bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Benthic macroinvertebrate biodiversity improved with irrigation ponds linked to a rice paddy field
Authors: Choe Lak Jung , Cho Kwang Jin , Han Min Su , Kim Min Kyeong , Choi Soon Kun , Bang Hea Son , Eo Jinu , Na Young Eun , Kim Myung Hyun
Published: January 2016

Traditionally, many irrigation ponds supplied water to paddy fields, but most of these ponds have disappeared through improvements in irrigation systems. The aim of this study was to assess the ecological functions (especially biodiversity conservation) of irrigation ponds by using benthic macroinvertebrates that inhabit paddy fields. This study was conducted in Hwaseong‐si, Yesan‐gun, Hongseong‐gun, Uljin‐gun and Damyang‐gun, Korea. Benthic macroinvertebrates were collected using a quadrat sampler from August to September for three years (2010–2012) in paddy fields with and without an irrigation pond. In the comparisons between two paddy field types (paddy fields with and without an irrigation pond) for species richness and densities of benthic macroinvertebrates, the species richness and densities were higher in the paddy fields with a pond than in the paddy fields without a pond (P < 0.001). Biodiversity enhancement effect degree (BEED) of the irrigation pond showed positive values in all survey regions. There were no significant differences among the survey regions. BEED showed positive values in all taxonomic groups (excluding Crustacea) and were not significantly different among taxonomic groups. The BEED values for non‐insects, passive dispersers, were relatively higher than for insects, active dispersers. The results indicate that BEED is related to the dispersal abilities of each taxonomic group and an irrigation pond increases biodiversity in a paddy field in all regions. Therefore, the irrigation pond is one method that can be immediately applied in paddy fields in order to improve the biodiversity of agricultural ecosystems.
Standardized Asthma Admission Criteria Reduce Length of Stay in a Pediatric Emergency Department
Authors: Rutman Lori , Migita Russell , Spencer Suzanne , Kaplan Ron , Klein Eileen J.
Published: January 2016

Objectives

Asthma is the most common chronic illness in children and accounts for > 600,000 emergency department (ED) visits each year. Reducing ED length of stay (LOS) for moderate to severe asthmatics improves ED throughput and patient care for this high‐risk population. The objective of this study was to determine the impact of adding standardized, respiratory score–based admission criteria to an asthma pathway on ED LOS for admitted patients, time to bed request, overall percentage of admitted asthmatics, inpatient LOS, and percentage of pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) admissions.

Methods

This was a retrospective study of a quality improvement intervention. Statistical process control methodologies were used to analyze measures 15 months before and after implementation of a modified asthma pathway (June 2010 to December 2012; pathway modification September 2011).

Results

A total of 3,688 patients aged 1 through 18 years who presented to the ED with an asthma exacerbation during the study period were included. Patients were excluded if they were not eligible for the asthma pathway. Patient characteristics were similar before and after the intervention. Mean ED LOS and time to bed request for admitted asthmatics both decreased by 30 minutes. There was no change in percentage of asthma admissions (34%), mean inpatient LOS (1.4 days), or percentage of PICU admissions (2%).

Conclusions

Standardizing care for asthma patients to include objective admission criteria early in the ED course may optimize patient care and improve ED flow.
Clinical and haematological risk factors for cerebral macrovasculopathy in a sickle cell disease newborn cohort: a prospective study
Authors: Sommet Julie , Alberti Corinne , Couque Nathalie , Verlhac Suzanne , Haouari Zinedine , Mohamed Damir , François Martine , Missud Florence , Holvoet Laurent , Elmaleh Monique , Ithier Ghislaine , Denjean André , Elion Jacques , Baruchel André , Benkerrou Malika
Published: January 2016

Children with sickle cell disease (SCD) have a significant vascular morbidity, especially cerebral macrovasculopathy (CV), detectable by transcranial Doppler. This study aimed to identify risk factors for CV using longitudinal biological and clinical data in a SCD newborn cohort followed at the Robert Debre Reference centre (n = 375 SS/Sβ0). Median follow‐up was 6·8 years (2677 patient‐years). Among the 59 children presenting with CV, seven had a stroke. Overall, the incidence of CV was 2·20/100 patient‐years [95% confidence interval (95%CI): 1·64–2·76] and the incidence of stroke was 0·26/100 patient‐years (95%CI: 0·07–0·46). The cumulative risk of CV by age 14 years was 26·0% (95%CI: 20·0‐33·3%). Risk factors for CV were assessed by a Cox model encompassing linear multivariate modelling of longitudinal quantitative variables. Years per upper‐airway obstruction [Hazard ratio (HR) = 1·47; 95%CI: 1·05–2·06] or bronchial obstruction (HR = 1·76; 95% CI: 1·49–2·08) and reticulocyte count (HR = 1·82 per 50 × 109/l increase; 95%CI: 1·10–3·01) were independent risk factors whereas fetal haemoglobin level (HR = 0·68 per 5% increase; 95%CI: 0·48–0·96) was protective. Alpha‐thalassaemia was not protective in multivariate analysis (ancillary analysis n = 209). Specific treatment for upper or lower‐airway obstruction and indirect targeting of fetal haemoglobin and reticulocyte count by hydroxycarbamide could potentially reduce the risk of CV.
Nut allergy prevalence and differences between Asian‐born children and Australian‐born children of Asian descent: a state‐wide survey of children at primary school entry in Victoria, Australia
Authors: Panjari M. , Koplin J. J. , Dharmage S. C. , Peters R. L. , Gurrin L. C. , Sawyer S. M. , McWilliam V. , Eckert J. K. , Vicendese D. , Erbas B. , Matheson M. C. , Tang M. L. K. , Douglass J. , Ponsonby A.‐L. , Dwyer T. , Goldfeld S. , Allen K. J.
Published: January 2016

