bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
In pursuit of learning: sensemaking the quality of work life
Authors: K. Yeo Roland , Li Jessica
Published: February 2013

Purpose

– The aim of this paper is to explore how employees make sense of their work context and its influence on their learning orientation to improve their quality of work life.

Design/methodology/approach

– Qualitative data drawn from a dynamic online discussion that spanned three years were used in the content analysis. A total of 137 MBA participants from a university in the southwest of the USA contributed to the online forum.

Findings

– Perception of work-life context influences the cognitive intent of employees in such a way that they change their learning orientation and develop learning strategies to improve their current work conditions. These strategies are in turn influenced by their sensemaking of the context to determine their quality of work life.

Research limitations/implications

– The study illuminates the relationship between learning and context through the theoretical perspective of sensemaking. It extends the concept of learning orientation as operating at the individual and group levels other than the organizational level.

Practical implications

– Organizational leaders and human resource development (HRD) professionals will recognize how certain contextual stimuli can trigger their employees ' readiness to learn and improve their work life. They can direct their employees ' learning orientation through job redesign and job enrichment.

Originality/value

– The study provides a learning context to quality of work life, an area that has not been extensively researched in the HRD literature. By exploring sensemaking of quality of work life in the context of learning, the paper offers a more encompassing perspective of learning orientation and quality of work life contexts.
How does environmental accounting information influence attention and investment?
Authors: Alewine Hank C. , Stone Dan N.
Published: February 2013

Purpose

Environmental consequences increasingly influence management strategy and choice. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effects on attention and investment of: incorporating environmental data into a balanced scorecard (BSC), called the sustainability balanced score card (SBSC) and the organization of environmental accounting information.

Design/methodology/approach

In a between‐participant design, participants (n≈ 95) chose from among two investments using BSCs. Participants were randomly assigned to one of three conditions: no environmental data (control or BSC condition); environmental data embedded within the traditional BSC (four‐perspective SBSC); or environmental data added to a BSC as a standalone fifth perspective (five‐perspective SBSC).

Findings

Investment to achieve environmental stewardship objectives was greater with the four‐perspective SBSC than the traditional BSC. In addition, participants were most efficient, i.e. spent the least total time, and least time per data element examined, with the four‐perspective SBSC. Finally, the time spent examining, and decision weight given to, environmental data were unrelated.

Research limitations/implications

Professional managers and accountants may have greater knowledge of environmental metrics than do students, who are the participants in this study; hence, the results may not generalize to higher knowledgeable professionals since their processing of environmental data may differ from the lower knowledge participants of this study.

Practical implications

The form (i.e. organization) of environmental accounting data changed the allocation of participants' attention while the presence of environmental accounting data changed participants' investments; hence, both the presence and form of environmental accounting information influenced decision making.

Originality/value

This study is among the first to show differing influences from both the presence and organization of environmental accounting data on attention and investment.
The impact of domestic and international terrorism on equity markets: evidence from Indonesia
Authors: Ramiah Vikash , Graham Michael
Published: February 2013

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to show that the consequences of terrorist attacks are beyond what is reported in the media. Equity investors can be adversely affected by these incidents. The authors' work justifies the war on terror.

Design/methodology/approach

Using event study methodology, the authors test how abnormal returns have changed for industrial portfolios in Indonesia following the recent terrorist attacks in the USA, the UK, Spain, India and even Indonesia. The authors adjust the CAPM to test whether systematic risks are altered around these events.

Findings

The findings show that equity portfolios were adversely affected by the September 11 attacks and Bali bombings. The domestic terrorist attack generated the worst outcomes. It appears that systematic risk has increased by the amount of terrorist risk. Other attacks in London, Madrid and Mumbai were minimal.

Originality/value

This study shows how domestic and international terrorist events affect the risk and return in an Asian capital market.
Individual flexibility in energy saving: body size and condition constrain torpor use
Authors: Vuarin Pauline , Dammhahn Melanie , Henry Pierre‐Yves
Published: February 2013

Phenotypic flexibility is a major mechanism in compensating climate‐driven changes in resource availability. Heterotherms can use daily torpor to overcome resource shortages and adverse environmental conditions. The expression of this adaptive energy‐saving strategy varies among individuals, but the factors constraining individual flexibility remain largely unknown.

As energy availability depends on individual stores and/or on the ability to acquire food, the propensity and flexibility in torpor use are expected to be constrained by body condition and/or size, respectively. The aim of this study was to test whether the dependency of torpor depth on air temperature was constrained by body condition and/or body size in a small heterothermic primate, the grey mouse lemur (Microcebus murinus). During the onset of the dry season, we monitored air temperature as well as skin temperatures of 14 free‐ranging individuals (12 females, two males) of known body mass and size.

Unexpectedly, torpor depth depended as much on air temperature as on body condition and size. Fatter, or larger, mouse lemurs underwent deeper torpor than smaller, or leaner, ones. Individual reaction norms of torpor depth to air temperature also revealed that the propensity to undergo deep torpor and the flexibility in torpor depth were enhanced by large body size and high body condition, whereas small, lean individuals remained normothermic.

