bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Diastereodivergent combined carbometalation/zinc homologation/C–C fragmentation reaction as an efficient tool to prepare acyclic allylic quaternary carbon stereocenters
Authors: Roy Sudipta Raha , Didier Dorian , Kleiner Amir , Marek Ilan
Published: May 2016

A new strategy has been developed to construct enantiomerically enriched allylic quaternary carbon stereocenters in a single-pot operation through a combined carbometalation/zinc homologation/fragmentation sequence.
Toward highly efficient in situ dry reforming of H2S contaminated methane in solid oxide fuel cells via incorporating a coke/sulfur resistant bimetallic catalyst layer
Authors: Hua Bin , Yan Ning , Li Meng , Sun Yi-Fei , Chen Jian , Zhang Ya-Qian , Li Jian , Etsell Thomas , Sarkar Partha , Luo Jing-Li
Published: May 2016

We demonstrated an electrochemical dry reforming of sour methane process to co-produce CO2-derived syngas and energy in an efficient and coke/sulfur resistant way.
Graphene induced porphyrin nano-aggregates for efficient electron transfer and photocurrent generation
Authors: Mondal Bodhisatwa , Bera Rajesh , Nayak Sandip K. , Patra Amitava
Published: May 2016

Graphene decorated porphyrin nano-assemblies are promising materials for light harvesting.
A novel paradigm for the fabrication of highly uniform nanowire arrays using residual stress-induced patterning
Authors: Zhao Zhi , Wang Nan , Nan Hanqing , Shen Li , Durkan Colm , He Ximin
Published: May 2016

A residue-free, one-step method for the fabrication of 1-D materials with highly tunable geometric parameters.
Wave power absorption by a submerged balloon fixed to the sea bed
Authors: Kurniawan Adi , Greaves Deborah
Published: May 2016

The possibility of absorbing wave energy using a submerged balloon fixed to the sea bed is investigated. The balloon is in the form of a fabric encased within an array of meridional tendons which terminate at a point at the top of the balloon and at some radius at the bottom. The expansion and contraction of the balloon in waves pump air via a turbine into and out of a chamber of constant volume. A more refined model than that used by Kurniawan and Greaves [Proc. Second Offshore Energy and Storage Symp., 2015] predicts a similarly broad‐banded response, but the maximum absorption is less than previously predicted. Both approaches are compared and discussed.
Generative Innovation: A Comparison of Lightweight and Heavyweight IT
Authors: Bygstad Bendik
Published: May 2016

This paper proposes a simple terminology for understanding and dealing with two current phenomena; we suggest calling them heavyweight and lightweight IT. Heavy-weight IT denotes the well-established knowledge regime of large systems, developing ever more sophisticated solutions through advanced integration. Lightweight IT is suggested as a term for the new knowledge regime of mobile apps, sensors and bring-your-own-device, also called consumerisation and Internet-of-Things. The key aspect of lightweight IT is not only the cheaper and more available technology compared with heavyweight IT, but the fact that its deployment is frequently done by users or vendors, bypassing the IT departments. Our theoretical lens is generativity, the idea that complex phenomena arise from interactions among basic elements. In the context of IT, generativity helps to explain the creative potential of flexible digital technology for knowledgeable professionals and users. The research questions are: how is generativity different in heavyweight and lightweight IT, and what is the generative relationship between heavyweight and lightweight IT? These questions were investigated through a study of four cases in the health sector. Our findings show that (i) generativity enfolds differently in heavyweight and lightweight IT and (ii) generativity in digital infrastructures is supported by the interaction of loosely coupled heavyweight and lightweight IT. The practical design implication is that heavyweight and lightweight IT should be only loosely integrated, both in terms of technology, standardisation and organisation.
Lieb-Liniger-like model of quantum solvation in CO-4HeN clusters
Authors: Farrelly D. , Iñarrea M. , Lanchares V. , Salas J. P.
Published: May 2016

Small 4He clusters doped with various molecules allow for the study of “quantum solvation” as a function of cluster size. A peculiarity of quantum solvation is that, as the number of 4He atoms is increased from N = 1, the solvent appears to decouple from the molecule which, in turn, appears to undergo free rotation. This is generally taken to signify the onset of “microscopic superfluidity.” Currently, little is known about the quantum mechanics of the decoupling mechanism, mainly because the system is a quantum (N + 1)-body problem in three dimensions which makes computations difficult. Here, a one-dimensional model is studied in which the 4He atoms are confined to revolve on a ring and encircle a rotating CO molecule. The Lanczos algorithm is used to investigate the eigenvalue spectrum as the number of 4He atoms is varied. Substantial solvent decoupling is observed for as few as N = 5 4He atoms. Examination of the Hamiltonian matrix, which has an almost block diagonal structure, reveals increasingly weak inter-block (solvent-molecule) coupling as the number of 4He atoms is increased. In the absence of a dopant molecule the system is similar to a Lieb-Liniger (LL) gas and we find a relatively rapid transition to the LL limit as N is increased. In essence, the molecule initially—for very small N—provides a central, if relatively weak, attraction to organize the cluster; as more 4He atoms are added, the repulsive interactions between the identical bosons start to dominate as the solvation ring (shell) becomes more crowded which causes the molecule to start to decouple. For low N, the molecule pins the atoms in place relative to itself; as N increases the atom-atom repulsion starts to dominate the Hamiltonian and the molecule decouples. We conclude that, while the notion of superfluidity is a useful and correct description of the decoupling process, a molecular viewpoint provides complementary insights into the quantum mechanism of the transition from a molecular cluster to a quantum solvated molecule.
Diffusive flux in a model of stochastically gated oxygen transport in insect respiration
Authors: Berezhkovskii Alexander M. , Shvartsman Stanislav Y.
Published: May 2016

