bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
First successful case of non‐invasive in‐utero treatment of twin reversed arterial perfusion sequence by high‐intensity focused ultrasound
Authors: Okai T. , Ichizuka K. , Hasegawa J. , Matsuoka R. , Nakamura M. , Shimodaira K. , Sekizawa A. , Kushima M. , Umemura S.
Published: March 2013

High‐intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) has excellent potential as a non‐invasive therapeutic tool in various fields of medicine. We present a case of twin reversed arterial perfusion sequence, in which non‐invasive blood flow occlusion in the acardiac fetus was successfully achieved by means of HIFU exposure from outside the maternal abdomen. HIFU was applied to blood vessels of the acardiac fetus at the point at which the umbilical cord entered the body in a series of four procedures at 3‐day intervals starting at 13 weeks' gestation, and in a final procedure with higher power at 17 weeks. The HIFU intensity was set at approximately 2300 W/cm2 for the initial series of procedures and at 4600 W/cm2 for the final procedure, with exposure periods of 10 s. As color Doppler examination revealed absence of blood flow to the acardiac fetus after the second round of HIFU exposure, we concluded that complete occlusion of target vessels had been achieved. Delivery was by Cesarean section at 37 weeks' gestation. A male neonate (the pump fetus) was born weighing 1903 g with Apgar scores of 8 and 9 at 1 and 5 min, respectively. At the time of writing, the baby was healthy and growing normally, with the exception of congenital pseudarthrosis. Copyright © 2013 ISUOG. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
What would surgeons like from materials scientists?
Authors: Grundfest‐Broniatowski Sharon
Published: March 2013

Surgery involves the repair, resection, replacement, or improvement of body parts and functions and in numerous ways, surgery should be considered human engineering. There are many areas in which surgical materials could be improved, but surgeons are generally unaware of materials available for use, while materials scientists do not know what surgeons require. This article will review some of the areas where surgeons and materials scientists have interacted in the past and will discuss some of the most pressing problems which remain to be solved. These include better implant materials for hernia repair, breast reconstruction, the treatment of diabetes, vascular stenting and reconstruction, and electrical pacing devices. The combination of tissue engineering and nanomaterials has great potential for application to nearly every aspect of surgery. Tissue engineering will allow cells or artificial organs to be grown for specific uses while nanotechnology will help to ensure maximal biocompatibility. Biosensors will be combined with improved electrodes and pacing devices to control impaired neurological functions. WIREs Nanomed Nanobiotechnol 2013, 5:299–319. doi: 10.1002/wnan.1220

This article is categorized under:

Implantable Materials and Surgical Technologies > Nanomaterials and Implants

Implantable Materials and Surgical Technologies > Nanotechnology in Tissue Repair and Replacement

Implantable Materials and Surgical Technologies > Nanoscale Tools and Techniques in Surgery
Physical dispersion and dilution of ballast water discharge in the St. Clair River: Implications for biological invasions
Authors: Sun Yajun , Wells Mathew G. , Bailey Sarah A. , Anderson Eric J.
Published: March 2013

Key Points

Limited transverse mixing predicts discharge never reaches the opposite bank.

Power‐law decay of peak concentration can considerably reduce invasion risks.

Distinct travels speeds occur across the wide channel due to velocity shear.
Relationship between water color, water levels, and climate indices in large rivers: Case of the St. Lawrence River (Canada)
Authors: Massicotte Philippe , Assani Ali A. , Gratton Denis , Frenette Jean‐Jacques
Published: March 2013

Key Points

Water color in the SLR may be used to monitor environmental and climate changes.

We found a link between global climate indices and water color in large river.

This link is mainly driven by water level changes which depend on climate.
Multivariate return period calculation via survival functions
Authors: Salvadori G. , Durante F. , De Michele C.
Published: March 2013

Key Points

New consistent and well‐founded definition of Multivariate Return Period

Easy‐to‐use formulas for performing Multivariate design and risk assessment

The new approach is so general that all hydrological sciences may benefit of it
Sporicidal efficacy of pH-adjusted bleach for control of bioburden on production facility surfaces
Authors: Frazer Anne Cornish , Smyth Josephine N , Bhupathiraju Vishvesh K
Published: March 2013

pH-adjusted bleach was one of the agents used to disinfect contaminated public buildings in the USA following the 2001 bioterrorist attack with Bacillus anthracis spores. A USEPA fact sheet describes the preparation of pH-adjusted bleach by combining diluted sodium hypochlorite (NaOCl) with a controlled amount of 5 % acetic acid. This paper reports a modification of this procedure to qualify the use of pH-adjusted bleach for routine disinfection of cleanroom surfaces in pharmaceutical manufacturing facilities whenever a short contact time is desirable or there is a need for enhanced germicidal or sporicidal activity. Adjustment of pH was obtained reproducibly with either acetic acid or HCl, confirming the feasibility of developing standard procedures for the controlled addition of acid to diluted NaOCl solutions without compromising operator safety and convenience. Efficacy testing using spores from an in-house isolate of Bacillus pumilus confirmed that NaOCl solutions in the pH 5–8 range have much greater sporicidal activity on surfaces than do unadjusted alkaline solutions (pH > 11). With a contact time of 0.5 min, the log10 reduction in spore viable counts was >5.4 for the five representative surfaces tested relative to untreated controls. Solutions of pH-adjusted NaOCl are known to be less stable than unadjusted alkaline solutions. Stability studies were performed by monitoring sporicidal efficacy, level of free available chlorine (FAC), and pH. Testing included several NaOCl concentrations and adjustment to different starting pHs. The efficacy of pH-adjusted solutions persisted in open containers for at least 12 h even though some FAC degradation occurred. In addition, solutions of 0.29 or 0.50 % NaOCl stored at room temperature protected from light retained efficacy for at least 4 weeks, indicating that short-term storage of solutions is possible following pH adjustment. The inorganic chemical degradation of pH-adjusted NaOCl solutions generates chlorate ion, an undesirable by-product. A comparison of chemical stability for 0.12, 0.25, and 0.50 % NaOCl solutions adjusted to different initial pHs indicated that the least chlorate formation occurred with 0.12 % NaOCl.
Information Matrices and Standard Errors for MLEs of Item Parameters in IRT
Authors: Yuan Ke-Hai , Cheng Ying , Patton Jeff
Published: March 2013

