bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Long‐term effect of salinity on plant quality, water relations, photosynthetic parameters and ion distribution in Callistemon citrinus
Authors: Álvarez S. , Sánchez‐Blanco M. J.
Published: October 2013

The effect of saline stress on physiological and morphological parameters in Callistemon citrinus plants was studied to evaluate their adaptability to irrigation with saline water. C. citrinus plants, grown under greenhouse conditions, were subjected to two irrigation treatments lasting 56 weeks: control (0.8 dS·m−1) and saline (4 dS·m−1). The use of saline water in C. citrinus plants decreased aerial growth, increased the root/shoot ratio and improved the root system (increased root diameter and root density), but flowering and leaf colour were not affected. Salinity caused a decrease in stomatal conductance and evapotranspiration, which may prevent toxic levels being reached in the shoot. Net photosynthesis was reduced in plants subjected to salinity, although this response was evident much later than the decrease in stomatal conductance. Stem water potential was a good indicator of salt stress in C. citrinus. The relative salt tolerance of Callistemon was related to storage of higher levels of Na+ and Cl− in the roots compared with the leaves, especially in the case of Na+, which could have helped to maintain the quality of plants. The results show that saline water (around 4 dS·m−1) could be used for growing C. citrinus commercially. However, the cumulative effect of irrigating with saline water for 11 months was a decrease in photosynthesis and intrinsic water use efficiency, meaning that the interaction of the salinity level and the time of exposure to the salt stress should be considered important in this species.
To Love or Hate Thy Neighbor: The Role of Authoritarianism and Traditionalism in Explaining the Link Between Fundamentalism and Racial Prejudice
Authors: Brandt Mark J. , Reyna Christine
Published: October 2013

Fundamentalism is consistently related to racial prejudice (Hall, Matz, & Wood, 2010), yet the mechanisms for this relationship are unclear. We identify two core values of fundamentalism, authoritarianism and traditionalism, that independently contribute to the fundamentalism‐racial prejudice relationship. We also contextualize the fundamentalism‐racial prejudice relationship by suggesting that fundamentalists may show prejudice based on conceptions of African Americans as violating values but show tolerance when prejudice is less justifiable. These ideas are tested and confirmed using three data sets from the American National Election Studies. Across all three samples, fundamentalism is related to increases in symbolic racism but decreases in negative affect towards African Americans, and these relationships are mediated by both authoritarianism and traditionalism.
A Below‐Average Effect with Respect to American Political Stereotypes on Warmth and Competence
Authors: Eriksson Kimmo , Funcke Alexander
Published: October 2013

The “above‐average effect” is the phenomenon that people tend to judge themselves above average on desirable traits. Based on social identity theory, we propose that a “below‐average effect” may arise when individuals rate themselves and the average ingroup member on traits stereotypically associated with the ingroup. In two studies, Republican and Democrat participants rated themselves and the average political ingroup member on possession of desirable traits related to warmth and competence. Current political stereotypes in America associate the former dimension with Democrats and the latter with Republicans. Consistent with our hypothesis, the above‐average effect was moderated by political group and dimension in interaction. In particular, Democrats rated themselves below the average Democrat on warmth and Republicans rated themselves below the average Republican on competence.
Maternal Infections during Pregnancy and Cerebral Palsy: A Population‐based Cohort Study
Authors: Miller Jessica E. , Pedersen Lars Henning , Streja Elani , Bech Bodil H. , Yeargin‐Allsopp Marshalyn , Van Naarden Braun Kim , Schendel Diana E. , Christensen Deborah , Uldall Peter , Olsen Jørn
Published: October 2013

Background

Cerebral palsy (CP) is a common motor disability in childhood. We examined the association between maternal infections during pregnancy and the risk of congenital CP in the child.

Methods

Liveborn singletons in Denmark between 1997 and 2003 were identified from the Danish National Birth Registry and followed from 1 year of life until 2008. Redemption of antibiotics from the National Register of Medicinal Product Statistics and maternal infections reported by the National Hospital Register were used as markers of maternal infection during pregnancy. CP diagnoses were obtained from the Danish Cerebral Palsy Registry. Adjusted hazard ratio (HR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) were estimated by Cox proportional hazard models.

Results

Of the 440 564 singletons with follow‐up data, 840 were diagnosed with congenital CP. Maternal genito‐urinary tract infections (HR 2.1, 95% CI 1.4, 3.2) were associated with CP in all births, in term births (HR 1.9, 95% CI 1.1, 3.2), in children with spastic CP (HR 2.1, 95% CI 1.4, 3.3), and among first‐born children (HR 1.9, 95% CI 1.4, 3.3). Overall, we found associations between redeemed nitrofurantoin (HR 1.7, 95% CI 1.1, 2.8) and CP. Among trimester‐specific exposures, CP risk was associated with prescriptions redeemed in the first trimester for any antibacterials, beta‐lactam antibacterials, and nitrofurantoin, an antibiotic commonly used to treat lower urinary tract infection, and genito‐urinary tract infections in the third trimester.

