bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Enhancement of the luteinising hormone surge by male olfactory signals is associated with anteroventral periventricular Kiss1 cell activation in female rats
Authors: Watanabe Y. , Ikegami K. , Ishigaki R. , Ieda N. , Uenoyama Y. , Maeda K. I. , Tsukamura H. , Inoue N.
Published: July 2017

Olfactory stimuli play an important role in regulating reproductive functions in mammals. The present study investigated the effect of olfactory signals derived from male rats on kisspeptin neuronal activity and luteinising hormone (LH) secretion in female rats. Wistar‐Imamichi strain female rats were ovariectomised (OVX) and implanted with preovulatory levels of 17β‐oestradiol (E2). OVX+E2 rats were killed 1 hour after exposure to either: clean bedding, female‐soiled bedding or male‐soiled bedding. Dual staining for Kiss1 mRNA in situ hybridisation and c‐Fos immunohistochemistry revealed that the numbers of Kiss1‐expressing cells and c‐Fos‐immunopositive Kiss1‐expressing cells in the anteroventral periventricular nucleus (AVPV) were significantly higher in OVX+E2 rats exposed to male‐soiled bedding than those of the other groups. No significant difference was found with respect to the number of c‐Fos‐immunopositive Kiss1‐expressing cells in the arcuate nucleus and c‐Fos‐immunopositive Gnrh1‐expressing cells between the groups. The number of c‐Fos‐immunopositive cells was also significantly higher in the limbic system consisting of several nuclei, such as the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis, the cortical amygdala and the medial amygdala, in OVX+E2 rats exposed to male‐soiled bedding than the other groups. OVX+E2 rats exposed to male‐soiled bedding showed apparent LH surges, and the peak of the LH surge and area under the curve of LH concentrations in the OVX+E2 group were significantly higher than those of the other two groups. These results suggest that olfactory signals derived from male rats activate AVPV kisspeptin neurones, likely via the limbic system, resulting in enhancement of the peak of the LH surge in female rats. Taken together, the results of the present study suggests that AVPV kisspeptin neurones are a target of olfactory signals to modulate LH release in female rats.
Nonlinear Analysis to Detect if Excellent Nursing Work Environments Have Highest Well‐Being
Authors: Casalicchio Giuseppe , Lesaffre Emmanuel , Küchenhoff Helmut , Bruyneel Luk
Published: July 2017

Purpose

To detect potentially nonlinear associations between nurses’ work environment and nurse staffing on the one hand and nurse burnout on the other hand.

Design

A cross‐sectional multicountry study for which data collection using a survey of 33,731 registered nurses in 12 European countries took place during 2009 to 2010.

Methods

A semiparametric latent variable model that describes both linear and potentially nonlinear associations between burnout (Maslach Burnout Inventory: emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, personal accomplishment) and work environment (Practice Environment Scale of the Nursing Work Index: managerial support for nursing, doctor–nurse collegial relations, promotion of care quality) and staffing (patient‐to‐nurse ratio).

Findings

Similar conclusions are reached from linear and nonlinear models estimating the association between work environment and burnout. For staffing, an increase in the patient‐to‐nurse ratio is associated with an increase in emotional exhaustion. At about 15 patients per nurse, no further increase in emotional exhaustion is seen.

Conclusions

Absence of evidence for diminishing returns of improving work environments suggests that continuous improvement and achieving excellence in nurse work environments pays off strongly in terms of lower nurse‐reported burnout rates. Nurse staffing policy would benefit from a larger number of studies that identify specific minimum as well as maximum thresholds at which inputs affect nurse and patient outcomes.

Clinical Relevance

Nurse burnout is omnipresent and has previously been shown to be related to worse patient outcomes. Additional increments in characteristics of excellent work environments, up to the highest possible standard, correspond to lower nurse burnout.
Contextual Factors Impacting a Pain Management Intervention
Authors: Alaloul Fawwaz , Williams Kimberly , Myers John , Jones Kayla Dlauren , Sullivan Katelyn , Logsdon M. Cynthia
Published: July 2017

Purpose

To determine if findings from our preliminary study related to patient and nursing satisfaction with a pain management intervention could be replicated in a changed environment, and if contextual factors could impact the effectiveness of a pain management intervention on patient satisfaction with nursing staff's management of pain.

Methods

A prospective, experimental design was used with six monthly assessments before, during, and after the intervention. Data were collected from 540 patients admitted to eight medical surgical and progressive care units and nurses that worked in these units at an academic health sciences center in the southern United States, from March to July 2015. The script‐based, pain management communication intervention included three specific tactics: script‐based communication, use of white boards, and hourly rounding. The Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems survey was used to assess two items: “pain is well controlled” and “staff did everything they could to help with pain.” Contextual factors focused on the practice setting.

Findings

Both scores for “pain is well controlled” (β = .028, p = 0.651) and scores for “staff did everything they could to help with pain” (β = .057,p = .385) did not change initially but then increased significantly and were sustained over time. Nurses had high levels of satisfaction with the intervention (M = 7.9, SD = 2.1) and compliance with the intervention (M = 8.0, SD = 1.9), and had little difficulty in implementing the intervention (M = 8.3, SD = 1.4). In terms of contextual factors, the number of beds on the unit and the number of patients being discharged negatively impacted scores for “pain is well controlled” and “staff did everything they could to help with pain.” Hospital length of stay positively impacted scores for “pain is well controlled” by staff.

