bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Regions and archipelagos of consumer culture
Authors: Chelekis Jessica Andrea , Figueiredo Bernardo
Published: February 2015

Marketing scholarship often employs geographical regions to demarcate and contextualize market and consumer research. Regions help researchers grasp phenomena that span over areas larger than a single locality. However, the potential for regions to create greater understanding in consumer research has been limited by researchers’ acceptance of geopolitical frontiers as the natural boundaries of cultural practices. We introduce critical regionalities and the archipelago metaphor as an analytic lens for interrogating and redrawing regional borders while preserving the benefits of a regional approach. Combining poststructuralist and critical historical perspectives, we argue for greater sensitivity to place and history in operationalizing regional consumer cultures. To illustrate this approach, we take Latin America as our point of departure and use examples from the central consumption areas of food and dwelling, for example, the consumption of rice and beans and the rise of gated communities. We contribute to recent theoretical developments in marketing and consumer culture theory with a flexible notion of regional consumer culture, paying critical attention to the relationship between analytical scales and researchers’ reflexivity. This approach also allows for more attention to non-Western contexts, ontologies, and epistemologies.
Teaching for ‘Global Telephony’: A case study of a community school for India’s 21st century
Authors: Byker Erik Jon
Published: February 2015

Although controversial, perhaps no piece of legislation has the potential to transform India’s future more than the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act (RTE). Upon the passage and enforcement of RTE in 2009, the Indian government instituted a series of wide-ranging reforms to India’s education system. For example, the act mandates that all private elementary schools (Classes I–VIII) reserve 25% of their class strength to underprivileged children. Private schools have options regarding their adherence to this law. One option is to provide “Equal Opportunity Schools” where underprivileged children are provided a quality education but in a separate school building. In response to RTE, a number of private schools are considering the “community school” model as a possible way to meet the “Equal Opportunity School” provision. While many definitions exist for a “community school,” one defining feature of a community school is that it is more localized and often reflects the customs and traditions of village life. This article’s purpose is to examine a Bangalore-based private school’s response to RTE. Specifically, the article describes a case study of the creation of a community school with the mission to bridge the local and the global with the aid of laptop technology.
The implications of contract teaching in India: A review
Authors: Chandra Madhur
Published: February 2015

The attempt to rapidly increase access to primary education in developing countries like India over the past decade has created a need to commensurately increase the number of teachers in the system. In order to meet the burgeoning demand for additional teachers amidst fiscal constraints, India has chosen to actively promote the hiring of contract teachers. This paper reviews the appointments, salary structure, and training of contract teachers, and presents the argument that the salary and work conditions of contract teachers in India as well as the lack of adequate training negatively impacts their motivation, morale and long-term commitment to teaching, with potentially serious implications for education quality. A synthesis of the literature on teacher preparation in the United States is also presented in order to analyze how this body of knowledge can better inform the contract teacher debate in India.
Effectiveness of a Multifaceted Community-Based Promotion Strategy on Use of GetHealthyHarlem.org, a Local Community Health Education Website
Authors: Smith Michelle , Mateo Katrina F. , Morita Haruka , Hutchinson Carly , Cohall Alwyn T.
Published: February 2015

The use of health communication extends beyond simply promoting or disseminating a particular product or proposed behavior change; it involves the systematic and strategic integration and execution of evidence-based, theory-driven, and community engagement strategies. Much like in public health intervention design based on health behavior theory, health communication seeks to encourage the target audience to make a positive behavior change through core concepts such as understanding and specifying the target audience, tailoring messages based on audience segmentation, and continually conducting evaluation of specific and overarching goals. While our first article “Development of a Culturally Relevant Consumer Health Information Website for Harlem, New York” focused on the design, development, and initial implementation of GetHealthyHarlem.org between 2004 and 2009, this article delves into the process of promoting the website to increase its use and then evaluating use among website visitors. Just as for the development of the website, we used community-based participatory research methods, health behavior theory, and health communication strategies to systemically develop and execute a health communication plan with the goals of increasing awareness of GetHealthyHarlem.org in Harlem, driving online traffic, and having the community recognize it as a respected community resource dedicated to improving health in Harlem.
The Association Between Skin Autofluorescence and Vascular Complications in Chinese Patients With Diabetic Foot Ulcer
Authors: Liu Chuanbo , Xu Liying , Gao Hui , Ye Junna , Huang Yao , Wu Minjie , Xie Ting , Ni Pengwen , Yu Xiaoping , Cao Yemin , Lu Shuliang
Published: February 2015

