bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Musical Elaborations
Authors: Ansdell Gary
Published: January 2016

In this article I review some of the latest books in what has been called the ‘New Musicology’. I also ask why music therapists and musicologists seem until now to have taken so little notice of each other's work, but suggest that this situation is changing. Developments in critical thinking about music represented by the ‘New Musicology’ may be of particular relevance to music therapists searching for theoretical perspectives on their work. But equally the theorists of the ‘New Musicology’ could learn much from music therapy – which can be seen in many ways as a ‘laboratory’ for new thinking about the nature of music and its place in society.
Behind the Mask: An Exploration of the True and False Self as Revealed in Music Therapy
Authors: Tyler Helen M.
Published: January 2016

This article looks at the concept of the True and False Self (Winnicott 1960, Laing 1960) and relates it to case material of music therapy with two children who were diagnosed as being on the autistic continuum. At the beginning of the therapy, both children showed great difficulty in expressing themselves spontaneously or creatively, resorting instead to rigid and stereotyped responses. Attempts to involve either child in shared musical improvisation were met with what I shall refer to as a musical False Self, or persona, which was used as a grandiose or omnipotent defence to protect the vulnerable True Self. I will show how it was necessary to accept and to work first with this musical False Self before the True Self could begin to emerge, spontaneously, creatively and authentically.
Proof of death: Police power and the visual economies of seizure, accumulation and trophy
Authors: Linnemann Travis
Published: January 2016

The phrase proof of life describes visual evidence meant to prove a kidnap victim or prisoner of war is alive. As developed here, proof of death describes a similar technique of seizure and display practiced by hunters, native warriors, soldiers and narco-traffickers meant to denote hunting prowess, domination and death. This article elaborates upon these representational practices, extending them to “police trophy shots”, the police practice of displaying large sums of money, illicit drugs, weapons and other seized materials. In the context of precarious late-capitalist economies, trophy shots as proof of death usefully reveal how police are actively involved in seizing the means of subsistence and administering, displaying and celebrating everyday domination and death.
A body undressed for text: Trilby in parts
Authors: Miller Emma V. , James Simon J.
Published: January 2016

George Du Maurier’s best-selling novel, Trilby (1894), is as important because of its defiance of social and cultural norms as it is for its apparent compliance with them. Trilby is a fiction that, like its eponymous heroine, attempts to negotiate the perilously fine line between the highbrow and the lowbrow, or to put it another way, between fine art and political commentary on one side, and pornography and sensationalism on the other. This article examines the way that Du Maurier engages his readership in this textual tease – his seduction of the reader – by suggesting the possibility of a peep show where everything that Victorian respectability abhors may be on display, and then his narratological dressing of the text, to ensure that where there is sexual non-conformity there is also moralism, and where there is social confrontation there is also historical distance. Understanding the textual appeal of Trilby as a character, the artist’s model who enchanted the fin-de-siècle reading public, is essential to appreciating how the discourses of pornography and fine art interact and have consequently evolved. This article therefore examines why Trilby succeeded with the Victorians where other, similarly sexually active heroines – such as Thomas Hardy’s Sue Bridehead – failed. Trilby the novel and Trilby the woman are both broken down by their author into manageable parts, a pornographic fetishistic technique that simultaneously eroticises, and makes more palatable, the textual and the physical bodies.
Lamb wave-based subwavelength damage imaging using the DORT-MUSIC technique in metallic plates
Authors: He Jiaze , Yuan Fuh-Gwo
Published: January 2016

A Lamb wave-based, subwavelength imaging algorithm is developed for damage imaging in a metallic plate based on a decomposition of the time-reversal operator method together with a multiple signal classification imaging condition in the space-frequency domain. In this study, a hybrid non-contact inspection system was proposed to image damage in an aluminum plate using a piezoelectric linear array for actuation and a laser Doppler vibrometer line-scan perpendicular to the piezoelectric array for sensing. The physics of incident waves, reflection, and reflected waves that underlie the transfer matrix in the decomposition of the time-reversal operator method is mathematically formulated in the context of guided waves based on the first-order Born approximation. Singular value decomposition is then employed to decompose the experimentally measured transfer matrix into three matrices, detailing the incident wave propagation from the linear actuator array, reflection from the damage, and followed by reflected waves toward the linear sensing array for each small damage. The singular value decomposition and multiple signal classification imaging condition enable providing insight on both the damage “reflectivity” and detecting damage smaller than a wavelength (subwavelength). With the flexibility of this inspection system, a considerably large area can be imaged using lower frequency Lamb waves with rapid line-scans. The experimental results showed that the hardware system with a signal processing tools such as the decomposition of the time-reversal operator with multiple signal classification (time-reversal with multiple signal classification) imaging technique can provide robust, highly accurate imaging results as well as providing damage reflectivity estimation with unknown material properties.
Two years of moral case deliberations on the use of coercion in mental health care: Which ethical challenges are being discussed by health care professionals?
Authors: Molewijk Bert , Engerdahl Ingvild Stokke , Pedersen Reidar
Published: January 2016

Background

Seven wards from three Norwegian mental health care institutions participated in a study in which regular ethics reflection groups focusing on coercion had been implemented and evaluated (2011–2015). This article presents (1) a thematic overview of the ethical challenges identified based on a systematic qualitative analyses of 161 ethics reflection groups and (2) some general observations on these ethical challenges.

