bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Characteristics and influence of Mycoplasma/Ureaplasma cultures in amniotic fluid on perinatal outcomes
Authors: Takakura Sho , Kodama Yuki , Yamashita Rie , Kino Emi , Kawano Noriko , Tomimori Kayo , Maki Yohei , Doi Koutarou , Kaneko Masatoki , Sameshima Hiroshi
Published: December 2019

Aim

To investigate the effects of Mycoplasma/Ureaplasma cultured in amniotic fluid on perinatal characteristics in preterm delivery between 22 and 33 weeks of gestation.

Methods

The study was conducted in a tertiary perinatal center and involved 38 pregnant women who had undergone amniocentesis to evaluate intrauterine infection due to preterm labor or premature rupture of membranes. The subjects were divided into three groups based on the culture results: negative (Negative Group, n = 24), positive for Mycoplasma/Ureaplasma (M/U Group, n = 6), and positive for other pathogens (Other Pathogens Group, n = 8). One‐way analysis of variance was used to compare the three groups.

Results

The incidence of histological chorioamnionitis and neonatal sepsis was significantly different among the three groups (the Negative Group and the Other Pathogens Group, P < 0.01; the M/U Group and the Other Pathogens Group, P = 0.03). In the M/U Group, no infants had sepsis, severe intraventricular hemorrhage, cystic periventricular leukomalacia, or poor neurological outcomes, but one infant developed bronchopulmonary dysplasia and needed home oxygen treatment. Although one died of gastrorrhexis, the remaining five patients had normal brain magnetic resonance imaging findings and developed normally.

Conclusion

The presence of Mycoplasma/Ureaplasma isolated from amniotic fluid did not cause neonatal sepsis or poor prognosis. In some infants, there was no histological chorioamnionitis in the placenta. These pathogens thus seem to be less invasive than any other microbes with respect to perinatal outcomes.
Digital psychosocial assessment: An efficient and effective screening tool
Authors: Ho Jane , Fong Cameron K , Iskander Andrew , Towns Susan , Steinbeck Katharine
Published: December 2019

Aim

A large proportion of young people with chronic health conditions are surviving into adulthood. They face the same challenges as their healthy peers and are at increased risk of mental health problems. Psychosocial assessment is a crucial aspect of clinical care. Interviews using the internationally used and accepted HEEADSSS (home environment, education/employment, eating, peer‐related activities, drugs, sexuality, suicide/depression, and safety) framework require trained clinicians, rapid interpersonal engagement, time and manual documentation. HEEADSSS‐derived digital self‐report surveys can be initiated by non‐trained staff. This study compares the utility and information recorded using both methods.

Methods

A retrospective analysis comparing documentation from HEEADSSS guided face‐to‐face interview and a digital survey tool was conducted using 146 records collected by the Trapeze transition service across the two locations of the Sydney Children's Hospital Network (NSW, Australia) between 2013 and 2016. A panel of four experts used an iterative process to identify 29 data verification points, falling into seven categories. Wilcoxon signed‐rank tests were used to compare category scores.

Results

The digital survey took an average of 15 min and showed a significantly higher rate of disclosure across all psychosocial categories, particularly in the sensitive areas of emotions, drug use, sex and safety, compared to electronic medical record documentation of interview.

Conclusions

Digital survey provided a time‐efficient psychosocial screening tool that was self‐administered, able to be introduced by non‐trained staff, had a consistent record of responses, and elicited a substantially higher disclosure rate for important areas of strength and risk that may otherwise be avoided or not recorded.
Top 10 research priorities for human milk banking and use of donor human milk: A partnership between parents and clinicians
Authors: Matthews Eliza , Collins Carmel T , Ellison Vanessa , Hussey Lee , Slade Jo , Keir Amy , Miller Jacqueline
Published: December 2019

Aim

This study sought to establish research priorities in human milk banking and use of pasteurised donor human milk. It aimed to (i) collaborate with national stakeholders, including parents of preterm infants, human milk donors and health‐care professionals, to identify evidence uncertainties and (ii) agree by consensus on a consolidated prioritised list of research questions.

Methods

A consensus approach modelled on the James Lind Alliance was used. A steering group was formed, and key stakeholder organisations identified. Evidence uncertainties were gathered through an online survey and literature search. An iterative process was used to consolidate and rank questions. A final workshop was held to identify the top 10 research priorities.

Results

A total of 391 evidence uncertainties were gathered from 202 respondents (38% parents of preterm infants/milk donors, 50% health‐care professionals, 12% who identified as both a parent of preterm and health professional) and a further 15 were identified from literature. The steering group consolidated these to 39 evidence uncertainties, which were ranked via another survey. The top 24 questions were workshopped by 13 participants (four parents and nine clinicians) to determine the top 10 research priorities. These included the risks and benefits of using donor milk, optimum techniques for processing and the effects of these on the properties of milk, the nutrient profile of the milk and clinical criteria for prioritising receipt of milk.

