bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Mobile moralities: Ethical consumption in the digital realm
Authors: Humphery Kim , Jordan Tim
Published: January 2017

Ethical consumption, as a realm of production and exchange, a framework for purchasing decisions and as political activism, is now well established in a range of nations. As a politics, it points to an interconnected but divergent set of concerns centred on issues of environmental sustainability, local and global economic and social justice, and community and individual wellbeing. While the subject of sustained critique, not least because of its apparent privileging of the ‘consumer’ as the locus of change, ethical consumption has garnered increasing attention. This is most recently evident in the development and widening use of ‘ethical consumption apps’ for mobile devices. These apps allow the user to both access ethical information on products and, potentially, to connect with a broader politics of consumption. However, in entering the digital realm, ethical consumption also becomes embroiled in the complexities of digital technocultures and their ability to allow users of apps to be connected to each other, potentially building communities of interest and/or activism. This article explores this emerging intersection of the ethical and the digital. It examines whether such digital affordances affect the way ethical consumption itself may be conceived and pursued. Does the ethical consumption app work to collectivise or individualise, help to focus or fragment, speak of timidity, or potential in relation to an oppositional politics of consumption? In confronting these issues, this article suggests that contemporary ethical consumption apps – while full of political potential – remain problematic in that the turn to the digital has tended, so far, to accentuate the already individualising tendencies within a politics of ethical consumption. This speaks also, however, to a similar problematic in the politics of digital technocultures; the use of the digital does not automatically enable – merely through greater connectivity and information availability – forms of radical politics.
The embourgeoisement of beer: Changing practices of ‘Real Ale’ consumption
Authors: Thurnell-Read Thomas
Published: January 2017

Recent years have seen changes in the practice of beer consumption, which appear to indicate raised standards of cultural prestige. This article focuses on the practice of Real Ale consumption, which has been promoted by the UK consumer pressure group, the Campaign for Real Ale, since 1971, and analyses how beer consumption has achieved an increased cultural position relative to understandings of taste and cultural capital. The article also draws on qualitative research, including interviews, archival material analysis and participant observation. Following recent advances in practice theories of consumption, the article identifies important changes in the materials, meanings and competencies of Real Ale consumption, which mean that a more complex ‘intellectualised’ form of beer appreciation has emerged over recent years. The article argues that by tracking these changes, it is possible to illustrate how cultural tastes and practices have undergone a process of ‘embourgeoisement’. Specifically, exponents of Real Ale appreciation practices have borrowed from proximate practices, such as wine and food consumption, in seeking increased value. Beer consumption has become subjected to upward social mobility in becoming more complex and refined, meaning that it now functions more readily as a marker of social status. However, there is some suggestion that such a process of embourgeoisement has also generated antagonisms, with some consumers being excluded by discourses of taste and status.
Angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors attenuate propofol-induced pro-oxidative and antifibrinolytic effect in human endothelial cells
Authors: Wojewodzka-Zelezniakowicz Marzena , Gromotowicz-Poplawska Anna , Kisiel Wioleta , Konarzewska Emilia , Szemraj Janusz , Ladny Jerzy Robert , Chabielska Ewa
Published: January 2017

Introduction:

The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of plasma and tissue angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors (ACE-Is) against propofol-induced endothelial dysfunction and to elucidate the involved mechanisms in vitro.

Materials and methods:

We examined the effects of propofol (50 μM), quinaprilat and enalaprilat (10−5 M) on fibrinolysis (t-PA, PAI-1, TAFI antigen levels), oxidative stress parameters (H2O2 and MDA antigen levels and SOD and NADPH oxidase mRNA levels) and nitric oxide bioavailability (NO2/NO3 concentration and NOS expression at the level of mRNA) in human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs).

Results:

We found that both ACE-Is promoted similar endothelial fibrinolytic properties and decreased oxidative stress in vitro. Propofol alone increased the release of antifibrinolytic and pro-oxidative factors from the endothelium and increased mRNA iNOS expression. We also found that the incubation of HUVECs in the presence of propofol following ACE-Is pre-incubation caused weakness of the antifibrinolytic and pro-oxidative potential of propofol and this effect was similar after both ACE-Is.

Conclusions:

This observation suggests that the studied ACE-Is exerted protective effects against endothelial cell dysfunction caused by propofol, independently of hemodynamics.
Tuning history: The French experience
Authors: Lamboley Jean-Luc
Published: January 2017

The paper shows that Tuning Project has generated indifference more than resistance within the French academic community. It proposes an analysis of the reasons of this situation: difficulties arising from Tuning itself, the resistance of the French academic tradition, the institutional inhibitors and facilitators. The impact of Tuning on French teaching history has not perhaps been as profound as it might have been. On the one hand, the national competence framework for the first cycle studies has been designed from the Tuning model based on both subject specific and generic competences and is a success, due in part to the perseverance of the French Bologna experts. On the other hand, the fact that today very few French academic programs are described in terms of learning outcomes signals the continued reluctance to embrace student-centred teaching and learning.
‘Should I stay or should I go?’: Dilemmas and decisions among UK undergraduates
Authors: Bradley Harriet
Published: January 2017