Conclusions

Despite challenging contextual variables, the study extended the findings of an early preliminary study in showing the effectiveness of pain management intervention on patient satisfaction with staff's management of pain. In evaluating the impact of an intervention, it is essential to examine the contextual environment.

Clinical Relevance

Using simple, clear, and consistent communication between patients and nurses related to pain can positively impact patient satisfaction with pain management over time. The health care environment can enhance nursing practice and patients’ outcomes.
‘No mam. You are heterosexual’: Whose language? Whose sexuality?
Authors: Ostermann Ana Cristina
Published: July 2017

This study analyzes phone calls to a Brazilian governmental health helpline. By means of Conversation Analysis and categorization analysis, it investigates a demographic survey at the end of the calls, used to collect information about the caller, including the caller's sexual orientation. What was originally a wh‐question (‘What is your sexual orientation?’) is most frequently transformed by call takers (who conduct the survey) into a polar question (‘Are you heterosexual?’), a format that triggers complex interactional trajectories and activates categorizations that demonstrate ‘in‐action’ heteronormative understandings about gender and sexuality. The analysis reveals the helpline callers’ unfamiliarity with what academics and activists have mostly considered everyday and perhaps universal terminology, and thus calls for more bottom‐up and ecologically valid ways of talking about sexual orientations. This investigation also contributes to questioning the traditional dichotomy of the micro and macro perspectives, demonstrating how situated interactions respond to a wider sociocultural repertoire which makes what is local simultaneously translocal.
Fanon in drag: Decoloniality in sociolinguistics?
Authors: Shaikjee Mooniq , Stroud Christopher
Published: July 2017

In focus in this paper is the genre of drag, and the uses to which it is put by its proponents in subverting conventional and repressive (Western) models of gender, sexuality and race. We raise the question of to what extent performances of drag, while arguably disrupting gender stereotypes, nevertheless continue to reproduce colonialities of race and sexuality. Framing an analysis of a drag king performance in a sociolinguistics of subjectification inspired by the work of Frantz Fanon, we offer an account that recognizes how, rather than subverting or challenging conventional images of gender, the performance is one part of a complex circulation of textual and corporeal semiotics that enregistersracializedcategories of male and female cut to the cloth of coloniality/modernity. On the other hand, the analysis also reveals that there are moments of interruption and slippage in the reproduction of colonial constructs of race, gender and sexuality that may offer more complex and multifarious understandings of what may comprise the exercises of decoloniality. We conclude with a discussion of what a decolonial Fanonian approach to subjectification might offer sociolinguistics.
High‐resolution anorectal manometry: An expensive hobby or worth every penny?
Authors: Basilisco G. , Bharucha A. E.
Published: July 2017

Introduced approximately 10 years ago, high‐resolution manometry catheters have fostered interest in anorectal manometry. This review, which accompanies two articles in this issue of Neurogastroenterology and Motility, reviews the methods, clinical indications, utility, and pitfalls of anorectal manometry and revisits the American Gastroenterological Association (AGA) Medical Position Statement on Anorectal Testing Techniques, which was last published in 1999. High‐resolution manometry provides a refined assessment of the anorectal pressure profile, obviates the need for station pull‐through maneuvers, and minimizes movement artifacts. In selected cases, this refined assessment may be useful for identifying structural abnormalities or anal weakness. However, many manometry patterns that were previously regarded as abnormal are also observed in a majority of healthy patients, which substantially limits the utility of manometry for identifying defecatory disorders. It is our impression that most conclusions of the AGA medical position statement from 1999 remain valid today. High‐resolution techniques have not substantially affected the number of publications on or management of anorectal disorders. The ongoing efforts of an international working group to standardize techniques for anorectal manometry are welcome. Although high‐resolution manometry is more than an expensive hobby, improvements in catheter design and further research to rigorously define and evaluate these techniques are necessary to determine if they are worth every penny.
The pharyngeal contractile integral is a useful indicator of pharyngeal swallowing impairment
Authors: O'Rourke A. , Humphries K. , Lazar A. , Martin‐Harris B.
Published: July 2017

Background

A limitation to the expanded use of high‐resolution pharyngeal manometry (HRPM) in clinical practice is the lack of useful pharyngeal parameters that are easy to interpret, generalizable between patients, and do not require specialized software. In this study, we sought to test the relationship between the pharyngeal contractile integral (PhCI) with videofluoroscopic abnormalities as assessed with the Modified Barium Swallow Impairment Profile©™.

Methods

Adult dysphagic patients were recruited to undergo simultaneous HRPM and videofluoroscopy during a standardized swallowing protocol.

Key Results

Thirty‐six patients were included in the study. The mean PhCI was 247 mm Hg·cm·s (range 2‐488 mm Hg·cm·s). The lower pharyngeal total (PT) group (N=20; mean PT=3.9) had a mean PhCI of 299 mm Hg·cm·s, while the higher PT group (N=16; mean PT=12.7) had a mean PhCI score of 188 mm Hg·cm·s (P=.01). There was also a significant negative correlation between normalized PhCI to PT scores (r=−.47; P=.004). Patients with higher PhCIs exhibited less severe penetration‐aspiration scores on thin liquids (1.44 vs 3.78; P=.03) and all consistencies combined (1.21 vs 1.99; P=.03).

