bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Viewpoint: “Underutilisation of novel antiplatelet agents – myths, generics, and economics”
Authors: Fortmann Seth D. , Serebruany Victor L.
Published: May 2014

Two oral antiplatelet agents have been recently introduced for acute coronary syndromes indication providing alternatives for dual therapy with aspirin and clopidogrel. In fact, worldwide prasugrel has been on the market for four years, and ticagrelor for over two years. Despite declared benefits over clopidogrel, including hypothetical cost saving advantages, in real life, the clinical utilisation of both agents is small. Generic clopidogrel, and price differences are claimed as major obstacles to prevent broader prasugrel and ticagrelor use. However, these economic difficulties are barely supported by available evidence, and served mostly to protect questionable management spending, as an exuse to explain why in reality cardiologists are so sceptical about both novel agents, and to convince the sharehoders that their money is not wasted, misleading the owners with regard to future success. Importantly, brand Plavix® is used worldwide 5–10 times more often than new agents, despite heavy generic competition. The future of prasugrel outside Japan, where much lower reasonable dose will be used is not impressive due to lack of further outcome studies, negative results of the latest trials, and less than four years left before patent expiration. The fate of ticagrelor will depend on verification of deaths numbers in the ongoing United States Department of Justice PLATO investigation, and confirmation of the mortality benefit in the PEGASUS TIMI-54 trial.
Apolipoprotein B100 danger-associated signal 1 (ApoBDS-1) triggers platelet activation and boosts platelet-leukocyte proinflammatory responses
Authors: Wang Yajuan , Butler Lynn M. , Hansson Göran K. , Yan Zhong-qun , Söderberg-Nauclér Cecilia , Assinger Alice , Ketelhuth Daniel F. J.
Published: May 2014

Low-density lipoproteins (LDL), occurring in vivo in both their native and oxidative form, modulate platelet function and thereby contribute to atherothrombosis. We recently identified and demonstrated that ‘ApoB100 danger-associated signal 1’ (ApoBDS-1), a native peptide derived from Apolipoprotein B-100 (ApoB100) of LDL, induces inflammatory responses in innate immune cells. Platelets are critically involved in the development as well as in the lethal consequences of atherothrombotic diseases, but whether ApoBDS-1 has also an impact on platelet function is unknown. In this study we examined the effect of ApoBDS-1 on human platelet function and platelet-leukocyte interactions in vitro. Stimulation with ApoBDS-1 induced platelet activation, degranulation, adhesion and release of proinflammatory cytokines. ApoBDS-1-stimulated platelets triggered innate immune responses by augmenting leukocyte activation, adhesion and transmigration to/through activated HUVEC monolayers, under flow conditions. These platelet-activating effects were sequence-specific, and stimulation of platelets with ApoBDS-1 activated intracellular signalling pathways, including Ca2+, PI3K/Akt, PLC, and p38– and ERKMAPK. Moreover, our data indicates that ApoBDS-1-induced platelet activation is partially dependent of positive feedback from ADP on P2Y1 and P2Y12, and TxA2. In conclusion, we demonstrate that ApoBDS-1 is an effective platelet agonist, boosting platelet-leukocyte’s proinflammatory responses, and potentially contributing to the multifaceted inflammatory-promoting effects of LDL in the pathogenesis of atherothrombosis.
Characterisation of large F9 deletions in seven unrelated patients with severe haemophilia B
Authors: Ding Qiulan , You Guoling , Dai Jing , Xi Xiaodong , Wang Hongli , Wu Xi , Lu Yeling , Wang Xuefeng
Published: May 2014

Large deletions in the F9 gene are detected in approximately 5% of patients with severe haemophilia B, but only a few deletion breakpoints have been characterised precisely until now. In this study we identified a total of seven large F9 deletions in the index patients and nine female carriers by the AccuCopy technique. We also successfully characterised the exact breakpoints for each large deletion including four deletions encompassing the entire F9 gene by the genome walking method combined with primer walking strategy. The extents of deletion regions ranged from 11.1 to 884 kb. Microhomologies ranged from 2 to 6 bp were identified in the breakpoint junctions of six deletions. The other deletion occurred between two highly homologous sequences of the same long interspersed nuclear element 1 (LINE/L1). Non-homologous end joining (NHEJ) and microhomology-mediated break-induced replication (MMBIR) may be the main causative mechanisms for the six large deletions with microhomologies. Non-allelic homologous recombination (NAHR) may mediate the deletion occurred between the two tandem LINEs in the other large deletion. Repetitive elements and non-B DNA forming motifs identified in the junction regions may contribute to DNA breakage leading to large deletions.
Electronic Cigarettes in North America
Authors: Franck Caroline , Budlovsky Talia , Windle Sarah B. , Filion Kristian B. , Eisenberg Mark J.
Published: May 2014

Background—

Designed to mimic the look and feel of tobacco cigarettes, electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) may facilitate smoking cessation. However, the efficacy and safety of e-cigarette use for this purpose remain poorly understood. Our objectives were to review the available data on the efficacy and safety of e-cigarettes for smoking cessation and to consider issues relevant to the context in which they are used, including product awareness and regulatory and ethical concerns.

