bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Assessment of parental mosaicism in SCN1A-related epilepsy by single-molecule molecular inversion probes and next-generation sequencing
Authors: de Lange Iris M , Koudijs Marco J , van ‘t Slot Ruben , Sonsma Anja C M , Mulder Flip , Carbo Ellen C , van Kempen Marjan J A , Nijman Isaac J , Ernst Robert F , Savelberg Sanne M C , Knoers Nine V A M , Brilstra Eva H , Koeleman Bobby P C
Published: October 2018

Background

Dravet syndrome is a severe genetic encephalopathy, caused by pathogenic variants in SCN1A. Low-grade parental mosaicism occurs in a substantial proportion of families (7%–13%) and has important implications for recurrence risks. However, parental mosaicism can remain undetected by methods regularly used in diagnostics. In this study, we use single-molecule molecular inversion probes (smMIP), a technique with high sensitivity for detecting low-grade mosaic variants and high cost-effectiveness, to investigate the incidence of parental mosaicism of SCN1A variants in a cohort of 90 families and assess the feasibility of this technique.

Methods

Deep sequencing of SCN1A was performed using smMIPs. False positive rates for each of the proband’s pathogenic variants were determined in 145 unrelated samples. If parents showed corresponding variant alleles at a significantly higher rate than the established noise ratio, mosaicism was confirmed by droplet digital PCR (ddPCR).

Results

Sequence coverage of at least 100× at the location of the corresponding pathogenic variant was reached for 80 parent couples. The variant ratio was significantly higher than the established noise ratio in eight parent couples, of which four (5%) were regarded as true mosaics, based on ddPCR results. The false positive rate of smMIP analysis without ddPCR was therefore 50%. Three of these variants had previously been considered de novo in the proband by Sanger sequencing.

Conclusion

smMIP technology combined withnext generation sequencing (NGS) performs better than Sanger sequencing in the detection of parental mosaicism. Because parental mosaicism has important implications for genetic counselling and recurrence risks, we stress the importance of implementing high-sensitivity NGS-based assays in standard diagnostics.
Prevalence and characteristics of tobacco purchases in convenience stores: results of a postpurchase intercept survey in Dunedin, New Zealand
Authors: Robertson Lindsay , Cameron Claire , Hoek Janet A , Sullivan Trudy , Marsh Louise , Peterson Elizabeth , Gendall Philip
Published: October 2018

Introduction

Arguments regarding the importance of tobacco to convenience stores could impede the adoption of tobacco retail reduction policies. Although trade associations argue tobacco constitutes two-thirds of convenience store sales and drives footfall, few studies have tested these claims. We therefore examined the prevalence and characteristics of tobacco purchases at convenience stores in Dunedin, New Zealand.

Methods

We conducted a postpurchase survey at 20 convenience stores, each visited for three 60 min intervals over a 4-week period. We used descriptive statistics to determine proportions and 95% CIs of transactions that contained tobacco and those that contained only non-tobacco items. We estimated the mean number of items purchased, the mean number of non-tobacco items purchased and mean expenditure on non-tobacco items.

Results

Fourteen per cent of transactions contained tobacco (n=95/679); of those, 64% comprised tobacco only. Only 5% of all transactions included both tobacco and non-tobacco products. The mean number of non-tobacco items purchased was 1.9 for transactions containing only non-tobacco products and 1.7 for transactions containing both tobacco and non-tobacco products. After excluding the cost of tobacco, people who purchased tobacco and non-tobacco products spent on average $5.11 on non-tobacco items, whereas people who purchased only non-tobacco items spent on average $6.85.

Conclusions

Tobacco products constitute a small proportion of items purchased from Dunedin convenience stores and are typically not purchased with non-tobacco items. Our findings are inconsistent with arguments that most small retailers rely on tobacco sales.
Anti‐nerve growth factor monoclonal antibodies for the control of pain in dogs and cats
Authors: Enomoto Masataka , Mantyh Patrick W , Murrell Joanna , Innes John F , Lascelles B Duncan X
Published: October 2018

Nerve growth factor (NGF) is essential for the survival of sensory and sympathetic neurons during development. However, in the adult, NGF and its interaction with tropomyosin receptor kinase A receptor (TrkA) has been found to play a critical role in nociception and nervous system plasticity in pain conditions. Thus, various monoclonal antibody (mAb) therapies targeting this pathway have been investigated in the development of new pharmacotherapies for chronic pain. Although none of the mAbs against NGF are yet approved for use in humans, they look very promising for the effective control of pain. Recently, species‐specific anti‐NGF mAbs for the management of osteoarthritis (OA)‐associated pain in dogs and cats has been developed, and early clinical trials have been conducted. Anti‐NGF therapy looks to be both very effective and very promising as a novel therapy against chronic pain in dogs and cats. This review outlines the mechanism of action of NGF, the role of NGF in osteoarthritis, research in rodent OA models and the current status of the development of anti‐NGF mAbs in humans. Furthermore, we describe and discuss the recent development of species‐specific anti‐NGF mAbs for the treatment of OA‐associated pain in veterinary medicine.
Diante da catástrofe. Imagem em movimento, imagem-apagamento e cemitério marinho
Authors: Monteiro Lucia Ramos
Published: October 2018

