bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Between Opera and Musical
Authors: Fuhrmann Christina
Published: January 2017

Music occupied an important but uneasy position in early nineteenth-century London theatre. It appeared at all types of theatres, but was constrained by repertoire laws, theatrical conventions, and long-held concerns about the suitability of music for the British character. London theatre composers therefore created works that followed a different aesthetic from Continental opera, one often more congruent with musical theatre. An examination of three works by Henry Bishop for Covent Garden—the melodrama The Miller and his Men, the opera The Slave, and an adaptation of Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro—demonstrates how British composers positioned music within a culture both fascinated and repelled by it. In the process, important parallels with the use of music in popular theatre are revealed.
Andrew Lloyd Webber
Authors: Chandler David
Published: January 2017

Andrew Lloyd Webber (b. 1948) and his Really Useful Group (founded 1977) have dominated British musical theatre since the 1970s, especially between 1981 and 2002. This critical survey of Lloyd Webber’s career discusses his self-understanding as a theatre composer; his development of an individual style in the late 1960s; his breakthrough success with Jesus Christ Superstar (1970) and the significance of what the lyricist Tim Rice calls its ‘operatic form’; the continued artistic and commercial development of the composer’s career through Evita (1976), Cats (1981), Starlight Express (1984), and The Phantom of the Opera (1986); and his subsequent failure to produce further musicals of comparable popularity. The Phantom of the Opera is identified as the most personal of Lloyd Webber’s major successes and his obsessive, revisionary investment in Gaston Leroux’s novel is analysed with reference to both the 1986 musical and its badly misjudged sequel, Love Never Dies (2010).
Genre Counterpoints
Authors: Roesner David
Published: January 2017

This chapter offers three contemporary case studies of the British musical, which push the boundaries of what might normally be considered to belong to this art form and genre: Shockheaded Peter, Jerrry Springer: The Opera, and London Road. They do so by challenging conventional creation processes, theatrical and musical dramaturgies and idioms, performance aesthetics and topics. By contextualizing them within the theoretical discourse on ‘genre’, the author seeks to explore the dialogic nature of artwork and audience in relation to generic conventions and expectations, arguing that these are particularly relevant in the case of the musical. These case studies demonstrate the critical and even subversive potential that the musical—often unfairly dismissed as the most commercial and conventional form of music theatre—has.
Some Yesterdays Always Remain
Authors: Macpherson Ben
Published: January 2017

This chapter explores the current landscape of black British and Anglo-Asian musical theatre, in both the commercial and subsidized sectors. Finding parallels in early twentieth-century British performance histories, the chapter suggests that popular commercial definitions of ‘hybrid’ musical theatre works such as Bombay Dreams (2002) or Bend It Like Beckham (2015) are almost always mediated and received through a lens that is coloured by white middle-class concerns. Yet, while the mainstream musical is showing definite signs of change in its performance of multiculturalism, it is primarily because of the work of Off-West End producing houses (for instance the Theatre Royal Stratford East) and theatre companies (such as Nitro) that many of the productions representing contemporary experiences of diaspora communities in Britain are staged.
Musical Comedy in the 1920s and 1930s
Authors: Burrows George
Published: January 2017

This chapter explores British musical comedy of the 1920s and 1930s by focusing on the original London productions of Mister Cinders (1929) and Me and My Girl (1937). These shows present similar Cinderella-type narratives, both with a male protagonist in the Cinderella role, and thereby reflect contemporary class attitudes. Such class-conscious musical comedy can be read as a genteelly British and theatrical form of the carnival culture theorized by Mikhail Bakhtin. The carnival of the shows reflects increased social interaction and class mobility engendered by the impact of modernity and offers communal revitalization for the characters and audiences relative to prevailing social class structures. Such revitalization can be seen to extend beyond the original productions and the chapter ends by considering their nostalgic revivals in the 1980s within the context of Thatcherite class politics.
The American Invasion
Authors: Symonds Dominic
Published: January 2017

This chapter considers the impact of ‘the American invasion’: a slew of Broadway musicals led by Oklahoma! and Annie Get Your Gun that captivated and shocked audiences when they opened in 1947 in London. Arriving in a country mired in post-war rationing and rehabilitation, they offered a sharp contrast to the typical material on the British musical stage. To understand the transatlantic dynamics that are its context, it is useful to consider how contemporary America projected itself, and how the British perceived Americans. With Hollywood images of virile action heroes, and with American GIs stationed on British soil, Brits encountered a new and forceful sexuality that the energy of the post-war Broadway imports evoked. As the staid morals of the pre-war era gave way to the excitement of the new, the British musical responded with the punchy riposte of a new Novello show: Gay’s the Word.
New Medicine for the U.S. Health Care System: Training Physicians for Structural Interventions
Authors: Hansen Helena , Metzl Jonathan M.
Published: January 2017

