bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
From Population Viability Analysis to Coviability of Farmland Biodiversity and Agriculture
Authors: MOUYSSET L. , DOYEN L. , JIGUET F.
Published: January 2014

Substantial declines in farmland biodiversity have been reported in Europe for several decades. Agricultural changes have been identified as a main driver of these declines. Although different agrienvironmental schemes have been implemented, their positive effect on biodiversity is relatively unknown. This raises the question as to how to reconcile farming production and biodiversity conservation to operationalize a sustainable and multifunctional agriculture. We devised a bioeconomic model and conducted an analysis based on coviability of farmland biodiversity and agriculture. The coviability approach extended population viability analyses by including bioeconomic risk. Our model coupled stochastic dynamics of both biodiversity and farming land‐uses selected at the microlevel with public policies at the macrolevel on the basis of financial incentives (taxes or subsidies) for land uses. The coviability approach made it possible for us to evaluate bioeconomic risks of these public incentives through the probability of satisfying a mix of biodiversity and economic constraints over time. We calibrated the model and applied it to a community of 34 common birds in metropolitan France at the small agricultural regions scale. We identified different public policies and scenarios with tolerable (0–0%) agroecological risk and modeled their outcomes up to 2050. Budgetary, economic, and ecological (based on Farmland Bird Index) constraints were essential to understanding the set of viable public policies. Our results suggest that some combinations of taxes on cereals and subsidies on grasslands could be relevant to develop a multifunctional agriculture. Moreover, the flexibility and multicriteria viewpoint underlying the coviability approach may help in the implementation of adaptive management.

Del Análisis de Viabilidad Poblacional a la Co‐Viabilidad de la Agricultura y la Biodiversidad de las Tierras de Cultivo
The rising incidence of anal cancer in England 1990–2010: a population‐based study
Authors: Wilkinson J. R. , Morris E. J. A. , Downing A. , Finan P. J. , Aravani A. , Thomas J. D. , Sebag‐Montefiore D.
Published: January 2014

Aim

Although anal cancer is rare, its incidence has been reported to be rising in several countries. This study aimed to determine whether there have been any changes in incidence over time in England.

Method

In the cancer registry component of the English National Cancer Data Repository, 13 940 patients were identified with a primary diagnosis of anal cancer made between 1990 and 2010. Tumours were grouped according to the ICD‐O morphology codes into squamous cell carcinoma, basaloid and cloacogenic carcinoma, adenocarcinoma and other cancer types. The incidence over this period was investigated in relation to type of tumour, age and sex.

Results

In men there was a 69% increase in squamous cell anal carcinoma from 0.43 per 100 000 population in 1990–94 to 0.73 in 2006–10. For women these rates were 0.50 in 1990–94 and 1.13 in 2006–10, a rise of 126%.

Conclusion

The study showed that between 1990 and 2010 there was a substantial rise in the incidence of anal cancer in England. This effect was more marked in women than men.
The relationship between carotid intima–media thickness and global atherosclerosis
Authors: Lundberg C. , Hansen T. , Ahlström H. , Lind L. , Wikström J. , Johansson L.
Published: January 2014

Background

The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between (i) carotid intima–media thickness (CIMT) at baseline as well as (ii) change in CIMT over 5 years (ΔCIMT) and atherosclerotically induced luminal narrowing in non‐coronary arterial territories assessed by whole‐body magnetic resonance angiography (WBMRA).

Methods and results

In subgroups of the Prospective Investigation of Vasculature in Uppsala Seniors (PIVUS) study, US measurements of CIMT in the common carotid arteries were analysed at 70 and 75 years and ΔCIMT was calculated (n = 272). WBMRA, assessing arterial stenosis in five different territories by which also a total atherosclerotic score (TAS) was calculated, was performed at 70 years (n = 306).

Results

Carotid intima–media thickness in the carotid artery at baseline was correlated with TAS (P = 0·0001) when adjusted to a set of traditional risk factors for atherosclerosis, as well as to stenosis in two of the different investigated territories (aorta and lower leg, P = 0·013 and P = 0·004), but there was no significant correlation between ΔCIMT and TAS (P = 0·41).

Conclusions

In the present study, CIMT, but not ΔCIMT over 5 years, in the carotid artery was related to overall stenoses in the body, as assessed by WBMRA. These findings support CIMT as a general marker for atherosclerosis.
Prognostic value of red cell distribution width in patients with sarcoidosis
Authors: Ozsu Savas , Ozcelik Neslihan , Oztuna Funda , Ozlu Tevfik
Published: January 2014

Background

Sarcoidosis is a multisystem granulomatous disorder of unknown etiology. There are no data on the indications for specific tests or optimal frequency for monitoring of the disease activity in sarcoidosis.

Methods

Complete blood counts, demographics and pulmonary function data from sarcoidosis patients evaluated between 2006 and 2012 were collated retrospectively. During follow‐up, the latest red cell distribution width (RDW) values of the patients were recorded. The prognosis and diagnosis of sarcoidosis was based on according to the guideline. Sarcoidosis progression was classified as follows: remission, stable disease and progreesive disease.

