bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Effect of in-home and community-based services on the functional status of elderly in the long-term care insurance system in Japan
Authors: Olivares-Tirado Pedro , Tamiya Nanako , Kashiwagi Masayo
Published: August 2012

Background

Japan is setting the pace among aging societies of the world. In 2005, Japan became the country with the highest proportion of elderly persons in the world. To deal with the accelerated ageing population and with an increased demand for long-term care services, in April 2000 the Japanese government introduced a mandatory social Long-Term Care Insurance System (LTCI), making long-term care services a universal entitlement for elderly. Overseas literature suggests that the effectiveness of a home visiting program is uncertain in terms of preventing a decline in the functional status of elderly individuals. In Japan, many studies regarding factors associated with LTC service utilization have been conducted, however, limited evidence about the effect of LTC services on the progression of recipient disability is available.

Methods

Data were obtained from databases of the LTC insurer of City A. To examine the effect of in-home and community-based services on disability status of recipients, a survival analysis in a cohort of moderately disabled elderly people, was conducted.

Results

The mean age of participants was 81 years old, and females represented 69% of the participants. A decline or an improvement in functional status, was observed in 43% and 27% of the sample, respectively. After controlling for other variables, women had a significantly greater probability of improving their functional status during all phases of the observation period. The use of “one service” and the amount of services utilized (days/month), were marginally (p = < 0.10) associated with a greater probability of improving their functional status at 12 months into the observation period.

Conclusions

The observed effects of in-home and community-based services on disability transition status were considered fairly modest and weak, in terms of their ability to improve or to prevent a decline in functional status. We suggest two mechanisms to explain these findings. First, disability transition as a measure of disability progression may not be specific enough to assess changes in functional status of LTCI recipients. Secondly, in-home and community-based services provided in City A, may be inappropriate in terms of intensity, duration or quality of care.
Richmond’s Rhetoric and Chatham’s Collapse: A Media History
Authors: Bertelsen Lance
Published: August 2012

John Singleton Copley’s The Death of the Earl of Chatham has been discussed extensively by art historians, but little critical attention has been paid to written accounts of the debate between the Duke of Richmond and the Earl of Chatham nor the process by which they evolved into the strikingly uniform descriptions found in biographies of Chatham and in parliamentary histories both contemporary and modern. A letter from Walker King to Richard Burke, Jr., written within hours of the event, offers a compelling new perspective on what may have been said on the floor of Lords on 7 April 1778 and raises questions about the role of the London newspapers and journals in not only reporting parliamentary debates but also editorially controlling how they passed into history. The mysterious disappearance of inflammatory rhetoric found in more immediate newspaper reports suggests particular political reasons for such omissions and subsequent adjustments to the historical and visual record. Such findings in turn posit the desirability of an enhanced method for reconstructing parliamentary debates based on the accessibility of the digital Burney newspaper collection.
Telling the Girl’s Side of the Story: Heterotopic Spaces of Femininity in Iranian Film
Authors: Dempsey Anna M.
Published: August 2012

One of the signature characteristics of Iranian film since the Islamic Revolution of 1979 is the appearance of children as primary protagonists in narratives about postrevolutionary life. Abbas Kiarostami in Where Is the Friend’s Home? (1987), for example, uses children as observers of the constrained conditions under which female Iranians lived and Iranian filmmakers operated. During the last decade, filmmakers such as Jafar Panahi, Rasul Sadr Ameli, and Marziyeh Meshkini, who have adapted Kiarostami’s use of children as cinematic narrators, have offered more explicit accounts of contemporary Iranian life (including relationships between men and women). In these directors’ depictions of Iranian children, feminist critics have noted that girls are largely absent. On closer inspection, however, women are not entirely invisible in their cinematic productions. Dempsey’s essay argues that in films such as The Mirror (1998), The Girl in the Sneakers (1998), and The Day I Became a Woman (2000), girls and young women inhabit the edges of the sidewalks, nighttime transient-filled parks, roadside gutters, and other liminal spaces that underscore their marginalized and ephemeral, yet tangible presence — a presence that is nonetheless invisible to those who reside in the “center.” These cinematic girls, female adolescents, and young women inhabit what Michel Foucault has famously called “heterotopias.” This article engages with bell hooks’s and Craig Wilkins’s reframing of Foucault’s heterotopic space to argue that Panahi, Sadr Ameli, and Meshkini create celebratory heterotopias in which girls and young women are able to subvert or challenge dominant patriarchal cultural conventions.
Gender differences in health and aging of Atlantic cod subject to size selective fishery
Authors: Carney Almroth Bethanie , Sköld Mattias , Nilsson Sköld Helen
Published: August 2012

