklore and the other no longer thinks of folklore as a kind of folk entertainment, “a floating segment of culture,” which is marginal to his main concerns. I cannot speak for the humanist, though I should imagine he has learned to put up with the sometimes heavy hand of the anthropologist or political scientist for the sake of the wealth of contextual crosscultural data he gets from him. But speaking for the anthropologist, I would be surprised if there are any of us left today who would not collect what oral narrative we could, exploiting to the fullest the potentialities of such data in arriving at explanations for the workings of society and culture. We recognize well enough that folklore functions within a social and cultural context whose cultural content and social integration it both reflects and determines; We should therefore find some agreement in regarding folklore as having efficacy in human affairs - as being an agent.

That folklore is an agent of particular vitality and potential in Africa is something that can hardly be denied by those who have been there. We have evidence for this in the many extensive collections of traditional verbal art from the different quarters of that continent, and most recently we have only to mention the Herskovits collection in Dahomean Narrative. But folklore is not to be seen only as a manifestation of tribal tradition now on the wane. It must be seen as an aspect of African culture that will enjoy and suffer the greatest exploitation for the sake of the African future. This should surprise neither humanist nor social scientist for they both know well “how inviting, from its very nature the field of folklore is for those who wish to exalt national character and a national destiny.” (Herskovits, 1959: 219). We have watched it being used to these ends in countries as far removed as Ireland and Argentina, and now we see the same thing in Africa. We see, for example, how the concepts and the circumnambient mythologies of “African personality” and “negritude” depend in their expression upon authentic or reinterpreted African folklore. In the matter of migration legends alone one has only to read the work of one of the early African intellectuals to articulate these notions-Cheik Anta Diop's Nations Negres et Culture (1948)-to realize how crucial to the arguments of these cultural pan-Africanists are the migration legends of the various African peoples.
Comment: African Arts and Social Control
Authors: Bascom William
Published: February 2017

I am delighted with the manner in which these three papers have dealt with the social and political relevance of sculpture, folklore, and music. This is no startlingly new discovery. It has been recognized before by those interested in the arts, but it has been largely ignored by those who specialize in social and political studies. The contributors to this panel are to be congratulated for their documentation of this function of the arts, and our chairman deserves special recognition for this attempt to bring it to the attention of those who so often overlook it.

The panelists have stressed the lessons to be learned by the social scientists, but I wonder if there is not one for the humanists as well. The fact that artists are often rebels against the status quo is a truism in our society, but the significance of the arts as a medium of social and political action, and of change, is often ignored although similar examples can be found in Africa today as well as in the history of other societies.

Where does this leave our conventional definitions of art as aesthetic expression, as creativity, as “art for art's sake,” as concern with form for its own sake, or as elaboration beyond the point of utility? All these, I fear, underevaluate the socio-political utility of art which these papers have demonstrated in their different fields.
Xenophon on the Psychology of Supreme Political Ambition
Authors: PANGLE LORRAINE SMITH
Published: February 2017

This study illuminates Xenophon's teaching about the underlying psychological motives of the most fully developed political ambition. An analysis of what theCyropaediaportrays as the interplay among Cyrus's spiritedness, justice, benevolence, piety, and cultivation of an aura of divinity leads to an unveiling of supreme ambition's deepest root: not the desire for power as such, nor the love of justice, but the desire to be a quasi-divine benefactor. The article traces the development of this ambition from its earliest manifestations in the young Cyrus's puppylike spiritedness, through his hope-filled rise to power, to his grim mature rein and his death, showing how a shadowy concern for immortality drives him in ways he is reluctant to see or acknowledge.
Federalism in Switzerland
Authors: Bogdanor Vernon
Published: February 2017

‘FEDERALISM’, CLAIMED THE SWISS PHILOSOPHER, DENIS DE Rougemont, ‘rests upon thelove of complexity, by contrast with the brutal simplicity which characterises the totalitarian spirit’. It would be hard to deny that complexity is the most striking feature of federal government in Switzerland. To comprehend it fully, one would have to analyse the history, politics and atmosphere of each of the twenty-six cantons, for each is a political system in itself; and there is no such animal as a ‘typical’ canton. Political scientists have studied one or two cantons in some depth, and there are also impressionistic accounts of cantonal life, but there is no really satisfactory comparative analysis of the cantons as a whole. Further, many Swiss cantons are ‘closed' societies, difficult for the foreigner to penetrate and not easily accessible to the academic inquirer. The political scientist needs to acquire the skills of the anthropologist in addition to those of the analyst of political institutions if he is to make headway. It is difficult, therefore, to give anything more than a very general impression of the principles lying behind federal government in Switzerland, an impression which is bound to be, to some degree at least, misleading. For of no country more than Switzerland is it more correct to say that the truth lies in the minute particulars and not in generalities.

