bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Managing Uncertainty in Paramedics’ Decision Making
Authors: Harenčárová Hana
Published: October 2016

The objective of this article is to improve the understanding of uncertainty in paramedics’ work and the strategies they employ to manage uncertainty, and to provide a resource for training novices. Managing uncertainty is an important part of paramedic decision making and may have a direct impact on patient’s health. Yet, uncertainty has not been sufficiently examined in the naturalistic decision-making paradigm. Therefore, in this study I looked at the uncertainty paramedics have to deal with in nonroutine situations and the strategies they use to manage it. I conducted critical decision method interviews with nine paramedics from paramedic-only ambulance crews. To study uncertainty and coping strategies, I used the RAWFS (reduction, assumption-based reasoning, weighing pros and cons, forestalling, and suppression) heuristic framework. As hypothesized, types of uncertainty were predicted by incident phase, and the coping strategies were predicted by both incident phase and type of uncertainty. The most prevalent type of uncertainty was inadequate understanding of the situation, and the strategy most used to manage uncertainty was reduction. I describe specific examples of cases of uncertainty and the strategies used by paramedics, with the aim of providing materials for training the novices.
A survey on experimental and numerical studies of convection heat transfer of nanofluids inside closed conduits
Authors: Safaei Mohammad Reza , Safdari Shadloo Mostafa , Goodarzi Mohammad Shahab , Hadjadj Abdellah , Goshayeshi Hamid Reza , Afrand Masoud , Kazi S N
Published: October 2016

Application of nanofluids in heat transfer enhancement is prospective. They are solid/liquid suspensions of higher thermal conductivity and viscosity compared to common working fluids. A number of studies have been performed on the effect of nanofluids in heat transfer to determine the enhancement of properties in addition to rearrangement of flow passage configurations. The principal objective of this study is to elaborate this research based on natural, forced, and the mixed heat transfer characteristics of nanofluids exclusively via convection for single- and two-phase mixture models. In this study, the convection heat transfer to nanofluids has been reviewed in various closed conduits both numerically and experimentally.
Reliability modeling of multiple performance based on degradation values distribution
Authors: Li Haiqing , Li Ruizhi , Li Haowei , Yuan Rong
Published: October 2016

In practical engineering, reliability analysis of products plays an important role in assessing the corresponding remaining life. Products often have more than one failure mechanism, which means reliability should be evaluated by two or more performance characteristics. To resolve the above problem, based on the degradation values distribution method utilization, copula functions as the link functions of their marginal distributions are introduced in this study. The performance characteristics are also considered the dependent as well as independent to make a comparison. Moreover, a framework for reliability assessment of products with the multiple performance degradation is developed. Finally, the proposed methodology and model is validated effectively by the fatigue cracks data from the literature. From the results, we can see that the proposed model is more accurate.
Adaptive neural dynamic surface sliding mode control for uncertain nonlinear systems with unknown input saturation
Authors: Chen Qiang , Shi Linlin , Nan Yurong , Ren Xuemei
Published: October 2016

In this article, an adaptive neural dynamic surface sliding mode control scheme is proposed for uncertain nonlinear systems with unknown input saturation. The non-smooth input saturation nonlinearity is firstly approximated by a smooth non-affine function, which can be further transformed into an affine form according to the mean value theorem. Then, one simple sigmoid neural network is employed to approximate the uncertain nonlinearity including the input saturation, and the approximation error is estimated using an adaptive learning law. Virtual controls are designed in each step by combing the dynamic surface control and integral sliding mode technique, and thus the problem of complexity explosion inherent in the conventional backstepping method is avoided. With the proposed control scheme, no prior knowledge is required on the bound of input saturation, and comparative simulations are given to illustrate the effectiveness and superior performance.
Measurement of weight of objects without affecting the handling algorithm
Authors: Sukop Marek , Hajduk Mikuláš , Semjon Ján , Jánoš Rudolf , Varga Jozef , Vagaš Marek
Published: October 2016

The article is devoted to understand how to easily perform weight measurement of the workpiece in the course of handling the robot cycle, provided that the handling cycle of the robot is not a sufficient idle time. It is therefore necessary to find a time gap in the algorithm of motion, which would be suitable for such a measurement. This place is affected by the handling speed, acceleration, grip stability of the workpiece – it is necessary to exclude other dynamic effects on the measurement of weight. The authors suggest that one of the best ways to avoid systematic errors is to find a sufficiently large acceleration in the positive direction of the axis ‘z’ of the handling robot. The article describes how the authors performed a few weight measurements of the pieces in the dynamic mode, and finally the evaluating the accuracy of the calibration measurements with the help of the used measuring chain.
An inspection of pipe by snake robot
Authors: Trebuňa František , Virgala Ivan , Pástor Miroslav , Lipták Tomáš , Miková Ľubica
Published: October 2016

The article deals with development and application of snake robot for inspection pipes. The first step involves the introduction of a design of mechanical and electrical parts of the snake robot. Next, the analysis of the robot locomotion is introduced. For the curved pipe, potential field method is used. By this method, the system is able to generate path for the head and rear robot, linking the environment with obstacles, which are represented by the walls of the pipe. Subsequently, the solution of potential field method is used in inverse kinematic model, which respects tasks as obstacle avoidance, joint limit avoidance, and singularity avoidance. Mentioned approach is then tested on snake robot in provisional pipe with rectangular cross section. For this research, software Matlab (2013b) is used as the control system in cooperation with the control system of robot, which is based on microcontrollers. By experiments, it is shown that designed robot is able to pass through straight and also curved pipe.
L-systems driven self-reconfiguration of modular robots
Authors: Bie Dongyang , Zhu Yanhe , Wang Xiaolu , Zhang Yu , Zhao Jie
Published: October 2016