The tissue accumulation of advanced glycation end products (AGEs) can be noninvasively assessed as skin autofluorescence (SAF) by the AGE ReaderTM device. We aimed to detect the association between SAF and diabetes-associated vascular complications in diabetic foot ulcer (DFU) patients engaged in this study. This cross-sectional survey consisted of 118 consecutive hospitalized diabetic foot patients. The diabetic microvascular (retinopathy, nephropathy, and neuropathy) and macrovascular referring to coronary heart disease (CHD), cerebrovascular disease (CVD), or peripheral artery disease (PAD) complications were evaluated, and then they were divided into different subgroups based on the assessment of vascular complications. As seen from the results, the mean SAF value was 2.8 ± 0.2 AU. SAF was significantly associated with diabetes duration and blood urea nitrogen ( R2 = 62.8%; P < .01). Moreover, in logistic regression analysis, SAF was significantly associated with retinopathy (odds ratio [OR] = 40.11), nephropathy (OR = 8.44), CHD (OR = 44.31), CVD (OR = 80.73), and PAD (OR = 5.98 × 109). In conclusion, SAF, reflecting tissue accumulation of AGEs, is independently associated with the presence of vascular complications in DFU patients.
Epidermolysis Bullosa Pruriginosa
Authors: Kim Whan B. , Alavi Afsaneh , Pope Elena , Walsh Scott
Published: February 2015

Epidermolysis bullosa (EB) pruriginosa is a rare clinical subtype of dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa (DEB) that is characterized by intense pruritus resulting in hypertrophic, lichenified, prurigo-like plaques and nodules secondary to scratching. The variability in the age of onset, rarity of intact bullae, histologic ambiguities, and close resemblance to other conditions such as acquired inflammatory dermatoses may make diagnosis difficult for this unusual condition, for which fewer than 100 cases have been documented. In this report, we describe 3 cases of EB pruriginosa and review the current literature.
Transformative Science Teaching in Higher Education
Authors: Fraser Sharon P.
Published: February 2015

University science teaching remains fairly traditional in its approach, incorporating teacher-centred and lecture-based methodologies and utilizing cook book laboratory experiences. Innovative science lecturers, however, have transformed their understanding and practice as teachers, placing their students at the heart of their actions and engaging in ongoing critical reflection about what they are doing, why they are doing it, and how their students are learning. Through the consideration of two case studies, this article explores what it is like to be an innovative science lecturer and what initially triggered and now sustains their transformation. It posits that critical reflection and transformative learning are at the heart of innovation in teaching in higher education, but that while intrinsically rewarding, engaging in such practice can put career progression at risk if not undertaken strategically.
Needs Analysis and Technology Evaluation
Authors: Billman Dorrit , Arsintescu Lucia , Feary Michael , Lee Jessica , Tiwary Rachna
Published: February 2015

A NASA Mission Control group provided us the opportunity to conduct a needs analysis, produce software guided by the needs analysis, and evaluate the software prototype. This paper reports our discriminative evaluation of new prototype software for Attitude Determination and Control Officers, who plan and execute maneuvers of the International Space Station with their Russian counterparts. On a specific, pragmatic level, our evaluation provided evidence of large performance improvement. Relative to legacy software, the new software reduced time and errors by half in a laboratory experiment using valid tasks identified from the needs analysis. Our discriminative evaluation also isolated specific benefits attributable to specific improvements in alignment of technology to the work. Our discriminative evaluation isolated contributing factors affecting performance by using item sets designed to differentially engage software components. This approach for identifying specific factors contributing to performance improvement may be reusable in many situations, particularly where it is not feasible to develop and test many software versions, each differing in just a single factor of interest.
Mindful Eating
Authors: Monroe Jessica T.
Published: February 2015

Mindful eating is the enjoyment of food utilizing all of the senses without judgment. The basic principles of mindful eating involve listening to internal cues of the body (ie, hunger and satiety) to avoid overconsumption and utilizing external cues (reducing portion sizes and distractions while eating, and eating slowly) to assist in achieving awareness. Some practical ways of incorporating mindful eating include chewing food thoroughly before swallowing, drinking water between bites of food, savoring the aroma and taste of food, using smaller plates and bowls, turning off the television and computer while eating, and creating a pleasurable experience around food and eating.
Adultery, Criminality, and the Myth of English Sovereignty
Authors: Sheley Erin
Published: February 2015

This article argues that in England over the course of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, the understanding of adultery as a tort was complicated by an accompanying discourse of what I will call “quasi-criminality.” Specifically – while formally trivialized – adultery remained linked to a threat to English kingship. The tension between the weight of relevant monarchical history and the absence of contemporary criminal enforcement created a new cultural narrative about adultery which attempted, itself, to serve a penal function. Examining the development of this discourse alongside the relevant law illuminates the complex social process through which public and private wrongs become distinguished – or conflated.
Sites of disease as predictors of outcome in metastatic renal cell carcinoma patients treated with first-line sunitinib or sorafenib
Authors: Grassi Paolo , Verzoni Elena , Porcu Luca , Iacovelli Roberto , de Braud Filippo , Procopio Giuseppe
Published: February 2015

Background:

This study investigated whether the effectiveness of first-line tyrosine-kinase inhibitors was associated with sites of disease in patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma (mRCC).

Methods:

A retrospective cohort of consecutive mRCC patients receiving first-line sorafenib (SO) or sunitinib (SU) was analyzed.