Background

Asian infants born in Australia are three times more likely to develop nut allergy than non‐Asian infants, and rates of challenge‐proven food allergy in infants have been found to be unexpectedly high in metropolitan Melbourne. To further investigate the risk factors for nut allergy, we assessed the whole‐of‐state prevalence distribution of parent‐reported nut allergy in 5‐year‐old children entering school.

Methods

Using the 2010 School Entrant Health Questionnaire administered to all 5‐year‐old children in Victoria, Australia, we assessed the prevalence of parent‐reported nut allergy (tree nut and peanut) and whether this was altered by region of residence, socio‐economic status, country of birth or history of migration. Prevalence was calculated as observed proportion with 95% confidence intervals (CI). Risk factors were evaluated using multivariable logistic regression and adjusted for appropriate confounders.

Results

Parent‐reported nut allergy prevalence was 3.1% (95% CI 2.9–3.2) amongst a cohort of nearly 60 000 children. It was more common amongst children of mothers with higher education and socio‐economic index and less prevalent amongst children in regional Victoria than in Melbourne. While children born in Australia to Asian‐born mothers (aOR 2.67, 95% CI 2.28–3.27) were more likely to have nut allergy than non‐Asian children, children born in Asia who subsequently migrated to Australia were at decreased risk of nut allergy (aOR 0.1, 95% CI 0.03–0.31).

Conclusion

Migration from Asia after the early infant period appears protective for the development of nut allergy. Additionally, rural regions have lower rates of nut allergy than urban areas.
Discovering Structured Variations Via Template Matching
Authors: Ceylan Duygu , Dang Minh , Mitra Niloy J. , Neubert Boris , Pauly Mark
Published: January 2016

Understanding patterns of variation from raw measurement data remains a central goal of shape analysis. Such an understanding reveals which elements are repeated, or how elements can be derived as structured variations from a common base element. We investigate this problem in the context of 3D acquisitions of buildings. Utilizing a set of template models, we discover geometric similarities across a set of building elements. Each template is equipped with a deformation model that defines variations of a base geometry. Central to our algorithm is a simultaneous template matching and deformation analysis that detects patterns across building elements by extracting similarities in the deformation modes of their matching templates. We demonstrate that such an analysis can successfully detect structured variations even for noisy and incomplete data.
Occupancy dynamics in human‐modified landscapes in a tropical island: implications for conservation design
Authors: Irizarry Julissa I. , Collazo Jaime A. , Dinsmore Stephen J.
Published: January 2016

Aim

Avian communities in human‐modified landscapes exhibit varying patterns of local colonization and extinction rates, determinants of species occurrence. Our objective was to model these processes to identify habitat features that might enable movements and account for occupancy patterns in habitat matrices between the Guanica and Susua forest reserves. This knowledge is central to conservation design, particularly in ever changing insular landscapes.

Location

South‐western Puerto Rico.

Methods

We used a multiseason occupancy modelling approach to quantify seasonal estimates of occupancy, and colonization and extinction rates of seven resident avian species surveyed over five seasons from January 2010 to June 2011. We modelled parameters by matrix type, expressions of survey station isolation, quality, amount of forest cover and context (embedded in forest patch).

Results

Seasonal occupancy remained stable throughout the study for all species, consistent with seasonally constant colonization and extinction probabilities. Occupancy was mediated by matrix type, higher in reserves and forested matrix than in the urban and agricultural matrices. This pattern is in accord with the forest affinities of all but an open‐habitat specialist. Puerto Rican Spindalis (Spindalis portoricensis) exhibited high occupancy in the urban matrix, highlighting the adaptability of some insular species to novel environments. Highest colonization rates occurred when perching structures were at ≤ 500 m. Survey stations with at least three fruiting tree species and 61% forest cover exhibited lowest seasonal extinction rates.