Methods and Results—

We systematically searched PubMed for randomized controlled trials and uncontrolled, experimental studies involving e-cigarettes. Included studies were limited to English or French language reports. Quality assessment was performed according to the Cochrane Risk of Bias tool. We identified 169 publications, of which 7 studies were included. Studies have concluded that e-cigarettes can help reduce the number of cigarettes smoked and may be as effective for smoking cessation as the nicotine patch. Although there is a lack of data concerning the safety and efficacy of e-cigarettes as a smoking cessation therapy, available evidence showed no significant difference in adverse event rates between e-cigarettes and the nicotine patch. E-cigarettes are widely used among smokers attempting to quit. However, significant international variation remains in the regulatory mechanisms governing the sale and distribution of e-cigarettes. Ethical concerns surround the use of e-cigarettes among minors and their potential to undermine efforts to reduce cigarette smoking.

Conclusion—

Given the limited available evidence on the risks and benefits of e-cigarette use, large, randomized, controlled trials are urgently needed to definitively establish their potential for smoking cessation.
Opposition to Enlargement among “New” and “Old” Europeans: The Cases of Post-Communist EU Members and Candidates
Authors: Dixon Jeffrey C. , Fullerton Andrew S.
Published: May 2014

Abstract

As the European Union (eu) continues to expands “eastward,” we know relatively little about enlargement opinion in post-Communist member states and toward post-Communist candidates’ entries. This article develops comparative explanations of enlargement opinion and examines attitudes toward the entries of post-Communist candidates (as of 2006: Bulgaria, Romania, Croatia, and Macedonia). Descriptive and multinomial logit analyses of Eurobarometer data reveal that opposition is less pronounced in post-Communist versus othereumember states and somewhat less pronounced in post-Communist countries that beganeuaccession negotiations earlier. Anti-immigrant sentiment is a consistently weaker predictor of oppositional attitudes in post-Communist versus othereumember states. These and other differences warrant theoretical and empirical attention ineuresearch.
Upgrading Employability of Unemployed as Constructive Individualization
Authors: Genov Nikolai
Published: May 2014

Abstract

Unemployment is the major barrier hindering constructive individualization in European societies. The upgrading of the employability of unemployed is an efficient mechanism for reducing destructive impacts of unemployment on individuals and society. The upgrading can be achieved both on the “supply” and the “demand” side of the labor market. How can the upgrading of employability of unemployed be facilitated in order to increase their chances for constructive individualization in working life? A comprehensive answer requires concept development, operationalization of concepts and testing of results. In the article the process is exemplified by references to active labor market policies in Austria and Slovenia. The analysis of similarities and differences between the cases leads to the identification of promising approaches to upgrading the employability of unemployed.
Modernization and Religious Concord
Authors: Weakliem David
Published: May 2014

Abstract

Tocqueville said that Americans combined a general belief in God with a lack of interest in denominational differences. Although this outlook may be particularly prevalent in the United States, it is also visible in other Western societies, although combined with lower levels of religious belief. This paper investigates the possibility of a relationship between a belief that there is truth in many religions and modernization, using data from the Gallup International Millenium Survey. The belief that there is truth in many religions is more prevalent in more affluent nations. Moreover, this belief does not seem to be merely an intermediate stage in a move away from religion. The relationship is about equally strong among people of all religious backgrounds. The tendency for modernization to lead to “religious concord” may help to explain the relationship between modernization and democracy noticed by Lipset.
Calvinist Public Theology in Urban China Today
Authors: Chow Alexander
Published: May 2014

Abstract

Christianity in mainland China has often been characterized as a religion for the marginalized of society. However, since the 1990s, there has been a growing phenomenon within the country’s burgeoning urban metropolises with an increasing number of urban intellectuals converting to Protestantism. This article explores the theology of several representatives of these urban intellectual Christians who make use of the teachings of John Calvin and his followers. This article will show that there is a strong theological interest in engaging in the public sphere around subjects like the rule of law, constitutionalism and a civil society. Although the representatives cited in this article have been described as ‘Chinese New Calvinists’ or ‘Christian public intellectuals’, it is proposed here that a more appropriate understanding of this growing and significant group is as Chinese public theologians.
A Laboratory of Modernity—The Ahmadiyya Mission in Inter-war Europe
Authors: Jonker Gerdien
Published: May 2014

Abstract

In this paper, I retrace the history of the Ahmadiyya mission in inter-war Europe as part of the globalisation narrative. Once they gained a footing, missionaries responded and adapted to local experiments with modernity as a means to simultaneously win over Europeans and to modernise Islam. The article first considers the mental map with which Ahmadiyya and other Muslim intellectuals approached Europe. It reconstructs the work of the mission organisation, and illustrates the communication difficulties between the Lahore centre and the mission post in Berlin. Making use of fresh sources, I then sketch out the political context in which the missionaries moved about, and trace their perceptions and adaptations of European ideas. In the larger picture of globalisation, the Berlin mission offers a telling example of local religious adaptation, emphasising the important rapport between the newcomers and the local factor.
Muslim Charity in a Non-Muslim Society—the Case of Switzerland
Authors: Martens Silvia
Published: May 2014

