bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee and the Black Freedom Struggle of the 1960s
Authors: Payne Charles M.
Published: November 2018

The only youth-led national civil rights organization in the 1960s in the United States, the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), grew out of sit-ins, with the base of its early membership coming from Black colleges. It became one of the most militant civil rights groups, pushing older organizations to become more aggressive. Under the tutelage of the experienced activist Ella Baker, it emphasized developing leadership in “ordinary” people. Its early years were dominated by direct action campaigns against White supremacy in the urban and Upper South, while internally, SNCC strove to actualize the Beloved Community. Later it specialized in grassroots community organizing and voter registration in dangerous areas of the Deep South. Its Freedom Summer campaign played a significant role in radicalizing young activists. SNCC, in general, acted as a training ground and model for other forms of youth activism. Notwithstanding its own issues with chauvinism, SNCC was open to leadership from women in a way that few social change organizations of the time were.
Bias in the intervention in prediction measure in random forests: illustrations and recommendations
Authors: Nembrini Stefano
Published: November 2018

Supplementary information

Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.
Incidence and Outcomes of Staphylococcus aureus Bacteriuria: A Population-based Study
Authors: Stokes William , Parkins Michael D , Parfitt Elizabeth C T , Ruiz Juan C , Mugford Gerry , Gregson Daniel B
Published: November 2018

Background

Staphylococcus aureus bacteriuria (SABU) may represent multiple processes ranging from asymptomatic colonization to a marker of S. aureus bacteremia (SAB). Our objective was to describe SABU at a population-based level and determine patient characteristics associated with SAB.

Methods

A retrospective study was performed using electronic databases. All urine cultures positive for S. aureus between 2010 and 2013 within the Calgary Health Zone were included. Patient characteristics were compared among patients with and without SAB and risk factors identified using multiple logistic regression modeling.

Results

A total of 2540 urine cultures positive for S. aureus from 2054 patients were analyzed. The incidence of SABU was greatest among geriatric males with multiple comorbidities. SAB occurred in 175 (6.9%) of SABU patients. Those with SAB were more likely to be hospitalized, male, have a recent urinary procedure, have pure S. aureus culture in urine, and have laboratory findings suggesting systemic infection. Patients with isolated SABU were more likely to be ≥65 years, have dementia, and have abnormal urinalyses with pyuria and urine nitrites. In-hospital mortality in patients with SABU and SABU+SAB was 9.2% and 17.5%, respectively. Patients with SABU detected ≥48 hours before SAB had the highest risk of death.

Conclusions

Less than 7% of patients with SABU have or will develop SAB. Characteristics associated with SABU were identified that established higher risk for systemic infection. Investigating SABU patients with these characteristics for systemic infection is warranted because a delay in diagnosis is associated with increased mortality.
Thymus machinery for T-cell selection
Authors: Kondo Kenta , Ohigashi Izumi , Takahama Yousuke
Published: November 2018

An immunocompetent and self-tolerant pool of naive T cells is formed in the thymus through the process of repertoire selection. T cells that are potentially capable of responding to foreign antigens are positively selected in the thymic cortex and are further selected in the thymic medulla to help prevent self-reactivity. The affinity between T-cell antigen receptors expressed by newly generated T cells and self-peptide–major histocompatibility complexes displayed in the thymic microenvironments plays a key role in determining the fate of developing T cells during thymic selection. Recent advances in our knowledge of the biology of thymic epithelial cells have revealed unique machinery that contributes to positive and negative selection in the thymus. In this article, we summarize recent findings on thymic T-cell selection, focusing on the machinery unique to thymic epithelial cells.
Birth weight is not causally associated with adult asthma: results from instrumental variable analyses
Authors: Zeng Ping , Yu Xinghao , Zhou Xiang
Published: November 2018

The association between lower birth weight and childhood asthma is well established by observational studies. However, it remains unclear whether the influence of lower birth weight on asthma can persist into adulthood. Here, we conducted a Mendelian randomization analysis to assess the causal relationship of birth weight on the risk of adult asthma. Specifically, we carefully selected genetic instruments based on summary statistics obtained from large-scale genome-wide association meta-analyses of birth weight (up to ~160,000 individuals) and adult asthma (up to ~62,000 individuals). We performed Mendelian randomization using two separate approaches: a genetic risk score approach and a two-sample inverse-variance weighted (IVW) approach. With 37 genetic instruments for birth weight, we estimated the causal effect per one standard deviation (SD) change of birth weight to be an odds ratio (OR) of 1.00 (95% CI 0.98~1.03, p=0.737) using the genetic risk score method. We did not observe nonlinear relationship or gender difference for the estimated causal effect. In addition, with the IVW method, we estimated the causal effect of birth weight on adult asthma was observed (OR=1.02, 95% CI 0.84~1.24, p=0.813). Additionally, the iMAP method provides no additional genome-wide evidence supporting the causal effects of birth weight on adult asthma. The result of the IVW method was robust against various sensitivity analyses, and MR-PRESSO and the Egger regression showed that no instrument outliers and no horizontal pleiotropy were likely to bias the results. Overall, this Mendelian randomization study provides no evidence for the fetal origins of diseases hypothesis for adult asthma, implying that the impact of birth weight on asthma in years of children and adolescents does not persist into adult and previous findings may be biased by confounders.
Massively parallel profiling of HIV-1 resistance to the fusion inhibitor enfuvirtide
Authors: Dingens Adam S. , Arenz Dana , Overbaugh Julie , Bloom Jesse D.
Published: November 2018