Structural competency provides a language and theoretical framework to promote institutional-level interventions by clinical practitioners working with community organizations, non-health-sector institutions, and policy makers. The special collection of articles on structural competency in this issue of Academic Medicine addresses the need to move from theory to an appraisal of core educational interventions that operationalize the goals of and foster structural competency. In this Commentary, the authors review the role of clinical practitioners in enhancing population-level health outcomes through collaborations with professionals in fields outside medicine, including the social sciences and law. They describe the core elements of structural competency in preclinical and clinical education, as illustrated by the articles of this special collection: perceiving the structural causes of patients’ disease, envisioning structural interventions, and cultivating alliances with non-health-sector agencies that can implement structural interventions. Finally, the authors argue that preparing trainees to form partnerships will empower them to influence the social determinants of their patients’ health and reduce health inequalities.
The Charter on Professionalism for Health Care Organizations
Authors: Egener Barry E. , Mason Diana J. , McDonald Walter J. , Okun Sally , Gaines Martha E. , Fleming David A. , Rosof Bernie M. , Gullen David , Andresen May-Lynn
Published: January 2017

In 2002, the Physician Charter on Medical Professionalism was published to provide physicians with guidance for decision making in a rapidly changing environment. Feedback from physicians indicated that they were unable to fully live up to the principles in the 2002 charter partly because of their employing or affiliated health care organizations. A multistakeholder group has developed a Charter on Professionalism for Health Care Organizations, which may provide more guidance than charters for individual disciplines, given the current structure of health care delivery systems.

This article contains the Charter on Professionalism for Health Care Organizations, as well as the process and rationale for its development. For hospitals and hospital systems to effectively care for patients, maintain a healthy workforce, and improve the health of populations, they must attend to the four domains addressed by the Charter: patient partnerships, organizational culture, community partnerships, and operations and business practices. Impacting the social determinants of health will require collaboration among health care organizations, government, and communities.

Transitioning to the model hospital described by the Charter will challenge historical roles and assumptions of both its leadership and staff. While the Charter is aspirational, it also outlines specific institutional behaviors that will benefit both patients and workers. Lastly, this article considers obstacles to implementing the Charter and explores avenues to facilitate its dissemination.
Surveying Resident and Faculty Physician Knowledge, Attitudes, and Experiences in Response to Public Lead Contamination
Authors: Taylor D. Kay , Lepisto Brenda Lovegrove , Lecea Nicolas , Ghamrawi Ranine , Bachuwa Ghassan , LaChance Jenny , Hanna-Attisha Mona
Published: January 2017

Environmental health crises can appear anywhere and without warning. After research revealed a significant incidence of elevated pediatric blood lead levels following a water source change, Genesee County declared a public health emergency in Flint, Michigan. Hospital patients and family members began approaching Hurley Medical Center’s physicians with questions regarding the health implications of the lead contamination. Many of the physicians voiced concerns about responding appropriately to patient needs and increasing demands for information. As a result, a Hurley research team decided to conduct an informal survey across training programs to determine the need for added education.

Because of heightened patient anxiety, it was necessary for the timeline to progress quickly. In creating the survey, the team’s objective was to assess resident and faculty physician knowledge, attitudes, and experiences concerning lead contamination. The results revealed a critical need for supplementary training. Therefore, Hurley embarked on an education campaign for its graduate medical education programs, benefiting physicians and patients alike.

Patient and physician needs may change drastically following an environmental health emergency. It is the duty of medical centers to ensure their clinicians are well equipped to confront such threats. As prompt treatment is often a key to positive health outcomes, the authors stress the importance of acting quickly and suggest conducting informal surveys to identify gaps in physician knowledge. Likewise, the authors encourage medical educators nationwide to examine their environmental health curricula. It appears lead-contaminated water is not just a Flint problem but may have far-reaching implications for many cities.
Concurrent Treatment of PTSD and Substance Use Disorders Using Prolonged Exposure (COPE): A Pilot Study in Alcohol-dependent Women
Authors: Persson Anna , Back Sudie E. , Killeen Therese K. , Brady Kathleen T. , Schwandt Melanie L. , Heilig Markus , Magnusson Åsa
Published: January 2017

Objectives:

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and substance use disorders are highly comorbid. Effective treatments are largely lacking. This pilot study evaluated the safety and feasibility of a novel intervention, Concurrent Treatment of PTSD and Substance Use Disorders Using Prolonged Exposure (COPE), in preparation for a randomized controlled trial.

Methods:

Twenty-two treatment-seeking women with current DSM-IV-TR PTSD and alcohol dependence (AD) were recruited. Participants received COPE. Safety and feasibility were evaluated, as were efficacy-related outcomes: PTSD and depression symptom severity, alcohol use, craving, and dependence severity.

Results:

No adverse events occurred. COPE was implemented in routine clinical practice. Among the assessed women, 95.8% were eligible to participate. Treatment attendance and completion were higher than in previous studies. Post treatment, all efficacy-related outcomes, including PTSD and depression symptom severity, alcohol use, craving, and dependence severity, were significantly reduced.