Este artigo pretende pensar a indissociabilidade entre representação da catástrofe e catástrofe da representação. Para tanto, serão observadas tentativas de figurar diferentes eventos catastróficos por meio da imagem em movimento, ao longo da história. Na vídeo-instalação Los durmientes (2014), realizada pelo artista chileno Enrique Ramirez e exposta em 2015 no Museo de la Memoria y los Derechos Humanos de Santiago, a água que preenche todo o quadro tem qualidade sólida e opaca, funcionando como obstáculo à visão do espectador, o que reitera a “invisibilidade constitutiva” das tentativas de representação da catástrofe. Enquanto  afirmação da inacessibilidade da verdade sobre os presos torturados, assassinados e desaparecidos sob a ditadura militar chilena, pode esta imagem em movimento ser entendida como imagem-apagamento?
Janelas sem horizonte: uma análise iconográfica da Anunciação no cinema
Authors: Faissol Pedro De Andrade Lima
Published: October 2018

Em L’Annonciation Italienne – Une histoire de perspective, Daniel Arasse investiga a incidência da perspectiva na iconografia da Anunciação renascentista. Eis o paradoxo identificado: como que a técnica da perspectiva, “forma simbólica” de um mundo comensurável, poderia figurar o Incomensurável? Para responder a esse problema, Arasse busca no brilho interior de cada pintura uma “desordem da perspectiva” para a figuração da divindade. O presente artigo tem por objetivo identificar as formas pelas quais o cinema enfrentou esse desafio. Como migrar para o meio fílmico os motivos pictóricos já estabelecidos pela iconografia da Anunciação? Para contribuir com a discussão, analisaremos dois filmes: As sombras (Jean-Claude Brisseau, 1982) e O estranho caso de Angélica (Manoel de Oliveira, 2010).
Revolução visual da arte de Eisenstein em Ivan, o Terrível
Authors: Avancini Atilio , Riscali Fernanda
Published: October 2018

A proposta do artigo é a leitura da mensagem cinematográfica e fotográfica do filme Ivan o Terrível – Parte II do diretor Sergei Eisenstein. A metodologia de pesquisa tem como ponto de partida a análise do fotograma idealizado pelo crítico Roland Barthes entre os sentidos óbvio e obtuso. Em adição, amplia-se a circulação de sentidos do objeto artístico para o ponto de vista descritivo e cultural de Erwin Panofsky, além da leitura do elemento técnico-estético. Instrumento de denúncia, a obra clássica Ivan o Terrível – Parte II se eterniza ao ser legitimado como registro histórico do passado e metáfora do presente. Esta pesquisa na área da arte, de caráter teórico e crítico, trabalha com a ideia de que com lirismo plástico e discussão política esta obra cinematográfica contribui para promover uma revolução visual.
Vantagens do caos brasileiro: o Brasil que Oswald de Andrade descobriu em Paris
Authors: Virava Thiago Gil de Oliveira
Published: October 2018

Durante o ano de 1923, quando residiu em Paris, Oswald de Andrade teve contato com uma diversidade do que chamou de “ambientes intelectuais”, atuando como agente divulgador do movimento de renovação artística e literária promovido em São Paulo pela Semana de Arte Moderna. Essa experiência produziu um alargamento de sua reflexão sobre a singularidade da formação cultural e da vida intelectual brasileiras, processo que culminaria na publicação do Manifesto da Poesia Pau Brasil, pouco tempo depois de seu retorno ao país. Por meio da análise do texto de uma conferência, de cartas e de artigos enviados por Oswald de Andrade de Paris, este artigo discute o modo como as artes visuais participaram desse momento específico de sua experiência intelectual.
Potências do falso
Authors: Baudelaire Eric , Eskinazi Lucas Vieira , Guedes Nina
Published: October 2018

Neste texto em forma de diário, o artista Eric Baudelaire imagina uma exposição cuja premissa seria questionar através de trabalhos artísticos, as margens entre documento e ficção. Citando realizadores iconoclastas e iconofílicos, uma terceira via é elaborada a partir dos filmes de Peter Watkins borrando tais fronteiras, a fim de repensar a História e suas representações. Também em sua escrita Baudelaire transita do coloquial à crítica de arte. Em viagens, o artista toma nota de acontecimentos casuais relembrando catástrofes como a Shoah e as bombas atômicas lançadas em Hiroshima e Nagazaki. O título, potências do falso, faz referência ao conceito de Gilles Deleuze, relevante ao se pensar a produção e circulação das imagens no contemporâneo.
A Longa Noite
Authors: Koch Lucia
Published: October 2018

Ensaio visual da artista Lucia Koch, intitulado A Longa Noite, especialmente elaborado para a revista ARS em 2018.
Benjamins Trauerspiel
Authors: Meyer Ingo
Published: October 2018

