bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Meaningful Innovation: Ethnographic Potential in the Startup and Venture Capital Spheres
Authors: HAINES JULIA KATHERINE
Published: November 2016

The aim of this paper is to explore the potential for ethnographic approaches in technology startups and the venture capital firms that support and control them. The current practices and model of innovation aim for “disruptive innovation,” but most efforts fall short, prioritizing mass diffusion and not focusing on where true disruptive innovation lies—creating a change in meaning. I argue that an ethnographic approach can lead to innovation of meanings, bridging the gap between radical innovation and diffusion, and creating disruptive innovation. I discuss some ways ethnography can help product innovation in the startup sphere. But, more importantly, I discuss how ethnography holds great potential for reshaping the VC field, by driving meaning into the VC I then highlight alternative viewpoints that move beyond the “realist” perspective.
Mapping the Field of Social Businesses in Belo Horizonte, Brazil
Authors: BASTOS MARIA FLÁVIA , SCHEIBER LAURA , TEODOSIO ARMINDO DOS SANTOS DE SOUSA
Published: November 2016

Social businesses are organizations aimed at addressing social problems through business and marketing strategies. Of particular concern are issues connected to poverty, social inclusion among emerging consumers and sustainable development (Travagline, Bandini, Mancinione, 2009; Márquez et al. 2010). However, due to its hybrid nature that pulls from different sectors, the notion of social businesses is generating significant debate among scholars and practitioners regarding its purpose, approaches, and identity. In an effort to shine a light on how the concept of social business is developing and playing out in a particular city in South America, this study examines the ecosystem of social businesses in Belo Horizonte, Brazil. Using qualitative methods, the study offers an in‐depth look at the central actors, how they conceptualize social businesses, and the discourse around approaches they use to overcome these social issues. The findings reveal that social business actors are particularly concerned about impact and participatory action that ensures enterprises work with and not for marginalized populations. Of particular relevance to the EPIC audience, the paper adds insight into how inclusive practices, grounded traditionally in Brazil's third sector and solidarity economy movements, shape the conceptualization and operationalization of social enterprises, which aim to instigate new product and consumption patterns and inclusive capitalist trends. Being the first study in Brazil to examine how social business is framed within a specific urban context, the findings reveal new insights and old views on topics such as poverty, development, emerging consumers and emancipatory ways of overcoming problems caused by socioeconomic dynamics.
Finding a Voice in Opiate Addiction: Identifying the Role of Caregivers in the Recovery Process for VIVITROL
Authors: JOHNSTON GAVIN
Published: November 2016

Opiate addiction is a significant public health crisis. In the past year, it has become a hot topic at all levels, including the political realm ahead of the presidential election. Triggers, treatment options and restrictions, the criminal justice system, and costs to society are all part of the discussion but the cultural milieu in which addiction occurs is poorly understood. This was a significant problem for our client, the maker of a monthly injectable that inhibits the ability of an addict to get high. Our client, basing their marketing strategy entirely on quantitative data, realized that they needed to get a deeper understanding of addiction and the roles caregivers, friends, and family play in the treatment and recovery cycle. Our team convinced our client, who was inherently nervous about executing qualitative work, that in order to create a meaningful marketing plan, they needed to understand the complexities at a deeper level than data could provide. Working with the client and our design teams we executed an initial ethnographic pilot study to identify the best avenues for reaching the audience and providing information that would have an actual long‐term impact on the success of treatment. Over the course of a month, our team combined participant observation in three US cities with the caregivers of people battling addiction (some of whom had lost) with in‐depth interviews that incorporated a series of semiotics techniques.

The end result was a completely new strategy for the client. A new campaign was developed, new messaging channels were identified, and a clear three‐year road map was developed to help them change the conversation and expand their reach. Perhaps as important, the client's entire perspective on addiction and research changed, leading to developing a plan for further research in a broader range of settings.
Critical Jugaad
Authors: BUTOLIYA DEEPA
Published: November 2016

This Inquiry explains how people use ingenious making practices like Jugaad as a tool for existence, subversion and criticality against colonial powers of oppression. Jugaad like practices form cultural binders and empower people to find a collective force to fight oppression while practicing creative self‐expression. This practice is a nonviolent critique that provokes and questions the technoutopian imaginaries in future of such practices. Criticality is manifested through critique and criticism of the social, cultural, economic and political issues engulfing a nation, through ingenious sociomaterial practices. This research inquiry is about tapping into potential of such sociomaterial practices and the epistemology of the critical practices that happen outside the preconceived assumptions of criticality. Being critical about the functioning of states and industry is not bound by a niche design practice but a democratic right of every individual.
Potentially adaptive mitochondrial haplotypes as a tool to identify divergent nuclear loci
Authors: Garvin Michael R. , Templin William D. , Gharrett Anthony J. , DeCovich Nick , Kondzela Christine M. , Guyon Jeffrey R. , McPhee Megan V.
Published: November 2016

Genetic tools are commonly used for conservation and management of at‐risk species. Individuals are often sampled from mixtures that are composed of many populations, which creates a need to assign individuals to their source. This can be problematic when the genetic divergence among source populations is weak but can be improved using adaptive genetic loci, which should show stronger levels of divergence.

