bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Evidence for Shear Stress–Mediated Dilation of the Internal Carotid Artery in Humans
Authors: Carter Howard H. , Atkinson Ceri L. , Heinonen Ilkka H.A. , Haynes Andrew , Robey Elisa , Smith Kurt J. , Ainslie Philip N. , Hoiland Ryan L. , Green Daniel J.
Published: August 2016

Increases in arterial carbon dioxide tension (hypercapnia) elicit potent vasodilation of cerebral arterioles. Recent studies have also reported vasodilation of the internal carotid artery during hypercapnia, but the mechanism(s) mediating this extracranial vasoreactivity are unknown. Hypercapnia increases carotid shear stress, a known stimulus to vasodilation in other conduit arteries. To explore the hypothesis that shear stress contributes to hypercapnic internal carotid dilation in humans, temporal changes in internal and common carotid shear rate and diameter, along with changes in middle cerebral artery velocity, were simultaneously assessed in 18 subjects at rest and during hypercapnia (6% carbon dioxide). Middle cerebral artery velocity increased significantly (69±10–103±17 cm/s;
P
<0.01) along with shear in both the internal (316±52–518±105 1/s;
P
<0.01) and common (188±40–275±61 1/s;
P
<0.01) carotids. Diameter also increased (
P
<0.01) in both carotid arteries (internal: +6.3±2.9%; common: +5.8±3.0%). Following hypercapnia onset, there was a significant delay between the onset of internal carotid shear (22±12 seconds) and diameter change (85±51 seconds). This time course is associated with shear-mediated dilation of larger conduit arteries in humans. There was a strong association between change in shear and diameter of the internal carotid (
r
=0.68;
P
<0.01). These data indicate, for the first time in humans, that shear stress is an important stimulus for hypercapnic vasodilation of the internal carotid artery. The combination of a hypercapnic stimulus and continuous noninvasive, high-resolution assessment of internal carotid shear and dilation may provide novel insights into the function and health of the clinically important extracranial arteries in humans.
Domain-Specific Partitioning of Uterine Artery Endothelial Connexin43 and Caveolin-1
Authors: Ampey Bryan C. , Morschauser Timothy J. , Ramadoss Jayanth , Magness Ronald R.
Published: August 2016

Uterine vascular adaptations facilitate rises in uterine blood flow during pregnancy, which are associated with gap junction connexin (Cx) proteins and endothelial nitric oxide synthase. In uterine artery endothelial cells (UAECs), ATP activates endothelial nitric oxide synthase in a pregnancy (P)-specific manner that is dependent on Cx43 function. Caveolar subcellular domain partitioning plays key roles in ATP-induced endothelial nitric oxide synthase activation and nitric oxide production. Little is known regarding the partitioning of Cx proteins to caveolar domains or their dynamics with ATP treatment. We observed that Cx43-mediated gap junction function with ATP stimulation is associated with Cx43 repartitioning between the noncaveolar and caveolar domains. Compared with UAECs from nonpregnant (NP) ewes, levels of ATP, PGI
2
, cAMP, NOx, and cGMP were 2-fold higher (
P
<0.05) in pregnant UAECs. In pregnant UAECs, ATP increased Lucifer yellow dye transfer, a response abrogated by Gap27, but not Gap 26, indicating involvement of Cx43, but not Cx37. Confocal microscopy revealed domain partitioning of Cx43 and caveolin-1. In pregnant UAECs, LC/MS/MS analysis revealed only Cx43 in the caveolar domain. In contrast, Cx37 was located only in the noncaveolar pool. Western analysis revealed that ATP increased Cx43 distribution (1.7-fold;
P
=0.013) to the caveolar domain, but had no effect on Cx37. These data demonstrate rapid ATP-stimulated repartitioning of Cx43 to the caveolae, where endothelial nitric oxide synthase resides and plays an important role in nitric oxide–mediated increasing uterine blood flow during pregnancy.
Aging is Associated With an Earlier Arrival of Reflected Waves Without a Distal Shift in Reflection Sites
Authors: Phan Timothy S. , Li John K.‐J. , Segers Patrick , Reddy‐Koppula Maheswara , Akers Scott R. , Kuna Samuel T. , Gislason Thorarinn , Pack Allan I. , Chirinos Julio A.
Published: August 2016

Background

Despite pronounced increases in central pulse wave velocity (
PWV
) with aging, reflected wave transit time (
RWTT
), traditionally defined as the timing of the inflection point (

T
INF

) in the central pressure waveform, does not appreciably decrease, leading to the controversial proposition of a “distal‐shift” of reflection sites.

T
INF

, however, is exceptionally prone to measurement error and is also affected by ejection pattern and not only by wave reflection. We assessed whether
RWTT
, assessed by advanced pressure‐flow analysis, demonstrates the expected decline with aging.

Methods and Results

We studied a sample of unselected adults without cardiovascular disease (n=48; median age 48 years) and a clinical population of older adults with suspected/established cardiovascular disease (n=164; 61 years). We measured central pressure and flow with carotid tonometry and phase‐contrast
MRI
, respectively. We assessed
RWTT
using wave‐separation analysis (

RWTT
WSA

) and partially distributed tube‐load (TL) modeling (

RWTT
TL

). Consistent with previous reports,

T
INF

did not appreciably decrease with age despite pronounced increases in
PWV
in both populations. However, aging was associated with pronounced decreases in

RWTT
WSA

(general population −15.0 ms/decade,
P
<0.001; clinical population −9.07 ms/decade,
P
=0.003) and

RWTT
TL

(general −15.8 ms/decade,
P
<0.001; clinical −11.8 ms/decade,
P
<0.001). There was no evidence of an increased effective reflecting distance by either method.

