bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Sialyl Lewis x (CD15s) identifies highly differentiated and most suppressive FOXP3
high
regulatory T cells in humans
Authors: Miyara Makoto , Chader Driss , Sage Edouard , Sugiyama Daisuke , Nishikawa Hiroyoshi , Bouvry Diane , Claër Laetitia , Hingorani Ravi , Balderas Robert , Rohrer Jurg , Warner Noel , Chapelier Alain , Valeyre Dominique , Kannagi Reiji , Sakaguchi Shimon , Amoura Zahir , Gorochov Guy
Published: May 2015

Significance

CD4
+
regulatory T (Treg) cells expressing CD25 and the transcription factor forkhead box P3 (FOXP3) play indispensable roles for immunological self-tolerance and homeostasis. Because human FOXP3
+
CD25
+
CD4
+
T cells are heterogeneous in function and differentiation status, their analysis and manipulation for treating immunological diseases remains a challenge. Here we show that CD15s (sialyl Lewis x) is specifically expressed by activated, terminally differentiated, and most suppressive FOXP3
high
Treg cells, allowing their separation from nonsuppressive FOXP3
+
CD4
+
T cells secreting inflammatory cytokines. Removal of CD15s
+
CD4
+
T cells from human blood is indeed sufficient to enhance in vitro antitumor and antiviral antigen responses. CD15s is therefore useful for phenotypic as well as functional analysis of human Treg subpopulations and for targeting them to control immune responses.
Long-range electrostatic screening in ionic liquids
Authors: Gebbie Matthew A. , Dobbs Howard A. , Valtiner Markus , Israelachvili Jacob N.
Published: May 2015

Significance

Liquid solutions with high concentrations of electrically charged ions are key elements of many energy storage technologies and are prevalent in biology. Nevertheless, they remain poorly understood. We study ionic liquids—liquids composed solely of ions—with the goal of providing a general picture of concentrated ionic solutions. Using molecular-scale experiments, we show that, surprisingly, less than 0.1% of the ions in ionic liquids are “free” to contribute to electrostatic screening, with the remainder “stuck” as neutral aggregates. Our temperature-dependent results provide fundamental guidance for designing high-performance ionic liquids for numerous applications. More broadly, we provide a novel way of envisioning concentrated ionic solutions with wide-ranging implications, such as elucidating the nanoscale properties of underwater bioadhesives and other self-assembled biomolecules.
Loggerhead sea turtle hatchling sex ratio differences between two nesting beaches in Turkey
Authors: Sarı Fikret , Kaska Yakup
Published: May 2015

Hatchling sex ratios of loggerhead sea turtles (Caretta caretta) were estimated on two main nesting beaches (Dalyan Beach and Göksu Delta) in Turkey using three methods: nest temperature, incubation period and gonad histology. The electronic temperature recorders were placed in 35 selected nests. The mean nest temperature in the middle third of the incubation period was calculated as 29.5 °C on Dalyan Beach and as 31 °C on Göksu Delta. Incubation periods on Dalyan Beach and Göksu Delta were found as 52.9 days and 50.4 days, respectively. Gonad histology method was used only on Dalyan Beach and it was determined that 235 (55.6%) hatchlings were female out of 423 histologically examined hatchlings. Using nest temperatures and incubation periods, sex ratios on Dalyan Beach were estimated as 61% and 69.3%, and on Göksu Delta as 81% and 73.1%, respectively. In light of our sex ratio results, Dalyan Beach has a relatively high proportion of male hatchlings possibly due to its relatively western location. Our findings indicate that Dalyan Beach is an important nesting beach for loggerhead sea turtles in the eastern Mediterranean not only in terms of nest numbers and hatching success but also for its high proportion of male hatchlings. As for the methods used in this study, for further studies, we can suggest that nest temperature method provides the most accurate sex ratio result compared with incubation period and gonad histology methods, if temperature-recorded nests are selected in a manner of representing temporal distribution of the total nests on study beach.
Optimizing Engines: Rational Choice in the Neolithic?
Authors: Sterelny Kim
Published: May 2015

This article has both substantive and methodological goals. Methodologically, it shows that rational choice theory (in its behavioral ecology form) is an especially important tool for guiding research in contexts in which agents appear to be acting against their best interests. The Neolithic transition is one such case, and the article develops a substantive conception of that transition, illustrating the heuristic power of behavioral ecology.
A Novel Solution to the Problem of Old Evidence
Authors: Sprenger Jan
Published: May 2015

One of the most troubling and persistent challenges for Bayesian Confirmation Theory is the Problem of Old Evidence (POE). The problem arises for anyone who models scientific reasoning by means of Bayesian Conditionalization. This article addresses the problem as follows: First, I clarify the nature and varieties of the POE and analyze various solution proposals in the literature. Second, I present a novel solution that combines previous attempts while making weaker and more plausible assumptions. Third and last, I summarize my findings and put them into the context of the general debate about POE and Bayesian reasoning.
Computation of invariants of finite abelian groups
Authors: Hubert Evelyne , Labahn George
Published: May 2015