The complexity of Swiss federalism is a consequence of the fact that the Swiss have embraced more completely than any other democracy that essential principle, the leitmotiv, of federalism — the sharing of power. Switzerland is indeed an extreme example of federalism, just as it is an extreme example of the application of the principles of democracy and of neutrality in foreign affairs.
Tongue–lip adhesion and tongue repositioning for obstructive sleep apnoea in Pierre Robin sequence: A systematic review and meta-analysis
Authors: Camacho M , Noller M W , Zaghi S , Reckley L K , Fernandez-Salvador C , Ho E , Dunn B , Chan D K
Published: February 2017

Objective:

To search for studies on tongue–lip adhesion and tongue repositioning used as isolated treatments for obstructive sleep apnoea in children with Pierre Robin sequence.

Methods:

A systematic literature search of PubMed/Medline and three additional databases, from inception through to 8 July 2016, was performed by two authors.

Results:

Seven studies with 90 patients (59 tongue–lip adhesion and 31 tongue repositioning patients) met the inclusion criteria. Tongue–lip adhesion reduced the mean (± standard deviation) apnoea/hypopnoea index from 30.8 ± 22.3 to 15.4 ± 18.9 events per hour (50 per cent reduction). The apnoea/hypopnoea index mean difference for tongue–lip adhesion was −15.28 events per hour (95 per cent confidence interval = −30.70 to 0.15;p= 0.05). Tongue–lip adhesion improved the lowest oxygen saturation from 75.8 ± 6.8 to 84.4 ± 7.3 per cent. Tongue repositioning reduced the apnoea/hypopnoea index from 46.5 to 17.4 events per hour (62.6 per cent reduction). Tongue repositioning improved the mean oxygen saturation from 90.8 ± 1.2 to 95.0 ± 0.5 per cent.

Conclusion:

Tongue–lip adhesion and tongue repositioning can improve apnoea/hypopnoea index and oxygenation parameters in children with Pierre Robin sequence and obstructive sleep apnoea.
Otolaryngology outreach to Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital: a medical and educational partnership
Authors: Waller B , Larsen-Reindorf R , Duah M , Opoku-Buabeng J , Edwards B M , Brown D , Moyer J , Prince M , Basura G J
Published: February 2017

Background:

Medical and educational partnerships between high- and low-resourced countries provide opportunities to have a long-term meaningful impact on medical training and healthcare delivery.

Methods:

An otolaryngology partnership between Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital in Kumasi, Ghana, and the University of Michigan Department of Otolaryngology/Head and Neck Surgery has been undertaken to enhance healthcare delivery at both institutions.

Results:

A temporal bone dissection laboratory, with the equipment to perform dedicated otological surgery, and academic platforms for clinical and medical education and residency training have been established.

Conclusion:

This article describes the details of this partnership in otological surgery and hearing health, with an emphasis on creating in-country surgical simulation, training on newly acquired medical equipment and planning regarding the formulation of objectified metrics to gauge progress going forward.
Depressive symptoms and inflammation are independent risk factors of fatigue in breast cancer survivors
Authors: Xiao C. , Miller A. H. , Felger J. , Mister D. , Liu T. , Torres M. A.
Published: February 2017

Background

Psychosocial and inflammatory factors have been associated with fatigue in breast cancer survivors. Nevertheless, the relative contribution and/or interaction of these factors with cancer-related fatigue have not been well documented.

Method

This cross-sectional study enrolled 111 stage 0–III breast cancer patients treated with breast surgery followed by whole breast radiotherapy. Fatigue was measured by the total score of the Multidimensional Fatigue Inventory-20. Potential risk factors included inflammatory markers (plasma cytokines and their receptors and C-reactive protein; CRP), depressive symptoms (as assessed by the Inventory of Depressive Symptomatology–Self Reported), sleep (as assessed by the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index) and perceived stress (as assessed by the Perceived Stress Scale) as well as age, race, marital status, smoking history, menopause status, endocrine treatment, chemotherapy and cancer stage. Linear regression modeling was employed to examine risk factors of fatigue. Only risk factors with a significance level <0.10 were included in the initial regression model. A post-hoc mediation model using PROCESS SPSS was conducted to examine the association among depressive symptoms, sleep problems, stress, inflammation and fatigue.

Results

At 1 year post-radiotherapy, depressive symptoms (p<0.0001) and inflammatory markers (CRP: p = 0.015; interleukin-1 receptor antagonist: p = 0.014; soluble tumor necrosis factor receptor-2: p = 0.009 in separate models) were independent risk factors of fatigue. Mediation analysis showed that depressive symptoms also mediated the associations of fatigue with sleep and stress.

