bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Two types of presidentialization in the party politics of Central Eastern Europe
Authors: Hloušek Vít 
Published: November 2015

IntroduzioneCentral Eastern European party politics offers a good example of the trend towards centralizing internal party decision making, as well as encouraging strong personalities in the role of party leader. This trend is visible in all three major spheres of party activity: election campaigning, the internal organization of parties, and governmental politics. This paper focusses on the party systems of the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia, and Slovenia to demonstrate that there are actually two processes of presidentialization that occur in party politics. On the one hand, the role of the leader is gaining importance in more traditional, well-established parties such as the Civic and Social Democrats in the Czech Republic and Fidesz in Hungary. On the other hand, perhaps an even clearer presidentialization process is evident in the emergence of new protest parties focussed around strong personalities that often make no attempt to establish and maintain a more complex internal party organization.
Personal leaders and party change: Italy in comparative perspective
Authors: Musella Fortunato 
Published: November 2015

IntroduzioneParty leaders have become more powerful and autonomous actors in recent years by developing a direct and personal relationship with citizens. As anticipated in the United States (Lowi, 1985), the rise of the ‘personal leader’ seems to have occurred in many European democracies, both in old parties and in more recently formed parties, with a widespread tendency for them to be promoted and controlled by individual leaders. Nevertheless, party leadership remains quite a neglected theme in political science. Through a data set including ~500 party presidents in 13 democracies, this article focusses on the personalization of party leadership by comparing Italy with other Western countries. More particularly, new procedures for the selection of party chairs, the centralization of power in political parties, and the new role of party leaders in the legislative/governmental arena are analysed, given their importance to such a process. The article summarizes new data on the party leaders’ characteristics, with regards to their political backgrounds, how they are elected, how long they stay in office, and whether they become prime minister or enter the executive. In this way, we are able to see how some new parties are created from the outset as highly personalized and centralized parties (Forza Italia being the paradigmatic case), whereas other older parties have also evolved in a personalized direction.
The fate of random initial vorticity distributions for two-dimensional Euler equations on a sphere
Authors: Newton Paul K. 
Published: November 2015

The paper by Dritschel et al. (J. Fluid Mech., vol. 783, 2015, pp. 1–22) describes the long-time behaviour of inviscid two-dimensional fluid dynamics on the surface of a sphere. At issue is whether the flow settles down to an equilibrium or whether, for generic (random) initial conditions, the long-time solution is periodic, quasi-periodic or chaotic. While it might be surprising that this issue is not settled in the literature, it is important to keep in mind that the Euler equations form a dissipationless Hamiltonian system, hence the set of equations only redistributes the initial vorticity, generating smaller and smaller scales, while keeping kinetic energy, angular impulse and an infinite family of vorticity moments (Casimirs) intact. While special solutions that never settle down to an equilibrium state can be constructed using point vortices, vortex patches and other distributions, the fate of random initial conditions is a trickier problem. Previous statistical theories indicate that the long-time state should be a stationary large-scale distribution of vorticity. By carrying out careful numerical simulations using two different methods, the authors make a compelling case that the generic long-time state resembles a large-scale oscillating quadrupolar vorticity field, surrounded by persistent small-scale vortices. While numerical simulations can never conclusively settle this issue, the results might help guide future theories that seek to prove the existence of such an interesting dynamical long-time state.
Linear stability analysis for monami in a submerged seagrass bed
Authors: Singh Ravi , Bandi M. M. , Mahadevan Amala , Mandre Shreyas 
Published: November 2015

