bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Assistive tools for disability arts: collaborative experiences in working with disabled artists and stakeholders
Authors: Creed Chris
Published: May 2016

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to provide a review of the experiences in working collaboratively with physically impaired visual artists and other stakeholders (e.g. disability arts organisations, charities, personal assistants, special needs colleges, assistive technologists, etc.) to explore the potential of digital assistive tools to support and transform practice.

Design/methodology/approach

– The authors strategically identified key organisations as project partners including Disability Arts Shropshire, Arts Council England, the British Council, SCOPE, and National Star College (a large special needs college). This multi-disciplinary team worked together to develop relationships with disabled artists and to collaboratively influence the research focus around investigating the current practice of physically impaired artists and the impact of digital technologies on artistic work.

Findings

– The collaborations with disabled artists and stakeholders throughout the research process have enriched the project, broadened and deepened research impact, and enabled a firsthand understanding of the issues around using assistive technology for artistic work. Artists and stakeholders have become pro-active collaborators and advocates for the project as opposed to being used only for evaluation purposes. A flexible research approach was crucial in helping to facilitate research studies and enhance impact of the work.

Originality/value

– This paper is the first to discuss experiences in working with physically impaired visual artists – including the benefits of a collaborative approach and the considerations that must be made when conducting research in this area. The observations are also relevant to researchers working with disabled participants in other fields.
Institutional investors and the cost of bank loans
Authors: Hu Huajing , Lian Yili
Published: May 2016

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of institutional investors on the cost of bank loans using US bank loan data from 1995 to 2012.

Design/methodology/approach

– The cost of bank loans is analyzed with regard to loan spreads, collateral requirements, and the number of prepayment covenants.

Findings

– This paper finds that, first, holding institutional ownership constant, institutional control is positively related to the cost of bank loans, implying that strong institutional control intensifies conflicts between large shareholders and lenders. Second, institutional holdings are negatively related to the cost of bank loans. These results indicate that institutional monitoring reduces the agency problem between shareholders and managers.

Originality/value

– This paper suggests that the trade-off between institutional monitoring and institutional control jointly determines the effect of institutional investors on the cost of bank loans. Moreover, lenders should consider large shareholders and their influence when making lending decisions.
Public political thought: bridging the sociological–philosophical divide in the study of legitimacy
Authors: Abulof Uriel
Published: May 2016

The study of political legitimacy is divided between prescriptive and descriptive approaches. Political philosophy regards legitimacy asprincipled justification, sociology regards legitimacy aspublic support. However, all people can, and occasionally do engage in morally reasoning their political life. This paper thus submits that in studying socio‐politicallegitimation– the legitimacy‐making process – the philosophicaloughtand the sociologicaliscan be bridged. I call this construct ‘public political thought’ (PPT), signifying thepublic's principled moral reasoning of politics, which need not be democratic or liberal. The paper lays PPT's foundations and identifies its ‘builders’ and ‘building blocks’. I propose that the edifice of PPT is built bymoral agentsconstructing and construing socio‐moral order (nomization). PPT's building blocks are justificatory common beliefs (doxa) and the deliberative language of legitimation. I illustrate the merits of this groundwork through two empirical puzzles: the end of apartheid and the emergence of Québécois identity.
Multimodal imaging of the disease progression of birdshot chorioretinopathy
Authors: Teussink Michel M. , Huis in het Veld Paulien I. , de Vries Lieuwe A. M. , Hoyng Carel B. , Klevering B. Jeroen , Theelen Thomas
Published: May 2016

Purpose

To study outer retinal deterioration in relation to clinical disease activity in patients with birdshot chorioretinopathy using fundus autofluorescence and spectral‐domain optical coherence tomography (OCT).

Methods

A single‐centre retrospective cohort study was carried out on 42 eyes of 21 patients with birdshot disease, using a multimodal imaging approach including fundus autofluorescence, OCT, fluorescein angiography and indocyanine green angiography in combination with a patient chart review. The patients' overall clinical activity of retinal vasculitis during the follow‐up period was determined by periods of clinical activity as indicated by fluorescein angiography and associated treatment decisions. Image analysis was performed to examine the spatial correspondence between autofluorescence changes and disruption of the photoreceptor inner segment ellipsoid zone on OCT.

Results

Three common types of outer retinal lesions were observed in fovea‐centred images of 43% of patients: circular patches of chorioretinal atrophy, ellipsoid zone disruption on OCT, and outer retinal atrophy on autofluorescence and OCT. There was good spatial correspondence between ellipsoid zone disruption and areas of diffuse hyper‐autofluorescence outside the fovea. Interestingly, the ellipsoid zone disruption recovered in four out of seven patients upon intensified therapeutic immunosuppression.