Conclusions

Depressive symptoms and inflammation were independent risk factors for cancer-related fatigue at 1 year post-radiotherapy, and thus represent independent treatment targets for this debilitating symptom.
Oscott in Oxford—Lost Opportunity or Misguided Pipe Dream?
Authors: Sharp John
Published: February 2017

The lifting of the ban on the attendance of Catholics at the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge in 1895, although intended primarily for laymen, was soon extended and led to the establishment of St. Edmund's House, Cambridge, for the secular (diocesan) clergy and the opening of houses of study at Oxford for the Jesuits (1896) and Benedictines (1897). Many bishops, however, remained ambivalent in their attitude to these developments, fearing that secular universities were a danger to the faith and morals of Catholics, and insisted that laymen should be obliged to attend extra lectures or conferences in which ‘Philosophy, History, and Religion shall be treated with such amplitude and solidity as to furnish effectual protection against false and erroneous teaching’.
Anti-Catholicism in Bath from 1820 to 1870
Authors: Griffin Brian
Published: February 2017

This paper challenges the idea that harmonious relations prevailed amongst Bath's various religious denominations during the ‘Age of Reform’, from the 1820s to the 1860s. It reveals instead that the public expression of anti-Catholic opinion was a regular feature of the city's political scene in this period. An anti-Catholic ‘crusade’, directed against such local targets as Prior Park and Downside colleges, and ‘Popery’ in general, was sustained by a variety of local organizations and national organizations that had branches in Bath, as well as prominent Tory activists resident in the city. Many Irish-born evangelical clergymen played a prominent role in this crusade. It is not surprising, given the prominence of Irish clergymen in Bath's anti-Catholic movement, that protests against the state endowment of Maynooth College were popular with the city's anti-Popery activists; furthermore, several proselytizing organizations whose principal aim was the conversion of Ireland's Catholics to the Protestant faith had a permanent base in Bath. The perceived iniquitous effects of ‘Popery’ in Ireland formed part of the anti-Catholic crusade's propaganda message. While the anti-Popery cause appealed particularly to the city's Church of England community, with many of its clergymen and prominent lay Anglicans to the fore of the anti-Catholic agitation, it attracted support from all sections of Protestant society.
Letter on the Occasion of Marcia Siegel's Award Panel
Authors: Phelan Peggy
Published: February 2017

I am sorry not to be able to join you in person today, but I am glad for the chance to participate in this opportunity to honor Marcia Siegel. Marcia and I taught together in the Department of Performance Studies at New York University from 1985, when I joined the faculty, until her retirement in 1999. And I was honored when she came to do a workshop and speak in my class at Stanford when I began teaching there in 2003. Many of you in attendance today know the beauty and rigor of Marcia's writing about dance, so perhaps it might be better if I spend my time sharing some aspects of Marcia's work that might be less well known to you.
Yearning for the Spiritual Ideal: The Influence of India on Western Dance 1626–2003
Authors: Warren Vincent
Published: February 2017

Europeans have imagined India as a land of fabulous riches and exotic legends since the time of ancient Greece. In Greek mythology Dionysus, the god of passion and wine, was said to have come from India, and Alexander the Great's proudest achievement was arriving at the banks of the Indus. When, after 1498, explorers from Portugal, Holland, England, Denmark, and France began to establish trade links with the subcontinent, it seemed the legends were true; rare spices, silks, gold, and precious stones were transported to Europe and added fuel to already inflamed imaginations. The very name of the city of Golconda became a synonym for unimaginable wealth. There was confusion between all things exotic or “oriental.” Turks, Africans, Persians, American “Indians,” and Caribbeans were all from the same imaginary region, “the Indies,” which existed more in the poetic fantasies of Europeans than on a geographical map.

As early as 1626 at the court of Louis XIII, king of France, the mysterious figure of Asia appeared in the Grand Bal de la Douairière de Billebahaut, a ballet danced by the king and his noble companions. In 1635 The Temple of Love, a court masque (as le ballet du cour was known in England), was presented at Whitehall Palace in London. In this spectacle, Persian youths voyaged to India to encounter Indamora, Queen of Narasinga, danced by Queen Henrietta Maria herself in a costume designed by Inigo Jones. Back in France, a Sanjac Indien represented the continent of Asia in another court ballet, Les Entretiens de la Fontaine de Vaucluse (1649).
A Plurality of Romanticisms: Italian Ballet and the Repertory of Antonio Cortesi and Giovanni Casati
Authors: Sowell Debra H.
Published: February 2017