We investigate the computation and applications of rational invariants of the linear action of a finite abelian group in the nonmodular case. By diagonalization, such a group action can be described by integer matrices of orders and exponents. We make use of integer linear algebra to compute a minimal generating set of invariants along with the substitution needed to rewrite any invariant in terms of this generating set. In addition, we show how to construct a minimal generating set that consists only of polynomial invariants. As an application, we provide a symmetry reduction scheme for polynomial systems whose solution set is invariant by a finite abelian group action. Finally, we also provide an algorithm to find such symmetries given a polynomial system.
A characterization of a new type of strong law of large numbers
Authors: Li Deli , Qi Yongcheng , Rosalsky Andrew
Published: May 2015

Let

0
>
p
>
2

0 > p > 2

and

1
≤
q
>
∞

1 \leq q > \infty

. Let

{

X

n

;
 
n
≥
1
}

\{X_{n};~n \geq 1 \}

be a sequence of independent copies of a real-valued random variable

X
X

and set

S

n

=

X

1

+
⋯
+

X

n

,
 
n
≥
1

S_{n} = X_{1} + \cdots + X_{n}, ~n \geq 1

. We say

X
X

satisfies the

(
p
,
q
)

(p, q)

-type strong law of large numbers (and write

X
∈
S
L
L
N
(
p
,
q
)

X \in SLLN(p, q)

) if
<mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" alttext="sigma-summation Underscript n equals 1 Overscript normal infinity Endscripts StartFraction 1 Over n EndFraction left-parenthesis StartFraction StartAbsoluteValue upper S Subscript n Baseline EndAbsoluteValue Over n Superscript 1 slash p Baseline EndFraction right-parenthesis Superscript q Baseline greater-than normal infinity">

∑

n
=
1

∞

1
n

(

|

S

n

|

n

1

/

p

)

q

>
∞

\sum _{n = 1}^{\infty } \frac {1}{n}\left (\frac {\left |S_{n}\right |}{n^{1/p}} \right )^{q} > \infty

almost surely. This paper is devoted to a characterization of

X
∈
S
L
L
N
(
p
,
q
)

X \in SLLN(p, q)

. By applying results obtained from the new versions of the classical Lévy, Ottaviani, and Hoffmann-Jørgensen (1974) inequalities proved by Li and Rosalsky (2013) and by using techniques developed by Hechner (2009) and Hechner and Heinkel (2010), we obtain sets of necessary and sufficient conditions for

X
∈
S
L
L
N
(
p
,
q
)

X \in SLLN(p, q)

for the six cases:

1
≤
q
>
p
>
2

1 \leq q > p > 2

,

1
>
p
=
q
>
2

1 > p = q > 2

,

1
>
p
>
2

1 > p > 2

and

q
>
p

q > p

,

q
=
p
=
1

q = p = 1

,

p
=
1
>
q

p = 1 > q

, and

0
>
p
>
1
≤
q

0 > p > 1 \leq q

. The necessary and sufficient conditions for

X
∈
S
L
L
N
(
p
,
1
)

X \in SLLN(p, 1)

have been discovered by Li, Qi, and Rosalsky (2011). Versions of the above results in a Banach space setting are also given. Illustrative examples are presented.
Randomness and differentiability
Authors: Brattka Vasco , Miller Joseph , Nies André
Published: May 2015

We characterize some major algorithmic randomness notions via differentiability of effective functions.

(1) As the main result we show that a real number

z
∈
[
0
,
1
]

z\in [0,1]

is computably random if and only if each nondecreasing computable function

[
0
,
1
]
→

R

[0,1]\rightarrow \mathbb {R}

is differentiable at

z
z

.

(2) We prove that a real number

z
∈
[
0
,
1
]

z\in [0,1]

is weakly 2-random if and only if each almost everywhere differentiable computable function

[
0
,
1
]
→

R

[0,1]\rightarrow \mathbb {R}

is differentiable at

z
z

.

(3) Recasting in classical language results dating from 1975 of the constructivist Demuth, we show that a real 

z
z

is Martin-Löf random if and only if every computable function of bounded variation is differentiable at 

z
z

, and similarly for absolutely continuous functions.

We also use our analytic methods to show that computable randomness of a real is base invariant and to derive other preservation results for randomness notions.
Facing Up to the Hard Problems
Authors: Chattopadhyay Subrata
Published: May 2015

This chapter offers examples of crucial insights that an Eastern insider can offer to improve Western and Eastern bioethics. It highlights “colonized minds”, pervasive political and medical profession, and health sector corruption, as myriad intracultural and cross-cultural challenges for the development of a culturally competent national and international bioethics. The chapter concludes with evaluations of the prejudice, conflict, and neocolonial moral imperialism of Western bioethics and provides suggestions for useful corrections to Western transgenic culture.
Capacity Building in Developing World Bioethics
Authors: Simpson Bob
Published: May 2015

This chapter explores significant cultural, institutional, and economic disorders that affect bioethics in Sri Lanka. It provides an analysis and argument that building bioethics capacity from the blueprints of an international bioethics is more an irregular process of improvisation and irregularity than an exercise of neat and perpendicular architecture. The chapter concludes with a discussion of the problem of ongoing colonizing power of entrenched Westernized European and Anglophone biomedicine and Western hippocratic medical ethics, which marginalizes indigenous medical and value systems.
Bioethics Between Two Worlds
Authors: Jennings Bruce
Published: May 2015