Resistance to enfuvirtide, the only clinically approved HIV-1 entry inhibitor, has primarily been mapped to the binding site in the N-terminal heptad repeat (NHR) of the Env transmembrane domain and a limited number of allosteric sites. To better delineate the genotypic determinants of resistance, we used deep mutational scanning to quantify how all mutations to HIV-1 Env affect enfuvirtide sensitivity. We identified numerous additional resistance mutations in the NHR and other regions of Env, including the co-receptor binding site. This complete map of resistance sheds light on the diverse mechanisms of enfuvirtide resistance and can inform clinical monitoring of patients.
Spatial scale moderates the shape of the biodiversity-disease relationship
Authors: Halliday Fletcher W. , Rohr Jason R.
Published: November 2018

Diverse host communities commonly inhibit the spread of parasites in studies at small and intermediate scales, leading some to suggest that conserving biodiversity could help control infectious diseases. However, the generality of this “dilution effect” remains controversial. First, most studies assume a linear, monotonic relationship between biodiversity and disease, though the actual shape is unknown. Second, most studies are conducted at a single spatial scale, though biotic interactions are often-scale-dependent, thus spatial scale might determine the direction of biodiversity-disease relationships. Third, most studies focus only on a small range of possible diversity levels, though the direction of biodiversity-disease relationships may change outside of this range. By analyzing 231 biodiversity-disease relationships on 77 parasite species, we provide broad evidence that biodiversity-disease relationships are generally non-linear and moderated by spatial scale; biodiversity generally inhibits disease at local scales (<100 km2) and amplifies disease at regional scales (>1,000,000 km2). These effects did not depend on any tested host, parasite, or study characteristics, though the spatial scale of a study was often related to study design and parasite type, highlighting the need for additional multiscale research. Few studies were missing substantial data at low diversity, but missing data at low diversity could result in underreporting of amplification. Experiments might be missing data at high diversity, which could result in underreporting of dilution. Despite context-dependence in biodiversity-disease relationships, most conservation is implemented at local scales where biodiversity appears to inhibit disease and thus these results suggest that local conservation actions could reduce disease risk.

Significance statement

It has been suggested that diverse ecological communities limit disease spread, but the generality of this pattern is contentious. Therefore, the degree to which biodiversity conservation can limit harmful epidemics remains unresolved. We address this fundamental question by analyzing 231 published relationships between biodiversity and disease. We find evidence that most biodiversity-disease relationships are nonlinear and scale-dependent with biodiversity generally associated with reduced disease at small and intermediate scales, but increased disease at large scales. Moreover, these results were generally robust to missing data at low and high biodiversity levels and variation in host, parasite, and study characteristics. This suggests that conservation efforts aimed at reducing the impacts of human and wildlife diseases will be most successful at local scales.
Tracing diagnosis trajectories over millions of inpatients reveal an unexpected association between schizophrenia and rhabdomyolysis
Authors: Paik Hyojung , Kan Matthew J. , Rappoport Nadav , Hadley Dexter , Sirota Marina , Chen Bin , Manber Udi , Cho Seong Beom , Butte Atul J.
Published: November 2018

While it has been technically feasible to create longitudinal representations of individual health at a nationwide scale, the use of these techniques to identify novel disease associations for the risk stratification of patients has had limited success. Here, we created a large-scale US longitudinal disease network of traced readmission patterns (i.e., disease trajectories), merging data from over 10.4 million inpatients from 350 California hospitals through the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project between 1980 and 2010. We were able to create longitudinal representations of disease progression mapping over 300 common diseases, including the well-known complication of heart failure after acute myocardial infarction. Surprisingly, out of these generated disease trajectories, we discovered an unknown association between schizophrenia, a chronic mental disorder, and rhabdomyolysis, a rare disease of muscle breakdown. It was found that 92 of 3674 patients (2.5%) with schizophrenia were readmitted for rhabdomyolysis (relative risk, 2.21 [1.80–2.71, confidence interval = 0.95] P-value 9.54E-15), which has a general population incidence of 1 in 10,000. We validated this association using independent electronic health records from over 830,000 patients treated over seven years at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) medical center. A case review of 29 patients at UCSF who were treated for schizophrenia and who went on to develop rhabdomyolysis demonstrated that the majority of cases (62%) are idiopathic, which suggests a biological connection between these two diseases. Together, these findings demonstrate the power of using public disease registries in combination with electronic medical records to discover novel disease associations.

