bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Debris flows: behaviour and hazard assessment
Authors: Iverson Richard M.
Published: January 2014

Debris flows are water‐laden masses of soil and fragmented rock that rush down mountainsides, funnel into stream channels, entrain objects in their paths, and form lobate deposits when they spill onto valley floors. Because they have volumetric sediment concentrations that exceed 40 percent, maximum speeds that surpass 10 m/s, and sizes that can range up to ∼109 m3, debris flows can denude slopes, bury floodplains, and devastate people and property. Computational models can accurately represent the physics of debris‐flow initiation, motion and deposition by simulating evolution of flow mass and momentum while accounting for interactions of debris’ solid and fluid constituents. The use of physically based models for hazard forecasting can be limited by imprecise knowledge of initial and boundary conditions and material properties, however. Therefore, empirical methods continue to play an important role in debris‐flow hazard assessment.
A haemophilia disease management programme targeting cost and utilization of specialty pharmaceuticals
Authors: Duncan N. , Roberson C. , Lail A. , Donfield S. , Shapiro A.
Published: January 2014

The high cost of clotting factor concentrate (CFC) used to treat haemophilia and von Willebrand disease (VWD) attracts health plans’ attention for cost management strategies such as disease management programmes (DMPs). In 2004, Indiana's high risk insurance health plan, the Indiana Comprehensive Health Insurance Association, in partnership with the Indiana Hemophilia and Thrombosis Center developed and implemented a DMP for beneficiaries with bleeding disorders. This report evaluates the effectiveness of the DMP 5 years post implementation, with specific emphasis on the cost of CFC and other medical expenditures by severity of disease. A pre/post analysis was used. The main evaluation measures were total cost, total outpatient CFC IU dispensed and adjusted total outpatient CFC cost. Summary statistics and mean and median plots were calculated. Overall, 1000 non‐parametric bootstrap replicates were created and percentile confidence limits for 95% confidence intervals (CI) are reported. Mean emergency department (ED) visits and mean and median duration of hospitalizations are also reported. The DMP was associated with a significant decrease in mean annualized total cost including decreased CFC utilization and cost in most years in the overall group, and specifically in patients with severe haemophilia. Patients with mild and moderate haemophilia contributed little to overall programme expenditures. This specialty health care provider‐administered DMP exemplifies the success of targeted interventions developed and implemented through a health care facility expert in the disease state to curb the cost of specialty pharmaceuticals in conditions when their expenditures represent a significant portion of total annual costs of care.
Solgel‐Processed Mullite Coating—A Review
Authors: Roy Jagannath , Das Santanu , Maitra Saikat
Published: January 2014

Mullite is one of the popular ceramic materials for different engineering applications due to some of its important properties which include good thermal and chemical stability, high creep resistance, etc. Mullite synthesized by solgel process generally requires lower temperature for processing and generate product with better homogeneity and more purity compared with other conventional processes. Coating of solgel‐derived mullite film on surface of a ceramic substrate can improve its thermomechanical properties, making it suitable for applications in different aggravated conditions. This study embarks a comprehensive review on synthesis, characterization and applications of solgel‐derived mullite coating.
Retracted: Nurses learning in the workplace: a comparison of workplace attributes in acute care settings inAustralia andSingapore
Authors: Chan S.W. , Chan M.F. , Lee S.‐Y. , Henderson A.
Published: January 2014

Background

Workplaces need to foster teaching and learning interactions so staff collaborate and learn from each other. Internationally, many countries provide support to graduates and experienced staff to foster engagement necessary for learning and quality care. Workplace attributes can differ across countries depending on managerial, contextual, social and policy issues.

Aim

This study compared workplace attributes of twoAustralian hospitals with aSingaporean hospital.

Methods

A representative sample of nurses in two acute care facilities inAustralia (n = 203) and a comparable facility inSingapore (n = 154) during 2010 and 2011 responded to a survey requesting demographic data and responses about workplace attributes. Attributes were determined through validated tools that measure staff perception of support when facilitating others learning (SupportInstrument forNursesFacilitating theLearning ofOthers) and the clinical learning organizational culture (ClinicalLearningOrganizationalCultureSurvey).

Results

Results indicatedSingaporean nurses rated perception of acknowledgement, workload management and teamwork support in facilitating learners in their hospital as significantly better than theAustralian cohort despite similar provisions for support and development. There were no significant differences across the two sites in the clinical learning culture.

Limitations

Analysis across three health facilities only provides a snapshot. Targeting more facilities would assist in confirming the extent of reported trends.

Conclusions

Findings indicate differences in nurses' perceptions of support when facilitating learners. Further exploration ofSingaporean nurses' increased perceptions of support is worthy. Clinical learning organizational culture findings acrossAustralian andSingaporean acute care facilities suggest common attributes within the nursing profession that transcend contextual factors, for example, a strong sense of task accomplishment.

