bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Collectors and Museums
Authors: Stevens Scott Manning
Published: April 2016

This chapter examines the history of museums as it relates to American Indians in the United States, from the eighteenth century to the present. The chapter takes into account the often troubling use of the museum to depict indigenous societies as exotic relics of the past, while at the same time alienating artifacts of their material culture from them. In order to better understand the rise of museums and cultural centers created and run by Native peoples in recent decades, it is first necessary to understand both the histories and the practices of non-Indian run museums that demanded this necessary corrective from within indigenous communities. The chapter concludes with three examples of contemporary indigenous culture centers.
Indians in the Marketplace
Authors: Harmon Alexandra J.
Published: April 2016

This survey of economic history emphasizes American Indians’ varied and varying responses to profit-oriented economic practices introduced by non-Indians. It depicts aboriginal Indian economies as diverse and dynamic though modeled on kin relations and reciprocity. European colonial settlements and Euro-Americans’ ultimate hegemony, fueled by commercial market relations and capitalist development, eventually undermined every indigenous population’s self-sufficiency. Most Indians consequently fell into poverty, but not for lack of strategic and sometimes rewarding engagement with the new market economy. Indians’ many adaptive strategies have included participation in commercial trade, wage labor, and manufacturing, often in order to supplement traditional subsistence practices and further Indian ideals. The chapter stresses that United States policies and law first facilitated the massive transfer of Indian land and resources to non-Indians, but that more recent policy changes and court rulings have enabled some Indians to recoup wealth by operating tribe-owned enterprises.
The Age of Imperial Expansion, 1763–1821
Authors: Saunt Claudio
Published: April 2016

Between 1763 and 1821, few Native peoples in North America remained untouched by the twin forces of imperial expansion and colonial population growth. Communities in once-remote California and Alaska struggled to adjust to the incursion of missionaries, traders, and soldiers into their lands. Along the Atlantic seaboard, Indians fought to avoid being swallowed up altogether by the United States. Depending on the regional context, indigenous experiences diverged widely. Some Native peoples profited enormously from the arrival of Europeans in their homeland, others underwent a period of painful readjustment and reinvention, and still others struggled merely to keep their communities and families intact. Geography, demography, epidemiology, and the contingencies of Native and imperial politics all shaped the course of Native American history during this tumultuous period.
US Expansion and Its Consequences, 1815–1890
Authors: Bowes John
Published: April 2016

This chapter explores the major historical themes embedded within the familiar narrative of American expansion framed by the end of the War of 1812 and the 1890 massacre at Wounded Knee. The chapter tracks Native responses to and the impacts of the US effort to clear the trans-Mississippi West of its Native population. It also addresses the realities of the violence that engulfed the American West during and after the Civil War, even as it describes the inter-Indian diplomatic networks, fur trade frameworks, and legislation that enabled Native people to survive the onslaught. The chapter goes beyond warriors and warfare to examine the manner in which American Indians struggled to endure legal, political, and cultural assaults conducted via missionary activity, boarding schools, and allotment.
The Indian Renaissance, 1960–2000
Authors: Warrior Robert
Published: April 2016

From the stunning upset victory of Lakota runner Billy Mills at the 1964 Olympics to the emergence of Native American filmmaking and the rise of tribal casino economies, the last four decades of the twentieth century witnessed unprecedented changes to the lives of Native individuals and communities. The many positive developments, however, exist alongside chronic and persistent social, health, and economic problems that continue to leave Native Americans behind others in the United States. Indeed, the cruel irony of increased opportunity has been the parallel erosion of Native cultural and political life in the face of the onslaught of modern life.
Contemporary History
Authors: DeMain Paul
Published: April 2016

Warning! Contains a huge amount of rapidly evolving information and links to digital data about American Indian Communities in the twenty-first century, challenges to their indigenous identity, traditional tribal land base, reserved resources in treaties with the United States government, and the contemporary realities facing Native people. From rapidly growing casino revenues and reliance on extensively growing infrastructures, tribes function within a modern context that includes modem opportunities or owning businesses and competing in both local and national politics. Tribal influence continues to grow as tribes became sophisticated in their everyday dealings, using modern digital tools while regrowing their communities and land base, maintaining their languages and reigniting their culture and spiritual values rooted in respect for the earth.
Germany’s Foreign Policy after the End of the Cold War
Authors: Brummer Klaus , Oppermann Kai
Published: April 2016

Germany is increasingly expected to behave like a “normal” international actor, that is, one who assumes international responsibility in accordance with its international stature and whose involvement in international affairs is not—or to a lesser degree than during the Cold War—circumscribed by its past. Those changes in the expectations in particular from its transatlantic and European partners have strained Germany’s international self-conception. So have changes in the domestic environment, where the constraints on German foreign policy decision-makers have grown stronger in recent years. As a result, the “civilian power” role, which shaped Germany’s foreign policy during the Cold War, has been increasingly called into question, and it is not yet clear whether it will be replaced by a new master role for the country in international affairs.
The Catholic Church and International Relation
Authors: Troy Jodok
Published: April 2016