We previously reported a signature of positive selection in the mitochondrial‐encoded ND5 subunit of complex I in diverse taxa. The respiratory machinery of the mitochondria in salmonids is composed of more than 80 nuclear genes and there is substantial interaction between nuclear and mitochondrial expressed gene products. Recent studies report adaptive variation in mitochondrial function as well as co‐evolution between mitochondrial and nuclear genomes. We used potentially adaptive ND5‐based mitochondrial haplotypes to identify nuclear loci that would display increased levels of genetic divergence compared to neutral nuclear loci in chum salmon (Oncorhynchus keta). Populations in a geographic area the size of France have previously demonstrated weak genetic divergence even after substantial discovery efforts by multiple laboratories for allozymes, microsatellites and SNPs over the last two decades.

We used RAD‐based next‐generation sequencing and identified a nuclear‐encoded subunit of mitochondrial complex I that was a significant FST outlier and 14 other divergent nuclear markers that improve genetic assignment of individuals to their population of origin relative to assignments based on neutral markers alone.

This work demonstrates how a known adaptive marker can be leveraged to increase the probability of identifying divergent markers for applied genetics tools that may be biologically linked to it.
Binge Alcohol Intake After Hypergravity Stress Sustainably Decreases AMPK and Transcription Factors Necessary for Hepatocyte Survival
Authors: Lee Sang Gil , Wu Hong Min , Lee Chan Gyu , Oh Choong Sik , Chung So Won , Kim Sang Geon
Published: November 2016

Background

Binge alcohol consumption elicits mitochondrial dysfunction in hepatocytes. An understanding of the effect of ethanol (EtOH) exposure after hypergravity stress on liver function may assist in the implementation of pathophysiological countermeasures for aerospace missions. This study investigated whether a combination of hypergravity stress and binge alcohol intake has a detrimental effect on AMP‐activated protein kinase (AMPK) and other molecules necessary for hepatocyte survival.

Methods

The mice were orally administered a single dose of EtOH (5 g/kg body weight, 20% EtOH) immediately after a load to +9 Gz hypergravity for 1 hour using a small animal centrifuge and sacrificed 24 hours after treatment. For the multiple‐dose model, 3 consecutive daily treatments were carried out. Immunoblottings were carried out on liver homogenates.

Results

Binge alcohol intake in mice immediately after a 1‐hour exposure to a +9 Gz hypergravity load repressed hepatic Akt and PARP‐1 levels at 24 hours posttreatment. Moreover, it sustainably diminished the level of AMPKα, a key regulator of energy metabolism, as compared to each individual treatment. Similarly, the combination of alcohol and hypergravity suppressed the levels of STAT3, FOXO1/3, C/EBPβ, and CREB, transcription factors necessary for cell survival. Similar changes were not detected after 3 consecutive daily combinatorial treatments, indicating that repetitive training with hypergravity loads provides hepatoprotective effects in a binge alcohol model.

Conclusions

These results show that binge alcohol exposure in mice immediately following a +9 Gz hypergravity stress persistently decreased AMPKα and other key molecules required for hepatocyte survival, and these changes may be reversed by repetitive hypergravity loads.
Predicting post‐traumatic stress disorder treatment response in refugees: Multilevel analysis
Authors: Haagen Joris F. G. , ter Heide F. Jackie June , Mooren Trudy M. , Knipscheer Jeroen W. , Kleber Rolf J.
Published: November 2016

Objectives

Given the recent peak in refugee numbers and refugees’ high odds of developing post‐traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), finding ways to alleviate PTSD in refugees is of vital importance. However, there are major differences in PTSD treatment response between refugees, the determinants of which are largely unknown. This study aimed at improving PTSD treatment for adult refugees by identifying PTSD treatment response predictors.

Design

A prospective longitudinal multilevel modelling design was used to predict PTSD severity scores over time. We analysed data from a randomized controlled trial with pre‐, post‐, and follow‐up measurements of the safety and efficacy of eye movement desensitization and reprocessing and stabilization in asylum seekers and refugees suffering from PTSD.

Methods

Lack of refugee status, comorbid depression, demographic, trauma‐related and treatment‐related variables were analysed as potential predictors of PTSD treatment outcome. Treatment outcome data from 72 participants were used.

Results

The presence (B = 6.5, p = .03) and severity (B = 6.3, p < .01) of a pre‐treatment depressive disorder predicted poor treatment response and explained 39% of the variance between individuals.

Conclusions

Refugee patients who suffer from PTSD and severe comorbid depression benefit less from treatment aimed at alleviating PTSD. Results highlight the need for treatment adaptations for PTSD and comorbid severe depression in traumatized refugees, including testing whether initial targeting of severe depressive symptoms increases PTSD treatment effectiveness.

Practitioner points

There are differences in post‐traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) treatment response between traumatized refugees.

Comorbid depressive disorder and depression severity predict poor PTSD response.

Refugees with PTSD and severe depression may not benefit from PTSD treatment.

Targeting comorbid severe depression before PTSD treatment is warranted.

