bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
BOLD and its connection to dopamine release in human striatum: a cross-cohort comparison
Authors: Lohrenz Terry , Kishida Kenneth T. , Montague P. Read
Published: August 2016

Activity in midbrain dopamine neurons modulates the release of dopamine in terminal structures including the striatum, and controls reward-dependent valuation and choice. This fluctuating release of dopamine is thought to encode reward prediction error (RPE) signals and other value-related information crucial to decision-making, and such models have been used to track prediction error signals in the striatum as encoded by BOLD signals. However, until recently there have been no comparisons of BOLD responses and dopamine responses except for one clear correlation of these two signals in rodents. No such comparisons have been made in humans. Here, we report on the connection between the RPE-related BOLD signal recorded in one group of subjects carrying out an investment task, and the corresponding dopamine signal recorded directly using fast-scan cyclic voltammetry in a separate group of Parkinson's disease patients undergoing DBS surgery while performing the same task. The data display some correspondence between the signal types; however, there is not a one-to-one relationship. Further work is necessary to quantify the relationship between dopamine release, the BOLD signal and the computational models that have guided our understanding of both at the level of the striatum.

This article is part of the themed issue ‘Interpreting BOLD: a dialogue between cognitive and cellular neuroscience’.
Apiotrichum terrigenum sp. nov., a soil-associated yeast found in both the UK and mainland Europe
Authors: James Stephen A. , Bond Christopher J. , Stanley Rachael , Ravella Sreenivas R. , Péter Gábor , Dlauchy Dénes , Roberts Ian N.
Published: August 2016

Five arthroconidium-producing yeast strains representing a novel Trichosporon-like species were independently isolated from the UK, Hungary and Norway. Two strains (Bio4T and Bio21) were isolated from biogas reactors used for processing grass silage, with a third strain (S8) was isolated from soil collected at the same UK site. Two additional strains were isolated in mainland Europe, one from soil in Norway (NCAIM Y.02175) and the other from sewage in Hungary (NCAIM Y.02176). Sequence analyses of the D1/D2 domains of the LSU rRNA gene and internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region indicated that the novel species belongs to the recently reinstated genus Apiotrichum and is most closely related to Apiotrichum scarabaeorum, a beetle-associated species first found in South Africa. Despite having similar physiological characteristics, the two species can be readily distinguished from one another by ITS sequencing. The species name Apiotrichum terrigenum sp. nov. is proposed to accommodate these strains, with Bio4T (=CBS 11373T=NCYC 3540T) designated as the type strain. The Mycobank deposit number is MB817431.
From deep TLS validation to ensembles of atomic models built from elemental motions. Addenda and corrigendum
Authors: Urzhumtsev Alexandre , Afonine Pavel V. , Van Benschoten Andrew H. , Fraser James S. , Adams Paul D.
Published: August 2016

Researcher feedback has indicated that in Urzhumtsevet al.[(2015)Acta Cryst.D71, 1668–1683] clarification of key parts of the algorithm for interpretation of TLS matrices in terms of elemental atomic motions and corresponding ensembles of atomic models is required. Also, it has been brought to the attention of the authors that the incorrect PDB code was reported for one of test models. These issues are addressed in this article.
The impact of environmental uncertainty on increasing customer satisfaction through corporate social responsibility
Authors: Sun Wenbin , Price Joseph M.
Published: August 2016

Purpose

This paper aims to examine the relationship between corporate social responsibility and customer satisfaction and evaluate the impact of this relationship on firm performance, specifically the moderating impact of environmental uncertainty on the corporate social responsibility to customer satisfaction relationship.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors constructed a panel data set by collecting data from Fortune Magazine’s World’s Most Admired Companies and Compustat. The authors used two methods, Newey–West and White–Cluster robust regressions, to estimate the empirical models.

Findings

The results from this moderating analysis of environmental uncertainty are largely consistent with this study's hypotheses. In particular, the authors find that corporate social responsibility contributes to increased customer satisfaction for large firms, in highly competitive environments and in highly dynamic industries. This paper also finds that in high growth environments, corporate social responsibility can result in decreased customer satisfaction.

Research limitations/implications

The study is limited to environmental factors in the examination boundary conditions. Researchers should broaden the moderators to include criteria such as market orientation, marketing and/or operations capability.

Practical implications

The empirical results provide practitioners with insight to better translate corporate social responsibility into higher levels of customer satisfaction.

Social implications

The empirical results support corporate social responsibility as a viable and productive means of increasing customer satisfaction.

Originality/value

This study is the first that builds upon the work of Luo and Bhattacharya (2006) and Saeidiet al.(2015) by examining environmental factors that influence the relationship between corporate social responsibility and customer satisfaction. This research provides useful implications for marketing theories as well as business practice.
Controversial advertising: transgressing the taboo of gender-based violence
Authors: Gurrieri Lauren , Brace-Govan Jan , Cherrier Helene
Published: August 2016

Purpose

To date, the cultural and societal effects of controversial advertising have been insufficiently considered. This study aims to investigate how advertising that uses violent representations of women transgresses the taboo of gender-based violence.