T
INF

was shown to reliably represent
RWTT
only under highly unrealistic assumptions about input impedance.

Conclusions

RWTT
declines with age in parallel with increased
PWV
, with earlier effects of wave reflections and without a distal shift in reflecting sites. These findings have important implications for our understanding of the role of wave reflections with aging.
Smoking, Smoking Cessation, and Measures of Subclinical Atherosclerosis in Multiple Vascular Beds in Japanese Men
Authors: Hisamatsu Takashi , Miura Katsuyuki , Arima Hisatomi , Kadota Aya , Kadowaki Sayaka , Torii Sayuki , Suzuki Sentaro , Miyagawa Naoko , Sato Atsushi , Yamazoe Masahiro , Fujiyoshi Akira , Ohkubo Takayoshi , Yamamoto Takashi , Murata Kiyoshi , Abbott Robert D. , Sekikawa Akira , Horie Minoru , Ueshima Hirotsugu , Nakano Yasutaka , Ogawa Emiko , Maegawa Hiroshi , Miyazawa Itsuko , Mitsunami Kenichi , Nozaki Kazuhiko , Shiino Akihiko , Araki Isao , Tsuru Teruhiko , Toyama Ikuo , Ogita Hisakazu , Kurita Souichi , Maeda Toshinaga , Miyamatsu Naomi , Kita Toru , Kimura Takeshi , Nishio Yoshihiko , Nakamura Yasuyuki , Okamura Tomonori , Barinas‐Mitchell Emma J.M. , Edmundowicz Daniel , Ohkubo Takayoshi , Hozawa Atsushi , Okuda Nagako , Higashiyama Aya , Nagasawa Shinya , Kita Yoshikuni , Murakami Yoshitaka , Takashima Naoyuki , Kadowaki Takashi , Ohno Seiko , Kondo Keiko , Saito Yoshino , Zaid Maryam , Ito Takahiro , Shibukawa Takeshi , Sumi Masaki
Published: August 2016

Background

Smoking is an overwhelming, but preventable, risk factor for cardiovascular diseases (
CVD
), although smoking prevalence remains high in developed and developing countries in East Asia.

Methods and Results

In a population‐based sample of 1019 Japanese men aged 40 to 79 years, without
CVD
, we examined cross‐sectional associations of smoking status, cumulative pack‐years, daily consumption, and time since cessation, with subclinical atherosclerosis at 4 anatomically distinct vascular beds, including coronary artery calcification, carotid intima‐media thickness (
CIMT
) and plaque, aortic artery calcification (Ao
AC
), and ankle‐brachial index. Current, former, and never smoking were present in 32.3%, 50.0%, and 17.7%, respectively. Compared to never smokers, current smokers had significantly higher risks of subclinical atherosclerosis in all 4 circulations (eg, odds ratios for coronary artery calcification >0, 1.79 [95% CIs, 1.16–2.79];
CIMT
>1.0 mm, 1.88 [1.02–3.47]; Ao
AC
>0, 4.29 [2.30–7.97]; and ankle‐brachial index <1.1, 1.78 [1.16–2.74]) and former smokers did in carotid and aortic circulations (
CIMT
>1.0 mm, 1.94 [1.13–3.34]; and Ao
AC
>0, 2.55 [1.45–4.49]). Dose–response relationships of pack‐years and daily consumption, particularly with
CIMT
, carotid plaque, Ao
AC
, and ankle‐brachial index, were observed among both current and former smokers, and even a small amount of pack‐years or daily consumption among current smokers was associated with coronary artery calcification and Ao
AC
, whereas time since cessation among former smokers was linearly associated with lower burdens of all atherosclerotic indices.

Conclusions

Cigarette smoking was strongly associated with subclinical atherosclerosis in multiple vascular beds in Japanese men, and these associations attenuated with time since cessation.
Postcards from Europe: The Workings of Memory and the Role of Language in Tuvia Ruebner’s Postcard Poems
Authors: Bram Shahar
Published: August 2016

Tuvia Ruebner’s postcard poems undermine the stereotypical, commercial image that tourist postcards wish to create. The name of the poem and the structure hint at such postcards, but attempt to change their appearance, to broaden the limits of the present, and integrate the past into it. The poet offers a memento that combines presence and absence, what is visual and what is verbal, and an inner and an outer reality. The individual memory is thus woven into a collective memory. These poems offer a sober worldview where Europe turns out to be the source of pain and longing, alongside great joys and pleasures. Ruebner’s postcard poems subvert the normative boundaries and binary divisions, providing the reader with a deeper look at human nature, and at the workings of memory.
Isaac Arama’s “Nightmare:” Closing the Philosophical Exegetical Chapter Maimonides Opened
Authors: Diamond James A.
Published: August 2016

