bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Metacomics – a poetics of selfreflection in Bill Watterson’s Calvin and Hobbes and Pádár and Koska’s ‘Lifetime Story’
Authors: Szép Eszter 
Published: August 2014

Abstract
This article examines the ways, modes, tools and categories of medium-specific self-reflexivity in comics. I approach the genre of metacomics in the light of theories of metafiction, as well as W. J. T. Mitchell’s concept of ‘metapicture’. As several scholars regard comics as a form of literature, I think testing the ideas of metafiction on comics has legitimacy. We can define metafiction with Hutcheon’s words as ‘the new need, first to create fictions, then to admit their fictiveness, and then to examine critically such impulses’. In this article I argue that metacomics is similar, though it features self-reflexive elements not only on the level of plot or (textual) narration, but also in its very form and layout. Mitchell’s approach from the field of iconology, and his typology of metapictures serves as a model for conceptualizing metacomics. According to Mitchell, ‘[m]etapictures are pictures that show themselves in order to know themselves: they stage the “self-knowledge” of pictures’. This article builds on Mitchell’s category of the ‘speaking metapicture’, which is strikingly close to comics. Thus I simultaneously rely on a framework for analysis from literary theory, and another one from iconology, in order to examine the self-reflexive methods bound to the comics medium. Following Hatfield, I approach comics as an art form of four kinds of tension, namely code vs code, single image vs image-in-series, sequence vs surface and text as experience vs text as object. I am interested in the theory and typology of the kinds of reflection on the medium of comics that are made possible by these tensions. I am examining the works of Bill Watterson, and the Hungarian authors Zoltán Koska and Ádám Pádár.
‘Oh c’mon, those stories can’t count in continuity!’ Squirrel Girl and the problem of female power
Authors: Goodrum Michael 
Published: August 2014

Abstract
The history of superheroines is one of tensions, contradictions and difficulties. Squirrel Girl is no stranger to these, and her journey through the last twenty years of Marvel comic books has not been easy. In her debut in Marvel Super-Heroes #8 (S. Ditko and W. Murray, 1992), Squirrel Girl failed to become Iron Man’s sidekick even though she saved him from Doctor Doom. Despite initial success, at least in terms of the narrative, Squirrel Girl disappeared for over ten years. When she reappeared in 2005, Squirrel Girl was in rather less illustrious surroundings – outside continuity. This article tracks the career of Squirrel Girl, focusing on strategies of narrative and visual representation and the relationship of the character to the structuring principle of continuity. Squirrel Girl demonstrates the ability to wield considerable power outside continuity but even here, where the victories of a woman can be easily disavowed thanks to their structural position within the Marvel universe, Squirrel Girl is still problematic. Various strategies of containment are implemented and this article will engage with these, demonstrating continuity and discontinuity in these policies as Squirrel Girl is ultimately drawn into continuity. Through a close critical reading of Squirrel Girl’s appearances, then, this article will provide initial insights into how powerful women are simultaneously promoted and contained by superhero narratives.
Semiconductor’s landscapes as sound-sculptured time-based visualizations
Authors: Hinterwaldner Inge 
Published: August 2014

Abstract
The results of artistic experimentation with data sets from the natural sciences differ considerably with respect to quality and consistency. The British artist duo Semiconductor (Ruth Jarman and Joe Gerhardt) counts among those setting the standard. In its animations and videos, it explores, in an equally multifaceted and concise manner, how scientists affect our world-view with their respective pictorial languages and visualization strategies. Especially in domains that elude our natural sense of space and time, the researchers’ representations are inevitably creative. Semiconductor combines everyday experiences and complex imaging techniques in manifold ways. Thus, they offer unseen and sometimes unorthodox interpretations of a world in constant flux while retaining a high degree of complexity in their subtly crafted works. Semiconductor’s works provide opportunities for reflection on the extensive procedures in the sciences on various levels and in doing so they create poetic pieces that shift and recombine in various ways. With these means, sensualized data – like sounds and images – take on a strong role in their time-based works. As operative entities they not only represent but they seem to act.
Extraterrestrial contact: Creating xenolinguistic sonic messages for extraterrestrial communication – Ether Ship electronic music orchestrations in the Anza-Borrego Desert
Authors: Van De Bogart Willard 
Published: August 2014