Conclusion

Most patients only developed peripapillary atrophy and occasional perivascular hypo‐autofluorescence. A multimodal imaging approach with autofluorescence imaging and OCT may help to detect ellipsoid zone disruption in the central retina of patients with birdshot disease. Our results suggest that ellipsoid zone disruption may be related to both the activity and duration of retinal vasculitis, and could help to determine therapeutic success in birdshot disease.
IARS mutation causes prenatal death in Japanese Black cattle
Authors: Hirano Takashi , Matsuhashi Tamako , Takeda Kenji , Hara Hiromi , Kobayashi Naohiko , Kita Kazuo , Sugimoto Yoshikazu , Hanzawa Kei
Published: May 2016

Isoleucyl‐tRNA synthetase (IARS) c.235G > C (p.V79L) is a causative mutation for a recessive disease called IARS disorder in Japanese black cattle. The disease is involved in weak calf syndrome and is characterized by low birth weight, weakness and poor suckling. The gestation period is often slightly extended, implying that intrauterine growth is retarded. In a previous analysis of 2597 artificial insemination (AI) procedures, we suggested that the IARS mutation might contribute toward an increase in the incidence of prenatal death. In this study, we extended this analysis to better clarify the association between the IARS mutation and prenatal death. The IARS genotypes of 92 animals resulting from crosses between carrier (G/C) × G/C were 27 normal (G/G), 55 G/C and 10 affected animals (C/C) (expected numbers: 23, 46 and 23, respectively). Compared to the expected numbers, there were significantly fewer affected animals in this population (P < 0.05), suggesting that more than half of the affected embryos died prenatally. When the number of AI procedures examined was increased to 11 580, the frequency of re‐insemination after G/C × G/C insemination was significantly higher at 61‐140 days (P < 0.001). The findings suggested that the homozygous IARS mutation not only causes calf death, but also embryonic or fetal death.
Dominance of texture over shape in facial identity processing is modulated by individual abilities
Authors: Itz Marlena L. , Golle Jessika , Luttmann Stefanie , Schweinberger Stefan R. , Kaufmann Jürgen M.
Published: May 2016

For face recognition, observers utilize both shape and texture information. Here, we investigated the relative diagnosticity of shape and texture for delayed matching of familiar and unfamiliar faces (Experiment 1) and identifying familiar and newly learned faces (Experiment 2). Within each familiarity condition, pairs of 3D‐captured faces were morphed selectively in either shape or texture in 20% steps, holding the respective other dimension constant. We also assessed participants’ individual face‐processing skills via the Bielefelder Famous Faces Test (BFFT), the Glasgow Face Matching Test, and the Cambridge Face Memory Test (CFMT). Using multilevel model analyses, we examined probabilities of same versus different responses (Experiment 1) and of original identity versus other/unknown identity responses (Experiment 2). Overall, texture was more diagnostic than shape for both delayed matching and identification, particularly so for familiar faces. On top of these overall effects, above‐average BFFT performance was associated with enhanced utilization of texture in both experiments. Furthermore, above‐average CFMT performance coincided with slightly reduced texture dominance in the delayed matching task (Experiment 1) and stronger sensitivity to morph‐based changes overall, that is irrespective of morph type, in the face identification task (Experiment 2). Our findings (1) show the disproportionate importance of texture information for processing familiar face identity and (2) provide further evidence that familiar and unfamiliar face identity perception are mediated by different underlying processes.
Building Construction Sets by Tiling Grammar Simplification
Authors: Kalojanov Javor , Wand Michael , Slusallek Philipp
Published: May 2016

This paper poses the problem of fabricating physical construction sets from example geometry: A construction set provides a small number of different types of building blocks from which the example model as well as many similar variants can be reassembled. This process is formalized by tiling grammars. Our core contribution is an approach for simplifying tiling grammars such that we obtain physically manufacturable building blocks of controllable granularity while retaining variability, i.e., the ability to construct many different, related shapes. Simplification is performed by sequences of two types of elementary Operations: non‐local joint edge collapses in the tile graphs reduce the granularity of the decomposition and approximate replacement Operations reduce redundancy. We evaluate our method on abstract graph grammars in addition to computing several physical construction sets, which are manufactured using a commodity 3D printer.
Buoyancy Optimization for Computational Fabrication
Authors: Wang L. , Whiting E.
Published: May 2016

This paper introduces a design and fabrication pipeline for creating floating forms. Our method optimizes for buoyant equilibrium and stability of complex 3D shapes, applying a voxel‐carving technique to control the mass distribution. The resulting objects achieve a desired floating pose defined by a user‐specified waterline height and orientation. In order to enlarge the feasible design space, we explore novel ways to load the interior of a design using prefabricated components and casting techniques. 3D printing is employed for high‐precision fabrication. For larger scale designs we introduce a method for stacking lasercut planar pieces to create 3D objects in a quick and economic manner. We demonstrate fabricated designs of complex shape in a variety of floating poses.
Animation Setup Transfer for 3D Characters
Authors: Avril Quentin , Ghafourzadeh Donya , Ramachandran Srinivasan , Fallahdoust Sahel , Ribet Sarah , Dionne Olivier , de Lasa Martin , Paquette Eric
Published: May 2016