Design/methodology/approach

This study encompasses a visual analysis of the subject positions of women in five violent advertising representations and a critical discourse analysis of the defensive statements provided by the client organisations subsequent to the public outrage generated by the campaigns.

Findings

The authors identify taboo transgression in the Tease, Piece of Meat and Conquered subject positions, wherein women are represented as suggestive, dehumanised and submissive. Client organisations seek to defend these taboo transgressions through the use of three discursive strategies – subverting interpretations, making authority claims and denying responsibility – which legitimise the control of the organisations but simultaneously work to obscure the power relations at play.

Practical implications

The representational authority that advertisers hold as cultural intermediaries in society highlights the need for greater consideration of the ethical responsibilities in producing controversial advertisements, especially those which undermine the status of women.

Social implications

Controversial advertising that transgresses the taboo of violence against women reinforces gender norms and promotes ambiguous and adverse understandings of women’s subjectivities by introducing pollution and disorder to gender politics.

Originality/value

This paper critically assesses the societal implications of controversial advertising practices, thus moving away from the extant focus on managerial implications. Through a conceptualisation of controversial advertising as transgressing taboo boundaries, the authors highlight how advertising plays an important role in shifting these boundaries whereby taboos come to be understood as generative and evolving. However, this carries moral implications which may have damaging societal effects.
Theorising practices to deliberately or accidentally control customers
Authors: Kasabov Edward
Published: August 2016

Purpose

This paper aims to empirically explore and theorise the application of technology control over customers during call-centre interactions. The author seeks to ascertain distinct types of technology-mediated control, with potentially distinct ingredients and consequences for repatronage and service relations.

Design/methodology/approach

During three stages of empirical research across Western and non-Western, developed and developing country settings and across call-centre types, customers who have experienced control during call-centre exchanges, as well as providers (operatives, supervisors and managers) are interviewed as part of ethnographic research also reliant upon observation and company documentation.

Findings

Findings suggest that, first, the rapid adoption of technology has facilitated the application of control during provider-customer interactions, second, such control may be more widespread than suggested in the literature and, third, there are various types, processes and ingredients of technology-mediated control. The discussion contrasts deliberate from accidental control.

Research limitations/implications

Studies on call-centre interactions often assume that relationships between providers and customers follow customer-centric expectations in service marketing theory. Only a minority of theorists in service marketing contest these assumptions, arguing instead that service providers may be using techniques to control customers by dominating and regulating processes and outcomes of interactions with customers. This study advances extant literature by theorising control types, their ingredients and impact on service provision.

Practical implications

Businesses may benefit from knowing when, how and how much customers are willing to revoke control. Customers are shown to accept being controlled, with customers’ tolerance for control being larger than anticipated.

Originality/value

This is a rare attempt to analyse control over customers seen through the eyes of providers across levels of decision-making within organisational hierarchies. Whereas research tends to study control in generic terms, the author demonstrates the multifarious and complex nature of control. The author challenges conventional thinking in the discipline by providing empirical evidence of, and theorising, how and why customers permit themselves to be controlled in service relations.
Staying engaged on the job
Authors: Anaza Nwamaka A. , Nowlin Edward L. , Wu Gavin Jiayun
Published: August 2016

Purpose

Frontline employees face constant emotional demands in the course of providing services to their customers, which can impact job engagement. This study aims to investigate the influence of emotional labor (surface and deep acting) and job resources (having a mentor and availability of expressive emotional network resources) on employees’ customer orientation and their relationship to three dimensions of job engagement: vigor, absorption and dedication.

Design/methodology/approach

Using data collected from food service providers, a conceptual model based on the job demands–resources theory is developed and tested.

Findings

Findings show that having a mentor and expressive emotional network resources increases customer orientation, which in turn increases vigor, absorption and dedication. However, surface acting negatively affects customer orientation, which indirectly reduces job engagement.

Originality/value

Consistent with the main tenet of the job-demands and resources theory, it was found that surface acting reduces engagement, whereas job resources (expressive emotional network resources and mentorship) boost engagement. Moreover, the results suggest that the commercialization of human feelings still remains an important topic for service providers to consider during service interactions because its presence affects frontline service employee engagement levels.
Corporate misconduct and the loss of trust
Authors: Davies Gary , Olmedo-Cifuentes Isabel
Published: August 2016

Purpose

This paper aims to identify a typology of corporate misconduct affecting trust; to test the relative ability of individual misconducts to reduce trust and; to explain differences in how individuals respond to corporate crises.

Design/methodology/approach

The main research design uses conjoint analysis. Respondents (n = 404) rated eight combinations of six types of misconduct, identified from prior work on trust as likely to reduce trust. Initial levels of trust were established by varying both country of origin and product type.