One Sentence Summary

Based on the longitudinal health records from millions of California inpatient discharges, we created a temporal network that enabled us to understand statewide patterns of hospital readmissions, which led to the novel finding that hospitalization for schizophrenia is significantly associated with rehospitalization for rhabdomyolysis.
On the objectivity, reliability, and validity of deep learning enabled bioimage analyses
Authors: Segebarth Dennis , Griebel Matthias , Stein Nikolai , von Collenberg Cora R. , Martin Corinna , Fiedler Dominik , Comeras Lucas B. , Sah Anupam , Schoeffler Victoria , Lüffe Theresa , Dürr Alexander , Gupta Rohini , Sasi Manju , Lillesaar Christina , Lange Maren D. , Tasan Ramon O. , Singewald Nicolas , Pape Hans-Christian , Flath Christoph M. , Blum Robert
Published: November 2018

Fluorescent labeling of biomolecules is widely used for bioimage analyses throughout the life sciences. Recent advances in deep learning (DL) have opened new possibilities to scale the image analysis processes through automation. However, the annotation of fluorescent features with a low signal-to-noise ratio is frequently based on subjective criteria. Training on subjective annotations may ultimately lead to biased DL models yielding irreproducible results. An end-to-end analysis process that integrates data annotation, ground truth estimation, and model training can mitigate this risk. To highlight the importance of this integrated process, we compare different DL-based analysis approaches. Based on data from different laboratories, we show that ground truth estimation from multiple human annotators is indispensable to establish objectivity in fluorescent feature annotations. We demonstrate that ensembles of multiple models trained on the estimated ground truth establish reliability and validity. Our research provides guidelines for reproducible and transparent bioimage analyses using DL methods.
A clinal polymorphism in the insulin signaling transcription factorfoxocontributes to life-history adaptation inDrosophila
Authors: Durmaz Esra , Rajpurohit Subhash , Betancourt Nicolas , Fabian Daniel K. , Kapun Martin , Schmidt Paul , Flatt Thomas
Published: November 2018

A fundamental aim of adaptation genomics is to identify polymorphisms that underpin variation in fitness traits. InD. melanogasterlatitudinal life-history clines exist on multiple continents and make an excellent system for dissecting the genetics of adaptation. We have previously identified numerous clinal SNPs in insulin/insulin-like growth factor signaling (IIS), a pathway known from mutant studies to affect life history. However, the effects of natural variants in this pathway remain poorly understood. Here we investigate how two clinal alternative alleles atfoxo, a transcriptional effector of IIS, affect fitness components (viability, size, starvation resistance, fat content). We assessed this polymorphism from the North American cline by reconstituting outbred populations, fixed for either the low- or high-latitude allele, from inbred DGRP lines. Since diet and temperature modulate IIS, we phenotyped alleles across two temperatures (18°C, 25°C) and two diets differing in sugar source and content. Consistent with clinal expectations, the high-latitude allele conferred larger body size and reduced wing loading. Alleles also differed in starvation resistance and expression ofInR, a transcriptional target of FOXO. Allelic reaction norms were mostly parallel, with few GxE interactions. Together, our results suggest that variation in IIS makes a major contribution to clinal life-history adaptation.
Overly strong priors for socially meaningful visual signals in psychosis proneness
Authors: Stuke Heiner , Kress Elisabeth , Weilnhammer Veith Andreas , Sterzer Philipp , Schmack Katharina
Published: November 2018

Predictive coding accounts of psychosis state that an overweighing of high-level priors relative to sensory information may lead to the misperception of meaningful signals underlying the experience of auditory hallucinations and delusions. However, it is currently unclear whether the hypothesized overweighing of priors (1) represents a pervasive alteration that also affects the visual modality, and, (2) takes already effect at early automatic processing stages.

Here, we addressed these questions by studying visual perception of socially meaningful stimuli in healthy individuals with varying degrees of psychosis proneness (n=39). In a first task, we quantified participants’ prior for detecting faces in visual noise. In a second task, we measured participants’ prior for detecting direct gaze stimuli that were rendered invisible by continuous flash suppression. We found that the prior for detecting faces in noise correlated with hallucination proneness (rho=0.50, p=0.001) as well as delusion proneness (rho=0.44, p=0.005). Similarly, the prior for detecting invisible direct gaze was significantly associated with hallucination proneness (rho = 0.42, p = 0.010) and trend-wise with delusion proneness (rho = 0.29, p = 0.087). Our results provide evidence for the idea that overly strong high-level priors for automatically detecting socially meaningful stimuli might constitute a generic processing alteration in psychosis.
A spatial code in the dorsal lateral geniculate nucleus
Authors: Hok Vincent , Jacob Pierre-Yves , Bordiga Pierrick , Truchet Bruno , Poucet Bruno , Save Etienne
Published: November 2018