This chapter explores the emergence and social functions of bioethics born in Central and Eastern Europe. It outlines the historical, sociocultural, and economic factors that hinder bioethics development during the Soviet period; the contradiction of Central European bioethics toward neoliberal values and free market society; and the possibility of Central European bioethics as a “Third Way” discursive space for social ethics and communism. The chapter concludes with an analysis of lessons that Eastern European bioethics can offer to Western European and Anglo-American bioethics.
Bioethics in Chile and the Need for Latin American Bioethics
Authors: Kottow Miguel , Russo Moisés
Published: May 2015

This chapter talks about the historical and sociocultural features that shape Latin American bioethics and lead Chilean mainstream bioethics to attribute cultural and ethical prominence. Chilean bioethics features include ongoing neocolonial conditions; sustained social and political influence of a Catholic Church; economic dependence on foreign capital, know-how, and marketing; and undaunted socioeconomic inequities. The chapter concludes with an advocate for secular representation in civil society as an urgent need to engage a broader representation of the Chilean population in public deliberation and promote democratic education and consensus to ensure fairness and legitimacy in Chilean bioethics.
Bioethics in Costa Rica
Authors: Gifford Fred , Rodriguez Ana
Published: May 2015

This chapter highlights the background factors in developing bioethics in Costa Rica and other Latin American countries. The background factors include the influence of the Roman Catholic church on public opinion and policy, the culture of secrecy and corruption in government and medicine, the established power and political interests of a paternalistic medical profession, the general culture of trust in authority, and the general unempowered position of the average Costa Rican. The chapter concludes with a discussion of the role of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund in privatizing government agencies and reducing public spending.
The Social Functions of Bioethics in South Africa
Authors: van Niekerk Anton A. , Benatar Solomon R.
Published: May 2015

This chapter focuses on South African bioethics, which originated as the “spillover” from British and European academic institutions as a result of its colonial past. South African bioethics are linked to indigenous concerns and takes on social functions that advance on local social, political, and humanitarian concerns. It highlights the apartheid state as a repressive, authoritarian society under which public and professional debates on ethics are limited, and the death of Steve Biko as a significant turning point to the indigenization of South African bioethics.
Toward an African Ubuntuology/uMunthuology Bioethics in Malawi in the Context of Globalization
Authors: Mfutso-Bengo Joseph , Masiye Francis
Published: May 2015

This chapter provides a traditional view on African bioethics, featuring bioethics in native Malawi. It focuses on African ubuntu/uMunthu ethical theory and bioethics, which take on the key social function of restoring and preserving the national cultural heritage in Malawi and urging medical students to apply bioethics in their medical practice. The chapter concludes with a description of the cultural meanings of communalistic African Bantu bioethics, including its relational concepts of humanism, personhood, and interdependence self-determination.
The Dominion of Bioethics
Authors: Frolic Andrea , Coughlin Michael D. , Keating Bernard
Published: May 2015

This chapter provides a case study of the relationships between bioethics and the project and pitfalls of nation-building, raising crucial questions about the influence of history, culture, and politics on the enterprise of bioethics. It focuses on Canadian bioethics, which is preoccupied with questions of national identity and unique cultural meaning. Anxiety over what defines a Canadian and what makes Canada unique as a nation is fueled by perceived external and internal challenges to a coherent national identity, such as American popular culture and political influence, and Quebec nationalism.
Negotiating Islamic Identity in Egypt through Bioethics
Authors: Eich Thomas , Bentlage Björn
Published: May 2015

This chapter discusses Egyptian bioethics, which functions as the place for Egyptians to freely negotiate their values and vision of Egyptian society. It identifies the key actors in the field of Egyptian bioethics across a spectrum of government religious and non-religious actors, non-Egyptian actors, and the media. The chapter concludes with a presentation of two short case studies that relate to sexual mores and the role of women in Egyptian society, revealing a heightened cultural meaning and emphasis on how to control female sexuality through Egyptian bioethics.
Hiking the Range
Authors: Wolf Susan
Published: May 2015

This chapter introduces the book, which deals with philosophical ethics. It is filled with challenging and provocative discussions on a wide range of philosophical positions and problems. All of these discussions are at least loosely presented as being in the service of the search for the supreme principle of morality. This chapter comments on the suggestion that there is a single true morality, a suggestion that has both a metaethical and a normative aspect. It argues that there are tensions in our common moral thought at least some of which are reflected in the differences among Kantian, contractualist, and consequentialist perspectives. One such tension, which is frequently associated with the difference between Kantian and consequentialist ethics, is that between respect for autonomy and concern for optimific results. The chapter considers how this tension disappears when the author of this book transforms Immanuel Kant's theory. It also examines the tensions between contractualist and noncontractualist theories, as well as the importance (or unimportance) of finding a supreme principle of morality.
Humanity as End in Itself
Authors: Wood Allen
Published: May 2015