Isaac Arama (1420–1494), the most influential preacher in the generation of the expulsion from Spain, attempted a balance between what he considered a foreign Greek body of rational knowledge on the one hand, and a supra-rational revealed knowledge native to Judaism’s prophetic tradition on the other. This article focuses on an aspect of his creative exegesis and in particular his engagement with Maimonides that was powerful enough, in addition to other historical factors of course, to close the chapter on Jewish philosophical exegesis which Maimonides spearheaded. Often, his own exegesis is pointedly constructed to subvert Maimonides’ own exegesis and thus offer an alternative direction for biblical commentary that mediates between the rigor of philosophical reasoning, or the authority of the mind, and the existential faith commitment to revelation, or the authority of God.
Two new species of South American freshwater crayfish genus Parastacus Huxley, 1879 (Crustacea: Decapoda: Parastacidae)
Authors: RIBEIRO FELIPE BEZERRA , BUCKUP LUDWIG , GOMES KELLY MARTINEZ , ARAUJO PAULA BEATRIZ
Published: August 2016

Two new species of Parastacus Huxley, 1879 are described from material collected in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, southern Brazil: Parastacus fluviatilis sp. nov. from highland streams and Parastacus caeruleodactylus sp. nov. from wetlands. Parastacus fluviatilis sp. nov. is distinguished mainly by large chelipeds with dense setae cover on the cutting edge of fingers, telson subtriangular with two lateral blunt spines and strongly concave ventral surface of lateral process of thoracic sternites 6 and 7. Parastacus caeruleodactylus sp. nov. is distinguished mainly by blue cheliped fingers and a large gap between them, reduced abdomen, dorsal and ventral margins of dactylus, propodus and carpus of second pair of pereiopods with tufts of long setae and mid-dorsal carina of exopod of uropods unarmed. According to IUCN Red List criteria both species are considered endangered. Habitat characterization and a method for defining the shape of second abdominal pleura are also provided.
Development and characterization of marble dust-filled dental composite
Authors: Kumar Shiv Ranjan , Patnaik Amar , Bhat IK
Published: August 2016

With environmental concerns, there is a strong need to develop posterior restorative dental material as a true alternative to dental amalgam, while one of the serious environmental concerns is how to utilize marble waste such as marble dust produced during machining and cutting of stones. Therefore, the present study proposed a material formulation as a solution for both the issues and investigated the performance of silane-treated marble dust-filled dental composite. Fourier Transform Infrared spectroscopy analysis, Raman Spectroscopy analysis, and Thermo-gravimetric analysis were used to characterize treated and untreated filler. The physical and mechanical characterizations such as void content test, water sorption test, micro-hardness, compressive strength test, dynamic mechanical analysis, and thermo-gravimetric analysis were performed. The result of the study indicated that addition of 0–9 wt.% of marble dust powder increased the hardness, compressive strength, and flexural strength in the range of 69–96 HV, 175–296 MPa, and 55–80 MPa, respectively. However, the void content and water sorption were also increased in the range of 0.31–1.41% and 1.05–2.15%, respectively. Further, it was also revealed that dynamic properties and thermal degradation temperature were increased with the increase of marble dust.
The Epidemiology of Lateral Ligament Complex Ankle Sprains in National Collegiate Athletic Association Sports
Authors: Roos Karen G. , Kerr Zachary Y. , Mauntel Timothy C. , Djoko Aristarque , Dompier Thomas P. , Wikstrom Erik A.
Published: August 2016

Background:

Ankle sprains are a common injury in collegiate sports. Few studies have examined the epidemiology of individual ligament injuries, specifically the lateral ligament complex (LLC) of the ankle.

Purpose:

To describe the epidemiology, including the estimated yearly national incidence, of LLC sprains among National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) athletes.

Study Design:

Descriptive epidemiology study.

Methods:

Injury surveillance data for 25 sports from the NCAA Injury Surveillance Program (NCAA-ISP) for the academic years 2009-2010 to 2014-2015 were used for analysis. All injuries included for analysis had a diagnosis of an LLC sprain. LLC sprain rates and rate ratios (RRs) with 95% CIs were calculated. From the sample, national estimates of the annual incidence of LLC sprains across the entire student-athlete body from these 25 sports were also calculated.

Results:

During the 2009-2010 to 2014-2015 academic years, 2429 LLC sprains were reported, for a rate of 4.95 per 10,000 athlete-exposures (AEs). LLC sprains comprised 7.3% of all reported collegiate sports injuries in the NCAA-ISP. Also, an estimated 16,022 LLC sprains occurred annually among the 25 sports. The sports with the highest LLC sprain rates were men’s basketball (11.96/10,000 AEs) and women’s basketball (9.50/10,000 AEs). Most LLC sprains occurred during practices (57.3%); however, the LLC sprain rate was higher in competitions than in practices (RR, 3.29; 95% CI, 3.03-3.56). Also, 11.9% of LLC sprains were identified as recurrent injuries, with the largest proportions of recurrent LLC sprains being found within women’s basketball (21.1%), women’s outdoor track (21.1%), women’s field hockey (20.0%), and men’s basketball (19.1%). In 44.4% of LLC sprains, the athlete returned to play in less than 24 hours; in 3.6%, the athlete required more than 21 days before returning to play (including those who did not return to play at all).