The paper clarifies the relationship among several information matrices for the maximum likelihood estimates (MLEs) of item parameters. It shows that the process of calculating the observed information matrix also generates a related matrix that is the middle piece of a sandwich-type covariance matrix. Monte Carlo results indicate that standard errors (SEs) based on the observed information matrix are robust to many, but not all, conditions of model/distribution misspecifications. SEs based on the sandwich-type covariance matrix perform most consistently across conditions. Results also suggest that SEs based on other matrices are either not consistent or perform not as robust as those based on the sandwich-type covariance matrix or the observed information matrix.
Coloration Process in the Sulfonation of Fatty Acid Methyl Ester with Sulfur Trioxide
Authors: Niikura Fumiya , Omine Masato , Kimura Yoshihiro , Konta Hiroshi , Kageyama Motohiro , Tobori Norio , Araki Koji
Published: March 2013

Fatty acid methyl ester sulfonate (MES), an anionic surfactant suitable as a laundry detergent, is produced commercially by the direct sulfonation of fatty acid methyl ester (ME) with SO3. However, intense coloration occurs during the sulfonation process. The sulfonation of ME was performed through the addition of SO3 (SO3/ME molar ratio = 0.8–1.2) for 1–4 h and subsequent aging for 1 h at 80 °C. Even when the amount of unsaturated bonds in ME was reduced to give an iodine value (IV) of less than 0.01, coloration occurred during the sulfonation, making the unbleached product unsuitable for commercial use. The formation of olefinic units and SO2 was observed during the reaction, and the color of the reaction mixture was strongly correlated with their amounts. Further analysis confirmed that equimolar amounts of the olefinic unit and SO2 were formed, and the rate profiles of the formation of MES and SO2 agreed well with each other. From these observations, we concluded that the coloration of the reaction mixture was caused by oxidation of the alkyl chain with SO3 during the liberation of SO3 from the 1:2 adduct of ME and SO3, a key intermediate in the sulfonation process.
Low appendicular skeletal muscle mass (ASM) with limited mobility and poor health outcomes in middle‐aged African Americans
Authors: Malmstrom Theodore K. , Miller Douglas K. , Herning Margaret M. , Morley John E.
Published: March 2013

Background

Recent efforts to provide a consensus definition propose that sarcopenia be considered a clinical syndrome associated with the loss of both skeletal muscle mass and muscle function that occurs with aging. Validation of sarcopenia definitions that include both low muscle mass and poor muscle function is needed.

Methods

In the population‐based African American Health (AAH) study (N = 998 at baseline/wave 1), muscle mass and mobility were evaluated in a clinical testing center in a subsample of N = 319 persons (ages 52–68) at wave 4 (2004). Muscle mass was measured using dual energy x‐ray absorptiometry and mobility by a 6‐min walk test and 4‐m gait walk test. Height corrected appendicular skeletal mass (ASM; 9.0 ± 1.5 in n = 124 males, 8.3 ± 2.2 in n = 195 females) was computed as total lean muscle mass in arms and legs (kilograms) divided by the square of height (meters). Cross‐sectional and longitudinal (6‐year) associations of low ASM (bottom 25 % AAH sample; <7.96 males and <7.06 females) and low ASM with limited mobility (4‐m gait walk ≤1 m/s or 6‐min walk <400 m) were examined for basic activities of daily living (ADL) difficulties, instrumental activities of daily living (IADL) difficulties, frailty, falls, and mortality (longitudinal only).

Results

Low ASM with limited mobility was associated with IADL difficulties (p = .008) and frailty (p = .040) but not with ADL difficulties or falls in cross‐sectional analyses; and with ADL difficulties (p = .022), IADL difficulties (p = .006), frailty (p = .039), and mortality (p = .003) but not with falls in longitudinal analyses adjusted for age and gender. Low ASM alone was marginally associated with mortality (p = .085) but not with other outcomes in cross‐sectional or longitudinal analyses.

Conclusion

Low ASM with limited mobility is associated with poor health outcomes among late middle‐aged African Americans.
The neuropsychology of normal aging and preclinical Alzheimer's disease
Authors: Caselli Richard J. , Locke Dona E.C. , Dueck Amylou C. , Knopman David S. , Woodruff Bryan K. , Hoffman‐Snyder Charlene , Rademakers Rosa , Fleisher Adam S. , Reiman Eric M.
Published: March 2013

Objective

A National Institute on Aging–sponsored work group on preclinical Alzheimer's disease (AD) articulated the need to characterize cognitive differences between normal aging and preclinical AD.