In the domain of modular self-reconfigurable robotic systems, self-reconfiguration is known to be a highly challenging task. This article presents a novel algorithm for distributed self-reconfiguration by combining cellular automata and L-systems. Cellular automata is used to handle the relative motion planning of decentralized modules. L-systems are introduced to provide a topological description for the target configuration. The turtle interpretation is extended to modular robotics to generate local predictions for distributed modules from global description. Local predictions spread out in the system through gradient propagation. Modules, using cellular automata rules managing local motion, climb gradient to the expanding fronts for constructing global configurations. Both simulations and experiments have demonstrated the practical effectiveness of the proposed algorithm.
Sparse representation of salient regions for no-reference image quality assessment
Authors: Feng Tianpeng , Deng Dexiang , Yan Jia , Zhang Weixia , Shi Wenxuan , Zou Lian
Published: October 2016

This paper introduces an efficient feature learning framework via sparse coding for no-reference image quality assessment. The important part of the proposed framework is based on sparse feature extraction from a sparse representation matrix, which is computed using a sparse coding algorithm. Image patches extracted from salient regions of unlabeled images are used to learn a dictionary of sparse coding. The ℓ1-norm of the sparse representation is taken as a sparse penalty term in the process of learning the dictionary and computing the sparse representation. A feature detector adopts the ℓ1-norm together with the max-pooling results of the sparse representation matrix as the output sparse features to obtain the objective quality scores. Sparse features of salient regions are evaluated using the LIVE, CSIQ and TID2013 databases, and result in good generalization ability, performing better than or on par with other image quality assessment algorithms.
Changes in the self-rated well-being of people who move from congregated settings to personalized arrangements and group home placements
Authors: McConkey Roy , Keogh Fiona , Bunting Brendan , Iriarte Edurne Garcia
Published: October 2016

A natural experiment contrasted the self-rated well-being of people with intellectual disabilities ( n = 75) and those with enduring mental health problems ( n = 44) after they moved to new accommodation and support options, while others remained in congregated settings or living in the family home. Most support staff also provided well-being ratings. In personalized arrangements, personal well-being was significantly higher than in congregated settings; particularly for people with intellectual disability who had higher support needs compared to people with mental health problems. Moving to a group home also brought some improvement in the well-being ratings of people with intellectual disability but only for those with higher support needs. Such moves seemed to lead to a decline in well-being for those with mental health problems. There were marked discrepancies between ratings given by the person with those of staff. The well-being measure shows promise for use in further comparative and longitudinal studies.
Severe edentulism is a major risk factor influencing stroke incidence in rural Ecuador (The Atahualpa Project)
Authors: Del Brutto Oscar H , Mera Robertino M , Zambrano Mauricio , Del Brutto Victor J
Published: October 2016

Background

There is no information on stroke incidence in rural areas of Latin America, where living conditions and cardiovascular risk factors are different from urban centers.

Aim

Using a population-based prospective cohort study design, we aimed to assess risk factors influencing stroke incidence in community-dwelling adults living in rural Ecuador.

Methods

First-ever strokes occurring from 1 June 2012 to 31 May 2016, in Atahualpa residents aged ≥40 years, were identified from yearly door-to-door surveys and other overlapping sources. Poisson regression models adjusted for demographics, cardiovascular risk factors, edentulism and the length of observation time per subject were used to estimate stroke incidence rate ratio as well as factors influencing such incidence.

Results

Of 807 stroke-free individuals prospectively enrolled in the Atahualpa Project, follow-up was achieved in 718 (89%), contributing 2,499 years of follow-up (average 3.48 ± 0.95 years). Overall stroke incidence rate was 2.97 per 100 person-years of follow-up (95% CI: 1.73–4.2), which increased to 4.77 (95% CI: 1.61–14.1) when only persons aged ≥57 years were considered. Poisson regression models, adjusted for relevant confounders, showed that high blood pressure (IRR: 5.24; 95% CI: 2.55–7.93) and severe edentulism (IRR: 5.06; 95% CI: 2.28–7.85) were the factors independently increasing stroke incidence.

Conclusions

Stroke incidence in this rural setting is comparable to that reported from the developed world. Besides age and high blood pressure, severe edentulism is a major factor independently predicting incident strokes. Public awareness of the consequences of poor dental care might reduce stroke incidence in rural settings.
Current best practice in the evaluation and management of malignant pleural effusions
Authors: Walker Steven , Bibby Anna C. , Maskell Nick A.
Published: October 2016

Malignant pleural effusions (MPEs) are an important cause of cancer-related mortality and morbidity. It is a heterogeneous group of conditions, which leads to debilitating symptoms and confers a poor prognosis. Recent well-designed randomized trials have provided a broader evidence base for an expanding range of treatment options. Together, with new prognostic scoring systems and a greater understanding of how different patient phenotypes respond to treatment, this allows greater personalization of management. This article will discuss the current evidence on evaluation and management of MPEs.
Numerical study on phase change of water flowing across two heated rotating circular cylinders in tandem arrangement
Authors: Dhar BK , Mahapatra SK , Maharana SK , Sarkar A , Sahoo SS
Published: October 2016