Results:

In total, 203 patients received SO and 99 SU. In patients with liver metastasis, SU was associated with a 18% higher risk of time-to-treatment failure (TTF), and a 39% higher risk of death than SO: conversely, patients without liver metastases who received SU showed a 46% decreased risk of TTF and 62% decreased risk of death.

Conclusions:

mRCC patients with liver metastases treated with first-line SO showed a better outcome compared with SU, while mRCC patients without liver metastases treated with first-line SU showed a better outcome compared with SO.
Admission From Nursing Home Residence Increases Acute Mortality After Hip Fractures
Authors: van Dijk Pim A. D. , Bot Arjan G. J. , Neuhaus Valentin , Menendez Mariano E. , Vrahas Mark S. , Ring David
Published: February 2015

Background:

Little is known about the effect of preinjury residence on inpatient mortality following hip fracture. This study addressed whether (1) admission from a nursing home residence and (2) admission from another hospital were associated with higher inpatient mortality after a hip fracture.

Methods:

Using the National Hospital Discharge Survey database, we analyzed an estimated 2 124 388 hip fractures discharges, from 2001 to 2007. Multivariable logistic regression analysis was performed to identify whether admission from a nursing home and admission from another hospital were independent risk factors for inpatient mortality. Our primary null hypothesis is that there is no difference in inpatient mortality rates after hip fracture in patients admitted from a nursing home, compared to other forms of admission. The secondary null hypothesis is that there is no difference in inpatient mortality after hip fracture in patients whose source of admission was another hospital, compared to other sources of admission.

Results:

Almost 4% of the patients were admitted from a nursing home and 6% from another hospital. The mean age was 79 years and 71% were women. The majority of patients were treated with internal fixation. Admission from a nursing home residence (odds ratio [OR] of 2.1, confidence interval [CI] 1.9-2.3) and prior hospital stay (OR 3.4, CI 3.2-3.7) were associated with a higher risk of inpatient mortality after accounting for other comorbidities and type of treatment.

Conclusions:

Patients transferred to an acute care hospital from a long-term care facility or another acute care hospital are at particularly high risk of inpatient death. This subset of patients should be considered separately from patients admitted from other sources.

Level of Evidence:

Prognostic level II.
When Feeding Difficulties Are due to Genetics
Authors: Travan Laura , Rocca Maria Santa , Buonomo Francesca , Cleva Lisa , Pecile Vanna , De Cunto Angela
Published: February 2015

Chromosomal abnormalities may cause growth failure before or since birth. 9q duplication is reported as a cause of intrauterine growth restriction, mild dysmporphism, and intellectual disabilities. We report a case of a maternally inherited 9q21.31q21.33 duplication causing prenatal and postnatal growth restriction with feeding refusal and mild facial dysmorphisms, prenatally diagnosed by single-nucleotide polymorphism array analysis. Hypothesis of the possible pathogenic mechanisms are discussed.
The Effects of Leader Motivating Language Use on Employee Decision Making
Authors: Mayfield Milton , Mayfield Jacqueline
Published: February 2015

This study examines the link between strategic leader verbal communication and effective employee decision making. Results show that leader communication (as measured by the motivating language scale) is significantly and positively related to augmented worker decision making. Structural equation modeling results indicate an expected 2.5% improvement in worker decision making for every 10% increase in leader language use. These results can be helpful to researchers and managers because they advance motivating language theory, and are easily understood as an applied communications framework for improving employee decision making.
Drawing From Available Means: Assessing the Rhetorical Dimensions of Facebook Practice
Authors: Hannah Mark A. , Lam Chris
Published: February 2015

A company’s presence on Facebook plays an important role in engaging its customer base. However, little empirical work has fully examined the nature and impact of corporate Facebook posts on engagement. In this study, we analyzed 680 Facebook posts collected from a sample of six companies over a period of 12 months. We examined variables including post frequency, content type, illocutionary act, linking style, and media. We found that entertainment posts were more engaging than operational news and innovation posts. Educational posts were also more engaging than innovation posts. With regard to illocutionary acts, expressives, or posts that express the writer’s emotion, were more engaging than all other illocutionary acts. Additionally, representative posts were more engaging than directive posts. For linking style, we discovered that posts containing no link were actually more engaging than posts with an external link. We also found a significant interaction between content type and linking practice, which indicates that linking style influences the effectiveness of some content types in engaging audiences. Finally, we found that companies overwhelmingly relied on the use of text and images in their posts over video and image galleries. We speculate that content that removes a user from the Facebook “universe” (e.g., a link or a video) actually may demotivate a user to engage with the original content of the post. We discuss these results from a rhetorical perspective and provide insight for corporate Facebook practices.
Functions of BET proteins in erythroid gene expression
Authors: Stonestrom Aaron J. , Hsu Sarah C. , Jahn Kristen S. , Huang Peng , Keller Cheryl A. , Giardine Belinda M. , Kadauke Stephan , Campbell Amy E. , Evans Perry , Hardison Ross C. , Blobel Gerd A.
Published: February 2015