Results

The diagnosis was based on histopathological findings in 93 out of 138 (67.4%) patients. In our cohort, the baseline mean RDW levels were 14.1% ± 1.2. The RDW distribution by stage was as follows: stage I: 14.0% (± 1.6), II: 14.2% (± 1.5), III: 13.8% (± 0.9) and IV: 15.8% (± 2.0). In patients with stage IV, baseline and follow‐up values of RDW were found to be significantly higher than the other stages. While the mean baseline RDW was 14.8 (± 1.4) in the progressive disease, upon follow‐up, the mean RDW had increased to 16.5% (± 1.4) (P = 0.021), No difference was found between the baseline and follow‐up levels of RDW in the regressive and stable groups.

Conclusions

Serial RDW levels may be beneficial marker to predict progression of sarcoidosis.
Cardiopulmonary morbidity of streptococcal infections in a PICU
Authors: Hon Kam‐Lun E. , Fu Antony , Leung Ting Fan , Poon Terence C. W. , Cheung Wai Hung , Fong Chor Yiu , Ho Yee Ting Christina , Lee Tsui Yin Jamie , Ng Tam Man , Yu Wai Ling , Cheung Kam Lau , Lee Vivian , Ip Margaret
Published: January 2014

Aim

The streptococci are important bacteria that cause serious childhood infections. We investigated cardiopulmonary morbidity associated with streptococcal infection and pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) admission.

Methods

A retrospective study between 2002 and 2013 of all children with a laboratory isolation of streptococcus.

Results

There were 40 (2.3%) PICU patients with streptococcal isolations including Streptococcus pyogenes (Group A streptococcus, GAS, n = 7), Streptococcus agalactiae (Group B streptococcus, GBS, n = 5), Streptococcus pneumoniae (SP, n = 20), alpha‐hemolytic (n = 4), beta‐hemolytic (n = 2) and gama‐hemolytic (n = 2) streptococci. Comparing among GAS, GBS and SP, respiratory isolates were more likely positive for GAS or SP (P = 0.033), whereas cerebrospinal fluid was more likely positive for GBS (P = 0.002). All GAS and GBS, and the majority of SP (90%) were sensitive to penicillin. All SP specimens were sensitive to cefotaxime and vancomycin. These infections were associated with high PICU mortality of 43%, 20% and 25%, respectively. Isolation of streptococci was associated with a 30% mortality and high rates of need for mechanical ventilatory and inotropic supports. Patients with GAS, SP or any streptococcal isolation had relative risks [95% confidence interval (CI), P value] of PICU deaths of 7.5 (CI 3.1–18.1, P < 0.0001), 4.5 (CI 2.0–9.8, P < 0.0002) and 5.7 (CI 3.4–9.5, P < 0.0001), respectively. In SP, older children had significantly higher prevalence of premorbid conditions such as malignancy, mental retardation/cerebral palsy ± seizure disorders, chromosomal or genetic disorders (P = 0.003) than children <5 years of age. Serotypes were available for some of these specimens that included 19A, 6B, 3 and 6C. There were four SP deaths with multiorgan system failure and hemolytic uremic syndrome (two 19A and two serotype 3).

Conclusions

Severe streptococcal infections are associated with significant morbidity and mortality despite treatment with systemic antibiotics and intensive care unit support. GAS and SP affect the lungs of children, whereas GBS more likely causes meningitis in infants. The expanded coverage of newer polyvalent pneumococcal vaccines can probably prevent infections by serotypes 19A, 19F, 6B and 3.
Fibrosing mediastinitis mimicking sarcoidosis
Authors: Galván Marta Ferrer , Portal José Antonio Rodríguez , Gorarredona María Pilar Serrano , Izquierdo Lourdes Gómez
Published: January 2014

Fibrosing mediastinitis (FM), also called sclerosing mediastinitis or mediastinal fibrosis, is a rare disease characterized by excessive fibrotic reaction in the mediastinum and may compromise the airway, the great vessels and other mediastinal structures, with a morbidity directly related to the location and extent of fibrosis. The cause is not always known but is often the result of a granulomatous disease, most often the histoplasmosis. We report a 43‐year‐old woman with a history of tuberculosis infection 23 years ago. She attended the pulmonology clinic for cough and dyspnea. Physical examination revealed jugular venous distention at 90°. In computed tomography scan of the chest with constrast (c/c), we observed a mediastinal nodal cast provoking cava compression and obliteration of main and intermediary right lobar bronchus. The pathological examination was FM.
Species–accumulation curves and taxonomic surrogates: an integrated approach for estimation of regional species richness
Authors: Terlizzi Antonio , Anderson Marti J. , Bevilacqua Stanislao , Ugland Karl I.
Published: January 2014

Aim

A species–accumulation curve may represent a direct expression of β‐diversity, the rate at which diversity increases from local to regional scale. Patterns of variation in β‐diversity tend to be consistent when measured across lower levels of the Linnaean taxonomic hierarchy (i.e. using species, genera or families). Our aim was to assess the relationships between species–accumulation curves and β‐diversity at different taxonomic levels and to combine the logic of species–accumulation curves with taxonomic surrogacy to provide a new approach for cost‐effective and reliable estimates of large‐scale species richness (γ‐diversity).

Location

Mediterranean, N Atlantic and SW Pacific.

