bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Phytoplankton Studies in Lower Narragansett Bay1
Authors: SMAYDA THEODORE J.
Published: May 2016

A total of 82 surfacc samples were collected at three stations in lower Narragansett Bay from June 1954 through February 1955. Measurements of temperature, salinity, transparency, phosphate, iron, and oxygen were made, and 75 production and nutrient metabolism experiments were conducted.

Maximum phytoplankton populations were encountered in September and January, the mean standing crop being considerably in excess of that recorded in adjacent areas. Two hurricanes evoked a vigorous response in the phytoplankton. Skeletonema costatum accounted for 81.2 per cent of the total population. Subsidence of the late winter flowering coincided with minimal phosphate concentrations. The development of the September maximum may reflect a decreased grazing rate. The role of stability and the degree of enclosure in the development of phytoplankton populations in protected areas are discussed.

An “atypical” phosphate cycle was encountered in which a summer maximum and a winter minimum occurred. It is postulated that the periods of phytoplankton activity with their accompanying rates of assimilation and regeneration govern this. Three fractions of iron were characterized by marked variations in concentrations.

A mean phosphate assimilation rate of 0.087 µg‐at./L/day was obtained; regeneration rates were consistently negative. Iron assimilation had to be expressed as trends. On the average, diatoms increased by 53 per cent per day in the light bottle but decreased by 1.2 per cent per day in the dark one. The effect of this on measurements of respiration and gross production were discussed. Average rates of gross production and respiration were 0.43 and 0.32 ml O2/L/day, respectively. The annual surface production was calculated to be 84 g C/m3 whereas it was 64 g C/m3 during the period of investigation.
The Effect of Circularly Polarized Light on the Photosynthesis and Chlorophyll a Synthesis of Certain Marine Algae1
Authors: McLEOD G. C.
Published: May 2016

The net photosynthesis and chlorophyll a synthesis of certain marine algae show a gradation in response to various types of polarized light. Right circularly polarized light increases the net photosynthesis and chlorophyll a synthesis as compared with light through neutral density filters, whereas the effect is reversed with left circularly polarized light. This suggests that the receptor pigments are anisotropic and exhibit circular dichroism.
Clinically‐oriented proteomic investigation of sickle cell disease: Opportunities and challenges
Authors: Renella Raffaele
Published: May 2016

Sickle cell disease (SCD) is an autosomal recessively inherited β‐hemoglobinopathy causing a sickling hemoglobin (HbS) to be expressed in the erythrocyte. Due its unique biophysical properties and tendency to form polymers in deoxygenated conditions, HbS causes dramatic erythrocyte deformation and damage ultimately leading to diffuse hemolysis, vasco‐occlusion, and vasculopathy in affected individuals. Albeit SCD was the first molecular disease identified in the human several decades ago, the progress in caring for patients with SCD has been globally limited and faces considerable biological, medical, psychological, and economic challenges. The aim of this review is to illustrate the opportunities lying ahead for proteomic discovery in SCD. It also establishes a tentative conceptual framework for clinically oriented investigations. The ultimate target is the translation of findings into validated and actionable improvements at the bedside. Thanks to significant technological advances, proteomics is poised to play an important role for patients affected by hematological disorders, and SCD could be a paradigm for impactful research.
Avalanche risk evaluation and protective dam optimal design using extreme value statistics
Authors: FAVIER PHILOMÈNE , ECKERT NICOLAS , FAUG THIERRY , BERTRAND DAVID , NAAIM MOHAMED
Published: May 2016

In snow avalanche long-term forecasting, existing risk-based methods remain difficult to use in a real engineering context. In this work, we expand a quasi analytical decisional model to obtain simple formulae to quantify risk and to perform the optimal design of an avalanche dam in a quick and efficient way. Specifically, the exponential runout model is replaced by the Generalized Pareto distribution (GPD), which has theoretical justifications that promote its use for modelling the different possible runout tail behaviours. Regarding the defence structure/flow interaction, a simple law based on kinetic energy dissipation is compared with a law based on the volume stored upstream of the dam, whose flexibility allows us to cope with various types of snow. We show how a detailed sensitivity study can be conducted, leading to intervals and bounds for risk estimates and optimal design values. Application to a typical case study from the French Alps, highlights potential operational difficulties and how they can be tackled. For instance, the highest sensitivity to the runout tail type and interaction law is found at abscissas of legal importance for hazard zoning (return periods of 10–1000 a), a crucial result for practical purposes.
PERFORMANCE OF NON-COOPERATIVE ROUTING OVER PARALLEL NON-OBSERVABLE QUEUES
Authors: Brun Olivier
Published: May 2016

Autonomic computing is emerging as a significant new approach to the design of computer services. Its goal is the development of services that are able to manage themselves with minimal direct human intervention, and, in particular, are able to sense their environment and to tune themselves to meet end-user needs. However, the impact on performance of the interaction between multiple uncoordinated self-optimizing services is not yet well understood. We present some recent results on a non-cooperative load-balancing game which help to better understand the result of this interaction. In this game, users generate jobs of different services, and the jobs have to be processed on one of the servers of a computing platform. Each service has its own dispatcher which probabilistically routes jobs to servers so as to minimize the mean processing cost of its own jobs. We first investigate the impact of heterogeneity in the amount of incoming traffic routed by dispatchers and present a result stating that, for a fixed amount of total incoming traffic, the worst-case overall performance occurs when each dispatcher routes the same amount of traffic. Using this result we then study the so-called Price of Anarchy (PoA), an oft-used worst-case measure of the inefficiency of non-cooperative decentralized architectures. We give explicit bounds on the PoA for cost functions representing the mean delay of jobs when the service discipline is PS or SRPT. These bounds indicate that significant performance degradations can result from the selfish behavior of self-optimizing services. In practice, though, the worst-case scenario may occur rarely, if at all. Some recent results suggest that for the game under consideration the PoA is an overly pessimistic measure that does not reflect the performance obtained in most instances of the problem.
DETECTING NETWORK-UNFRIENDLY MOBILES WITH THE RANDOM NEURAL NETWORK
Authors: Abdelrahman Omer H.
Published: May 2016

