bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Family and Consumer Sciences Graduate Research Productivity in 2018
Authors: Wilmarth Melissa J.
Published: October 2019

Representatives at 164 universities and colleges in the United States were contacted in June 2019 requesting information on theses and dissertations from family and consumer sciences graduate programs. A total of 33 universities and colleges responded to the request reporting 250 theses, 167 dissertations, and 682 non‐thesis master’s degrees were completed in the area of family and consumer sciences from the reporting universities and colleges. Graduate research topics continue to include the breadth, depth, and interdisciplinary nature of the field of family and consumer sciences and the ability of our research to improve lives.
Genetic diversity and population structure of burbot Lota lota in Germany: Implications for conservation and management
Authors: Wetjen Maj , Schmidt Thomas , Schrimpf Anne , Schulz Ralf
Published: October 2019

The genetic structure of the gadiform fish species, burbot Lota lota L., was investigated across Germany to derive management options for facilitating the preservation of genetic diversity. Sequence analysis of the mitochondrial control region (n = 244) and microsatellite analysis (n = 861) of specimens from 20 sites revealed genetic structuring between major river basins, and particularly between lake and river habitats. The admixture zone between the Eurasian and West European phylogenetic clades in Lake Constance was confirmed and expanded to include the drainage basins of the rivers Rhine and Schlei/Trave. Haplotype distribution and private haplotypes in single river basins indicated population differentiation and imply that German burbot constituted an important part of the entire species' diversity. The derived genetic structuring has implications for future stocking programmes and the preservation of the adaptive potential of burbot, a guiding species for oligotrophic lakes in Europe.
Oceanographic habitat suitability is positively correlated with the body condition of a coastal‐pelagic fish
Authors: Champion Curtis , Hobday Alistair J. , Pecl Gretta T. , Tracey Sean R.
Published: October 2019

Species distribution models are commonly used to determine a species’ probability of occurrence but have not been used to examine the effect of environmental habitat suitability on fish condition, which is considered to be an integrated measure of physiological status. Here, we test for a relationship between oceanographic habitat suitability and the body condition of kingfish (Seriola lalandi) from eastern Australia. We (a) test whether individuals sampled from areas of high‐quality habitat were in better condition than individuals sampled from areas of low‐quality habitat, and (b) assess whether the condition of kingfish responded to oceanographic habitat suitability predicted at varying time‐before‐capture periods. Kingfish habitat was modelled as a function of sea surface temperature, sea‐level anomaly and eddy kinetic energy in a generalized additive modelling framework. Model predictions were made over one‐ to six‐week time‐before‐capture periods and compared to field‐derived kingfish condition data measured using bioelectrical impedance analysis. Oceanographic habitat suitability was significantly correlated with kingfish condition at time‐before‐capture periods ranging from one to four weeks and became increasingly correlated at shorter lead‐times. Our results highlight that (a) fish condition can respond sensitively to environmental variability and this response can be detected using oceanographic habitat suitability models, and (b) climate change may drive extensions in species range limits through spatial shifts in oceanographic habitat quality that allow individuals to persist beyond historical range boundaries without their body condition being compromised.
Environmental constraint of intraguild predation: Inorganic turbidity modulates omnivory in fairy shrimps
Authors: Lukić Dunja , Ptacnik Robert , Vad Csaba F. , Pόda Csenge , Horváth Zsόfia
Published: October 2019

Omnivory is widespread in food webs, with an important stabilising effect. The strength of omnivorous trophic interactions may change considerably with changes in the local environment.

Shallow temporary waters are often characterised by high levels of inorganic turbidity that may directly limit the food uptake of filter‐feeding organisms, but there is little evidence on how it might affect omnivorous species. Anostracans are key species of temporary waters and recent evidence suggests that these organisms are omnivorous consumers of both phyto‐ and zooplankton.

UsingBranchinecta orientalisas a model species, our aim was to test how turbidity affects the feeding of an omnivorous anostracan. To do this, we used short‐term feeding experiments and stable isotope analyses, with animals collected from soda pans in eastern Austria. In the feeding experiments, algae and zooplankton were offered as food either separately or in combination. The prey type treatments were crossed with turbidity levels in a factorial design.

There was a pronounced decrease in the ingested algal biomass with increasing turbidity. Conversely, ingestion rates on zooplankton were less affected by turbidity. Stable isotope analyses from field material supported our experimental results by showing a positive relationship of the trophic position of anostracans and the trophic niche of the communities with turbidity.

Our results show that turbidity modulates the intraguild trophic relationship between anostracans and their prey by shifting the diet of anostracans from more herbivorous in transparent to more carnivorous in turbid waters. Thus, inorganic turbidity might also have a community‐shaping role in plankton communities of temporary waters through altering trophic relationships.
Comparison of susceptibility to a toxic alien toad (Bufo japonicus formosus) between predators in its native and invaded ranges
Authors: Oyake Narumi , Sasaki Nayuta , Yamaguchi Aya , Fujita Hiroyuki , Tagami Masataka , Ikeya Koki , Takagi Masaki , Kobayashi Makoto , Abe Harue , Kishida Osamu
Published: October 2019

To manage biological invasions effectively, the impacts of alien species on the demography and traits of native species must be known, but determining those impacts can be challenging. We used a comparative approach to gain insight into the impacts that an alien toad (Bufo japonicus formosus) might have on native Japanese predatory amphibians. We compared the susceptibility of native predator species to alien toad toxins in the alien‐invaded range and the susceptibility of closely related native predator species to the toxins in the alien toad's native range to investigate the impacts of an alien on a native species.