Findings

The importance ranking for the six types was consistent across most conditions, with “bending the law” and “not telling the truth” as the most salient and “acting unfairly” and “acting irresponsibly” as the least salient in damaging trust. The characteristics of the respondent influenced the effect size.

Practical implications

As loss of trust represents loss of reputation, understanding how and when the framing of misconduct damages trust is important in managing reputation risk. The impact of any report of misconduct can be moderated if attributed by a company, the media or the individual, to a type that is less damaging to trust.

Originality/value

This study adds to our understanding as to why individuals respond differently to corporate misconduct, and contributes to prior work on reputation damage. The typology of corporate misconduct developed and tested here offers a different framework for researchers and practitioners with which to explore loss of trust and to develop existing crisis communication theory.
Brand equity for football club organizations
Authors: Shuv-Ami Avichai
Published: August 2016

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to offer a “brand equity model” that will help football organizations to manage their appeal.

Design/methodology/approach

The proposed model utilizes structural equation modelling analysis to test the hypothesized marketing brand equity (MBE) model. The empirical part of the research stems from a large survey of 1,300 Israeli football fans.

Findings

As expected, knowledge about the team, the team’s image and its perceived personality significantly predicted positive attitudes toward the team. This in turn predicted commitment, which predicted recommendation, which predicted intentions. The linear regression to extract the seven parameters weights was highly significant (F= 163.5,p< 0.001) and explained 52 per cent (R2= 0.518) of the depended variable “price premium”.

Research limitations/implications

The new MBE model suggested here provides a relative index of brand equity for football club organizations that enables them to competitively compare the marketing equity of their club to that of their rivals. The MBE model also shows that commitment is a central component in the football club’s brand equity model. The current MBE model is the only model that provides a weight for each of the components. Each respective weight represents the internal contribution of each component to the final brand equity index. These weights indicate where an effort should be made to improve the equity of the brand.

Practical implications

Football teams may also need to focus on the constructs underlying the commitment (Shuv-Ami, 2012) of fans to their football club organization, that is, the team performance and satisfaction stemming from the fans’ experience with their team and the feelings of loyalty and involvement that represent the degree of fan engagement with the team. Although football teams do what they can to improve performance, much can be done in marketing to improve the other constructs and, thus, fan commitment. Improving the experience of fans, both on and off the field, regardless of whether the team is winning or losing, builds fan engagement.

Originality/value

The current research suggests two new brand equity models for football club organizations. One is a comprehensive theoretical model that combines and expands current conceptual brand equity models (Keller, 1993, 2008; Aaker, 1991, 1996; Keller and Lehmann, 2006); the other is an empirical model that makes it practical to measure the marketing strength or the brand equity of football clubs. The new empirical MBE suggested here provides a relative index of brand equity for football club organization that enable them to compare competitively the marketing equity of their club to that of their rivals. The MBE model also shows, for the first time, that commitment is a central component in the football club brand equity model. The current MBE is the only model that provides a weight for each of its component.
Raising the energy performance of historical dwellings
Authors: van Krugten L.T.F. , Hermans L.M.C. , Havinga L.C. , Pereira Roders A.R. , Schellen H.L.
Published: August 2016

Purpose

Earlier studies assume that historical dwellings and post-war dwellings in particular, are less sustainable than modern dwellings, justifying its demolition. Over time, historical buildings have been transformed and their energy performance improved. However, there is little known on the energy performance of historical dwellings. The purpose of this paper is to unveil the role of historical dwellings and its transformations in improving urban sustainability.

Design/methodology/approach

In this research, historical dwellings (built=1970) are distinguished in listed and unlisted dwellings. Three cities were selected as case study – Amsterdam, The Hague and Rotterdam – and three post-war neighborhoods – New-West, Mariahoeve and Ommoord. This research uses the difference in energy label (original vs current performance) to discuss the transformations of dwellings: comparing modern and historical; post-war and other historical; and listed and unlisted dwellings.

Findings

Findings reveal that historical and post-war dwellings have great potentials to raise the energy performance e.g. by applying after insulation and renewable energy sources. Furthermore, The Hague and its post-war neighborhood Mariahoeve have a considerably lower energy performance. Further research could relate the raising of energy performance to the cultural significance of such dwellings, to better discuss the role of attributes and their transformation to raising energy performance.

Originality/value

This paper addresses the knowledge gap of the current energy performance of historical dwellings, by presenting and discussing its role in improving urban sustainability.
“I see the future”
Authors: Duarte Alonso Abel , Austin Ian Patrick
Published: August 2016

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the associations between the resources of a Western Australian regional family firm exporting to Asia and innovation through the lens of the theory of innovation and the resource-based view (RBV) of the firm.

Design/methodology/approach

In-depth, un-structured telephone and face-to-face interviews were conducted with five members of the firm, including the co-owner. A visit to the business facilities complemented the data collection process.