Abstract
Communication with other life forms in our universe has been an ongoing effort most notably conducted by the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence Project (SETI). Whereas SETI uses a network of radio telescopes to search for frequencies that may indicate intelligent design, there are also attempts to communicate with extraterrestrials by using different ways to listen for messages as well as send messages. This article outlines a phenomenological approach that includes changes in cognition due to the creation of electronic sounds mixed with stellar acoustics, radio frequencies, and natural and manmade sounds as a way of experiencing changes in cognitive states. These cognitive states may be related to a conscious contact with other life forms not from our world. In this sense it is a galactic approach to interspecies communication.
Automation and design for prevention: Fictional accounts of misanthropic agency from the elevator (lift) to the sexbot (chatbot)
Authors: Windle Amanda 
Published: August 2014

Abstract
Fiction is an important tool in an artist/designer/developer’s vocabulary, but its usage is polyvalent. Speculative research in this article introduces the ‘rudiment’ to embrace the undeveloped and the improvisory phases of research practice. Fiction is used to reflect on the ways practicing designers and developers might already engage in misanthropic thinking – involving automated technologies. Tracing the misanthropic agencies in relation to automated technologies contributes to expanding the ways designers and developers reflect on the technical potential of their designs, with whom they are designing (and for) and the way they understand their reflexive self. Bringing together Colson Whitehead’s novel The Intuitionist (1999) and its account of an elevator crash, their design and maintenance, with a narrative account of software agents enables an investigation into the promises made through a design-for-the-prevention-of-failure imperative. These examples highlight the relation between physical and non-physical failures such as failures to connect or to create intimacy. Those who contribute to designing in this article get caught up in configuring misanthropic agencies involving themselves, the designed artefact and the spaces they both inhabit be that an elevator in a housing block, or a sexbot in an online chat room. I will argue that the misanthropic agencies of automated technologies can have a confining impact on our emergent modes of design. Automated software operating in virtual spaces are confining in as much as they attempt to connect things to exploit the de-personalized aspects of automated, misanthropic agency.
Cigarette Taxes with Endogenous Addictiveness
Authors: Calcott Paul , Petkov Vladimir P. 
Published: August 2014

AbstractWe examine how a tax on cigarettes would be affected by endogeneity of their addictiveness. In our model, the rationale for government intervention is based on internalities and externalities. While a corrective tax could be imposed to address these two distortions, it may result in excessive nicotine consumption per cigarette. This suggests that tax rates should be moderated. We consider two types of behavior that affect the addictiveness of cigarettes. First, producers can manipulate the nicotine content of tobacco products. Second, consumers are able to adjust the intensity of their smoking. We show that there may still be a case for a corrective tax. However, tax policies and attainable welfare depend on whether the nicotine dose from each cigarette is influenced by producers or consumers.
Piqueteros: An Experimental Analysis of Direct vs. Indirect Reciprocity
Authors: Blanco Mariana 
Published: August 2014

AbstractResearch in behavioral economics has widely recognized the importance of reciprocity concerns in shaping individual behavior. The literature is however dominated by a focus on direct reciprocity. Motivated by a real life situation in Argentina – the Piqueteros (pickets) conflict — I designed a three-player three-stage game in order to investigate what type of reciprocity prevails in the face of a negative externality in an environment that allows for direct and indirect reciprocity simultaneously. I show that (negative) reciprocity from the directly affected second mover is more frequent than punishment from the indirectly affected third party. However, the third party more frequently punishes the first mover than the second mover, even though he is negatively affected by the latter’s punishment effort while not by the former’s move directly. In oder words, in real life settings featuring the incentives captured by this paper’s experimental design, affected third parties more frequently act in line with indirect rather than direct reciprocity.
Chronic stress as a risk factor for Alzheimer’s disease
Authors: Machado Alberto , Herrera Antonio J. , de Pablos Rocío M. , Espinosa-Oliva Ana María , Sarmiento Manuel , Ayala Antonio , Venero José Luis , Santiago Martiniano , Villarán Ruth F. , Delgado-Cortés María José , Argüelles Sandro , Cano Josefina 
Published: August 2014

