bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Predicting sewing thread consumption for lockstitch using regression model
Authors: Midha VIinay Kumar , Sharma Shailja , Gupta Vaibhav
Published: November 2016

Purpose

This paper aims to develop a single regression model (instead of developing models separately for each thread type) to predict the sewing thread consumption for cotton and polyester staple spun threads.

Design/methodology/approach

A single regression model is developed for predicting sewing thread consumption for cotton and polyester threads. The polyester sewing threads have lower sewing thread consumption as compared to cotton threads because of their higher elongation behaviour. The model differentiates between the cotton and polyester sewing threads using their elongation values at peak levels of tensions experienced by the sewing threads during stitch tightening. By comparing the estimated thread consumption values with actual values, the effectiveness of model is evaluated with root mean square error and coefficient of determination (R2).

Findings

During the sewing process, by understanding the behaviour of different types of sewing threads, it is possible to develop a single regression model for all types of threads.

Practical implications

The sewing thread consumption can be easily calculated for cotton and polyester sewing threads using a single regression equation using the sewing assembly thickness, stitch density and elongation of thread at peak tension. The garment manufacturers need not depend on different charts for sewing thread consumption for stock management.

Originality/value

The sewing thread consumption is different for different types of threads, and garment manufacturers have to depend on different charts given by sewing thread manufacturers or use different equations for each type of threads. Using this single regression equation, sewing thread consumption for cotton and polyester sewing thread can be estimated accurately.
Is the need for mediated reference service in academic libraries fading away in the digital environment?
Authors: Bandyopadhyay Aditi , Boyd-Byrnes Mary Kate
Published: November 2016

Purpose

Academic libraries are experiencing numerous changes in their services due to high demands for digital resources and changes in users’ information needs and expectations. Many academic library users give preferences to Google, Google Scholar and other search engines on the internet when they search for information. As reference transactions are decreasing in many academic institutions, this paper aims to investigate the continuing need for mediated reference services in the technology-driven environment in academic libraries.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors have conducted a literature review to document and analyze the current trends in reference services in academic libraries. They have examined the relevant published literature through a series of reflective questions to determine whether the demise of mediated reference services is imminent in academic libraries. While this literature review is by no means an exhaustive one, the authors have provided a fairly comprehensive representation of articles to synthesize an overview of the history, evolution, and current trends of reference services in academic libraries.

Findings

This paper clearly demonstrates the importance of human-mediated reference services in academic libraries. It reinforces the need for skilled, knowledgeable professional librarians to provide effective and efficient reference services in a digital environment.

Practical implications

This paper provides a comprehensive overview of current trends in reference services in academic libraries and analyzes the merits and demerits of these trends to establish the need for mediated reference services in academic libraries. The arguments used in this paper will be useful for library and informational professionals as validation for the need to hire skilled, knowledgeable reference librarians to provide reference services in a digital environment.

Originality/value

This paper critically looks at the current trends and practices in reference services through the published literature to determine the future need for mediated reference services in academic libraries. It offers important insights to demonstrate why professional librarians’ skills, knowledge and expertise are essential to provide efficient reference services in the digital age.
Buy, borrow, or access online?
Authors: Mizrachi Diane
Published: November 2016

Purpose

This paper aims to investigate the reading format choices of students in a reading-intensive course when faced with options of purchasing their assigned readings in print, borrowing them from library reserves, accessing them from their course website or any combination thereof. It also seeks to map their behaviors to their academic aptitudes and achievements.

Design/methodology/approach

An online survey was distributed at the end of the quarter consisting of nine multiple-choice and open-ended questions on their format behaviors and academic aptitudes. Descriptive statistics, Chi-square tests and content analysis were used to obtain results.

Findings

Most students in this study purchased print copies of their assigned readings even though they were available for free both in the library and online. Over 72 per cent read their assignments either in“print” or “mostly in print”. However, the data did not produce evidence of correlations between format behaviors and SAT Writing scores or final grades in the course.

Research limitations/implications

The self-selected sample of participants appears to be academically homogeneous without enough diversity of behaviors and aptitudes to make generalizations. Replication of this study should be performed among a more academically diverse group of students.

Originality/value

Studies show that students prefer print to electronic format for academic readings, but they often cite factors like cost and convenience that impact their behaviors. Rather than survey general preferences, this study examines actual behaviors when presented with several format options and discusses why students make their choices.
Understanding the three laws of Agile
Authors: Denning Stephen
Published: November 2016

Purpose

With Agile’s success in accelerating software products and services that customers valued and with the increasing importance of software in general business strategy, business leaders are increasingly turning to Agile for every aspect of their operations.

Design/methodology/approach

There are more than 70 different Agile practices. The author advises traditional managers on how to make sense of such a bewildering assortment of ideas.

Findings

His research found thatrganizations that have embraced Agile practice three core principles–The Law of the Small Team; The Law of the Customer; The Law of the Network.