Conclusion

The top 10 research priorities in human milk banking and use of donor milk were identified and can be used to guide researchers.
Evaluation of phosphorus, calcium, and magnesium content in commercially available foods formulated for healthy cats
Authors: Summers Stacie C. , Stockman Jonathan , Larsen Jennifer A. , Zhang Lei , Rodriguez Anais Sanchez
Published: December 2019

Background

High dietary phosphorus (P) and low calcium‐to‐phosphorus ratio (Ca:P) are associated with kidney damage in cats. There are no established guidelines for dietary P maximum for cats.

Objectives

To quantify crude protein, P, Ca, and magnesium (Mg) concentrations in cat foods and compare among food formats (dry, canned, raw), primary protein ingredients, protein concentrations (low, moderate, high), grain‐free versus grain‐containing foods, foods intended for adult maintenance versus all life stages, and cost.

Samples

Eighty‐two commercial nonprescription cat foods.

Methods

Descriptive study. Mineral concentrations were measured using inductively coupled argon plasma‐optical emission spectroscopy. Crude protein was measured using the Dumas nitrogen combustion method. Mineral and crude protein concentrations were compared among food categories.

Results

Twenty‐seven foods contained ≥3.6 g P/1000 kcal metabolizable energy (ME), of which 7 exceeded 4.8 g/1000 kcal ME. Thirteen foods had low Ca:P ratio (≤1.0). The low‐protein diet group had no products ≥3.6 g P/1000 kcal ME, which was significantly different compared to the high‐protein diet group (52% of products had ≥3.6 g P/1000 kcal ME; P = .01). No significant differences in P content and Ca:P ratio were found among other diet categories. Canned foods had significantly lower Mg compared to dry (P < .001) and raw (P = .007) foods. Declared minimum P and Ca were significantly lower than analyzed concentrations (P = .0005 and P = .003, respectively).

Conclusions and Clinical Importance

The high number of foods with high P and low Ca suggest that pet food regulatory reform should be considered.
The “dark Welsh”: Color, race, and alterity in the matter of medieval Wales
Authors: Lumbley Coral
Published: December 2019

This article examines how the medieval Welsh were racialized by Anglo‐Saxon and Anglo‐Norman sources and how the Welsh in turn developed a model of racial alterity. Literary sources, including the Old English riddles and the ethnographic work of Gerald of Wales, followed classical sources in their portrayals of the Welsh as being marked by “swarthiness,” or comparatively dark complexions. Rather than following this rhetorical practice, medieval Welsh literature reveals that the Welsh considered themselves pale‐complected, with darkness justifying biopolitical regulation of non‐European Christian peoples. While pseudo‐scientific racial discourse classifies the modern Welsh as white Caucasian, medieval texts negotiate difference between peoples with a range of methods and purposes, with racial difference being negotiated throughout various traditions in British literature.
Between empires: Race and ethnicity in the early Middle Ages
Authors: Lopez‐Jantzen Nicole
Published: December 2019

The early Middle Ages often defies easy categorization, positioned between empires and conceived of as between historical epochs, and is thus often at the margin of scholarship treating topics on antiquity or the Middle Ages. As a period of transitions, developments resist easy integration into larger interpretive models, and consequently, they tend to not be discussed in studies either of classical antiquity or of the Middle Ages. Many early medieval historians have argued that race is not a valid concept for the early Middle Ages, preferring instead to use the term ethnicity. Instead, this paper will argue that yes, racial concepts were important in the early Middle Ages, and this period provides a bridge between classical and medieval forms of racial categorization. It will therefore explore the idea of race as a useful category of analysis in the early Middle Ages, in particular in Italy, and suggest ways that it might be used to further understand hierarchical strategies of distinction in the early Middle Ages and the transformation of the Roman world.
Towards a decentered Global North Atlantic: Blackness in Saga af Tristram ok Ísodd
Authors: Otaño Gracia Nahir I.
Published: December 2019

Medieval North Atlantic Studies, which is broadly defined as the study of the British Isles, Iceland, Scandinavia, the English Channel, and the Low Countries, has a tendency to research two types of interactions. First, it focuses on common themes between these cultures, which then strengthens the argument for their grouping. Second, it emphasizes that these cultures traveled throughout Africa, Europe, and the East, participating in a “Global Middle Ages.” These current approaches to the North Atlantic, however, are compatible with the ideologies of white supremacists, and, for this reason, they should be examined. These approaches focus on the globality of the North Atlantic mainly in order to discuss how Northern cultures changed the rest of the globe, and not to show how these North Atlantic cultures were themselves changed by these interactions. The arguments assume an all‐white North Atlantic, maintaining that Old Norse literature and culture does not deal with issues of race. Evidence of the racial awareness of medieval Scandinavians has been dismissed as atypical, further exacerbating the problem. A decentered Global North Atlantic approach is beneficial to the study of the North Atlantic because it centers those most harmed by white supremacists' ideologies, counteracting white supremacists' wrongful understanding of the middle ages. The essay uses the Icelandic Saga af Tristram ok Ísodd as an example to show that the saga dehumanizes characters through religious, racial, and geographical markers. Moreover, these examples have been ignored by academics who continue to disregard discussions of race in Old Norse literature and culture, as they imagine Vikings as devoid of racial understanding.
Muhammad ibn al‐Zain's basin (baptistère de Saint Louis)
Authors: Kłosowska Anna
Published: December 2019