Methods

We provide here a novel framework to extrapolate quantitative measures of species richness in large areas from accumulation curves based on extensive sampling at the family level coupled with estimation of species‐to‐family ratios from a subset of sampling units where organisms are identified to the species level. We demonstrated the effectiveness of the approach by analysing six datasets of diverse marine molluscan assemblages from different biogeographical regions and habitat types.

Results

The approach proposed here can be used successfully to gain substantial efficiencies in sampling, potentially reducing the number of sampling units in which organisms have to be identified at species level between 50 and 75%, while still allowing reliable estimates of regional species richness.

Main conclusions

Our results highlight the potential of this approach to improve the general exploration of biodiversity, especially for large‐scale monitoring programs. The method we propose differs from previously described approaches by taking into account the spatial heterogeneity of species distributions within the sampled area and also by relying on estimates of species‐to‐family ratios obtained directly from the specific area of interest.
Periglacial fires and trees in a continental setting of Central Canada, Upper Pleistocene
Authors: Bélanger N. , Carcaillet C. , Padbury G. A. , Harvey‐Schafer A. N. , Van Rees K. J. C.
Published: January 2014

Fire is a key factor controlling global vegetation patterns and carbon cycling. It mostly occurs under warm periods during which fuel builds up with sufficient moisture, whereas such conditions stimulate fire ignition and spread. Biomass burning increased globally with warming periods since the last glacial era. Data confirming periglacial fires during glacial periods are very sparse because such climates are likely too cold to favour fires. Here, tree occurrence and fires during the Upper Pleistocene glacial periods in Central Canada are inferred from botanical identification and calibrated radiocarbon dates of charcoal fragments. Charcoal fragments were archived in sandy dunes of central Saskatchewan and were dated >50 000–26 600 cal BP. Fragments were mostly gymnosperms. Parallels between radiocarbon dates and GISP2‐δ18O records deciphered relationships between fire and climate. Fires occurred either hundreds to thousands of years after Dansgaard–Oeschger (DO) interstadial warming events (i.e., the time needed to build enough fuel for fire ignition and spread) or at the onset of the DO event. The chronological uncertainties result from the dated material not precisely matching the fires and from the low residual 14C associated with old sample material. Dominance of high‐pressure systems and low effective moisture during post‐DO coolings likely triggered flammable periglacial ecosystems, while lower moisture and the relative abundance of fuel overshadowed lower temperatures for fire spread. Laurentide ice sheet (LIS) limits during DO events are difficult to assess in Central Canada due to sparse radiocarbon dates. Our radiocarbon data set constrains the extent of LIS. Central Saskatchewan was not covered by LIS throughout the Upper Pleistocene and was not a continental desert. Instead, our results suggest long‐lasting periods where fluctuations of the northern tree limits and fires after interstadials occurred persistently.
No‐Notice Urban Evacuations: Using Crowdsourced Mobile Data to Minimize Risk
Authors: Oxendine Christopher Edward , Waters Nigel
Published: January 2014

Emergency evacuations during the past decade have transitioned from landline analog to mobile digital communication devices. Over 88% of US citizens own a mobile phone, providing a tool to enable better communication between first responders and citizens in order to minimize risk to evacuees during no‐notice evacuations. During an emergency, evacuees rely on social media to communicate with family, friends, and coworkers, often finding accessibility to social media more reliable than trying to make a phone call. Federal, state, and local emergency operations centers have made limited use of social media or Internet‐based communications to provide an alternative means for citizens to request assistance or provide information. Mobile devices provide an alternative method of incident reporting and analysis through volunteered geographic information (VGI), which first responders can use to minimize risk to evacuees.
Class Monopoly Rent and the Contemporary Neoliberal City
Authors: Anderson Matthew B.
Published: January 2014

The objective of this essay is to rejuvenate interest in Marxian rent theory in urban political economy by identifying and deepening discussion of an important aspect of the contemporary neoliberal city: class monopoly rent. First introduced by David Harvey, the concept of class monopoly rent has curiously evaded in‐depth scholarly inquiry and has never been substantively elaborated or examined. But the conditions through which class monopoly rents are extracted from property have since evolved. Yet, we know little about the relation between this standard institutional practice and contemporary urban landscapes, modes of governance, and processes of urban restructuring. The essay first reviews and identifies the concept of class monopoly rent as an important aspect of the urban process and discusses its limited scholarly engagement over the past four decades. It then discusses the implications of class monopoly rent in the context of current urban redevelopment policies and practices in Chicago, Illinois. It is suggested that a deeper examination of this concept could build a more robust and intricate understanding of the contemporary neoliberal city, particularly in the context of the post‐2007 economic recession.
Transnational networks and transcultural belonging: a study of the Spanish second generation in Switzerland
Authors: RICHTER MARINA , NOLLERT MICHAEL
Published: January 2014

Migration scholars often assume a close association between transnational social practices and transcultural forms of belonging. Nonetheless, we argue that the distinction of both concepts is analytically important and helpful in understanding the transnational lives of second‐generation migrants. To analyse the biographical accounts and network maps of second‐generation Spaniards living in Switzerland, we draw a theoretical distinction between social practice (transnational networks) and forms of belonging (transcultural belonging). Our analysis shows second‐generation migrants maintaining social networks over time, interrupting them, or reconnecting with them. Their sense of belonging may either endure or fade. Although the interconnection between social networks and the sense of belonging is neither straightforward nor causal, we can nevertheless identify five types of network/belonging combinations. These types describe the various ways in which second‐generation migrants are likely to articulate transnational networks and transcultural belonging in their lives.
Privileged Japanese transnational families in Hawaii as lifestyle migrants
Authors: IGARASHI HIROKI
Published: January 2014