Practical implications

The first and almost universal characteristic of Agile organizations is that practitioners share a mindset that work should be done in small autonomous cross-functional teams working in short cycles on relatively small tasks that deliver value to customers and getting continuous feedback from the ultimate customers or end users.

Originality/value

As a network, the organization becomes a growing, learning, adapting organism that is in constant flux to exploit new opportunities and add new value for customers. The future of Agile is ultimately about implementing the third principle: the whole organization operating as an interactive network. In the rapidly evolving “Connected Economy” the power of the network is increasing geometrically.
Four steps to re-ignite Japan’s innovation leadership
Authors: Ikeda Kazuaki , Marshall Anthony , Okamura Shuma
Published: November 2016

Purpose

This analysis assesses the barriers to innovation Japanese executives must contend with and outlines key strategies to help their organizations, and all companies that seek to compete in global marketplaces, assume a leadership role in implementing a business ecosystem strategy.

Design/methodology/approach

To better understand the economic and management challenges Japan’s business leaders face and how they are addressing them, the IBM Institute for Business Value in collaboration with Oxford Economics conducted a survey of 1,151 Japanese executives across 17 industries.

Findings

While the strategy of opening up innovation processes to customers, partners and other stakeholders has been adopted successfully in many nations, Japanese organizations appear stuck in closed, insular innovation paradigms

Practical implications

Japanese organizations need to embrace entirely new customer value propositions, build new partnering arrangements and more effectively harness the power of innovation by taking four key sets of actions that: Re-imagine customer experience; Redefine business ecosystems; Promote ecosystem connectivity; Revitalize innovation governance.

Originality/value

A bold analysis of why Japanese business leaders largely ignore new forms of competition emanating from startups or emergent cross-industry players, even as traditional industries such as banking now anticipate massive technology-fueled disruption and how they can change.
Bacterial community collapse: a meta‐analysis of the sinonasal microbiota in chronic rhinosinusitis
Authors: Wagner Mackenzie Brett , Waite David W. , Hoggard Michael , Douglas Richard G. , Taylor Michael W. , Biswas Kristi
Published: November 2016

Chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS) is a common, debilitating condition characterized by long‐term inflammation of the nasal cavity and paranasal sinuses. The role of the sinonasal bacteria in CRS is unclear. We conducted a meta‐analysis combining and reanalysing published bacterial 16S rRNA sequence data to explore differences in sinonasal bacterial community composition and predicted function between healthy and CRS affected subjects. The results identify the most abundant bacteria across all subjects asStaphylococcus,Propionibacterium,Corynebacterium,Streptococcusand an unclassified lineage ofActinobacteria. The meta‐analysis results suggest that the bacterial community associated with CRS patients is dysbiotic and ecological networks fostering healthy communities are fragmented. Increased dispersion of bacterial communities, significantly lower bacterial diversity, and increased abundance of members of the genusCorynebacteriumare associated with CRS. Increased relative abundance and diversity of other members belonging to the phylumActinobacteriaand members from the generaPropionibacteriumdifferentiated healthy sinuses from those that were chronically inflamed. Removal ofBurkholderiaandPropionibacteriumphylotypes from the healthy community dataset was correlated with a significant increase in network fragmentation. This meta‐analysis highlights the potential importance of the generaBurkholderiaandPropionibacteriumas gatekeepers, whose presence may be important in maintaining a stable sinonasal bacterial community.
The chimeric nature of the genomes of marine magnetotactic coccoid‐ovoid bacteria defines a novel group ofProteobacteria
Authors: Ji Boyang , Zhang Sheng‐Da , Zhang Wei‐Jia , Rouy Zoe , Alberto François , Santini Claire‐Lise , Mangenot Sophie , Gagnot Séverine , Philippe Nadège , Pradel Nathalie , Zhang Lichen , Tempel Sébastien , Li Ying , Médigue Claudine , Henrissat Bernard , Coutinho Pedro M. , Barbe Valérie , Talla Emmanuel , Wu Long‐Fei
Published: November 2016

Magnetotactic bacteria (MTB) are a group of phylogenetically and physiologically diverse Gram‐negative bacteria that synthesize intracellular magnetic crystals named magnetosomes. MTB are affiliated with three classes of Proteobacteria phylum, Nitrospirae phylum, Omnitrophica phylum and probably with the candidate phylum Latescibacteria. The evolutionary origin and physiological diversity of MTB compared with other bacterial taxonomic groups remain to be illustrated. Here, we analysed the genome of the marine magneto‐ovoid strain MO‐1 and found that it is closely related toMagnetococcus marinusMC‐1. Detailed analyses of the ribosomal proteins and whole proteomes of 390 genomes reveal that, among the Proteobacteria analysed, only MO‐1 and MC‐1 have coding sequences (CDSs) with a similarly high proportion of origins fromAlphaproteobacteria,Betaproteobacteria,DeltaproteobacteriaandGammaproteobacteria. Interestingly, a comparative metabolic network analysis with anoxic network enzymes from sequenced MTB and non‐MTB successfully allows the eventual prediction of an organism with a metabolic profile compatible for magnetosome production. Altogether, our genomic analysis reveals multiple origins of MO‐1 andM. marinusMC‐1 genomes and suggests a metabolism‐restriction model for explaining whether a bacterium could become an MTB upon acquisition of magnetosome encoding genes.
Parenting, autism spectrum disorders and inner journeys
Authors: Twomey Miriam , Shevlin Michael
Published: November 2016