Our study illustrates that alternative physiological strategies to overcome temperature constraints co‐occur in a population, with body size and condition being key determinants of the energy conservation strategy that an individual can launch.
Ca2+‐dependent endoplasmic reticulum stress correlates with astrogliosis in oligomeric amyloid β‐treated astrocytes and in a model of Alzheimer's disease
Authors: Alberdi Elena , Wyssenbach Ane , Alberdi María , Sánchez‐Gómez Mª V. , Cavaliere Fabio , Rodríguez José J. , Verkhratsky Alexei , Matute Carlos
Published: February 2013

Neurotoxic effects of amyloid β peptides are mediated through deregulation of intracellular Ca2+ homeostasis and signaling, but relatively little is known about amyloid β modulation of Ca2+ homeostasis and its pathological influence on glia. Here, we found that amyloid β oligomers caused a cytoplasmic Ca2+ increase in cultured astrocytes, which was reduced by inhibitors of PLC and ER Ca2+ release. Furthermore, amyloid β peptides triggered increased expression of glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP), as well as oxidative and ER stress, as indicated by eIF2α phosphorylation and overexpression of chaperone GRP78. These effects were decreased by ryanodine and 2APB, inhibitors of ryanodine receptors and InsP3 receptors, respectively, in both primary cultured astrocytes and organotypic cultures of hippocampus and entorhinal cortex. Importantly, intracerebroventricular injection of amyloid β oligomers triggered overexpression of GFAP and GRP78 in astrocytes of the hippocampal dentate gyrus. These data were validated in a triple‐transgenic mouse model of Alzheimer's disease (AD). Overexpression of GFAP and GRP78 in the hippocampal astrocytes correlated with the amyloid β oligomer load in 12‐month‐old mice, suggesting that this parameter drives astrocytic ER stress and astrogliosis in vivo. Together, these results provide evidence that amyloid β oligomers disrupt ER Ca2+ homeostasis, which induces ER stress that leads to astrogliosis; this mechanism may be relevant to AD pathophysiology.
In senescence, age‐associated B cells secrete TNFα and inhibit survival of B‐cell precursors*
Authors: Ratliff Michelle , Alter Sarah , Frasca Daniela , Blomberg Bonnie B. , Riley Richard L.
Published: February 2013

Aged mice exhibit ~ 5–10‐fold increases in an ordinarily minor CD21/35− CD23− mature B‐cell subset termed age‐associated B cells (ABCs). ABCs from old, but not young, mice induce apoptosis in pro‐B cells directly through secretion of TNFα. In addition, aged ABCs, via TNFα, stimulate bone marrow cells to suppress pro‐B‐cell growth. ABC effects can be prevented by the anti‐inflammatory cytokine IL‐10. Notably, CD21/35+ CD23+ follicular (FO) splenic and FO‐like recirculating bone marrow B cells in both young and aged mice contain a subpopulation that produces IL‐10. Unlike young adult FO B cells, old FO B cells also produce TNFα; however, secretion of IL‐10 within this B‐cell population ameliorates the TNFα‐mediated effects on B‐cell precursors. Loss of B‐cell precursors in the bone marrow of old mice in vivo was significantly associated with increased ABC relative to recirculating FO‐like B cells. Adoptive transfer of aged ABC into RAG‐2 KO recipients resulted in significant losses of pro‐B cells within the bone marrow. These results suggest that alterations in B‐cell composition during old age, in particular, the increase in ABC within the B‐cell compartments, contribute to a pro‐inflammatory environment within the bone marrow. This provides a mechanism of inappropriate B‐cell ‘feedback’ that promotes down‐regulation of B lymphopoiesis in old age.
Monitoring oak processionary moth Thaumetopoea processionea L. using pheromone traps: the influence of pheromone lure source, trap design and height above the ground on capture rates
Authors: Williams David T. , Straw N. , Townsend M. , Wilkinson A. S. , Mullins A.
Published: February 2013

A field trial conducted in the summer of 2011 evaluated three key parameters that might be influential for determining the number of adult male oak processionary moths (OPM) Thaumetopoea processionea (L.) caught in pheromone traps. Two types of traps (Delta and funnel; Oecos, U.K.) containing one of three different commercially available pheromone lures for OPM were placed out in the lower (3–5 m), mid (5–10 m) and upper (10–15 m) canopy of 72 individual oak trees in Richmond Park, in London, U.K.

The traps were placed out for 8 weeks covering the main flight period of OPM, and significantly more male moths were captured in traps positioned in the upper canopy (76.6%) compared with either mid‐canopy (18.6%) or lower canopy (4.8%) positions. Funnel traps caught significantly more male OPM than Delta traps, catching almost six times as many moths over the trapping period.

Traps containing one of the commercially available pheromone lures did not catch any moths, whereas traps with the other two lures caught similar numbers of moths. Chemical analysis revealed considerable differences between the three pheromone lures used in the trial in terms of the initial starting concentration of the primary component (Z,Z)‐11,13‐hexadecadienyl acetate and its dissipation over a 28‐day period.

