bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
From 'pleasure to chemistry': the experience of carbohydrate counting with and without carbohydrate restriction for people with Type 1 diabetes
Authors: Cresswell Pip , Krebs Jeremy , Gilmour Jean , Hanna Aoife , Parry-Strong Amber
Published: February 2016

INTRODUCTION: Matching carbohydrate intake with insulin dosage is recommended management for people with Type 1 diabetes. However, international interest in restricted carbohydrate diets is growing. General practitioners and practice nurses need to know how to advise people with Type 1 diabetes regarding low-carbohydrate diets. This study aimed to explore the carbohydrate counting experiences of people with Type 1 diabetes in a trial with and without a diet restricted to 75 g of carbohydrate per day. METHODS: Eight participants were interviewed by focus group or interview 12 weeks after a carbohydrate counting course with individual dietary choice or the same course with information on restricted carbohydrate eating and a daily maximum intake of 75 g of carbohydrate. Data were analysed using a qualitative thematic analysis approach. FINDINGS: Themes included the need for insulin management skills, impact of the dietary experience, and need for dietary knowledge. The restricted-carbohydrate group encountered mealtime insulin resistance and difficulty managing insulin dosages when transitioning on and off the low-carbohydrate diet. The diet impacted on mood, feelings of satiety and it was reported that food changed from being 'a pleasure to chemistry'. Both groups described feeling empowered to manage their diabetes as a result of the carbohydrate counting course. CONCLUSION: Participants reported increased knowledge and challenging insulin management. The restricted-carbohydrate group reported mealtime insulin resistance and a strong dietary impact. Extra health professional support may be required, especially at dietary transition periods. More research is warranted into the reported mealtime insulin resistance. KEYWORDS: Carbohydrates; diabetes mellitus, Type 1; diabetic diet; qualitative research; self care
The contribution of dietitians to the primary health care workforce
Authors: Howatson Alexandra , Wall Clare , Turner-Benny Petrina
Published: February 2016

INTRODUCTION: Dietetic intervention is effective in the management of nutrition-related conditions and their comorbidities. New Zealand has an increasing need for primary and preventive health care to reduce the burden of non-communicable disease. AIM: To review the recent evidence of effectiveness of dietetic intervention in primary health care on health and wider economic outcomes. Health benefits and cost benefits of employing dietitians to perform nutrition intervention in the primary health care setting are evaluated in the areas of obesity in conjunction with diabetes and cardiovascular disease, and malnutrition in older adults. METHODS: An electronic literature search of four scientific databases, websites of major dietetic associations and high-impact nutrition and dietetic journals was conducted. Randomised controlled trials and non-randomised studies conducted from 2000 to 2014 were included. RESULTS: Dietetic intervention demonstrates statistically and clinically significant impacts on health outcomes in the areas of obesity, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and malnutrition in older adults, when compared to usual care. Dietitians working in primary health care can also have significant economic benefits, potentially saving the health care system NZ$5.50–$99 for every NZ$1 spent on dietetic intervention. DISCUSSION: New Zealand must look to new models of health care provision that are not only patient-centred but are also cost-effective. This review demonstrates that dietitians in primary health care can improve patients? health and quality of life. Increasing the number of dietitians working in primary health care has the potential to make quality nutrition care accessible and affordable for more New Zealanders. KEYWORDS: Allied health; chronic disease; diabetes mellitus; dietetics; dietitian; primary health care
A hidden jewel: social work in primary health care practice in Aotearoa New Zealand
Authors: Döbl Stefanie , Huggard Peter , Beddoe Liz
Published: February 2016

INTRODUCTION: The New Zealand (NZ) Ministry of Health?s Primary Health Care Strategy (2001) has an overall vision of better health for all and the reduction of health inequalities between different population groups. This goal can be achieved by comprehensive, integrated primary health care (PHC) service delivery. One useful approach is to place social workers within PHC practices. This study aimed to explore the perceptions about, and the experiences gained by, such integrated social workers regarding their contributions towards the PHC vision. METHODS: This qualitative study focused on three participant groups, namely social workers, PHC professionals and key informants. Overall, 18 one-to-one, semi-structured interviews were undertaken in various locations in NZ. Key themes were identified via a general inductive approach. FINDINGS: Three key themes emerged from the data: wider factors, organisational factors and social work factors. The last theme encompassed the social workers? professional understanding, knowledge and approaches. The organisational factors (a community needs focus and provision of a supportive work environment) and the wider factors identified (funding and issues experienced by communities) had variable impact on these social work positions. CONCLUSION: Participants viewed social workers as facilitating appropriate access to and engagement by people with services; enhancing ongoing, coordinated, safe service provision; and contributing to staff development. The potential of the social work profession within PHC practices was well recognised by non-social worker participants. This study provides initial insights into the unique contributions made by social workers towards achieving NZ Ministry of Health?s PHC vision. KEYWORDS: General practice; primary health care; social work
Repeatability of free-burning fire experiments using heterogeneous forest fuel beds in a combustion wind tunnel
Authors: Mulvaney Joshua J. , Sullivan Andrew L. , Cary Geoffrey J. , Bishop Glenys R.
Published: February 2016