Results

The ethical challenges are divided into four main thematic categories: (1) formal coercion, (2) informal coercion, (3) uncertainty related to the Norwegian legislation on coercion and (4) professional role and identity. Some ethical challenges did not fit into these categories. Only 36% of the ethical challenges were related to the use of formal coercion or the interpretation of the health law.

Conclusion

Even within coercion regulated by law, weighing different moral values remains important to reflect upon the appropriateness of the possible use of coercion.
MiR-125b Functions as a Tumor Suppressor and Enhances Chemosensitivity to Cisplatin in Osteosarcoma
Authors: Wang Fei , Yu Dapeng , Liu Zhen , Wang Ruijie , Xu Yan , Cui Haiyin , Zhao Tingbao
Published: January 2016

MicroRNAs are highly conserved noncoding RNA that negatively modulate protein expression at a posttranscriptional and/or translational level and are deeply involved in the pathogenesis of several types of cancers. To date, the potential microRNAs regulating the growth and progression of osteosarcoma are not fully identified yet. Previous reports have shown differentially expressed miR-125b in osteosarcoma. However, the role of miR-125b in human osteosarcoma has not been totally illuminated. In this study, we have shown that miR-125b was downregulated in human osteosarcoma tissues compared to the adjacent tissues and effects as a tumor suppressor in vitro. We found that stable overexpression of miR-125b in osteosarcoma cell lines U2OS and MG-63 inhibited cell proliferation, migration, and invasion. Our data also verified that Bcl-2 is the target of miR-125b. Meanwhile, we showed that Bcl-2 was inversely correlated with miR-125b in osteosarcoma tissues. More importantly, we proved that miR-125b increased the chemosensitivity of osteosarcoma cell lines to cisplatin by targeting Bcl-2. In conclusion, our data demonstrate that miR-125b is a tumor suppressor and support its potential application for the treatment of osteosarcoma in the future.
Preoperative Duplex Scanning is a Helpful Diagnostic Tool in Neurogenic Thoracic Outlet Syndrome
Authors: Orlando Megan S. , Likes Kendall C. , Mirza Serene , Cao Yue , Cohen Anne , Lum Ying Wei , Freischlag Julie A.
Published: January 2016

Objective:

To evaluate the diagnostic role of venous and arterial duplex scanning in neurogenic thoracic outlet syndrome (NTOS).

Methods:

Retrospective review of patients who underwent duplex ultrasonography prior to first rib resection and scalenectomy (FRRS) for NTOS from 2005 to 2013. Abnormal scans included ipsilateral compression (IC) with abduction of the symptomatic extremity (>50% change in subclavian vessel flow), contralateral (asymptomatic side) compression (CC) or bilateral compression (BC).

Results:

A total of 143 patients (76% female, average age 34, range 13-59) underwent bilateral preoperative duplex scanning. Ipsilateral compression was seen in 44 (31%), CC in 12 (8%), and BC in 14 (10%). Seventy-three (51%) patients demonstrated no compression. Patients with IC more often experienced intraoperative pneumothoraces (49% vs. 25%, P < .05) and had positive Adson tests (86% vs. 61%, P < .02).

Conclusion:

Compression of the subclavian vein or artery on duplex ultrasonography can assist in NTOS diagnosis. Ipsilateral compression on abduction often correlates with Adson testing.
Effects of Perceived Discrimination on Depressive Symptoms Among Black Men Residing in the United States: A Meta-Analysis
Authors: Britt-Spells Angelitta M. , Slebodnik Maribeth , Sands Laura P. , Rollock David
Published: January 2016

Research reports that perceived discrimination is positively associated with depressive symptoms. The literature is limited when examining this relationship among Black men. This meta-analysis systematically examines the current literature and investigates the relationship of perceived discrimination on depressive symptoms among Black men residing in the United States. Using a random-effects model, study findings indicate a positive association between perceived discrimination and depressive symptoms among Black men ( r = .29). Several potential moderators were also examined in this study; however, there were no significant moderation effects detected. Recommendations and implications for future research and practice are discussed.
The Europe in two billion eyes: Images from Chinese television
Authors: Varriano Valeria
Published: January 2016

Mass media, in general, and television, in particular (as one of the most accessible and frequently used means of mass communication), reflect to a certain extent feelings and images that exist within a given society and remodel perceptions. This article presents to the readers an interesting analysis of the influence of Chinese television on the way the EU and Europeans are seen in China. It draws the ‘portrait of Europe’ by examining two types of Chinese drama series: series about transnational families featuring interaction between Chinese and non-Chinese cultures; and series about Chinese immigrants or tourists in Europe, showing the Chinese perception of the European lifestyle. It looks into the interactions between the characters featured in the series and the environment they are put in so as to examine the image of Europe that is being conveyed to the Chinese public.
How Universal Are Universal Symbols? An Estimation of Cross-Cultural Adoption of Universal Healthcare Symbols
Authors: Joy Lo Chih-Wei , Yien Huey-Wen , Chen I-Ping
Published: January 2016

Objective:

To evaluate the effectiveness of universal health symbol usage and to analyze the factors influencing the adoption of those symbols in Taiwan.