Geisenhanslüke’s book applies Benjamin’s famous concepts such as ‘myth’ vs. ‘history’, ‘catastrophy’ vs. ‘mourning’, ‘idea’, ‘meaning’ etc. in a comparative manner on the baroque drama to recommend his view as still being capable for stimulating further research. The article critically discusses range and capacity of Geisenhanslüke’s attempt in the light of baroque philology and suggests to limitate Benjamin’s thinking strictly on modern literature at best.
Der Poet als unbeugsamer Dissident
Authors: Hanstein Michael
Published: October 2018

In 1977 the East German author Hans Joachim Schädlich published Versuchte Nähe (English edition Approximation published in 1980), a small volume of short stories. While the Western German press praised Schädlich’s first work as a literary reflection of the society in the German Democratic Republic (GDR), Schädlich was marginalized as a dissident in the GDR and had to move to West Germany. One of the short stories in Versuchte Nähe is about the last days of the German renaissance author Nicodemus Frischlin, who, arrested by German authorities, died in prison. The story was appreciated for its style using a “Luther-like language”. Schädlich’s story is mainly based on a biography of Frischlin written by David Friedrich Strauss, a famous and prolific 19th century German author and theologian. Schädlich’s modification of the original source includes a description of the conditions of imprisonment and the heroification of Frischlin as an uncompromising critic of a totalitarian regime.
Window View to the Sky as a Restorative Resource for Residents in Densely Populated Cities
Authors: Masoudinejad Sepideh , Hartig Terry
Published: October 2018

We investigated the extent to which the amount of sky and other contents affect expectations that window views will support psychological restoration in an urban context. The study involved 102 digital view images across which the amount of sky and other contents were varied systematically through manipulation of variables relevant to urban densification. University students ( N = 212) rated images on restorative quality (being away, fascination), restoration likelihood, or preference. We aggregated the ratings for each variable for each image and used the images as cases in analyses. Amount of sky and presence of a window box with greenery had direct positive effects on restoration likelihood judgments, as well as indirect effects mediated by being away and fascination. Ground-level views with people and street trees evoked ratings similar to those for some views with sky, but the views judged most restorative and most liked were those with the most sky.
Linguistically Responsive Teaching in Preservice Teacher Education: A Review of the Literature Through the Lens of Cultural-Historical Activity Theory
Authors: Solano-Campos Ana , Hopkins Megan , Quaynor Laura
Published: October 2018

This article presents an integrated systematic review of scholarship related to preparing preservice teachers (PSTs) to teach multilingual learners in U.S. schools. We drew from cultural-historical activity theory to investigate how teacher educators who focus on preparing PSTs to work with multilingual students attended to the linguistically responsive teaching (LRT) framework. We identified three distinct activity systems, each linked to specific LRT dimensions. The ways in which the components of each activity system integrated LRT have implications for both theory and practice. Specifically, our findings highlight the need for program-wide coherence in teacher preparation and for comparative analysis examining teacher education across diverse policy contexts.
Correlates of Cognitive Load in Surrogate Decision Makers of the Critically III
Authors: Pignatiello Grant A. , Hickman Ronald L.
Published: October 2018

Surrogate decision makers (SDMs) of the critically ill experience intense emotions and transient states of decision fatigue. These factors may increase the cognitive load experienced by electronic decision aids. This cross-sectional study explored the associations of emotion regulation (expressive suppression and cognitive reappraisal) and decision fatigue with cognitive load (intrinsic and extraneous) among a sample of 97 SDMs of the critically ill. After completing subjective measures of emotion regulation and decision fatigue, participants were exposed to an electronic decision aid and completed a subjective measurement of cognitive load. Multiple regression analyses indicated that decision fatigue predicted intrinsic cognitive load and expressive suppression predicted extraneous cognitive load. Emotion regulation and decision fatigue represent modifiable determinants of cognitive load among SDMs exposed to electronic decision aids.
The impact of newspaper reports on fear of violent crime in Hong Kong
Authors: Zhu Runping , Krever Richard , Choi Alfred Siu Kay
Published: October 2018

This study analyzed violent crime reports in three large circulation newspapers and tested by survey the relationship between newspaper reporting of crime and fear of crime. As was expected, there was a nexus between more sensationalist newspaper reporting and the public’s fear of crime. Unexpected findings were an inverse relationship between newspaper format and awareness of violent crime, and also between awareness of crime and fear of crime.
Participatory spaces in online media: Half-opening the gates to users
Authors: Pantic Mirjana
Published: October 2018

This gatekeeping theory-based study investigates ongoing practices that most prominent news media organizations employ to enable user participation. A thorough analysis of 20 top news websites in the world suggests that reader participation in developing news content and reacting to it is limited. Specifically, major news websites allow participation in areas that increase website traffic, while enabling citizens to produce stories is not a widely adopted form of reader participation.
Hypocrisy, State Policy, and African American Students With Disabilities: The Guise of Access
Authors: Tabron Lolita A. , Ramlackhan Karen
Published: October 2018