We present a general method for transferring skeletons and skinning weights between characters with distinct mesh topologies. Our pipeline takes as inputs a source character rig (consisting of a mesh, a transformation hierarchy of joints, and skinning weights) and a target character mesh. From these inputs, we compute joint locations and orientations that embed the source skeleton in the target mesh, as well as skinning weights to bind the target geometry to the new skeleton. Our method consists of two key steps. We first compute the geometric correspondence between source and target meshes using a semi‐automatic method relying on a set of markers. The resulting geometric correspondence is then used to formulate attribute transfer as an energy minimization and filtering problem. We demonstrate our approach on a variety of source and target bipedal characters, varying in mesh topology and morphology. Several examples demonstrate that the target characters behave well when animated with either forward or inverse kinematics. Via these examples, we show that our method preserves subtle artistic variations; spatial relationships between geometry and joints, as well as skinning weight details, are accurately maintained. Our proposed pipeline opens up many exciting possibilities to quickly animate novel characters by reusing existing production assets.
Character contact re‐positioning under large environment deformation
Authors: Tonneau Steve , Al‐Ashqar Rami Ali , Pettré Julien , Komura Taku , Mansard Nicolas
Published: May 2016

Character animation based on motion capture provides intrinsically plausible results, but lacks the flexibility of procedural methods. Motion editing methods partially address this limitation by adapting the animation to small deformations of the environment. We extend one such method, the so‐called relationship descriptors, to tackle the issue of motion editing under large environment deformations. Large deformations often result in joint limits violation, loss of balance, or collisions. Our method handles these situations by automatically detecting and re‐positioning invalidated contacts. The new contact configurations are chosen to preserve the mechanical properties of the original contacts in order to provide plausible support phases. When it is not possible to find an equivalent contact, a procedural animation is generated and blended with the original motion. Thanks to an optimization scheme, the resulting motions are continuous and preserve the style of the reference motions. The method is fully interactive and enables the motion to be adapted on‐line even in case of large changes of the environment. We demonstrate our method on several challenging scenarios, proving its immediate application to 3D animation softwares and video games.
DeepProp: Extracting Deep Features from a Single Image for Edit Propagation
Authors: Endo Yuki , Iizuka Satoshi , Kanamori Yoshihiro , Mitani Jun
Published: May 2016

Edit propagation is a technique that can propagate various image edits (e.g., colorization and recoloring) performed via user strokes to the entire image based on similarity of image features. In most previous work, users must manually determine the importance of each image feature (e.g., color, coordinates, and textures) in accordance with their needs and target images. We focus on representation learning that automatically learns feature representations only from user strokes in a single image instead of tuning existing features manually. To this end, this paper proposes an edit propagation method using a deep neural network (DNN). Our DNN, which consists of several layers such as convolutional layers and a feature combiner, extracts stroke‐adapted visual features and spatial features, and then adjusts the importance of them. We also develop a learning algorithm for our DNN that does not suffer from the vanishing gradient problem, and hence avoids falling into undesirable locally optimal solutions. We demonstrate that edit propagation with deep features, without manual feature tuning, can achieve better results than previous work.
Adapting Feature Curve Networks to a Prescribed Scale
Authors: Gehre Anne , Lim Isaak , Kobbelt Leif
Published: May 2016

Feature curves on surface meshes are usually defined solely based on local shape properties such as dihedral angles and principal curvatures. From the application perspective, however, the meaningfulness of a network of feature curves also depends on a global scale parameter that takes the distance between feature curves into account, i.e., on a coarse scale, nearby feature curves should be merged or suppressed if the surface region between them is not representable at the given scale/resolution. In this paper, we propose a computational approach to the intuitive notion of scale conforming feature curve networks where the density of feature curves on the surface adapts to a global scale parameter. We present a constrained global optimization algorithm that computes scale conforming feature curve networks by eliminating curve segments that represent surface features, which are not compatible to the prescribed scale. To demonstrate the usefulness of our approach we apply isotropic and anisotropic remeshing schemes that take our feature curve networks as input. For a number of example meshes, we thus generate high quality shape approximations at various levels of detail.
Multisampling Compressive Video Spectroscopy
Authors: Jeon Daniel S. , Choi Inchang , Kim Min H.
Published: May 2016

The coded aperture snapshot spectral imaging (CASSI) architecture has been employed widely for capturing hyperspectral video. Despite allowing concurrent capture of hyperspectral video, spatial modulation in CASSI sacrifices image resolution significantly while reconstructing spectral projection via sparse sampling. Several multiview alternatives have been proposed to handle this low spatial resolution problem and improve measurement accuracy, for instance, by adding a translation stage for the coded aperture or changing the static coded aperture with a digital micromirror device for dynamic modulation. State‐of‐the‐art solutions enhance spatial resolution significantly but are incapable of capturing video using CASSI. In this paper, we present a novel compressive coded aperture imaging design that increases spatial resolution while capturing 4D hyperspectral video of dynamic scenes. We revise the traditional CASSI design to allow for multiple sampling of the randomness of spatial modulation in a single frame. We demonstrate that our compressive video spectroscopy approach yields enhanced spatial resolution and consistent measurements, compared with the traditional CASSI design.
STAR ‐ Laplacian Spectral Kernels and Distances for Geometry Processing and Shape Analysis
Authors: Patané Giuseppe
Published: May 2016