Background:

Universal symbols are an important innovative tool for health facility wayfinding systems. Hablamos Juntos, a universal healthcare symbol system developed in the United States, is a thoughtful, well-designed, and thoroughly tested symbol system that facilitates communication across languages and cultures.

Methods:

We designed a questionnaire to test how well the selected graphic symbols were understood by Taiwanese participants and determined factors related to successful symbol decoding, including participant-related factors, stimulation factors, and the interaction between stimulation and participants. Additionally, we further established a design principle for future development of localized healthcare symbols.

Results:

(1) Eleven symbols were identified as highly comprehensible and effective symbols that can be directly adopted in Taiwanese healthcare settings. Sixteen symbols were deemed incomprehensible or confusing and thus had to be redesigned. Finally, 14 were identified as relatively incomprehensible and could thus be redesigned and then have their effectiveness evaluated again. (2) Three factors were found to influence the participants’ differing levels of comprehension of the Hablamos Juntos symbols.

Conclusions:

In order to prevent the three aforementioned factors from causing difficulty in interpreting symbols, we suggest that the local symbol designers should (1) use more iconic images, (2) carefully evaluate the indexical and symbolic meaning of graphic symbols, and (3) collect the consensus of Taiwanese people with different educational backgrounds.
Repair of Chronic Tibialis Anterior Tendon Rupture With a Major Defect Using Gracilis Allograft
Authors: Burton Alex , Aydogan Umur
Published: January 2016

Background: Tibialis anterior tendon (TAT) rupture is an uncommon injury, however, it can cause substantial deficit. Diagnosis is often delayed due to lack of initial symptoms; yet loss of function over time typically causes the patient to present for treatment. This delay usually ends up with major defects creating a great technical challenge for the operating surgeon. We present a novel technique and operative algorithm for the management of chronic TAT ruptures with a major gap after a delayed diagnosis not otherwise correctable with currently described techniques in the literature. This technique has been performed in 4 cases without any complications with fairly successful functional outcomes. Methods: For the reconstruction of chronic TAT rupture with an average delay of nine weeks after initial injury and gap of greater than 10 cm, a thorough operative algorithm was implemented in 4 patients using a double bundle gracilis allograft. Patients were then kept nonweightbearing for 6 weeks followed by weightbearing as tolerated. They began physical therapy with a focus on ankle exercises and gradual return to normal activity at 8 weeks, with resistance training exercises allowed at 12 weeks. Results: At a mean follow-up time of 24.5 months, all patients reported significant pain relief with normal gait pattern. There were no reported intra- or postoperative complications. The average Foot and Ankle Ability Measure score increased to 90 from 27.5 in the postoperative period. All patients were able to return their previous activity levels. Conclusions: Gracilis allograft reconstruction as used in this study is a viable and reproducible alternative to primary repair with postoperative results being favorable without using complex tendon transfer techniques or autograft use necessitating the functional sacrifice of transferred or excised tendon. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study demonstrating a successful technique and operative algorithm of gracilis allograft reconstruction of the TAT with a substantial deficit of greater than 10 cm with favorable results.

Levels of Evidence: Level IV: Operative algorithm with case series
Valuing Time Over Money Is Associated With Greater Happiness
Authors: Whillans Ashley V. , Weidman Aaron C. , Dunn Elizabeth W.
Published: January 2016

How do the trade-offs that we make about two of our most valuable resources—time and money—shape happiness? While past research has documented the immediate consequences of thinking about time and money, research has not yet examined whether people’s general orientations to prioritize time over money are associated with greater happiness. In the current research, we develop the Resource Orientation Measure (ROM) to assess people’s stable preferences to prioritize time over money. Next, using data from students, adults recruited from the community, and a representative sample of employed Americans, we show that the ROM is associated with greater well-being. These findings could not be explained by materialism, material striving, current feelings of time or material affluence, or demographic characteristics such as income or marital status. Across six studies ( N = 4,690), we provide the first empirical evidence that prioritizing time over money is a stable preference related to greater subjective well-being.
Digital companion species and eating data: Implications for theorising digital data–human assemblages
Authors: Lupton Deborah
Published: January 2016

This commentary is an attempt to begin to identify and think through some of the ways in which sociocultural theory may contribute to understandings of the relationship between humans and digital data. I develop an argument that rests largely on the work of two scholars in the field of science and technology studies: Donna Haraway and Annemarie Mol. Both authors emphasised materiality and multiple ontologies in their writing. I argue that these concepts have much to offer critical data studies. I employ the tropes of companion species, drawn from Haraway, and eating data, from Mol, and demonstrate how these may be employed to theorise digital data–human assemblages.
How the machine ‘thinks’: Understanding opacity in machine learning algorithms
Authors: Burrell Jenna
Published: January 2016