The traditional baptismal font of the kings of France for centuries, the so‐calledbaptistère de Saint Louisis part of 1750s–1900s French national legend. Against all evidence, the name suggests that it is the spoils of Louis IX's crusade of 1250–1254. In fact, that large, copper vessel of exceptional quality, with gold and silver figural decoration, was probably produced in Damascus or Cairo in 1320–1340, almost a centuryafterFrench downfall at the hands of the Mamluks in Northern Egypt in 1250. As part of the crown treasure of France and because of its outstanding artistry, it is one of the most thoroughly researched Islamicate objects in the Louvre. The association with Louis IX is pure fiction that illustrates the nonsensical and yet persuasive economies of French national legends. Paradoxically, the ransom that the French army paid to leave Egypt in 1250 was one of the stepping stones for the rise of the Mamluk dynasty, renowned for gold and silver incrusted metalwork objects, such as the basin. In another paradoxical turn, the Mamluks who ruled the Central Islamic area from 1250 to 1517 are the military elite recruited from enslaved non‐Muslims, including Turkic and Christian populations. The basin invites us to connect the points on the archipelago that includes France, the Eastern Mediterranean (fall of Acre, 1291), Cyprus and Armenia under the Lusignans, Sicily, Naples, and the South of Italy under the Angevins. Further still, this splendid and still enigmatic work of art brings together Ming China, Mongol Persia, Mamluk Islam, and Gothic France. This paper includes the earliest French description of the basin, from 1606, published in 1642 and reproduced later, including in 1742 (Piganiol de la Force, 1742). The paper also discusses the French tradition of medievalists opposing white supremacist fantasy of white, Christian medieval origins of the French nation. Finally, the paper notes some differences between French and U.S.mentalitésin relation to race, in the context of recent events (2019), based on the French ideal of republican universalism, citing such symptomatic events as the replacing of the word “race” by “sex” in the French constitution, the reluctance to base activism on collectiveidentitaireclaims, the reluctance to think in terms of race and use race‐related orcommunautaristeterms with which to think about complex social, historical, or artistic rights and responsibilities, and the prohibition to collect race‐based statistics, but also, often in advance of similar laws enacted in other countries, such acts as the Taubira law of 2001 that recognizes France's responsibility for slavery and slave trade beginning in the fifteenth century as a crime against humanity and provides for teaching, research, and commemoration.
Introduction to literature compass special cluster: Critical race and the Middle Ages
Authors: Kim Dorothy
Published: December 2019

This introduction is an antidote to the much earlier issues on medieval race and ethnicity with vastly different stakes and research methodologies. My introduction here centers Margo Hendricks' work and call for a premodern critical race studies that “acknowledges its genealogies” and “celebrates that lineage.” One of the ways to do this is to explain how premodern race studies continues to highlight certain premodern race genealogies over others.
Nuclear factor of activated T cells as potential pharmacodynamic biomarker for the risk of acute and subclinical rejection in de novo liver recipients
Authors: Millán Olga , Ruiz Pablo , Fortuna Virginia , Navasa Miquel , Brunet Mercè
Published: December 2019

Background & Aims

Nuclear factor of activated T cell‐regulated gene expression (NFAT‐RGE) has been proposed as a pharmacodynamic biomarker for tacrolimus (Tac) and cyclosporine (CsA). Our aim was to evaluate the role of NFAT‐RGE in modulating intralymphocytary IL‐2 and IFN‐γ expression and its clinical utility as an early non‐invasive predictive biomarker for the risk of acute rejection (AR) and infection in de novo liver transplant (LT) recipients.

Methods

Fifty‐six LT recipients treated with Tac or CsA [with and without mycophenolate mofetil (MMF)] were included: 30 free of rejection or infection, 11 rejectors (T cell‐mediated acute rejection), 5 with subclinical rejection (SCR) and 10 with cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection. Within the first 3 months after transplantation, NFAT‐RGE of IL‐2, IFN‐γ and GM‐CSF and intralymphocytary synthesis of IL‐2 and IFN‐γ were evaluated by real‐time PCR and flow cytometry respectively.

Results

A significant increase in NFAT‐RGE was observed in patients who experienced TCMAR (75% [42–100%]) or SCR (41% [18–78%]) compared with patients without rejection or infection (14% [2–23%]). Positive correlations between the %NFAT‐RGE‐IFN and both the %CD8CD69IFN‐γ and %CD4CD69IFN‐γ and between the %NFAT‐RGE‐IL2 and the %CD8CD69IL2 were observed. NFAT‐RGE was significantly lower in CMV+ patients than in non‐infected patients. Finally, an inverse correlation between the Tac or CsA concentration and inhibition of NFAT‐RGE were observed.

Conclusions

Sequential post‐transplantation NFAT‐RGE monitoring combined with intralymphocytary IL‐2 and IFN‐γ before transplantation and at the first and third month post‐transplantation may be key predictive and diagnostic biomarkers for the risk of TCMAR and SCR and better guide CNi therapy in LT patients.
Hepatitis B virus activity is not associated with degree of liver steatosis in patients with hepatitis B‐related chronic liver disease
Authors: Worland Thomas , Apostolov Ross , Asadi Khashayar , Leung Christopher
Published: December 2019

Background & Aims

The recently published manuscript by Zhu and colleagues “Hepatitis B virus infection and risk of non‐alcoholic fatty liver disease: A population‐based cohort study” found no correlation between presence of chronic HBV and presence of common risk factors for non‐alcoholic fatty liver disease on primary analysis. A limitation to this study, like most population based research, is the absence of liver histology, which is considered gold standard for assessment of non‐alcoholic fatty liver disease.