In Romanticism and Post-Modernism, Edward Larrissy states, “It has long been recognized that Romanticism is a dubious essence” (1999, 2). Observing that the current tendency is to acknowledge a plurality of “Romanticisms,” he cites Arthur O. Lovejoy's article, “On the discrimination of Romanticisms,” originally published in 1924, in which Lovejoy argued that the term had taken on such a multiplicity of meanings that “we should learn to use the word ‘Romanticism’ in the plural” (1948, 235). Acknowledging multiple schools of Romanticism constitutes more than a “post-modern piece of de-essentialising,” according to Larrissy; it recognizes that the literary and artistic creations of the Romantic era were too varied to submit to “a unified Romantic discourse” (1999, 2). Lovejoy's thesis, so widely accepted in literary circles, holds promise for dance scholars working with repertory from the Romantic era that lies outside the mainstream of “dance history” as traditionally viewed from the perspective of the Paris Opéra. Embracing the possibility of multiple forms of “Romanticism” in the nineteenth-century ballet allows us to attach meaning to the balletic repertory of that era as it varied according to national setting and individual choreographer.
Recollections
Authors: McCormick Malcolm
Published: February 2017

I think of Juana often, and her memory remains undiminishedly vivid. And that word – vivid – seems the best to evoke so many things about her: her crisp slightly accented speech with its medley of languages; the clear, bright colors she liked to wear; the keen cobalt glance; and most of all her opinions – her palpable intellectual presence. Even though by the time we met she was in her mid-fifties, her hair had faded to a warm ashen grey, and she had lost the high coloring that must have been hers as a young woman, the impact of her physical presence was quite undiminished I think, and one couldn't help but be aware of its authentic potency as well as the vigor of her opinions and reactions in any situation that caught her interest. I think of her as having been tall but perhaps it was just that she carried herself so erectly and occupied space with such energy and assurance.
A Case-Control Study of Maternal Gestational Weight Gain and Newborn Birthweight and Birthlength in Twin Pregnancies Complicated by Preeclampsia
Authors: Luke B. , Keith L. , Lopez-Zeno J.A. , Witter F.R. , Saquil E.
Published: February 2017

To evaluate the influence of rate of gestational weight gain on newborn birthweight and birthlength in twin gestations complicated by preeclampsia, 74 cases of preeclampsia in twin pregnancy were matched to 148 non-preeclamptic twin controls for maternal race, height, pregravid weight, age and length of gestation. Total weight gain was significantly higher for all cases versus controls and for mild cases versus controls. However, the rate of early weight gain was lower for severe cases and severe cases with thrombocytopenia compared to their controls. Mean birthweight and birthlength did not differ between cases and controls, although the proportion with birthlength below the 10th percentile was significantly higher among cases than controls. In addition, the proportion of birthweights and birthlengths < 10th percentile was significantly higher among cases than controls. These findings suggest that inadequate early weight gain in twin gestations complicated by preeclampsia results in retarded birthlength and birthweight. The implication of these findings are discussed.
Size for Gestational Age and Neonatal Sleep Variables: Behavioral Indices of Risk in Fullterm Twins
Authors: Riese M.L.
Published: February 2017

Neonatal sleep behaviors and behavioral state cycling were observed for 20 pairs of same-sex, fullterm twins in which one twin of the pair was appropriate-for-gestational-age (AGA) and the other twin was small-for-gestational-age (SGA). Time-sampling recordings were made in active sleep of number and vigor of limb movements, body and head movements, and mouth movements. No group differences were observed for time spent in first active sleep, first quiet sleep, or length of first sleep cycle. Examination of specific behaviors indicated a significantly higher incidence of vigorous limb movements and right hand-to-mouth movements, with a trend for more small limb movements and left hand-to-face movements, for AGA twins when compared with SGA twins. SGA twins had significantly more spontaneous smiles and a trend for more spontaneous startles than AGA twins. A stepwise discriminant analysis indicated that a composite of the variables smile, large limb movement, startle, and left hand-to-face significantly discriminated between the two groups, with 90% correct classification of the AGA twins and 75% correct classification of the SGA twins. The results demonstrated the utility of evaluating specific sleep behaviors, rather than state cycling only, to describe differences in neonatal sleep characteristics between AGA and SGA twins.
Cerebrotendinous Xanthomatosis Presenting with Severe Externalized Disorder:Improvement After One Year of Treatment with Chenodeoxycholic Acid
Authors: Bonnot Olivier , Fraidakis Matthew J. , Lucanto Raffaella , Chauvin Dominique , Kelley Nathalie , Plaza Monique , Dubourg Odile , Lyon-Caen Olivier , Sedel Frédéric , Cohen David
Published: February 2017