This article considers the issue of opacity as a problem for socially consequential mechanisms of classification and ranking, such as spam filters, credit card fraud detection, search engines, news trends, market segmentation and advertising, insurance or loan qualification, and credit scoring. These mechanisms of classification all frequently rely on computational algorithms, and in many cases on machine learning algorithms to do this work. In this article, I draw a distinction between three forms of opacity: (1) opacity as intentional corporate or state secrecy, (2) opacity as technical illiteracy, and (3) an opacity that arises from the characteristics of machine learning algorithms and the scale required to apply them usefully. The analysis in this article gets inside the algorithms themselves. I cite existing literatures in computer science, known industry practices (as they are publicly presented), and do some testing and manipulation of code as a form of lightweight code audit. I argue that recognizing the distinct forms of opacity that may be coming into play in a given application is a key to determining which of a variety of technical and non-technical solutions could help to prevent harm.
“I Was Able to Still Do My Job on the Field and Keep Playing”: An Investigation of Female and Male Athletes’ Experiences With (Not) Reporting Concussions
Authors: Sanderson Jimmy , Weathers Melinda , Snedaker Katherine , Gramlich Kelly
Published: January 2016

This research applied muted group theory to investigate female and male athletes’ experiences with not reporting concussions sustained during athletic competition. Using snowball-sampling techniques, a total of 365 women and 247 men completed an online open-ended questionnaire about their reasons for not reporting a concussion. Results indicated that male athletes were more likely to continue to play through and not report a concussion than female athletes. Participants also indicated that they did not report concussions due to (a) perceived lack of resources, (b) perceived lack of severity, (c) conformance to sport cultural norms, which was comprised of two subthemes: adherence to the pain principle and team allegiance. The results suggest that efforts to address concussion management in sport need to focus on the communicative and structural elements that privilege hegemonic masculinity and playing through pain, as they contribute to muting athletes in advocating for their health.
School Choice Decision Making Among Suburban, High-Income Parents
Authors: Altenhofen Shannon , Berends Mark , White Thomas G.
Published: January 2016

Parents’ decision making about whether to send their children to a traditional public or charter schools has been studied mostly in urban, low-income areas. Few studies have focused on the decisions of high-income, suburban families. In a sample of Core Knowledge charter schools in a predominantly White and socioeconomically advantaged set of suburbs in Denver, Colorado, we are able to examine both the closed- and open-ended responses of parents who reported the importance of various factors in the decision-making process. Similar to findings from urban, low-income areas, we find that parents rely on their social networks in choosing schools and report the importance of effective teachers, distance to school, and academic quality, which our open-ended responses reveal means different things to different parents. Contrasting previous research, we also find that high-income parents “do their research” on schools to which they are applying.
The Religious Worldview of the Indigenous Population of the Northern Ob' as Understood by Christian Missionaries
Authors: Ablazhei Anatoliy M. , Collins David N.
Published: January 2016

On the eve of the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution, the Russian Orthodox Church had at least nine missions operating among Siberia's indigenous peoples. The Red victory in the ensuing civil war led to the elimination of all missionary activity, whose resumption was possible only after the fall of the Communist regime seventy years later. The few accounts of Christian missions published in the USSR were tendentious in the extreme. Only in the post-Communist era have scholars in the former Soviet Union been free to explore the rich archival and journalistic resources left by the missionaries.

Anatoliy Ablazhei's article was chiefly addressed to scholars in Russia. It explores the extent to which the newly available missionary accounts are useful sources for contemporary scholars investigating native religion and cosmology. His work is reproduced here in translation for several reasons. It exemplifies the new wave of Russian scholarship about missions history, giving us a glimpse of the mass of documentary material available for researchers to use. Its critique of Russian Orthodox perceptions of native religion and the imperfect methods employed to spread Christianity in Siberia provides us with material from a mission field little known in the outside world. This information can prove useful for comparative missiological investigations. Above all, however, its value lies in its contribution to the ongoing debates about contextualization and syncretism, the validity of the Gospel for all peoples, and the appropriation of Christianity by the world's indigenous peoples. It exemplifies the errors of ignorance often committed by outsiders trying to spread the Gospel within a thoroughly alien culture. As Terence Ranger reminded us in the first Adrian Hastings Memorial Lecture at Leeds University in November 2002, authentic Christianity is indeed possible among indigenous peoples. The Holy Spirit can inspire a transformation of their lives and culture, without an excess of Eurocentric accretions.1
The Mission to North Korea
Authors: Torrey Ben
Published: January 2016

The article that follows this one is unusual for the depth of insight and direct experience with which its author writes on the religious psychology of North Korea. Ben Torrey has put readers of the International Bulletin of Missionary Research in his debt both by editing George Kap-Hun Kim's translation of Hyun-Sik Kim's article and by supplying an introduction that situates Kim's life and work within the wider context of mission to North Korea.

Torrey himself grew up in South Korea, where he joined with his parents in pioneering Jesus Abbey, a community of prayer high in the Taebaek Mountains of Kangwon Do. Following graduation from college in the United States, he directed a community service organization for over two years and then, with his wife, Liz, spent a year in Korea at Jesus Abbey.

Upon returning to the United States for the second time, the Torreys settled in Connecticut, where Ben served as a self-supporting pastor with the Evangelical Apostolic Church of North America while working in the fields of computer systems development and knowledge management.