Findings

The importance of tangible and intangible resources, such as forward thinking or investments in technologies, human capital and research is clearly illustrated; these resources positively influence innovative practices. Associations between the findings and the theoretical frameworks were identified. For instance, the imperfectly imitable and non-substitutable attributes comply with the RBV of the firm, and the hypothesised four dimensions of innovation. Importantly, the significance of strategic partnering emerges as an extension of these attributes.

Originality/value

This study addresses some knowledge gaps, first, contributing to the body of research on family firms’ adoption of innovation. In addition, the study contributes to the literature on regional Western Australian family firms operating internationally. This state makes a significant contribution to Australia’s economy, and its close geographic proximity to various important consumer markets highlights future opportunities for family firms in international trade. Despite such potential, research on global family firms operating in this state has been almost non-existent.
Adult third culture kids’ suitability as expatriates
Authors: Westropp Sasha , Cathro Virginia , Everett André M.
Published: August 2016

Purpose

Understanding expatriate performance, suitability, selection and development have long been identified as critical to international human resource management (IHRM). The authors explore how adult third culture kids (ATCKs) see themselves in regard to their future capacity to successfully engage in international assignments. This paper aims to confirm research suggesting ATCKs may indeed be invaluable to international organisations but that organisations might re-evaluate the form of IHRM support offered.

Design/methodology/approach

In-depth interviews with a small sample of ATCKs are used in an exploratory qualitative study.

Findings

The ATCKs see themselves as a genuine source of exceptionally capable, expatriate talent on the basis of their prior international experience in childhood and the capacity to socio-culturally adapt in a chameleon-like manner. This paper confirms research suggesting ATCKs may indeed be invaluable to international organisations but that organisations might re-evaluate the form of IHRM support offered. However, the flip-side of these self-perceptions is that they may appear rootless and restless, may be self-centred rather than organisationally oriented, and may voluntarily isolate themselves from more traditional expatriates instead opting to immerse themselves in the local host country scene.

Research limitations/implications

The findings are based on a small sample, and future research embracing a range of methodologies is envisaged.

Practical implications

The findings offer insights for practitioners and researchers, and ATCKs with reference to the selection of international assignment and performance management of ATCKs.

Originality/value

While some scholars have suggested that ATCKs may be ideal expatriate talent, the findings give focus to what might retain this talent in an organisation and suggests a future research agenda.
From medicalisation to riskisation: governing early childhood development
Authors: Tseng Fan‐Tzu
Published: August 2016

This study investigates the transformation of the regime of governing child developmental conditions in Taiwan. With the shift from a medicalised regime of disabilities to a riskised regime of developmental delays, early childhood development has become the primary focus of governance. Drawing upon a multi‐sited ethnography to follow the process by which the ideas and practices of early intervention are imported and adapted to local conditions, I elucidate how and why the new subject, that is, children with developmental risks and their families, emerged with the concomitant re‐configuration of governance. By using three riskisation strategies, namely, the truth claim of prevalence rate of developmental delays, mass screening with standardised instruments, and identification of risky families, child development is problematised collectively and surveilled individually. Within this new regime, every young child is no longer considered either normal or disabled but is rather located within a developmental risk continuum and subject to relentless medical and social interventions. While ‘returning to normal’ becomes the predominant goal of early intervention for developmentally delayed children, disabilities are increasingly enacted negatively and considered embodying an undesirable state of being. These changing delimitations and subsequent interventions have profoundly reshaped our understanding of the child, normality and disability.
‘Good’ patient/‘bad’ patient: clinical learning and the entrenching of inequality
Authors: Sointu Eeva
Published: August 2016

This article develops sociological understanding of the reproduction of inequality in medicine. The material is drawn from a longitudinal study of student experiences of clinical learning that entailed 72 qualitative in‐depth interviews with 27 medical students from five medical schools in the USA. To highlight the subtle, yet powerful, ways in which inequality gets entrenched, this article analyses ideas of the ‘good’ and the ‘bad’ patient. Bad patients question not only biomedical knowledge but also medical students’ commitment to helping people. Good patients engage with medical students in a manner that upholds biomedical knowledge and enables students to assume the role of the healer and the expert. At the same time, good patients possess cultural skills that align with those of medical practitioners. This alignment is, furthermore, central to definitions of the good patient. Distinctions drawn between good and bad patients thus both embody as well as enforce social inequality. The subtle reproduction of inequality is, however, difficult to discern because judgements about patients entwine with emotion.
Gender Inequality and Economic Growth in Korea
Authors: Kim Jinyoung , Lee Jong‐Wha , Shin Kwanho
Published: August 2016

Calibrating an endogenous‐growth model to Korean data, we analyse the impact of gender inequality in Korea on long‐term economic growth. We find that gender equality policies that lower discrimination in the labour market or that increase the time spent by a father on childrearing can contribute positively to female labour market participation and per capita income growth. The simulation results show that when the disparities between men and women at home and in the labour market are completely removed, the female labour force participation rate increases from 54.4 to 67.5%, and the growth rate in per capita income rises from 3.6 to 4.1% on average over a generation.
Diagnosis of Helicobacter pylori‐related chronic gastritis, gastric adenoma and early gastric cancer by magnifying endoscopy
Authors: Soma Nei
Published: August 2016