Combustion wind tunnels are often used to investigate the propagation of free-moving fires through solid-phase fuels, typically standardised ‘artificial’ fuel beds. However, the results of such studies are difficult to apply directly to wildland fire situations primarily due to the disparity between the generally uniform artificial fuel and the heterogeneous fuel found in nature. To explore the feasibility of using heterogeneous ‘natural’ fuel beds in subsequent combustion wind tunnel experiments, this study quantified the variability in forward rate of fire spread resulting from the use of heterogeneous fuel beds in a combustion wind tunnel under a given set of burning conditions. The experiment assessed the effects of fuel type and air speed, and controlled for the effects of fuel moisture content, fuel load and fuel particle size. It was found that the variability in rate of spread increased with its mean, but the overall residual variance (σ2e <0.025, s.e. 0.011) was low compared with the effects of air speed and fuel type. This demonstrates that heterogeneous fuel beds can be used in combustion wind tunnel experiments without introducing a large degree of variability.
Territories of heterologous inputs onto Purkinje cell dendrites are segregated by mGluR1-dependent parallel fiber synapse elimination
Authors: Ichikawa Ryoichi , Hashimoto Kouichi , Miyazaki Taisuke , Uchigashima Motokazu , Yamasaki Miwako , Aiba Atsu , Kano Masanobu , Watanabe Masahiko
Published: February 2016

Significance

Of the two distinguished features in synaptic wiring of cerebellar Purkinje cells (PCs), the developmental process and underlying mechanism of mono-innervation by single climbing fibers (CFs) are well understood. However, those of segregated dendritic innervation by CFs and parallel fibers (PFs) remain unknown. Here, we show that CF and PF territories initially expand with enlargement of the region of overlapping innervation, and that the segregation of the territories occurs as a result of elimination of PF synapses from the proximal dendrites. PF synapse elimination is controlled by the type 1 metabotropic glutamate receptor (mGluR1) to protein kinase Cγ signaling pathway; PF synapse elimination is arrested in mGluR1- or protein kinase Cγ-knockout PCs, and rescued by mGluR1α transfection to mGluR1-knockout PCs.
Titin strain contributes to the Frank–Starling law of the heart by structural rearrangements of both thin- and thick-filament proteins
Authors: Ait-Mou Younss , Hsu Karen , Farman Gerrie P. , Kumar Mohit , Greaser Marion L. , Irving Thomas C. , de Tombe Pieter P.
Published: February 2016

Significance

The Frank–Starling law of the heart represents a fundamental regulatory mechanism whereby cardiac pump performance is directly modulated by the extent of diastolic ventricular filling on a beat-to-beat basis. It is now well established that sarcomere length (SL)-induced changes in cardiac contractile protein responsiveness to activating calcium ions play a major role in this phenomenon. However, the molecular mechanisms that underlie this SL-sensing property are not known. Here, we show by small-angle X-ray diffraction and fluorescent probe techniques that the giant protein titin likely transmits the length signal to induce structural alterations in both thin- and thick-filament contractile proteins. These findings provide insights into the molecular basis of the Frank–Starling regulatory mechanism.
Structural and biochemical analysis of Bcl-2 interaction with the hepatitis B virus protein HBx
Authors: Jiang Tianyu , Liu Minhao , Wu Jianping , Shi Yigong
Published: February 2016

Significance

Unlike the other three hepatitis B virus-encoded proteins, both the function and structure of HBx are poorly understood. The discovery of a BH3-like motif in HBx and the demonstration of direct association between HBx and the anti-apoptotic Bcl-2 family proteins yielded the hypothesis that HBx may rely on its BH3-like motif to antagonize the functions of Bcl-2. In this study, we show that the interaction between the HBx BH3-like motif and Bcl-2 is drastically weaker than that between a canonical BH3 motif and Bcl-2. This finding, corroborated by structural analysis, suggests that the modulation of the activity of Bcl-2 by the BH3-like motif of HBx may be different from other BH3-only proteins.
Artemisinin activity-based probes identify multiple molecular targets within the asexual stage of the malaria parasites
Plasmodium falciparum
3D7
Authors: Ismail Hanafy M. , Barton Victoria , Phanchana Matthew , Charoensutthivarakul Sitthivut , Wong Michael H. L. , Hemingway Janet , Biagini Giancarlo A. , O’Neill Paul M. , Ward Stephen A.
Published: February 2016

Significance

The mechanism of action of the artemisinin (ART) class of antimalarial drugs, the most important antimalarial drug class in use today, remains controversial, despite more than three decades of intensive research. We have developed an unbiased chemical proteomic approach using a suite of ART activity-based protein profiling probes to identify proteins within the malaria parasite that are alkylated by ART, including proteins involved in glycolysis, hemoglobin metabolism, and redox defense. The data point to a pleiotropic mechanism of drug action for this class and offer a strategy for investigating resistance mechanisms to ART-based drugs as well as mechanisms of action of other endoperoxide-based drugs.
High Elmo1 expression aggravates and low Elmo1 expression prevents diabetic nephropathy
Authors: Hathaway Catherine K. , Chang Albert S. , Grant Ruriko , Kim Hyung-Suk , Madden Victoria J. , Bagnell C. Robert , Jennette J. Charles , Smithies Oliver , Kakoki Masao
Published: February 2016