Conclusions:

COPE was safe and feasible to use. Concerns that trauma-focused, exposure-based therapy might promote relapse in this population appear unwarranted. Our findings provide initial evidence suggestive of COPE efficacy for comorbid PTSD and AD in women. These results provide a strong rationale for investigating the efficacy of COPE for comorbid PTSD and AD in women in a randomized controlled trial.
Attempted and Successful Vacuum-Assisted Vaginal Delivery by Prepregnancy Body Mass Index
Authors: Ramos Sebastian Z. , Waring Molly E. , Leung Katherine , Amir Nili S. , Bannon Annika L. , Moore Simas Tiffany A.
Published: January 2017

OBJECTIVE:

To examine rates of attempted and successful vacuum-assisted vaginal delivery by prepregnancy body mass index (BMI).

METHODS:

We conducted a retrospective cohort study of 2,084 women with singleton gestations needing operative delivery assistance and vacuum-eligible (fully dilated, +2 station or greater, 34 weeks of gestation or greater) using 2006–2014 inpatient records. Prepregnancy BMI was categorized as underweight (less than 18.5), normal weight (18.5 to less than 25), overweight (25 to less than 30), or obese (30 or greater). Logistic regression models estimated odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) of attempted and successful vacuum-assisted vaginal delivery by prepregnancy BMI adjusted for age, race, marital status, parity, diabetes, labor induction–augmentation, episiotomy, gestational age, and neonatal birth weight.

RESULTS:

Thirty-nine percent of women requiring delivery assistance and eligible for a vacuum were overweight or obese, 79% had vacuum attempts, and 95.3% of attempted vacuum-assisted vaginal deliveries were successful. Compared with women who were normal weight prepregnancy (82.8%), women who were overweight or obese were less likely to have vacuum attempted (75.8%, OR 0.71, 95% CI 0.53–0.96 and 71.2%, OR 0.53, 95% CI 0.39–0.74, respectively). Among women with attempted vacuum-assisted vaginal delivery, successful delivery did not differ by prepregnancy BMI (92.6%, OR 0.54, 95% CI 0.21–1.37 for underweight; 94.5%, OR 1.07, 95% CI 0.57–2.00 for overweight; 96.3%, OR 1.09, 95% CI 0.51–2.33 for obese compared with 95.6% among normal-weight women).

CONCLUSION:

Among women in need of operative delivery assistance, prepregnancy obesity was associated with lower likelihood of attempted vacuum-assisted vaginal delivery but, if attempted, success rates were similar to rates among normal-weight women. With significant morbidity of second-stage cesarean delivery in obese women, research should examine whether vacuum-assisted vaginal delivery may be appropriate for additional obese patients.
Internal Jugular Vein Compression: A Novel Approach to Mitigate Blast Induced Hearing Injury
Authors: Sindelar Brian , Shinners Michael , Sherman Sydney , Novak Kevin , Erickson Kristine , Patel Vimal , Kubilis Paul , Smith David , Finan John , Bailes Julian E.
Published: January 2017

Hypothesis:

Internal jugular vein (IJV) compression before blast injury will lead to reduced risk of traumatic hearing injury following exposure to a blast injury.

Background:

IJV compression and its effects on not only intracranial, but also intracochlear pressure may potentiate blast induced hearing injury, therefore, precluding its use as a prophylactic therapy for blast induced traumatic brain injury.

Methods:

Twenty Sprague Dawley rats were exposed to a 17.9 ± 0.4 PSI (195.8 dB SPL) right sided shock wave in which 10 had application of a custom IJV compression collar before injury. All rodents received baseline and post blast injury otoacoustic emission (OAE) and auditory brainstem response (ABR) testing followed by cochlear histology.

Results:

IJV compression was shown to significantly reduce ABR and OAE threshold shifts in comparison to the non-intervention group by: 14.9 ± 4.8 dB (right ear ABR 0.5 kHz Day 1 post blast, p = 0.01), 13.1 ± 4.9 dB (right ear ABR 4 kHz Day 1 post blast, p = 0.04), 16.5 ± 4.5 dB (right ear ABR click Day 1 post blast, p = 0.003), 12.1 ± 4.6 dB (right ear ABR click Day 6 post blast, p = 0.04), and 14.0 ± 3.2 dB (both ears OAE 3.2–10 kHz, p < 0.0001). Also, those animals with collar application had a greater number of total hair cells per mm from 70 to 100% distance from the cochlear apex following blast injury in comparison to those without intervention (blast: 211.8 ± 27.5 versus blast+collar: 355.5 ± 39.5 [p = 0.0002]).