Conclusion:

LLC sprains were the most commonly reported injury diagnosis among United States collegiate student-athletes. Continued examination of interventions that aim to reduce the incidence, severity, and recurrence of LLC sprains, specifically in women, is warranted.
Trajectory optimization of unmanned aerial vehicle in dynamic soaring
Authors: Zhu Bing-Jie , Hou Zhong-Xi , Ouyang Hua-Jiang
Published: August 2016

An aircraft can extract energy from a gradient wind field by dynamic soaring. The paper presents trajectory optimization of an unmanned aerial vehicle for dynamic soaring by numerical analysis and validates the theoretical work through flight test. The collocation approach is used to convert the trajectory optimization problem into parameters optimization. The control and state parameters include lift coefficient, bank angle, positions, flight path angle, heading angle, and airspeed, which are obtained from the parameter optimization software. To validate the results of numerical simulation, the dynamic soaring experiment is also performed and experimental data are analyzed. This research work shows that the unmanned aerial vehicle can gain enough flight energy from the gradient wind field by following an optimal dynamic soaring trajectory. Meanwhile, the variation of flight path angle, heading angle, and airspeed has a significant influence on the energy transform. The solution can provide theoretical guide to unmanned aerial vehicles for extracting maximum energy from gradient wind fields.
Dynamics modeling and model selection of space debris removal via the Tethered Space Robot
Authors: Zhang Fan , Huang Panfeng , Meng Zhongjie , Liu Zhengxiong
Published: August 2016

This work proposes a scheme to select a proper dynamics model for space debris removal which is captured by a Tethered Space Robot. A proper dynamics model is crucial for the parameters estimation and controller design in a Tethered Space Robot mission, in particular, for the retrieval or de-orbiting of uncooperative target. A new dynamics model of the system is derived by treating the base satellite and the space debris as rigid bodies in the presence of offsets, and with the effect of the tether’s flexibility and elasticity. Then the equations of motion are simplified based on the attitude analysis and numerical simulations in different cases. It is concluded that in the Tethered Space Robot’s mission, the strong coupled attitude motions among the base, target satellites, and the tether cannot be ignored during the retrieval, which is totally different from the traditional tethered satellite system. The attitude motions of the system in different conditions are discussed respectively, and a method of the model selection of the system during post-capture and retrieval/de-orbiting phase is proposed, which is a balance of the accuracy and facility. Finally, a control scheme is used to prove this conclusion.
Low-Molecular-Weight Heparin for the Treatment of Unexplained Recurrent Miscarriage With Negative Antiphospholipid Antibodies: A Randomized Controlled Trial
Authors: Shaaban Omar M. , Abbas Ahmed M. , Zahran Kamal M. , Fathalla Mohamed M. , Anan Mohamed A. , Salman Safwat A.
Published: August 2016

Background:

Recurrent miscarriage (RM) is one of the most common clinical problems in reproduction with no definite cause in about 50% of the cases. The study aims to evaluate the effect of low-molecular-weight heparin (LMWH) in the treatment of women with RM negatively tested for antiphospholipid antibodies (APAs).

Methods:

An open-labeled registered randomized controlled study (NCT 01608347) included women who attended the outpatient clinic in Assiut Women Health Hospital and Nag-Hamady Central Hospital, Egypt, with 3 or more unexplained RM. Eligible participants were randomly assigned into 2 groups. The study group included 150 patients receiving LMWH (Tinzaparin sodium 4500 IU) subcutaneous daily injection with 500 µg folic acid once daily orally started once positive pregnancy test till the 20th week of gestation. The control group included 150 patients receiving the same dose of folic acid alone. The primary outcome of the study was the rate of continuation of a viable pregnancy after 20 weeks of gestation.

Results:

There was no significant difference between both groups as regards age, parity, or number of previous miscarriages. There was a significant increase in women who continued their pregnancy beyond 20 weeks in the study group compared to the control group (73.3% vs 48%, respectively; P = .002). The take-home baby rate was also significantly higher in the LMWH group compared to the control group ( P = .001).

Conclusion:

Early start of LMWH decreases the incidence of miscarriage in the first 20 weeks of pregnancy in women with unexplained RM negative for APAs.
Kinetic analysis and mathematical modeling of growth parameters of Lactobacillus plantarum in protein-rich isolates from tomato seed
Authors: Mechmeche Manel , Kachouri Faten , Yaghlane Hana B , Ksontini Hamida , Setti Khaoula , Hamdi Moktar
Published: August 2016

The aim of the present study was to evaluate the applicability of using protein-rich isolates from tomato seed as a sole source of nutrition for the growth of lactic acid bacteria. Unstructured mathematical and logistic models were proposed to describe growth, pH drop, lactic acid production and nutriment consumption by Lactobacillus plantarum in whole and defatted isolates in order to compare their suitability for the production of a fermented beverage. These media have considerable good quantities of nutriment that allowed the growth of L. plantarum, after which the cell numbers begin to decline. The maximum biomass was observed in defatted isolate (1.42 g L−1) followed by the whole isolate (1.24 g L−1). The lactic acid increased by about 5.5 and 6.5 times respectively in whole and defatted protein isolates. However, significant nutriment consumption occurred during the growth phase as well as stationary phase. A reduction of 61.90% and 95.88% in sugar content, as well as 21.91% and 16.93% reduction in protein content were observed respectively in whole and defatted isolates. In most cases, the proposed models adequately describe the biochemical changes taking place during fermentation and are a promising approach for the formulation of tomato seed-based functional foods.
Agency of ethnic minority employees: Struggles around identity, career and social change
Authors: Van Laer Koen , Janssens Maddy
Published: August 2016