Oxygen delivery to insect tissues is controlled by transport through a branched tubular network that is connected to the atmosphere by valve-like gates, known as spiracles. In certain physiological regimes, the spiracles appear to be randomly switching between open and closed states. Quantitative analysis of this regime leads a reaction-diffusion problem with stochastically switching boundary condition. We derive an expression for the diffusive flux at long times in this problem. Our approach starts with the derivation of the passage probability for a single particle that diffuses between a stochastically gated boundary, which models the opening and closing spiracle, and the perfectly absorbing boundary, which models oxygen absorption by the tissue. This passage probability is then used to derive an expression giving the diffusive flux as a function of the geometric parameters of the tube and characteristic time scales of diffusion and gate dynamics.
Miniature hemispherical shell resonator with large-scale effective electrodes based on piezoelectric drive mechanism
Authors: Tang Jian , Zhang Weiping , Cheng Yuxiang , Liu Wu , Wang Yinghai , Sun Dianjun
Published: May 2016

Miniature resonators with three-dimensional curved surface are mostly driven by electrostatic capacitive. However, it is quite difficult to fabricate a curved surface electrostatic resonator with large-scale effective electrodes. This paper presents the first miniature hemispherical shell resonator with large-scale effective electrodes based on piezoelectric drive mechanism. The vibrating body and electrodes of the piezoelectric resonator are easily integrated without micro-scale or nano-scale narrow capacitive gap. Vibration experiment and finite element analysis both reveal that there exist seven significant vibration modes between 10 kHz and 100 kHz. Mode shape validation is also carried out by measuring the vibration velocity of upper perimeter and lateral perimeter with laser doppler vibrometer. Special vibration characteristics of each vibration mode are described in detail, based on which the resonator may be used for many specific applications. Compared with common electrostatic resonators, even smaller drive voltage applied to the piezoelectric resonator may produce larger vibration displacement at atmosphere. According to the experiment results, the resonator may provide a new way of realizing high performance three-dimensional miniature devices for communication and inertial navigation applications.
An improved model to predict bandwidth enhancement in an inductively tuned common source amplifier
Authors: Reza Ashif , Misra Anuraag , Das Parnika
Published: May 2016

This paper presents an improved model for the prediction of bandwidth enhancement factor (BWEF) in an inductively tuned common source amplifier. In this model, we have included the effect of drain-source channel resistance of field effect transistor along with load inductance and output capacitance on BWEF of the amplifier. A frequency domain analysis of the model is performed and a closed-form expression is derived for BWEF of the amplifier. A prototype common source amplifier is designed and tested. The BWEF of amplifier is obtained from the measured frequency response as a function of drain current and load inductance. In the present work, we have clearly demonstrated that inclusion of drain-source channel resistance in the proposed model helps to estimate the BWEF, which is accurate to less than 5% as compared to the measured results.
Note: A sub-sampling technique for frequency locking in Doppler wind lidar
Authors: Yao Yuan , Li Feng , Chen Lian , Jin Ge
Published: May 2016

Double-edge technique is employed in Doppler wind lidar for detecting the Doppler frequency shift. A dedicated locking channel, employing one channel of a triple Fabry-Perot etalon, is designed to compensate for the effects caused by the frequency drift of outgoing laser. Agilent Oscilloscopes, with a sampling rate of 2.5 GSPS, are employed to obtain accurate amplitudes of the narrow pulses in existing experiments. In order to achieve the requirement of real-time ability and integration, a sub-sampling technique based on the theory of statistics is presented. With the technique, the drift can be acquired at a sub-sampling rate, 250 MSPS. A prototype is designed and the test results show that the prototype, providing real-time ability and better integration, has a comparable performance as the oscilloscope for frequency locking.
Microwave absorption performance enhanced by high-crystalline graphene and BaFe12O19 nanocomposites
Authors: Tang X. T. , Wei G. T. , Zhu T. X. , Sheng L. M. , An K. , Yu L. M. , Liu Y. , Zhao X. L.
Published: May 2016

