bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
An Integrated Child Nutrition Intervention Improved Growth of Younger, more Malnourished Children in Northern Viet Nam
Authors: Schroeder Dirk G. , Pachón Helena , Dearden Kirk A. , Ha Tran Thu , Lang Tran Thi , Marsh David R.
Published: November 2018

Integrated nutrition programs are widely used to prevent and/or reverse childhood malnutrition, but rarely rigorously evaluated. The impact of such a program on the physical growth of young rural Vietnamese children was measured. We randomized six communes to receive an integrated nutrition program implemented by Save the Children. We matched six communes to serve as controls. Our sample consisted of 238 children (n = 119 per group) who were 5 to 30 months old on entry. Between December 1999 and December 2000, we measured weight and height monthly for six months and again at month 12. Principle outcomes were weight-for-age Z score (WAZ), height-for-age Z score (HAZ), and weight-for-height Z score (WHZ), and the changes among these measures. As expected, anthropometric indicators relative to international references worsened as the children aged. Overall, children in the intervention communes who were exposed to the integrated nutrition program did not show statistically significant better growth than comparison children. Intervention children who were younger (15 months or less) and more malnourished (less than −2 Z) at baseline, however, deteriorated significantly less than their comparable counterparts. Between baseline and month four, for example, intervention children who were malnourished and less than 15 months old at entry lost on average 0.05 WAZ while similar comparison children lost 0.25 WAZ (p = . 02). Lack of overall impact on growth may be due to a lower than expected prevalence of malnutrition at baseline and/or deworming of comparison children. Targeting nutrition interventions at very young children will have the maximum impact on growth.
What Influences Health Behavior? Learning from Caregivers of Young Children in Viet Nam
Authors: Dearden Kirk A. , Quan Le Nga , Do Mai , Marsh David R. , Schroeder Dirk G. , Pachón Helena , Lang Tran Thi
Published: November 2018

Globally, the caregiving behaviors that contribute to good nutritional status are well understood; but it is not clear why some caregivers perform these behaviors while others do not. This formative qualitative research was designed to improve understanding about what distinguishes caregivers who practice optimal behaviors from those who do not. This study is a one-time, cross-sectional baseline assessment of factors that affect nutrition-related behavior change. It took place in a rural northern province in Viet Nam. One hundred caregivers of children 6 to 17.9 months of age from five communes were interviewed. None of the five communes were included in the larger prospective study designed to test the impact of the community empowerment and nutrition program (CENP). Four behaviors were examined: feeding the child “positive deviant” foods, feeding the child during diarrheal episodes, washing the child's hands, and taking the child to the health center when ill. Results indicate that for all four behaviors, favorable social norms distinguished those who practiced each behavior from those who did not. Positive, reinforcing beliefs and attitudes were important determinants of every behavior except handwashing. Likewise, self-efficacy differentiated doers from non-doers for all behaviors except feeding during diarrheal episodes. Findings from this research suggest that fathers and in-laws of non-doers are more likely to fail to advise mothers about infant feeding and health than they are to provide negative advice. By discovering what distinguishes those who practice optimal behaviors from those who do not, researchers, program planners, and others are better equipped to develop targeted interventions that lead to positive behavior change.
Efficacy Trials of a Micronutrient Dietary Supplement in Schoolchildren and Pregnant Women in Tanzania
Authors: Latham Michael C. , Ash Deborah M. , Makola Diklar , Tatala Simon R. , Ndossi Godwin D. , Mehansho Haile
Published: November 2018

Traditionally, the main strategies used to control micronutrient deficiencies have been food diversification, consumption of medicinal supplements, and food fortification. In Tanzania, we conducted efficacy trials using a dietary supplement as a fourth approach. These were randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled efficacy trials conducted separately first in children and later in pregnant women. The dietary supplement was a powder used to prepare an orange-flavored beverage. In the school trial, children consumed 25 g per school day attended. In the pregnancy trial, women consumed the contents of two 25-g sachets per day with meals. This dietary supplement, unlike most medicinal supplements, provided 11 micronutrients, including iron and vitamin A, in physiologic amounts. In both trials we compared changes in subjects consuming either the fortified or the nonfortified supplement. Measures of iron and vitamin A status were similar in the groups at the baseline examination, but significantly different at follow-up, always in favor of the fortified groups. Children receiving the fortified supplement had significantly improved anthropometric measures when compared with controls. At four weeks postpartum, the breast milk of a supplemented group of women had significantly higher mean retinol content than did the milk of mothers consuming the nonfortified supplement. The advantages of using a fortified dietary supplement, compared with other approaches, include its ability to control several micronutrient deficiencies simultaneously; the use of physiologic amounts of nutrients, rather than megadoses that require medical supervision; and the likelihood of better compliance than with the use of pills because subjects liked the beverage used in these trials.
Communicating the Benefits of Micronutrient Fortification
Authors: Griffiths Marcia
Published: November 2018