The problems of fluid flow and heat transfer phenomena over an array of cylinders are quite prominent in fluid dynamics and industry applications. The current work focuses on fluid flow and heat transfer analysis over two heated rotating cylinders arranged in tandem. The flow of water over heated cylinders faces a phenomenon of phase change from liquid (water) to vapor phase (steam). The mechanism of this phase change is studied through a numerical simulation supplemented with verification of the code and validation. The problem is simulated when flows from two cylinders in a tandem arrangement become interacting and non-interacting. The Eulerian model is used during simulation to comprehend the multiphase phenomena. The volume fractions of both the phases such as water and vapor and heat transfer coefficients of both the cylinders have been computed and presented as findings of the problem. The mass and heat transfer mechanism is unidirectional from one phase to the other phase. The vapor fraction of each phase is to be observed and compared when three different rotations are given to the two cylinders immersed in a turbulent flow of water.
Hand Pain in a Golfer
Authors: Rolison Cortie J. , Smoot Milton Kyle
Published: October 2016

A 19-year-old golfer presented to the sports clinic with a 2-week history of dominant-hand pain after several months of daily golf. He had a metacarpal stress fracture. This case discusses the athlete’s return-to-play timeline as well as reviews the current limited literature guiding return to play in grip athletes.
Permanent junctional reciprocating tachycardia: a rare, but not to be missed, cause of cardiogenic shock in adults
Authors: Boulé Stéphane , Détis Nicolas , Lamblin Nicolas
Published: October 2016

We report the case of a 64-year-old woman who was admitted for cardiogenic shock caused by a permanent junctional reciprocating tachycardia. If this incessant and drug-refractory form of tachycardia is a well-known cause of tachycardia-induced cardiomyopathies in infants, its occurrence during adulthood is extremely rare. Catheter ablation is the recommended treatment of this condition.
The efficacy and safety of intravenous lidocaine for analgesia in the older adult: a literature review
Authors: Daykin Harriet
Published: October 2016

Opioids remain the mainstay of analgesia for the treatment of moderate to severe acute pain. Even in the young, the use of opioids can be associated with an increased incidence of post-operative complications such as respiratory depression, vomiting, pruritus, excessive sedation, slowing of gastrointestinal function, and urinary retention. The need to manage acute pain in the older patient is becoming more common as the population ages, and increasingly older patients are undergoing more major surgery. Medical conditions are more common in older people and can result in the requirement of systemic analgesia for fractures, malignancy, nociceptive or neuropathic pain and peripheral vascular disease. Effective pain control can be difficult in older patients as there is a higher incidence of coexistent diseases, polypharmacy and age-related changes in physiology, pharmacodynamics and pharmacokinetics. Consequently, due to the fear of respiratory depression in older people, this leads to inadequate doses of opioid being given for the treatment of their pain. Lidocaine has analgesic, anti-hyperalgesic and anti-inflammatory properties and is metabolized by the liver which is limited by perfusion, and heart failure or drugs can alter this, affecting its clearance. Therefore, there are concerns regarding safety in older patients as plasma concentrations have both intersubject and intrasubject variability. The aim of this literature review is to assess the efficacy and safety of intravenous lidocaine as an adjuvant in pain management for the older patient. In total, 12 studies fulfilled the criteria. Lidocaine infusions were found to reduce pain scores and be opioid sparing in abdominal and urological surgery, in patients with opioid-refractory malignancy pain, neuropathic pain and critical limb ischaemia. Patients with malignancy were more likely to develop adverse effects, but no patients required treatment for lidocaine toxicity.
Concern for the Environment in Terms of Waste Sorting Behavior
Authors: Mezghenni Ramla , Zouari Salma
Published: October 2016

This article aims at conceptually analyzing environmental concern and at understanding Tunisian citizens’ attitude toward this concept and at determining a typology of the different profiles of ecologically concerned consumers (ECCs). The results show a three-dimension structure of ECCs and identify four types of consumer profiles.
Comparing Traditional and Crowdsourcing Methods for Pretesting Survey Questions
Authors: Edgar Jennifer , Murphy Joe , Keating Michael
Published: October 2016

Cognitive interviewing is a common method used to evaluate survey questions. This study compares traditional cognitive interviewing methods with crowdsourcing, or “tapping into the collective intelligence of the public to complete a task.” Crowdsourcing may provide researchers with access to a diverse pool of potential participants in a very timely and cost-efficient way. Exploratory work found that crowdsourcing participants, with self-administered data collection, may be a viable alternative, or addition, to traditional pretesting methods. Using three crowdsourcing designs (TryMyUI, Amazon Mechanical Turk, and Facebook), we compared the participant characteristics, costs, and quantity and quality of data with traditional laboratory-based cognitive interviews. Results suggest that crowdsourcing and self-administered protocols may be a viable way to collect survey pretesting information, as participants were able to complete the tasks and provide useful information; however, complex tasks may require the skills of an interviewer to administer unscripted probes.
Photoaging Photography
Authors: Welch Matthew , Chang Paul , Taylor Myra F.
Published: October 2016

One of the major sources for children to gain knowledge of skin-protective measures is from their parents. Therefore, an imperative exists for parents to model and reinforce the sun-safety practices they want their children to adopt. Although Australian mothers have been the recipients of two extensive sun-safety public health campaigns, little is known about their attitudes, behaviors, and application of health promotion knowledge toward their and their child’s ultraviolet (UV) sun exposure. Ten mothers with children aged 4 to 12 years were asked a series of questions about their sun-safety practices, both pre- and post-viewing an UV photoaged photograph of their and their child’s face. Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis identified four themes and 12 subthemes. The findings reveal that mothers expressed divergent views on skin protection pre- and post-inspecting their and their child’s photoaged photographs. At one end of the viewing spectrum, mothers expressed an opinion that some degree of skin damage was an inevitable reality in Australia’s sunny climate, and on the other end of the viewing spectrum mothers expressed their desire to keep themselves and their child out of the sun. Mothers in the mid-range of the spectrum stated that their parenting task was one of transferring the responsibility for adopting skin-protective measures from themselves to their preteen children. The combination of mothers viewing their own photos as well as their child’s photograph serves to enhance the difference seen in photoaging damage, which in turn provides greater impetus for mothers to be concerned about photoaging in general.
Tests of Writing in the School Examination in Upper Secondary Schools
Authors: Ginting Daniel , Saukah Ali
Published: October 2016

