bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Construct Validity of the Memory for Intentions Screening Test (MIST) in Healthy Older Adults
Authors: Kamat Rujvi , Weinborn Michael , Kellogg Emily J. , Bucks Romola S. , Velnoweth Aimee , Woods Steven Paul
Published: April 2014

The Memory for Intentions Screening Test (MIST) is a clinical measure of prospective memory. There is emerging support for the sensitivity and ecological relevance of the MIST in clinical populations. In the present study, the construct validity of the MIST was evaluated in 40 younger (18-30 years), 24 young-old (60-69 years), and 37 old-old (70+ years) healthy adults. Consistent with expectations derived from the prospective memory and aging literature, older adults demonstrated lower scores on the MIST’s primary scale scores (particularly on the time-based scale), but slightly better performance on the seminaturalistic 24-hour trial. Among the healthy older adults, the MIST showed evidence of both convergent (e.g., verbal fluency) and divergent (e.g., visuoperception) correlations with standard clinical tests, although the magnitude of those correlations were comparable across the time- and event-based scales. Together, these results support the discriminant and convergent validity of the MIST as a measure of prospective memory in healthy older adults.
Clinical Utility of the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale–Fourth Edition After Traumatic Brain Injury
Authors: Donders Jacobus , Strong Carrie-Ann H.
Published: April 2014

The performance of 100 patients with traumatic brain injury (TBI) on the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale–Fourth Edition (WAIS-IV) was compared with that of 100 demographically matched neurologically healthy controls. Processing Speed was the only WAIS-IV factor index that was able to discriminate between persons with moderate-severe TBI on the one hand and persons with either less severe TBI or neurologically healthy controls on the other hand. The Processing Speed index also had acceptable sensitivity and specificity when differentiating between patients with TBI who either did or did not have scores in the clinically significant range on the Trail Making Test. It is concluded that WAIS-IV Processing Speed has acceptable clinical utility in the evaluation of patients with moderate-severe TBI but that it should be supplemented with other measures to assure sufficient accuracy in the diagnostic process.
Reliability and Validity of the Online Continuous Performance Test Among Children
Authors: Bart Orit , Raz Sivan , Dan Orrie
Published: April 2014

Objective. The study assesses the reliability and validity of a new Online Continuous Performance Test (OCPT) for measuring sustained attention, response inhibition, and response time consistency among children. Method. The study sample comprised 73 children (6-13 years), 47 children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and 24 in the control group. The Diagnostic Interview Schedule for Children was administered to participants’ parents to confirm group allocation. Children completed the OCPT in a laboratory setting, and a week later completed the OCPT at home. Results. Split-half correlation coefficients reflected high levels of reliability in the laboratory and at home. Significant correlations were found between the laboratory- and home-based OCPT scores. Significant differences in OCPT performance were found between children with and without attention deficit hyperactivity disorder on the OCPT in the two settings. Conclusions. These results support the reliability and validity of the OCPT and suggest that it may serve as an effective tool for the assessment of children’s attention function in naturalistic settings.
Reading a Deleuzio-Guattarian Cartography of Young Girls’ “School-Related” Ill-/Well-Being
Authors: Lenz Taguchi Hillevi , Palmer Anna
Published: April 2014

This article puts to work a Deleuzio-Guattarian methodology of cartography using data from a pilot study of young schoolgirls’ “school-related” ill-health and well-being. Doing a cartography means setting up a “map” of various kinds of data produced by a multiplicity of desiring agents in various power-producing fields such as medicine, psychology, popular science, media, as well as narrative data from young girls and the two researchers themselves. Together, these data make up a wider machinic assemblage of Public Health in Sweden. As researchers, we understand ourselves as co-productive of this machinic assemblage that, in turn, is productive of a multiplicity of different Bodies without Organs (BwOs) that young schoolgirls fabricate for themselves. The analysis will show the specific types of BwOs that are fabricated, how they are fabricated, the modes of desire that come to pass on them, and thus what kinds of subjectivities of schoolgirls might be produced.
Stress concentration in an elastic square plate with a full-strength hole
Authors: Odishelidze N , Criado-Aldeanueva F , Criado F , Sanchez JM
Published: April 2014

This paper addresses the problem of plate bending for a square weakened with a full-strength hole including the origin of coordinates. The vertices of the square lie on the coordinate axes and its neighbourhoods are cut by the same smooth full-strength arcs which are symmetric with respect to the coordinate axes. Rigid bars are attached to each component of the broken line of the outer boundary of the plate. The plate bends under the action of concentrated moments applied to the middle points of the bars. The unknown part of the boundary is free from external forces. Using the methods of complex analysis, the unknown part of the boundary is found under the condition that the tangential–normal moment takes a constant value. Numerical analysis is performed and the corresponding graphs are constructed.
Isogeometric analysis of plane-curved beams
Authors: Cazzani Antonio , Malagù Marcello , Turco Emilio
Published: April 2014