Cerebrotendinous xanthomatosis (CTX) is a rare inborn disorder of sterol storage with autosomal recessive inheritance and a variable clinical presentation. We describe two siblings with an early psychiatric presentation of CTX-associated attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder and oppositional defiant disorder, also associated with a mild intellectual disability and major behavioral impairments. In both cases, treatment with chenodeoxycholic acid improved externalized symptoms and a partial recovery of cognitive impairments was observed. This suggests that CTX is potentially reversible, demonstrating the need for early diagnosis and treatment of this disorder before irreversible neurological lesions can occur.
Duration of Untreated Psychosis and Duration of Untreated Illness: New Vistas
Authors: Dell'Osso Bernardo , Altamura A. Carlo
Published: February 2017

The duration of untreated illness (DUI), defined as the interval between the onset of a psychiatric disorder and the administration of the first pharmacological treatment, has been increasingly investigated in the last decade as a predictor of outcome across different psychiatric conditions including schizophrenia and psychotic disorders (duration of untreated psychosis), and mood and anxiety disorders. Converging evidence indicates that a prolonged DUI may be viewed as a negative prognostic factor in schizophrenia and increasing data point toward a similar conclusion in mood and anxiety disorders. Through a Medline search, the present article highlights the role of the DUI in this group of psychiatric disorders, focusing on social and psychopathological determinants of the DUI, as well as the clinical consequences related to a longer DUI in terms of outcome. Hypotheses on neurobiological mechanisms underpinning outcome differences in relation to a prolonged DUI are provided and methodological limitations related to the assessment of the DUI in published studies and clinical practice discussed. Finally, given that DUI is supposed to be a potentially modifiable prognostic factor, intervention programs aimed to reduce this variable are briefly considered and discussed.
Quality of Life in Parkinson's Disease Patients Following Adjunctive Tolcapone Therapy: Results of an Open-Label, Multicenter, Community-Based Trial
Authors: Sethi Kapil , Factor Stewart , Watts Ray
Published: February 2017

Objective: To examine changes in quality of life (QOL) and global clinical status after 30 days of adjunctive treatment with tolcapone, a reversible inhibitor of catechol-O-methyltransferase, in patients with fluctuating Parkinson's disease.

Methods: This 30-day, multicenter, open-label, community-based study enrolled fluctuating Parkinson's disease patients to receive tolcapone 100 mg TID as an adjunct to levodopa/carbidopa. The primary end point was QOL change assessed using the Parkinson's Disease Questionnaire (PDQ)-8. Clinical change was assessed using the investigator-rated Clinical Global Impression of Improvement Scale (CGI-I).

Results: Fifty-six physicians enrolled 202 patients; 138 (68%) were ≥65 years of age and 116 (57%) had Parkinson's disease for ≥5 years. The mean PDQ-8 total score improved from 42.1 to 34.8 after 30 days of tolcapone (P<.0001). Sixty-nine percent of patients improved on the CGI-I. Physicians planned to continue tolcapone beyond the 30 days in 72%, most commonly because of positive changes in motor function and overall general improvement. No patient discontinued because of liver adverse events.

Conclusions: Adjunctive tolcapone treatment was associated with statistically significant improvement in QOL in fluctuating Parkinson's disease patients. A majority of patients experienced clinical benefits and continued treatment beyond the end of this study. No liver-related adverse events were reported.
Correction of Venlafaxine- and Duloxetine-Induced Transaminase Elevations with Desvenlafaxine in a Patient with Gilbert's Syndrome
Authors: Feinberg S. Shalom
Published: February 2017

Recent reviews have questioned whether the serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor (SNRI) desvenlafaxine succinate offers any practical clinical advantages over existing SNRIs. The following case is one instance where it appears that this SNRI offers unique safety and benefit. Presented is a case report of a patient with Gilbert's syndrome, longstanding social phobia, and more recent depressive disorder not otherwise specified, who was found to have elevated liver transaminases when prescribed both duloxetine and venlafaxine. The patient subsequently responded to desvenlafaxine but without liver abnormalities. In this patient with Gilbert's Syndrome, desvenlafaxine's lack of metabolism through the cytochrome P450 (CYP) 2D6 pathway may explain the avoidance of these abnormalities and thus suggests a possible therapeutic role for this SNRI in similarly susceptible patients.
One-Year Open-Label Safety and Efficacy Study of Paliperidone Extended-Release Tablets in Patients With Schizophrenia
Authors: Kramer Michelle , Simpson George , Maciulis Valentinas , Kushner Stuart , Liu Yanning , Lim Pilar , Hough David , Palumbo Joseph , Eerdekens Mariëlle
Published: February 2017

Introduction: This 52-week open-label extension (OLE) to a double-blind placebo-controlled recurrence prevention study examined the long-term safety and efficacy of flexibly-dosed paliperidone extended-release (ER) tablets in patients with schizophrenia.