This study of privileged Japanese families in Hawaii revisits the claim that East Asian transnational families relocate overseas either to improve their well‐being or to enhance their status through their children's international education. Existing scholarship has focused mainly on the second pattern of status‐seeking migration, conceptualized as ‘education migration’. By employing Benson and O'Reilly's concept of ‘lifestyle migration’, I consider the less widely studied case of migration strategies designed to increase well‐being. The central difference between the two types of migrants lies in the way that migrant women construct their gendered identity through their transnational split‐household arrangement – a freer self (lifestyle migrants) or a sacrificial self (education migrants). In conclusion, I call for further research on this neglected topic and propose an important dimension to facilitate lifestyle migration, gender.
Heparin‐induced thrombocytopenia due to heparin lock in a hemodialysis patient: A case report
Authors: Chan Koon Ming , Cheung Chi Yuen , Chau Ka Foon
Published: January 2014

Heparin‐induced thrombocytopenia (HIT) is a potentially fatal clinical condition which can develop after exposure to unfractionated or low‐molecular‐weight heparins. Even small doses of heparin such as heparin flushes in hemodialysis catheter can induce the development of HIT. However, the true incidence of heparin lock‐related HIT is unknown. We report a 58‐year‐old woman with acute kidney injury because of obstructive uropathy who developed HIT after heparin‐free hemodialysis. She was found to have severe thrombocytopenia with deep vein thrombosis of left lower limb and arterial thrombosis of the right anterior and middle cerebral arteries. The heparin‐platelet factor 4 antibody was positive and she was put on plasmapharesis. However, her condition further deteriorated and succumbed shortly. Heparin lock solution in the hemodialysis catheter was believed to be the cause of HIT in our patient.
Back to the Peasants: New Insights into the Economic, Social, and Demographic History of Northern Italian Rural Populations During the Early Modern Period
Authors: Alfani Guido
Published: January 2014

The peasants and rural societies in general are not among the preferred research topics of historians currently working on Early Modern Italy. This has not always been the case, as after World War II, important research traditions developed, involving many prominent Italian social and economic historians, some of them influenced by Marxism or by the ‘democratic’ conviction that peasants had to be studied extensively simply because the vast majority of the population of Early Modern Italy was rural. This article provides a brief overview of the studies produced in the second half of the 20th century on the northern Italian peasantry and of the reasons why the interest for Early Modern rural communities progressively waned. It then focuses on works published in the 21st millennium, outlining the different paths of enquiry followed by historians currently interested in the social, economic, demographic, and cultural characteristics of the peasantry. The article suggests that there is space for formulating a new ‘democratic’ argument in favor of research on the rural dwellers, as the imbalance between their importance in Early Modern Italian societies, and how small a proportion of the overall historical research is dedicated to them, has again become very pronounced.
Novel constant‐pressure irrigation technique for the treatment of renal pelvic tumors after ipsilateral ureterectomy
Authors: Nakamura Kenji , Terada Naoki , Sugino Yoshio , Yamasaki Toshinori , Matsui Yoshiyuki , Imamura Masaaki , Okubo Kazutoshi , Kamba Tomomi , Yoshimura Koji , Ogawa Osamu
Published: January 2014

We herein report a case of a renal pelvic tumor that developed in the residual left renal pelvis after right nephroureterectomy, left ureterectomy and total cystectomy in a patient with multiple urothelial tumors. The tumor was endoscopically ablated through a nephrostomy tract, and mitomycin C irrigation was carried out. We designed a novel constant‐pressure irrigation system for effective and safe irrigation into the closed space of the renal pelvis. We created a hole in the urine bag tube, inserted a 5‐Fr open‐end ureteral catheter through the hole and kept the tip of the catheter at the end of the nephrostomy tube. The urine bag tube was placed 20 cm above the kidney level, and mitomycin C was continuously irrigated into the renal pelvis for 1 h. Six‐weekly treatments were carried out, and tumor recurrence was not identified for 1 year.
Comparison of testosterone fractions between Framingham Heart Study participants and Japanese participants
Authors: Taya Masaki , Koh Eitetsu , Izumi Kouji , Iijima Masashi , Maeda Yuji , Matsushita Tomohiko , Iwamoto Teruaki , Namiki Mikio
Published: January 2014

Objectives

To determine testosterone fractions in Japanese men and to compare these values with those of Framingham Heart Study participants.

Methods

We enrolled 498 healthy Japanese men. Total testosterone was assayed by liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry, sex hormone‐binding globulin was assayed by immunoassay and free testosterone was calculated by a laboratory at the Boston Medical Center. Analog‐based free testosterone and immunoassay‐based total testosterone were determined by immunoassay. We compared mass spectrometry assay‐based total testosterone and calculated free testosterone values in the Japanese participants with values in the American Framingham Heart Study third generation cohort.