Conclusion:

This study supports the use of IJV compression in a pre-clinical model as a new prophylactic mechanism to combat blast induced hearing injury.
Parenteral nutrition in the critically ill
Authors: Gunst Jan , Van den Berghe Greet
Published: January 2017

Purpose of review

Feeding guidelines have recommended early, full nutritional support in critically ill patients to prevent hypercatabolism and muscle weakness. Early enteral nutrition was suggested to be superior to early parenteral nutrition. When enteral nutrition fails to meet nutritional target, it was recommended to administer supplemental parenteral nutrition, albeit with a varying starting point. Sufficient amounts of amino acids were recommended, with addition of glutamine in subgroups. Recently, several large randomized controlled trials (RCTs) have yielded important new insights. This review summarizes recent evidence with regard to the indication, timing, and dosing of parenteral nutrition in critically ill patients.

Recent findings

One large RCT revealed no difference between early enteral nutrition and early parenteral nutrition. Two large multicenter RCTs showed harm by early supplementation of insufficient enteral nutrition with parenteral nutrition, which could be explained by feeding-induced suppression of autophagy. Several RCTs found either no benefit or harm with a higher amino acid or caloric intake, as well as harm by administration of glutamine.

Although unanswered questions remain, current evidence supports accepting low macronutrient intake during the acute phase of critical illness and does not support use of early parenteral nutrition. The timing when parenteral nutrition can be initiated safely and effectively is unclear.
Should Female Partners of Men With Non-Gonococcal Urethritis, Negative for Chlamydia trachomatis and Mycoplasma genitalium, Be Informed and Treated? Clinical Outcomes From a Partner Study of Heterosexual Men With NGU
Authors: Ong Jason J. , Sarumpaet Angela , Chow Eric P.F. , Bradshaw Catriona , Chen Marcus , Read Tim , Fairley Christopher K.
Published: January 2017

Background

To determine if female partners of men with pathogen-negative non-gonococcal urethritis (NGU) are at risk of genital infection.

Methods

Secondary data analysis using health records from a large sexually transmitted disease clinic in Melbourne of 1710 men and their female partners attending on the same day from January 2006 to April 2015. Proportions of female partners with symptoms suggesting genital infection or pelvic inflammatory disease (PID) were determined for: (1) men with NGU and no Chlamydia trachomatis or Mycoplasma genitalium (referred to as pathogen-negative NGU) (n = 91); 2) men with urethral C. trachomatis (n = 176); 3) men with urethral M. genitalium (n = 26); and 4) asymptomatic men (n = 652).

Results

Female partners of men with pathogen-negative NGU experienced deep pelvic pain (adjusted odds ratio [AOR], 2.2; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.1–4.4), post coital bleeding (AOR, 2.4; 95% CI, 1.2–4.9), and dysuria (AOR, 3.7; 95% CI, 1.6–8.6) more commonly and were diagnosed with PID more commonly (AOR, 4.8; 95% CI, 2.1–11.3) than the female partners of asymptomatic men. Pelvic inflammatory disease was not more likely to be diagnosed in the female partners of men with genital warts (AOR, 1.4; 95% CI, 0.5–4.4) or candidiasis (AOR, 1.2; 95% CI, 0.4–3.5) than the female partners of asymptomatic men. The female partners of men with chlamydia experienced post coital bleeding more (AOR, 1.9; 95% CI, 1.0–3.6) and were more likely to be diagnosed with PID (AOR, 3.6; 95% CI, 1.6–8.0).

Conclusions

The female partners of men with pathogen-negative NGU may be at increased risk of genital infection, even if a recognised pathogen is not identified in the man.
Longitudinal HIV Care Trajectories in North Carolina
Authors: Powers Kimberly A. , Samoff Erika , Weaver Mark A. , Sampson Lynne A. , Miller William C. , Leone Peter A. , Swygard Heidi
Published: January 2017

Background:

Long-term HIV care and treatment engagement is required for maximal clinical and prevention benefits, but longitudinal care patterns are poorly understood. We used the last 10 years' worth of HIV surveillance data from North Carolina to describe longitudinal HIV care trajectories from diagnosis.

Methods:

We conducted a retrospective, population-based cohort study of all persons newly diagnosed with HIV in North Carolina between March 31, 2006 and March 31, 2015 (N = 16,207). We defined HIV care attendance in each 3-month and 6-month interval after diagnosis as the presence of viral load and/or CD4 records (care visit proxies) in the interval. We used group-based trajectory modeling to identify common care trajectories and baseline predictors thereof.

Results:

A predicted 26% of newly HIV-diagnosed persons showed consistently high care attendance over time; ∼16% exhibited steadily declining attendance; ∼26% showed consistently low attendance; ∼17% had initially weak attendance with an increase starting ∼1.5 year later; and ∼15% showed initially weak attendance with an increase starting ∼3 years later. Older age at diagnosis was protective against all suboptimal trajectories (with the “consistently high” pattern as referent), and being a man who has sex with men was protective against 3 of the 4 suboptimal patterns.