Mobile networks are universally used for personal communications, but also increasingly used in the Internet of Things and machine-to-machine applications in order to access and control critical services. However, they are particularly vulnerable to signaling storms, triggered by malfunctioning applications, malware or malicious behavior, which can cause disruption in the access to the infrastructure. Such storms differ from conventional denial of service attacks, since they overload the control plane rather than the data plane, rendering traditional detection techniques ineffective. Thus, in this paper we describe the manner in which storms happen and their causes, and propose a detection framework that utilizes traffic measurements and key performance indicators to identify in real-time misbehaving mobile devices. The detection algorithm is based on the random neural network which is a probabilistic computational model with efficient learning algorithms. Simulation results are provided to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed scheme.
Ammonia as an efficient catalyst for decomposition of carbonic acid: a quantum chemical investigation
Authors: Bandyopadhyay Biman , Biswas Partha , Kumar Pradeep
Published: May 2016

Electronic structure calculations using M06-2X, MP2 and CCSD(T) methods have been employed to show ammonia as an efficient catalyst for decomposition of carbonic acid.
An asymmetric approach to bicyclo[2.2.1]heptane-1-carboxylates via a formal [4 + 2] cycloaddition reaction enabled by organocatalysis
Authors: Fu Jian-Guo , Shan Yi-Fan , Sun Wang-Bin , Lin Guo-Qiang , Sun Bing-Feng
Published: May 2016

An organocatalytic formal [4 + 2] cycloaddition reaction has been developed that permits rapid access to bicyclo[2.2.1]heptane-1-carboxylates with excellent enantioselectivities under mild and operationally simple conditions.
Near-white emission observed in Dy doped AlN
Authors: Wang Wei , Wang Xiaobai , Zhang Peng , Lei Xiang , Yang Hua
Published: May 2016

Dy doped AlN phosphors were prepared by a simple solid state route, exhibiting excellent photoluminescence.
Enhancing the tribological performance of PEEK exposed to water-lubrication by filling goethite (α-FeOOH) nanoparticles
Authors: Gao Chuanping , Zhang Ga , Wang Tingmei , Wang Qihua
Published: May 2016

Addition of α-FeOOH nanoparticles into PEEK matrix promotes the formation of a lubricating tribo-film on the sliding counterface exposed to water-lubrication and thereby, the tribological performance is greatly improved.
Three-dimensionally interconnected porous boron nitride foam derived from polymeric foams
Authors: Maleki Mahdi , Shokouhimehr Mohammadreza , Karimian Hossein , Beitollahi Ali
Published: May 2016

In this work, for the first time, we report the successful synthesis of three-dimensionally interconnected porous boron nitride foams (BNFs) with a high degree of crystallinity using porous sacrificial polymeric templates.
Symmetry control in subscale near-vacuum hohlraums
Authors: Turnbull D. , Berzak Hopkins L. F. , Le Pape S. , Divol L. , Meezan N. , Landen O. L. , Ho D. D. , Mackinnon A. , Zylstra A. B. , Rinderknecht H. G. , Sio H. , Petrasso R. D. , Ross J. S. , Khan S. , Pak A. , Dewald E. L. , Callahan D. A. , Hurricane O. , Hsing W. W. , Edwards M. J.
Published: May 2016

Controlling the symmetry of indirect-drive inertial confinement fusion implosions remains a key challenge. Increasing the ratio of the hohlraum diameter to the capsule diameter (case-to-capsule ratio, or CCR) facilitates symmetry tuning. By varying the balance of energy between the inner and outer cones as well as the incident laser pulse length, we demonstrate the ability to tune from oblate, through round, to prolate at a CCR of 3.2 in near-vacuum hohlraums at the National Ignition Facility, developing empirical playbooks along the way for cone fraction sensitivity of various laser pulse epochs. Radiation-hydrodynamic simulations with enhanced inner beam propagation reproduce most experimental observables, including hot spot shape, for a majority of implosions. Specular reflections are used to diagnose the limits of inner beam propagation as a function of pulse length.
Oscillatory dynamics in a bacterial cross-protection mutualism
Authors: Yurtsev Eugene Anatoly , Conwill Arolyn , Gore Jeff
Published: May 2016

Significance

Enzymatic deactivation of antibiotics is a cooperative behavior that can allow resistant cells to protect sensitive cells from antibiotics. The prevalence of this mechanism of antibiotic resistance in clinical isolates and in soil bacteria makes it important both clinically and ecologically. Here, we demonstrate experimentally that two populations of resistant bacteria can form a cross-protection mutualism in a two-drug environment, allowing the coculture to survive high antibiotic concentrations at which neither of the two strains can survive alone. Moreover, we find that daily growth-dilution cycles result in large oscillations in the relative abundances of the two strains, thus demonstrating that mutualisms can display striking dynamical behavior.
Outdoor signage as a trait in the linguistic landscape duringOperation Protective Edge
Authors: Zeevi Irit , Dubiner Deborah
Published: May 2016