Evaluating the prevalence and severity of gastritis by endoscopy is useful for estimating the risk of gastric cancer (GC). Moreover, understanding the endoscopic appearances of gastritis is important for diagnosing GC due to the fact that superficial mucosal lesions mimicing gastritis (gastritis‐like lesions) are quite difficult to be detected even with optimum preparation and the best technique, and in such cases tissue biopsy is often not very accurate for the diagnosis of gastric epithelial neoplasia. Magnifying endoscopy is a highly accurate technique for the detection of early gastric cancer (EGC). Recent reports have described that various novel endoscopic markers which, visualized by magnifying endoscopy with image‐enhanced system (ME‐IEE), can predict specific histopathological findings. Using ME‐IEE with vessels and surface classification system (VSCS) may represent an excellent diagnostic performance with high confidence and good reproducibility to the endoscopists if performed under consistent conditions, including observation under maximal magnification. The aim of this review was to discuss how to identify high‐risk groups for GC by endoscopy, and how to detect effectively signs of suspicious lesions by conventional white light imaging (C‐WLI) or chromoendoscopy (CE). Furthermore, to characterize suspicious lesions using ME‐IEE using the criteria and classification of EGC based upon VSCS.
minotaur: A platform for the analysis and visualization of multivariate results from genome scans with R Shiny
Authors: Verity Robert , Collins Caitlin , Card Daren C. , Schaal Sara M. , Wang Liuyang , Lotterhos Katie E.
Published: August 2016

Genome scans are widely used to identify ‘outliers’ in genomic data: loci with different patterns compared with the rest of the genome due to the action of selection or other nonadaptive forces of evolution. These genomic data sets are often high dimensional, with complex correlation structures among variables, making it a challenge to identify outliers in a robust way. The Mahalanobis distance has been widely used, but has the major limitation of assuming that data follow a simple parametric distribution. Here, we develop three new metrics that can be used to identify outliers in multivariate space, while making no strong assumptions about the distribution of the data. These metrics are implemented in the R packageminotaur, which also includes an interactive web‐based application for visualizing outliers in high‐dimensional data sets. We illustrate how these metrics can be used to identify outliers from simulated genetic data and discuss some of the limitations they may face in application.
Colchicine for prevention and treatment of cardiac diseases: A meta‐analysis
Authors: Papageorgiou Nikolaos , Briasoulis Alexandros , Lazaros George , Imazio Massimo , Tousoulis Dimitris
Published: August 2016

Aims

Colchicine has been suggested to be beneficial in preventing recurrent pericarditis. The goal of this study was to review all randomized controlled trials that assess the use of colchicine for the prevention and treatment of cardiac diseases.

Methods

We performed a meta‐analysis of the effects of colchicine on pericarditis, postpericardiotomy syndrome and postprocedural atrial fibrillation recurrence, in‐stent restenosis, gastrointestinal adverse effects, and treatment discontinuation rates. We conducted an EMBASE and MEDLINE search for prospective controlled trials.

Results

We identified 17 prospective controlled randomized studies with 2082 patients that received colchicine and 1982 controls with an average follow‐up duration of 12 months. Treatment with colchicine is associated with reduced risk of pericarditis recurrence/postpericardiotomy syndrome (OR: 0.37; 95% CI: 0.29‐0.47; P<0.001) and lower recurrence of atrial fibrillation rates after cardiac surgery and ablation procedures. However, gastrointestinal side effects were more common in patients treated with colchicine (OR: 2.6; 95% CI: 1.82‐3.72; P<0.001) in all subgroups except for those treated for prevention of recurrent pericarditis. The higher rates of side effects resulted in higher incidence of treatment discontinuation in patients treated with colchicine.

Conclusion

Colchicine appears to be efficacious and well tolerated for recurrent pericarditis/postpericardiotomy syndrome and recurrence of postprocedural atrial fibrillation. However, its efficacy may be limited by its gastrointestinal adverse events and treatment discontinuation rates particularly in postoperative patients.
Melanin‐Concentrating Hormone and Its MCH‐1 Receptor: Relationship Between Effects on Alcohol and Caloric Intake
Authors: Karlsson Camilla , Aziz Abdul Maruf Asif , Rehman Faazal , Pitcairn Caleb , Barchiesi Riccardo , Barbier Estelle , Wendel Hansen Mikaela , Gehlert Don , Steensland Pia , Heilig Markus , Thorsell Annika
Published: August 2016

Background

Reward and energy homeostasis are both regulated by a network of hypothalamic neuropeptide systems. The melanin‐concentrating hormone (MCH) and its MCH‐1 receptor (MCH1‐R) modulate alcohol intake, but it remains unknown to what extent this reflects actions on energy balance or reward. Here, we evaluated the MCH1‐R in regulation of caloric intake and motivation to consume alcohol in states of escalated consumption.