The results obtained in the present study indicate some of the main factors that need to be taken into account when using pheromone traps to monitor OPM populations and also contribute to the establishment of a standardized monitoring system for this recently established insect pest.
Extracellular DNA traps in allergic, infectious, and autoimmune diseases
Authors: Simon D. , Simon H.‐U. , Yousefi S.
Published: February 2013

Extracellular DNA traps are part of the innate immune response and are seen with many infectious, allergic, and autoimmune diseases. They can be generated by several different leukocytes, including neutrophils, eosinophils, and monocytes, as well as mast cells. Here, we review the composition of these extracellular DNA‐containing structures as well as potential mechanisms for their production and function. In general, extracellular DNA traps have been described as binding to and killing pathogens, particularly bacteria, fungi, but also parasites. On the other hand, it is possible that DNA traps contribute to immunopathology in chronic inflammatory diseases, such as bronchial asthma. In addition, it has been demonstrated that they can initiate and/or potentiate autoimmune diseases. Extracellular DNA traps represent a frequently observed phenomenon in inflammatory diseases, and they appear to participate in the cross‐talk between different immune cells. These new insights into the pathogenesis of inflammatory diseases may open new avenues for targeted therapies.
EAACI position paper: skin prick testing in the diagnosis of occupational type I allergies
Authors: van Kampen V. , de Blay F. , Folletti I. , Kobierski P. , Moscato G. , Olivieri M. , Quirce S. , Sastre J. , Walusiak‐Skorupa J. , Raulf‐Heimsoth M.
Published: February 2013

Skin prick testing (SPT) in combination with the clinical history of the patient is one important step in the diagnosis of IgE‐mediated occupational allergies. However, skin test performance is related to the quality of allergen extracts. The present consensus document was prepared by an EAACI Task Force consisting of an expert panel of allergologists and occupational physicians from Germany, Italy, Spain, France, Austria, and Poland. All members of the panel were also involved in the data collection within the European multicentre study STADOCA (Standard diagnosis for occupational allergy). The aim of this Task Force was the assessment of the quality of commercially available SPT solutions for selected occupational allergens under standardized procedure conditions in different European centres and institutes of Occupational Medicine. The data evaluation shows a wide variability among SPT solutions and also indicates that the sensitivity of several SPT solutions is low. Therefore, improvement and standardization of SPT solutions for occupational allergens is highly recommended. Clinical practitioners should also not presume that their SPT solutions are fully reliable. The main objective of the document is to issue consensus suggestions for the use of SPT with occupational allergens based on the European multicentre study STADOCA, on existing scientific evidence and the expertise of a panel of allergologists.
Cinnamon extract inhibits degranulation and de novo synthesis of inflammatory mediators in mast cells
Authors: Hagenlocher Y. , Bergheim I. , Zacheja S. , Schäffer M. , Bischoff S. C. , Lorentz A.
Published: February 2013

Background

Mast cells (MC) are main effector cells of allergic and other inflammatory reactions; however, only a few anti‐MC agents are available for therapy. It has been reported that cinnamon extract (CE) attenuates allergic symptoms by affecting immune cells; however, its influence on MC was not studied so far. Here, we analyzed the effects of CE on human and rodent MC in vitro and in vivo.

Methods

Expression of MC‐specific proteases was examined in vivo in duodenum of mice following oral administration of CE. Release of mediators and phosphorylation of signaling molecules were analyzed in vitro in human MC isolated from intestinal tissue (hiMC) or RBL‐2H3 cells challenged with CE prior to stimulation by FcεRI cross‐linking.

Results

Following oral treatment with CE, expression of the mast cell proteases MCP6 and MC‐CPA was significantly decreased in mice. In hiMC, CE also caused a reduced expression of tryptase. Moreover, in hiMC stimulated by IgE cross‐linking, the release of β‐hexosaminidase was reduced to about 20% by CE. The de novo synthesis of cysteinyl leukotrienes, TNFα, CXCL8, CCL2, CCL3, and CCL4, was almost completely inhibited by CE. The attenuation of mast cell mediators by CE seems to be related to particular signaling pathways, because we found that activation of the MAP kinases ERK, JNK, and p38 as well as of Akt was strongly reduced by CE.

Conclusion

CE decreases expression of mast cell–specific mediators in vitro and in vivo and thus is a new plant‐originated candidate for anti‐allergic therapy.
Back to Basics in the Assessment of Stigma: Commentary on Conley et al. (2012)
Authors: Salvatore Jessica
Published: February 2013

In this commentary, I put forward some recommendations for a triangulating approach to the documentation of stigma marking consensually nonmonogamous (CNM) relationships. I also suggest what information policymakers need next: answers to the interrelated questions of where it comes from and what to do about it. Given the context‐specific manifestations of social stigma, policy recommendations should be driven by both an account of the origins of this stigma and a consideration of the current atmosphere of intense social change relating to sexuality in the United States.
Meanings of quality of care: Perspectives of Portuguese health professionals and patients
Authors: Silva Sílvia A. , Costa Patrícia L. , Costa Rita , Tavares Susana M. , Leite Ema S. , Passos Ana M.
Published: February 2013

Objectives

The main goal of this study is to explore what is meant by “quality of care” (QoC) by both health professionals and patients. This research also intends to compare the perspectives of nurses, doctors and patients in order to understand whether these different actors share similar views on what represents QoC.

