bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Prevalence and Predictors of Human Immunodeficiency Virus and Selected Sexually Transmitted Infections Among People Who Inject Drugs in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania: A New Focus to Get to Zero
Authors: Mmbaga Elia John , Moen Kåre , Makyao Neema , Leshabari Melkizedeck
Published: December 2016

Background

Previous studies in Tanzania indicated that human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) prevalence among people who inject drugs (PWIDs) could be as high as 40%. We aim to provide data on the prevalence of HIV and sexually transmitted infection among PWIDs to inform national plans to get to zero.

Materials and Methods

Respondent-driven sampling was used to collect drug use, and sexual practices data among PWIDs aged 15 years and older. Blood samples were examined for HIV, herpes simplex virus type 2, syphilis, and hepatitis B.

Results

A total of 620 PWIDs with a median age of 32 (interquartile range, 17–52) participated in the study. Their use of drugs had typically started during adolescence. The prevalence of HIV was found to be 15.5%, whereas that of herpes simplex type 2 was 43.3%. Associated with an increased likelihood of HIV infection was being a female (adjusted odds ratio [aOR], 2.3; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.0–3.6), sharing of syringes (aOR, 2.4; 95% CI, 1.1–6.1), used syringes hidden in public places (aOR, 5.1; 95% CI, 1.3–10.2), and having had a genital ulcer during the last 12 months before this survey. On the other hand, being educated, use of noninjectable drugs, access (aOR, 0.5; 95% CI, 0.2–0.8), and use of clean syringes (aOR, 0.3; 95% CI, 0.1–0.6) were associated with decreased likelihood of HIV infection.

Conclusions

The prevalence of HIV infection among PWIDs in Dar es Salaam is 3 times higher than that in the general population. Behavioral and biological risk factors contribute to HIV transmission and needs to be addressed to be able to get to zero.
PD-L1 Expression in Mismatch Repair-deficient Endometrial Carcinomas, Including Lynch Syndrome-associated and MLH1 Promoter Hypermethylated Tumors
Authors: Sloan Emily A. , Ring Kari L. , Willis Brian C. , Modesitt Susan C. , Mills Anne M.
Published: December 2016

Mismatch repair (MMR)-deficient endometrial carcinomas (ECs) bearing Lynch syndrome (LS)-associated germline mutations or sporadic MLH1 promoter hypermethylation (MLH1hm) are highly immunogenic and may represent excellent candidates for therapies targeting the programmed cell death (PD)/programmed cell death ligand-1 (PD-L1) immune checkpoint pathway. This study evaluates PD-L1 expression in MMR-deficient ECs including LS-associated and MLH1hm cases, in comparison with MMR-intact tumors. Immunohistochemistry for PD-L1/CD274 was performed on 38 MMR-deficient and 29 MMR-intact ECs. Staining was scored in the tumor and the peritumoral immune compartment. The majority of MMR-deficient tumors were PD-L1 positive (53%) in at least a subset of tumor cells. LS-associated tumors were more likely to be PD-L1 positive relative to MLH1hm tumors (70% vs. 33%, P=0.05). Only 10% of MMR-intact ECs demonstrated any tumoral PD-L1 expression; this was significantly lower than was observed in MMR-deficient tumors (P=0.0005). When reviewed by histologic grade, PD-L1 expression remained highest in LS-associated ECs followed by MLH1hm and MMR-intact carcinomas, respectively. The MMR immunohistochemical pattern most uniformly associated with PD-L1 expression was MSH6 loss. Immune PD-L1 expression was seen in 100% of MMR-deficient and 66% of MMR-intact cases. This study represents the first to characterize differences in PD-L1 expression between LS-associated and MLH1hm endometrial cancers. It demonstrates that tumoral PD-L1 expression is more common in LS-associated endometrial cancers relative to MLH1hm and MMR-intact tumors, although sporadic cancers often show PD-L1 positive immune staining. These data suggest that MMR deficiency may be a better predictor of response to PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitor therapy than tumor grade in EC, and that potential benefit may vary based on the molecular mechanism of MMR defects.
Rhabdoid and Undifferentiated Phenotype in Renal Cell Carcinoma
Authors: Agaimy Abbas , Cheng Liang , Egevad Lars , Feyerabend Bernd , Hes Ondřej , Keck Bastian , Pizzolitto Stefano , Sioletic Stefano , Wullich Bernd , Hartmann Arndt
Published: December 2016