The importance of Early Intervention for children with Autism has been established however little attention has been given to the role of the parent and their perspective (Griffin & Shevlin, 2011). Research on Early Intervention has proliferated and innovative research on involving parents as partners has emerged (Carpenter, 2007; Hornby, 2011), however parents’ experiences of assessment, diagnosis and education have received little attention. This study investigated parental perceptions of Early Intervention services for children with significant disabilities. The purpose of this article is to describe how parents experience assessment, diagnosis and education, exploring the potential of utulising a parental lens in grasping these perspectives. It explored parents’ need to negotiate services and the difficulties surrounding their children's education in mainstream settings. Through qualitative, longitudinal, in‐depth case studies, parents (n 6) were interviewed over a fifteen month period. Interviews coincided with school terms. A major point of difference is the presence of parent voice. This research is dedicated to eliciting parents’ voice and exploring how this may influence current understandings of Early Intervention in Ireland. This research suggests that we need to explore what is needed by parents according to those parents, by acknowledging parent voice. Early Intervention and school settings may be a site of reconfiguration of parenthood where mutually, supportive mechanisms may confront the obscurities associated with their role and the fact that they are seldom heard.
The Rise of the User and the Fall of People: Ethnographic Cooptation and a New Language of Globalization
Authors: AMIREBRAHIMI SHAHEEN
Published: November 2016

This paper examines how ethnographic praxis as a means for driving social change via industry, went from a peripheral, experimental field, to a normalized part of innovation and product development – only to be coopted from within by a new language of power. Since the 1980s anthropologists have used their work to “make the world a better place,” by leveraging their tools of thick description and rich contextual knowledge to drive diversity and change within corporations and through their productions. As ethnography‐as‐method became separated from the field of Anthropology, it was opened to new collaborations with adjacent fields (from design, to HCI, to psychology, media studies, and so on). This “opening up” had a twofold effect, on the one hand it enabled greater “impact” (or influence) within institutions, but simultaneously subjected the field to cooptation. Recently, the practice of ethnography came to embrace the terminology of User Experience (UX) – though with it, ethnographers found what once made them distinct and differentiated (their representation of diversity of global cultures, the ability to think laterally with historically grounded theoretical approaches, etc.) was lost. UX, though a useful marketing tool, came to change the researchers and their productions, in subtle yet profound ways. This piece explores how what started out as a tool anthropologists hoped to use to shape the corporation, ultimately shaped them.
Taking Sides in E‐cigarette Research
Authors: ANNECHINO RACHELLE , ANTIN TAMAR
Published: November 2016

In the last ten years, an eclectic mix of electronic nicotine delivery products (‘e‐cigarettes’) and practices have proliferated in the US with little restriction, producing a vast array of vaping mechanisms, flavors, and styles. At the same time, anti‐tobacco movements have targeted e‐cigarettes as a threat to public health and advocated for restricting e‐cigarettes in much the same way as conventional cigarettes. While anti‐vaping proponents associated with public health movements have typically regarded e‐cigarettes as primarily harmful products that should be suppressed, vaping advocates regard e‐cigarettes as harm reduction products that should be readily accessible to smokers. Distrust between these two warring “sides” animates the controversy over e‐cigarettes. In our role as researchers conducting a qualitative study on e‐cigarette use, we encountered suspicion and anger from members of an e‐cigarette forum who felt that pro‐vaping perspectives were often misrepresented by researchers. As a result, we dropped our initial plan to host a group discussion of questions directly related to our study on the forum. Nevertheless, the incident illuminated how vaping advocates have resisted dominant narratives regarding tobacco and nicotine use, destabilized nicotine product categories and challenged interpretations of nicotine use that dichotomize pleasure and health.
Understanding Users: The Extensions of Expectant Systems
Authors: SHIVA AMIR‐POUYAN
Published: November 2016

This paper provides an ethnographic understanding of users in the Persian blogosphere through the framework of the carnivalesque. The repertoire of concepts provided by the carnivalesque draws attention to (1) the significance of the material, (2) the dynamic, transforming nature of things, and (3) the possibility of upsetting hierarchies. Drawing upon these insights, ethnographic evidence in this paper suggests that in the Persian blogosphere the material expression of thoughts at times precedes thoughts themselves. The same thoughts may then in turn be used by bloggers in transforming selves. The materiality of the tools bloggers use also contributes to self‐fashioning in the Persian blogosphere as the formal properties of blogging services turn users into the instruments of their functionality. Blogs in this sense are expectant systems that demand specific intervention from users so they can function. As such, this paper in the tradition of the carnivalesque playfully turns McLuhan's famous formulation of media as the “extension of man” on its head by arguing that users can likewise be understood as extensions of expectant systems.
The Anthropology of Wearables: The Self, The Social, and the Autobiographical
Authors: TAMMINEN SAKARI , HOLMGREN ELISABET
Published: November 2016