Design and methods

A qualitative study was conducted. The study consisted in 44 semi‐structured individual interviews (11 doctors; 23 nurses; 10 patients) and in three focus groups (20 participants: doctors, nurses, patients). Participants were doctors, nurses and patients from several Hospitals in Portugal. Data were analysed using content analysis methodology with MaxQDA software.

Results

The main content analysis' results revealed that all participants emphasize technical and interpersonal dimensions of QoC. Nevertheless, professionals stressed the availability of equipment and supplies and the conditions of health care indoor facilities. Patients focused more on their access to health services, namely the availability of health professionals, and on the health status outcome after care. In what the differences between doctors and nurses are concerned, the former tend to highlight the technical aspects of care more than the nurses, who tend to refer interpersonal aspects immediately.

Conclusions

Although nowadays the importance of health care quality has become well‐recognized, its definition is still complex. Given that specific aspects are more valued by certain groups than others, it is important to take in consideration all the stakeholder's perspectives when measuring QoC in order to continuously improve it in the ‘real’ settings.
Induction of receptor for advanced glycation end products by insufficient leptin action triggers pancreatic β‐cell failure in type 2 diabetes
Authors: Han Dong , Yamamoto Yasuhiko , Munesue Seiichi , Motoyoshi So , Saito Hidehito , Win Myat Thu Thu , Watanabe Takuo , Tsuneyama Koichi , Yamamoto Hiroshi
Published: February 2013

Glucolipotoxicity, which is exerted by free fatty acids (FFA) and prolonged hyperglycemia, is implicated in pancreatic β‐cell failure in diabetes. Pattern recognition receptors such as receptor for advanced glycation end products (RAGE) and toll‐like receptors 2 and 4 could mediate danger signals in β‐cells. We examined whether RAGE contributes to β‐cell failure in a type 2 diabetes mouse model. Pancreatic islets were isolated from ob/ob, db/db, diet‐induced obesity (DIO), RAGE‐null (RAGE−/−), and RAGE+/+ wild‐type (WT) control mice and dispersed into single cells for flow cytometry. RAGE expression was detected in insulin‐positive β‐cells of ob/ob and db/db mice, but not of WT, DIO, or RAGE−/− mice: thus, inadequate leptin receptor signaling and RAGE expression may be linked. Compared with RAGE+/+ db/db mice, RAGE−/− db/db mice showed higher β‐cell number and mass with less apoptosis as well as glucose tolerance with higher insulin secretion without any differences in serum levels of FFA and adiponectin. Palmitate or oleate pretreatment combined with a leptin antagonist induced RAGE expression, AGE‐elicited apoptosis, and impaired glucose‐stimulated insulin secretion by advanced glycation end products (AGE) in MIN6 cells. FFA elevation with concomitant AGE formation during prolonged hyperglycemia could cause β‐cell damage through insufficient leptin action and subsequent RAGE induction in type 2 diabetes.
Values and risks of second opinion in Japan's universal health‐care system
Authors: Okamoto Sawako , Kawahara Kazuo , Okawa Atsushi , Tanaka Yujiro
Published: February 2013

Background

Second opinion (SO) is widely recognized in Japan, but we do not know how patients view and use SO.

Objectives

To investigate optimum seeking of SO in Japan's universal health‐care system.

Design, participants, and methods

Survey of patients at Tokyo Medical and Dental University Hospital. Of 365 responses, 67 had experienced SO with standardized protocol at SO Clinic; 82 had obtained SO elsewhere without instruction; 216 had never sought SO.

Main outcome measures

Views of values and risks of SO.

Results

Second opinion patients with standardized protocol better understood their illness, treatment options, individualized plan, and uncertainty in medicine, and also reported improved decision making compared with SO patients without the protocol (P < 0.05). However, more than half of respondents misunderstood SO as a way to change doctors or treatment. Second opinion respondents (n = 149) had a propensity to request treatment changes (P < 0.1) and more than one‐third (n = 82) did not tell SO doctor they were being treated by another doctor. The absolute majority of non‐SO patients would seek SO for a serious illness but would hesitate to tell their doctors.

Discussion and conclusion

Respondents recognized value of SO to improve understanding and decision making. This study also found risks in SO misuse which may be reinforced by Japan's cultural tendencies and universal health‐care system. Our findings suggest steps to increase the benefit of SO: ensure involvement of original doctor, instruct patients about SO and help them organize their thinking before SO and facilitate patients' return to the treating doctor for discussion and decision making.
Regeneration of dental pulp tissue in immature teeth with apical periodontitis using platelet‐rich plasma and dental pulp cells
Authors: Zhu W. , Zhu X. , Huang G. T.‐J. , Cheung G. S. P. , Dissanayaka W. L. , Zhang C.
Published: February 2013

Aim

To investigate the new tissues growing into the pulp space of immature dog teeth that were infected, disinfected and filled with blood clot (BC), dental pulp cells (DPCs), platelet‐rich plasma (PRP) or a combination of DPCs and PRP in immature dog teeth with apical periodontitis.