Undifferentiated (anaplastic) and rhabdoid cell features are increasingly recognized as adverse prognostic findings in renal cell carcinoma (RCC), but their molecular pathogenesis has not been studied sufficiently. Recent studies identified alterations in the Switch Sucrose nonfermentable (SWI/SNF) chromatin remodeling complex as molecular mechanisms underlying dedifferentiation and rhabdoid features in carcinomas of different organs. We herein have analyzed 32 undifferentiated RCCs having in common an undifferentiated (anaplastic) phenotype, prominent rhabdoid features, or both, irrespective of the presence or absence of conventional RCC component. Cases were stained with 6 SWI/SNF pathway members (SMARCB1, SMARCA2, SMARCA4, ARID1A, SMARCC1, and SMARCC2) in addition to conventional RCC markers. Patients were 20 males and 12 females aged 32 to 85 years (mean, 59). A total of 22/27 patients with known stage presented with ≥pT3. A differentiated component varying from microscopic to major component was detected in 20/32 cases (16 clear cell and 2 cases each chromophobe and papillary RCC). The undifferentiated component varied from rhabdoid dyscohesive cells to large epithelioid to small monotonous anaplastic cells. Variable loss of at least 1 SWI/SNF complex subunit was noted in the undifferentiated/rhabdoid component of 21/32 cases (65%) compared with intact or reduced expression in the differentiated component. A total of 15/17 patients (88%) with follow-up died of metastatic disease (mostly within 1 y). Only 2 patients were disease free at last follow-up (1 and 6 y). No difference in survival, age distribution, or sex was observed between the SWI/SNF-deficient and the SWI/SNF-intact group. This is the first study exploring the role of SWI/SNF deficiency as a potential mechanism underlying undifferentiated and rhabdoid phenotype in RCC. Our results highlight the association between the aggressive rhabdoid phenotype and the SWI/SNF complex deficiency, consistent with studies on similar neoplasms in other organs. Thorough sampling of such tumors that are usually huge and locally advanced is necessary for recognizing the clone of origin and hence for proper subtyping and also for differentiating them from undifferentiated urothelial carcinoma.
Habitual Physical Activity in Children With Cerebral Palsy Aged 4 to 5 Years Across All Functional Abilities
Authors: Keawutan Piyapa , Bell Kristie L. , Oftedal Stina , Davies Peter S. W. , Ware Robert S. , Boyd Roslyn N.
Published: December 2016

Purpose:

To compare ambulatory status in children with cerebral palsy aged 4 to 5 years with their habitual physical activity and time spent sedentary, and to compare their activity with physical activity guidelines.

Methods:

Sixty-seven participants—independently ambulant, marginally ambulant, and nonambulant—wore accelerometers for 3 days. Time spent sedentary as a percentage of wear time and activity counts were compared between groups.

Results:

There were significant differences in time spent sedentary and activity counts between groups. Children who were independently ambulant were more likely to meet physical activity guidelines.

Conclusion:

Children with cerebral palsy spent more than half of their waking hours in sedentary time. Interventions to reduce sedentary behavior and increase habitual physical activity are needed in children with cerebral palsy at age 4 to 5 years.
The Relationships Between Capacity and Performance in Youths With Cerebral Palsy Differ for GMFCS Levels
Authors: Ho Pei-Chi , Chang Chia-Hsieh , Granlund Mats , Hwang Ai-Wen
Published: December 2016

Purpose:

To examine change in, and longitudinal relationships between motor capacity and activity performance across the Gross Motor Function Classification System (GMFCS).

Methods:

Ninety-two youths with cerebral palsy were examined at 2 time points, 1 year apart, using the Gross Motor Function Measure–66 (GMFM-66) for motor capacity, and the Chinese version of the Activities Scale for Kids-Performance Version (ASKp-C) for activity performance. The score changes and capacity-to-performance/performance-to-capacity pathways were explored across GMFCS levels.

Results:

The GMFM-66 scores declined over time in GMFCS levels IV-V while ASKp-C scores increased in GMFCS level I. The correlations for both pathways in GMFCS levels I, III, and IV-V were significant with a higher correlation for performance-to-capacity pathway in GMFCS levels IV-V.

Conclusions:

Longitudinal changes in and relationships between capacity and performance differ between GMFCS levels. The opportunities to perform activities need to be emphasized in GMFCS levels IV-V.
Minimal Detectable Change for TUG and TUDS Tests for Children With Down Syndrome
Authors: Martin Kathy , Natarus Michael , Martin Jeremy , Henderson Sarah
Published: December 2016

Purpose:

To determine test-retest reliability and minimal detectable change of the Timed Up and Go (TUG) and Timed Up and Down Stairs (TUDS) for Down syndrome.

Subjects:

Twelve children with Down syndrome (DS) aged 3 to 17 years.

Methods:

Two sessions, 1 week apart, with 3 trials of the TUG and 2 trials of the TUDS. Test-retest reliability was estimated using intraclass correlation coefficients and the standard error of measurement. The minimal detectable changes (MDCs) for both tests were calculated.

Results:

The TUG and TUDS tests both had high test-retest reliability. The MDC was 1.26 seconds for the TUG and 12.52 seconds for the TUDS test.

Conclusions:

Both tests were reliable in this population, but the MDC results suggest only the TUG is clinically useful.
Reliability of the Arch Height Index as a Measure of Foot Structure in Children
Authors: Drefus Lisa C. , Kedem Paz , Mangan Siobhan M. , Scher David M. , Hillstrom Howard J.
Published: December 2016

Purpose:

To determine the intrarater and interrater reliability of the arch height index (AHI) in children developing typically. The AHI is tested with a device that measures foot structure.