Bufo japonicus formosus is native to Honshu, but was recently introduced to Hokkaido and Sado. In laboratory experiments, we compared individual mortality of predators exposed to a toad hatchling between novel predators on the toad‐invaded islands and ecologically similar congeneric or conspecific species on Honshu, where the toad is native. We also compared (1) the percentage of individuals that consumed a toad hatchling and (2) toxin resistance (i.e. survival and growth of individuals after toad consumption) between these two groups of predators, as mechanistic components behind the susceptibility of the predators to the toxic prey.

The mortality of Rana pirica from all populations after consumption of a toad hatchling was almost 100%, and that of Hynobius retardatus ranged from 14 to 90%, depending on the population. In contrast, the mortality of Rana ornativentris and Hynobius nigrescens was near 0% regardless of population. These differences between congeneric predators were mostly due to differences in their toxin resistance.

These results suggest that the alien toad is a potential threat to the novel amphibian predators on Hokkaido, although they also imply that the novel predators on Hokkaido have the potential to develop toxin resistance through adaptive evolution. However, this counteradaptation may have a higher chance of evolving in H. retardatus than in R. pirica because of differences in their genetic backgrounds.
Heritage and the Middle East: Cities, power, and memory
Authors: Hammond Timur
Published: October 2019

In a moment of global urban change, migration, and political transformation, the politics and practices of cultural heritage might seem to have little import. However, this paper argues that focusing on cultural heritage in the Middle East provides two key insights with much broader relevance. First, examining how heritage is made (and unmade) shows one way that regions are constructed through the articulation of material and symbolic connections. Second, these regions might be better understood not as containers but as complexes in and in relation to which people articulate and communicate shared meanings. These insights build upon and extend recent theorizations of cultural geopolitics. In surveying an interdisciplinary body of scholarship on Morocco, Algeria, Libya, Turkey, Egypt, Israel, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, and the Gulf, this article seeks to expand the linkages between geography and Middle East area studies scholarship. It begins by connecting current debates about planetary urbanization in relation to a historiography of the “Middle Eastern city” and suggests that thinking in terms of heritage provides a novel approach for understanding both new and old regional imaginaries. It then highlights three dynamics that make the politics of heritage distinct in this region. It closes with a discussion of the dual role that heritage can play in both contesting and facilitating top‐down projects of dispossession and urban transformation.
Aging is independently associated with an increasing normal respiratory rate among an older adult population in a clinical setting: A cross‐sectional study
Authors: Takayama Atsushi , Nagamine Takahiko , Kotani Kazuhiko
Published: October 2019

Aim

Clinical prediction scores for older patients are inaccurate, partially because they do not account for the effects of aging on the respiratory rate. The principal aim of the present study was to assess the effects of aging on the normal respiratory rate in older patients in a clinical setting.

Methods

We recruited 634 participants aged >59 years to <100 years who presented to our hospital (Iwakuni Municipal Miwa Hospital, for regular appointments without any new symptoms. We assessed the relationship between age and respiratory rate using Pearson's correlation coefficient and the Jonckheere–Terpstra test. We carried out multiple linear regression analysis, with sex, age, blood pressure, heart rate and 14 comorbidities as dependent variables, and respiratory rate as the independent variable.

Results

The mean ± standard deviation respiratory rate for all for all participants was 16.1 ± 4.28. The mean ± standard deviation respiratory rates for individuals aged in their 60s, 70s, 80s and 90s were 14.8 ± 4.28, 15.5 ± 3.62, 16.37 ± 4.48 and 17.1 ± 4.45, respectively. Pearson's correlation coefficient between age and respiratory rate was 0.17 (95% confidence interval 0.10–0.25). The Jonckheere–Terpstra test and multiple linear regression analysis showed a significant positive trend between age group and respiratory rate (P < 0.001).

Conclusions

Although the correlation coefficient between age and respiratory rate was low (R = 0.17), aging was a statistically significant factor in determining the normal respiratory rate in older patients. Furthermore, the respiratory rate increased with age. Geriatr Gerontol Int 2019; 19: 1179–1183.
Theophylline exerts complex anti‐ageing and anti‐cytotoxicity effects in human skin ex vivo
Authors: Bertolini M. , Ramot Y. , Gherardini J. , Heinen G. , Chéret J. , Welss T. , Giesen M. , Funk W. , Paus R.
Published: October 2019

Objective

Theophylline is a phosphodiesterase inhibitor that is being used clinically for asthma therapy. In addition, it is recognized as a cosmetic agent with possible anti‐ageing and anti‐oxidative properties. Nevertheless, how it affects human skin is still poorly examined.