Abstract

This article presents empirical data on trends in charitable giving among Muslims in Switzerland. It provides insight into mechanisms of mutual aid within a relatively young migrant community, looks at how Islamic charity is practiced in a non-Muslim society, and clarifies the importance of Islamic aid agencies. I argue that the charitable behaviour of Muslims in Switzerland is characterized by their migration situation, and by giving preferences and habits of the home country. Traditional Islamic charity, though subject to changes, is widely practiced and actively promoted by Islamic charities and local Muslim associations. It enforces the sense of religious belonging and group identity.
Morphosyntax of Fear and Distance
Authors: Lakey Holly
Published: May 2014

Current research on the reflection of bodily states in language has opened the door to an investigation of the role that morphosyntax plays. In the case of emotions, these states have often been found in the lexicon and in metaphors, but morphology and syntax remain relatively unexplored. This study examines one emotion, fear, and the reflection of physical behavior in the morphosyntax of Indo-European languages. As fear invokes avoidance behavior, the language itself should indicate this desired spatial distance. Through discussions of case, mood/modality, and negation, this analysis illustrates avoidance behavior in morphosyntax through the linguistic conceptualization of distance.
A lectotype for Cyathophora richardi Michelin 1843
Authors: ZAMAN SHAAHIN , LATHUILIÈRE BERNARD
Published: May 2014

The figured syntype of Cyathophora richardi Michelin 1843, type species of the genus Cyathophora Michelin 1843, was recovered from the collection of the Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle (MNHN, Paris, France). It is herein designated as a lectotype in order to keep the traditional usage of the widely used genus Cyathophora.
New species and records of Trypetinae (Diptera: Tephritidae) from India
Authors: DAVID K. J. , SINGH SHAKTI KUMAR , RAMANI S.
Published: May 2014

Two new species of the subfamily Trypetinae, Acidoxantha galibeedu David & Ramani, sp. nov. (tribe Nitrariomyiini) and Philophylla lachung Singh & David, sp. nov. (tribe Trypetini) are described from India. Acidoxantha totoflava is documented as new record from India. Keys to the species of known Acidoxantha Hendel and Indian Philophylla Rondani are provided.
An updated key to the species of Fannia Robineau-Desvoidy (Diptera: Fanniidae) of Southern South America, and the description of a new species from Mendoza, Argentina
Authors: DOMÍNGUEZ M. CECILIA , ABALLAY FERNANDO H.
Published: May 2014

The aim of this study is to describe Fannia puxcu sp. n., a new species of the genus Fannia Robineau-Desvoidy (Diptera: Fanniidae) that was collected in the Villavicencio Provincial Reserve in Mendoza, Argentina, and to present an updated key to the 27 species of Fannia Robineau-Desvoidy (Diptera: Fanniidae) of Southern South America. The male of F. puxcu sp. n. is described, and illustrations provided as well as distributional records and a discussion of its possible phylogenetic affinities.
Belesica madiba and Cremastus tutui (Ichneumonidae: Cremastinae), two entomological gems from South Africa
Authors: ROUSSE P. , NOORT S. VAN
Published: May 2014

The Afrotropical cremastine fauna (Hymenoptera: Ichneumonidae) is characterized by the near absence of the genus Cremastus, with a single species reported from Madagascar. The fauna is also characterized by the presence of several endemic genera. Among the latter is the exceptional monotypic genus Belesica. We describe two new species from these extremely rare Afrotropical genera, namely Belesica madiba sp. nov. and Cremastus tutui sp. nov.. Both are only known from South Africa.
Review of the Oriental genus Neunkanodes Yang (Hemiptera: Fulgoromorpha: Delphacidae) with descriptions of two new species
Authors: HOU XIAO-HUI , YANG LIN , CHEN XIANG-SHENG
Published: May 2014

The Oriental planthopper genus Neunkanodes Yang, 1989 (Hemiptera: Fulgoromorpha: Delphacidae: Delphacinae: Delphacini) is reviewed to include three species: N. bispinatus sp. nov. (China: Yunnan), N. formosana Yang, 1989 (China: Taiwan, Guizhou, Yunnan) and N. unispinatus sp. nov. (China: Yunnan). The generic characteristics are redefined. The main morphological characters and male genitalia of three species are described or redescribed and illustrated. A key to the known species in the genus is provided.
Future Changes in the Brewer–Dobson Circulation under Different Greenhouse Gas Concentrations in WACCM4
Authors: Palmeiro Froila M. , Calvo Natalia , Garcia Rolando R.
Published: May 2014