Since their discovery in the early ‘70s1, hippocampal place cells have been studied in numerous animal and human spatial memory paradigms2–4. These pyramidal cells, along with other spatially tuned types of neurons (e.g. grid cells, head direction cells), are thought to provide the mammalian brain a unique spatial signature characterizing a specific environment, and thereby a memory trace of the subject’s place5. While grid and head direction cells are found in various brain regions, only few hippocampal-related structures showing ‘place cell’-like neurons have been identified6,7, thus reinforcing the central role of the hippocampus in spatial memory. Concurrently, it is increasingly suggested that visual areas play an important role in spatial cognition as recent studies showed a clear spatial selectivity of visual cortical (V1) neurons in freely moving rodents8–10. We therefore thought to investigate, in the rat, such spatial correlates in a thalamic structure located one synapse upstream of V1, the dorsal Lateral Geniculate Nucleus (dLGN), and discovered that a substantial proportion (ca. 30%) of neurons exhibits spatio-selective activity. We found that dLGN place cells maintain their spatial selectivity in the absence of visual inputs, presumably relying on odor and locomotor inputs. We also found that dLGN place cells maintain their place selectivity across sessions in a familiar environment and that contextual modifications yield separated representations. Our results show that dLGN place cells are likely to participate in spatial cognition processes, creating as early as the thalamic stage a comprehensive representation of one given environment.
Increased and decreased superficial white matter structural connectivity in schizophrenia and bipolar disorder
Authors: Ji Ellen , Guevara Pamela , Guevara Miguel , Grigis Antoine , Labra Nicole , Sarrazin Samuel , Hamdani Nora , Bellivier Frank , Delavest Marine , Leboyer Marion , Tamouza Ryad , Poupon Cyril , Mangin Jean-François , Houenou Josselin
Published: November 2018

Schizophrenia (SZ) and bipolar disorder (BD) are often conceptualized as “disconnection syndromes”, with substantial evidence of abnormalities in deep white matter tracts, forming the substrates of long-range connectivity, seen in both disorders. However, the study of superficial white matter (SWM) U-shaped short-range tracts remained challenging until recently, although findings from post-mortem studies suggest they are likely integral components of SZ and BD neuropathology. This diffusion weighted imaging (DWI) study aimed to investigate SWM microstructure in vivo in both SZ and BD for the first time. We performed whole brain tractography in 31 people with SZ, 32 people with BD and 54 controls using BrainVISA and Connectomist 2.0. Segmentation and labelling of SWM tracts were performed using a novel, comprehensive U-fiber atlas. Analysis of covariances yielded significant generalized fractional anisotropy (gFA) differences for 17 SWM bundles in frontal, parietal and temporal cortices. Post hoc analyses showed gFA reductions in both patient groups as compared with controls in bundles connecting regions involved in language processing, mood regulation, working memory and motor function (pars opercularis, insula, anterior cingulate, precentral gyrus). We also found increased gFA in SZ patients in areas overlapping the default mode network (inferior parietal, middle temporal, precuneus), supporting functional hyperconnectivity of this network evidenced in SZ. We thus illustrate that short U-fibers are vulnerable to the pathological processes in major psychiatric illnesses, encouraging improved understanding of their anatomy and function.
Consensus clustering of herpesvirus protein interaction networks provides insights into their evolutionary relationship with bacteriophages
Authors: Hernández Durán Anna , Greco Todd M. , Vollmer Benjamin , Cristea Ileana M. , Grünewald Kay , Topf Maya
Published: November 2018

Infections with human herpesviruses are ubiquitous and a public health concern worldwide. Current treatments reduce the morbidity of some manifested symptoms but neither remove the viral reservoir from the infected host nor protect from the recurrent symptom outbreaks that characterize herpetic infections. The difficulty in therapeutically tackling these viral systems stems in part from their remarkably large proteomes and the complex networks of physical and functional associations that they tailor. This study presents our efforts to unravel the complexity of the interactome of herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV1), the prototypical herpesvirus species. Inspired by our previous work, we present an improved computational pipeline for the protein-protein interaction (PPI) network reconstruction in HSV1, combining both experimentally supported and bioinformatic predictions. Our newly-developed consensus clustering approach allows us to extend the analysis beyond binary physical interactions and reveals higher order functional associations including that of pUS10 with capsid proteins. In-depth bioinformatics sequence analysis unraveled structural features of this 34-36 kDa protein reminiscent of those observed in some capsid-associated proteins in tailed bacteriophages, with which herpesviruses are thought to share a common ancestry. This suggests that pUS10 could represent an evolutionary vestige between these two viral lineages. Using immunoaffinity purification-mass spectrometry we found that pUS10 specifically co-isolated with the inner tegument protein pUL37, which binds cytosolic capsids, contributing to initial tegumentation and eventual virion maturation. In summary, this study unveils new insights at both the system and molecular levels that can help better understand the complexity behind herpesvirus infections.
Dimensional Anhedonia and the Adolescent brain: Reward and Aversion Anticipation, Effort and Consummation: Anhedonia in adolescent depression
Authors: Rzepa Ewelina , McCabe Ciara
Published: November 2018