The nanocomposites, consisting of BaFe12O19 ferrite and few-layer graphene sheets (FL-GSs) in various weight ratios (1−9 wt. %), were fabricated by a mechanical mixing method. The high-crystalline FL-GSs were prepared by direct current arc discharge evaporation of pure graphite electrodes in an H2–Ar gas mixture. We measured the electromagnetic properties, including effective magnetic permeability and effective permittivity in addition to microwave absorption performance, of the FL-GSs/BaFe12O19 nanocomposites compared with the pristine BaFe12O19 nanoparticles (NPs). The nanocomposite FL-GSs/BaFe12O19 with the optimal performance (6 wt. % FL-GSs) exhibited an effective microwave absorption (<−10 dB) bandwidth of 5.8 GHz with a thickness of 2.2 mm, 53% higher than that of the pristine BaFe12O19 NPs. Meanwhile, this nanocomposite had the minimum reflection loss of −49.7 dB at 8.4 GHz with a thickness of 2.8 mm, three times greater than those without FL-GSs. These performances result from a simultaneous increase in both magnetic and dielectric losses possibly due to synergistic effects of BaFe12O19 and FL-GSs. In such nanocomposites, both magnetic loss from BaFe12O19 and dielectric loss from FL-GSs contribute to the absorbing performances. Adding FL-GSs as dielectric fillers enhances the impedance matching of the nanocomposites compared with the pristine BaFe12O19 NPs based on the magnetic loss alone. Our results indicate that the incorporation of high-crystalline nanocarbon materials into ferrite oxides can provide high microwave absorption intensity and broad effective absorption bandwidth, while maintaining high thermal stability.
Thermoelectric properties of pnictogen-substituted skutterudites with alkaline-earth fillers using first-principles calculations
Authors: Bang Semi , Wee Daehyun , Li An , Fornari Marco , Kozinsky Boris
Published: May 2016

First-principles calculations have been performed to investigate electronic band structures, vibrational characters, and related transport properties of pnictogen-substituted skutterudites filled with alkaline-earth elements (MxCo4A6B6, where M = Ca, Sr, or Ba, A = Ge or Sn, B = Se or Te, and x = 0.5 or 1). Electronic transport properties related to thermoelectricity, including the Seebeck coefficient and the electrical conductivity, are computed by using the Boltzmann transport formalism within the constant-relaxation-time approximation. The results are compared against the corresponding properties of the unfilled pnictogen-substituted ternary skutterudites (CoA1.5B1.5) to identify the effects of filling to estimate the potential for thermoelectric applications. The changes in the ionic character of the interatomic bonding between the Group 14 (A) and Group 16 (B) elements, which was suspected to be a major scattering source in unfilled pnictogen-substituted ternary skutterudites, are probed by analyzing the projected density of states, the charge densities, and the Born effective charges, in an attempt to identify a potential path for improvement of the thermoelectric performance. Our computational results suggest that the analyzed performance of the filled pnictogen-substituted skutterudites should exhibit no significant improvement over that of the corresponding unfilled pnictogen-substituted ternary skutterudites, unless significant reduction in thermal conductivity is achieved by the rattling motion of the filler atoms.
Parallel electron force balance and the L-H transition
Authors: Stoltzfus-Dueck T.
Published: May 2016

In one popular paradigm for the L-H transition, energy transfer to the mean flows directly depletes turbulence fluctuation energy, resulting in suppression of the turbulence and a corresponding transport bifurcation. To quantitatively evaluate this mechanism, one must remember that electron parallel force balance couples nonzonal velocity fluctuations with electron pressure fluctuations on rapid timescales, comparable with the electron transit time. For this reason, energy in the nonzonal velocity stays in a fairly fixed ratio to the free energy in electron density fluctuations, at least for frequency scales much slower than electron transit. In order for direct depletion of the energy in turbulent fluctuations to cause the L-H transition, energy transfer via Reynolds stress must therefore drain enough energy to significantly reduce the sum of the free energy in nonzonal velocities and electron pressure fluctuations. At low k⊥, the electron thermal free energy is much larger than the energy in nonzonal velocities, posing a stark challenge for this model of the L-H transition.
Asymptotic behavior of the mixed mass in Rayleigh–Taylor and Richtmyer–Meshkov instability induced flows
Authors: Zhou Ye , Cabot William H. , Thornber Ben
Published: May 2016

Rayleigh–Taylor instability (RTI) and Richtmyer–Meshkov instability (RMI) are serious practical issues in inertial confinement fusion research, and also have relevance to many cases of astrophysical fluid dynamics. So far, much of the attention has been paid to the late-time scaling of the mixed width, which is used as a surrogate to how well the fluids have been mixed. Yet, the actual amount of mixed mass could be viewed as a more direct indicator on the evolution of the mixing layers due to hydrodynamic instabilities. Despite its importance, there is no systematic study as yet on the scaling of the mixed mass for either the RTI or the RMI induced flow. In this article, the normalized mixed mass (Ψ) is introduced for measuring the efficiency of the mixed mass. Six large numerical simulation databases have been employed: the RTI cases with heavy-to-light fluid density ratios of 1.5, 3, and 9; the single shock RMI cases with density ratios of 3 and 20; and a reshock RMI case with density ratio of 3. Using simulated flow fields, the normalized mixed mass Ψ is shown to be more sensitive in discriminating the variation with Atwood number for the RTI flows. Moreover, Ψ is demonstrated to provide more consistent results for both the RTI and RMI flows when compared with the traditional mixedness parameters, Ξ and Θ.
Visibility graphlet approach to chaotic time series
Authors: Mutua Stephen , Gu Changgui , Yang Huijie
Published: May 2016