We critically examined the odds of earning a college preparatory diploma for African American high school seniors receiving special education services under Texas’s Top 10% Policy (TTPP). Critical policy analysis was used to explore the meritocratic guise of college access for African American youth with disabilities, and through DisCrit, theorized TTPP’s broader effect on the social stratification and creation of policy “winners” and “losers.” Results from multilevel logistic regression models indicate African American students are nearly twice as likely to be identified with disabilities as their peers and are the least likely to earn a college preparatory diploma in Texas.
From Nonprofit Leader to Elected Official: Examining Political Ambition in the Nonprofit Sector
Authors: LeRoux Kelly , Langer Julie
Published: October 2018

To what extent do leaders of nonprofit organizations run for elected office? We address this question through an exploratory study using survey data from a random sample of 184 leaders of nonprofit human service organizations in the United States. Drawing upon theories of political ambition, we explore the factors that may shape nascent political ambition (propensity to run) as well as expressive political ambition (running for office). We find that nonprofit leaders are no more likely to run for office than the average citizen, but interest in running is much more common. We identify several individual-level and professional socialization factors associated with political ambition. Our study makes an important theoretical contribution by outlining a model of political ambition for the nonprofit sector that can be tested in future studies, and makes an important practical contribution by highlighting ways that associations and nonprofit industry groups might convert nascent ambition into expressive ambition.
Using Ripple Effects Mapping to Evaluate a Community-Based Health Program: Perspectives of Program Implementers
Authors: Washburn Lisa T. , Traywick LaVona , Thornton Lauren , Vincent Jessica , Brown Tellisha
Published: October 2018

Traditional evaluation tools are oftentimes ill-suited for use in community settings where intervention outcomes of interest may occur at multiple levels and are influenced by interacting factors. Ripple effects mapping (REM) is a participatory technique engaging stakeholders to visually map project/program efforts and results to collect impact data. Using appreciative inquiry, the method helps participants and evaluators understand context for changes resulting from program experiences and is particularly well suited for community-based, participatory programs where impacts often occur beyond the individual level. This article describes the REM method and how it was applied to explore impact and refine program theory of the Extension Wellness Ambassador Program (EWAP), a community-based health-focused master volunteer program, from the perspective of program implementers ( n = 10). Insights emerging from the REM session indicate EWAP promotes health behavior change, contributes to community development due to increased leadership capacity, and sustains and grows implementing organizations. The program theory shaping evaluation was refined to better capture impact beyond individual levels. Application of the REM method to a community health program demonstrates feasibility; health promotion practitioners should consider REM to understand program context and capture outcomes that typically evade measurement using traditional techniques.
Virtual Reality’s New Synesthetic Possibilities
Authors: Ross Miriam
Published: October 2018

In its current, popular manifestation, Virtual Reality (VR) represents the culmination of more than two centuries of screen practice aimed at creating greater immersion. VR’s optical illusions produce an expanded multisensory immersive experience that enhances the viewer’s interior position within new space. This article questions where embodiment and disembodiment lie in VR’s multisensory optical illusion and whether there is a difference produced by the digital environment versus the photographic, live-action environment? It takes into account our present moment in the history of VR during which the fantasy of total bodily engagement and transference into the “machine” has not yet occurred. In doing so, this article considers the way VR uses synesthetic modes rather than direct sensory stimuli to engage more of the senses.
Business Women and Exit Programs
Authors: Kofod Jens
Published: October 2018

Contemporary research on prostitution tends to treat it either as a social problem that needs to be solved by criminalizing customers and supportive social programs (exit programs) or as a manifestation of female agency. This article analyzes Danish ethnographic interview and observations with the so-called dominatrices. The theoretical concepts, boundary markers and body schema, are applied to identify dominatrices’ perception of themselves as businesswomen not representing a social problem. The dominatrices are used to discuss tailoring of exit programs, and the article concludes that core elements in these programs need to change if the dominatrices should be provided relevant opportunities to pursue a different profession.
5 ways to explore… conkers
Authors: Mountain Julie
Published: October 2018

Conkers have huge affordances – and luckily there is plenty of them right now, and they're free! By Julie Mountain
Picture in Children's Story Books: Children's Perspective
Authors: Bulut-Ozsezer M. Sencer , Canbazoglu H. Beyza
Published: October 2018

The aim of this study is to collect and analyze children's comments on the pictures in children's story books. Four students studied in the first grade of a public primary school in Adana participated in the study. The research model is an example of phenomenology among qualitative research patterns. Focus group method was used as the data collection tool and observation method was used in a second exercise to support the first method. In focus group discussion "The City on the Wind" by Behic Ak, selected as the Book 1, was reviewed along with 4 participating students. In the second exercise, the book named "The Little Match Girl" selected as Book 2 was reviewed. Descriptive analysis and document analysis methods were used in the analysis of the research data. Students' comments on the pictures were collected under four different themes. "Description" among these themes was the most common in student expressions. The sentences for the themes of superficial interpretation, imaginative interpretation and critical understanding were less frequently used by students. Another finding of the study is the number of words students used to describe the picture. Students built short sentences not exceeding 2-3 words.  
Peace of mind: The quintessential luxury
Authors: Thomas Sue
Published: October 2018