The onset of monami – the synchronous waving of seagrass beds driven by a steady flow – is modelled as a linear instability of the flow. Unlike previous works, our model considers the drag exerted by the grass in establishing the steady flow profile, and in damping out perturbations to it. We find two distinct modes of instability, which we label modes 1 and 2. Mode 1 is closely related to Kelvin–Helmholtz instability modified by vegetation drag, whereas mode 2 is unrelated to Kelvin–Helmholtz instability and arises from an interaction between the flow in the vegetated and unvegetated layers. The vegetation damping, according to our model, leads to a finite threshold flow for both of these modes. Experimental observations for the onset and frequency of waving compare well with model predictions for the instability onset criteria and the imaginary part of the complex growth rate respectively, but experiments lie in a parameter regime where the two modes can not be distinguished.
Mechanical Behavior Characterization of Magnesium Alloy Sheets at Warm Temperature
Authors: Huang J. , Yuan Y. , Liu H. , Cao J. 
Published: November 2015

AbstractMagnesium (Mg) alloy sheet has received increasing attention in automotive, transportation, and aerospace industries. It is widely recognized that magnesium sheet has a poor formability at room temperature. While at elevated temperature, its formability can be dramatically improved. To better understand the warm forming properties of magnesium alloy sheet, an accurate description of the mechanical behavior at elevated temperature is required.In this paper, both uniaxial tensile tests and uniaxial compression tests were carried out at warm temperature for Mg AZ31B alloy sheets. The tensile tests were conducted under various strain rates and material orientations, while the compression tests only considered different material orientations. Based on the orthotropic yield criterion for hexagonal close packed (HCP) metals proposed by Cazacu et al., 2006, a viscoplasticity model has been developed to describe the initial yield anisotropy and asymmetry hardening behavior in tensile and compression of Mg sheet. This model was incorporated into ABAQUS through a user-defined material subroutine. The numerical results show a good agreement with experimental data in a large range of deformation.
Mood improvement in young adult males following supplementation with gold kiwifruit, a high-vitamin C food
Authors: Carr Anitra C. , Bozonet Stephanie M. , Pullar Juliet M. , Vissers Margreet C. M. 
Published: November 2015

AbstractEnhanced intakes of fruit and vegetables have been associated with improved psychological well-being. We investigated the potential mood-enhancing effects of kiwifruit, a fruit rich in vitamin C and a number of other important micronutrients. Young adult males (n35) were supplemented with either half or two kiwifruit/d for 6 weeks. Profile of Mood States questionnaires were completed at baseline and following the intervention. No effect on overall mood was observed in the half a kiwifruit/d group; however, a 35 % (P = 0·06) trend towards a decrease in total mood disturbance and a 32 % (P = 0·063) trend towards a decrease in depression were observed in the two kiwifruit/d group. Subgroup analysis indicated that participants with higher baseline mood disturbance exhibited a significant 38 % (P = 0·029) decrease in total mood disturbance, as well as a 38 % (P = 0·048) decrease in fatigue, 31 % (P = 0·024) increase in vigour and a 34 % (P = 0·075) trend towards a decrease in depression, following supplementation with two kiwifruit/d. There was no effect of two kiwifruit/d on the mood scores of participants with lower baseline mood disturbance. Dietary intakes and body status of specific micronutrients indicated a significant increase in the participants' vitamin C intakes and corresponding plasma levels of the vitamin. The results indicate that enhanced intake of kiwifruit by individuals with moderate mood disturbance can improve overall mood.
African Universities in Crisis and the Promotion of a Democratic Culture: The Political Economy of Violence in African Educational Systems
Authors: Nyamnjoh Francis B. , Jua Nantang B. 
Published: November 2015

Abstract:This article argues that education in Africa, from colonial times to the postcolony, has been the victim of various forms of violence, the most devastating of which is the violence of cultural and political conversion: externally and internally driven initiatives and processes intended to domesticate, harness, transform, alter, remodel, adapt, or reconstruct Africa and Africans through schools and universities to suit new ways of being, seeing, doing, and thinking. As a result of such violence, educational systems have privileged mimicry and transformed epistemologies informed by partial theories to metanarratives of arrogance, superiority, and intolerance of creative differences. Even when clear alternatives are imagined to the current irrelevance in education, economic difficulties render their realization extremely difficult. Repressive states have perpetuated and capitalized upon this predicament by manipulating desperate academics into compliance and complicity with mediocrity. This article examines some epistemological consequences of such alienation and irrelevance and looks at their implications for theorizing Africa. It calls for a global conversation of universities and scholars in which Africa participates on its own terms, with the interests and concerns of ordinary Africans as its guiding principle.
Managerial Entrenchment and Firm Value: A Dynamic Perspective
Authors: Chang Xin , Zhang Hong Feng 
Published: November 2015