The climatology and future changes of the Brewer–Dobson circulation (BDC) in three climate change scenarios are studied using the latest version of the Whole Atmosphere Community Climate Model (WACCM4), which is fully coupled to an ocean model. The results show an acceleration in both the shallow and deep branches of circulation in response to increasing greenhouse gases (GHGs) together with an upward displacement of the tropical upwelling in the deep branch near the stratopause. The downward control principle reveals that different waves are involved in forcing the acceleration of the upper and lower branches. Climatological-mean tropical upwelling in both the lower and upper stratosphere is dominated by explicitly resolved, planetary-scale waves. Trends in the tropical upwelling in the lower stratosphere are mainly attributed to explicitly resolved, planetary-scale waves. However, in the upper stratosphere, despite the fact that resolved waves control the forcing of the climatological upwelling, their contribution to the long-term trend diminishes with increasing GHGs, while the role of gravity waves associated with fronts increases and becomes dominant in the model scenario with the largest GHG increases. The intensification and upward displacement of the subtropical tropospheric jets due to climate change leads to filtering of the westerly part of the frontal gravity wave spectrum, leaving the easterly components to reach the upper stratosphere and force the changes in the circulation there.
Dual-Doppler-Derived Profiles of the Southwesterly Flow Associated with Southwest and Ordinary Typhoons off the Southwestern Coast of Taiwan
Authors: Yu Cheng-Ku , Cheng Lin-Wen
Published: May 2014

This study used ground-based dual-Doppler observations to explore an understanding of kinematic characteristics of the southwesterly flow associated with the southwest (SW) and ordinary (OR) typhoons immediately off the southwestern coast of Taiwan. The SW (OR) typhoon stated herein is referred to as a typhoon with (without) an obvious combination of its outer circulations and the summer southwesterly monsoon active over the South China Sea. Six typhoon events [Mindulle (2004), Kalmaegi (2008), Morakot (2009), Talim (2005), Jangmi (2008), and Fungwong (2008)] were chosen for analysis; the first (latter) three listed belong to the family of the SW (OR) typhoons. The vertical profiles generated from hourly synthesized winds for these typhoons indicate that intense orographic rainfall tended to occur during the prevalence of the west-southwesterly (WSW) flow that was more perpendicular to the south–north orientation of the topography in southern Taiwan. A unique, consistent feature of the WSW flow associated with the SW typhoon was its persistently increasing intensity with decreasing height in the low to midtroposphere, in contrast to a minor vertical variation in the intensity of the WSW flow for the OR typhoon. A relatively large (small) ratio of the radial and tangential velocities was evident for the SW (OR) typhoon, and the mean inflow angle of the SW typhoon was significantly larger than the typical near-surface inflow angle of previously documented hurricanes over the open ocean. In addition to the typhoon background precipitation, the observed characteristics of the SW- and OR-typhoon-induced WSW flow were shown to be closely related to the degree of orographic enhancement of precipitation.
Long-Memory Effects in Linear Response Models of Earth’s Temperature and Implications for Future Global Warming
Authors: Rypdal Martin , Rypdal Kristoffer
Published: May 2014

A linearized energy-balance model for global temperature is formulated, featuring a scale-invariant long-range memory (LRM) response and stochastic forcing representing the influence on the ocean heat reservoir from atmospheric weather systems. The model is parameterized by an effective response strength, the stochastic forcing strength, and the memory exponent. The instrumental global surface temperature record and the deterministic component of the forcing are used to estimate these parameters by means of the maximum-likelihood method. The residual obtained by subtracting the deterministic solution from the observed record is analyzed as a noise process and shown to be consistent with a long-memory time series model and inconsistent with a short-memory model. By decomposing the forcing record in contributions from solar, volcanic, and anthropogenic activity one can estimate the contribution of each to twentieth-century global warming. The LRM model is applied with a reconstruction of the forcing for the last millennium to predict the large-scale features of Northern Hemisphere temperature reconstructions, and the analysis of the residual also clearly favors the LRM model on millennium time scale. The decomposition of the forcing shows that volcanic aerosols give a considerably greater contribution to the cooling during the Little Ice Age than the reduction in solar irradiance associated with the Maunder Minimum in solar activity. The LRM model implies a transient climate response in agreement with IPCC projections, but the stronger response on longer time scales suggests replacing the notion of equilibrium climate sensitivity by a time scale–dependent sensitivity.
Advances in the Stochastic Modeling of Satellite-Derived Rainfall Estimates Using a Sparse Calibration Dataset
Authors: Greatrex Helen , Grimes David , Wheeler Tim
Published: May 2014

As satellite technology develops, satellite rainfall estimates are likely to become ever more important in the world of food security. It is therefore vital to be able to identify the uncertainty of such estimates and for end users to be able to use this information in a meaningful way. This paper presents new developments in the methodology of simulating satellite rainfall ensembles from thermal infrared satellite data. Although the basic sequential simulation methodology has been developed in previous studies, it was not suitable for use in regions with more complex terrain and limited calibration data. Developments in this work include the creation of a multithreshold, multizone calibration procedure, plus investigations into the causes of an overestimation of low rainfall amounts and the best way to take into account clustered calibration data. A case study of the Ethiopian highlands has been used as an illustration.
Intercomparison and Coupling of Ensemble and Four-Dimensional Variational Data Assimilation Methods for the Analysis and Forecasting of Hurricane Karl (2010)
Authors: Poterjoy Jonathan , Zhang Fuqing
Published: May 2014

