bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The Asian planthopper Ricania speculum (Walker) (Homoptera: Ricaniidae) on several crops in Italy: a potential threat to the EPPO region?
Authors: Rossi E. , Lucchi A.
Published: March 2015

In August 2014, twenty adults of Ricania speculum (Walker) (Homoptera: Ricaniidae) were collected on plants of Citrus spp. in La Spezia province (Liguria, Italy). This planthopper, which is native to parts of China and other Asian countries, is highly polyphagous and a pest of several crops such as citrus, cotton, coffee, oil palm and tea. As a newly introduced pest in Europe, R. speculum needs to be monitored for its potential spread, especially in Southern European countries and for the damage it may cause to agriculture in the region.
First record of Neophyllaphis podocarpi Takahashi (Hemiptera: Aphididae) in the Iberian Peninsula
Authors: Pérez Hidalgo N. , Hernández‐Castellano C. , Garcia Figueres F.
Published: March 2015

Neophyllaphis podocarpi (Takahashi) (Neophyllaphidinae) is recorded for the first time in the Iberian Peninsula, on the tree Podocarpus neriifolius D. Don (Podocarpaceae). The specimens were collected in two sites in Catalonia (NE Spain): Blanes (province of Girona) and Barcelona (Ciutadella Park and district of Pedralbes; province of Barcelona) in 2011 and 2014. Description of the aphid species as well as data on its biology, distribution and potential damages are given. This species is also cited in Italy (one record from 1989 on bonsai) and Azores Archipelago (since 2010).
Host plants record for tomato leaf miner Tuta absoluta (Meyrick) in Sudan
Authors: Mohamed E. S. I. , Mahmoud M. E. E. , Elhaj M. A. M. , Mohamed S. A. , Ekesi S.
Published: March 2015

This paper presents the results from a survey that was carried out to determine the host plants of tomato leaf miner, Tuta absoluta (Meyrick) (Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae) in five States in Sudan. This survey was carried out in greenhouses and open‐field vegetable production areas between the years 2011 and 2014 using pheromone traps. The survey showed that the main host plant of T. absoluta is tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum), but it also attacks potato (Solanum tuberosum), eggplant (S. melongena) Jimson weed (Datura stramonium) and S. dubium in the family Solanaceae, and broad bean (Vicia faba) and alfalfa plant (Medicago sativa) in the family Fabaceae. This paper is the first record of the following plans being hosts for T. absoluta: Watermelon (Citrullus lanatus) in the family Cucurbitaceae, Physic nut (Jatropha curcas) in the family Euphorbiaceae, spiny amaranth (Amaranthus spinosus) in the family Amaranthaceae, Ramtouk (Xanthium brasilicum) in the family Asteraceae and S. dubium. The study showed that the leafminer male numbers and the symptoms were significantly increased in S. melongena and S. dubium after severe damage and complete loss of the main host, the tomato crop and these two species may be the preferred alternative host plants.
Estimating kidney function and use of oral antidiabetic drugs in elderly
Authors: Douros Antonios , Ebert Natalie , Jakob Olga , Martus Peter , Kreutz Reinhold , Schaeffner Elke
Published: March 2015

The prevalence of diabetes mellitus (DM) and renal impairment rises with age making regular estimation of glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) in older diabetics necessary. This study investigated the differences among available estimating equations in assessing eGFR in older diabetics and examined the use of oral antidiabetic drugs (OADs) in relation to renal function. Patients with DM were participants of the Berlin Initiative Study (BIS), a population‐based cohort study initiated in 2009 in Berlin, Germany, to evaluate kidney function in people ≥70 years. GFR was estimated with the creatinine‐based CKD‐EPICREA (Chronic Kidney Disease Epidemiology Collaboration), the MDRD (Modification of Diet in Renal Diseases) and the BIS1 equation and was directly measured (mGFR) with iohexol clearance as a gold standard in a subgroup (n = 137). Creatinine clearance was estimated with the Cockcroft–Gault equation (CrCl). DM prevalence was 26% (539 of 2070 overall participants). The antidiabetic drugs most commonly used among OAD patients were metformin (67%), glimepiride (27%) and glibenclamide (14%). Three of ten metformin patients had a CrCl <60 mL/min. Compared to mGFR, the mean differences of filtration rates calculated by MDRD, CKD‐EPICREA and BIS1 were +8.9, +6.7 and −1.8 mL/min/1.73 m2, respectively. Summing up, many patients with a CrCl <60 mL/min received metformin, although this represents a contraindication in Germany. Glibenclamide was commonly used despite its classification as potentially inappropriate medication in older adults. Finally, BIS1 performed better in estimating GFR in older diabetics than MDRD or CKD‐EPICREA.
The C‐terminal peptide plays a role in the formation of an intermediate form during the transition between xanthine dehydrogenase and xanthine oxidase
Authors: Nishino Tomoko , Okamoto Ken , Kawaguchi Yuko , Matsumura Tomohiro , Eger Bryan T. , Pai Emil F. , Nishino Takeshi
Published: March 2015