This chapter comments on the author's interpretation of Immanuel Kant's demand that we treat humanity as an end in itself. It considers Kant's idea in relation to issues surrounding hypothetically rational consent, along with the author's previous remarks about the relation of possible rational consent to actual consent and how each bears on the morality of actions. It also examines what the author calls a ‘value-based’ theory of reasons; a rejection of ‘desire-based’ theories; a thesis that ‘no reasons are provided by our desires and aims’; and a method in ethical theory. Finally, it discusses the system of moral philosophy, following the Kantian conception, and the claim that the ‘humanity’ which has dignity cannot refer to non-moral rationality.
A Mismatch of Methods
Authors: Herman Barbara
Published: May 2015

This chapter talks about the book's hybrid theory of morality, or at least of the part of morality that tells us which acts are wrong. The theory is elaborated by way of an extended and inventive critical reconstruction of Immanuel Kant's ethics as a kind of contractualism. What makes it hybrid is the conjunction of the contractualist framework with an account of value that is for the most part concerned with outcome effects on well-being. This chapter comments on the hybrid methodological approach to understanding the ambitions of Kant's moral theory, which it argues is anything but hybrid. Given that the defining feature of Kant's theory is that goodness is a function of — and not independent of — moral principle, it challenges the book's revisionary interpretive project, which aims to elicit the best in Kant's ethics by evaluating and revising its claims in terms of non-moral good outcomes. More specifically, the chapter argues that the project does not capture what is most distinctive about Kant's theory; the mismatch of methods is too profound.
On Hiking the Range
Authors: Parfit Derek
Published: May 2015

This chapter illustrates the notion of actual and possible consent based on Immanuel Kant's views. According to Kant's Consent Principle, we ought to treat people only in ways to which they could rationally consent. The chapter responds to Susan Wolf's suggestion that interpreting Kant in this way means abandoning the Kantian idea of respect for autonomy, which often requires us to treat people only in ways to which they actually consent. But the Consent Principle does not abandon this idea, since people could seldom rationally consent to being treated in some way without their actual consent. And when such treatment would be wrong, this principle would not require such acts. The chapter also examines Kant's Rule Consequentialism, Wolf's claim that it is wrong to harm people if we are treating them merely as a means, and her rejection of the idea that everyone could rationally choose certain non-optimific autonomy-protecting principles. Finally, it agrees with Wolf's argument that it would not be a tragedy if there is no single supreme moral principle, but asserts that it would be a tragedy if there is no single true morality.
On Humanity as an End in itself
Authors: Parfit Derek
Published: May 2015

This chapter outlines a philosophical discussion of Immanuel Kant's insistence that we should treat humanity as an end in itself. It responds to Allen Wood's claim that the ‘most definitive form’ of Kant's supreme principle is his Formula of Autonomy, which becomes another version of Derek Parfit's proposed Kantian Contractualist Formula. It also considers Wood's suggestion that humanity or rational nature has the supreme value that both grounds morality and gives us our reason to obey the moral law, arguing that the supreme value of rational beings is not a kind of goodness but a kind of moral status. This moral status could not be what grounds morality and gives us our reason to obey the moral law. Nor could such a ground be provided by the value of non-moral rationality. But Kant sometimes uses ‘humanity’ to refer to our capacity for morality and for having good wills. The supreme goodness of good wills might be the value that grounds morality. The chapter concludes by analysing Wood's contention that our acts are wrong when and because they fail to respect the value of non-moral rationality.
On a Mismatch of Methods
Authors: Parfit Derek
Published: May 2015

This chapter talks about Immanuel Kant's Formula of Universal Law, which says it is wrong to act on any maxim that we could not rationally will to be universal. It argues that this formula fails because there are many maxims on which it is sometimes but not always wrong to act, citing as examples the Egoistic maxim ‘Do whatever would be best for me’ and the maxim ‘Never lie’, which it claims cannot be rationally willed to be universal. The imagined Egoist does not act wrongly when he acts on his maxim by keeping his promises, paying his debts, and saving a drowning child. Nor would it be wrong to act on the maxim ‘Never lie’ by telling someone the correct time. The chapter also comments on Barbara Herman's suggestion that Kant's Formula of Universal Law cannot provide a criterion of wrongness and that the Egoist acts wrongly. Finally, it considers Herman's objections to Kantian Contractualism.
Scanlonian Contractualism
Authors: Parfit Derek
Published: May 2015

This chapter looks at Thomas M. Scanlon's Contractualist theory and his claim that his Contractualism gives an account of wrongness itself, or what it is for acts to be wrong. Scanlon should claim instead that, when acts are wrong in his Contractualist sense, that makes these acts wrong in other, non-Contractualist senses. He might, for example, claim that, when some act is disallowed by some principle that no one could reasonably reject, this fact makes this act unjustifiable to others, blameworthy, and an act that gives its agent reasons for remorse, and gives others reasons for indignation. Scanlon now accepts that his Contractualist theory should take some such form. According to him Impersonalist Restriction, in rejecting some moral principle, we cannot appeal to claims about which outcomes would be impersonally better or worse, in the impartial reason involving sense. This chapter also considers the Non-Identity Problem, the No Difference View, and the Two-Tier View, along with the implications of Scanlon's present view for future people. Finally, it explains why Scanlonian Contractualism should allow us to appeal to impartial reasons.
Non-Analytical Naturalism
Authors: Parfit Derek
Published: May 2015