Methodology

Fifty‐six immature roots from mandibular premolars of four beagles were divided into four experimental groups (n = 40) and two control groups. After the induction of apical periodontitis, the root canals of experimental groups were disinfected with NaOCl irrigation and a tri‐antibiotic paste medication. The canals were then filled with different materials according to the experimental group: BC group, DPCs group, PRP group or DPCs + PRP group. Access cavities were sealed with MTA and composite. Radiographs were taken after 90 days, and the jaws including the teeth were processed for histologic analysis. The data were statistically analysed using chi‐square evaluation and Student's t‐test.

Results

Radiographic analyses demonstrated no significant difference between experimental groups in periradicular bone healing (P > 0.05), whilst those groups that used DPCs produced a significantly greater root thickening (P < 0.01). The histologic evaluation showed that the groups with PRP formed more tissues in the canals (P = 0.01). The groups with DPCs had substantially more mineralized tissue formation in the canal than those without DPCs, especially in the apical third. In DPCs + PRP group, bone‐like tissue grew into the canal space from the periapical tissue.

Conclusions

A combination of DPCs + PRP increased vital tissue regeneration within the root canals of immature teeth associated with apical periodontitis.
Familial cases with MYH9 disorders caused by MYH9 S96L mutation
Authors: Murayama Shizuko , Akiyama Masaharu , Namba Hiroyuki , Wada Yasuyuki , Ida Hiroyuki , Kunishima Shinji
Published: February 2013

We report familial cases with
MYH9
disorders: a 1‐year‐old Japanese boy who presented only with macrothrombocytopenia, and his 33‐year‐old father who had been diagnosed with refractory chronic idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura, and suffered from hearing loss and chronic renal failure. Peripheral blood smears revealed giant platelets but no Döhle body‐like cytoplasmic inclusion bodies in neutrophils. Heterozygous
MYH9
S96L mutations were found in the patient and his father, resulting in the diagnosis of a familial case with
MYH9
disorders. The possibility of
MYH9
disorders including Epstein syndrome should be assessed in cases of thrombocytopenia through the careful examination of hematological features.
Development of fatty acid calcium stone ileus after initiation of human milk fortifier
Authors: Murase Masahiko , Miyazawa Tokuo , Taki Motohiro , Sakurai Motoichiro , Miura Fumihiro , Mizuno Katsumi , Itabashi Kazuo , Toki Akira
Published: February 2013

We report a case who was born with extremely low birth weight infant and had experienced abdominal operation for necrotizing enterocolitis, eventually developed ileus due to fatty acid calcium stones after giving human milk fortifier. He had developed necrotizing enterocolitis on day 30 of his age, such that we performed enterectomy and ileostomy. He could not tolerate enteral feeding fully, because intestinal fistula infection was repeated. Although we administered hindmilk, he grew up slowly and he suffered cholestasis as well. We performed end‐to‐end anastomosis to prevent fistula infections on day 87. After this operation, breast milk feeding volume was increased easily. However, we started to add HMF of half‐strength on day 124, because his body weight gain remained very poor. And we confirmed to intensify the ratio of HMF full‐strength on day 128. After that his abdomen had distended on day 131. As there is no effect of conservative therapy to occlusive ileus, we did emergency laparotomy on day 139. Intestinal calculi were impacted at anastomic portion. Although all stones were removed, he died on 144 days due to disseminated intravascular coagulation and renal failure. Calculi analysis revealed that all of them were fatty acid calcium stones. There is no report about like our case. We speculate that the construction of fatty acid calcium result from either high concentration of calcium/phosphorus or rapid increase in the fortification. We could have prevented this case happened by slower increment of fortification.
Witnessed versus Unwitnessed Random Urine Tests in the Treatment of Opioid Dependence
Authors: Mallya Ashok , Purnell Amanda L. , Svrakic Dragan M. , Lovell Ann M. , Freedland Kenneth E. , Gott Britt M. , Sayuk Gregory S. , Cicero Theodore J. , Brawer Peter A. , Trafton Jodie A. , Scherrer Jeffrey F. , Lustman Patrick J.
Published: February 2013

Background and Objectives

Clinics licensed to provide pharmacotherapy for opiate dependence disorder are required to perform random urine drug screen (RUDS) tests. The results provide the empirical basis of individual treatment and programmatic effectiveness, and public health policy. Patients consent to witnessed testing but most tests are unwitnessed. The purpose of the present study was to compare treatment effectiveness estimates derived from witnessed versus unwitnessed urine samples.

Methods

We adopted a policy requiring visually witnessed urine drug screens (WUDS) and studied its impact (a single group, pretest–posttest design) on the RUDS test results in 115 male veterans enrolled in the St. Louis VA Opioid Treatment Program.

Results

The percentage of opioid‐positive urine samples increased significantly following implementation of WUDS (25% vs. 41%, χ2 = 66.5, p < .001).