Many novel methods have been proposed for mapping time series into complex networks. Although some dynamical behaviors can be effectively captured by existing approaches, the preservation and tracking of the temporal behaviors of a chaotic system remains an open problem. In this work, we extended the visibility graphlet approach to investigate both discrete and continuous chaotic time series. We applied visibility graphlets to capture the reconstructed local states, so that each is treated as a node and tracked downstream to create a temporal chain link. Our empirical findings show that the approach accurately captures the dynamical properties of chaotic systems. Networks constructed from periodic dynamic phases all converge to regular networks and to unique network structures for each model in the chaotic zones. Furthermore, our results show that the characterization of chaotic and non-chaotic zones in the Lorenz system corresponds to the maximal Lyapunov exponent, thus providing a simple and straightforward way to analyze chaotic systems.
Ultraviolet micro-Raman spectroscopy stress mapping of a 75-mm GaN-on-diamond wafer
Authors: Hancock B. L. , Nazari M. , Anderson J. , Piner E. , Faili F. , Oh S. , Twitchen D. , Graham S. , Holtz M.
Published: May 2016

Full-wafer stress mapping is accomplished using visible and ultraviolet (UV) micro-Raman spectroscopy of a 730-nm thick GaN layer integrated with diamond grown by chemical vapor deposition. The UV measurements taken from both sides of the wafer reveal a higher tensile stress of 0.86 ± 0.07 GPa at the free GaN surface compared to 0.23 ± 0.06 GPa from the GaN/diamond interface, each with good cross-wafer uniformity. Factors influencing the overall stress and stress gradient are understood based on relaxation from dislocations in the GaN which vary in density along the growth direction. Simulations incorporating a model for stress relaxation in the GaN elastic modulus adequately describe the observed dependence.
Extraordinary intelligence and the care of infants
Authors: Piantadosi Steven T. , Kidd Celeste
Published: May 2016

Significance

One mystery of human evolution is why our cognition differs qualitatively from our closest evolutionary relatives. Here we show how natural selection for large brains may lead to premature newborns, which themselves require more intelligence to raise, and thus may select for even larger brains. As we show, these dynamics can be self-reinforcing and lead to runaway selection for extremely high intelligence and helpless newborns. We test a prediction of this account: the helplessness of a primate’s newborns should strongly predict their intelligence. We show that this is so and relate our account to theories of human uniqueness and the question of why human-level intelligence took so long to evolve in the history of life.
Unacquainted callers can predict which citizens will vote over and above citizens’ stated self-predictions
Authors: Rogers Todd , ten Brinke Leanne , Carney Dana R.
Published: May 2016

Significance

People are regularly asked to report on their likelihoods of carrying out consequential future behaviors, including complying with medical advice, completing their educations, and voting in elections; responses, however, are notoriously unreliable. For example, more than half of people who state a self-prediction that they will vote in an upcoming election actually do not. We find that untrained survey callers’ predictions of who will vote meaningfully increases the statistical prediction of which respondents will follow through on their stated self-predictions—over and above respondents’ self-predictions. Callers accomplish this by attending to signals of uncertainty and deception conveyed in respondents’ voices. These findings could improve political campaign resource allocation and the targeting of interventions in domains including health and education.
Physical activity profiles and selected muscular fitness variables in English schoolchildren: A north–south divide?
Authors: Ingle Lee , Stephenson Ashlie , Sandercock Gavin R.
Published: May 2016

The aim of the study was to compare and contrast habitual physical activity (PA) profiles and muscular fitness in schoolchildren from northern and southern regions of England. Data were collected from two secondary schools in the north east (NE) of England. The study procedures followed methods employed by the East of England Healthy Hearts Study in 10–16‐year‐old boys and girls based in the south east (SE) region of England and data were compared. Habitual physical activity (PAQ‐A), vertical jump test, and hand‐grip (HG) strength were assessed. We converted raw scores from all assessments to age‐ and sex‐normalised z‐scores. We recruited 597 children (58% boys) in the NE and compared findings to 597 age‐ and sex‐matched boys and girls from the SE. Boys in the SE had significantly stronger HG scores, jumped higher, were more powerful (mean peak power: 2131 W vs. 1782 W; P < 0.0001), and reported being more physically active (mean PAQ‐A: 2.9 vs. 2.5; P < 0.0001) than their male counterparts in the NE. In girls, the opposite trend was evident. Girls from the NE of England had a higher HG score, jumped higher, and were more powerful (mean peak power: 2114 W vs. 1839 W; P < .0001) than their peers from the SE. Regional variations in the habitual PA profiles and muscular fitness of schoolchildren from the SE and NE of England do exist. The systematic surveillance of children's PA and fitness profiles throughout England would help identify regional inequalities on a larger scale.
Feasibility of a Regionwide Probability Survey for Coral Reef Fish in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands
Authors: Bryan David R. , Smith Steven G. , Ault Jerald S. , Feeley Michael W. , Menza Charles W.
Published: May 2016