In geometry processing and shape analysis, several applications have been addressed through the properties of the spectral kernels and distances, such as commute‐time, biharmonic, diffusion, and wave distances. Our survey is intended to provide a background on the properties, discretization, computation, and main applications of the Laplace‐Beltrami operator, the associated differential equations (e.g., harmonic equation, Laplacian eigenproblem, diffusion and wave equations), Laplacian spectral kernels and distances (e.g., commute‐time, biharmonic, wave, diffusion distances). While previous work has been focused mainly on specific applications of the aforementioned topics on surface meshes, we propose a general approach that allows us to review Laplacian kernels and distances on surfaces and volumes, and for any choice of the Laplacian weights. All the reviewed numerical schemes for the computation of the Laplacian spectral kernels and distances are discussed in terms of robustness, approximation accuracy, and computational cost, thus supporting the reader in the selection of the most appropriate method with respect to shape representation, computational resources, and target application.
Do Female Western Mosquitofish,Gambusia affinis,Prefer Ornaments That Males Lack?
Authors: Casner Ariel M. , Fackelman Heather C. , Degtyareva Olga , Kight Scott L.
Published: May 2016

Some species in the family Poeciliidae are known for extravagant male ornaments and courtship behavior (e.g., guppies), but the majority of poeciliids are characterized by coercive male copulation attempts that seem to circumvent female choice. In some lineages with male ornaments, female sensory bias may have preceded the evolution of corresponding male signals. We examined female preferences for colorful ornaments in Western mosquitofish,Gambusia affinis, in which males lack ornamentation and reproduce primarily through coercive mating attempts. We found that females exhibited a positional affinity for males that were artificially ornamented with blue coloration over males that had been treated with a transparent ornament. Females exhibited the opposite effect for males treated with red ornaments. In contrast, focal females did not exhibit behavioral discrimination between two live stimulus females or two models (silver fishing lures) with blue vs. transparent ornaments. This suggests a sexual context for female discrimination between males based on ornament color and whether an ornament was present. Because tribe Gambusiini is the basal branch of family Poeciliidae, the results of this study are consistent with the hypothesis that female responsiveness to male coloration is the ancestral poeciliid character state.
Wide range of body composition measures are associated with cognitive function in community‐dwelling older adults
Authors: Won Huiloo , Abdul Manaf Zahara , Mat Ludin Arimi Fitri , Shahar Suzana
Published: May 2016

Aim

Studies of the association between body composition, both body fat and body muscle, and cognitive function are rarely reported. The aim of the present study was to determine the association between a wide range of body composition measures with cognitive function in older adults.

Methods

A total of 2322 Malaysian older adults aged 60 years and older were recruited using multistage random sampling in a population‐based cross‐sectional study. Out of 2322 older adults recruited, 2309 (48% men) completed assessments on cognitive function and body composition. Cognitive functions were assessed using the Malay version of the Mini‐Mental State Examination, the Bahasa Malaysia version of Montreal Cognitive Assessment, Digit Span Test, Digit Symbol Test and Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test. Body composition included body mass index, mid‐upper arm circumference, waist circumference, calf circumference, waist‐to‐hip ratio, percentage body fat and skeletal muscle mass.

Results

The association between body composition and cognitive functions was analyzed using multiple linear regression. After adjustment for age, education years, hypertension, hypercholesterolemia, diabetes mellitus, depression, smoking status and alcohol consumption, we found that calf circumference appeared as a significant predictor for all cognitive tests among both men and women (P < 0.05), except for the Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test. Waist‐to‐hip ratio was detected as a significant predictor for all cognitive tests among women (P < 0.05), but was only a significant predictor for the Bahasa Malaysia version of Montreal Cognitive Assessment among men (P < 0.05).

Conclusions

These results suggest that there is a need to maintain muscle mass and lower adipose tissue among older adults for optimal cognitive function. Geriatr Gerontol Int 2017; 17: 554–560.
Stakeholders in support systems for self‐care for chronic illness: the gap between expectations and reality regarding their identity, roles and relationships
Authors: Pumar‐Méndez María J. , Mujika Agurtzane , Regaira Elena , Vassilev Ivaylo , Portillo Mari Carmen , Foss Christina , Todorova Elka , Roukova Poli , Ruud Knutsen Ingrid A. , Serrano Manuel , Lionis Christos , Wensing Michel , Rogers Anne
Published: May 2016

Background and objective

The spread of self‐care holds the promise of containing chronic illness burden. Falling within the framework of a FP7 collaborative research project, this paper reports the views of key informants from six countries regarding who the main stakeholders are at different levels in the support system for self‐care for patients with chronic illness (SSSC) and how they accomplish their role and collaborate.

Methods

90 Interviews with purposefully selected key informants from Bulgaria, Greece, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain and United Kingdom were conducted. Interviews involved government and local authorities, politicians, academics, health professionals and private sector representatives. Interviewers followed an expert opinion‐based guide. Analysis involved a cross‐country examination with thematic analysis and framework method techniques.