Key Points

BETs promote GATA1 chromatin occupancy and subsequently activate transcription; they are generally not required for repression. BRD2 and BRD4 are essential for full GATA1 activity whereas BRD3 function overlaps with BRD2.
Human metabolic response to systemic inflammation: assessment of the concordance between experimental endotoxemia and clinical cases of sepsis/SIRS
Authors: Kamisoglu Kubra , Haimovich Beatrice , Calvano Steve E , Coyle Susette M , Corbett Siobhan A , Langley Raymond J , Kingsmore Stephen F , Androulakis Ioannis P
Published: February 2015

Introduction

Two recent, independent, studies conducted novel metabolomics analyses relevant to human sepsis progression; one was a human model of endotoxin (lipopolysaccharide (LPS)) challenge (experimental endotoxemia) and the other was community acquired pneumonia and sepsis outcome diagnostic study (CAPSOD). The purpose of the present study was to assess the concordance of metabolic responses to LPS and community-acquired sepsis.

Methods

We tested the hypothesis that the patterns of metabolic response elicited by endotoxin would agree with those in clinical sepsis. Alterations in the plasma metabolome of the subjects challenged with LPS were compared with those of sepsis patients who had been stratified into two groups: sepsis patients with confirmed infection and non-infected patients who exhibited systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS) criteria. Common metabolites between endotoxemia and both these groups were individually identified, together with their direction of change and functional classifications.

Results

Response to endotoxemia at the metabolome level elicited characteristics that agree well with those observed in sepsis patients despite the high degree of variability in the response of these patients. Moreover, some distinct features of SIRS have been identified. Upon stratification of sepsis patients based on 28-day survival, the direction of change in 21 of 23 metabolites was the same in endotoxemia and sepsis survival groups.

Conclusions

The observed concordance in plasma metabolomes of LPS-treated subjects and sepsis survivors strengthens the relevance of endotoxemia to clinical research as a physiological model of community-acquired sepsis, and gives valuable insights into the metabolic changes that constitute a homeostatic response. Furthermore, recapitulation of metabolic differences between sepsis non-survivors and survivors in LPS-treated subjects can enable further research on the development and assessment of rational clinical therapies to prevent sepsis mortality. Compared with earlier studies which focused exclusively on comparing transcriptional dynamics, the distinct metabolomic responses to systemic inflammation with or without confirmed infection, suggest that the metabolome is much better at differentiating these pathophysiologies. Finally, the metabolic changes in the recovering patients shift towards the LPS-induced response pattern strengthening the notion that the metabolic, as well as transcriptional responses, characteristic to the endotoxemia model represent necessary and “healthy” responses to infectious stimuli.
DGEclust: differential expression analysis of clustered count data
Authors: Vavoulis Dimitrios V , Francescatto Margherita , Heutink Peter , Gough Julian
Published: February 2015

We present a statistical methodology, DGEclust, for differential expression analysis of digital expression data. Our method treats differential expression as a form of clustering, thus unifying these two concepts. Furthermore, it simultaneously addresses the problem of how many clusters are supported by the data and uncertainty in parameter estimation. DGEclust successfully identifies differentially expressed genes under a number of different scenarios, maintaining a low error rate and an excellent control of its false discovery rate with reasonable computational requirements. It is formulated to perform particularly well on low-replicated data and be applicable to multi-group data. DGEclust is available at http://dvav.github.io/dgeclust/.
Reviewer acknowledgement 2014
Authors: Furlong Rebecca
Published: February 2015

Contributing reviewers

The editors of Genome Medicine are extremely grateful for the time, hard work and support of all our reviewers, and would like to thank everyone who contributed to the journal in Volume 6 (2014).
The three-body problem of therapy with induced pluripotent stem cells
Authors: Tolar Jakub , McGrath John A
Published: February 2015

Regenerative medicine has a three-body problem: alignment of the dynamics of the genome, stem cell and patient. Focusing on the rare inherited fragile skin disorder epidermolysis bullosa, three recent innovative studies have used induced pluripotent stem cells and gene correction, revertant mosaicism or genome editing to advance the prospects of better cell-based therapeutics to restore skin structure and function for epidermolysis bullosa and potentially other inherited diseases.
Regulatory T cell-deficient scurfy mice develop systemic autoimmune features resembling lupus-like disease
Authors: Hadaschik Eva N , Wei Xiaoying , Leiss Harald , Heckmann Britta , Niederreiter Birgit , Steiner Günter , Ulrich Walter , Enk Alexander H , Smolen Josef S , Stummvoll Georg H
Published: February 2015

Introduction

Scurfy mice are deficient in regulatory T cells (Tregs), develop a severe, generalized autoimmune disorder that can affect almost every organ and die at an early age. Some of these manifestations resemble those found in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). In addition, active SLE is associated with low Treg numbers and reduced Treg function, but direct evidence for a central role of Treg malfunction in the pathophysiology of lupus-like manifestations is still missing. In the present study, we characterize the multiorgan pathology, autoantibody profile and blood count abnormalities in scurfy mice and show their close resemblances to lupus-like disease.