Methods:

Thirty children, ages 6 to 12 years, participated for a total of n = 60 feet. The AHI measurements were taken by 2 investigators in sitting and standing and repeated twice by each investigator in a single visit. Intrarater and interrater reliabilities were determined using intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) (2,1) statistical analysis.

Results:

The mean age was 9.61 ± 1.96 years. The intrarater and interrater reliability had an ICC 0.76 or more in both sitting and standing. The average AHI value was 0.36 ± 0.02 in sitting and 0.32 ± 0.02 in standing.

Conclusions:

Pediatric therapists, physicians, and orthotists should consider using the AHI as an objective measure to be used for research, to assess foot structure, monitor change over time, and assist with treatment planning in children.
Perceived Stress After Acute Myocardial Infarction: A Comparison Between Young and Middle-Aged Women Versus Men
Authors: Xu Xiao , Bao Haikun , Strait Kelly M. , Edmondson Donald E. , Davidson Karina W. , Beltrame John F. , Bueno Héctor , Lin Haiqun , Dreyer Rachel P. , Brush John E. , Spertus John A. , Lichtman Judith H. , D'Onofrio Gail , Krumholz Harlan M.
Published: December 2016

Objective

The aim of the study was to examine how psychological stress changes over time in young and middle-aged patients after experiencing an acute myocardial infarction (AMI) and whether these changes differ between men and women.

Methods

We analyzed data obtained from 2358 women and 1151 men aged 18 to 55 years hospitalized for AMI. Psychological stress was measured using the 14-item Perceived Stress Scale (PSS-14) at initial hospitalization and at 1 month and 12 months after AMI. We used linear mixed-effects models to examine changes in PSS-14 scores over time and sex differences in these changes, while adjusting for patient characteristics and accounting for correlation among repeated observations within patients.

Results

Overall, patients' perceived stress decreased over time, especially during the first month after AMI. Women had higher levels of perceived stress than men throughout the 12-month period (difference in PSS-14 score = 3.63, 95% confidence interval = 3.08 to 4.18,p< .001), but they did not differ in how stress changed over time. Adjustment for patient characteristics did not alter the overall pattern of sex difference in changes of perceived stress over time other than attenuating the magnitude of sex difference in PSS-14 score (difference between women and men = 1.74, 95% confidence interval = 1.32 to 2.16,p< .001). The magnitude of sex differences in perceived stress was similar in patients with versus without post-AMI angina, even though patients with angina experienced less improvement in PSS-14 score than those without angina.

Conclusions

In young and middle-aged patients with AMI, women reported higher levels of perceived stress than men throughout the first 12 months of recovery. However, women and men had a similar pattern in how perceived stress changed over time.
A Population-Based Study of Care at the End of Life Among People With HIV in Ontario From 2010 to 2013
Authors: Kendall Claire E. , Chalifoux Mathieu , Manuel Doug , Reinhard Robert , Robinson Gregory , Bacon Jean , Rourke Sean B. , Rosenes Ron , Tanuseputro Peter
Published: December 2016

Background:

Aging and increasing comorbidity is changing the end-of-life experience of people living with HIV (PLHIV) in the developed world. We quantified, at a population level, the receipt of health care services and associated costs across a comprehensive set of sectors among decedents with and without HIV.

Methods:

We conducted a retrospective population-level observational study of all decedents in Ontario and their receipt of health care services, captured through linked health administrative databases, between April 1, 2010 and March 31, 2013. We identified PLHIV using a validated algorithm. We described the characteristics of PLHIV and their receipt of health care services and associated costs by health care sector in the last year of life.

Results:

We observed 264,754 eligible deaths, 570 of whom had HIV. PLHIV were significantly younger than those without HIV (mean age of death 56.1 years vs. 76.6 years, [P < 0.01]). PLHIV spent a mean of 20.0 days in an acute care hospital in the last 90 days of life compared with 12.1 days for decedents without HIV (P < 0.01); after adjustment, HIV was associated with 4.5 more acute care days (P < 0.01). Mean cost of care in the last year was significantly higher among PLHIV ($80,885.62 vs. $53,869.77), mostly attributable to acute care costs.

Interpretation:

PLHIV in Ontario are dying younger, spending more time and dying more often in hospital, and incur significantly increased costs before death. Greater involvement of community-based palliative care may improve the dying experience for this complex population.
Artificial vision: principles and prospects
Authors: Gilhooley Michael J. , Acheson James
Published: December 2016

Purpose of review

The aim of this article is to give an overview of the strategies and technologies currently under development to return vision to blind patients and will answer the question: What options exist for artificial vision in patients blind from retinal disease; how close are these to clinical practice?

Recent findings

Retinal approaches will be the focus of this review as they are most advanced in terms not only of development, but entry into the imagination of the general public; they are technologies patients ask about, but may be less familiar to practicing neurologists.

The prerequisites for retinal survivor cell stimulation are discussed, followed by consideration of the state of the art of four promising methods making use of this principle: electronic prostheses, stem cells, gene therapy and the developing field of ophthalmic optogenetics.