Although the results of the final examination in Indonesia were the dominant factor in determining high school graduation, the public still did not know how the examination was administered nor how results were used to determine student graduation. Despite its importance, no comprehensive studies about its implementation have been conducted. The present study investigates the implementation of school-based assessment (SBA) in upper secondary schools focusing on the development and administration of the English writing test. This particular test was not covered in the English national examination. Twenty-one schools were surveyed, selected through stratified random sampling. In-depth case studies were conducted in three selected schools representing fully implementing school (FIS), moderately implementing school (MIS), and partially implementing school (PIS). The majority were categorized as PIS. This study suggests that the way in which examinations were implemented needs serious consideration, especially in light of the new regulation that student graduations are based on the result of the school examinations and no longer on the result of the national examination.
Embodying a New Meaning of Being At Risk
Authors: Manuel April , Brunger Fern
Published: October 2016

Arrhythmogenic Right Ventricular Cardiomyopathy/Dysplasia (ARVC/D) is a genetic condition that can cause fatal arrhythmias. The implantable cardioverter defibrillation (ICD) is a primary treatment for ARVC/D. Using a grounded theory approach, this study examines the experiences of 15 individuals living with an ICD. The ability to cope with and adjust to having an ICD is influenced by the acceptance of the ICD as something needed to survive, an understanding of the ICD’s function, existing support networks, and ones’ ability to manage everyday challenges. Coping well requires reshaping ideas about the meaning of being at risk and understanding how the ICD fits into that changing personal risk narrative. A thorough understanding of the unique needs of individuals with ARVC/D and of the specific factors contributing to the psychosocial distress related to having an ICD (vs. having the disease itself) is needed. Nurses must be prepared to provide ongoing support and education to this population.
The preprocessed connectomes project repository of manually corrected skull-stripped T1-weighted anatomical MRI data
Authors: Puccio Benjamin , Pooley James P , Pellman John S , Taverna Elise C , Craddock R Cameron
Published: October 2016

Background

Skull-stripping is the procedure of removing non-brain tissue from anatomical MRI data. This procedure can be useful for calculating brain volume and for improving the quality of other image processing steps. Developing new skull-stripping algorithms and evaluating their performance requires gold standard data from a variety of different scanners and acquisition methods. We complement existing repositories with manually corrected brain masks for 125 T1-weighted anatomical scans from the Nathan Kline Institute Enhanced Rockland Sample Neurofeedback Study.

Findings

Skull-stripped images were obtained using a semi-automated procedure that involved skull-stripping the data using the brain extraction based on nonlocal segmentation technique (BEaST) software, and manually correcting the worst results. Corrected brain masks were added into the BEaST library and the procedure was repeated until acceptable brain masks were available for all images. In total, 85 of the skull-stripped images were hand-edited and 40 were deemed to not need editing. The results are brain masks for the 125 images along with a BEaST library for automatically skull-stripping other data.

Conclusion

Skull-stripped anatomical images from the Neurofeedback sample are available for download from the Preprocessed Connectomes Project. The resulting brain masks can be used by researchers to improve preprocessing of the Neurofeedback data, as training and testing data for developing new skull-stripping algorithms, and for evaluating the impact on other aspects of MRI preprocessing. We have illustrated the utility of these data as a reference for comparing various automatic methods and evaluated the performance of the newly created library on independent data.
Characterization of pre-Columbian artefacts in situ through handheld portable X-ray fluorescence spectrometry: the case of ceramics from the Mochica site of San José de Moro (Peru)
Authors: Del-Solar-Velarde Nino , Kinis Stan , Chapoulie Rémy , Joannes-Boyau Renaud , Castillo Luis Jaime
Published: October 2016

The famous archaeological site of San José de Moro (SJM) located in the Jequetepeque Valley (JV) represents one of the best-preserved pre-Columbian Mochica cemeteries uncovered along the north coast of Peru. SJM was a regional ritual centre where elites and the general population of all JV met to celebrate ceremonial events. Its role as a place of regional integration and coordination continued long after the disappearance of the Mochica and SJM was continuously occupied throughout the Late Mochica Period (8th–9th c. AD) and into the Transitional Period (9th–10th c. AD). Even though the abandonment of Mochica traditions in SJM (funerary practices and ceramic styles) appears quite rapid, SJM was constantly occupied whereby local traditions were being reshaped. During this time various styles of ritual ceramics from different traditions (Mochica, Cajamarca and Wari) were buried within ceremonial and funerary contexts. This research involves archaeometric studies of excavated painted diagnostic ceramic sherds representing four distinctive pre-Columbian typologies present at this site—Mochica fineline bichrome, Mochica fineline polychrome, coastal Cajamarca and Highland Cajamarca ceramics. For this study handheld portable X-ray fluorescence spectrometer (HHpXRF) instrumentation was operated in situ in order to (1) perform non-destructive trace element analysis (2) to assess if Cajamarca ceramics were further elaborated using the same raw materials employed by the Mochica potters of SJM, and (3) to establish whether or not Mochica and Cajamarca ceramics were truly technological markers in the lower part of the Jequetepeque valley.

Results

The chemical elements detected in the ceramic bodies by the portable technique and used for this analysis were: K, Ca, Mn, Fe, Zn, Ga, As, Rb, Sr and Y. All sherds that were identified as aesthetically different also differed chemically with the exception of the Mochica fineline bichrome and the Mochica fineline polychrome, which were produced in a coastal workshop using the same local raw materials. In addition, these sherds were not elaborated employing the same recipe used in the Coastal and Highland Cajamarca productions.