We have analyzed health and physiological aging parameters in male and female Atlantic cod, Gadus morhua, captured in Kattegat, Skagerrak and in Öresund. Gender differences were clearly evident in a number of variables. Males had longer liver telomeres and higher catalase activities than females, while females had higher superoxide dismutase activity, liver somatic index and condition factor. Effects of age were found for males where levels of the antioxidant glutathione and telomere length declined with age, indicating physiological aging. Liver somatic index increased and percentage oxidized glutathione decreased with age. Between-site comparisons of males show that percentage oxidized glutathione and catalase were lowest in Kattegat, whereas protein carbonyls and condition factor were higher in Skagerrak. Females, on the other hand, showed no differences between sites or indications of somatic aging or age-related effects in egg quality, indicating that older and larger female cod are healthy and show no changes in eggs with age. In contrast, males showed indications of physiological aging and lower condition than females. The results emphasize the importance of conserving old mature fish, in particular high egg-productive females, when managing fisheries.
A new zebrafish bone crush injury model
Authors: Sousa Sara , Valerio Fabio , Jacinto Antonio
Published: August 2012

While mammals have a limited capacity to repair bone fractures, zebrafish can completely regenerate amputated bony fin rays. Fin regeneration in teleosts has been studied after partial amputation of the caudal fin, which is not ideal to model human bone fractures because it involves substantial tissue removal, rather than local tissue injury. In this work, we have established a bone crush injury model in zebrafish adult caudal fin, which consists of the precise crush of bony rays with no tissue amputation. Comparing these two injury models, we show that the initial stages of injury response are the same regarding the activation of wound healing molecular markers. However, in the crush assay the expression of the blastema marker msxb appears later than during regeneration after amputation. Following the same trend, bone cells deposition and expression of genes involved in skeletogenesis are also delayed. We further show that bone and blood vessel patterning is also affected. Moreover, analysis of osteopontin and Tenascin-C reveals that they are expressed at later stages in crushed tissue, suggesting that in this case bone repair is prolonged for longer than in the case of regeneration after amputation. Due to the nature of the trauma inflicted, the crush injury model seems more similar to fracture bone repair in mammals than bony ray amputation. Therefore, the new model that we present here may help to identify the key processes that regulate bone fracture and contribute to improve bone repair in humans.
Age-related changes in core body temperature and activity in triple-transgenic Alzheimer’s disease (3xTgAD) mice
Authors: Knight Elysse M. , Brown Timothy M. , Gümüsgöz Sarah , Smith Jennifer C. M. , Waters Elizabeth J. , Allan Stuart M. , Lawrence Catherine B.
Published: August 2012

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is characterised, not only by cognitive deficits and neuropathological changes, but also by several non-cognitive behavioural symptoms that can lead to a poorer quality of life. Circadian disturbances in core body temperature and physical activity are reported in AD patients, although the cause and consequences of these changes are unknown. We therefore characterised circadian patterns of body temperature and activity in male triple transgenic AD mice (3xTgAD) and non-transgenic (Non-Tg) control mice by remote radiotelemetry. At 4 months of age daily temperature rhythms were phase advanced and by 6 months of age an increase in mean core body temperature and amplitude of temperature rhythms were observed in 3xTgAD mice. No differences in daily activity rhythms were seen in 4-9-month-old 3xTgAD mice, but by 10 months of age an increase in mean daily activity and the amplitude of activity profiles for 3xTgAD mice were detected. At all ages (4-10 months), 3xTgAD mice exhibited greater food intake compared to Non-Tg mice. The changes in temperature did not appear to be solely due to increased food intake and were not cyclooxygenase dependent, since the temperature rise was not abolished by chronic ibuprofen treatment. No β-amyloid (Aβ) plaques or neurofibrillary tangles were noted in the hypothalamus of 3xTgAD mice, a key area involved in temperature regulation, although these pathological features were observed in the hippocampus and amygdala of 3xTgAD mice from 10 months of age. These data demonstrate age-dependent changes in core body temperature and activity in 3xTgAD mice that are present before significant AD-related neuropathology and are analogous to those observed in AD patients. The 3xTgAD mouse might therefore be an appropriate model to study the underlying mechanisms involved in non-cognitive behavioural changes in AD.
Enhancement of Reducibility and Oxygen Storage Capacity (OSC) of Ce–Fe Mixed Oxides by Repetitive Redox Treatment
Authors: Li Kongzhai , Haneda Masaaki , Ozawa Masakuni
Published: August 2012

The reduction properties and oxygen storage capacity (OSC) of Ce–Fe mixed oxide (Ce/Fe = 4/1) were investigated. When TPR/OSC cycle was repeated, Ce–Fe mixed oxide gave a new reduction peak at 600 °C, suggesting the enhancement of the reducibility of iron ions. This was accounted by the formation of a solid solution and the participation of Fe2O3 as catalyst for the reduction of Ce–Fe mixed oxide.
Polidocanol foam sclerotherapy of persisting postoperative seromas after varicose vein surgery: a series of six cases
Authors: Moritz R K C , Reich-Schupke S , Altmeyer P , StüCker M
Published: August 2012

Objective:

The aim of our case series was to show the therapeutic effect andthe safety of the use of polidocanol foam in ultrasound-guided sclerotherapy treatment ofrelatively small postoperative seromas after varicose vein surgery.