The Catholic Church is the oldest and largest transgovernmental organization in the world; in particular, Pope Francis’s reign reveals interesting puzzles for international relations. In the social sciences it remains an underestimated and unexplored actor. In terms of social theory, it is difficult to grasp “the Church” (e.g., the body of believers, norm entrepreneur, state of Vatican City). This article places the Catholic Church and its international political activities in a theoretical framework of international relations, making observations that will help students of world politics understand and explain this multifaceted actor beyond a mere description. Displaying the levels of analysis leads to approaching the Catholic Church from different theoretical angles. The article provides an understanding of the Church on the individual (its members and their agency), unit (the institution), and international levels (the Holy See participating in the international system and society).
Celebrities in International Affairs
Authors: Richey Lisa Ann , Budabin Alexandra
Published: April 2016

Celebrity engagement in global “helping” is not a simple matter of highly photogenic caring for needy others across borders; it is a complex relationship of power that often produces contradictory functions in relation to the goals of humanitarianism, development, and advocacy. This article argues that celebrities are acting as other elite actors in international affairs: investing considerable capital into processes that are highly political. It traces the emergence and practices of the elite politics of celebrities in North-South relations, an evolution made possible by recent changes in aid practices, media, and NGOs, then considers exemplary cases of Angelina Jolie in Burma, Ben Affleck in the Democractic Republic of Congo, and Madonna in Malawi. These celebrity practices as diplomats, experts, and humanitarians in international affairs illustrate the diverse and contradictory forms of engagement by celebrity “helpers” in North-South relations.
Money and Prices in the Papyri, Ptolemaic Period
Authors: von Reden Sitta
Published: April 2016

This article examines developments in money and prices in Egypt during the Ptolemaic period based on numismatic and papyrological evidence. It first considers the introduction, spread, and circulation of coinage in Egypt and how money and coins were used for transactions throughout the country. It then discusses the administration of coinage in Ptolemaic Egypt, from the reduction of the weight of the gold and silver coinage under Ptolemy I to the monetary reforms of Ptolemy V. It also explores the use of cash and kind as a mode of payment for rents and wages; the possibility of commuting cash into kind (and vice versa) as a condition for Ptolemaic taxation principles to work in practice; and three different categories of wheat prices in the papyri. It ends by drawing some economic conclusions from prices in the papyri.
Early Modern Lutheranism
Authors: Roeber A. G.
Published: April 2016

The early modern Protestant church known as “Evangelical” and eventually as “Evangelical Lutheran,” has from its origin displayed a deep ambivalence about its self-understanding, either as a theological “movement” within the historic Western form of Christianity, or as a separate church. By examining how Lutherans understand God and creation, scripture and exegesis, the church and its sacraments, the debates over the meaning of justification, and the renewal movement known as Pietism, this section of the Handbook provides readers with the basis for probing that question, as well as other issues and consequences of Lutheranism. These additional topics range from continuing debates about the person and importance of Luther himself, to the didactic/teaching legacy of pastoral training, the standing of confessional documents, Lutheranism’s medieval roots and subsequent political history, its relationship to marriage, gender, and sexuality, and its manifestation in a global, extra-European context.
Introducing Contemporary Environmental Ethics
Authors: Gardiner Stephen M. , Thompson Allen
Published: April 2016

Today humanity faces radical global climate change, mass species extinctions, and unprecedented transformations to both terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems across the globe. Environmental ethics is an academic subfield of philosophy concerned with normative and evaluative propositions about the world of nature and, perhaps more generally, the moral fabric of relations between human beings and the world we occupy. This Handbook contains 45 newly commissioned essays written by leading experts and emerging voices and represent some of the best and most contemporary thinking in environmental ethics. The chapters range over a broad variety of issues, concepts, and perspectives that are both central to and characteristic of the field, thus providing an authoritative but accessible account of the history, analysis, and prospect of ideas that are essential to contemporary environmental ethics.
The Sacred, Reverence for Life, and Environmental Ethics in America
Authors: Taylor Bron
Published: April 2016

Among the sources of environmental ethics that have been assessed, none has been more important than perceptions that environmental systems are sacred, or conversely, desecrated. Those with such perceptions have often also criticized the world’s predominant religions—which consider the sacred as above and beyond this world or as a penultimate place to be transcended—as promoting environmentally destructive attitudes and behaviors. In contrast, in North America since the mid-nineteenth century, environmental ethics have typically been rooted in scientific worldviews, which in turn typically contribute to affective experiences of belonging and connection to nature, kinship feelings toward non-human organisms, ecocentric values, and expressions of reverence for life. Even among those who have left behind conventional religious beliefs, understanding the biosphere and all those who enliven it as sacred and worthy of reverent care has and will continue to provide a powerful foundation for environmental ethics.
Conscious Animals and the Value of Experience
Authors: Gruen Lori
Published: April 2016