This study did not correct for multiple hypothesis testing.

Comorbid depression may differentially impact alternative PTSD treatments.
Acceptability of Dative Argument Structure in Spanish: Assessing Semantic and Usage‐Based Factors
Authors: Reali Florencia
Published: November 2016

Multiple constraints, including semantic, lexical, and usage‐based factors, have been shown to influence dative alternation across different languages. This work explores whether fine‐grained statistics and semantic properties of the verb affect the acceptability of dative constructions in Spanish. First, a corpus analysis reveals that verbs of different semantic classes occur naturally in alternative dative constructions, a pattern quite different from English. The fact that dative alternation appears independent of semantic classes challenges traditional semantic‐based approaches. Second, acceptability rating tasks reveal that dative constructions containing highly entrenched word combinations and frequent word order are judged more acceptable regardless of the verbs' semantics. The results are interpreted in favor of usage‐based accounts: Acceptability of dative constructions may be language‐specific and depend on patterns of use and conventionalization.
Debt Relief for Poor Countries: Conditionality and Effectiveness
Authors: Scholl Almuth
Published: November 2016

This paper studies the effectiveness of debt relief to stimulate economic growth in the most heavily indebted poor countries. We develop a neoclassical framework with a conflict of interest between the altruistic donor and the recipient government, and model conditionality as an imperfectly enforceable dynamic contract. In contrast to the recent practice of fully cancelling debt, optimal incentive‐compatible conditionality is accompanied by a concessionality level that implies a combination of subsidized loans and outright grants. The optimal concessionality level depends on the recipient's access to international financial markets and on the strength of the conflict of interest. Incentive‐compatible transfers with optimal concessionality levels generate substantial welfare gains. If the donor does not implement the optimal concessionality level and provides subsidized loans only, then the effectiveness of transfers decreases in the long run with severe welfare implications. In contrast, transfers are less effective in the short run if the donor offers outright grants only.
DIMENSIONS OF MACROECONOMIC UNCERTAINTY: A COMMON FACTOR ANALYSIS
Authors: Henzel Steffen R. , Rengel Malte
Published: November 2016

Uncertainty about the future course of the economy is a potential driver of aggregate fluctuations. To identify the distinct dimensions of uncertainty in the macroeconomy, we construct a large dataset covering all types of economic uncertainty. We then identify two fundamental factors that account for the common dynamics in this dataset. These factors are interpreted as macroeconomic uncertainty. The first factor captures business cycle uncertainty, while the second factor represents oil and commodity price uncertainty. While both types of uncertainty generate a decline in output, time‐varying oil and commodity price uncertainty is more important for fluctuations in real activity. However, nonlinearities seem to amplify the effect of business cycle uncertainty during the global financial crisis. (JEL C32, C38, E32)
Quantifying stem discoloration and decay following pruning and thinning an Acacia hybrid plantation
Authors: Trang T. T. , Glen M. , Eyles A. , Ratkowsky D. , Beadle C. , Mohammed C.
Published: November 2016

Acacia hybrid (Acacia mangium × A. auriculiformis) is widely planted in Vietnam, and part of the estate is managed for solid timber products. This requires pruning and thinning – practices that through mechanical wounding can facilitate the entry of fungal organisms, leading to stem defects. The extent to which this happens in Acacia hybrid has not been previously studied in Vietnam. A destructive survey was conducted in a 3‐year‐old Acacia hybrid plantation at Nghia Trung in Binh Phuoc province, 18 months after the imposition of pruning and thinning treatments. Pruned trees had a higher incidence and severity of discoloration and decay in the stem than unpruned trees; thinning increased the incidence of stem decay and the severity of discoloration but not the severity of decay. An interaction between pruning and thinning did not influence the incidence of stem decay but did increase the severity of discoloration in thinning treatments. Across treatments, levels of discoloration and decay were <30% and <5%, respectively. Modification of current pruning practices may be necessary to ensure that decay levels are kept within acceptable limits at an anticipated harvest age of 7–8 years.
Effectiveness of a detached‐leaf assay as a proxy for stem inoculations in backcrossed chestnut (Castanea) blight resistance breeding populations
Authors: LaBonte N. R. , McKenna J. R. , Woeste K.
Published: November 2016

A recently developed detached‐leaf blight resistance assay has generated interest because it could reduce the amount of time needed to evaluate backcrossed hybrid trees in the American chestnut blight resistance breeding programme. We evaluated the leaf inoculation technique on a sample of advanced progeny from the Indiana state chapter American Chestnut Foundation breeding programme, along with susceptible American chestnut (Castanea dentata), the recurrent parent, and resistant Chinese chestnut (Castanea mollissima), the donor parent for blight resistance. In experiments over 2 years using two pathogen isolates, we found no biologically meaningful relationship between leaf lesion size and the size (length and width) or severity (1–5 canker severity rating) of stem cankers on 5‐year‐old trees. Chinese chestnuts did develop significantly smaller leaf lesions than American or backcrossed chestnuts. We conclude that while the detached‐leaf assay may have utility in some chestnut breeding applications, it is not a suitable proxy for the established practice of stem inoculations.
Learning outcomes: Exploring implications of adopting a different level of detail
Authors: Bateman H. L. , McCracken G. I. , Thomason J. M. , Ellis J. S.
Published: November 2016

Introduction

Outcome‐based programmes provide a framework to support educators and learners in understanding content and end points within taught courses. Management of these outcomes in the Dental Degree at Newcastle University has been a challenge in relation to quality assurance and enhancement, having over 1500 detailed student‐level outcomes (SLO). This research aimed to explore the implications of adopting a more superficial “course” level of outcome (CLO), when reviewed against a reference set of external LO requirements.