Implications for nursing and health policy

Nurses across both countries demonstrate strengths in accomplishing tasks but less so in recognizing nurses' contributions that may also impact nurses' influence in the practice context. As these attributes are common, nursing can collectively lobby and develop policy, thereby strengthening their cause to be recognized.
Bullying and Victimization Among African American Adolescents: A Literature Review
Authors: Albdour Maha , Krouse Helene J.
Published: January 2014

Topic

Bullying among African American adolescents.

Purpose

This article reviews the current literature on bullying and victimization among African American adolescents. It highlights bullying and violence disparity among African American adolescents, associated risk and protective factors, and effects of bullying on adolescent health.

Sources Used

Twenty‐three English language peer‐reviewed articles from CINAHL, Pubmed, and Psyc‐INFO databases.

Conclusion

African American adolescents have higher rates of bullying and victimization compared to other adolescent populations. This review found strong associations among bullying involvement, substance abuse, and family factors. Bullying also had a significant impact on adolescent health, particularly psychological symptoms and school performance.
Racial/ethnic disparities in ADHD diagnosis by kindergarten entry
Authors: Morgan Paul L. , Hillemeier Marianne M. , Farkas George , Maczuga Steve
Published: January 2014

Background

Whether and to what extent racial/ethnic disparities in attention‐deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) diagnosis occur by kindergarten entry is currently unknown. We investigated risk factors associated with an ADHD diagnosis by kindergarten entry generally, and specifically whether racial/ethnic disparities in ADHD diagnosis occur by this very early time period.

Methods

Secondary analysis of data from children enrolled in the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study‐Birth Cohort (ECLS‐B), a large, nationally representative cohort of US children born in 2001. Data include information from birth certificates, parent and teacher questionnaires, and in‐person developmental assessments conducted with children at intervals from 9 months through kindergarten entry. The analytic sample included children enrolled in the ECLS‐B at the 60‐month assessment (N = 6,550).

Results

Black children in the United States were 70% (1 – OR of .30) less likely to receive an ADHD diagnosis than otherwise similar White children. Hispanic children initially appeared to be underdiagnosed for ADHD. However, their disparity with Whites became statistically nonsignificant after controlling for whether a language other than English was primarily spoken in the home. Analyses of kindergarten teacher‐reported classroom behavior indicated that neither Black nor Hispanic children displayed less frequent ADHD‐related behaviors than Whites.

Conclusions

Although they are not less likely to display ADHD‐related behaviors, children who are Black or being raised in households where non‐English is primarily spoken are less likely than otherwise similar White children to be diagnosed with ADHD in the US.
Comparison of a semiautomated hand‐held device to test minimal erythema dose before narrowband ultraviolet B phototherapy with the conventional method using matched doses
Authors: Lynch M. , Carroll F. , Kavanagh A. , Honari B. , Collins P.
Published: January 2014

Background

A semiautomated hand‐held device has been introduced in some phototherapy centres to establish the minimal erythema dose (MED) before treatment with narrowband ultraviolet (NBUV) B.

Objectives

To compare the semiautomated hand‐held device with the conventional method of MED testing (a UV‐opaque template and a panel of UVB fluorescent tubes), using the same series of incremented doses.

Methods

Twenty‐four patients referred for treatment with NBUVB phototherapy were included. Each patient had MED testing with the conventional method and the semiautomated hand‐held device at the same level of the left and right back. The results were read by four investigators each time.

Results

The semiautomated hand‐held device was a significant estimator of the MED using the conventional panel method (P < 0.001; r = 0.97). The average ratio of the hand‐held MED to the conventional MED was 67%. The mean difference between the methods was 165 mJ/cm2. The interobserver test showed very high agreement for both methods of MED testing (Cronbach α coefficient 0.97 for the hand‐held MED tester vs. 0.93 for the conventional method).

Conclusions

The semiautomated hand‐held device MED results were lower than that of the conventional panel method and may prolong the treatment course by 2–3 treatments. The hand‐held tester is a fast and reproducible method, and may allow more phototherapy units, limited by staff and time, to do MED testing.
The Water Withdrawal Footprint of Energy Supply to Cities
Authors: Cohen Elliot , Ramaswami Anu
Published: January 2014

Water footprints traditionally estimate water lost as a result of evapotranspiration (or otherwise unavailable for downstream uses) associated with producing a certain good, and the same embodied in trade across regions is used to estimate regional and national water footprints. These footprints, however, do not address risk posed to city energy supplies characterized by insufficient streamflow to support energy production, such as cooling water intake (e.g., withdrawals) at thermoelectric power plants. Water withdrawal intensity factors for producing goods and services are being developed at the national scale, but lack sufficient spatial resolution to address these types of water‐energy challenges facing cities.