A curved beam element based on the Timoshenko model and non-uniform rational B-splines (NURBS) interpolation both for geometry and displacements is presented. Such an element can be used to suitably analyse plane-curved beams and arches. Some numerical results will explore the effectiveness and accuracy of this novel method by comparing its performance with those of some accurate finite elements proposed in the technical literature, and also with analytical solutions: for the cases where such closed-form solutions were not available in the literature, they have been computed by exact integration of the governing differential equations. It is shown that the presented element is almost insensitive to both membrane- and shear-locking, and that such phenomena can be easily controlled by properly choosing the number of elements or the NURBS degree.
The Effect of Organizational and Environmental Factors on Police Misconduct
Authors: Eitle David , D’Alessio Stewart J. , Stolzenberg Lisa
Published: April 2014

This study analyzes the association between police organizational and environmental factors and police misconduct using data derived from the new National Police Misconduct Statistics and Reporting Project (2009–2010). Our use of this data set affords us the opportunity to measure police misconduct with much greater breadth than in previous studies. A negative binomial regression analysis of 497 city police departments shows the following organizational characteristics—organizational size, the presence of a full-time internal affairs unit, and in-service training—salient in predicting police misconduct. The violent crime rate is the only environmental variable that influences police misconduct. These results not only highlight the importance of organizational structure in influencing police officer misconduct but they also suggest that a police department has at its disposal the ability to institute organizational changes that can help attenuate the occurrence of police misconduct.
The evaluation of body image in children with type 1 diabetes: A case-control study
Authors: Troncone Alda , Prisco Francesco , Cascella Crescenzo , Chianese Antonietta , Zanfardino Angela , Iafusco Dario
Published: April 2014

This study evaluated the body image perception in children with type 1 diabetes in order to identify symptoms of disordered eating behaviours early. Children with type 1 diabetes and controls showed underestimation and dissatisfaction with body size. The patients, especially girls, were more accurate in their perception of body size than the control group. The study sheds light on some of the underlying factors that may contribute to the development of disordered eating behaviours in adolescence. The causes of the differences of perception of body size are discussed.
A weighted cost function to deal with the muscle force sharing problem in injured subjects: A single case study
Authors: Serrancolí Gil , Font-Llagunes Josep M , Barjau Ana
Published: April 2014

The human body is an over-actuated multi-body system, as each joint degree of freedom can be controlled by more than one muscle. Solving the force-sharing problem (i.e. finding out how the resultant joint torque is shared among the muscles actuating that joint) calls for an optimization process where a cost function, representing the strategy followed by the central nervous system to activate muscles, is minimized. The main contribution of the present study has been the particular formulation of that cost function for the case of the pathological gait of a single subject suffering from anterior cruciate ligament rupture. Our hypothesis was that the central nervous system does not weight equally the muscles when trying to compensate for a lower limb injury during gait (in contrast to what is the usual practice for healthy gait where all muscles are weighted equally). This hypothesis is supported by the fact that muscle activity in injured individuals differs from that of healthy subjects. Different functions were tested until we finally came out with a cost function that was consistent with experimental electromyography measurements and inverse dynamics results for a subject suffering this particular pathology.
Developing a plural nation? Black and minority ethnic participation in the 2011 Welsh referendum
Authors: Whittaker Geraint Rhys
Published: April 2014

This paper analyses the manner in which some Black and minority ethnic (BAME) people are adding new voices to conceptions of what national identity can be by re-constructing their own position within the nation’s political narratives. It will do so by exploring how the 2011 referendum to establish legislative powers for the Welsh Assembly Government mobilised some BAME individuals and organisations, to contribute to the on-going development of a Welsh political identity, by announcing their support for the ‘Yes’ campaign. This will analyse how the scale of the national is made meaningful in particular spaces by those at the forefront of BAME relations, and considers the possibility this presents for creating a future plural nationality. It will do so by looking specifically at how sub-national identity challenges primary national narratives, to deepen our understanding of the complex relationships between ethnic diversity and the performance of national identity, in the re-imagining of contemporary ideas of nationhood.
Teacher Responses to School Violence in Cape Town, South Africa
Authors: Shields Nancy , Nadasen Kathy , Hanneke Christine
Published: April 2014

Although researchers have been interested in the psychological impact of school and community violence on children in South Africa, little work has been done on the effects of exposure to school violence on teachers. de Wet’s exploratory study of South African teachers and administrators is an exception, although her focus was on student bullying of school personnel that included violence, rather than violence per se. Because there is so little research on the impact of school violence on educators in South Africa, we took an exploratory approach conducting four focus groups (and one in-depth interview) to investigate the impact of school violence on educators. Specifically, the research focused on school violence and its social and psychological effects from the perspective of educators in South Africa. The research also included a standardized measure of exposure to violence and victimization, and a measure of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Eight major themes emerged in the focus groups and interview; the most common theme was frustration and the fourth most common theme was actually teacher aggression and the use of corporal punishment as a response to learner violence. The findings are discussed in the context of violence in postapartheid South Africa, and in terms of social–psychological theories of violence and sociological perspectives on “mock” bureaucracy and role breadth. Possible interventions to reduce social and psychological distress as well as school violence are also discussed.
Next-generation sequencing of peripheral B-lineage cells pinpoints the circulating clonotypic cell pool in multiple myeloma
Authors: Thiele Benjamin , Kloster Marie , Alawi Malik , Indenbirken Daniela , Trepel Martin , Grundhoff Adam , Binder Mascha
Published: April 2014