This chapter presents Non-Analytical Naturalism. According to Non-Analytical Naturalists, we use some words to express concepts and make claims that are irreducibly normative, in the sense that these concepts and claims cannot be defined or restated in non-normative terms. When we turn to facts, however, there is no such deep distinction. All facts are natural, but some of these facts are also normative, since we can also state these facts by making irreducibly normative claims. Most of these Naturalists make claims that are not about reasons, but about morality. This chapter examines such claims, with particular emphasis on Normative Naturalism, Metaphysical Naturalism, Moral Naturalism, and the Co-extensiveness Argument. It also considers whether, as Non-Analytical Naturalists believe, irreducibly normative claims might state natural facts.
Naturalism and Nihilism
Authors: Parfit Derek
Published: May 2015

This chapter looks in detail at Naturalism and Nihilism, first by applying the Triviality Objection to Non-Analytical Naturalism about reasons. If normativity is best conceived as involving reasons or apparent reasons, the main question is whether facts about reasons might be natural facts. And the Triviality Objection takes a simpler, clearer form. In his defence of Subjectivism, Mark Schroeder claims that when some fact explains why some act would fulfil one of our present desires, this fact is a reason for us to act in this way. The chapter also explains natural facts based on two opposing views, Soft Naturalism and Hard Naturalism, along with the Soft Naturalist's Dilemma and its Further Information version.
Normativity and Truth
Authors: Parfit Derek
Published: May 2015

This chapter looks at the philosophical dimensions of normativity and truth. It first considers Allan Gibbard's Expressivist account of rationality. According to Gibbard, his aim is to explain ‘what rational means’. But Gibbard does not directly answer this question. There is, he claims, no such property as that of being rational. Since that is so, we cannot explain the word ‘rational’ by describing what it is for something to be rational. Like Naturalism, Gibbard's Expressivism makes it impossible to ask certain important questions. In his account of the word ‘matters’, Richard Hare denies that anything could matter. According to a third argument for Non-Cognitivism, normative truths would not really be normative, since no truth could answer a normative question. That is not so. Only truths could answer such questions.
Normative Truths
Authors: Parfit Derek
Published: May 2015

This chapter looks in detail at normative truths. It first considers disagreements; when we disagree with other people, we cannot rationally keep our beliefs unless we can justifiably assume that there is some asymmetry between us and these other people, making us more likely to be right. In Plato's Republic, Socrates asks: How should we live? Socrates is asking which kind of life is intrinsically best, by being the life that we have most reason to want to live. Bernard Williams denies that some ways of living could be, in this sense, intrinsically better than others. Rather than asking Socrates's question, Williams claims that we should ask ‘What do I basically want?’ When Williams makes claims about reasons, these claims are about what might motivate us. That is why he rejects the view that some lives are intrinsically better than others. Since Williams uses the phrase ‘a reason’ in a motivational sense, and he assumes that normativity involves reasons, his normative claims are all psychological claims, which are at most weakly normative.
Agreement
Authors: Parfit Derek
Published: May 2015

This chapter presents a philosophical discussion of agreement. It is often argued that we cannot rationally believe that there are moral truths, given the facts of deep and widespread moral disagreement, and the cultural origin of many moral beliefs. To introduce this argument, the chapter considers the following claims: there are some irreducibly normative reason-involving truths, some of which are moral truths; since these truths are not about natural properties, our knowledge of these truths cannot be based on perception, or on evidence provided by empirical facts; positive substantive normative truths cannot be analytic, in the sense that their truth follows from their meaning; our normative beliefs cannot be therefore justified unless we are able to recognise in some other way that these beliefs are true. The chapter then examines the Convergence Claim, Metaphysical Naturalism, Error Theories, and the double badness of suffering.
Using Music to Combat AIDS and Other Public Health Issues in Malawi
Authors: Allison E. Jackson , Brown Lawrence H. , Wilson Susan E.
Published: May 2015

This chapter, written by a Peace Corps volunteer, explores the use of music to combat HIV/AIDS and other public health issues in Malawi. The author first got involved in health education as a trainee with the United States Peace Corps in 1966. She wrote her first song in Malawi in 1967, and has since composed more than 100 songs, recording over seventy of them. Here the chapter presents the results of a visual and participatory HIV literacy exercise that the author herself helped to develop. It describes “body mapping” projects that brought an artistic modality into the HIV educational process, encouraging community health workers, treatment literacy educators/trainers, and HIV-positive mothers to understand through their own drawings how human biology relates to the mechanics of HIV. The complementary creative and educational aspects of the body map project led participants to incorporate knowledge about HIV in ways more effectively suited to their own needs.
Visual Approaches to HIV Literacy in South Africa
Authors: Wienand Annabelle
Published: May 2015