Materials and methods

A purposive sample of five courses within the undergraduate dental programme was selected. The mapping of both SLOs and CLOs was reviewed in relation to their total number and the mapping connections to the reference outcomes.

Results

There was a mean reduction of 79% in outcomes when comparing SLOs to CLOs. The number of mapping connections between CLOs and the reference set reduced in three courses and increased in two, when compared to SLOs.

Discussion

From a purely numerical perspective, changing the detail of learning outcomes has led to a change in mapping connections. As the delivered curriculum has remained unchanged, this demonstrates a potential impact of differing interpretations of learning outcomes. Further review of learning outcomes in relation to the domains categorised within the reference outcome document suggested more mapping links were obtained in clinically focused courses than academic or theoretical courses.

Conclusion

A demonstrable impact in mapping connections was observed when the detail within the learning outcomes was changed. This has implications for programme leaders in structuring LOs for a curriculum.
Additive impacts of experimental climate change increase risk to an ectotherm at the Arctic's edge
Authors: Davenport Jon M. , Hossack Blake R. , Fishback LeeAnn
Published: November 2016

Globally, Arctic and Subarctic regions have experienced the greatest temperature increases during the last 30 years. These extreme changes have amplified threats to the freshwater ecosystems that dominate the landscape in many areas by altering water budgets. Several studies in temperate environments have examined the adaptive capacity of organisms to enhance our understanding of the potential repercussions of warming and associated accelerated drying for freshwater ecosystems. However, few experiments have examined these impacts in Arctic or Subarctic freshwater ecosystems, where the climate is changing most rapidly. To evaluate the capacity of a widespread ectotherm to anticipated environmental changes, we conducted a mesocosm experiment with wood frogs (Rana sylvatica) in the Canadian Subarctic. Three warming treatments were fully crossed with three drying treatments to simulate a range of predicted changes in wetland environments. We predicted wetland warming and drying would act synergistically, with water temperature partially compensating for some of the negative effects of accelerated drying. Across all drying regimes, a 1 °C increase in water temperature increased the odds of survival by 1.79, and tadpoles in 52‐day and 64‐day hydroperiod mesocosms were 4.1–4.3 times more likely to survive to metamorphosis than tadpoles in 45‐day mesocosms. For individuals who survived to metamorphosis, there was only a weak negative effect of temperature on size. As expected, increased temperatures accelerated tadpole growth through day 30 of the experiment. Our results reveal that one of the dominant herbivores in Subarctic wetlands, wood frog tadpoles, are capable of increasing their developmental rates in response to increased temperature and accelerated drying, but only in an additive manner. The strong negative effects of drying on survival, combined with lack of compensation between these two environmental drivers, suggest changes in the aquatic environment that are expected in this ecosystem will reduce mean fitness of populations across the landscape.
The case for increasing the statistical power of eddy covariance ecosystem studies: why, where and how?
Authors: Hill Timothy , Chocholek Melanie , Clement Robert
Published: November 2016

Eddy covariance (EC) continues to provide invaluable insights into the dynamics of Earth's surface processes. However, despite its many strengths, spatial replication of EC at the ecosystem scale is rare. High equipment costs are likely to be partially responsible. This contributes to the low sampling, and even lower replication, of ecoregions in Africa, Oceania (excluding Australia) and South America. The level of replication matters as it directly affects statistical power. While the ergodicity of turbulence and temporal replication allow an EC tower to provide statistically robust flux estimates for its footprint, these principles do not extend to larger ecosystem scales. Despite the challenge of spatially replicating EC, it is clearly of interest to be able to use EC to provide statistically robust flux estimates for larger areas. We ask: How much spatial replication of EC is required for statistical confidence in our flux estimates of an ecosystem? We provide the reader with tools to estimate the number of EC towers needed to achieve a given statistical power. We show that for a typical ecosystem, around four EC towers are needed to have 95% statistical confidence that the annual flux of an ecosystem is nonzero. Furthermore, if the true flux is small relative to instrument noise and spatial variability, the number of towers needed can rise dramatically. We discuss approaches for improving statistical power and describe one solution: an inexpensive EC system that could help by making spatial replication more affordable. However, we note that diverting limited resources from other key measurements in order to allow spatial replication may not be optimal, and a balance needs to be struck. While individual EC towers are well suited to providing fluxes from the flux footprint, we emphasize that spatial replication is essential for statistically robust fluxes if a wider ecosystem is being studied.
Watch your step: insect mortality on hiking trails
Authors: Ciach Michał , Maślanka Bartłomiej , Krzus Agata , Wojas Tadeusz
Published: November 2016

Hiking may have a negative effect on vertebrates, but the impact on insects is unknown. Large‐scale hiking may lead to habitat degradation, the introduction of alien species and the killing of insects occurring in places visited by people.