Food fortification offers an affordable, convenient, and effective mechanism to improve the nutrition status of large segments of a population. However, the success of fortification has been less than public-health professionals and private-sector companies alike have hoped for, though often for different reasons. As new opportunities are available, success will be dictated by the ability of public health professionals to learn from private food companies’ marketing efforts and, in turn, for the food companies to learn from the public health sector about how to reach groups who need fortified products the most. Simply having fortified products on the market does not promise that consumers will use the products or that businesses will continue to promote them. Carefully crafted and strategically implemented behavior-change communication can inform and motivate consumers to purchase and use the products appropriately, and, in turn, can motivate food companies, program managers, and policy makers to participate in the marketing of these products. Public health and development professionals can learn from the success of private-sector companies in creating demand for products. Good consumer research and testing can guide effective development and marketing of fortified products, as they do for all products and services. Private-sector companies that know how to market products need assistance to focus on the poorest segments of a population to pursue cost-effective strategies to get the product to those in need, in addition to those with purchasing power for the new product. Audience-specific marketing strategies can ensure that the same fortified product reaches every person who would benefit from it.
Role of Public-Private Partnership in Micronutrient Food Fortification
Authors: Mannar M. G. Venkatesh , van Ameringen Marc
Published: November 2018

Iron, iodine, and vitamin A deficiencies prevent 30% of the world's population from reaching full physical and mental potential. Fortification of commonly eaten foods with micronutrients offers a cost-effective solution that can reach large populations. Effective and sustainable fortification will be possible only if the public sector (which has the mandate and responsibility to improve the health of the population), the private sector (which has experience and expertise in food production and marketing), and the social sector (which has grass-roots contact with the consumer) collaborate to develop, produce, and promote micronutrient-fortified foods. Food fortification efforts must be integrated within the context of a country's public health and nutrition situation as part of an overall micronutrient strategy that utilizes other interventions as well. Identifying a set of priority actions and initiating a continuous dialogue between the various sectors to catalyze the implementation of schemes that will permanently eliminate micronutrient malnutrition are urgently needed. The partners of such a national alliance must collaborate closely on specific issues relating to the production, promotion, distribution, and consumption of fortified foods. Such collaboration could benefit all sectors: National governments could reap national health, economic, and political benefits; food companies could gain a competitive advantage in an expanding consumer marketplace; the scientific, development, and donor communities could make an impact by achieving global goals for eliminating micronutrient malnutrition; and by demanding fortified foods, consumers empower themselves to achieve their full social and economic potential.
Urban-Rural Comparisons of Nutrition Status in the Third World
Authors: Atkinson Sarah J.
Published: November 2018

Debate continues on development priorities between urban and rural populations in emerging nations. A review of 33 papers on nutrition status and dietary intakes from different continents and countries found comparisons of poor urban and rural populations inconclusive. It is proposed that the two populations can never be truly comparable, and that urban-rural competition for resources is not useful. Several kinds of health and nutrition surveys could be useful for identifying priority groups and issues within the urban context.
Factors Related to the Duration of Breast-Feeding in Ankara, with Special Reference to Sociocultural Aspects
Authors: Büyükgebiz Benal , Çevik Necla , Oran Olcay
Published: November 2018

A questionnaire designed to elicit information on the relationship between certain sociocultural factors and the duration of breast-feeding was administered to 1,500 mothers. Giving colostrum, demand feeding, night feeding, feeding with both breasts, rooming-in, and planned pregnancy were factors found to have a positive effect on the duration of breast-feeding. Factors having a negative association included the use of prelacteal foods, mothers’ educations, smoking, and maternal employment. For employed mothers, paid maternity leave before and after delivery did not affect the duration of breast-feeding, but unpaid maternity leave and milk leave had a positive effect.
Surveillance of Micronutrient Deficiency
Authors: Trowbridge Frederick L.
Published: November 2018

Implementing practical and effective surveillance will be essential to control micronutrient deficiency successfully. A number of issues must be resolved, including selecting optimum target groups and appropriate indicators for surveillance, refining interpretive criteria, and defining technically sound and practical methods for data collection and analysis. Consensus on these issues is urgently required to establish effective surveillance that can both support current programmes and document progress toward the global goal of eliminating micronutrient deficiencies.
The Iuns Study of Food Habits in Later Life: A Critique
Authors: Hsu-Hage Bridget H.-H. , Wahlqvist Mark L.
Published: November 2018

The Committee on Nutrition and Aging of the International Union of Nutritional Sciences (IUNS) organized a project entitled Food Habits in Later Life (FHLL) that studied the nutritional and health problems of the elderly from 13 communities in six countries. Demographic, food intake, anthropometric, and health-related data were obtained from a total of 2,013 individuals who participated in this cross-cultural, multicentre study. The methods developed and used in this project will be useful for other groups interested in designing cross-cultural, multicentre studies.
Excavating the archive: Reflections on a historical criminology of government, penal policy and criminal justice change
Authors: Guiney Thomas
Published: November 2018