Results

The mean serum mass spectrometry assay‐based total testosterone, sex hormone‐binding globulin, and calculated free testosterone values were 439.4 ± 167 ng/dL, 65.34 ± 30.61 nmol/L, and 58.75 ± 20.0 pg/mL, respectively. The correlation coefficients with age for mass spectrometry assay‐based total testosterone, sex hormone‐binding globulin, and calculated free testosterone were 0.0010, 0.5041, and −0.496, respectively. There were no age‐related changes in mass spectrometry assay‐based total testosterone values in healthy men (P = 0.981), whereas sex hormone‐binding globulin and calculated free testosterone levels showed similar age‐related changes (P < 0.0001). Serum analog‐based free testosterone levels (8.24 ± 2.9 pg/mL) showed age‐related changes (P < 0.0001) regardless of immunoassay‐based total testosterone levels (P = 0.828). Serum immunoassay‐based total testosterone values (486.1 ± 162.5 ng/dL) correlated with serum mass spectrometry assay‐based total testosterone values (r = 0.740, 95% confidence interval 0.6965–0.7781, P < 0.0001). Similarly, analog‐based free testosterone and calculated free testosterone values showed a highly significant correlation (r = 0.706, 95% confidence interval 0.6587–0.7473, P < 0.0001). The analog‐based free testosterone values were approximately 10% of the calculated free testosterone values.

Conclusions

In contrast to the Framingham Heart Study cohort, total testosterone values in Japanese men are not associated with advancing age; thus, they cannot be used to diagnose late‐onset hypogonadism in Japan. The analog‐based free testosterone value can be considered instead as a suitable biochemical determinant for diagnosing late‐onset hypogonadism syndrome.
Adherence and outcomes of patients prescribed dabigatran (Pradaxa) in routine clinical practice
Authors: Thorne K. , Jayathissa S. , Dee S. , Briggs N. , Taylor J. , Reid S. , De Silva K. , Dean J.
Published: January 2014

Aim

To explore and detail clinical experiences of dabigatran, a novel anticoagulant, after it became available in New Zealand in July 2011.

Methods

A cohort of patients was recruited from Hutt Hospital and the two largest primary care practices in the Hutt Valley region. They were included if they took at least one dose of dabigatran between July 2011 and April 2012. Participants undertook a questionnaire 3–12 months after starting dabigatran assessing adherence, perceived side‐effects and complications. Those presenting due to an adverse event were analysed separately.

Results

Of 102 patients identified, 92 were recruited to this study. At a median of 8 months, 70% of participants were still taking dabigatran, significantly lower than in the RE‐LY trial at 12 months (P = 0.0002). The commonest reason given for discontinuation was gastrointestinal (GI) side‐effects. Rates of serious adverse outcomes on dabigatran therapy were relatively low. Patients expressed polarised comments, both positive and negative, regarding their experiences of dabigatran.

Conclusions

A high rate of discontinuation of dabigatran, mainly due to GI symptoms, was observed. There does not appear to be any specific predictor of dabigatran tolerance. When prescribed according to guidelines, rates of serious adverse events associated with dabigatran appear to be low.
A population biological approach to understanding the maintenance and loss of the T‐cell repertoire during aging
Authors: Johnson Philip L. F. , Goronzy Jörg J. , Antia Rustom
Published: January 2014

The adaptive immune system requires a diverse T‐cell repertoire to be able to respond to a wide variety of pathogens. Worryingly, the repertoire diversity declines dramatically in old age. As thymic output generates novel T cells, the conventional view holds that a decrease in this output with age is responsible for the loss in the repertoire. However, many additional factors affect the repertoire such as homeostatic turnover and antigen‐dependent expansion in response to infection. Mathematical models taking a population biology perspective are important tools for understanding how the interplay between these factors affects the immune repertoire. These models suggest that thymic decline is not a major factor but rather that some combination of virus‐induced proliferation and T‐cell‐intrinsic genetic or epigenetic changes gives rise to the oligoclonal expansions that cause the decline in T‐cell diversity. We also discuss consequences for strategies to rejuvenate the immune repertoire in old age.
Immunological characteristics and T‐cell receptor clonal diversity in children with systemic juvenile idiopathic arthritis undergoing T‐cell‐depleted autologous stem cell transplantation
Authors: Wu Qiong , Pesenacker Anne M. , Stansfield Alka , King Douglas , Barge Dawn , Foster Helen E. , Abinun Mario , Wedderburn Lucy R.
Published: January 2014

Children with systemic Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis (sJIA), the most severe subtype of JIA, are at risk from destructive polyarthritis and growth failure, and corticosteroids as part of conventional treatment can result in osteoporosis and growth delay. In children where there is failure or toxicity from drug therapies, disease has been successfully controlled by T‐cell‐depleted autologous stem cell transplantation (ASCT). At present, the immunological basis underlying remission after ASCT is unknown. Immune reconstitution of T cells, B cells, natural killer cells, natural killer T cells and monocytes, in parallel with T‐cell receptor (TCR) diversity by analysis of the β variable region (TCRVb) complementarity determining region‐3 (CDR3) using spectratyping and sequencing, were studied in five children with sJIA before and after ASCT. At time of follow up (mean 11·5 years), four patients remain in complete remission, while one child relapsed within 1 month of transplant. The CD8+ TCRVb repertoire was highly oligoclonal early in immune reconstitution and re‐emergence of pre‐transplant TCRVb CDR3 dominant peaks was observed after transplant in certain TCRVb families. Further, re‐emergence of pre‐ASCT clonal sequences in addition to new sequences was identified after transplant. These results suggest that a chimeric TCR repertoire, comprising T‐cell clones developed before and after transplant, can be associated with clinical remission from severe arthritis.
The Effect of Preoperative Planning Method on Recommended Tibial Tuberosity Advancement Cage Size
Authors: Cadmus Jill , Palmer Ross H. , Duncan Colleen
Published: January 2014

Objective

To determine if use of various commonly practiced tibial tuberosity advancement (TTA) preoperative planning methods leads to variable TTA cage size recommendations.