Mammalian xanthine oxidoreductase can exist in both dehydrogenase and oxidase forms. Conversion between the two is implicated in such diverse processes as lactation, anti‐bacterial activity, reperfusion injury and a growing number of diseases. We have constructed a variant of the rat liver enzyme that lacks the carboxy‐terminal amino acids 1316–1331; it appears to assume an intermediate form, exhibiting a mixture of dehydrogenase and oxidase activities. The purified variant protein retained ~ 50–70% of oxidase activity even after prolonged dithiothreitol treatment, supporting a previous prediction that the C‐terminal region plays a role in the dehydrogenase to oxidase conversion. In the crystal structure of the protein variant, most of the enzyme stays in an oxidase conformation. After 15 min of incubation with a high concentration of NADH, however, the corresponding X‐ray structures showed a dehydrogenase‐type conformation. On the other hand, disulfide formation between Cys535 and Cys992, which can clearly be seen in the electron density map of the crystal structure of the variant after removal of dithiothreitol, goes in parallel with the complete conversion to oxidase, resulting in structural changes identical to those observed upon proteolytic cleavage of the linker peptide. These results indicate that the dehydrogenase–oxidase transformation occurs rather readily and the insertion of the C‐terminal peptide into the active site cavity of its subunit stabilizes the dehydrogenase form. We propose that the intermediate form can be generated (e.g. in endothelial cells) upon interaction of the C‐terminal peptide portion of the enzyme with other proteins or the cell membrane.

Database

Coordinate sets and structure factors for the four crystal structures reported in the present study have been deposited in the Protein Data Bank under the identification numbers 4YRW, 4YTZ, 4YSW, and 4YTY.
Centromere pairing – tethering partner chromosomes in meiosis I
Authors: Kurdzo Emily L. , Dawson Dean S.
Published: March 2015

In meiosis, homologous chromosomes face the obstacle of finding, holding onto and segregating away from their partner chromosome. There is increasing evidence, in a diverse range of organisms, that centromere–centromere interactions that occur in late prophase are an important mechanism in ensuring segregation fidelity. Centromere pairing appears to initiate when homologous chromosomes synapse in meiotic prophase. Structural proteins of the synaptonemal complex have been shown to help mediate centromere pairing, but how the structure that maintains centromere pairing differs from the structure of the synaptonemal complex along the chromosomal arms remains unknown. When the synaptonemal complex proteins disassemble from the chromosome arms in late prophase, some of these synaptonemal complex components persist at the centromeres. In yeast and Drosophila these centromere‐pairing behaviors promote the proper segregation of chromosome partners that have failed to become linked by chiasmata. Recent studies of mouse spermatocytes have described centromere pairing behaviors that are similar in several respects to what has been described in the fly and yeast systems. In humans, chromosomes that fail to experience crossovers in meiosis are error‐prone and are a major source of aneuploidy. The finding that centromere pairing is a conserved phenomenon raises the possibility that it may play a role in promoting the segregation fidelity of non‐exchange chromosome pairs in humans.
‘ABER DORT LEBEN, WO ANDERE SIND WIE ICH, DAS MÖCHTE ICH GERN.’1 RUSSIAN‐GERMAN MIGRATION, EXCLUSION AND IDENTITIES IN ELEONORA HUMMEL'S NOVELS
Authors: van den Brande Deborah
Published: March 2015

This article discusses the connections between Russian‐German migration processes and the characters’ self‐perception in two novels by the Russian‐German author Eleonora Hummel: Die Fische von Berlin (2005) and Die Venus im Fenster (2009). Both novels combine discrimination experienced in the Soviet Union with integration problems in Germany from a Russian‐German perspective. Although there are certainly parallels between Russian‐German literature and other migration texts, the specificity of Russian‐German migration processes and of their negotiation of identities calls for a cautious socio‐historical reading. By means of a close reading including insights from intercultural theories and Russian‐German history, this article analyses how the characters define themselves according to different cultural contexts and how these novels relate to extra‐textual Russian‐German history. Key concepts are ‘Heimat’, migration, language, family, identity, prejudices, the tension between assimilation and exclusion and the contrast between optimistic expectations and disillusionment.

Dieser Beitrag untersucht die Verbindungen zwischen russlanddeutschen Migrationsprozessen und der Selbstwahrnehmung der Figuren in zwei Romanen der russlanddeutschen Autorin Eleonora Hummel: Die Fische von Berlin (2005) und Die Venus im Fenster (2009). In beiden Romanen wird die in der Sowjetunion erlebte Diskriminierung mit Integrationsschwierigkeiten in Deutschland aus russlanddeutscher Perspektive kombiniert. Obwohl sicherlich Parallellen zwischen russlanddeutscher Literatur und anderen Migrationstexten festgestellt werden können, erfordert die Spezifität russlanddeutscher Migrationsprozesse und Identitätsverhandlungen eine genaue sozio‐historische Lektüre. Ausgehend von einem Close‐Reading, das auf Einsichten aus interkulturellen Theorien beruht und auch die russlanddeutsche Geschichte berücksichtigt, analysiert dieser Aufsatz, wie die Figuren sich wechselnden kulturellen Kontexten entsprechend definieren und in welcher Beziehung diese Romane zu der extra‐textuellen russlanddeutschen Geschichte stehen. Wichtige Begriffe sind Heimat, Migration, Sprache, Familie, Identität, Vorurteile, die Spannung zwischen Assimilation und Ausgrenzung und der Kontrast zwischen optimistischen Erwartungen und Desillusionierung.
PUTTING THE PAST AND PRESENT ON TRIAL: MIGRATION AND MEMORY IN LUDWIG LAHER'S DOCUMENTARY NOVEL, VERFAHREN (2011)
Authors: Zimmer Anna E.
Published: March 2015