Methods

Seventy‐one apolipoprotein E (APOE) ε4 homozygotes, 194 ε3/ε4 heterozygotes, and 356 ε4 noncarriers age 21 to 87 years who were cognitively healthy underwent neuropsychological testing every 2 years. Longitudinal trajectories of test scores were compared between APOE subgroups.

Results

There was a significant effect of age on all cognitive domains in both APOE ε4 carriers and noncarriers. A significant effect of APOE ε4 gene dose was confined to the memory domain and the Dementia Rating Scale. Cross‐sectional comparisons did not discriminate the groups.

Conclusions

Although cognitive aging patterns are similar in APOE ε4 carriers and noncarriers, preclinical AD is characterized by a significant ε4 gene dose effect that impacts memory and is detectable longitudinally. Preclinical neuropsychological testing strategies should emphasize memory‐sensitive measures and longitudinal design.
Increasingly ‘Irrational’ Party Systems: Evidence that There Are Increasingly More Than Two Parties at the District Level
Authors: Raymond Christopher D.
Published: March 2013

Recent work has noted an increase in the number of parties at the national level in both proportional and majoritarian electoral systems. While the conventional wisdom maintains that the incentives provided by the electoral system will prevent the number of parties at the district level from exceeding two in majoritarian systems, the evidence presented here demonstrates otherwise. I argue that this has occurred because the number of cleavages articulated by parties has increased as several third parties have begun articulating cleavages that are not well represented by the two larger parties.
Maternal first-trimester dietary intake and childhood blood pressure: the Generation R Study
Authors: van den Hil Leontine C. L. , Rob Taal H. , de Jonge Layla. L. , Heppe Denise H. M. , Steegers Eric A. P. , Hofman Albert , van der Heijden Albert J. , Jaddoe Vincent W. V.
Published: March 2013

Suboptimal maternal dietary intake during pregnancy might lead to fetal cardiovascular adaptations and higher blood pressure in the offspring. The aim of the present study was to investigate the associations of maternal first-trimester dietary intake with blood pressure in children at the age of 6 years. We assessed first-trimester maternal daily dietary intake by a FFQ and measured folate, homocysteine and vitamin B12 concentrations in the blood, in a population-based prospective cohort study among 2863 mothers and children. Childhood systolic and diastolic blood pressure was measured using a validated automatic sphygmomanometer. First-trimester maternal daily intake of energy, fat, protein and carbohydrate was not associated with childhood blood pressure. Furthermore, maternal intake of micronutrients was not associated with childhood blood pressure. Also, higher maternal vitamin B12 concentrations were associated with a higher diastolic blood pressure (0·31 mmHg per standard deviation increase in vitamin B12 (95 % CI 0·06, 0·56)). After taking into account multiple testing, none of the associations was statistically significant. Maternal first-trimester folate and homocysteine concentrations were not associated with childhood blood pressure. The results from the present study suggest that maternal Fe intake and vitamin B12 concentrations during the first trimester of pregnancy might affect childhood blood pressure, although the effect estimates were small and were not significant after correction for multiple testing. Further studies are needed to replicate these findings, to elucidate the underlying mechanisms and to assess whether these differences in blood pressure persist in later life.
Effect of dietary laminarin and fucoidan on selected microbiota, intestinal morphology and immune status of the newly weaned pig
Authors: Walsh A. M. , Sweeney T. , O'Shea C. J. , Doyle D. N. , O'Doherty J. V.
Published: March 2013

A 2 × 2 factorial experiment was conducted to investigate the interactions between laminarin (LAM; 0 and 300 parts per million (ppm)) and fucoidan (FUC; 0 and 240 ppm) levels on intestinal morphology, selected microbiota and inflammatory cytokine gene expression in the weaned pig. There was an interaction between LAM and FUC supplementation on the Enterobacteriaceae population (P< 0·05) and the abundance of attaching and effacingEscherichia coli(AEEC) strains (P< 0·05) in the colon. Pigs offered the FUC diet had a reduced Enterobacteriaceae population compared with pigs offered the basal diet. However, the effect of FUC on the Enterobacteriaceae population was not observed when combined with LAM. Pigs offered the LAM diet had reduced abundance of AEEC strains compared with pigs offered the basal diet. However, there was no effect of LAM on the abundance of AEEC strains when combined with FUC. There was an interaction between LAM and FUC supplementation on villous height (P< 0·01) and the villous height:crypt depth ratio (P< 0·01) in the duodenum. Pigs offered the LAM or FUC diet had an increased villous height and villous height:crypt depth ratio compared with pigs offered the basal diet. However, there was no effect of the LAM and FUC combination diet on intestinal morphology. Pigs offered the LAM-supplemented diets had a lowerIL-6(P< 0·05),IL-17A(P< 0·01) andIL-1β(P< 0·01) mRNA expression in the colon compared with pigs offered the diets without LAM. In conclusion, supplementation with either LAM or FUC alone modified intestinal morphology and selected intestinal microbiota, but these effects were lost when offered in combination.
Nothria and Anchinothria (Annelida: Onuphidae) from eastern Australian waters, with a discussion of ontogenetic variation of diagnostic characters
Authors: Budaeva Nataliya , Paxton Hannelore
Published: March 2013