Methods

Theophylline (10 or 100 µM) was administered to the culture medium of full‐thickness human skin ex vivo for 24 or 72 h.

Results

Theophylline stimulated protein expression of the anti‐oxidant metallothionein‐1 and mRNA levels of collagen I and III. Assessment of fibrillin‐1 immunohistology revealed enhanced structural stability of dermal microfibrils. Theophylline also exerted extracellular matrix‐protective effects by decreasing MMP‐2 and MMP‐9 mRNA levels, partially antagonizing the effects of menadione, the potent, toxic ROS donor. In addition, it decreased menadione‐stimulated epidermal keratinocytes apoptosis. Interestingly, theophylline also increased the level of intracutaneously produced melatonin, that is the most potent ROS‐protective and DNA damage repair neuromediator, and tendentially increased protein expression of MT1, the melatonin receptor. Theophylline also increased the expression of keratin 15, the stem cell marker, in the epidermal basal layer but did not change mitochondrial activity or epidermal pigmentation.

Conclusion

This ex vivo pilot study in human skin shows that theophylline possesses several interesting complex skin‐protective properties. It encourages further examination of theophylline as a topical candidate for anti‐ageing treatment.
Are Latin American performance audits leading to changes?
Authors: Yetano Ana , Torres Lourdes , Castillejos‐Suastegui Blanca
Published: October 2019

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the perceptions of the public entities audited in Latin America (the auditees) about the effectiveness of the performance audits carried out on their institutions by their supreme audit institutions (SAIs; the auditors) to determine to what extent these audits are promoting changes in these public entities. After revising the webs of the SAIs of all Latin American countries, a sample of the entities evaluated with performance audits was selected and a questionnaire (focused on the audit process, the actions taken afterwards, and the follow‐up processes) was sent to them. The results show, as in other Organisation for Economic Co‐operation and Development settings, different degrees of real implementation of performance audits in this geographical area. The audited entities that perceive performance audits useful and trust in the SAIs' activities are also those that implement more recommendations and sooner.
IgG from atopic dermatitis patients induces non‐atopic infant thymic invariant natural killer T (iNKT) cells to produce IL‐4, IL‐17, and IL‐10
Authors: Santos Ludimila S. , Sgnotto Fabio da Ressureição , Sousa Thamires R. , Orfali Raquel L. , Aoki Valéria , Duarte Alberto José da Silva , Victor Jefferson R.
Published: October 2019

Background

Atopic dermatitis (AD) pathogenesis still needs to be elucidated, but invariant natural killer T (iNKT) cell involvement was already described by several groups. Our group has demonstrated that IgG antibodies purified from AD patients can modulate cytokine production by thymic T cells. Here we aimed to investigate if IgG from AD patients can modulate infant non‐atopic thymic iNKT cells cytokine production in order to collaborate with the elucidation of AD development in infancy.

Methods

Thymic tissues were obtained from children from non‐atopic mothers, and IgG was purified from AD patients diagnosed as moderate or severe and, as controls, from subjects clinically classified as non‐atopic individuals. PBMCs from non‐atopic individuals were also used in this study.

Results

Our results demonstrated that IgG from AD patients could induce non‐atopic children thymic iNKT cells to produce higher levels of intracellular IL‐4, IL‐10, and IL‐17 when compared to all control conditions. No effect was observed in non‐atopic adults peripheral iNKT. We also observed that IgG from AD patients induces an increase in the expression of CD4 and Rorγt transcription factor in non‐atopic children thymic iNKT cells compared to the condition of all controls.

Conclusions

These observations suggest that IgG from AD patients can induce a cytokine profile by thymic iNKT cells from non‐atopic infants compatible with the observations in AD development, which can collaborate with the elucidation of AD pathogenesis.
Effects of temperature, humidity, and diurnal temperature range on influenza incidence in a temperate region
Authors: Park Ji‐Eun , Son Woo‐Sik , Ryu Yeonhee , Choi Soo Beom , Kwon Okyu , Ahn Insung
Published: October 2019

Background

The effect of temperature and humidity on the incidence of influenza may differ by climate region. In addition, the effect of diurnal temperature range on influenza incidence is unclear, according to previous study findings.

Objectives

The aim of this study was to analyze the effects of temperature, humidity, and diurnal temperature range on the incidence of influenza in Seoul, Republic of Korea, which is located in a temperate region.

Methods

We used Korean National Health insurance data to assess the weekly influenza incidence between 2010 and 2016, and used meteorological data from Seoul. To investigate the effect of temperature, relative humidity, and diurnal temperature range levels on influenza incidence, we used a distributed lag non‐linear model.

Results

The risk of influenza incidence was significantly increased with low daily temperatures of 0‐5°C and low (30%–40%) or high (70%) relative humidity. We found a positive significant association between diurnal temperature range and influenza incidence in this study.

