bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The Economic Voter Decides
Authors: Stegmaier Mary , Lewis-Beck Michael S. , Brown Lincoln
Published: May 2019

In democracies, we elect our political leaders by choosing among a rival set of candidates or parties. What makes us pick one over all the others? Do we carefully weigh the platforms of all the candidates and then select the one closest to our personal desires? Or, do we select the candidate our friends and neighbors recommend? Perhaps, even, to save time, do we just vote for the same party we did last time? All of these are choice strategies, and there are many more. Here we focus on a well-known explanation of how voters decide, commonly called the Michigan Model, so named for the university where it was developed, in a path-breaking scholarly volume—The American Voter. The authors systematically gathered data, via scientific survey research, on individual voters in American presidential elections, measuring different traits, perceptions, and attitudes that they hypothesized might influence vote choice.

They arranged these different factors, or variables, into long-term forces and short-term forces that acted on the voter, and could be arrayed as if they were spread along a funnel of causality: from more remote, fixed variables, such as social class or party identification, to more proximate, fluid variables, such as issue preferences and candidate attributes. All these variables generally mattered, but those that concern us here deal with issues, in particular economic issues. How do voter evaluations of the economy help the voter decide what party to favor? Is it the national economy or the pocketbook that counts? How important are economic issues compared to other issues? What conditions make economic considerations more (or less) impactful? Does economic voting operate differently in different countries? These and other questions are addressed herein, with special attention to three leading democracies where economic voting has been heavily studied—the United States, Britain, and Germany. As demonstrated, economic considerations are pervasive and powerful elements in the democratic voter’s calculus.
Racial Prejudice, Racial Identity, and Attitudes in Political Decision Making
Authors: Jardina Ashley , Piston Spencer
Published: May 2019

A great deal of work in the domain of race and politics has focused on two phenomena: racial prejudice and racial solidarity. Scholarship on racial prejudice has primarily examined the nature and consequences of white racial animus, particularly toward blacks. In the latter half of the 20th century, in the post-Civil Rights era, scholars argued that racial prejudice had been transformed, as most whites rejected the belief that there were innate, biological differences between racial groups. Instead, whites came to embrace the belief that blacks did not subscribe to particular cultural values associated with the protestant work ethic. While these attitudes profoundly shape public opinion and political behavior in the United States, we suspect that there has been a resurgence in the belief that consequential biological differences between racial groups exist, and that biological racism is a growing force in American politics. Most of the development of work on racial consciousness has examined the effects of racial solidarity among racial and ethnic minorities on public opinion. Individuals’ psychological attachments to their racial group are an important element in American politics, and their importance may increase as the country becomes more racially and ethnically diverse.
Protest and Religion: An Overview
Authors: Akbaba Yasemin
Published: May 2019

After decades-long neglect, a growing body of scholarship is studying religious components of protests. Religion’s role as a facilitator, the religious perspective of protesters, the goals of religious actors as participants, and faith-based outcomes of protests have been examined using quantitative and qualitative methodology. Although it is now a thriving research field, due to recent contributions, incorporating faith-based variables in protest research is a challenging task since religion travels across different levels of analysis; effortlessly merges with thick concepts such as individual and collective identity; and takes different shapes and color when it surfaces in various social contexts across the globe. Therefore, at the religion and protest nexus, there are more questions than answers. Research in the field would improve by investing more on theoretical frameworks and expanding the availability of qualitative and quantitative data.
Social Markers in Language and Speech
Authors: Pitts Margaret Jane , Gallois Cindy
Published: May 2019

Social markers in language and speech are cues conveyed through verbal and nonverbal means that serve to identify individuals to the groups to which they belong. Social markers can be linguistic, paralinguistic, or extralinguistic in form, and can range from intentional and purposive (e.g., language selection or dialect accentuation) to unintentional and uncontrollable (e.g., vocal features that mark age or sex). They help to provide context for social organization. Extralinguistic cues are those that may be conveyed through gesture and physical appearance (i.e., skin color). However, social markers in language and speech focus on the paralinguistic (i.e., vocal cues such as pitch and tone) and linguistic cues (i.e., language choice, language style, accent, dialect, code-switching, and multilingualism) that mark social categories. Relevant social categories that are made distinctive through language and speech markers include age, sex and gender, social class, ethnicity, and many others. Scholars across disciplines of psychology, social psychology, linguistics, and communication have approached the study of social markers from different perspectives, resulting in theoretical (e.g., communication accommodation theory, ethnolinguistic vitality theory, linguistic intergroup bias) and methodological (e.g., matched-guise technique and ethnography of communication) advancements.
Stereotypes and Prejudice
Authors: Marx David , Ko Sei Jin
Published: May 2019