Consciousness, understood as an awareness of what is going on that helps shape one’s experiences, is one of the ways that scholars have distinguished animal life from the rest of the natural world. Beings that have interests in having good experiences and avoiding bad ones deserve our moral attention, and this quality is an important feature of ethical engagement with other sentient beings, both human and nonhuman. What interests matter and why they matter is a subject of disagreement that has affected what we judge to be permissible or impermissible treatment of other animals. Empathy toward and respect for other animals takes us beyond attention to their suffering and has us focus on what counts as well-being for others, by their own lights.
History of Depression
Authors: Horwitz Allan V. , Wakefield Jerome C. , Lorenzo-Luaces Lorenzo
Published: April 2016

The symptoms that define depressive conditions have been recognized for millennia of medical history. The earliest Hippocratic writings not only define depression in similar ways as current works but also use context to differentiate ordinary sadness from depressive disorder. Sadness was understood as a natural reaction to loss; symptoms indicated a disorder only if they were not attributable to an identifiable trigger or if they displayed disproportionate intensity or duration to their triggers. The first serious approaches to subcategorize different types of depressive disorders developed in the seventeenth century. Despite agreement that a melancholic or psychotic form of depression existed, researchers debated the categorization of neurotic or nonpsychotic depressions until 1980 when the DSM- III introduced major depression as a unitary category. The DSM’s diagnostic system was historically anomalous because its diagnoses did not consider the context in which symptoms arose. The only exception within the DSM, for uncomplicated symptoms that follow bereavement, was removed from the DSM-5 in 2013 so that depressive diagnoses now thoroughly conflate adaptive responses to loss with pathological depressions.
The Nature of Suffering
Authors: Cassell Eric J.
Published: April 2016

This chapter examines the problem of suffering and assesses therapeutic interventions for sick or dying patients. It considers what makes suffering a unique form of distress before discussing the difficulty faced by clinicians, especially Western clinicians, when dealing with suffering due to their tendency to focus primarily on the physical problems of very sick patients while ignoring the person of the patient. It also looks at different kinds of suffering, such as existential suffering (which includes psychological and physical suffering) and argues that there are no different kinds of suffering—only suffering. The chapter claims that suffering is something that happens to persons rather than to bodies, that the integrity or intactness of the person is threatened by the stimulus to suffering, and that suffering always involves self-conflict, which is present in the dying and in those with acute illness. Finally, it presents examples to illustrate that suffering is personal.
Parents with Disabilities
Authors: Cureton Adam
Published: April 2016

Parents with disabilities face widespread obstacles arising from social attitudes about disability. Yet having and raising children is highly valuable for many people, with or without disabilities. Common stereotypes are that people with disabilities are less fit than others to be parents and that their children are likely to have worse lives than other children. These stereotypes are reflected in the history of eugenics, in sterilization laws, and in legal decisions about custody and parental rights. Yet justice requires that people with disabilities have access to a fair share of resources to pursue their aims and projects, which may include having children. Parental fitness must be assessed without bias and with the recognition that parenting may be performed in different ways, including adaptive strategies and accommodations. Parents with disabilities can provide special benefits as well, including bonds of proximity, greater patience and self-reliance, and compassion for others.
Ethical Issues in the Evolving Realm of Egg Donation
Authors: Marshall Lori
Published: April 2016

Ethical issues involving egg donation are very similar to those of sperm donation, but the complexity of obtaining eggs raises a different and evolving set of issues. Informed consent is difficult when the risks to the donor are unknown and the donor is offered substantial compensation. Special considerations arise when family members offer to donate eggs or when same-sex couples or single men need oocytes to build a family. Genetic advances have increased concerns about over-screening donors and eugenics. Advances in oocyte vitrification have allowed the creation of donor egg banks, which have increased the commodification and globalization of donor egg options. Differing laws and practices between countries have increased cross-border reproductive care. Finally, social egg freezing is now a reality, which could change the future of egg donation services.
Access to Basic Reproductive Rights
Authors: McGuinness Sheelagh , Widdows Heather
Published: April 2016

If women are to have true equality with men, they must be able to control the number of children they have and the time of childbirth. Access to family planning services, particularly safe contraception and abortion, is key to this control and thus must be understood as basic reproductive rights. To disallow such access effectively bars women from attaining equality with men by denying minimal standards of bodily integrity. These rights must be understood not just in terms of noninterference but also in terms of ensuring an enabling environment to access to these services. International human rights norms are an important empowerment tool and are evolving towards protecting basic reproductive rights, but there is still more to be accomplished. An important threat to basic reproductive rights, which must be resisted, is the Global Gag Rule that prohibits funding to reproductive agencies which offer abortion services.
Phenotypic and genomic analysis ofPelements in natural populations ofDrosophila melanogaster
Authors: Kozeretska I.A. , Bondarenko V. , Shulga V.I. , Serga S.V. , Rozhok A.I. , Protsenko A.V. , Nelson M.G. , Bergman C.M.
Published: April 2016