Key Points

Clonotypic B cells, long suspected to represent circulating stem-like cells, are consistently absent in the blood of myeloma patients. Malignant plasma cells frequently circulate in the peripheral blood, show evidence for clonal evolution, and may spread the disease.
Idiopathic desmoid-type fibromatosis of the pancreatic head: case report and literature review
Authors: Jia Changjun , Tian Baoling , Dai Chaoliu , Wang Xinlu , Bu Xianmin , Xu Feng
Published: April 2014

Desmoid-type fibromatosis (DTF) is an uncommon nonmetastatic fibrous neoplasm. Sporadic intraperitoneal DTF is rarely described in current literature. We herein report a case of DTF of unknown cause involving the pancreatic head. A 41-year-old man presented with recurrent epigastric pain and weight loss. An abdominal computed tomography scan showed a well-delineated solid cystic mass inside the pancreatic head. Pylorus-preserving pancreaticoduodenectomy was performed due to the patient’s debilitating symptoms and suspected malignancy. The pathological examination revealed massive fibroblastic proliferation arising from the musculoaponeurotic tissues, consistent with a diagnosis of DTF. Immunohistochemical phenotyping determined positive immunoreactivity to vimentin and β-catenin, but negative immunoreactivity to smooth muscle actin, CD117, CD34, or S-100, confirming the diagnosis of DTF. No local recurrence or distant metastasis was found during a 24-month follow-up. Radical resection is recommended as first-line treatment for pancreatic DTF. Long-term follow-up studies are required to establish the prognosis of pancreatic DTF.
Uncertainty, redistribution, and the labor market since 2007
Authors: Mulligan Casey B
Published: April 2014

Uncertainty and its composition can affect the demand for social insurance, and thereby the labor market. This paper shows that small to medium-sized increases in uncertainty or risk aversion are enough to recommend an expansion of the safety net that would be broadly similar to the actual safety net expansions in the United States since 2007, which significantly depressed the labor market. Labor market effects of uncertainty through investment and insurance channels are also examined with employer and employee labor wedges measured from 2007 through 2013.
Activities of three erythrocyte enzymes of hyperglycemic rats (Rattus norvegicus) treated with Allium sativa extract
Authors: Chikezie Paul C , Uwakwe Augustine A
Published: April 2014

Background

The present study sought to investigate erythrocyte glutathione S-transferases (GST), NADH-Methaemoglobin reductase (NADH-MR) and Na+/K+-ATPase activities of hypoglycemic rats treated with ethanol/water (1:2 v/v) extract of A. sativa as agent of glycemic control.

Methods

Hyperglycemia was induced by a single intra-peritoneal injection of 0.1 mol/L alloxan monohydrate in phosphate buffer saline (PBS) solution (pH = 7.4); dosage = 140 mg/kg. At the end of the experimental time (t = 76 h), erythrocyte GST, NADH-MR and Na+/K+-ATPase activities as well as serum fasting blood sugar (FBS) levels were measured by spectrophotometric methods.

Results

Serum FBS levels of control/normal (C/N) rats ranged between 72.93 ± 0.82–95.12 ± 0.92 mg/dL, whereas experimental rats without glycemic control gave: 249.41 ± 1.03–256.11 ± 1.23 mg/dL. Hyperglycemic rats treated with ethanol/water (1:2 v/v) extract of A. sativa exhibited comparative reduced serum levels of FBS alongside with erythrocyte GST, NADH-MR and Na+/K+-ATPase activities. The average relative activities of the three enzymes and corresponding order of enzyme activity in hyperglycemic rats treated with ethanol/water (1:2 v/v) extract of A. sativa was: NADH-MR = 60.99% > GST = 47.81% > Na+/K+-ATPase = 46.81%. In the same order, relative activities of the three enzymes in rats without glycemic control were: NADH-MR = 49.65% > GST = 23.69% > Na+/K+-ATPase = 17.02%.

Conclusion

Erythrocyte GST, NADH-MR and Na+/K+-ATPase activities gave insights into the pathophysiology of diabetic state and served as biomarkers for ascertaining therapeutic control in Type 1 diabetes mellitus.
Chronic cocaine-regulated epigenomic changes in mouse nucleus accumbens
Authors: Feng Jian , Wilkinson Matthew , Liu Xiaochuan , Purushothaman Immanuel , Ferguson Deveroux , Vialou Vincent , Maze Ian , Shao Ningyi , Kennedy Pamela , Koo JaWook , Dias Caroline , Laitman Benjamin , Stockman Victoria , LaPlant Quincey , Cahill Michael E , Nestler Eric J , Shen Li
Published: April 2014

Background

Increasing evidence supports a role for altered gene expression in mediating the lasting effects of cocaine on the brain, and recent work has demonstrated the involvement of chromatin modifications in these alterations. However, all such studies to date have been restricted by their reliance on microarray technologies that have intrinsic limitations.