Conclusions and Scientific Significance

Results of this preliminary study suggest that random testing alone does not ensure the integrity of UDS testing. Outcome calculations based on random unwitnessed tests may overestimate the effectiveness of opioid dependence disorder treatment. (Am J Addict 2013;22:175‐177)
Costing Conservation
Authors: McCarthy Donal
Published: February 2013

Saving species costs money. But how much money? Governments have committed themselves to action but do not know what such action will cost. Donal McCarthy can tell them – and it is a bargain.
The Effects of Low-Dose Radiation: Soviet Science, The Nuclear Industry – And Independence?
Authors: Møller Anders Pape , Mousseau Timothy A.
Published: February 2013

Chernobyl and Fukushima have led to worldwide interest in the effects of so-called low-dose radiation. But research so far has been a puzzling mix of Soviet science and research supported by the nuclear industry, with some independent scientists contributing. Anders Pape Møller and Timothy A. Mousseau navigate between th ese diverse efforts to investigate the effects of low-dose radiation on animals, plants and people.
Annual Research Review: Resilience and mental health in children and adolescents living in areas of armed conflict – a systematic review of findings in low‐ and middle‐income countries
Authors: Tol Wietse A. , Song Suzan , Jordans Mark J. D.
Published: February 2013

Background

Researchers focused on mental health of conflict‐affected children are increasingly interested in the concept of resilience. Knowledge on resilience may assist in developing interventions aimed at improving positive outcomes or reducing negative outcomes, termed promotive or protective interventions.

Methods

We performed a systematic review of peer‐reviewed qualitative and quantitative studies focused on resilience and mental health in children and adolescents affected by armed conflict in low‐ and middle‐income countries.

Results

Altogether 53 studies were identified: 15 qualitative and mixed methods studies and 38 quantitative, mostly cross‐sectional studies focused on school‐aged children and adolescents. Qualitative studies identified variation across socio‐cultural settings of relevant resilience outcomes, and report contextually unique processes contributing to such outcomes. Quantitative studies focused on promotive and protective factors at different socio‐ecological levels (individual, family‐, peer‐, school‐, and community‐levels). Generally, promotive and protective factors showed gender‐, symptom‐, and phase of conflict‐specific effects on mental health outcomes.

Conclusions

Although limited by its predominantly cross‐sectional nature and focus on protective outcomes, this body of knowledge supports a perspective of resilience as a complex dynamic process driven by time‐ and context‐dependent variables, rather than the balance between risk‐ and protective factors with known impacts on mental health. Given the complexity of findings in this population, we conclude that resilience‐focused interventions will need to be highly tailored to specific contexts, rather than the application of a universal model that may be expected to have similar effects on mental health across contexts.
Learning disabilities in Darier's disease patients
Authors: Dodiuk‐Gad R. , Lerner M. , Breznitz Z. , Cohen‐Barak E. , Ziv M. , Shani‐Adir A. , Amichai B. , Zlotogorski A. , Shalev S. , Rozenman D.
Published: February 2013

Background

Neuropsychiatric features and intellectual difficulties have been reported in studies of Darier's disease. Learning disabilities have never been reported or evaluated systematically in these patients.

Objective

To assess the prevalence of learning disabilities in 76 patients with Darier's disease, and cognitive functioning in 19 of them.

Methods

The data were collected by two methods: a questionnaire, as part of a larger study on the clinical characteristics of 76 patients; and neuropsychological measures for the assessment of learning disabilities in 19 of them.

Results

Thirty‐one of the 76 patients reported learning disabilities (41%) and 56 (74%) reported a family history of learning disabilities. Significant differences were found between the 19 patients evaluated on cognitive tasks and a control group of 42 skilled learners on subtraction and multiplication tasks. Six (32%) of the 19 were identified as having reading difficulties and five (26%) exhibited low performance on the Concentration Performance Test. All patients had general cognitive ability in the average range.

Conclusions

Findings suggest an association between Darier's disease and learning disabilities, a heretofore unreported association, pointing to the need to obtain personal and family history of such disabilities in order to refer cases of clinical concern for further study.
Targeting of Mammography Screening According to Life Expectancy in Women Aged 75 and Older
Authors: Schonberg Mara A. , Breslau Erica S. , McCarthy Ellen P.
Published: February 2013

Objectives

To examine receipt of mammography screening according to life expectancy in women aged 75 and older.

Design

Population‐based survey.

Setting

United States.

Participants

Community dwelling U.S. women aged 75 and older who participated in the 2008 or 2010 National Health Interview Survey.

Measurements

Using a previously developed and validated index, women were categorized according to life expectancy (>9, 5–9, <5 years). Receipt of mammography screening in the past 2 years was examined according to life expectancy, adjusting for sociodemographic characteristics, access to care, preventive orientation (e.g., receipt of influenza vaccination), and receipt of a clinician recommendation for screening.

Results

Of 2,266 respondents, 27.1% had a life expectancy of greater than 9 years, 53.4% had a life expectancy of 5 to 9 years, and 19.5% had a life expectancy of less than 5 years. Overall, 55.7% reported receiving mammography screening in the past 2 years. Life expectancy was strongly associated with receipt of screening (P < .001), yet 36.1% of women with less than 5 years life expectancy were screened, and 29.2% of women with more than 9 years life expectancy were not screened. A clinician recommendation for screening was the strongest predictor of screening independent of life expectancy. Higher educational attainment, age, receipt of influenza vaccination, and history of benign breast biopsy were also independently associated with being screened.