Conclusion

Genito‐urinary tract infections and antibiotic use during pregnancy were associated with increased risks of CP, indicating that some maternal infections or causes of maternal infections present in prenatal life may be part of a causal pathway leading to CP.
Cerebral functional asymmetry and phonological performance in dyslexic adults
Authors: Hernandez N. , Andersson F. , Edjlali M. , Hommet C. , Cottier J. P. , Destrieux C. , Bonnet‐Brilhault F.
Published: October 2013

Developmental dyslexia is a frequent language‐based learning disorder characterized by difficulty in reading. The predominant etiologic view postulates that reading impairment is related to phonological and orthographic dysfunction. The aim of this fMRI study was to evaluate the neural bases of phonological processing impairment in remediated dyslexic adults (DD). We used a rhyming words judgment task contrasted with an unreadable fonts font‐matching judgment task to compare patterns of activation and functional asymmetry inDDand normal‐reading young adults. We found evidence of a link between asymmetry in inferior frontal gyrus and performance during the phonological processing. We also observed thatDDrecruit a network including regions involved in articulatory control in order to achieve rhyme judgment suggesting that, due to a lack of hemispheric specialization,DDrecruit the latter network to achieve rhyme judgment.
The effects of recurrent episodes of depression on startle responses
Authors: Vaidyanathan Uma , Welo Evan J. , Malone Stephen M. , Burwell Scott J. , Iacono William G.
Published: October 2013

Prior work suggests that major depression is associated with abnormal startle blink responses; however, only chronic or recurrent depression appears to be associated with this effect. The current study tested this hypothesis directly by examining whether recurrent major depression accounted for the anomalous startle seen in major depression using a sample of 515 female twins from the Minnesota Twin Family Study. Blink responses recorded at the age of 20 were examined in relation to number of episodes of depression prospectively assessed from ages 11 to 20. Results showed that only subjects who had experienced multiple episodes of depression showed abnormal startle responses. Subjects who had experienced just one episode of depression in their lifetime did not differ from controls. This lends additional support to the idea that recurrent depression may have a different etiological basis than nonrecurrent depression.
Evaluating Habitat Manipulations and Rodenticides to Protect Seedlings from Rodent Damage at Restored Landfills in New York
Authors: Witmer Gary W.
Published: October 2013

Solid waste landfills have become rather commonplace in urbanized and industrialized regions of the world. If designed, managed, and restored properly, they can be converted to useful land uses. However, restoration of woody vegetation can be difficult when animal damage occurs. Numerous species of voles occur throughout the northern hemisphere and several may become serious pests of restoration plantings at high population density, increasing the expense and difficulty of establishing targeted plant communities. We anticipated that meadow voles (Microtus pennsylvanicus) were responsible for causing the majority of damage to seedlings planted on restored landfill sites in Brooklyn, New York. We evaluated the ability of two habitat manipulations (e.g. mowing, pea gravel barrier) and rodenticides to protect seedlings. We documented substantial damage and deaths of seedlings caused by rodents in the study plots with losses (damaged or dead seedlings combined) ranging from 40 to 73%. These losses occurred regardless of seedling species. Because of the preponderance of voles (71% of all first‐time captures), we suspect that voles are the main species causing seedling damage. Substantial losses of seedlings occurred across treatments, although there were fewest losses with a pea gravel barrier treatment. While the pea gravel treatment reduced seedling losses about 55% compared to control plots, it is clear that additional research is needed to identify more efficient ways to reduce seedling losses to rodents in restoration plantings.
Bayesian Classifiers Applied to the Tennessee Eastman Process
Authors: dos Santos Edimilson Batista , Ebecken Nelson F. F. , Hruschka Estevam R. , Elkamel Ali , Madhuranthakam Chandra M. R.
Published: October 2013

Fault diagnosis includes the main task of classification. Bayesian networks (BNs) present several advantages in the classification task, and previous works have suggested their use as classifiers. Because a classifier is often only one part of a larger decision process, this article proposes, for industrial process diagnosis, the use of a Bayesian method called dynamic Markov blanket classifier that has as its main goal the induction of accurate Bayesian classifiers having dependable probability estimates and revealing actual relationships among the most relevant variables. In addition, a new method, named variable ordering multiple offspring sampling capable of inducing a BN to be used as a classifier, is presented. The performance of these methods is assessed on the data of a benchmark problem known as the Tennessee Eastman process. The obtained results are compared with naive Bayes and tree augmented network classifiers, and confirm that both proposed algorithms can provide good classification accuracies as well as knowledge about relevant variables.
“Not in (or Under) My Backyard”: Geographic Proximity and Public Acceptance of Carbon Capture and Storage Facilities
Authors: Krause Rachel M. , Carley Sanya R. , Warren David C. , Rupp John A. , Graham John D.
Published: October 2013