Phoenix-like the luxury sector renews itself, whether by innovation in design, or in response to social changes and consumer psychographics. It is an intriguing anomaly: enacting sustainability methodologies and practices like ‘slow make’ (production), low waste and careful garment care. But it excludes potential customers due to the price and availability of the product, which could be perceived as opposite to the perceived holistic inclusive tenets underpinning sustainability. International luxury fashion corporations and labels like Kering who own Gucci, Bottega Veneta, Saint Laurent, Alexander McQueen, Balenciaga, Brioni and Prada, have begun to refocus their priorities, and lead change with their published sustainability goals via reports and websites. Inherently luxury references the highest quality fabrication, design, make and service. Yet across the fashion industry, consumers are experiencing unease or cognitive dissonance, fuelled by media reporting ethical dilemmas. In the luxury end of the market understandably the client/customer will desire both the luxury product and the confidence of an ethical supply chain. Logically, with their established resources the luxury sectors’ interpretation of sustainability, responsibility and ethics could offer to their clients the quintessential luxury: peace of mind. In the past the sustainability discourse has been predominately located around fast fashion in middle and lower markets. Whether a recent addition, or a deeply embedded (previously unmarketed) inherent value, the ethical intent of a sustainable supply chain presents a strategic facet of future luxury. This article is a speculative analysis and overview of both the relationship and proximity of luxury and sustainability focusing on ethics. Specifically, applied ethics within the luxury sector (examined in 2016 and 2018) are one of the highly desirable outcomes: the peace of mind of their clients will be discussed. In the light of the Paris Agreement (2015) from COP 21 and the UK Modern Slavery Bill (2015), ethics are no longer only the playing field of the enlightened. It is timely, as there are changes to be mapped and lessons to be applied and methodologies to be modelled and shared. Undoubtedly, there is a potentiality for courageous concepts of ethics within luxury; thus it is vital to speculate and reflect on the future of ethics in the luxury sector.
Personalization, customization and bespoke: Increasing the product offer
Authors: Borstrock Shaun
Published: October 2018

It could be said that true luxury products are defined through skill, connoisseurship, rarity, craftsmanship and innovation. Luxury brands on the other hand are defined by illusions of luxury, fashion, authenticity, lifestyle, aspiration, the global market and profit. Increasingly luxury brands have introduced options to customize and personalize their products to enhance their offer and thereby creating the perception that the customer is purchasing something individual. However, these options within the realms of the luxury brand do nothing more than offer variations on a theme. Component pieces within an existing product range are produced and offered for sale as part of an existing product category. Offering a customized product changes the perception of the consumer. They believe they are buying something different, but this is far from the reality. Luxury brands offer customization to attempt to diversify and add value to their product offer. If one considers craftsmanship and innovation as core components in creating differentiation between luxury and luxury branded products, it could then be argued that traditional crafted products and the integration of digital technologies challenge the status quo. As customization and personalization are already occupying a place of growing significance and include viable modes of industrialized production, the product offer lacks the integrity that would be associated with a handmade luxury product.
Designing the geography of luxury: Online perceptions and entrepreneurial options
Authors: Carlotto Federica , O’Leary Simon
Published: October 2018

This research applies the Design Thinking approach to explore the online perceptions of luxury and place experienced by potential purchasers and other interested parties. A netnographic study, encompassing observations and interviews, was conducted using a product purity framework developed from the analysis of over 3000 online-posted commentaries. The findings indicate that online users perceive luxury product purity and place of origin in three principal ways. First, uncertainty can breed scepticism of product purity. Second, some users expand their horizons to embrace the reality. Third, some use the information to develop their own definitions of luxury product purity. Designing suitable models to map the complexity of product purity is likely to enhance the effectiveness of companies and operators in managing the place-related perceptions surrounding their products, resulting in an increased brand equity value and a more effective responsiveness to the market.
The Coming Political
Authors: Gregg Benjamin
Published: October 2018

Intelligence is the human being’s most striking feature. There is no consensually held scientific understanding of intelligence. The term is no less indeterminate in the sphere of artificial intelligence. Definitions are fluid in both cases. But technical applications and biotechnical developments do not wait for scientific clarity and definitional precision. The near future will bring significant advances in technical and biotechnical areas, including the genetic enhancement of human intelligence (HI) as well as artificial intelligence (AI). I show how developments in both areas will challenge human communities in various ways and that the danger of AI is distinctly political. The argument develops in six steps. (1) I compare and contrast artificial with human intelligence in general and (2) AI with HI genetically modified. Then I correlate and differentiate (3) emergent properties and distributed intelligence, both natural and artificial, as well as (4) neural function, both natural and artificial. (5) Finally, I identify the specifically political capabilities I see in HI and (6) political dangers that AI poses to them.
Automated State of Play
Authors: Fizek Sonia
Published: October 2018