There is increasing concern about high rates of dropout from universities, especially among students from disadvantaged backgrounds. In the UK this is related to recent changes in higher education policy, especially the imposition of a higher fees regime and the uncapping of student numbers. While recent research has explored the demography of students who drop out, less is known about the reasons for dropping out, or indeed the reasons why some students who are unhappy with their student experience nonetheless stay on. This article uses data from a longitudinal qualitative study, the Paired Peers project funded by the Leverhulme Trust, to explore this issue in detail. A typology of reasons for dropping out is offered: homesickness; loneliness and a sense of not fitting in; problems with academic study, including having chosen the wrong course; and money issues. The first two appear the most powerful; the notion of ‘fish out of water’ derived from the work of Bourdieu and Wacquant (1992) is used to explain it. The article also explores the motivation of those who experience these problems and report high levels of stress, but nevertheless decide to stay on.
The first-year experience of non-traditional students in Danish science and engineering university programmes
Authors: Ulriksen Lars , Madsen Lene Møller , Holmegaard Henriette Tolstrup
Published: January 2017

To understand student drop-out from university, research must explore students’ first-year experiences and the challenges they encounter. This article analyses the first-year experiences of non-traditional students in Danish science and engineering university programmes. Focusing on identity theory and the framework of integration processes provided by Tinto, the article presents the challenges experienced by students from non-academic backgrounds and by students with ethnic minority backgrounds. The analysis presents four themes that are experienced as particularly challenging for the students: (1) a strong career focus which is hard for the students to maintain in their transition into university; (2) how the students from some non-academic backgrounds encounter the challenges they meet with limited resources; (3) how they spend time and resources on their family and how this affects their integration in the programme; and (4) the process of academic and social integration are particularly challenging as they require students to submit themselves to the cultural expectations of their studies, which can be hard to understand for students from families with no prior experiences of academia. The article discusses how these experiences can be understood within an identity framework.
Why should European higher education care about the retention of non-traditional students?
Authors: Holmegaard Henriette Tolstrup , Madsen Lene Møller , Ulriksen Lars
Published: January 2017

Equal access to higher education has for long been a political ambition, however, despite the expansion of the number of students now entering higher education it has not yet been achieved. The present special issue offers insights into the encounter between students from non-traditional backgrounds and higher education. Five individual studies from four countries offer a unique contribution to understand non-traditional students’ risk of dropping out of higher education as more than a question of academic preparation and hence individual deficits. Together the five papers display a variety of analyses of a key issue for the European Higher Education Area: attracting and retaining a wider group of students. The results show how non-traditional students across countries are made up of a complex mosaic of voices. Hence, the special issue makes a call to move away from the stereotypical images of non-traditional students, and to continue analysing the variety, the complexity and diversity of non-traditional students and their encounter with higher education.
Action research with street-based sex workers and an outreach team: A co-authored case study
Authors: Graça Marta , Gonçalves Manuela , Martins António
Published: January 2017

Despite the recent advances in participatory research with sex workers, our knowledge regarding how to process and articulate the various steps of participatory action research remains rather limited. This article focuses on a participatory action research case study with street-based female sex workers and an outreach team. This case study was developed in Coimbra, Portugal and lasted for three years, beginning at the end of 2012. This paper has the following three primary purposes: (1) to fill this research gap by describing all the steps of a participatory action research project; (2) to examine the process and results; and (3) to offer a model of research and social practice that involves sex workers. We identified a mutual understanding regarding the priority concerns, but there is little cohesion among sex workers. We concluded that the participatory action research activities may have provided a sense of control and awareness, but the transformation of subjectivity to collective action is still required.
Testing the effects of police body-worn cameras on use of force during arrests: A randomised controlled trial in a large British police force
Authors: Henstock Darren , Ariel Barak
Published: January 2017

This study aims to assess the effect of body-worn cameras (BWCs) on police use of force, in a British police force context. We tested the effect of BWCs with a large British force in a six-month randomised controlled trial. Police shifts ( n = 430) were randomly assigned on a weekly basis into treatment and control conditions. Odds ratios of use-of-force rates per arrests were used to estimate the causal impact of BWCs. Analyses of these odds for overall use of force and again within pre-specified force categories were conducted. Overall, we found a 50 percent reduction in the odds of force used when BWCs are present compared with control conditions. Our estimates suggest a 35 percent reduction of overall weighted force in the treatment conditions compared with control conditions. However, the effect concentrates in open-hand tactics (physical restraints and non-compliant handcuffing), with no discernible effect on categories of more aggressive force responses (for example, dogs, Tasers, batons, pepper spray); 40 percent ‘more force’ was detected in treatment conditions for handcuffing non-combatant suspects. We conclude that BWCs deter officers, offenders or both into complaint behaviour. Importantly, showing a conditional effect on force types can be further contextualised as enhanced transparency and accountability by the police, with greater reporting of use of force that would otherwise be concealed. Our findings illustrate the importance of analysing police use of force with and without compliant handcuffing of arrestees, which may or may not form part of the force continuum.
Epidemiology and Pathophysiology of Lower Extremity Peripheral Arterial Disease
Authors: Garcia Lawrence A.
Published: January 2017