Results

Key informants described the ideal SSSC as inclusive, interdependent and patient‐centred. The following main stakeholders in SSSC were identified: patients, governments, health‐care professionals, associations, private companies and the media. In the current SSSCs, collaboration among stakeholders within and across different levels was said to be lacking. Patients were seen as playing a passive subordinate role based on the following: their own attitudes; the paternalistic and medicalized attitudes of the health‐care professionals; their misrepresentation by patient associations; and their exposure to the damaging influences of media and industries.

Conclusions

Making SSSC patient‐centred constitutes the greatest challenge for European authorities. Strategies must be revised for promoting patient participation. They should undergo changes so as to promote industry and media social responsibility and patient association advocacy capacity.
The frequency of influenza and bacterial coinfection: a systematic review and meta‐analysis
Authors: Klein Eili Y. , Monteforte Bradley , Gupta Alisha , Jiang Wendi , May Larissa , Hsieh Yu‐Hsiang , Dugas Andrea
Published: May 2016

Aim

Coinfecting bacterial pathogens are a major cause of morbidity and mortality in influenza. However, there remains a paucity of literature on the magnitude of coinfection in influenza patients.

Method

A systematic search of MeSH, Cochrane Library, Web of Science, SCOPUS, EMBASE, and PubMed was performed. Studies of humans in which all individuals had laboratory confirmed influenza, and all individuals were tested for an array of common bacterial species, met inclusion criteria.

Results

Twenty‐seven studies including 3215 participants met all inclusion criteria. Common etiologies were defined from a subset of eight articles. There was high heterogeneity in the results (I2 = 95%), with reported coinfection rates ranging from 2% to 65%. Although only a subset of papers were responsible for observed heterogeneity, subanalyses and meta‐regression analysis found no study characteristic that was significantly associated with coinfection. The most common coinfecting species were Streptococcus pneumoniae and Staphylococcus aureus, which accounted for 35% (95% CI, 14%–56%) and 28% (95% CI, 16%–40%) of infections, respectively; a wide range of other pathogens caused the remaining infections. An assessment of bias suggested that lack of small‐study publications may have biased the results.

Conclusions

The frequency of coinfection in the published studies included in this review suggests that although providers should consider possible bacterial coinfection in all patients hospitalized with influenza, they should not assume all patients are coinfected and be sure to properly treat underlying viral processes. Further, high heterogeneity suggests additional large‐scale studies are needed to better understand the etiology of influenza bacterial coinfection.
Social security reforms in Kenya: Towards a workerist or a citizenship‐based system?
Authors: Künzler Daniel
Published: May 2016

With social security provisions in Kenya remaining under‐reported in the more recent literature, this overview covers recent reforms in key areas of the country's social security system. In the health sector and in old‐age pension provision social security is still mainly workerist (biased toward those in formal employment), and attempts to expand coverage have had limited effect only – cash transfer programmes, for instance, have been expanded but in practice they do not universally cover the entitled categories. Thus, although the Kenyan social security system now has a considerable pro‐poor social assistance component it remains biased toward those in formal employment, to the benefit of the highest income quintile.
Nutritional intervention as part of functional rehabilitation in older people with reduced functional ability: a systematic review and meta‐analysis of randomised controlled studies
Authors: Beck A. M. , Dent E. , Baldwin C.
Published: May 2016

Background

Nutritional intervention is increasingly recognised as having an important role in functional rehabilitation for older people. Nonetheless, a greater understanding of the functional benefit of nutritional interventions is needed.

Methods

A systematic review and meta‐analysis examined randomised controlled trials (RCTs) published between 2007 and 2014 with the aim of determining whether nutritional intervention combined with rehabilitation benefited older people with reduced functional ability. Six electronic databases were searched. RCTs including people aged 65 years and older with reduced physical, social and/or cognitive function were included. PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta‐Analyses) guidelines were followed, and gradepro computer software (http://gradepro.org) was used for the quality assessment of critical and important outcomes. Included studies considered to be clinical homogenous were combined in a meta‐analysis.

Results

Of the 788 studies screened, five were identified for inclusion. Nutritional intervention given with functional rehabilitation improved energy and protein intake, although it failed to provide any improvement in final body weight, hand‐grip strength or muscle strength. There was no difference between groups in the critical outcomes; balance, cognition, activities of daily living and mortality at long‐term follow‐up. Nutritional intervention given with functional rehabilitation was associated with an increased likelihood of both mortality (odds ratio = 1.77; 95% confidence interval = 1.13–2.76) and hospitalisation (odds ratio = 2.29; 95% confidence interval = 1.10–4.79) during the intervention. Meta‐analysis of the baseline data showed that, overall, the intervention cohort had a lower body weight and cognition.