This chapter explores the use of visual approaches to HIV literacy in South Africa. More specifically, it describes a visually oriented and participatory HIV-literacy workshop aimed at creating life-size drawings based on tracing around a human body which provided a template for a series of participatory exercises. These “body map drawings” enabled the participants to develop their knowledge of human biology in relation to HIV prevention, care and treatment. The chapter shows how the visual medium enabled many participants to find a comfortable place for exchanging their personal stories and experiences with HIV. It also considers the collaborative and experiential theories of Brazilian-born scholar Paulo Freire regarding adult education; Freire’s techniques naturally seem to incorporate the creative arts. The chapter concludes by assessing the efficacy of visual learning as an approach to HIV literacy.
Ngoma Dialogue Circles (Ngoma-Dice)
Authors: Majalia Mjomba
Published: May 2015

This chapter draws on its author’s experience as a head teacher and community organizer among the Taita people of Kenya to provide an account of HIV education through drama. The chapter notes how modern health outreach programs typically overlook relevant local sites of communication, especially as found in local schools. It consequently describes the author’s attempts to establish a forum for educational outreach and “candid dialogue” among primary and secondary school students. Through experiential ingoma (local cultural performances in Kenya that include song, dance, poetry, talk-singing and proverbs) grassroots events, the author pilots a forum intended to spur young people to represent their own needs in the fight against HIV/AIDS in Kenya. The chapter also demonstrates the rhetorical agency of local cultural performances and their tremendous potential to organize and mobilize for social change within grassroots communities in Africa.
“We Are the Loudmouthed HIV-Positive People”
Authors: Hodes Rebecca
Published: May 2015

This chapter focuses on the long-running television show Beat It!—a creation of South Africa’s Treatment Action Campaign, and reported to be the first television show produced by the HIV-positive community for wide dissemination. It describes the discursive strategies used by Beat It!, with particular emphasis on the show’s role in the 2000–2002 activist campaign for prevention of mother-to-child transmission treatment programs. It demonstrates how Beat It! harnessed television’s ability to demystify complex issues relating to HIV and how, under the rubric of “positive living,” it presented the many ways in which HIV-positive people could maintain a healthy lifestyle. Beat It! captures and conveys the most significant developments relating to HIV in South Africa between 1999 and 2006—during which the show’s first six series were broadcast. The program’s mirroring of the political campaigns of HIV activist organizations provides an important record of the contemporary history of HIV politics during this time.
Aesthetics and Activism
Authors: Godby Michael
Published: May 2015

This chapter explores the politics of photographing the HIV/AIDS pandemic in South Africa by focusing on Gideon Mendel, a photojournalist entirely committed to biomedical treatment of the pandemic. Mendel has spent much of his career documenting the impact of HIV/AIDS on the people of South Africa, his native country. More than merely documenting, however, Mendel has served for many as a prototypical model for artist-as-activist, using his photography to effect social change in arenas such as advocacy for access to antiretroviral therapies, and contributing to or fostering broader political campaigns (such as those related to the Treatment Action Campaign). This chapter considers Mendel’s attempt to change the balance of power that exists between photographers and their subjects.
Interlude
Authors: Callen Jeffrey
Published: May 2015

This chapter examines the use of the arts in AIDS activism in Morocco, with particular emphasis on grassroots organizing and celebrity campaigns. AIDS activism began in Morocco in 1988 with the formation of Association de Lutte contre le Sida (ALCS). In 2005, with the support of King Mohammed VI, ALCS dramatically increased its visibility with a two-week campaign known as Sidaction, which included the participation of the country’s major radio and television networks. In the last few years, the use of celebrities from the world of entertainment to raise public awareness of HIV/AIDS has become an integral component of AIDS work in Morocco. ALCS, with the support of the state, has continued to stage Sidaction telethons, but the primary focus of its work remains grassroots organizing and education work. A newer organization, Ruban Rouge, bases its educational work on the participation of celebrity entertainers in publicity campaigns.
Kwaito and the Culture of AIDS in South Africa
Authors: Steingo Gavin
Published: May 2015

This chapter explores the triangular relationship between sexuality, HIV/AIDS, and popular music in South Africa by focusing on the musical genre known as kwaito. Kwaito is a form of electronic dance music that emerged together with South Africa’s democracy in the early 1990s. Appearing in tandem with the demise of apartheid, kwaito music became the soundtrack of liberation as well as other struggles still to be fought, particularly poverty, crime, unemployment, and HIV/AIDS. This chapter considers the social implications of kwaito performance as they relate to discourses of sexual violence and rape. The chapter also looks at the lives and careers of artists such as Zola and Khabzela, as well as the ways that kwaito implicitly parallels the sexual and social power structures associated with AIDS among South Africa’s youth.
Positive Disturbance
Authors: Barz Gregory , Liu Gerald C.
Published: May 2015

This chapter draws on an ethnographic “experimental moment” in research with female MCs in Uganda, during which the authors of this chapter consciously engaged in what could be understood as a manipulation of popular musicians. The authors asked Ugandan hip hop artists known for their socially conscious rap music to record music responding to their own self-described inability to achieve commercial airtime. The tracks that emerged highlight social concerns related to rape, HIV/AIDS, and specific gender issues such as pregnancy, spousal abuse, and education—issues that speak directly to youth in Uganda in ways heretofore unachieved through other popular media. By analyzing the HIV-related lyrics of MCs Tafash and Twig through the lens of each rapper’s spiritual grounding, the authors show how understandings of the disease contribute to a sense of dialogic theology and personal struggle within Ugandan hip hop society.
Before the Singing
Authors: Tagg Barbara
Published: May 2015