Conclusions:

As measured by surveillance-based laboratory proxies, most newly HIV-diagnosed persons exhibited suboptimal care trajectories, but there was wide variation in the particular pathways followed. The insights provided by this analytical approach can help to inform the design of epidemic models and tailored interventions, with the ultimate goal of improving HIV care engagement and transmission prevention.
¡Sólo Se Vive Una Vez! (You Only Live Once): A Pilot Evaluation of Individually Tailored Video Modules Aiming to Increase HIV Testing Among Foreign-Born Latino Men
Authors: Dolwick Grieb Suzanne M. , Flores-Miller Alejandra , Page Kathleen R.
Published: January 2017

Background:

Although Latinos living in the United States are disproportionately affected by HIV, the development, implementation, and evaluation of HIV prevention, testing, and linkage to care interventions lag behind efforts occurring in other communities. To address sociocultural barriers to testing, we developed a multilevel intervention. This study is a pilot evaluation of the individual-level component of the intervention—animated video modules that address specific barriers to HIV testing common among foreign-born Latino men.

Methods:

We conducted a survey assessing HIV risk and barriers to testing with a convenience sample of 104 foreign-born Latino men in Baltimore, MD, who had not tested for HIV within the past year. Intention to test in the next 3 months was measured before and after viewing an intervention module selected based on survey responses.

Results:

Fifty-two (50.0%) participants had never tested for HIV. Of the participants who had previously tested for HIV, the mean time since their last test was 3.48 years (SD = 3.55). Participants' intention to test for HIV significantly increased after watching the module (t = −8.28, P < 0.001). Increased intention to test was not associated with any socio-demographic characteristics (ie, age, country of origin) or reported sexual behaviors (ie, number of sex partners in the past year).

Discussion:

These results suggest that our culturally sensitive, individually tailored intervention can be an additional tool to encourage HIV testing among previously untested foreign-born Latino men, one of the demographic groups at highest risk for delayed HIV diagnosis in the United States.
Toward Automating HIV Identification: Machine Learning for Rapid Identification of HIV-Related Social Media Data
Authors: Young Sean D. , Yu Wenchao , Wang Wei
Published: January 2017

Introduction:

“Social big data” from technologies such as social media, wearable devices, and online searches continue to grow and can be used as tools for HIV research. Although researchers can uncover patterns and insights associated with HIV trends and transmission, the review process is time consuming and resource intensive. Machine learning methods derived from computer science might be used to assist HIV domain experts by learning how to rapidly and accurately identify patterns associated with HIV from a large set of social data.

Methods:

Using an existing social media data set that was associated with HIV and coded by an HIV domain expert, we tested whether 4 commonly used machine learning methods could learn the patterns associated with HIV risk behavior. We used the 10-fold cross-validation method to examine the speed and accuracy of these models in applying that knowledge to detect HIV content in social media data.

Results and Discussion:

Logistic regression and random forest resulted in the highest accuracy in detecting HIV-related social data (85.3%), whereas the Ridge Regression Classifier resulted in the lowest accuracy. Logistic regression yielded the fastest processing time (16.98 seconds).

Conclusions:

Machine learning can enable social big data to become a new and important tool in HIV research, helping to create a new field of “digital HIV epidemiology.” If a domain expert can identify patterns in social data associated with HIV risk or HIV transmission, machine learning models could quickly and accurately learn those associations and identify potential HIV patterns in large social data sets.
Pattern, process, inference and prediction in extinction biology
Authors: Brook Barry W. , Alroy John
Published: January 2017

Extinction is a key feature of the evolutionary history of life, and assessments of extinction risk are essential for the effective protection of biodiversity. The goal in assembling this special issue ofBiology Letterswas to highlight problems and questions at the research frontier of extinction biology, with an emphasis on recent developments in the methodology of inferring the patterns and processes of extinction from a background of often noisy and sparse data. In selecting topics, we sought to illustrate how extinction is not simply a self-evident phenomenon, but the subject of a dynamic and quantitatively rigorous field of natural science, with practical applications to conservation.
Inverse problems in reduced order models of cardiovascular haemodynamics: aspects of data assimilation and heart rate variability
Authors: Pant Sanjay , Corsini Chiara , Baker Catriona , Hsia Tain-Yen , Pennati Giancarlo , Vignon-Clementel Irene E.
Published: January 2017

Inverse problems in cardiovascular modelling have become increasingly important to assess each patient individually. These problems entail estimation of patient-specific model parameters from uncertain measurements acquired in the clinic. In recent years, the method of data assimilation, especially the unscented Kalman filter, has gained popularity to address computational efficiency and uncertainty consideration in such problems. This work highlights and presents solutions to several challenges of this method pertinent to models of cardiovascular haemodynamics. These include methods to (i) avoid ill-conditioning of the covariance matrix, (ii) handle a variety of measurement types, (iii) include a variety of
prior
knowledge in the method, and (iv) incorporate measurements acquired at different heart rates, a common situation in the clinic where the patient state differs according to the clinical situation. Results are presented for two patient-specific cases of congenital heart disease. To illustrate and validate data assimilation with measurements at different heart rates, the results are presented on a synthetic dataset and on a patient-specific case with heart valve regurgitation. It is shown that the new method significantly improves the agreement between model predictions and measurements. The developed methods can be readily applied to other pathophysiologies and extended to dynamical systems which exhibit different responses under different sets of known parameters or different sets of inputs (such as forcing/excitation frequencies).
RETRACTED: Long non-coding RNA LINC00152 promotes gallbladder cancer metastasis and epithelial–mesenchymal transition by regulating HIF-1α via miR-138
Authors: Cai Qiang , Wang Zhenqiang , Wang Shouhua , Weng Mingzhe , Zhou Di , Li Chen , Wang Jiandong , Chen Erzhen , Quan Zhiwei
Published: January 2017