This paper discusses the articulation of ‘multidirectional memories’ in the Austrian author Ludwig Laher's documentary novel Verfahren (2011) as an attempt to mobilise readers to effect social change. Close examination of the documentary techniques employed illuminates the political thrust of the novel and the possibilities of literature to contribute to political discourse in a Western Europe increasingly influenced by immigration from the East. By drawing on theories of autobiography and Bill Nichols's work on documentary film, I offer a working definition for the under‐theorised genre of the documentary novel, and demonstrate how the coexistence of three types of rhetoric – judicial/historical, commemorative/critical, and deliberative – enables Laher to expose the inhumanity of Austria's immigration policies, to situate a Kosovar's application for asylum in a longer history of immigration struggles and WWII‐era politics, and to challenge Austrian citizens to exercise their political responsibility. Finally, I argue that this focus on subjectivity and personal memories does not preclude close attention to politics, and that documentary art is well equipped to navigate the supposed dichotomies of fact and fiction, memory and rights, and the individual and society.

Dieser Artikel interpretiert die Artikulation ʻmultidirektionaler Erinnerungen’ in dem 2011 vom österreichischen Schriftsteller Ludwig Laher veröffentlichten Dokumentationsroman Verfahren als einen Versuch, den Leser für soziale Veränderung in Österreich zu mobilisieren. Die Analyse der von Laher verwendeten dokumentarischen Mittel verdeutlicht das politische Anliegen des Romans und die besondere Fähigkeit von Literatur, zum politischen Diskurs im von osteuropäischer Migration beeinflussten Westeuropa beizutragen. Theorien zur Autobiographie und Bill Nichols’ Forschungen über Dokumentarfilme werden herangezogen, um eine Arbeitsdefinition für das theoretisch noch unzureichend erfasste Genre des Dokumentarromans zu erstellen. Zudem zeige ich, wie die Koexistenz von drei Arten von Rhetorik (die rechtlich/historische, die erinnernd/kritische, und die erwägende) es Laher ermöglicht, die Unmenschlichkeit von Österreichs Migrationsgesetzen aufzudecken, das Asylverfahren eines aus dem Kosovo Stammenden in einen längeren historischen Kontext von Migrationskämpfen und der Politik des zweiten Weltkriegs einzufügen, und an die österreichischen Staatsbürger zu appellieren, ihre politische Handlungsfähigkeit wahrzunehmen. Die bewusste Darstellung von Subjektivität und persönlichen Erinnerungen schließt eine gezielte Auseinandersetzung mit der Politik Österreichs nicht aus. Dokumentarische Kunstformen sind vielmehr besonders gut geeignet, die scheinbaren Dichotomien von Tatsache und Fiktion, Erinnerung und Gesetzen, Vergangenheit und Gegenwart, und Individuum und Gesellschaft zu durchbrechen.
FEELING OUT OF PLACE: MEMORY AND PLACE‐MAKING IN JOSEF HASLINGER'S JÁCHYMOV
Authors: Souchuk Anna C.
Published: March 2015

Josef Haslinger's Jáchymov (2011) is many things at once: the tragic story of the famous Czech ice hockey goalkeeper Bohumil Modrý, unjustly sentenced to brutal manual labour in the uranium mines of the Czech city of Jáchymov in 1950, and also an examination of place, a concept used here to engender discussions of memory and its attachment to lived space. Place is represented threefold in Haslinger's novel: by Jáchymov and its changing identity over time; by the human body, an entity from which the self is estranged via illness; and by the dream world, an alternative space haunted by ghosts that urge the living to find resolution to their unresolved narratives. Haslinger's own family history on the Austrian‐Czech border informs his analysis of place, and he uses the border region, along with familiar and popular Austrian attitudes toward Czech ‘neighbours’, to extend his critique of intentional Austrian ignorance and forgetting, examined at length in his 1987 collection Politik der Gefühle.

Josef Haslingers Jáchymov (2011) ist ein facettenreiches Werk: Es beschreibt zum Einen die Tragödie des berühmten tschechoslowakischen Eishockey‐Torwarts Bohumil Modrý, der 1950 zu Unrecht zu harter Arbeit in den Uranbergwerken der tschechoslowakischen Stadt Jáchymov verurteilt wurde. Zudem ist Jáchymov auch Analyse des Ortes, ein Topos in Haslingers Roman, der Diskussionen zum Thema Erinnerung und deren Verbindung mit dem erlebten Ort hervorruft. Der Topos Ort wird in Jáchymov dreifach repräsentiert: durch die Stadt Jáchymov und ihre sich im Laufe der Zeit wandelnde Identität; durch den menschlichen Körper, von dem das psychische Selbst durch Krankheit entfremdet wird; und durch die Welt der Träume, einen alternativen Ort, der von Gespenstern heimgesucht wird, die die Lebenden dazu drängen, Lösungen für ihre unvollendeten Geschichten zu finden. Haslingers eigene Familiengeschichte, die an der österreichisch‐tschechischen Grenze beheimatet ist, beeinflusst seine Analyse des Ortes. Er verwendet die Grenzregion und die Stereotypen bzw. typisch österreichischen Vorurteile gegenüber den tschechoslowakischen ‘Nachbarn’, um Kritik an der Ignoranz und am absichtlichen österreichischen Vergessen zu üben, das erstmals in seiner 1987 erschienenen Sammlung Politik der Gefühle untersucht wurde.
PRODUCING A FUTURE, COMMEMORATING A PAST: JAN FAKTOR AND THE AVANTGARDES
Authors: Horakova Anna
Published: March 2015