Methods:

We treated six patients with postoperative seromas after varicose vein surgery that were refractory to conventional treatments including compression dressings, repeated needle aspirations and manual lymph drainage.

Results:

A complete regression of the fluid collections was seen after one and two ultrasound-guided injections of polidocanol foam into the seroma cavity in two cases, respectively. Up to five treatment sessions and up to four further needle aspirations were necessary for the remaining two patients until complete regression of the seromas. No side-effects were reported.

Conclusion:

This is the first case series to report of the regression of postoperative seromas after varicose vein surgery induced by polidocanol foam sclerotherapy.
Duplication of the superior vena cava associated with atrial termination of the left hepatic vein
Authors: Milisavljević M , Marinković S , Radak D , ĆEtković M , Vuĉurević G , Trifunović D
Published: August 2012

Duplication of the superior vena cava (SVC), associated with an aberrant left hepatic vein (LHV), was found in one of the 58 dissected specimens. The right SVC virtually showed a typical appearance. The persistent left SVC, which drained into the right atrium via the enlarged coronary sinus, was formed by the persistence of the left anterior cardinal vein. The LHV opened into the right atrium, due to the persistent left hepatocardiac channel. The left common carotid artery arose from the brachiocephalic trunk as a consequence of a regression of the embryonic aortic sac. The revealed venous and arterial variations seem to be the first reported vascular combination of this type.
Radiofrequency-induced thermal therapy: results of a European multicentre study of resistive ablation of incompetent truncal varicose veins
Authors: Braithwaite B , Hnatek L , Zierau U , Camci M , Akkersdijk GJM , Nio D , Sarlija M , Ajduk M , Santoro P , Roche E
Published: August 2012

Objectives:

To investigate the effectiveness of bipolar radiofrequency-induced thermal therapy (RFITT) in a multicentre non-randomized study.

Methods:

Some 672 incompetent saphenous veins (85% great saphenous varicose vein, 15% short saphenous vein) in 462 patients (56.5% CEAP [clinical, aetiological, anatomical and pathological elements] class 3 or worse) were treated in eight European centres. Patients were assessed between 180 and 360 days postoperatively. Occlusion rates were determined by duplex ultrasound and compared with the power used for treatment, pull back rate and experience of the operating surgeon.

Results:

Complete occlusion rates of 98.4% were achieved when treatments were performed by an experienced operator (more than 20 cases), when the maximum power setting on the RFITT generator was between 18 and 20 Wand the applicator was withdrawn at a rate slower than 1.5 second/cm

Conclusions:

RFITT is efficacious, well tolerated by patients and has a low incidence of procedure-related post-operative complications.
Telangiectasias resistant to sclerotherapy are commonly connected to a perforating vessel
Authors: Schuller-Petrović S , Pavlović M D , Schuller S , Schuller-Lukic B , Adamič M
Published: August 2012

Leg telangiectasias resistant to repeated courses of sclerotherapy in patients without deep and superficial venous incompetence are not uncommon. Little is known about factors which may underlie the resistance. Among 26 patients with such telangiectasias we found a direct communication of the vessels with deep and saphenous veins in 65% of patients. Ultrasound-guided injection of 0.5% polidocanol foam into the feeding veins or their perforating segments led to clearance of all the telanagiectasias. In 23% of cases no feeding veins could have been identified by ultrasound. Direct injections of a sclerosant into perforating feeding veins may clear refractory telangiectasias in a majority of patients though it is obvious that other factors may contribute to the failure of sclerotherapy in others.
Anticoagulation Therapy for Postoperative Deep Vein Thrombosis Coupled with Pulmonary Embolism: A Potential Trigger for Delayed Popliteal Artery Injury Presentation after Total Knee Arthroplasty
Authors: De Santis F , Martini G , Haglmüller T , Mani G , Conati C , Bonatti G
Published: August 2012

Objectives:

A case of delayed popliteal artery injury (PA-INJ) onset after total knee arthroplasty (TKA) in a patient under postoperative anticoagulation therapy is reported. The role of anticoagulation both in late PA-INJ presentation and in PA-INJ management is discussed.

Report:

An obese 76-year-old woman was presented with a common femoral vein thrombosis coupled with pulmonary embolism five days after TKA. She was immediately placed under anticoagulation therapy. Four days later, during physiotherapy-supervised mobilization, she developed a calf haematoma and large retro-articular pseudoaneurysm. Angiography revealed a minor PA-INJ successively treated with a covered stent-graft.