Methods

Our group studied the association between hepatitis B viral activity and non‐alcoholic fatty liver disease activity as measured by grade of steatohepatitis/fibrosis on liver biopsy by analysing consecutive liver histology samples from patients with chronic hepatitis B at a single quaternary liver transplant centre.

Results

Linear regression modelling for active viral hepatitis on histological examination against degree of steatohepatitis showed no correlation (r2 = .018, all P> .1). Linear regression of degree of steatohepatitis vs hepatitis B viral load also showed no correlation.

Conclusions

Our work is concordant with the manuscript from Zhu et al; we found no significant correlation between hepatitis B viral activity and degree of steatohepatitis.
Deep learning for data anomaly detection and data compression of a long‐span suspension bridge
Authors: Ni FuTao , Zhang Jian , Noori Mohammad N.
Published: December 2019

As intelligent sensing and sensor network systems have made progress and low‐cost online structural health monitoring has become possible and widely implemented, large quantities of highly heterogeneous data can be acquired during the monitoring. This has resulted in exceeding the capacity of traditional data analytics techniques, especially in monitoring large‐scale or critical civil structures. In particular, data storage has become a big challenge, hence, resulting in the emergence of data compression and reconstruction as a new area in structural health monitoring (SHM) of large infrastructure systems. SHM data generally include anomalies that can disturb structural analysis and assessment. The fundamental reasons for the abnormality of data are extremely complex. Therefore, reconstruction of the abnormal data is generally difficult and poses serious challenges to achieve high‐accuracy after data has been compressed. Considering these significant challenges, in this paper, a novel deep‐learning‐enabled data compression and reconstruction framework is proposed that can be divided into two phases: (a) a one‐dimensional Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) that extracts features directly from the input signals is designed to detect abnormal data with validated high accuracy; (b) a new SHM data compression and reconstruction method based on Autoencoder structure is further developed, which can recover the data with high‐accuracy under such a low compression ratio. To validate the proposed approach, acceleration data from the SHM system of a long‐span bridge in China are employed. In the abnormal data detection phase, the results show that the proposed method can detect anomaly with high accuracy. Subsequently, smaller reconstruction errors can be achieved even by using only 10% compression ratio for the normal data.
Introduction: BetweenWataniyyaandTa'ifia; understanding the relationship between state‐based nationalism and sectarian identity in the Middle East
Authors: Dodge Toby
Published: December 2019

This introduction to the four papers that make up the themed section locates them in the wider theoretical, comparative, and historical perspectives from which they originate. First, it places the study of communalist or sectarian identities in the Middle East in broader comparative debates about the study of ethnic and nationalist identities. It then examines the causalities underpinning the shifting relationship between these different identities in the Middle East. Taking modernity as a starting point, it looks at the integration of the region into a global capitalist market from the mid‐19th century and the consequences of this transformation. It then examines the external imposition and growth in coherence and capacity of geographically delineated states. It details the influence that neo‐liberal policy prescriptions have had on those states and their relationship to society. Finally, it examines the role that a series of extended wars played in the forging of and competition between different sets of identities, trans‐state Arab nationalism, state‐based nationalism, and religious and ethnic identities.
Beyond the beyond(s): On the (many) third way(s) beyond primordialism and instrumentalism in the study of sectarianism
Authors: Valbjørn Morten
Published: December 2019

This meta‐study examines the nature of past and current theoretically informed debates on sectarian politics in the Middle East and identifies the biggest challenges and possible directions for the future study of sectarianism. Contrary to the conventional narrative about a “sectarian journey” torn between a flawed primordialist and instrumentalist approach in between which a new superior “third way” is needed, the article shows that both primordialism and instrumentalism are rare in the academic debate on sectarianism, quite similar to the broader ethnicity/nationalism debate. However, this has not resulted in a “new conventional wisdom” about how to proceed. Thus, the article identifies a cacophony of suggestions for how the much aspired‐to third way should look like. Against this background, the article suggests that it is time to go beyond the ritual calls to “get beyond primordialism and instrumentalism.” Instead, it is time to devote more attention to examining the multiple already existing suggestions for “third ways”. Rather than highlighting a single third way as superior, the article contributes to this move in two ways: it shows how the various third ways can be grouped into three “beyond strategies” (the New Saviour, the Baby and the Bathwater, and the LEGO eclectic strategies) and outlines a number of meta‐theoretical issues to consider in order to move the debate forward.
Staging of tau distribution by positron emission tomography may be useful in clinical staging of Alzheimer disease
Authors: Aohara Kenta , Minatani Shinobu , Kimura Hiroko , Takeuchi Jun , Takeda Akitoshi , Kawabe Joji , Wada Yasuhiro , Mawatari Aya , Watanabe Yasuyoshi , Shimada Hitoshi , Higuchi Makoto , Suhara Tetsuya , Itoh Yoshiaki
Published: December 2019

Background

Clinical staging of Alzheimer disease (AD) may help develop novel treatment in the early stage.