Researchers have discussed the display of emotions in modern society as a response to stimuli — some of which are internal and private events whereas others are displayed to the outside world (Tourinho, Borba, Vichi, & Leite, 2011). In particular, during times of crisis there seems to be an awakening of patriotic feelings and a tendency to express emotions through symbolic artifacts (Bar-Tal & Ben-Amos, 2004; First & Avraham, 2010; Zeevi, 2009). This article describes and analyzes Israel’s linguistic landscape as reflected by outdoor signs during the military operation Protective Edge (in Hebrew “Tzuk Eitan”) as a display of citizens’ feelings. One-hundred different outdoor signs were selected from a 300 convenience sample and analyzed according to categories of the initiators of the signs, the objects of the messages, and the ways in which solidarity and patriotism were expressed. The findings indicate that indeed, a strong message of patriotism and solidarity emerged from visual and linguistic elements in the signs, as well as their location. The findings show that the LL ceases to be “a space” and becomes a place that conveys a message and contains a social meaning (Shohamy & Waksman 2009).
PACRG, a protein linked to ciliary motility, mediates cellular signaling
Authors: Loucks Catrina M. , Bialas Nathan J. , Dekkers Martijn P. J. , Walker Denise S. , Grundy Laura J. , Li Chunmei , Inglis P. Nick , Kida Katarzyna , Schafer William R. , Blacque Oliver E. , Jansen Gert , Leroux Michel R.
Published: May 2016

Cilia are microtubule-based organelles that project from nearly all mammalian cell types. Motile cilia generate fluid flow, whereas nonmotile (primary) cilia are required for sensory physiology and modulate various signal transduction pathways. Here we investigate the nonmotile ciliary signaling roles of parkin coregulated gene (PACRG), a protein linked to ciliary motility. PACRG is associated with the protofilament ribbon, a structure believed to dictate the regular arrangement of motility-associated ciliary components. Roles for protofilament ribbon–associated proteins in nonmotile cilia and cellular signaling have not been investigated. We show that PACRG localizes to a small subset of nonmotile cilia in Caenorhabditis elegans, suggesting an evolutionary adaptation for mediating specific sensory/signaling functions. We find that it influences a learning behavior known as gustatory plasticity, in which it is functionally coupled to heterotrimeric G-protein signaling. We also demonstrate that PACRG promotes longevity in C. elegans by acting upstream of the lifespan-promoting FOXO transcription factor DAF-16 and likely upstream of insulin/IGF signaling. Our findings establish previously unrecognized sensory/signaling functions for PACRG and point to a role for this protein in promoting longevity. Furthermore, our work suggests additional ciliary motility-signaling connections, since EFHC1 (EF-hand containing 1), a potential PACRG interaction partner similarly associated with the protofilament ribbon and ciliary motility, also positively regulates lifespan.
PANTHER-PSEP: predicting disease-causing genetic variants using position-specific evolutionary preservation
Authors: Tang Haiming , Thomas Paul D.
Published: May 2016

Summary: PANTHER-PSEP is a new software tool for predicting non-synonymous genetic variants that may play a causal role in human disease. Several previous variant pathogenicity prediction methods have been proposed that quantify evolutionary conservation among homologous proteins from different organisms. PANTHER-PSEP employs a related but distinct metric based on ‘evolutionary preservation’: homologous proteins are used to reconstruct the likely sequences of ancestral proteins at nodes in a phylogenetic tree, and the history of each amino acid can be traced back in time from its current state to estimate how long that state has been preserved in its ancestors. Here, we describe the PSEP tool, and assess its performance on standard benchmarks for distinguishing disease-associated from neutral variation in humans. On these benchmarks, PSEP outperforms not only previous tools that utilize evolutionary conservation, but also several highly used tools that include multiple other sources of information as well. For predicting pathogenic human variants, the trace back of course starts with a human ‘reference’ protein sequence, but the PSEP tool can also be applied to predicting deleterious or pathogenic variants in reference proteins from any of the ∼100 other species in the PANTHER database.

Availability and implementation: PANTHER-PSEP is freely available on the web at http://pantherdb.org/tools/csnpScoreForm.jsp. Users can also download the command-line based tool at ftp://ftp.pantherdb.org/cSNP_analysis/PSEP/.

Contact:  pdthomas@usc.edu

Supplementary information:  Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.
Applying Adult Ventilator-associated Pneumonia Bundle Evidence to the Ventilated Neonate
Authors: Weber Carla D.
Published: May 2016

Background:

Ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) in neonates can be reduced by implementing preventive care practices. Implementation of a group, or bundle, of evidence-based practices that improve processes of care has been shown to be cost-effective and to have better outcomes than implementation of individual single practices.

Purpose:

The purpose of this article is to describe a safe, effective, and efficient neonatal VAP prevention protocol developed for caregivers in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). Improved understanding of VAP causes, effects of care practices, and rationale for interventions can help reduce VAP risk to neonatal patients.

Method:

In order to improve care practices to affect VAP rates, initial and annual education occurred on improved protocol components after surveying staff practices and auditing documentation compliance.