Seeing the need for the church and South Korean society to prepare properly for the inevitable opening of North Korea, Torrey, in conjunction with Jesus Abbey, began the Fourth River Project in 2003. He was also given responsibility to direct Jesus Abbey's Three Seas Training Center. The Torreys returned to Korea in October 2005 in order to pursue this work full time.—Editor
Rejoicing in Hope a Tribute to Kosuke Koyama
Authors: Irvin Dale T. , Akinade Akintunde E.
Published: January 2016

Straight lines seemed to be an image of imperialism. I became aware that the love of God-hesed, agape-is more of a zigzag than a straight line. For the sake of others, love makes self-denying zigzags, displaying its power as it overcomes profound frustration.
The Future of the Discipline of Missiology: A Brief Overview of Current Realities and Future Possibilities
Authors: Van Gelder Craig
Published: January 2016

The following article is an abridgment of the author's presidential address “The Future of the Discipline of Missiology: Framing Current Realities and Future Possibilities,” delivered at the American Society of Missiology annual meeting, Wheaton, Illinois, on June 22, 2013. The full address is available in Missiology: An International Review 42, no. 1 (January 2014), and online at http://mis.sagepub.com/content/42/1/39.full.pdf+html . (This URL was updated on December 31, 2013.) DOI: 10.1177/0091829613507027. —Editors
The Protestant Endeavor in Chinese Society, 1890–1950: Gleanings from the Manuscripts of M. Searle Bates
Authors: McLean Cynthia
Published: January 2016

Miner Searle Bates, 1897–1978, was a graduate of Hiram College, Ohio; a Rhodes Scholar at St. John's College, Oxford, England, where he received both the B.A. and M.A. degrees; and earned his Ph.D. at Yale University in 1935. He taught history at the University of Nanking 1920–50, as a missionary of The United Christian Missionary Society of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), then served as Professor of Missions at Union Theological Seminary, New York, 1950–65.
The Prophet Muhammad in Christian Theological Perspective
Authors: Kerr David A.
Published: January 2016

The real nature of the Prophet Muhammad (may God's mercy and blessing be upon him) is perhaps the central issue of Christian-Muslim dialogue, for if Muhammad is a true prophet who delivered his message faithfully, what is there to prevent a sincere man to accept his call to Islam?
Encyclical Letter Redemptoris Missio: On the Permanent Validity of the Church's Missionary Mandate (Excerpts)
Authors: Paul John
Published: January 2016

These excerpts from the Vatican's English translation of the encyclical retain the original paragraph numbers, but the footnotes are not included. The complete text of the encyclical appeared in Origins: CNS Documentary Service, January 31, 1991, and copies may be ordered from Catholic News Service, 3211 4th Street N.E., Washington, DC 20017–1100.
Persecution of Christians in the Contemporary World
Authors: Marshall Paul
Published: January 2016

The following essay is adapted from a presentation made to the Advisory Committee to the U.S. Secretary of State on Religious Freedom Abroad, July 2, 1997. Paul Marshall is Senior Fellow in Political Theory at the Institute for Christian Studies, Toronto. He is also Adjunct Professor of Philosophy at the Free University of Amsterdam, Netherlands; Adjunct Professor at Fuller Theological Seminary, Pasadena, California; and Academic Advisor on Religious Freedom to the World Evangelical Fellowship. He has testified on religious persecution before the Helsinki Commission of the U.S. Congress and lectured on human rights at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Beijing, China, and in other countries around the world. His most recent book is a survey of religious persecution worldwide, Their Blood Cries Out (Dallas: Word Books, 1997). His writings have been translated into Russian, German, Dutch, Spanish, Japanese, Malay, Korean, Indonesian, and Chinese.
High-dose dexamethasone corrects impaired myeloid-derived suppressor cell function via Ets1 in immune thrombocytopenia
Authors: Hou Yu , Feng Qi , Xu Miao , Li Guo-sheng , Liu Xue-na , Sheng Zi , Zhou Hai , Ma Ji , Wei Yu , Sun Yuan-xin , Yu Ying-yi , Qiu Ji-hua , Shao Lin-lin , Liu Xin-guang , Hou Ming , Peng Jun
Published: January 2016

Key Points

The impaired suppressive function of myeloid-derived suppressor cells plays a role in the pathogenesis of immune thrombocytopenia. The effect of dexamethasone in correcting dysfunction of myeloid-derived suppressor cells suggests a new therapeutic mechanism of high-dose dexamethasone in patients with immune thrombocytopenia.
Redundant and nonredundant roles for Cdc42 and Rac1 in lymphomas developed in NPM-ALK transgenic mice
Authors: Choudhari Ramesh , Minero Valerio Giacomo , Menotti Matteo , Pulito Roberta , Brakebusch Cord , Compagno Mara , Voena Claudia , Ambrogio Chiara , Chiarle Roberto
Published: January 2016

Key Points

Rac1 and Cdc42 possess nonredundant roles in preventing apoptosis of NPM-ALK lymphoma cells. Simultaneous deletions of both Rac1 and Cdc42 prevents NPM-ALK lymphoma dissemination in vivo.
Endoscopy evaluation to predict oral appliance outcomes in obstructive sleep apnoea
Authors: Okuno Kentaro , Sasao Yasuhiro , Nohara Kanji , Sakai Takayoshi , Pliska Benjamin T. , Lowe Alan A. , Ryan C. Frank , Almeida Fernanda R.
Published: January 2016

The objective of this study was to determine the utility of nasoendoscopy of the upper airway as a predictor of the efficacy of oral appliance treatment in obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA).