This article makes the case for greater use of systematic archival research as a methodological tool of criminology. Drawing upon insights from the author’s 2018 historical study of ‘early release’ in England and Wales, it reviews the legal framework underpinning the current ‘right of access’ to official records and demonstrates how greater engagement with this underused public resource can reveal a richer understanding of penal policy making and the continuities and dislocations within contemporary criminal justice. It goes on to consider the methodological challenges of gaining access to historical sources in criminological settings and concludes with a number of reflections upon the evolution of the discipline at a time of digital abundance and significant changes in government record keeping.
Insights into the pathogenesis and treatment of split/hand foot malformation (cleft hand/foot)
Authors: Guero Stéphane , Holder-Espinasse Muriel
Published: November 2018

Cleft hand or split hand foot malformation is a sequence of phenotypes, from a minor shortening of the central digit to a complete absence of the third ray and in the most severe cases, absence of two, three or four rays. It is a rare but spectacular presentation usually involving both hands and feet. Inheritance is mostly autosomal dominant but sporadic cases without family history are also reported, resulting from a de novo mutation/deletion/duplication. Intra-familial clinical variability is the rule, with incomplete penetrance. X-linked or autosomal recessive inheritance has also been described. To date, seven subgroups of split hand foot malformation have been identified and seven loci are currently known. Anatomical records have enhanced our knowledge of this group of disorders of the hands and feet and allowed us to improve surgical procedures and long-term outcome.
Admiration and Motivation
Authors: Archer Alfred
Published: November 2018

What is the motivational profile of admiration? In this article, I will investigate what form of connection between admiration and motivation there may be good reason to accept. A number of philosophers have advocated a connection between admiration and motivation to emulate. I will start by examining this view and will then present objections to it. I will then suggest an expanded account of the connection between admiration and motivation, according to which, admiration involves motivation to promote the value that is judged to be present in the object of admiration. Finally, I will examine the implications of this account for the use of admiration in education.
The Artificial Pancreas: What School Nurses Need to Know
Authors: Latham Jennifer
Published: November 2018

The hybrid closed-loop insulin delivery system, a form of “artificial pancreas,” is composed of an insulin pump, a standardized algorithm, and a continuous glucose monitor. The system streamlines insulin delivery by connecting continuous glucose monitor data with an insulin pump and an algorithm to drive basal insulin delivery. The hybrid closed-loop insulin delivery system, approved by the Food and Drug Administration in 2016 for children older than 7 years, is a major improvement in the management of type 1 diabetes. The purpose of this article is to educate school nurses about the components of the hybrid closed-loop insulin delivery system, the relevance to care, and the future direction of blood glucose management.
The Comparative Effect of Spacing Instruction and Massed Instruction on Intermediate EFL Learners’ Reading Comprehension
Authors: Namaziandost Ehsan , Rahimi Esfahani Fariba , Hashemifardnia Arash
Published: November 2018

This study compared the effects of spacing and massed instructions on Iranian English as a foreign language (EFL) learners’ reading comprehension. To fulfill this objective, 50 Iranian participants were selected among 80 students based on the results of Oxford Quick Placement Test (OQPT). The intermediate selected participants were then randomly divided into two equal experimental groups; spacing group and massed group. Afterward, the researcher measured the participants’ English reading comprehension by administering a reading comprehension pretest. Then, five English texts from Active One Book were instructed to both experimental groups. In the massed class, each text was taught in an intensive 60-min session, whereas each text was taught to the spaced group in three short sessions (about 60 min in total). The first session lasted for 20 min; the second occurring 2 days after the initial session lasted 20 min; and the third session took 20 min and was held 2 days after the second session. After the instruction, a reading posttest was administered to the both groups and finally the data were analyzed by using paired and independent samples t tests. The obtained results indicated that there was a significant difference between the posttests of spacing and massed groups. The findings indicated that the spacing group significantly outperformed the massed group ( p < .05) on the posttest. The implications of this study can make the teachers aware that teaching through spaced intervals can provide better results than teaching through one massed session.
Laparoscopic management of retroperitoneal lymphocoele: A late complication of laparoscopic presacral neurectomy
Authors: Lam Justin , Lam Alan , Perera Shevy
Published: November 2018

This is the first case report of a symptomatic retroperitoneal lymphocoele formation occurring a decade after laparoscopic presacral neurectomy successfully managed by laparoscopic surgery.
Interleukin-17 Inhibition in a Patient With Psoriasis and Concurrent Vitiligo
Authors: Katz Kimberly L. , Rupley Katherine , Sink Jacquelyn , Shuley Adele , Gottlieb Alice B.
Published: November 2018

Background:

Psoriasis and vitiligo are 2 autoimmune conditions that can occur concurrently in patients. At present, no single systemic therapy has been identified to be effective in treating both the conditions.

Observations:

Recent advances in our understanding of the T helper (Th) 17 subset of Th cells suggests that interleukin (IL)-17 may play a key role in the pathogenesis of both vitiligo and psoriasis. We report a case of anatomically superimposed psoriatic plaques and vitiligo for which treatment with ixekizumab leads to resolution of psoriasis but did not improve the patient’s vitiligo.