Main conclusions

Our work identified habitat features that influenced seasonal probabilities of colonization and extinction in a human‐modified landscape. Conservation design decisions are better informed with increased knowledge about interpatch distances to improve matrix permeability, and habitat features that increase persistence or continued use of habitat stepping stones. A focus on dynamic processes is valuable because conservation actions directly influence colonization and extinction rates, and thus, a quantitative means to gauge their benefit.
Eco‐engineering in urbanised coastal systems: consideration of social values
Authors: Morris Rebecca L. , Deavin Gemma , Hemelryk Donald Stephanie , Coleman Ross A.
Published: January 2016

Loss of marine habitats due to urbanisation has been met with growing research efforts to mitigate ecological impacts through eco‐engineering. Research in this area has focused on scientific and engineering outcomes, not considering that seawalls are a socially driven insertion into the environment. Further, management concerns when employing eco‐engineering projects include public opinion regarding the aesthetic value of enhanced structures. It is therefore important for ecologists working in urban systems to understand how the public connects with the environment. Here, we used surveys to quantify perceptions of marine environmental issues and attitudes towards an example of eco‐engineering research from Sydney Harbour, Australia. We also evaluated the effect of disclosing the costs of enhancing seawalls to participants regarding their support for the initiative. Results showed there was high support for applied management to improve biodiversity. This result is promising for the implementation of future eco‐engineering projects. Understanding social values towards our coastlines and new conservation initiatives will provide end users with the tools to optimise coastal management plans. In summary, consideration of public values in urban conservation is essential for effective management.
Effects of positive end‐expiratory pressure titration on intestinal oxygenation and perfusion in isoflurane anaesthetised horses
Authors: Hopster K. , Wogatzki A. , Geburek F. , Conze P. , Kästner S. B. R.
Published: January 2016

Reasons for performing study

High airway pressures, necessary to keep equine lungs open, can have a detrimental impact on central and peripheral perfusion.

Objective

The aim of this study was to assess the effects of stepwise increasing airway pressure recruitment on central and intestinal perfusion and oxygenation during isoflurane anaesthesia in horses.

Study design

In vivoexperimental study.

Methods

Ten anaesthetised horses were ventilated using intermittent positive pressure ventilation immediately after induction. After 90 min, end‐expiratory pressure (PEEP) was increased by steps of 5 cmH2O every 10 min up to aPEEPof 30 cmH2O and decreased back to zero maintaining a constant airway pressure difference of 20 cmH2O. Mean arterial blood pressure (MAP), heart rate, central venous pressure, pulmonary artery pressure, expiratory isoflurane concentration and cardiac output (thermodilution method) were measured. Cardiac index (CI) was calculated. Arterial blood gases were taken to measure arterial partial oxygen pressure (PaO2) and calculate arterial oxygen saturation (SaO2). Intestinal microperfusion and oxygenation were measured by laser Doppler flowmetry and white‐light spectrophotometry. After ventral median laparotomy, a probe was placed on the stomach, jejunum and pelvic flexion of the colon. AnANOVAfor repeated measurements and Tukey'spost hoctest were used for statistical analysis (α = 5%).

Results

Recruitment of the lungs resulted in a significant increase in PaO2from 201 ± 58 mmHg (baseline) to a maximum of 495 ± 75 mmHg. TheCIandMAPdecreased continuously with increasing airway pressures. WhenCIandMAPwere 37 ± 9 ml/kg/min and 52 ± 8 mmHg (atPEEPof 25 cmH2O), respectively, a sudden decrease in intestinal perfusion followed by a delayed decrease in oxygenation occurred.

Conclusions

There was linear correlation between airway pressures andCIandMAPbut not between central and gastrointestinal perfusion. Despite improvement of arterial oxygenation the decrease inCIand, therefore, in oxygen deliveryPEEPresulted in a decrease in gastrointestinal oxygenation.
Trial participation as avoidance strategy: a qualitative study
Authors: Armstrong Natalie , Shaw Elizabeth , McColl Elaine , Tincello Douglas G. , Hilton Paul
Published: January 2016

Background

Trial participation decisions are often influenced by expectations of potential benefit. Attention has focused on trial participation as a means of securing something seen as desirable, such as experimental treatment. In contrast, we consider a case in which one trial arm involved receiving less than usual care. We explore how this influenced participants’ decisions to participate.

Methods

Semi‐structured interviews with 29 women participating in a pilot trial comparing invasive urodynamic testing (typically normal care) to basic clinical assessment with non‐invasive tests, prior to surgical treatment for stress urinary incontinence. Analysis was based on the constant comparative method.

Results

Invasive tests were something many were aware of and worried about. Participants understood that trial participation meant they might avoid having these tests, and for about one‐third, this was the primary factor motivating participation. A further third mentioned they were not looking forward to tests (if allocated to them) or were lucky to have missed them (if allocated to basic clinical assessment). None of the women appeared to have discussed their desire to avoid having invasive tests with their clinicians.