A wide range of new digital products lumped together under the category of ‘Wearables’ or ‘Wearable Technology’ raises fundamental questions about the way we think about our individual bodies and the species Homo Sapiens. This paper traces three different relationships to what are called the ‘wearables’ and extends the notion to cover all material technologies that mediate our relations between various embodied practices and the world, and beyond pure ‘hi tech’ products. Therefore, this paper develops a general cultural approach to wearables, informed by empirical examples from the US and China, and ends by mapping valuable design spaces for the next generation of digital technologies that are getting closer to our bodies and our skin, even venturing beneath it.
How Autoethnography Enables Sensemaking across Organizations
Authors: GOTTLIEB FREDERIK , MOSLEH WAFA SAID
Published: November 2016

Building on participatory innovation, and taking a personal and analytical autoethnographic approach we set out to investigate how innovative initiatives emerge in the interaction of multiple stakeholders across different organizations. As researchers, we are interested in understanding the lived experience of the lead author, as an inquiry into how new initiatives across organizations are shaped in the interaction between different stakeholders across field sites and organizational levels. The project evolved as a cross‐institutional initiative; bridging health‐care and engineering education, and while the lead author was initially involved as design consultant, his engagement later resulted in the initiation of cross‐disciplinary collaboration between two different local institutions. This paper is thus an attempt to investigate how emerging organizational initiatives and multi‐stakeholder innovation become enabling to recognize and act upon emerging opportunities; through active personal involvement and by the use of an autoethnographic research approach.

The aim of the paper is to address the following research questions: How does the involvement of multiple stakeholders across different field sites and levels enable or constrain the emergence of innovation?

And how can autoethnography, as a method, enable us to navigate within the sensemaking process in the field of participatory innovation? The contribution of the paper is grounded in the analysis of real encounters across multiple field sites, and provides insight into how the themes of trust and power are crucial in understanding how new meaning evolves as a result of local interactions and on‐going negotiations between multiple stakeholders.

Our goal is to discuss how innovation can be understood, not only as a process leading to a tangible and commercial outcome, but as a dialogical process of relationships, emerging in the interactions of different stakeholders. With autoethnography we have achieved a deeper level of insight into such process, which challenges traditional notions of innovation and ethnography.
Market Creation through Community Engagement: Combining Ethnographic and Business Thinking to Bridge Life‐Changing Technologies to Emerging Economies
Authors: CISERO CRAIG , TASSI ROBERTA
Published: November 2016

Emerging technologies such as drones, sensors, mesh networks and IoT have significant potential to bring new life‐changing services and benefits to places where infrastructure and ICT access is still limited. Nevertheless, many companies have already failed in the attempt to bring new solutions to the underserved population in emerging markets due to gaps in understanding capability and lack of systemic approach.

ICT interventions are often market creation scenarios that require completely new behaviors for adoption (Simanis et al, 2010). The creation of these behaviors, from introduction, to sense‐making and usage, can benefit from deep ethnographic analysis not only to assess people's capability (Sen, 1985), met and unmet user needs (Martin et al., 2006) and product requirements, but also to frame the best service design strategy including critical elements such as distribution channels, business model and maintenance processes. The tools and methods that purely belong to ethnographic research (Beyer, Holtzblatt, 1998) need to embrace the business and strategy dimension, combining the two approaches to outline a successful implementation path.

ICT interventions are also systemic, grounded in a multiplicity of existing roles and group dynamics that participate to the implementation and delivery of the new product or service (Kirsch, Bildner, Walker, 2016). Therefore, in informal economies, targeting significant behavior and system changes requires a strong iterative work with the local communities, as primary partner in defining and adopting the final solution (Simanis et al., 2008). The engagement of the community becomes central, turning the whole design and strategy process into a continuous dialogue between the experts and the local residents.

The purpose of this paper is to describe a combined design ethnography and business strategy approach towards a more efficient design of emerging technology interventions in informal economies. The “For us by us” model –built upon the BoP 2.0 framework (Simanis et al., 2008) and tailored ethnographic and co‐creation techniques (Sanders, Stappers, 2007) – is a chance for practitioners and organisations who are investigating potential technology‐based interventions to quickly evaluate, prioritize and develop products and services that add value to people's lives, and have an increased probability of successful adoption.
Disrupting Workspace: Designing an Office that Inspires Collaboration and Innovation
Authors: IMAI RYOKO , BAN MASAHIDE
Published: November 2016

Hitachi America's R&D, comprised of five technical laboratories, opened the Center for Social Innovation in January, 2016. When the new office project emerged, the R&D group used the opportunity to reflect on and strengthen collaborative practices, organizational culture, and our customer engagement approach. We conducted an internal ethnographic study to investigate how space was used in our previous office, and based on our findings designed a new office space to facilitate collaboration and innovation for our group.
The Flat World
Authors: MONAHAN BRIDGET
Published: November 2016