Results

We use next generation sequencing methods, RNA-seq and ChIP-seq for RNA polymerase II and several histone methylation marks, to obtain a more complete view of cocaine-induced changes in gene expression and associated adaptations in numerous modes of chromatin regulation in the mouse nucleus accumbens, a key brain reward region. We demonstrate an unexpectedly large number of pre-mRNA splicing alterations in response to repeated cocaine treatment. In addition, we identify combinations of chromatin changes, or signatures, that correlate with cocaine-dependent regulation of gene expression, including those involving pre-mRNA alternative splicing. Through bioinformatic prediction and biological validation, we identify one particular splicing factor, A2BP1(Rbfox1/Fox-1), which is enriched at genes that display certain chromatin signatures and contributes to drug-induced behavioral abnormalities. Together, this delineation of the cocaine-induced epigenome in the nucleus accumbens reveals several novel modes of regulation by which cocaine alters the brain.

Conclusions

We establish combinatorial chromatin and transcriptional profiles in mouse nucleus accumbens after repeated cocaine treatment. These results serve as an important resource for the field and provide a template for the analysis of other systems to reveal new transcriptional and epigenetic mechanisms of neuronal regulation.
Advantages of joint interpretation of P-P and P-SV seismic data in geothermal exploration
Authors: Wei Shuijian , DeAngelo Michael V. , Hardage Bob A.
Published: April 2014

Conventional P-P seismic images of geothermal reservoirs are often of poor quality because P-P data tend to have a low signal-to-noise ratio across geothermal prospects. Fracture identification, fluid prediction, and imaging inside subsurface areas influenced by superheated fluids are some of the challenges facing the geothermal industry. We showed that multicomponent seismic technology is effective for addressing all of these challenges across geothermal reservoirs, even when P-P data are of low quality. Although multicomponent seismic technology has advantages in geothermal exploration, there are not many published examples of multicomponent seismic data being used to characterize geothermal reservoirs. We evaluated data examples that illustrate advantages of multicomponent seismic technology for imaging within and below zones having superheated fluids, estimating fracture attributes, analyzing reservoir trapping structures, differentiating lithologies, and predicting spatial distributions of pore fluids. All examples we tested are from the Wister geothermal field in Southern California.
From ocean-bottom cable seismic to porosity volume: A prestack PP and PS analysis of a turbidite reservoir, deepwater Campos Basin, Brazil
Authors: Martins Luiz M. R. , Davis Thomas L.
Published: April 2014

The Campos Basin is the best known and most productive of the Brazilian coastal basins. Turbidites are, by far, the main hydrocarbon-bearing reservoirs in the Campos Basin. Using a 4C ocean-bottom cable seismic survey, we set out to improve the reservoir characterization in a deepwater turbidite field in the Campos Basin. To achieve our goal, prestack angle gathers were derived and PP and PS inversion were performed. The inversion was used as an input to predict the petrophysical properties of the reservoir. Converting seismic reflection amplitudes into impedance profiles not only maximizes vertical resolution but also minimizes tuning effects. Mapping the porosity is extremely important in the development of hydrocarbon reservoirs. Combining seismic attributes derived from the PP and PS multicomponent data and porosity logs, we used linear multiregression and neural networking to predict porosity between the seismic attributes and porosity logs at the well locations. After estimating porosity in the well locations, those relationships were applied to the seismic attributes to generate a 3D porosity volume. The porosity volume highlighted the best reservoir facies in the reservoir. The integration of elastic impedance, shear impedance, and porosity improved the reservoir characterization.
Treatment of High-Risk Philadelphia Chromosome–Negative Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia in Adolescents and Adults According to Early Cytologic Response and Minimal Residual Disease After Consolidation Assessed by Flow Cytometry: Final Results of the PETHEMA ALL-AR-03 Trial
Authors: Ribera Josep-Maria , Oriol Albert , Morgades Mireia , Montesinos Pau , Sarrà Josep , González-Campos José , Brunet Salut , Tormo Mar , Fernández-Abellán Pascual , Guàrdia Ramon , Bernal María-Teresa , Esteve Jordi , Barba Pere , Moreno María-José , Bermúdez Arancha , Cladera Antonia , Escoda Lourdes , García-Boyero Raimundo , del Potro Eloy , Bergua Juan , Amigo María-Luz , Grande Carlos , Rabuñal María-José , Hernández-Rivas Jesús-María , Feliu Evarist
Published: April 2014

Purpose

Minimal residual disease (MRD) is an important prognostic factor in adults with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) and may be used for treatment decisions. The Programa Español de Tratamientos en Hematología (PETHEMA) ALL-AR-03 trial (Treatment of High Risk Adult Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia [LAL-AR/2003]) assigned adolescent and adult patients (age 15 to 60 years) with high-risk ALL (HR-ALL) without the Philadelphia (Ph) chromosome to chemotherapy or to allogeneic hematopoietic stem-cell transplantation (allo-HSCT) according to early cytologic response (day 14) and flow-MRD level after consolidation.

Patients and Methods

Patients with good early cytologic response (< 10% blasts in bone marrow at day 14 of induction) and a flow-MRD level less than 5 × 10−4at the end of consolidation were assigned to delayed consolidation and maintenance therapy, and allo-HSCT was scheduled in patients with poor early cytologic response or flow-MRD level ≥ 5 × 10−4.