Conclusions & Inferences

The PhCI is a useful indicator of the presence of pharyngeal swallowing impairment and is technically simple to calculate with currently available software programs. Advancement of software is necessary to refine the clinical value of this parameter. High‐resolution pharyngeal manometry has the potential to be a valuable adjunct procedure for the evaluation and treatment of dysphagic individuals.
Comparing Domain-specific Physical Activity Efficacy Level between Turkish Adolescent Girls and Boys
Authors: Çatikkaş Fatih
Published: July 2017

The adolescence period is a very critical developmental period for personality, socializing and promotion of physical activity. In this regard, the aim of this study was to compare domain-specific physical activity efficacy level between adolescent boys and girls. A total of 219 girls (body weight: 57.50± 10.44 kg, height: 160.30± 7.40 cm, age 16.15±0.96 years) and 145 high school boys (body weight: 63.45± 10.10 kg, height: 173.71± 5.49cm, age 16.20±3.49) participated in this study. Physical activity efficacy level was evaluated by the Domain Specific Physical Activity Efficacy Questionnaire (DSPAEQ) which was adapted into Turkish by Saygın et al. (2017). Statistical analysis has shown DSPAEQ score differences between girls and boys (p<0.05). Scores for the school activity (p<0.05), transportation activity (p<0.05) and leisure activity (p<0.05) sub-dimensions were higher in boys than in girls. However, the household activity sub-dimension score was higher in girls than in boys (p<0.05). The results from this study indicated that adolescent girls should be encouraged towards more physical activity both at school and out of school. However, comprehensive studies with larger samples are needed for a better understanding of the participation of adolescents in physical activity.
One session of remote ischemic preconditioning does not improve vascular function in acute normobaric and chronic hypobaric hypoxia
Authors: Rieger Mathew G. , Hoiland Ryan L. , Tremblay Joshua C. , Stembridge Mike , Bain Anthony R. , Flück Daniela , Subedi Prajan , Anholm James D. , Ainslie Philip N.
Published: July 2017

New Findings

What is the central question of this study?

It is suggested that remote ischemic preconditioning (RIPC) might offer protection against ischaemia–reperfusion injuries, but the utility of RIPC in high‐altitude settings remains unclear.

What is the main finding and its importance?

We found that RIPC offers no vascular protection relative to pulmonary artery pressure or peripheral endothelial function during acute, normobaric hypoxia and at high altitude in young, healthy adults. However, peripheral chemosensitivity was heightened 24 h after RIPC at high altitude.

Application of repeated short‐duration bouts of ischaemia to the limbs, termed remote ischemic preconditioning (RIPC), is a novel technique that might have protective effects on vascular function during hypoxic exposures. In separate parallel‐design studies, at sea level (SL; n = 16) and after 8–12 days at high altitude (HA; n = 12; White Mountain, 3800 m), participants underwent either a sham protocol or one session of four bouts of 5 min of dual‐thigh‐cuff occlusion with 5 min recovery. Brachial artery flow‐mediated dilatation (FMD; ultrasound), pulmonary artery systolic pressure (PASP; echocardiography) and internal carotid artery (ICA) flow (ultrasound) were measured at SL in normoxia and isocapnic hypoxia (end‐tidal maintained at 50 mmHg) and during normal breathing at HA. The hypoxic ventilatory response (HVR) was measured at each location. All measures at SL and HA were obtained at baseline (BL) and at 1, 24 and 48 h post‐RIPC or sham. At SL, RIPC produced no changes in FMD, PASP, ICA flow, end‐tidal gases or HVR in normoxia or hypoxia. At HA, although HVR increased 24 h post‐RIPC compared with BL [2.05 ± 1.4 versus 3.21 ± 1.2 l min−1 (% arterial O2 saturation)−1, P < 0.01], there were no significant differences in FMD, PASP, ICA flow and resting end‐tidal gases. Accordingly, a single session of RIPC is insufficient to evoke changes in peripheral, pulmonary and cerebral vascular function in healthy adults. Although chemosensitivity might increase after RIPC at HA, this did not confer any vascular changes. The utility of a single RIPC session seems unremarkable during acute and chronic hypoxia.
Ventricular Assist Devices: Current State and Challenges
Authors: Doost Siamak N. , Zhong Liang , Morsi Yosry S.
Published: July 2017

Cardiovascular disease (CVD), as the most prevalent human disease, incorporates a broad spectrum of cardiovascular system malfunctions/disorders. While cardiac transplantation is widely acknowledged as the optional treatment for patients suffering from end-stage heart failure (HF), due to its related drawbacks, such as the unavailability of heart donors, alternative treatments, i.e., implanting a ventricular assist device (VAD), it has been extensively utilized in recent years to recover heart function. However, this solution is thought problematic as it fails to satisfactorily provide lifelong support for patients at the end-stage of HF, nor does is solve the problem of their extensive postsurgery complications. In recent years, the huge technological advancements have enabled the manufacturing of a wide variety of reliable VAD devices, which provides a promising avenue for utilizing VAD implantation as the destination therapy (DT) in the future. Along with typical VAD systems, other innovative mechanical devices for cardiac support, as well as cell therapy and bioartificial cardiac tissue, have resulted in researchers proposing a new HF therapy. This paper aims to concisely review the current state of VAD technology, summarize recent advancements, discuss related complications, and argue for the development of the envisioned alternatives of HF therapy.
Application of Prompt Self-Powered Neutron Detectors to the Lead-Cooled Fast Reactor Demonstrator ALFRED: Validation of the Monte Carlo Model for Selected SPNDs
Authors: Lepore Luigi , Remetti Romolo
Published: July 2017