Findings/Results:

In 2009, a tertiary care level III NICU in the Midwestern United States had 14 VAP cases. Lacking evidence-based VAP prevention practices for neonates, effective adult strategies were modified to meet the complex needs of the ventilated neonate. A protocol was developed over time and resulted in an annual decrease in VAP until rates were zero for 20 consecutive months from October 2012 to May 2014.

Implications for Practice:

This article describes a VAP prevention protocol developed to address care practices surrounding hand hygiene, intubation, feeding, suctioning, positioning, oral care, and respiratory equipment in the NICU.

Implications for Research:

Implementation of this VAP prevention protocol in other facilities with appropriate monitoring and tracking would provide broader support for standardization of care. Individual components of this VAP protocol could be studied to strengthen the inclusion of each; however, bundled interventions are often considered stronger when implemented as a whole.
Consumer envy during service encounters
Authors: Anaya Gerardo Joel , Miao Li , Mattila Anna S. , Almanza Barbara
Published: May 2016

Purpose

This paper aims to explore consumer envy in the context of service encounters. Envy-elicited cognitive appraisals, emotions, interpersonal and organizational consequences were examined.

Design/methodology/approach

An online survey was used to collect 311 actual episodes of consumer envy. Both qualitative and quantitative analyses were used to answer the research questions.

Findings

This research identified five different triggers of consumer envy during service encounters, each associated with distinct cognitive appraisal patterns. Moreover, envious customers might experience three qualitatively different shades of envy labeled as “blue envy”, “red envy” and “green envy”. Actions taken by service providers are found to be a major cause of consumer envy, and they elicit emotions associated with complaining, negative word of mouth, lower encounter satisfaction and lower repurchase intention.

Research limitations/implications

While significant contributions are made, this study relied on self-reported data. Given that envy is considered a private and sensitive emotion, participants may have withheld from sharing some of the more socially undesirable details of their envy episodes.

Practical implications

The results stress the importance for service providers to avoid a perception of unfair preferential treatment. This perception of service unfairness is associated with hostility directed at service employees and negative organizational consequences.

Originality/value

This study is among the first to examine consumer envy in the context of service encounters.
Small ruminant lentiviral Vif proteins commonly utilize cyclophilin A, an evolutionarily and structurally conserved protein, to degrade ovine and caprine APOBEC3 proteins
Authors: Yoshikawa Rokusuke , Izumi Taisuke , Nakano Yusuke , Yamada Eri , Moriwaki Miyu , Misawa Naoko , Ren Fengrong , Kobayashi Tomoko , Koyanagi Yoshio , Sato Kei
Published: May 2016

Mammals have co‐evolved with retroviruses, including lentiviruses, over a long period. Evidence supporting this contention is that viral infectivity factor (Vif) encoded by lentiviruses antagonizes the anti‐viral action of cellular apolipoprotein B mRNA editing enzyme catalytic polypeptide‐like 3 (APOBEC3) of the host. To orchestrate E3 ubiquitin ligase complex for APOBEC3 degradation, Vifs utilize mammalian proteins such as core‐binding factor beta (CBFB; for primate lentiviruses) or cyclophilin A (CYPA; for Maedi–Visna virus [MVV]). However, the co‐evolutionary relationship between lentiviral Vif and the mammalian proteins associated with Vif‐mediated APOBEC3 degradation is poorly understood. Moreover, it is unclear whether Vif proteins of small ruminant lentiviruses (SRLVs), including MVV and caprine arthritis encephalitis virus (CAEV), commonly utilize CYPA to degrade the APOBEC3 of their hosts. In this study, molecular phylogenetic and protein homology modeling revealed that Vif co‐factors are evolutionarily and structurally conserved. It was also found that not only MVV but also CAEV Vifs degrade APOBEC3 of both sheep and goats and that CAEV Vifs interact with CYPA. These findings suggest that lentiviral Vifs chose evolutionarily and structurally stable proteins as their partners (e.g., CBFB or CYPA) for APOBEC3 degradation and, particularly, that SRLV Vifs evolved to utilize CYPA as their co‐factor in degradation of ovine and caprine APOBEC3.
Long‐term ferrocyanide application via deicing salts promotes the establishment of Actinomycetales assimilating ferrocyanide‐derived carbon in soil
Authors: Gschwendtner Silvia , Mansfeldt Tim , Kublik Susanne , Touliari Evangelia , Buegger Franz , Schloter Michael
Published: May 2016

Cyanides are highly toxic and produced by various microorganisms as defence strategy or to increase their competitiveness. As degradation is the most efficient way of detoxification, some microbes developed the capability to use cyanides as carbon and nitrogen source. However, it is not clear if this potential also helps to lower cyanide concentrations in roadside soils where deicing salt application leads to significant inputs of ferrocyanide. The question remains if biodegradation in soils can occur without previous photolysis. By conducting a microcosm experiment using soils with/without pre‐exposition to road salts spiked with 13C‐labelled ferrocyanide, we were able to confirm biodegradation and in parallel to identify bacteria using ferrocyanide as C source via DNA stable isotope probing (DNA‐SIP), TRFLP fingerprinting and pyrosequencing. Bacteria assimilating 13C were highly similar in the pre‐exposed soils, belonging mostly to Actinomycetales (Kineosporia, Mycobacterium, Micromonosporaceae). In the soil without pre‐exposition, bacteria belonging to Acidobacteria (Gp3, Gp4, Gp6), Gemmatimonadetes (Gemmatimonas) and Gammaproteobacteria (Thermomonas, Xanthomonadaceae) used ferrocyanide as C source but not the present Actinomycetales. This indicated that (i) various bacteria are able to assimilate ferrocyanide‐derived C and (ii) long‐term exposition to ferrocyanide applied with deicing salts leads to Actinomycetales outcompeting other microorganisms for the use of ferrocyanide as C source.
Living the cycle of drinking and violence: A qualitative study of women's experience of alcohol‐related intimate partner violence
Authors: Wilson Ingrid M. , Graham Kathryn , Taft Angela
Published: May 2016