Human applications of artificial vision by survivor cell stimulation are certainly with us in the research clinic and very close to commercialization and general use. This, together with their place in the public consciousness, makes the overview provided by this review particularly helpful to practicing neurologists.
Considerations in Writing About Single-Case Experimental Design Studies
Authors: Skolasky Richard L.
Published: December 2016

Single-case experimental design (SCED) studies are particularly useful for examining the processes and outcomes of psychological and behavioral studies. Accurate reporting of SCED studies is critical in explaining the study to the reader and allowing replication. This paper outlines important elements that authors should cover when reporting the results of a SCED study. Authors should provide details on the participant, independent and dependent variables under examination, materials and procedures, and data analysis. Particular emphasis should be placed on justifying the assumptions made and explaining how violations of these assumptions may alter the results of the SCED study.
Structural and Functional Analyses in Nonarteritic Anterior Ischemic Optic Neuropathy: Optical Coherence Tomography Angiography Study
Authors: Hata Masayuki , Oishi Akio , Muraoka Yuki , Miyamoto Kazuaki , Kawai Kentaro , Yokota Satoshi , Fujimoto Masahiro , Miyata Manabu , Yoshimura Nagahisa
Published: December 2016

Background:

Retinal and optic disc perfusion in nonarteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy (NAION) is incompletely understood. Our aim was to investigate the characteristics of the microvascular structures at the peripapillary area and optic disc, and their associations with retinal structure and function in patients with NAION.

Methods:

We conducted a prospective, observational case series study. Thirty-four eyes, consisting of 15 NAION eyes and 19 normal eyes, were included. Optical coherence tomography (OCT) angiography was used to measure the vessel densities in the peripapillary superficial retina and whole-depth mode inside the optic disc. Measurement of circumpapillary retinal nerve fiber layer (cpRNFL) thickness was performed using OCT. Sectorial division analysis of cpRNFL was performed by eliminating the influences of the difference in disc rotation between OCT images and OCT angiography images.

Results:

The vessel densities of peripapillary retina and inside the optic disc were significantly reduced in the NAION compared to the normal (both P < 0.001). Both the severity of visual field defect and cpRNFL thinning were significantly associated with the peripapillary vessel density (P = 0.006, P = 0.046), but not with the optic disc vessel density (P = 0.981, P = 0.856). cpRNFL and peripapillary vessel density showed reduction predominantly in the superior sectors, corresponding to the visual field defect. However, the correlations showed discrepancy of the sectors.

Conclusions:

The microvascular structures in the peripapillary retina and optic disc were reduced, but the cpRNFL thinning was associated with vessel density only in the peripapillary retina, indicating that the vessel densities in the peripapillary retina and optic disc may be differently affected in the pathological process of NAION.
The Fruit Fly Brain Observatory: from structure to function
Authors: Ukani Nikul H. , Yeh Chung-Heng , Tomkins Adam , Zhou Yiyin , Florescu Dorian , Ortiz Carlos Luna , Huang Yu-Chi , Wang Cheng-Te , Richmond Paul , Lo Chung-Chuan , Coca Daniel , Chiang Ann-Shyn , Lazar Aurel A.
Published: December 2016

The Fruit Fly Brain Observatory (FFBO) is a collaborative effort between experimentalists, theorists and computational neuroscientists at Columbia University, National Tsing Hua University and Sheffield University with the goal to (i) create an open platform for the emulation and biological validation of fruit fly brain models in health and disease, (ii) standardize tools and methods for graphical rendering, representation and manipulation of brain circuits, (iii) standardize tools for representation of fruit fly brain data and its abstractions and support for natural language queries, (iv) create a focus for the neuroscience community with interests in the fruit fly brain and encourage the sharing of fruit fly brain structural data and executable code worldwide. NeuroNLP and NeuroGFX, two key FFBO applications, aim to address two major challenges, respectively: i) seamlessly integrate structural and genetic data from multiple sources that can be intuitively queried, effectively visualized and extensively manipulated, ii) devise executable brain circuit models anchored in structural data for understanding and developing novel hypotheses about brain function. NeuroNLP enables researchers to use plain English (or other languages) to probe biological data that are integrated into a novel database system, called NeuroArch, that we developed for integrating biological and abstract data models of the fruit fly brain. With powerful 3D graphical visualization, NeuroNLP presents a highly accessible portal for the fruit fly brain data. NeuroGFX provides users highly intuitive tools to execute neural circuit models with Neurokernel, an open-source platform for emulating the fruit fly brain, with full data support from the NeuroArch database and visualization support from an interactive graphical interface. Brain circuits can be configured with high flexibility and investigated on multiple levels, e.g., whole brain, neuropil, and local circuit levels. The FFBO is publicly available and accessible athttp://fruitflybrain.orgfrom any modern web browsers, including those running on smartphones.
NeuroGFX: a graphical functional explorer for fruit fly brain circuits
Authors: Yeh Chung-Heng , Zhou Yiyin , Ukani Nikul H. , Lazar Aurel A.
Published: December 2016