The advanced lead fast reactor European demonstrator (ALFRED) is a European research initiative into the framework of the Generation IV International Forum facilities. ALFRED is a scaled down reactor compared to the industrial prototype European lead fast reactor proposed in lead-cooled European advanced demonstration reactor. It has a relatively low power (125 MWe) with a compact design to reduce the cost but maintaining its representativeness and it is cooled by pure lead. One of the open issues is linked to the neutron flux in-core monitoring system because of the harshness of the environment the detectors should be installed in, due to high temperatures, and the neutron-gamma radiation field levels. Monte Carlo simulation is a possible way of facing the problem, reproducing into a virtual world the reactor core, the surrounding environment and radiation interactions. In previous works, neutron spectra and gamma doses at possible detectors' locations in ALFRED were retrieved, with consideration on the applicability of each suitable device currently available. Fission chambers (FCs) were found to be exploited at reactor start-up and intermediate power range. Prompt self-powered neutron detectors (SPNDs) seemed to be the best solution to monitor the reactor full power, becoming the main research target: their effective applicability on field has to be demonstrated. SPND applications do not include reactor control purposes usually. Moreover, their irradiation experience involved thermal and epithermal neutron spectra monitoring, mainly. The lack of data when SPNDs sense fast neutron fluxes in terms of prompt-response pushed the authors to deepen the study in such direction. The work herein shows the mathematical approach based on Monte Carlo simulation of SPNDs by the Monte Carlo N-particle eXtended code (MCNPX), so as to study the capability of the code in reproducing real devices' signals while experimented on field. Such a verification turned out to be the preliminary stage for studying new concepts for SPNDs, in terms of sensitive materials and geometries, envisaging the possibility for designing, prototyping, and testing new devices in suitable fast neutron-flux facilities.
Stem cell approach for cataracts challenged
Authors: Servick Kelly
Published: July 2017

Lens regeneration after surgery confounds some ophthalmologists.
The unbearable lightness of neutrinos
Authors: Cho Adrian
Published: July 2017

Physicists make one last, grand push to weigh the most elusive bits of
matter.
New technologies boost genome quality
Authors: Pennisi Elizabeth
Published: July 2017

Earlier sequences are riddled with gaps, overlapping repeats, misplaced segments
The scientists' apprentice
Authors: Appenzeller Tim
Published: July 2017

Artificial intelligence helps scientists cope with torrents of data
AI Glossary: Artificial intelligence, in so many words
Authors: Hutson Matthew
Published: July 2017

Defining the terms of artificial intelligence
Restoring auditory cortex plasticity in adult mice by restricting thalamic adenosine signaling
Authors: Blundon Jay A. , Roy Noah C. , Teubner Brett J. W. , Yu Jing , Eom Tae-Yeon , Sample K. Jake , Pani Amar , Smeyne Richard J. , Han Seung Baek , Kerekes Ryan A. , Rose Derek C. , Hackett Troy A. , Vuppala Pradeep K. , Freeman Burgess B. , Zakharenko Stanislav S.
Published: July 2017

Reopening a critical period

Young brains, compared with adult brains, are plastic. This phenomenon has given rise to
the concept of critical periods, during which acquisition of certain skills is optimal.
In mice, an auditory critical period is only open in early postnatal days. The youthful
brain tunes circuits to sounds in its environment in a way that the adult brain does
not. This facility may form the basis for childhood language acquisition in humans.
Blundon
et al.
show that by manipulating adenosine signaling in mice,
some plasticity of the adult auditory cortex can be regained (see the Perspective by
Kehayas and Holmaat). Disruption of adenosine production or adenosine receptor signaling
in adult mice leads to improved tone discrimination abilities.

Science
, this issue p.
1352
; see also p.
1335
Chemical transformation of xenobiotics by the human gut microbiota
Authors: Koppel Nitzan , Maini Rekdal Vayu , Balskus Emily P.
Published: July 2017

One person's meat is another's poison

The human gut is packed with actively metabolizing microorganisms. These have a transformative effect on what we ingest—whether food, drugs, or pollutants. Koppel
et al.
review the distinguishing features of microbial xenobiotic metabolism, its interaction with somatic metabolism, and interindividual variation. Depending on the functional composition of microorganisms in the gut, the subsequent products may have nutritionally beneficial effects, modify pharmaceuticals, or be toxic. All of these consequences of our companion microbes can have important impacts on human health and well-being.

Science
, this issue p.
eaag2770
On the generation of solar spicules and Alfvénic waves
Authors: Martínez-Sykora J. , De Pontieu B. , Hansteen V. H. , Rouppe van der Voort L. , Carlsson M. , Pereira T. M. D.
Published: July 2017

Understanding the formation of spicules

Spicules are small jets lasting a few minutes that form in the solar atmosphere and propel hot plasma upward from the visible surface. The underlying physics of spicules is not well understood. Martínez-Sykora
et al.
developed radiation-magnetohydrodynamic simulations that can spontaneously produce numerous spicules with properties that match observations. Interactions between large-scale magnetic fields and the plasma, such as ambipolar diffusion, drive the formation process and subsequent evolution. Understanding how spicules form will help assess how much they heat the solar corona and how they relate to other solar phenomena.