Carbon capture and storage (CCS) is an innovative technical approach to mitigate the problem of climate change by capturing carbon dioxide emissions and injecting them underground for permanent geological storage. CCS has been perceived both positively, as an innovative approach to facilitate a more environmentally benign use of fossil fuels while also generating local economic benefits, and negatively, as a technology that prolongs the use of carbon‐intensive energy sources and burdens local communities with prohibitive costs and ecological and human health risks. This article extends existing research on the “not in my backyard” (NIMBY) phenomenon in a direction that explores the public acceptance of CCS. We utilize survey data collected from 1,001 residents of the coal‐intensive U.S. state of Indiana. Over 80% of respondents express support for the general use of CCS technology. However, 20% of these initial supporters exhibit a NIMBY‐like reaction and switch to opposition as a CCS facility is proposed close to their communities. Respondents’ worldviews, their beliefs about the local economic benefits that CCS will generate, and their concerns about its safety have the greatest impact on increasing or decreasing the acceptance of nearby facilities. These results lend valuable insights into the perceived risks associated with CCS technology and the possibilities for its public acceptance at both a national and local scale. They may be extended further to provide initial insights into likely public reactions to other technologies that share a similar underground dimension, such as hydraulic fracturing.
Bayesian Treatment of Model Uncertainty for Partially Applicable Models
Authors: López Droguett Enrique , Mosleh Ali
Published: October 2013

This article discusses how analyst's or expert's beliefs on the credibility and quality of models can be assessed and incorporated into the uncertainty assessment of an unknown of interest. The proposed methodology is a specialization of the Bayesian framework for the assessment of model uncertainty presented in an earlier paper. This formalism treats models as sources of information in assessing the uncertainty of an unknown, and it allows the use of predictions from multiple models as well as experimental validation data about the models’ performances. In this article, the methodology is extended to incorporate additional types of information about the model, namely, subjective information in terms of credibility of the model and its applicability when it is used outside its intended domain of application. An example in the context of fire risk modeling is also provided.
A Comparative Pharmacokinetic Estimate of Mercury in U.S. Infants Following Yearly Exposures to Inactivated Influenza Vaccines Containing Thimerosal
Authors: Mitkus Robert J. , King David B. , Walderhaug Mark O. , Forshee Richard A.
Published: October 2013

The use of thimerosal preservative in childhood vaccines has been largely eliminated over the past decade in the United States because vaccines have been reformulated in single‐dose vials that do not require preservative. An exception is the inactivated influenza vaccines, which are formulated in both multidose vials requiring preservative and preservative‐free single‐dose vials. As part of an ongoing evaluation by USFDA of the safety of biologics throughout their lifecycle, the infant body burden of mercury following scheduled exposures to thimerosal preservative in inactivated influenza vaccines in the United States was estimated and compared to the infant body burden of mercury following daily exposures to dietary methylmercury at the reference dose established by the USEPA. Body burdens were estimated using kinetic parameters derived from experiments conducted in infant monkeys that were exposed episodically to thimerosal or MeHg at identical doses. We found that the body burden of mercury (AUC) in infants (including low birth weight) over the first 4.5 years of life following yearly exposures to thimerosal was two orders of magnitude lower than that estimated for exposures to the lowest regulatory threshold for MeHg over the same time period. In addition, peak body burdens of mercury following episodic exposures to thimerosal in this worst‐case analysis did not exceed the corresponding safe body burden of mercury from methylmercury at any time, even for low‐birth‐weight infants. Our pharmacokinetic analysis supports the acknowledged safety of thimerosal when used as a preservative at current levels in certain multidose infant vaccines in the United States.
Florence Nightingale, statistics and the Crimean War
Authors: McDonald Lynn
Published: October 2013

The paper presents Florence Nightingale’s statistical work on the Crimean War, beginning with her iconic polar area charts. These are then adapted to give a more accurate portrayal of the relative causes of war hospital deaths. French statistical reports comparing British and French Army deaths are reported. The contention in the secondary literature that Nightingale was responsible for the high death rates in the war hospitals is rebutted, with comparative death rate data from the different hospitals.
Longitudinal Analysis of Self-Reported Health Status by Mixture Latent Auto-Regressive Models
Authors: Bartolucci Francesco , Bacci Silvia , Pennoni Fulvia
Published: October 2013

Motivated by an application to a longitudinal data set coming from the Health and Retirement Study about self-reported health status, we propose a model for longitudinal data which is based on a latent process to account for the unobserved heterogeneity between sample units in a dynamic fashion. The latent process is modelled by a mixture of auto-regressive AR(1) processes with different means and correlation coefficients, but with equal variances. We show how to perform maximum likelihood estimation of the proposed model by the joint use of an expectation–maximization algorithm and a Newton–Raphson algorithm, implemented by means of recursions developed in the hidden Markov model literature. We also introduce a simple method to obtain standard errors for the parameter estimates and suggest a strategy to choose the number of mixture components. In the application the response variable is ordinal; however, the approach may also be applied in other settings. Moreover, the application to the self-reported health status data set allows us to show that the model proposed is more flexible than other models for longitudinal data based on a continuous latent process. The model also achieves a goodness of fit that is similar to that of models based on a discrete latent process following a Markov chain, while retaining a reduced number of parameters. The effect of different formulations of the latent structure of the model is evaluated in terms of estimates of the regression parameters for the covariates.
Linear Mixed Modelling for Data from a Double Mixed Factorial Design with Covariates: A Case-Study on Semantic Categorization Response Times
Authors: González B. Jorge , De Boeck Paul , Tuerlinckx Francis
Published: October 2013