Recently, multiple focused efforts have resulted in substantial increase in the availability of connectome data in the fruit fly brain. Elucidating neural circuit function from such structural data calls for a scalable computational modeling methodology. We propose such a methodology that includes i) a brain emulation engine, with an architecture that can tackle the complexity of whole brain modeling, ii) a database that supports tight integration of biological and modeling data along with support for domain specific queries and circuit transformations, and iii) a graphical interface that allows for total flexibility in configuring neural circuits and visualizing run-time results, both anchored on model abstractions closely reflecting biological structure. Towards the realization of such a methodology, we have developed NeuroGFX and integrated it into the architecture of the Fruit Fly Brain Observatory (http://fruitflybrain.org). The computational infrastructure in NeuroGFX is provided by Neurokernel, an open source platform for the emulation of the fruit fly brain, and NeuroArch, a database for querying and executing fruit fly brain circuits. The integration of the two enables the algorithmic construction/manipulation/revision of executable circuits on multiple levels of abstraction of the same model organism. The power of this computational infrastructure can be leveraged through an intuitive graphical interface that allows visualizing execution results in the context of biological structure. This provides an environment where computational researchers can present configurable, executable neural circuits, and experimental scientists can easily explore circuit structure and function ultimately leading to biological validation. With these capabilities, NeuroGFX enables the exploration of function from circuit structure at whole brain, neuropil, and local circuit level of abstraction. By allowing for independently developed models to be integrated at the architectural level, NeuroGFX provides an open plug and play, collaborative environment for whole brain computational modeling of the fruit fly.
Data Reuse and the Social Capital of Open Science
Authors: Alicea Bradly
Published: December 2016

Participation in open data initiatives require two semi-independent actions: the sharing of data produced by a researcher or group, and a consumer of shared data. Consumers of shared data range from people interested in validating the results of a given study to people who actively transform the available data. These data transformers are of particular interest because they add value to the shared data set through the discovery of new relationships and information which can in turn be shared with the same community. The complex and often reciprocal relationship between producers and consumers can be better understood using game theory, namely by using three variations of the Prisoners’ Dilemma (PD): a classical PD payoff matrix, a simulation of the PDn-person iterative model that tests three hypotheses, and an Ideological Game Theory (IGT) model used to formulate how sharing strategies might be implemented in a specific institutional culture. To motivate these analyses, data sharing is presented as a trade-off between economic and social payoffs. This is demonstrated as a series of payoff matrices describing situations ranging from ubiquitous acceptance of Open Science principles to a community standard of complete non-cooperation. Further context is provided through the IGT model, which allows from the modeling of cultural biases and beliefs that influence open science decision-making. A vision for building a CC-BY economy are then discussed using an approach called econosemantics, which complements the treatment of data sharing as a complex system of transactions enabled by social capital.
Disentangled Long-Read De Bruijn Graphs via Optical Maps
Authors: Alipanahi Bahar , Salmela Leena , Puglisi Simon J. , Muggli Martin , Boucher Christina
Published: December 2016

Pacific Biosciences (PacBio), the main third generation sequencing technology can produce scalable, high-throughput, unprecedented sequencing results through long reads with uniform coverage. Although these long reads have been shown to increase the quality of draft genomes in repetitive regions, fundamental computational challenges remain in overcoming their high error rate and assembling them efficiently. In this paper we show that the de Bruijn graph built on the long reads can be efficiently and substantially disentangled using optical mapping data as auxiliary information. Fundamental to our approach is the use of the positional de Bruijn graph and a succinct data structure for constructing and traversing this graph. Our experimental results show that over 97.7% of directed cycles have been removed from the resulting positional de Bruijn graph as compared to its non-positional counterpart. Our results thus indicate that disentangling the de Bruijn graph using positional information is a promising direction for developing a simple and efficient assembly algorithm for long reads.
Exome sequencing reveals germline gain-of-function EGFR mutation in an adult with Lhermitte–Duclos disease
Authors: Colby Samantha , Yehia Lamis , Niazi Farshad , Chen JinLian , Ni Ying , Mester Jessica L. , Eng Charis
Published: December 2016

Lhermitte–Duclos disease (LDD) is a rare cerebellar disorder believed to be pathognomonic for Cowden syndrome. Presently, the only known etiology is germline PTEN mutation. We report a 41-yr-old white female diagnosed with LDD and wild-type for PTEN. Exome sequencing revealed a germline heterozygous EGFR mutation that breaks a disulfide bond in the receptor's extracellular domain, resulting in constitutive activation. Functional studies demonstrate activation of ERK/AKT signaling pathways, mimicking PTEN loss-of-function downstream effects. The identification of EGFR as a candidate LDD susceptibility gene contributes to advancement of molecular diagnosis and targeted therapy for this rare condition with limited treatment options.
Performance of photoelectron spin polarimeters with continuous and pulsed sources: from storage rings to free electron lasers
Authors: Pincelli T. , Grasselli F. , Petrov V. N. , Torelli P. , Rossi G.
Published: December 2016