Conclusions

Influenza incidence increased with low temperature and low/high humidity in a temperate region. Influenza incidence also increased with high diurnal temperature range, after considering temperature and humidity.
Beak morphology predicts apparent survival of crossbills: due to selective survival or selective dispersal?
Authors: Gómez‐Blanco David , Santoro Simone , Borrás Antoni , Cabrera Josep , Senar Juan Carlos , Edelaar Pim
Published: October 2019

Dozens of morphologically differentiated populations, subspecies and species of crossbills (genus Loxia) exist. It has been suggested that this divergence is due to variation in the conifer cones that each population specialises upon, requiring a specific beak size to efficiently separate the cone scales. If so, apparent survival should depend on beak size. To test this hypothesis, we undertook multievent capture–recapture modelling for 6844 individuals monitored during 27 years in a Pyrenean common crossbill L. curvirostra population in a forest of mountain pine Pinus uncinata. Apparent survival was indeed related to beak width, resulting in stabilizing selection around an optimum that was close to the observed mean beak width, indicating that local crossbill beak morphology is adapted to the conifer they feed upon. Both natural selection (selective mortality) and selective emigration of maladapted individuals may explain our findings. As is often the case in capture–recapture analyses but rarely recognised, we could not formally decompose apparent survival into selective mortality versus selective permanent emigration. Nonetheless, there are several indications that selective permanent emigration should not be fully excluded. First, natural selection by itself would have to be unusually strong compared to other empirical estimates to create the observed pattern of apparent survival. Second, the observed mean beak width was a bit lower than the estimated optimum beak width. This can be explained by immigration of crossbills with smaller beaks originating from southern populations, which may subsequently have left the study area permanently in response to low food intake. This is in line with a detected transient effect in the data, yet apparently little influx from crossbills from northern Europe. When permanent emigration is phenotypically selective this will have ecological and evolutionary consequences, so this possibility deserves more attention in general.
Navigating the southern seas with small fins: Genetic connectivity of seahorses (Hippocampus abdominalis) across the Tasman Sea
Authors: Ashe Jimiane L. , Wilson Anthony B.
Published: October 2019

Aim

Historical patterns of ocean circulation in the Southern Hemisphere have been well‐studied, but the effects of coastal oceanography on marine biogeography in this region remain poorly understood relative to northern latitudes. Our study investigates historical and contemporary patterns of migration and dispersal across the Tasman Sea.

Location

Coastal regions of the Tasman Sea including southeastern Australia, Tasmania and New Zealand.

Taxon

Hippocampus abdominalis, the pot‐bellied seahorse, one of the most broadly distributed seahorse species, and the only seahorse to have successfully colonized New Zealand from Australia across 2,000 km of open ocean.

Methods

We used a multilocus genetic dataset to measure population diversity and differentiation from seahorses across the full species range to investigate contemporary and historical demography, and to reconstruct colonization routes across the Tasman Sea.

Results

Genetic data indicate that seahorses colonized New Zealand from Australia during the previous interglacial‐glacial cycle (12,000–120,000 ybp), and have evolved in relative isolation since the initial establishment event. Contemporary effective population sizes in the newly colonized range are substantially larger than those inferred in Australia, and both appear to be reduced relative to ancestral levels. Australian seahorses are genetically diverse and show high levels of population connectivity, while the distribution of genetic variation in New Zealand suggests an initial colonization of the South Island following by northward migration. Importantly, despite clear evidence that New Zealand seahorses are descendent from Australian ancestors, patterns of contemporary genetic diversity are consistent with trans‐Tasman migration from New Zealand to Australia, suggesting that genetic variation accumulated in the newly colonized range may be contributing to the genetic diversity of Australian seahorses.

Main conclusions

Despite a largely independent evolutionary trajectory of seahorses separated by the Tasman Sea, haplotype sharing between populations in Australia and New Zealand suggests that secondary genetic exchange is contributing to the contemporary phylogeography of the species. Patterns of genetic structure in H. abdominalis mirror those found in other rafting species, suggesting that adult dispersal via rafting has been an important vector of marine dispersal in this species.
Sexual isolation with and without ecological isolation in marine isopods Jaera albifrons and J. praehirsuta
Authors: Ribardière Ambre , Pabion Elsa , Coudret Jérôme , Daguin‐Thiébaut Claire , Houbin Céline , Loisel Stéphane , Henry Sébastien , Broquet Thomas
Published: October 2019