Linear mixed modelling is a useful approach for double mixed factorial designs with covariates. It is explained how these designs are appropriate for the study of human behaviour as a function of characteristics of individuals and situations and stimuli in the situations. The behaviour of subjects nested in types of individual responding to stimuli nested in types of stimuli defines a mixed factorial design. The inclusion of additional covariates of the observational units can help to explain the behaviour under study further. A linear mixed modelling approach for such designs allows a combined focus on fixed effects (general effects) and individual and stimulus differences in these effects. This combination has the potential to advance the integration of two different subdisciplines of psychology, general psychology and differential psychology, so that they can borrow strength from each other. An application is presented with semantic categorization response time data from a factorial design with age groups by word types and with age of acquisition as an additional covariate of the words. The results throw light on the processes underlying the effect of age of acquisition and on individual differences and word differences.
A Generalized Quasi-Likelihood Scoring Approach for Simultaneously Testing the Genetic Association of Multiple Traits
Authors: Feng Zeny
Published: October 2013

In the genetic association analysis of Holstein cattle data, researchers are interested in testing the association between a genetic marker with more than one estimated breeding value phenotype. It is well known that testing each trait individually may lead to problems of controlling the overall type I error rate and simultaneous testing of the association between a marker and multiple traits is desired. The analysis of Holstein cattle data has additional challenges due to complicated relationships between subjects. Furthermore, phenotypic data in many other genetic studies can be quantitative, binary, ordinal, count data or a combination of different types of data. Motivated by these problems, we propose a novel statistical method that allows simultaneous testing of multiple phenotypes and the flexibility to accommodate data from a broad range of study designs. The empirical results indicate that this new method effectively controls the overall type I error rate at the desired level; it is also generally more powerful than testing each trait individually at a given overall type I error rate. The method is applied to the analysis of Holstein cattle data as well as to data from the Collaborative Study on the Genetics of Alcoholism to demonstrate the flexibility of the approach with different phenotypic data types.
A Bayesian Dose Finding Design for Oncology Clinical Trials of Combinational Biological Agents
Authors: Cai Chunyan , Yuan Ying , Ji Yuan
Published: October 2013

Treating patients with novel biological agents is becoming a leading trend in oncology. Unlike cytotoxic agents, for which efficacy and toxicity monotonically increase with dose, biological agents may exhibit non-monotonic patterns in their dose–response relationships. Using a trial with two biological agents as an example, we propose a dose finding design to identify the biologically optimal dose combination, which is defined as the dose combination of the two agents with the highest efficacy and tolerable toxicity. A change point model is used to reflect the fact that the dose–toxicity surface of the combinational agents may plateau at higher dose levels, and a flexible logistic model is proposed to accommodate the possible non-monotonic pattern for the dose–efficacy relationship. During the trial, we continuously update the posterior estimates of toxicity and efficacy and assign patients to the most appropriate dose combination. We propose a novel dose finding algorithm to encourage sufficient exploration of untried dose combinations in the two-dimensional space. Extensive simulation studies show that the design proposed has desirable operating characteristics in identifying the biologically optimal dose combination under various patterns of dose–toxicity and dose–efficacy relationships.
Spatially Adaptive Post-Processing of Ensemble Forecasts for Temperature
Authors: Scheuerer Michael , Büermann Luca
Published: October 2013

We propose a statistical post-processing method that yields locally calibrated probabilistic forecasts of temperature, based on the output of an ensemble prediction system. It represents the mean of the predictive distributions as a sum of short-term averages of local temperatures and ensemble prediction system driven terms. For the spatial interpolation of temperature averages and local forecast uncertainty parameters we use an intrinsic Gaussian random-field model with a location-dependent nugget effect that accounts for small-scale variability. Applied to the COSMO-DE ensemble, our method yields locally calibrated and sharp probabilistic forecasts and compares favourably with other approaches.
A Bayesian Semiparametric Approach for the Differential Analysis of Sequence Counts Data
Authors: Guindani Michele , Sepúlveda Nuno , Paulino Carlos Daniel , Müller Peter
Published: October 2013

Data obtained by using modern sequencing technologies are often summarized by recording the frequencies of observed sequences. Examples include the analysis of T-cell counts in immunological research and studies of gene expression based on counts of RNA fragments. In both cases the items being counted are sequences, of proteins and base pairs respectively. The resulting sequence abundance distribution is usually characterized by overdispersion. We propose a Bayesian semiparametric approach to implement inference for such data. Besides modelling the overdispersion, the approach takes also into account two related sources of bias that are usually associated with sequence counts data: some sequence types may not be recorded during the experiment and the total count may differ from one experiment to another. We illustrate our methodology with two data sets: one regarding the analysis of CD4+ T-cell counts in healthy and diabetic mice and another data set concerning the comparison of messenger RNA fragments recorded in a serial analysis of gene expression experiment with gastrointestinal tissue of healthy and cancer patients.
TRADE AND REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT IN A DEVELOPING COUNTRY: THE CASE OF TURKEY
Authors: Oktay Ertan , Gozgor Giray
Published: October 2013