Conclusions

In contrast to cases in which trial participation is motivated by the wish to secure an intervention not otherwise available, this study reports the opposite – trial participation as an opportunity to avoid having something regarded as undesirable. The option to decline a particular intervention should always be available, and care must be taken to ensure that potential participants are aware that trial participation is not the only possible means of avoidance.
Development and Validation of a Hypertension Prevalence Estimator Tool For Use in Clinical Settings
Authors: Ritchey Matthew , Yuan Keming , Gillespie Cathleen , Zhang Guangyu , Ostchega Yechiam
Published: January 2016

Health systems are well positioned to identify and control hypertension among their patients. However, almost one third of US adults with uncontrolled hypertension are currently receiving medical care and are unaware of being hypertensive. This study describes the development and validation of a tool that health systems can use to compare their reported hypertension prevalence with their expected prevalence. Tool users provide the number of patients aged 18 to 85 years treated annually, stratified by sex, age group, race/ethnicity, and comorbidity status. Each stratum is multiplied by stratum‐specific national prevalence estimates and the amounts are summed to calculate the number of expected hypertensive patients. The tool's validity was assessed by applying samples from cohorts with known hypertension prevalence; small differences in expected vs actual prevalence were identified (range, −3.3% to 0.6%). This tool provides clinically useful hypertension prevalence estimates that health systems can use to help inform hypertension management quality improvement efforts.
A Banking Union of Ideas? The Impact of Ordoliberalism and the Vicious Circle on the EU Banking Union
Authors: Schäfer David
Published: January 2016

The establishment of the EU banking union reveals two major shortcomings of liberal intergovernmentalism. First, it fails to explain the preference formation of the most important actor – the German government. The banking sector was divided between public and private banks, and there is no clear‐cut pattern about whose interests the German government promoted. Second, material bargaining power cannot account for German concessions despite favourable power asymmetries. This article seeks to demonstrate how an ideational frame can convincingly fill these gaps. Ordoliberal ideas were constitutive for German preferences. The manipulative use of ideas as strategic resources by the German government's opponents explains why it made significant concessions. Germany's government publicly acknowledged that breaking the ‘vicious circle’ between banks and sovereigns was the main objective of the banking union. This became a rhetorical trap used by a coalition of Southern European member states to force the German government to make concessions.
The hominins: a very conservative tribe? Last common ancestors, plasticity and ecomorphology in Hominidae. Or, What's in a name?
Authors: Crompton Robin Huw
Published: January 2016

In the early 20th century the dominant paradigm for the ecological context of the origins of human bipedalism was arboreal suspension. In the 1960s, however, with recognition of the close genetic relationship of humans, chimpanzees and bonobos, and with the first field studies of mountain gorillas and common chimpanzees, it was assumed that locomotion similar to that of common chimpanzees and mountain gorillas, which appeared to be dominated by terrestrial knuckle‐walking, must have given rise to human bipedality. This paradigm has been popular, if not universally dominant, until very recently. However, evidence that neither the knuckle‐walking or vertical climbing of these apes is mechanically similar to human bipedalism, as well as the hand‐assisted bipedality and orthograde clambering of orang‐utans, has cast doubt on this paradigm. It now appears that the dominance of terrestrial knuckle‐walking in mountain gorillas is an artefact seen only in the extremes of their range, and that both mountain and lowland gorillas have a generalized orthogrady similar to that seen in orang‐utans. These data, together with evidence for continued arboreal competence in humans, mesh well with an increasing weight of fossil evidence suggesting that a mix of orang‐utan and gorilla‐like arboreal locomotion and upright terrestrial bipedalism characterized most australopiths. The late split date of the panins, corresponding to dates for separation ofHomoandAustralopithecus, leads to the speculation that competition with chimpanzees, as appears to exist today with gorillas, may have driven ecological changes in hominins and perhaps cladogenesis. However, selection for ecological plasticity and morphological conservatism is a core characteristic of Hominidae as a whole, including Hominini.
Sleep quality and adverse outcomes for patients with acute myocardial infarction
Authors: Andrechuk Carla Renata Silva , Ceolim Maria Filomena
Published: January 2016

Aims and objectives

This study aimed to analyse the relationship between the worsening of clinical outcomes (cardiovascular death, recurrent cardiovascular ischaemic events and stroke) and sleep quality, daytime sleepiness and risk for obstructive sleep apnoea syndrome in patients admitted to cardiac care units due to an acute myocardial infarction.

Background

There is evidence that sleep disorders can contribute to the worsening of cardiovascular diseases.

Design

This is a descriptive study with follow‐up.

Methods

Data collection was conducted in a large university hospital in Brazil from October 2013 to March 2014. Patients admitted with acute myocardial infarction provided data about sleep quality, daytime sleepiness and risk factors for obstructive sleep apnoea syndrome by answering specific questionnaires. Clinical data were obtained from medical charts. Data were analysed with descriptive statistics and multiple logistic regression models.

Results

The worsening of clinical outcome occurred in 12·4% of patients and was independently associated to poor sleep quality.

Conclusion

Poor sleep quality, excessive daytime sleepiness and high risk for obstructive sleep apnoea syndrome were frequent in hospitalised patients with acute myocardial infarction and affect negatively the process of recovery.