AbstractWe examine the impact of managerial entrenchment on firm value using a dynamic model with firm fixed effects. To estimate the model, we employ the long-difference technique, which is shown by our simulation to deliver the least biased estimates. Based on a large sample of U.S. companies, we document a significantly negative and causal effect of managerial entrenchment on firm value after taking into account omitted variables, reverse causality, and highly persistent endogenous variables. Additional analysis suggests that the causality running from managerial entrenchment to firm value is more pronounced than that for reverse causality.
Democratic Procedures in the CCP's Cadre Selection Process: Implementation and Consequences
Authors: Zeng Qingjie 
Published: November 2015

AbstractSince the early 1990s, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has put in place a series of measures to allow more Party members to participate in the cadre selection process. “Intra-party democracy” was promoted as a remedy to solve the corruption and social tension that resulted from overly concentrated personnel power. How effective are these formal procedures in constraining the appointment power of core Party leaders and institutionalizing the influence of a larger group of cadres? Drawing on archival research, interviews and quantitative data, this paper examines two components of intra-party democratic reform: “democratic recommendation,” which serves as a gateway to cadre promotion, and the semi-competitive elections at Party congresses. This in-depth study finds that the efforts to expand bottom-up participation are hindered by loopholes in formal regulations, informal practices and the frequent rotation of Party officials. Meanwhile, the reform measures have brought changes to the personnel system by complicating the Party secretaries' exercise of appointment power and altering the incentives of ambitious cadres. The implementation of intra-party democracy could improve the vitality of one-party rule, and its ebbs and flows imply a divide within China's top leadership over the direction of political change.
Characteristics of heavy minerals and grain size of surface sediments on the continental shelf of Prydz Bay: implications for sediment provenance
Authors: Wang Haozhuang , Chen Zhihua , Wang Kunshan , Liu Helin , Tang Zheng , Huang Yuanhui 
Published: November 2015

AbstractData on grain size and heavy mineral composition for surface sediments on the Prydz Bay continental shelf was analysed to identify sediment features and provenance. The grain size composition of surface sediments indicate spatial variations in the glaciomarine environment and the key factors influencing sedimentation, which on the shelf include topography/water depth, currents and icebergs. The study area was divided into two sections by Q-type factor analysis: section I included Prydz Channel, Amery Basin and Svenner Channel, and section II included Four Ladies Bank, Fram Bank and the area in front of the Amery Ice Shelf. Sedimentation in section I is mainly controlled by currents and topography/water depth. However, in section II, icebergs/floating ice masses, the Amery Ice Shelf and currents have prominent effects on sedimentation. The heavy mineral composition indicates that surface sediments on the eastern side of the bay, including Four Ladies Bank, are primarily derived from Princess Elizabeth Land. Sediments in the area in front of the Amery Ice Shelf, Svenner Channel, Amery Basin and Prydz Channel have a mixed source from the eastern regions around the bay, including the Prince Charles Mountains and Princess Elizabeth Land. The contribution from Mac. Robertson Land to sediment at Fram Bank is limited.
Spatial and temporal patterns of changes in condition of southern elephant seals
Authors: McIntyre Trevor , Donaldson Ashleigh , Bester Marthán N. 
Published: November 2015