Stereotypes are widely held generalized beliefs about the behaviors and attributes possessed by individuals from certain social groups (e.g., race/ethnicity, sex, age, socioeconomic status, sexual orientation). They are often unchanging even in the face of contradicting information; however, they are fluid in the sense that stereotypic beliefs do not always come to mind or are expressed unless a situation activates the stereotype. Stereotypes generally serve as an underlying justification for prejudice, which is the accompanying feeling (typically negative) toward individuals from a certain social group (e.g., the elderly, Asians, transgender individuals). Many contemporary social issues are rooted in stereotypes and prejudice; thus research in this area has primarily focused on the antecedents and consequences of stereotype and prejudice as well as the ways to minimize the reliance on stereotypes when making social judgments.
Caenorhabditis elegans Learning and Memory
Authors: Wong James S.H. , Rankin Catharine H.
Published: May 2019

The nematode, Caenorhabditis elegans (C. elegans), is an organism useful for the study of learning and memory at the molecular, cellular, neural circuitry, and behavioral levels. Its genetic tractability, transparency, connectome, and accessibility for in vivo cellular and molecular analyses are a few of the characteristics that make the organism such a powerful system for investigating mechanisms of learning and memory. It is able to learn and remember across many sensory modalities, including mechanosensation, chemosensation, thermosensation, oxygen sensing, and carbon dioxide sensing. C. elegans habituates to mechanosensory stimuli, and shows short-, intermediate-, and long-term memory, and context conditioning for mechanosensory habituation. The organism also displays chemotaxis to various chemicals, such as diacetyl and sodium chloride. This behavior is associated with several forms of learning, including state-dependent learning, classical conditioning, and aversive learning. C. elegans also shows thermotactic learning in which it learns to associate a particular temperature with the presence or absence of food. In addition, both oxygen preference and carbon dioxide avoidance in C. elegans can be altered by experience, indicating that they have memory for the oxygen or carbon dioxide environment they were reared in.

Many of the genes found to underlie learning and memory in C. elegans are homologous to genes involved in learning and memory in mammals; two examples are crh-1, which is the C. elegans homolog of the cAMP response element-binding protein (CREB), and glr-1, which encodes an AMPA glutamate receptor subunit. Both of these genes are involved in long-term memory for tap habituation, context conditioning in tap habituation, and chemosensory classical conditioning. C. elegans offers the advantage of having a very small nervous system (302 neurons), thus it is possible to understand what these conserved genes are doing at the level of single identified neurons. As many mechanisms of learning and memory in C. elegans appear to be similar in more complex organisms including humans, research with C. elegans aids our ever-growing understanding of the fundamental mechanisms of learning and memory across the animal kingdom.
History and Development of Education in Africa
Authors: Yamada Shoko
Published: May 2019

Thanks to the concerted effort of the international community to promote basic education, driven by the Education for All (EFA) goals and Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), indices of education in Africa have improved dramatically since the 1990s. Although the access to schooling has improved, there are still issues of quality related to teachers, facilities, teaching and learning materials, and relevance of educational contents. Recently, under the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the focuses of educational policies of African countries have been diversified, to concentrate not only on quantitative and qualitative improvement of basic education, but also on secondary, tertiary, and technical and vocational education and training (TVET).

One of the problems which critics point out is that, regardless of the massive expansion of basic education, learning outcomes of school leavers in Africa have not improved. It has also been remarked that school enrolment has not directly led to poverty-reduction or decent employment. Another side-effect of the expansion of basic education has been an increased dependency on aid. So, although there is a constant demand for higher and more education among the general public, aid-dependent expansion of the system is unsustainable.

Before colonization by European powers, many groups in Africa had a tradition of oral transmission of knowledge, although there were some significant exceptions of societies which had formal educational institutions. With or without formal institutions, African traditional societies had their own mechanisms of transmitting knowledge across generations. However, Europeans overwrote such existing modes of education by introducing Western school systems. With the paternalistic conviction of their civilizing mission, they refined traditional cultures and practices which could be maintained and taught in school, while replacing other “barbarous superstitions” with teaching of European subjects. Resistance to such impositions of European education eventually led to nationalism, which accompanied the desire to find a uniquely African epistemology and teaching method. At the same time, the mechanism of recruiting African white-collar workers through schooling, which started during the colonial period, planted a strong hope for social advancement through gaining school certificates deeply in the mind of African people.
Lagos in the 19th Century
Authors: Olukoju Ayodeji
Published: May 2019

The history of Lagos in the 19th century divides into two periods, separated by the British takeover in 1861. The major events of the first period were a protracted succession dispute among claimants to the Lagos throne between 1805 and 1851, the influx of refugees from wars in the immediate and distant hinterlands, and the abolition of the trans-Atlantic slave trade, which was exploited by the British to intrude into the politics of Lagos.