The aim of this study was to determine the influence of hiking on the mortality of insects. Randomly selected hiking trails in the western Carpathians (southern Poland) were surveyed and dead insects lying on the trails were collected. To compare the composition of ground‐dwelling insects killed on trails, insects from free‐living populations were sampled with ground pitfall traps.

The species abundance of insects killed on trails and those caught in traps differed significantly. Apart from common species, rare and legally protected insects were also found on the trails. Trail mortality peaked in July along with increasing hiking activity.

Body size did not affect mortality, at either the species or individual levels. Species mobility influenced mortality, with less mobile species being more vulnerable to trampling. Trampled insects remained on the ground for a maximum of 72 h, although 50% disappeared within 24 h.

Our results indicate that trail‐killing is, to some degree, a random process and that hiking can influence insects by the elimination of individuals. Given the total length of hiking trails in Poland (76 400 km), and the significant human impact on natural areas resulting therefrom, hiking may be having a negative influence on insect populations.
Spodoptera litura autophagy‐related protein 1 interacts with autophagy‐related protein 5 and enhances its degradation
Authors: Zhang N. , Yang Y. , Lu H. , Xiang Y. , Huang X. , Hu R. , Chen Z. , Yuan W. , Peng R. , Peng J. , Ai H. , Liu K.
Published: November 2016

It is known that the autophagy‐related protein 1 (ATG1) plays critical roles in the regulation of autophagy in mammals and yeast, whereas the function of ATG1 in lepidopteran insects is not well elucidated. Here Spodoptera litura ATG1 (SlATG1) and its interactions with other ATG proteins were characterized. Alternative splicing of SlAtg1 produced at least four transcript variants. Over‐expression and RNA interference knockdown of SlAtg1 demonstrated that SlATG1 enhanced autophagy. SlATG1A‐Green fluorescent protein (GFP) tagged localized in the cytoplasm and formed some punctuate dots, which were colocalized with red fluorescent protein mCherry tagged Spodoptera exigua ATG5 (SeATG5). SlATG1A‐GFP over‐expression reduced the nuclear abundance of mCherry‐SeATG5 but increased its cytoplasmic abundance. Pull‐down, co‐immunoprecipitation and bimolecular fluorescence complementation assays showed that SlATG1A bound to SeATG5 through the N‐terminus of SlATG1A. The over‐expression of FLAG epitope tagged SlATG1A significantly increased the accumulation of the cleaved GFP from GFP‐SeATG5, suggesting the enhanced degradation of GFP‐SeATG5. In addition, we confirmed that the interactions of SlATG1 with other autophagy‐related proteins were conserved. These results provide the first evidence that ATG1 interacts with ATG5 and enhances its degradation in lepidopteran insect cells, which may have important physiological functions.
Maternal prepregnancy body mass index and offspring attention‐deficit/hyperactivity disorder: a quasi‐experimental sibling‐comparison, population‐based design
Authors: Musser Erica D. , Willoughby Michael T. , Wright Suzanne , Sullivan Elinor L. , Stadler Diane D. , Olson Brent F. , Steiner Robert D. , Nigg Joel T.
Published: November 2016

Background

High maternal prepregnancy body mass index (BMI) has been associated with increased risk of offspring attention‐deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). However, whether this effect is attributable to maternal or familial level confounds has been little examined.

Methods

The present study sought to examine these associations, utilizing data from the medical records of a health care system which treats 350,000 patients annually and a sibling‐comparison design in a sample of 4,682 children born to 3,645 mothers.

Results

When examining the overall maternal effect, a linear association was observed between maternal prepregnancy BMI and child ADHD [b = 0.04, 95% confidence interval (95% CI) = 0.02–0.06, p = .0003], such that a one‐unit (i.e. 1 kg/m2) increase in prepregnancy BMI was associated with a 4% increase in the odds of ADHD (exp b = 1.04). However, when the model was reparameterized to take full advantage of the sibling design to allow for the examination of both maternal and child‐specific effects, the child‐specific prepregnancy BMI effect was not reliably different from zero (b = −0.08, 95% CI = −0.23 to 0.06, p = .24). In contrast, at the maternal‐level, average prepregnancy BMI was a reliably non‐zero predictor of child ADHD (b = 0.04, 95% CI = 0.02–0.06, p < .0001) with each one‐unit increase in maternal prepregnancy BMI associated with a 4.2% increase in the odds of ADHD (exp b = 1.04, 95% CI = 1.02–1.06).