AbstractThis review aims to point out that chronic stress is able to accelerate the appearance of Alzheimer’s disease (AD), proposing the former as a risk factor for the latter. Firstly, in the introduction we describe some human epidemiological studies pointing out the possibility that chronic stress could increase the incidence, or the rate of appearance of AD. Afterwards, we try to justify these epidemiological results with some experimental data. We have reviewed the experiments studying the effect of various stressors on different features in AD animal models. Moreover, we also point out the data obtained on the effect of chronic stress on some processes that are known to be involved in AD, such as inflammation and glucose metabolism. Later, we relate some of the processes known to be involved in aging and AD, such as accumulation of β-amyloid, TAU hyperphosphorylation, oxidative stress and impairement of mitochondrial function, emphasizing how they are affected by chronic stress/glucocorticoids and comparing with the description made for these processes in AD. All these data support the idea that chronic stress could be considered a risk factor for AD.
Quantitative analysis of mammalian translation initiation sites by FACS‐seq
Authors: Noderer William L , Flockhart Ross J , Bhaduri Aparna , Diaz de Arce Alexander J , Zhang Jiajing , Khavari Paul A , Wang Clifford L 
Published: August 2014

AbstractAn approach combining fluorescence‐activated cell sorting and high‐throughput DNA sequencing (FACS‐seq) was employed to determine the efficiency of start codon recognition for all possible translation initiation sites (TIS) utilizing AUG start codons. Using FACS‐seq, we measured translation from a genetic reporter library representing all 65,536 possible TIS sequences spanning the −6 to +5 positions. We found that the motif RYMRMVAUGGC enhanced start codon recognition and translation efficiency. However, dinucleotide interactions, which cannot be conveyed by a single motif, were also important for modeling TIS efficiency. Our dataset combined with modeling allowed us to predict genome‐wide translation initiation efficiency for all mRNA transcripts. Additionally, we screened somatic TIS mutations associated with tumorigenesis to identify candidate driver mutations consistent with known tumor expression patterns. Finally, we implemented a quantitative leaky scanning model to predict alternative initiation sites that produce truncated protein isoforms and compared predictions with ribosome footprint profiling data. The comprehensive analysis of the TIS sequence space enables quantitative predictions of translation initiation based on genome sequence.
Novel X-Linked Genes Revealed by Quantitative Polymerase Chain Reaction in the Green Anole,Anolis carolinensis
Authors: Rovatsos Michail , Altmanová Marie , Pokorná Martina Johnson , Kratochvíl Lukáš 
Published: August 2014

AbstractThe green anole, Anolis carolinensis (ACA), is the model reptile for a vast array of biological disciplines. It was the first nonavian reptile to have its genome fully sequenced. During the genome project, the XX/XY system of sex chromosomes homologous to chicken chromosome 15 (GGA15) was revealed, and 106 X-linked genes were identified. We selected 38 genes located on eight scaffolds in ACA and having orthologs located on GGA15, then tested their linkage to ACA X chromosome by using comparative quantitative fluorescent real-time polymerase chain reaction applied to male and female genomic DNA. All tested genes appeared to be X-specific and not present on the Y chromosome. Assuming that all genes located on these scaffolds should be localized to the ACA X chromosome, we more than doubled the number of known X-linked genes in ACA, from 106 to 250. While demonstrating that the gene content of chromosome X in ACA and GGA15 is largely conserved, we nevertheless showed that numerous interchromosomal rearrangements had occurred since the splitting of the chicken and anole evolutionary lineages. The presence of many ACA X-specific genes localized to distinct contigs indicates that the ACA Y chromosome should be highly degenerated, having lost a large amount of its original gene content during evolution. The identification of novel genes linked to the X chromosome and absent on the Y chromosome in the model lizard species contributes to ongoing research as to the evolution of sex determination in reptiles and provides important information for future comparative and functional genomics.
Exclusion of Older Patients From Ongoing Clinical Trials for Hematological Malignancies: An Evaluation of the National Institutes of Health Clinical Trial Registry
Authors: Hamaker Marije E. , Stauder Reinhard , van Munster Barbara C. 
Published: August 2014