Long non-coding RNA LINC00152 had been reported as an oncogene in gastric and hepatocellular cancer. In this study, we show that LINC00152 is overexpressed in gallbladder cancer (GBC) tissue samples and cell lines. The high LINC00152 levels correlated negatively with the overall survival time in GBC patients. Functionally, LINC00152 dramatically promoted cell migration, invasion and epithelial–mesenchymal transition (EMT) progression
in vitro. In vivo
, LINC00152 overexpression significantly promoted tumour peritoneal spreading and metastasis. Mechanistic analyses indicated that LINC00152 functions as a molecular sponge for miR-138, which directly suppresses the expression of hypoxia inducible factor-1α (HIF-1α). We revealed that miR-138 is a suppressor of GBC cell metastasis and EMT progression, and a similar phenomenon was observed in HIF-1α knockdown NOZ cells. Through binding to miR-138, LINC00152 has an oncogenic effect on GBC. Overall, our study suggested that the LINC00152/miR-138/HIF-1α pathway potentiates the progression of GBC, and LINC00152 may be a novel therapeutic target.
A phylogenomic framework for assessing the global emergence and evolution of clonal complex 398 methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus
Authors: Gonçalves da Silva Anders , Baines Sarah L. , Carter Glen P. , Heffernan Helen , French Nigel P. , Ren Xiaoyun , Seemann Torsten , Bulach Dieter , Kwong Jason , Stinear Timothy P. , Howden Benjamin P. , Williamson Deborah A.
Published: January 2017

Distinct clones of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) have emerged as important causes of infection in individuals who have exposure to livestock (livestock-associated MRSA; LA-MRSA). Clonal complex 398 (CC398) is the most prevalent LA-MRSA clone, and has been reported from several geographical settings, including Europe, the Americas and Asia. To understand the factors contributing to the global dissemination of this clone, we analysed CC398 MRSA isolates from New Zealand (NZ), a geographically isolated country with an economy strongly dependent on livestock farming. We supplemented the NZ CC398 MRSA collection with global datasets of CC398 MRSA and CC398 methicillin-susceptible S. aureus. Here, we demonstrate multiple sporadic incursions of CC398 MRSA into NZ, as well as recent importation and spread of a swine-associated clade related to the European LA-MRSA lineage. Within a larger global phylogenomic framework, Bayesian modelling suggested that this NZ clade emerged in the late 2000s, with a probable origin in swine from Western Europe. Elucidating the factors responsible for the incursion and spread of LA-MRSA in geographically distant regions, such as NZ, provides important insights into global pathways of S. aureus transmission, and will inform strategies to control importation and spread.
Improved Kinect sensor based motion capturing system for gait assessment
Authors: Müller Björn , Ilg Winfried , Giese Martin A. , Ludolph Nicolas
Published: January 2017

Optical motion capturing systems are expensive and require substantial dedicated space to be set up. On the other hand, they provide unsurpassed accuracy and reliability. In many situations however flexibility is required and the motion capturing system can only temporarily be placed. The Microsoft Kinect v2 sensor is comparatively cheap and with respect to gait analysis promising results have been published. We here present a motion capturing system that is easy to set up, flexible with respect to the sensor locations and delivers high accuracy in gait parameters comparable to a gold standard motion capturing system (VICON). Further, we demonstrate that sensor setups which track the person only from one-side are less accurate and should be replaced by two-sided setups. With respect to commonly analyzed gait parameters, especially step width, our system shows higher agreement with the VICON system than previous reports.
Overlap among spatial memories triggers repulsion of hippocampal representations
Authors: Chanales Avi J. H. , Oza Ashima , Favila Serra E. , Kuhl Brice A.
Published: January 2017

Across the domains of spatial navigation and episodic memory, the hippocampus is thought to play a critical role in disambiguating (pattern separating) representations of overlapping events. However, the mechanisms underlying hippocampal pattern separation are not fully understood. Here, using a naturalistic route-learning paradigm and spatiotemporal pattern analysis of human fMRI data, we found that hippocampal representations of overlapping routes gradually diverged with learning to the point that they became less similar than representations of non-overlapping events. This representational ‘reversal’ of the objective route similarity (a) was selective to the hippocampus, (b) only occurred for the specific route segments that were shared across routes, and (c) was predicted by the degree to which individual hippocampal voxels were initially shared across route representations. These findings indicate that event overlap triggers a repulsion of hippocampal representations—a finding that provides critical mechanistic insight into how and why hippocampal representations become separated.
Identical bacterial populations colonize premature infant gut, skin, and oral microbiomes and exhibit different in situ growth rates
Authors: Olm Matthew R. , Brown Christopher T. , Brooks Brandon , Firek Brian , Baker Robyn , Burstein David , Soenjoyo Karina , Thomas Brian C. , Morowitz Michael , Banfield Jillian F.
Published: January 2017