Going beyond recent studies emphasizing the ‘successful’ nature of ethnic minorities’ agency, this qualitative study offers an in-depth analysis of the tensions and contradictions inherent to ethnic minority employees’ agency. To conceptualize agency, we draw on the resistance literature and adopt the notion of struggle, which stresses the dynamic and often contradictory interplay between power and resistance in everyday experiences and actions. Based on 26 in-depth interviews with ethnic minority professionals, our study highlights three main agentic strategies individuals use in relation to discourses of ethnicity: rejecting, redefining and adopting discursively available subject positions. Yet, these strategies are characterized by inherent tensions and contradictions, as all three involve both resistance and compliance, simultaneously challenging and reproducing discourses of ethnicity and relations of power. Our study further suggests that the tensions and contradictions inherent to ethnic minority employees’ agency can be linked to individuals’ involvement in struggles on three interconnected plateaux: the plateaux of identity, career and social change. Tensions arise as struggles on these plateaux come into conflict, forcing individuals to make important trade-offs. Finally, our study contributes to the resistance literature, reinterpreting the current debate on the prevalence of ‘banal’ forms of resistance as linked to its tendency to study (ethnic) majority individuals who have the privilege of focusing their agentic strategies on the plateau of identity.
The subject who thinks economically? Comparative money subjectivities in neoliberal context
Authors: Verdouw Julia Joanne
Published: August 2016

Theoretically, neoliberalism is acknowledged as a powerful, discursive mode of governmentality, whose key tenets widely influence sociological discourses around the role of money in attaining quality of life and happiness. However, few studies qualitatively reflect in any detail on how neoliberalism is implicated in the making of particular subjectivities. In this comparative study, participants from different income contexts (middle and low income, and downshifters) are interviewed about money meanings with attention to the particular ways of living they narrate. The findings attest to participant adoption of, and/or resistance to, lay forms of neoliberalism in the ordering of their subjectivities around key themes: life values, life goals, monetary boundaries and future understandings. Their stories show the prevalence of the neoliberal subject and clarify the practical limits of neoliberal discourses, as well as demonstrating how moral alternatives to neoliberalism can transform self-understanding and practice.
Being black, middle class and the object of two gazes
Authors: Canham Hugo , Williams Rejane
Published: August 2016

The growth of the black 1 middle class in ‘post-apartheid’ 2 South Africa has become the subject of scholarly and public interest. Applying elements of discourse analysis to interview and group discussion based data, this article provides a qualitative thematic exploration of two pressures that confront a group of black middle-class professionals residing in Johannesburg, South Africa. The first pressure is the experience of being black under the hegemonic white gaze and the second is the experience of the marshalling black gaze. The complexities of occupying the positions of being black and middle class and of living with the scrutiny of two gazes concurrently, is explored. The findings suggest that the white gaze persists in seeking to negatively mark and destabilise black professionals and profiting off covert and paradoxical mobilisations of race discourses as a means of bolstering whiteness. On the other hand, the black gaze serves to police the boundaries of what acceptable blackness is. Under this gaze, the professional, black middle class is perceived as having sold out to whiteness and abandoned given conceptions of blackness. The tensions arising out of navigating these dialectical disciplining gazes suggests that this group holds the tenuous position of being corralled from the ‘outside’ and ‘inside.’ The research, however, reveals the complex ways in which racialisation continues to shape black lives alongside the less rigid identity possibilities for blackness that move beyond essentialised identity performances.
MPL expression on AML blasts predicts peripheral blood neutropenia and thrombocytopenia
Authors: Rauch Philipp J. , Ellegast Jana M. , Widmer Corinne C. , Fritsch Kristin , Goede Jeroen S. , Valk Peter J. M. , Löwenberg Bob , Takizawa Hitoshi , Manz Markus G.
Published: August 2016

Key Points

AML-associated peripheral blood cytopenia is independent of bone marrow blast content, but strongly predicted by MPL expression on blast cells. MPLhi blasts scavenge TPO from serum, causing insufficient cytokine levels.
A novel uncultured heterotrophic bacterial associate of the cyanobacterium Moorea producens JHB
Authors: Cummings Milo E. , Barbé Debby , Leao Tiago Ferreira , Korobeynikov Anton , Engene Niclas , Glukhov Evgenia , Gerwick William H. , Gerwick Lena
Published: August 2016

Background

Filamentous tropical marine cyanobacteria such as Moorea producens strain JHB possess a rich community of heterotrophic bacteria on their polysaccharide sheaths; however, these bacterial communities have not yet been adequately studied or characterized.

Results and discussion

Through efforts to sequence the genome of this cyanobacterial strain, the 5.99 MB genome of an unknown bacterium emerged from the metagenomic information, named here as Mor1. Analysis of its genome revealed that the bacterium is heterotrophic and belongs to the phylum Acidobacteria, subgroup 22; however, it is only 85 % identical to the nearest cultured representative. Comparative genomics further revealed that Mor1 has a large number of genes involved in transcriptional regulation, is completely devoid of transposases, is not able to synthesize the full complement of proteogenic amino acids and appears to lack genes for nitrate uptake. Mor1 was found to be present in lab cultures of M. producens collected from various locations, but not other cyanobacterial species. Diverse efforts failed to culture the bacterium separately from filaments of M. producens JHB. Additionally, a co-culturing experiment between M. producens JHB possessing Mor1 and cultures of other genera of cyanobacteria indicated that the bacterium was not transferable.