Automation of play has become an ever more noticeable phenomenon in the domain of video games, expressed by self-playing game worlds, self-acting characters, and non-human agents traversing multiplayer spaces. This article proposes to look at AI-driven non-human play and, what follows, rethink digital games, taking into consideration their cybernetic nature, thus departing from the anthropocentric perspectives dominating the field of Game Studies. A decentralised posthumanist reading, as the author argues, not only allows to rethink digital games and play, but is a necessary condition to critically reflect AI, which due to the fictional character of video games, often plays by very different rules than the so-called “true” AI.
Visual Tactics Toward an Ethical Debugging
Authors: Griffiths Catherine
Published: October 2018

To advance design research into a critical study of artificially intelligent algorithms, strategies from the fields of critical code studies and data visualisation are combined to propose a methodology for computational visualisation. By opening the algorithmic black box to think through the meaning created by structure and process, computational visualisation seeks to elucidate the complexity and obfuscation at the heart of artificial intelligence systems. There are rising ethical dilemmas that are a consequence of the use of machine learning algorithms in socially sensitive spaces, such as in determining criminal sentencing, job performance, or access to welfare. This is in part due to the lack of a theoretical framework to understand how and why decisions are made at the algorithmic level. The ethical implications are becoming more severe as such algorithmic decision-making is being given higher authority while there is a simultaneous blind spot in where and how biases arise. Computational visualisation, as a method, explores how contemporary visual design tactics including generative design and interaction design, can intersect with a critical exegesis of algorithms to challenge the black box and obfuscation of machine learning and work toward an ethical debugging of biases in such systems.
Unconventional Classifiers and Anti-social Machine Intelligences
Authors: Monin Monica
Published: October 2018

Artificial intelligence technologies and data structures required for training have become more accessible in recent years and this has enabled artists to incorporate these technologies into their works to various ends. This paper is concerned with the ways in which present day artists are engaging with artificial intelligence, specifically material practices that endeavour to use these technologies and their potential non-human agencies as collaborators with differential objectives to commercial fields. The intentions behind artists’ use of artificial intelligence is varied. Many works, with the accelerating assimilation of artificial intelligence technologies into everyday life, follow a critical path. Such as attempting to unveil how artificial intelligence materially works and is embodied, or to critically work through the potential future adoptions of artificial intelligence technologies into everyday life. However, I diverge from unpacking the criticality of these works and instead follow the suggestion of Bruno Latour to consider their composition. As for Latour, critique implies the capacity to discover a ‘truer’ understanding of reality, whereas composition addresses immanence, how things come together and the emergence of experience. Central to this paper are works that seek to collaborate with artificial intelligence, and to use it to drift out of rather than to affirm or mimic human agency. This goes beyond techniques such as ‘style transfer’ which is seen to support and encode existing human biases or patterns in data. Collaboration with signifies a recognition of a wider field of what constitutes the activity of artistic composition beyond being a singularly human, or AI, act, where composition can be situated in a system. This paper will look at how this approach allows an artist to consider the emerging materiality of a system which they are composing, its resistances and potentials, and the possibilities afforded by the exchange between human and machine intentions in co-composition.
Probability Forecast Using Fan Chart Analysis: A Case of the Sierra Leone Economy
Authors: JACKSON Emerson Abraham , TAMUKE Edmund
Published: October 2018

This article made use of ARIMAX methodology in producing probability forecast from Fan Chart analysis for the Sierra Leone economy. In view of the estimation technique used to determine best model choice for outputting the Fan Chart, the outcomes have shown the importance of Exchange Rate variable as an exogenous component in influencing Inflation dynamics in Sierra Leone. The use of Brier Score probability was also used to ascertain the accuracy of the forecast methodology. Despite inflation outcome is showing an upward trend for the forecasted periods, the probability bands (upper and lower) have also revealed the peculiarity of the Sierra Leone economy when it comes to addressing policy measures for controlling spiralling inflation dynamics.
Redesigning Indonesia Copyright Act to Accommodate Autonomous Intelligent System: Status Quo and Room for Improvement
Authors: Andrini Laurensia
Published: October 2018

It is an undeniable fact that artificial intelligence has been developed up until the point that it requires a very minimum human involvement. In other words, the current development has brought an Autonomous Intelligent System (AIS) into reality. On one hand, an AIS plays a significant role in creating easier life for human being. On the other hand, however, AIS’ existence creates too much challenge for the current legal framework. In the realm of Copyright law, the very fundamental question is based on the fact that AIS can create copyrightable works on its own. It can create songs, music, paintings, or even a cook-book. In such kind of circumstances, scholars have a thought-provoking debate on whether or not AIS shall be given Copyright. It is the purpose of my research to take a look into Indonesia’s current Copyright Act to analyse (i) to what extent Indonesia’s Copyright Act can be utilised to accommodate AIS and (ii) the aspects of Copyright Act need to be improved in order to accommodate AIS in the Indonesia’s Copyright Act. In order to address the research objectives, I use normative approach by way of literature study. The temporary data gathered from my literature study is then analysed qualitatively in order to reach desirable conclusion. This study finds that (i) there is a very minimum provision with regard to AIS in the Indonesia’s Copyright Act. There have been stipulations to determine who shall be entitled to hold copyright upon a creation. However, there has not been any stipulations allowing the possibility for AIS to be regarded as copyright holder; and therefore (ii) the re-design of Indonesia’s Copyright Act need to accommodate the issues of (a) copyrightability of AIS’ work, (b) the moral rights and economic rights given to AIS, as well as (c) the duration of protection if AIS is to be regarded as a copyright holder.
Demodex melesinus (Acariformes: Demodecidae) – the forgotten European badger parasite, rediscovered after 100 years
Authors: Izdebska Joanna N. , Cierocka Karolina , Rolbiecki Leszek , Kozina Paulina , Kołodziej-Sobocińska Marta
Published: October 2018