Abstract

Introduction and Aims

Heavy and binge drinking contributes to increased risk and severity of violence in intimate relationships, but its role in the initiation and escalation of intimate partner violence (IPV) is not well‐understood. This study explores the dynamics of drinking and IPV from the perspectives of women with lived experience of alcohol‐related IPV.

Design and Methods

A qualitative constructivist grounded theory study using interviews with 18 women aged 18–50 years who experienced fear or harm from an alcohol‐affected male partner. Participants were recruited from the community in Victoria, Australia.

Results

Participants experienced alcohol‐related IPV as a cycle of escalating violence accompanying the male partner's progression to intoxication as follows: starting to drink (having fun); getting drunk (looking for a fight); intoxicated (‘switching’ to escalated violence); drunk (becoming incapacitated); hungover/coming down (becoming mean‐tempered); sober (returning to ‘normal’ life); and craving (building up to drinking again — for dependent drinkers). Participants identified safe and unsafe stages in the cycle but feared the unpredictability of drunken violence. Participants actively managed safety through four main strategies: preventing (e.g. limiting his drinking); predicting (e.g. recognising signs); responding (e.g. avoiding arguments); and protecting (e.g. removing self and children). Anticipating abuse when a partner drinks was the central process for participants living this cycle.

Discussion and Conclusions

For some women, alcohol plays a central role in the cycle of violence, abuse and fear. Alcohol‐related intimate partner violence should be the focus of further research, prevention and treatment. [Wilson IM, Graham K, Taft A. Living the cycle of drinking and violence: A qualitative study of women's experience of alcohol‐related intimate partner violence. Drug Alcohol Rev 2017;36:115–124]
The incidence, risk and functional outcomes of intracranial haemorrhage in children with inherited bleeding disorders at one haemophilia center
Authors: Bladen M. , Main E. , Khair K. , Hubert N. , Koutoumanou E. , Liesner R.
Published: May 2016

Introduction

Intracranial haemorrhage (ICH) is the most serious bleeding event for patients with inherited bleeding disorders (IBD). The risks and long‐term consequences remain unknown.

Aim

This single‐centre service evaluation aimed to identify the incidence, risks and long‐term outcomes following ICH in patients with IBD.

Methods

The IBD database and medical notes between 1987 and 2013 were reviewed. Children without apparent neurological deficit following ICH completed standardized assessments and supplementary information sheets.

Results

ICH was confirmed in 38/1111 children with IBD. The overall risk of ICH amongst children with IBD was 3.4% (95% CI: 2.5, 4.7%). However, 27/38 had an ICH in the first year of life, 18 of which were in the neonatal period. In children with IBD who had an ICH, the risks of ICH in the neonatal period or first year of life were 18/38 (47%) (95% CI: 32, 63%) and 27/38 (71%) (95% CI: 55, 83%) respectively. Mortality risk from ICH in children with an IBD was 5/38 (13%) (95% CI: 5.8, 27.3 %). Ten of 32 survivors had known neurological sequelae including motor disorder deficits (MDD) while 22 had no documented evidence of neurological impairment or MDD. Re‐evaluation was possible in 17/22 children, 8 of whom demonstrated evidence of MDD. After re‐evaluation, the risk of significant neurological MDD from ICH increased from 31% CI (95% CI: 18, 49%) to 56% CI (95% CI: 39, 72%).

Conclusion

Risks and consequences of ICH in IBD were highest within the neonatal period and first year of life. MDD after ICH was not reliably identified in early life and ongoing monitoring in the first decade of life will facilitate educational support or physical rehabilitation.
Knowing and Not‐Knowing For Your Own Good: The Limits of Epistemic Paternalism
Authors: Bullock Emma C.
Published: May 2016

Epistemic paternalism is the thesis that a paternalistic interference with an individual's inquiry is justified when it is likely to bring about an epistemic improvement in her. In this article I claim that in order to motivate epistemic paternalism we must first account for the value of epistemic improvements. I propose that the epistemic paternalist has two options: either epistemic improvements are valuable because they contribute to wellbeing, or they are epistemically valuable. I will argue that these options constitute the foundations of a dilemma: either epistemic paternalism collapses into general paternalism, or a distinctive project of justified epistemic paternalism is implausible.
Reduction of Tubulin Expression in Angomonas deanei by RNAi Modifies the Ultrastructure of the Trypanosomatid Protozoan and Impairs Division of Its Endosymbiotic Bacterium
Authors: Catta‐Preta Carolina Moura Costa , dos Santos Pascoalino Bruno , de Souza Wanderley , Mottram Jeremy C. , Motta Maria Cristina M. , Schenkman Sergio
Published: May 2016