Given the heterogeneity of depression the Research Domain Criteria Framework suggests a dimensional approach to understanding the nature of mental health and illness. Neural reward function has been suggested as underpinning the symptom of anhedonia in depression but less is known about how anhedonia is related to aversion processing. We examined how anhedonia relates to neural activity during reward and aversion processing in adolescents and emerging adults (N=84) in the age range 13-21yrs. Using a dimensional approach we examined how anhedonia and depression severity correlated with an fMRI task measuring anticipation, effort and consummation of reward and aversion. We show for the first time that the dimensional experience of anhedonia correlated with neural responses during effort to avoid aversion in the precuneus with a trend in the insula and during aversive consummation in the caudate. Using a categorical approach we also examined how the neural responses during each phase of the task differed in those with depression symptoms compared to healthy controls. We found participants with depression symptoms invested less physical effort to gain reward than controls and had blunted neural anticipation of reward and aversion in the precuneus, insula, and prefrontal cortex and blunted neural effort for reward in the putamen. This work highlights blunted neural responses to reward and aversion in depression and how anticipatory and consummatory anhedonia may be enhanced via dysfunctional neural processing of aversion. Future work will assess if these neural mechanisms can be used to predict blunted behavioural approach to reward and avoidance of negative experiences in adolescents at risk of depression.
RADAR: annotation and prioritization of variants in the post-transcriptional regulome of RNA-binding proteins
Authors: Zhang Jing , Liu Jason , Lee Donghoon , Feng Jo-Jo , Lochovsky Lucas , Lou Shaoke , Rutenberg-Schoenberg Michael , Gerstein Mark
Published: November 2018

RNA-binding proteins (RBPs) play key roles in post-transcriptional regulation and disease. Their binding sites cover more of the genome than coding exons; nevertheless, most noncoding variant-prioritization methods only focus on transcriptional regulation. Here, we integrate the portfolio of ENCODE-RBP experiments to develop RADAR, a variant-scoring framework. RADAR uses conservation, RNA structure, network centrality, and motifs to provide an overall impact score. Then it further incorporates tissue-specific inputs to highlight disease-specific variants. Our results demonstrate RADAR can successfully pinpoint variants, both somatic and germline, associated with RBP-function dysregulation, that cannot be found by most current prioritization methods, for example variants affecting splicing.
The Influence of Health Insurance on the Utilization of Maternal Health Care Services in Kumba Health District: A Community-based Assessment
Authors: Mbuli Mbunwe Doreen , Awolu Mbunka Muhamed , Asangbeng Tanue Elvis , Mbuli Innocent Ali , Pangmekeh Pepanze Jill , Shey Nsagha Dickson
Published: November 2018

Background

The cash payments required to access services at health facilities called user fees are perceived to be a key barrier to improving maternal health care. This study was carried out to determine the influence of health insurance enrollment on the utilization of maternal health care services in Kumba Health District (KHD).

Methods

This was an analytic community-based cross-sectional study carried out in KHD, including women of child-bearing age who have had their latest delivery within 5years prior to the study. Six of the twelve health areas in the KHD were purposively selected due to the presence of health insurance companies. Probability proportionate to size sampling was used to determine the number of eligible women to be selected from each of the health areas. Data were entered into Excel 2013 and analyzed using SPSS version 20. Chi-square tests and Logistic regression were employed to identify associations between variables. Statistical significance was set at P<0.05.

Results

A total of 392 eligible women of child-bearing age (15-49years) were recruited into the study. A very high proportion, 94.4% of the women attended at least one ANC visit during their last pregnancy prior to the study. However, only 118(31.9%) started ANC in the critical first trimester. The prevalence of skilled facility delivery was 90.3% (95% CI: 87.2 – 93.1%). The proportion of women using a family planning method was low, 45.4% (95%CI: 49.5 – 59.2%). In multivariate analyses, insurance enrollment was significantly associated with family planning utilization (P-value: 0.000, AOR: 3.96, 95%CI: 2.14-7.35).

Conclusion

Less than a quarter of women of reproductive age are enrolled in health insurance in the KHD. Health insurance has been found to influence the utilization of family planning services in Kumba Health District, but not antenatal care and skilled facility delivery, though insured women are more likely to utilize these services than the uninsured. Universal health care coverage is, therefore, necessary to ensure financial accessibility to maternal health care services by all women.
The importance of large-diameter trees in the wet tropical rainforests of Australia
Authors: Bradford Matt , Murphy Helen T
Published: November 2018