Significance

About one-third of patients with type 1 diabetes mellitus develop nephropathy, which often progresses to end-stage renal diseases. The present study demonstrates that below-normal Elmo1 expression in mice ameliorates the albuminuria and glomerular histological changes resulting from long-standing type 1 diabetes, whereas above-normal Elmo1 expression makes both worse. Increasing Elmo1 expression leads to aggravation of oxidative stress markers and enhances the expression of fibrogenic genes. Suppressing Elmo1 action in human patients could be a promising option for treating/preventing the progressive deterioration of renal function in diabetes.
Chemical alterations and regulations of biomolecules in lifestyle-related diseases
Authors: Miyoshi Noriyuki
Published: February 2016

We know experientially that not only nutrient factors but also non-nutritive functional food factors are playing important roles in maintenance of homeostasis, health promotion, and disease prevention. Although some of these effective behaviors are supported by accumulating scientific evidences, it is in general difficult to determine properly in human. Therefore, the discovering of novel biomarker and developments of the analytical method are one of the prudent strategies to understand disease etiology and evaluate efficacies of functional food factors via monitoring the pathophysiological alteration in live body, tissue, and cells. This review describes recent our findings on (1) formation mechanism, bioactivities, quantitative determination of cholesterol ozonolysis product, secosterol as possible biomarker for lifestyle-related disease, and (2) chemical biology approach for the investigating molecular mechanisms of most promising cancer chemopreventive food factors, isothiocyanate-inducing bioactivities.
Two-dimensional arc stagnation pressure measurements for the double-electrode GTAW process
Authors: Schwedersky M. B. , Gonçalves e Silva R. H. , Dutra J. C. , Reisgen U. , Willms K.
Published: February 2016

Double-electrode gas tungsten arc welding (GTAW) is a relatively new GTAW variant that has been studied and developed over recent years, with the aim being to achieve a robust high-speed and high-current process with subsequent productivity improvements. In this present study, two-dimensional arc stagnation pressure measurements were performed, allowing a broad visualisation of the arc pressure distribution at the area above the welding torch, with a 0.5 mm resolution. The influence of the distance between the electrodes was evaluated and the results were compared with the conventional GTAW process. It was found that this distance greatly modifies the resulting arc morphology and, consequently, the arc pressure distribution. The results showed that the double-electrode process has much lower pressure than the single-electrode GTAW, for example, using the minimal possible distance between the electrodes results in about half of the maximum pressure measured for the single electrode, which would enable the development of high productivity applications.
Alpha heating and isotopic mass effects in JET plasmas with sawteeth
Authors: Budny R.V.
Published: February 2016

The alpha heating experiment in the Joint European Torus (JET) 1997 DTE1 campaign is re-examined. Several effects correlated with tritium content and thermal hydrogenic isotopic mass  <  A  >  weaken the conclusion that alpha heating was clearly observed. These effects delayed the occurrence of significant sawtooth crashes allowing the electron and ion temperatures T
e and T
i to achieve higher values. Under otherwise equal circumstances T
e and T
i were typically higher for discharges with higher  <  A  >, and significant scaling of T
i, T
e, and total stored energy with  <  A  >  were observed. The higher T
i led to increased ion–electron heating rates with magnitudes comparable to those computed for alpha electron heating. Rates of other heating/loss processes also had comparable magnitudes. Simulations of T
e assuming the observed scaling of T
i are qualitatively consistent with the measured profiles, without invoking alpha heating
Daily variability of Ceres’ albedo detected by means of radial velocities changes of the reflected sunlight
Authors: Molaro P. , Lanza A. F. , Monaco L. , Tosi F. , Lo Curto G. , Fulle M. , Pasquini L.
Published: February 2016

Bright features have been recently discovered by Dawn on Ceres, which extend previous photometric and Space Telescope observations. These features should produce distortions of the line profiles of the reflected solar spectrum and therefore an apparent radial velocity variation modulated by the rotation of the dwarf planet. Here we report on two sequences of observations of Ceres performed in the nights of 2015 July 31, August 26 and 27 by means of the high-precision High Accuracy Radial Velocity Planet Searcher (HARPS) spectrograph at the 3.6 m La Silla European Southern Observatory (ESO) telescope. The observations revealed a quite complex behaviour which likely combines a radial velocity modulation due to the rotation with an amplitude of ≈±6 m s−1 and an unexpected diurnal effect. The latter changes imply changes in the albedo of Occator's bright features due to the blaze produced by the exposure to solar radiation. The short-term variability of Ceres’ albedo is on time-scales ranging from hours to months and can both be confirmed and followed by means of dedicated radial velocity observations.
Single Clinical Practice's Report of Testing Initiation, Antibody Clearance, and Transmission of Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) in Infants of Chronically HCV-Infected Mothers
Authors: Bal Aswine , Petrova Anna
Published: February 2016

Background.  Perinatally acquired hepatitis C virus (HCV) is the main source of pediatric HCV infection. However, the best time for initiation of screening and follow up of these infants is still unknown. Analysis of the clinical data of infants born to HCV-infected mothers, transmission rates, and pathway of HCV testing could be important for optimization of their management.

Methods.  Children of mothers with chronic HCV infection, who were observed between 1998 and 2013 at the pediatric infectious disease clinic for the first 18 months of their life, were eligible for enrollment. We analyzed the factors influencing initiation of HCV testing in these children and rate of HCV transmission as demonstrated by consecutive HCV antibody and HCV ribonucleic acid (RNA) amplification testing.