Peripheral arterial disease (PAD), a major cause of disability, loss of work, and lifestyle changes in the United States, is defined as obstruction of blood flow into an arterial tree excluding the intracranial or coronary circulations. PAD is mostly silent in its early stages, but when lesion obstruction exceeds 50%, it may cause intermittent claudication with ambulation. Further disease progression typically leads to rest pain or frank tissue loss. However, some patients may remain asymptomatic with severe disease because of extensive collateralization in the lower extremity. Estimates of the prevalence of intermittent claudication vary by population, from 0.6% to nearly 10%; the rate increases dramatically with age. Approximately 20% to 25% of patients will require revascularization, while fewer than 5% will progress to critical limb ischemia. Limb loss, although rare, is associated with severe disability and an overall poor prognosis, with 30% to 40% mortality in the first 24 months after limb loss. As with coronary artery disease, the most common cause of symptomatic obstruction in the peripheral arterial tree is atherosclerosis, a systemic inflammatory process in which cholesterol-laden plaque builds up in the artery and eventually blocks the lumen. Typical risk factors include age, gender, diabetes, tobacco abuse, hypertension, and hyperlipidemia.
Diagnosis and Risk Assessment of Lower Extremity Peripheral Arterial Disease
Authors: Abul-Khoudoud Omran
Published: January 2017

Managing patients with peripheral arterial disease (PAD) requires an accurate assessment of the severity of the condition and the risk factors likely to predict disease progression. The spectrum of patient presentation ranges from asymptomatic to critical limb ischemia. Because about half of patients with PAD have coronary or cerebrovascular disease, the examination of presenting patients should be directed toward the entire cardiovascular system. The main diagnostic goal is to establish whether the symptoms are predominantly caused by PAD and to what degree the presenting problem is compounded by other comorbidities, such as diabetic neuropathy, arthritis, or venous disorders. The diagnostic process includes history taking, physical examination, noninvasive diagnostic testing, differential diagnosis, laboratory studies, and the use of the various imaging modalities, which in general are reserved for those PAD cases in which the clinician has already decided to intervene.
Contemporary Endovascular Treatment for Disease of the Superficial Femoral and Popliteal Arteries: An Integrated Device-Based Strategy
Authors: Lyden Sean P. , Shimshak Thomas M.
Published: January 2017

Endovascular therapy for disease of the superficial femoral artery (SFA) and the popliteal artery remains controversial. Percutaneous treatment of this arterial segment presents a particular technical challenge, as the extent of disease varies from short, focal, and stenotic to long, diffuse, and occluded lesions. Over the last 2 decades, multiple therapies have been evaluated, including simple balloon angioplasty, directional atherectomy, stenting (both balloon-expandable and self-expanding), and more recently, intra-arterial radiation, laser, and cryotherapy. Regardless of which modality is used, however, endovascular therapy as a revascularization strategy has the potential to improve symptoms and quality of life and, in selected patients, to avoid limb amputation. While percutaneous endovascular treatment has been historically associated with high procedural success and favorable short and intermediate-term patency rates, long-term clinical results have proven disappointing. Conventional balloon angioplasty is limited by elastic recoil, dissection, and restenosis. Balloon-expandable stents (particularly in the distal SFA) are associated with late stent deformation and mechanical compression, with resultant late clinical failure. Newer self-expanding stents have shown improved initial results but have been limited by late mechanical fatigue and associated restenosis. With the development of several newer endovascular techniques in recent years, the possibilities for treating this condition have increased dramatically. Currently, no long-term comparative data exist regarding the role of these alternative technologies. This article summarizes and compares important data about new endovascular options for intervention therapy in SFA and popliteal disease. In addition, based on this analysis, we propose a contemporary treatment strategy, integrating older and newer technologies into a real-world algorithm.
Cryoplasty for the Treatment of Femoropopliteal Arterial Disease: Extended Follow-up Results
Authors: Laird John R. , Biamino Giancarlo , McNamara Thomas , Scheinert Dierk , Zetterlund Patrick , Moen Elaine , Joye James D.
Published: January 2017

Purpose:

To report the findings from a multicenter study of patients treated with cryoplasty who were then followed for an average of >2 years post-treatment.

Methods:

Extended clinical follow-up was obtained for 70 patients (45 men; mean age 70.5±8.8 years) who originally received cryoplasty therapy to treat symptoms of intermittent claudication as part of a multicenter investigational device exemption (IDE) study. For all subjects, cryoplasty was used to treat stenoses or occlusions ≤10 cm in the femoropopliteal arteries. The original IDE study protocol enrolled 102 patients with a primary endpoint of target lesion patency at 9 months post-treatment. This collection of additional longer term follow-up data was initiated 2.5 years after the onset of study enrollment.

Results:

Extended clinical follow-up ranged from 11 to 41 months (mean 31). The clinical patency rate (freedom from target lesion revascularization) calculated by the Kaplan-Meier method was 83.2% after the original follow-up period of 300 days. After >3 years (1253 days), the clinical patency rate was well maintained at 75.0%.