Methods: Patients entering the OLE either entered from the double-blind phase (placebo or paliperidone ER treatment) or entered directly from the run-in or stabilization phase (paliperidone ER) of the earlier study. During the OLE, patients were treated with flexibly-dosed paliperidone ER (3–15 mg/day; 9 mg starting dose). Safety and tolerability assessments included incidence of adverse events and extrapyramidal symptoms. Efficacy was also assessed.

Results: The study population (n=235) was predominantly men (66%), 18–58 years of age. Twelve patients (5%) experienced an adverse event requiring treatment discontinuation. One or more serious treatment-emergent adverse events were reported in 13 patients (6%). There was one death. The mean Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale total score decreased from open-label baseline to endpoint for all groups, regardless of previous double-blind treatment (placebo or paliperidone ER).

Conclusion: This year-long OLE provides information on the long-term safety and tolerability of paliperidone ER in patients with schizophrenia. The resulting safety and tolerability profile was similar to that seen in earlier short-term studies.
Rivastigmine and Concomitant Memantine in Alzheimer's Disease: Safety and Tolerability
Authors: Safirstein Beth , Meng Xiangyi , Olin Jason T.
Published: February 2017

Background: Investigate the safety and tolerability of rivastigmine capsules and transdermal patch in patients with moderate Alzheimer's disease receiving concomitant memantine.

Methods: Safety data from two prospective, open-label, multicenter trials were analyzed. Study US32: patients received rivastigmine capsules (3–12 mg/day) plus memantine (20 mg/day). Study US38: patients switched from donepezil to rivastigmine patches (4.6 mg/24 hours) immediately or following 7 days' withdrawal; ∼50% received concomitant memantine (20 mg/day).

Results: The rivastigmine patch demonstrated more favorable tolerability than rivastigmine capsules, being associated with fewer adverse events (AEs) (73% versus 83%), serious AEs (10% versus 23%) and gastrointestinal symptoms (4% versus 26% for nausea; 4% versus 11% for vomiting). Application site reactions occurred in 17% of patients.

Conclusion: Concomitant memantine treatment with rivastigmine patch and capsule is generally well tolerated. The favorable tolerability and safety profile of rivastigmine transdermal patch is not further improved with concomitant memantine. Recommendations to minimize application site reactions are provided.
Pharmacologic Treatment of Epilepsy
Authors: Fountain Nathan B. , Cole Andrew J.
Published: February 2017

A 64-year-old man had a first generalized seizure. He was seen in an emergency room where magnetic resonance imaging revealed a right parietal meningioma with a diameter of 2.5 cm. He was seen by the neurosurgery team and a craniotomy was performed. He was discharged from the hospital on phenytoin. Three weeks later he reported drowsiness and unsteadiness to his neurologist. In addition, he described episodes of transient sensory disturbance in his left arm, sometimes with twitching movements of the left hand and wrist. These episodes could last ≤3 minutes, and his hand and arm would be weak afterward for several hours. A phenytoin level was measured at 17. Lamotrigine was added to his regimen, and on 400 mg/day the lamotrigine level was 3.8. The dose was increased gradually to 400 mg BID and seizures stopped. Two hours after each dose, however, the patient would become dizzy, nauseated, and encephalopathic for a period of 60–90 minutes.

The patient presented with a convulsive seizure due to a meningioma and developed simple partial sensorymotor seizures arising in the region of the meningioma after its resection. The seizures persisted with phenytoin at a moderately high serum level but responded to lamotrigine as a second agent at just above the maximum tolerated dose. This case illustrates a common course of events for otherwise healthy adults who have seizures due to structural brain disease and are placed on phenytoin and lamotrigine.
NOAA Video Shows Satellite Views of Louisiana Tornadoes
Authors: Wendel JoAnna
Published: February 2017

Real-time updates of storms will help forecasters track and predict where the most damage could occur.
A ligand-directed divergent catalytic approach to establish structural and functional scaffold diversity
Authors: Lee Yen-Chun , Patil Sumersing , Golz Christopher , Strohmann Carsten , Ziegler Slava , Kumar Kamal , Waldmann Herbert
Published: February 2017

The selective transformation of different starting materials by different metal catalysts under individually optimized reaction conditions to structurally different intermediates and products is a powerful approach to generate diverse molecular scaffolds. In a more unified albeit synthetically challenging strategy, common starting materials would be exposed to a common metal catalysis, leading to a common intermediate and giving rise to different scaffolds by tuning the reactivity of the metal catalyst through different ligands. Herein we present a ligand-directed synthesis approach for the gold(I)-catalysed cycloisomerization of oxindole-derived 1,6-enynes that affords distinct molecular scaffolds following different catalytic reaction pathways. Varying electronic properties and the steric demand of the gold(I) ligands steers the fate of a common intermediary gold carbene to selectively form spirooxindoles, quinolones or df-oxindoles. Investigation of a synthesized compound collection in cell-based assays delivers structurally novel, selective modulators of the Hedgehog and Wnt signalling pathways, autophagy and of cellular proliferation.
Regional cooling caused recent New Zealand glacier advances in a period of global warming
Authors: Mackintosh Andrew N. , Anderson Brian M. , Lorrey Andrew M. , Renwick James A. , Frei Prisco , Dean Sam M.
Published: February 2017