Methods

Scurfy mice have dysfunctional Tregs due to a genetic defect in the transcription factor Forkhead box protein 3 (Foxp3). We analyzed skin, joints, lung and kidneys of scurfy mice and wild-type (WT) controls by conventional histology and immunofluorescence (IF) performed hematological workups and tested for autoantibodies by IF, immunoblotting and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. We also analyzed the intestines, liver, spleen and heart, but did not analyze all organs known to be affected in scurfy mice (such as the testicle, the accessory reproductive structures, the pancreas or the eyes). We transferred CD4+ T cells of scurfy or WT mice into T cell-deficient B6/nude mice.

Results

We confirm previous reports that scurfy mice spontaneously develop severe pneumonitis and hematological abnormalities similar to those in SLE. We show that scurfy mice (but not controls) exhibited additional features of SLE: severe interface dermatitis, arthritis, mesangioproliferative glomerulonephritis and high titers of anti-nuclear antibodies, anti-double-stranded DNA antibodies, anti-histone antibodies and anti-Smith antibodies. Transfer of scurfy CD4+ T cells (but not of WT cells) induced autoantibodies and inflammation of lung, skin and kidneys in T cell-deficient B6/nude mice.

Conclusion

Our observations support the hypothesis that lupus-like autoimmune features develop in the absence of functional Tregs.
Prevalence, incidence and characteristics of the metabolic syndrome (MetS) in a cohort of Mexican Mestizo early rheumatoid arthritis patients treated with conventional disease modifying anti-rheumatic drugs: the complex relationship between MetS and disease activity
Authors: Parra-Salcedo Federico , Contreras-Yáñez Irazú , Elías-López Daniel , Aguilar-Salinas Carlos A , Pascual-Ramos Virginia
Published: February 2015

Introduction

A higher prevalence of metabolic syndrome (MetS) has been described in rheumatoid arthritis (RA), along with an association with disease activity. Objectives were to describe prevalence of MetS at RA diagnosis in a cohort of Mexican Mestizo early RA patients, and to define a causal association between MetS and disease activity.

Methods

The study population was a prospective cohort. At baseline and at fixed 6-months-intervals, patients had medical evaluations, fasting serum glucose, triglycerides, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol and acute reactant-phase determinations. MetS was defined according to international criteria and body mass index (BMI) ≥30 kg/m2 was used as a surrogate of the waist circumference. The study was approved by the internal review board. Appropriated statistics and Cox regression analysis were used. All statistical tests were two-sided and evaluated at the 0.05 significance level.

Results

Up to March 2014, data from 160 patients were analyzed. At baseline, they were more frequently middle-aged females and had moderate to high disease activity. Prevalence of MetS varied from 11.3% to 17.5% in patients and was lower to that from matched controls (versus 26.3% to 30%, P ≤0.01).

Up to last follow-up, 39 patients (34.5%) developed incidental MetS. In the Cox regression analysis, cumulative disease activity score (DAS) 28 (odds ratio (OR): 1.81, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.346 to 2.433, P = 0.000) and baseline BMI (OR: 1.13, 96% CI: 1.035 to 1.236, P = 0.007) were the only predictors for incidental MetS.

RA patients with incidental MetS accumulated more disease activity and had less frequent remission than their counterparts. Logistic regression analysis showed that incidental MetS (OR: 0.2, 95% CI: 0.01 to 0.99, P = 0.052) and baseline DAS28 (OR: 0.4, 95% CI: 0.2 to 0.9, P = 0.02) were the only predictors for achieving or maintaining sustained (≥6 months) remission.

Conclusions

MetS prevalence in a cohort of early RA patients was lower than that from matched controls. Cumulative disease activity and higher BMI were risk factors for incidental Mets; higher baseline disease activity and incidental MetS prevented sustained remission. In addition to disease activity, MetS needs to be controlled to impact disease outcomes.
Identification and characterization of epithelial cells derived from human ovarian follicular fluid
Authors: Lai Dongmei , Xu Minhua , Zhang Qiuwan , Chen Yifei , Li Ting , Wang Qian , Gao Yimeng , Wei Chunsheng
Published: February 2015

Introduction

Follicular fluid is important for follicular development and oocyte maturation. Evidence suggests that follicular fluid is not only rich in proteins but cells. Besides oocytes, the follicular fluid contains granulosa, thecal, and ovarian surface epithelial cells, and both granulosa and thecal cells are well-characterized. However, epithelial cells in follicular fluid are poorly studied. This study aims to isolate and characterize in vitro epithelial cells that originate from human ovarian follicular fluid retrieved in the assisted fertilization program.

Methods

Follicular fluid samples were collected from 20 women in the assisted reproduction program. Epithelial cells were characterized by flow cytometry assay, immunofluorescence staining, real-time PCR, and time lapse photography.