Conclusions:

In cases of initially undetected and staunched TKA-related PA-INJs, postoperative anticoagulation therapy may act as a potential trigger for final arterial rupture during mobilization exercises, followed by acute bleeding; in these cases, endovascular management represents an excellent treatment option. Close clinical and instrumental monitoring is strongly recommended after TKA, in patients who imperatively require full-dose anticoagulation therapy.
Communicating Analytic Results: A Tutorial for Decision Consultants
Authors: Keisler Jeffrey M. , Noonan Patrick S.
Published: August 2012

Good analysis alone may not achieve the goals of decision analysis (DA) engagements. Good communication of the results of that analysis can help stakeholders understand, accept, and implement the recommended course of action. Practitioners can use decision-analytic principles when considering the decision of how to communicate results themselves. From this perspective, we consider a range of questions to ask in preparing for communication with the client and other stakeholders. We review standard communication practices in DA engagements. The standard practice can be improved by drawing on insights from other areas of management practice. Decision analysis has both technical and organizational features, and we discuss ways to deal with the conceptual and expressive challenges this presents. This pragmatic tutorial provides a starting point for decision analysts to develop both technical communication skills and organizational communication skills.
Sharing Rewards Among Strangers Based on Peer Evaluations
Authors: Carvalho Arthur , Larson Kate
Published: August 2012

We study a problem where a new, unfamiliar group of agents has to decide how a joint reward should be shared among them. We focus on settings where the share that each agent receives depends on the evaluations of its peers concerning that agent's contribution to the group. We introduce a mechanism to elicit and aggregate evaluations as well as for determining agents' shares. The intuition behind the proposed mechanism is that each agent has its expected share maximized to the extent that it is well evaluated by its peers and that it is truthfully reporting its evaluations. For promoting truthfulness, the proposed mechanism uses a peer-prediction method built on strictly proper scoring rules. Under the assumption that agents are Bayesian decision makers, we show that our mechanism is incentive compatible and budget balanced. We also provide sufficient conditions under which the proposed mechanism is individually rational, resistant to some kinds of collusion, and fair.
Coordination of Price Promotions in Complementary Categories
Authors: Sinitsyn Maxim
Published: August 2012

In this paper, I investigate the outcome of a price competition between two firms, each producing two complementary products. Specifically, I study each firm's decision to coordinate price promotions of its products. Consumers are divided into loyals, who purchase both products from their preferred firm, and heterogeneous switchers, who choose between four possible bundles or buy a product in a single category. The switchers are willing to pay some price premium in order to purchase two complementary products that share the same brand name and are produced by the same firm, because they believe that these products are a better match than two complementary products with different brand names. I find that each firm predominantly promotes its complementary products together. This finding is correlationally supported by data in the shampoo and conditioner and in the cake mix and cake frosting categories.

This paper was accepted by Pradeep Chintagunta, marketing.
Robust Simulation of Global Warming Policies Using the DICE Model
Authors: Hu Zhaolin , Cao Jing , Hong L. Jeff
Published: August 2012

Integrated assessment models that combine geophysics and economics features are often used to evaluate and compare global warming policies. Because there are typically profound uncertainties in these models, a simulation approach is often used. This approach requires the distribution of the uncertain parameters clearly specified. However, this is typically impossible because there is often a significant amount of ambiguity (e.g., estimation error) in specifying the distribution. In this paper, we adopt the widely used multivariate normal distribution to model the uncertain parameters. However, we assume that the mean vector and covariance matrix of the distribution are within some ambiguity sets. We then show how to find the worst-case performance of a given policy for all distributions constrained by the ambiguity sets. This worst-case performance provides a robust evaluation of the policy. We test our algorithm on a famous integrated model of climate change, known as the Dynamic Integrated Model of Climate and the Economy (DICE model). We find that the DICE model is sensitive to the means and covariance of the parameters. Furthermore, we find that, based on the DICE model, moderately tight environmental policies robustly outperform the no controls policy and the famous aggressive policies proposed by Stern and Gore.

This paper was accepted by Dimitris Bertsimas, optimization.
The Impact of Royalty Contract Revision in a Multistage Strategic R&D Alliance
Authors: Xiao Wenqiang , Xu Yi
Published: August 2012

This paper investigates the impact of royalty revision on incentives and profits in a two-stage (research and development (R&D) stage and marketing stage) alliance with a marketer and an innovator. The marketer offers royalty contracts to the innovator. We find that the potential for royalty revision leads to more severe distortions in the optimal initial royalty contracts offered by the marketer. We show that if the innovator plays a significant role in the marketing stage, the marketer should offer a low royalty rate initially and then revise the royalty rate up later. Otherwise, she should do the opposite. We identify two major effects of royalty revision. First, royalty revision provides the marketer with a flexibility to dynamically adjust royalty rates across the two stages of the alliance to better align the innovator's incentives. This incentive-realigning effect improves the marketer's profit. Second, royalty revision makes it harder for the marketer to obtain private information from the innovator, because the innovator worries that the marketer will take advantage of the information to revise the initial contract to a more favorable one to herself later. This information-revealing effect hurts the marketer's profit. We characterize in what kind of alliances marketers would benefit the most from royalty revision so that managers should clearly establish the expectation for royalty revision, and in what kind of alliances markerters would not benefit from royalty revision so that managers should commit not to revise the initial royalty contract. With royalty contracts that are contingent on the R&D outcome of the R&D stage, we find that contingent contract structure could be either substitutable (by fully capturing the incentive re-aligning effect) or complementary (by weakening the information revealing effect) to royalty revision, depending on whether the innovator plays a significant role in the marketing stage. Managers may need to use a contingent contract (if possible) either to replace or with royalty revision accordingly to improve profits.