Lagos was transformed in the second period by a combination of local and external political, economic, and social dynamics. First, it became a British colony and the seat of a colonial administration, with the trappings of modernity, such as a legislative council, modern courts, and rudimentary social facilities. The colony subsequently acquired a protectorate in the Yoruba hinterland, especially after the defeat of the Ijebu in 1892. Second, the advent of European Christian missions, and the influx of descendants of slaves and recaptives from Brazil, Cuba, Sierra Leone, and Liberia on the wings of the Abolition had epochal social consequences. The establishment of primary and secondary educational institutions produced an African elite of medical doctors, lawyers, teachers, and journalists from the 1870s. Newspapers promoted the earliest forms of anti-colonial nationalism, including cultural nationalism. Third, forest produce displaced slaves as the leading Lagos export. By the 1880s, Lagos had developed into the premier port and commercial settlement along the West Coast of Africa, earning it the sobriquet of “The Liverpool of West Africa.” By the 1890s, road and railway transport had connected the port to a densely populated agricultural hinterland, including an expanding protectorate.
Modeling Chronic Diseases in Relation to Risk Factors
Authors: Baal Pieter van , Boshuizen Hendriek
Published: May 2019

In most countries, non-communicable diseases have taken over infectious diseases as the most important causes of death. Many non-communicable diseases that were previously lethal diseases have become chronic, and this has changed the healthcare landscape in terms of treatment and prevention options. Currently, a large part of healthcare spending is targeted at curing and caring for the elderly, who have multiple chronic diseases. In this context prevention plays an important role, as there are many risk factors amenable to prevention policies that are related to multiple chronic diseases.

This article discusses the use of simulation modeling to better understand the relations between chronic diseases and their risk factors with the aim to inform health policy. Simulation modeling sheds light on important policy questions related to population aging and priority setting. The focus is on the modeling of multiple chronic diseases in the general population and how to consistently model the relations between chronic diseases and their risk factors by combining various data sources. Methodological issues in chronic disease modeling and how these relate to the availability of data are discussed. Here, a distinction is made between (a) issues related to the construction of the epidemiological simulation model and (b) issues related to linking outcomes of the epidemiological simulation model to economic relevant outcomes such as quality of life, healthcare spending and labor market participation. Based on this distinction, several simulation models are discussed that link risk factors to multiple chronic diseases in order to explore how these issues are handled in practice. Recommendations for future research are provided.
The Effects of Monetary Policy Announcements
Authors: Gu Chao , Han Han , Wright Randall
Published: May 2019

The effects of news (i.e., information innovations) are studied in dynamic general equilibrium models where liquidity matters. As a leading example, news can be announcements about monetary policy directions. In three standard theoretical environments—an overlapping generations model of fiat currency, a new monetarist model accommodating multiple payment methods, and a model of unsecured credit—transition paths are constructed between an announcement and the date at which events are realized. Although the economics is different, in each case, news about monetary policy can induce volatility in financial and other markets, with transitions displaying booms, crashes, and cycles in prices, quantities, and welfare. This is not the same as volatility based on self-fulfilling prophecies (e.g., cyclic or sunspot equilibria) studied elsewhere. Instead, the focus is on the unique equilibrium that is stationary when parameters are constant but still delivers complicated dynamics in simple environments due to information and liquidity effects. This is true even for classically-neutral policy changes. The induced volatility can be bad or good for welfare, but using policy to exploit this in practice seems difficult because outcomes are very sensitive to timing and parameters. The approach can be extended to include news of real factors, as seen in examples.
Measuring Health Utility in Economics
Authors: Pinto-Prades José Luis , Attema Arthur , Sánchez-Martínez Fernando Ignacio
Published: May 2019

Quality-adjusted life years (QALYs) are one of the main health outcomes measures used to make health policy decisions. It is assumed that the objective of policymakers is to maximize QALYs. Since the QALY weighs life years according to their health-related quality of life, it is necessary to calculate those weights (also called utilities) in order to estimate the number of QALYs produced by a medical treatment. The methodology most commonly used to estimate utilities is to present standard gamble (SG) or time trade-off (TTO) questions to a representative sample of the general population. It is assumed that, in this way, utilities reflect public preferences. Two different assumptions should hold for utilities to be a valid representation of public preferences. One is that the standard (linear) QALY model has to be a good model of how subjects value health. The second is that subjects should have consistent preferences over health states. Based on the main assumptions of the popular linear QALY model, most of those assumptions do not hold. A modification of the linear model can be a tractable improvement. This suggests that utilities elicited under the assumption that the linear QALY model holds may be biased. In addition, the second assumption, namely that subjects have consistent preferences that are estimated by asking SG or TTO questions, does not seem to hold. Subjects are sensitive to features of the elicitation process (like the order of questions or the type of task) that should not matter in order to estimate utilities. The evidence suggests that questions (TTO, SG) that researchers ask members of the general population produce response patterns that do not agree with the assumption that subjects have well-defined preferences when researchers ask them to estimate the value of health states. Two approaches can deal with this problem. One is based on the assumption that subjects have true but biased preferences. True preferences can be recovered from biased ones. This approach is valid as long as the theory used to debias is correct. The second approach is based on the idea that preferences are imprecise. In practice, national bodies use utilities elicited using TTO or SG under the assumptions that the linear QALY model is a good enough representation of public preferences and that subjects’ responses to preference elicitation methods are coherent.
Narratives of Buddhist Relics and Images
Authors: Berkwitz Stephen C.
Published: May 2019