Results

Epithelial cell cultures were established from 18 samples. A small population of epithelial cells expresses germ-line stem cell markers, such as octamer-binding transcription factor 4 (OCT4), NANOG, and DEAD box polypeptide 4 (DDX4). In the epithelial cell culture system, oocyte-like cells formed spontaneously in vitro and expressed the following transcription markers: deleted in azoospermia-like (DAZL), developmental pluripotency associated protein 3 stella-related protein (STELLA), zona pellucida gene family C (ZPC), Syntaptonemal complex protein (SCP), and growth and differentiation factor 9 (GDF9). Some of the oocyte-like cells developed a zona pellucida-like structure. Both the symmetric and asymmetric division split of epithelial cells and early developing oocytes were observed using time lapse photography. Cell colonies were formed during epithelial culturing, which maintained and proliferated in an undifferentiated way on the feeder layer and expressed some pluripotency markers. These colonies differentiated in vitro into various somatic cell types in all three germ layers, but did not form teratoma when injected into immunodeficient mice. Furthermore, these epithelial cells could be differentiated directly to functional hepatocyte-like cells, which do not exist in ovarian tissues.

Conclusions

The epithelial cells derived from follicular fluid are a potential stem cell source with a pluripotent/multipotent character for safe application in oogenesis and regenerative medicine.
Analysis of group paging with pre-backoff
Authors: Harwahyu Ruki , Wang Xian , Sari Riri Fitri , Cheng Ray-Guang
Published: February 2015

Group paging can simultaneously activate hundreds of user equipments (UEs) using a single paging message. Upon receiving the group paging message, all UEs should immediately transmit their paging response messages through the random access channels (RACHs). Simultaneous channel access from a huge group of UEs may result in severe collisions of the RACHs during a very short period of time. In this paper, we propose a pre-backoff method to reduce the collision probability of random access requests. We develop an analytical model to investigate the performance and optimize the setting of the pre-backoff method. The accuracy of the analytical model is verified through computer simulation. Results show that the proposed pre-backoff method can effectively enhance the performance of group paging.
Non-addictive opium alkaloids selectively induce apoptosis in cancer cells compared to normal cells
Authors: Afzali Monireh , Ghaeli Padideh , Khanavi Mahnaz , Parsa Maliheh , Montazeri Hamed , Ghahremani Mohammad Hossein , Ostad Seyed Nasser
Published: February 2015

Background

Cytotoxic effects of some of the members of papaveraceae family have been reported in Iranian folk medicine. Recent reports has indicated that alkaloids fraction of opium may be responsible for its cytotoxic effect; however, the mechanism of this effect is not fully understood. This study has been designed to investigate the selective cytotoxic, genotoxic and also apoptosis induction effects of noscapine, papaverine and narceine, three non-addictable opium alkaloids, on HT29, T47D and HT1080 cancer cell lines. Mouse NIH3T3 cell line was chosen to present non-cancerous cells and Doxorubicin was selected as the positive control.

Methods

Cells were treated by different concentrations of Noscapine, Papaverine, Narceine and doxorubicin; viability was assessed by MTT assay. The genotoxicity and apoptosis induction were tested with comet assay and Annexin-V affinity when the concentration of each these drugs is less than its IC50. In addition, the DNA damage and caspase activity of the T47D cells were examined and the results were compared.

Results

This study noted the cytotoxicity and genotoxicity of noscapine and papaverine, specifically on cancerous cell lines. Furthermore, papaverine induces apoptosis in all studied cancer cell lines and noscapine showed this effect in T47D and HT29 cells but not in NIH-3 T3 cells as noncancerous cell line. narceine also showed genototoxicity in the studied cell lines at its IC50 concentration.

Conclusions

This experiment suggests that noscapine and papaverine may be of use in cancer treatment due to their specific cytotoxicity and genotoxicity. However, further in vivo studies are needed to confirm its usefulness in cancer treatment.
Failure time regression with continuous informative auxiliary covariates
Authors: Ghosh Lipika , Jiang Jiancheng , Sun Yanqing , Zhou Haibo
Published: February 2015

In this paper we use Cox’s regression model to fit failure time data with continuous informative auxiliary variables in the presence of a validation subsample. We first estimate the induced relative risk function by kernel smoothing based on the validation subsample, and then improve the estimation by utilizing the information on the incomplete observations from non-validation subsample and the auxiliary observations from the primary sample. Asymptotic normality of the proposed estimator is derived. The proposed method allows one to robustly model the failure time data with an informative multivariate auxiliary covariate. Comparison of the proposed approach with several existing methods is made via simulations. Two real datasets are analyzed to illustrate the proposed method.