To address this need, this article presents a water withdrawal footprint for energy supply (WWFES) to cities and places it in the context of other water footprints defined in the literature. Analysis of electricity use versus electricity generation in 43 U.S. cities highlights the need for developing WWFES to estimate risks to transboundary city energy supplies resulting from water constraints. The magnitude of the WWFES is computed for Denver, Colorado, and compared to the city's direct use of water to offer perspective. The baseline WWFES for Denver is found to be 66% as large as all direct water uses in the city combined (mean estimate). Minimum, mean, and maximum estimates are computed to demonstrate sensitivity of the WWFES to selection of water withdrawal intensity factors. Finally, scenario analysis explores the effect of energy technology and energy policy choices in shaping the future water footprint of cities.
Crossing Disciplines: A Constraint‐Based Model of the Creative/Innovative Process
Authors: Stokes Patricia D.
Published: January 2014

This paper argues that artistic creativity and organizational innovation share a common problem‐solving process. The process per se is presented as a complement to the jazz metaphor for understanding organizational innovation. As modeled, it involves paired constraints that limit and direct search for a solution path. One of each pair identifies something to be precluded; the other specifies its substitute. The process can be initiated by necessity or by design. Once begun, the process is iterative: one substitution pair necessitates another. The creation/innovation is the novel solution path created by the substitution series. In‐depth analyses of two artistic creators are accompanied by allusions to parallel examples in organizational innovation.
Customer and Supplier Involvement in Design: The Moderating Role of Incremental and Radical Innovation Capability
Authors: Menguc Bulent , Auh Seigyoung , Yannopoulos Peter
Published: January 2014

More and more firms are leveraging design as a resource to gain the upper hand in today's competitive business market. To this end, this study draws on the resource‐based view (RBV) of the firm to examine the relationship between customer and supplier involvement in the design process and new product performance. The research also extends the RBV to a contingency lens by introducing product innovation capability (incremental and radical) as a moderator to draw the boundary conditions of the impact of customer/supplier involvement in design on new product performance. Using data collected from Canadian high‐tech companies, the findings provide strong support for the hypotheses in that customer involvement in design helps new product performance under high incremental innovation capability but harms new product performance under high radical innovation capability. In contrast, supplier involvement in design was beneficial to new product performance under both high incremental and radical innovation capability. The managerial implications for the role of design under different innovation capabilities are discussed.
Product Development as Core Competence: How Formal Product Development Practices Differ for Radical, More Innovative, and Incremental Product Innovations
Authors: Holahan Patricia J. , Sullivan Zhen Z. , Markham Stephen K.
Published: January 2014

Although universally recognized as an important consideration in building product development (PD) competency, the effect of a firm's ability to vary its PD practices to develop winning products has been given scant attention in large‐scale, multiorganizational, quantitative studies. This research explores differences in formal new PD practices among three project types—incremental, more innovative, and radical. Using a sample of 380 business units, this research investigates how development practices differ across these three classes of innovation with respect to the formal PD process, project organization, PD strategy, organizational culture, and senior management commitment. Our results diverge from several commonly held beliefs about formal PD processes and the management of radical versus incremental innovations. Our results indicate that radical projects are managed less flexibly than incremental projects. Instead of being an offshoot of less strategic planning, radical projects are just as strategically aligned as incremental projects. Instead of being informally introduced entrepreneurial adventures, radical projects are often the result of more formal ideation methods. While these results may be counterintuitive to suppositional models of how to radical innovation happens, it is the central theme of this research to show how radical innovation actually happens. Our findings also provide a foundation for reexamining the role of control in the management of innovation. As the level of innovativeness increased, so too did the amount of controls imposed—e.g., less flexibility in the development process, more professional, full‐time project leadership, centralized executive oversight for new products, and formal financial assessments of expected NP performance.
Foreign‐Born Academic Scientists and Their Interactions with Industry: Implications for University Technology Commercialization and Corporate Innovation Management
Authors: Libaers Dirk
Published: January 2014

This study examines and characterizes the way foreign‐born academic scientists interact with private firms. Using status characteristics theory, this inquiry explores how foreign‐born tenured and tenure‐track academic scientists in the 150 most research‐intensive U.S. universities interact with the private sector by means of six discrete interaction modes. The study further investigates whether foreign‐born academic scientists' interactions with private firms are more of a formal or informal nature vis‐à‐vis those of native‐born scientists'. The empirical analysis indicates that foreign‐born academic scientists have lower odds of having been approached by private firms to ask about their research activities, lower odds of having served as a paid consultant to firms, and lower odds of having been engaged in the joint transfer and commercialization of technologies with private firms relative to their U.S.‐born counterparts. In contrast, foreign‐born academic scientists have significantly higher odds of having coauthored scientific articles with private firms than their U.S.‐born counterparts. The paper discusses the implications for university technology commercialization and innovation management in firms.
Enhancing the Creative Performance of New Product Teams: An Organizational Configurational Approach
Authors: Bissola Rita , Imperatori Barbara , Colonel Renata Trinca
Published: January 2014

Innovation is crucial to managing ever‐increasing environmental complexity. Creativity is the first stage of the innovation process and is particularly relevant in modern new product development (NPD) projects. In response to a call for further empirical research on collective creative performance combining individual and team levels in a comprehensive framework, this paper offers useful evidence for the design of NPD teams to foster creative performance. The results suggest that different sets of individual traits and collective processes combine and interact, enabling a similar level of creative performance from different configurations of individual and team “ingredients.” There are no consistently good‐quality or poor‐quality NPD teams or processes. However, equifinal configurations—based on team composition, and interpersonal, coordination, control, and diversity management processes—can be effective in producing creative products.