Nothria and Anchinothria, two sister genera of onuphid worms were studied from eastern Australian waters. Nothria abyssia, with a wide distribution in Pacific and Antarctic waters is reported from slope depths south-east of Australia, while N. otsuchiensis, described from Japanese waters, was found along the eastern coast of Australia from shallow subtidal to deep slope areas. Anchinothria parvula sp. nov. is described, based on the presence of uni- and bidentate pseudocompound falcigers in the first three pairs of parapodia, absence of branchiae and appearance of limbate chaetae from chaetiger 2, subacicular hooks from chaetigers 6–8 and pectinate chaetae from chaetiger 14. The new species represents the first record of the genus in Australian waters. Ontogenetic variation of chaetal composition and morphology of parapodia was estimated in two Nothria species examined. Three size-related morphotypes with different chaetal composition and morphology of anterior falcigers were revealed in N. abyssia and N. otsuchiensis. The number of chaetigers with pseudocompound falcigers is the only character independent of size of the specimens in both examined species. Distribution of subacicular hooks and postchaetal lobes is shown to be size-dependent. The following characters are considered of diagnostic value only when scored in adults: presence/absence of simple falcigers in anterior parapodia; chaetiger of origin of limbate chaetae, pectinate chaetae, and subacicular hooks; and number of chaetigers with auricular prechaetal lobes and digitiform postchaetal lobes. The use of adult specimens with the final set of definitive morphological structures for diagnoses of Nothria species is suggested.
Macrobenthic community structure in tropical estuaries: the effect of sieve mesh-size and sampling depth on estimated abundance, biomass and composition
Authors: Valença Ana Paula Maria Cavalcanti , Santos Paulo Jorge Parreira dos
Published: March 2013

Macrobenthic data from estuaries along the Pernambuco coast in north-eastern Brazil were analysed to evaluate the effect of sieve mesh size (1.0 mm × 0.5 mm) and sampling depth (0–10 cm × 0–20 cm) on the description of infaunal communities, in an attempt to discuss standardized sampling procedures for different ecological studies objectives in these ecosystems. In general, the difference in sieve retention was less evident for biomass but was important for abundance: the 1.0 mm sieve retained only 27% of total individuals but 77% of total biomass. Regarding sampling depth, the 0–10 cm layer contained most individuals (94%) but contributed just 64% of the overall biomass. Although no strong differences in community structure were observed at most sites with the use of different sieves, the correlations among community dissimilarity using different meshes with environmental parameters (organic matter, total-N and microphytobenthos) indicated that the use of the 0.5 mm sieve will allow a better evaluation of the status of these estuaries. The results also highlight the importance of taking the vertical distribution of tropical macrofauna into account for quantitative estimates: for taxa composition and abundance the top layer is clearly essential, whereas for biomass the deeper layers should also be considered.
Resurrection of the genusLicorniaforScrupocellaria jolloisii(Bryozoa) and related species, with documentation ofL. jolloisiias a non-indigenous species in the western Atlantic
Authors: Vieira Leandro M. , Spencer Jones Mary E. , Winston Judith E.
Published: March 2013

Recent studies of the large cheilostome bryozoan genusScrupocellariahave shown a greater degree of taxonomically informative morphological variation in zooids, opesia, and polymorphic structures than previously recognized. Only one subgenus has been named within the genus,Retiscrupocellariad'Hondt, 1988, erected forScrupocellaria jolloisii. In this work we further analyseS. jolloisiiand its related species, resurrecting an earlier genus name,Licorniavan Beneden, 1850 forLicornia jolloisii, and nine relatives,L. annectens,L. cervicornis,L. cyclostoma,L. diadema,L. ferox,L. gaspari,L. longispinosa,L. macropora, andL. prolata.Licornia jolloisiiwas originally described from the Red Sea, and most species of the genus occur in the Indo-Pacific region. The species, however, has now been found in the Western Atlantic, in the Florida Keys, US, and in Bahia de Todos Santos, Brazil.
Decoding the “CoDe”: a framework for conceptualizing and designing help options in computer-based second language listening
Authors: Cardenas-Claros Monica Stella , Gruba Paul A.
Published: March 2013

This paper proposes a theoretical framework for the conceptualization and design of help options in computer-based second language (L2) listening. Based on four empirical studies, it aims at clarifying both conceptualization and design (CoDe) components. The elements of conceptualization consist of a novel four-part classification of help options: operational, regulatory, compensatory and explanatory. The design section establishes ways that make help options easy to use, encourage learner control, frame guidance and stimulate learning. Each component is contextualized, discussed and presented with limitations and suggestions for further research.
Lowercase Strategies in Public Sound Art: celebrating the transient audience
Authors: Batchelor Peter
Published: March 2013

Public art invariably involves the drawing of individuals into the roles of audience and participant by virtue of it being in the public domain – in public places where those individuals are getting on with their everyday lives. As such, a large proportion of the ‘audience’ is an unwitting one, subjected to the art rather than subscribing to it. This is equally true of public sound art, where response to an intervention may vary from engagement to non-engagement to indifference to unawareness, along with a variety of transitional states between. This essay seeks to investigate this ambiguous territory in public sound art, proposing it both as an area rich in possibility for creative exploration and as a means by which artists may reveal and encourage sensitivity to the existing characteristics of a site (thus accommodating the pursuit of agendas relating to acoustic ecology). In particular it investigates and presents a case for the use of lowercase strategies in sound art as ways in which the public might beinvitedinto a dialogue with works (invitation rather than imposition) and thus empowered as partakers of public sound art.
My Content/My Space/My Music
Authors: Kontogeorgakopoulos Alexandros , Kotsifa Olivia
Published: March 2013