Scholarship has often ascribed to the third generation of East German writers associated with the Prenzlauer Berg scene (1979–89) a monolithic attitude of dissociation from the ‘really existing socialist state’. The present study reevaluates Prenzlauer Berg literary production in the light of its engagement with the transnational aesthetic and political projects of the avantgardes from before and after the Second World War, which continued to be thematised in the literature and culture of unified Germany after the fall of the Wall. A continuous engagement with the avantgardes can be discerned in two texts by the erstwhile Prenzlauer Berg poet and contemporary novelist Jan Faktor: first, in the serial poem ‘Georgs Sorgen um die Zukunft’ (1982), and second, in the novel Georgs Sorgen um die Vergangenheit (2010). The poem, I argue, criticises the advanced state of ideological decay in the GDR in the 1980s but also generates possibilities for an aesthetic renewal. The post‐‘Wende’ novel narrates the history of state‐sponsored socialism in Czechoslovakia from a transnational standpoint that fosters the formation of an entangled past among countries of the former Eastern bloc. The novel's reflection on the disintegration of architectural projects once meant to organise life for a socialist future, however, commemorates the utopian spirit of the Russian Constructivist avantgarde and its productivist aesthetic.

Der dritten Generation ostdeutscher Autoren, die zur Prenzlauer Berg‐Szene (1979–89) gehörten, schreibt die Literaturwissenschaft häufig eine monolithische Entfremdung vom ‘real‐existierenden Sozialismus’ zu. Das Engagement dieser Schriftsteller für die Wiederbelebung von transnationalen ästhetischen und politischen Projekten der Avantgarde aus der Epoche vor und nach dem zweiten Weltkrieg, die auch in der Literatur und Kultur des vereinigten Deutschlands thematisiert wird, gibt jedoch Anlass, die literarische Produktion am Prenzlauer Berg neu zu bewerten. Eine andauernde Beschäftigung mit den Avantgardisten lässt sich, wie ich in der vorliegenden Studie zeige, zum Beispiel in zwei Texten des ehemaligen Prenzlauer Berg‐Dichters und heutigen Romanautoren Jan Faktor ausmachen: Faktors serielles Gedicht Georgs Sorgen um die Zukunft (1982) kritisiert eine fortgeschrittene Phase des Ideologieverfalls der DDR der 1980er Jahre und zeigt zugleich neue Möglichkeiten der ästhetischen Erneuerung auf. Sein in der Nachwendezeit geschriebener Roman Georgs Sorgen um die Vergangenheit (2010) erzählt die Geschichte des Staatssozialismus in der Tschechoslowakei aus einer transnationalen Perspektive, welche die Bildung einer zwischen den früheren Ostblockländern verflochtenen Vergangenheit befördert. Durch die im Roman angestellten Betrachtungen über den Zerfall der architektonischen Projekte, die einst das Leben für die sozialistische Zukunft organisieren sollten, wird dennoch der utopische Geist des russischen Konstruktivismus und seine produktivistische Ästhetik in der Erinnerung bewahrt.
A FUTURE‐ORIENTED ZEITRECHNUNG: NARRATING POST‐COMMUNIST TEMPORALITY AND SUBJECTIVITY IN ZSUZSA BÁNK'S DER SCHWIMMER (2002)
Authors: Nousek Katrina
Published: March 2015

Taking its cue from debates about post‐communism in German‐language literature after ‘the Eastern European turn’, this article analyses temporality and subjectivity in Zsuzsa Bánk's novel Der Schwimmer (2002). Although some scholars claim the fall of European communist dictatorships at the end of the twentieth century marks the end of history and Utopia, others continue to debate the status of utopian thought, communist history, and future orientations in aesthetic productions concerned with subjective experience in formerly communist states. Drawing on narratology and Ágnes Heller's theory of history, I argue that Bánk's novel rewrites Cold‐War history by using specific narratological forms to establish newly ethical chronologies. As the homodiegetic narrator of the novel positions herself in her family history and a Communist Hungary of the 1950s and 60s that bears only faint traces of major historical events (the Hungarian Revolution, the erection of the Berlin Wall, the Prague Spring), narrative focalisation and duration lend narrative significance to ‘non‐canonical events’ that structure the story. Although the post‐communist world is deemed by some to be devoid of collective experience, these narrative structures facilitate a future‐oriented reconstruction of history in which utopia becomes the capacity to imagine alternative subjectivities and social temporalities.