Through a large‐scale study of 119 teams of students involved in an NPD activity, this paper contributes by expanding creativity and NPD team design literature, providing the basis for a “first right” approach to real‐world, in‐company research. It first proposes and tests the adoption of the configurational equifinality approach in the NPD team design domain, introducing the concept of complementarities among different types of “team ingredients,” both at the individual and team level. Second, it introduces different multidimensional measures of team creative performance, relevant to generalizing and comparing the research results. Third, it offers several guidelines for designing real‐world NPD teams through the combination of diversity and interpersonal management, as well as coordination and control processes, which have not been studied to any great extent but are at times controversial in creativity literature.
Opening the Black Box of Upper Echelons in China: TMT Attributes and Strategic Flexibility
Authors: Wang Tang , Libaers Dirk , Jiao Hao
Published: January 2014

Many scholars have suggested that strategic flexibility is a critical firm capability to survive in today's competitive arena. The decision to take strategic actions to make the firm more strategically flexible typically originates in the top management team (TMT). As the principal decision‐making unit of the firm, TMT members' information acquisition and processing capabilities and subsequent interpretation of environmental changes critically influence the decision to make the firm more strategically flexible to achieve a better fit with its market environment.

Therefore, in order to understand how firms can adapt to environmental changes, scholars must study the sociopsychological processes of interaction among members of the TMT. This study examines the relationships between TMT's sociopsychological attributes (shared vision, social integration, and political ties) and strategic flexibility, which is decomposed into organizational flexibility and technological flexibility. The study further investigates how the level of competitive intensity can moderate the relationships. All the hypotheses are tested using structural equation models based on the survey data from 227 firms in China.

The results show that organizational flexibility mediates the impact of TMT's social integration and political ties on technological flexibility. Surprisingly, a TMT's shared vision for the firm neither impedes nor facilitates the firm's effort in attaining the desired degree of organizational flexibility. However, TMT's shared vision does have a positive and direct impact on technological flexibility. Moreover, intense competition amplifies the positive impact of TMT social integration on the degree of organizational flexibility, but there is no significant moderating effect of competitive intensity on the relationship between a TMT's political ties and organizational flexibility. The results extend previous research by highlighting the importance of TMTs' sociopsychological attributes in driving technological flexibility, through the mediating impact of organizational flexibility.
Diurnal changes in electrocorticogram sleep slow‐wave activity during development in rats
Authors: Olini Nadja , Huber Reto
Published: January 2014

According to the homeostatic regulation of sleep, sleep pressure accumulates during wakefulness, further increases during sleep deprivation and dissipates during subsequent sleep. Sleep pressure is electrophysiologically reflected by electroencephalogram slow‐wave activity during non‐rapid eye movement sleep, and is thought to be stable across time. During childhood and adolescence the brain undergoes massive reorganization processes. Slow‐wave activity during these developmental periods has been shown in humans to follow an inverted U‐shaped trajectory, which recently was replicated in rats. The goal of this study was to investigate in rats the diurnal changes of slow‐wave activity during the inverted U‐shaped developmental trajectory of slow‐wave activity. To do so, we performed longitudinal electrocorticogram recordings, and compared the level of slow‐wave activity at the beginning with the slow‐wave activity level at the end of 24‐h baselines in two sets of Sprague–Dawley rats. In younger animals (n = 17) we investigated specific postnatal days when overall slow‐wave activity increases (postnatal day 26), peaks (postnatal day 28) and decreases (>postnatal day 28). The same analysis was performed in older animals (postnatal day 48, n = 6). Our results show a gain of slow‐wave activity across 24 h on postnatal day 26, followed by no net changes on postnatal day 28, which was then followed by a loss of slow‐wave activity during subsequent days (>postnatal day 28). Older animals did not show any net changes in slow‐wave activity across 24 h. These results cannot be explained by differences in vigilance states. Thus, slow‐wave activity during this developmental period may not only reflect the trajectory of sleep pressure but may additionally reflect maturational processes.
Pineal gland volume in primary insomnia and healthy controls: a magnetic resonance imaging study
Authors: Bumb Jan M. , Schilling Claudia , Enning Frank , Haddad Leila , Paul Franc , Lederbogen Florian , Deuschle Michael , Schredl Michael , Nolte Ingo
Published: January 2014