Science
, this issue p.
1269
Avian egg shape: Form, function, and evolution
Authors: Stoddard Mary Caswell , Yong Ee Hou , Akkaynak Derya , Sheard Catherine , Tobias Joseph A. , Mahadevan L.
Published: July 2017

The influence of flying

Although birds' eggs are generally ovoid in shape, there is considerable variation in the degree to which they are symmetrical, round, or bottom-heavy. Many hypotheses have been put forward to explain what has driven this variation, with many accepting life history or nesting explanations. Stoddard
et al.
looked at nearly 50,000 eggs from more than 1400 species from morphological, biophysical, and evolutionary perspectives and found little support for previous hypotheses (see the Perspective by Spottiswoode). Instead, their results suggest that selection for flight adaptations is most likely to be responsible for the variation.

Science
, this issue p.
1249
; see also p.
1234
A human-driven decline in global burned area
Authors: Andela N. , Morton D. C. , Giglio L. , Chen Y. , van der Werf G. R. , Kasibhatla P. S. , DeFries R. S. , Collatz G. J. , Hantson S. , Kloster S. , Bachelet D. , Forrest M. , Lasslop G. , Li F. , Mangeon S. , Melton J. R. , Yue C. , Randerson J. T.
Published: July 2017

Burn less, baby, burn less

Humans have, and always have had, a major impact on wildfire activity, which is expected
to increase in our warming world. Andela
et al.
use satellite data to
show that, unexpectedly, global burned area declined by ∼25% over the past 18
years, despite the influence of climate. The decrease has been largest in savannas and
grasslands because of agricultural expansion and intensification. The decline of burned
area has consequences for predictions of future changes to the atmosphere, vegetation,
and the terrestrial carbon sink.

Science
, this issue p.
1356
A global brain state underlies
C. elegans
sleep behavior
Authors: Nichols Annika L. A. , Eichler Tomáš , Latham Richard , Zimmer Manuel
Published: July 2017

Neuronal basis of lethargy in worms

How does the brain switch between wakefulness and sleep? Nichols
et al.
studied this question using brain-wide Ca2
+
imaging at single-neuron resolution in nematodes. By changing O
2
concentrations, they could rapidly switch the worms between behaviorally quiescent and active states. They observed a global quiescence brain state characterized by the systemic down-regulation of neuronal network dynamics. Signaling from O
2
sensory neurons rapidly evoked and maintained active network dynamics. Conversely, in the absence of such arousing cues, network dynamics converged into the quiescent mode.

Science
, this issue p.
eaam6851
Controlling guest conformation for efficient purification of butadiene
Authors: Liao Pei-Qin , Huang Ning-Yu , Zhang Wei-Xiong , Zhang Jie-Peng , Chen Xiao-Ming
Published: July 2017

The weaker adsorption of 1,3-butadiene in a metal-organic framework enables its separation from other C
4
hydrocarbons.
Chronic exposure to neonicotinoids reduces honey bee health near corn crops
Authors: Tsvetkov N. , Samson-Robert O. , Sood K. , Patel H. S. , Malena D. A. , Gajiwala P. H. , Maciukiewicz P. , Fournier V. , Zayed A.
Published: July 2017

Damage confirmed

Early studies of the impacts of neonicotinoid insecticides on insect pollinators
indicated considerable harm. However, lingering criticism was that the studies did not
represent field-realistic levels of the chemicals or prevailing environmental
conditions. Two studies, conducted on different crops and on two continents, now
substantiate that neonicotinoids diminish bee health (see the Perspective by Kerr).
Tsvetkov
et al.
find that bees near corn crops are exposed to
neonicotinoids for 3 to 4 months via nontarget pollen, resulting in decreased survival
and immune responses, especially when coexposed to a commonly used agrochemical
fungicide. Woodcock
et al.
, in a multicounty experiment on rapeseed in
Europe, find that neonicotinoid exposure from several nontarget sources reduces
overwintering success and colony reproduction in both honeybees and wild bees. These
field results confirm that neonicotinoids negatively affect pollinator health under
realistic agricultural conditions.

Science
, this issue p.
1395
, p.
1393
; see also p.
1331
miR-183 cluster scales mechanical pain sensitivity by regulating basal and neuropathic pain genes
Authors: Peng Changgeng , Li Lili , Zhang Ming-Dong , Bengtsson Gonzales Carolina , Parisien Marc , Belfer Inna , Usoskin Dmitry , Abdo Hind , Furlan Alessandro , Häring Martin , Lallemend Francois , Harkany Tibor , Diatchenko Luda , Hökfelt Tomas , Hjerling-Leffler Jens , Ernfors Patrik
Published: July 2017

A cluster of microRNAs regulates both normal pain sensitivity and the pathological responses of chronic pain.
Evolution of the wheat blast fungus through functional losses in a host specificity determinant
Authors: Inoue Yoshihiro , Vy Trinh T. P. , Yoshida Kentaro , Asano Hokuto , Mitsuoka Chikako , Asuke Soichiro , Anh Vu L. , Cumagun Christian J. R. , Chuma Izumi , Terauchi Ryohei , Kato Kenji , Mitchell Thomas , Valent Barbara , Farman Mark , Tosa Yukio
Published: July 2017

Genetic analysis of disease emergence

In the 1980s, wheat crops began to fall to the fungal pathogen that causes blast disease. First seen in Brazil, wheat blast last year caused devastating crop losses in Bangladesh. Inoue
et al.
tracked down the shifting genetics that have allowed the emergence of this potentially global threat to wheat crops (see the Perspective by Maekawa and Schulze-Lefert). Wheat varieties with a disabled resistance gene were susceptible to pathogen strains that affected oat and ryegrass crops. Subsequent genetic changes in the pathogen amped up the virulence in wheat.