In the last two decades, RNA interference pathways have been employed as a useful tool for reverse genetics in trypanosomatids. Angomonas deanei is a nonpathogenic trypanosomatid that maintains an obligatory endosymbiosis with a bacterium related to the Alcaligenaceae family. Studies of this symbiosis can help us to understand the origin of eukaryotic organelles. The recent elucidation of both the A. deanei and the bacterium symbiont genomes revealed that the host protozoan codes for the enzymes necessary for RNAi activity in trypanosomatids. Here, we tested the functionality of the RNAi machinery by transfecting cells with dsRNA to a reporter gene (green fluorescent protein), which had been previously expressed in the parasite and to α‐tubulin, an endogenous gene. In both cases, protein expression was reduced by the presence of specific dsRNA, inducing, respectively, a decreased GFP fluorescence and the formation of enlarged cells with modified arrangement of subpellicular microtubules. Furthermore, symbiont division was impaired. These results indicate that the RNAi system is active in A. deanei and can be used to further explore gene function in symbiont‐containing trypanosomatids and to clarify important aspects of symbiosis and cell evolution.
Democratic Moral Education and the Gifts of the Holy Spirit
Authors: Jordan Mark D.
Published: May 2016

How far is Thomas Aquinas available for current discussions in political philosophy? While there are certainly things to be learned from him about our political preoccupations, the pedagogy of his moral teaching typically resists our familiar questions. This holds even when the question is put in terms that Thomas should recognize—say, as a question about the virtues appropriate for a democracy. Thomas not only gives different meanings to these terms, he moves political topics away from the center of theological attention and so organizes them very differently. A reader can notice these differences at many points but perhaps especially in the attention that Thomas gives in the Summa to the gifts of the Holy Spirit. His account of these gifts qualifies significantly what he says of virtue and suggests large limits on human agency, whether in ethics or in politics.
Microfinance and Female Group Action in Bangladesh
Authors: Peters Christina
Published: May 2016

This paper provides evidence that participation in microfinance programs may increase the likelihood of female group action against domestic violence and spousal abandonment. Although female empowerment has been an explicit target of many microfinance programs, the literature remains conflicted regarding the magnitude and direction of impact. Using multiple estimation methods with data from Bangladesh, I find that women from villages with microfinance programs are substantially more likely than women from non‐program villages to have taken group action by publicly protesting when they observed a woman being beaten, abandoned or divorced. Taking advantage of eligibility requirements for program participation, I further show that women from program villages who are eligible to participate are substantially more likely than non‐eligible women from the same village to have taken group action, which suggests that these effects are in fact related to the microfinance programs themselves.
Need, Merit and Politics in Multilateral Aid Allocation: A District‐level Analysis of World Bank Projects in India
Authors: Nunnenkamp Peter , Öhler Hannes , Sosa Andrés Maximiliano
Published: May 2016

We assess the targeting of foreign aid within recipient countries by employing Poisson estimations on the determinants of the World Bank's allocation of project aid at the district level in India. The evidence of needs‐based location choices is very weak as long as the poverty orientation of overall commitments is taken as the yardstick. It is only for some sectors that we find stronger indications of needs‐based allocation when combining sector‐specific commitments with corresponding measures of need. The evidence for a merit‐based allocation of World Bank aid is even weaker. We typically do not find evidence that aid allocation is affected by political patronage at the state or district level. However, the World Bank prefers districts where foreign direct investors may benefit from projects related to infrastructure.
The force and gravity of events
Authors: Delbourgo Robert
Published: May 2016

Local events are characterized by “where”, “when” and “what”. Just as (bosonic) spacetime forms the backdrop for location and time, (fermionic) property space can serve as the backdrop for the attributes of a system. With such a scenario I shall describe a scheme that is capable of unifying gravitation and the other forces of nature. The generalized metric contains the curvature of spacetime and property separately, with the gauge fields linking the bosonic and fermionic arenas. The super-Ricci scalar can then automatically yield the spacetime Lagrangian of gravitation and the Standard Model (plus a cosmological constant) upon integration over property coordinates.
Scalar perturbation potentials in a homogeneous and isotropic Weitzenböck geometry
Authors: Behboodi A. , Akhshabi S. , Nozari K.
Published: May 2016

We describe the fully gauge invariant cosmological perturbation equations in teleparallel gravity by using the gauge covariant version of the Stewart lemma for obtaining the variations in tetrad perturbations. In teleparallel theory, perturbations are the result of small fluctuations in the tetrad field. The tetrad transforms as a vector in both its holonomic and anholonomic indices. As a result, in the gauge invariant formalism, physical degrees of freedom are those combinations of perturbation parameters which remain invariant under a diffeomorphism in the coordinate frame, followed by an arbitrary rotation of the local inertial (Lorentz) frame. We derive these gauge invariant perturbation potentials for scalar perturbations and present the gauge invariant field equations governing their evolution.
A dark matter signature for condensed neutrinos
Authors: Morley P. D. , Buettner D. J.
Published: May 2016

We derive the signature for condensed neutrino objects (CNOs) as the primary source of dark matter. Restricting our source data to minimize systematic errors, we find that by just using weak lensing data and Sunyaev–Zel’dovich data, that there may be a weak CNO signature.
Increased angiotensinogen expression, urinary angiotensinogen excretion, and tissue injury in nonclipped kidneys of two-kidney, one-clip hypertensive rats
Authors: Shao Weijian , Miyata Kayoko , Katsurada Akemi , Satou Ryousuke , Seth Dale M. , Rosales Carla B. , Prieto Minolfa C. , Mitchell Kenneth D. , Navar L. Gabriel
Published: May 2016