Results.  One hundred and forty-two mother-infant pairs were enrolled. The majority of mothers were intravenous drug users, had carried to term, and delivered vaginally. A high proportion of infants had at least 1 positive anti-HCV antibody assay without viremia. True HCV infection and intermittent viremia were recorded in 3.5% and 1.4% of infants, respectively. Initiation of HCV testing after 10 months of age was associated with a significant decline in the probability of obtaining a positive HCV antibody of maternal origin.

Conclusions.  The low likelihood for detection and confirmation of true HCV transmission before 10 months of age could challenge the early initiation of HCV screening of infants exposed to maternal HCV infection but may affect the parental need for early monitoring and counseling.
V1006 Cygni: Dwarf nova showing three types of outbursts and simulating some features of the WZ Sge-type behavior
Authors: Kato Taichi , Pavlenko Elena P. , Shchurova Alisa V. , Sosnovskij Aleksei A. , Babina Julia V. , Baklanov Aleksei V. , Shugarov Sergey Yu. , Littlefield Colin , Dubovsky Pavol A. , Kudzej Igor , Pickard Roger D. , Isogai Keisuke , Kimura Mariko , de Miguel Enrique , Tordai Tamás , Chochol Drahomir , Maeda Yutaka , Cook Lewis M. , Miller Ian , Itoh Hiroshi
Published: February 2016

We observed the 2015 July–August long outburst of V1006 Cyg and established this object to be an SU UMa-type dwarf nova in the period gap. Our observations have confirmed that V1006 Cyg is the second established object showing three types of outbursts (normal, long normal, and superoutbursts) after TU Men. We have succeeded in recording the growing stage of superhumps (stage A superhumps) and obtained a mass ratio of 0.26–0.33, which is close to the stability limit of tidal instability. This identification of stage A superhumps demonstrates that superhumps indeed slowly grow in systems near the stability limit, the idea first introduced by Kato et al. (2014, PASJ, 66, 90). The superoutburst showed a temporary dip followed by a rebrightening. The moment of the dip coincided with the stage transition of superhumps, and we suggest that stage C superhumps are related to the start of the cooling wave in the accretion disk. We interpret that the tidal instability was not strong enough to maintain the disk in the hot state when the cooling wave started. We propose that the properties commonly seen in the extreme ends of mass ratios (WZ Sge-type objects and long-period systems) can be understood as a result of weak tidal effect.
A Suzaku observation of the low-mass X-ray binary GS 1826−238 in the hard state
Authors: Ono Ko , Sakurai Soki , Zhang Zhongli , Nakazawa Kazuhiro , Makishima Kazuo
Published: February 2016

The neutron star low-mass X-ray binary GS 1826−238 was observed with Suzaku on 2009 October 21, for a total exposure of 1030 ks. Except for the type I bursts, the source intensity was constant within ∼10%. Combining the Suzaku XIS, HXD-PIN, and HXD-GSO data, burst-removed persistent emission was detected over the 0.8–100 keV range, at an unabsorbed flux of 2.6 × 10−9 erg s−1 cm−2. Although the implied 0.8–100 keV luminosity, 1.5 × 1037 erg s−1 (assuming a distance of 7 kpc), is relatively high, the observed hard spectrum confirms that the source was in the hard state. The spectrum was successfully explained by an emission from a soft standard accretion disk partially Comptonized by a hot electron cloud, and a blackbody emission Comptonized by another hotter electron cloud. These results are compared with those from previous studies, including those on the same source by Thompson et al. (2005, ApJ, 634, 1261) and Cocchi, Farinelli, and Paizis (2011, A&A, 529, A155), as well as that of Aql X-1 in the hard state obtained with Suzaku (Sakurai et al. 2014, PASJ, 66, 10).
Effects of vitamin D supplementation during weight loss on sex hormones in postmenopausal women
Authors: Mason Caitlin , De Dieu Tapsoba Jean , Duggan Catherine , Imayama Ikuyo , Wang Ching-Yun , Korde Larissa A. , Stanczyk Frank , McTiernan Anne
Published: February 2016

Objective:

The aim of the study was to compare the effects of vitamin D3 supplementation versus placebo on serum sex hormones in postmenopausal women completing a 12-month diet + exercise weight loss program.

Methods:

Two hundred eighteen overweight or obese women (50-75 y) with serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D at least 10 to less than 32 ng/mL (“insufficient”) were randomized to either weight loss + 2,000 IU/day oral vitamin D3, or to weight loss + daily placebo. Serum sex hormone-binding globulin, estrone, total, free, and bioavailable estradiol, and testosterone were measured by radioimmunoassay before randomization and at 12 months. Mean changes were compared between groups (intent-to-treat) using generalized estimating equations.

Results:

The 12-month changes in sex hormone-binding globulin, estrone, total, free, and bioavailable estradiol, and testosterone did not differ between groups (all P > 0.05). However, a greater increase in serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D was associated with a greater increase in sex hormone-binding globulin (P
trend = 0.01), and larger decreases in free and bioavailable estradiol (P
trend = 0.04, P
trend = 0.03, respectively). In post-hoc analyses, we compared women randomized to vitamin D whose serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D remained insufficient (n = 38), to women who became replete (25-hydroxyvitamin D ≥32 ng/mL; n = 53). Replete women showed greater reductions in bioavailable estradiol (−1.8 vs −0.7 pg/mL), free testosterone (−0.8 vs −0.3 pg/mL), and bioavailable testosterone (−1.8 vs −0.6 ng/dL), and a greater increase in sex hormone-binding globulin (10.6 vs 4.7 nmol/L) (all P < 0.05), even after adjusting for differences in total 12-month weight loss.