Results

Complete remission was attained in 282 (87%) of 326 patients, and 179 (76%) of 236 patients who completed early consolidation were assigned by intention-to treat to receive allo-HSCT (71) or chemotherapy (108). Five-year disease-free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS) probabilities were 37% and 35% for the whole series, 32% and 37% for patients assigned to allo-HSCT, and 55% and 59% for those assigned to chemotherapy. Multivariable analysis showed poor MRD clearance (≥ 1 × 10−3after induction and ≥ 5 × 10−4after early consolidation) as the only prognostic factor for DFS and OS.

Conclusion

Prognosis for Ph-negative HR-ALL in adolescents and adults with good early response to induction and low flow-MRD levels after consolidation is quite favorable when allo-HSCT is avoided. In this study, the pattern of MRD clearance was the only prognostic factor for DFS and OS.
A “New Dealized” Grand Old Party: Labor and the Emergence of Liberal Republicanism in Minneapolis, 1937 – 1939
Authors: Smemo Kristoffer
Published: April 2014

In the late 1930s, in Minneapolis and across the urban-industrial North, a cohort of self-described liberal Republicans helped reverse almost a decade's worth of defeats for the Grand Old Party. Liberal Republicans accepted the political reality of a society responsible for the welfare of its individual citizens but rejected the class-based notion of affirmative rights to security and equality that was central to the New Deal. Under Governor Harold Stassen, this “New Dealized” wing of the Republican Party made its most important contributions in the arena of labor relations. Though liberal Republicans applauded trade unionism in principle, Stassen won office by pledging to restrict workers' ability to strike and ridiculing labor's program of social reform as a threat to economic recovery. The Minnesota Labor Relations Act, which swept through the state legislature in 1939, encapsulated Stassen's conservative statism whereby Republican policy makers adopted the statecraft of the New Deal precisely to thwart the working-class forces energized by New Deal legislation. Furthermore, the legwork of the Minnesota Republican US Congressional delegation made Stassen's labor relations act a template for the Labor Management Relations Act of 1947, commonly known as the Taft-Hartley act. By delegitimizing strike activity in law and political discourse, New Dealized Republicanism set the foundation for a system that gutted a more expansive working-class politics and confined unions within a highly vulnerable and isolated collective bargaining regime.
Labor's Pink-Collar Aristocracy: The National Secretaries Association's Encounters with Feminism in the Age of Automation
Authors: Turk Katherine
Published: April 2014

Starting in the mid-twentieth century, secretaries responded to the pressures of automation and feminism with a range of strategies. The members of the National Secretaries Association (NSA), a national network of thousands of secretaries who defined themselves against both women's liberationists and less skilled women office workers, saw their occupation as a separate-but-equal role for women in the business world and thought of themselves as members of a labor aristocracy. They insulated themselves just beneath the glass ceiling, working throughout the 1960s and 1970s to boost their status at work through the prism of gendered, classed respectability rather than equality or collective rights. Yet while NSA members initially kept the feminist movement at arm's length, employer-driven automation eventually compelled them to adopt some of its elements. By the 1990s, in response to the proliferation of desktop computers in office work, the NSA had reinvented itself as an association of office managers and technology specialists, arguing that the same machines that had deskilled, outsourced, and eliminated many women office workers' jobs would liberate secretaries from the drudgery assigned to them by outdated sex stereotypes. In the end, clerical workers were not simply replaced by machines, and some skilled secretaries obtained office manager jobs. However, the glass ceiling persisted even as professional positions were nominally opened up to women; office support jobs retained their low pay, monotony, and inflexibility; and automation continued to sharpen the class divide in office work.
Introduction
Authors: Fink Leon
Published: April 2014

In this section, four accomplished historians revisit Herbert Gutman's famous essay, “Protestantism and the American Labor Movement.” While paying tribute to Gutman's path-breaking insights, each contributor also highlights recent work that has effectively transformed the borderlands between labor and religious history. Whereas Gutman viewed religion as a vestigial category, an inherited set of traditions that workers could adapt to their own purposes, Heath Carter discusses ongoing class contestations in the pews and pulpits of Gilded Age Chicago. Although Gutman followed the scholarship of his day in assuming a diminution of religious-based radicalism in northern industrial centers after 1900, Jarod Roll shows the opposite dynamic in the American South. Even in the North, as Janine Giordano Drake emphasizes, a radical, Jesus-based Christianity was an important ideological prop for the Socialist Party of America. In conclusion, Edward Blum ponders the questions of how the labor movement reinterpreted a classic biblical curse and why historians failed to notice.
Bioengineering approaches to guide stem cell-based organogenesis
Authors: Gjorevski Nikolche , Ranga Adrian , Lutolf Matthias P.
Published: April 2014