Conclusions

Mochica ceramic productions are stylistically and chemically different from both Coastal and Highland Cajamarca productions. Ceramics from San José de Moro are technological markers of two cultures (Mochica and Cajamarca) in the lower part of the Jequetepeque Valley that interacted during Late Mochica and through the Transitional periods.
Normal Pubertal Development in Daughters of Women With PCOS: A Controlled Study
Authors: Legro Richard S. , Kunselman Allen R. , Stetter Christy M. , Gnatuk Carol L. , Estes Stephanie J. , Brindle Eleanor , Vesper Hubert W. , Botelho Julianne C. , Lee Peter A. , Dodson William C.
Published: October 2016

Context:

Daughters of women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) are thought to be at increased risk for developing stigmata of the syndrome, but the ontogeny during puberty is uncertain.

Objective:

We phenotyped daughters (n = 76) of mothers with PCOS and daughters (n = 80) from control mothers for reproductive and metabolic parameters characteristic of PCOS.

Design, Setting, and Participants:

We performed a matched case/control study at Penn State Hershey Medical Center that included non-Hispanic, white girls 4 to 17 years old.

Intervention:

We obtained birth history, biometric, ovarian ultrasounds, whole-body dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry scan for body composition, 2-hour glucose challenged salivary insulin levels, and two timed urinary collections (12 hours overnight and 3 hours in the morning) for gonadotropins and sex steroids.

Main Outcome Measures:

We measured integrated urinary levels of adrenal (dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate) and ovarian [testosterone (TT)] steroids. Other endpoints included integrated salivary insulin levels and urinary luteinizing hormone levels.

Results:

There were no differences in detection rates or mean levels for gonadotropins and sex steroids in timed urinary collections between PCOS daughters and control daughters, nor were there differences in integrated salivary insulin levels. Results showed that 69% of Tanner 4/5 PCOS daughters vs 31% of control daughters had hirsutism defined as a Ferriman-Gallwey score >8 (P = 0.04). There were no differences in body composition as determined by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry between groups in the three major body contents (i.e., bone, lean body mass, and fat) or in ovarian volume between groups.

Conclusions:

Matched for pubertal stage, PCOS daughters have similar levels of urinary androgens and gonadotropins as well as glucose-challenged salivary insulin levels.
Cell coupling mediated by connexin 26 selectively contributes to reduced adhesivity and increased migration
Authors: Polusani Srikanth R. , Kalmykov Edward A. , Chandrasekhar Anjana , Zucker Shoshanna N. , Nicholson Bruce J.
Published: October 2016

Gap junction proteins (connexins) have crucial effects on cell motility in many systems, from migration of neural crest cells to promotion of metastatic invasiveness. Here, we show that expression of Cx26 (also known as GJB2) in HeLa cells specifically enhances cell motility in scrape wounding and sparse culture models. This effect is dependent on gap junction channels and is isotype specific [Cx26 enhances motility, whereas Cx43 (also known as GJA1) does not and Cx32 (also known as GJB1) has an intermediate effect]. The increased motility is associated with reduced cell adhesiveness, caused by loss of N-cadherin protein and RNA at the wound edge. This in turn causes a redistribution of N-cadherin-binding proteins (p120 catenin and β-catenin) to the cytosol and nucleus, respectively. The former activates Rac-1, which mediates cytoskeletal rearrangements needed for filopod extension. The latter is associated with increased expression of urokinase plasminogen activating receptor (an activator of extracellular proteases) and secretion of extracellular matrix components like collagen. Although these effects were dependent on Cx26-mediated coupling of the cells, they are not mediated by the same signal (i.e. cAMP) through which Cx26 has been shown to suppress proliferation in the same system.
A different angle: comparative analyses of whole-animal transport costs running uphill
Authors: Halsey Lewis G. , White Craig R.
Published: October 2016

Comparative work on animals' costs of terrestrial locomotion has focussed on the underpinning physiology and biomechanics. Often, much of an animal's energy budget is spent on moving around thus there is also value in interpreting such data from an ecological perspective. When animals move through their environment they encounter topographical variation, and this is a key factor that can dramatically affect their energy expenditure. We collated published data on the costs for birds and mammals to locomote terrestrially on inclines, and investigated the scaling relationships using a phylogenetically informed approach. We show that smaller animals have a greater mass-specific cost of transport on inclines across the body mass range analysed. We also demonstrate that the increase in cost for smaller animals to run up a slope relative to along a flat surface is comparatively low. Heavier animals show larger absolute and relative increases in energy cost to travel uphill. Consideration of all aspects of the cost of incline locomotion – absolute, relative, and mass-specific – provides a fuller understanding of the interactions between transport costs, body mass, incline gradient and phylogeny, and enables us to consider their ecological implications, which we couch within the context of the ‘energy landscape‘.
Unusual sound production mechanism in the triggerfishRhinecanthus aculeatus(Balistidae)
Authors: Parmentier Eric , Raick Xavier , Lecchini David , Boyle Kelly , Vanwassenbergh Sam , Bertucci Frédéric , Kéver Loïc
Published: October 2016