This study examines the performance of ensemble and variational data assimilation systems for the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) Model. These methods include an ensemble Kalman filter (EnKF), an incremental four-dimensional variational data assimilation (4DVar) system, and a hybrid system that uses a two-way coupling between the two approaches (E4DVar). The three methods are applied to assimilate routinely collected data and field observations over a 10-day period that spans the life cycle of Hurricane Karl (2010), including the pregenesis disturbance that preceded its development into a tropical cyclone. In general, forecasts from the E4DVar analyses are found to produce smaller 48–72-h forecast errors than the benchmark EnKF and 4DVar methods for all variables and verification methods tested in this study. The improved representation of low- and midlevel moisture and vorticity in the E4DVar analyses leads to more accurate track and intensity predictions by this system. In particular, E4DVar analyses provide persistently more skillful genesis and rapid intensification forecasts than the EnKF and 4DVar methods during cycling. The data assimilation experiments also expose additional benefits of the hybrid system in terms of physical balance, computational cost, and the treatment of asynoptic observations near the beginning of the assimilation window. These factors make it a practical data assimilation method for mesoscale analysis and forecasting, and for tropical cyclone prediction.
Book Review: Nile Green, Making Space: Sufis and Settlers in Early Modern India
Authors: Rezavi Syed Ali Nadeem
Published: May 2014

Nile Green, Making Space: Sufis and Settlers in Early Modern India, Oxford University Press, New Delhi, 2012, pp. xii + 339, ₹795.00.
The Turkish Merchants at Surat in Mughal Times
Authors: Hussain Ruquia
Published: May 2014

The article endeavours to critically assess the role played by the Turkish merchants in the Indian Ocean trade during the seventeenth century. While the Turkish merchants’ trading activities in Persia were marked by frequent disturbances occasioned by political incursions, their trade in India was completely free of such troubles. The Turkish merchants’ preferred routes were (a) through northern Iran, touching Qazwin and Tabrez, to Turkey and (b) through Qandahar, Isfahan, Merv and Yezd. Among the Turkish merchants, those belonging to Chalebi group were apparently more active. Some were substantial shipowners as well. The various aspects of the multidimensional trade have been examined with the help of a variety of sources. An attempt has been made to shed some light within the contours of contemporary trade, traders and ruling elite of those times and this is the central argument of the article.
Reproduction Preferences and Wages: The Mineworker in Jharia Coalfields, 1895–1970
Authors: Nite Dhiraj Kumar
Published: May 2014

Why did workers bargain for a specific amount of wage? This was an expression of reproduction preferences of workers rather than merely any demand and supply calculation. This article brings out how the mineworkers evinced their post-traditional economic propensity, as it was in contradistinction to the ‘subsistence ethic’, in wage negotiations and work efforts. Mineworkers articulated the economic propensity upon the message derived from the self-respect campaign and respectable tastes of consumption. Their economic propensity was an excess for capital’s ‘iron law of wage’. Mineworkers interrogated the latter, and graduated to play the game of wage-work with the rules of struggles for a minimum living wage for a human, ‘civilized’ life. This concept of the minimum living wage represented mineworkers’ new reproduction preferences, the compensation for the loss of supplementary earnings and their awareness of a mismatch between their work-efforts and their earnings. This article takes the historiography of wage disputes beyond the detail of cost-of-living index and trade union militancy. It further questions the argument that the returns to labour depended on the supply of and demand for labour; and that the local customs and labour surplus inhibited workers’ attempt to secure wages adequate for comfortable living.
Iranian Diaspora and the Deccan Sultanates in India: A Study of Sixteenth Century Portuguese Sources
Authors: Thomaz Luís Filipe F.R.
Published: May 2014

Portuguese sixteenth-century sources provide much information on the countries neighbouring the Portuguese positions in India, chiefly Goa. There are many interesting elements especially on the Sultanate of Bijapur, a little less on that of Ahmadnagar, and only disperse notes on the other sultanates of Deccan, which had scarce relations with the Portuguese. They bear witness to the presence of many Iranians, in the armed forces of the sultanates as well as in their civil administration. Some Portuguese chroniclers were quite sensitive to social cleavages and balance of forces, whilst others only note anecdotic aspects. Even so, they furnish the names of many individuals, and something on their lives, which often complete those provided by the Indo-Persian writers; provided they are compared with the latter, they can be used by researchers with good results. The article also tries to explain why Iranians were more numerous and more influential in the Deccan than in other parts of Moslem India, such as Gujarat. It will be followed by a second one dealing with Iranians in maritime India and around the Indian Ocean.
Cheese whey as substrate of batch hydrogen production: Effect of temperature and addition of buffer
Authors: Muñoz-Páez KM , Poggi-Varaldo HM , García-Mena J , Ponce-Noyola MT , Ramos-Valdivia AC , Barrera-Cortés J , Robles-González IV , Ruiz-Ordáz N , Villa-Tanaca L , Rinderknecht-Seijas N
Published: May 2014

The aim of this work was to evaluate the effect of buffer addition and process temperature (ambient and 35°C) on H2 production in batch fermentation of cheese whey (CW). When the H2 production reached a plateau, the headspace of the reactors were flushed with N2 and reactors were re-incubated. Afterwards, only the reactors with phosphate buffer showed a second cycle of H2 production and 48% more H2 was obtained. The absence of a second cycle in non-buffered reactors could be related to a lower final pH than in the buffered reactors; the low pH could drive the fermentation to solvents production. Indeed a high solvent production was observed in non-buffered bioreactors as given by low ρ ratios (defined as the ratio between sum of organic acid production and sum of solvents production). Regarding the process temperatures, no significant difference between the H2 production of reactors incubated at ambient temperature and at 35°C was described. After flushing the headspace of bioreactors with N2 at the end of the second cycle, the H2 production did not resume (in all reactors).
Humor Functions Within Crime Scene Investigations: Group Dynamics, Stress, and the Negotiation of Emotions
Authors: Vivona Brian Daniel
Published: May 2014