Ausgehend von aktuellen Debatten über den Postkommunismus in der deutschsprachigen Literatur nach der ‘osteuropäischen Wende’, analysiert dieser Artikel Zeitlichkeit und Subjektivität in Zsuzsa Bánks Der Schwimmer (2002). Obwohl der Untergang kommunistischer Diktaturen am Ende des 20. Jahrhunderts als Ende der Geschichte oder der Utopie bezeichnet worden ist, wird die Darstellung von utopischen oder zukunftsorientierten Denkweisen und kommunistischer Geschichte in ästhetischen Werken, die subjektive Erfahrung in ehemals kommunistischen Ländern behandeln, noch erörtert. Anhand (post‐)klassischer narratologischer Begriffe und Ágnes Hellers Geschichtstheorie zeige ich, wie Bánk die Geschichte des kalten Krieges durch spezifische narratologische Formen umschreibt und dadurch eine erneute ethische Zeitrechnung schafft. Während die homodiegetische Erzählerin des Romans sich in ihrer Familiengeschichte und in einem kommunistischen Ungarn positioniert, das nur geringe Spuren wichtiger Ereignisse der 50er und 60er Jahre aufweist (die Ungarische Revolution, der Prager Frühling, der Mauerbau), lassen die narratologische Fokalisierung und Dauer den ‘non‐canonical events’ (Herman), die die Erzählung strukturieren, eine besondere Bedeutung zukommen. Obwohl 1989 eine postkommunistische Welt ohne kollektive Erfahrung bezeichnen sollte, ermöglichen diese Erzählstrukturen eine zukunftsorientierte Rekonstruktion der Geschichte, in der Utopie als die Fähigkeit verstanden wird, alternative Formen von Subjektivität und sozialer Zeitlichkeit imaginieren zu können.
White spotting phenotype induced by targeted REST disruption during neural crest specification to a melanocyte cell lineage
Authors: Aoki Hitomi , Hara Akira , Kunisada Takahiro
Published: March 2015

Neural crest cells (NCCs) emerge from the dorsal region of the neural tube of vertebrate embryos and have the pluripotency to differentiate into both neuronal and non‐neuronal lineages including melanocytes. Rest, also known as NRSF (neuro‐restrictive silencer factor), is a regulator of neuronal development and function and suggested to be involved in the lineage specification of NCCs. However, further investigations of Rest gene functions in vivo have been hampered by the fact that Rest null mice show early embryonic lethality. To investigate the function of Rest in NCC development, we recently established NCC‐specific Rest conditional knockout (CKO) mice and observed their neonatal death. Here, we have established viable heterozygous NCC‐specific Rest CKO mice to analyze the function of Rest in an NCC‐derived melanocyte cell lineage and found that the white spotting phenotype was associated with the reduction in the number of melanoblasts in the embryonic skin. The Rest deletion induced after the specification to melanocytes did not reduce the number of melanoblasts; therefore, the expression of REST during the early neural crest specification stage was necessary for the normal development of melanoblasts to cover all of the skin.
Conducting Slug Tests in Mini‐Piezometers
Authors: Fritz Bradley G. , Mackley Rob D. , Arntzen Evan V.
Published: March 2015

Slug tests performed using mini‐piezometers with internal diameters as small as 0.43 cm can provide a cost effective tool for hydraulic characterization. We evaluated the hydraulic properties of the apparatus in a laboratory environment and compared those results with field tests of mini‐piezometers installed into locations with varying hydraulic properties. Based on our evaluation, slug tests conducted in mini‐piezometers using the fabrication and installation approach described here are effective within formations where the hydraulic conductivity is less than 1 × 10−3 cm/s. While these constraints limit the potential application of this method, the benefits to this approach are that the installation, measurement, and analysis is cost effective, and the installation can be completed in areas where other (larger diameter) methods might not be possible. Additionally, this methodology could be applied to existing mini‐piezometers previously installed for other purposes. Such analysis of existing installations could be beneficial in interpreting previously collected data (e.g., water‐quality data or hydraulic head data).
Calcium‐phosphate and parathyroid intradialytic profiles: A potential aid for tailoring the dialysate calcium content of patients on different hemodialysis schedules
Authors: Ferraresi Martina , Pia Anna , Guzzo Gabriella , Vigotti Federica Neve , Mongilardi Elena , Nazha Marta , Aroasio Emiliano , Gonella Cinzia , Avagnina Paolo , Piccoli Giorgina Barbara
Published: March 2015

Severe hyperparathyroidism is a challenge on hemodialysis. The definition of dialysate calcium (Ca) is a pending issue with renewed importance in cases of individualized dialysis schedules and of portable home dialysis machines with low‐flow dialysate. Direct measurement of calcium mass transfer is complex and is imprecisely reflected by differences in start‐to‐end of dialysis Ca levels. The study was performed in a dialysis unit dedicated to home hemodialysis and to critical patients with wide use of daily and tailored schedules. The Ca‐phosphate (P)‐parathyroid hormone (PTH) profile includes creatinine, urea, total and ionized Ca, albumin, sodium, potassium, P, PTH levels at start, mid, and end of dialysis. “Severe” secondary hyperparathyroidism was defined as PTH > 300 pg/mL for ≥3 months. Four schedules were tested: conventional dialysis (polysulfone dialyzer 1.8–2.1 m2), with dialysate Ca 1.5 or 1.75 mmol/L, NxStage (Ca 1.5 mmol/L), and NxStage plus intradialytic Ca infusion. Dosages of vitamin D, calcium, phosphate binders, and Ca mimetic agents were adjusted monthly. Eighty Ca‐P‐PTH profiles were collected in 12 patients. Serum phosphate was efficiently reduced by all techniques. No differences in start‐to‐end PTH and Ca levels on dialysis were observed in patients with PTH levels < 300 pg/mL. Conversely, Ca levels in “severe” secondary hyperparathyroid patients significantly increased and PTH decreased during dialysis on all schedules except on Nxstage (P < 0.05). Our data support the need for tailored dialysate Ca content, even on “low‐flow” daily home dialysis, in “severe” secondary hyperparathyroid patients in order to increase the therapeutic potentials of the new dialysis techniques.
Evaluation of DXA vs. MRI for body composition measures in 1‐month olds
Authors: Fields D. A. , Teague A. M. , Short K. R. , Chernausek S. D.
Published: March 2015

Background

Detailed measures of infant body composition are needed for understanding the impact of genes and environment on growth early in life.