Large trees are keystone structures in many terrestrial ecosystems. They contribute disproportionately to reproduction, recruitment and succession, and influence the structure, dynamics, and diversity of forests. Recently, researchers have become concerned about evidence showing rapid declines in large, old trees in a range of ecosystems across the globe. We used ≥10cm diameter at breast height (DBH) stem inventory data from 20, 0.5 ha forest plots spanning the wet tropical rainforest of Queensland, Australia to examine the contribution of large-diameter trees to above ground biomass (AGB), richness, dominance, mortality and recruitment. We show consistencies with tropical rainforest globally in that large-diameter trees (≥70 cm DBH) contribute much of the biomass (33%) from few trees (2.4% of stems ≥10cm DBH) with the density of the largest trees explaining much of the variation (62%) in AGB across plots. Measurement of AGB in the largest 5% of trees allows plot biomass to be predicted with ~85% precision. In contrast to rainforest in Africa and America, we show that a high proportion of species are capable of reaching a large-diameter in Australian wet tropical rainforest resulting in weak biomass hyperdominance (~10% of species account for 50% of the biomass) and high potential resilience to regional disturbances and global environmental change. We show that the high AGB in Australian tropical forests is driven primarily by the relatively high density of large trees coupled with contributions from significantly higher densities of medium size trees. Australian wet tropical rainforests are well positioned to maintain the current densities of large-diameter trees and high AGB into the future due to the species richness of large trees and a high density of replacement smaller trees.
Human Lung Epithelial Cells Divide >200 Population Doublings without Engaging a Telomere Maintenance Mechanism
Authors: Peters-Hall Jennifer R. , Min Jaewon , Tedone Enzo , Sho Sei , Siteni Silvia , Mender Ilgen , Shay Jerry W.
Published: November 2018

The “Hayflick limit” is a “mitotic clock” and primary cells have a finite lifespan that correlates with telomere length. However, introduction of the telomerase catalytic protein component (TERT) is insufficient to immortalize most, but not all, human cell types under typical cell culture conditions. Originally, telomerase activity was only detected in cancer cells but is now recognized as being detectable in transit amplifying cells in tissues undergoing regeneration or in extreme conditions of wound repair. Here we report thatin vitrolow stress culture conditions allow normal human lung basal epithelial cells to grow for over 200 population doublings without engaging any telomere maintenance mechanism. This suggests that most reported instances of telomere-based replicative senescence are due to cell culture stress-induced premature senescence.

One Sentence Summary

Human lung cells growing in reduced stress conditions can divide well beyond the Hayflick limit.
How VUCA is changing the learning landscape – and how curiosity can help
Authors: Horstmeyer Alison
Published: November 2018

Purpose

This paper aims to describe four ways learning professionals can harness curiosity to navigate learning environments marked by volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity (VUCA).

Design/methodology/approach

A review of theory and research on curiosity, VUCA, and learning and development challenges was conducted.

Findings

When applied to talent development, the attributes of curiosity (inquisitiveness, openness, creativity, and disruption tolerance) can help learning professionals innovate their offerings.

Practical implications

Organizational development and learning professionals are encouraged to implement measures for harnessing the power of curiosity within their processes to optimize their organizations’ learning programs.

Originality/value

VUCA has placed significant pressures on learning professionals to continually evolve employee development offerings to keep pace with dynamic organizational skill needs. Curiosity is presented as a plausible mechanism for enabling learning professionals to more successfully navigate these pressures.
Two-stage additive integer-valued data envelopment analysis models
Authors: Ajirlo Shahrooz Fathi , Amirteimoori Alireza , Kordrostami Sohrab
Published: November 2018

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to propose a modified model in multi-stage processes when there are intermediate measures between the stages and in this sense, the new efficiency scores are more accurate. Conventional data envelopment analysis (DEA) models disregard the internal structures of peer decision-making units (DMUs) in evaluating their relative efficiency. Such an approach would cause managers to lose important DMU information. Therefore, in multistage processes, traditional DEA models encounter problems when intermediate measures are used for efficiency evaluation.

Design/methodology/approach

In this study, two-stage additive integer-valued DEA models were proposed. Three models were proposed for measuring inefficiency slacks in each stage and in the system as a whole.

Findings

Three models were proposed for measuring inefficiency slacks in each stage and in the system as a whole.

Originality/value

The advantage of the proposed models for multi-stage systems is that they can accurately determine the stages with the greatest weaknesses/strengths. By introducing an applied case in the Iranian power industry, the paper demonstrated the applications and advantages of the proposed models.
Exploring the key performance indicators of green supply chain management in agro-industry
Authors: Gardas Bhaskar , Raut Rakesh , Jagtap Annasaheb H. , Narkhede Balkrishna
Published: November 2018

Purpose

The issue of food security is one of the critical global challenges. The Government and the industries have begun apprehending the importance of green supply chain management (GSCM) implementation in their supply chains. There are various drivers or performance indicators (PIs) of GSCM in the agro-sector. This paper aims to analyse 14 PIs using an interpretive structural modelling (ISM) approach.

Design/methodology/approach

In this study, the PIs of GSCM were identified through a literature survey and opinions of field experts. The identified 14 PIs were modelled by applying an ISM methodology for establishing the interrelationship between the PIs and to identify the PIs having high influential power.

Findings

The result of the investigation underlined that three PIs, namely, environmental management (PI 1), regulatory pressure (PI 3) and competitive pressure (PI 2) are the significant PIs having high driving power.