Conclusion:

While IL-17 is highly effective in the treatment of psoriasis, it does not seem to be an effective treatment for vitiligo.
Aberrant GSK3β nuclear localization promotes AML growth and drug resistance
Authors: Ignatz-Hoover James J. , Wang Victoria , Mackowski Nathan M. , Roe Anne J. , Ghansah Isaac K. , Ueda Masumi , Lazarus Hillard M. , de Lima Marcos , Paietta Elisabeth , Fernandez Hugo , Cripe Larry , Tallman Martin , Wald David N.
Published: November 2018

Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is a devastating disease with poor patient survival. As targetable mutations in AML are rare, novel oncogenic mechanisms are needed to define new therapeutic targets. We identified AML cells that exhibit an aberrant pool of nuclear glycogen synthase kinase 3β (GSK3β). This nuclear fraction drives AML growth and drug resistance. Nuclear, but not cytoplasmic, GSK3β enhances AML colony formation and AML growth in mouse models. Nuclear GSK3β drives AML partially by promoting nuclear localization of the NF-κB subunit, p65. Finally, nuclear GSK3β localization has clinical significance as it strongly correlates to worse patient survival (n = 86; hazard ratio = 2.2; P < .01) and mediates drug resistance in cell and animal models. Nuclear localization of GSK3β may define a novel oncogenic mechanism in AML and represent a new therapeutic target.
Innate lymphoid cells in the upper airways: importance of CD117 and IL-1RI expression
Authors: Van Crombruggen Koen , Taveirne Sylvie , Holtappels Gabriele , Leclercq Georges , Bachert Claus
Published: November 2018

Although type 1, 2 and 3 innate lymphoid cells (ILC1s, ILC2s and ILC3s, respectively) are emerging as important cell populations regulating tissue homeostasis, remodelling and inflammation, a vast majority of our knowledge stems fromin vitroand murine experiments, and requires thorough confirmation in human diseases.

Relative levels of ILCs were evaluated by means of flow cytometry in freshly resected human upper airways mucosa of patients with chronic rhinosinusitis without nasal polyps (CRSsNP) and with nasal polyps (CRSwNP), taking into account the patient's clinical parameters and disease comorbidities.

We report that the CD117 and interleukin-receptor type I (IL-1RI) expression status of human ILC2s depends on the local tissue environment. Only CD117+IL-1RI+ILC2s, exclusively present in CRSwNP, possess an interrelationship with type 2 T-helper cell cytokine and eosinophil levels in human upper airway mucosa. In CRSsNP, mainly CD117−IL-1RI−ILC2s are increased, yielding lower eosinophilia in this disease despite the high levels of ILC2s.

These data unveil that the CD117−and CD117+fractions within the native human ILC2 population are not a random phenomenon, in contrast to what could be concluded fromin vitrodata, and that the IL-1RI expression is not ubiquitous in ILC2sin vivoin humans, which cannot be assessedvia in vitroand murine experiments.
Spread of the florfenicol resistance floR gene among clinical Klebsiella pneumoniae isolates in China
Authors: Lu Junwan , Zhang Jinfang , Xu Lei , Liu Yabo , Li Pingping , Zhu Tingyuan , Cheng Cong , Lu Shunfei , Xu Teng , Yi Huiguang , Li Kewei , Zhou Wu , Li Peizhen , Ni Liyan , Bao Qiyu
Published: November 2018

Background

Florfenicol is a derivative of chloramphenicol that is used only for the treatment of animal diseases. A key resistance gene for florfenicol, floR, can spread among bacteria of the same and different species or genera through horizontal gene transfer. To analyze the potential transmission of resistance genes between animal and human pathogens, we investigated floR in Klebsiella pneumoniae isolates from patient samples. floR in human pathogens may originate from animal pathogens and would reflect the risk to human health of using antimicrobial agents in animals.

Methods

PCR was used to identify floR-positive strains. The floR genes were cloned, and the minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) were determined to assess the relative resistance levels of the genes and strains. Sequencing and comparative genomics methods were used to analyze floR gene-related sequence structure as well as the molecular mechanism of resistance dissemination.

Results

Of the strains evaluated, 20.42% (67/328) were resistant to florfenicol, and 86.96% (20/23) of the floR-positive strains demonstrated high resistance to florfenicol with MICs ≥512 μg/mL. Conjugation experiments showed that transferrable plasmids carried the floR gene in three isolates. Sequencing analysis of a plasmid approximately 125 kb in size (pKP18–125) indicated that the floR gene was flanked by multiple copies of mobile genetic elements. Comparative genomics analysis of a 9-kb transposon-like fragment of pKP18–125 showed that an approximately 2-kb sequence encoding lysR-floR-virD2 was conserved in the majority (79.01%, 83/105) of floR sequences collected from NCBI nucleotide database. Interestingly, the most similar sequence was a 7-kb fragment of plasmid pEC012 from an Escherichia coli strain isolated from a chicken.