Abstract

Introduction.
Cancer societies, research cooperatives, and countless publications have urged the development of clinical trials that facilitate the inclusion of older patients and those with comorbidities. We set out to determine the characteristics of currently recruiting clinical trials with hematological patients to assess their inclusion and exclusion of elderly patients.

Methods.
The NIH clinical trial registry was searched on July 1, 2013, for currently recruiting phase I, II or III clinical trials with hematological malignancies. Trial characteristics and study objectives were extracted from the registry website.

Results.
Although 5% of 1,207 included trials focused exclusively on elderly or unfit patients, 69% explicitly or implicitly excluded older patients. Exclusion based on age was seen in 27% of trials, exclusion based on performance status was seen in 16%, and exclusion based on stringent organ function restrictions was noted in 51%. One-third of the studies that excluded older patients based on age allowed inclusion of younger patients with poor performance status; 8% did not place any restrictions on organ function. Over time, there was a shift from exclusion based on age (p value for trend &lt;.001) toward exclusion based on organ function (p = .2). Industry-sponsored studies were least likely to exclude older patients (p &lt; .001).

Conclusion.
Notably, 27% of currently recruiting clinical trials for hematological malignancies use age-based exclusion criteria. Although physiological reserves diminish with age, the heterogeneity of the elderly population does not legitimize exclusion based on chronological age alone. Investigators should critically review whether sufficient justification exists for every exclusion criterion before incorporating it in trial protocols.
Hospital Discharge Algorithm Based on Admission HbA1c for the Management of Patients With Type 2 Diabetes
Authors: Umpierrez Guillermo E. , Reyes David , Smiley Dawn , Hermayer Kathie , Khan Amna , Olson Darin E. , Pasquel Francisco , Jacobs Sol , Newton Christopher , Peng Limin , Fonseca Vivian 
Published: August 2014

OBJECTIVE
Effective treatment algorithms are needed to guide diabetes care at hospital discharge in general medicine and surgery patients with type 2 diabetes.

RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS
This was a prospective, multicenter open-label study aimed to determine the safety and efficacy of a hospital discharge algorithm based on admission HbA1c. Patients with HbA1c &lt;7% (53.0 mmol/mol) were discharged on their preadmission diabetes therapy, HbA1c between 7 and 9% (53.0–74.9 mmol/mol) were discharged on a preadmission regimen plus glargine at 50% of hospital daily dose, and HbA1c &gt;9% were discharged on oral antidiabetes agents (OADs) plus glargine or basal bolus regimen at 80% of inpatient dose. The primary outcome was HbA1c concentration at 12 weeks after hospital discharge.

RESULTS
A total of 224 patients were discharged on OAD (36%), combination of OAD and glargine (27%), basal bolus (24%), glargine alone (9%), and diet (4%). The admission HbA1c was 8.7 ± 2.5% (71.6 mmol/mol) and decreased to 7.3 ± 1.5% (56 mmol/mol) at 12 weeks of follow-up (P &lt; 0.001). The change of HbA1c from baseline at 12 weeks after discharge was −0.1 ± 0.6, −0.8 ± 1.0, and −3.2 ± 2.4 in patients with HbA1c &lt;7%, 7–9%, and &gt;9%, respectively (P &lt; 0.001). Hypoglycemia (&lt;70 mg/dL) was reported in 22% of patients discharged on OAD only, 30% on OAD plus glargine, 44% on basal bolus, and 25% on glargine alone and was similar in patients with admission HbA1c ≤7% (26%) compared with those with HbA1c &gt;7% (31%, P = 0.54).