There is widespread literature investigating the relationship between increasing trade openness and economic development; however the relationship between trade (openness) and regional development remains limited. This paper empirically examines the relationship between trade openness and regional development in Turkey. For this purpose, we initially define the regional development index for 81 provinces in Turkey. The definition is based on the concept and the calculation method of the human development index. We then add a few control variables within panel data estimation frameworks to contribute to the explanations of the relationship. The empirical findings show that the increases in trade openness are positively associated with future increases in regional development. In addition, the levels of government investments positively contribute to regional development. However, a negative relationship exists between the size of a province and its development.
DO LARGE AGGLOMERATIONS LEAD TO ECONOMIC GROWTH? EVIDENCE FROM URBAN INDIA
Authors: Tripathi Sabyasachi
Published: October 2013

The cities and towns of India constitute the world's second largest urban system and contribute over 50% of the country's gross domestic product (GDP). This phenomenon has been neglected by the existing studies and writings on urban India. By considering 59 large cities in India and employing new economic geography models, this paper investigates the relevant state‐ and city‐specific determinants of urban agglomeration and urban economic growth. In addition, the effect of urban agglomeration on India's urban economic growth is estimated. The empirical results show that agglomeration economies are policy‐induced as well as market‐determined and offer evidence of the strong positive effect of agglomeration on urban economic growth in India's urban system.
Craniofacial and dental manifestations of triple X syndrome associated with congenital hypothyroidism: a case report
Authors: Ferrazzo Kívia Linhares , Payeras Marcia Rodrigues , Ferrazzo Vilmar Antonio , Mezomo Maurício Barbieri
Published: October 2013

Triple X syndrome (47,XXX) is a numerical chromosomal alteration that affects 1/1,000 women, in which the woman is born with an extra X chromosome. Some oral changes have been reported in the literature, as hypodontia, influence on deposition of crown enamel and discrepancies in cephalometric measurements. Other systemic complications may lead to oral abnormalities similar to those seen in triple X patients, such as congenital hypothyroidism (CH). This paper reports a triple X syndrome case associated with CH later treated. Besides delay in cognitive and intellectual development, the patient had changes in teeth development and in cephalometric measurements with deficiencies in the maxilla and mandible. This is the first report of a triple X syndrome associated with CH. Both conditions may result in changes in dentofacial development.
Financial and Medico‐Legal Implications of Late‐Start Dialysis: Understanding the Present Policies through a Window of Past Performance
Authors: Watnick Suzanne
Published: October 2013

In the United States, multiple stakeholders have impacted the timing of dialysis initiation for patients with end‐stage renal disease. The optimal policy to start dialysis for this vulnerable population remains unknown. Historically, patients initiated dialysis weeks after the appearance of uremic symptoms. This changed not only due to an evolution in medical providers' practice but also due to changes in the care delivery system, the political imperatives, and the economic driving forces surrounding the care of these patients. One large randomized control trial looked at patient outcomes with strategies of early versus late start. The trial included an economic analysis. Depending on the specific comparison, cost was either lower in the late‐start group or was equivalent between groups. This result would tend to favor a late‐start strategy, where patients had an additional 6 months of dialysis‐free time. However, the generalizability of this analysis has been questioned. Future care models that would include patients before and after dialysis initiation would be ideal to study cost and quality at the time of this transition of care. The recently implemented CMS Quality Incentive Program is one mechanism that could use such findings to implement a high‐value strategy for patients starting chronic dialysis therapies.
Safety of Brachial Arteriogram using a 3‐French Dilator to Evaluate Nonmaturing Arteriovenous Fistulae
Authors: Vachharajani Tushar J. , Asif Arif
Published: October 2013

Nonmaturing arteriovenous fistula remains a hurdle in improving the fistula rate in the hemodialysis population. Timely referral can assist in salvaging fistula with endovascular interventions. Pathology at the inflow segment is frequently encountered as a primary reason for maturation failure. Conventional retrograde angiography can result in poor delineation of the inflow segment and may not be an ideal method for evaluating nonmaturing fistulae. Moreover, the risk of vascular rupture and overzealous diagnosis of accessory veins often result in additional unnecessary therapeutic interventions. Alternatively, a direct brachial arteriogram can provide complete anatomic delineation to perform appropriate endovascular interventions.
Renal Artery Stenosis: To Intervene, or Not to Intervene, “That is the Question”
Authors: Haqqie Syed S. , Nappi Anthony , Siskin Gary , Syed Nouman A. , Ghate Ketan , Mathew Roy O. , Wang Jeffrey , Sidhu Mandeep S. , Kumar Vishesh , Salman Loay , Merrill Donna , Akmal Muhammad UT , Nayer Ali , Asif Arif
Published: October 2013