Conclusions

Identified on a transferable plasmid in the human pathogen K. pneumoniae, the floR gene may be disseminated through horizontal gene transfer from animal pathogens. Studies on the molecular mechanism of resistance gene dissemination in different bacterial species of animal origin could provide useful information for preventing or controlling the spread of resistance between animal and human pathogens.
Famitinib in combination with concurrent chemoradiotherapy in patients with locoregionally advanced nasopharyngeal carcinoma: a phase 1, open‐label, dose‐escalation Study
Authors: Chen Qiuyan , Tang Linquan , Liu Na , Han Feng , Guo Ling , Guo Shanshan , Wang Jianwei , Liu Huai , Ye Yanfang , Zhang Lu , Liu Liting , Wang Pan , Li Yingqin , He Qingmei , Yang Xiaoqun , Tang Qingnan , Li Yang , Liang YuJing , Sun XueSong , Xie Chuanmiao , Mo Yunxian , Guo Ying , Sun Rui , Mo Haoyuan , Cao Kajia , Guo Xiang , Zeng Musheng , Mai Haiqiang , Ma Jun
Published: November 2018

Background

Famitinib is a tyrosine kinase inhibitor against multiple targets, including vascular endothelial growth factor receptor 2/3, platelet‐derived growth factor receptor, and stem cell factor receptor (c‐kit). Previous studies have demonstrated anti‐tumour activities of famitinib against a wide variety of advanced‐stage solid cancers. We aimed to determine the safety and efficacy of famitinib with concurrent chemoradiotherapy (CCRT) in patients with locoregionally advanced nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC). We also evaluated the feasibility of contrast‐enhanced ultrasound (D‐CEUS) as a predictor of early tumour response to famitinib and to correlate functional parameters with clinical efficacy.

Methods

The trial was conducted in subjects with stage III or IVa‐b NPC using a 3 + 3 design of escalating famitinib doses. Briefly, subjects received 2 weeks of famitinib monotherapy followed by 7 weeks of famitinib plus CCRT. D‐CEUS of the neck lymph nodes was performed at day 0, 8 and 15 after famitinib was administered before starting concurrent chemoradiotherapy. End points included safety, tolerability and anti‐tumour activity.

Results

Twenty patients were enrolled (six each for 12.5, 16.5 and 20 mg and two for 25 mg). Two patients in the 25 mg cohort developed dose‐limiting toxicities, including grade 4 thrombocytopenia and grade 3 hypertension. The most common grade 3/4 adverse events were leukopenia, neutropenia and radiation mucositis. D‐CEUS tests showed that more than 60% of patients achieved a perfusion parameter response after 2 weeks taking famitinib alone, and the parameter response was associated with disease improvement. In the famitinib monotherapy stage, three patients (15%) showed partial responses. The complete response rate was 65% at the completion of treatment and 95% 3 months after the treatment ended. After a median follow‐up of 44 months, the 3‐year progression‐free survival (PFS) and distant metastasis‐free survival were 70% and 75%, respectively. Subjects with a decrease of perfusion parameter response, such as peak intensity decreased at least 30% after 1 week of famitinib treatment, had higher 3‐year PFS (90.9% vs. 44.4%, 95% CI 73.7%–100% vs. 11.9%–76.9%,P< 0.001) than those with an increase or a reduction of less than 30%.

Conclusions

The recommended famitinib dose for phase II trial is 20 mg with CCRT for patients with local advanced NPC. D‐CEUS is a reliable and early measure of efficacy for famitinib therapies. Further investigation is required to confirm the effects of famitinib plus chemoradiotherapy.
Robust estimation of vertical symmetry axis models via joint migration inversion: Including multiples in anisotropic parameter estimation
Authors: Alshuhail Abdulrahman A. , Verschuur Dirk J.
Published: November 2018

Because the earth is predominately anisotropic, the anisotropy of the medium needs to be included in seismic imaging to avoid mispositioning of reflectors and unfocused images. Deriving accurate anisotropic velocities from the seismic reflection measurements is a highly nonlinear and ambiguous process. To mitigate the nonlinearity and trade-offs between parameters, we have included anisotropy in the so-called joint migration inversion (JMI) method, in which we limit ourselves to the case of transverse isotropy with a vertical symmetry axis. The JMI method is based on strictly separating the scattering effects in the data from the propagation effects. The scattering information is encoded in the reflectivity operators, whereas the phase information is encoded in the propagation operators. This strict separation enables the method to be more robust, in that it can appropriately handle a wide range of starting models, even when the differences in traveltimes are more than a half cycle away. The method also uses internal multiples in estimating reflectivities and anisotropic velocities. Including internal multiples in inversion not only reduces the crosstalk in the final image, but it can also reduce the trade-off between the anisotropic parameters because internal multiples usually have more of an imprint of the subsurface parameters compared with primaries. The inverse problem is parameterized in terms of a reflectivity, vertical velocity, horizontal velocity, and a fixed [Formula: see text] value. The method is demonstrated on several synthetic models and a marine data set from the North Sea. Our results indicate that using JMI for anisotropic inversion makes the inversion robust in terms of using highly erroneous initial models. Moreover, internal multiples can contain valuable information on the subsurface parameters, which can help to reduce the trade-off between anisotropic parameters in inversion.
Seismic reconstruction of the in situ anisotropic stress field for caprock integrity in the Athabasca oil-sands basin, Canada
Authors: Talinga Draga A. , Dumitrescu Carmen C.
Published: November 2018