This PechaKucha presentation explores the notion of flatness – the elision of multi‐dimensionality in the lives we live, which increasingly take place online and interface through small screens. What does it mean to do research with people and understand their experiences and then to translate those experiences into flat design?
Empathizing with the Mind of a Child
Authors: NAVE ARI
Published: November 2016

Empathy is an indispensable tool in design. But poorly executed, the application of empathetic thinking can lead to worse results. When examined more closely, empathy is problematic both in concept and in practice. Deconstructed into the component parts — compassion, sharing and mentalizing — we can begin to explore the particular nuances of empathy. Beyond the incentives of the designer, compassion, successful empathy requires the user to be able to share their experiences with the designer. Translation and articulation limits of the user can make this difficult. Designing for a pre‐verbal child, for example, is extremely difficult. Finally, mentalizing, the act of the designer creating a proxy of the user's internal state, is problematic when they do not share the same cultural foundations or basic cognitive similarities. Designers are most facile when designing for people similar to themselves. But as design anthropologists, we are tasked with creating bridges that enable people to create mental maps of people who share fundamentally different outlooks on the world. Limited by the intersubjectivity of the endeavor, validation again and again is essential.
Living Comfortably In Glass Houses
Authors: ZAFIROGLU ALEXANDRA , PATTERSON HEATHER , MCCREARY FAITH
Published: November 2016

Our homes are becoming instrumented glass houses where even the most intimate and personal acts may leave data footprints that companies providing services (and potentially others) can access. As homes become instrumented with data‐generating technologies, existing information boundaries will be tested, and householders will take on the burden of creating new boundaries on information about their homes lives. Existing low‐tech methods of obfuscating activities will no longer suffice. As ethnographers working on smart home solutions, we wonder: what information about which daily activities and home conditions will make householders uncomfortable living in glass houses? Who do people imagine will be looking through those glass facades, and what do they worry about them ‘seeing’? Even when the activities they consider sensitive are self‐described as ‘normal’, how do we design smart home solutions so that householders can continue to do ‘normal’ things and benefit from new services, with the confidence that their glass homes won't reveal too much, won't easily break, or when they inevitably do break, won't cause irrevocable damage? What role do ethnographers play in design smart home solutions that allow us all to live comfortably in glass houses?
Paradoxical Thinking as a Gateway to Socio‐Cultural Insights
Authors: ANDERSON‐KEMPE ELIZABETH
Published: November 2016

Paradoxical thinking can reveal complex emotions and beliefs, even self‐contradictory behaviors. It can also provide a gateway to the socio‐cultural forces that underpin a topic. In a project on IT security, we encountered a participant whose paradoxical beliefs influenced his approach to managing risk in his personal life. Though as an IT security director, he ‘immunized’ his company against potential security breaches and data loss, as a father he chose not to have his son immunized against disease, even though he went to great lengths to protect him in every other way. This encounter inspired me to delve more deeply into the socio‐cultural context surrounding the opposition to vaccination in the U.S.
When ‘Design Thinkers’ Prototype—through an Anthropologist's Eyes
Authors: WILSON BRYONY
Published: November 2016

Our anthropology trained colleague was new to Design Thinking and prototyping before joining us. As she's explored this new activity with us we've come to see the alignment between prototyping and other anthropological methods or principles. We've also noticed understanding prototyping from this social perspective has made us better designers. Just as it has allowed my colleague to conceptualise her own prototyping practice and come ‘play with us’. Let's talk about some of the ways we see this being the case.
The Elephant in the Room: A Lesson from the Field
Authors: SHATOKHINA LIUBAVA
Published: November 2016

We sometimes use ethnographic tools and methods with less reflexivity than they deserve. When you start to look at the constellation of objects in the spaces people inhabit, the traces of their values and practices can be seen everywhere. After all, the creation of an individual's life and culture is an effort to make a cosmos out of chaos. People do it all the time by rearranging objects, practices and concepts. Our job as anthropologists/consultants is to get to the unspoken rules and structure of people's everyday by being attentive to the cosmos people assemble materially and conceptually. However, we sometimes rely too much on spoken language. In most cases it applies to the use of interviews as our major data sources when we forget to use other opportunities to enrich our knowledge that ethnographic encounters can provide. Objects and their constellations leave powerful traces of culture, and they can often tell us more than people are able to articulate. Not because people are not reflexive, but because we usually deal with the mundane—things so natural that they are hard to notice in the flow of daily life. By keeping our eyes wide open to the various data points that ethnographic research can provide, we can actually see a more interesting, more detailed and indeed complex picture of cultural reality.
Primate Pathmaking
Authors: DOMINSKI JOHN , NIPPERT‐ENG CHRISTENA
Published: November 2016

This PechaKucha explores the 3 guiding principles for research to create impact: clarity, coordination, and curiosity. Without all these elements, research struggles to make impact for the intended users. In this case, the user is Jojo, a silverback gorilla. Jojo was 80 pounds overweight, and this was caused by a number of reasons. Every solution required a clear framing of the goals, a complex and coordinated effort from everyone involved, and a genuine curiosity to engage in the solutions.
Cumulative changes in weight but not fluid volume balances reflect fluid accumulation in ICU patients
Authors: Köster M. , Dennhardt S. , Jüttner F. , Hopf H.‐B.
Published: November 2016

Background

The cumulative fluid balance of critically ill patients seems to be an outcome‐relevant variable. However, there are no validated data for their reliability calculated for longer (> 5 days) periods of time.