Mathematics Subject Classification (MSC):62G07, 62G20
The Funding of Modernization and Development of Transport Sector and its Infrastructure
Authors: Nykyforuk Olena
Published: February 2015

The main purpose of the article is to analyze the existing approaches to the financing of transport infrastructure in the world and in Ukraine. It has been studied the model of financing of transport infrastructure in the OECD, the EU countries. The appropriate recommendations has been given to strengthen the processes of modernization in the transport infrastructure.
Valuation Model of Heritage Assets in a Public Museum – A Transdisciplinary Approach
Authors: Held Barel
Published: February 2015

The new public management account requires an opening balance sheet which needs to depict all assets and capital. This is also true for heritage assets in public museums. However, there exists neither in Germany nor generally an accepted international valuation approach, while at the same time there is a cut for public budget. As a result, the communes must decide on which area of responsibility to allocate financial resources and in what amount. With regard to museums, it means to define the tasks according to the strategic target planning, and to consequently derive the portfolio of the museum. The following article aims at designing a model for the challenge described. This is based on a trans-disciplinary approach and builds upon an extensive literature study, qualitative expert interviews and an evaluation in three existing museums. The focus is on the question of how art and cultural objects can be valued for accounting purposes. It is important to value the assets not only according to economic criteria but, due to the special task of museums, to also assess assets after their social benefits.
Analysis of the Cobb-Douglas Production Function as a Tool to Investigate the Impact of FDI Net Inflows on Gross Domestic Product Value in Poland in the Period 1994–2012
Authors: Kosztowniak Aneta
Published: February 2015

The purpose of this paper is to analyse the impact of foreign direct investments net inflows on changes in GDP value in Poland in the period between 1994 and 2012 with the use of the Cobb-Douglas production function. The paper consist of five parts. Parts I and II present some aspects of the FDI influence on economic growth from the theoretical and empirical point of view. Part III defines conditions indispensable for the positive FDI impact on the economy of the host country. Part IV outlines changes of FDI flows in Poland in the period of 1994-2012. Part V includes the main assumptions of the Cobb-Douglas production function and an estimate of changes in GDP value for Poland in the period 1994–2012 with the use of the VECM. The factors significant for economic growth are also identified, including the significance of the net FDI inflows. Eventually, the effect of gross fixed capital formation, employment, FDI net inflows, exports and R&D on changes in the GDP value are determined.
Research Note—Role of Social Media in Social Change: An Analysis of Collective Sense Making During the 2011 Egypt Revolution
Authors: Oh Onook , Eom Chanyoung , Rao H. R.
Published: February 2015

This study explores the role of social media in social change by analyzing Twitter data collected during the 2011 Egypt Revolution. Particular attention is paid to the notion of collective sense making, which is considered a critical aspect for the emergence of collective action for social change. We suggest that collective sense making through social media can be conceptualized as human-machine collaborative information processing that involves an interplay of signs, Twitter grammar, humans, and social technologies. We focus on the occurrences of hashtags among a high volume of tweets to study the collective sense-making phenomena of milling and keynoting. A quantitative Markov switching analysis is performed to understand how the hashtag frequencies vary over time, suggesting structural changes that depict the two phenomena. We further explore different hashtags through a qualitative content analysis and find that, although many hashtags were used as symbolic anchors to funnel online users’ attention to the Egypt Revolution, other hashtags were used as part of tweet sentences to share changing situational information. We suggest that hashtags functioned as a means to collect information and maintain situational awareness during the unstable political situation of the Egypt Revolution.
Television Advertising and Online Shopping
Authors: Liaukonyte Jura , Teixeira Thales , Wilbur Kenneth C.
Published: February 2015

Media multitasking competes with television advertising for consumers’ attention, but may also facilitate immediate and measurable response to some advertisements. This paper explores whether and how television advertising influences online shopping. We construct a massive data set spanning $3.4 billion in spending by 20 brands, measures of brands’ website traffic and transactions, and ad content measures for 1,224 commercials. We use a quasi-experimental design to estimate whether and how TV advertising influences changes in online shopping within two-minute pre/post windows of time. We use nonadvertising competitors’ online shopping in a difference-in-differences approach to measure the same effects in two-hour windows around the time of the ad. The findings indicate that television advertising does influence online shopping and that advertising content plays a key role. Action-focus content increases direct website traffic and sales. Information-focus and emotion-focus ad content actually reduce website traffic while simultaneously increasing purchases, with a positive net effect on sales for most brands. These results imply that brands seeking to attract multitaskers’ attention and dollars must select their advertising copy carefully.

Data, as supplemental material, are available at http://dx.doi.org/10.1287/mksc.2014.0899 .
Does Corporate Social Responsibility Lead to Superior Financial Performance? A Regression Discontinuity Approach
Authors: Flammer Caroline
Published: February 2015

This study examines the effect of shareholder proposals related to corporate social responsibility (CSR) on financial performance. Specifically, I focus on CSR proposals that pass or fail by a small margin of votes. The passage of such “close call” proposals is akin to a random assignment of CSR to companies and hence provides a quasi-experiment to study the effect of CSR on performance. I find that the adoption of close call CSR proposals leads to positive announcement returns and superior accounting performance, implying that these proposals are value enhancing. When I examine the channels through which companies benefit from CSR, I find that labor productivity and sales growth increase after the vote. Finally, I document that close call CSR proposals differ from non-close proposals along several dimensions. Accordingly, although my results imply that adopting close call CSR proposals is beneficial to companies, they do not necessarily imply that CSR proposals are beneficial in general.

Data, as supplemental material, are available at http://dx.doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.2014.2038 .