Conclusions

This meta‐analysis highlights concerns regarding the quality of the randomisation of participants at baseline. Future high‐quality research is essential to establish whether older people with loss of functional abilities can benefit from nutritional intervention.
The astrocytic response to the dopaminergic denervation of the striatum
Authors: Morales Ingrid , Sanchez Alberto , Rodriguez‐Sabate Clara , Rodriguez Manuel
Published: May 2016

Increasing evidence suggests that the dopaminergic degeneration which characterizes Parkinson's disease starts in the striatal dopamine terminals and progresses retrogradely to the body of dopamine cells in the substantia nigra. The role of striatal astrocytes in the striatal initiation of the dopaminergic degeneration is little known. This work was aimed at studying the astrocytic response to the dopaminergic denervation of the striatum. The injection of 6‐hydroxydopamine (25 μg) in the lateral ventricle of adult Sprague–Dawley rats induced a fast (4 h) and selective (unaccompanied by unspecific lesions of striatal tissue or microgliosis) degeneration of the dopaminergic innervation of the striatum which was followed by a selective astrocytosis unaccompanied by microgliosis. This astrocytosis was severe and had a specific profile which included some (e.g. up‐regulation of glial fibrillary acidic protein,GS, S100β,NDRG2, vimentin) but not all (e.g. astrocytic proliferation or differentiation fromNG2 cells, astrocytic scars, microgliosis) the characteristics observed after the non‐selective lesion of the striatum. This astrocytosis is similar to those observed in the parkinsonian striatum and, because it is was unaccompanied by changes in other striatal cells (e.g. by microgliosis), it may be suitable to study the role of striatal astrocytes during the dopaminergic denervation which characterizes the first stages of Parkinson's disease.

image

The dopaminergic denervation of the striatum induced a severe astrogliosis with a specific profile which included some (e.g. up‐regulation ofGFAP,GS, S100β,NDRG2, vimentin) but not all (e.g. astrocytic proliferation or differentiation fromNG2 cells, astrocytic scars, microgliosis) the characteristics observed after the non‐selective striatal lesions. This response may help to understand the role of striatal astrocytes during the dopaminergic denervation which characterizes the first stages ofPD.

Cover Imagefor this issue: doi:10.1111/jnc.13336.
The expression of tenascin‐C and tenascin‐W in human ossicles
Authors: Tucker Richard P. , Peterson Cathryn A. , Hendaoui Ismail , Bichet Sandrine , Chiquet‐Ehrismann Ruth
Published: May 2016

The ossicles of the middle ear (the malleus, incus and stapes) transmit forces resulting from vibrations of the tympanic membrane to the cochlea where they are coded as sound. Hearing loss can result from diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis (RA) that affect the joints between the ossicles or degenerative processes like otosclerosis that lead to ankylosis of the footplate of the stapes in the oval window of the cochlea. In this study, immunohistochemistry was used to determine if the extracellular matrix glycoproteins tenascin‐C or tenascin‐W are expressed in the incudomalleolar and incudostapedial joints of ossicles dissected from human cadavers. Tenascin‐C, which is expressed during inflammatory conditions including RA, was seen in the articular cartilage of the incudomalleolar joints and the head of the stapes. Tenascin‐W, in contrast, was enriched in the annular ligament that anchors the footplate of the stapes into the oval window of the cochlea.
Women With Cardiogenic Shock Derive Greater Benefit From Early Mechanical Circulatory Support: An Update From the cVAD Registry
Authors: Joseph Susan M. , Brisco Meredith A. , Colvin Monica , Grady Kathleen L. , Walsh Mary Norine , Cook Jennifer L. ,   for the genVAD Working Group
Published: May 2016

Objectives

The aim of this analysis was to assess survival differences between men and women supported with Impella 2.5 (Abiomed Inc., Danvers) in the setting of acute myocardial infarction (AMI) complicated by cardiogenic shock (CS).

Background

Data on sex differences in outcomes of CS with mechanical circulatory support are sparse.

Methods

Patients enrolled in the cVAD Registry who underwent percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) and Impella 2.5 support for CS complicating an AMI were included. Differences between men and women were examined.

Results

In total, 180 patients were analyzed. Women (n = 49, 27.2%) were older (71.0 ± 12.8 years vs 63.8 ± 13.0, P = 0.001), smaller (BSA 1.82 ± 0.22 vs 2.04 ± 0.24 m2, P < 0.001), and had a higher STS mortality risk score than men (27.9 ± 17.0 vs. 20.8 ± 16.8 P = 0.01). There was no difference in survival to discharge (P = 0.3). Patients receiving the Impella 2.5 pre‐PCI had significantly lower inpatient mortality than those who received support post‐PCI (P = 0.003). However, the magnitude of the survival benefit was significantly greater in women who received the Impella pre‐PCI as compared to men. Overall, 68.8% of women survived with pre‐PCI Impella 2.5 versus 24.2% post‐PCI (P = 0.005) whereas 54.2% of men survived with pre‐PCI Impella 2.5 versus 40.3% post‐PCI (P = 0.1, p‐interaction = 0.07). No differences in timing to intervention were found between men and women.