Aim

We measured the accumulation of amyloid beta (Aβ) and tau with positron emission tomography (PET) in patients with AD to explore its utility for clinical staging.

Methods

Six patients with AD, two patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI), and 12 healthy controls (HC) were studied. Aβ and tau accumulation was evaluated with [11C]PiB and [11C]PBB3, respectively.

Results

PBB3‐PET showed that two cases were in stage I‐II (Braak stage), one case was in stage III‐IV, and three cases were in stage V‐VI. PiB‐PET showed that all cases were in stage C. The duration of the disease correlated positively with PBB3 staging but not with PiB staging. The performance on the Mini‐Mental State Examination (MMSE) tended to decrease with advancing of PBB3 stage but not with PiB stage. PBB3 SUVR and PiB SUVR in all AD signature areas including the parahippocampal gyrus were significantly higher in AD than in HC. A decrease in MMSE is correlated with increases in PBB3 and PiB. Increase in PBB3 started with decrease in MMSE whereas increase in PiB was already observed in the point of highest MMSE, indicating amyloid is already accumulated in the earliest stage.

Conclusions

The expansion of tau distribution from the parahippocampal gyrus to the cerebral cortex was observed with advancing AD, whereas Aβ distribution was already advanced in the earliest stage. PBB3 may be useful in determining stages in AD based on tau distribution.
Shape matters: the pitfalls of analyzing mesophyll anatomy
Authors: Théroux‐Rancourt Guillaume , Voggeneder Klara , Tholen Danny
Published: December 2019

This article is a Commentary on Harwood et al. (2020), 225: 2567–2578.
Atypical lignification in eastern leatherwood (Dirca palustris)
Authors: Mottiar Yaseen , Gierlinger Notburga , Jeremic Dragica , Master Emma R. , Mansfield Shawn D.
Published: December 2019

Lignin is a complex phenolic biopolymer found mainly in the secondary cell walls of vascular plants, where it contributes to mechanical strength, water conduction, and plant defence. We studied the lignin of eastern leatherwood (Dirca palustris) because this slow‐growing woody shrub is known for its flexible stems.

Various analytical techniques and microscopy methods were employed to examine the composition and distribution of lignin and structural polysaccharides in leatherwood xylem in comparison with trembling aspen (Populus tremuloides) and white spruce (Picea glauca).

We found that leatherwood has low overall levels of lignin, a high syringyl lignin content, and a unique distribution of lignin. Most remarkably, the cell corners and middle lamellae remain unlignified in mature xylem.

These findings help explain the flexibility of leatherwood and also call into question the classical model of lignification, which purports that lignin polymerization begins in the cell corners and middle lamellae. This atypical lignification regime vividly illustrates the diversity in plant secondary cell wall formation that abounds in nature and casts leatherwood as a new model for the study of lignin biogenesis.
OsmiR530 acts downstream of OsPIL15 to regulate grain yield in rice
Authors: Sun Wei , Xu Xiao Hui , Li Yaping , Xie Lixia , He Yanan , Li Wen , Lu Xingbo , Sun Hongwei , Xie Xianzhi
Published: December 2019

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are a class of small noncoding RNAs that play important roles in plant growth and development as well as in stress responses. However, little is known about their regulatory functions affecting rice grain yield.

We functionally characterized a novel miRNA in rice, OsmiR530, its target OsPL3, and its upstream regulator phytochrome‐interacting factor‐like 15 (OsPIL15). Their effects on rice yield were dissected comprehensively.

We determined that OsmiR530 negatively regulates grain yield. Blocking OsmiR530 increases grain yield, whereas OsmiR530 overexpression significantly decreases grain size and panicle branching, leading to yield loss. Additionally, OsPL3, which encodes a PLUS3 domain‐containing protein, is targeted directly by OsmiR530. Knocking out OsPL3 decreases the grain yield. In‐depth analyses indicated that OsPIL15 activates OsMIR530 expression by directly binding to the G‐box elements in the promoter. Analyses of genetic variations suggested that the OsMIR530 locus has likely been subjected to artificial selection during rice breeding.

The results presented herein reveal a novel OsPIL15–OsmiR530 module controlling rice grain yield, thus providing researchers with a new target for the breeding of high‐yielding rice.
Assembly of tomato fruit cuticles: a cross‐talk between the cutin polyester and cell wall polysaccharides
Authors: Philippe Glenn , Geneix Nathalie , Petit Johann , Guillon Fabienne , Sandt Christophe , Rothan Christophe , Lahaye Marc , Marion Didier , Bakan Bénédicte
Published: December 2019

The cuticle is an essential and ubiquitous biological polymer composite covering aerial plant organs, whose structural component is the cutin polyester entangled with cell wall polysaccharides. The nature of the cutin‐embedded polysaccharides (CEPs) and their association with cutin polyester are still unresolved

Using tomato fruit as a model, chemical and enzymatic pretreatments combined with biochemical and biophysical methods were developed to compare the fine structure of CEPs with that of the noncutinized polysaccharides (NCPs). In addition, we used tomato fruits from cutin‐deficient transgenic lines cus1 (cutin synthase 1) to study the impact of cutin polymerization on the fine structure of CEPs.