Objective

The purpose of this study was to compare the accuracy and bias of body composition in infants.

Methods

Dual energy X‐ray absorptiometry (DXA) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) were used to determine body composition and the trunk depot. The depots measured were total fat mass (FM), total fat‐free mass (FFM) and trunk FM and FFM using DXA and MRI in 14 infants.

Results

None of the regression lines between DXA and MRI significantly deviate from the line of identity for any of the depots studied. However, Bland–Altman analyses revealed bias for trunk FM and trunk FFM.

Conclusion

Our data showed DXA to be accurate (regression not significantly deviating from the line of identity), with high agreement (indicated by high R2) and without bias (non‐significant Bland–Altman) when estimating total FM and FFM. This could not be said for trunk estimates.
DNA vaccines encoding DEC205‐targeted antigens: immunity or tolerance?
Authors: Niezold Thomas , Storcksdieck genannt Bonsmann Michael , Maaske André , Temchura Vladimir , Heinecke Vanessa , Hannaman Drew , Buer Jan , Ehrhardt Christina , Hansen Wiebke , Überla Klaus , Tenbusch Matthias
Published: March 2015

Targeting of antigens to the endocytic uptake receptor DEC205 resulted in enhanced antigen presentation by dendritic cells (DCs). In combination with adjuvants for DC maturation, proteins coupled to an antibody against DEC205 induced strong pathogen‐specific immune responses, whereas without additional adjuvant tolerance could be induced. As less is known about DNA vaccines encoding DEC205‐targeted antigens, we explored the immunogenicity and efficacy of a dendritic cell‐targeted DNA vaccine against influenza A virus (IAV) delivered by electroporation. Although coupling of haemagglutinin to a single‐chain antibody against DEC205 enhanced antigen presentation on MHC class II and activation of T‐cell receptor‐transgenic CD4 T cells, the T‐cell responses induced by the targeted DNA vaccine in wild‐type BALB/c mice were significantly reduced compared with DNA encoding non‐targeted antigens. Consistently, these mice were less protected against an IAV infection. Adoptive transfer experiments were performed to assess the fate of the antigen‐specific T cells in animals vaccinated with DNA encoding DEC205‐targeted antigens. By this, we could exclude the general deletion of antigen‐specific T cells as cause for the reduced efficacy, but observed a local expansion of antigen‐specific regulatory T cells, which could suppress the activation of effector cells. In conclusion, DNA vaccines encoding DEC205‐targeted antigens induce peripheral tolerance rather than immunity in our study. Finally, we evaluated our DNA vaccines as prophylactic or therapeutic treatment in an allergen‐induced asthma mouse model.
A rheumatology perspective on cutaneous vasculitis: assessment and investigation for the non‐rheumatologist
Authors: Rawlings Charlotte R , Fremlin Georgina A , Nash Julian , Harding Keith
Published: March 2015

Vasculitis, by definition, is inflammation of the vasculature. This inflammation can result in either vessel wall destruction causing aneurysm or rupture, or stenosis causing ischaemia or necrosis. This autoimmune response does not always have a clear cause.

Vasculitis is a heterogeneous group of disorders that has been categorised not only by primary and secondary causes, but also by the size of the affected vessel. The secondary causes that can trigger vasculitis include infection (particularly hepatitis B and C and haemorrhagic fever);cancer, autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis (RA), systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and Sjogren's; drugs or allergic reactions. As vasculitis can affect any part of the vasculature, it can result in a wide range of signs and symptoms. However, one of the most common presentations of vasculitis is a rash, due to small vessel vasculitis, which is most common. A vasculitic rash has certain characteristics that are easily identifiable and differentiate it from other rashes.

This is a review from a rheumatologist's perspective of how to identify vasculitis skin changes. If cutaneous vasculitis is suspected, this article identifies other areas of skin that can be affected that need identification, in addition to what to screen for in the history and other differential diagnoses to consider. Subsequently, the article addresses the key investigations to request and a brief overview of the treatment principles for primary vasculitis.
Growth and Microstructure‐Dependent Hardness of Directionally Solidified WC–W2C Eutectoid Ceramics
Authors: Chen Wei‐Ting , Meredith Caleb H. , Dickey Elizabeth C.
Published: March 2015

Directionally solidified WC–W2C ceramics containing 40 at% carbon, corresponding to the WC–W2C eutectoid composition, were produced by laser surface melt processing. The resulting microstructures showed a lamellar‐type eutectic/eutectoid microstructure with the WC minor phase embedded in the W2C matrix phase. The interlamellar spacing (λ) in the eutectoid regions followed the relationship Vλ3.8 = constant, with the smallest spacing of 331 ± 36 nm achieved in the 3.24 mm/s processed sample. The indentation hardness increased with decreasing interlamellar spacing, and a Vickers indentation hardness of 28.5 GPa was achieved in the sample with the smallest interlamellar spacing. The directionally solidified WC–W2C materials show enhanced indentation mechanical properties in comparison to previously reported WC–Co composites and WC‐based materials.
The effect of performance trend on performance ratings occurs through observer attributions, but depends on performance variability
Authors: Rudolph Cort W. , Harari Michael B. , Nieminen Levi R.G.
Published: March 2015