Relevance to clinical practice

It is important to evaluate sleep quality and sleep disorders, aiming at preventing and reducing unfavourable outcomes of cardiovascular disease, particularly for acute myocardial infarction patients.
Use of a single parameter track and trigger chart and the perceived barriers and facilitators to escalation of a deteriorating ward patient: a mixed methods study
Authors: Smith Duncan J , Aitken Leanne M
Published: January 2016

Aims and objectives

To investigate nurses' use of a single parameter track and trigger chart to inform implementation of the National Early Warning Scoring tool. To report the characteristics of patients with triggers, the frequency of different triggers, and the time taken to repeat observations. To explore the barriers and facilitators perceived by nursing staff relating to patient monitoring.

Background

Sub‐optimal care of the deteriorating patient has been described for almost two decades. Organisations have responded by implementing strategies that improve monitoring and facilitate a timely response to patient deterioration. While these systems have been widely adopted the evidence‐base to support their use is inconsistent.

Design

A mixed method service evaluation was carried out in an acute University hospital.

Methods

Physiological triggers (n = 263) and characteristics of triggering patients (n = 74) were recorded from surgical and medical wards. Descriptive statistics were displayed. Questionnaires were distributed (n = 105) to student nurses, health care assistants and registered nurses. Themes and sub‐themes were identified from content analysis.

Results

Hypotension was the most frequent abnormality. There was variability in the time to repeat observations following a trigger. A high proportion of triggers were identified in older patients, as was a trend of longer time intervals between trigger and repeat observations. Nurses reported a number of barriers and facilitators to monitoring patients including: ‘workload’, ‘equipment’, ‘interactions between staff’ and ‘interactions with patients’.

Conclusions

This study identified a number of barriers and facilitators to monitoring and escalation of abnormal vital signs, highlighting the complexity of the process and the need for a system‐wide approach to a deteriorating patient.

Relevance to clinical practice

The trend of longer delays following a trigger in older patients has not been identified previously and could reflect a knowledge gap of the physiological changes and response to acute illness in older people.
Cream‐Skimming in Financial Markets
Authors: BOLTON PATRICK , SANTOS TANO , SCHEINKMAN JOSE A.
Published: January 2016

We propose a model in which investors may choose to acquire costly information that identifies good assets and purchase these assets in opaque (OTC) markets. Uninformed investors access an asset pool that has been cream‐skimmed by informed investors. When the quality composition of assets for sale is fixed, there is too much information acquisition and the financial industry extracts excessive rents. In the presence of moral hazard in origination, the social value of information varies inversely with information acquisition. Low quality origination is associated with large rents in the financial sector. Equilibrium acquisition of information is generically inefficient.
Retrograde Coronary Chronic Total Occlusion Intervention Using a Novel Reverse Controlled Antegrade and Retrograde Subintimal Tracking
Authors: Dash Debabrata
Published: January 2016

Chronic total occlusion (CTO) is a frequent finding in patients with coronary artery disease and when clinically indicated, remains one of the most challenging subsets for intervention. Although successful recanalization rates of CTO have remained suboptimal in percutaneous coronary intervention, evolving techniques including retrograde approach, have raised hopes for improving the overall success. Reverse controlled antegrade and retrograde subintimal tracking is the most commonly used out of various retrograde approaches. In this review, the author has thrown light on a step‐by‐step approach of this technique, its standardization, various modifications along with complications. (J Interven Cardiol 2016;29:70–74)
Is isolation by distance the cause of the genetic structure of the Iberian white‐throated dipper populations?
Authors: Hernández M. A. , Campos F. , Santamaría T. , Rojo M. A. , Dias S.
Published: January 2016

Population fragmentation in animals, by influencing dispersion between regions, may cause so‐called isolation by distance (IBD). The genetic structure of the white‐throated dipper Cinclus cinclus populations in the Iberian Peninsula was analysed using microsatellites. Birds (n = 226) were sampled during 2000–2012 from 12 major populations of the dipper' distribution range in the Iberian Peninsula. At the eight loci studied, 113 alleles were found. Three population groups were identified: the first comprises Sierra Cazorla and Sierra Nevada, both in the south; the second, Pyrenees and Cantabrian Mountains in the north and the third includes Central System, Galician Mountains and North Iberian System. Gene flow was high across all populations except with Sierra Cazorla and Sierra Nevada. First‐generation migration was identified between the northern and central populations, suggesting recent genetic flow across them. However, migrants from southern populations were not detected elsewhere. Genetic distances were significantly correlated with geographical distances in all populations. The genetic isolation of the southern populations may be related to the lack of suitable dipper's habitats in the lowlands of the Iberian Meseta, limiting bird dispersion and installation outside the core areas and thus the spread of their genetic characteristics. The study shows that IBD is influencing the genetic structure of Iberian dippers. Furthermore, the significant biometrical divergence identified between the southern group and the remaining populations is highly consistent with trends in genetic structure and in the geographic distance between population clusters.
Explaining stability and change of territorial identities
Authors: Anderson Cameron D. , McGregor R. Michael
Published: January 2016