Conclusions

Early initiation of hemodynamic support prior to PCI with Impella 2.5, in the setting of AMI complicated by CS, was associated with a greater survival benefit to hospital discharge in women compared to men, despite a higher predicted risk of mortality and a greater revascularization failure rate for women. (J Interven Cardiol 2016;29:248–256)
Personality disorders and obesity: a systematic review
Authors: Gerlach G. , Loeber S. , Herpertz S.
Published: May 2016

Background

Studies demonstrate an association between personality traits and obesity as well as their prognostic influence on weight course. In contrast, only few studies have investigated the association between personality disorders (PDs) and obesity.

Objective

The present review summarizes through a comprehensive and critical evaluation the results of 68 studies identified by database research (PubMed and PsycINFO) covering the last 35 years that investigated the association between PDs, overweight and obesity as well as the predictive value of PDs for the development of obesity and the effectiveness of weight reduction treatments.

Results

Adults with any PD have a higher risk of obesity. In the female general population, there is an association between avoidant or antisocial PD and severe obesity. Further, women with paranoid or schizotypal PD have a higher risk of obesity. Clinical studies including foremost female participants showed a higher comorbidity of PDs, especially borderline PD and avoidant PD, in binge‐eating disorder. Regarding both genders, patients with PD show less treatment success in conservative weight‐loss treatment programmes for obesity than patients without PD.

Conclusions

In prevention and conservative weight‐loss treatment strategies, more care should be taken to address the special needs of patients with comorbid PDs.
Predictors, Morbidity, and Costs Associated with Pneumothorax during Electronic Cardiac Device Implantation
Authors: KOTTER JOHN , LOLAY GEORGES , CHARNIGO RICHARD , LEUNG STEVE , MCKIBBIN CHRISTOPHER , SOUSA MATTHEW , JIMENEZ LUIS , GURLEY JOHN , BIASE LUIGI DI , NATALE ANDREA , SMYTH SUSAN , DARRAT YOUSEF , MORALES GUSTAVO , ELAYI CLAUDE S.
Published: May 2016

Background

Pneumothorax (PTX) is a major cause of morbidity associated with cardiac implantable electronic devices (CIEDs). We sought to evaluate predictors of PTX at our centers during CIED implantations, including the venous access technique utilized, as well as to determine morbidity and costs associated with PTX.

Methods

We reviewed records of all patients undergoing cardiac device implant or revision with new venous access at our institutions between 2008 and 2014. Common demographic and procedure characteristics were collected including age, sex, body mass index (BMI), comorbidities, and method of venous access (axillary vein vs classic proximal subclavian vein technique).

Results

We identified 1,264 patients who met criteria for our analysis, with a total of 21 PTX cases during CIED implantation. The strongest predictor for PTX was the venous access strategy: 0 of 385 (0%) patients with axillary vein approach versus 21 of 879 (2.4%) with traditional subclavian vein approach, P = 0.0006. Additional predictors of PTX included advanced age, female sex, low BMI, and a new device implant (vs device upgrade). The occurrence of PTX was associated with increased length of stay: 3.0 days (median; interquartile range [IQR] 3) versus 1.0 day (median; IQR: 1), P = 0.0001, with a cost increase of 361.4%.

Conclusion

An axillary vein vascular access strategy was associated with greatly reduced risk of iatrogenic PTX versus the traditional subclavian approach for CIED placement. Similarly, device upgrade with patent vascular access carried less risk of PTX compared to new device implantation. PTX occurrence significantly prolonged hospitalization and increased costs.
The hazards of professional authorship: polemic and fiction in Anthony Munday's English Roman Life
Authors: Kitzes Adam H.
Published: May 2016

As a text, the English Roman Life bears testament to Anthony Munday's challenges as a professional writer whose course of career was by no means assured. Such challenges might help account for its republication in 1590, when it had the opportunity both to redirect its polemical engagements and to distance itself from the very polemics that had given rise to it in the first place. These conflicting purposes are perhaps most apparent in the book's final two chapters, which respectively take up the Shrovetide carnival at Rome and the astonishing account of religious radical Richard Atkins.
Modern health worries – the dark side of spirituality?
Authors: Köteles Ferenc , Simor Péter , Czető Márton , Sárog Noémi , Szemerszky Renáta
Published: May 2016

Modern health worries (MHWs) are widespread in modern societies. MHWs were connected to both negative and positive psychological characteristics in previous studies. The study aimed to investigate the relationships among intuitive‐experiential information processing style, spirituality, MHWs, and psychological well‐being. Members of the Hungarian Skeptic Society (N = 128), individuals committed to astrology (N = 601), and people from a non‐representative community sample (N = 554) completed questionnaires assessing intuitive‐experiential information processing style, spirituality, modern health worries (MHWs), and psychological well‐being. Astrologers showed higher levels of spirituality, intuitive‐experiential thinking, and modern health worries than individuals from the community sample; and skeptics scored even lower than the latter group with respect to all three constructs. Within the community sample, medium level connections between measures of spirituality and the experiential thinking style, and weak to medium level correlations between spirituality and MHWs were found. The connection between MHWs and experiential thinking style was completely mediated by spirituality. Individuals with higher levels of spirituality are particularly vulnerable to overgeneralized messages on health related risks. Official communication of potential risks based on rational scientific reasoning is not appropriate to persuade them as it has no impact on the intuitive‐experiential system.
Physiological strain to prolonged exercise bouts at the walk–run transition speeds depends on locomotion mode in healthy untrained men
Authors: Monteiro W. D. , Cunha F. A. , Ivo E. X. , Freire R. A. , Silva B. S. , Farinatti P.
Published: May 2016