Little is known about the relation between pineal volume and insomnia. Melatonin promotes sleep processes and, administered as a drug, it is suitable to improve primary and secondary sleep disorders in humans. Recent magnetic resonance imaging studies suggest that human plasma and saliva melatonin levels are partially determined by the pineal gland volume. This study compares the pineal volume in a group of patients with primary insomnia to a group of healthy people without sleep disturbance. Pineal gland volume (PGV) was measured on the basis of high‐resolution 3 Tesla MRI (T1‐magnetization prepared rapid gradient echo) in 23 patients and 27 controls, matched for age, gender and educational status. Volume measurements were performed conventionally by manual delineation of the pineal borders in multi‐planar reconstructed images. Pineal gland volume was significantly smaller (P < 0.001) in patients (48.9 ± 26.6 mm3) than in controls (79 ± 30.2 mm3). In patients PGV correlated negatively with age (r = −0.532; P = 0.026). Adjusting for the effect of age, PGV and rapid eye movement (REM) latency showed a significant positive correlation (rS = 0.711, P < 0.001) in patients. Pineal volume appears to be reduced in patients with primary insomnia compared to healthy controls. Further studies are needed to clarify whether low pineal volume is the basis or the consequence of functional sleep changes to elucidate the molecular pathology for the pineal volume loss in primary insomnia.
A Moorean View of the Value of Lives
Authors: McDaniel Kris
Published: January 2014

Can we understand being valuable for in terms of being valuable? Three different kinds of puzzle cases suggest that the answer is negative. In what follows, I articulate a positive answer to this question, carefully present the three puzzle cases, and then explain how a friend of the positive answer can successfully respond to them. This response requires us to distinguish different kinds of value bearers, rather than different kinds of value, and to hold that among the value bearers are totality states of affairs. The final section of the article discusses the possibility of organic unification without organic unities.
A Survey of Epidermolysis Bullosa Care in the United States and Canada
Authors: Ahmad Regina‐Celeste S. , Bruckner Anna L.
Published: January 2014

Epidermolysis bullosa (EB) is a group of rare, inherited, blistering diseases that typically present in infancy. EB is not curable, and treatment is entirely supportive. There is a paucity of standardized recommendations to guide management. To assess the current state of EB care, an original online survey was conducted targeting attending physicians experienced with the care of EB. Members of the Society for Pediatric Dermatology residing in the United States and Canada served as the source pool. Parameters assessed included clinic visits, availability of subspecialists, and performance of surveillance studies. Fifty‐six completed surveys were analyzed. Most providers saw between 1 and 10 individuals with EB per year in a general dermatology clinic. For each EB type there was considerable variation in the frequency of clinic visits, availability and use of specialists, and use of laboratory and imaging studies. Some agreement was observed in the frequency of follow‐up for infants with more severe EB types, as well as for the components of a history, physical, and routine laboratory studies. These findings describe variations in the current state of EB care that pediatric dermatologists provide. The development and acceptance of evidence‐based guidelines and outcome measures may lead to greater uniformity in EB care.
Seasonal patterns of leaf photosynthetic and secondary xylem vascular traits in current‐year stems of three Sorbus species with contrasting growth habits
Authors: Ďurkovič J. , Čaňová I. , Kardošová M. , Kurjak D.
Published: January 2014

Seasonal effects of environmental variables on photosynthetic activity and secondary xylem formation provide data to demonstrate how environmental factors together with leaf ageing during the season control tree growth. In this study, we assessed physiological responses in photosynthetic behaviour to seasonal climate changes, and also identified seasonal differences in vascular traits within differentiating secondary xylem tissue from three diploid species of the taxonomically complex genus Sorbus. From sampling day 150, a clear physiological segregation of S. chamaemespilus from S. torminalis and S. aria was evident. The shrubby species S. chamaemespilus could be distinguished by a higher photosynthetic capacity between days 150 and 206. This was reflected in its associations with net CO2 assimilation rate (PN), maximum photochemical efficiency of PSII (Fv/Fm), variable‐to‐initial fluorescence ratio (Fv/F0), potential electron acceptor capacity (‘area’) in multivariate space, and also its associations with log‐transformed vessel area and log‐transformed relative conductivity between days 239 and 268. The maximum segregation and differentiation among the examined Sorbus species was on sampling day 206. The largest differences between S. torminalis and S. aria were found on day 115, when the latter species clearly showed closer associations with high values of vessel density and transpiration (E). Sampling day clusters were arranged along an arch‐like gradient that reflected the positioning of the entire growing season in multivariate space. This arch‐like pattern was most apparent in the case of S. chamaemespilus, but was also observed in S. torminalis and S. aria.
Envisioning the Third Sector's Welfare Role: Critical Discourse Analysis of ‘Post‐Devolution’ Public Policy in the UK 1998–2012
Authors: Chaney Paul , Wincott Daniel
Published: January 2014