Conclusions:

Overall, 12-month changes in sex hormone did not differ between groups. However, vitamin D repletion was associated with greater reductions in sex hormones during weight loss, with a possible dose-dependent effect. Future studies should test higher doses and target circulating 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels when measuring such effects.
Protecting
Authors: Furlong Eileen P.
Published: February 2016

Background:

A diagnosis of parental cancer affects all members of the family unit, especially young school-age children. Few studies, however, have explored children’s experiences at the time when their parents are actually receiving treatment. Understanding the children’s experiences will provide additional insight into children’s coping abilities.

Objective:

The purpose of this study is to develop a grounded theory of children’s day-to-day experiences as they live with their mother who has been recently diagnosed with, and is receiving treatment for, early-stage breast cancer.

Methods:

Using classic grounded theory methodology, data were collected through 28 interviews with 7- to 11-year-old children whose mothers had been diagnosed with early-stage breast cancer during the previous 4 months.

Results:

Protecting was the main concern of the children during their mothers’ diagnosis and treatment phase. The children addressed this concern through 3 cyclical and iterative processes of shifting normality, shielding and transitioning.

Conclusions:

The findings provide a mechanism for understanding how the perceived loss of the “well” mother raised concerns for the children and resulted in adaptations of roles and responsibilities and a period of biographical disruption. This understanding could serve as a catalyst for how we relate with children and engage with parents to enhance children’s coping strategies during a maternal cancer diagnosis.

Implications for Practice:

New insights provided by this theory can guide clinical practice and generate hypotheses to test interventions to support children and their parents to cope during the time of maternal cancer diagnosis.
High Plasma Concentrations of Zidovudine (AZT) Do Not Parallel Intracellular Concentrations of AZT-Triphosphates in Infants During Prevention of Mother-to-Child HIV-1 Transmission
Authors: Kinai Ei , Kato Shingo , Hosokawa Shinichi , Sadatsuki Miyuki , Gatanaga Hiroyuki , Kikuchi Yoshimi , Lam Nguyen Van , Ha Do Quan , Kinh Nguyen Van , Liem Nguyen Thanh , Oka Shinichi
Published: February 2016

Objectives:

Zidovudine (AZT) is mainly used to prevent mother-to-child HIV-1 transmission (PMTCT). Despite serious concerns on AZT-associated toxicity, there is little information on pharmacokinetics of intracellular AZT metabolites in infants.

Methods:

We conducted a prospective study in 31 HIV-uninfected infants who received AZT for PMTCT. Blood samples were obtained from 14 infants on postdelivery days (PDD) 1, 7, 14, and 28 and from 17 infants at 0 and 4 hours after dosing on PDD-1. Plasma AZT concentrations (pAZT) and intracellular concentrations of AZT-monophosphate (icAZT-MP), diphosphate (icAZT-DP), and triphosphate (icAZT-TP) were determined.

Results:

Plasma AZT and icAZT-MP concentrations were 2713 nmol/L and 79 fmol/106 cells in PDD-1, but decreased to 1437 nmol/L and 31 fmol/106 cells by PDD-28 (P = 0.02 and P = 0.07 for all PDDs, respectively), whereas those of icAZT-DP and icAZT-TP remained low throughout the sampling period (P = 0.29 and P = 0.61 for all PDDs, respectively) There were no differences in icAZT-TP between infants of the 2 mg/kg 4 times a day dose and 4 mg/kg twice daily dose (P = 0.25), whereas pAZT and icAZT-MP levels were higher in the latter (P < 0.01 and <0.01, respectively). The pAZT and icAZT-MP significantly increased from 0 to 4 hours after dosing (P < 0.001 and <0.001, respectively), whereas icAZT-DP, icAZT-TP levels were not changed (P = 0.41 and 0.33, respectively).

Conclusions:

The level of icAZT-TP did not change with age, time, or a single dose despite the wide range of pAZT concentration. A safer dosage needs to be determined because high pAZT levels do not parallel those of icAZT-TP.
The meaning of biological information
Authors: Koonin Eugene V.
Published: February 2016

Biological information encoded in genomes is fundamentally different from and effectively orthogonal to Shannon entropy. The biologically relevant concept of information has to do with ‘meaning’, i.e. encoding various biological functions with various degree of evolutionary conservation. Apart from direct experimentation, the meaning, or biological information content, can be extracted and quantified from alignments of homologous nucleotide or amino acid sequences but generally not from a single sequence, using appropriately modified information theoretical formulae. For short, information encoded in genomes is defined vertically but not horizontally. Informally but substantially, biological information density seems to be equivalent to ‘meaning’ of genomic sequences that spans the entire range from sharply defined, universal meaning to effective meaninglessness. Large fractions of genomes, up to 90% in some plants, belong within the domain of fuzzy meaning. The sequences with fuzzy meaning can be recruited for various functions, with the meaning subsequently fixed, and also could perform generic functional roles that do not require sequence conservation. Biological meaning is continuously transferred between the genomes of selfish elements and hosts in the process of their coevolution. Thus, in order to adequately describe genome function and evolution, the concepts of information theory have to be adapted to incorporate the notion of meaning that is central to biology.
The generation of meaningful information in molecular systems
Authors: Wills Peter R.
Published: February 2016