Conclusions:

Long-term data indicate that cryoplasty is a durable therapy, with relatively low long-term restenosis rates compared to other endovascular treatment approaches.
Disrupt or Die: Mobile Health and Disruptive Innovation as Body Politics
Authors: Levina Marina
Published: January 2017

This article examines mobile health as a venue for disruptive innovation. It theorizes disruption as a discursive strategy and a business model that permeates and constructs Silicon Valley. The current trend toward for-profit privatization of healthcare has been used by Silicon Valley to market and develop mobile health technological solutions to the complex socioeconomic problem of healthcare delivery. The discourse of disruption shapes the mobile health industry’s focus on individualized and personalized solutions to healthcare challenges. The article analyzes mobile health apps and their discourses as a case study through which we can begin to understand disruption’s impact on the political sphere in general and the body politic in particular.
Of Social Networks and Suicide Nets: Biopolitics and the Suicide Screen
Authors: Reeves Joshua
Published: January 2017

This article analyzes how the Silicon Valley ethos has influenced the development of screening technologies designed to enforce survival. Although various technologies have been used to ensure the survival of clumsy, sick, depressed, or unpredictable subjects, this article focuses on recent developments in suicide screens—that is, those screening technologies that detect suicidal subjects and aim to prevent acts of suicide. Digital versions of these screens have also emerged: the U.S. military, in particular, has begun developing software designed to analyze returning veterans’ social media posts for hints of suicidal tendencies. Meanwhile, Foxconn, the Asian super-manufacturer that assembles products for Silicon Valley giants like Apple and HP, notoriously developed a network of “suicide nets” designed to prevent its miserable workers from jumping to their deaths. In Foucaultian parlance, while the state and its allies routinely “let die,” suicide threatens the state’s sovereignty over life by introducing a rupture of political intelligibility whereby a community can come to realize its basic biopolitical autonomy.
Training Computers to See Internet Pornography: Gender and Sexual Discrimination in Computer Vision Science
Authors: Gehl Robert W. , Moyer-Horner Lucas , Yeo Sara K.
Published: January 2017

This article critically examines computer vision–based pornography filtering (CVPF), a subfield in computer science seeking to train computers on how to recognize the difference between digital pornographic images and nonpornographic images. Based on a review of 102 peer-reviewed CVPF articles, we argue that CVPF has as a whole trained computers to “see” a very specific, idealized form of pornography: pictures of lone, thin, naked women. The article supports this argument by closely reading the algorithms proposed in the CVPF literature and quantitatively analyzing the images included as illustrations of these algorithms. Drawing on pornography studies, we also compare the CVPF pornographic imagination with “noisy” pornography that exceeds computer vision. Ultimately, the article argues that this very narrow imagination of porn in CVPF reflects and reinforces larger gender and sexual inequalities in the technology industry as a whole.
“A Way to Sell Your Records”: Pop Stardom and the Politics of Drag Professionalization on RuPaul’s Drag Race
Authors: Vesey Alyxandra
Published: January 2017

RuPaul’s Drag Race (Logo TV, 2009–present) tethers drag culture to pop stardom by structuring challenges around host RuPaul’s recording career and eliminations around lip sync contests that promote guest judges’ music. By its fourth season, it began substantially rewarding contestants for using pop music to showcase their own branding and musical skills. By analyzing the program and its surrounding industry discourse, this article identifies a Season 4 infomercial challenge promoting RuPaul’s catalogue as a turning point in the program’s relationship to pop music due to its winner’s ascent as a recording artist. As a result, many white and light-skinned cast members were far better able to mount their own recording careers after appearing on the program than their counterparts of color. Thus, this article argues that Drag Race uses the recording industry as a site for contestants’ professionalization that reinforces pop music’s and reality programming’s entrenched neoliberalism and post-racial politics.
Fault diagnosis of bearing based on relevance vector machine classifier with improved binary bat algorithm for feature selection and parameter optimization
Authors: Fei Sheng-wei
Published: January 2017

In this article, fault diagnosis of bearing based on relevance vector machine classifier with improved binary bat algorithm is proposed, and the improved binary bat algorithm is used to select the appropriate features and kernel parameter of relevance vector machine. In the improved binary bat algorithm, the new velocities updating method of the bats is presented in order to ensure the decreasing of the probabilities of changing their position vectors’ elements when the position vectors’ elements of the bats are equal to the current best location’s element, and the increasing of the probabilities of changing their position vectors’ elements when the position vectors’ elements of the bats are unequal to the current best location’s element, which are helpful to strengthen the optimization ability of binary bat algorithm. The traditional relevance vector machine trained by the training samples with the unreduced features can be used to compare with the proposed improved binary bat algorithm–relevance vector machine method. The experimental results indicate that improved binary bat algorithm–relevance vector machine has a stronger fault diagnosis ability of bearing than the traditional relevance vector machine trained by the training samples with the unreduced features, and fault diagnosis of bearing based on improved binary bat algorithm–relevance vector machine is feasible.
Experiment and numerical modeling of asymmetrically initiated hexagonal prism warhead
Authors: Li Yuan , Wen Yuquan
Published: January 2017