Humor plays a significant role in the personal interactions of our everyday lives. Studies of workplace humor are far reaching, discussing the multiple important functions humor plays at work. Of particular significance in these studies is that humor is context dependent. How humor functions in law enforcement, particularly within specialty areas that are exposed to high stress and psychologically threatening work conditions, has been neglected. This study examines the functions of humor within the arena of crime scene investigators. Semi-structured in-depth interviews revealed that humor functioned within group dynamics. Humor served to reduce stress so that job tasks could be completed, and it was also used as a barometer of the investigators’ negotiation of the emotional burdens of such work.
Experiencing stigma as sex work researchers in professional and personal lives
Authors: Hammond Natalie , Kingston Sarah
Published: May 2014

Researchers have demonstrated the challenges associated with sex work research; negotiating the stigma attached to its subject matter, the perceived dangerousness of participants, and the barriers faced in reaching hidden populations. By reflecting upon our separate research experiences and drawing upon a body of reflexive sex work research, this article explores how, as sex work researchers, we experienced stigma not only in our professional roles as researchers, but also in our personal lives. We apply Goffman’s (1968) notion of stigma by association; and consider how stigma often associated with prostitution became transposed onto us. In particular, we compare and contrast our separate experiences of conducting sex work research to demonstrate our similar experiences of stigma by association.
Commemorating Homosexual: Rethinking experience and the disaffected through the legacies of the Gay Liberation Movement
Authors: D’Cruz Carolyn
Published: May 2014

This article emerged from a conference commemorating the 40th anniversary of Dennis Altman’s book, Homosexual: Oppression and Liberation. It examines the intersections and interruptions between personal, political and philosophical aspects of debating oppression and liberation when one’s own life experiences are implicated in the measure of the legacies of a social movement. Following Derrida’s deconstructive strategies of reading and writing, I rework the concept of ‘experience’ against Altman’s earlier call for ‘the end of the homosexual’. Returning to Gay Liberation’s affinities with other liberation movements, the article calls for challenging the mainstream rather than assimilating to it.
Effect of post-quench delay on stress relieving by cold compression for the aluminium alloy 7050
Authors: Robinson J. S. , Tiernan P. J. , Kelleher J. F.
Published: May 2014

The objective of this investigation was to determine the influence of post-quench delays on residual stresses in the heat treatable aluminium alloy 7050, when stress relieved by cold compression. Immersion quenching after solution heat treatment introduces high magnitude residual stresses. These residual stresses can be relieved by the controlled application of post-quench plastic deformation. The effect of a delay between quenching and the application of cold compression has been investigated. During this delay, the aluminium alloy undergoes natural aging, which changes the workhardening behaviour of the alloy during subsequent cold compression. Neutron and X-ray diffraction were used to characterise the residual stresses. It was found that reducing the post-quench delay resulted in lower magnitude residual stresses after cold compression.
Austenite–martensite/bainite orientation relationship: Characterisation parameters and their application
Authors: Yardley V. A. , Payton E. J.
Published: May 2014

Transformations from austenite to martensite or bainite in ferrous alloys have great technological importance, but some aspects remain elusive. The orientation relationship (OR), morphology and habit plane can vary considerably from one system to another. Much published work considers these OR in terms of their variation from named relationships such as Kurdjumov–Sachs and Nishiyama–Wassermann. We discuss here, instead, the use of a set of angular parameters based on the classic work of Kurdjumov and Sachs in the 1930s, that provide a unified and elegant description facilitating extraction and detailed statistical treatment of OR from large electron backscatter diffraction datasets, as well as straightforward comparison with named OR and with the predictions from the phenomenological theory. Spatially correlated mappings of OR parameters obtained using this approach suggest that the observed variations in OR are related to the martensitic morphology rather than being an experimental artefact.
Triple fixed point theorems via α-series in partially ordered metric spaces
Authors: Vats Ramesh Kumar , Tas Kenan , Sihag Vizender , Kumar Amit
Published: May 2014

This manuscript has two aims: first we extend the definitions of compatibility and weakly reciprocally continuity, for a trivariate mapping F and a self-mapping g akin to a compatible mapping as introduced by Choudhary and Kundu (Nonlinear Anal. 73:2524-2531, 2010) for a bivariate mapping F and a self-mapping g. Further, using these definitions we establish tripled coincidence and fixed point results by applying the new concept of an α-series for sequence of mappings, introduced by Sihag et al. (Quaest. Math. 37:1-6, 2014), in the setting of partially ordered metric spaces.