The ability to produce sound has been known for decades in Balistidae. Sounds of many species have been recorded and a variety of sound-producing mechanisms have been proposed, including teeth stridulation, collision of the buccal teeth and movements of the fins. The best-supported hypothesis involves movements of the pectoral fin against the lateral part of the swimbladder, called a drumming membrane. In this study, we describe for the first time the sounds made by the blackbar triggerfish Rhinecanthus aculeatus, which are like short drum rolls with an average duration of 85 ms, 193 Hz dominant frequency and 136 dB SPL level at 3 cm distance. The sounds are a series of pulses that result from alternate sweeping movements of the right and left pectoral fins, which push a system of three scutes that are forced against the swimbladder wall. Pulses from each fin occur in consecutive pairs. High-speed videos indicate that each pulse consists of two cycles. The first part of each cycle corresponds to the inward buckling of the scutes, whereas the second part of the cycle corresponds to an apparent passive recoil of the scutes and swimbladder wall. This novel sound production mechanism is probably found in many members of Balistidae because these peculiar scutes occur in other species in the family. Comparison of sound characteristics from fishes of different sizes shows that dominant frequency decreases with size in juveniles but not in adults.
Three-dimensional motion tracking reveals a diving component to visual and auditory escape swims in zebrafish larvae
Authors: Bishop Benjamin H. , Spence-Chorman Nathan , Gahtan Ethan
Published: October 2016

Escape behaviors have been studied in zebrafish by neuroscientists seeking cellular-level descriptions of neural circuits but few studies have examined vertical swimming during escapes. We analyzed 3-dimensional swimming paths of zebrafish larvae during visually-evoked and auditory-evoked escapes while the fish were in a cubical tank with equal vertical and lateral range. Visually-evoked escapes, elicited by sudden dimming of ambient light, consistently elicited downward spiral swimming (dives) with faster vertical than lateral movement. Auditory taps also elicited rapid escape swimming with equivalent total distance traveled but with significantly less vertical and more lateral movement. Visually-evoked dives usually ended with the zebrafish hitting the bottom of the 10 cm3 tank. Therefore, visually-evoked dives were also analyzed in a tubular tank with 50 cm of vertical range, and in most cases larvae reached the bottom of that tank during a 120 sec dimming stimulus. Light-evoked spiral diving in zebrafish may be an innate defense reflex against specific predation threats. Since visual and auditory escapes are initially similar but dives persist only during visual escapes, our findings lay the groundwork for studying a type of decision making within zebrafish sensorimotor circuits.
Inhibition of calcium uptake during hypoxia in developing zebrafish, Danio rerio, is mediated by hypoxia-inducible factor
Authors: Kwong Raymond W. M. , Kumai Yusuke , Tzaneva Velislava , Azzi Estelle , Hochhold Nina , Robertson Cayleih , Pelster Bernd , Perry Steve F.
Published: October 2016

The present study investigated the potential role of hypoxia-inducible factor (HIF) on calcium homeostasis in developing zebrafish (Danio rerio). It was demonstrated that zebrafish raised in hypoxic water (30 mmHg; control=155 mmHg) until 4 days post fertilisation exhibited a substantial reduction in whole body Ca2+ levels and Ca2+ uptake. Ca2+ uptake in hypoxia-treated fish did not return to pre-hypoxia (control) levels within 2 h after transferring back to normoxic water. Results from real-time PCR showed that hypoxia decreased the whole body mRNA expression levels of the epithelial Ca2+ channel (ecac), but not plasma membrane Ca2+-ATPase (pmca2) nor Na+/Ca2+-exchanger (ncx1b). Whole-mount in situ hybridization revealed that the number of ecac-expressing ionocytes was reduced in fish raised in hypoxic water. These findings suggested that hypoxic treatment suppressed the expression of ecac, thereby reducing Ca2+ influx. To further evaluate the potential mechanisms for the effects of hypoxia on Ca2+ regulation, a functional gene knockdown approach was employed to prevent the expression of HIF-1αb during hypoxic treatment. Consistent with a role for HIF-1αb in regulating Ca2+ balance during hypoxia, the results demonstrated that the reduction of Ca2+ uptake associated with hypoxic exposure was not observed in fish experiencing HIF-1αb knockdown. Additionally, the effects of hypoxia on reducing the number of ecac-expressing ionocytes was less pronounced in HIF-1αb deficient fish. Overall, the current study revealed that hypoxic exposure inhibited Ca2+ uptake in developing zebrafish, likely owing to HIF-1αb-mediated suppression of ecac expression.
Fluorophore ligand binding and complex stabilization of the RNA Mango and RNA Spinach aptamers
Authors: Jeng Sunny C.Y. , Chan Hedy H.Y. , Booy Evan P. , McKenna Sean A. , Unrau Peter J.
Published: October 2016

The effective tracking and purification of biological RNAs and RNA protein complexes is currently challenging. One promising strategy to simultaneously address both of these problems is to develop high-affinity RNA aptamers against taggable small molecule fluorophores. RNA Mango is a 39-nucleotide, parallel-stranded G-quadruplex RNA aptamer motif that binds with nanomolar affinity to a set of thiazole orange (TO1) derivatives while simultaneously inducing a 103-fold increase in fluorescence. We find that RNA Mango has a large increase in its thermal stability upon the addition of its TO1-Biotin ligand. Consistent with this thermal stabilization, RNA Mango can effectively discriminate TO1-Biotin from a broad range of small molecule fluorophores. In contrast, RNA Spinach, which is known to have a substantially more rigid G-quadruplex structure, was found to bind to this set of fluorophores, often with higher affinity than to its native ligand, 3,5-difluoro-4-hydroxybenzylidene imidazolinone (DFHBI), and did not exhibit thermal stabilization in the presence of the TO1-Biotin fluorophore. Our data suggest that RNA Mango is likely to use a concerted ligand-binding mechanism that allows it to simultaneously bind and recognize its TO1-Biotin ligand, whereas RNA Spinach appears to lack such a mechanism. The high binding affinity and fluorescent efficiency of RNA Mango provides a compelling alternative to RNA Spinach as an RNA reporter system and paves the way for the future development of small fluorophore RNA reporter systems.
Artificial “ping-pong” cascade of PIWI-interacting RNA in silkworm cells
Authors: Shoji Keisuke , Suzuki Yutaka , Sugano Sumio , Shimada Toru , Katsuma Susumu
Published: October 2016