Conclusion

Despite uncertainty of benefit, many women aged 75 and older are screened with mammography. Life expectancy is strongly associated with receipt of screening, which may reflect clinicians and patients appropriately considering life expectancy in screening decisions, but 36% of women with short life expectancies are still screened, suggesting that new interventions are needed to further improve targeting of screening according to life expectancy. Decision aids and guidelines encouraging clinicians to consider patient life expectancy in screening decisions may improve care.
Visualization and characterization of engineered nanoparticles in complex environmental and food matrices using atmospheric scanning electron microscopy
Authors: LUO P. , MORRISON I. , DUDKIEWICZ A. , TIEDE K. , BOYES E. , O’TOOLE P. , PARK S. , BOXALL A.B.
Published: February 2013

Imaging and characterization of engineered nanoparticles (ENPs) in water, soils, sediment and food matrices is very important for research into the risks of ENPs to consumers and the environment. However, these analyses pose a significant challenge as most existing techniques require some form of sample manipulation prior to imaging and characterization, which can result in changes in the ENPs in a sample and in the introduction of analytical artefacts. This study therefore explored the application of a newly designed instrument, the atmospheric scanning electron microscope (ASEM), which allows the direct characterization of ENPs in liquid matrices and which therefore overcomes some of the limitations associated with existing imaging methods. ASEM was used to characterize the size distribution of a range of ENPs in a selection of environmental and food matrices, including supernatant of natural sediment, test medium used in ecotoxicology studies, bovine serum albumin and tomato soup under atmospheric conditions. The obtained imaging results were compared to results obtained using conventional imaging by transmission electron microscope (TEM) and SEM as well as to size distribution data derived from nanoparticle tracking analysis (NTA). ASEM analysis was found to be a complementary technique to existing methods that is able to visualize ENPs in complex liquid matrices and to provide ENP size information without extensive sample preparation. ASEM images can detect ENPs in liquids down to 30 nm and to a level of 1 mg L−1 (9×108 particles mL−1, 50 nm Au ENPs). The results indicate ASEM is a highly complementary method to existing approaches for analyzing ENPs in complex media and that its use will allow those studying to study ENP behavior in situ, something that is currently extremely challenging to do.
Neural stem/progenitor cells display a low requirement for oxidative metabolism independent of hypoxia inducible factor‐1alpha expression
Authors: Candelario Kate M. , Shuttleworth C. William , Cunningham Lee Anna
Published: February 2013

Neural stem/progenitor cells (NSPCs) are multipotent cells within the embryonic and adult brain that give rise to both neuronal and glial cell lineages. Maintenance of NSPC multipotency is promoted by low oxygen tension, although the metabolic underpinnings of this trait have not been described. In this study, we investigated the metabolic state of undifferentiated NSPCs in culture, and tested their relative reliance on oxidative versus glycolytic metabolism for survival, as well as their dependence on hypoxia inducible factor‐1alpha (HIF‐1α) expression for maintenance of metabolic phenotype. Unlike primary neurons, NSPCs from embryonic and adult mice survived prolonged hypoxia in culture. In addition, NSPCs displayed greater susceptibility to glycolytic inhibition compared with primary neurons, even in the presence of alternative mitochondrial TCA substrates. NSPCs were also more resistant than neurons to mitochondrial cyanide toxicity, less capable of utilizing galactose as an alternative substrate to glucose, and more susceptible to pharmacological inhibition of the pentose phosphate pathway by 6‐aminonicotinamide. Inducible deletion of exon 1 of the Hif1a gene improved the ability of NSPCs to utilize pyruvate during glycolytic inhibition, but did not alter other parameters of metabolism, including their ability to withstand prolonged hypoxia. Taken together, these data indicate that NSPCs have a relatively low requirement for oxidative metabolism for their survival and that hypoxic resistance is not dependent upon HIF‐1α signaling.
Organization Capital and the Cross‐Section of Expected Returns
Authors: EISFELDT ANDREA L. , PAPANIKOLAOU DIMITRIS
Published: February 2013

Organization capital is a production factor that is embodied in the firm's key talent and has an efficiency that is firm specific. Hence, both shareholders and key talent have a claim to its cash flows. We develop a model in which the outside option of the key talent determines the share of firm cash flows that accrue to shareholders. This outside option varies systematically and renders firms with high organization capital riskier from shareholders' perspective. We find that firms with more organization capital have average returns that are 4.6% higher than firms with less organization capital.
Liver fibrosis staging through a stepwise analysis of non‐invasive markers (FibroSteps) in patients with chronic hepatitis C infection
Authors: El‐Kamary Samer S. , Mohamed Mona M. , El‐Raziky Maissa , Shardell Michelle D. , Shaker Olfat G. , ElAkel Wafaa A. , Esmat Gamal
Published: February 2013

Abstract

Background

Non‐invasive fibrosis markers can distinguish between liver fibrosis stages in lieu of liver biopsy or imaging elastography.

Aims

To develop a sensitive, non‐invasive, freely‐available algorithm that differentiates between individual liver fibrosis stages in chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) patients.

Methods

Chronic HCV patients (n = 355) at Cairo University Hospital, Egypt, with liver biopsy to determine fibrosis stage (METAVIR), were tested for preselected fibrosis markers. A novel multistage stepwise fibrosis classification algorithm (FibroSteps) was developed using random forest analysis for biomarker selection, and logistic regression for modelling. FibroSteps predicted fibrosis stage using four steps: Step 1 distinguished no(F0)/mild fibrosis(F1) vs. moderate(F2)/severe fibrosis(F3)/cirrhosis(F4); Step 2a distinguished F0 vs. F1; Step 2b distinguished F2 vs. F3/F4; and Step 3 distinguished F3 vs. F4. FibroSteps was developed using a randomly‐selected training set (n = 234) and evaluated using the remaining patients (n = 118) as a validation set.