Renal artery stenosis (RAS) due to atherosclerosis continues to be a major cause of secondary hypertension. It can also lead to renal dysfunction due to ischemic nephropathy. While major clinical trials have emphasized that medical management should be preferred over angioplasty and stenting for the treatment of renal artery stenosis, clinical scenarios continue to raise doubts about the optimal management strategy. Herein, we present two cases that were admitted with hypertensive emergency and renal function deterioration. Medical therapy failed to control the blood pressure and in one patient, renal failure progressed to a point where renal replacement therapy was required. Both patients underwent angioplasty (for >90% stenosis) and stent insertion with successful resolution of stenosis by interventional radiology. Postoperatively, blood pressure gradually decreased with improvement in serum creatinine. Dialysis therapy was discontinued. At 4‐ and 8‐month follow‐up, both patients continue to do well with blood pressure readings in the 132–145/70–90 mmHg range. This article highlights the importance of percutaneous interventions in the management of atherosclerotic RAS and calls for heightened awareness and careful identification of candidates who would benefit from angioplasty and stent insertion.
How I Do It: Endovascular Treatment of Arteriovenous Graft Pseudoaneurysms—Watch Out for the Mouth
Authors: Florescu Marius C. , Fillaus Jennifer A. , Plumb Troy J.
Published: October 2013

We present a case of arteriovenous graft pseudoaneurysms treated endovascularly with stent grafts and make suggestions regarding the technique of evaluating the pseudoaneurysms and choosing the proper location to deploy the stent grafts to maximize the outcomes and minimize the length of the graft covered by the stent. We also comment on the selection of lesions that are suitable to be treated with this technique.
Plan‐form evolution of ancient meandering rivers reconstructed from longitudinal outcrop sections
Authors: Ghinassi Massimiliano , Nemec Wojciech , Aldinucci Mauro , Nehyba Slavomir , Özaksoy Volkan , Fidolini Francesco
Published: October 2013

The mode of channel‐bend transformation (i.e. expansion, translation, rotation or a combination thereof) has a direct bearing on the dimensions, shape, bedding architecture and connectivity of point‐bar sandstone bodies within a fluvial meander belt, but is generally difficult to recognize in vertical outcrops. This study demonstrates how the bend transformation mode and relative rate of channel‐floor aggradation can be deciphered from longitudinal outcrop sections aligned parallel to the meander‐belt axis, as a crucial methodological aid to the reconstruction of ancient fluvial systems and the development of outcrop analogue models for fluvial petroleum reservoirs. The study focuses on single‐storey and multi‐storey fluvial meander‐belt sandstone bodies in the Palaeogene piggyback Boyabat Basin of north‐central Turkey. The sandstone bodies are several hundred metres wide, 5 to 40 m thick and encased in muddy floodplain deposits. The individual channel‐belt storeys are 5 to 9 m thick and their transverse sections show lateral‐accretion bed packages representing point bars. Point bars in longitudinal sections are recognizable as broad mounds whose parts with downstream‐inclined, subhorizontal and upstream‐inclined bedding represent, respectively, the bar downstream, central and upstream parts. The inter‐bar channel thalweg is recognizable as the transition zone between adjacent point‐bar bedsets with opposing dip directions into or out of the outcrop section. The diverging or converging adjacent thalweg trajectories, or a trajectory migrating in up‐valley direction, indicate point‐bar broadening and hence channel‐bend expansion. A concurrent down‐valley migration of adjacent trajectories indicates channel‐bend translation. Bend rotation is recognizable from the replacement of a depositional riffle by an erosional pool zone or vice versa along the thalweg trajectory. The steepness of the thalweg trajectory reflects the relative rate of channel‐floor aggradation. This study discusses further how the late‐stage foreland tectonics, with its alternating pulses of uplift and subsidence and a progressive narrowing of the basin, has forced aggradation of fluvial channels and caused vertical stacking of meander belts.
The Role of Th17/Tc17 Peripheral Blood T cells in Psoriasis and Their Positive Therapeutic Response
Authors: Eysteinsdóttir J. H. , Sigurgeirsson B. , Ólafsson J. H. , Fridriksson Th. , Agnarsson B. A. , Davíðsson S. , Valdimarsson H. , Lúðvíksson B. R.
Published: October 2013

It is known that NB‐UVB therapy can suppress a broad range of immune cells, but the additional effect of bathing in geothermal seawater still remains unclear. To study the influence of treatment on the expression of circulating immune cells contributing to the pathogenesis of psoriasis, six patients with psoriasis were treated with bathing in geothermal seawater two times daily combined with NB‐UVB five times/week for 2 weeks and six patients were treated with NB‐UVB therapy three times/week for 8 weeks. Disease severity (Psoriasis Area and Severity Index, PASI), chemokines, inflammatory cytokines, T cells and Toll‐like receptors in the blood and skin samples were evaluated on enrolment (W0) and at 1 (W1), 3 (W3) and 8 (W8) weeks. Compared with healthy controls, psoriasis patients with active disease had significantly higher proportion of peripheral CLA+ T cells expressing CCR10 and CD103 and T cells with both Th1/Tc1 (CD4+/CD8+ IFN‐γ+ or TNF‐α+ cells) and Th17/Tc17 (CD4+CD45R0+IL‐23R+, CD4+/CD8+ IL‐17A+ or IL‐22+ cells) phenotypes. Both treatments gave a significant clinical effect; however, bathing in geothermal seawater combined with NB‐UVB therapy was more effective than NB‐UVB therapy alone. This clinical improvement was reflected by a reduction in circulating CLA+ peripheral blood T cells and by a decreased Th1/Th17 and Tc1/Tc17 inflammatory response. These findings suggest that the inflammatory response in psoriasis is predominantly driven by both CD4+ and CD8+ skin‐homing tissue retaining T cells of the Th17/Tc17 lineages.
On Measuring Uncertainty of Benchmarked Predictors with Application to Disease Risk Estimate
Authors: Kubokawa Tatsuya , Hasukawa Mana , Takahashi Kunihiko
Published: October 2013