Cutin‐embedded polysaccharides exhibit specific structural features including a high degree of esterification (i.e. methylation and acetylation), a low ramification of rhamnogalacturonan (RGI), and a high crystallinity of cellulose. In addition to decreasing cutin deposition and polymerization, cus1 silencing induced a specific modification of CEPs, especially on pectin content, while NCPs were not affected.

This new evidence of the structural specificities of CEPs and of the cross‐talk between cutin polymerization and polysaccharides provides new hypotheses concerning the formation of these complex lipopolysaccharide edifices.
Molecular mechanisms for short root anomaly
Authors: Yu Mengjia , Jiang Zhiwei , Wang Yang , Xi Yue , Yang Guoli
Published: December 2019

Short root anomaly (SRA) is a dental disorder that presents an abnormal root morphology with short and blunt dental roots. In this situation, many dental treatments face a difficult challenge, especially orthodontic and prosthodontic treatments. Therefore, an understanding of how SRA develops is urgently needed. Here we describe that the abnormal expression of nuclear factor I C‐type (Nfic), osterix (Osx), hedgehog (Hh), bone morphogenetic proteins (BMPs), transforming growth factor‐β (TGF‐β), Smad, Wnt, β‐catenin, and dickkopf‐related protein 1 (DKK1) leads to SRA. These factors interact with each other and constitute complicated signaling network in tooth formation. Specifically, BMP signaling inhibits the activity of Wnt/β‐catenin directly or by inducing Osx via Runx2‐dependent and Runx2‐independent pathways. And Osx is a main inhibitor of Wnt/β‐catenin signaling. In return, Wnt/β‐catenin signaling has an antagonistic action of BMP pathway and a stimulation of Runx2. We highlight the importance of Wnt/β‐catenin signaling in the pathological mechanisms. Either suppression or overactivation of this signaling influences the normal odontogenesis. Finally, we list rescue experiments on animal models, which have been reported to restore the interrupted cell differentiation and impaired tooth formation. We hope to find potential treatments for SRA based on these evidences in the future.
My journey into the birth of plant transgenesis and its impact on modern plant biology
Authors: Herrera‐Estrella Luis
Published: December 2019

I had the fortune to start my scientific carrier during the early stages of the development of plant transformation in one of the leading laboratories in the field. Here, I describe my personal experience in the laboratory of Marc van Montagu and Jeff Schell, and some important contributions that the group made to the development of the technology to produce transgenic plants. I also briefly summarize the impact of this technology on the development of modern plant biology and in plant molecular improvement.
Good clinical teachers in pediatrics: The perspective of pediatricians in Japan
Authors: Nishiya Katsumi , Sekiguchi Shinichiro , Yoshimura Hiroshi , Takamura Akiteru , Wada Hiroshi , Konishi Eri , Saiki Takuya , Tsunekawa Koji , Fujisaki Kazuhiko , Suzuki Yasuyuki
Published: December 2019

Background

The purpose of this study was to identify the attributes of good clinical teachers in pediatrics (CTPs) in Japan, and to elucidate pediatricians and pediatric trainees' perceptions of these attributes.

Methods

The attributes of good CTPs were identified qualitatively by conducting a thematic analysis of questionnaires answered by board‐certified pediatricians and pediatric trainees. The attributes identified were rated quantitatively by a large number of participants in both groups.

Results

Forty‐eight individual attributes of good CTPs were identified, which were classified into three domains: personal, pediatrician, and teacher. The three domains and most of the attributes were consistent with previous studies. However, a few additional attributes, including “is kind/thoughtful toward others” and “defends trainees”, which may be unique to pediatricians in Japan, were identified. Significant differences in the pediatricians' and trainees' perceptions of these attributes were elucidated: The differences were most noticeable for teacher attributes and least for personal attributes.

Conclusion

Although most of the identified attributes of good CTPs in our study appear to be universal, there were significant differences in the pediatricians' and trainees' perceptions of good CTPs, especially in relation to teacher attributes. Our study provides additional bases for good CTPs and future faculty development, for enhanced pediatric clinical education.
The Occult Mind of Simone Weil
Authors: Kotva Simone
Published: December 2019

This article argues that Weil's interest in occult and esoteric subjects such as Gnosticism and Egyptian mystery religion was not an eccentric sideline to an otherwise ‘Christian’ mysticism but emerged necessarily out of her philosophical method, which, quite independently of those texts where Weil deals with esoterica, displays that pathos of hiddenness so characteristic of occultism: the notion, expressed especially clearly in her late work, that philosophy is the search for a truth hidden from the eyes of ordinary persons and accessible only to those able to endure the ordeals required to gain access into its mysteries. In the second part of the argument, I show that Weil's ‘occultism’ was not an isolated phenomenon but symptomatic of broader trends among intellectuals at the time.
Longitudinal 3D Blood Flow Distribution Provided by Diffuse Correlation Tomography during Bone Healing in a Murine Fracture Model
Authors: Ren Jingxuan , Han Songfeng , Proctor Ashley R. , Desa Danielle E. , Ramirez Gabriel A. , Ching‐Roa Vincent Ralph D. , Majeski Joseph B. , Dar Irfaan A. , Barber Nathaniel E. , Forti Amanda M. , Benoit Danielle S.W. , Choe Regine
Published: December 2019