Conclusion

The data presented support a specific relationship between this novel uncultured bacterium and M. producens, however, verification of this proposed relationship cannot be done until the “uncultured” bacterium can be cultured.
Extramedullary Disease in Adult Acute Myeloid Leukemia Is Common but Lacks Independent Significance: Analysis of Patients in ECOG-ACRIN Cancer Research Group Trials, 1980-2008
Authors: Ganzel Chezi , Manola Judith , Douer Dan , Rowe Jacob M. , Fernandez Hugo F. , Paietta Elisabeth M. , Litzow Mark R. , Lee Ju-Whei , Luger Selina M. , Lazarus Hillard M. , Cripe Larry D. , Wiernik Peter H. , Tallman Martin S.
Published: August 2016

Purpose

Extramedullary disease (EMD) at diagnosis in patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) has been recognized for decades. Reported herein are results from a large study of patients with AML who were treated in consecutive ECOG-ACRIN Cancer Research Group frontline clinical trials in an attempt to define the incidence and clinical implications of EMD.

Methods

Patients with newly diagnosed AML, age 15 years and older, who were treated in 11 clinical trials, were studied to identify EMD, as defined by physical examination, laboratory findings, and imaging results.

Results

Of the 3,522 patients enrolled, 282 were excluded, including patients with acute promyelocytic leukemia, incorrect diagnosis, or no adequate assessment of EMD at baseline. The overall incidence of EMD was 23.7%. The sites involved were: lymph nodes (11.5%), spleen (7.3%), liver (5.3%), skin (4.5%), gingiva (4.4%), and CNS (1.1%). Most patients (65.3%) had only one site of EMD, 20.9% had two sites, 9.5% had three sites, and 3.4% had four sites. The median overall survival was 1.035 years. In univariable analysis, the presence of any EMD ( P = .005), skin involvement ( P = .002), spleen ( P < .001), and liver ( P < .001), but not CNS ( P = .34), nodal involvement ( P = .94), and gingival hypertrophy ( P = .24), was associated with a shorter overall survival. In contrast, in multivariable analysis, adjusted for known prognostic factors such as cytogenetic risk and WBC count, neither the presence of EMD nor the number of specific sites of EMD were independently prognostic.

Conclusion

This large study demonstrates that EMD at any site is common but is not an independent prognostic factor. Treatment decisions for patients with EMD should be made on the basis of recognized AML prognostic factors, irrespective of the presence of EMD.
HIV Infection and Survival Among Women With Cervical Cancer
Authors: Dryden-Peterson Scott , Bvochora-Nsingo Memory , Suneja Gita , Efstathiou Jason A. , Grover Surbhi , Chiyapo Sebathu , Ramogola-Masire Doreen , Kebabonye-Pusoentsi Malebogo , Clayman Rebecca , Mapes Abigail C. , Tapela Neo , Asmelash Aida , Medhin Heluf , Viswanathan Akila N. , Russell Anthony H. , Lin Lilie L. , Kayembe Mukendi K.A. , Mmalane Mompati , Randall Thomas C. , Chabner Bruce , Lockman Shahin
Published: August 2016

Purpose

Cervical cancer is the leading cause of cancer death among the 20 million women with HIV worldwide. We sought to determine whether HIV infection affected survival in women with invasive cervical cancer.

Patients and Methods

We enrolled sequential patients with cervical cancer in Botswana from 2010 to 2015. Standard treatment included external beam radiation and brachytherapy with concurrent cisplatin chemotherapy. The effect of HIV on survival was estimated by using an inverse probability weighted marginal Cox model.

Results

A total of 348 women with cervical cancer were enrolled, including 231 (66.4%) with HIV and 96 (27.6%) without HIV. The majority (189 [81.8%]) of women with HIV received antiretroviral therapy before cancer diagnosis. The median CD4 cell count for women with HIV was 397 (interquartile range, 264 to 555). After a median follow-up of 19.7 months, 117 (50.7%) women with HIV and 40 (41.7%) without HIV died. One death was attributed to HIV and the remaining to cancer. Three-year survival for the women with HIV was 35% (95% CI, 27% to 44%) and 48% (95% CI, 35% to 60%) for those without HIV. In an adjusted analysis, HIV infection significantly increased the risk for death among all women (hazard ratio, 1.95; 95% CI, 1.20 to 3.17) and in the subset that received guideline-concordant curative treatment (hazard ratio, 2.63; 95% CI, 1.05 to 6.55). The adverse effect of HIV on survival was greater for women with a more-limited stage cancer ( P = .035), those treated with curative intent ( P = .003), and those with a lower CD4 cell count ( P = .036). Advanced stage and poor treatment completion contributed to high mortality overall.

Conclusion

In the context of good access to and use of antiretroviral treatment in Botswana, HIV infection significantly decreases cervical cancer survival.
Reading The Tatler in 1710: Polite Print and the Spalding Gentlemen's Society
Authors: Rumbold Valerie
Published: August 2016

The relationship between the Spalding Gentlemen's Society (founded 1710) and Richard Steele's Tatler (1709–11) achieved its most influential commemoration in Nichols's Literary Anecdotes (1812). While there were indeed shared ideals and anxieties that aligned this celebrated example of improving sociability with Steele's periodical in relation to such topics of local concern as London's relation to the regions, religion, politics, and the improving potential of conversation, there were also important areas of difference, notably the society's commitment to science and antiquarianism and its male-only membership. Analysis of the specific agencies behind the publication of the society's history in Literary Anecdotes shows that these areas of difference were crucial to the process by which the society became a fixture in the literary record. By the beginning of the twenty-first century, however, the society would move to a model of polite sociability far closer to The Tatler's ideal.
Music and Montesquieu's Climate Theory in the Criticism of Joseph Baretti and His English Contemporaries
Authors: Johnston Keith
Published: August 2016