MSC:54H25, 47H10, 54E50.
Generating genius: how an Alzheimer’s drug became considered a ‘cognitive enhancer’ for healthy individuals
Authors: Wade Lucie , Forlini Cynthia , Racine Eric
Published: May 2014

Background

Donepezil, an acetylcholinesterase inhibitor used in the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease, has been widely cited in media and bioethics literature on cognitive enhancement (CE) as having the potential to improve the cognitive ability of healthy individuals. In both literatures, this claim has been repeatedly supported by the results of a small study published by Yesavage et al. in 2002 on non-demented pilots (30–70 years old). The factors contributing to this specific interpretation of this study’s results are unclear.

Methods

We examined print media and interdisciplinary bioethics coverage of this small study, aiming to provide insight into how evidence from research may be shaped within different discourses, potentially influencing important policy, ethics, and clinical decisions. Systematic qualitative content analysis was used to examine how this study was reported in 27 media and 22 bioethics articles. Articles were analyzed for content related to: (1) headlines and titles; (2) colloquialisms; and, (3) accuracy of reporting of the characteristics and results of the study.

Results

In media and bioethics articles referencing this small study, strong claims were made about donepezil as a CE drug. The majority of headlines, titles, and colloquialisms used enhancement language and the majority of these suggest that donepezil could be used to enhance intellectual ability. Further, both literatures moved between reporting the results of the primary study and magnifying the perceived connection between these results and the CE debate that was alluded to in the primary study. Specific descriptions of the results overwhelmingly reported an improvement in performance on a flight simulator, while more general statements claimed donepezil enhanced cognitive performance. Further, a high level of reporting accuracy was found regarding study characteristics of the original study, but variable levels of accuracy surrounded the presentation of complex characteristics (i.e., methods) or contentious properties of the CE debate (i.e., initial health status of the study subjects).

Conclusions

Hyped claims of CE effects cannot be completely accounted for by sheer inaccuracy in reporting. A complex interaction between the primary and secondary literature, and expectations and social pressures related to CE appears to drive enthusiastic reports.
Substitution of physicians by nurses in primary care: a systematic review and meta-analysis
Authors: Martínez-González Nahara Anani , Djalali Sima , Tandjung Ryan , Huber-Geismann Flore , Markun Stefan , Wensing Michel , Rosemann Thomas
Published: May 2014

Background

In many countries, substitution of physicians by nurses has become common due to the shortage of physicians and the need for high-quality, affordable care, especially for chronic and multi-morbid patients. We examined the evidence on the clinical effectiveness and care costs of physician-nurse substitution in primary care.

Methods

We systematically searched OVID Medline and Embase, The Cochrane Library and CINAHL, up to August 2012; selected and critically appraised published randomised controlled trials (RCTs) that compared nurse-led care with care by primary care physicians on patient satisfaction, Quality of Life (QoL), hospital admission, mortality and costs of healthcare. We assessed the individual study risk of bias, calculated the study-specific and pooled relative risks (RR) or standardised mean differences (SMD); and performed fixed-effects meta-analyses.

Results

24 RCTs (38,974 participants) and 2 economic studies met the inclusion criteria. Pooled analyses showed higher overall scores of patient satisfaction with nurse-led care (SMD 0.18, 95% CI 0.13 to 0.23), in RCTs of single contact or urgent care, short (less than 6 months) follow-up episodes and in small trials (N ≤ 200). Nurse-led care was effective at reducing the overall risk of hospital admission (RR 0.76, 95% CI 0.64 to 0.91), mortality (RR 0.89, 95% CI 0.84 to 0.96), in RCTs of on-going or non-urgent care, longer (at least 12 months) follow-up episodes and in larger (N > 200) RCTs. Higher quality RCTs (with better allocation concealment and less attrition) showed higher rates of hospital admissions and mortality with nurse-led care albeit less or not significant. The results seemed more consistent across nurse practitioners than with registered or licensed nurses. The effects of nurse-led care on QoL and costs were difficult to interpret due to heterogeneous outcome reporting, valuation of resources and the small number of studies.

Conclusions

The available evidence continues to be limited by the quality of the research considered. Nurse-led care seems to have a positive effect on patient satisfaction, hospital admission and mortality. This important finding should be confirmed and the determinants of this effect should be assessed in further, larger and more methodically rigorous research.
The Canadian Society of Nephrology Methods in Developing and Adapting Clinical Practice Guidelines: A Review
Authors: Mustafa Reem A , Levin Adeera , Akbari Ayub , Foster Bethany J , Zimmerman Deborah , Nesrallah Gihad E , Knoll Greg A , Rioux Jean-Philippe , Barton Jim , Ruzicka Marcel , Muirhead Norman , Moist Louise , Pannu Neesh , McFarlane Phil , Klarenbach Scott , Samuel Susan , Clark William F , Hemmelgarn Brenda R
Published: May 2014

Introduction:

The Canadian Society of Nephrology (CSN) was established to promote the highest quality of care for patients with renal diseases and to encourage research related to the kidney and its disorders. The CSN Clinical Practice Guideline (CPG) Committee develops guidelines with clear recommendations to influence physicians' practice and improve the health of patients with kidney disease in Canada.