Methods

Rats had intermittent access (IA) to alcohol and were divided into high‐ and low‐drinking groups. Food and alcohol consumption was assessed after administration of an MCH1‐R antagonist, GW803430. Next, GW803430 was evaluated on alcohol self‐administration in protracted abstinence induced by IA in high‐drinking rats. Finally, the effect of GW803430 was assessed on alcohol self‐administration in acute withdrawal in rats exposed to alcohol vapor. Gene expression of MCH and MCH1‐R was measured in the hypothalamus and nucleus accumbens (NAc) in both acute and protracted abstinence.

Results

High‐drinking IA rats consumed more calories from alcohol than chow and GW803430 decreased both chow and alcohol intake. In low‐drinking rats, only food intake was affected. In protracted abstinence from IA, alcohol self‐administration was significantly reduced by pretreatment with GW803430 and gene expression of both MCH and the MCH1‐R were dysregulated in hypothalamus and NAc. In contrast, during acute withdrawal from vapor exposure, treatment with GW803430 did not affect alcohol self‐administration, and no changes in MCH or MCH1‐R gene expression were observed.

Conclusions

Our data suggest a dual role of MCH and the MCH1‐R in regulation of alcohol intake, possibly through mechanisms involving caloric intake and reward motivation. A selective suppression of alcohol self‐administration during protracted abstinence by GW803430 was observed and accompanied by adaptations in gene expression of MCH and MCH1‐R. Selective suppression of escalated consumption renders the MCH1‐R an attractive target for treatment of alcohol use disorders.
Trial reintroduction of buff weka to an unfenced mainland site in central South Island, New Zealand
Authors: Watts Jim O. , Moore Antoni , Palmer Dawn , Molteno Tim C. A. , Recio Mariano R. , Seddon Philip J.
Published: August 2016

While there have been significant conservation successes through restoration of island biodiversity following the eradication of invasive predators, a major challenge remains to reintroduce native species within larger mainland systems that support suites of introduced mammalian predators. Strategies to enhance establishment and persistence of reintroduced populations include pre‐release management to reduce post‐release dispersal, and habitat restoration such as predator control at release sites. Evaluation of such strategies critically requires strategic and intensive post‐release monitoring to identify drivers of success or the specific causes of failures. The buff weka (Gallirallus australis hectori), a flightless rail, was reintroduced to an unfenced mainland island on New Zealand's South. Past reintroductions on the mainland have all failed, but lack of post‐release monitoring has meant the exact cause and timing of failures is unknown. We investigate the ability of buff weka to establish a mainland population in conjunction with high intensity predator control. Nineteen buff weka (15 males, 4 females) were transferred from predator‐free islands in Lake Wakatipu, South Island, to Motatapu Station and held in a pre‐release enclosure for 6 weeks. Using a combination of very high frequency (VHF) and Global Positioning System (GPS) telemetry, released birds were monitored every 2 days for 4 months post‐release. Following release, no buff weka dispersed off Motatapu Station. Survival, however, was low and by the end of the study, 12 (63%) buff weka had been predated by introduced mustelids, ferrets (Mustela furo) and stoats (Mustela erminea). The lack of dispersal by buff weka suggests the presence of favourable resources on Motatapu Station. However, the low survival rate indicates that the predator‐trapping network was insufficient to suppress predator numbers to a level low enough for buff weka population persistence.
Maternal smoking during pregnancy and risk of stillbirth: results from a nationwide Danish register‐based cohort study
Authors: Bjørnholt Sarah M. , Leite Mimmi , Albieri Vanna , Kjaer Susanne K. , Jensen Allan
Published: August 2016

Introduction

Maternal smoking during pregnancy has been associated with an increased risk of stillbirth. Only a few studies have been conducted to determine whether smoking affects the risk of antepartum and intrapartum stillbirth differently or whether smoking cessation in early pregnancy reduces the risk. Previous results are inconclusive. We addressed these questions in a large Danish population‐based cohort study.

Material and methods

From the Danish Medical Birth Register, we identified 841 228 singleton births in Denmark between 1997 and 2010 and gathered detailed information on maternal smoking during pregnancy and the vital status of the infant. Associations (odds ratios with 95% confidence intervals) between maternal smoking and risk of stillbirth overall and separately for antepartum and intrapartum stillbirth were analyzed using logistic regression models (generalized estimating equations), adjusting for potential confounders.

Results

Any smoking during pregnancy increased the risk of stillbirth, both overall (odds ratio 1.42, 95% confidence interval 1.30–1.55) and for antepartum (odds ratio 1.38, 95% confidence interval 1.25–1.53) and intrapartum (odds ratio 1.52, 95% confidence interval 1.18–1.96) stillbirths. Women who quit smoking at the beginning of the second trimester at the latest had no increased risk of stillbirth overall (odds ratio 1.03, 95% confidence interval 0.80–1.32).