Montesquieu's climatological theory of character played an important role in English musical criticism in the third quarter of the eighteenth century and helped form an intellectual basis for an English critique of Italian comic opera in the sentimental mode. Critics like Joseph Baretti used Montesquieu's theory to conceptualize relationships between music, audience, and environment. They were drawn to Montesquieu not simply because his political ideas were popular, but also because his thought was directly engaged with midcentury concerns about music's power over the body, its role in climatic determinism, and the important part it could play in a civil society.
Challenging the Historical Paradigm: Tories, Whigs, and Economic Writing, 1680–1714
Authors: Hudson Nicholas
Published: August 2016

This essay challenges the paradigm that depicts Whigs as progressive champions of free-market economics doing battle against the land-based and regressive economic policies of the Tories. Particularly in the period after the Glorious Revolution, Tory economic writers such as Charles Davenant, Nicholas Barbon, and Sir Dudley North argued for free trade and the relaxation of government tariffs, particularly as exercised against luxuries imported by the East India Company. Whig economic writers such as John Locke, John Pollexfen, Sir Francis Brewster, and John Cary continued, on the contrary, to equate wealth with the accumulation of bullion, arguing that England must curtail the import of luxuries in order to protect domestic manufacture. This debate reached its climax during the controversy over the commercial pact attached to the Treaty of Utrecht (1713). Tories argued for free trade in their journal the Mercantor while Whigs continued to urge for protection against imports in the British Merchant. A revised understanding of the economic policies of Tories and Whigs should lead to a reinterpretation of poems such as Alexander Pope's Windsor-Forest (1713) as well as to a reconsideration of the economic debate between Whigs and Tories after 1714.
Future! Decline
Authors: Sachs Jonathan
Published: August 2016

What sort of temporality does a prediction about the future suggest? What does it mean specifically to predict decline and to imagine the absence of a future? How does the meaning of the present change in the face of anxieties about decline and an uncertain or absent future that become more common in the later eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries? This essay addresses these questions through a reading of two poems that fantasize the imagined ruins of London: Thomas Littleton's “The State of England and the Once Flourishing City of London. In a Letter from an American Traveller, Dated from the Ruinous Portico of St. Paul's in the Year 2199, to a Friend Settled in Boston, the Metropolis of the Western Empire” (1780) and Anna Barbauld's Eighteen Hundred and Eleven (1812). Imagining the absence of a future in their place of composition, these poems attempt to make sense of their present moment. The displaced future and present emphases of these poems manifest anxiety about how to assess a range of concrete circumstances, affects, and intuitions to articulate a sense of what is happening and what might follow from that assessment of the present. The poetry of Littleton and Barbauld thus dovetails with the contemporary concerns of much recent work on the historiography of the present but in a way that suggests that this sort of history itself has a history, and the essay closes with an assessment of what that might mean.
Refusing the Child: Weininger, Edelman, Kertész
Authors: Dhúill Caitríona Ní
Published: August 2016

If human reproduction is a realm of future-making practice, its refusal or absence effects a reconceptualization of the future. The article examines three very different refusals of the child: the idealist antinatalism of Otto Weininger's Sex and Character (1903), the queer refusal of reproductive futurism in Lee Edelman's No Future (2004), and the negation of the thinkability of fatherhood through the trauma of Auschwitz in Imre Kertész's Kaddish for a Child Not Born (1990). The complexity and incommensurability of the critical stances of antireproductive antifuturism articulated in these texts make it necessary to reconsider any overly simplistic or affirmative alignment of “the child” with “the future.” The nonreproductive (non)futures the texts variously envisage call on us to think instead in terms of multiple possible meanings that can inhere in refusals of the child — whether in the asceticist-misogynist, queer, or catastrophic mode.
Disappearing the Future: Memory Culture and Dystopia in Elliott Hall'sThe Rapture
Authors: Vermeulen Pieter
Published: August 2016

In the last few years, the fields of utopian studies and memory studies have independently developed an interest in how a concern with the past can inform the imagining of alternative futures. Both fields have interrogated the present possibility of utopian projects that look beyond the confines of the current socioeconomic order, a possibility that has been under pressure since the rise of neoliberalism in the 1980s. Elliott Hall's dystopian noir thriller The Rapture (2010), which is part of his Strange trilogy, offers an acute diagnosis of the difficulties besetting the mobilization of memory for a utopian future. At the same time, the novel shows that one particular element in the discourse of memory studies, the notion of “trauma,” can play a vital role in restoring the conditions under which the utopian imagination can flourish again.
Introducing cross-referee commenting in peer review
Authors: Pourquié Olivier , Brown Katherine
Published: August 2016

Summary: Following our recent community survey on priorities in peer review and online publishing, this Editorial announces some of the changes we are making to respond to your feedback.
The Allocation of Future Business: Dynamic Relational Contracts with Multiple Agents
Authors: Andrews Isaiah , Barron Daniel
Published: August 2016