Welfare state theory has struggled to come to terms with the role of the third sector. It has often categorized welfare states in terms of the pattern of interplay between state social policies and the structure of the labour market. Moreover, it has frequently offered an exclusive focus on state policy – thereby failing to substantially recognize the role of the formally organized third sector. This study offers a corrective view. Against the backdrop of the international shift to multi‐level governance, it analyses the policy discourse of third sector involvement in welfare governance following devolution in the UK. It reveals the changing and contrasting ways in which post‐devolution territorial politics envisions the sector's role as a welfare provider. The mixed methods analysis compares policy framing and the structural narratives associated with the development of the third sector across the four constituent polities of the UK since 1998. The findings reveal how devolution has introduced a new spatial policy dynamic. Whilst there are elements of continuity between polities – such as the increasing salience of the third sector in welfare provision – policy narratives also provide evidence of the territorialization of third sector policy. From a methodological standpoint, this underlines the distinctive and complementary role discourse‐based analysis can play in understanding contemporary patterns and processes shaping welfare governance.
The TRANSPLANTA collection of Arabidopsis lines: a resource for functional analysis of transcription factors based on their conditional overexpression
Authors: Coego Alberto , Brizuela Esther , Castillejo Pablo , Ruíz Sandra , Koncz Csaba , del Pozo Juan C. , Piñeiro Manuel , Jarillo José A. , Paz‐Ares Javier , León José ,   The TRANSPLANTA Consortium
Published: January 2014

Transcription factors (TFs) are key regulators of gene expression in all organisms. In eukaryotes, TFs are often represented by functionally redundant members of large gene families. Overexpression might prove a means to unveil the biological functions of redundant TFs; however, constitutive overexpression of TFs frequently causes severe developmental defects, preventing their functional characterization. Conditional overexpression strategies help to overcome this problem. Here, we report on the TRANSPLANTA collection of Arabidopsis lines, each expressing one of 949 TFs under the control of a β–estradiol‐inducible promoter. Thus far, 1636 independent homozygous lines, representing an average of 2.6 lines for every TF, have been produced for the inducible expression of 634 TFs. Along with a GUS‐GFP reporter, randomly selected TRANSPLANTA lines were tested and confirmed for conditional transgene expression upon β–estradiol treatment. As a proof of concept for the exploitation of this resource, β–estradiol‐induced proliferation of root hairs, dark‐induced senescence, anthocyanin accumulation and dwarfism were observed in lines conditionally expressing full‐length cDNAs encoding RHD6, WRKY22, MYB123/TT2 and MYB26, respectively, in agreement with previously reported phenotypes conferred by these TFs. Further screening performed with other TRANSPLANTA lines allowed the identification of TFs involved in different plant biological processes, illustrating that the collection is a powerful resource for the functional characterization of TFs. For instance, ANAC058 and a TINY/AP2 TF were identified as modulators of ABA‐mediated germination potential, and RAP2.10/DEAR4 was identified as a regulator of cell death in the hypocotyl–root transition zone. Seeds of TRANSPLANTA lines have been deposited at the Nottingham Arabidopsis Stock Centre for further distribution.
FLOURY ENDOSPERM6 encodes a CBM48 domain‐containing protein involved in compound granule formation and starch synthesis in rice endosperm
Authors: Peng Cheng , Wang Yihua , Liu Feng , Ren Yulong , Zhou Kunneng , Lv Jia , Zheng Ming , Zhao Shaolu , Zhang Long , Wang Chunming , Jiang Ling , Zhang Xin , Guo Xiuping , Bao Yiqun , Wan Jianmin
Published: January 2014

Starch is the most widespread form of energy storage in the plant kingdom. Although many enzymes and related factors have been identified for starch biosynthesis, unknown players remain to be identified, given that it is a complicated and sophisticated process. The endosperm of rice (Oryza sativa) has been used for the study of starch synthesis. Here, we report the cloning and characterization of the FLOURY ENDOSPERM6 (FLO6) gene in rice. In the flo6 mutant, the starch content is decreased and the normal physicochemical features of starch are changed. Significantly, flo6 mutant endosperm cells show obvious defects in compound granule formation. Map‐based cloning showed that FLO6 encodes a protein of unknown function. It harbors an N–terminal transit peptide that ensures its correct localization and functions in the plastid, and a C–terminal carbohydrate‐binding module 48 (CBM48) domain that binds to starch. Furthermore, FLO6 can interact with isoamylase1 (ISA1) both in vitro and in vivo, whereas ISA1 does not bind to starch directly. We thus propose that FLO6 may act as a starch‐binding protein involved in starch synthesis and compound granule formation through a direct interaction with ISA1 in developing rice seeds. Our data provide a novel insight into the role of proteins with the CBM48 domain in plant species.
Safety of a liberal policy for extended‐date preadmission testing samples
Authors: Le Nguyet , Harach Mary E. , Gould Joy M. , Herman Jay H.
Published: January 2014

Background

Regulations governing pretransfusion testing allow specimen expiration to be extended past 3 days before the transfusion if a patient has not been transfused or pregnant in the preceding 3 months. Our hospital allows extension of the expiration of a presurgical specimen to 28 days if 1) the patient has neither been transfused nor pregnant in the past 3 months, 2) the patient does not have an antibody history, and 3) the current antibody screen (ABSC) is negative. Patients not meeting Criteria 2 and 3 are required to have specimens redrawn on the day of surgery (DOS). We evaluated the necessity of this policy.