This paper was accepted by Kamalini Ramdas, entrepreneurship and innovation.
Optimal Decision Stimuli for Risky Choice Experiments: An Adaptive Approach
Authors: Cavagnaro Daniel R. , Gonzalez Richard , Myung Jay I. , Pitt Mark A.
Published: August 2012

Collecting data to discriminate between models of risky choice requires careful selection of decision stimuli. Models of decision making aim to predict decisions across a wide range of possible stimuli, but practical limitations force experimenters to select only a handful of them for actual testing. Some stimuli are more diagnostic between models than others, so the choice of stimuli is critical. This paper provides the theoretical background and a methodological framework for adaptive selection of optimal stimuli for discriminating among models of risky choice. The approach, called adaptive design optimization, adapts the stimulus in each experimental trial based on the results of the preceding trials. We demonstrate the validity of the approach with simulation studies aiming to discriminate expected utility, weighted expected utility, original prospect theory, and cumulative prospect theory models.

This paper was accepted by Teck Ho, decision analysis.
Fee-for-Service Contracts in Pharmaceutical Distribution Supply Chains: Design, Analysis, and Management
Authors: Zhao Hui , Xiong Chuanhui , Gavirneni Srinagesh , Fein Adam
Published: August 2012

Fee-for-service (FFS) contracts, first introduced in 2004, dramatically changed the way the pharmaceutical distribution supply chains are designed, managed, and operated. Investment buying (IB), forward buying in anticipation of drug price increases, used to be the way the distributors made most of their profits. FFS contracts limit the amount of inventory distributors can carry at any time (by imposing an inventory cap) and require inventory information sharing from the distributors to the manufacturers while compensating the distributors with a per-unit fee. In spite of its widespread popularity, the FFS model has never been rigorously analyzed or its effectiveness carefully tabulated. In this paper, we formulate the multiperiod stochastic inventory problems faced by the manufacturer and the distributor under the FFS and IB models, derive their optimal policies, and develop procedures to compute the policy parameters. We show that FFS contracts can improve the total supply chain profit—the manufacturer and distributor are now able to share a larger pie. Thus, there exists a range of the per-unit fees that leads to Pareto improvement. Simulation results show that such improvement is approximately 1.7% on average, and as much as 5.5%, and the improvement increases as the inventory cap decreases. Determining the Pareto-improving per-unit fees is a source of contention in FFS contract negotiation, and we propose a simple yet effective heuristic for computing them. Furthermore, supply chain transparency facilitated by the FFS contracts can significantly reduce the manufacturer's supply–demand mismatch costs (by approximately 3.63% on average and as much as 13.01%) and we show that the manufacturer should take advantage of this transparency especially when the inventory cap and drug price increase are high and demand variance is low. We believe that these results have the potential to improve the efficiency of pharmaceutical distribution supply chains, thus reducing the healthcare costs that are such a big burden on the U.S. economy.
Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Quality of Health Care Among Children with Autism and Other Developmental Disabilities
Authors: Magaña Sandra , Parish Susan L , Rose Roderick A , Timberlake Maria , Swaine Jamie G
Published: August 2012

We examined racial and ethnic disparities in quality of care for children with autism and other developmental disabilities and whether disparities varied for children with autism compared to children with other developmental disabilities. Analyzing data from the National Survey of Children with Special Health Care Needs (N  =  4,414), we compared Black and Latino children to White children. We found racial and ethnic disparities on 5 of 6 quality outcomes. The interaction between race and disability status indicated that disparities in quality indicators were exacerbated among families of children with autism. These analyses suggest that children with autism, particularly those who are Latino and Black, face greater challenges in receiving high-quality health care.
Physiological Measurements as Validation of Alertness Observations: An Exploratory Case Study of Three Individuals with Profound Intellectual and Multiple Disabilities
Authors: Munde Vera , Vlaskamp Carla , Vos Pieter , Maes Bea , Ruijssenaars Wied
Published: August 2012

Although observation largely takes into account the needs and abilities of individuals with profound intellectual and multiple disabilities, several difficulties are related to this assessment method as well. Our aim in this study was to investigate what possibilities the use of physiological measurements make available to validate alertness observations. Measurements of five physiological parameters were compared with video observations of three individuals with profound intellectual and multiple disabilities. Because our first findings are broadly in line with those of studies involving individuals in the general population, we hypothesize that physiological measurements can be used to validate alertness observations in individuals with profound intellectual and multiple disabilities. Future studies are needed to compensate for the limitations of this study and to answer ensuing questions.
Seven Interactional Benefits of Physical Tasks for People with Intellectual Disability
Authors: Antaki Charles
Published: August 2012