Science
, this issue p.
80
; see also p.
31
Plants transfer lipids to sustain colonization by mutualistic mycorrhizal and parasitic fungi
Authors: Jiang Yina , Wang Wanxiao , Xie Qiujin , Liu Na , Liu Lixia , Wang Dapeng , Zhang Xiaowei , Yang Chen , Chen Xiaoya , Tang Dingzhong , Wang Ertao
Published: July 2017

Lipid transfer provides symbiotic fungi associated with plant roots with a source of carbon.
Citywide effects of high-occupancy vehicle restrictions: Evidence from “three-in-one” in Jakarta
Authors: Hanna Rema , Kreindler Gabriel , Olken Benjamin A.
Published: July 2017

How to make traffic worse everywhere

One policy aimed at improving traffic flows in large cities requires vehicles to carry two or three passengers, usually in lanes or roads set aside for high-occupancy vehicle (HOV) travel. Whether this actually increases speeds depends on how heavily the HOV roads are used and the availability of alternate routes. Hanna
et al.
took advantage of an abrupt policy change—the elimination of HOV rules—in Jakarta to collect the travel times from Google Maps for HOV and alternate routes before and after the change (see the Perspective by Anderson). They observed a serious worsening of traffic throughout the city.

Science
, this issue p.
89
; see also p.
36
Satellite-based entanglement distribution over 1200 kilometers
Authors: Yin Juan , Cao Yuan , Li Yu-Huai , Liao Sheng-Kai , Zhang Liang , Ren Ji-Gang , Cai Wen-Qi , Liu Wei-Yue , Li Bo , Dai Hui , Li Guang-Bing , Lu Qi-Ming , Gong Yun-Hong , Xu Yu , Li Shuang-Lin , Li Feng-Zhi , Yin Ya-Yun , Jiang Zi-Qing , Li Ming , Jia Jian-Jun , Ren Ge , He Dong , Zhou Yi-Lin , Zhang Xiao-Xiang , Wang Na , Chang Xiang , Zhu Zhen-Cai , Liu Nai-Le , Chen Yu-Ao , Lu Chao-Yang , Shu Rong , Peng Cheng-Zhi , Wang Jian-Yu , Pan Jian-Wei
Published: July 2017

Entangled photons are distributed over vast distances using a satellite-to-ground link.
There's more to a meal
Gastrophysics: The New Science of Eating
Charles Spence
Viking, 2017. 336 pp.
Authors: Ubbink Job
Published: July 2017

A psychologist probes the invisible influences that shape the dining experience
Tracking the dynamics of electron expulsion
Authors: Vozzi Caterina
Published: July 2017

Electron holography is used to map out the wave function of a photo-emitted electron
Refugees of rising seas
Rising Tides: Climate Refugees in the Twenty-First Century
John R. Wennersten and Denise Robbins
Indiana University Press, 2017. 270 pp.
Authors: Wiegel Hanne
Published: July 2017

Extrapolating beyond current scientific predictions, an urgent treatise anticipates millions of climate migrants
Plasmons that won't stick
Authors: Faccio Daniele
Published: July 2017

Otherwise detrimental losses are used to make surface plasmons interact like
fermions
Observing chemical shifts from nanosamples
Authors: Bar-Gill Nir , Retzker Alex
Published: July 2017

Defects in diamond with large coherence times act as a quantum-enhanced NMR sensor
AI, people, and society
Authors: Horvitz Eric
Published: July 2017

In an essay about his science fiction, Isaac Asimov reflected that “it became very common…to picture robots as dangerous devices that invariably destroyed their creators.” He rejected this view and formulated the “laws of robotics,” aimed at ensuring the safety and benevolence of robotic systems. Asimov's stories about the relationship between people and robots were only a few years old when the phrase “artificial intelligence” (AI) was used for the first time in a 1955 proposal for a study on using computers to “…solve kinds of problems now reserved for humans.” Over the half-century since that study, AI has matured into subdisciplines that have yielded a constellation of methods that enable perception, learning, reasoning, and natural language understanding.
Zika Virus Persistently Infects and Is Basolaterally Released from Primary Human Brain Microvascular Endothelial Cells
Authors: Mladinich Megan C. , Schwedes John , Mackow Erich R.
Published: July 2017

Zika virus (ZIKV) is a mosquito-borne
Flavivirus
that has emerged as the cause of encephalitis and fetal microencephaly in the Americas. ZIKV uniquely persists in human bodily fluids for up to 6 months, is sexually transmitted, and traverses the placenta and the blood-brain barrier (BBB) to damage neurons. Cells that support persistent ZIKV replication and mechanisms by which ZIKV establishes persistence remain enigmatic but central to ZIKV entry into protected neuronal compartments. The endothelial cell (EC) lining of capillaries normally constrains transplacental transmission and forms the BBB, which selectively restricts access of blood constituents to neurons. We found that ZIKV (strain PRVABC59) persistently infects and continuously replicates in primary human brain microvascular ECs (hBMECs), without cytopathology, for >9 days and following hBMEC passage. ZIKV did not permeabilize hBMECs but was released basolaterally from polarized hBMECs, suggesting a direct mechanism for ZIKV to cross the BBB. ZIKV-infected hBMECs were rapidly resistant to alpha interferon (IFN-α) and transiently induced, but failed to secrete, IFN-β and IFN-λ. Global transcriptome analysis determined that ZIKV constitutively induced IFN regulatory factor 7 (IRF7), IRF9, and IFN-stimulated genes (ISGs) 1 to 9 days postinfection, despite persistently replicating in hBMECs. ZIKV constitutively induced ISG15, HERC5, and USP18, which are linked to hepatitis C virus (HCV) persistence and IFN regulation, chemokine CCL5, which is associated with immunopathogenesis, as well as cell survival factors. Our results reveal that hBMECs act as a reservoir of persistent ZIKV replication, suggest routes for ZIKV to cross hBMECs into neuronal compartments, and define novel mechanisms of ZIKV persistence that can be targeted to restrict ZIKV spread.