Relics and images of the Buddha and of other awakened beings occupy important places in ritual practice throughout the Buddhist world. Their significance and sacrality are evidenced by the numerous written and oral narratives that have been composed by Buddhist authors and storytellers to describe how they were obtained and what makes them special. Buddhist narratives on relics and images are mainly found outside of the tradition’s canonical literature, either as discrete texts or as sections in larger works. These narratives often supply explanations as to why certain relics shrines and images are worthy of veneration and can be sites for authorizing power and political status. The written and oral narratives about these allegedly extraordinary objects typically include material concerning the origins of revered relics and images linked to the Buddha or other awakened saints, as well as narratives that prophesy and recount how such special objects were found in their present locations and came to be worshipped by devotees. Such textual sources also often associate particular relics and images with the authority of a ruler or a monastic community that possessed them. It seems clear that the more important a given relic or image is for a Buddhist community, the more likely that it will have a narrative that is used to help locate this object in time and space for devotees to understand and worship it properly. In sum, these narratives play a critical role in endowing relics and images with their extraordinary natures and important roles in the devotional and political spheres of Buddhist communities across Asia.
FARC, Shining Path, and Guerrillas in Latin America
Authors: Becker Marc
Published: May 2019

Armed insurrections are one of three methods that the left in Latin America has traditionally used to gain power (the other two are competing in elections, or mass uprisings often organized by labor movements as general strikes). After the triumph of the Cuban Revolution in 1959, guerrilla warfare became the preferred path to power given that electoral processes were highly corrupt and the general strikes too often led to massacres rather than a fundamental transformation of society. Based on the Cuban model, revolutionaries in other Latin American countries attempted to establish similar small guerrilla forces with mobile fighters who lived off the land with the support of a local population. The 1960s insurgencies came in two waves. Influenced by Che Guevara’s foco model, initial insurgencies were based in the countryside. After the defeat of Guevara’s guerrilla army in Bolivia in 1967, the focus shifted to urban guerrilla warfare. In the 1970s and 1980s, a new phase of guerrilla movements emerged in Peru and in Central America. While guerrilla-style warfare can provide a powerful response to a much larger and established military force, armed insurrections are rarely successful. Multiple factors including a failure to appreciate a longer history of grassroots organizing and the weakness of the incumbent government help explain those defeats and highlight just how exceptional an event successful guerrilla uprisings are.
Labor and Resistance to the International Monetary Fund
Authors: Walcher Dustin
Published: May 2019

Since the immediate post–World War II era, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has played a leading role in the political, economic, and social lives of Latin Americans. Its role has evolved from the Bretton Woods era of the postwar period, through the era of the Washington Consensus, and into the post-2008 crisis period. However, throughout those times the institution served as the enforcement instrument for orthodox economic policies within the liberal international order. It conditioned emergency lending to countries in economic distress on the implementation of austere economic policies.

The region’s workers consistently bore the costs of the IMF’s prescribed policies. Such policies resulted in fewer public-sector jobs, reductions in welfare state benefits, and increased levels of foreign involvement in national economies. Consequently, the IMF became the subject of frequent labor protests. Workers understood the key role the IMF played in devising the policies that caused them pain and often took steps to resist.

Although the IMF’s effects on the working class are well understood within Latin America, it has not been the subject of sustained historical analysis. To understand the dynamics of the region’s political economy, historians should focus on the IMF to a degree similar to that of economists and political scientists. More specifically, the relationship between the IMF and Latin American workers is ripe for sustained analysis across disciplinary boundaries.
Severo Martínez Peláez and Latin American Historiography
Authors: Gutiérrez Álvarez Coralia
Published: May 2019

Severo Martínez Peláez is the most important figure in the founding of contemporary Guatemalan historiography. His work, in particular La patria del criollo (The Homeland of the Criollo), has been viewed by historians as a starting point for advancing the reconstruction of Central American history. Additionally, his work continues to have a broad readership, who consider it a factor in understanding the present. His contributions are essential to the understanding of the colonial period in Latin America, including debates that inspired his theses concerning the character of society in that period and his historical views on indigenous peoples. Like other thinkers of the 1960s and 1970s, his focus was primarily on economic and social history, in particular class struggles. Therefore, it is necessary to understand the intellectual, political, social, and even personal conditions relevant at the time he was writing in order to thoroughly understand and appreciate his work.
Taxation, Money, Credit, and the Consolidation of Oligarchic Rule in El Salvador, 1848–1931
Authors: Acosta Antonio
Published: May 2019

The formation of El Salvador’s oligarchy was a long and complex process. Its beginning can be traced to 1848, when the first export of Salvadoran coffee took place. The first stage in its formation may be seen as ending in 1931, just before the army’s great “slaughter” of the rural population after the crisis of 1929. This long period is divided into two parts, with the year 1890 marking a change. Before that date, although El Salvador was beginning to feel the effects of the Industrial Revolution and the reorganization of the world markets, the country’s international politics were focused primarily on Central America. However, from 1890 on, the business sector expanded and penetrated deeply into the country based on the capital accumulated from the coffee industry. To that was added certain foreign participation, especially from the United States. This is why the period of 1848–1890 is considered the origin of the oligarchy, and 1890–1931 is seen as the formation of this social sector that has marked the history of the country up to the 21st century.