Study Design

Radiographic study.

Animals

Dogs (n = 14) with naturally occurring cranial cruciate ligament disease.

Methods

TTA was planned by a single observer on mediolateral stifle radiographs of each dog using 2 sets of tibial plateau landmarks (anatomic [A] vs. femorotibial common tangent [T]) and 2 advancement measurement techniques (transparent overlay [O] vs. simulated TTA using imaging software [S]) for 4 different planning methods (AO, AS, TO, TS). Cage size recommendations for each stifle were tabulated for each of the 4 planning methods. Mean advancement (mm) required to obtain patellar tendon angle (PTA) = 90° for each of the 4 planning methods were statistically compared.

Results

In the 14 stifles studied, the 4 planning methods evaluated led to 4 different cage size recommendations in 1 stifle, 3 different recommendations in 8 stifles, 2 different recommendations in 3 stifles, and 1 recommendation in only 2 stifles. There was a significant difference in the mean advancement measurement between the 4 planning methods (P < .0001); the AS technique was the largest whereas TO resulted in the smallest measurement. Overall, larger advancement was associated with use of anatomic landmarks (vs. common tangent) and imaging software to simulate TTA (vs. overlays).

Conclusion

Currently practiced methods for TTA pre‐planning led to variable cage size recommendations in 86% of the stifles evaluated and may be a source of inconsistent functional outcomes.
Commentary: The multifaceted nature of maternal depression as a risk factor for child psychopathology – reflections on Sellers et al. (2014)
Authors: Goodman Sherryl
Published: January 2014

While much has been learned about depression in mothers as a risk for the development of psychopathology in offspring, many questions about how the risk is transmitted remain unanswered. Moreover, maternal depression is too often considered to be a unitary construct, ignoring the likely diversity among mothers with depression, which could play essential roles in understanding not only mechanisms of risk but also moderators of risk, i.e. for whom the association between maternal depression and adverse offspring outcomes may be stronger. Sellers et al. address both mechanisms and moderators, thereby contributing to the understanding of risk to offspring of depressed mothers in these two important ways. There is much to learn from this work, on many levels and for different audiences, including both researchers and practitioners. A key take‐home message of this study for all readers is that understanding the role of maternal depression in associations with child psychopathology requires a nuanced view of the nature of risk to children from depression in mothers. The often co‐occurring disorders and highly correlated additional aspects of the context in which depression occurs play important roles in the development of psychopathology in the offspring of depressed mothers.
Cryptospores and cryptophytes reveal hidden diversity in early land floras
Authors: Edwards Dianne , Morris Jennifer L. , Richardson John B. , Kenrick Paul
Published: January 2014

Cryptospores, recovered from Ordovician through Devonian rocks, differ from trilete spores in possessing distinctive configurations (i.e. hilate monads, dyads, and permanent tetrads). Their affinities are contentious, but knowledge of their relationships is essential to understanding the nature of the earliest land flora. This review brings together evidence about the source plants, mostly obtained from spores extracted from minute, fragmented, yet exceptionally anatomically preserved fossils. We coin the term ‘cryptophytes’ for plants that produced the cryptospores and show them to have been simple terrestrial organisms of short stature (i.e. millimetres high). Two lineages are currently recognized.Partitathecashows a combination of characters (e.g. spo‐rophyte bifurcation, stomata, and dyads) unknown in plants today.Lenticulathecaencompasses discoidal sporangia containing monads formed from dyads with ultrastructure closer to that of higher plants, as exemplified byCooksonia. Other emerging groupings are less well characterized, and their precise affinities to living clades remain unclear. Some may be stem group embryophytes or tracheophytes. Others are more closely related to the bryophytes, but they are not bryophytes as defined by extant representatives. Cryptophytes encompass a pool of diversity from which modern bryophytes and vascular plants emerged, but were competitively replaced by early tracheophytes. Sporogenesis always produced either dyads or tetrads, indicating strict genetic control. The long‐held consensus that tetrads were the archetypal condition in land plants is challenged.