Glaciers experienced worldwide retreat during the twentieth and early twenty first centuries, and the negative trend in global glacier mass balance since the early 1990s is predominantly a response to anthropogenic climate warming. The exceptional terminus advance of some glaciers during recent global warming is thought to relate to locally specific climate conditions, such as increased precipitation. In New Zealand, at least 58 glaciers advanced between 1983 and 2008, and Franz Josef and Fox glaciers advanced nearly continuously during this time. Here we show that the glacier advance phase resulted predominantly from discrete periods of reduced air temperature, rather than increased precipitation. The lower temperatures were associated with anomalous southerly winds and low sea surface temperature in the Tasman Sea region. These conditions result from variability in the structure of the extratropical atmospheric circulation over the South Pacific. While this sequence of climate variability and its effect on New Zealand glaciers is unusual on a global scale, it remains consistent with a climate system that is being modified by humans.
Pervasive translational regulation of the cell signalling circuitry underlies mammalian development
Authors: Fujii Kotaro , Shi Zhen , Zhulyn Olena , Denans Nicolas , Barna Maria
Published: February 2017

The degree and dynamics of translational control during mammalian development remain poorly understood. Here we monitored translation of the mammalian genome as cells become specified and organize into tissues in vivo. This identified unexpected and pervasive translational regulation of most of the core signalling circuitry including Shh, Wnt, Hippo, PI3K and MAPK pathways. We further identify and functionally characterize a complex landscape of upstream open reading frames (uORFs) across 5′-untranslated regions (UTRs) of key signalling components. Focusing on the Shh pathway, we demonstrate the importance of uORFs within the major SHH receptor, Ptch1, in control of cell signalling and neuronal differentiation. Finally, we show that the expression of hundreds of mRNAs underlying critical tissue-specific developmental processes is largely regulated at the translation but not transcript levels. Altogether, this work reveals a new layer of translational control to major signalling components and gene regulatory networks that diversifies gene expression spatially across developing tissues.
RNA-seq based detection of differentially expressed genes in the skeletal muscle of Duroc pigs with distinct lipid profiles
Authors: Cardoso T. F. , Cánovas A. , Canela-Xandri O. , González-Prendes R. , Amills M. , Quintanilla R.
Published: February 2017

We have used a RNA-seq approach to investigate differential expression in the skeletal muscle of swine (N = 52) with divergent lipid profiles i.e. HIGH (increased intramuscular fat and muscle saturated and monounsaturated fatty acid contents, higher serum lipid concentrations and fatness) and LOW pigs (leaner and with an increased muscle polyunsaturated fatty acid content). The number of mRNAs and non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs) expressed in the porcine gluteus medius muscle were 18,104 and 1,558, respectively. At the nominal level of significance (P-value ≤ 0.05), we detected 1,430 mRNA and 12 non-coding RNA (ncRNA) transcripts as differentially expressed (DE) in the gluteus medius muscle of HIGH vs LOW pigs. This smaller contribution of ncRNAs to differential expression may have biological and technical reasons. We performed a second analysis, that was more stringent (P-value ≤ 0.01 and fold-change ≥ 1.5), and only 96 and 0 mRNA-and ncRNA-encoding genes happened to be DE, respectively. The subset of DE mRNA genes was enriched in pathways related with lipid (lipogenesis and triacylglycerol degradation) and glucose metabolism. Moreover, HIGH pigs showed a more lipogenic profile than their LOW counterparts.
The nexus between forest fragmentation in Africa and Ebola virus disease outbreaks
Authors: Rulli Maria Cristina , Santini Monia , Hayman David T. S. , D’Odorico Paolo
Published: February 2017

Tropical forests are undergoing land use change in many regions of the world, including the African continent. Human populations living close to forest margins fragmented and disturbed by deforestation may be particularly exposed to zoonotic infections because of the higher likelihood for humans to be in contact with disease reservoirs. Quantitative analysis of the nexus between deforestation and the emergence of Ebola virus disease (EVD), however, is still missing. Here we use land cover change data in conjunction with EVD outbreak records to investigate the association between recent (2004–2014) outbreaks in West and Central Africa, and patterns of land use change in the region. We show how in these EVD outbreaks the index cases in humans (i.e. spillover from wildlife reservoirs) occurred mostly in hotspots of forest fragmentation.
Bioproduction, characterization, anticancer and antioxidant activities of extracellular melanin pigment produced by newly isolated microbial cell factories Streptomyces glaucescens NEAE-H
Authors: El-Naggar Noura El-Ahmady , El-Ewasy Sara M.
Published: February 2017