This paper presents an interactive sound design and interactive composition aesthetic. Three projects are presented as case studies and underline the importance of audience involvement: From snow [to space to movement] to sound (2011), Melodic walk (2012) and Points… (2012). All three projects have been designed, implemented and put in practice, and outline the aesthetic vision and approach of the authors. In the examples above, elements of interactive performance, sound installation and architectural design are blended together in order to deliver a sonic result, where the audience plays a central role. The members of the audience interact directly with the artworks, and as a result become part of the installation. Moreover, by bringing their own content into the interactive scenario, they also become contributors. The architectural space is an important parameter, as the spatial design is key to audience interaction with the music. Technical and aesthetic aspects are presented alongside the experiences of the audience/participants/contributors.
On Performing Electroacoustic Musics: a non-idiomatic case study for Adorno's theory of musical reproduction
Authors: Hoffman Elizabeth
Published: March 2013

Adorno's theory of musical reproduction is unfinished, inconsistent and attuned only to score-based acoustic music – but it has relevance for electroacoustic performance as well. His theory prompts contemplation about what ‘good’ interpretation, and interpretation itself, means for fixed electroacoustic music. A digital sound file is frequently, if not typically, viewed as more rigid and precise than a score. This article uses Adorno's theory to compare ontologies of score and digital file realizations respectively, thus questioning the above assumption. Do electroacoustic works truly exist apart from their performed features, or is a given work only its performances? Different answers imply different work concepts and interpretive strategies. Toward the essay's goals, we examine three features often viewed as nonontological to an electroacoustic work, namely performed spatialisation, equalisation, and amplitude balance. We consider the impacts of these features when they are manipulated in real time, or performance to performance. As Adorno asks how choices of timing or dynamics dictate a notated work's aesthetic ‘clarity’, this paper asks how performed choices contribute to an electroacoustic work's clarity, and to the unique interpretive potential of electroacoustic music. Tape music and acousmatic music, with its diffusion tradition, are central to this paper's thesis; but multi-channel works are circumscribed by it as well.
Schaeffer's Values, Henry's Monsters and Orchestral Noise Reduction
Authors: DeThorne Jeffrey
Published: March 2013

If nineteenth-century aesthetics distinguish between distinct, colourful French instrumentation and doubled, equalised German orchestration, this distinction softens when the ‘New German’ orchestration of Wagner and Strauss exploits individual instrumental colours before dissolving them into massive orchestral sonorities. Similarly, if early French electroacoustic music counteracts the meta-serialism of early twentieth-century German electronic music, Pierre Schaeffer's Traité des objets musicaux combines his early anecdotal Noise Studies with a noise-reduction process into a new, rather German aesthetic of electroacoustics. In search of musical objects through a reductive, analytical listening (entendre), Schaeffer's neutralisation of anecdotal noises into musical objects is analogous to New German orchestration's neutralisation of individual orchestral colours in order to synthesise new orchestral combinations. Although this orchestral synthesis is different from the analytical probe for new valeurs involved in entendre, the separation of the noise from its residual signification are fundamental processes within both nineteenth-century orchestrational and twentieth-century electroacoustic musical aesthetics. If our current understanding of electronic music aligns Schaeffer and Pierre Henry wholly with modernity and its putatively radical and self-conscious break with Berlioz, Brahms and historical tradition, this article suggests that an essential underlying continuity in the French-instrumentation/German-orchestration binary persists even in the face of the decline of the musical and cultural traditions that created and sustained them.
Identification of lifestyle patterns associated with obesity and fat mass in children: the Healthy Growth Study
Authors: Moschonis George , Kalliora Andriana C , Costarelli Vassiliki , Papandreou Christopher , Koutoukidis Dimitris , Lionis Christos , Chrousos George P , Manios Yannis
Published: March 2013

Objective

To investigate possible associations of lifestyle patterns with obesity and fat mass in children.

Design

Cross-sectional epidemiological study. Principal component analysis was used to identify lifestyle patterns.

Setting

Primary schools from four regions in Greece.

Subjects

A total of 2073 schoolchildren (aged 9–13 years).

Results

Children in the fourth quartile of the lifestyle pattern combining higher dairy foods with more adequate breakfast consumption were 39·4 %, 45·2 % and 32·2 % less likely to be overweight/obese and in the highest quartile of sum of skinfold thicknesses and fat mass, respectively, than children in the first quartile of this pattern. Similarly, children in the fourth quartile of a lifestyle pattern comprising consumption of high-fibre foods, such as fruits, vegetables and wholegrain products, were 27·4 % less likely to be in the highest quartile of sum of skinfold thicknesses than children in the first lifestyle pattern quartile. Finally, children in the fourth quartile of a lifestyle pattern characterized by more time spent on moderate-to-vigorous physical activity and more frequent meals were 38·0 %, 26·3 % and 29·5 % less likely to be overweight, centrally obese and in the highest quartile of fat mass, respectively, than their peers in the first quartile of this lifestyle pattern (allP< 0·05).