TheDrosophila melanogaster Ptransposable element provides one of the best cases of horizontal transfer of a mobile DNA sequence in eukaryotes. Invasion of natural populations by thePelement has led to a syndrome of phenotypes known as “P-M hybrid dysgenesis” that emerges when strains differing in theirPelement composition mate and produce offspring. Despite extensive research on many aspects ofPelement biology, questions remain about the stability and genomic basis of variation in P-M dysgenesis phenotypes. Here we report the P-M status for a number of populations sampled recently from Ukraine that appear to be undergoing a shift in theirPelement composition. Gondal dysgenesis assays reveal that Ukrainian populations ofD. melanogasterare currently dominated by the P’ cytotype, a cytotype that was previously thought to be rare in nature, suggesting that a new active form of thePelement has recently spread in this region. We also compared gondal dysgenesis phenotypes and genomicPelement predictions for isofemale strains obtained from three worldwide populations ofD. melanogasterin order to guide further work on the molecular basis of differences in cytotype status across populations. We find that the number of euchromaticPelements per strain can vary significantly across populations but that totalPelement numbers are not strongly correlated with the degree of gondal dysgenesis. Our work shows that rapid changes in cytotype status can occur in natural populations ofD. melanogaster, and informs future efforts to decode the genomic basis of geographic and temporal differences inPelement induced phenotypes.
The role of sex-based developmental class in predicting group reproductive output in wild callitrichids
Authors: Watsa Mrinalini , Erkenswick Gideon , Robakis Efstathia
Published: April 2016

Prior research on cooperative breeders has considered correlations between group reproductive output (GRO) and the number of individuals in each age-sex class, but without controlling for uneven sampling efforts, the underlying effects of group size, and pseudoreplication at the group and species levels. Among callitrichids, age-sex classes do not provide meaningful categories, as individuals within an age-sex class can demonstrate varying reproductive development due to reproductive dominance of a few individuals per group. This study re-assesses the drivers of GRO in callitrichids by a) conducting a meta-analysis of published studies of callitrichid group composition; b) determining a novel method to assign developmental class based on reproductive morphology; and c) utilizing a multistep modelling approach to assess whether any sex-based developmental class predicts both the presence and the numbers of surviving offspring among free-ranging saddleback (Leontocebus weddelli) and emperor tamarins (Saguinus imperator) in Peru. The meta-analysis utilizing a historical dataset revealed that adult females and group size, but not the number of adult males is significantly correlated with GRO. Statistical models of the new dataset revealed that only mature males predicted if groups had any infants at all, but that the number of surviving infants was predicted by mature females and group size. Thus mature males appear to be necessary for groups to raise any infants, but mature females and a larger group size increase group reproductive output overall.
Analyzing Repast Symphony models in R withRRepastpackage
Authors: Prestes García Antonio , Rodríguez-Patón Alfonso
Published: April 2016

In order to produce dependable results, the output of models must be carefully evaluated and compared to the experimental data. One of the main goals of analyzing a model is understanding the effect of input factors on the model output. This task is carried out using a methodology known as sensitivity analysis. The analysis of Individual-based Models is hindered by the lack of simple tools allowing a complete and throughout evaluation without much effort. This kind of models tends to have a high level of complexity and the manual execution of a large experimental setup is generally not a feasible choice. Thus, it is required that model evaluation should ideally be simple and robust without demanding a high level of knowledge from modelers. In this work we present the RRepast, an open source GNU R package for executing, calibrating and analyzing Repast Symphony models directly from the R environment.
In-silico analysis of Salmonella typhimurium and E.coli Methionyl tRNA synthetase at primary, secondary, tertiary level with protein disorder and functional association of differences
Authors: Ghorpade Prabhakar B. , Kadu Pooja , Pandey Amit , Banger Yogesh , Sharma Bhaskar
Published: April 2016

The identification changes in amino acid for same protein in closely related species are necessary in order to identify its effect at various structural and functional levels. Salmonella typhimurium and E.coli Methionyl tRNA synthetase taken in current study as these bacteria are closely related to each other and have fewer differences in amino acid sequences for MetG. This study helps to identify various structural and functional differences at primary, secondary and tertiary levels, with functional differences by Docking study with Methionine. Study involves analysis of differences based on observation of differences in modeled 3D protein for sequences available at NCBI and its comparison with Known 3D structure. As sequences difference are in functional protein from non-mutant species, the differences are analysed in context of Primary, secondary, tertiary structure differences, Disorder differences, and docking differences.
Team‐level high involvement work practices: investigating the role of knowledge sharing and perspective taking
Authors: Flinchbaugh Carol , Li Pingshu , Luth Matthew T. , Chadwick Clint
Published: April 2016