People with intellectual disability can be supported by staff encouraging their skills in communication and in physical tasks. In a qualitative study, I used video evidence from a residential home and from 2 garden therapy services to argue that physical tasks are structurally more likely to result in successful performance (and corresponding positive assessment), whereas verbal tasks tend to result in failure (and corresponding correction and unsatisfactory interaction). I suggested 7 distinguishing characteristics of the 2 kinds of task and briefly discussed the policy implications for supporting people with intellectual disability.
A Longitudinal Study of Narrative Development in Children and Adolescents with Down Syndrome
Authors: Cleave Patricia , Bird Elizabeth Kay-Raining , Czutrin Rachael , Smith Lindsey
Published: August 2012

The present study examined narrative development in children and adolescents with Down syndrome longitudinally. Narratives were collected from 32 children and adolescents with Down syndrome three times over a 1-year period. Both micro- and macrolevel analyses were conducted. Significant growth over the 1-year period was seen in semantic complexity and narrative structure. However, there was no evidence of growth in syntactic complexity or narrative length. Mental age and comprehension skills at Time 1 predicted scores in all 4 areas at Time 3. Expressive language skills added further to the prediction of syntactic complexity and story length.
Measuring Physical Activity with Pedometers in Older Adults with Intellectual Disability: Reactivity and Number of Days
Authors: Hilgenkamp Thessa , Van Wijck Ruud , Evenhuis Heleen
Published: August 2012

The minimum number of days of pedometer monitoring needed to estimate valid average weekly step counts and reactivity was investigated for older adults with intellectual disability. Participants (N  =  268) with borderline to severe intellectual disability ages 50 years and older were instructed to wear a pedometer for 14 days. The outcome measure was steps per day. Reactivity was investigated with repeated measures analysis of variance, and monitoring frame was assessed by comparing combinations of days with average weekly step counts (with intraclass correlation coefficients [ICCs] and regression analyses). No reactivity was present. Any combination of 4 days resulted in ICCs of 0.96 or higher and 90% of explained variance. The study concludes that any 4 days of wearing a pedometer is sufficient to validly measure physical activity in older adults with intellectual disability.
Maximizing the Reliability of Genomic Selection by Optimizing the Calibration Set of Reference Individuals: Comparison of Methods in Two Diverse Groups of Maize Inbreds (Zea maysL.)
Authors: Rincent R , Laloë D , Nicolas S , Altmann T , Brunel D , Revilla P , Rodríguez V M , Moreno-Gonzalez J , Melchinger A , Bauer E , Schoen C-C , Meyer N , Giauffret C , Bauland C , Jamin P , Laborde J , Monod H , Flament P , Charcosset A , Moreau L
Published: August 2012

Genomic selection refers to the use of genotypic information for predicting breeding values of selection candidates. A prediction formula is calibrated with the genotypes and phenotypes of reference individuals constituting the calibration set. The size and the composition of this set are essential parameters affecting the prediction reliabilities. The objective of this study was to maximize reliabilities by optimizing the calibration set. Different criteria based on the diversity or on the prediction error variance (PEV) derived from the realized additive relationship matrix–best linear unbiased predictions model (RA–BLUP) were used to select the reference individuals. For the latter, we considered the mean of the PEV of the contrasts between each selection candidate and the mean of the population (PEVmean) and the mean of the expected reliabilities of the same contrasts (CDmean). These criteria were tested with phenotypic data collected on two diversity panels of maize (Zea mays L.) genotyped with a 50k SNPs array. In the two panels, samples chosen based on CDmean gave higher reliabilities than random samples for various calibration set sizes. CDmean also appeared superior to PEVmean, which can be explained by the fact that it takes into account the reduction of variance due to the relatedness between individuals. Selected samples were close to optimality for a wide range of trait heritabilities, which suggests that the strategy presented here can efficiently sample subsets in panels of inbred lines. A script to optimize reference samples based on CDmean is available on request.
Demographic Inference Using Spectral Methods on SNP Data, with an Analysis of the Human Out-of-Africa Expansion
Authors: Lukić Sergio , Hey Jody
Published: August 2012

We present an implementation of a recently introduced method for estimating the allele-frequency spectrum under the diffusion approximation. For single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) frequency data from multiple populations, the method computes numerical solutions to the allele-frequency spectrum (AFS) under a complex model that includes population splitting events, migration, population expansion, and admixture. The solution to the diffusion partial differential equation (PDE) that mimics the evolutionary process is found by means of truncated polynomial expansions. In the absence of gene flow, our computation of frequency spectra yields exact results. The results are compared to those that use a finite-difference method and to forward diffusion simulations. In general, all the methods yield comparable results, although the polynomial-based approach is the most accurate in the weak-migration limit. Also, the economical use of memory attained by the polynomial expansions makes the study of models with four populations possible for the first time. The method was applied to a four-population model of the human expansion out of Africa and the peopling of the Americas, using the Environmental Genome Project (EGP) SNP database. Although our confidence intervals largely overlapped previous analyses of these data, some were significantly different. In particular, estimates of migration among African, European, and Asian populations were considerably lower than those in a previous study and the estimated time of migration out of Africa was earlier. The estimated time of founding of a human population outside of Africa was 52,000 years (95% confidence interval: 36,000–80,800 years).
An Indel Polymorphism in the Hybrid Incompatibility Gene Lethal Hybrid Rescue of Drosophila Is Functionally Relevant
Authors: Maheshwari Shamoni , Barbash Daniel A
Published: August 2012