Methods

All ICU patients ≥ 18 years, with an ICU stay ≥ 5 days and a body weight ≤ 195 kg were evaluated from 1 January 2013 to 31 December 2013. Daily standardized weighing was performed using bed‐integrated scales simultaneously with the daily 24‐h fluid balance. Simultaneously, a fluid balance without and with insensible perspiration (10 ml/kg/day) was calculated for each 24 h. Primary endpoint: difference between cumulative fluid balance and body weight changes at the day of transfer to the normal ward or the day of death in the ICU, respectively, in each patient. All data are presented as medians with interquartile ranges (IQR) with 25 and 75 percentiles (IQR/25/75) unless otherwise noted.

Results

One hundred and six critically ill patients were evaluated; 82 survivors and 24 nonsurvivors. Cumulative 24‐h fluid balances rose continuously while body weight decreased over time. Correction of cumulative fluid balances for insensible perspiration (10 ml/kg/day) also did not match with body weight changes. Only survivors had a significant loss in body weight −1.8 (27.5/−6.1/1.0) kg.

Conclusions

Assuming that changes in body weight reflect changes in whole body water content cumulative daily fluid volume balances without or with correction for insensible water loss are not useful for estimating cumulative fluid balance of ICU patients. Survivors but not nonsurvivors had a significant loss of weight over time.
Topical Antimycotics for Oral Candidiasis in Warfarin Users
Authors: Hellfritzsch Maja , Pottegård Anton , Pedersen Andreas James Thestrup , Burghle Alaa , Mouaanaki Fatima , Hallas Jesper , Grove Erik Lerkevang , Damkier Per
Published: November 2016

Treatment for oral candidiasis in warfarin users may be complicated by drug–drug interactions (DDIs) between warfarin and topically applied antimycotics. However, current knowledge of these putative DDIs is merely based on case series. We therefore performed a cohort cross‐over study with the objective to evaluate the potential DDIs between warfarin and miconazole oral gel or nystatin oral solution. The cohort consisted of individuals using warfarin in the period of 1998–2012 (n ≈ 7400). We collected data on cohort members’ measurements of the international normalized ratio (INR) from a clinical database, and obtained information on their use of topically applied miconazole and nystatin from a regional prescription register. Potential DDIs were assessed by comparing INR values before and after initiation of an antimycotic drug. Among 17 warfarin users exposed to miconazole oral gel, the mean INR increased from 2.5 (95% CI: 2.1–2.8) to 3.8 (95% CI: 2.8–4.8) after exposure, corresponding to a mean INR increase of 1.4 (95% CI: 0.3–2.4). Among 30 warfarin users exposed to nystatin oral solution, the mean INR was 2.7 (95% CI: 2.3–3.1) before and 2.5 (95% CI: 2.2–2.9) after exposure. In conclusion, we found evidence supporting a clinically relevant drug–drug interaction between warfarin and miconazole oral gel. In contrast, we did not find any indication of an interaction between warfarin and nystatin oral solution. Nystatin rather than miconazole should be preferred when treating warfarin users for oral candidiasis.
Agglomeration and clusters: Tools and insights from coagglomeration patterns
Authors: Behrens Kristian
Published: November 2016

Geographic clusters have received first‐order policy attention despite our limited academic knowledge about them. I explain how coagglomeration patterns of industries can inform the analysis of clusters by allowing us to better delineate them; to explore the causal mechanisms underlying them; and to more finely assess their impact on various economic outcomes.
Predicting occurrence of juvenile shark habitat to improve conservation planning
Authors: Oh Beverly Z.L. , Sequeira Ana M.M. , Meekan Mark G. , Ruppert Jonathan L.W. , Meeuwig Jessica J.
Published: November 2016