Traditional fragmentation warheads are usually initiated on the axis, producing a uniform fragment distribution around the warhead, but only little portion of them can be imposed on the targets. The aimable warhead, on the other hand, using the off-axis initiations or the structure deforming, can improve the warhead energy utilization highly. Seeking methods to both enhance the fragment velocity and density has significant value for improving the target damage probability. In this article, a warhead shaped as hexagonal prism was studied using arena experiment and numerical modeling and compared with the traditional cylindrical structure. The fragment velocities and target hit patterns of the two types of warheads under axial initiation and asymmetrical initiation are obtained. It is revealed that for the hexagonal prism warhead, the asymmetrical initiation can enhance the fragment velocities by 27.71% and enhance fragment density by 34.09% compared to the axial initiation. The fragment velocity enhancement is close to that of the cylindrical warhead, but the fragment density enhancement is far above the cylindrical warhead. This indicates that the asymmetrically initiated hexagonal prism warhead is a very effective aimable warhead.
Costimulation blockade by combining CTLA4Ig with anti-CD40L mAb markedly inhibits the inflammatory response of experimental autoimmune myocarditis
Authors: Chen Qing-Quan , Chen Min , Zhang Li-Hua , Zeng Yu , Qi-Cai Liu , Yang Xiu-Lin , Lin Xu-Chen
Published: January 2017

The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of costimulation blockade with cytotoxic T-lymphocyte-associated-antigen 4-immunoglobulin (CTLA4Ig) and anti-CD40L monoclonal antibody (anti-CD40L mAb) on an experimental autoimmune myocarditis (EAM) mouse model. Characteristics of myocardial tissue were observed by hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) staining. The messenger RNA (mRNA) levels of CTLA4, CD40L, IFN-γ, and IL-4 were detected by real-time fluorescence quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR). Serum concentrations of IFN-γ and IL-4 were determined by ELISA. After immune intervention, the inflammatory score, mRNA levels of CTLA4 and CD40L, and IFN-γ level were decreased. Furthermore, these parameters in the combinational intervention group (blockade by CTLA4Ig and anti-CD40L mAb) were significantly decreased, compared to the single intervention group (blockade by CTLA4Ig or anti-CD40L mAb). However, after costimulation, blockade serum IL-4 levels were increased. Therefore, costimulation blockade by combination CTLA4Ig and anti-CD40L mAb could more effectively inhibit the inflammatory response of EAM than single use of CTLA4Ig or anti-CD40L mAb.
Magnetic resonance imaging signal artefacts from invisible metal debris following surgery to the elbow
Authors: Makki Daoud , Naikoti Kiran , Murali S R
Published: January 2017

We report a case of exuberant artefacts on the magnetic resonance imaging scan of the elbow produced by invisible metal debris secondary to previous surgery.
Preparation of magnetic nanoparticles via chemically induced transition
Authors: Chen Yanshuang , Chen Qin , Mao Hong , Zhang Ting , Qiu Xiaoyan , Lin Yueqiang , Li Jian
Published: January 2017

Using an FeOOH/Mg(OH)2 precursor, maghemite-based magnetic nanoparticles can be prepared by a chemically induced transition in an Iron(II) chloride (FeCl2) treating solution. FeCl2 solutions of various concentrations were used to investigate the dependence of sample components and magnetization on the treating solution. The bulk chemical species, crystal structures, surface chemical components, morphologies, and specific magnetizations of the samples were characterized. When the concentration of FeCl2 solution was in a moderate range of 0.060–0.250 M, maghemite nanoparticles coated by hydromolysite, that is, maghemite/hydromolysite nanoparticles, could be prepared. At lower concentrations, below 0.030 M, the samples contained maghemite/hydromolysite and magnesium oxide nanoparticles, and at higher concentrations, up to 1.000 M, the samples contained maghemite/hydromolysite and hydromolysite nanoparticles. The molar and mass percentages of each phase were estimated for each sample. The apparent magnetization behavior of the samples, which exhibited a non-monotonic variation with increasing concentration of FeCl2 solution, is explained from the variation of mass percentage of the maghemite phase with concentration.
Directional Bias in the Perception of Cast Shadows
Authors: Koizumi Tomomi , Ito Hiroyuki , Sunaga Shoji , Ogawa Masaki
Published: January 2017

Previous studies have demonstrated that the perception of shading is based upon assumptions about lighting direction, for example, light from above. However, it is not clear whether these assumptions are used in the perception of cast shadows. Moreover, it is unclear whether a perceptual interaction exists between shading and cast shadows because until now they have been studied separately. In this study, we investigated through three experiments whether the light-from-above (or another direction) assumption is used in interpreting ambiguous cast shadows, and whether shading information influences the interpretation of cast shadows. Our results indicate the existence of the light-from-above assumption in interpreting cast shadows. Consistent shading information enhanced the interpretation, and judgments of lighting direction were also based on both cast shadow and shading information. However, the perceptual determination of shape from shading was relatively independent of the cast shadow interpretation or the lighting direction judgments of the scene.
Threshold Differences on Figure and Ground: Gelb and Granit (1923)
Authors: Kinateder Max , Nelson Rolf
Published: January 2017