Conclusions

Maternal smoking during pregnancy increases the risk of stillbirth, both overall and for antepartum and intrapartum stillbirth separately. Women who quit smoking in the beginning of their pregnancy reduce their risk compared with that of non‐smokers.
Treatment Changes among Users of Non‐Vitamin K Antagonist Oral Anticoagulants in Atrial Fibrillation
Authors: Hellfritzsch Maja , Husted Steen Elkjær , Grove Erik Lerkevang , Rasmussen Lotte , Poulsen Birgitte Klindt , Johnsen Søren Paaske , Hallas Jesper , Pottegård Anton
Published: August 2016

Patients with atrial fibrillation discontinuing anticoagulant therapy are left unprotected against ischaemic stroke. Further, switching between oral anticoagulants may be associated with a transiently increased risk of bleeding or thromboembolism. However, there is a paucity of real‐life data on pattern of switching and discontinuation of oral anticoagulants. To address this, we conducted a nationwide drug utilization study including all registered Danish atrial fibrillation patients initiating a non‐VKA oral anticoagulant (NOAC) between August 2011 and February 2016. We assessed changes in anticoagulant treatment, including switching between oral anticoagulants and discontinuation of NOACs, and explored patient characteristics predicting these changes. We identified 50,632 patients with atrial fibrillation initiating NOAC therapy within the study period. The majority initiated dabigatran (49.9%) and one‐third had previously used VKA. Within 1 year, 10.1% switched to VKA, 4.8% switched to another NOAC and 14.4% discontinued treatment. The frequencies of switching to VKA and discontinuation were highest among NOAC users of young age (<55 years) and with low CHA2DS2‐VASc score (=0). However, the majority of patients (87.3%) stopping NOAC treatment had a CHA2DS2‐VASc score ≥1. We conclude that switching from VKA to NOAC, and to a lesser extent from NOAC to VKA, is common, as is early treatment discontinuation. The majority of treatment changes are observed in patients at increased risk of stroke. More research is warranted on the risks of bleeding and thromboembolism associated with switching and discontinuation of NOACs as well as the underlying reasons why these treatment changes occur.
Academic Functioning and Peer Influences: A Short‐Term Longitudinal Study of Network–Behavior Dynamics in Middle Adolescence
Authors: Rambaran J. Ashwin , Hopmeyer Andrea , Schwartz David , Steglich Christian , Badaly Daryaneh , Veenstra René
Published: August 2016

In this study, the associations between peer effects and academic functioning in middle adolescence (N = 342; 14–15 years old; 48% male) were investigated longitudinally. Similarity in achievement (grade point averages) and unexplained absences (truancy) was explained by both peer selection and peer influence, net of acceptance, and connectedness. Friendships were formed and maintained when adolescents had low levels of achievement or high levels of truancy. Friends influenced one another to increase rather than decrease in achievement and truancy. Moreover, friends’ popularity moderated peer influences in truancy in reciprocal friendships but not in unilateral friendships, whereas friends’ acceptance moderated peer influences in achievement in both unilateral and reciprocal friendships. The findings illustrate the dynamic interplay between peer effects and academic functioning.
Dynamin‐Related Protein 1 Promotes Mitochondrial Fission and Contributes to The Hippocampal Neuronal Cell Death Following Experimental Status Epilepticus
Authors: Chen Shang‐Der , Zhen Yen‐Yi , Lin Jui‐Wei , Lin Tsu‐Kung , Huang Chin‐Wei , Liou Chia‐Wei , Chan Samuel H.H. , Chuang Yao‐Chung
Published: August 2016

Aims

Prolonged seizure activity may result in mitochondrial dysfunction and lead to cell death in the hippocampus. Mitochondrial fission may occur in an early stage of neuronal cell death. This study examined the role of the mitochondrial fission protein dynamin‐related protein 1 (Drp1) in the hippocampus following status epilepticus.

Methods

Kainic acid (KA) was microinjected unilaterally into the hippocampal CA3 area in Sprague Dawley rats to induce prolonged seizure activity. Biochemical analysis, electron microscopy, and immunofluorescence staining were performed to evaluate the subsequent molecular and cellular events. The effects of pretreatment with a mitochondrial fission protein inhibitor, Mdivi‐1 (2 nmol), were also evaluated.

Results

Phosphorylation of Drp1 at serine 616 (p‐Drp1(Ser616)) was elevated from 1 to 24 h after the elicited seizure activity. Pretreatment with Mdivi‐1 decreased the Drp1 phosphorylation at Ser616 and limited the mitochondrial fission. Mdivi‐1 rescued the Complex I dysfunction, decreased the levels of oxidized proteins, decreased the activation of cytochrome c/caspase‐3 signaling, and blunted cell death in CA3 neurons.