During organogenesis, various molecular and physical signals are orchestrated in space and time to sculpt multiple cell types into functional tissues and organs. The complex and dynamic nature of the process has hindered studies aimed at delineating morphogenetic mechanisms in vivo, particularly in mammals. Recent demonstrations of stem cell-driven tissue assembly in culture offer a powerful new tool for modeling and dissecting organogenesis. However, despite the highly organotypic nature of stem cell-derived tissues, substantial differences set them apart from their in vivo counterparts, probably owing to the altered microenvironment in which they reside and the lack of mesenchymal influences. Advances in the biomaterials and microtechnology fields have, for example, afforded a high degree of spatiotemporal control over the cellular microenvironment, making it possible to interrogate the effects of individual microenvironmental components in a modular fashion and rapidly identify organ-specific synthetic culture models. Hence, bioengineering approaches promise to bridge the gap between stem cell-driven tissue formation in culture and morphogenesis in vivo, offering mechanistic insight into organogenesis and unveiling powerful new models for drug discovery, as well as strategies for tissue regeneration in the clinic. We draw on several examples of stem cell-derived organoids to illustrate how bioengineering can contribute to tissue formation ex vivo. We also discuss the challenges that lie ahead and potential ways to overcome them.
High-resolution analysis of gene activity during the Xenopus mid-blastula transition
Authors: Collart Clara , Owens Nick D. L. , Bhaw-Rosun Leena , Cooper Brook , De Domenico Elena , Patrushev Ilya , Sesay Abdul K. , Smith James N. , Smith James C. , Gilchrist Michael J.
Published: April 2014

The Xenopus mid-blastula transition (MBT) marks the onset of large-scale zygotic transcription, as well as an increase in cell cycle length and a loss of synchronous cell divisions. Little is known about what triggers the activation of transcription or how newly expressed genes interact with each other. Here, we use high-resolution expression profiling to identify three waves of gene activity: a post-fertilisation wave involving polyadenylation of maternal transcripts; a broad wave of zygotic transcription detectable as early as the seventh cleavage and extending beyond the MBT at the twelfth cleavage; and a shorter post-MBT wave of transcription that becomes apparent as development proceeds. Our studies have also allowed us to define a set of maternal mRNAs that are deadenylated shortly after fertilisation, and are likely to be degraded thereafter. Experimental analysis indicates that the polyadenylation of maternal transcripts is necessary for the establishment of proper levels of zygotic transcription at the MBT, and that genes activated in the second wave of expression, including Brachyury and Mixer, contribute to the regulation of genes expressed in the third. Together, our high-resolution time series and experimental studies have yielded a deeper understanding of the temporal organisation of gene regulatory networks in the early Xenopus embryo.
Growth control by a moving morphogen gradient during Drosophila eye development
Authors: Wartlick Ortrud , Jülicher Frank , Gonzalez-Gaitan Marcos
Published: April 2014

During morphogenesis, organs grow to stereotyped sizes, but growth control mechanisms are poorly understood. Here, we measured the signaling dynamics of the morphogen Dpp, one of several Drosophila factors controlling morphogenetic growth, in the developing eye. In this tissue, the Dpp expression domain advances from the posterior to the anterior tissue edge. In front of this moving morphogen source, signaling inputs including Dpp activate the target gene hairy in a gradient that scales with tissue size. Proliferation, in turn, occurs in a mitotic wave in front of the source, whereas behind it, cells arrest and differentiate. We found that cells divide when their signaling levels have increased by around 60%. This simple mechanism quantitatively explains the proliferation and differentiation waves in wild type and mutants. Furthermore, this mechanism may be a common feature of different growth factors, because a Dpp-independent growth input also follows this growth rule.
Dynamic Helicity Control of a Single-helical Oligooxime Complex and Acid–Base-triggered Repeated Helicity Inversion Mediated by Amino Acids
Authors: Sairenji Shiho , Akine Shigehisa , Nabeshima Tatsuya
Published: April 2014

Helicity of a single-helical oligooxime complex [(L)Zn3La]3+ was controlled efficiently by coordination with various kinds of α-amino acids. The helicity depends on the residues of the amino acids. A mixture of [(L)Zn3La]3+ and cysteic acid underwent helicity inversion repeatedly by the alternate addition of an acid and a base.
Technical Note—A Risk- and Ambiguity-Averse Extension of the Max-Min Newsvendor Order Formula
Authors: Han Qiaoming , Du Donglei , Zuluaga Luis F.
Published: April 2014

Scarf's max-min order formula for the risk-neutral and ambiguity-averse newsvendor problem is a classical result in the field of inventory management. In this article, we extend Scarf's formula by deriving an analogous closed-form order formula for the risk- and ambiguity-averse newsvendor problem. Specifically, we provide and analyze the newsvendor order quantity that maximizes the worst-case expected profit versus risk trade-off (risk-averse) when only the mean and standard deviation of the product's demand distribution are known (ambiguity-averse), and the risk is measured by the standard deviation of the newsvendor's profit. We provide both analytical and numerical results to illustrate the combined effect of considering risk aversion and ambiguity aversion in computing the newsvendor order.
Understanding Barriers to Competitive Employment: A Family Perspective
Authors: Francis Grace L. , Gross Judith M. S. , Turnbull Ann P. , Turnbull Rud
Published: April 2014