Conclusions

The current study identified three lifestyle patterns (i.e. one pattern comprising higher dairy consumption with a more adequate breakfast; a second pattern characterized by increased consumption of high-fibre foods; and a third pattern combining higher physical activity levels with more frequent meals), which were all related with lower odds of obesity and/or increased fat mass levels. From a public health perspective, promotion of these patterns among children and their families should be considered as one of the components of any childhood obesity preventive initiative.
Intake of game birds in the UK: assessment of the contribution to the dietary intake of lead by women of childbearing age and children
Authors: Taylor Caroline M , Golding Jean , Emond Alan M
Published: March 2013

Objective

Concern has recently been expressed about Pb levels in Pb-shot game meat. Our aim was to determine the consumption of game birds in a representative sample population in the UK, and in children and women of childbearing age in particular.

Design

Population-based cross-sectional cohort study. Data from 4 d diet diaries from the UK National Diet and Nutrition Survey (NDNS; 2008–2010) were extracted to analyse data on game bird consumption in the sample population, in women of childbearing age (15–45 years old) and in children ≤6 years old.

Setting

Home-based study in representative areas of the UK.

Subjects

Participants in the NDNS (2008–2010; n 2126, age 1·5 to >65 years).

Results

Fifty-eight participants (2·7 %) reported eating game birds. The mean intake was 19·5 (sd 18·1) g/d (median 15·6, range 1·3–92·9 g/d). In women of childbearing age (15–45 years), 11/383 (2·9 %) reported eating game birds, with a mean intake of 22·4 (sd 25·8) g/d (median 15·6, range 2·0–92·9 g/d). In children aged ≤6 years old, 3/342 (0·9 %) were reported as eating game birds, with a mean intake of 6·8 (sd 9·7) g/d (median 2·4, range 1·3–23·2 g/d).

Conclusions

The prevalence of consumption of game birds by women of childbearing age and children ≤6 years old was relatively low and intakes were small. However, any exposure to Pb in these two groups is undesirable. As are uncertainties about the ability of the diet diary method to capture the consumption of food items that are infrequently consumed, alternative methods of capturing these data should be used in future studies.
Retracted Article: Monodisperse Ni3Fe single-crystalline nanospheres as a highly efficient catalyst for the complete conversion of hydrous hydrazine to hydrogen at room temperature
Authors: Tong Dong Ge , Tang Dong Mei , Chu Wei , Gu Gui Fang , Wu Ping
Published: March 2013

Monodisperse Ni3Fe single-crystalline nanospheres exhibited highly catalytic activity for the complete conversion of hydrous hydrazine to hydrogen at room temperature.
The Arf GAP AGAP2 interacts with β-arrestin2 and regulates β2-adrenergic receptor recycling and ERK activation
Authors: Wu Yuanjun , Zhao Yu , Ma Xiaojie , Zhu Yunjuan , Patel Jaimin , Nie Zhongzhen
Published: March 2013

AGAP2 [Arf (ADP-ribosylation factor) GAP (GTPase-activating protein) with GTP-binding-protein-like, ankyrin repeat and PH (pleckstrin homology) domains] is a multidomain Arf GAP that was shown to promote the fast recycling of transferrin receptors. In the present study we tested the hypothesis that AGAP2 regulates the trafficking of β2-adrenergic receptors. We found that AGAP2 formed a complex with β-arrestin1 and β-arrestin2, proteins that are known to regulate β2-adrenergic receptor signalling and trafficking. AGAP2 co-localized with β-arrestin2 on the plasma membrane, and knockdown of AGAP2 expression reduced plasma membrane association of β-arrestin2 upon β2-adrenergic receptor activation. AGAP2 also co-localized with internalized β2-adrenergic receptors on endosomes, and overexpression of AGAP2 slowed accumulation of β2-adrenergic receptor in the perinuclear recycling endosomes. In contrast, knockdown of AGAP2 expression prevented the recycling of the β2-adrenergic receptor back to the plasma membrane. In addition, AGAP2 formed a complex with endogenous ERK (extracellular-signal-regulated kinase) and overexpression of AGAP2 potentiated ERK phosphorylation induced by β2-adrenergic receptors. Taken together, these results support the hypothesis that AGAP2 plays a role in the signalling and recycling of β2-adrenergic receptors.
The muscarinic M3 acetylcholine receptor exists as two differently sized complexes at the plasma membrane
Authors: Patowary Suparna , Alvarez-Curto Elisa , Xu Tian-Rui , Holz Jessica D. , Oliver Julie A. , Milligan Graeme , Raicu Valerică
Published: March 2013

The literature on GPCR (G-protein-coupled receptor) homo-oligomerization encompasses conflicting views that range from interpretations that GPCRs must be monomeric, through comparatively newer proposals that they exist as dimers or higher-order oligomers, to suggestions that such quaternary structures are rather ephemeral or merely accidental and may serve no functional purpose. In the present study we use a novel method of FRET (Förster resonance energy transfer) spectrometry and controlled expression of energy donor-tagged species to show that M3Rs (muscarinic M3 acetylcholine receptors) at the plasma membrane exist as stable dimeric complexes, a large fraction of which interact dynamically to form tetramers without the presence of trimers, pentamers, hexamers etc. That M3R dimeric units interact dynamically was also supported by co-immunoprecipitation of receptors synthesized at distinct times. On the basis of all these findings, we propose a conceptual framework that may reconcile the conflicting views on the quaternary structure of GPCRs.
Identification of the first synthetic inhibitors of the type II transmembrane serine protease TMPRSS2 suitable for inhibition of influenza virus activation
Authors: Meyer Daniela , Sielaff Frank , Hammami Maya , Böttcher-Friebertshäuser Eva , Garten Wolfgang , Steinmetzer Torsten
Published: March 2013