Fishing and habitat degradation have increased the extinction risk of sharks, and conservation strategies recognize that survival of juveniles is critical for the effective management of shark populations. Despite the rapid expansion of marine protected areas (MPAs) globally, the paucity of shark‐monitoring data on large scales (100s–1000s km) means that the effectiveness of MPAs in halting shark declines remains unclear. Using data collected by baited remote underwater video systems (BRUVS) in northwestern Australia, we developed generalized linear models to elucidate the ecological drivers of habitat suitability for juvenile sharks. We assessed occurrence patterns at the order and species levels. We included all juvenile sharks sampled and the 3 most abundant species sampled separately (grey reef [Carcharhinus amblyrhynchos], sandbar [Carcharhinus plumbeus], and whitetip reef sharks [Triaenodon obesus]). We predicted the occurrence of juvenile sharks across 490,515 km2 of coastal waters and quantified the representation of highly suitable habitats within MPAs. Our species‐level models had higher accuracy (ĸ ≥ 0.69) and deviance explained (≥48%) than our order‐level model (ĸ = 0.36 and deviance explained of 10%). Maps of predicted occurrence revealed different species‐specific patterns of highly suitable habitat. These differences likely reflect different physiological or resource requirements between individual species and validate concerns over the utility of conservation targets based on aggregate species groups as opposed to a species‐focused approach. Highly suitable habitats were poorly represented in MPAs with the most restrictions on extractive activities. This spatial mismatch possibly indicates a lack of explicit conservation targets and information on species distribution during the planning process. Non‐extractive BRUVS provided a useful platform for building the suitability models across large scales to assist conservation planning across multiple maritime jurisdictions, and our approach provides a simple for method for testing the effectiveness of MPAs.
Negative effects of submandibular botulinum neurotoxin A injections on oral motor function in children with drooling due to central nervous system disorders
Authors: van Hulst Karen , Kouwenberg Carlyn V , Jongerius Pieter H , Feuth Ton , van den Hoogen Franciscus J A , Geurts Alexander C H , Erasmus Corrie E
Published: November 2016

Aim

The aims of this study were: (1) to determine the incidence and nature of adverse effects on oral motor function after first injections of botulinum neurotoxin A (BoNT‐A) in submandibular glands for excessive drooling in children with central nervous system disorders; and (2) to identify independent predictors of these adverse effects.

Method

A cohort study involved 209 children (123 males, 86 females, aged 4–27y, median 8y 4mo), who received submandibular BoNT‐A injections for drooling. Adverse effects were categorized into swallowing, eating, drinking, articulation, and other problems. Univariable logistic regression was used to study differences in patients with and without adverse effects. Possible predictors were identified using multivariable logistic regression.

Results

Transient adverse effects occurred in 33% of the 209 BoNT‐A treatments. Almost 80% of these were mild, versus 8.7% severe. Approximately 54% of the adverse effects spontaneously resolved within 4 weeks; 3% still existed after 32 weeks. A diagnosis of cerebral palsy, higher range of BoNT‐A dosage, and a pre‐treatment drooling quotient <18% were found to be independent predictors of adverse effects.

Interpretation

Before using submandibular BoNT‐A injections for drooling, potential adverse effects should be discussed. Oral motor function needs to be monitored, because existing dysphagia may be worsened. The identified clinical predictors could be helpful to optimize patient selection.
Systematic review of immunoglobulin use in paediatric neurological and neurodevelopmental disorders
Authors: Gadian Jonathan , Kirk Emma , Holliday Kate , Lim Ming , Absoud Michael
Published: November 2016

Aim

A systematic literature review of intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) treatment of paediatric neurological conditions was performed to summarize the evidence, provide recommendations, and suggest future research.

Method

A MEDLINE search for articles reporting on IVIG treatment of paediatric neuroinflammatory, neurodevelopmental, and neurodegenerative conditions published before September 2015, excluding single case reports and those not in English. Owing to heterogeneous outcome measures, meta‐analysis was not possible. Findings were combined and evidence graded.

Results

Sixty‐five studies were analysed. IVIG reduces recovery time in Guillain–Barré syndrome (grade B). IVIG is as effective as corticosteroids in chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyradiculoneuropathy (grade C), and as effective as tacrolimus in Rasmussen syndrome (grade C). IVIG improves recovery in acute disseminated encephalomyelitis (grade C), reduces mortality in acute encephalitis syndrome with myocarditis (grade C), and improves function and stabilizes disease in myasthenia gravis (grade C). IVIG improves outcome in N‐methyl‐d‐aspartate receptor encephalitis (grade C) and opsoclonus–myoclonus syndrome (grade C), reduces cataplexy symptoms in narcolepsy (grade C), speeds recovery in Sydenham chorea (grade C), reduces tics in selected cases of Tourette syndrome (grade D), and improves symptoms in paediatric autoimmune neuropsychiatric disorder associated with streptococcal infection (grade B).

Interpretation

IVIG is a useful therapy in selected neurological conditions. Well‐designed, prospective, multi‐centre studies with standardized outcome measures are required to compare treatments.
Hospital admissions in children with cerebral palsy: a data linkage study
Authors: Meehan Elaine , Reid Susan M , Williams Katrina , Freed Gary L , Sewell Jillian R , Vidmar Suzanna , Donath Susan , Reddihough Dinah S
Published: November 2016

Aim

The overall aim was to investigate the feasibility and utility of linking a cerebral palsy (CP) register to an administrative data set for health services research purposes. We sought to compare CP hospital admissions to general childhood population admissions, and identify factors associated with type and frequency of admissions in a CP cohort.