To assess potential boundary conditions in the relationship between HRM systems and team service quality, we examined both collective and individual‐level capabilities as underlying mechanisms between team‐level high involvement work practices (HIWPs) and team service quality. Using multi‐level modelling with a sample of 397 employees in 25 work teams from five service organisations, we found that team HIWPs enhanced knowledge sharing, leading to improved team service climate. Moreover, the presence of individual perspective taking moderated the mediating effect of knowledge sharing such that perspective taking enhanced service climate beyond the value of team HIWPs. The results contribute to the HRM literature by examining the multi‐level social and environmental influences on individual learning conceptualised in social cognitive theory, to identify the value of individual capabilities as moderators to knowledge sharing in the link between team HRM systems and service climate.
Characterization of cold‐induced remodelling reveals depot‐specific differences across and within brown and white adipose tissues in mice
Authors: Jia R. , Luo X.‐Q. , Wang G. , Lin C.‐X. , Qiao H. , Wang N. , Yao T. , Barclay J. L. , Whitehead J. P. , Luo X. , Yan J.‐Q.
Published: April 2016

Aim

Brown and beige adipose tissues dissipate energy in the form of heat via mitochondrial uncoupling protein 1, defending against hypothermia and potentially obesity. The latter has prompted renewed interest in understanding the processes involved in browning to realize the potential therapeutic benefits. To characterize the temporal profile of cold‐induced changes and browning of brown and white adipose tissues in mice.

Methods

Male C57BL/6J mice were singly housed in conventional cages under cold exposure (4 °C) for 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 7 days. Food intake and body weight were measured daily. Interscapular brown adipose tissue (iBAT), inguinal subcutaneous (sWAT) and epididymal white adipose tissue (eWAT) were harvested for histological, immunohistochemical, gene and protein expression analysis.

Results

Upon cold exposure, food intake increased, whilst body weight and adipocyte size were found to be transiently reduced. iBAT mass was found to be increased, whilst sWAT and eWAT were found to be transiently decreased. A combination of morphological, genetic (Ucp‐1, Pgc‐1α and Elov13) and biochemical (UCP‐1, PPARγ and aP2) analyses demonstrated the depot‐specific remodelling in response to cold exposure.

Conclusion

Our results demonstrate the differential responses to cold‐induced changes across discrete BAT and WAT depots and support the notion that the effects of short‐term cold exposure are achieved by expansion, activation and increasing thermogenic capacity of iBAT, as well as browning of sWAT and, to a lesser extent, eWAT.
Cell length growth patterns in fission yeast reveal a novel size control mechanism operating in late G2 phase
Authors: Horváth Anna , Rácz‐Mónus Anna , Buchwald Peter , Sveiczer Ákos
Published: April 2016

Background information

Because cylindrically shaped fission yeast cells grow exclusively at their tips, cell volume is proportional to length and can be easily monitored by time‐lapse microscopy. Here, we analysed the growth pattern of individual cells from several fission yeast strains to determine the growth function that describes them most adequately and to perform size control studies.

Results

The growth pattern of most cells during their growth period is best described by a bilinear function (i.e., two linear segments of different growth rates separated by a rate‐change point). Linear growth patterns were also observed in several cases, but exponential ones only rarely. Since the bilinear patterns are separated into two segments by a breakpoint, we examined the existence of size control by regression analyses of the appropriate growth parameters in both segments. This confirmed the existence of known size controls in late G1, mid‐G2 and late G2 during the fission yeast cycle. The present analyses also revealed that, contrary to the commonly accepted current view, late G2 size control is a general characteristic third event in the cycle. The level of the critical late G2 size that needs to be reached in an individual fission yeast cell is influenced by the growth rate of the cell in a manner similar to budding yeast, suggesting an evolutionary conserved mechanism.

Conclusions

The present study of individual cell growth patterns in wild‐type and several cell cycle mutant fission yeast strains confirmed that, for most cells, growth is best described by a bilinear function. Three different size control mechanisms were found to operate in the different strains, and, as a novel observation, cell size was always found to be monitored before mitotic onset, irrespective of the existence of any earlier size checkpoints.

Significance

Studying the pattern of growth and the mechanism of size control helps to clarify the connections between cell growth and division, since their coordination must work properly to maintain size homeostasis. In this study, we argue that most individual fission yeast cells grow following a bilinear pattern, and we confirm the existence of three different size control mechanisms.
Self‐management support in patients with adrenal insufficiency
Authors: van der Meij Nick T.M. , van Leeuwaarde Rachel S. , Vervoort Sigrid C.J.M. , Zelissen Pierre M.J.
Published: April 2016

Objective

Patient education is an important intervention to prevent an adrenal crisis in patients with adrenal insufficiency. The objective of this study was to assess the knowledge of adjusting the dose of glucocorticoids in special circumstances in patients with adrenal insufficiency who had previously been educated on this topic. In patients with insufficient knowledge, we tried to identify the underlying causes and care needs.

Design

Quantitative and qualitative study.

Methods

Adult patients with chronic primary and secondary adrenal insufficiency who received glucocorticoid stress management education were invited to participate in a telephone interview in which we tested their knowledge using hypothetical situations of physical and mental stress. In respondents with insufficient knowledge, we conducted a qualitative semistructured interview to elicit the underlying reasons from patients’ perspective for their lack of knowledge and determine their care needs.