CONCLUSIONS
Measurement of HbA1c on admission is beneficial in tailoring treatment regimens at discharge in general medicine and surgery patients with type 2 diabetes.
Serum High-Sensitivity C-Reactive Protein Levels Are Associated With High Risk of Development, Not Progression, of Diabetic Nephropathy Among Japanese Type 2 Diabetic Patients: A Prospective Cohort Study (Diabetes Distress and Care Registry at Tenri [DDCRT7])
Authors: Hayashino Yasuaki , Mashitani Tsuyoshi , Tsujii Satoru , Ishii Hitoshi ,   for the Diabetes Distress and Care Registry at Tenri Study Group
Published: August 2014

OBJECTIVE
To assess the prospective association between baseline serum hs-CRP concentration and the subsequent risk of development or progression of diabetic nephropathy.

RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS
Longitudinal data were obtained from 2,518 patients with type 2 diabetes registered in a Japanese diabetes registry. To assess the independent correlations between serum baseline hs-CRP and either the development or progression of diabetic nephropathy 1 year later, the Cox proportional hazards model was used and adjusted for potential confounders.

RESULTS
The mean patient age, BMI, and HbA1c level were 66.1 years, 24.6 kg/m2, and 7.5% (57.6 mmol/mol), respectively. Baseline serum hs-CRP levels were significantly associated with the urinary albumin-to-creatinine ratio at baseline (P &lt; 0.001). Multivariable adjusted hazard ratio for the development from normoalbuminuria to microalbuminuria was 1.31 (95% CI 0.80–2.17; P = 0.286), 1.55 (1.16–2.08; P = 0.003), and 1.57 (1.22–2.03; P = 0.001), respectively, for the second, third, and fourth quartiles of serum hs-CRP levels, showing a statistically significant linear trend across categories (P &lt; 0.001). We did not observe a significant association between hs-CRP levels and the subsequent risk of diabetic nephropathy progression (P for trend = 0.575).

CONCLUSIONS
Serum hs-CRP levels, independent of possible confounders, were associated with a subsequent risk of developing, not progressing, diabetic nephropathy in type 2 diabetic patients. Serum hs-CRP may be useful for predicting the future risk of developing diabetic nephropathy.
miR-375 induces human decidua basalis-derived stromal cells to become insulin-producing cells
Authors: Shaer Anahita , Azarpira Negar , Vahdati Akbar , Karimi Mohammad , Shariati Mehrdad 
Published: August 2014

AbstractThis paper focuses on the development of renewable sources of isletreplacement tissue for the treatment of type I diabetes mellitus. Placental tissue-derived mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are a promising source for regenerative medicine due to their plasticity and easy availability. They have the potential to differentiate into insulin-producing cells. miR-375 is a micro RNA that is expressed in the pancreas and involved in islet development. Human placental decidua basalis MSCs (PDB-MSCs) were cultured from full-term human placenta. The immunophenotype of the isolated cells was checked for CD90, CD105, CD44, CD133 and CD34 markers. The MSCs (P3) were chemically transfected with hsa-miR-375. Total RNA was extracted 4 and 6 days after transfection. The expressions of insulin, NGN3, GLUT2, PAX4, PAX6, KIR6.2, NKX6.1, PDX1, and glucagon genes were evaluated using real-time qPCR. On day 6, we tested the potency of the clusters in response to the high glucose challenge and assessed the presence of insulin and NGN3 proteins via immunocytochemistry. Flow cytometry analysis confirmed that more than 90% of the cells were positive for CD90, CD105 and CD44 and negative for CD133 and CD34. Morphological changes were followed from day 2. Cell clusters formed during day 6. Insulin-producing clusters showed a deep red color with DTZ. The expression of pancreatic-specific transcription factors increased remarkably during the four days after transfection and significantly increased on day 7. The clusters were positive for insulin and NGN3 proteins, and C-peptide and insulin secretion increased in response to changes in the glucose concentration (2.8 mM and 16.7 mM). In conclusion, the MSCs could be programmed into functional insulin-producing cells by transfection of miR-375.