A plausible definition of the term oligarchy is provided by Waldo Ansaldi: the combination of a social class defined by its function in the economic structure and the particular form of government it developed and practiced. The Salvadoran oligarchy was initially made up of the large landowners and traders whose economic power was based on their access to land and labor, acquired to a large degree at a very low price and often through non-commercial relationships. This minority experienced a transition toward a profile with increasingly capitalistic characteristics—that is, a more complex managing class with more and more wage labor, although in poor working conditions. In spite of this, it retained purely oligarchic features in the way it controlled political power and in its use of abundant, though not always wage-earning, labor, so that it can hardly be considered bourgeoisie. Coffee, including its cultivation, processing and export, was the principal (although not the only) basis of the enrichment of the oligarchy and of their political power. The development and consolidation of the oligarchical class was based on their control of the state and, as a result, also of their monetary, credit, and above all, fiscal policies. Representatives of the oligarchy came to control the government through electoral as well as military means, enabling them to reproduce and expand their power.
Morphological Units: Words
Authors: Ramat Paolo
Published: May 2019

This chapter deals with the discussion that has concerned and concerns the very concept of ‘word’. It considers different definitions which have been advanced according different theoretical positions. Thereafter, it examines various phenomena which are strictly bound to ‘word’: word compounds and multi-word expressions, word formation rules, word classes (or Parts-of-Speech), splinters, univerbation and, finally, word blendings
4. Dyslexia genes and the environment—a class act?
Authors: Snowling Margaret J.
Published: May 2019

‘Dyslexia genes and the environment—a class act?’ considers the biological bases of dyslexia. Is dyslexia heritable? It has been known for many years that dyslexia runs in families. Like other neurodevelopmental disorders, dyslexia has an early onset in childhood, is persistent, and is likely to be heritable. The genetics of dyslexia is a complicated issue and there is still a long way to go before we fully understand the mechanisms that are involved. The role of the environment in the genesis of dyslexia is considered and some of the factors that can potentially moderate its impact. These include: the home literacy environment, the effects of school, teaching, and learning; and gene–environment correlations.
5. The dyslexic brain
Authors: Snowling Margaret J.
Published: May 2019

All behaviour, including reading, is controlled by the brain. It is therefore natural to ask: are there differences in brain structure or function in dyslexia that cause difficulties in learning to read? ‘The dyslexic brain’ discusses different methods of neuroimaging for investigating the brain. It focuses on measures of brain function, noting that differences in brain structure between dyslexic and non-impaired readers have been confirmed in left-language regions. It then considers some key questions: Is the brain’s signature for dyslexia the same across languages? Does literacy change the brain? Can brain imaging be used as a predictor of the ease of learning to read? Are there biomarkers that indicate dyslexia risk?
Sound Level Measurements in Berthing Areas of an Aircraft Carrier
Authors: Schaal Nicholas Cody , Majar Maria , Hunter Andrew
Published: May 2019

Background

Personnel assigned to aircraft carriers work and live in environments where hazardous noise areas and hearing recovery spaces such as sleeping areas are in close proximity to one another. Hazardous noise exposure occurring during on-duty time periods and elevated noise levels during off-duty periods in sleeping areas may be prohibiting adequate hearing recovery, thus potentially leading to hearing loss and may lead to adverse effects on sleep, leading to crew-member fatigue. This investigation characterizes Equivalent sound level (Leq) and standardized octave band center frequency noise levels according to berthing (sleeping) area location during flight operation and nonflight operation time periods on a US Navy aircraft carrier. In addition, the investigation compares noise measurements in sleeping areas to noise levels associated with auditory rest and poor sleep quality and quantity.

Methods

Noise levels were measured in berthing areas aboard a US Navy Nimitz-class aircraft carrier during a routine at-sea period. Sixty noise measurements were taken in eight sleeping locations. Leq in decibels ‘A’ weighted (dBA) and noise levels from 16 to 16 000 Hz in (dB) were measured during flight operations [Leq (flt ops)] and nonflight operations [Leq (nonflt ops)]. Leq was also measured according to sleep area shipboard locations of forward (FWD) Leq (FWD), middle (MID) Leq (MID), and rear (AFT) Leq (AFT). These data were compared to the 70 dBA American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists (ACGIH) threshold limit value (TLV) for effective quiet areas. In addition, these data were compared to noise levels associated with hearing loss and sleep parameters. Statistical analysis was conducted with R version 3.5.2 using an alpha level of 0.05.