All children must have an opportunity to share the joy of choral music participation—whether in school, church, or community choirs. What happens before the singing begins is critical to supporting, sustaining, and nurturing choirs to give every child the opportunity to experience the wonder of choral singing. Based on years of experience conducting and teaching, this book brings practical information about ways of organizing choirs. From classroom choirs, to mission statements, boards of directors, commissioning, auditioning, and repertoire, the book aims to inspire new ways of thinking about how choirs organize their daily tasks. The collaborative community that surrounds a choir includes conductors, music educators, church choir directors, board members, volunteers, staff, administrators, and university students in music education and nonprofit arts management degree programs.
Beyond the Board
Authors: Tagg Barbara M.
Published: May 2015

This chapter assesses matters beyond the initial framework of the choral organization. These include creating a mission statement, beliefs, and values; the challenges of a growing program; staffing; strategic planning, and other organizational matters. Striving for excellence in musical matters and striving for excellence in organizational matters are equally important at every stage of development, whether the chorus is a newly formed or a growing organization. The structure of the chorus is critical in supporting the artistry and sustaining the choir. Staying true to its mission and striving for excellence in all aspects of the organization encourage sustainability.
Leadership Transition
Authors: Tagg Barbara M.
Published: May 2015

This chapter discusses the effects of leadership transition on the choral organization, specifically community children’s choirs and youth choirs. It provides a guide for seeking new artistic leadership. This includes the preparation of the board of directors; appointing a search committee; creating a job description; developing a timeline; candidate reviews, interviews, auditions, and evaluations, and orientation for the new director. Successful navigation of transition and succession is necessary to maintain children’s choirs.
Performing with Professionals
Authors: Tagg Barbara M.
Published: May 2015

This chapter focuses on the collaboration of children’s choirs with other musicians. Once there is interest in collaboration, there will be other matters to confirm, the most important of which is the selection of the repertoire. The chapter then discusses how to prepare choristers for collaborations with symphony orchestras, operas, ballet companies, adult choirs, ethnic music ensembles, and chamber ensembles; and with small ensembles, such as string quartets, woodwind quintets, or brass ensembles. The opportunities for young singers to collaborate with adult musicians enable them to share their artistry and expand their horizons beyond what they know.
Phenotypic Diversity of Puccinia helianthi (Sunflower Rust) in the United States from 2011 and 2012
Authors: Friskop Andrew J. , Gulya Thomas J. , Harveson Robert M. , Humann Ryan M. , Acevedo Maricelis , Markell Samuel G.
Published: May 2015

Puccinia helianthi, causal agent of sunflower rust, is a macrocyclic and autoecious pathogen. Widespread sexual reproduction of P. helianthi was documented in North Dakota and Nebraska for the first time in 2008 and has since frequently occurred. Concurrently, an increase in sunflower rust incidence, severity, and subsequent yield loss on sunflower has occurred since 2008. Rust can be managed with resistance genes but determination of virulence phenotypes is important for effective gene deployment and hybrid selection. However, the only P. helianthi virulence data available in the United States was generated prior to 2009 and consisted of aggregate virulence phenotypes determined on bulk field collections. The objective of this study was to determine the phenotypic diversity of P. helianthi in the United States. P. helianthi collections were made from cultivated, volunteer, and wild Helianthus spp. at 104 locations across seven U.S. states and one Canadian province in 2011 and 2012. Virulence phenotypes of 238 single-pustule isolates were determined on the internationally accepted differential set. In total, 29 races were identified, with races 300 and 304 occurring most frequently in 2011 and races 304 and 324 occurring most frequently in 2012. Differences in race prevalence occurred between survey years and across geography but were similar among host types. Four isolates virulent to all genes in the differential set (race 777) were identified. The resistance genes found in differential lines HA-R3 (R4b), MC29 (R2 and R10), and HA-R2 (R5) conferred resistance to 96.6, 83.6, and 78.6% of the isolates tested, respectively.
Growth Disturbance of the Distal Tibia in Patients With Idiopathic Clubfeet: Ankle Valgus and Anteflexion of the Distal Tibia
Authors: Burghardt Rolf D. , Tettenborn Laura P. , Stücker Ralf
Published: May 2015

Background:

The aim of this study was to evaluate the incidence of deformities of the distal tibia in patients with idiopathic clubfeet who had undergone surgical intervention with a circumferential release through a Cincinnati incision in early infancy.

Methods:

A retrospective follow-up evaluation of children with idiopathic clubfoot was conducted. We reviewed children who had undergone surgical treatment by a circumferential release in our department after unsuccessful casting, and who were at least 10 years of age. Main focus was the measurement of anteroposterior and lateral view radiographs for distal tibia deformities. Of 65 patients (93 feet) who had surgery for idiopathic clubfoot from 1998 to 2002, radiographic data of 35 patients (52 feet) were analyzed.