Results

Forty‐three of the 83 patients who previously received education had insufficient knowledge about how to act during stressful situations. We found a significant association between education level and level of knowledge after the educational consult. The following underlying factors were identified: unawareness of the seriousness of their condition, ineffective coping strategies, the lack of experience with self‐management skills and misconceptions. The most important care needs were repetition of education, the use of guidelines, learning from experience and optimizing social support.

Conclusion

One or two educational consults are not effective to achieve adequate self‐management skills. There is a need for structural follow‐up where education is repeated and practical implementation of this knowledge is tested in order to identify the potential inadequate action.
Safety, tolerability, pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of AZP‐531, a first‐in‐class analogue of unacylated ghrelin, in healthy and overweight/obese subjects and subjects with type 2 diabetes
Authors: Allas S. , Delale T. , Ngo N. , Julien M. , Sahakian P. , Ritter J. , Abribat T. , van der Lely A. J.
Published: April 2016

Aim

To explore the safety, pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics in humans of the unacylated ghrelin analogue AZP‐531, designed to improve glycaemic control and reduce weight.

Methods

Assessments, including glucose measurements, were performed in a three‐part randomized study. In Part A, healthy subjects [n = 44, age 18–50 years, body mass index (BMI) 20–28 kg/m2] received a single subcutaneous dose of 0.3, 3, 15, 30, 60 or 120 µg/kg AZP‐531 or placebo. In Part B, overweight/obese subjects (n = 32, age 18–65 years, BMI 28–38 kg/m2) and in Part C, patients with type 2 diabetes [T2D; n = 36, age 18–65 years, BMI 20–40 kg/m2, glycated haemoglobin (HbA1c) 7–10%] received AZP‐531 or placebo for 14 days (daily doses of 3, 15, 30 or 60 µg/kg and 15, 2 × 30 or 60 µg/kg, respectively).

Results

AZP‐531 was well tolerated. Single‐ and multiple‐dose pharmokinetic variables were similar. Maximum AZP‐531 concentrations were typically reached at 1 h post‐dose. Observed maximum concentration (Cmax) and area under the curve were dose‐proportional. The mean terminal half‐life (t1/2) was 2–3 h. In Part B, AZP‐531 doses of ≥15 µg/kg significantly improved glucose concentrations, without increasing insulin levels, suggesting an insulin‐sensitizing effect. AZP‐531 decreased mean body weight by 2.6 kg (vs 0.8 kg for placebo). In Part C, glucose variables improved in all groups, including placebo, suggesting a study effect in uncontrolled patients at baseline. Notwithstanding, AZP‐531 60 µg/kg reduced HbA1c by 0.4% (vs 0.2% for placebo) and body weight by 2.1 kg (vs 1.3 kg for placebo).

Conclusions

AZP‐531 was well tolerated in this first‐in‐human study. Its pharmacokinetic profile, suitable for once‐daily dosing, and metabolic effects support further clinical development for T2D.
A Comparison of Learning Outcomes in Skills‐Based Courses: Online Versus Face‐To‐Face Formats
Authors: Callister Ronda Roberts , Love Mary Sue
Published: April 2016

In comparing the learning outcomes of online versus face‐to‐face courses, skills‐based forms of instruction have received little attention. This study asks the question “Can skills‐based courses taught online achieve the same outcomes as face‐to‐face courses in which the instructor and students interacting in real time may have higher levels of interaction, thus potentially facilitating higher levels of skill improvement?” If so, what are the critical success factors that influence these outcomes? These questions are examined by comparing four classes in negotiations (two face‐to‐face and two online) taught by the same professor. The courses were designed to be as similar as possible except for their delivery method. Results indicate that face‐to‐face learners earned higher negotiation outcomes than online learners even when using the same technology. Suggestions are offered for improving outcomes.
Peri‐anaesthetic complications in an equine referral hospital: Risk factors for post anaesthetic colic
Authors: Hughes K. J.
Published: April 2016

See article by Jago et al.
Brown shrimp (Farfantepenaeus aztecus) density distribution in the Northern Gulf of Mexico: an approach using boosted regression trees
Authors: Montero Jose T. , Chesney Tanya A. , Bauer Jennifer R. , Froeschke John T. , Graham Jim
Published: April 2016