In the Athabasca Basin of Alberta, Canada, the Lower Cretaceous McMurray Formation reservoir is overlain by the Clearwater Formation, a regionally continuous layer composed predominantly of shales with interbedded mudstones. The shales form the reservoir caprock and have the role of blocking the vertical migration of the steam from thermal oil production by confining the stresses and the deformations. We have developed a new method for the 3D seismic reconstruction of the anisotropic stress field, which accounts for the formation pore pressure and the effective stress. We integrated anisotropy estimated from dipole sonic logs with formation pore pressure data from piezometers and elastic properties obtained from multicomponent seismic inversion. The method combines the Terzaghi effective stress with the Schoenberg and Sayers elastic stiffness matrix for horizontal transversely isotropic (HTI) fractured materials. The key points of this method are the estimation of the formation pore pressure in the abnormal regime of the Clearwater Formation, the normal fracture weakness parameter (based on constraints on the compressional velocity of the intact rock under the HTI assumption), and the 3D seismic anisotropic stress field. We expressed the total vertical stress as the weight of the overlying formations, and the total minimum and maximum horizontal stresses as a combination of the total vertical stress, normal fracture weakness, formation pore pressure, Biot-Willis coefficient, and Lamé elastic constants. The effective principal stresses are estimated from the equivalent total principal stresses and the formation pore pressure multiplied by the Biot-Willis coefficient. We observed excellent consistency between the calculated total minimum horizontal stress and mini-frac values. This new method for the 3D seismic reconstruction of the anisotropic stress field allows for the assessment of the caprock integrity and for operational savings based on a reduced number of mini-frac measurements, and it can be used for time-lapse stress estimation within the thermal production reservoir.
A rare case of right lower quadrant pain
Authors: Teiga Eduardo , Radosevic Aleksandar , Sánchez Juan , Busto Marcos , Aguilar Guadalupe , Maiques Jose , Flores Daniel , Zugazaga Ander , Beltran Javier Gimeno , Bazán Fernando
Published: November 2018

Endometriosis of the appendix is a very rare entity and commonly affects females in childbearing age. Clinical presentation might be confusing varying from asymptomatic to acute abdominal pain and often mimicks acute appendicitis or chronic pelvic pain. Diagnosis is generally made after pathological examination as operative findings are usually non-specific. This condition poses a diagnostic challenge to radiologists and surgeons altogether and we therefore report a case of a middle aged female who presented with both right lower quadrant and right lower back pain. Recent literature is reviewed and radiological findings discussed.
Scaled deployment of Wolbachia to protect the community from dengue and other Aedes transmitted arboviruses
Authors: O'Neill Scott L. , Ryan Peter A. , Turley Andrew P. , Wilson Geoff , Retzki Kate , Iturbe-Ormaetxe Inaki , Dong Yi , Kenny Nichola , Paton Christopher J. , Ritchie Scott A. , Brown-Kenyon Jack , Stanford Darren , Wittmeier Natalie , Anders Katherine L. , Simmons Cameron P.
Published: November 2018

Background: A number of new technologies are under development for the control of mosquito transmitted viruses, such as dengue, chikungunya and Zika that all require the release of modified mosquitoes into the environment. None of these technologies has been able to demonstrate evidence that they can be implemented at a scale beyond small pilots. Here we report the first successful citywide scaled deployment of Wolbachia in the northern Australian city of Townsville.

Methods: The wMel strain of Wolbachia was backcrossed into a local Aedes aegypti genotype and mass reared mosquitoes were deployed as eggs using mosquito release containers (MRCs). In initial stages these releases were undertaken by program staff but in later stages this was replaced by direct community release including the development of a school program that saw children undertake releases. Mosquito monitoring was undertaken with Biogents Sentinel (BGS) traps and individual mosquitoes were screened for the presence of Wolbachia with a Taqman qPCR or LAMP diagnostic assay. Dengue case notifications from Queensland Health Communicable Disease Branch were used to track dengue cases in the city before and after release.

Results: Wolbachia was successfully established into local Ae. aegypti mosquitoes across 66 km2 in four stages over 28 months with full community support.  A feature of the program was the development of a scaled approach to community engagement. Wolbachia frequencies have remained stable since deployment and to date no local dengue transmission has been confirmed in any area of Townsville after Wolbachia has established, despite local transmission events every year for the prior 13 years and an epidemiological context of increasing imported cases.