The physico-chemical processes occurring inside cells are under the computational control of genetic (DNA) and epigenetic (internal structural) programming. The origin and evolution of genetic information (nucleic acid sequences) is reasonably well understood, but scant attention has been paid to the origin and evolution of the molecular biological interpreters that give phenotypic meaning to the sequence information that is quite faithfully replicated during cellular reproduction. The near universality and age of the mapping from nucleotide triplets to amino acids embedded in the functionality of the protein synthetic machinery speaks to the early development of a system of coding which is still extant in every living organism. We take the origin of genetic coding as a paradigm of the emergence of computation in natural systems, focusing on the requirement that the molecular components of an interpreter be synthesized autocatalytically. Within this context, it is seen that interpreters of increasing complexity are generated by series of transitions through stepped dynamic instabilities (non-equilibrium phase transitions). The early phylogeny of the amino acyl-tRNA synthetase enzymes is discussed in such terms, leading to the conclusion that the observed optimality of the genetic code is a natural outcome of the processes of self-organization that produced it.
Bacteria differently regulate mRNA abundance to specifically respond to various stresses
Authors: Bartholomäus Alexander , Fedyunin Ivan , Feist Peter , Sin Celine , Zhang Gong , Valleriani Angelo , Ignatova Zoya
Published: February 2016

Environmental stress is detrimental to cell viability and requires an adequate reprogramming of cellular activities to maximize cell survival. We present a global analysis of the response of
Escherichia coli
to acute heat and osmotic stress. We combine deep sequencing of total mRNA and ribosome-protected fragments to provide a genome-wide map of the stress response at transcriptional and translational levels. For each type of stress, we observe a unique subset of genes that shape the stress-specific response. Upon temperature upshift, mRNAs with reduced folding stability up- and downstream of the start codon, and thus with more accessible initiation regions, are translationally favoured. Conversely, osmotic upshift causes a global reduction of highly translated transcripts with high copy numbers, allowing reallocation of translation resources to not degraded and newly synthesized mRNAs.
Pragmatic information in biology and physics
Authors: Roederer Juan G.
Published: February 2016

I will show how an objective definition of the concept of information and the consideration of recent results about information processing in the human brain help clarify some fundamental aspects of physics and biology. Rather than attempting to define information
ab initio
, I introduce the concept of interaction between material bodies as a primary concept. Two distinct categories can be identified: (i) interactions which can always be reduced to a superposition of physical interactions (forces) between elementary constituents; and (ii) interactions between complex bodies which cannot be expressed as a superposition of interactions between parts, and in which patterns and forms (in space and/or time) play the determining role. Pragmatic information is then defined as the link between a given pattern and the ensuing pattern-specific change. I will show that pragmatic information is a biological concept; it plays no active role in the purely physical domain—it only does so when a living organism intervenes. The consequences for physics (including foundations of quantum mechanics) and biology (including brain function) will be discussed. This will include speculations about three fundamental transitions, from the quantum to the classical domain, from natural inanimate to living systems, and from subhuman to human brain information-processing operations, introduced here in their direct connection with the concept of pragmatic information.
Characterization of DNA methylation as a function of biological complexity via dinucleotide inter-distances
Authors: Paci Giulia , Cristadoro Giampaolo , Monti Barbara , Lenci Marco , Degli Esposti Mirko , Castellani Gastone C. , Remondini Daniel
Published: February 2016

We perform a statistical study of the distances between successive occurrences of a given dinucleotide in the DNA sequence for a number of organisms of different complexity. Our analysis highlights peculiar features of the CG dinucleotide distribution in mammalian DNA, pointing towards a connection with the role of such dinucleotide in DNA methylation. While the CG distributions of mammals exhibit exponential tails with comparable parameters, the picture for the other organisms studied (e.g. fish, insects, bacteria and viruses) is more heterogeneous, possibly because in these organisms DNA methylation has different functional roles. Our analysis suggests that the distribution of the distances between CG dinucleotides provides useful insights into characterizing and classifying organisms in terms of methylation functionalities.
What is information?
Authors: Adami Christoph
Published: February 2016

Information is a precise concept that can be defined mathematically, but its relationship to what we call ‘knowledge’ is not always made clear. Furthermore, the concepts ‘entropy’ and ‘information’, while deeply related, are distinct and must be used with care, something that is not always achieved in the literature. In this elementary introduction, the concepts of entropy and information are laid out one by one, explained intuitively, but defined rigorously. I argue that a proper understanding of information in terms of prediction is key to a number of disciplines beyond engineering, such as physics and biology.
Defining the anti-Shine-Dalgarno sequence interaction and quantifying its functional role in regulating translation efficiency
Authors: Hockenberry Adam J. , Pah Adam R. , Jewett Michael C. , Amaral Luís A. Nunes
Published: February 2016