Fishery-independent surveys can provide accurate and precise data for stock assessments and spatial management to sustain fishery resources as a complementary or alternative source of information to fishery-dependent sampling. Four years of underwater visual survey data collected in several local areas in the U.S. Caribbean were used in conjunction with detailed bathymetric and habitat maps to develop a probability sampling design and investigate the feasibility of conducting a regionwide coral reef fish survey. Stratification by depth and habitat produced a more efficient survey design (i.e., one with increased precision at lower sample sizes) for estimating mean fish density than simple random sampling for eight principal exploited and nontarget species. Species with higher sample variance of density required larger sample sizes to improve survey precision. A somewhat counterintuitive finding was that controlling survey precision over a large spatial scale (i.e., region) required less sampling than controlling precision for multiple smaller areas within the larger survey frame. At regionwide spatial scales relevant for fisheries management, the projected sample sizes for achieving moderately high levels of survey precision were comparable to historical annual sampling efforts. However, controlling survey precision both inside and outside spatial management zones would likely require sample sizes about twice the level of the historical effort. Our findings stress the importance of clearly defining management objectives with respect to spatial scales and target species as a prerequisite for developing precise, cost-effective fishery-independent surveys.

Received April 4, 2015; accepted August 4, 2015
Epstein-Barr virus nuclear protein EBNA3C directly induces expression of AID and somatic mutations in B cells
Authors: Kalchschmidt Jens S. , Bashford-Rogers Rachael , Paschos Kostas , Gillman Adam C.T. , Styles Christine T. , Kellam Paul , Allday Martin J.
Published: May 2016

Activation-induced cytidine deaminase (AID), the enzyme responsible for induction of sequence variation in immunoglobulins (Igs) during the process of somatic hypermutation (SHM) and also Ig class switching, can have a potent mutator phenotype in the development of lymphoma. Using various Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) recombinants, we provide definitive evidence that the viral nuclear protein EBNA3C is essential in EBV-infected primary B cells for the induction of AID mRNA and protein. Using lymphoblastoid cell lines (LCLs) established with EBV recombinants conditional for EBNA3C function, this was confirmed, and it was shown that transactivation of the AID gene (AICDA) is associated with EBNA3C binding to highly conserved regulatory elements located proximal to and upstream of the AICDA transcription start site. EBNA3C binding initiated epigenetic changes to chromatin at specific sites across the AICDA locus. Deep sequencing of cDNA corresponding to the IgH V-D-J region from the conditional LCL was used to formally show that SHM is activated by functional EBNA3C and induction of AID. These data, showing the direct targeting and induction of functional AID by EBNA3C, suggest a novel role for EBV in the etiology of B cell cancers, including endemic Burkitt lymphoma.
Turbulence intermittency linked to the weakly coherent mode in ASDEX Upgrade I-mode plasmas
Authors: Happel T. , Manz P. , Ryter F. , Hennequin P. , Hetzenecker A. , Conway G.D. , Guimarais L. , Honoré C. , Stroth U. , Viezzer E.
Published: May 2016

This letter shows for the first time a pronounced increase of extremely intermittent edge density turbulence behavior inside the confinement region related to the I-mode confinement regime in the ASDEX Upgrade tokamak. With improving confinement, the perpendicular propagation velocity of density fluctuations in the plasma edge increases together with the intermittency of the observed density bursts. Furthermore, it is shown that the weakly coherent mode, a fluctuation feature generally observed in I-mode plasmas, is connected to the observed bursts. It is suggested that the large amplitude density bursts could be generated by a non-linearity similar to that in the Korteweg–de-Vries equation which includes the radial temperature gradient.
TarPmiR: a new approach for microRNA target site prediction
Authors: Ding Jun , Li Xiaoman , Hu Haiyan
Published: May 2016

Motivation: The identification of microRNA (miRNA) target sites is fundamentally important for studying gene regulation. There are dozens of computational methods available for miRNA target site prediction. Despite their existence, we still cannot reliably identify miRNA target sites, partially due to our limited understanding of the characteristics of miRNA target sites. The recently published CLASH (crosslinking ligation and sequencing of hybrids) data provide an unprecedented opportunity to study the characteristics of miRNA target sites and improve miRNA target site prediction methods.

Results: Applying four different machine learning approaches to the CLASH data, we identified seven new features of miRNA target sites. Combining these new features with those commonly used by existing miRNA target prediction algorithms, we developed an approach called TarPmiR for miRNA target site prediction. Testing on two human and one mouse non-CLASH datasets, we showed that TarPmiR predicted more than 74.2% of true miRNA target sites in each dataset. Compared with three existing approaches, we demonstrated that TarPmiR is superior to these existing approaches in terms of better recall and better precision.

Availability and Implementation: The TarPmiR software is freely available at http://hulab.ucf.edu/research/projects/miRNA/TarPmiR/.