Conclusion: Deployment of Wolbachia into Ae. aegypti populations can be readily scaled to areas of ~60km2 quickly and cost effectively and appears in this context to be effective at stopping local dengue transmission
A Malawi guideline for research study participant remuneration
Authors: Gordon Stephen B. , Chinula Lameck , Chilima Ben , Mwapasa Victor , Dadabhai Sufia , Mlombe Yohannie ,   Malawi Research Ethics Workshop 2018 Participants
Published: November 2018

Background: Research participant remuneration has been variable and inconsistent world-wide for many years owing to uncertainty regarding best practice and a lack of written guidelines for investigators and research ethics committees.  Recent recommendations are that researchers and regulators should develop regionally appropriate written guidelines to define reasonable remuneration based on expense reimbursement, compensation for time and burden associated with participation.   Incentives to motivate participation are acceptable in specific circumstances.

Methods: We wished to develop regionally informed, precise and applicable guidelines in Malawi that might also be generally useful for African researchers and review committees.  We therefore reviewed the current literature and developed widely applicable and specific remuneration tables using acceptable and evidence-based payment rationales.

Results: There were good international guidelines and limited published regional guidelines.  There were published examples of best practice and sufficient material to suggest a structured remuneration table.  The rationale and method for the table were discussed at an inter-disciplinary workshop resulting in a reimbursement and compensation model with fixed rates.  Payment is recommended pro rata and equally across a study.

Conclusions: Transparent, fair remuneration of research participants is recommended by researchers and regulators in Malawi.  The means to achieve this are now presented in the Malawi research participant remuneration table.
(Just) Give Me A Reason …
Authors: Laffranque Julia
Published: November 2018

Judicial systems often wrestle with whether to sacrifice always presenting thorough judicial reasoning for the sake of an effective leave-to-appeal system. The paper outlines issues of reference to the Luxembourg Court, particularly with regard to Estonian circumstances in light of the ECtHR judgment in Baydar v. the Netherlands. The interplay between EU law and the European Convention on Human Rights in this regard is considered first, along with the importance of giving reasons, courts’ authority, the different roles of domestic and European courts, the duty of referring questions to the CJEU and exemption, consequences of non-referral in EU law, the Strasbourg Court’s role in dialogue between national courts and the CJEU, etc. Examined next are such matters as influences on preliminary references in European Union law, summary reasoning and limits to the reasoning duty (especially with regard to the Ullens de Schooten case of the ECtHR), associated division of competencies between the Strasbourg and Luxembourg courts, and finally the reasoning of the ECtHR itself as good or bad example. The author then considers the Supreme Court of Estonia’s leave-to-appeal system and the national courts’ practice in relation to Baydar, concluding that, while reasoned judgments are important and a right, no right exists for the applicant’s case to be referred by a domestic judge to the Luxembourg Court, though it is vital that summary judgment not be arbitrary / manifestly unreasonable; that Estonian courts have made reasonable use of the preliminary reference procedure before the Luxembourg Court thus far; and that they should articulate well the reasoning for referral/non-referral for litigants. The author proposes that the Estonian Supreme Court explain, exceptionally in one refusal of leave to appeal (cf. the Netherlands), that the general requirements for granting leave to appeal cover also the situation of preliminary questions to the CJEU and C.I.L.F.I.T. arguments of the CJEU. Above all, neither the interplay between EU law and the European Convention on Human Rights nor the role of national courts finding their way in complex legal surroundings should be neglected.
Limitation of Freedom of Speech and of the Press by Penal Law in the Final Decades of the Russian Empire
Authors: Kivistik Olja , Luts-Sootak Marju
Published: November 2018

In the 21st century, it is inappropriate to have to ask whether criticising a political regime or exercising freedom of speech could lead to criminal charges and criminal punishment. In contrast, a hundred years ago the restriction of people’s freedom of speech, especially in relation to political matters, was quite extensive, both in autocratic Russia and elsewhere. The article addresses the legal situation in the Estonian territory of the Russian Empire until 1918, when insubordination to state authority and inciting mutiny were punishable by law. On 17 April 1905, the so-called Freedom Manifesto gave people freedom of speech, and the Fundamental Laws of the Russian Empire entered into force one year later, wherein fundamental rights were enumerated, among them the right to express one’s convictions, both orally and in writing. At the same time, however, restrictions continued to apply to the fundamental rights declared, which at times were very strict in the tsarist state and rendered the space for exercise of those rights extremely narrow. The article provides an overview of the penal legislation that was applicable within the Estonian territory at the dawn of the 20th century, which set boundaries to freedom of speech and of the press. Considered separately is the case law of the Tallinn Circuit Court pertaining to charges of instigation of mutiny, with the aim of showing how these provisions were applied in judicial practice and the context in which the state restricted people’s fundamental rights. In the Tallinn Circuit Court, it was primarily newspaper editors who were charged with incitement to mutiny, because they allowed the publishing of various calls to action in relation to workers’ movement propaganda and demands for better conditions and rights for workers. At the beginning of the 20th century, class warfare was considered a crime against the state, and the case law demonstrates how the constitutional freedoms of speech and the press were restricted via strict penal-law measures.
Shareholders’ Draft Resolutions in Estonian Company Law: An Example of Unreasonable Transposition of the Shareholder Rights Directive
Authors: Vutt Andres , Vutt Margit
Published: November 2018