PIWI-interacting RNAs (piRNAs) play essential roles in the defense system against selfish elements in animal germline cells by cooperating with PIWI proteins. A subset of piRNAs is predicted to be generated via the “ping-pong” cascade, which is mainly controlled by two different PIWI proteins. Here we established a cell-based artificial piRNA production system using a silkworm ovarian cultured cell line that is believed to possess a complete piRNA pathway. In addition, we took advantage of a unique silkworm sex-determining one-to-one ping-pong piRNA pair, which enabled us to precisely monitor the behavior of individual artificial piRNAs. With this novel strategy, we successfully generated artificial piRNAs against endogenous protein-coding genes via the expected back-and-forth traveling mechanism. Furthermore, we detected “primary” piRNAs from the upstream region of the artificial “ping-pong” site in the endogenous gene. This artificial piRNA production system experimentally confirms the existence of the “ping-pong” cascade of piRNAs. Also, this system will enable us to identify the factors involved in both, or each, of the “ping” and “pong” cascades and the sequence features that are required for efficient piRNA production.
Αποτίμηση της λειτουργίας του θεσμού των ΣΔΕΥ (Σχολικό Δίκτυο Εκπαίδευσης και Υποστήριξης)
Authors: Μανδέλλου Μαρία Λουίζα , Μαργίδου Σοφία , Γκουντή Παναγιώτα
Published: October 2016

Περίληψη

Στην παρούσα εισήγηση θα αναφερθούν αδρομερώς οι εμπειρίες και τα συμπεράσματα της ψυχοκοινωνικής υπηρεσίας (Ψυχολόγος και Κοινωνικός Λειτουργός) σχετικά με τη λειτουργία του νεοσύστατου θεσμού των Σ.Δ.Ε.Υ., τα οποία αποτελούν  Κέντρα Υποστήριξης Ε.Α.Ε. (Ειδικής Αγωγής και Εκπαίδευσης), μίας ενότητας σχολικών μονάδων της Γενικής Δημόσιας εκπαίδευσης. Θα δοθεί το πλαίσιο λειτουργίας και ο σκοπός των Σ.Δ.Ε.Υ και Ε.Δ.Ε.Α.Υ, καθώς και βιβλιογραφικά δεδομένα που αφορούν στην εκπαιδευτική διαδικασία για την ένταξη και συνεκπαίδευση παιδιών με ειδικές εκπαιδευτικές ανάγκες στη γενική εκπαίδευση και δίνουν έμφαση στην αναγκαιότητα της δημιουργίας ενός σχολείου για όλους. Επιπλέον, θα παρουσιαστούν οι πρακτικές της ψυχοκοινωνικής υπηρεσίας σε σχολεία της πρωτοβάθμιας εκπαίδευσης και θα σκιαγραφηθούν οι προϋποθέσεις για την επιτυχή συμπερίληψη των μαθητών με αναπηρία και/ή ε.ε.α.. Μια πρώτη αποτίμηση της όλης διαδικασίας καθρεφτίζει τις τεράστιες ανάγκες των γενικών σχολείων για υποστήριξη από ψυχοκοινωνική υπηρεσία, τη θετική αλληλεπίδραση όλων των εμπλεκόμενων μελών, καθώς και τη σημασία της εκπόνησης αυτοτελών και στοχευμένων βιωματικών προγραμμάτων από τους ειδικούς των ΣΜΕΑΕ για τη σωστή ένταξη και συμπερίληψη όλων των μαθητών.
Ο νέος Νόμος για τα Α.Ε.Ι.: Διεθνοποίηση και Αξιολόγηση, οι κύριες αλλαγές στο Πανεπιστήμιο
Authors: Ματσούκη Αγγελική
Published: October 2016

Ένας νέος Νόμος για τη λειτουργία των Ιδρυμάτων Ανώτατης Εκπαίδευσης ψηφίσθηκε το 2011 στην Ελλάδα και ένας νέος διάλογος ξεκίνησε.  Το πρόγραμμα μεταρρύθμισης του ελληνικού Πανεπιστημίου παρατίθεται στο Νόμο 4009/2011.  Ορισμένοι θεωρούν αυτήν τη νομοθεσία ως ένα πολλά υποσχόμενο πλαίσιο, πάνω στο οποίο αλλαγές που επιδιώκονταν από καιρό για τα ελληνικά Πανεπιστήμια τελικά θα πραγματοποιηθούν.  Άλλοι, φαίνεται να θέτουν υπό αμφισβήτηση τις νέες νομοθετικές προσεγγίσεις, βασιζόμενοι στο ότι ο Νόμος παρουσιάζει σοβαρά μειονεκτήματα, που αποσυνθέτουν το Πανεπιστημιακό σύστημα που έχει υπηρετήσει καλά την Ελλάδα για πολλά χρόνια από το 1982 και που φέρνει επιδείνωση σε πρότυπα, διοικητικό χάος, προβλήματα στη διδασκαλία και έντονες αντιπαραθέσεις μέσα στους κόλπους των Πανεπιστημίων.  Ανατρέχοντας σε γραπτές πηγές επικεντρώθηκα στο πως μετασχηματίζεται η έννοια της δημοκρατίας με άξονα το νέο Νόμο, δίνοντας το προβάδισμα στο Πανεπιστήμιο της διοικητικής αποτελεσματικότητας, όπου δείκτες αξιολόγησης και αποδοτικότητας αναδεικνύονται στην κορυφή του προφίλ ενός επιτυχημένου Πανεπιστημίου και στο πως η διεθνοποίηση και η παγκοσμιοποίηση επιφέρουν την αξιολόγηση σε προγράμματα σπουδών και ανθρώπινο δυναμικό.  Δεν μπορούμε να αρνηθούμε ότι η υψηλή ποιότητα των δημόσιων Πανεπιστημίων παραμένει ο ακρογωνιαίος λίθος των κοινωνιών με υψηλό εισόδημα.  Πρέπει να έχουμε κατά νου ότι η προηγούμενη αναδιάρθρωση του ελληνικού δημόσιου Πανεπιστημίου κατάφερε πέρα από κάθε ελπίδα την επέκταση της μαζικής Τριτοβάθμιας Εκπαίδευσης, ακόμη και στα χαμηλότερα εισοδήματα και την εργατική τάξη.  Το διακύβευμα είναι πολύ υψηλό.  Τα ελληνικά Πανεπιστήμια εισέρχονται σε μια νέα εποχή της εκπαιδευτικής ιστορίας, που στοχεύει να δώσει στους φοιτητές μια θέση στην αγορά εργασίας, γεγονός που θα τους επιτρέψει να εξασκήσουν τις γνώσεις και τα μαθησιακά αποτελέσματα, έτσι ώστε οι απόφοιτοι να γνωρίζουν και να είναι ικανοί να το καταφέρουν.
Διερεύνηση των επιθυμιών, των γνώσεων και των απόψεων νέων με νοητική αναπηρία ως προς την επαγγελματική τους αποκατάσταση
Authors: Πολυχρονοπούλου Σταυρούλα , Μπογέα Παναγιώτα
Published: October 2016