Studies dating back to the 1970s established that binding between the anti-Shine-Dalgarno (aSD) sequence on prokaryotic ribosomes and mRNA helps to facilitate translation initiation. The location of aSD binding relative to the start codon, the full extents of the aSD sequence, and the functional form of the relationship between aSD binding and translation efficiency are important parameters that remain ill defined in the literature. Here, we leverage genome-wide estimates of translation efficiency to determine these parameters and show that anti-Shine-Dalgarno sequence binding increases the translation of endogenous mRNAs on the order of 50%. Our findings highlight the non-linearity of this relationship, showing that translation efficiency is maximized for sequences with intermediate aSD binding strengths. These mechanistic insights are highly robust; we find nearly identical results in ribosome profiling datasets from 3 highly diverged bacteria, as well as independent genome-scale estimates and controlled experimental data using recombinant GFP expression.
Two Similarity Metrics for Medical Subject Headings (MeSH): An Aid to Biomedical Text Mining and Author Name Disambiguation
Authors: Smalheiser Neil R. , Bonifield Gary
Published: February 2016

In the present paper, we have created and characterized several similarity metrics for relating any two Medical Subject Headings (MeSH terms) to each other. The article-based metric measures the tendency of two MeSH terms to appear in the MEDLINE record of the same article. The author-based metric measures the tendency of two MeSH terms to appear in the body of articles written by the same individual (using the 2009 Author-ity author name disambiguation dataset as a gold standard). The two metrics are only modestly correlated with each other (r = 0.50), indicating that they capture different aspects of term usage. The article-based metric provides a measure of semantic relatedness, and MeSH term pairs that co-occur more often than expected by chance may reflect relations between the two terms. In contrast, the author metric is indicative of how individuals practice science, and may have value for author name disambiguation and studies of scientific discovery. We have calculated article metrics for all MeSH terms appearing in at least 25 articles in MEDLINE (as of 2014) and author metrics for MeSH terms published as of 2009. The dataset is freely available for download and can be queried athttp://arrowsmith.psych.uic.edu/arrowsmith_uic/mesh_pair_metrics.html.
First experimental feasibility study of VIPIC: a custom-made detector for X-ray speckle measurements
Authors: Rumaiz Abdul K. , Siddons D. Peter , Deptuch Grzegorz , Maj Piotr , Kuczewski Anthony J. , Carini Gabriella A. , Narayanan Suresh , Dufresne Eric M. , Sandy Alec , Bradford Robert , Fluerasu Andrei , Sutton Mark
Published: February 2016

The Vertically Integrated Photon Imaging Chip (VIPIC) was custom-designed for X-ray photon correlation spectroscopy, an application in which occupancy per pixel is low but high time resolution is needed. VIPIC operates in a sparsified streaming mode in which each detected photon is immediately read out as a time- and position-stamped event. This event stream can be fed directly to an autocorrelation engine or accumulated to form a conventional image. The detector only delivers non-zero data (sparsified readout), greatly reducing the communications overhead typical of conventional frame-oriented detectors such as charge-coupled devices or conventional hybrid pixel detectors. This feature allowscontinuousacquisition of data with timescales from microseconds to hours. In this work VIPIC has been used to measure X-ray photon correlation spectroscopy data on polystyrene latex nano-colliodal suspensions in glycerol and on colloidal suspensions of silica spheres in water. Relaxation times of the nano-colloids have been measured for different temperatures. These results demonstrate that VIPIC can operatecontinuouslyin the microsecond time frame, while at the same time probing longer timescales.
Ab initioX-ray structural characterization of an inclusion compound with a compositionally disordered chiral guest: no prior knowledge of the crystal composition
Authors: Guzei Ilia A. , Miles Kelsey C.
Published: February 2016

The crystal structure and absolute configuration of a molecular host/guest/impurity inclusion complex were established unequivocally in spite of our having no prior knowledge of its chemical composition. The host (4R,5R)-4,5-bis(hydroxydiphenylmethyl)-2,2-dimethyl-1,3-dioxolane, (I), displays expected conformational features. The crystal-disordered chiral guest 4,4a,5,6,7,8-hexahydronaphthalen-2(3H)-one, (II), is present in the crystal 85.1 (4)% of the time. It shares a common site with 4a-hydroperoxymethyl-4,4a,5,6,7,8-hexahydronaphthalen-2(3H)-one, (III), present 14.9 (4)% of the time, which is the product of autoxidation of (II). This minor peroxide impurity was isolated, and the results of nuclear magnetic resonance, mass spectrometry, and X-ray fluorescence studies are consistent with the proposed structure of (III). The complete structure was therefore determined to be (4R,5R)-4,5-bis(hydroxydiphenylmethyl)-2,2-dimethyl-1,3-dioxolane–4,4a,5,6,7,8-hexahydronaphthalen-2(3H)-one–4a-hydroperoxymethyl-4,4a,5,6,7,8-hexahydronaphthalen-2(3H)-one (1/0.85/0.15), C31H30O4·0.85C10H14O·0.15C10H14O3, (IV). There are host–host, host–guest, and host–impurity hydrogen-bonding interactions of typesSandDin the solid state. We believe that the crystals of (IV) were originally prepared to establish the chirality of the guest (II) by means of X-ray diffraction analysis of host/guest crystals obtained in the course of chiral resolution during cocrystallization of (II) with (I). In spite of the absence of `heavy' elements, the absolute configurations of all anomeric centres in the structure are assigned asRbased on resonant scattering effects.
Crystal structures of five 6-mercaptopurine derivatives
Authors: Gomes Lígia R. , Low John Nicolson , Magalhães e Silva Diogo , Cagide Fernando , Borges Fernanda
Published: February 2016