Among 15 demodecid mite species (Acariformes: Demodecidae) recorded from carnivorans Carnivora, 3 species were described from mustelids Mustelidae. They are known only from single records, for whichDemodex erminaehas been described from the stoatMustela ermineafrom Great Britain and New Zealand,D. melesinusfrom the European badgerMeles melesknown solely from Great Britain andD. lutraediscovered in the Eurasian otterLutra lutrafrom Poland. The current record confirms the existence ofD. melesinus, in badger from Poland, after close to one hundred years from its original description, as well as the first detection of the male for this species.
Description of Haemaphysalis (Alloceraea) Kolonini sp. nov., a new species in subgenus Alloceraea Schulze (Ixodidae: Haemaphysalis) in China
Authors: Du Chun-Hong , Sun Yi , Xu Rong-Man , Shao ZongTi
Published: October 2018

Southeastern Asia has been postulated as probably the original sites of genus Haemaphysalis, where numerous structurally advanced haemaphysalids now occur. Because of its phylogenetic and biological interest, we report the discovery of a structurally primitive new species Haemaphysalis (A.) kolonini belonging to subgenus Alloceraea from Baoshan and Weixi cities, Yunnan province, southwestern China. Both the morphological and phylogenic characteristics of the species support congruently to erect Hae. (A.) kolonini as a new species. The male and female adults of Haemaphysalis (A.) kolonini are respectively described and illustrated. Taxonomic discussion and keys to Alloceraea species in China are also provided to be able to distinguish species that are close morphologically.
A new species of bomolochid Orbitacolax brevispinus n. sp. and redescription of taeniacanthid Cirracanthus inimici (Yamaguti et Yamasu, 1959) (Crustacea: Copepoda: Cyclopoida) parasitic on marine fishes of Korea
Authors: Moon Seong Yong , Choi Jung-Hwa , Venmathi Maran B.A.
Published: October 2018

Two species of cyclopoid copepods are recorded in this study. (1) A new species of bomolochid, Orbitacolax brevispinus n. sp. (Crustacea) is described based on adult females collected from the gill filaments and inner surface of the opercula of red barracuda, Sphyraena pinguis Günther (Perciformes: Sphyraenidae), captured in Korean waters. The new species differs from its congeners by the possession of two pairs of spines on the dorsal surface of the cephalothorax located just posterior to the rostrum and a different setal formula on the distal exopodal segments of legs 2–4. (2) A taeniacanthid Cirracanthus inimici (Yamaguti et Yamasu, 1959) (Crustacea) is redescribed based on the specimens collected from the gill filaments and inner surface of the opercula of devil stinger, Inimicus japonicus (Cuvier) (Scorpaeniformes: Synancellidae). This finding is the first record in Korean waters and the first description of male. A checklist of parasitic copepods of the families Bomolochidae Sumpf, 1871 and Taeniacanthidae Wilson, 1911of Korea is also provided.
Cosmocerca bengalensis sp. nov. (Nematoda: Cosmocercidae) in Hoplobatrachus tigerinus (Daudin, 1803) (Amphibia, Anura, Dicroglossidae) from West Bengal, India
Authors: Sou Sujan K. , Sow Kanchan K. , Nandi Anadi P.
Published: October 2018

Cosmocerca bengalensis sp. nov. (Ascaridida, Cosmocercidae) recovered from the rectum of an Indian bullfrog, Hoplobatrachus tigerinus (Daudin, 1803), collected from Hetampur town in Birbhum district of West Bengal, India, is described and illustrated. This species is similar to C. acanthurum, C. banyulensis, C. cruzi, C. japonica, C. kalesari, C. microhylae, C. novaeguineae, C. ornata, C. paraguayensis, C. parva, C. podicipinus and C. travassosi in having 5 pairs of plectanes supporting preanal papillae but differs from these species by general morphometry, absence of somatic papillae in females, absence of gubernaculum and having only one pair of adanal papillae in males and one pair postanal papillae in females except C. microhylae. Present parasites differ from C. microhylae by absence of gubernaculum and general morphometry. Cosmocerca bengalensis sp. nov. represents the thirtheith species assigned to the genus, seventh from Oriental region and fifth species from India.
Peristerophila falcophila sp. nov., a new species and first record of quill mites (Acariformes: Syringophilidae) parasitizing birds of the order Falconiformes
Authors: Skoracki Maciej , Hromada Martin , Kaszewska Katarzyna , Unsoeld Markus
Published: October 2018