Sexual barriers associated with mate choice are often found to be associated with some level of ecological isolation between species. The independence and relative strength of sexual isolation are thus difficult to assess. Here, we take advantage of a pair of marine isopod species (Jaera albifrons and J. praehirsuta) that show sexual isolation and coexist in populations where they share the same microhabitat or not (i.e. without or with ecological isolation). We estimated the strength of sexual isolation between J. albifrons and J. praehirsuta using no‐choice trials and a multiple‐choice experimental population. We found that sexual isolation is strong in both the presence and the absence of ecological isolation, but that it is asymmetric and fails to prevent interspecific gene flow entirely. First‐generation intrinsic post‐zygotic barriers were low, and there was no sexual isolation within J. praehirsuta across habitats. The J. albifrons/J. praehirsuta species pair thus provides an example where the role of sexual isolation as a barrier to gene flow (a) does not depend upon current ecological isolation, (b) seems to have evolved independently of local ecological conditions, but (c) is insufficient to complete speciation entirely on its own.
Differential expression of activin βA and βB genes in female allotriploid and diploid red crucian carp Carassius auratus red var
Authors: Tao Min , Hu Hong , Huang Lu , Li Shengnan , Yuan Liujiao , Zhou Tian , Song Can , Zhao Rurong , Liu Shaojun
Published: October 2019

activin βA and βB from diploid and allotriploid crucian carp were cloned.The differential expression of activin βA and βB genes in female allotriploid and diploid red crucian carp Carassius auratus red var. were studied and found to be expressed in all the tested tissues; particularly, the expression of activin βA and βB was elevated in the ovaries of allotriploids and differential expression in pituitaries during the non‐breeding season and the breeding season period. The immunohistochemistry indicated that the abnormal triploid ovaries were dominated by small oogonium‐like cells with dense signals and that the elevated expression of activin βA and βB in the ovaries of allotriploids may be related to allotriploid sterility.
EARNINGS CONFERENCE CALLS AND INSTITUTIONAL MONITORING: EVIDENCE FROM TEXTUAL ANALYSIS
Authors: Amoozegar Arash , Berger Dave , Cao Xueli , Pukthuanthong Kuntara
Published: October 2019

We document the effects of institutional investors on the qualitative information disclosure of firms during earnings conference calls. Using conference call and institutional ownership data between 2005 and 2016, we find that aggregate institutional ownership dampens conference call tone. The effects of institutional investors on tone are causal based on results from indexed firms. Consistent with hypotheses regarding investors' horizons, short‐term institutional investors are associated with a more positive conference call tone, as well as more opportunistic trading, whereas long‐term investors are associated with a more negative tone. Market participants can generally disentangle the impact of institutional investors on tone based on investor type.
Detection of moisture content in peanut kernels using hyperspectral imaging technology coupled with chemometrics
Authors: Sun Jianfei , Shi Xiaojie , Zhang Hui , Xia Lianming , Guo Yemin , Sun Xia
Published: October 2019

Hyperspectral imaging technology at 416–1000 nm was investigated to detect moisture content in peanut kernels. Four varieties of peanuts were scanned using a “push‐broom” system to acquire hyperspectral images. In this study, three models including partial least squares regression (PLSR), principal component regression (PCR), and support vector machine regression (SVR) were established to detect moisture content in peanut kernels based on full wavelengths. The performance of SVR was the best with determination coefficient (R2) of .9432, root mean square errors (RMSE) of 0.7054%, and residual prediction deviation (RPD) of 3.9694 for prediction set. In order to simplify modeling process and improve calculation speed of the models, successive projections algorithm (SPA) and regression coefficient were applied for optimal wavelengths selection. Then, PCR, PLSR, and SVR models were established based on these selected wavelengths, respectively. As a result, SPA–SVR generated a satisfied effect with R2 of .9363, RMSE of 0.7021%, and RPD of 3.988 for prediction set. All results in this study indicated that the combination of chemometrics and hyperspectral imaging technology could achieve rapid and nondestructive detection of moisture content in peanut kernels.

Practical applications

The quality of peanut has a direct relationship with the moisture content in peanut. If moisture content in peanut is over standard, the peanut storage time will be shorter and also easy to be bad. It is harmful to eat this kind of peanut. Traditional methods for detection of peanut moisture content are tedious, time‐consuming, and even greatly influenced by subjective factors. As an emerging technique, hyperspectral imaging technology can detect moisture content in peanut kernels rapidly, accurately, and nondestructive. In this study, we generated a best prediction model, successive projections algorithm–support vector machine regression, which was established based on several characteristic wavelengths. All these results provided a theoretical basis for the detection of portable moisture content in peanut kernels.
Racial Differences in Elevated C‐Reactive Protein Among US Older Adults
Authors: Farmer Heather R. , Wray Linda A. , Xian Ying , Xu Hanzhang , Pagidipati Neha , Peterson Eric D. , Dupre Matthew E.
Published: October 2019

OBJECTIVES

To investigate racial differences in elevated C‐reactive protein (CRP) and the potential factors contributing to these differences in US older men and women.

DESIGN

Nationally representative cohort study.

SETTING

Health and Retirement Study, 2006 to 2014.

PARTICIPANTS

Noninstitutionalized non‐Hispanic black and white older adults living in the United States (n = 13 517).

MEASUREMENTS

CRP was categorized as elevated (>3.0 mg/L) and nonelevated (≤3.0 mg/L) as the primary outcome. Measures for demographic background, socioeconomic status, psychosocial factors, health behaviors, and physiological health were examined as potential factors contributing to race differences in elevated CRP.