Research regarding the influence of dynamic performance characteristics on performance ratings suggests that raters are remarkably susceptible to observed trends in performance over time, such that systematic trends or patterns in performance can have an undue influence on how performance is evaluated. However, research in this domain has not fully explained how dynamic performance characteristics influence performance judgments. Drawing on attribution theory, we introduce a model whereby the impact of dynamic performance characteristics on subsequent performance judgments occurs through attributions for performance. Then, in three experimental studies, we show that dynamic performance characteristics influence attributions for performance, which in turn affect performance ratings.
Nest‐dwelling ectoparasites influence the start and duration of the first pre‐basic moult in the European starlingSturnus vulgaris
Authors: Pirrello Simone , Pilastro Andrea , Serra Lorenzo
Published: March 2015

Nest‐dwelling ectoparasites represent an early stressor for birds as they impair the development of nestlings, which can adaptively respond by adjusting their growth rate to current conditions. While nest ectoparasites have long‐term effects on nesting adults, no study has examined if they also have an impact on the moult patterns of juveniles. Herein, we investigated whether the presence of ectoparasites in the nest influences the start and duration of the first pre‐basic moult in the European starling. To do so, we experimentally removed nest‐dwelling ectoparasites from a group of nests and used another group of unmanipulated (i.e. naturally infested) nests as the control. The moult began at an earlier age and lasted longer in birds from the ectoparasite‐free nests compared to their control counterparts. The timing of the moult was also affected by the hatching date (i.e. birds that fledged later had shorter moults) and the brood size (i.e. birds in larger broods started their moult at an older age). We also found evidence that the removal of nest ectoparasites influenced the condition of individuals during the course of the moult. In the control birds, we observed a decrease in hematocrit levels, but these were unaltered in the birds fledged from the ectoparasite‐free nests. Our study shows that nest‐dwelling ectoparasites adversely affected the timing of the moult and the individual condition of juvenile starlings, with possible major consequences for their subsequent life‐history events.
Identification of C‐terminal Hsp70‐interacting protein as a mediator of tumour necrosis factor action in osteoblast differentiation by targeting osterix for degradation
Authors: Xie Jianmin , Gu Jieruo
Published: March 2015

In patients with inflammatory arthritis, tumour necrosis factor (TNF)‐α are overproduced in inflamed joints. This leads to local erosion of cartilage and bone, periarticular osteopenia, as well as osteoporosis. But less is known regarding the molecular mechanisms that mediate the effect of TNF‐α on osteoblast function. The purpose of this study was to test that C terminus of Hsc70‐interacting protein (CHIP) has a specific role in suppressing the osteogenic activity of osteoblasts under inflammatory conditions. C2C12, MC3T3‐E1 and HEK293T cell lines were cultured and cotransfected with related plasmids. After transfection, the cells were cultured further in the presence or absence of murine TNF‐α and subjected to real time RT‐PCR, Western blot, Ubiquitination assay, Co‐immunoprecipitation, Luciferase reporter assay, Small interfering RNAs and Mineralization assay. The expression levels of TNF‐α‐induced CHIP and Osx were examined by RT‐PCR and Western blot analysis. Co‐immunoprecipitation and ubiquitination assays revealed ubiquitinated Osx, confirmed that CHIP indeed interacted with Osx and identified K55 and K386 residues as the ubiquitination sites in Osx, Luciferase reporter assay and Small interfering RNAs examined whether TNF‐α target the bone morphogenetic protein signalling through CHIP. We established stable cell lines with the overexpression of HA‐CHIP, Mineralization assay and CHIP siRNA demonstrated the important roles of CHIP on osteoblast function in conditions in which TNF‐α is overexpressed. We found that the K55 and K386 residues are ubiquitination site(s) in Osx, and that TNF‐α inhibits osteoblast differentiation by promoting Osx degradation through up‐regulation of E3 ubiquitin ligase CHIP in osteoblast. Thus, CHIP targets Osx for ubiquitination and degradation in osteoblasts after chronic exposure to TNF‐α, and inhibition of CHIP expression in osteoblasts may be a new mechanism to limit inflammation‐mediated osteoporosis by promoting their differentiation into osteoblasts.
Development and Application of a Model to Minimize Variability in a Vegetable Pulp Productive Process
Authors: Paladini Edson Pacheco , Avilés Bismayda Gómez , Broche Grettell Rangel , Gómez Addys Castellanos
Published: March 2015

A model intended to minimize the variability in the productive process is described. Structured in the four phases of the Deming cycle, the model incorporated the online quality engineering to the current practices of the concentrated vegetable pulp industrial process. Based on the analysis of the factors inherent to the process, the variability in the raw material of the various providers was identified as the main cause of the instability in the physicochemical quality characteristics of the final product. To cope with this problem, the puree design was adapted by reformulating pulp mixtures so as to guarantee its insensibility to the variability initially introduced. The robustness of the process was achieved with the stability of the product's characteristics: consistency and acidity. This result had repercussions on the process efficiency as proven by the decrease in the value of the loss function, sign of the validity of the model to improve a productive process by minimizing variability.