Contacts:  haihu@cs.ucf.edu or xiaoman@mail.ucf.edu

Supplementary information:  Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.
Does Ramadan Fasting Affect Fatigue in Nurses?
Authors: Ovayolu Özlem , Ovayolu Nimet , Taşan Emel
Published: May 2016

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of Ramadan fasting on fatigue in nurses. The study was conducted between June 19 and July 27, 2014, with a descriptive design. This study was completed with 99 nurses working in a public hospital in the city of Gaziantep located in the Southeastern Anatolia Region of Turkey. The data of the study were collected by using a questionnaire and the Piper Fatigue Scale. The Piper Fatigue Scale includes 4 subscale/dimensional scores and total fatigue scores. Higher scores indicate more fatigue. Statistical significance levels were set at P < .05. It was determined that the fatigue subscale and total mean scores of nurses increased in a statistically significant manner except for the affective subscale after the month of Ramadan (P < .05). In addition, it was found that the fatigue mean scores of those, who were working for 0 to 4 years, were employed in surgery units, and evaluated their health as bad, were higher (P > .05). The Ramadan fasting increased fatigue levels of nurses. Therefore, it is of vital importance to evaluate fatigue levels of nurses especially in the month of Ramadan and take the necessary precautions in terms of patient and personnel safety.
Scope of Practice Laws and Anesthesia Complications
Authors: Negrusa Brighita , Hogan Paul F. , Warner John T. , Schroeder Caryl H. , Pang Bo
Published: May 2016

Background:

Scope of practice (SOP) laws governing Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetists (CRNAs) vary by state and drive CRNA practice and reimbursement.

Objective:

To test whether the odds of an anesthesia complication vary by SOP and delivery model (CRNA only, anesthesiologist only, or mixed anesthesiologist and CRNAs team).

Methods:

Anesthesia claims and related complications were identified in a large commercial payor database, including inpatient and ambulatory settings. Logit regression models were estimated by setting to determine the impact of SOP and delivery model on the odds of an anesthesia-related complication, while controlling for patient characteristics, patient comorbidities, procedure and procedure complexity, and local area economic factors.

Results:

Overall, 8 in every 10,000 anesthesia-related procedures had a complication. However, complications were 4 times more likely in the inpatient setting (20 per 10,000) than the outpatient setting (4 per 10,000). In both settings, the odds of a complication were found to differ significantly with patient characteristics, patient comorbidities, and the procedures being administered. The odds of an anesthesia-elated complication are particularly high for procedures related to childbirth. However, complication odds were not found to differ by SOP or delivery model.

Conclusions:

Our research results suggest that there is strong evidence of differences in the likelihood of anesthesia complications by patient characteristics, patient comorbidities, and the procedures being administered, but virtually no evidence that the odds of a complication differ by SOP or delivery model.
Second Medical Opinion
Authors: Shmueli Liora , Shmueli Erez , Pliskin Joseph S. , Balicer Ran D. , Davidovitch Nadav , Hekselman Igal , Greenfield Geva
Published: May 2016

Background:

Second opinion (SO) is common in medical practice and can reduce unnecessary risks and costs. To date, there is no population-based estimation of how many people seek SOs and what the characteristics of second-opinion seekers are.

Objectives:

To estimate how many people seek SOs, and what the characteristics of second-opinion seekers are.

Methods:

We conducted both a medical records analysis (n=1,392,907) and a cross-sectional national telephone survey with a representative sample of the general Israeli population (n=848, response rate=62%). In the medical records analysis, we linked consultations with specialists at community secondary care and private consultations using claims data. We developed a time-sensitive algorithm that identified potential SO instances. In both methods, we predicted the characteristics of second-opinion seekers using multivariate logistic regressions.

Results:

The medical records analysis and the survey findings were highly consistent, and showed that about sixth (14.9% in the medical records vs. 17.2% in the survey) of a general population sought a SO, mostly from orthopedic surgeons. Women, native-born, and established immigrants, people living in central urban areas or close to central urban areas, people with chronic conditions, and those who perceived their health status as not very good, were more likely to seek SOs than others.

Conclusions:

A considerable amount of people sought a SO. Certain patient profiles tended to seek SOs more than others. Such utilization patterns are important to devise policy regarding SOs, due to their implications on expenditure, policy, clinical outcomes, and patient satisfaction.
Perceived Discrimination in Patients With Psychiatric Disorder and Turkish Migration Background in Germany
Authors: Müller Matthias J. , Koch Eckhardt
Published: May 2016

Perceived discrimination (PD) has a negative impact on the course of psychiatric disorders. We have investigated PD in inpatients with affective or anxiety disorder and Turkish migration background (TP) or native Germans (GP). Migration-related, clinical, and sociodemographic data of n = 62 TP and n = 62 GP, matched for age, sex, and psychiatric diagnoses, were retrospectively analyzed. PD was assessed as one of 10 questions related to migration and acculturation (yes/no, severity 0–10). PD prevalence rates were compared between TP and GP; relationships of PD with other variables were analyzed using bivariate correlations and multiple regression analyses. A PD prevalence of 26% in TP and 1% in GP was found (odds ratio, 21.2 [2.7–165.8]). Migration background was the strongest predictor of PD in the total group. Within the TP sample, asylum-seeking status and migration-related distress were significantly predictive of PD. In patients with psychiatric disorder in Germany, PD seems to be strongly related to migration-related distress.
Comparing Self-stigma Between People With Different Mental Disorders in Taiwan
Authors: Chang Chih-Cheng , Wu Tsung-Hsien , Chen Chih-Yin , Lin Chung-Ying
Published: May 2016