Results

Leq (flt ops) in sleeping areas was a statistically significant (P < 0.05) 6.4 dBA higher than the Leq (nonflt ops). Leq (FWD) and Leq (MID) in sleeping areas was a statistically significant (P < 0.05) 15.2 and 15.0 dBA higher, respectively, than the Leq (AFT) noise levels. Mean noise levels at standardized center (1/1) octave bands were highest between 500 and 4000 Hz, ranging from 65.2 to 69.8 dB. A total of 72% of all area Leq measurements exceeded the 70 dBA ACGIH TLV classified as effective quiet to allow for temporary threshold shift recovery. All noise measurements exceeded the World Health Organization’s noise threshold where adverse effects on sleep begin.

Discussion/Conclusions

Results suggest that sleeping area location in close proximity to relatively high noise sources and activities occurring on an aircraft carrier (i.e. flight operations) increase noise levels in sleeping areas. These findings raise serious concerns since high noise exposures both on duty and during off-duty/sleeping periods may inhibit auditory recovery from hazardous noise exposures. In addition, results suggest noise levels in sleeping areas are high enough to evoke negative sleep effects.
Structural and photosynthetic re-acclimation to low light in C4 maize leaves that developed under high light
Authors: Yabiku Takayuki , Ueno Osamu
Published: May 2019

Background and Aims

C4 plants have higher photosynthetic capacity than C3 plants, but this advantage comes at an energetic cost that is problematic under low light. In the crop canopy, lower leaves first develop under high light but later experience low light because of mutual shading. To explore the re-acclimation of C4 leaves to low light, we investigated the structural and physiological changes of the leaves of maize plants grown in shaded pots.

Methods

Plants were first grown under high light, and then some of them were shaded (20 % of sunlight) for 3 weeks. Four types of leaves were examined: new leaves that developed under low light during shading (L), new leaves that developed under high light (H), mature leaves that developed under high light before shading and were then subjected to low light (H–L) and mature leaves that always experienced high light (H–H).

Key Results

The leaf mass per area, nitrogen and chlorophyll contents per unit leaf area, chlorophyll a/b ratio and activities of C3 and C4 photosynthetic enzymes were lower in H–L than in H–H leaves and in L than in H leaves. Unlike L leaves, H–L leaves maintained the thickness and framework of the Kranz anatomy of H leaves, but chloroplast contents in H–L leaves were reduced. This reduction of chloroplast contents was achieved mainly by reducing the size of chloroplasts. Although grana of mesophyll chloroplasts were more developed in L leaves than in H leaves, there were no differences between H–L and H–H leaves. The light curves of photosynthesis in H–L and L leaves were very similar and showed traits of shade leaves.

Conclusions

Mature maize leaves that developed under high light re-acclimate to low-light environments by adjusting their biochemical traits and chloroplast contents to resemble shade leaves but maintain the anatomical framework of sun leaves.
Levels of Evidence in Plastic Surgery Research: A 10-Year Bibliometric Analysis of 18,889 Publications From 4 Major Journals
Authors: Rifkin William J , Yang Jenny H , DeMitchell-Rodriguez Evellyn , Kantar Rami S , Diaz-Siso J Rodrigo , Rodriguez Eduardo D
Published: May 2019

Background

Improving the quality of research published in plastic surgery literature has been recognized as a difficult and time-intensive process. Despite significant progress over the last decade, leaders in the field continue to advocate for higher-quality studies to better inform clinical practice.

Objectives

The aim of this study was to evaluate and analyze trends in the levels of evidence (LOEs) of the plastic surgery literature over the last decade in 4 major journals.

Methods

After systematic review of all articles published between 2008 and 2017 in Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Annals of Plastic Surgery, Journal of Plastic, Reconstructive, and Aesthetic Surgery, and Aesthetic Surgery Journal (ASJ), included articles were assigned an LOE and classified according to study design and category.

Results

In total, 8211 articles were included. Case series and reports represented 36.1% and 13.6% of studies, respectively. Additionally, 27.2% were retrospective cohort studies, 8.2% prospective cohort studies, 3.9% systematic reviews, and 2.9% randomized controlled trials (RCTs). Overall, the percentage of Level I/II studies has increased from 10.9% in 2008 to 17.3% in 2017. ASJ published the greatest proportion of Level I/II studies (23.2%) and RCTs (5.1%) of all the journals. There were significant differences in the distribution of Level I/II studies by journal (P < 0.001) and category (P < 0.001).

Conclusions

Over the past decade, plastic surgery journals have published higher-quality research and a significantly greater proportion of Level I and II studies. The field must continue to strive for robust study designs, while also recognizing the importance of lower-LOE research.
Seq2Feature: a comprehensive web-based feature extraction tool
Authors: Nikam Rahul , Gromiha M Michael
Published: May 2019

Motivation

Machine learning techniques require various descriptors from protein and nucleic acid sequences to understand/predict their structure and function as well as distinguishing between disease and neutral mutations. Hence, availability of a feature extraction tool is necessary to bridge the gap.