Περίληψη

Στην παρούσα εργασία διερευνώνται οι επιθυμίες, οι γνώσεις και οι απόψεις νοητικά ανάπηρων εφήβων που φοιτούν σε Εργαστήρια Ειδικής Επαγγελματικής Εκπαίδευσης και Κατάρτισης ως προς την επαγγελματική τους αποκατάσταση. Μέσα από τις απαντήσεις των μαθητών επιδιώκεται ο εντοπισμό των δυναμικών που αναπτύσσονται μεταξύ οικογένειας-ενδιαφερόντων-εκπαίδευσης και επιλογής επαγγέλματος, των επιδιώξεων και των φιλοδοξιών των ίδιων των εφήβων, της εικόνας που έχουν για τον εαυτό τους και του επιπέδου των επαγγελματικών και κοινωνικών δεξιοτήτων που έχουν αναπτύξει. Το δείγμα της έρευνας αποτελείται από νέους με μέτρια και ελαφρά νοητική αναπηρία, ηλικίας 14-22 ετών. Η συλλογή των δεδομένων έγινε με τη μέθοδο της δομημένης συνέντευξης. Χρησιμοποιήθηκε ερωτηματολόγιο που αποτελείται συνολικά από 36 ερωτήσεις, κλειστού και ανοιχτού τύπου. Τα αποτελέσματα της έρευνας έδειξαν ότι στη διαμόρφωση των επαγγελματικών επιθυμιών των νέων κυριαρχεί η συμβολή του οικογενειακού και σχολικού περιβάλλοντος, ότι οι έφηβοι με Ν.Α. εκδηλώνουν έντονη επιθυμία για επαγγελματική αποκατάσταση και αυτονόμηση και ότι υπάρχει ένα σημαντικό ποσοστό μαθητών που δεν επιθυμεί να ασκήσει ως επάγγελμα αυτό στο οποίο εκπαιδεύεται. Όσον αφορά το επίπεδο των επαγγελματικών δεξιοτήτων και δεξιοτήτων καθημερινής ζωής και αυτόνομης διαβίωσης των συμμετεχόντων παρατηρούμε ότι ένα σημαντικό ποσοστό του δείγματος έχει αποκτήσει ένα ικανοποιητικό επίπεδο γνώσεων και προσόντων. 
Παιδεία – Πολιτισμός και Τέχνες
Authors: Μπολιεράκη Macrh Κωνσταντίνα , Πρεβεδουράκη κορίνα
Published: October 2016

Περίληψη

Σε μια εποχή όπου η καινοτομία και η δημιουργικότητα αποτελούν καίριο αίτημα, η Τέχνη και η Παιδεία έχουν χρέος να οδηγούν τους μαθητές και τις μαθήτριες σε βιώματα αλληλεπίδρασης μεταξύ τους όσο και με άλλους ανθρώπους. Στο πλαίσιο αυτό, λειτούργησε η συνεργασία του Καλλιτεχνικού Σχολείου Γέρακα με την Α΄ Εφορεία Προϊστορικών και Κλασικών Αρχαιοτήτων στον πολυπολιτισμικό χώρο της Αρχαίας Αγοράς. Στις εκπαιδευτικές δράσεις του 2015 με τίτλο: Σύγχρονη Καλλιτεχνική Παιδεία στην Αρχαία Αγορά II και θέμα: Πόλις-Παιδεία-Πολιτισμός, οι μαθητές της Α΄ Λυκείου παρουσίασαν μια διαδραστική εικαστική εγκατάσταση στην οποίαν καλούνταν σε συμμετοχή και οι  περιηγητές στον αρχαιολογικό χώρο της Αγοράς. Μέσω της γνώσης και του πολιτισμού επιδιώξαμε μια προσέγγιση διαφορετικής αισθητικής, μιας αισθητικής που ως κριτήριο της θέτει τη διαδραστική αλλά και ατομική σχέση ανάμεσα στον θεατή και το έργο, συνδέοντας με αυτόν τον τρόπο και τους ανθρώπους μεταξύ τους.