Noninvasive monitoring of vascularization can potentially diagnose impaired bone healing earlier than current radiographic methods. In this study, a noncontact diffuse correlation tomography (DCT) technique was employed to measure longitudinal blood flow changes during bone healing in a murine femoral fracture model. The three‐dimensional distribution of the relative blood flow was quantified from one day pre‐fracture to 48 days post‐fracture. For three mice, frequent DCT measurements were performed every other day for one week after fracture, and then weekly thereafter. A decrease in blood flow was observed in the bone fracture region at one day post‐fracture, followed by a monotonic increase in blood flow beyond the pre‐injury baseline until five to seven days post‐fracture. For the remaining 12 mice, only weekly DCT measurements were performed. Data collected on a weekly basis show the blood flow for most mice was elevated above baseline during the first two post‐fracture weeks, followed by a subsequent decrease. Torsional strength of the excised femurs was measured for all 15 mice after 7 weeks of healing. A metric based on the early blood flow changes shows a statistically significant difference between the high strength group and the low strength group.
Systemic Dynamics of Policy Change: Overcoming Some Blind Spots of Punctuated Equilibrium Theory
Authors: Fernández‐i‐Marín Xavier , Hurka Steffen , Knill Christoph , Steinebach Yves
Published: December 2019

In this article, we analyze dynamics of policy change from the perspective of Punctuated Equilibrium Theory (PET). In particular, we investigate how economic crises impact on patterns of policy change in policy areas that vary in terms of their proximity to economic matters: social, environmental, and morality policy. We make two contributions. First, we show that economic crises lead to more incrementalist patterns of policy change in crisis‐remote policy subsystems and make policy punctuations in these areas less likely. However, if such punctuations do occur, they tend to be particularly extreme. Second, we argue that the empirical implications of PET are best tested by separately analyzing variance as an indicator for incrementalism and degrees of freedom as an indicator for punctuations. The empirical analysis builds on two data sets capturing policy output changes in 13 European countries over a period of 34 years (1980–2013).
Factors associated with depressive symptoms among elderly Koreans: the role of health status, work ability, financial problems, living alone, and family relationships
Authors: Bae Sung‐Man
Published: December 2019

Objectives

The purpose of this study was to explore predictors of depressive symptoms in elderly Koreans.

Methods

The data from Korean Welfare Panel survey of Korean Institute for Health and Social Affairs in 2015 was used in this study. Six thousand four hundred and seventy‐one elderly adults aged 60–99 participated in this study. Mean age of subjects was 74.37 years (SD = 8.27) and participants were 2569 male (39.7%) and 3902 female (60.3%).

Results

Multiple hierarchical regression analysis indicated that perceived health status, family relationships, living alone, financial problems, work ability, gender, age, marital status, and religion are significant predictors of elderly depressive symptoms. In particular, perceived health status, family relationships, and work ability were powerful predictors of depressive symptoms in Korean elderly. The total explanatory amount of the regression model was 28.7%.

Conclusions

This study suggests that researchers and clinicians should consider together factors associated with health status, interpersonal relationships, economic status, work, and socio‐demographic variables in order to prevent elderly depression.
Clinical factors associated with activities of daily living and their decline in patients with severe dementia
Authors: Tanaka Hiroyuki , Nagata Yuma , Ishimaru Daiki , OGAWA Yasuhiro , FUKUHARA Keita , Nishikawa Takashi
Published: December 2019

Background

To identify the clinical factors affecting activities of daily living (ADL) at baseline and after 6 months.

Methods

We conducted a single‐centre observational study at two time points across 6 months (baseline and after 6 months) from April 2015 to March 2017. in a 270‐bed rural recuperation hospital at Hyogo prefecture in Japan. The total number of participants was 131 (male 33, female 98; mean age: 87.0 ± 7.0; mild and moderate dementia, 38; severe dementia, 93). Measurement scales used were Personal Self‐Maintenance Scale (PSMS) for assessing ADL, Mini‐Mental State Examination and Cognitive Test in Severe Dementia (CTSD) for cognitive function, Neuropsychiatric Inventory‐Nursing Home version and Cornell Scale for Depression in Dementia (CSDD) for behavioural/psychological symptoms of dementia, Mini Nutritional Assessment Short form (MNA‐SF) for nutritional status, Pain Assessment in Advanced Dementia for pain, and Charlson comorbidity index (CCI) and the number of illness categories based on Cumulative Illness Rating Scale Geriatrics for comorbidities. Multiple regression analyses identified the association between PSMS score as the dependent variable and other variables as independent variables.

Results

In participants with severe dementia, the PSMS scores at baseline were significantly associated with CTSD, CCI, MNA‐SF, and CSDD scores. In the longitudinal analysis, only CTSD score was significantly associated with PSMS score after 6 months. It is noteworthy that for participants with severe dementia, the only factor associated with ADL after 6 months was cognitive function, as assessed by CTSD score.