In 1923, Gelb and Granit, using a method of adjustment for a small red light, reported a lower threshold for the target when presented on a ground region than on an adjacent figural region. More recent work in perceptual organization has found precisely the opposite—a processing advantage seems to go to items presented on the figure, not the ground. Although Gelb and Granit continue to be cited for their finding, it has not previously been available as an English translation. Understanding their methodology and results is important for integrating early Gestalt theory with more recent investigations.
The Bone Health Team: A Team-Based Approach to Improving Osteoporosis Care for Primary Care Patients
Authors: Lawrence Phillip T. , Grotzke Marissa P. , Rosenblum Yanina , Nelson Richard E. , LaFleur Joanne , Miller Karla L. , Ma Junjie , Cannon Grant W.
Published: January 2017

Background: Significant improvements in secondary prevention of osteoporotic fractures have been noted with fracture liaison services. However, similar models for the primary prevention of such fractures have not been reported. Objective: To determine the impact of a Bone Health Team (BHT) on osteoporosis screening and treatment rates in U.S. veterans in primary care practices. Design: Historical cohort study of a primary care–based intervention of a BHT from February 2013 to February 2015. Setting: Community-based outpatient clinics of the Salt Lake City Veterans Affairs Health Care System. Participants: Men aged 70 years and older and women aged 65 years and older. Intervention: Enrollment in the BHT. Measurements: Rates of dual energy x-ray absorptiometry (DXA) completion, chart diagnosis of osteoporosis or osteopenia, completion of vitamin D measurement, and initiation of fracture reducing medication. Results: Our cohort consisted of 7644 individuals, 975 of whom were exposed to the BHT and 6669 of whom were not. Comparison of patients exposed to the BHT versus non-exposed subjects demonstrated a substantial increase in all outcome measures studied. Hazard ratios (HRs) from multivariable cox proportional hazard models were: measurement of vitamin D, HR = 1.619 ( P < .001); chart diagnosis of osteopenia, HR = 37.00 ( P < .001); chart diagnosis of osteoporosis, HR = 16.38 ( P < .001); osteoporosis medication, HR = 17.03 ( P < .001); and completion of DXA, HR = 139.9 ( P < .001). Conclusions and Relevance: The implementation of a dedicated BHT produced significantly increased rates of intermediate osteoporosis outcome measures in US veterans in primary care practices. Additional research describing medication adherence rates and cost-effectiveness is forthcoming.
Book Review: Lorenzo Cotula (2013), The Great African Land Grab? Agricultural Investments and the Global Food System
Authors: Leite Alexandre Cesar Cunha , de Andrade e Sousa Maria Eduarda
Published: January 2017

Lorenzo Cotula (2013), The Great African Land Grab? Agricultural Investments and the Global Food System. London and New York, NY: Zed Books. Paperback, ISBN 9781780323107, pp. 248, $24.95.
Fatal Relapse of Myelodysplastic Syndrome in a Patient with HIV/Hepatitis C Coinfection Treated with Simeprevir/Sofosbuvir
Authors: Diejomaoh Efemena Michael , Gathe Joseph Clayton , Mayberry Carl Craig , Clemmons John Benjamin , Miguel Bernie , Glombicki Alan , Daquioag Benjamin
Published: January 2017

Registrational studies and observational cohorts clearly suggest sustained virologic response (SVR) rates in HIV-/hepatitis C–coinfected patients are similar to monoinfected patients when utilizing interferon-free regimens, and this can be accomplished with agents that are well tolerated with minimal adverse events. These randomized trials that led to the approval of several of our new direct-acting antiviral agents, however, specifically excluded patients who had significant comorbidities and none to our knowledge accepted patients with a history of cancer. Therefore, the effect of treatment of active hepatitis C in such patients and the effect on preexisting neoplasia are relatively unknown. We prospectively followed a 62-year-old male coinfected with HIV/hepatitis C who had a history of anal squamous cell carcinoma, prostate carcinoma, renal cell carcinoma all clinically cured and a myelodysplastic syndrome that was in remission. The patient achieved an SVR of hepatitis C with simeprevir/sofosbuvir without ribavirin and died shortly thereafter of a fatal relapse of his previously clinically controlled myelodysplastic syndrome.
Enhancing Student Learning Through Scaffolded Client Projects
Authors: Tomlinson Elizabeth
Published: January 2017

This article reports on the current status of client projects (CPs) in business communication courses, provides a scaffolded model for implementing CP, and assesses student learning in CPs. Using a longitudinal mixed method research design, survey data and qualitative materials from six semesters are presented. The instructor survey indicated need for a model for CPs, assistance identifying community partners, and advice on tailoring CPs to course objectives, all of which are provided here. Results from assessing the model’s application indicate that students expressed higher levels of confidence as communicators and felt better prepared to engage in workplace communication.
The Effect of Knowledge of Research on Rehearsal Skills and Teaching Values of Experienced Teachers
Authors: Yarhrough Cornelia , Price Harry E. , Bowers Judy
Published: January 2017

The following article, although a bit unusual is pertinent to this journal. It is not a review of research literature, nor is it a study about a single aspect of teaching music. It is, rather, a study about the application of research knowledge to teaching skills and values by experienced teachers.