A significant body of work examines the presence and strength of territorial political identities (either subnational, national or supranational). A common assumption of this literature is that the presence and strength of these political identities are invariant over time. Given the importance of political identity, it is surprising that this assumption has not been empirically tested. We address this omission by testing this assumption through considering the question of who is most likely to exhibit variation in the reporting of territorial identities and why. We posit that one source of instability in territorially based political identity is rooted in cognitive dissonance which emerges through the interaction of partisanship and electoral outcomes. We explore these questions using panel data from the British Election Study (1997–2001), the Canadian Election Study (2004–2008). Results reveal that the territorial identities of Labour and Liberal partisans, in Britain and Canada respectively, are compatible with expectations.
Effects of pacifier and taste on swallowing, esophageal motility, transit, and respiratory rhythm in human neonates
Authors: Shubert T. R. , Sitaram S. , Jadcherla S. R.
Published: January 2016

Background

Pacifier use is widely prevalent globally despite hygienic concerns and uncertain mechanistic effects on swallowing or airway safety. Aims: The effects of pacifier and taste interventions on pharyngo‐esophageal motility, bolus transit, and respiratory rhythms were investigated by determining the upper esophageal sphincter (UES), esophageal body, esophagogastric junction (EGJ) motor patterns and deglutition apnea, respiratory rhythm disturbances, and esophageal bolus clearance.

Methods

Fifteen infants (six males; median gestation 31 weeks and birth weight 1.4 kg) underwent high‐resolution impedance manometry at 43 (41–44) weeks postmenstrual age. Manometric, respiratory, and impedance characteristics of spontaneous swallows, pacifier‐associated dry swallowing and taste (pacifier dipped in 3% sucrose)‐associated swallowing were analyzed. Linear mixed and generalized estimating equation models were used. Data are presented as mean ± SEM, %, or median (IQR).

Key Results

Pharyngo‐esophageal motility, respiratory, and impedance characteristics of 209 swallows were analyzed (85 spontaneous swallows, 63 pacifier‐ swallows, 61 taste‐ swallows). Basal UES and EGJ pressures decreased upon pacifier (p < 0.05) and taste interventions (p < 0.05); however, esophageal motility, respiratory rhythm, and impedance transit characteristics were similar with both interventions.

Conclusions & Inferences

Oral stimulus with pacifier or taste interventions decreases UES and EGJ basal pressure, but has no effects on pharyngo‐esophageal motility, airway interactions, or esophageal bolus transit. A decrease in central parasympathetic‐cholinergic excitatory drive is likely responsible for the basal effects.
Late Bronze Age Oxhide and oxhide‐like ingots from areas other than the Mediterranean: problems and challenges
Authors: Sabatini Serena
Published: January 2016

Oxhide ingots are probably one of the most remarkable metal artefacts that ever circulated throughout the Mediterranean during the second millennium BC. From the Levantine coast to Sardinia, oxhide ingots were produced, exchanged, used and transformed for almost six centuries (c.1600–1100/1000 BC). They are generally regarded as a class of material that is found only in the Mediterranean area. However, there are a number of oxhide ingots that have been encountered far beyond the coasts of the Mediterranean. The aim of this paper is to throw some light on these items and their significance in order to increase our understanding of the complex and far‐reaching Bronze Age metal supply networks in Europe. The application of a commodity branding model also allows the possibility of achieving a deeper understanding of these items as tokens of the long‐lasting links between Continental Europe and the Mediterranean.
Differential behaviour of sheath blight pathogen Rhizoctonia solani in tolerant and susceptible rice varieties before and during infection
Authors: Basu A. , Chowdhury S. , Ray Chaudhuri T. , Kundu S.
Published: January 2016

This study characterized the early infection and establishment of the sheath blight pathogen Rhizoctonia solani on a tolerant rice variety, Swarnadhaan (IET 5656), and a susceptible variety, Swarna (MTU 7029). Assays using whole plants showed that disease severity was higher in Swarna than Swarnadhaan. In a detached leaf assay, Swarnadhaan showed a disease index that was 50% less than that with Swarna. Rhizoctonia solani exhibited different growth behaviour in the tolerant and susceptible varieties. The pathogen showed more hyphal growth in the susceptible host than in the tolerant variety. It also showed profuse branching, making intimate contact with the host surface to form more inter‐ and intracellular structures, and greater sclerotial development in the susceptible host compared to the tolerant one. Using light and scanning electron microscopy, it was observed for the first time that the pathogen could intercept host surface structures and use these for anchorage or penetration. Transformed R. solani, expressing green fluorescent protein, was observed using confocal laser scanning microscopy to investigate pathogen behaviour, including the formation of infection cushions and subsequent colonization of the host tissues. This is the first ultrastructural report to characterize the differential behaviour of the sheath blight pathogen in the vicinity and within tolerant and susceptible rice plants.
Outspoken opinions as collectable items? Engagement and divertissement in the French civil wars
Authors: Greengrass Mark
Published: January 2016