The initial microbiome impacts the health and future development of premature infants. Methodological limitations have led to gaps in our understanding of the habitat range and subpopulation complexity of founding strains, as well as how different body sites support microbial growth. Here, we used metagenomics to reconstruct genomes of strains that colonized the skin, mouth, and gut of two hospitalized premature infants during the first month of life. Seven bacterial populations, considered to be identical given whole-genome average nucleotide identity of >99.9%, colonized multiple body sites, yet none were shared between infants. Gut-associated Citrobacter koseri genomes harbored 47 polymorphic sites that we used to define 10 subpopulations, one of which appeared in the gut after 1 wk but did not spread to other body sites. Differential genome coverage was used to measure bacterial population replication rates in situ. In all cases where the same bacterial population was detected in multiple body sites, replication rates were faster in mouth and skin compared to the gut. The ability of identical strains to colonize multiple body sites underscores the habit flexibility of initial colonists, whereas differences in microbial replication rates between body sites suggest differences in host control and/or resource availability. Population genomic analyses revealed microdiversity within bacterial populations, implying initial inoculation by multiple individual cells with distinct genotypes. Overall, however, the overlap of strains across body sites implies that the premature infant microbiome can exhibit very low microbial diversity.
Flood vulnerability and relocation readiness in Zimbabwe
Authors: Mavhura Emmanuel , Collins Andrew , Bongo Pathias Paradzayi
Published: January 2017

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine vulnerability conditions to flood disasters in Tokwe-Mukorsi community, Zimbabwe and identifies the barriers that constrained the community from relocating to safe sites.

Design/methodology/approach

Using a questionnaire survey, field observations and interviews, the paper examines the biophysical and social vulnerability of the Tokwe-Mukorsi community, Zimbabwe, as well as the barriers that prevented it from relocating to safe sites. A thematic analysis of the large volumes of qualitative data from interviews and walk-through analyses was conducted. Descriptive statistics were used in analysing quantitative data from questionnaires.

Findings

Results reveal that households living upstream and downstream of the dam were highly vulnerable to floods. Their biophysical vulnerability was partly induced by the construction of the dam whose basin encroached into the farming and settlement area. The extremely vulnerable group were households living below level of 660 m where five saddle dams had been constructed. The built environment of the community exhibited ignorance of standard building codes. The poor socio-economic conditions of the community and the incessant rains experienced over two weeks contributed to the flood disaster in early 2014. The Tokwe-Mukorsi community failed to relocate to safe places partly due to lack of compensation, absence of basic infrastructure and drought occurrence in relocation sites.

Research limitations/implications

The calculation of social vulnerability indices is beyond the scope of this study due to non-availability of quantitative data at community level.

Originality/value

This paper provides a comprehensive understanding of why some communities may fail to relocate despite being highly vulnerable to flood disasters.
Improving community disaster resilience through scorecard self-testing
Authors: Ludin Salizar Mohamed , Arbon Paul Andrew
Published: January 2017

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to develop government and community-level critical thinking, planning, and action for improving community disaster resilience by reporting a study that sought to evaluate the possibility of using the Torrens Resilience Institute Australian Community Disaster Resilience (CDR) Scorecard in the Malaysian context.

Design/methodology/approach

A participatory action research approach (done in 2015) encouraged key people involved in managing the 2014 Kelantan floods in Malaysia’s north-east to participate in discussions about, and self-testing of, the CDR Scorecard to measure and improve their communities’ disaster resilience.

Findings

The CDR Scorecard can be useful in the Malaysian community context, with some modifications. Self-testing revealed that participating communities need to strengthen their disaster resilience through better communication, cross-community cooperation, maximizing opportunities to compare their plans, actions and reactions with those reported in research publications, and aligning their community disaster management with reported best practice internationally while acknowledging the need to adapt such practice to local contexts.

Research limitations/implications

There is a need for a Malaysia-wide, simple-to-use, standardized disaster resilience scorecard to improve communities’ quality, self-efficacy, and capability to facilitate improved disaster resilience.

Practical implications

The adaptation of Australian CDR Scorecard for used in the country.

Social implications

Awareness of CDR level will enhance community and government preparedness, mitigation, and responses to flood disaster.