Update is based on the idea that if teachers are informed about the results of research, they will apply these results to their teaching. We all hope that this is true, and the results of this study seem to support the notion. Indeed, in this study, the researchers systematically examined how teachers' attitudes and skills changed as a result of being informed about research in a specific area: sequential patterns of instruction. The teachers chose to change without any contingencies operating to encourage or discourage this change.

Work in understanding the sequential patterns of instruction in musk: is based on an ongoing line of research It is apparent that many music teachers and ensemble directors believe this concept is relevant, comprehensible, and easily applied.-H.E.P.
Functional role and therapeutic targeting of p21-activated kinase 4 in multiple myeloma
Authors: Fulciniti Mariateresa , Martinez-Lopez Joaquin , Senapedis William , Oliva Stefania , Lakshmi Bandi Rajya , Amodio Nicola , Xu Yan , Szalat Raphael , Gulla Annamaria , Samur Mehmet K. , Roccaro Aldo , Linares Maria , Cea Michele , Baloglu Erkan , Argueta Christian , Landesman Yosef , Shacham Sharon , Liu Siyuan , Schenone Monica , Wu Shiaw-Lin , Karger Barry , Prabhala Rao , Anderson Kenneth C. , Munshi Nikhil C.
Published: January 2017

Key Points

High expression of PAK4 promotes myeloma cell proliferation through activation of MM antiapoptotic and survival pathways. Targeting PAK4 with a novel small molecule inhibitor, KPT-9274, has significant impact on MM cell growth and survival.
How I treat acquired aplastic anemia
Authors: Bacigalupo Andrea
Published: January 2017

Acquired severe aplastic anemia (SAA) is a rare hematologic disease associated with significant morbidity and mortality. Immune destruction of hemopoietic stem cells plays an important role in pathogenesis, as shown by successful treatment with immunosuppressive agents, leading to transfusion independence or complete recovery of peripheral blood counts in a proportion of patients. Growth factors can be combined with immunosuppressive therapy (IST) and may improve response rates, as recently shown with thrombopoietin analogs. Anabolic steroids may still play a role in combination with IST. The problem with IST is failure to respond and the development of late clonal disorders. Bone marrow transplantation (BMT) is the other therapeutic option: a matched sibling donor remains the best choice. For patients lacking a matched family donor, unrelated donors can be readily found, although mostly for patients of Caucasian origin. Other BMT options include unrelated cord blood or mismatched family donors. Acute and chronic graft-versus-host disease remain important complications of BMT. Patient age is a strong predictor of outcome for both IST and BMT, and must be considered when designing therapeutic strategies. Early diagnosis and treatment, as well as long-term monitoring, remain crucial steps for successful treatment of SAA.
Platelets activate a pathogenic response to blood-stage Plasmodium infection but not a protective immune response
Authors: Gramaglia Irene , Velez Joyce , Combes Valery , Grau Georges E. R. , Wree Melanie , van der Heyde Henri C.
Published: January 2017

Key Points

Platelets are not killer cells of blood-stage Plasmodium parasites. Platelets are not required to activate the protective immune response to blood-stage Plasmodium infection in mice.
The antineoplastic drug, trastuzumab, dysregulates metabolism in iPSC‐derived cardiomyocytes
Authors: Necela Brian M. , Axenfeld Bianca C. , Serie Daniel J. , Kachergus Jennifer M. , Perez Edith A. , Thompson E. Aubrey , Norton Nadine
Published: January 2017

Background

The targeted ERBB2 therapy, trastuzumab, has had a tremendous impact on management of patients with HER2+ breast cancer, leading to development and increased use of further HER2 targeted therapies. The major clinical side effect is cardiotoxicity but the mechanism is largely unknown. On the basis that gene expression is known to be altered in multiple models of heart failure, we examined differential gene expression of iPSC‐derived cardiomyocytes treated at day 11 with the ERBB2 targeted monoclonal antibody, trastuzumab for 48 h and the small molecule tyrosine kinase inhibitor of EGFR and ERBB2.

Results

Transcriptome sequencing was performed on four replicates from each group (48 h untreated, 48 h trastuzumab and 48 h lapatinib) and differential gene expression analyses were performed on each treatment group relative to untreated cardiomyocytes. 517 and 1358 genes were differentially expressed, p < 0.05, respectively in cardiomyocytes treated with trastuzumab and lapatinib. Gene ontology analyses revealed in cardiomyocytes treated with trastuzumab, significant down‐regulation of genes involved in small molecule metabolism (p = 3.22 × 10−9) and cholesterol (p = 0.01) and sterol (p = 0.03) processing. We next measured glucose uptake and lactate production in iPSC‐derived cardiomyocytes 13 days post‐plating, treated with trastuzumab up to 96 h. We observed significantly decreased glucose uptake from the media of iPSC‐derived cardiomyocytes treated with trastuzumab as early as 24 h (p = 0.001) and consistently up to 96 h (p = 0.03).

Conclusions

Our study suggests dysregulation of cardiac gene expression and metabolism as key elements of ERBB2 signaling that could potentially be early biomarkers of cardiotoxicity.
Increased Perinatal Morbidity and Mortality Among Asian American and Pacific Islander Women in the United States
Authors: Siddiqui Maryam , Minhaj Mohammed , Mueller Ariel , Tung Avery , Scavone Barbara , Rana Sarosh , Shahul Sajid
Published: January 2017

BACKGROUND:

Asian American/Pacific Islanders (AAPIs) are the fastest-growing racial group in the United States. Despite a higher socioeconomic status, AAPI women experience higher rates of maternal morbidity and mortality.