Conclusions

The most important factor predicting functional decline is cognitive function, even at the severe and profound stage.
Modelling Environmental DNA Data; Bayesian Variable Selection Accounting for False Positive and False Negative Errors
Authors: Griffin Jim E. , Matechou Eleni , Buxton Andrew S. , Bormpoudakis Dimitrios , Griffiths Richard A.
Published: December 2019

Environmental DNA is a survey tool with rapidly expanding applications for assessing the presence of a species at surveyed sites. Environmental DNA methodology is known to be prone to false negative and false positive errors at the data collection and laboratory analysis stages. Existing models for environmental DNA data require augmentation with additional sources of information to overcome identifiability issues of the likelihood function and do not account for environmental covariates that predict the probability of species presence or the probabilities of error. We present a novel Bayesian model for analysing environmental DNA data by proposing informative prior distributions for logistic regression coefficients that enable us to overcome parameter identifiability, while performing efficient Bayesian variable selection. Our methodology does not require the use of transdimensional algorithms and provides a general framework for performing Bayesian variable selection under informative prior distributions in logistic regression models.
Significant others’ perceptions of being taken seriously by the Swedish Ambulance Service when the patient is assessed as nonurgent
Authors: Rantala Andreas , Ekwall Anna , Forsberg Anna
Published: December 2019

Background

At least 50% of all ambulance assignments are deemed nonurgent, while 47–96% are initiated by someone other than the patient. Previous research has highlighted the importance of being taken seriously. However, additional knowledge of how significant others experience the situation when a patient is assessed as nonurgent is needed.

Objective

The aim of this study was to explore the person‐centred climate in the Ambulance Service from the perspective of significant others by means of the Person‐centred Climate Questionnaire – Family version (PCQ‐F), to psychometrically investigate the construct validity of additional items intended to measure perceptions of being taken seriously and to explore possible relationships between the person‐centred climate and these additional items.

Methods

A retrospective, explorative, cross‐sectional survey design was employed. In total, 241 questionnaires were distributed. Descriptive and comparative statistics and a factor analysis of eight items possibly constructing person‐centredness are presented.

Results

The 100 respondents experienced the climate as very person‐centred. Relationships were found between the items that might constitute person‐centredness and the PCQ‐F. The PCQ‐F can explain perceived person‐centredness through the additional items that may constitute person‐centredness in the Ambulance Service context.

Conclusion

Significant others consider eight aspects of being taken seriously as the core of person‐centredness in nonurgent Ambulance Service assignments. There is a relationship between the psychosocial climate and the additional items that might constitute person‐centredness.
Sedimentology, stratigraphy and architecture of the Nicobar Fan (Bengal–Nicobar Fan System), Indian Ocean: Results from International Ocean Discovery Program Expedition 362
Authors: Pickering Kevin T. , Pouderoux Hugo , McNeill Lisa C. , Backman Jan , Chemale Farid , Kutterolf Steffen , Milliken Kitty L. , Mukoyoshi Hideki , Henstock Timothy J. , Stevens Duncan E. , Parnell Charlie , Dugan Brandon
Published: December 2019

Drill sites in the southern Bay of Bengal at 3°N 91°E (International Ocean Discovery Program Expedition 362) have sampled for the first time a complete section of the Nicobar Fan and below to the oceanic crust. This generally overlooked part of the Bengal–Nicobar Fan System may provide new insights into uplift and denudation rates of the Himalayas and Tibetan Plateau. The Nicobar Fan comprises sediment gravity‐flow deposits, mostly turbidites, that alternate with hemipelagite drapes and pelagite intervals of varying thicknesses. The decimetre‐thick to metre‐thick oldest pre‐fan sediments (limestones/chalks) dated at 69 Ma are overlain by volcanic material and slowly accumulated pelagites (0.5 g cm−2 kyr−1). At Expedition 362 Site U1480, terrigenous input began in the early Miocene at ca 22.5 Ma as muds, overlain by very thin‐bedded and thin‐bedded muddy turbidites at ca 19.5 Ma. From 9.5 Ma, sand content and sediment supply sharply increase (from 1–5 to 10–50 g cm−2 kyr−1). Despite the abundant normal faulting in the Nicobar Fan compared with the Bengal Fan, it offers a better‐preserved and more homogeneous sedimentary record with fewer unconformities. The persistent connection between the two fans ceased at 0.28 Ma when the Nicobar Fan became inactive. The Nicobar Fan is a major sink for Himalaya‐derived material. This study presents integrated results of International Ocean Discovery Program Expedition 362 with older Deep Sea Drilling Project/Ocean Drilling Program/International Ocean Discovery Program sites that show that the Bengal–Nicobar Fan System experienced successive large‐scale avulsion processes that switched sediment supply between the Bengal Fan (middle Miocene and late Pleistocene) and the Nicobar Fan (late Miocene to early Pleistocene). A quantitative analysis of the submarine channels of the Nicobar Fan is also presented, including their stratigraphic frequency, showing that channel size/area and abundance peaked at ca 2 to 3 Ma, but with a distinct low at 3 to 7 Ma: the intervening stratigraphic [sub]unit was a time of reduced sediment accumulation rates.