AbstractThe study of foraging success in marine predators is complicated by a lack of direct observations and relies mostly on proxy measures of foraging success. This study assessed spatial and temporal patterns of changes in body condition of southern elephant seals (Mirounga leonina) from Marion Island, based on changes in drift rates (which are related to gains and losses of blubber). Seals showed substantial individual variation in condition changes throughout migrations, which was not explained by age-, sex- or reproductive stages. Substantial variation was also evident in the spatial patterns of condition changes, although an area south of the Antarctic Polar Front (APF) between 10°E and 35°E was evidently associated with moderate, yet consistent gains in condition. Seals that foraged more distantly from Marion Island displayed more extreme gains and losses in condition, suggesting a possible risk/reward trade-off associated with foraging further afield versus closer to the island. Increased condition was consistently negatively related to sea surface temperature, suggesting that seals were generally improving their condition faster in cooler water masses. These results support previous studies predicting that continued warming of the Southern Ocean will result in changes to the habitat use patterns exhibited by southern elephant seals at sea.
Rhythmic Movement Disorder in Children
Authors: Hoban Timothy F. 
Published: November 2015

AbstractHow should sleep-related rhythmic movements in children be assessed and treated? Rhythmic movement disorder (RMD) represents an unusual variety of childhood parasomnia characterized by repetitive motion of the head, trunk, or extremities, which usually occurs during the transition from wakefulness to sleep or arises during sustained sleep. Although the condition most often affects infants and toddlers in a transient and self-limited fashion, the condition occasionally persists in a problematic fashion, which may nevertheless be amenable to treatment. Since RMD may occasionally cause injury or resemble nocturnal seizure, prompt recognition, and appropriate management on the part of the clinician is essential. This article will examine the spectrum of RMD in children, including their common clinical manifestations; data regarding their epidemiology and natural history; the role of polysomnography, electroencephalography; and other diagnostic testing. Potential causes of the condition and available methods of treatment are also examined.
Transnational Higher Education Strategies into and out of Singapore: Commodification and Consecration
Authors: Ye Rebecca 
Published: November 2015

AbstractThis article addresses transnational higher education strategies both to and from Singapore. It does so by focusing on outbound educational mobility from Singapore to the UK and inbound educational mobility from Vietnam to Singapore. Since the turn of the century, Singapore has pursued the agenda of developing itself as a regional hub for higher education, aspiring to be a Global Schoolhouse. Yet, while the number of international students grows in local universities, Singapore's academically brightest do not necessarily take advantage of higher educational opportunities within the shores of the city-state, with many traveling to universities overseas through a form of sponsored mobility. Using two case studies, I trace two logics of commodification and consecration as observed through the processes whereby individuals and institutions devise transnational higher education strategies into and out of Singapore. The first case study draws on interviews conducted with Singaporean undergraduates at Oxbridge while the second case focuses on Vietnamese students at two Singaporean universities. Together, the analysis from these cases uncovers the value for these Southeast Asian students in studying abroad and distinguishes between different types of routes that exist: one where students choose their own educational plans and another where students are chosen for a prestigious educational and occupational pathway. With increasing participation in mass higher education taking place across the region, the article outlines, through the site of Singapore, strategies of transnationalism employed by both individuals and institutions as a means of social differentiation.
Overlapping functions of the MAP4K family kinases Hppy and Msn in Hippo signaling
Authors: Li Shuangxi , Cho Yong Suk , Yue Tao , Ip Y Tony , Jiang Jin 
Published: November 2015

AbstractThe Hippo (Hpo) tumor suppressor pathway is an evolutionarily conserved signaling pathway that controls tissue growth and organ size in species ranging from Drosophila to human, and its malfunction has been implicated in many types of human cancer. In this study, we conducted a kinome screen and identified Happyhour (Hppy)/MAP4K3 as a novel player in the Hpo pathway. Our biochemical study showed that Hppy binds and phosphorylates Wts. Our genetic experiments suggest that Hppy acts in parallel and partial redundantly with Misshapen (Msn)/MAP4K4 to regulate Yki nuclear localization and Hpo target gene expression in Drosophila wing imaginal discs. Furthermore, we showed that cytoskeleton stress restricts Yki nuclear localization through Hppy and Msn when Hpo activity is compromised, thus providing an explanation for the Wts-dependent but Hpo-independent regulation of Yki in certain contexts. Our study has unraveled an additional layer of complexity in the Hpo signaling pathway and laid down a foundation for exploring how different upstream regulators feed into the core Hpo pathway.
Tracing the fate of carbon and the atmospheric evolution of Mars
Authors: Hu Renyu , Kass David M. , Ehlmann Bethany L. , Yung Yuk L. 
Published: November 2015