Method

The CP register for Victoria, Australia was linked to the state's hospital admissions database. Data pertaining to the admissions of a CP cohort (n=1748) that took place between 2007 and 2014 were extracted. Population data were also obtained.

Results

Overall, 80% of the CP cohort (n=1401) had at least admission between 2007 and 2014, accounting for 11 012 admissions or 1.5% of all admissions in their age group. Compared to general population admissions, CP admissions were more costly and more likely to be elective (66% vs 57%; p<0.001), medical (71% vs 57%; p<0.001), and to take place in metropolitan hospitals (92% vs 78%; p<0.001). Increased CP severity and complexity were associated with having more admissions and a higher proportion of admissions attributable to respiratory illness.

Interpretation

By linking with administrative data sets, CP registers may be useful for health services research and inform health service delivery.
Classical metapopulation dynamics and eco‐evolutionary feedbacks in dendritic networks
Authors: Fronhofer Emanuel A. , Altermatt Florian
Published: November 2016

Eco‐evolutionary dynamics are now recognized to be highly relevant for population and community dynamics. However, the impact of evolutionary dynamics on spatial patterns, such as the occurrence of classical metapopulation dynamics, is less well appreciated. Here, we analyse the evolutionary consequences of spatial network connectivity and topology for dispersal strategies and quantify the eco‐evolutionary feedback in terms of altered classical metapopulation dynamics. We find that network properties, such as topology and connectivity, lead to predictable spatio‐temporal correlations in fitness expectations. These spatio‐temporally stable fitness patterns heavily impact evolutionarily stable dispersal strategies and lead to eco‐evolutionary feedbacks on landscape level metrics, such as the number of occupied patches, the number of extinctions and recolonizations as well as metapopulation extinction risk and genetic structure. Our model predicts that classical metapopulation dynamics are more likely to occur in dendritic networks, and especially in riverine systems, compared to other types of landscape configurations. As it remains debated whether classical metapopulation dynamics are likely to occur in nature at all, our work provides an important conceptual advance for understanding the occurrence of classical metapopulation dynamics which has implications for conservation and management of spatially structured populations.
Impacts of Teratosphaeria leaf disease on plantation Eucalyptus globulus productivity
Authors: Smith A.H. , Wardlaw T.J. , Pinkard E.A. , Ratkowsky D. , Mohammed C.L.
Published: November 2016

The effects of Teratosphaeria leaf disease (TLD) on Eucalyptus globulus are varied, and it is currently poorly understood whether infection by TLD can cause long‐term growth effects. Such information would greatly assist disease management and pruning regimes on E. globulus plantation sites, resulting in both financial and ecological benefits. Two trials were established to quantify the effects of TLD on long‐term growth. The first was a 2‐year fungicide exclusion trial that aimed to determine initial growth losses between trees treated with fungicide and untreated trees. It was found that tree growth was not affected until a threshold value of 20% damage was reached. Volume was reduced by 17% between treated and untreated trees over the course of the 2‐year trial. The second trial, a 5‐year growth study, used differentially affected adjacent stands (one infected and the other unaffected) to look at the longer term effects of more severe defoliation (44–60%) caused by an epidemic of TLD. Results recorded 5 years after the epidemic showed that trees recovered to regain normal growth trajectories after the epidemic, but growth was retarded by ca. 1.2 years for both height and diameter compared with that of the adjoining unaffected stand. As the growth of trees was not permanently reduced by the epidemic, it is concluded that the financial impacts of TLD are more likely to be associated with the loss of income resulting from extensive branch death in the lower crown after leaf and stem infection, which makes the affected stands not suitable for pruning and hence prevents them from being managed as a higher value solid wood crop.
Real‐time PCR assays for the detection of Heterobasidion irregulare, H. occidentale, H. annosum sensu stricto and the Heterobasidion annosum complex
Authors: Lamarche J. , Potvin A. , Stewart D. , Blais M. , Pelletier G. , Shamoun S. F. , Hamelin R. C. , Tanguay P.
Published: November 2016

A set of quantitative hierarchical real‐time PCR assays was developed for the detection of Heterobasidion irregulare, H. occidentale, H. annosum sensu stricto and of the entire Heterobasidion annosum complex. These assays enable specific and accurate detection and quantification of the target species from DNA extracted on airborne collected spores. Heterobasidion‐specific TaqMan™ real‐time PCR detection assays were designed to function under homogeneous conditions so that they may be used in 96‐ or 384‐well plate format arrays for high‐throughput testing of large numbers of samples against multiple targets. Assays were validated for (i) specificity, (ii) sensitivity and (iii) repeatability. All assays were highly specific when evaluated against a panel of pure cultures of target and phylogenetically closely related species. Sensitivity, evaluated by assessing the limit of detection (with a threshold of 95% of positive samples), was found to be between one and a hundred ITS gene region copies or one conidia count equivalent. Precision or repeatability of each assay revealed a mean coefficient of variation of 5.9%. These molecular tools are now available for rapid and reliable monitoring of one of the most significant pathogen species complex of temperate northern coniferous forest around the world.