A new species,Peristerophila falcophilaSkoracki and Hromada sp. nov. is described from three avian hosts of the genusFalco:F. peregrinusTunstall, 1771 from Kenya, Germany and Nepal,F. cherrugGray, 1834 from Romania, andF. sparveriusLinnaeus, 1758 from Colombia. This new species differs from closely relatedPeristerophila accipitridicusSkorackiet al. 2010 as follow: the propodonotal shield is reduced in the posterior part, but not divided into three separate shield (vs. divided into three punctate and saber-like sclerites inP. accipitridicus); the length ratio of setaeve:siis 1:1.6–1.8 (vs. 1:2–2.8); fan-like setaep’andp”of legs III and IV are with 10 tines (vs. 19–20); and the length of setaee2is 145–155 (vs. 185–215). Additionally, the key to all species of the genusPeristerophilais constructed and the host-parasite relationships are briefly discussed.
Pathological and molecular identification of porcine cysticercosis in Maharashtra, India
Authors: Satyaprakash Kaushik , Khan Waqar A. , Chaudhari Sandeep P. , Shinde Shilpshree V. , Kurkure Nitin V. , Kolte Sunil W.
Published: October 2018

Porcine cysticercosis, caused by metacestodes of Taenia solium is an important emerging zoonotic disease with public health and economic significance. Pigs acquire the disease through consumption of Taenia solium eggs excreted by human tapeworm carriers. The present study was conducted to investigate the prevalence of porcine cysticercosis in Nagpur and Mumbai region of Maharashtra, India by P/M examination of carcasses followed by histopathology of affected organs in infected animals and molecular identification of cysts for confirmation. Out of 1000 pigs examined during slaughter, three pigs were found to be heavily affected with T. solium cysts giving a prevalence of 0.3%. Histological section of brain in infected animals revealed marked vascular congestion of meninges, mild neuronal degeneration, perivascular cuffing and gliosis while the liver showed the infiltration of mononuclear cell, predominantly eosinophils throughout the parenchyma. Some degree of calcification was observed in the cysts lodged in liver while calcification was not evident in case of cysts lodged in brain, tongue, diaphragm and skeletal muscle. Molecular identification by PCR using two sets of oligonucleotide primers against LSU rRNA gene and Mt-Cox1 gene of T. solium confirms the cysts to be that of T. solium. The molecular diagnostics methods have been considered for validation in conjunction with P/M inspections, parasitological and histopathological examinations. The study confirms the presence of porcine cysticercosis in the two regions and demands proper sanitary measures to minimize the risk of infection from zoonoses and food safety point of view.
Evaluating of Wistar rat and BALB/c mouse as animal models for congenital, cerebral and ocular toxoplasmosis
Authors: Sharif Mehdi , Faridnia Roghiyeh , Sarvi Shahabeddin , Gholami Shirzad , Kalani Hamed , Daryani Ahmad
Published: October 2018

This study was conducted to evaluate the potential of cyst production by Toxoplasma (T.) gondii, RH strain, in Wistar rat and BALB/c mouse and the purpose of this study was to introduce an animal model suitable for congenital, cerebral, and ocular toxoplasmosis. The mice and rats, considered as cerebral and ocular toxoplasmosis models, were intraperitoneally infected by different number of the parasite and their eyes and brain were evaluated for the presence of T. gondii cyst using the microscopic examination and the bioassay method. Moreover, the pregnant mice and rats, considered as congenital toxoplasmosis models, were intraperitoneally infected by different number of the parasite and their infants were examined by the method mentioned above. The best result for the cerebral toxoplasmosis model was observed in the rats infected with the 107 parasites, so that all infants (100%) were infected with the parasite when examined using the bioassay method. Furthermore, the best result was observed for the congenital cerebral toxoplasmosis model with 100% infection rate in the infants born to mothers infected with the 107 parasites. Overall, just few the ocular samples were positive using bioassay method. The best result in the current study was for the congenital cerebral toxoplasmosis model where the pregnant rats were infected with the 107 parasites and all infants were infected (100%). Therefore, these infants can be used as a congenital cerebral toxoplasmosis model when they are in the fetal stage, and can be used as a cerebral toxoplasmosis model one month after birth.
A new species of Orientatractis (Nematoda: Atractidae) from the tortoise Indotestudo elongata (Blyth) in China
Authors: Liu Baochen , Li Zuozhen , Zhang Luping
Published: October 2018

A new species of nematode,Orientatractis longicaudatan. sp. is described from the intestine ofIndotestudo elongata(Blyth) (Testudinidae) from Zoo of Tianjin, Tianjin, China. The new species can be easily distinguished from its congers by having longer tail, by the length of gubernaculum and left spicule, and by the numbers of caudal papillae. This is first species ofOrientatractisPetter, 1966 reported in China. A key to the species ofOrientatractisis provided.