The crystal structures of five 6-mercaptopurine derivatives,viz.2-[(9-acetyl-9H-purin-6-yl)sulfanyl]-1-(3-methoxyphenyl)ethan-1-one (1), C16H14N4O3S, 2-[(9-acetyl-9H-purin-6-yl)sulfanyl]-1-(4-methoxyphenyl)ethan-1-one (2), C16H14N4O3S, 2-[(9-acetyl-9H-purin-6-yl)sulfanyl]-1-(4-chlorophenyl)ethan-1-one (3), C15H11ClN4O2S, 2-[(9-acetyl-9H-purin-6-yl)sulfanyl]-1-(4-bromophenyl)ethan-1-one (4), C15H11BrN4O2S, and 1-(3-methoxyphenyl)-2-[(9H-purin-6-yl)sulfanyl]ethan-1-one (5), C14H12N4O2S. Compounds (2), (3) and (4) are isomorphous and accordingly their molecular and supramolecular structures are similar. An analysis of the dihedral angles between the purine and exocyclic phenyl rings show that the molecules of (1) and (5) are essentially planar but that in the case of the three isomorphous compounds (2), (3) and (4), these rings are twisted by a dihedral angle of approximately 38°. With the exception of (1) all molecules are linked by weak C—H...O hydrogen bonds in their crystals. There is π–π stacking in all compounds. A Cambridge Structural Database search revealed the existence of 11 deposited compounds containing the 1-phenyl-2-sulfanylethanone scaffold; of these, only eight have a cyclic ring as substituent, the majority of these being heterocycles.
Benzyl 3-(3,4,5-trimethoxybenzylidene)dithiocarbazate
Authors: Islam M. A. A. A. A. , Sheikh M. C. , Mahmud A. A. , Miyatake R. , Zangrando E.
Published: February 2016

The title compound, C18H20N2O3S2, a dithiocarbazate derivative, adopts anEconformation about the C=N bond. The trimethoxyphenyl group and the dithiocarbazate fragment lie almost in the same plane, with the mean plane of the dithiocarbazate unit being inclined to the trimethoxyphenyl ring by 13.34 (6)°. The aromatic rings are inclined to one another by 75.30 (9)°. In the crystal, molecules are linkedviapairs of N—H...S hydrogen bonds, forming inversion dimers with anR22(8) ring motif. The dimers are linkedviaC—H...O hydrogen bonds, forming undulating sheets lying parallel to (103) which are linkedviaC—H...π interactions, forming a three-dimensional supramolecular structure.
Near, far, and online: small business owners’ advice-seeking from peers
Authors: Kuhn Kristine , Galloway Tera , Collins-Williams Maureen
Published: February 2016

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to examine small business owners’ informal advice-seeking from peers, with a focus on the opportunities afforded by the internet for owners to acquire assistance from other owner-managers outside their local community.

Design/methodology/approach

– Over 600 owner-managers in a rural US state were surveyed about their advice-seeking during the previous year from peers in the same community, from non-local peers they had met in person, and from peers known only online. Mixed effects logistic regression analysis was used to test both main effects of business and owner characteristics on advice-seeking and interactions with type/location of peer advisors.

Findings

– Most owners had received advice from peers, and one-third had received advice online from a peer whom they had never met in person. Business performance was not associated with overall use of peer advice, but did interact significantly with source; the use of online-only advisors was associated with business growth, suggesting the possible benefit of weak ties. Over two-thirds of respondents reported having used social media and/or online forums to access advice or support from other owners (both those met in person and those not), with women and younger owners more likely to rely on such tools.

Originality/value

– This study shows that entrepreneurial research needs to consider peer advisors beyond local networks as potential resources for small business owners. While previous research has examined entrepreneurs’ use of social media for marketing, this study shows its utility for accessing advice.
Informing brand messaging strategies via social media analytics
Authors: Coursaris Constantinos K. , van Osch Wietske , Balogh Brigitte A.
Published: February 2016

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to offer a theory-driven, evidence-based approach to developing a brand’s messaging strategies on social media encompassing three messaging dimensions, namely, appeal, content, and richness.

Design/methodology/approach

– Using longitudinal data from three Fortune 200 companies – Delta Airlines, Wal-Mart, and McDonald’s – the authors empirically investigate comprehensive strategic messaging framework. Using ANOVAs and regression analyses, the authors test a set of hypotheses regarding the relations between a brand
'
s purchase involvement, its message appeal, message content, and message richness, and engagement.

Findings

– Findings reveal significant relations between purchase involvement and appeal. Furthermore, the authors find that abstract content categories are best combined with richer media. Finally, both transformation appeal and richer media have a highly significant and positive effect on engagement.

Research limitations/implications

– The authors offer a theoretical ground and empirical validation of both a comprehensive typology of content categories and a holistic strategic messaging framework that can fill a significant void in the social media marketing literature that lacks integrative models for assessing, classifying, analyzing, and in turn, informing future social media marketing strategies.

Practical implications

– The validated framework can help managers better understand the diversity of messaging components as well as offer an analytical tool for assessing the nature of engagement associated with each appeal and category.

Originality/value

– To the best of the author’s knowledge, this paper offers the first comprehensive typology of content categories and validates it in the context of a strategic messages framework using real-world data finding strong support for all hypotheses.