In this work the experimental uncertainties concerning electron spin polarization (SP) under various realistic measurement conditions are theoretically derived. The accuracy of the evaluation of the SP of the photoelectron current is analysed as a function of the detector parameters and specifications, as well as of the characteristics of the photoexcitation sources. In particular, the different behaviour of single counter or twin counter detectors when the intensity fluctuations of the source are considered have been addressed, leading to a new definition of the SP detector performance. The widely used parameter called the figure of merit is shown to be inadequate for describing the efficiency of SP polarimeters, especially when they are operated with time-structured excitation sources such as free-electron lasers. Numerical simulations have been performed and yield strong implications in the choice of the detecting instruments in spin-polarization experiments, that are constrained in a limited measurement time. Our results are therefore applied to the characteristics of a wide set of state-of-the-art spectroscopy facilities all over the world, and an efficiency diagram for SP experiments is derived. These results also define new mathematical instruments for handling the correct statistics of SP measurements in the presence of source intensity fluctuations.
Crystal structure of an IclR homologue fromMicrobacteriumsp. strain HM58-2
Authors: Akiyama Tomonori , Yamada Yusuke , Takaya Naoki , Ito Shinsaku , Sasaki Yasuyuki , Yajima Shunsuke
Published: December 2016

The bacterial transcription factor IclR (isocitrate lyase regulator) is a member of a one-component signal transduction system, which shares the common motif of a helix–turn–helix (HTH)-type DNA-binding domain (DBD) connected to a substrate-binding domain (SBD). Here, the crystal structure of an IclR homologue (Mi-IclR) fromMicrobacteriumsp. strain HM58-2, which catabolizes acylhydrazide as the sole carbon source, is reported. Mi-IclR is expected to regulate an operon responsible for acylhydrazide degradation as an initial step. Native single-wavelength anomalous diffraction (SAD) experiments were performed in combination with molecular replacement.CRANK2 from theCCP4 suite successfully phased and modelled the complete structure of a homotetramer composed of 1000 residues in an asymmetric unit, and the model was refined to 2.1 Å resolution. The overall structure of Mi-IclR shared the same domain combination as other known IclR structures, but the relative geometry between the DBD and SBD differs. Accordingly, the geometry of the Mi-IclR tetramer was unique: the putative substrate-binding site in each subunit is accessible from the outside of the tetramer, as opposed to buried inside as in the previously known IclR structures. These differences in the domain geometry may contribute to the transcriptional regulation of IclRs.
Faculty-student perceptions about entrepreneurship in six countries
Authors: Pruett Mark , Şeşen Harun
Published: December 2016

Purpose

In what may be the first study of its kind in business and entrepreneurship, the purpose of this paper is to compare faculty and student perceptions and beliefs about entrepreneurship motives and barriers and student aspirations in order to explore implications for entrepreneurship education (EE).

Design/methodology/approach

The authors survey 3,037 students and faculty in the USA, China, India, Turkey, Belgium, and Spain, focusing on perceptions of entrepreneurship motives and barriers. Factor analysis organizes data for comparisons and regressions.

Findings

The authors find significant faculty-student differences in views of entrepreneurship motives and barriers, university environments, and student aspirations. An especially important finding is that, across six countries with widely varying cultures, economies, and entrepreneurial environments, students consistently see themselves as more entrepreneurial than the faculty perceive.

Research limitations/implications

Limitations include sample size and self-reporting. The authors also have focused on the significance of differences in perceptions, not on whether faculty or student perceptions are correct. A major implication of the study is that EE curricula need to be assessed in terms of their impact on the self-confidence, risk aversion, and entrepreneurial disposition of students.

Originality/value

The authors shine light on an overlooked topic – faculty-student perceptual alignment – to stimulate research and strengthen EE, especially regarding students’ self-confidence and views of failure and risk.
Factors for successful e-learning: does age matter?
Authors: Fleming Julie , Becker Karen , Newton Cameron
Published: December 2016

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine the factors affecting employees’ overall acceptance, satisfaction and future use of e-learning, specifically exploring the impact that age has on the intended future use of e-learning relative to the other potential predictors.

Design/methodology/approach

The project developed an online survey and invited employees of one Australian rail organisation to participate. Questions were structured around the factors that affect acceptance and future use of e-learning. Statistical analysis was used.

Findings

The findings from the study suggest that, despite the often espoused stereotype, age is not a significant factor impacting either future use intentions or satisfaction with e-learning. In contrast, three variables were found to be useful predictors of intention for future use of organisational e-learning; low complexity, authenticity and technical support.

Research limitations/implications

The study did not consider other moderating effects related to demographic data other than age, such as educational experience. Further, the case presented is a single organisation and therefore is not necessarily representative of other industries. Future studies should adopt a mixed methods approach.

Practical implications

This study has emphasised that attention needs to be focussed on factors over which organisations have control when adopting and using e-learning. Employee age should not be seen as an obstacle to e-learning implementation, rather attention needs to turn to effective and user-friendly e-learning interventions along with sufficient technology support.