RESULTS

Median CRP levels (interquartile range) were 1.67 (3.03) mg/L in whites and 2.62 (4.95) mg/L in blacks. Results from random effects logistic regression models showed that blacks had significantly greater odds of elevated CRP than whites (odds ratio = 2.58; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 2.20‐3.02). Results also showed that racial difference in elevated CRP varied significantly by sex (predicted probability [PP] [white men] = 0.28 [95% CI = 0.27‐0.30]; PP [black men] = 0.38 [95% CI = 0.35‐0.41]; PP [white women] = 0.35 [95% CI = 0.34‐0.36]; PP [black women] = 0.49 [95% CI = 0.47‐0.52]) and remained significant after risk adjustment. In men, the racial differences in elevated CRP were attributable to a combination of socioeconomic (12.3%) and behavioral (16.5%) factors. In women, the racial differences in elevated CRP were primarily attributable to physiological factors (40.0%).

CONCLUSION

In the US older adult population, blacks were significantly more likely to have elevated CRP than whites; and the factors contributing to these differences varied in men and women. J Am Geriatr Soc 68:362–369, 2020
Immunoexpression of alpha smooth muscle actin correlates with serum transforming growth factor‐β1 levels in oral submucous fibrosis
Authors: Singh Iqbal , Juneja Saurabh , Tandon Ankita , Jain Anshi , Shetty Devi Charan , Sethi Aashka
Published: October 2019

Aim

The aim of the present study was to correlate the immunoexpression of alpha‐smooth muscle actin (α‐SMA) for myofibroblasts with the serum levels of transforming growth factor‐β1 (TGF‐β1) in oral submucous fibrosis (OSMF).

Methods

A total of 100 cases of histopathologically confirmed OSMF were assessed for α‐SMA expression. Clinical data, such as age, sex, mouth opening, and habit history, were obtained for each case. Serum TGF‐β1 levels were recorded in 73 patients with the help of enzymelinked immunosorbent assay technique.

Results

The staining index of α‐SMA increased concomitantly with higher myofibroblast count in the increasing histopathological grades of OSMF (P ≤ .05). Serum TGF‐β1 levels were highest in the intermediate grades of OSMF. Clinical parameters, such as mouth opening, cheek flexibility, and tongue protrusion, showed a direct correlation with increasing clinical grades of OSMF.

Conclusions

The progressive increase in myofibroblasts from early to advanced stages suggests their potential use as markers for evaluating the severity of OSMF. Additionally, as myofibroblasts are responsible for producing a variety of factors that are involved in the fibrotic processes; they could be the key link in the pathogenesis of OSMF. Interruption of their development, recruitment, or activation could provide a unique therapeutic target for future treatment options in patients with OSMF.
Postdoctoral Nurses’ Experiences With Leadership and Career Development: A Qualitative Study
Authors: de Lange Wendela , Kars Marijke C. , Poslawsky Irina E. , Schuurmans Marieke J. , Hafsteinsdóttir Thóra B.
Published: October 2019

Purpose

The purpose of this study was to explore the experiences and perceptions of Dutch postdoctoral nurses working in research with leadership and career development.

Methods and Design

A generic explorative qualitative design with semistructured in‐depth interviews was used. A criterion sample of 13 postdoctoral nurses working in research in the Netherlands was included. The data were analyzed using thematic analysis.

Findings

Three themes were identified: (a) developing leadership and identity as a PhD nurse, (b) becoming a valuable member in the scientific world of academe, and (c) continuous search for progression while balancing worlds and tasks. Postdoctoral nurses experienced their leadership and professional development as a serious and conscious process. Their vision of nursing, health care, and research was an important motive regarding future career choices. Although the scientific world of academe was perceived as honorable, the nurses experienced it as a complex work environment. All the postdoctoral nurses had to deal with the demands and pressures of the scientific world. Coping with the tension between enjoying work and handling high workloads and academic achievements was described as challenging. Searching for balance was important, especially because of the different part‐time employment or working activities with various commitments.

Conclusions

This study demonstrates that postdoctoral nurses do show considerable progression in their leadership and career development; however, they experience the scientific working environment as challenging. The findings of this study indicate the need for more academic positions, the strengthening of the infrastructure for nursing research, and the development of supportive leadership and mentoring programs for postdoctoral nurses to provide optimal evidence‐based and high‐quality care for patients.

Clinical Relevance

Postdoctoral nurses need to develop strong leadership competencies to strengthen research, education, and evidence‐based practice in clinical care to improve patient and healthcare outcomes.
Challenges of living with and managing inflammatory bowel disease: A meta‐synthesis of patients’ experiences
Authors: Byron Clodagh , Cornally Nicola , Burton Aileen , Savage Eileen
Published: October 2019

Aims and objectives

To examine qualitative studies which reported on patients’ challenges of living with and managing inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).

Background

There is a growing body of qualitative research focusing on the subjective experiences of patients with IBD. This research points to the daily challenges that patients experience which can relate to their physical and psychological health, as well as their social well‐being, and may impact negatively on their lives. To date, there has been little attempt to synthesise these studies, and little is known about how patients manage the challenges they experience.