Hybrid incompatibility (HI) genes are frequently observed to be rapidly evolving under selection. This observation has led to the attractive conjecture that selection-derived protein-sequence divergence is culpable for incompatibilities in hybrids. The Drosophila simulans HI gene Lethal hybrid rescue (Lhr) is an intriguing case, because despite having experienced rapid sequence evolution, its HI properties are a shared function inherited from the ancestral state. Using an unusual D. simulans Lhr hybrid rescue allele, Lhr2, we here identify a conserved stretch of 10 amino acids in the C terminus of LHR that is critical for causing hybrid incompatibility. Altering these 10 amino acids weakens or abolishes the ability of Lhr to suppress the hybrid rescue alleles Lhr1 or Hmr1, respectively. Besides single-amino-acid substitutions, Lhr orthologs differ by a 16-aa indel polymorphism, with the ancestral deletion state fixed in D. melanogaster and the derived insertion state at very high frequency in D. simulans. Lhr2 is a rare D. simulans allele that has the ancestral deletion state of the 16-aa polymorphism. Through a series of transgenic constructs we demonstrate that the ancestral deletion state contributes to the rescue activity of Lhr2. This indel is thus a polymorphism that can affect the HI function of Lhr.
Multiple Pathways of Duplication Formation with and Without Recombination (RecA) in Salmonella enterica
Authors: Reams Andrew B , Kofoid Eric , Kugelberg Elisabeth , Roth John R
Published: August 2012

Duplications are often attributed to “unequal recombination” between separated, directly repeated sequence elements (>100 bp), events that leave a recombinant element at the duplication junction. However, in the bacterial chromosome, duplications form at high rates (10−3–10−5/cell/division) even without recombination (RecA). Here we describe 1800 spontaneous lac duplications trapped nonselectively on the low-copy F′128 plasmid, where lac is flanked by direct repeats of the transposable element IS3 (1258 bp) and by numerous quasipalindromic REP elements (30 bp). Duplications form at a high rate (10−4/cell/division) that is reduced only about 11-fold in the absence of RecA. With and without RecA, most duplications arise by recombination between IS3 elements (97%). Formation of these duplications is stimulated by IS3 transposase (Tnp) and plasmid transfer functions (TraI). Three duplication pathways are proposed. First, plasmid dimers form at a high rate stimulated by RecA and are then modified by deletions between IS3 elements (resolution) that leave a monomeric plasmid with an IS3-flanked lac duplication. Second, without RecA, duplications occur by single-strand annealing of DNA ends generated in different sister chromosomes after transposase nicks DNA near participating IS3 elements. The absence of RecA may stimulate annealing by allowing chromosome breaks to persist. Third, a minority of lac duplications (3%) have short (0–36 bp) junction sequences (SJ), some of which are located within REP elements. These duplication types form without RecA, Tnp, or Tra by a pathway in which the palindromic junctions of a tandem inversion duplication (TID) may stimulate deletions that leave the final duplication.
The Chromosomal Passenger Complex Is Required for Meiotic Acentrosomal Spindle Assembly and Chromosome Biorientation
Authors: Radford Sarah J , Jang Janet K , McKim Kim S
Published: August 2012

DURING meiosis in the females of many species, spindle assembly occurs in the absence of the microtubule-organizing centers called centrosomes. In the absence of centrosomes, the nature of the chromosome-based signal that recruits microtubules to promote spindle assembly as well as how spindle bipolarity is established and the chromosomes orient correctly toward the poles is not known. To address these questions, we focused on the chromosomal passenger complex (CPC). We have found that the CPC localizes in a ring around the meiotic chromosomes that is aligned with the axis of the spindle at all stages. Using new methods that dramatically increase the effectiveness of RNA interference in the germline, we show that the CPC interacts with Drosophila oocyte chromosomes and is required for the assembly of spindle microtubules. Furthermore, chromosome biorientation and the localization of the central spindle kinesin-6 protein Subito, which is required for spindle bipolarity, depend on the CPC components Aurora B and Incenp. Based on these data we propose that the ring of CPC around the chromosomes regulates multiple aspects of meiotic cell division including spindle assembly, the establishment of bipolarity, the recruitment of important spindle organization factors, and the biorientation of homologous chromosomes.
Microtubule-Depolymerizing Kinesin KLP10A Restricts the Length of the Acentrosomal Meiotic Spindle in Drosophila Females
Authors: Radford Sarah J , Harrison Andrew M , McKim Kim S
Published: August 2012