Study Design and Methods

From October 2009 to September 2010, there were 132 patients who did not meet the above criteria for specimen extension. Equivalent tests were performed on preadmission testing (PAT) and DOS specimens, and the results were compared.

Results

The majority (113, 86%) of the samples redrawn on the DOS showed no change in antibody serology upon reinvestigation. Of the remaining patients, DOS specimens did not identify any new antibodies or change in blood product choices.

Conclusion

Of the PAT specimens rejected for antibody history or positive ABSC, none had new significant serologic findings on DOS. Based on these results, requiring a repeat specimen on the DOS may not be clinically necessary. Our facility changed the PAT policy to extend specimen acceptability to patients with red blood cell antibody history or positive ABSC at time of PAT. A 6‐month follow‐up period showed that this practice is safe.
Lateral distribution of field-emitted electrons from a carbon nanofiber array: A theoretical calculation
Authors: Siontas Stylianos , Kyritsakis Andreas , Xanthakis John P. , Iacobucci Stefano , Stefani Gianni
Published: January 2014

The authors have calculated the lateral distribution of field emitted electrons from a carbon nanofiber (CNF) array—a quantity of importance in designing field emission displays—by calculating the electron distribution from an individual CNF and subsequently summing the contribution from all individual CNFs. The authors have not obtained the absolute value of the current but only its relative distribution in space. The full width at half maximum of the lateral distribution has been examined with respect to the following parameters: 1) the CNF tip radius, 2) the anode to cathode distance, and 3) the cathode to anode potential difference. Reasonable agreement with experimental results is obtained.
Selective deposition of graphene sheets on a flexible substrate by a nonuniform electric field
Authors: Oh Sooyeoun , Park Hyunik , Jung Younghun , Kim Jihyun , Kim Jiwan , Suk Oh Min
Published: January 2014

This study reports on the precise positioning of high-quality graphene sheets on a flexible polyethylene naphthalate substrate using a dielectrophoretic (DEP) force. Positive DEP assembly is carried out using a 100 kHz frequency AC signal with a peak-to-peak voltage of 10 V. The presence and quality of the graphene flakes aligned around the prepatterned electrodes are characterized by scanning electron microscopy, optical microscopy, and micro-Raman spectroscopy. Current–voltage measurements were also used to evaluate the electrical properties of these flexible devices under varying compressive (−) and tensile (+) strain conditions up to ±0.6%, where the currents decreased with increasing strains.
On the interplay effects with proton scanning beams in stage III lung cancer
Authors: Li Yupeng , Kardar Laleh , Li Xiaoqiang , Li Heng , Cao Wenhua , Chang Joe Y. , Liao Li , Zhu Ronald X. , Sahoo Narayan , Gillin Michael , Liao Zhongxing , Komaki Ritsuko , Cox James D. , Lim Gino , Zhang Xiaodong
Published: January 2014

Purpose:

To assess the dosimetric impact of interplay between spot‐scanning proton beam and respiratory motion in intensity‐modulated proton therapy (IMPT) for stage III lung cancer.

Methods:

Eleven patients were sampled from 112 patients with stage III nonsmall cell lung cancer to well represent the distribution of 112 patients in terms of target size and motion. Clinical target volumes (CTVs) and planning target volumes (PTVs) were defined according to the authorsˈ clinical protocol. Uniform and realistic breathing patterns were considered along with regular‐ and hypofractionation scenarios. The dose contributed by a spot was fully calculated on the computed tomography (CT) images corresponding to the respiratory phase that the spot is delivered, and then accumulated to the reference phase of the 4DCT to generate the dynamic dose that provides an estimation of what might be delivered under the influence of interplay effect. The dynamic dose distributions at different numbers of fractions were compared with the corresponding 4D composite dose which is the equally weighted average of the doses, respectively, computed on respiratory phases of a 4DCT image set.

Results:

Under regular fractionation, the average and maximum differences in CTV coverage between the 4D composite and dynamic doses after delivery of all 35 fractions were no more than 0.2% and 0.9%, respectively. The maximum differences between the two dose distributions for the maximum dose to the spinal cord, heart V40, esophagus V55, and lung V20 were 1.2 Gy, 0.1%, 0.8%, and 0.4%, respectively. Although relatively large differences in single fraction, correlated with small CTVs relative to motions, were observed, the authorsˈ biological response calculations suggested that this interfractional dose variation may have limited biological impact. Assuming a hypofractionation scenario, the differences between the 4D composite and dynamic doses were well confined even for single fraction.