Conclusion

Our findings suggest that activation of p‐Drp1(Ser616) is related to seizure‐induced neuronal damage. Modulation of p‐Drp1(Ser616) expression is accompanied by decreases in mitochondrial fission, mitochondrial dysfunction, and oxidation, providing a neuroprotective effect against seizure‐induced hippocampal neuronal damage.
All that glitters is not gold: prevalence and relevance of psychotic‐like experiences in clinical sample of children and adolescents aged 8–17 years old
Authors: Pontillo Maria , De Luca Maria , Pucciarini Maria Laura , Vicari Stefano , Armando Marco
Published: August 2016

Aim

Recent studies have examined the prevalence of psychotic‐like experiences (PLEs) and their relationship with functioning, psychopathology and distress in adult and mixed young adult and adolescent samples. There is, however, a lack of knowledge about the prevalence and clinical weight of PLEs in clinical child and adolescent (CAD) populations. Available research has primarily been conducted on community populations, and even clinical samples mostly used self‐reported questionnaires. These studies also recruited participants 12 years old and older, with a consequent lack of information on children from 8 to 11 years old. We examined the prevalence of PLEs and their relationship with psychiatric diagnosis, functioning, intelligence quotient (IQ), anxiety and depressive symptoms in a clinical sample aged 8–17 years old.

Methods

The study was conducted on a clinical sample of 46 CAD with PLEs compared to a clinical sample of 60 CAD without PLEs. The two groups were compared on global, social and role functioning, IQ, anxiety and depressive symptoms, and number of psychiatric diagnoses.

Results

Global, role and social functioning were significantly lower in the CAD clinical sample with PLEs. These significant differences were maintained when the covariate IQ, number of psychiatric diagnoses or level of anxiety or depression was added. No significant age‐related differences in the presence of PLEs were found.

Conclusion

The findings of this study show that PLEs are common in a clinical sample of CAD, even those under 12 years old. The presence of PLEs should therefore be investigated and considered in planning treatment of non‐psychotic psychiatric disorders in CAD.
What general medicine students of University of Rijeka know about dental avulsion?
Authors: Ivancic Jokic N. , Bakarcic D. , Grzic R. , Majstorovic M. , Sostarek M.
Published: August 2016

Introduction

Injuries of decidouos and premanent teeth can be rather hard, esspecially in combinatin if they involve adjacent supportive tissue. Among all injuries, the loss of the teeth is considered the most stressful for both a child and its parents. Tooth injury usually involves soft tissue damage, which means severe bleeding. As parents often look for help from their family general practitioners, it is very important that general practitioner is acquainted with the first aid in order to preserve the tooth and enable further skeletal development.

Materials and methods

This study was carried out in the form of a questionnaire, which was distributed among general medical students at the Medical studies of the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Rijeka, Croatia. The study included 86 pre‐doctoral students of the 3rd, 4th and 5th years of studies. The questionnaire consisted of 23 questions, which were related to demographics, personal experience in treating dental injuries, theoretical knowledge about dental injuries and their interest in additional training on the subject.

Results

The results showed that only 32.6% of the students heard of ‘tooth avulsion’. Replacement of the avulsed tooth in its original position in the jaw was considered by 77.6% of the students. In their entire education, 84.9% students didn't acquire any knowledge about dental injuries.

Conclusion

The study showed that medical students have very poor knowledge about dental injuries. Also, the vast majority of the students were neither informed nor educated about it during their studies.
miRNA miR‐17‐92 cluster is differentially regulated in the imiqumod‐treated skin but is not required for imiqumod‐induced psoriasis‐like dermatitis in mice
Authors: Wu Dinghong , Bi Xinling , Qu Le , Han Ling , Yin Congcong , Deng Jingwen , Dong Zheng , Mi Qing‐Sheng , Zhou Li
Published: August 2016

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) play very important roles in the control of immune cell and keratinocyte development and function and are implicated in skin inflammatory diseases, including psoriasis. miRNA miR‐17‐92 was reported to promote the differentiation of Th1 and Th1 cells and to regulate cell proliferation and apoptosis. Here we showed that imiquimod (IMQ) differentially regulates the expression of miR‐17‐92 cluster in the mouse skin, upregulating miR‐17 and miR‐19 families and downregulating miR‐92. To investigate whether miR‐17‐92 cluster is functionally involved in the psoriasis, we have generated three mutant mice with specific deletion or overexpression of miR‐17‐92 cluster in keratinocytes, or with deletion of miR‐17‐92 cluster in T cells. Interestingly, deletion or overexpression of miR‐17‐92 cluster in keratinocytes, or deletion of miR‐17‐92 in T cells did not significantly affect IMQ‐induced psoriasis‐like dermatitis development in the mutant mice compared with wild‐type littermates. Thus, miRNA miR‐17‐92 cluster may not be a key factor regulating imiqumod‐induced psoriasis‐like dermatitis.