In this present study, a newly isolated strain,Streptomycessp. NEAE-H, capable of producing high amount of black extracellular melanin pigment on peptone-yeast extract iron agar and identified asStreptomyces glaucescensNEAE-H. Plackett–Burman statistical design was conducted for initial screening of 17 independent (assigned) variables for their significances on melanin pigment production byStreptomyces glaucescensNEAE-H. The most significant factors affecting melanin production are incubation period, protease-peptone and ferric ammonium citrate. The levels of these significant variables and their interaction effects were optimized by using face-centered central composite design. The maximum melanin production (31.650 μg/0.1 ml) and tyrosinase activity (6089.10 U/ml) were achieved in the central point runs under the conditions of incubation period (6 days), protease-peptone (5 g/L) and ferric ammonium citrate (0.5 g/L). Melanin pigment was recovered by acid-treatment. Higher absorption of the purified melanin pigment was observed in the UV region at 250 nm. It appeared to have defined small spheres by scanning electron microscopy imaging. The maximum melanin yield was 350 mg dry wt/L of production medium.In vitroanticancer activity of melanin pigment was assayed against skin cancer cell line using MTT assay. The IC50value was 16.34 ± 1.31 μg/ml for melanin and 8.8 ± 0.5 μg/ml for standard 5-fluorouracil.
Protective effect of maternal uteroplacental insufficiency on oxygen-induced retinopathy in offspring: removing bias of premature birth
Authors: Becker Silke , Wang Haibo , Yu Baifeng , Brown Randy , Han Xiaokun , Lane Robert H. , Hartnett M. Elizabeth
Published: February 2017

To address the hypothesis that maternal uteroplacental insufficiency (UPI) increases severity of retinopathy of prematurity, we developed a composite rat model of UPI and oxygen-fluctuations and removed premature birth as a confounding factor. Timed-pregnant Sprague-Dawley dams underwent bilateral uterine artery ligation or anesthesia (control) at e19.5. Full-term pups developed in room air (RA) or an oxygen-induced retinopathy (OIR) model. Isolectin-stained retinal flat-mounts were analyzed for percent of areas of avascular/total retina (AVA) and of intravitreal neovascular/total retina (IVNV). Pup weights and serum and mRNA of liver and kidney VEGF, IGF-1, and erythropoietin (EPO) were determined. Multivariable mixed effects linear regressions and Pearson correlations were performed using STATA14. Postnatal growth restriction occurred in pups in UPI/RA, but not in UPI/OIR. Weight gain was similar between UPI/OIR and control/OIR pups. AVA was reduced and a trend toward reduced IVNV was seen in UPI/OIR compared to control/OIR. No difference in birth weights of UPI/OIR vs. control/OIR pups occurred. Serum and renal IGF-1 and EPO were significantly increased in UPI/OIR compared to control/OIR pups. In the absence of prematurity, UPI increased angiogenic factors in association with reduced OIR severity, suggesting that ischemia from UPI could yield protective angiogenic effects by offspring.
Peptoids successfully inhibit the growth of gram negative E. coli causing substantial membrane damage
Authors: Mojsoska Biljana , Carretero Gustavo , Larsen Sylvester , Mateiu Ramona Valentina , Jenssen Håvard
Published: February 2017

Peptoids are an alternative approach to antimicrobial peptides that offer higher stability towards enzymatic degradation. It is essential when developing new types of peptoids, that mimic the function of antimicrobial peptides, to understand their mechanism of action. Few studies on the specific mechanism of action of antimicrobial peptoids have been described in the literature, despite the plethora of studies on the mode of action of antimicrobial peptides. Here, we investigate the mechanism of action of two short cationic peptoids, rich in lysine and tryptophan side chain functionalities. We demonstrate that both peptoids are able to cause loss of viability in E. coli susceptible cells at their MIC (16–32 μg/ml) concentrations. Dye leakage assays demonstrate slow and low membrane permeabilization for peptoid 1, that is still higher for lipid compositions mimicking bacterial membranes than lipid compositions containing Cholesterol. At concentrations of 4 × MIC (64–128 μg/ml), pore formation, leakage of cytoplasmic content and filamentation were the most commonly observed morphological changes seen by SEM in E. coli treated with both peptoids. Flow cytometry data supports the increase of cell size as observed in the quantification analysis from the SEM images and suggests overall decrease of DNA per cell mass over time.