Conclusions

The association between maternal prepregnancy BMI and offspring ADHD may be better accounted for by familial or maternal confounds rather than a direct causal effect of BMI.
Short history of regulations and approved indications of antimicrobial drugs for food animals in the USA
Authors: Volkova V. V. , DeMars Z.
Published: November 2016

We review historical availability and regulation, and recent indications of antimicrobial drugs for food animals in the USA. We summarize the timeline of introduction of individual antimicrobial drug classes from the 1930s to present, history of regulation of antimicrobial drugs from the 1930s to present and indications of antimicrobial drugs in 1996–2014 for food animals in the USA. The history of antimicrobial drug regulation demonstrates a historical precedent for harmonized regulations of antimicrobials ‘for human and other animals’ in the USA.
The present and future of opioid analgesics in small animal practice
Authors: Simon B. T. , Steagall P. V.
Published: November 2016

Opioids are the cornerstone for the treatment of acute pain in small animal patients. This is primarily because of their remarkable safety profile, high efficacy, and benefit of reversibility. There have been some significant advances in our knowledge on opioid pharmacology and clinical usage in companion animal medicine. This review discusses the progression of opioid use in small animal practice providing current misconceptions and controversies in light of routes of administration. Potential targets for research and drug development and novel therapies are discussed in addition to the concepts of glial cell modulators, individual variability, and opioid tolerance and hyperalgesia. The future brings an interesting perspective with the application of pharmacogenetics and individualized pain management in canine and feline practice.
Genetic and biochemical interactions between the bacterial replication initiator DnaA and the nucleoid‐associated protein Rok in Bacillus subtilis
Authors: Seid Charlotte A. , Smith Janet L. , Grossman Alan D.
Published: November 2016

We identified interactions between the conserved bacterial replication initiator and transcription factor DnaA and the nucleoid‐associated protein Rok of Bacillus subtilis. DnaA binds directly to clusters of DnaA boxes at the origin of replication and elsewhere, including the promoters of several DnaA‐regulated genes. Rok, an analog of H‐NS from gamma‐proteobacteria that affects chromosome architecture and of Lsr2 from Mycobacteria, binds A+T‐rich sequences throughout the genome and represses expression of many genes. Using crosslinking and immunoprecipitation followed by deep sequencing (ChIP‐seq), we found that DnaA was associated with eight previously identified regions containing clusters of DnaA boxes, plus 36 additional regions that were also bound by Rok. Association of DnaA with these additional regions appeared to be indirect as it was dependent on Rok and independent of the DNA‐binding domain of DnaA. Gene expression and mutant analyses support a model in which DnaA and Rok cooperate to repress transcription of yxaJ, the yybNM operon and the sunA‐bdbB operon. Our results indicate that DnaA modulates the activity of Rok. We postulate that this interaction might affect nucleoid architecture. Furthermore, DnaA might interact similarly with Rok analogues in other organisms.
Success rate of pneumatic reduction of intussusception with and without sedation
Authors: Feldman Oren , Weiser Giora , Hanna Mona , Devir Ori , Balla Uri , Johnson David W. , Kozer Eran , Shavit Itai
Published: November 2016

Background

Pneumatic reduction of ileocolic intussusception is often performed without sedation. The aim of this study was to evaluate the success rate of pneumatic reduction of intussusception with and without sedation.

Methods

We conducted a retrospective cohort study in Israel in two tertiary care centers using a similar protocol for pneumatic reduction of intussusception. In one center, patients had pneumatic reduction of intussusception under propofol‐based sedation, while in the other, patients had pneumatic reduction of intussusception without any sedation. Children aged 3 months to 8 years who were diagnosed with ileocolic intussusception between January 1, 2008 and July 31, 2015 were included in the study. Multivariable regression was used to adjust for the possible confounders of age, gender, number of cases of intussusception prior to the study period, time period from the beginning of symptoms to emergency department admission (<12 h, >12 h), and time period from emergency department admission to the beginning of pneumatic reduction of intussusception. Secondary outcomes of the study included the proportion of bowel perforations during the procedure, and the proportion of early (within 48 h) recurrence of intussusception.

Results

The sedation and nonsedation cohorts included 124 and 90 patients, respectively. The cohorts were comparable with regard to demographic characteristics, hemodynamic vital signs on admission to the emergency department, blood gases tests during emergency department stay, and time variables prior to reduction of intussusception. Multivariable regression revealed reduction of intussusception success rates of 89.5% and 83.3% for the sedation group and nonsedation group, respectively, with an adjusted odds ratio of 1.2, 95% CI 1.1–5.3. Three sedated patients and 0 nonsedated patients developed bowel perforations during the procedure. Rates of early recurrence of intussusception of sedated patients and nonsedated patients were 5.1% (6/117) and 1.3% (1/79), respectively (P = 0.15, RR = 3.9, 95% CI: 0.47 to 31.81).