A total of 61 consecutive patients with moderate-to-severe polysomnographically diagnosed OSA were recruited for this study. Using nasoendoscopy, we prospectively assessed the velopharynx and oro/hypopharynx in each patient while awake and in the supine position. We measured cross-sectional area (CSA), and anteroposterior and lateral diameters of the airway before and after mandibular advancement, and expressed the changes in dimensions as expansion ratios (after/before). We then compared the measurements of responders and nonresponders with oral appliance treatment.

The expansion ratio (median (interquartile range)) for the CSA was greater in responders compared with nonresponders in the velopharynx (2.9 (2.3–5.0)versus1.7 (1.5–1.9), p<0.001) and in the oro/hypopharynx (3.4 (2.5–5.6)versus2.4 (1.8–3.7), p<0.05). Baseline apnoea–hypopnoea index and the CSA expansion ratio of the velopharynx were independent predictors of oral appliance treatment outcome based on a multivariate logistic regression analysis. The estimated area under the receiver operator characteristic curve was 0.87 and the cut-off value of the expansion ratio was 2.00.

These results indicate that nasoendoscopy may have significant clinical utility in predicting the success of oral appliance treatment.
Influenza virus damages the alveolar barrier by disrupting epithelial cell tight junctions
Authors: Short Kirsty R. , Kasper Jennifer , van der Aa Stijn , Andeweg Arno C. , Zaaraoui-Boutahar Fatiha , Goeijenbier Marco , Richard Mathilde , Herold Susanne , Becker Christin , Scott Dana P. , Limpens Ronald W.A.L. , Koster Abraham J. , Bárcena Montserrat , Fouchier Ron A.M. , Kirkpatrick Charles James , Kuiken Thijs
Published: January 2016

A major cause of respiratory failure during influenza A virus (IAV) infection is damage to the epithelial–endothelial barrier of the pulmonary alveolus. Damage to this barrier results in flooding of the alveolar lumen with proteinaceous oedema fluid, erythrocytes and inflammatory cells. To date, the exact roles of pulmonary epithelial and endothelial cells in this process remain unclear.

Here, we used anin vitroco-culture model to understand how IAV damages the pulmonary epithelial–endothelial barrier. Human epithelial cells were seeded on the upper half of a transwell membrane while human endothelial cells were seeded on the lower half. These cells were then grown in co-culture and IAV was added to the upper chamber.

We showed that the addition of IAV (H1N1 and H5N1 subtypes) resulted in significant barrier damage. Interestingly, we found that, while endothelial cells mounted a pro-inflammatory/pro-coagulant response to a viral infection in the adjacent epithelial cells, damage to the alveolar epithelial–endothelial barrier occurred independently of endothelial cells. Rather, barrier damage was associated with disruption of tight junctions amongst epithelial cells, and specifically with loss of tight junction protein claudin-4.

Taken together, these data suggest that maintaining epithelial cell integrity is key in reducing pulmonary oedema during IAV infection.
Empiric antimicrobial therapy for ventilator-associated pneumonia after brain injury
Authors: Roquilly Antoine , Feuillet Fanny , Seguin Philippe , Lasocki Sigismond , Cinotti Raphael , Launey Yoann , Thioliere Lise , Le Floch Ronan , Mahe Pierre Joachim , Nesseler Nicolas , Cazaubiel Tanguy , Rozec Bertrand , Lepelletier Didier , Sebille Véronique , Malledant Yannick , Asehnoune Karim
Published: January 2016

Issues regarding recommendations on empiric antimicrobial therapy for ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) have emerged in specific populations.

To develop and validate a score to guide empiric therapy in brain-injured patients with VAP, we prospectively followed a cohort of 379 brain-injured patients in five intensive care units. The score was externally validated in an independent cohort of 252 brain-injured patients and its extrapolation was tested in 221 burn patients.

The multivariate analysis for predicting resistance (incidence 16.4%) showed two independent factors: preceding antimicrobial therapy ≥48 h (p<0.001) and VAP onset ≥10 days (p<0.001); the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) was 0.822 (95% CI 0.770–0.883) in the learning cohort and 0.805 (95% CI 0.732–0.877) in the validation cohort. The score built from the factors selected in multivariate analysis predicted resistance with a sensitivity of 83%, a specificity of 71%, a positive predictive value of 37% and a negative predictive value of 96% in the validation cohort. The AUC of the multivariate analysis was poor in burn patients (0.671, 95% CI 0.596–0.751).

Limited-spectrum empirical antimicrobial therapy has low risk of failure in brain-injured patients presenting with VAP before day 10 and when prior antimicrobial therapy lasts <48 h.
Pharmacokinetics of ertapenem in patients with multidrug-resistant tuberculosis
Authors: van Rijn Sander P. , van Altena Richard , Akkerman Onno W. , van Soolingen Dick , van der Laan Tridia , de Lange Wiel C.M. , Kosterink Jos G.W. , van der Werf Tjip S. , Alffenaar Jan-Willem C.
Published: January 2016

Treatment of multidrug-resistant (MDR) and extensively drug-resistant (XDR) tuberculosis (TB) is becoming more challenging because of increased levels of drug resistance against second-line TB drugs. One promising group of antimicrobial drugs is carbapenems. Ertapenem is an attractive carbapenem for the treatment of MDR- and XDR-TB because its relatively long half-life enables once-daily dosing.