The estuarine‐dependent brown shrimp, Farfantepenaeus aztecus, is a significant commercial fishery and important species in the Gulf of Mexico (GOM) ecosystem as well as being a key component in energy transfer between benthic and pelagic food web systems. Because of the economical and ecological importance of brown shrimp, we developed a spatial population model to identify places of high shrimp density under a set of spatial, environmental and temporal variables in the Northern Gulf of Mexico (NGOM). We used fisheries‐independent data collected by the Southeast Area Monitoring and Assessment Program (SEAMAP) from 1992 to 2007 (summer and fall seasons). The relationship between the predictor variables and shrimp density was modeled using Boosted Regression Trees (BRT). Within the environmental variables included in the model, bottom type and depth of the water column were the most important predictors of shrimp density in the NGOM. Spatial predictions performed using the trained BRT model for summer and fall seasons showed a spatial segregation of shrimp density. During the summer, higher densities were predicted near the Texas and Louisiana coast and during the fall, higher densities were predicted further offshore. The model performed well and allowed successful prediction of brown shrimp hot spots in the NGOM. Model results allow fisheries managers to evaluate the potential impact from fisheries on the resource and to develop future fisheries management strategies, understand the biology of brown shrimp as well as assess the potential impacts of oil spills or climate change.
Diagnostic accuracy of periapical radiography and cone beam computed tomography in detecting apical periodontitis using histopathological findings as a reference standard
Authors: Kanagasingam S. , Lim C. X. , Yong C. P. , Mannocci F. , Patel S.
Published: April 2016

Aim

To compare the diagnostic accuracy of periapical radiography (PR) and cone beam computed tomography (CBCT) in detecting apical periodontitis (AP) using histopathological findings as a reference standard.

Methodology

Jaw sections containing 67 teeth (86 roots) were collected from unclaimed bodies due for cremation. Imaging was carried out to detect AP by digital PR with a central view (DP group), digital PR combining central with 10˚ mesially and distally angled (parallax) views (DPS group) and CBCT scans. All specimens underwent histopathological examination to confirm the diagnosis of AP. Sensitivity, specificity and predictive values of PR and CBCT were analysed using rater mean (n = 5). Receiver‐operating characteristic (ROC) analysis was carried out.

Results

Sensitivity was 0.27, 0.38 and 0.89 for DP, DPS and CBCT scans, respectively. CBCT had specificity and positive predictive value of 1.0 whilst DP and DPS had specificity and positive predictive value of 0.99. The negative predictive value was 0.39, 0.44 and 0.81 for DP, DPS and CBCT scans, respectively. Area under the curve (AUC) for the various imaging methods was 0.629 (DP), 0.688 (DPS), and 0.943 (CBCT).

Conclusions

All imaging techniques had similar specificity and positive predictive values. Additional parallax views increased the diagnostic accuracy of PR. CBCT had significantly higher diagnostic accuracy in detecting AP compared to PR, using human histopathological findings as a reference standard.
Accuracy of single and parallax film and digital periapical radiographs in diagnosing apical periodontitis – a cadaver study
Authors: Kanagasingam S. , Hussaini H. M. , Soo I. , Baharin S. , Ashar A. , Patel S.
Published: April 2016

Aim

To compare the accuracy of film and digital periapical radiography (PR) in detecting apical periodontitis (AP) using histopathological findings as a reference standard.

Methodology

Jaw sections containing 67 teeth (86 roots) were collected from nine fresh, unclaimed bodies that were due for cremation. Imaging was carried out to detect AP lesions using film and digital PR with a centred view (FP and DP groups); film and digital PR combining central with 10˚ mesially and distally angled (parallax) views (FPS and DPS groups). All specimens underwent histopathological examination to confirm the diagnosis of AP. Sensitivity, specificity and predictive values of PR were analysed using rater mean (n = 5). Receiver operating characteristics (ROC) analysis was carried out.

Results

Sensitivity was 0.16, 0.37, 0.27 and 0.38 for FP, FPS, DP and DPS, respectively. Both FP and FPS had specificity and positive predictive values of 1.0, whilst DP and DPS had specificity and positive predictive values of 0.99. Negative predictive value was 0.36, 0.43, 0.39 and 0.44 for FP, FPS, DP and DPS, respectively. Area under the curve (AUC) for the various imaging methods was 0.562 (FP), 0.629 (DP), 0.685 (FPS), 0.6880 (DPS).

Conclusions

The diagnostic accuracy of single digital periapical radiography was significantly better than single film periapical radiography. The inclusion of two additional horizontal (parallax) angulated periapical radiograph images (mesial and distal horizontal angulations) significantly improved detection of apical periodontitis.
Counting People in a Conflict Zone
Authors: Smith Kim Bradford
Published: April 2016

Statisticians can find themselves in dangerous places. Kim Bradford Smith shares her experience working on population surveys in Afghanistan
Knowledge translation studies in paediatric emergency medicine: A systematic review of the literature
Authors: Wilson Catherine L , Johnson David , Oakley Ed ,   on behalf of the Paediatric Research in Emergency Departments International Collaborative (PREDICT) network
Published: April 2016

Aim

Systematic review of knowledge translation studies focused on paediatric emergency care to describe and assess the interventions used in emergency department settings.

Methods

Electronic databases were searched for knowledge translation studies conducted in the emergency department that included the care of children. Two researchers independently reviewed the studies.