Conclusion

The findings suggest that the pneumatic reduction of intussusception under propofol‐based sedation had a slightly higher success rate than the pneumatic reduction of intussusception without sedation; however, the safety of this practice is yet to be determined.
Opportunities for Immigrants’ Acculturation and Identification Varieties
Authors: Schaefer Christoph Daniel , Simon Bernd
Published: November 2016

This article elucidates how members of the two largest immigration groups living in Germany (i.e., immigrants with a Russian or Turkish background) deal with and integrate values and practices deriving from their ethnocultural minority group and the larger society. A special emphasis of this article is on how context conditions form opportunities for varieties of acculturation and identification. The pattern of results suggests a taxonomy of immigrants’ acculturation, consisting of Blended Integration, Alternating Integration, Separation, and Dis‐Integration. This taxonomy is based on immigrants’ integration of cultural aspects, while it proved to be analytically useful to conceptualize their national self‐allocation as an additional dimension. Immigrants’ development of these different varieties was found to be linked to their perceptions of compatibility and acceptance by the larger society. Relative to immigrants with a Turkish background, immigrants with a Russian background experience less deep incompatibilities between values and practices deriving from the cultural groups, thus having more latitude for acculturation and integration. In contrast, immigrants with a Turkish background experience more challenges to acculturation and integration as a result of being confronted more frequently with incompatibilities and experience less societal acceptance. Further conceptual and societal implications are discussed.
Nasal lavage, blood or sputum: Which is best for phenotyping asthma?
Authors: de Farias Camyla F. , Amorim Maria M.F. , Dracoulakis Michel , Caetano Lilian B. , Santoro Ilka L. , Fernandes Ana L.G.
Published: November 2016

ABSTRACT

Background and objective

Determination of asthma phenotypes, particularly inflammatory phenotypes, helps guide treatment and management of this heterogeneous disease. Induced sputum cytology has been the gold standard for determination of inflammatory phenotypes, but sputum induction is fairly invasive and technically challenging. Blood and nasal lavage cytology have been suggested as substitutes, but have not been fully verified. The aim of this study is to determine the accuracy of blood and nasal lavage cytometry as indicators of inflammatory phenotypes in asthma.

Methods

Clinical evaluation, Asthma Control Questionnaire (ACQ) and spirometry were performed for 121 adult asthma patients, and blood, nasal lavage and induced sputum samples were taken. Eosinophils and neutrophils were counted in three samples from each subject. Inflammatory phenotypes (eosinophilic, neutrophilic, mixed and paucicellular) and cells counts were analysed using Venn diagram and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve, respectively.

Results

ACQ score, spirometry and bronchodilator response did not differ among subjects with different inflammatory phenotypes. Inflammatory phenotypes defined by nasal lavage cytometry were in better concordance than those defined by blood cell counts with phenotypes determined by sputum cytology, and were significantly correlated with sputum phenotypes. For eosinophilia, nasal lavage cytology showed better accuracy than blood cytology (area under the curve (AUC): 0.89 vs 0.65). For all phenotypes, sensitivity and positive and negative predictive power were higher for nasal lavage cytometry than for blood. Blood cell counts gave a high level of false positives for all inflammatory phenotypes.

Conclusion

We recommend nasal lavage cytology over blood cell count as a substitute for sputum cytology to identify inflammatory phenotypes in asthma.
The effect of iron balance on platelet counts in blood donors
Authors: Eder Anne F. , Yau Yu Ying , West Kamille
Published: November 2016

BACKGROUND

Thrombocytosis (or, less commonly, thrombocytopenia) is associated with iron‐deficiency anemia and resolves with iron therapy. Many volunteer blood donors have low iron stores, with or without anemia. Iron balance could affect platelet counts in blood donors.

STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS

Whole blood donors deferred for finger‐stick hemoglobin levels less than 12.5 g/dL were evaluated by complete blood count and serum iron panel before and after oral iron treatment. Group assignment for iron depletion was based on serum ferritin cutoffs of less than 20 µg/L for women and less than 30 µg/L for men or was based on changes in serum ferritin levels after iron replacement.

RESULTS

Among 1273 Hb‐deferred whole blood donors, 55% (619 of 1128) of the women and 70% (102 of 145) of the men were iron depleted. Iron‐depleted donors had higher platelet counts compared with donors who had normal ferritin levels (women: 286 vs. 268 × 103/µL; p < 0.0001; men: 246 vs. 222 × 103/µL; p = 0.0454). Only 4.4% of iron‐depleted donors had thrombocytosis (> 400 × 103/µL) compared with 2.0% of donors who had normal ferritin levels (p = 0.017). Iron replacement decreased platelet counts in iron‐depleted female donors (mean, −19,800/µL; interquartile range, 8000 to −45,000/μL), but not in donors who had normal or stable ferritin levels. The same trends were observed in male donors.

CONCLUSION

Iron‐depleted donors had higher platelet counts than donors who had adequate iron stores. Oral iron replacement decreased platelet counts on average by about 20,000/µL in iron‐depleted donors but had no effect on platelet counts in donors who had normal or stable ferritin levels.
Strategic competition in the Asian mega‐regionalism and optimal choices
Authors: Lin Guijun , Pei Jiansuo , Zhang Jin
Published: November 2016