During cell division, a bipolar array of microtubules forms the spindle through which the forces required for chromosome segregation are transmitted. Interestingly, the spindle as a whole is stable enough to support these forces even though it is composed of dynamic microtubules, which are constantly undergoing periods of growth and shrinkage. Indeed, the regulation of microtubule dynamics is essential to the integrity and function of the spindle. We show here that a member of an important class of microtubule-depolymerizing kinesins, KLP10A, is required for the proper organization of the acentrosomal meiotic spindle in Drosophila melanogaster oocytes. In the absence of KLP10A, microtubule length is not controlled, resulting in extraordinarily long and disorganized spindles. In addition, the interactions between chromosomes and spindle microtubules are disturbed and can result in the loss of contact. These results indicate that the regulation of microtubule dynamics through KLP10A plays a critical role in restricting the length and maintaining bipolarity of the acentrosomal meiotic spindle and in promoting the contacts that the chromosomes make with microtubules required for meiosis I segregation.
The Relation of Codon Bias to Tissue-Specific Gene Expression inArabidopsis thaliana
Authors: Camiolo Salvatore , Farina Lorenzo , Porceddu Andrea
Published: August 2012

The codon composition of coding sequences plays an important role in the regulation of gene expression. Herein, we report systematic differences in the usage of synonymous codons among Arabidopsis thaliana genes that are expressed specifically in distinct tissues. Although we observed that both regionally and transcriptionally associated mutational biases were associated significantly with codon bias, they could not explain the observed differences fully. Similarly, given that transcript abundances did not account for the differences in codon usage, it is unlikely that selection for translational efficiency can account exclusively for the observed codon bias. Thus, we considered the possible evolution of codon bias as an adaptive response to the different abundances of tRNAs in different tissues. Our analysis demonstrated that in some cases, codon usage in genes that were expressed in a broad range of tissues was influenced primarily by the tissue in which the gene was expressed maximally. On the basis of this finding we propose that genes that are expressed in certain tissues might show a tissue-specific compositional signature in relation to codon usage. These findings might have implications for the design of transgenes in relation to optimizing their expression.
Diet and functional feeding groups of Chironomidae (Diptera) in the Middle Paraná River floodplain (Argentina)
Authors: Galizzi M. Celeste , Zilli Florencia , Marchese Mercedes
Published: August 2012

The gut contents of nine genera of benthic Chironominae and Tanypodinae from the Middle Paraná River floodplain habitats (a lake and a secondary channel) were analyzed to determine their feeding patterns and functional feeding groups. Amorphous detritus, animal and vegetal tissues, and mineral materials (predominantly sand) were observed in the larval guts. Amorphous detritus were the main food item found for Polypedilum (Tripodura) sp., Chironomus gr. decorus sp., Endotribelos sp., Phaenopsectra sp., Cladopelma sp., and Pelomus sp. (Chironominae), while animal tissues (mainly oligochaetes) were the most important food item found for Ablabesmyia (Karelia) sp., Coelotanypus sp., and Procladius sp. (Tanypodinae). Dietary overlap was calculated for all pairs of genera. Within predators, the highest overlap was obtained between Coelotanypus sp. and Ablabesmyia (Karelia) sp., while within detritivores the highest niche overlap was obtained between Endotribelos sp. and Phaenopsectra sp.
Análise comparativa da abundância do coral invasor Tubastraea spp: (Cnidaria, Anthozoa) em substratos naturais e artificiais na Ilha Grande, Rio de Janeiro, Brasil
Authors: Mangelli Tárcio Santos , Creed Joel Christopher
Published: August 2012

Os corais exóticos coral-sol (Tubastraea coccinea Lesson, 1829 e T. tagusensis Wells, 1982) invadiram as comunidades biológicas sésseis dos costões rochosos da Baía da Ilha Grande, Rio de Janeiro, Brasil. Estruturas artificiais (piers, decks ou cais) foram selecionadas em quatro locais na Ilha Grande, e comparadas com substratos naturais adjacentes através de quantificação da densidade de cada espécie de Tubastraea, além da porcentagem de cobertura da biota bêntica. A densidade média geral de Tubastraea tagusensis foi de 80,3 indivíduos.m-2, aproximadamente o dobro encontrado para T. coccinea. Tendo em vista que sua presença alterou as abundâncias relativas e a riqueza de espécies, ambas as espécies invasoras modificaram a estrutura das comunidades invadidas. Tubastraea coccinea foi mais abundante em substratos artificiais do que naturais, porém, não foi detectada diferença na abundância de Tubastraea tagusensis entre substratos. A abundância de ambas as espécies variou com a profundidade e o local, e houve uma relação positiva entre a idade do substrato artificial e a abundância dos corais. Aparentemente T. tagusensis é competitivamente superior à T. coccinea, com uma inserção maior nas comunidades nativas em substratos naturais. Ambas as espécies tem grande potencial competitivo e podem utilizar substratos artificiais para iniciar seu estabelecimento em novos locais.