Results

We developed a comprehensive web-based tool, Seq2Feature, which computes 252 protein and 41 DNA sequence-based descriptors. These features include physicochemical, energetic and conformational properties of proteins, mutation matrices and contact potentials as well as nucleotide composition, physicochemical and conformational properties of DNA. We propose that Seq2Feature could serve as an effective tool for extracting protein and DNA sequence-based features as applicable inputs to machine learning algorithms.

Availability and implementation

https://www.iitm.ac.in/bioinfo/SBFE/index.html.

Supplementary information

Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.
snakePipes: facilitating flexible, scalable and integrative epigenomic analysis
Authors: Bhardwaj Vivek , Heyne Steffen , Sikora Katarzyna , Rabbani Leily , Rauer Michael , Kilpert Fabian , Richter Andreas S , Ryan Devon P , Manke Thomas
Published: May 2019

Due to the rapidly increasing scale and diversity of epigenomic data, modular and scalable analysis workflows are of wide interest. Here we present snakePipes, a workflow package for processing and downstream analysis of data from common epigenomic assays: ChIP-seq, RNA-seq, Bisulfite-seq, ATAC-seq, Hi-C and single-cell RNA-seq. snakePipes enables users to assemble variants of each workflow and to easily install and upgrade the underlying tools, via its simple command-line wrappers and yaml files.

Availability and implementation

snakePipes can be installed via conda: `conda install -c mpi-ie -c bioconda -c conda-forge snakePipes’. Source code (https://github.com/maxplanck-ie/snakepipes) and documentation (https://snakepipes.readthedocs.io/en/latest/) are available online.

Supplementary information

Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.
Taste Receptor Cells in Mice Express Receptors for the Hormone Adiponectin
Authors: Crosson Sean M , Marques Andrew , Dib Peter , Dotson Cedrick D , Munger Steven D , Zolotukhin Sergei
Published: May 2019

The metabolic hormone adiponectin is secreted into the circulation by adipocytes and mediates key biological functions, including insulin sensitivity, adipocyte development, and fatty acid oxidation. Adiponectin is also abundant in saliva, where its functions are poorly understood. Here we report that murine taste receptor cells (TRCs) express specific adiponectin receptors and may be a target for salivary adiponectin. This is supported by the presence of all three known adiponectin receptors in transcriptomic data obtained by RNA-seq analysis of purified circumvallate (CV) taste buds. As well, immunohistochemical analysis of murine CV papillae showed that two adiponectin receptors, ADIPOR1 and T-cadherin, are localized to subsets of TRCs. Immunofluorescence for T-cadherin was primarily co-localized with the Type 2 TRC marker phospholipase C β2, suggesting that adiponectin signaling could impact sweet, bitter, or umami taste signaling. However, adiponectin null mice showed no differences in behavioral lick responsiveness compared with wild-type controls in brief-access lick testing. AAV-mediated overexpression of adiponectin in the salivary glands of adiponectin null mice did result in a small but significant increase in behavioral lick responsiveness to the fat emulsion Intralipid. Together, these results suggest that salivary adiponectin can affect TRC function, although its impact on taste responsiveness and peripheral taste coding remains unclear.
Cabotegravir Is Not Associated With Weight Gain in Human Immunodeficiency Virus–uninfected Individuals in HPTN 077
Authors: Landovitz Raphael J , Zangeneh Sahar Z , Chau Gordon , Grinsztejn Beatriz , Eron Joseph J , Dawood Halima , Magnus Manya , Liu Albert Y , Panchia Ravindre , Hosseinipour Mina C , Kofron Ryan , Margolis David A , Rinehart Alex , Adeyeye Adeola , Burns David , McCauley Marybeth , Cohen Myron S , Currier Judith S
Published: May 2019

Studies in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)–infected individuals suggest excess weight gain with integrase inhibitor–based antiretroviral therapy. The HIV Prevention Trials Network Study 077 evaluated changes in weight and fasting metabolic parameters in HIV-uninfected individuals randomized to cabotegravir or a placebo. No differences between arms were found for change in weight or fasting metabolic parameters overall or for subgroups.
Genome-Wide Association Study of Microscopic Colitis in the UK Biobank Confirms Immune-Related Pathogenesis
Authors: Green Harry D , Beaumont Robin N , Thomas Amanda , Hamilton Benjamin , Wood Andrew R , Sharp Seth , Jones Samuel E , Tyrrell Jessica , Walker Gareth , Goodhand James , Kennedy Nicholas A , Ahmad Tariq , Weedon Michael N
Published: May 2019

Background and Aims

The causes of microscopic colitis are currently poorly understood. Previous reports have found clinical associations with coeliac disease and genetic associations at the human leukocyte antigen [HLA] locus on the ancestral 8.1 haplotype. We investigated pharmacological and genetic factors associated with microscopic colitis in the UK Biobank.