We consider how a firm dynamically allocates business among several suppliers to motivate them in a relational contract. The firm chooses one supplier who exerts private effort. Output is non-contractible, and each supplier observes only his own relationship with the principal. In this setting, allocation decisions constrain the transfers that can be promised to suppliers in equilibrium. Consequently, optimal allocation decisions condition on payoff-irrelevant past performance to make strong incentives credible. We construct a dynamic allocation rule that attains first-best whenever any allocation rule does. This allocation rule performs strictly better than any rule that depends only on payoff-relevant information. (JEL D21, D82, L14, L24)
Asymmetric Information and Intermediation Chains
Authors: Glode Vincent , Opp Christian
Published: August 2016

We propose a parsimonious model of bilateral trade under asymmetric information to shed light on the prevalence of intermediation chains that stand between buyers and sellers in many decentralized markets. Our model features a classic problem in economics where an agent uses his market power to inefficiently screen a privately informed counterparty. Paradoxically, involving moderately informed intermediaries also endowed with market power can improve trade efficiency. Long intermediation chains in which each trader's information set is similar to those of his direct counterparties limit traders' incentives to post prices that reduce trade volume and jeopardize gains to trade. (JEL D42, D82, D85, L12, L14)
Skill Transferability, Migration, and Development:Evidence from Population Resettlement in Indonesia
Authors: Bazzi Samuel , Gaduh Arya , Rothenberg Alexander D. , Wong Maisy
Published: August 2016

We use a natural experiment in Indonesia to provide causal evidence on the role of location-specific human capital and skill transferability in shaping the spatial distribution of productivity. From 1979–1988, the Transmigration Program relocated two million migrants from rural Java and Bali to new rural settlements in the Outer Islands. Villages assigned migrants from regions with more similar agroclimatic endowments exhibit higher rice productivity and nighttime light intensity one to two decades later. We find some evidence of migrants' adaptation to agroclimatic change. Overall, our results suggest that regional productivity differences may overstate the potential gains from migration. (JEL J24, J43, J61, O13, O15, Q13, R23)
Changes in labial capillary density on ascent to and descent from high altitude
Authors: Gilbert-Kawai Edward , Coppel Jonny , Hennis Phillip , Grocott Michael , Ince Can , Martin Daniel
Published: August 2016

Present knowledge of how the microcirculation is altered by prolonged exposure to hypoxia at high altitude is incomplete and modification of existing analytical techniques may improve our knowledge considerably. We set out to use a novel simplified method of measuring in vivo capillary density during an expedition to high altitude using a CytoCam incident dark field imaging video-microscope.

The simplified method of data capture involved recording one-second images of the mucosal surface of the inner lip to reveal data about microvasculature density in ten individuals. This was done on ascent to, and descent from, high altitude. Analysis was conducted offline by two independent investigators blinded to the participant identity, testing conditions and the imaging site.  Additionally we monitored haemoglobin concentration and haematocrit data to see if we could support or refute mechanisms of altered density relating to vessel recruitment. Repeated sets of paired values were compared using Kruskall Wallis Analysis of Variance tests, whilst comparisons of values between sites was by related samples Wilcoxon Signed Rank Test. Correlation between different variables was performed using Spearman’s rank correlation coefficient, and concordance between analysing investigators using intra-class correlation coefficient.

There was a significant increase in capillary density from London on ascent to high altitude; median capillaries per field of view area increased from 22.8 to 25.3 (p=0.021). There was a further increase in vessel density during the six weeks spent at altitude (25.3 to 32.5, p=0.017). Moreover, vessel density remained high on descent to Kathmandu (31.0 capillaries per field of view area), despite a significant decrease in haemoglobin concentration and haematocrit.

Using a simplified technique, we have demonstrated an increase in capillary density on early and sustained exposure to hypobaric hypoxia at thigh altitude, and that this remains elevated on descent to normoxia. The technique is simple, reliable and reproducible.
Factors affecting stone free rate of primary percutaneous nephrolithotomy on staghorn calculi: a single center experience of 15 years
Authors: Atmoko Widi , Birowo Ponco , Rasyid Nur
Published: August 2016

Objectives: Percutaneous nephrolithotomy on staghorn calculi is challenging for urologists because it is difficult to remove all of the stones. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the associated factors of stone-free rate after primary percutaneous nephrolithotomy on staghorn calculi in a large series of patients at a single, tertiary referral, endourologic stone center.

Methods: We collected data from medical record between January 2000 and December 2015. A total of 345 primary percutaneous nephrolithotomy procedures were performed for patients with staghorn calculi. This study included both and made no distinction between partial and complete staghorn calculi. Stone-free is defined as the absence of residual stones after undergoing percutaneous nephrolithotomy for the first time. Significant factors from univariate analysis that correlated with stone-free rate after primary percutaneous nephrolithotomy of staghorn stone were further analyzed using multivariate regression analysis.

Results: The mean patient age was 52.23±10.38 years. The stone-free rate of percutaneous nephrolithotomy monotherapy was 62.6%. The mean operating time was 79.55±34.46 minutes. The mean length of stay in hospital was 4.29±3.00 days. Using the chi-square test, history of ipsilateral open renal stone surgery (p = 0.01), stone burden (p = < 0.001), and type of anesthesia (p = 0.04) had a significant impact on the stone-free. From multivariate analysis, the history of ipsilateral open renal stone surgery [OR 0.48; 95% CI 0.28-0.81; p 0.01] and the stone burden [OR 0.28; 95% CI 0.18-0.45; p 0.00] were significant independent risk factors for stone-free.