TMPRSS2 (transmembrane serine proteinase 2) is a multidomain type II transmembrane serine protease that cleaves the surface glycoprotein HA (haemagglutinin) of influenza viruses with a monobasic cleavage site, which is a prerequisite for virus fusion and propagation. Furthermore, it activates the fusion protein F of the human metapneumovirus and the spike protein S of the SARS-CoV (severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus). Increased TMPRSS2 expression was also described in several tumour entities. Therefore TMPRSS2 emerged as a potential target for drug design. The catalytic domain of TMPRSS2 was expressed in Escherichia coli and used for an inhibitor screen with previously synthesized inhibitors of various trypsin-like serine proteases. Two inhibitor types were identified which inhibit TMPRSS2 in the nanomolar range. The first series comprises substrate analogue inhibitors containing a 4-amidinobenzylamide moiety at the P1 position, whereby some of these analogues possess inhibition constants of approximately 20 nM. An improved potency was found for a second type derived from sulfonylated 3-amindinophenylalanylamide derivatives. The most potent derivative of this series inhibits TMPRSS2 with a Ki value of 0.9 nM and showed an efficient blockage of influenza virus propagation in human airway epithelial cells. On the basis of the inhibitor studies, a series of new fluorogenic substrates containing a D-arginine residue at the P3 position was synthesized, some of them were efficiently cleaved by TMPRSS2.
Conduite à tenir chez les enfants ou adolescents présentant des algies et dysfonctionnements de l’appareil manducateur
Authors: Robin Olivier
Published: March 2013

Les algies et dysfonctionnements de l’appareil manducateur sont décrits chez les enfants dès l’âge de quatre ans. Leur prévalence et leur gravité augmentent fortement au cours de la deuxième décennie qui correspond à la période des traitements orthodontiques. Les symptômes les plus fréquents à cet âge sont les craquements articulaires (plus de 70 % des cas), parfois accompagnés d’épisodes de blocage. Ils seraient favorisés par les activités parafonctionnelles (mastication de chewing-gum, onychophagie, bruxisme...), l’hyperlaxité ligamentaire et la modification des relations spatiales intra-articulaires au cours de la croissance. L’interrogatoire du patient et de ses parents (historique des problèmes) et l’examen clinique (musculaire, articulaire et dento-occlusal) sont essentiels et très souvent suffisants pour l’établissement du diagnostic. Encore plus que chez l’adulte, la prise en charge thérapeutique doit s’appuyer sur des méthodes conservatrices et non irréversibles (explications, conseils, contrôle des parafonctions, gouttières occlusales dans les cas de bruxisme sévère). Ces propos sont illustrés par la présentation de deux cas cliniques représentatifs des désordres les plus fréquemment rencontrés chez l’enfant et l’adolescent.
Traitement précoce des malocclusions de classe III : les convictions
Authors: Amat Philippe , Delaire Jean
Published: March 2013

Après un premier article [5] consacré à l’exposé des faits probants publiés sur l’efficacité du traitement précoce des malocclusions de classe III, les auteurs de ce second volet présentent leurs convictions quant à l’utilité d’une prise en charge habituellement précoce de ces dysmorphies. La présentation claire des éléments du choix thérapeutique au patient et à sa famille conduit habituellement à cette décision d’intervention précoce. Des moyens thérapeutiques simples, limités dans le temps et bien acceptés par nos jeunes patients, permettent d’accéder à des résultats significatifs. Cette approche emporte l’adhésion des enfants, de leur famille, et au-delà de la sphère orthodontique, des pédiatres et des oto-rhino-laryngologistes. Trois cas cliniques illustrent les concepts thérapeutiques qui sous-tendent ces convictions.
History and IS – Broadening Our View and Understanding: Actor–Network Theory as a Methodology
Authors: Bonner William (Bill)
Published: March 2013

The call for historical research In IS, mirrored In other fields of business studies, Is an explicit recognition of the predominance of presentism in business research; the use of the past only to justify and validate current beliefs or inserting modern beliefs onto the past, rather than using the past to understand and reveal current assumptions and biases. There is freedom in severing time and centering ourselves and our artifacts (computer technology), looking to improve the future unburdened by the past. Yet, if that assumption is wrong, and the present is instead fluid and unstable because the past embedded in the present is tension filled and unresolved, this raises fundamental challenges to the work that we do, the value of that work to others, and is cause for reflection on our impact as educators. This paper demonstrates the merits of using Actor-Network Theory as a methodology for historical IS research, through its use in a Canadian case study. The study was prompted by the apparent resolution of a privacy controversy, involving personal motor vehicle registration information in the province of Alberta, through an appeal to something called ‘historical purposes and practices.’ Strangely, the purposes and practices were never identified. This begged the question, ‘what was the substance of this argument and how come it was successful?’ Tracing actual ‘purposes and practices,’ from the early 1900s to the present, reveals how historical, contextual understanding offers not only insights into, but can alter our very understanding of, the present.
The Rise and Decline of the Ethics Methodology of Systems Implementation: Lessons for IS Research
Authors: Elbanna Amany , Newman Mike
Published: March 2013