Conclusions:

Despite the presence of interplay effect, the delivered dose may be reliably estimated using the 4D composite dose. In general the interplay effect may not be a primary concern with IMPT for lung cancers for the authorsˈ institution. The described interplay analysis tool may be used to provide additional confidence in treatment delivery.
Comparison of flat cleaved and cylindrical diffusing fibers as treatment sources for interstitial photodynamic therapy
Authors: Baran Timothy M. , Foster Thomas H.
Published: January 2014

Purpose:

For interstitial photodynamic therapy (iPDT) of bulky tumors, careful treatment planning is required in order to ensure that a therapeutic dose is delivered to the tumor, while minimizing damage to surrounding normal tissue. In clinical contexts, iPDT has typically been performed with either flat cleaved or cylindrical diffusing optical fibers as light sources. Here, the authors directly compare these two source geometries in terms of the number of fibers and duration of treatment required to deliver a prescribed light dose to a tumor volume.

Methods:

Treatment planning software for iPDT was developed based on graphics processing unit enhanced Monte Carlo simulations. This software was used to optimize the number of fibers, total energy delivered by each fiber, and the position of individual fibers in order to deliver a target light dose (D90) to 90% of the tumor volume. Treatment plans were developed using both flat cleaved and cylindrical diffusing fibers, based on tissue volumes derived from CT data from a head and neck cancer patient. Plans were created for four cases: fixed energy per fiber, fixed number of fibers, and in cases where both or neither of these factors were fixed.

Results:

When the number of source fibers was fixed at eight, treatment plans based on flat cleaved fibers required each to deliver 7180–8080 J in order to deposit 90 J/cm2 in 90% of the tumor volume. For diffusers, each fiber was required to deliver 2270–2350 J (333–1178 J/cm) in order to achieve this same result. For the case of fibers delivering a fixed 900 J, 13 diffusers or 19 flat cleaved fibers at a spacing of 1 cm were required to deliver the desired dose. With energy per fiber fixed at 2400 J and the number of fibers fixed at eight, diffuser fibers delivered the desired dose to 93% of the tumor volume, while flat cleaved fibers delivered this dose to 79%. With both energy and number of fibers allowed to vary, six diffusers delivering 3485–3600 J were required, compared to ten flat cleaved fibers delivering 2780–3600 J.

Conclusions:

For the same number of fibers, cylindrical diffusers allow for a shorter treatment duration compared to flat cleaved fibers. For the same energy delivered per fiber, diffusers allow for the insertion of fewer fibers in order to deliver the same light dose to a target volume.
Dosimetric characterization and output verification for conical brachytherapy surface applicators. Part I. Electronic brachytherapy source
Authors: Fulkerson Regina K. , Micka John A. , DeWerd Larry A.
Published: January 2014

Purpose:

Historically, treatment of malignant surface lesions has been achieved with linear accelerator based electron beams or superficial x‐ray beams. Recent developments in the field of brachytherapy now allow for the treatment of surface lesions with specialized conical applicators placed directly on the lesion. Applicators are available for use with high dose rate (HDR)192Ir sources, as well as electronic brachytherapy sources. Part I of this paper will discuss the applicators used with electronic brachytherapy sources; Part II will discuss those used with HDR 192Ir sources. Although the use of these applicators has gained in popularity, the dosimetric characteristics including depth dose and surface dose distributions have not been independently verified. Additionally, there is no recognized method of output verification for quality assurance procedures with applicators like these. Existing dosimetry protocols available from the AAPM bookend the cross‐over characteristics of a traditional brachytherapy source (as described by Task Group 43) being implemented as a low‐energy superficial x‐ray beam (as described by Task Group 61) as observed with the surface applicators of interest.

Methods:

This work aims to create a cohesive method of output verification that can be used to determine the dose at the treatment surface as part of a quality assurance/commissioning process for surface applicators used with HDR electronic brachytherapy sources (Part I) and192Ir sources (Part II). Air‐kerma rate measurements for the electronic brachytherapy sources were completed with an Attix Free‐Air Chamber, as well as several models of small‐volume ionization chambers to obtain an air‐kerma rate at the treatment surface for each applicator. Correction factors were calculated using MCNP5 and EGSnrc Monte Carlo codes in order to determine an applicator‐specific absorbed dose to water at the treatment surface from the measured air‐kerma rate. Additionally, relative dose measurements of the surface dose distributions and characteristic depth dose curves were completed in‐phantom.

Results:

Theoretical dose distributions and depth dose curves were generated for each applicator and agreed well with the measured values. A method of output verification was created that allows users to determine the applicator‐specific dose to water at the treatment surface based on a measured air‐kerma rate.

Conclusions:

The novel output verification methods described in this work will reduce uncertainties in dose delivery for treatments with these kinds of surface applicators, ultimately improving patient care.