A retrospective study was performed for all patients with suspected MDR-TB at the Tuberculosis Center Beatrixoord of the University Medical Center Groningen (Haren, the Netherlands) who received ertapenem as part of their treatment regimen between December 1, 2010 and March 1, 2013. Safety and pharmacokinetics were evaluated.

18 patients were treated with 1000 mg ertapenem for a mean (range) of 77 (5–210) days. Sputum smear and culture were converted in all patients. Drug exposure was evaluated in 12 patients. The mean (range) area under the concentration–time curve up to 24 h was 544.9 (309–1130) h·mg·L−1. The mean (range) maximum observed plasma concentration was 127.5 (73.9–277.9) mg·L−1.

In general, ertapenem treatment was well tolerated during MDR-TB treatment and showed a favourable pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic profile in MDR-TB patients. We conclude that ertapenem is a highly promising drug for the treatment of MDR-TB that warrants further investigation.
On the modeling and analysis of the biological regulatory network of NF-$${\kappa }$$B activation in HIV-1 infection
Authors: Bibi Zurah , Ahmad Jamil , Ali Amjad , Siddiqa Amnah , Shahzad Shaheen , Tareen Samar HK , Janjua Hussnain Ahmed , Khusro Shah
Published: January 2016

Purpose

The complex interactions between genetic machinery of HIV-1 and host immune cells mediate dynamic adaptive responses leading to Autoimmune Deficiency Syndrome. These interactions are captured as Biological Regulatory Network (BRN) which acts to maintain the viability of host cell machinery through feedback control mechanism which is a characteristic of complex adaptive systems. In this study, the BRN of immune response against HIV-1 infection is modeled to investigate the role of NF-κB and TNF-α in disease transmission using qualitative (discrete) and hybrid modeling formalisms.

Methods

Qualitative and Hybrid modeling approaches are used to model the BRN for the dynamic analysis. The qualitative model is based on the logical parameters while the hybrid model is based on the time delay parameters.

Results

The qualitative model gives useful insights about the physiological condition observed as the homeostasis of all the entities of the BRN as well as pathophysiological behaviors representing high expression levels of NF-κB, TNF-α and HIV. Since the qualitative model is time abstracted, so a hybrid model is developed to analyze the behavior of the BRN by associating activation and inhibition time delays with each entity. HyTech tool synthesizes time delay constraints for the existence of homeostasis.

Conclusion

Hybrid model reveals various viability constraints that characterize the conditional existence of cyclic states (homeostasis). The resultant relations suggest larger cycle period of HIV-1 than the cycle periods of the other two entities (NF-κB and TNF-α) to maintain a homeostatic expressions of these entities.
Assisted and unassisted suicide in men and women: Longitudinal study of the Swiss population
Authors: Steck Nicole , Egger Matthias , Zwahlen Marcel
Published: January 2016

Background

In Switzerland assisted suicide is legal if no self-interest is involved.

Aims

To compare the strength and direction of associations with sociodemographic factors between assisted and unassisted suicides.

Method

We calculated rates and used Cox and logistic regression models in a longitudinal study of the Swiss population.

Results

Analyses were based on 5 004 403 people, 1301 assisted and 5708 unassisted suicides from 2003 to 2008. The rate of unassisted suicides was higher in men than in women, rates of assisted suicides were similar in men and women. Higher education was positively associated with assisted suicide, but negatively with unassisted. Living alone, having no children and no religious affiliation were associated with higher rates of both.

Conclusions

Some situations that indicate greater vulnerability such as living alone were associated with both assisted and unassisted suicide. Among the terminally ill, women were more likely to choose assisted suicide, whereas men died more often by unassisted suicide.
An exploratory randomised trial of a simple, brief psychological
intervention to reduce subsequent suicidal ideation and behaviour in
patients admitted to hospital for self-harm
Authors: Armitage Christopher J. , Rahim Wirda Abdul , Rowe Richard , O'Connor Rory C.
Published: January 2016

Background

Implementation intentions link triggers for self-harm with coping skills
and appear to create an automatic tendency to invoke coping responses
when faced with a triggering situation.

Aims

To test the effectiveness of implementation intentions in reducing
suicidal ideation and behaviour in a high-risk group.

Method

Two hundred and twenty-six patients who had self-harmed were randomised
to: (a) forming implementation intentions with a ‘volitional help sheet’;
(b) self-generating implementation intentions without help; or (c)
thinking about triggers and coping, but not forming implementation
intentions. We measured self-reported suicidal ideation and behaviour,
threats of suicide and likelihood of future suicide attempt at baseline
and then again at the 3-month follow-up.

Results

All suicide-related outcome measures were significantly lower at
follow-up among patients forming implementation intentions compared with
those in the control condition (ds>0.35). The
volitional help sheet resulted in fewer suicide threats
(d = 0.59) and lowered the likelihood of future
suicide attempts (d = 0.29) compared with patients who
self-generated implementation intentions.