Professor Mumford has contributed significantly to the information system (IS) field. Among her achievements and pioneering thinking is the development of an integrated methodology for systems implementation named Effective Technical and Human Implementation of Computer Systems (ETHICS) that incorporates job design as part of the systems planning and implementation effort. This study questions why ETHICS initially rose in popularity and then declined over the years. To answer this question, we apply Latour's (1999) five-loop framework to describe the formation of science. The findings reveal that Mumford held and aligned many heterogeneous actors and resources that together contributed to the shaping of ETHICS. As the content of ETHICS was shaped by the intertwining of many elements, when some of these elements later changed and undermined their previous alignment, the content of ETHICS was not reshaped, and hence it lost its status and declined. The paper ends by drawing more general lessons for IS research.
Multi-level memory-switching properties of a single brain microtubule
Authors: Sahu Satyajit , Ghosh Subrata , Hirata Kazuto , Fujita Daisuke , Bandyopadhyay Anirban
Published: March 2013

We demonstrate that a single brain-neuron-extracted microtubule is a memory-switching element, whose hysteresis loss is nearly zero. Our study shows how a memory-state forms in the nanowire and how its protein arrangement symmetry is related to the conducting-state written in the device, thus, enabling it to store and process ∼500 distinct bits, with 2 pA resolution between 1 nA and 1 pA. Its random access memory is an analogue of flash memory switch used in a computer chip. Using scanning tunneling microscope imaging, we demonstrate how single proteins behave inside the nanowire when this 3.5 billion years old nanowire processes memory-bits.
Improvement of photo-induced negative bias stability of oxide thin film transistors by reducing the density of sub-gap states related to oxygen vacancies
Authors: Son Kyoung-Seok , Seok Park Joon , Sang Kim Tae , Kim Hyun-Suk , Seo Seok-Jun , Kim Sun-Jae , Baek Seon Jong , Hwan Ji Kwang , Kyeong Jeong Jae , Kwan Ryu Myung , Lee Sangyoon
Published: March 2013

The optical absorption in the sub-gap region of amorphous indium zinc oxide films and the photo-induced negative bias stability of the resulting thin film transistors were studied. As the indium ratio increases, optical absorption via sub-gap states increases, and the threshold voltage degradation under negative bias temperature stress (NBTS) with light illumination becomes more severe. By applying high pressure anneal treatments in oxygen ambient, the density of sub-gap states is reduced by an order of magnitude compared to air-annealed devices. Consequently, significant improvements are observed in the threshold voltage shifts and the stretched exponential parameters under NBTS with light illumination.
Lattice Boltzmann implementation of the three-dimensional Ben-Naim potential for water-like fluids
Authors: Moradi Nasrollah , Greiner Andreas , Rao Francesco , Succi Sauro
Published: March 2013

We develop a three-dimensional lattice Boltzmann (LB) model accounting for directional interactions between water-like molecules, based on the so-called Ben-Naim (BN) potential [A. Ben-Naim, Molecular Theory of Water and Aqueous Solutions: Part I: Understanding Water (World Scientific Publishing Company, 2010); A. Ben-Naim, “Statistical mechanics of ‘waterlike’ particles in two dimensions. I. Physical model and application of the Percus-Yevick equation,” J. Chem. Phys. 54, 3682 (1971)]10.1063/1.1675414. The water-like molecules are represented by rigid tetrahedra, with two donors and two acceptors at the corners and interacting with neighboring tetrahedra, sitting on the nodes of a regular lattice. The tetrahedra are free to rotate about their centers under the drive of the torque arising from the interparticle potential. The orientations of the water molecules are evolved in time via an overdamped Langevin dynamics for the torque, which is solved by means of a quaternion technique. The resulting advection-diffusion-reaction equation for the quaternion components is solved by a LB method, acting as a dynamic minimizer for the global energy of the fluid. By adding thermal fluctuations to the torque equation, the model is shown to reproduce some microscopic features of real water, such as an average number of hydrogen bonds per molecules (HBs) between 3 and 4, in a qualitative agreement with microscopic water models. Albeit slower than a standard LB solver for ordinary fluids, the present scheme opens up potentially far-reaching scenarios for multiscale applications based on a coarse-grained representation of the water solvent.
Morphology of collisional nonlinear spectra in H2-Kr and H2-Xe mixtures
Authors: Głaz Waldemar , Bancewicz Tadeusz , Godet Jean-Luc , Maroulis George , Haskopoulos Anastasios
Published: March 2013

This article reports new results of theoretical and numerical studies of spectral features of the collision-induced hyper-Rayleigh light scattered in dihydrogen-noble gas (H2-Rg) mixtures. The most massive and polarizable scattering supermolecules with Rg = Kr and Xe have been added to the previously considered systems in order to gain a more complete insight into the evolution of the spectral properties. The symmetry adapted components of the first collisional hyperpolarizabilities are obtained by means of the quantum chemistry numerical routines supplemented with appropriate theoretical methods. Roto-translational spectral lines are calculated on the grounds of the quantum-mechanical as well as semi-classical approach. The role of particular hyperpolarizability components in forming the line shapes is discussed. The intensities of the lines are compared with those obtained for less massive scatterers. Advantages of prospective application of the new scattering systems for experimental detection of the nonlinear collisional effects are indicated.