The strategic interactions of mega‐regional blocs such as the Trans‐Pacific Partnership (TPP), the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership and even the ‘One Belt and One Road’ (OBOR) in the Asia‐Pacific reflects the dual purposes of large countries as they seek not only the welfare gains from trade liberalisation, but also the leadership in a trading bloc or the right to set the rules. This paper designs two sequential network formation games – a leadership game and a trade liberalisation game, to model this phenomenon and predict the equilibrium result. In the first game, we show how the incorporation of leadership affects the choices among different trading structures. Specifically, we show that the parallel trading blocs emerge as the equilibrium outcome only when there exists large loss from giving up leadership. In the second game, we describe how the globalisation is arrived and conduct numerical simulations to test our theoretical results. The predictions of the game are supported by the real‐world data based on simulation results.
Biomechanical Comparison of 2 Veterinary Locking Plates to Monocortical Screw/Polymethylmethacrylate Fixation in Canine Cadaveric Cervical Vertebral Column
Authors: Hettlich Bianca F. , Fosgate Geoffrey T. , Litsky Alan S.
Published: November 2016

Objective

To compare the biomechanical properties of 2 veterinary locking plates and monocortical screws/polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) fixation in canine cadaveric cervical vertebral columns.

Study Design

Biomechanical cadaveric study.

Materials: Nineteen cervical vertebral columns (C2–C7) from large breed, skeletally mature, canine cadavers were used. A cortical ring was placed as a disk spacer at C4–C5 in all specimens. Seven vertebral columns were plated at C4–C5 with two 4‐hole, 3.5 mm string of pearls plates (SOP) and 6 vertebral columns were plated with two 6‐hole, 2.4 mm titanium locking reconstruction plates (Ti recon plate). All screws were placed monocortically. Six vertebral columns had monocortical titanium screws and PMMA (Ti screws/PMMA) placed, tested as part of a prior study.

Methods

Stiffness testing in 3 directions was performed of the unaltered C4–C5 vertebral motion unit and repeated after placement of the disk spacer and implants. Data were compared using a linear mixed model that incorporated data from previously tested spines (Ti screw/PMMA).

Results

The mean (95% CI) stiffness (N/m) in extension for SOP was 407 N/mm (330–503), for Ti recon plate was 284 N/mm (198–407) and for Ti screws/PMMA was 365 N/mm (314–428); in flexion for SOP was 250 N/mm (178–354), for Ti recon plate was 147 N/mm (106–204) and for Ti screws/PMMA was 311 (235–416); in lateral bending for SOP was 528 N/mm (441–633), for Ti recon plate was 633 N/mm (545–735) and for Ti screws/PMMA was 327 N/mm (257–412). There were no significant differences in stiffness between the 3 fixations for any outcome.

Conclusion

Monocortical fixation with two 3.5 mm SOP or two 2.4 mm Ti recon plates may be an alternate fixation to monocortical screws and PMMA.
Influence of menstrual phase and arid vs. humid heat stress on autonomic and behavioural thermoregulation during exercise in trained but unacclimated women
Authors: Lei Tze‐Huan , Stannard Stephen R. , Perry Blake G. , Schlader Zachary J. , Cotter James D. , Mündel Toby
Published: November 2016

Key points

Despite an attenuated fluctuation in ovarian hormone concentrations in well‐trained women, one in two of such women believe their menstrual cycle negatively impacts training and performance.

Forthcoming large international events will expose female athletes to hot environments, and studies evaluating aerobic exercise performance in such environments across the menstrual cycle are sparse, with mixed findings.

We have identified that autonomic heat loss responses at rest and during fixed‐intensity exercise in well‐trained women are not affected by menstrual cycle phase, but differ between dry and humid heat.

Furthermore, exercise performance is not different across the menstrual cycle, yet is lower in humid heat, in conjunction with reduced evaporative cooling.

Menstrual cycle phase does not appear to affect exercise performance in the heat in well‐trained women, but humidity impairs performance, probably due to reduced evaporative power.

We studied thermoregulatory responses of ten well‐trained [, 57 (7) ml min−1 kg−1] eumenorrheic women exercising in dry and humid heat, across their menstrual cycle. They completed four trials, each of resting and cycling at fixed intensities (125 and 150 W), to assess autonomic regulation, then self‐paced intensity (30 min work trial), to assess behavioural regulation. Trials were in early‐follicular (EF) and mid‐luteal (ML) phases in dry (DRY) and humid (HUM) heat matched for wet bulb globe temperature (WBGT, 27°C). During rest and fixed‐intensity exercise, rectal temperature was ∼0.2°C higher in ML than EF (P < 0.01) independent of environment (P = 0.66). Mean skin temperature did not differ between menstrual phases (P ≥ 0.13) but was higher in DRY than HUM (P < 0.01). Local sweat rate and/or forearm blood flow differed as a function of menstrual phase and environment (interaction: P ≤ 0.01). Exercise performance did not differ between phases [EF: 257 (37), ML: 255 (43) kJ, P = 0.62], but was 7 (9)% higher in DRY than HUM [263 (39), 248 (40) kJ; P < 0.01] in conjunction with equivalent autonomic regulation and thermal strain but higher evaporative cooling [16 (6) W m2; P < 0.01]. In well‐trained women exercising in the heat: (1) menstrual phase did not affect performance, (2) humidity impaired performance due to reduced evaporative cooling despite matched WBGT and (3) behavioural responses nullified thermodynamic and autonomic differences associated with menstrual phase and dry vs. humid heat.