ContentsSummary50I.Introduction50II.History, characters and disparity in cryptospores52III.In situcryptospores53IV.Evolutionary overview66V.Variation in the meiotic process71VI.Spore wall formation and the nature of the envelope72VII.Conclusions74Acknowledgements75References75
MITFE318K's effect on melanoma risk independent of, but modified by, other risk factors
Authors: Berwick Marianne , MacArthur Jamie , Orlow Irene , Kanetsky Peter , Begg Colin B. , Luo Li , Reiner Anne , Sharma Ajay , Armstrong Bruce K. , Kricker Anne , Cust Anne E. , Marrett Loraine D. , Gruber Stephen B. , Anton‐Culver Hoda , Zanetti Roberto , Rosso Stefano , Gallagher Richard P. , Dwyer Terence , Venn Alison , Busam Klaus , From Lynn , White Kirsten , Thomas Nancy E. ,   the GEM Study Group
Published: January 2014

A rare germline variant in the microphthalmia‐associated transcription factor (MITF)gene, E318K, has been reported as associated with melanoma. We confirmed its independent association with melanoma [odds ratio (OR) 1.7, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.1, 2.7, P = 0.03]; adjusted for age, sex, center, age × sex interaction, pigmentation characteristics, family history of melanoma, and nevus density). In stratified analyses, carriage ofMITFE318K was associated with melanoma more strongly in people with dark hair than fair hair (P for interaction, 0.03) and in those with no moles than some or many moles (P for interaction, <0.01). There was no evidence of interaction betweenMC1R‘red hair variants’ andMITFE318K. Moreover, risk of melanoma among carriers with ‘low risk’ phenotypes was as great or greater than among those with ‘at risk’ phenotypes with few exceptions.
miR‐20b regulates expression of proteinase‐activated receptor‐1 (PAR‐1) thrombin receptor in melanoma cells
Authors: Saleiban Amina , Faxälv Lars , Claesson Kjersti , Jönsson Jan‐Ingvar , Osman Abdimajid
Published: January 2014

The proteinase‐activated receptor 1 (PAR‐1) plays a central role in melanoma progression and its expression level is believed to correlate with the degree of cancer invasiveness. Here, we show that PAR‐1 is post‐transcriptionally regulated by miR‐20b microRNA in human melanoma cells. PAR‐1 was found to be expressed in metastatic melanoma cells but was barely detectable in primary melanoma. By transducing primary melanoma cells with a lentivirus containing a 3′‐UTR construct of PAR‐1 mRNA, we could show that endogenous melanoma microRNAs interacted with PAR‐1 3′‐UTR and silenced a fused luciferase reporter. Transfection of an inhibitor against miR‐20b into primary melanoma cells reversed this process. Finally, transfection of miR‐20b mimic into metastatic melanoma cells caused downregulation of the luciferase reporter. We conclude that miR‐20b regulates expression of melanoma PAR‐1 receptor, which may explain the differential expression of PAR‐1 observed in human melanoma.
Predicting 10‐year quality‐of‐life outcomes of patients with schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorders
Authors: Ritsner Michael S. , Lisker Alexander , Grinshpoon Alexander
Published: January 2014

Aims

This study aimed to determine predictors for 10‐year good versus poor perceived general quality of life (QOL) outcomes from baseline variables in people with schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorder.

Methods

We compared patients with poor versus good 10‐year QOL outcomes using baseline clinical, personality‐related variables, demographic and background characteristics. Logistic regression analysis was used for predicting the 10‐year QOL outcomes from baseline data. One‐hundred‐eight patients completed the Quality‐of‐Life Enjoyment and Life Satisfaction Questionnaire, the Positive and Negative Syndromes Scale (PANSS), the Talbieh Brief Distress Inventory, and psychosocial questionnaires at baseline and 10 years later.

Results

Logistic regression revealed six predictors of QOL outcomes: paranoid ideations (odds ratio [OR] 3.1), PANSS general psychopathology (OR 1.1), obsessiveness (OR 0.84), hostility (OR 0.4), PANSS positive scale scores (OR 0.4), and general QOL index (OR 0.4). This model classified 80.6% of the sample with good sensitivity (87% correctly identified ‘poor outcome’), and specificity (71% correctly identified ‘good outcome’).

Conclusion

This study provides a pattern of baseline predictors for long‐term QOL outcomes. Identified predictors are factors that can potentially be ameliorated, and thereby enhance the QOL of people with schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorder.
Effectiveness of Low‐Cost Planting Techniques for Improving Water Availability toOlea europaeaSeedlings in Degraded Drylands
Authors: Valdecantos Alejandro , Fuentes David , Smanis Athanasios , Llovet Joan , Morcillo Luna , Bautista Susana
Published: January 2014

Reforestation projects in semiarid lands often yield poor results. Water scarcity, poor soil fertility, and structure strongly limit the survival and growth of planted seedlings in these areas. At two experimental semiarid sites, we evaluated a variety of low‐cost planting techniques in order to increase water availability to plants. Treatments included various combinations of traditional planting holes; water‐harvesting microcatchments; stone or plastic mulches; small waterproof sheets to increase water harvesting; dry wells; buried clay pots; and deep irrigation. Some of these treatments were also combined with addition of composted biosolids. Waterproof sheets significantly enhanced water harvesting (43%) and soil moisture in the planting hole (40%), especially for low‐intensity rainfall events. Treatment effects on the survival and growth ofOlea europaeaseedlings varied between experimental sites. At the most water‐limited site, clay pots, and dry wells improved seedling survival, while no treatment enhanced seedling growth. At the least water‐stressed site, the application of composted sludge significantly improved seedling growth. We conclude that nutrient‐mediated stress is subordinate to water stress in arid and semiarid environments, and we suggest modifications on the microsite scale to address these limiting conditions in Mediterranean drylands.
Post‐Soviet Pop Goes Gay: Russia's Trajectory to Eurovision Victory
Authors: CASSIDAY JULIE A.
Published: January 2014