IMPORTANCE
ZIKV persists in patients, crossing placental and neuronal barriers, damaging neurons, and causing fetal microencephaly. We found that ZIKV persistently infects brain endothelial cells that normally protect neurons from viral exposure. hBMECs are not damaged by ZIKV infection and, analogous to persistent HCV infection, ZIKV constitutively induces and evades antiviral ISG and IFN responses to continuously replicate in hBMECs. As a result, hBMECs provide a protective niche for systemic ZIKV spread and a viral reservoir localized in the normally protective blood-brain barrier. Consistent with the spread of ZIKV into neuronal compartments, ZIKV was released basolaterally from hBMECs. Our findings define hBMEC responses that contribute to persistent ZIKV infection and potential targets for clearing ZIKV infections from hBMECs. These results further suggest roles for additional ZIKV-infected ECs to facilitate viral spread and persistence in the protected placental, retinal, and testicular compartments.
Longitudinal characterisation of function and structure of Bietti crystalline dystrophy: report on a novel homozygous mutation in CYP4V2
Authors: Lockhart Catherine M , Smith Travis B , Yang Paul , Naidu Malini , Rettie Allan E , Nath Abhinav , Weleber Richard , Kelly Edward J
Published: July 2017

Background

Bietti crystalline dystrophy (BCD) is a rare inherited disorder characterised by fine crystalline deposits in the corneal limbus and retinal posterior pole. In 2004, mutations in the CYP4V2 gene were identified as the cause of BCD. Here, we describe the report of a homozygous point mutation in a patient with BCD and provide detailed characterisation of functional and structural changes over 20 years.

Methods

At regular intervals, the patient underwent repeat ophthalmic evaluations. DNA was extracted from buccal swabs, amplified by standard PCR and analysed for homology to the CYP4V2 sequence. Homology modelling was conducted using Iterative Threading ASSEmbly Refinement and molecular dynamics simulations using GROningen MAchine for Chemical Simulations.

Results

The proband, a 47-year-old woman of German ancestry was diagnosed with crystalline retinopathy at age 25. Over the next 20 years, visual acuity and function gradually declined with progression of retinal pigment epithelium and choroidal atrophy. When first tested at 39 years of age, the multifocal electroretinogram (ERG) was markedly abnormal, more so for the right eye, whereas the full-field ERG was more symmetrical and lagged other measures of visual function. Gene sequencing showed a single C>T point mutation in exon 9 encoding a R400C amino acid change. Computational modelling suggests the mutation impairs function due to loss of a hydrogen bonding interaction with the propionate side chains of the haeme prosthetic group.

Conclusion

This is the first report of a homozygous R400C mutation in CYP4V2 with protein modelling showing high likelihood of enzyme dysfunction. The comprehensive long-term clinical follow-up provides insight into disease progression and highlights possible anti-inflammatory modulation of disease severity.
A systematic review, meta-analysis and meta-regression of the effect of protein supplementation on resistance training-induced gains in muscle mass and strength in healthy adults
Authors: Morton Robert W , Murphy Kevin T , McKellar Sean R , Schoenfeld Brad J , Henselmans Menno , Helms Eric , Aragon Alan A , Devries Michaela C , Banfield Laura , Krieger James W , Phillips Stuart M
Published: July 2017

Objective

We performed a systematic review, meta-analysis and meta-regression to determine if dietary protein supplementation augments resistance exercise training (RET)-induced gains in muscle mass and strength.

Data sources

A systematic search of Medline, Embase, CINAHL and SportDiscus.

Eligibility criteria

Only randomised controlled trials with RET ≥6 weeks in duration and dietary protein supplementation.

Design

Random-effects meta-analyses and meta-regressions with four a priori determined covariates. Two-phase break point analysis was used to determine the relationship between total protein intake and changes in fat-free mass (FFM).

Results

Data from 49 studies with 1863 participants showed that dietary protein supplementation significantly (all p<0.05) increased changes (means (95% CI)) in: strength—one-repetition-maximum (2.49 kg (0.64, 4.33)), FFM (0.30 kg (0.09, 0.52)) and muscle size—muscle fibre cross-sectional area (CSA; 310 µm2(51, 570)) and mid-femur CSA (7.2 mm2(0.20, 14.30)) during periods of prolonged RET. The impact of protein supplementation on gains in FFM was reduced with increasing age (−0.01 kg (−0.02,–0.00), p=0.002) and was more effective in resistance-trained individuals (0.75 kg (0.09, 1.40), p=0.03). Protein supplementation beyond total protein intakes of 1.62 g/kg/day resulted in no further RET-induced gains in FFM.

Summary/conclusion

Dietary protein supplementation significantly enhanced changes in muscle strength and size during prolonged RET in healthy adults. Increasing age reduces and training experience increases the efficacy of protein supplementation during RET. With protein supplementation, protein intakes at amounts greater than ~1.6 g/kg/day do not further contribute RET-induced gains in FFM.
Levels and trends of childhood undernutrition by wealth and education according to a Composite Index of Anthropometric Failure: evidence from 146 Demographic and Health Surveys from 39 countries
Authors: Vollmer Sebastian , Harttgen Kenneth , Kupka Roland , Subramanian S V
Published: July 2017

Background

Governments have endorsed global targets to reduce childhood undernutrition as part of the Sustainable Development Goals. Understanding the socioeconomic differences in childhood undernutrition has the potential to be helpful for targeting policy to reach these goals.