This article looks at the collections, and the collecting habits, of two sixteenth‐century Frenchmen: the lawyer Pierre de l'Estoile and the surgeon François Rasse des Noeux. Both men were virtuoso collectors of ‘outspoken words’, the circumstantial pamphlets, songs, libels, graffiti, and whispered rumours that characterized the French Wars of Religion. Both men organized their collections in ways to give them coherence and meaning. In the case of L'Estoile, the collected ephemera were accompanied by a Register‐Journal and Memoires, which reflect on his collecting process and the dangers of owning a potentially scandalous and actionable collection. The article ends with some reflections on the hunt for meanings by modern students of this circumstantial material, and argues that often this ‘meaning’ is to be found in the culture of collecting itself, rather than in unravelling specific mysteries.
Direct‐Acting Antiviral Agents for the Hepatitis C Virus‐Infected Chronic Kidney Disease Population: The Dawn of a New Era
Authors: Kusnir Juan , Roth David
Published: January 2016

The introduction of direct‐acting antiviral (DAA) agents with cure rates of >90% has changed the treatment of hepatitis C virus (HCV) in dramatic fashion. An extensive literature has documented the efficacy of these agents in the general population; however, patients with chronic kidney disease have been largely excluded from these trials. Recently published studies conducted in patients with chronic kidney disease are now demonstrating that the DAAs will also offer safe and effective therapy for the HCV‐infected patient with CKD as well. As effective treatment protocols are offered to larger numbers of HCV‐infected CKD patients, the decision regarding when is the most opportune time to treat, especially for the patient being considered for kidney transplantation will become of greater significance. Nephrologists will need to take a lead in these clinical decisions as obtaining a sustained viral response prior to transplant will effectively eliminate the patient as a candidate to receive a kidney from a hepatitis C virus‐positive donor and the benefit of the shorter waiting times accompanying this strategy.
From My Place: Teaching the Holocaust and Judaism at the University of Mississippi Fifty‐Three Years after James Meredith
Authors: Johnson Willa M.
Published: January 2016

This essay explores classroom dynamics when students identify and connect their own painful experiences to structural racism or ethnocentrism exhibited in the Holocaust or parts of Jewish history. The intrusion of this proximal knowledge can be an obstacle to student learning. If engaged by professors, however, I argue that proximal knowledge can be a catalyst that promotes learning. Social scientific theory provides a useful lens for helping students to better grasp and contextualize both their old experiences and the new materials that are being taught in the course within the larger structural frames of race, religion, and ethnicity that they have selected, but may not fully appreciate. Reflective guided journaling is an essential part of the learning experience.
Forum: Crafting the Introductory Course in Religious Studies
Authors: McCutcheon Russell T. , Hollander Aaron T. , Durdin Andrew F. , Gardner Kelli A. , Miller Adam T. , Crews Emily D.
Published: January 2016

This series of short essays considers the complex choices and decision‐making processes of instructors preparing to teach, and continuing to teach, introductory courses in religious studies. In a paper originally presented in theUniversity ofChicago's “TheCraft ofTeaching in theAcademicStudy ofReligion” series,RussellMcCutcheon explores a “baker's dozen” of such choices and the larger pedagogical problems with which they are entwined, ranging from classic questions of skill development and content coverage to philosophical concerns around students' identification with their topics of study and institutional concerns around governance and assessment. AaronHollander provides a brief introduction and four doctoral students at theUniversity ofChicagoDivinitySchool respond toMcCutcheon's essay, widening its scope, testing its applicability, and interrogating its undergirding suppositions from the perspective of early‐career educators in the field.
Donation frequency and its association with demographic characteristics – a 1‐year observational study
Authors: Ou Y. , Yau K. K. W. , Poon C. M. , Hui Y. V. , Lee S. S. , Lee C. K.
Published: January 2016

Objective

The aim of this study is to enhance the understanding of frequent blood donors' characteristics and devise strategies to achieve an optimal blood inventory.

Background

Apart from donor recruitment and retention, an effective way to increase blood supply is to increase the donation frequency among donors. Understanding the characteristics of frequent donors will be helpful to impact their future donation pattern, which would in turn achieve a stable and adequate blood inventory to meet the changing demands of the society.

Methods and materials

Demographic information of blood donors for each donation in Hong Kong (HK) was routinely collected and stored in the database of Hong Kong Red Cross Blood Transfusion Service. Logistic regression models (by gender group) with interaction effects were constructed to analyse the differences in the likelihood of being frequent donors and the associations with their demographic characteristics.

Results

A total of 158 666 blood donors in 2010 gave 227 634 donations during the study. In general, male donors were more likely to be frequent donors. Logistic regression models further identified the characteristics of frequent donors in HK: older, blood type Rh D−ve and repeat donors, although their extent of impact was different for different gender group.