This study reports the results of a survey and interviews with families who attended Family Employment Awareness Training (FEAT), a training designed to increase expectations for competitive employment and knowledge about employment resources among families who have members with disabilities, to determine their perceptions of barriers to competitive employment for people with individualized support needs (ISN). Analysis of survey and interview data identified barriers related to (a) characteristics of people with ISN, (b) agencies and programs, (c) families, (d) expectations, (e) employers, and (f) the economy. This study uses an ecological framework (Bronfenbrenner, 1979, 1986) to organize the findings. We also discuss implications for practice and policy, including recommendations for improving education and support for people with ISN, families, and professionals in the micro-, exo-, and macrosystems.
Test of Self-Determination Theory in Swimmers With and Without Down Syndrome
Authors: Casey Amanda Faith , Wang Xu , Boucher Jacques
Published: April 2014

Self-determination theory (SDT) may offer insight into the motives behind sport participation by individuals with Down syndrome (DS). The Pictorial Motivation Scale (PMS), developed by Poulin (1992), evaluated the motivation of junior athletes with (n = 15) and without DS (n = 15) participating in inclusive community-based swimming. In line with SDT, cluster analyses showed that intrinsic motivation, extrinsic motivation, and amotivation were all present in athletes with and without disabilities. Swimmers with DS scored significantly higher in intrinsic motivation than non–self-determined extrinsic motivation (−0.45, p < 0.001) and amotivation (−1.28, p < 0.001), suggesting involvement in community-based inclusive sport may promote enhanced psychological functioning in this sample. Further research may be warranted into the motivation of athletes with DS across longer periods of time.
Advertising and climate change, relationships and divergences
Authors: Jurado Deborah González , Maldonado Carmen Jambrino
Published: April 2014

The aim of this article is to analyse the sense and evolution of advertising communication strategies since the phenomenon of climate change appeared and started to be projected by the media, which simultaneously sparked off the public opinion debate. Several publications are examined so as to understand how environmentalist keys about publicity are reflected in scientific literature. The article pays particular attention to how the business perspective becomes a social and communication agent.
From the rhetoric of science to scientific journalism
Authors: Gross Teodoro León
Published: April 2014

Journalism and science are forced into unavoidable coexistence, despite the mistrust that the scientific sphere has shown towards journalism, related to its historical wariness towards rhetoric. In fact, scientific discontent is not unfounded, faced with scarcely specialized coverage, secondary sources, rudimentary texts and genders, agenda marginalization, etc. However, other misgivings are the result of misunderstanding journalism, for which the pedagogical function is subsidiary to the informative function. Journalism is not a platform for scientific debate, but an activity that has its own logic, language and hierarchical criteria. Cooperation is, above all, necessary – journalism adds to the social value of scientific activity, it contributes visibility and even attracts resources – and collaboration is advisable in order to stimulate a more competent scientific journalism.
Media and climate change: From content analysis to analysis content. The interdisciplinary construction of a new paradigm
Authors: Nosty Bernardo Díaz
Published: April 2014

In order to analyse the relationship between communication and climate change and the problems involved in transmitting the scientific consensus to public opinion by means of the media, the researcher must undertake a special commitment beyond the presupposed ethical stance. The transcendence of the matter under study exceeds the scope of the routine of scholarly works and demands the deployment of interdisciplinary cooperation. That is, developing a proactive strategy which is useful for the public, that can participate in scientific actions aimed at mitigating the effects of global warming, and can cooperate in correcting its causes. There is also a theoretical hypothesis, the inability of the media, as the expression of a system in crisis, to clearly explain the real causes of the phenomenon and point out solutions, as well as the need to construct a new paradigm, prior to or as a consequence of a social contract of sustainability.
No more great expectations: Media response to Obama’s climate action plan
Authors: Hoyos Gloria
Published: April 2014

On 25 June 2013 the President of the United States of America, Barack Obama announced the Climate Action Plan, a package of measures intended to slow the effects of climate change. If the political consequences of this speech are yet unknown, the media response to Obama’s announcement serves as a good example of how media covers news related to climate change. This article approaches the immediate response that the most important media in the United States had to Obama’s announcement and how climate change is a complex issue that needs to be responsibly addressed by the scientific community, politicians and journalists.
Price Promotion for Emotional Impact
Authors: Aydinli Aylin , Bertini Marco , Lambrecht Anja
Published: April 2014

Managers and academics often think of price promotions merely as incentives that entice consumers to accept offers that they might not have considered otherwise. Yet the prospect of paying a lower price for a product of given quality can also discourage deliberation, in a sense “dumbing down” the purchase encounter by making it less consequential. The authors examine this possibility in a dual-system theory of consumer behavior. Specifically, they argue that price promotion lowers a consumer's motivation to exert mental effort, in which case purchase decisions are guided less by extensive information processing and more by a quicker, easier, strong conditioner of preference: affect. Field data from a large daily deal company and four controlled experiments support this idea and document its implications primarily for product choice, in turn providing insight into the form and cause of brand switching that manufacturers and retailers can leverage to improve the allocation of promotional budgets and category management.
Hemostatic Abnormalities in Noonan Syndrome
Authors: Artoni Andrea , Selicorni Angelo , Passamonti Serena M. , Lecchi Anna , Bucciarelli Paolo , Cerutti Marta , Cianci Paola , Gianniello Francesca , Martinelli Ida
Published: April 2014

BACKGROUND:

A bleeding diathesis is a common feature of Noonan syndrome, and various coagulation abnormalities have been reported. Platelet function has never been carefully investigated.