Internalized stigma (or self-stigma), one of the most painful effects of stigma, causes people with mental health problems profound negative consequences, for example, psychological adversity, demoralization, and feelings of hopelessness. However, knowledge about self-stigma in people with different mental disorders is insufficient. We hypothesized that people with different psychiatric diagnoses have different levels of self-stigma. Through convenience sampling, we used the Internalized Stigma of Mental Illness Scale to compare people diagnosed with schizophrenia (n = 161), depressive disorder (n = 98), bipolar disorder (n = 43), and anxiety disorder (n = 45) in southern Taiwan. We found that people with schizophrenia (mean, 2.09–2.30) and those with bipolar disorder (mean, 2.16–2.38) had significantly higher levels of self-stigma, except for the Stigma Resistance, than did those with anxiety disorder (mean, 1.74–1.87). Our results suggest that clinicians should use different interventions to reduce self-stigma for populations with different psychiatric diagnoses.
Fire effects on soils: the human dimension
Authors: Santín Cristina , Doerr Stefan H.
Published: May 2016

Soils are among the most valuable non-renewable resources on the Earth. They support natural vegetation and human agro-ecosystems, represent the largest terrestrial organic carbon stock, and act as stores and filters for water. Mankind has impacted on soils from its early days in many different ways, with burning being the first human perturbation at landscape scales. Fire has long been used as a tool to fertilize soils and control plant growth, but it can also substantially change vegetation, enhance soil erosion and even cause desertification of previously productive areas. Indeed fire is now regarded by some as the seventh soil-forming factor. Here we explore the effects of fire on soils as influenced by human interference. Human-induced fires have shaped our landscape for thousands of years and they are currently the most common fires in many parts of the world. We first give an overview of fire effect on soils and then focus specifically on (i) how traditional land-use practices involving fire, such as slash-and-burn or vegetation clearing, have affected and still are affecting soils; (ii) the effects of more modern uses of fire, such as fuel reduction or ecological burns, on soils; and (iii) the ongoing and potential future effects on soils of the complex interactions between human-induced land cover changes, climate warming and fire dynamics.

This article is part of the themed issue ‘The interaction of fire and mankind’.
Community owned solutions for fire management in tropical ecosystems: case studies from Indigenous communities of South America
Authors: Mistry Jayalaxshmi , Bilbao Bibiana A. , Berardi Andrea
Published: May 2016

Fire plays an increasingly significant role in tropical forest and savanna ecosystems, contributing to greenhouse gas emissions and impacting on biodiversity. Emerging research shows the potential role of Indigenous land-use practices for controlling deforestation and reducing CO2emissions. Analysis of satellite imagery suggests that Indigenous lands have the lowest incidence of wildfires, significantly contributing to maintaining carbon stocks and enhancing biodiversity. Yet acknowledgement of Indigenous peoples' role in fire management and control is limited, and in many cases dismissed, especially in policy-making circles. In this paper, we review existing data on Indigenous fire management and impact, focusing on examples from tropical forest and savanna ecosystems in Venezuela, Brazil and Guyana. We highlight how the complexities of community owned solutions for fire management are being lost as well as undermined by continued efforts on fire suppression and firefighting, and emerging approaches to incorporate Indigenous fire management into market- and incentive-based mechanisms for climate change mitigation. Our aim is to build a case for supporting Indigenous fire practices within all scales of decision-making by strengthening Indigenous knowledge systems to ensure more effective and sustainable fire management.

This article is part of the themed issue ‘The interaction of fire and mankind’.
In the line of fire: the peatlands of Southeast Asia
Authors: Page S. E. , Hooijer A.
Published: May 2016

Peatlands are a significant component of the global carbon (C) cycle, yet despite their role as a long-term C sink throughout the Holocene, they are increasingly vulnerable to destabilization. Nowhere is this shift from sink to source happening more rapidly than in Southeast Asia, and nowhere else are the combined pressures of land-use change and fire on peatland ecosystem C dynamics more evident nor the consequences more apparent. This review focuses on the peatlands of this region, tracing the link between deforestation and drainage and accelerating C emissions arising from peat mineralization and fire. It focuses on the implications of the recent increase in fire occurrence for air quality, human health, ecosystem resilience and the global C cycle. The scale and controls on peat-driven C emissions are addressed, noting that although fires cause large, temporary peaks in C flux to the atmosphere, year-round emissions from peat mineralization are of a similar magnitude. The review concludes by advocating land management options to reduce future fire risk as part of wider peatland management strategies, while also proposing that this region's peat fire dynamic could become increasingly relevant to northern peatlands in a warming world.