Results

Hyaluronic Acid, TGF‐β1, α2‐macroglobulin, MMP‐2, Apolipoprotein‐A1, Urea, MMP‐1, alpha‐fetoprotein, haptoglobin, RBCs, haemoglobin and TIMP‐1 were selected into the models, which had areas under the receiver operating curve (AUC) of 0.973, 0.923 (Step 1); 0.943, 0.872 (Step 2a); 0.916, 0.883 (Step 2b) and 0.944, 0.946 (Step 3), in the training and validation sets respectively. The final classification had accuracies of 94.9% (95% CI: 91.3–97.4%) and 89.8% (95% CI: 82.9–94.6%) for the training and validation sets respectively.

Conclusions

FibroSteps, a freely available, non‐invasive liver fibrosis classification, is accurate and can assist clinicians in making prognostic and therapeutic decisions. The statistical code for FibroSteps using R software is provided in the supplementary materials.
Immunomodulatory properties of dental tissue‐derived mesenchymal stem cells
Authors: Li Z , Jiang C‐M , An S , Cheng Q , Huang Y‐F , Wang Y‐T , Gou Y‐C , Xiao L , Yu W‐J , Wang J
Published: February 2013

In addition to their well‐established self‐renewal and multipotent differentiation properties, mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) also possess potent immunomodulatory functions both in vitro and in vivo, which render them a potential novel immunotherapeutic tool for a variety of autoimmune and inflammation‐related diseases. The major mechanisms may involve (1) the secretion of an array of soluble factors such as prostaglandin E2 (PGE2), indoleamine 2, 3‐dioxygenase (IDO), transforming growth factor‐β (TGF‐β), and human leukocyte antigen G5 (HLA‐G5); (2) interactions between MSCs and immune cells such as T cells, B cells, macrophages, and dendritic cells. Recently, increasing evidence has supported that MSCs derived from dental tissues are promising alternative sources of multipotent MSCs. We here provide a thorough and extensive review about new findings in the immunomodulatory functions of MSCs derived from several dental tissues, including dental pulp, periodontal ligament, gingiva, exfoliated deciduous teeth, apical papilla, and dental follicle, respectively. The immunomodulatory properties of dental MSCs place them as a more accessible cell source than bone marrow‐derived MSCs for cell‐based therapy of immune and inflammation‐related diseases.
Loss Aversion and Foreign Policy Resolve
Authors: Berejikian Jeffrey D. , Early Bryan R.
Published: February 2013

This article draws upon recent findings from the field of neuroscience to explore how loss aversion affects foreign policy resolve. We theorize that U.S. policy makers are more resolute in pursuing preventive policies that seek to avoid losses than they are in pursuing promotive policies that seek to acquire new gains. To test our theory, we conduct the first large‐n analysis of foreign policy hypotheses derived from the neuroscience of loss aversion using data from 100 cases of U.S.‐initiated Section 301 trade disputes. The results provide strong support for the loss‐aversion‐based theory, revealing that American policy makers are willing to fight harder and hold out longer in trade disputes with preventive objectives than they are in cases with promotive ones. Our study demonstrates that hypotheses derived from neuroscientific findings can be tested using large‐n techniques in study of foreign policy, revealing a new avenue of inquiry within the field.
Relationship between disease severity and escape of Pseudoperonospora cubensis sporangia from a cucumber canopy during downy mildew epidemics
Authors: Neufeld K. N. , Isard S. A. , Ojiambo P. S.
Published: February 2013

Fundamental to the development of models to predict the spread of cucurbit downy mildew is the ability to determine the escape of Pseudoperonospora cubensis sporangia from infected fields. Aerial concentrations of sporangia, C (sporangia m−3), were monitored using Rotorod samplers deployed at 0·5 to 3·0 m above a naturally infected cucumber canopy in two sites in central and eastern North Carolina in 2011, where disease severity ranged from 1 to 40%. Standing crop of sporangia was assessed each morning at 07·00 h EDT and ranged from 320 to 16 170 sporangia m−2. Disease severity and height above the canopy significantly (P < 0·0001) affected C with mean concentration (Cm) being high at moderate disease. Values of Cm decreased rapidly with canopy height and at a height of 2·0 m, Cm was only 7% of values measured at 0·5 m when disease was moderate. Daily total flux (FD) was dependent on disease severity and ranged from 5·9 to 2242·3 sporangia m−2. The fraction of available sporangia that escaped the canopy increased from 0·028 to 0·171 as average wind speed above the canopy for periods of high C increased from 1·7 to 3·6 m s−1. Variations of Cm and FD with increasing disease were well described (P < 0·0001) by a log‐normal model with 15% as the threshold above which Cm and FD decreased as disease severity increased. These results indicate that disease severity should be used to adjust sporangia escape in spore transport simulation models that are used to predict the risk of spread of cucurbit downy mildew.