Empirical Bayes (EB) estimates in general linear mixed models are useful for the small area estimation in the sense of increasing precision of estimation of small area means. However, one potential difficulty of EB is that the overall estimate for a larger geographical area based on a (weighted) sum of EB estimates is not necessarily identical to the corresponding direct estimate such as the overall sample mean. Another difficulty is that EB estimates yield over‐shrinking, which results in the sampling variance smaller than the posterior variance. One way to fix these problems is the benchmarking approach based on the constrained empirical Bayes (CEB) estimators, which satisfy the constraints that the aggregated mean and variance are identical to the requested values of mean and variance. In this paper, we treat the general mixed models, derive asymptotic approximations of the mean squared error (MSE) of CEB and provide second‐order unbiased estimators of MSE based on the parametric bootstrap method. These results are applied to natural exponential families with quadratic variance functions. As a specific example, the Poisson‐gamma model is dealt with, and it is illustrated that the CEB estimates and their MSE estimates work well through real mortality data.
Relationship between habitual physical activity and gross motor skills is multifaceted in 5‐ to 8‐year‐old children
Authors: Laukkanen A. , Pesola A. , Havu M. , Sääkslahti A. , Finni T.
Published: October 2013

Adequate motor skills are essential for children participating in age‐related physical activities, and gross motor skills may play an important role for maintaining sufficient level of physical activity (PA) during life course. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between gross motor skills and PA in children when PA was analyzed by both metabolic‐ and neuromuscular‐based methods. Gross motor skills (KTK – Körperkoordinationstest für Kinder and APM inventory – manipulative skill test) of 84 children aged 5–8 years (53 preschoolers, 28 girls; 31 primary schoolers, 18 girls) were measured, and accelerometer‐derived PA was analyzed using in parallel metabolic counts and neuromuscular impact methods. The gross motor skills were associated with moderate‐to‐high neuromuscular impacts, PA of vigorous metabolic intensity, and mean level of PA in primary school girls (0.5 < r < 0.7, P < 0.05), and with high impacts in preschool girls (0.3 < r < 0.5, P < 0.05). In preschool boys, moderate impacts, light‐to‐vigorous PA, and mean level of PA were associated with gross motor skills (0.4 < r < 0.7, P < 0.05). In conclusion, the result emphasizes an important relationship between gross motor skills and PA stressing both metabolic and neuromuscular systems in children. Furthermore, PA highly stressing neuromuscular system interacts with gross motor proficiency in girls especially.
Relationship between jump landing kinematics and peak ACL force during a jump in downhill skiing: A simulation study
Authors: Heinrich D. , van den Bogert A. J. , Nachbauer W.
Published: October 2013

Recent data highlight that competitive skiers face a high risk of injuries especially during off‐balance jump landing maneuvers in downhill skiing. The purpose of the present study was to develop a musculo‐skeletal modeling and simulation approach to investigate the cause‐and‐effect relationship between a perturbed landing position, i.e., joint angles and trunk orientation, and the peak force in the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) during jump landing. A two‐dimensional musculo‐skeletal model was developed and a baseline simulation was obtained reproducing measurement data of a reference landing movement. Based on the baseline simulation, a series of perturbed landing simulations (n = 1000) was generated. Multiple linear regression was performed to determine a relationship between peak ACL force and the perturbed landing posture. Increased backward lean, hip flexion, knee extension, and ankle dorsiflexion as well as an asymmetric position were related to higher peak ACL forces during jump landing. The orientation of the trunk of the skier was identified as the most important predictor accounting for 60% of the variance of the peak ACL force in the simulations. Teaching of tactical decisions and the inclusion of exercise regimens in ACL injury prevention programs to improve trunk control during landing motions in downhill skiing was concluded.
The effect of maturation on adaptations to strength training and detraining in 11–15‐year‐olds
Authors: Meylan C. M. P. , Cronin J. B. , Oliver J. L. , Hopkins W. G. , Contreras B.
Published: October 2013

To investigate how maturity status modifies the effects of strength training and detraining on performance, we subjected 33 young men to 8 weeks of strength training twice per week followed by 8 weeks without training. Changes in performance tests were analyzed in three maturity groups based on years from/to age of predicted peak height velocity (PHV): pre‐PHV (−1.7 ± 0.4 years; n = 10), mid‐PHV (−0.2 ± 0.4 years; n = 11), and post‐PHV (1.0 ± 0.4 years; n = 12). Mean training effects on one repetition maximum strength (3.6–10.0%), maximum explosive power (11–20%), jump length (6.5–7.4%), and sprint times (−2.1% to −4.7%) ranged from small to large, with generally greater changes in mid‐ and post‐PHV groups. Changes in force–velocity relationships reflected generally greater increases in strength at faster velocities. In the detraining period, the pre‐PHV group showed greatest loss of strength and power, the post‐PHV group showed some loss of sprint performance, but all groups maintained or improved jump length. Strength training was thus generally less effective before the growth spurt. Maintenance programs are needed for most aspects of explosive performance following strength training before the growth spurt and for sprint speed after the growth spurt.
HLA‐B*58:45, a variant of HLA‐B*58, found in a Taiwanese unrelated hematopoietic stem cell donor
Authors: Yang K. L. , Lee S. K. , Lin P. Y.
Published: October 2013