This paper was accepted by Wei Jiang, finance.
Hedging Commodity Procurement in a Bilateral Supply Chain
Authors: Turcic Danko , Kouvelis Panos , Bolandifar Ehsan
Published: February 2015

This paper explores the merits of hedging stochastic input costs (i.e., reducing the risk of adverse changes in costs) in a decentralized, risk-neutral supply chain. Specifically, we consider a generalized version of the well-known “selling-to-the-newsvendor” model in which both the upstream and the downstream firms face stochastic input costs. The firms’ operations are intertwined—i.e., the downstream buyer depends on the upstream supplier for delivery and the supplier depends on the buyer for purchase. We show that if left unmanaged, the stochastic costs that reverberate through the supply chain can lead to significant financial losses. The situation could deteriorate to the point of a supply disruption if at least one of the supply chain members cannot profitably make its product. To the extent that hedging can ensure continuation in supply, hedging can have value to at least some of the members of the supply chain. We identify conditions under which the risk of the supply chain breakdown will cause the supply chain members to hedge their input costs: (i) the downstream buyer’s market power exceeds a critical threshold; or (ii) the upstream firm operates on a large margin, there is a high baseline demand for downstream firm’s final product, and the downstream firm’s market power is below a critical threshold. In absence of these conditions there are equilibria in which neither firm hedges. To sustain hedging in equilibrium, both firms must hedge and supply chain breakdown must be costly. The equilibrium hedging policy will (in general) be a partial hedging policy. There are also situations when firms hedge in equilibrium although hedging reduces their expected payoff.
Investment Timing with Incomplete Information and Multiple Means of Learning
Authors: Harrison J. Michael , Sunar Nur
Published: February 2015

We consider a firm that can use one of several costly learning modes to dynamically reduce uncertainty about the unknown value of a project. Each learning mode incurs cost at a particular rate and provides information of a particular quality. In addition to dynamic decisions about its learning mode, the firm must decide when to stop learning and either invest or abandon the project. Using a continuous-time Bayesian framework, and assuming a binary prior distribution for the project’s unknown value, we solve both the discounted and undiscounted versions of this problem. In the undiscounted case, the optimal learning policy is to choose the mode that has the smallest cost per signal quality. When the discount rate is strictly positive, we prove that an optimal learning and investment policy can be summarized by a small number of critical values, and the firm only uses learning modes that lie on a certain convex envelope in cost-rate-versus-signal-quality space. We extend our analysis to consider a firm that can choose multiple learning modes simultaneously, which requires the analysis of both investment timing and dynamic subset selection decisions. We solve both the discounted and undiscounted versions of this problem and explicitly identify sets of learning modes that are used under the optimal policy.
Erratum—One Machine Sequencing to Minimize Total Tardiness: A Fourth Theorem for Emmons
Authors: Kanet John J. , Della Croce Federico , Koulamas Christos , T’kindt Vincent
Published: February 2015

We clarify that Theorem 4 in Kanet (2014) [Kanet JJ (2014) One-machine sequencing to minimize total tardiness: A fourth theorem for Emmons. Oper. Res. 62(2):345–347] is not incremental to Theorem 3 of Emmons (1969) [Emmons H (1969) One-machine sequencing to minimize certain functions of job tardiness . Oper. Res. 17(4):701–715.] for the single-machine total tardiness problem.
Overview of dietary choices for ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease
Authors: Cope Graham
Published: February 2015

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) may result from a disturbance in gut bacteria, and hence, diet plays an important role in modifying the gut's microbial content. Many patients with IBD modify their diet to control their symptoms by excluding foodstuffs that they think are responsible for disease exacerbation. Carbohydrate-restrictive diets that reduce intake of complex sugars, gluten-free diets that eliminate the protein responsible for intestinal sensitivity, or low-residue diets that curtail intake of insoluble plant fibres have all been suggested to be beneficial. The Paleolithic diet and fat-restrictive diets have been advocated to reduce intestinal inflammation, while lactose-free and vegetarian diets may also reduce intestinal symptoms. The lack of robust clinical data does not allow prescriptive recommendations, but knowledge about dietary factors that modify the gut's bacteria and cause aggravation of intestinal symptoms may help patients and their carers to modify their food intake and, thus, aid in their treatment.
Advanced nursing practice in colorectal and stoma care
Authors: Barnwell Abby
Published: February 2015

The role of the advanced nurse practitioner (ANP) offers an exciting opportunity to consider innovative methods of delivering care to colorectal and stoma patients in order to meet the changing health needs of these patients with long-term conditions and those living with the effects of cancer treatments. Nurses in the UK are facing increasing pressure from Trusts to demonstrate their value; it is imperative that time is spent reflecting on practice and identifying the unique contribution of the ANP to patient care. This article reviews the important role of the ANP in colorectal and stoma care. Nurses in these specialties of care have an in-depth knowledge of their patient group and are best placed to evaluate patient pathways and predict actions that will have positive outcomes on health and quality and that are responsive to patient needs.