Research limitations/implications

The experts’ judgments were used for the development of the structural model, which could be biased influencing the reliability of the model. Also, only 14 significant PIs were considered for the analysis. This research is intended to help the policymakers, managers and supply chain designers in the food industry and in agribusiness in formulating the policies and strategies for achieving food security, conservation of the environmental resources and for improving the financial performance of the industry.

Originality/value

It is pioneering research focusing on the analysis of the PIs towards the implementation of GSCM in the Indian agro-industries context using an ISM approach. This research adds value to the existing knowledge base by identifying the crucial PIs, exploring their mutual relationship and highlighting their level of influence in the case sector.
Doesn’t work as expectation
Authors: Wang Hongli
Published: November 2018

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effects of “feeling trusted asymmetry” on work group performance and individual outcomes. The author adopts the term “feeling trusted asymmetry” to differentiate the subject from studies of trust asymmetry that consider differences in (mutual) ratings of trust between members of a dyad.

Design/methodology/approach

The author tested this effectiveness with data from a sample of 293 subordinate–supervisor dyads in 63 work groups from the People’s Republic of China.

Findings

Results of multilevel analysis reveal that group feeling trusted asymmetry (the degree to which subordinates differ in perceptions of the level of trust from their immediate manager in their group) lowers group performance. Furthermore, individual feeling trusted asymmetry (a subordinate perceiving more or less trust from their immediate manager than other subordinates in the group) affects employees’ workplace satisfaction, but not individual performance and creativity.

Originality/value

These findings have important practical implications, as they provide companies with a feasible way to manage employee’s relations based on their perception of trust from the direct supervisor.
From intangible resources to export performance
Authors: Rua Orlando Lima
Published: November 2018

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to analyse the influence of intangible resources on export performance, considering the mediating effect of absorptive capabilities and innovation.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors use a quantitative research approach by conducting a quantitative study based on survey data from 247 Portuguese small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) from the textile industry.

Findings

Findings suggest that: Intangible resources has a positive, significant and direct influence on absorptive capabilities and on export performance; intangible resources has not a significant and direct influence on innovation and on the opposite direction absorptive capabilities has a positive, significant and direct influence on it; innovation has a positive, significant and direct influence on export performance, contrary to absorptive capabilities that has not a significant and direct influence; and innovation has a mediating effect on the relationship between intangible resources and export performance, and the same does not happens on the relationship between absorptive capabilities and export performance.

Practical implications

This paper presents further evidences of the strategies that textile industry’s small firm managers should pursue, and policymakers should promote within the scope of the strategies associated to the system of tax benefits under negotiation for Portugal 2030.

Originality/value

While previous authors have attempted to analyse certain aspects of this process (connection between intangible resources and export performance), this research developed a framework that combines these ones with the mediating effect of absorptive capabilities and innovation. This study deepens our understanding and provides novel insights into strategic management and innovation literature, since it combines multiple factors and has obtained the importance of each construct in SMEs business growth.
One gang dies, another gains? The network dynamics of criminal group persistence*
Authors: Ouellet Marie , Bouchard Martin , Charette Yanick
Published: November 2018

What leads a minority of criminal groups to persist over time? Although most criminal groups are characterized by short life spans, a subset manages to survive extended periods. Contemporary research on criminal groups has been primarily descriptive and static, leaving important questions on the correlates of group persistence unanswered. By drawing from competing perspectives on the relationship between cohesion and group persistence, we apply a longitudinal approach to examine the network dynamics influencing the life span of criminal groups. We use 9 years of official data on the criminal and social networks of gang associates in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, to delineate criminal group boundaries and examine variation in group duration. Our statistical approach simultaneously considers within‐ and between‐group attributes to isolate how groups’ cohesion, as well as their embeddedness in the wider gang structure, impacts survival. Our results show that group survival is a function of their cohesion and embeddedness. Yet, the relationship is not direct but moderated by group size. Whereas large groups that adopt closed structures are more likely to persist, small groups’ survival depends on less cohesive and more versatile structures. In the discussion, we consider the impact of these findings for the continued understanding of group trajectories.
A novel KRT71 variant in curly‐coated dogs
Authors: Salmela E. , Niskanen J. , Arumilli M. , Donner J. , Lohi H. , Hytönen M. K.
Published: November 2018

Curly fur is a common phenotype in many dog breeds, known to result from a missense variant (c.451C>T) in exon 2 of the keratin 71 (KRT71) gene. During screening for this variant across various breeds, we found that Curly Coated Retrievers (CCRs) fixed with the trait did not carry the known variant. By analysis of whole‐genome sequencing data of one CCR we identified a novel genetic cause for curly fur. We found a novel structural variant in exon 7 of the KRT71 gene (c.1266_1273delinsACA) that was predicted to result in a frameshift and stop loss, therefore significantly affecting the structure of the protein, if translated. The variant was also found at lower frequencies in five other breeds, including Lagotto Romagnolo, Bichon Frise, Spanish Water Dog, Chesapeake Bay Retriever and Irish Terrier. One curly‐coated Lagotto carried neither of the two KRT71 variants. These results identify a second variant for curly coat in KRT71 and suggest the existence of additional alleles. This study enables the development of an additional KRT71 gene test for breeders to understand and manage coat types.
How does studying rurally affect peer networks and resilience? A social network analysis of rural‐ and urban‐based students
Authors: Burgis‐Kasthala Sarath , Elmitt Nicholas , Moore Malcolm
Published: November 2018

Objective

To examine differences in peer networks between urban‐based students and rural‐stream students in an Australian medical school and to examine how characteristics of networks relate to resilience.