One of the measures foreseen in the Shareholder Rights Directive for enhancement of the rights of shareholders is the regulation of draft resolutions. The article addresses the central question of whether the extent of the implementation of the requirements regulating draft resolutions and their disclosure in Estonian company law has been justified. Research was conducted to analyse whether the transposition of the rules on draft resolutions derived from the directive has contributed to the attainment of the objectives set out in the directive and in other European initiatives. The main conclusions presented in the article are that, as a result of the transposition of the Shareholder Rights Directive, Estonian small limited companies have a burdensome obligation to follow the formalised rules on draft resolutions and their disclosure, which, according to the directive, were initially meant only for listed companies. Although the Supreme Court of Estonia had an opportunity to interpret the respective regulations reasonably, it has chosen a rather formal approach instead and applied the law in quite possibly the most burdensome way for Estonian companies and contrary to the aims for the directive as the source of those regulations. The authors of the article take the stance that there is a need to change the rigid rules on draft resolutions that have been forced on Estonian small companies. The present mandatory rules on draft resolutions should be applicable to listed companies only. All other public limited companies should be given an opt-in option. As for private companies, the law should clearly set out the possibility of stipulating the appropriate rules in the articles of association of the company.
Towards a Single Government Approach via Further Consolidation of Law and Order in Estonia, with Domestic Violence as an Example
Authors: Narits Raul , Kaugia Silvia , Pettai Iris
Published: November 2018

An appropriate ‘solution pattern’ for social problems in a state based on the rule of law entails the existence of corresponding legislative regulations. The solution should be approved at the level of a law as a legislative act of supreme juridical power. A solution created at that level would fully correspond to the principle of rule of law and also minimise the possibility of socalled departmental special interests prevailing, in recognition that this danger accompanies efforts toward the solution of every multifaceted problem. The authors find that, since Estonia already possesses relatively extensive experience in legislative consolidation for various aspects of the society’s reality, with most of this experience being of a positive nature, it would be a most welcome development if the issue of DV were to be included in the current process of consolidation under the auspices of the project Towards the Development of Better Legislation. Legislative drafting is stimulated by the perception of acute social problems and of a need to regulate them by legislative means. Results from 2014 and 2017 surveys show that Estonia’s legal practitioners perceive DV as a problem the causes of which demand research and whose victims require help. Most legal practitioners surveyed encountered DV in their day-to-day work, with prosecutors and police detectives bearing the heaviest burden: it consumed nearly one third of their work hours. A serious problem was identified in prejudice and stereotypes, which yield an oversimplified and distorted image of the actual causes of DV, in which the victim frequently is considered responsible. Both the general population and legal practitioners widely share the erroneous impression that the victims could avoid violence through ‘appropriate conduct’. Such stereotypic attitudes wherein victims are considered partially to blame for violence can obstruct the work of law-enforcement agencies. While the idea of a special law on DV found support and scepticism in roughly equal measure, support for it increased significantly when respondents judged the concrete opportunities and solutions offered by such a law. These legal practitioners perceived numerous bottlenecks and unsolved problems in relation to the existing legislative regulation and legal practice, which one would expect to be overcome through a special law on DV. The authors conclude from the survey-based findings that Estonia’s legal practitioners demonstrate considerable anticipation for a law on DV. The participants in the surveys also perceived an increasing need for co-operation with law-enforcement agencies in this regard – i.e., for concentrating on collaboration within this domain. However, the authors consider it undoubtedly important also to increase the involvement of specialists in the DV field: victim support services, staff of women’s shelters, and municipal social workers.
Restraining at Care Institutions Evaluated from the Standpoint of Penal Law
Authors: Hirsnik Erkki , Allikmets Marje
Published: November 2018

The connection of restraining measures and necessary elements of a criminal offence may be twofold. First, restraining measures can correspond to actions described in legal provisions of the special part of the Penal Code. It means that the restraining person could be charged under criminal law. Secondly however, it needs to be noted that in some cases, liability under criminal law may follow when restraining measures are not being used - a person may become liable for committing a crime by failing to act. Thus, the job of a caretaker involves a high level of responsibility and danger in the sense of penal law - a punishment may follow both for doing something and also for failing to act. Upon the implementation of restraining measures, several constitutions of the special part of the Penal Code may become relevant. However, the primary provision to view here is Article 136 of the Penal Code (unlawful deprivation of the liberty of another person). Therefore, the article mainly focuses on this provision and also analyses some other provisions of the special part of the Penal Code that may become relevant. It also addresses general circumstances excluding illegality, i.e., the circumstances to be considered not only in care institutions but also almost everywhere else. After this, the article analyses specific circumstances excluding illegality, that is the circumstances relevant within the context of the topic of the article. Since there is very little legal literature (and case law) on this matter in Estonia, the article is mainly based on German law as an important model the Estonian law is built upon.