Design

A meta‐synthesis was conducted, based on guidelines developed by Sandelowski and Barroso (Handbook for synthesizing qualitative research, Springer, New York, NY, 2007) and PRISMA (Int J Surg, 8, 2009, 336).

Methods

Searches were conducted within the CINAHL, MEDLINE, PsycINFO, Psychology and Behavioural Sciences Collection and SocINDEX databases to locate qualitative and mixed methodology studies. The retrieved articles were screened against predetermined inclusion criteria. Quality appraisal was assessed using the Joanna Briggs Institute critical appraisal tool for qualitative research (Int J Evid Based Healthc, 13, 2015, 179).

Results

Thematic analysis resulted in three themes: the unpredictability of living with IBD, the emotional turmoil of living with IBD and striving to maintain a normal life in managing IBD.

Conclusion

The greatest challenges for patients identified in this meta‐synthesis were the physical symptoms associated with IBD. These impacted negatively on their psychological and social well‐being and reduced their quality of life. There is a notable gap in research on patient experiences of managing the challenges identified in everyday life and to what extent they receive support from healthcare professionals.

Relevance to clinical practice

The results of this meta‐synthesis offer insights into how the physical challenges of living with IBD, particularly in relation to symptoms, impact adversely on patients’ psychological and social well‐being. These insights are clinically relevant to healthcare professionals as a basis for supporting patients to manage their challenges.
The Impact of Salience on Investor Behavior: Evidence from a Natural Experiment
Authors: FRYDMAN CARY , WANG BAOLIAN
Published: October 2019

We test whether the display of information causally affects investor behavior in a high‐stakes trading environment. Using investor‐level brokerage data from China and a natural experiment, we estimate the impact of a shock that increased the salience of a stock's purchase price but did not change the investor's information set. We employ a difference‐in‐differences approach and find that the salience shock causally increased the disposition effect by 17%. We use microdata to document substantial heterogeneity across investors in the treatment effect. A previously documented trading pattern, the “rank effect,” explains heterogeneity in the change in the disposition effect.
On Comparing Asset Pricing Models
Authors: CHIB SIDDHARTHA , ZENG XIAMING , ZHAO LINGXIAO
Published: October 2019

Revisiting the framework of (Barillas, Francisco, and Jay Shanken, 2018, Comparing asset pricing models, The Journal of Finance 73, 715–754). BS henceforth, we show that the Bayesian marginal likelihood‐based model comparison method in that paper is unsound : the priors on the nuisance parameters across models must satisfy a change of variable property for densities that is violated by the Jeffreys priors used in the BS method. Extensive simulation exercises confirm that the BS method performs unsatisfactorily. We derive a new class of improper priors on the nuisance parameters, starting from a single improper prior, which leads to valid marginal likelihoods and model comparisons. The performance of our marginal likelihoods is significantly better, allowing for reliable Bayesian work on which factors are risk factors in asset pricing models.
Informed Trading and Intertemporal Substitution
Authors: XIAO YIZHOU
Published: October 2019

I examine the possibility of information‐based trading in a multiperiod consumption setting. I develop a necessary and sufficient condition for trade to occur. Intertemporal substitution introduces a desire to correlate current consumption with future aggregate shocks. When agents have heterogeneous time‐inseparable preferences, information differentially affects relative preferences for current and future consumption, making information‐based trading mutually acceptable. The no‐trade result continues to hold if there is no aggregate shock, or if agents have either homogeneous or time‐separable preferences.
Periodontal disease is associated with carotid plaque area: the Malmö Offspring Dental Study (MODS)
Authors: Jönsson D. , Orho‐Melander M. , Demmer R. T. , Engström G. , Melander O. , Klinge B. , Nilsson P. M.
Published: October 2019

Background

Periodontal disease is associated with cardiovascular disease (CVD) but it is unknown if periodontal disease severity is associated with asymptomatic carotid plaque. The aim of the current population‐based, observational study was to investigate if signs of periodontal disease are associated with the occurrence of carotid plaque and total plaque area (TPA).

Methods

The Malmö Offspring Study (MOS) is a population‐based study. MOS participants underwent a thorough cardiovascular phenotyping, including carotid ultrasonography. The Malmö Offspring Dental Study (MODS) invited participants of MOS for dental examination, including periodontal charting. Multivariable regression models were used to analyse the presence of carotid plaque and TPA in relation to periodontal parameters.

Results

In all, 831 MODS participants were recruited, out of which 495 belonged to the children generation with mean age of 53 years, 63% had carotid plaque and 38% had moderate or severe periodontal disease. In models adjusted for CVD risk factors, the OR for having carotid plaque in subjects with vs without periodontal disease was 1.75 (95% CI: 1.11–2.78). In a linear model with TPA as dependent and number of periodontal pockets ≥ 4 mm as independent variable, the adjusted beta‐coefficient was 0.34 mm2 (95% CI 0.16–0.52).