Originality/value

Perceptions within industry and indeed in some literature, suggest that employee age stereotypes still exist in relation to technology uptake. This research has demonstrated that this stereotype is an erroneous assumption and emphasised the importance of other factors.
Predicting faculty membership – application of student choice logit model
Authors: Kopanidis Foula Zografina , Shaw Michael John
Published: December 2016

Purpose

Educational institutions are caught between increasing their offer rates and attracting and retaining those prospective students who are most suited to course completion. The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate the influence of demographic and psychological constructs on students’ preferences when choosing to study in a particular faculty through the application and testing of a student choice logit model based on data collected from a survey of existing students.

Design/methodology/approach

Logistic regression techniques were used to estimate the probability of undergraduate prospective students’ choices with reference to a set of variables that allows for the prediction and classification of students (n=304) at an Australian university. Using the estimated coefficients of both student characteristics and psychological variables, probability outputs were constructed to compute the faculty membership for student groups. Outputs were also illustrated via a set of simulation analyses.

Findings

The results of the student choice logit model are highly significant suggesting demographic, socioeconomic and psychological variables play a role in the prediction of faculty membership of undergraduate students.

Practical implications

These findings have implications for researchers, educational policy makers and career planners. The study also suggests that these policies should take into account the complexities of multi-attribute influences on students’ decision-making choices.

Originality/value

This research offers an innovative marketing use of logistics regression techniques with application of the student choice logit model through predicting the likelihood of faculty membership in an education context.
Transition from school-based training in VET
Authors: Dæhlen Marianne
Published: December 2016

Purpose

This paper assesses the drop-out rate among disadvantaged students within vocational education and training. The purpose of this paper is to examine the probability of dropping out after school-based training for child welfare clients – a particularly disadvantaged group of youth. Child welfare clients’ drop-out rate is compared with students from a representative sample of their peers.

Design/methodology/approach

Average marginal effects were calculated from multinomial logistic regression models. Data were from public registries (n=10,535).

Findings

The results show that differences in observed characteristics cannot explain differences in drop-out rates between child welfare clients and the majority peers. It is argued that this drop-out rate is likely a result of employers favoring apprenticeship applicants who are similar to them or that child welfare clients lack networks, which previous research has identified as crucial in finding an apprenticeship.

Practical implications

The results suggest a need for action targeting disadvantaged youths in the transition that follows school-based training.

Originality/value

The paper adds to the very scarce literature on transition from school-based learning to apprenticeships.
Review of the development of seafarers in Hong Kong
Authors: Tai Sik Kwan
Published: December 2016

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to review the development of registered seafarers working onboard Hong Kong ships.

Design/methodology/approach

Data obtained from the Marine Department showing the number of registered seafarers from 1960 to 2015.

Findings

The registered seafarers can be observed in three different stages, namely, the peak stage from 1960 to 1982, the declining stage from 1983 to 1996 and the reforming stage from 1997 to 2015.

Originality/value

Very few papers can be found in Hong Kong to review the development of registered seafarers from 1960 to 2015.
The role of motivation in relating green supply chain management to performance
Authors: Vanpoucke Evelyne , Quintens Lieven , Van Engelshoven Merel
Published: December 2016

Purpose

Not all companies deal with green supply chain management (GSCM) in the same way. The purpose of this paper is to understand a company’s GSCM motivation and how this motivation is linked to stakeholder pressures, a company’s GSCM practices and performance.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors report the findings of a survey on GSCM motivations.

Findings

Clear differences are seen in why companies are motivated to pursue GSCM. Based on these different motivations, this paper explains differences in perceived stakeholder pressure and performance.

Research limitations/implications

GSCM motivation is a sensitive topic and as such might cause respondents to provide socially desired answers. However, the analyses show clear variances in the answers, indicating that the measures put forth by the authors are valid.

Social implications

This study shows that to achieve sustainable GSCM, companies can be motivated in various ways. Also, stakeholders can learn from this study: they need to focus their attention toward companies whom they have the highest impact on.

Originality/value

First, this study tests a framework for GSCM motivations and shows that motivation mediates the relationship between stakeholder pressures and performance. Second, this study shows that these differences in motivation impact performance outcomes.
Antecedents and consequences of supply chain information integration: a resource-based view
Authors: Huo Baofeng , Han Zhaojun , Prajogo Daniel
Published: December 2016

Purpose

This paper aims to investigate the antecedents of supply chain information integration (SCII) and their consequences on company performance from the perspective of resource-based view (RBV).

Design/methodology/approach

Based on empirical survey data collected from 202 Australian manufacturers, this study examines the effects of strategic supply chain relationship (SCR) and supply chain technology (SCT) internalization on external and internal information integration (II) and the effects of external and internal II on operational (operational efficiency and service quality) and financial performance. Structural equation modeling and the maximum-likelihood estimation methods are used to test the proposed relationships.