In angiotensin II (ANG II)-dependent hypertension, there is an angiotensin type 1 receptor-dependent amplification mechanism enhancing intrarenal angiotensinogen (AGT) formation and secretion in the tubular fluid. To evaluate the role of increased arterial pressure, AGT mRNA, protein expression, and urinary AGT (uAGT) excretion and tissue injury were assessed in both kidneys of two-kidney, one-clip Sprague-Dawley hypertensive rats subjected to left renal arterial clipping (0.25-mm gap). By 18–21 days, systolic arterial pressure increased to 180 ± 3 mmHg, and uAGT increased. Water intake, body weights, 24-h urine volumes, and sodium excretion were similar. In separate measurements of renal function in anesthetized rats, renal plasma flow and glomerular filtration rate were similar in clipped and nonclipped kidneys and not different from those in sham rats, indicating that the perfusion pressure to the clipped kidneys remained within the autoregulatory range. The nonclipped kidneys exhibited increased urine flow and sodium excretion. The uAGT excretion was significantly greater in nonclipped kidneys compared with clipped and sham kidneys. AGT mRNA was 2.15-fold greater in the nonclipped kidneys compared with sham (1.0 ± 0.1) or clipped (0.98 ± 0.15) kidneys. AGT protein levels were also greater in the nonclipped kidneys. The nonclipped kidneys exhibited greater glomerular expansion and immune cell infiltration, medullary fibrosis, and cellular proliferation than the clipped kidneys. Because both kidneys have elevated ANG II levels, the greater tissue injury in the nonclipped kidneys indicates that an increased arterial pressure synergizes with increased intrarenal ANG II to stimulate AGT production and exert greater renal injury.
Glucagon actions on the kidney revisited: possible role in potassium homeostasis
Authors: Bankir Lise , Bouby Nadine , Blondeau Bertrand , Crambert Gilles
Published: May 2016

It is now recognized that the metabolic disorders observed in diabetes are not, or not only due to the lack of insulin or insulin resistance, but also to elevated glucagon secretion. Accordingly, selective glucagon receptor antagonists are now proposed as a novel strategy for the treatment of diabetes. However, besides its metabolic actions, glucagon also influences kidney function. The glucagon receptor is expressed in the thick ascending limb, distal tubule, and collecting duct, and glucagon regulates the transepithelial transport of several solutes in these nephron segments. Moreover, it also influences solute transport in the proximal tubule, possibly by an indirect mechanism. This review summarizes the knowledge accumulated over the last 30 years about the influence of glucagon on the renal handling of electrolytes and urea. It also describes a possible novel role of glucagon in the short-term regulation of potassium homeostasis. Several original findings suggest that pancreatic α-cells may express a “potassium sensor” sensitive to changes in plasma K concentration and could respond by adapting glucagon secretion that, in turn, would regulate urinary K excretion. By their combined actions, glucagon and insulin, working in a combinatory mode, could ensure an independent regulation of both plasma glucose and plasma K concentrations. The results and hypotheses reviewed here suggest that the use of glucagon receptor antagonists for the treatment of diabetes should take into account their potential consequences on electrolyte handling by the kidney.
Avaliação de bacterina e Lactobacillus plantarum frente à infecção experimental por Vibrio harveyi em pós-larvas de Litopenaeus vannamei
Authors: Buglione Celso Carlos , Pedrotti Fabíola , Vieira Felipe Do Nascimento , Seifert Walter Quadros , Mouriño José Luiz , Martins Maurício Laterça
Published: May 2016

Objetivou-se averiguar o efeito da bactéria Lactobacillus plantarum e células inativas das bactérias Vibrio alginolyticus, Aeromonas salmonicida e Pasteurella multocida na sobrevivência larval de Litoenaeus vannamei, no teste de estresse e infecção experimental com Vibrio harveyi. Foram utilizados tanques cônicos de 30 L, povoados com 400 larvas cada, no estádio de pós-larva cinco. Tratamentos em triplicatas foram consistidos de: 1: ração comercial (controle), 2: ração comercial + bacterina via oral na artemia, 3: ração comercial + bacterina via imersão e 4: ração comercial com inóculo de Lactobacillus plantarum. A aplicação da bacterina ocorreu seis horas antes da infecção e do teste de estresse; enquanto o Lactobacillus plantarum foi administrado por 15 dias antes dos desafios. As pós-larvas do tratamento 4 (ração suplementada com L. plantarum) obtiveram maior índice de sobrevivência no teste de estresse (87,86 ± 2,35%), seguido dos tratamentos 2 e 3 (bacterina via imersão e oral) com 81,54±1,50% e 80,16 ± 2,15% respectivamente, superiores ao índice do controle (72,63 ± 3,34%). Já no desafio com V. harveyi, os animais do grupo tratado com a adição de bacterina via imersão apresentaram maior sobrevivência (79,60 ± 7,12%). As pós-larvas dos tratamentos com bacterina via oral na artêmia e alimentadas com o probiótico L. plantarum, apresentaram sobrevivências de 65,60 ± 5,18% e 69,60 ± 10,43 %, respectivamente, sendo superiores ao controle (56,4 ± 5,58%), quando desafiados com V. harveyi. Os resultados demonstram que o uso de ração com L. plantarum e bacterina aumentam a sobrevivência das pós-larvas de L. vannamei frente aos testes de estresse e infecções experimentais com V. harveyi.
Impact of Valve Morphology on the Prevalence of Coronary Artery Disease: A Systematic Review and Meta‐Analysis
Authors: Poggio Paolo , Cavallotti Laura , Songia Paola , Di Minno Alessandro , Ambrosino Pasquale , Mammana Liborio , Parolari Alessandro , Alamanni Francesco , Tremoli Elena , Di Minno Matteo Nicola Dario
Published: May 2016

Background

Literature studies suggested a lower prevalence of coronary artery disease (
CAD
) in bicuspid aortic valve (
BAV
) than in tricuspid aortic valve (
TAV
) patients. However, this finding has been challenged. We performed a meta‐analysis to assess whether aortic valve morphology has a different association with
CAD
, concomitant coronary artery bypass grafting (
CABG
), and postoperative mortality.