Design

Cross‐sectional survey asking students to signify social, academic and support relationships with students in the same year and to complete a survey on their resilience.

Setting and participants

All second‐, third‐ and fourth‐year students at the Australian National University Medical School.

Main outcome measures

Social network analysis comparing peer networks, t‐test comparing mean resilience of urban and rural students.

Results

A visual analysis of the peer networks of year 2, 3 and 4 medical students suggests greater integration of rural‐stream students within the year 2 and 4 urban cohorts. Resilience is similar between year 2 and 3 students in both urban and rural streams, but is significantly higher in year 4 rural‐stream students, compared to their urban‐based peers. Networks of rural‐stream students suggest key differences between their period spent rurally and on their return and integration within the larger student cohort. Furthermore, rural students, once reintegrated, had larger and stronger social networks than their urban counterparts.

Conclusion

The results of the study suggest that the rural experience can instruct support systems in urban settings. However, whether the rural placement creates a more resilient student or resilient students are selected for rural placement is unclear.
Caring for adults with congenital heart disease in a regional setting
Authors: O'Brien Emily Mary , Law David , Celermajer David , Grant Peter Watson , Waites Jon
Published: November 2018

Objective

The number of adults with congenital heart disease has increased with improvements in surgical and medical management, posing a challenge for regional and rural settings, which might have difficulties accessing specialised professionals with congenital heart disease services. This study aims to ascertain the demographics and management of adults with congenital heart disease seen by a cardiology practice in regional Australia to better understand the needs of regional adults with congenital heart disease.

Design

A descriptive study using data from clinical notes collected between April 2013 and April 2016.

Setting

A private cardiology practice in Coffs Harbour, New South Wales. The practice has a treating cardiologist, senior sonographer, visiting cardiothoracic surgeon and visiting paediatric cardiologist.

Participants

One‐hundred‐and‐one adults with congenital heart disease (age: 16–88 years; 55 women).

Main outcome measures

Congenital heart disease defect, lesion severity, referral reason, past surgery, pulmonary hypertension, cardiac surgery during the study, mortality, adherence with follow‐up plans and specialist referral.

Results

Sixty‐six patients had simple congenital heart disease, 24 had congenital heart disease of moderate complexity and 11 had congenital heart disease of great complexity. Most were referred for surveillance, seven were referred due to pregnancy and eight were new diagnoses. Six patients died, nine had cardiac operations and five were treated for pulmonary arterial hypertension. Overall adherence to the treating cardiologist's follow‐up plans was 84%. All patients with congenital heart disease of great complexity were referred to congenital heart disease specialists.

Conclusion

A substantial number of patients had complex pathology, new diagnoses or required surgery, highlighting the importance of developing integrated services with the close support of outside specialists in managing adults with congenital heart disease in regional settings.
“No One Cares if You Can't Work”: Injured and Disabled Mexican‐Origin Workers in Transnational Life Course Perspective
Authors: Unterberger Alayne
Published: November 2018

What happens to injured immigrant workers as they age? What effects do their return migrations have on families, communities, and labor dynamics back home? This paper takes a composite of five immigrant families who participated in a long‐term binational study between Mexico and Florida, along with a separate cohort of Latino immigrant workers engaged in construction and warehousing in order to contextualize workers' health through Life Course Theory (LCT). This article specifically explores the lives of injured im/migrant workers and demonstrates the syndemic effects of Florida's lax workers' compensation (WC) system and intersecting health and labor policies and practices that exacerbate structural vulnerabilities on both sides of the U.S.–Mexico border. Syndemics combined with LCT highlights the intersecting and synergistic effects of place/environment, timing, timeline, and equity on health over the lifespan. Work‐related injuries, illnesses, and fatalities across different sectors of Florida's pro‐business economy exacerbate vulnerabilities and traumas, creating disability, and further inequalities in both the sending and receiving communities. The lack of effective workplace safety and health regulations perpetuate cycles of injury, illness, addiction, and precarity in both the United States and Mexico. These phenomena, combined with existing morbidities, fuel a binational disability syndemic that robs communities on both sides of the border of their economic, human, and social capital. Suggestions for different kinds of engagement and involvement by anthropologists and other social and health scientists are proposed, including discussions and examples of promising social movements attempting to hold Florida's food and agribusinesses accountable.