Findings

The results indicate that both strategic SCR and SCT internalization are positively related to external and internal II. Moreover, strategic SCR has a stronger positive relationship with external II than with internal II, and SCT internalization has a stronger positive relationship with internal II than with external II. Internal II is positively related only to service quality, and external II is positively related only to operational efficiency. Both operational efficiency and service quality are positively related to financial performance.

Originality/value

This study contributes to the SCII literature and provides significant managerial implications for manufacturers to leverage their supply chain resources and capabilities by establishing a resources-capabilities-performance framework for the antecedents and consequences of SCII.
Experimental evidence for sexual selection against inbred males
Authors: Vega‐Trejo Regina , Head Megan L. , Keogh J. Scott , Jennions Michael D.
Published: December 2016

The detrimental effects of matings between relatives are well known. However, few studies determine the extent to which inbreeding depression in males is due to natural or sexual selection. Importantly, measuring fitness or key fitness components, rather than phenotypic traits allows more accurate estimation of inbreeding depression.

We investigate how differences in inbreeding and juvenile diet (i.e. early stressful environment) influence a key component of male fitness, namely their reproductive success.

We experimentally created inbred and outbred male mosquitofish (Gambusia holbrooki) by mating full‐sibs (f = 0·25). We show that this led to a 23% reduction in genome‐wide heterozygosity based onSNPs. Males were raised on different diets early in life to create high‐stress and low‐stress rearing environments. We then allowed adult males to compete freely for females to test if inbreeding, early diet and their interaction affect a male's share of paternity.

Early diet had no effect on paternity, but outbred males sired almost twice as many offspring as inbred males (n = 628 offspring from 122 potential sires). Using artificial insemination methods we determined that this was unlikely to be due to early embryo mortality of eggs fertilised by inbred males: there was no evidence that male inbreeding status affects the realised fecundity of females (n = 288).

Given there was no difference in male mortality in our competitive mating experiment, the lower reproductive success of inbred males can most parsimoniously be attributed to inbreeding negatively affecting sexually selected traits that affect male mating success and/or sperm competitiveness. We discuss which sexually selected traits might be involved.
A quantitative framework to estimate the relative importance of environment, spatial variation and patch connectivity in driving community composition
Authors: Monteiro Viviane F. , Paiva Paulo C. , Peres‐Neto Pedro R.
Published: December 2016

Perhaps the most widely used quantitative approach in metacommunity ecology is the estimation of the importance of local environment vs. spatial structuring using the variation partitioning framework. Contrary to metapopulation models, however, current empirical studies of metacommunity structure using variation partitioning assume a space‐for‐dispersal substitution due to the lack of analytical frameworks that incorporate patch connectivity predictors of dispersal dynamics.

Here, a method is presented that allows estimating the relative importance of environment, spatial variation and patch connectivity in driving community composition variation within metacommunities. The proposed approach is illustrated by a study designed to understand the factors driving the structure of a soft‐bottom marine polychaete metacommunity.

Using a standard variation partitioning scheme (i.e. where only environmental and spatial predictors are used), only about 13% of the variation in metacommunity structure was explained. With the connectivity set of predictors, the total amount of explained variation increased up to 51% of the variation.

These results highlight the importance of considering predictors of patch connectivity rather than just spatial predictors. Given that information on connectivity can be estimated by commonly available data on species distributions for a number of taxa, the framework presented here can be readily applied to past studies as well, facilitating a more robust evaluation of the factors contributing to metacommunity structure.
Climatic conditions produce contrasting influences on demographic traits in a long‐distance Arctic migrant
Authors: Cleasby Ian R. , Bodey Thomas W. , Vigfusdottir Freydis , McDonald Jenni L. , McElwaine Graham , Mackie Kerry , Colhoun Kendrew , Bearhop Stuart
Published: December 2016

The manner in which patterns of variation and interactions among demographic rates contribute to population growth rate (λ) is key to understanding how animal populations will respond to changing climatic conditions.

Migratory species are likely to be particularly sensitive to climatic conditions as they experience a range of different environments throughout their annual cycle. However, few studies have provided fully integrated demographic analyses of migratory populations in response to changing climatic conditions.

Here, we employed integrated population models to demonstrate that the environmental conditions experienced during a short but critical period play a central role in the demography of a long‐distance migrant, the light‐bellied Brent goose (Branta bernicla hrota).

Female survival was positively associated with June North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) values, whereas male survival was not. In contrast, breeding productivity was negatively associated with June NAO, suggesting a trade‐off between female survival and reproductive success. Both adult female and adult male survival showed low temporal variation, whereas there was high temporal variation in recruitment and breeding productivity. In addition, while annual population growth was positively correlated with annual breeding productivity, a sensitivity analysis revealed that population growth was most sensitive to changes in adult survival.

Our results demonstrate that the environmental conditions experienced during a relatively short‐time window at the start of the breeding season play a critical role in shaping the demography of a long‐distant Arctic migrant. Crucially, different demographic rates responded in opposing directions to climatic variation, emphasising the need for integrated analysis of multiple demographic traits when understanding population dynamics.