A single nucleotide substitution at residue 595 (G→A) of the human leukocyte antigen HLA‐B*58:01:01 results in a novel allele, HLA‐B*58:45.
Identification of a novel HLA‐B allele, B*27:102, in a Brazilian individual
Authors: Fabreti‐Oliveira R. A. , Santos M. A. , Nascimento E.
Published: October 2013

The HLA‐B*27:102 allele may have originated by an intralocus gene conversion event.
A Generic Web Service for Ad‐hoc Statistical Spatio‐Temporal Aggregation
Authors: Härtwig Mario , Müller Matthias , Bernard Lars
Published: October 2013

For the analysis of geospatial data, statistical spatio‐temporal aggregation (SSTA) is a frequently used functionality. Possible applications include information extraction, data fusion, generalization and schema transformation. On the basis of spatial and temporal references, SSTA transfers thematic attribute values into a coarser spatio‐temporal resolution using descriptive statistical operations. Reusable geoprocessing functions are increasingly offered in Spatial Data Infrastructures (SDIs) through standardized interfaces using mainstream network technologies. Due to the variety of use cases, a Web service for SSTA promises a high potential for reuse. However, offering functionalities for geoprocessing within an SDI raises some challenges. The aggregation process itself, as well as the encapsulation of the aggregation functionalities within an SDI, require thorough design considerations. This article addresses these challenges by developing a generic framework for SSTA services within an SDI. A prototype of the framework is realized using several open‐source software components. Following a modular approach, the communication between those loosely‐coupled components is enabled through open, standardized interfaces. The result of the proposed work is a framework that enables users to easily perform a statistical ad‐hoc aggregation on distributed spatio‐temporal data.
Diabetic ketoacidosis: an overlooked child killer in sub‐Saharan Africa?
Authors: Murunga A. N. , Owira P. M. O.
Published: October 2013

The true incidence of diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) in sub‐Saharan Africa is unknown but unlike in the Western countries, DKA is also uniquely frequent among type 2 diabetes patients of African origin. Increased hyperglycaemia and hepatic ketogenesis lead to osmotic diuresis, dehydration and tissue hypoxia. Acute complications of DKA include cerebral oedema, which may be compounded by malnutrition, parasitic and microbial infections with rampant tuberculosis and HIV. Overlapping symptoms of these conditions and misdiagnosis of DKA contribute to increased morbidity and mortality. Inability of the patients to afford insulin treatment leads to poor glycemic control as some patients seek alternative treatment from traditional healers or use herbal remedies further complicating the disease process. Standard treatment guidelines for DKA currently used may not be ideal as they are adapted from those of the developed world. Children presenting with suspected DKA should be screened for comorbidities which may complicate fluid and electrolyte replacement therapy protocol. Patient rehabilitation should take into account concurrent treatment for infectious conditions to avoid possible life‐threatening drug interactions. We recommend that health systems in sub‐Saharan Africa leverage the Expanded Immunization Programme or TB/HIV/AIDS programmes, which are fairly well entrenched to support diabetes services.
WRKY46 functions as a transcriptional repressor of ALMT1, regulating aluminum‐induced malate secretion in Arabidopsis
Authors: Ding Zhong Jie , Yan Jing Ying , Xu Xiao Yan , Li Gui Xin , Zheng Shao Jian
Published: October 2013

Aluminum (Al) toxicity is the major limiting factor for crop production on acid soils, but the transcriptional regulation of Al tolerance genes is largely unknown. Here, we found that the expression of a WRKY domain‐containing transcription factor WRKY46 is inhibited by Al and expressed in root stele, whereas the expression of ALMT1, which encodes a malate efflux transporter, is induced by Al stress and spatially co‐localized with WRKY46 in root stele, indicating the possible interaction between WRKY46 and ALMT1 in Arabidopsis. Mutation of WRKY46 by T–DNA insertion leads to better root growth under Al stress, and lower root Al content compared with the wild‐type Col–0. The wrky46 mutant shows increased root malate secretion, which is consistent with the higher ALMT1 expression in the mutant. Transient expression analysis using truncated promoter of ALMT1 showed that ALMT1 expression can be inhibited by WRKY46 in tobacco leaves. The yeast one‐hybrid assay and ChIP‐qPCR analysis revealed that WRKY46 directly binds to ALMT1 promoter through specific W–boxes. Taken together, we demonstrated that WRKY46 is a negative regulator of ALMT1, mutation of WRKY46 leads to increased malate secretion and reduced Al accumulation in root apices, and thus confers higher Al resistance.