Originality/value

This project is the first of its kind in Malaysia. It provides an example of the possibilities of using the CDR Scorecard globally in the form of a context-specific toolkit. The engagement of key people in the community in self-testing the Scorecard provides genuine, on-the-ground, real life data, giving others an understanding of local assessment of each community’s resilience level.
Knowledge sharing maturity model for Jordanian construction sector
Authors: Arif Mohammed , Al Zubi Mohammed , Gupta Aman Deep , Egbu Charles , Walton Robert O. , Islam Rubina
Published: January 2017

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to present a maturity model developed to assess knowledge sharing (KS) for the Jordanian construction sector.

Design/methodology/approach

The research was conducted in three stages. The first stage consisted of the review of literature and documenting variables from the literature that highlight influence on KS in organizations. The second stage was designed for maturity model development by identifying the cultural factors that affect KS in the Jordanian construction sector through questionnaires and interviews. Factor analysis was used to find possible relationships between the cultural variables followed by semi-structured interviews. In the third stage the initial maturity model was refined through another set of semi-structured interviews.

Findings

The model presented in the paper includes three levels of maturity. The first level identifies whether the variable barely exists in company’s KS practices. The second level shows the occasional techniques which the company uses to increase KS activities. The final level demonstrates the importance of the variable in affecting KS as being fundamentally ingrained in the company’s vision, mission, strategy and operations.

Originality/value

The research has developed a model that can be used to measure the KS in an organization. Although the model has been applied to the construction industry, it can easily be modified to fit in the other sectors.
The impact of a learning organization on performance
Authors: Kim Kyoungshin , Watkins Karen E. , Lu Zhenqiu (Laura)
Published: January 2017

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to examine the relationships among a learning organization, knowledge and financial performance using the Dimensions of the Learning Organization Questionnaire and its abbreviated version.

Design/methodology/approach

This study used a secondary data set and performed second-order factor analysis and structural equation modeling for testing the proposed relationships.

Findings

The study found that a learning organization has a positive effect on knowledge performance; knowledge performance has a positive effect on financial performance; and knowledge performance fully mediates the relationship between a learning organization and financial performance.

Research limitations/implications

This study contributes to validating the current dimensionality of the theoretical framework of a learning organization proposed by Watkins and Marsick (1993, 1996) and offers a valid conceptual framework of the relationship among the learning culture and organizational performance dimensions.

Practical implications

This study re-stresses the significance of the learning and knowledge generated by the human resources of an organization and developed by human resource development practitioners.

Originality/value

This study is valuable to human resource development scholars and practitioners interested in improving and measuring organizational performance.
Tools and techniques to boost the eloquence of your body language in public speaking
Authors: Rao M.S.
Published: January 2017

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to offer tools and techniques to boost the eloquence of your body language in public speaking.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper explains the importance of body language to influence and inspire others. It offers tools while speaking on microphone. It outlines the importance of body language.

Findings

It concludes that if you can invite the attention of your audience members and win their minds and hearts, you can grow as an accomplished orator.

Practical implications

The tools and techniques adopted by speakers can be applied in any industry and in any size of organization.

Social implications

The social implications of this research suggest that speakers and presenters can deliver their presentations successfully by following these dos and don’ts in body language.

Originality/value

It unveils the importance of mirroring your body language in public speaking. It implores to take feedback to improve your public speaking skills. It reminds that presenting a positive body language to your audience members conveys a message that you are strong in your content.
Internet entrepreneurship and “the sharing of information” in an Internet-of-Things context
Authors: Yu Xiaoyu , Roy Sanjit Kumar , Quazi Ali , Nguyen Bang , Han Yuqing
Published: January 2017

Purpose

For entrepreneurs operating in an Internet-of-Things (IoT) environment, it is essential to monitor more systematically, both the interaction with the consumers and the sharing of information among the consumers. The purpose of this paper is to identify the antecedents of word-of-mouth (WOM) in the online SME’s context in terms of consumers “citing the site” to peers in personal communications. A research model integrates the determinants of retail website-specific positive WOM communication, and proposes that WOM about a particular website is influenced by: site-level variables, that is, website quality and interactivity; and consumer-level variables, these being the site user’s satisfaction with and commitment to the website. The research advances the study of IoT entrepreneurship.

Design/methodology/approach

Data were collected from graduate and undergraduate students with business and entrepreneurship majors from a reputed school in the Northeast region of the USA, using an online survey. The hypotheses were then tested with SEM using AMOS 18.0.

Findings

Findings suggest that in an IoT context, WOM is influenced by a variety of factors of which the e-satisfaction and attitude toward website constructs play important roles. The study highlights the importance of the e-satisfaction construct and its metrics. E-satisfaction is not only a critical outcome metric, but also a primary predictor of customer e-loyalty, measured in terms of the customer’s positive attitude, stickiness and propensity to spread positive WOM.

Originality/value

The paper contributes to the entrepreneurship and IoT literature with a comprehensive framework of information sharing, interactivity and WOM, showing that specific antecedents drive consumers to cite and advocate for a website to fellow customers. The framework helps retail SME entrepreneurs in the IoT context to design appropriate strategies to influence website visitors’ endorsement of the site to fellow customers.