Methods and Results

Detailed search was conducted according to the
PRISMA
(Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta‐Analyses) guideline to identify all patients with
BAV
or
TAV
and presence of
CAD
, concomitant myocardial surgical revascularization, and the postoperative mortality. Thirty‐one studies on 3017
BAV
and 4586
TAV
patients undergoing aortic valve surgery were included.
BAV
patients showed a lower prevalence of
CAD
(odds ratio [
OR
]: 0.33; 95%
CI
: 0.17, 0.65), concomitant
CABG
(
OR
, 0.45; 95%
CI
: 0.35, 0.59), and postoperative mortality (
OR
, 0.62; 95%
CI
: 0.40, 0.97) than
TAV
. However,
BAV
subjects were significantly younger than
TAV
(mean difference: −7.29; 95%
CI
: −11.17, −3.41) were more frequently males (
OR
, 1.61; 95%
CI
: 1.33, 1.94) and exhibited a lower prevalence of hypertension (
OR
, 0.58; 95%
CI
: 0.39, 0.87) and diabetes (
OR
, 0.71; 95%
CI
: 0.54, 0.93). Interestingly, a metaregression analysis showed that younger age and lower prevalence of diabetes were associated with lower prevalence of
CAD
(
Z
value: −3.03;
P
=0.002 and
Z
value: −3.10;
P
=0.002, respectively) and
CABG
(
Z
value: −2.69;
P
=0.007 and
Z
value: −3.36;
P
=0.001, respectively) documented in
BAV
patients.

Conclusions

Analysis of raw data suggested an association of aortic valve morphology with prevalence of
CAD
, concomitant
CABG
, and postoperative mortality. Interestingly, the differences in age and diabetes have a profound impact on prevalence of
CAD
between
BAV
and
TAV
. In conclusion, our meta‐analysis suggests that the presence of
CAD
is independent of aortic valve morphology.
Shortwave Radiative Fluxes on Slopes
Authors: Ma Yingtao , Pinker Rachel T. , Wonsick Margaret M. , Li Chuan , Hinkelman Laura M.
Published: May 2016

Snow-covered mountain ranges are a major source of water supply for runoff and groundwater recharge. Snowmelt supplies as much as 75% of the surface water in basins of the western United States. Net radiative fluxes make up about 80% of the energy balance over snow-covered surfaces. Because of the large extent of snow cover and the scarcity of ground observations, use of remotely sensed data is an attractive option for estimating radiative fluxes. Most of the available methods have been applied to low-spatial-resolution satellite observations that do not capture the spatial variability of snow cover, clouds, or aerosols, all of which need to be accounted for to achieve accurate estimates of surface radiative fluxes. The objective of this study is to use high-spatial-resolution observations that are available from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) to derive surface shortwave (0.2–4.0 μm) downward radiative fluxes in complex terrain, with attention on the effect of topography (e.g., shadowing or limited sky view) on the amount of radiation received. The developed method has been applied to several typical melt seasons (January–July during 2003, 2004, 2005, and 2009) over the western part of the United States, and the available information was used to derive metrics on spatial and temporal variability of shortwave fluxes. Issues of scale in both the satellite and ground observations are also addressed to illuminate difficulties in the validation process of satellite-derived quantities. It is planned to apply the findings from this study to test improvements in estimation of snow water equivalent.
Effective end wall profiling rules for a highly loaded compressor cascade
Authors: Li Xiangjun , Chu Wuli , Wu Yanhui , Zhang Haoguang , Spence Stephen
Published: May 2016

This paper presents a numerical study of a linear compressor cascade to investigate the effective end wall profiling rules for highly loaded axial compressors. The first step in the research applies a correlation analysis for the different flow field parameters by a data mining over 600 profiling samples to quantify how variations of loss, secondary flow and passage vortex interact with each other under the influence of a profiled end wall. The result identifies the dominant role of corner separation for control of total pressure loss, providing a principle that only in the flow field with serious corner separation does the does the profiled end wall change total pressure loss, secondary flow and passage vortex in the same direction. Then in the second step, a multiobjective optimization of a profiled end wall is performed to reduce loss at design point and near stall point. The development of effective end wall profiling rules is based on the manner of secondary flow control rather than the geometry features of the end wall. Using the optimum end wall cases from the Pareto front, a quantitative tool for analyzing secondary flow control is employed. The driving force induced by a profiled end wall on different regions of end wall flow are subjected to a detailed analysis and identified for their positive/negative influences in relieving corner separation, from which the effective profiling rules are further confirmed. It is found that the profiling rules on a cascade show distinct differences at design point and near-stall point, thus loss control of different operating points is generally independent.