Methods

We specify a logistic regression model with the Composite Index of Anthropometric Failure (CIAF) as the outcome and indicator variables for wealth quartiles, maternal education categories and a set of covariates as explanatory variables. Wealth and education variables are interacted with a period indicator for 1990–2000 compared with 2001–2014 to observe differences over time. Based on these regressions we calculate predicted CIAF prevalence by wealth and education categories and over time.

Results

The sample included 146 surveys from 39 low-income and lower-middle-income countries with an overall sample size of 533 217 children. CIAF prevalence was 47.5% in 1990–2000, and it declined to 42.6% in 2001–2014. In 1990–2000 the CIAF prevalence of children with mothers with less than primary education was 31 percentage points higher than for mothers with secondary or higher education. This difference slightly decreased to 27 percentage points in 2001–2014. The difference in predicted CIAF prevalence of children from the highest and lowest wealth quartiles was 21 percentage points and did not change over time.

Conclusions

We find evidence for persistent and even increasing socioeconomic inequalities in childhood undernutrition, which underlines the importance of previous calls for equity-driven approaches targeting the most vulnerable to reduce childhood malnutrition.
A Self-Management Programme of Activity Coping and Education - SPACE for COPD(C) - in primary care: The protocol for a pragmatic trial
Authors: Bourne Claire LA , Kanabar Pratiksha , Mitchell Katy , Schreder Sally , Houchen-Wolloff Linzy , Bankart M John G , Apps Lindsay , Hewitt Stacey , Harvey-Dunstan Theresa , Singh Sally J
Published: July 2017

Introduction

National guidance for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) suggests that self-management support be provided for patients. Our institution has developed a standardised, manual-based, supported self-management programme: Self-Management Programme of Activity Coping and Education (SPACE for COPD(C)). SPACE was previously piloted on a 1-2-1 basis, delivered by researchers, to individuals with COPD. Discussions with stakeholders highlighted considerable interest in delivering the SPACE for COPD(C) intervention as a group-based self-management programme facilitated by healthcare professionals (HCPs) in primary care settings. The study aims are to explore the feasibility, acceptability and efficacy for the intervention to be delivered and supported by HCPs and to examine whether group-based delivery of SPACE for COPD(C), with sustained support, improves patient outcomes following the SPACE for COPD(C) intervention.

Methods and analysis

A prospective, multi-site, single-blinded randomised controlled trial (RCT) will be conducted, with follow-up at 6 and 9 months. Participants will be randomly assigned to either the control group (usual care) or intervention group (a six-session, group-based SPACE for COPD(C)self-management programme delivered over 5 months). The primary outcome is change in COPD assessment test at 6 months.

A discussion session will be conducted with HCPs who deliver the intervention to discuss and gain insight into any potential facilitators/barriers to implementing the intervention in practice. Furthermore, we will conduct semi-structured focus groups with intervention participants to understand feasibility and acceptability. All qualitative data will be analysed thematically.

Ethics and dissemination

The project has received a favourable opinion from South Hampshire B Research Ethics Committee, REC reference: 14/SC/1169 and full R&D approval from the University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust: 152408.

Study results will be disseminated through appropriate peer-reviewed journals, national and international respiratory/physiotherapy conferences, via the Collaboration and Leadership in Applied Health Research and Care and through social media.

Trial registration

ISRCTN17942821; pre-results.
Perceived impacts of the national essential medicines system: a cross-sectional survey of health workers in urban community health services in China
Authors: Zhang Tao , Liu Chaojie , Ren Jianping , Wang Sheng , Huang Xianhong , Guo Qing
Published: July 2017

Objectives

This study aimed to investigate the perceptions of primary care workers about the impacts of the national essential medicines policy (NEMP).

Setting

A cross-sectional questionnaire survey was undertaken in 42 urban community health centres randomly selected from four provinces in China.

Participants

791 primary care workers rated the impacts of the NEMP on a 5-point Likert scale.

Outcome measures

An average score for the impacts of the NEMP on four aspects (the practice of health workers, interactions of patients with health workers, operations of health centres and provision of medicines) was calculated, each ranging from 0 to 100. A higher score indicates a more positive rating. Linear regression models were established to determine the sociodemographic characteristics (region, age, gender, profession, training, income) that were associated with the ratings.

Results

The respondents gave an average rating score of 65.61±11.76, 63.17±13.62, 66.35±13.02 and 67.26±11.60 for the impacts of the NEMP on health workers, patients, health centres and provision of medicines, respectively. Respondents from the central region rated the NEMP higher than those from the eastern and western regions. The pharmacists (β=5.457~7.558, p<0.001) and nurses (β=2.612~3.107, p<0.05) gave a more positive rating on the NEMP than their physician counterparts. A higher income was found to be associated with a decrease in the NEMP ratings. Repetitive training was a predictor of higher ratings.

Conclusions

The NEMP has significant impacts (as perceived by the health workers) on health services delivery in primary care settings. However, the impacts of the NEMP vary by region, professional practice and the income level of health workers. It is important to maintain support from physicians through income subsidies (to compensate for potential loss) and training.