Methods

In total, 483 European UK Biobank participants were identified by ICD10 coding, and a genome-wide association study was performed using BOLT-LMM, with a sensitivity analysis performed excluding potential confounders. The HLA*IMP:02 algorithm was used to estimate allele frequency at 11 classical HLA genes, and downstream analysis was performed using FUMA. Genetic overlap with inflammatory bowel disease [Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis] was investigated using genetic risk scores.

Results

We found significant phenotypic associations with smoking status, coeliac disease and the use of proton-pump inhibitors but not with other commonly reported pharmacological risk factors. Using the largest sample size to date, we confirmed a recently reported association with the MHC Ancestral 8.1 Haplotype. Downstream analysis suggests association with digestive tract morphogenesis. By calculating genetic risk scores, we also report suggestive evidence of shared genetic risk with Crohn’s disease, but not with ulcerative colitis.

Conclusions

This report confirms the role of genetic determinants in the HLA in the pathogenesis of microscopic colitis. The genetic overlap with Crohn’s disease suggests a common underlying mechanism of disease.
Characterization of the mechanisms by which missense mutations in the lysosomal acid lipase gene disrupt enzymatic activity
Authors: Vinje Terje , Laerdahl Jon K , Bjune Katrine , Leren Trond P , Strøm Thea Bismo
Published: May 2019

Hydrolysis of cholesteryl esters and triglycerides in the lysosome is performed by lysosomal acid lipase (LAL). In this study we have investigated how 23 previously identified missense mutations in the LAL gene (LIPA) (OMIM# 613497) affect the structure of the protein and thereby disrupt LAL activity. Moreover, we have performed transfection studies to study intracellular transport of the 23 mutants. Our main finding was that most pathogenic mutations result in defective enzyme activity by affecting the normal folding of LAL. Whereas, most of the mutations leading to reduced stability of the cap domain did not alter intracellular transport, nearly all mutations that affect the stability of the core domain gave rise to a protein that was not efficiently transported from the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) to the Golgi apparatus. As a consequence, ER stress was generated that is assumed to result in ER-associated degradation of the mutant proteins. The two LAL mutants Q85K and S289C were selected to study whether secretion-defective mutants could be rescued from ER-associated degradation by the use of chemical chaperones. Of the five chemical chaperones tested, only the proteasomal inhibitor MG132 markedly increased the amount of mutant LAL secreted. However, essentially no increased enzymatic activity was observed in the media. These data indicate that the use of chemical chaperones to promote the exit of folding-defective LAL mutants from the ER, may not have a great therapeutic potential as long as these mutants appear to remain enzymatically inactive.
PM2.5 air pollution and cause-specific cardiovascular disease mortality
Authors: Hayes Richard B , Lim Chris , Zhang Yilong , Cromar Kevin , Shao Yongzhao , Reynolds Harmony R , Silverman Debra T , Jones Rena R , Park Yikyung , Jerrett Michael , Ahn Jiyoung , Thurston George D
Published: May 2019

Background

Ambient air pollution is a modifiable risk factor for cardiovascular disease, yet uncertainty remains about the size of risks at lower levels of fine particulate matter (PM2.5) exposure which now occur in the USA and elsewhere.

Methods

We investigated the relationship of ambient PM2.5 exposure with cause-specific cardiovascular disease mortality in 565 477 men and women, aged 50 to 71 years, from the National Institutes of Health-AARP Diet and Health Study. During 7.5 x 106 person-years of follow up, 41 286 cardiovascular disease deaths, including 23 328 ischaemic heart disease (IHD) and 5894 stroke deaths, were ascertained using the National Death Index. PM2.5 was estimated using a hybrid land use regression (LUR) geostatistical model. Multivariate Cox regression models were used to estimate relative risks (RRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CI).

Results

Each increase of 10  μg/m3 PM2.5 (overall range, 2.9–28.0  μg/m3) was associated, in fully adjusted models, with a 16% increase in mortality from ischaemic heart disease [hazard ratio (HR) 1.16; 95% CI 1.09-1.22] and a 14% increase in mortality from stroke (HR 1.14; CI 1.02-1.27). Compared with PM2.5 exposure <8  μg/m3 (referent), risks for CVD were increased in relation to PM2.5 exposures in the range of 8–12  μg/m3 (CVD: HR 1.04; 95% CI 1.00-1.08), in the range 12–20  μg/m3 (CVD: HR 1.08; 95% CI 1.03-1.13) and in the range 20+ μg/m3 (CVD: HR 1.19; 95% CI 1.10-1.28). Results were robust to alternative approaches to PM2.5 exposure assessment and statistical analysis.

Conclusions

Long-term exposure to fine particulate air pollution is associated with ischaemic heart disease and stroke mortality, with excess risks occurring in the range of and below the present US long-term standard for ambient exposure to PM2.5 (12  µg/m3), indicating the need for continued improvements in air pollution abatement for CVD prevention.