Results:

An anteflexion deformity was present in 25 of 52 feet (48.1%) and a valgus deformity in 29 of 52 feet (55.8%). A flat-top talus was evident to some degree in all cases. An abnormal lateral talocalcaneal angle was evident in 42.3%.

Conclusions:

These results show the importance of conducting follow-up evaluations on patients with idiopathic clubfoot for secondary deformities of the distal tibia. This is the first study, to our knowledge, highlighting the high incidence of distal tibial deformities after surgery for idiopathic clubfoot. It is unclear at this time whether this is also true for clubfeet after conservative treatment. However, patients with clubfeet should have radiographs of the ankle joint between the age of 10 and 12 years to be able to treat possible deformities through guided growth.

Level of Evidence:

Level III.
Pediatric Nonfracture Acute Compartment Syndrome: A Review of 39 Cases
Authors: Livingston Kristin , Glotzbecker Michael , Miller Patricia E. , Hresko Michael T. , Hedequist Daniel , Shore Benjamin J.
Published: May 2015

Background:

Compartment syndrome in the absence of fracture is rare and poorly described within the pediatric literature. The purpose of this study was to report the varying etiologies, risk factors, and treatment outcomes associated with pediatric nonfracture acute compartment syndrome (NFACS).

Methods:

We conducted a retrospective chart review on 37 children who suffered a NFACS and were treated at a single pediatric trauma center between 1997 and 2013. Demographic, diagnostic, treatment, and outcome characteristics were reviewed. Five causal groups were generated: trauma, exercise related (acute presentation after exercise without trauma), infectious, vascular, and postoperative (in the absence of osteotomy). Univariate and multivariate analyses were performed to identify risk factors of NFACS. P-values <0.05 were considered statistically significant.

Results:

There were 39 cases of NFRCS in 37 children [6 females, 31 males, mean age of 11.7 y (SD+7.2 y)]. The leg was the most commonly involved limb (29 cases, 74%). Diagnosis of NFRCS was made either by compartment pressure monitoring [59%, 23/39 cases, mean pressure 66 mm Hg (SD+28)] or by clinical examination. According to etiology, vascular was most common (11/39, 28%), followed by trauma (10/39, 26%) and postoperative (8/39, 21%), with exertion and infection representing a small proportion (6/39, 15% and 4/39, 10%, respectively). Pain was present in 33 cases (85%), swelling in 28 cases (72%), paresthesias in 13 cases (33%), motor deficit in 12 cases (31%), and poor perfusion in 11 cases (28%). Average time from symptom onset to diagnosis was 48 hours (IQR, 9 to 96 h). At surgery, 21 patients (54%) had evidence of myonecrosis. Children required an average of 3 surgeries for wound closure. The median time to follow-up was 232 days (IQR, 73 to 608 d). A total of 54% made a full recovery, whereas 31% suffered a persistent neurological or functional deficit.

Conclusions:

NFACS in children is associated with a delay in diagnosis and a high rate of myonecrosis. Timely assessment with high clinical suspicion is necessary to prevent a delay in diagnosis.

Level of evidence:

Level IV.
Tracking employment shocks using mobile phone data
Authors: Toole Jameson L. , Lin Yu-Ru , Muehlegger Erich , Shoag Daniel , González Marta C. , Lazer David
Published: May 2015

Can data from mobile phones be used to observe economic shocks and their consequences at multiple scales? Here we present novel methods to detect mass layoffs, identify individuals affected by them and predict changes in aggregate unemployment rates using call detail records (CDRs) from mobile phones. Using the closure of a large manufacturing plant as a case study, we first describe a structural break model to correctly detect the date of a mass layoff and estimate its size. We then use a Bayesian classification model to identify affected individuals by observing changes in calling behaviour following the plant's closure. For these affected individuals, we observe significant declines in social behaviour and mobility following job loss. Using the features identified at the micro level, we show that the same changes in these calling behaviours, aggregated at the regional level, can improve forecasts of macro unemployment rates. These methods and results highlight promise of new data resources to measure microeconomic behaviour and improve estimates of critical economic indicators.
Composite collective decision-making
Authors: Czaczkes Tomer J. , Czaczkes Benjamin , Iglhaut Carolin , Heinze Jürgen
Published: May 2015

Individual animals are adept at making decisions and have cognitive abilities, such as memory, which allow them to hone their decisions. Social animals can also share information. This allows social animals to make adaptive group-level decisions. Both individual and collective decision-making systems also have drawbacks and limitations, and while both are well studied, the interaction between them is still poorly understood. Here, we study how individual and collective decision-making interact during ant foraging. We first gathered empirical data on memory-based foraging persistence in the ant
Lasius niger
. We used these data to create an agent-based model where ants may use social information (trail pheromones), private information (memories) or both to make foraging decisions. The combined use of social and private information by individuals results in greater efficiency at the group level than when either information source was used alone. The modelled ants couple consensus decision-making, allowing them to quickly exploit high-quality food sources, and combined decision-making, allowing different individuals to specialize in exploiting different resource patches. Such a composite collective decision-making system reaps the benefits of both its constituent parts. Exploiting such insights into composite collective decision-making may lead to improved decision-making algorithms.