METHODS:

Using the National Inpatient Sample, we performed a retrospective cohort analysis of women who were hospitalized for delivery from 2002 to 2013. The primary outcome variable was inpatient mortality rate, and the presence of severe maternal morbidities was estimated using the Bateman Comorbidity Index, a validated tool for predicting obstetric morbidity.

RESULTS:

AAPI women presenting for delivery between 2003 and 2012 were older, more likely to reside in a zip code in the top quartile of annual income, be privately insured than Caucasian women, and less likely to have a higher Bateman Comorbidity Index. However, AAPI women had a higher likelihood of postpartum hemorrhage (3.4% vs 2.7%, P < .001), uterine atony, severe perineal lacerations, and severe maternal morbidities. Procedures such as transfusion, hysterectomy, and mechanical ventilation were also more common in AAPI women. Furthermore, AAPI women had a higher mortality rate that persisted despite adjustment for an apparently higher income and comorbidities (odds ratio 1.72, 95% confidence interval: 1.14–2.59, P = .01).

CONCLUSIONS:

Despite having a higher socioeconomic status, AAPI women had higher rates of maternal mortality during hospitalization for delivery. This increase persisted even after adjustment for factors known to affect peripartum outcomes. Further investigation is needed to better clarify the causes of racial differences in maternal morbidity and mortality.
Anesthetic Outcomes of Children With Arthrogryposis Syndromes: No Evidence of Hyperthermia
Authors: Gleich Stephen J. , Tien Michael , Schroeder Darrell R. , Hanson Andrew C. , Flick Randall , Nemergut Michael E.
Published: January 2017

BACKGROUND:

Arthrogryposis syndromes are a heterogeneous group of disorders characterized by congenital joint contractures often requiring multiple surgeries during childhood to address skeletal and visceral abnormalities. Previous reports suggest that these children have increased perioperative risk, including hypermetabolic events discrete from malignant hyperthermia, difficult airway management, isolated hyperthermia, and difficult IV line placement. We sought to compare children with arthrogryposis multiplex congenita (AMC) versus the less severe, distal arthrogryposis syndromes (DAS) and to evaluate possible intraoperative hyperthermia of patients with AMC. We hypothesized that children with AMC had a greater incidence of intraoperative hyperthermia and more difficulty with airway management and IV access.

METHODS:

Children aged 0 to 25 years with arthrogryposis syndromes who underwent anesthesia from 1972 to 2013 were identified. The medical records were reviewed for demographics, arthrogryposis type, and anesthetic complications. AMC subjects were compared with DAS subjects. To evaluate the probability of hyperthermia and hypermetabolic responses of patients with AMC, we performed a post hoc case–control analysis. Patients with AMC were matched in a 1:2 ratio to patients without arthrogryposis to evaluate the primary outcome of maximum intraoperative temperature.

RESULTS:

Forty-five patients with AMC and 16 patients with DAS underwent 264 and 105 unique anesthetics, respectively. There was no significant difference in intraoperative hyperthermia or hypermetabolic events (odds ratio [OR], 0.94; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.36–2.47; P = .90). Children with AMC were more likely to have difficult IV access (OR, 7.1; 95% CI, 1.81–27.90; P = .005). Additional evidence suggested that difficult airway management (OR, 4.06; 95% CI, 1.01–16.39; P = .049) and hemodynamic instability (OR, 4.22; 95% CI, 1.03–17.26; P = .045) were more likely in children with AMC. From post hoc case–control analysis, there was no significant difference in the mean maximum intraoperative temperature (estimated difference +0.04°C; 95% CI, −0.14 to +0.22; P = .64) or odds of intraoperative hyperthermia (OR, 1.49; 95% CI, 0.78–2.82; P = .223) for patients with AMC compared with control subjects.

CONCLUSIONS:

Children with arthrogryposis syndromes present challenges to the anesthesia and surgical teams, including greater neuromuscular disease burden and challenging peripheral IV placement, with additional evidence suggesting difficult airway management and intraoperative hemodynamic instability. Although more definitive studies are warranted, we did not find evidence of increased odds of intraoperative hyperthermia or hypermetabolic responses.
The Muse in the Museum: Cultural Institutions and Aesthetic Experience in H.d.’s Asphodel and Trilogy
Authors: Capogna Frank
Published: January 2017

This article argues that the modern museum offered modernist writer H.D. an institutional context through which she negotiated the possibilities for women’s experiences of—and participation in—otherwise exclusionary narratives of cultural history. In the novel Asphodel and the epic poem Trilogy, her personae’s affective, local experiences of historical art and artifacts in museums (and museological spaces) contest the authority of the disinterested “pure gaze” assumed by the museum’s ideal seeing subject. In these works, the museum functions as a space for cultural engagements and revaluations that provide H.D.’s personae access to voices and histories that museum collections then commonly neglected: those of women as artistic creators and interpreters.