AbstractThe climate of Mars likely evolved from a warmer, wetter early state to the cold, arid current state. However, no solutions for this evolution have previously been found to satisfy the observed geological features and isotopic measurements of the atmosphere. Here we show that a family of solutions exist, invoking no missing reservoirs or loss processes. Escape of carbon via CO photodissociation and sputtering enriches heavy carbon (13C) in the Martian atmosphere, partially compensated by moderate carbonate precipitation. The current atmospheric 13C/12C and rock and soil carbonate measurements indicate an early atmosphere with a surface pressure <1 bar. Only scenarios with large amounts of carbonate formation in open lakes permit higher values up to 1.8 bar. The evolutionary scenarios are fully testable with data from the MAVEN mission and further studies of the isotopic composition of carbonate in the Martian rock record through time.
SENP1-mediated NEMO deSUMOylation in adipocytes limits inflammatory responses and type-1 diabetes progression
Authors: Shao Lan , Zhou Huanjiao Jenny , Zhang Haifeng , Qin Lingfeng , Hwa John , Yun Zhong , Ji Weidong , Min Wang 
Published: November 2015

AbstractAdipocyte dysfunction correlates with the development of diabetes. Here we show that mice with a adipocyte-specific deletion of the SUMO-specific protease SENP1 gene develop symptoms of type-1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM), including hyperglycaemia and glucose intolerance with mild insulin resistance. Peri-pancreatic adipocytes from SENP1-deficient mice exhibit heightened NF-κB activity and production of proinflammatory cytokines, which induce CCL5 expression in adjacent pancreatic islets and direct cytotoxic effects on pancreatic islets. Mechanistic studies show that SENP1 deletion in adipocytes enhances SUMOylation of the NF-κB essential molecule, NEMO, at lysine 277/309, leading to increased NF-κB activity, cytokine production and pancreatic inflammation. We further show that NF-κB inhibitors could inhibit pre-diabetic cytokine production, β-cell damages and ameliorate the T1DM phenotype in SENP1-deficient mice. Feeding a high-fat diet augments both type-1 and type-2 diabetes phenotypes in SENP1-deficient mice, consistent with the effects on adipocyte-derived NF-κB and cytokine signalling. Our study reveals previously unrecognized mechanism regulating the onset and progression of T1DM associated with adipocyte dysfunction.
Episodic entrainment of deep primordial mantle material into ocean island basalts
Authors: Williams Curtis D. , Li Mingming , McNamara Allen K. , Garnero Edward J. , van Soest Matthijs C. 
Published: November 2015

AbstractChemical differences between mid-ocean ridge basalts (MORBs) and ocean island basalts (OIBs) provide critical evidence that the Earth’s mantle is compositionally heterogeneous. MORBs generally exhibit a relatively low and narrow range of 3He/4He ratios on a global scale, whereas OIBs display larger variability in both time and space. The primordial origin of 3He in OIBs has motivated hypotheses that high 3He/4He ratios are the product of mantle plumes sampling chemically distinct material, but do not account for lower MORB-like 3He/4He ratios in OIBs, nor their observed spatial and temporal variability. Here we perform thermochemical convection calculations which show the variable 3He/4He signature of OIBs can be reproduced by deep isolated mantle reservoirs of primordial material that are viscously entrained by thermal plumes. Entrainment is highly time-dependent, producing a wide range of 3He/4He ratios similar to that observed in OIBs worldwide and indicate MORB-like 3He/4He ratios in OIBs cannot be used to preclude deep mantle-sourced hotspots.