Russia's participation in the Eurovision Song Contest confirms the popular music extravaganza's ability to create a Europe that bears an eccentric yet powerful relationship to the geopolitical entity that this word usually describes. Since Russia's debut in 1994 through 2008, when pop star Dima Bilan took Eurovision's Grand Prix, Russian acts leveraged the contest's appeal to an LGBT audience, camp esthetic, and ability to construct a queer European identity by incorporating Russian constructions of Western homosexuality in an increasingly evident manner. This gay trajectory to Eurovision victory produced a mixed message that struck an uneasy balance between Russia's historic homophobia and Eurovision's gay identity politics. Although Russia's gay trajectory to Eurovision victory began unintentionally, Bilan's two acts established his mastery of the contest's camp esthetic by blurring the lines between hetero‐ and homosexual romance in 2006 and expressing homoeroticism via metrosexuality in his winning performance of the ballad “Believe” in 2008. However, after reaching its zenith in 2008, this gay trajectory came to a homophobic halt in Moscow's own production of Eurovision 2009. In addition to televising a heteronormative spectacle, officials banned the first ever pan‐Slavic Pride parade timed to coincide with the contest's finals. Subsequent Eurovision acts from Russia show that Russia's gay trajectory to Eurovision victory had nothing to do with entering the Western European arena of accepting and protecting LGBT subjects and instead has resulted in new forms of camp that distance themselves from the contest's gay fan base.
A New Song for a New Motherland: Eurovision and the Rhetoric of Post‐Soviet National Identity
Authors: JOHNSON EMILY D.
Published: January 2014

In March 2009 Russia's Channel One aired a live competition to choose Russia's entry for the 2009 Eurovision Song Competition, which was scheduled to be held in Moscow in two months time. The results were scandalous: Anastasia Prikhod'ko, a former participant in Russia's equivalent to the American Idol competition, Fabrika zvezd, who was Ukrainian in both citizenship and nationality, won with “Mamo” (Mother) an emotional ballad on the pain of love and female suffering that she performed half in Ukrainian and half in Russian. This article considers what Prikhod'ko's selection as Russia's national entry for Eurovision and the ensuing scandal tell us about the construction of Russian national identity in the post‐Soviet era and about Russia's attitude to its closest geographic neighbors. The author argues that Prikhod'ko's performance can best be understood as part of the larger phenomenon of post‐Soviet nostalgia: both the way “Mamo” was staged for the Eurovision international competition in Moscow and public statements made by a variety of cultural figures in defense of the song evoked Soviet aesthetics and Soviet rhetoric about the “friendship of peoples” (Druzhba narodov). In the context of Russia's on‐going quarrels with other former Soviet Republics, the presence of these nostalgic elements in “Mamo” inevitably seemed politically freighted: the song effectively juxtaposed to present tensions Soviet style “ethnic harmony” and hence, depending on one's point of view, either read as a touching appeal for peace and tolerance or as an veiled threat that hinted at the possible renewal of Russia's cultural dominance over the other former Soviet republics.
“Chudo nevedomoi sily”: Public Literary Readings in the Era of the Great Reforms
Authors: VASSENA RAFFAELLA
Published: January 2014

Up to the first half of the nineteenth century, Russian poets and literati read their own works aloud mainly at private literary circles or in the drawing rooms of the aristocrats where musical and literary evenings were held for an elite audience. At the beginning of the 1860s, new forms of “public readings” arose. On these occasions literati, musicians, and singers with varying degrees of fame performed in front of a paying public. The first part of this article looks at the salient phases of the roots of public readings at the start of the 1860s and the political and social events which marked their development, while the second part examines the evolution of this phenomenon, and its subsequent decline, over the next two decades, noting how public readings carried different meanings for different parties: the masses regarded them as a symbol of the freedom of expression that the state's reform package failed to include, inserting meaning into the readings that writers often did not intend, and that censors had not anticipated. Writers, meanwhile, welcomed a new opportunity to connect with a broader audience and tap into the growing commercialization of literature through journalism. Conceived in part as a way to exert an aesthetic and moral influence upon the attending masses, public literary readings would instead make their most significant impact in the social and political spheres.
How Much Do Mathematics Skills Improve With Age? Evidence From LTT NAEP
Authors: Kloosterman Peter
Published: January 2014

The Long‐Term Trend (LTT) mathematics assessment of the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) used the same set of items from 1982 through 2004, including 20 items that were administered to 9‐ and 13‐year‐olds, 29 items that were administered to 13‐ and 17‐year‐olds, and 4 items that were administered at all three ages. This study used these items to identify areas of mathematics that had substantial gain from one age level to the next and to identify patterns of gain by age and how those patterns changed over time. Findings included the facts that older students usually did better on items than younger students, although item context and wording was often as important as mathematical knowledge in explaining differences in performance by age. LTT NAEP included a unique set of estimation items and analysis of performance on those items showed that students at all levels could identify an appropriate estimate only when numbers were small and the context for the estimate was familiar. The LTT data also indicated that addition and subtraction skills of 9‐year‐olds increased and the estimation skills of 13‐ and 17‐year olds improved in some contexts from 1982 through 2004.