Practical Applications

In the manufacturing process of concentrated vegetable pulps, nonconformities in product requirements are frequent, as reflected in customer's dissatisfaction and high production costs. This paper describes a model that creates and implements several improvements to minimize production operations variability in this industrial process. The results presented here show that the quality characteristics of finished products were stabilized and process efficiency has been increased. The proposed model can be applied in several similar situations, with the same tools and also the same structure of management actions.
An ACCUMULATION AND REPLICATION OF CHLOROPLASTS 5 gene mutation confers light green peel in cucumber
Authors: Zhou Qian , Wang Shenhao , Hu Bowen , Chen Huiming , Zhang Zhonghua , Huang Sanwen
Published: March 2015

The peel color of fruit is an important commercial trait in cucumber, but the underlying molecular basis is largely unknown. A mutant showing light green exocarp was discovered from ethyl methane sulfonate (EMS) mutagenized cucumber line 406 with dark green exocarp. Genetic analysis showed the mutant phenotype is conferred by a single recessive gene, here designated as lgp (light green peel). By re‐sequencing of bulked segregants, we identified the candidate gene Csa7G051430 encoding ACCUMULATION AND REPLICATION OF CHLOROPLASTS 5 (ARC5) that plays a vital role in chloroplast division in Arabidopsis. A single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) causing amino acid alteration in the conserved GTPase domain of Csa7G051430 showed co‐segregation with the altered phenotype. Furthermore, the transient RNA interference of this gene resulted in reduced number and enlarged size of chloroplasts, which were also observed in the lgp mutant. This evidence supports that the non‐synonymous SNP in Csa7G051430 is the causative mutation for the light green peel. This study provides a new allele for cucumber breeding for light green fruits and additional resource for the study of chloroplast development.
On‐the‐Job Learning and News‐Driven Business Cycles
Authors: CHEN KUAN‐JEN , LAI CHING‐CHONG
Published: March 2015

This paper proposes a new channel of on‐the‐job learning to explain the positive comovement between consumption and employment following good news about future productivity. The new recruits can generate an additional stream of output production in all future periods, and the firm's labor demand is thus characterized by the forward‐looking property. Therefore, the firm is motivated to hire more new recruits in advance in response to good news about future productivity. Once the increase in labor demand is greater than the decrease in labor supply caused by the income effect, the coincident rise in consumption and employment can be driven by the news shock. When such a channel is paired with investment adjustment costs and the endogenous capacity utilization rate, this paper provides a plausible explanation for simultaneous booms in current consumption, investment, output, and employment to match the empirical evidence under the news shock.
Does Securitization of Corporate Loans Lead to Riskier Lending?
Authors: BORD VITALY M. , SANTOS JOÃO A.C.
Published: March 2015

This paper finds that loans sold to collateralized loan obligations (CLOs) underperform matched unsecuritized loans originated by the same bank. We find that banks put less weight on the hard information on borrower risk available to them when they set interest rates on the loans they sell to CLOs, and that they retain less skin in the game on these loans, suggesting that lax underwriting standards contributed to the worse performance of securitized loans. We also find that the median non‐CLO syndicate participant retains a lower stake in securitized loans when compared to loans that are not securitized, suggesting that these investors, like lead banks, expected securitized loans to perform worse.
“Snooping” as a Distinct Parental Monitoring Strategy: Comparisons With Overt Solicitation and Control
Authors: Hawk Skyler T. , Becht Andrik , Branje Susan
Published: March 2015

Parents can use solicitation (asking questions) and control (disclosure rules) to obtain information about adolescents, but only if youths comply. Snooping might uncover additional information, but also strongly violates privacy expectations. Three studies of parents and adolescents examined distinctions between snooping, solicitation, and control. Differences existed in terms of factor structure and frequency (Studies 1–2), links to perceived invasion (Study 1), correlations with problematic communication, behavior, and relationships (Study 2), and parent–adolescent (dis)agreement about acceptability (Study 3). Snooping is a relatively infrequent monitoring behavior, compared to solicitation and control, but appears to be a stronger indicator of problems in adolescent and family functioning. We discuss implications regarding the necessity and appropriateness of particular parental monitoring behaviors.
Scientific Measurement of Sensory Preferences Using Stimulus Tetrads
Authors: Booth David A.
Published: March 2015

This paper provides the evidence base to construct a professional standard for discriminative scaling of taints and optima. The measurement of suboptimal sensed characteristics of a product has logical and empirical requirements that specify a single overall rating of each sample in a tetrad. Those four pairs of response/stimulus data determine the discrimination distance of each sample from the comparison in memory used by the assessor, together with the position of that standard on the straight line specified by the two stimulus levels in the tetrad. The rating's reference anchor can be the match to a familiar version of the product or the personally most preferred level. Each sample can be assessed again for sensory and/or conceptual attributes, using vocabulary learned in life or by sensory training. Those data give the ideal or matching value of that verbal category and the individual's tolerance of deviations from that value.

Practical Applications

This paper is solely concerned with the practical use of difference tests to measure sensory taints and, by extension, to carry out to sensory optimization with considerable economy. Individual consumers' discriminatively scaled ideal or matching points can be aggregated across a purpose selected panel to give profiles of estimated market response to sensory intensities, concept impacts and/or product constituent levels, depending on the data collected. This scientifically fundamental approach to practical issues faced by sensory studies gives objective results that are specific, precise and directly relevant to the detection and identification of taints and the optimization of formulations for the market or the segment sampled by selected panel.