Review:

In this review we describe the CSN process in prioritizing CPGs topics. We document the CSN experience using the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) approach. We then detail the CSN process in developing de novo CPGs and in adapting existing CPGs and developing accompanying commentaries. We also discuss challenges faced during this process and suggest solutions. Furthermore, we summarize the CSN effort in disseminating and implementing their guidelines. Additionally, we describe recent development and partnerships that allow evaluation of the effect of the CSN guidelines and commentaries.

Conclusion:

The CSN follows a comprehensive process in identifying priority areas to be addressed in CPGs. In 2010, the CSN adopted GRADE, which enhanced the rigor and transparency of guideline development. This process focuses on systematically identifying best available evidence and carefully assessing its quality, balancing benefits and harms, considering patients' and societies' values and preferences, and when possible considering resource implications. Recent partnership allows wider dissemination and implementation among end users and evaluation of the effects of CPG and commentaries on the health of Canadians.
Post-treatment neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio in predicting prognosis in patients with metastatic clear cell renal cell carcinoma receiving sunitinib as first line therapy
Authors: Park Yong Hyun , Ku Ja Hyeon , Kwak Cheol , Kim Hyeon Hoe
Published: May 2014

Purpose

Neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) was evaluated as a prognostic factor in patients with metastatic clear cell renal cell carcinoma (RCC) receiving sunitinib as first line therapy.

Methods

Between December 2005 and December 2011, 109 patients with metastatic clear cell RCC were treated with sunitinib. The values of NLR were assessed at two time points: at baseline (pre-treatment) and on day 1 of the second cycle (post-treatment). The prognostic significance of NLR on treatment outcome was evaluated with adjustment for known confounding risk factors.

Results

The median follow-up duration after sunitinib treatment was 24 months. There was no association between the pre-treatment NLR and tumor response (median pre-treatment NLRs: 2.2 for partial response [PR], 2.3 for stable disease [SD], and 1.9 for progressive disease [PD]; p = 0.531). However, lower post-treatment NLR (1.1 for PR, 1.2 for SD, 2.3 for PD; p = 0.021) and larger reduction in NLR after treatment (-45.8% for PR, -45.6% for SD, 14.8% for PD; p = 0.009) was significantly associated with a better tumor response. When the patients were divided into two subgroups according to the cutoff value of the post-treatment NLR 1.1, the differences in median cancer-specific survival were observed between subgroups (not reached vs. 19.0 months, p = 0.012). In multivariate analysis, body mass index, MSKCC risk group, serum hemoglobin, and post-treatment NLR were significantly associated with cancer-specific mortality.

Conclusions

Higher post-treatment NLR was associated with poor prognosis. An early reduction in the NLR after sunitinib treatment may indicate survival benefit in patients with metastatic clear cell RCC.
The window of opportunity: a relevant concept for axial spondyloarthritis
Authors: Robinson Philip C , Brown Matthew A
Published: May 2014

The window of opportunity is a concept critical to rheumatoid arthritis treatment. Early treatment changes the outcome of rheumatoid arthritis treatment, in that response rates are higher with earlier disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drug treatment and damage is substantially reduced. Axial spondyloarthritis is an inflammatory axial disease encompassing both nonradiographic axial spondyloarthritis and established ankylosing spondylitis. In axial spondyloarthritis, studies of magnetic resonance imaging as well as tumor necrosis factor inhibitor treatment and withdrawal studies all suggest that early effective suppression of inflammation has the potential to reduce radiographic damage. This potential would suggest that the concept of a window of opportunity is relevant not only to rheumatoid arthritis but also to axial spondyloarthritis. The challenge now remains to identify high-risk patients early and to commence treatment without delay. Developments in risk stratification include new classification criteria, identification of clinical risk factors, biomarkers, genetic associations, potential antibody associations and an ankylosing spondylitis-specific microbiome signature. Further research needs to focus on the evidence for early intervention and the early identification of high-risk individuals.
Robust conductance estimates from spatial and temporal derivatives of borehole electromagnetic data
Authors: Kolaj Michal , Smith Richard
Published: May 2014

The conductance of an infinite uniformly conductive thin sheet can be calculated using the ratio of the temporal gradient and the spatial gradient in the normal direction of any component (or combination of components) of the secondary magnetic field. With standard borehole electromagnetic (BHEM) systems, the temporal gradient can either be measured or readily calculated from transient-magnetic-field data, and the spatial gradient in the normal direction can be estimated using adjacent stations. Synthetic modeling demonstrates that, for a finite thin sheet, the magnitude of the field provides a robust and reliable apparent conductance in typical three-component BHEM survey configurations. The accuracy in which the apparent conductance can be calculated is hindered by low spatial gradient signal values and can only be reliably estimated where the fields are large (i.e., in close proximity to the target). In a field example of BHEM data collected over a massive sulfide deposit in Sudbury, Ontario, Canada, the spatial gradient could be calculated over a roughly 100-m-wide zone, and a consistent apparent conductance could be calculated at each delay time using the magnitude of the field. Increases in the apparent conductance with increasing delay time are likely due to currents migrating into more conductive parts of the body. The apparent conductance values were also consistent with Maxwell models and time constant derived conductance estimates. This simple and robust apparent conductance is ideal as a first-pass estimate for target discrimination, grade estimation, and starting values for forward and/or inversion modeling.