METHODS:

The degree of bleeding diathesis in a cohort of patients with Noonan syndrome was evaluated by a validated bleeding score and investigated with coagulation and platelet function tests. If ratios of prothrombin time and/or activated partial thromboplastin time were prolonged, the activity of clotting factors was measured. Individuals with no history of bleeding formed the control group.

RESULTS:

The study population included 39 patients and 28 controls. Bleeding score was ≥2 (ie, suggestive of a moderate bleeding diathesis) in 15 patients (38.5%) and ≥4 (ie, suggestive of a severe bleeding diathesis) in 7 (17.9%). Abnormal coagulation and/or platelet function tests were found in 14 patients with bleeding score ≥2 (93.3%) but also in 21 (87.5%) of those with bleeding score <2. The prothrombin time and activated partial thromboplastin time were prolonged in 18 patients (46%) and partial deficiency of factor VII, alone or in combination with the deficiency of other vitamin K–dependent factors, was the most frequent coagulation abnormality. Moreover, platelet aggregation and secretion were reduced in 29 of 35 patients (82.9%, P < .01 for all aggregating agents).

CONCLUSIONS:

Nearly 40% of patients with the Noonan syndrome had a bleeding diathesis and >90% of them had platelet function and/or coagulation abnormalities. Results of these tests should be taken into account in the management of bleeding or invasive procedures in these patients.
Language Problems in Children With ADHD: A Community-Based Study
Authors: Sciberras Emma , Mueller Kathryn L. , Efron Daryl , Bisset Matthew , Anderson Vicki , Schilpzand Elizabeth J. , Jongeling Brad , Nicholson Jan M.
Published: April 2014

OBJECTIVES:

To examine the prevalence of language problems in children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) versus non-ADHD controls, and the impact of language problems on the social and academic functioning of children with ADHD.

METHODS:

Children (6 to 8 years) with ADHD (n = 179) and controls (n = 212) were recruited through 43 Melbourne schools. ADHD was assessed by using the Conners 3 ADHD Index and the Diagnostic Interview Schedule for Children IV. Oral language was assessed by using the Clinical Evaluation of Language Fundamentals, fourth edition, screener. Academic functioning was measured via direct assessment (Wide Range Achievement Test 4) and teacher report (Social Skills Improvement System). Social functioning was measured via parent and teacher report (Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire; Social Skills Improvement System). Logistic and linear regression models were adjusted for sociodemographic factors and child comorbidities.

RESULTS:

Children with ADHD had a higher prevalence of language problems than controls after adjustment for sociodemographic factors and comorbidities (odds ratio, 2.8; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.5 to 5.1). Compared with children with ADHD alone, those with language problems had poorer word reading (mean difference [MD], −11.6; 95% CI, −16.4 to −6.9; effect size, −0.7), math computation (MD, −11.4; 95% CI, −15.0 to −7.7; effect size, −0.8), and academic competence (MD, −10.1; 95% CI, −14.0 to −6.1; effect size, −0.7). Language problems were not associated with poorer social functioning.

CONCLUSIONS:

Children with ADHD had a higher prevalence of language problems than controls, and language problems in children with ADHD contributed to markedly poorer academic functioning.
Anxiety in Children With Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder
Authors: Sciberras Emma , Lycett Kate , Efron Daryl , Mensah Fiona , Gerner Bibi , Hiscock Harriet
Published: April 2014

OBJECTIVES:

Although anxiety is common in children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), it is unclear how anxiety influences the lives of these children. This study examined the association between anxiety comorbidities and functioning by comparing children with ADHD and no, 1, or ≥2 anxiety comorbidities. Differential associations were examined by current ADHD presentation (subtype).

METHODS:

Children with diagnostically confirmed ADHD (N = 392; 5–13 years) were recruited via 21 pediatrician practices across Victoria, Australia. Anxiety was assessed by using the Anxiety Disorders Interview Schedule for Children—IV. Functional measures included parent-reported: quality of life (QoL; Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory 4.0), behavior and peer problems (Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire), daily functioning (Daily Parent Rating of Evening and Morning Behavior), and school attendance. Teacher-reported behavior and peer problems (Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire) were also examined. Linear and logistic regression controlled for ADHD severity, medication use, comorbidities, and demographic factors.

RESULTS:

Children with ≥2 anxiety comorbidities (n = 143; 39%) had poorer QoL (effect size: –0.8) and more difficulties with behavior (effect size: 0.4) and daily functioning (effect size: 0.3) than children without anxiety (n = 132; 36%). Poorer functioning was not observed for children with 1 anxiety comorbidity (n = 95; 26%). Two or more anxiety comorbidities were associated with poorer functioning for children with both ADHD-Inattentive and ADHD-Combined presentation.

CONCLUSIONS:

Children with ADHD demonstrate poorer QoL, daily functioning and behavior when ≥2 anxiety comorbidities are present. Future research should examine whether treating anxiety in children with ADHD improves functional outcomes.