This study compared the physiological strain induced by prolonged walking and running performed at the walk–run transition speed (WRTS) in healthy untrained men. Twenty volunteers (age: 28 ± 5.01 years; height: 174.0 ± 0.3 cm; body mass: 74.5 ± 0.6 kg) underwent the following: (a) ramp‐incremental maximal cardiopulmonary exercise test (CPET); (b) specific protocol to detect the WRTS; and (c) two 30‐min walking and running bouts at WRTS (mean ± SD: 6.9 ± 0.06 km/h). Expired gases were collected during exercise bouts via the metabolic cart. A significant effect of locomotion mode (F = 4.8, P < 0.001) was observed with running resulting in higher cardiorespiratory responses than walking at the WRTS (oxygen uptake: mean difference = 0.26 L/min; pulmonary ventilation: mean difference = 5.53 L/min; carbon dioxide output: mean difference = 0.32 L/min; heart rate: mean difference = 13 beats/min; total energy expenditure: mean difference = 59 kcal). The rating of perceived exertion was similar across locomotion modes (mean difference = 0.3; P = 0.490). In conclusion, running promoted greater cardiorespiratory responses than walking at the WRTS in untrained healthy men. These data might have practical impact on aerobic training performed at intensities corresponding to WRTS.
Bullying Involvement and Empathy: Child and Target Characteristics
Authors: van Noorden Tirza H. J. , Cillessen Antonius H. N. , Haselager Gerbert J. T. , Lansu Tessa A. M. , Bukowski William M.
Published: May 2016

This study investigated how the bullying involvement of a child and a target peer are related to empathy. The role of gender was also considered. We hypothesized that empathy primarily varies depending on the bullying role of the target peer. Participants were 264 7–12‐year‐old children (Mage = 10.02, SD = 1.00; 50% girls) from 33 classrooms who had been selected based on their bullying involvement (bully, victim, bully/victim, noninvolved) in the classroom. Participants completed a cognitive and affective empathy measure for each selected target classmate. We found no differences in cognitive and affective empathy for all targets combined based on children's own bullying involvement. However, when incorporating the targets’ bullying involvement, bullies, victims, and bully/victims showed less empathy for each other than for noninvolved peers. Noninvolved children did not differentiate between bullies, victims and bully/victims. Girls reported more cognitive and affective empathy for girls than boys, whereas boys did not differentiate between girls and boys. The results indicated that children's empathy for peers depends primarily on the characteristics of the peer, such as the peer's bullying role and gender.
Track Position, Futility Culture, and Involvement With Paid Work: Investigating the Correlates of Lower‐Track Students' Involvement with Part‐Time Employment in Flanders
Authors: Van Houtte Mieke , Stevens Peter A. J.
Published: May 2016

This study investigates in the context of Flanders (Belgium) whether working part‐time during the school year is more prevalent in lower tracks than in higher tracks, and whether this might be due to an antischool culture and/or the less demanding nature of such tracks. Additionally, the study examines whether the higher tendency to fail and to drop out in lower tracks is associated with the fact that lower‐track students are more likely to work. Multilevel analyses of data from 6,373 students in 44 secondary schools show that a school's futility culture explains lower‐track students' higher participation with paid work rather than the school's demanding nature. The results do not show a relation between students' employment and educational attainment. However, students working part‐time are less inclined to plan high school completion.
Nucleotide polymorphism affecting FLC expression underpins heading date variation in horticultural brassicas
Authors: Irwin Judith A. , Soumpourou Eleni , Lister Clare , Ligthart Jan‐Dick , Kennedy Sue , Dean Caroline
Published: May 2016

Variation in flowering time and response to overwintering has been exploited to breed brassica vegetables that can be harvested year‐round. Our knowledge of flowering time control now enables the investigation of the molecular basis of this important variation. Here, we show that a major determinant of heading date variation in Brassica oleracea is from variation in vernalization response through allelic variation at FLOWERING LOCUS C.C2 (BoFLC4). We characterize two alleles of BoFLC.C2 that are both functional and confer a requirement for vernalization, but they show distinct expression dynamics in response to cold. Complementation experiments in Arabidopsis thaliana revealed that the allelic variation results from cis polymorphism at BoFLC.C2, which quantitatively influences the degree of cold‐induced epigenetic silencing. This results in one allelic variant conferring consistently later heading under both glasshouse and field conditions through reduced environmental sensitivity. Our results suggest that breeding of brassica varieties for commercially valuable variation in heading date has been achieved through the selection of cis polymorphism at FLC, similar to that underpinning natural variation in A. thaliana. This understanding will allow for the selection of alleles with distinct sensitivities to cold and robust heading dates under variable climatic conditions, and will facilitate the breeding of varieties more resistant to climate change.