Results

From 1305 publications identified, 15 studies of varied design were included. Four were cluster‐controlled trials, two patient‐level randomised controlled trials, two interrupted time series, one descriptive study and six before and after intervention studies. Knowledge translation interventions were predominantly aimed at the treating clinician, with some targeting the organisation. Studies assessed effectiveness of interventions over 6–12 months in before and after studies, and 3–28 months in cluster or patient level controlled trials. Changes in clinical practice were variable, with studies on single disease and single treatments in a single site showing greater improvement.

Conclusions

Evidence for effective methods to translate knowledge into practice in paediatric emergency medicine is fairly limited. More optimal study designs with more explicit descriptions of interventions are needed to facilitate other groups to effectively apply these procedures in their own setting.
Alternatives to ward admission from the emergency department
Authors: Bryant Penelope A , Hopper Sandy M
Published: April 2016

There is ever‐increasing pressure on hospital resources in general and emergency departments (ED) in particular. At the same time, there is increasing recognition that traditional inpatient ward‐based care is not necessary for the majority of children presenting to the ED with acute illness, and that there are patient, family and hospital benefits to pursuing other options. Here, we describe alternative pathways for children presenting to the ED, including short stay and observational medicine, hospital‐in‐the‐home and non‐admission enhanced care, in other words, additional management practices or pathways for children who are discharged from the ED. We discuss the principles, models and practical considerations involved in each of these.
Paediatric emergency and acute care in resource poor settings
Authors: Duke Trevor , Cheema Baljit
Published: April 2016

Acute care of seriously ill children is a global public health issue, and there is much scope for improving quality of care in hospitals at all levels in many developing countries. We describe the current state of paediatric emergency and acute care in the least developed regions of low and middle income countries and identify gaps and requirements for improving quality. Approaches are needed which span the continuum of care: from triage and emergency treatment, the diagnostic process, identification of co‐morbidities, treatment, monitoring and supportive care, discharge planning and follow‐up. Improvements require support and training for health workers and quality processes. Effective training is that which is ongoing, combining good technical training in under‐graduate courses and continuing professional development. Quality processes combine evidence‐based guidelines, essential medicines, appropriate technology, appropriate financing of services, standards and assessment tools and training resources. While initial emergency treatment is based on common clinical syndromes, early differentiation is required for specific treatment, and this can usually be carried out clinically without expensive tests. While global strategies are important, it is what happens locally that makes a difference and is too often neglected. In rural areas in the poorest countries in the world, public doctors and nurses who provide emergency and acute care for children are revered by their communities and demonstrate daily that much can be carried out with little.
Elevated serum ferritin is associated with increased mortality in non‐alcoholic fatty liver disease after 16 years of follow‐up
Authors: Hagström Hannes , Nasr Patrik , Bottai Matteo , Ekstedt Mattias , Kechagias Stergios , Hultcrantz Rolf , Stål Per
Published: April 2016

Background & Aims

High levels of ferritin in patients with non‐alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) are associated with significant fibrosis and higher NAFLD activity score (NAS). It is unclear if this association has an impact on mortality. We investigated if high levels of ferritin, with or without iron overload, were associated with an increased mortality in NAFLD.

Methods

We included 222 patients between 1979 and 2009 with biopsy‐proven NAFLD and available serum ferritin concentrations. The cohort was divided into ‘high’ (n = 89) and ‘normal’ (n = 133) ferritin values, using a cut‐point of 350 μg/L in males, and 150 μg/L in females, and stratified upon iron overload status. Data on mortality were obtained from a national, population‐based register. Poisson regression was used to estimate hazard ratios for mortality. The estimates were adjusted for age at biopsy, sex, smoking, BMI, diabetes, hypertension, cardiovascular disease and fibrosis stage at the time of biopsy.

Results

The median follow‐up time was 15.6 years (range: 0.5–34.2). Patients with high ferritin had more advanced fibrosis and higher NAS than patients with normal ferritin (P < 0.05). Fifteen years after diagnosis, and after adjusting for confounders, the high‐ferritin group showed an increasingly higher mortality that was statistically significant (Hazard ratio = 1.10 per year, 95% Confidence interval 1.01–1.21, P < 0.05). There was no difference in mortality between patients with different iron overload patterns.

Conclusions

High levels of ferritin are associated with a long‐term increased risk of death.
Metaphysics Within Science: Against Radical Naturalism
Authors: Andersen Fredrik , Becker Arenhart Jonas R.
Published: April 2016

In Every Thing Must Go James Ladyman and Don Ross argue for a radical version of naturalistic metaphysics and propose that contemporary analytic metaphysics is detached from science and should be discontinued. The present article addresses the issues of whether (i) science and metaphysics are separable, (ii) intuitions and understanding should be excluded from scientific theory, and (iii) Ontic Structural Realism satisfies the criteria of the radical version of naturalism advanced by Ladyman and Ross. The point underlying those topics is that successful scientific research presupposes metaphysics, and that basic epistemic virtues common to metaphysics and science may allow us—as opposed to what Ladyman and Ross suggest—to increase our understanding of the world and to put constraints on allowable metaphysical theories.