Conclusion

Individuals within the highest quartile of periodontal pockets are expected to have 9 mm2 larger TPA compared to those without pockets. Our results suggest that intervention studies addressing periodontal disease could be useful for prevention of CVD.
Profiling of immune‐related gene expression in children with familial hypercholesterolaemia
Authors: Narverud I. , Christensen J. J. , Bakke S. S. , Ulven S. M. , Rundblad A. , Aukrust P. , Espevik T. , Bogsrud M. P. , Retterstøl K. , Ueland T. , Halvorsen B. , Holven K. B.
Published: October 2019

Background

Innate and adaptive immune responses are pivotal in atherosclerosis, but their association with early‐stage atherosclerosis in humans is incompletely understood. In this regard, untreated children with familial hypercholesterolaemia may serve as a human model to investigate the effect of elevated low‐density lipoprotein (LDL)‐cholesterol.

Objectives

We aimed to study the immunological and inflammatory pathways involved in early atherosclerosis by examining mRNA molecules in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from children with FH.

Methods

We analysed the level of 587 immune‐related mRNA molecules using state‐of‐the‐art Nanostring technology in PBMCs from children with (n = 30) and without (n = 21) FH, and from FH children before and after statin therapy (n = 10).

Results

176 genes (30%) were differentially expressed between the FH and healthy children at P < 0.05. Compared to healthy children, the dysregulated pathways in FH children included the following: T cells (18/19); B cells (5/6); tumour necrosis factor super family (TNFSF) (6/8); cell growth, proliferation and differentiation (5/7); interleukins (5/9); toll‐like receptors (2/5); apoptosis (3/7) and antigen presentation (1/7), where the ratio denotes higher expressed genes to total number of genes. Statin therapy reversed expression of thirteen of these mRNAs in FH children.

Conclusion

FH children display higher PBMC expression of immune‐related genes mapped to several pathways, including T and B cells, and TNFSF than healthy children. Our results suggest that LDL‐C plays an important role in modulating expression of different immune‐related genes, and novel data on the involvement of these pathways in the early atherosclerosis may represent future therapeutic targets for prevention of atherosclerotic progression.
Explaining, Interpreting, and Prescribing: Some Tensions and Dilemmas in the Comparative Analysis of Youth Justice Cultures
Authors: Field Stewart
Published: October 2019

This chapter reflects on the implications of a cross‐cultural empirical research study on youth justice in Italy and Wales for transnational prescription of good practice. It examines the challenges in doing comparative studies which isolate the influence of particular elements of criminal justice regimes. Such analysis may seem well suited to transnational policy prescription in that particular elements are more easily transposed than whole systems. But institutional categories and practice may be so culturally imbedded that it becomes very difficult to understand their influence outside those particular cultural contexts. The article goes on to examine the potential (and the limitations) for transnational policy prescription of more holistic interpretive approaches to explanation rooted in analysis of legal cultures. It concludes that such approaches can expand the range of possible policy choices in terms of transnational prescription but cannot offer a means to predict their precise effects.
Fixing Transnational Drug Policy: Drug Prohibition in the Eyes of Comparative Law
Authors: Colson Renaud
Published: October 2019

Drug prohibition allows us to study over a significant period of time how penal provisions framed at a supranational level flow, settle, and unsettle across different countries. At a time of growing doubt about the benefit of criminalization of drug use, it also provides a case‐study as to how epistemic communities may rely on comparative research to identify best practices and promote them as normative alternatives in the face of a long‐entrenched legal dogma. In order to explore these issues, this article looks at the UN drug control system from the perspective of comparative law. It shows how the concept of legal transplant provides a useful tool to understand the limits of transnational criminal law designed on a global scale to tackle the ‘drug problem', and it clarifies the various types of legal comparison that might contribute to addressing this failed transplant.
Potential of bioinsecticidal Bacillus thuringiensis inoculum to suppress gray mold in tomato based on induced systemic resistance
Authors: Yoshida Shigenobu , Koitabashi Motoo , Yaginuma Dai , Anzai Masato , Fukuda Minoru
Published: October 2019

The potential of the active ingredient of a commercial bioinsecticide, XenTari® (Bacillus thuringiensis [BT] serovar aizawai strain ABTS‐1857), to suppress gray mold in tomato plants was elucidated. First, a suspension of the active ingredient of XenTari® and a liquid culture of the bacterial strain as BT inocula were sprayed onto detached leaves or drenched into pots of tomato seedlings, and then, propagules of the gray mold fungus, Botrytis cinerea, were inoculated onto the leaves. The gray mold disease was significantly suppressed when rhizospheres were drenched with either inoculum, but not when inocula were sprayed onto detached leaves of seedlings. Both BT inocula were verified not to directly inhibit the mycelial growth of B. cinerea based on in vitro culture plate assays. Additionally, real‐time RT‐PCR analysis verified that the active ingredient increased the expression levels of defence‐related genes, such as PR‐1(P6) and P4, in the leaves of tomato seedlings. These results suggest that the active ingredient has the potential to suppress gray mold disease in tomato, not through direct antagonistic interactions with B. cinerea, but rather through systemic activation of the plant defence system by increased expression of several defence‐related genes.