This article is part of the themed issue ‘The interaction of fire and mankind’.
Increasing western US forest wildfire activity: sensitivity to changes in the timing of spring
Authors: Westerling Anthony LeRoy
Published: May 2016

Prior work shows western US forest wildfire activity increased abruptly in the mid-1980s. Large forest wildfires and areas burned in them have continued to increase over recent decades, with most of the increase in lightning-ignited fires. Northern US Rockies forests dominated early increases in wildfire activity, and still contributed 50% of the increase in large fires over the last decade. However, the percentage growth in wildfire activity in Pacific northwestern and southwestern US forests has rapidly increased over the last two decades. Wildfire numbers and burned area are also increasing in non-forest vegetation types. Wildfire activity appears strongly associated with warming and earlier spring snowmelt. Analysis of the drivers of forest wildfire sensitivity to changes in the timing of spring demonstrates that forests at elevations where the historical mean snow-free season ranged between two and four months, with relatively high cumulative warm-season actual evapotranspiration, have been most affected. Increases in large wildfires associated with earlier spring snowmelt scale exponentially with changes in moisture deficit, and moisture deficit changes can explain most of the spatial variability in forest wildfire regime response to the timing of spring.

This article is part of the themed issue ‘The interaction of fire and mankind’.
People, El Niño southern oscillation and fire in Australia: fire regimes and climate controls in hummock grasslands
Authors: Bliege Bird Rebecca , Bird Douglas W. , Codding Brian F.
Published: May 2016

While evidence mounts that indigenous burning has a significant role in shaping pyrodiversity, the processes explaining its variation across local and external biophysical systems remain limited. This is especially the case with studies of climate–fire interactions, which only recognize an effect of humans on the fire regime when they act independently of climate. In this paper, we test the hypothesis that an anthropogenic fire regime (fire incidence, size and extent) does not covary with climate. In the lightning regime, positive El Niño southern oscillation (ENSO) values increase lightning fire incidence, whereas La Niña (and associated increases in prior rainfall) increase fire size. ENSO has the opposite effect in the Martu regime, decreasing ignitions in El Niño conditions without affecting fire size. Anthropogenic ignition rates covary positively with high antecedent rainfall, whereas fire size varies only with high temperatures and unpredictable winds, which may reduce control over fire spread. However, total area burned is similarly predicted by antecedent rainfall in both regimes, but is driven by increases in fire size in the lightning regime, and fire number in the anthropogenic regime. We conclude that anthropogenic regimes covary with climatic variation, but detecting the human–climate–fire interaction requires multiple measures of both fire regime and climate.

This article is part of the themed issue ‘The interaction of fire and mankind’.
NCS1 regulates Ca2+-Dependent Focal Exocytosis of Golgi-derived Vesicles to Help Phagocytic uptake in Macrophages
Authors: Vashi Nimi , Andrabi Syed Bilal Ahmad , Ghanwat Swapnil , Suar Mrutyunjay , Kumar Dhiraj
Published: May 2016

During phagocytic uptake by macrophages, role of Golgi apparatus was previously ruled out. Notably all such reports were limited to Fcγ-receptor mediated phagocytosis. Here we unravel a highly devolved mechanism for recruitment of Golgi-derived secretory vesicles during phagosome biogenesis, which was important for uptake of most cargos except IgG-coated ones. We report recruitment of Mannosidase-II positive Golgi-derived vesicles during uptake of diverse targets including latex beads,E. coli,SalmonellaTyphimurium andMycobacterium tuberculosisin human and mouse macrophages. The recruitment of Mannosidase-II vesicles was an early event mediated by focal exocytosis and coincided with the recruitment of transferrin receptor, VAMP3 and dynamin-2. Brefeldin A treatment inhibited Mannosidase-II recruitment and phagocytic uptake of serum coated or uncoated latex beads andE. coli. However consistent with previous studies, Brefeldin A treatment did not affect uptake of IgG-coated latex beads. Mechanistically recruitment of Mannosidase-II vesicles during phagocytic uptake required Ca2+from both extra and intra-cellular sources apart from PI3Kinase, microtubules and dynamin-2. Extracellular Ca2+via voltage-gated Ca2+channels establish a Ca2+-dependent local PIP3 gradient, which guides the focal movement of Golgi-derived vesicles to the site of uptake. We confirmed Golgi-derived vesicles recruited during phagocytosis were secretory vesicles as their recruitment was sensitive to depletion of VAMP2 or NCS1 however recruitment of recycling endosome marker VAMP3 was unaffected. Both VAMP2 and NCS1 depletion individually resulted in the reduced uptake by macrophages. Together the study provides a previously unprecedented role of Golgi-derived secretory vesicles in phagocytic uptake, the key innate defense function.
Noncanonical views of homology-directed DNA repair
Authors: Verma Priyanka , Greenberg Roger A.
Published: May 2016

DNA repair is essential to maintain genomic integrity and initiate genetic diversity. While gene conversion and classical nonhomologous end-joining are the most physiologically predominant forms of DNA repair mechanisms, emerging lines of evidence suggest the usage of several noncanonical homology-directed repair (HDR) pathways in both prokaryotes and eukaryotes in different contexts. Here we review how these alternative HDR pathways are executed, specifically focusing on the determinants that dictate competition between them and their relevance to cancers that display complex genomic rearrangements or maintain their telomeres by homology-directed DNA synthesis.