Conclusions

Implementation intention-based interventions, particularly when supported
by a volitional help sheet, show promise in reducing future suicidal
ideation and behaviour.
Altered Plasma Levels of Glucagon, GLP-1 and Glicentin During OGTT in Adolescents With Obesity and Type 2 Diabetes
Authors: Manell Hannes , Staaf Johan , Manukyan Levon , Kristinsson Hjalti , Cen Jing , Stenlid Rasmus , Ciba Iris , Forslund Anders , Bergsten Peter
Published: January 2016

Context:

Proglucagon-derived hormones are important for glucose metabolism, but little is known about them in pediatric obesity and type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM).

Objective:

Fasting and postprandial levels of proglucagon-derived peptides glucagon, GLP-1, and glicentin in adolescents with obesity across the glucose tolerance spectrum were investigated.

Design:

This was a cross-sectional study with plasma hormone levels quantified at fasting and during an oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT).

Setting:

This study took place in a pediatric obesity clinic at Uppsala University Hospital, Sweden.

Patients and Participants:

Adolescents with obesity, age 10–18 years, with normal glucose tolerance (NGT, n = 23), impaired glucose tolerance (IGT, n = 19), or T2DM (n = 4) and age-matched lean adolescents (n = 19) were included.

Main Outcome Measures:

Outcome measures were fasting and OGTT plasma levels of insulin, glucagon, active GLP-1, and glicentin.

Results:

Adolescents with obesity and IGT had lower fasting GLP-1 and glicentin levels than those with NGT (0.25 vs 0.53 pM, P < .05; 18.2 vs 23.6 pM, P < .01) and adolescents with obesity and T2DM had higher fasting glucagon levels (18.1 vs 10.1 pM, P < .01) than those with NGT. During OGTT, glicentin/glucagon ratios were lower in adolescents with obesity and NGT than in lean adolescents (P < .01) and even lower in IGT (P < .05) and T2DM (P < .001).

Conclusions:

Obese adolescents with IGT have lowered fasting GLP-1 and glicentin levels. In T2DM, fasting glucagon levels are elevated, whereas GLP-1 and glicentin levels are maintained low. During OGTT, adolescents with obesity have more products of pancreatically than intestinally cleaved proglucagon (ie, more glucagon and less GLP-1) in the plasma. This shift becomes more pronounced when glucose tolerance deteriorates.
Structural Analysis on the Pathologic Mutant Glucocorticoid Receptor Ligand-Binding Domains
Authors: Hurt Darrell E. , Suzuki Shigeru , Mayama Takafumi , Charmandari Evangelia , Kino Tomoshige
Published: January 2016

Glucocorticoid receptor (GR) gene mutations may cause familial or sporadic generalized glucocorticoid resistance syndrome. Most of the missense forms distribute in the ligand-binding domain and impair its ligand-binding activity and formation of the activation function (AF)-2 that binds LXXLL motif-containing coactivators. We performed molecular dynamics simulations to ligand-binding domain of pathologic GR mutants to reveal their structural defects. Several calculated parameters including interaction energy for dexamethasone or the LXXLL peptide indicate that destruction of ligand-binding pocket (LBP) is a primary character. Their LBP defects are driven primarily by loss/reduction of the electrostatic interaction formed by R611 and T739 of the receptor to dexamethasone and a subsequent conformational mismatch, which deacylcortivazol resolves with its large phenylpyrazole moiety and efficiently stimulates transcriptional activity of the mutant receptors with LBP defect. Reduced affinity of the LXXLL peptide to AF-2 is caused mainly by disruption of the electrostatic bonds to the noncore leucine residues of this peptide that determine the peptide's specificity to GR, as well as by reduced noncovalent interaction against core leucines and subsequent exposure of the AF-2 surface to solvent. The results reveal molecular defects of pathologic mutant receptors and provide important insights to the actions of wild-type GR.
Elizabeth Bowen’s Negative Epics: Landscape and Realism in The Last September and A World of Love
Authors: Im Jeannie
Published: January 2016

The role of landscape in Elizabeth Bowen’s Irish novels has been overshadowed by the critical emphasis on her representations of the Anglo-Irish big house. In contrast to this critical trend, this article argues that Bowen’s Irish landscapes stage questions of national identity and postcoloniality pervading mid-twentieth-century Irish culture and politics through negative epic forms, forms that reconfigure both realist and modernist conventions. In The Last September, landscape description reframes the scope of epic conventions and challenges narratives of geopolitical development, while in A World of Love, a late modern picturesque interrupts the romantic emplotment of Ireland’s entry into global capitalist networks.
When Noir Meets Nonfiction
Authors: Wilson Christopher P.
Published: January 2016

This essay examines three twentieth-century practitioners of the Los Angeles variant of Noir nonfiction: the radical historian and architectural critic Mike Davis; the fiction writer, screenwriter, and journalist Joan Didion; and the novelist, reporter, and memoirist John Gregory Dunne. “Noir nonfiction” is meant to refer to a crossover mode that exports elements from the Noir tradition—particularly, an ethos of suspicion that often expresses populist anger at public corruption, elite hypocrisy, and suburban ennui—into an experimental mode of reportage that challenges the predominantly realist norms of mainstream journalism. The essay begins by examining Dunne’s fictional True Confessions (1977) and his report on Cesar Chavez’s farmworkers’ campaign, Delano (1967); moves to Davis’s history of Los Angeles, City of Quartz (1992); and closes with Didion’s “Some Dreamers of the Golden Dream” (1966).