Conclusion

To achieve an optimal blood inventory to meet the challenge of ageing in the society, donors who donate less often should be targeted to increase their donation frequency. More efforts in promotion should be made to recruit those non‐donors to join the blood donation pool and motivate ‘targeted’ existing donors in the population to participate blood donation more regularly.
Prevalence and correlates of diabetes mellitus in Uganda: a population‐based national survey
Authors: Bahendeka Silver , Wesonga Ronald , Mutungi Gerald , Muwonge James , Neema Stella , Guwatudde David
Published: January 2016

Objective

We analysed fasting blood glucose (FBG) and other data collected as part of a population‐based nationwide non‐communicable disease risk factor survey, to estimate the prevalence of impaired fasting glycaemia (IFG) and diabetes mellitus and to identify associated factors in Uganda.

Methods

The nationwide cross‐sectional survey was conducted between April and July 2014. Participants were adults aged 18–69 years. A multistage stratified sample design was used to produce a national representative sample. Fasting capillary glucose was measured to estimate glycaemia. Data were managed with WHO e‐STEPs software and Epi Info. Stata® survey procedures were used to account for the sampling design, and sampling weights were used to account for differential probability of selection between strata.

Results

Of the 3689 participants, 1467 (39.8%) were males, and 2713 (73.5%) resided in the rural areas. The mean age was 35.1 years (standard deviation = 12.6) for males and 35.8 years (13.2) for females. The overall prevalence of IFG was 2.0% (95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.5–2.5%), whereas that of diabetes mellitus was 1.4% (95% CI 0.9–1.9%). The prevalence of IFG was 2.1% (95% CI 1.3–2.9%) among males and 1.9% (95% CI 1.3–2.6%) among females, whereas that of diabetes mellitus was 1.6% (95% CI 0.8–2.6%) and 1.1% (95% CI 0.6–1.7%), respectively. The prevalence of IFG was 2.6% (95% CI 1.4–3.8%) among urban and 1.9% (95% CI 1.3–2.4%) among rural residents, whereas that of diabetes mellitus was 2.7% (95% CI 1.4–4.1) and 1.0% (95% 0.5–1.6%), respectively. The majority of participants identified with hyperglycaemia (90.5% IFG and 48.9% diabetes) were not aware of their hyperglycaemic status. Factors associated with IFG were region of residence, body mass index and total cholesterol; factors associated with diabetes mellitus were age, sex, household floor finish and abdominal obesity.

Conclusion

The prevalence of IFG and of diabetes mellitus is low in the Ugandan population, providing an opportunity for the prevention of diabetes. The majority of persons with hyperglycaemia were not aware of their hyperglycaemic status, which implies a likelihood of presenting late with complications.
RADIATION THERAPY COMMUNICATION—REIRRADIATION OF A NASAL TUMOR IN A BRACHYCEPHALIC DOG USING INTENSITY MODULATED RADIATION THERAPY
Authors: Rancilio Nicholas J. , Custead Michelle R. , Poulson Jean M.
Published: January 2016

A 5‐year‐old spayed female Shih Tzu was referred for evaluation of a nasal transitional carcinoma. A total lifetime dose of 117 Gy was delivered to the intranasal mass in three courses over nearly 2 years using fractionated intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) to spare normal tissues. Clinically significant late normal tissue side effects were limited to bilaterally diminished tear production. The patient died of metastatic disease progression 694 days after completion of radiation therapy course 1. This case demonstrates that retreatment with radiation therapy to high lifetime doses for recurrent local disease may be well tolerated with IMRT.
Characterizing the Role of Animal Exposures in Cryptosporidiosis and Shiga Toxin‐producing Escherichia coli Infections: South Dakota, 2012
Authors: Daly R. F. , Hill N. T.
Published: January 2016

Cryptosporidium spp. and Shiga toxin‐producing Escherichia coli strains (STEC) are important causes of human illness. Incidence rates of these illnesses are high in South Dakota compared to the USA as a whole. Direct animal contact has been identified as a possible route of exposure for these illnesses. Ruminant animals may carry STEC subclinically, while young ruminants are common sources of zoonotic strains of Cryptosporidium. South Dakota patients with either STEC or cryptosporidiosis during 2012 were interviewed regarding seven categories of animal exposure: (i) petting zoo/fair attendance, (ii) animal event/rodeo attendance, (iii) feed/pet store visits, (iv) farm visits, (v) employment or residence at a farm, (vi) residence with pets and (vii) visiting other households with pets. Of the 50 STEC cases, 78.0% reported animal exposure prior to illness onset, with 23.3% having lived or worked on a farm. Farm visitors in particular had high degrees of animal contact and infrequently practiced personal protective measures. Of the 115 cryptosporidiosis cases, 87.8% reported animal exposures, with 45.6% having lived or worked on a farm and 29.0% having visited a farm prior to illness. Cases with farm exposures reported a high degree of direct animal contact and inconsistent use of personal protective measures. Cryptosporidiosis patients were significantly more likely than STEC patients to have lived or worked on a farm prior to their illness and were older on average. Patients with these illnesses had high rates of animal contact prior to illness. Animal contact on farms emerged as an important exposure route. Educational messages about personal protective measures should be directed at these individuals.