bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Prescription Drug Coverage: Medicine or Science?
Authors: Herbst Jennifer L.
Published: October 2014

Under what circumstances should the federal government pay for outpatient prescription drugs? Should the government (and by extension, taxpayers) pay for all of the drugs prescribed by health care providers, regardless of price or use—adhering to a medical standard? Or should taxpayers only pay for prescriptions supported by scientific evidence of effectiveness—a scientific standard?
Voluntary Sterilization for Childfree Women
Authors: Richie Cristina
Published: October 2014

Approximately 47 percent of women ages fifteen to forty‐four are currently without children, and slightly more than 20 percent of white women in America will never bear children, the highest percentage in modern history. Many fertile women who are childless are voluntarily so. Although any competent person twenty‐one years or older is legally eligible for voluntary sterilization, many doctors refuse to sterilize childfree women. This essay explores various reasons a woman would want to continue in her childfree lifestyle, evaluates the accessibility of sterilization for women who are childfree by examining the reported reasons for denial of sterilization—both from the woman's and the physician's perspective—and assesses the legal status of voluntary sterilization for nonparous women. The essay also urges physicians to follow recommended guidelines for counseling women who, regardless of parity, desire sterilization and to provide this contraception if, after careful consideration, there are no outstanding health or other reasons that the procedure should not be performed.
New Life to the Debate about Death
Authors: Kaebnick Gregory E.
Published: October 2014

This issue of the Report is far ranging, with essays on the nature of the U.S. government's responsibility toward Indian tribes, a medical school's commitment toward applicants who are immigrants, the difficulty of developing a transparent national registry of clinical trials, and the ethical problems embedded in the topic of global health. Two items in the issue revolve around physicians’ role in upholding the value placed on reproduction. Another small set of pieces within this issue of the Report examines the intractability of the debate over how to define death.
Autonomy or Exploitation?
Authors: Esau Darren , Hickey Catherine
Published: October 2014

An eighty‐six–year‐old woman has had lifelong obsessive‐compulsive disorder. At times, it has been so severe that she has lost touch with reality and been psychotic. She is actively followed by a community mental health nurse. Since she is physically frail, the nurse visits her at home and liaises with the attending psychiatrist, who adjusts medications as needed. Currently, the patient is stable, and there is no evidence of psychosis.

The patient's home deteriorates, and several repairs are needed. The nurse questions the patient about this, and the patient agrees to have her nephew arrange for the repairs and pay for them out of her bank account. The nurse asks how the nephew has access to the account. The patient mentions that he has power of attorney, but when asked to supply the document giving him this authority, she becomes confused and supplies a number of bank statements instead. The nurse is surprised to see several withdrawals for over ten thousand dollars each. When she questions the patient about these, the patient simply suggests that her nephew must have “needed the money” for something. The nurse questions her repeatedly about this matter, but she refuses to give further details. The patient becomes quite upset whenever the nurse brings it up and states, “This is my money, and he wouldn't take it unless he needed it to help me.”

Should the nurse challenge the patient's right to make her own financial decisions in order to avoid a risk of exploitation by her family members? Does the patient have the right to refuse a capacity assessment, which could determine her decision‐making abilities in this area?
Banking on Infertility: Medical Ethics and the Marketing of Fertility Loans
Authors: von Hagel Alisa
Published: October 2014

In 2012, a number of news headlines captured a growing trend in fertility medicine—the increased presence of lenders specializing in fertility loans, often promoted or featured by fertility clinics and physicians. Streamlining the financing of assisted reproduction connects patients with loan company representatives either on‐site or through a clinic's webpage. While medical professionals and clinics do not receive a commission for product promotion, this recent spate of news reports identified investment opportunities for physicians in private lending firms and some of the physicians involved in such investments. In facilitating the process to obtain credit and, in some instances, benefiting financially through equity ownership in private lending firms, participating physicians declare this a “win‐win situation” with no clear conflict of interest. The emergence of these specialty lenders seems a natural development in the current fertility market, but the growing use of private fertility loans suggests the need for further inquiry.
On Noncongruence between the Concept and Determination of Death
Authors: Bernat James L.
Published: October 2014

A combination of emerging life support technologies and entrenched organ donation practices are complicating the physician's task of determining death. On the one hand, technologies that support or replace ventilation and circulation may render the diagnosis of death ambiguous. On the other, transplantation of vital organs requires timely and accurate declaration of death of the donor to keep the organs as healthy as possible. These two factors have led to disagreements among physicians and scholars on the precise moment of death. In this article, I suggest that the debate about exactly when a person dies can benefit from distinguishing the strict biological concept of death from the medical standards for determining human death, and I show how an appreciation of the difference between the permanent and irreversible cessation of circulation is helpful in understanding the reasons for the two approaches to determining when death should be declared.
Assumption of Risk in HIV Infection
Authors: Murphy Timothy F.
Published: October 2014

A commentary on “Time to Decriminalize HIV Status,” from the September‐October 2013 issue.
The Author Replies
Authors: Latham Stephen R.
Published: October 2014

Reply to a commentary by Timothy F. Murphy.
Execution by Lethal Injection: Illegal Research?
Authors: Philpott Sean
Published: October 2014

Several states systematically collect data to assess whether the anesthesia administered was sufficient—the same data used by researchers to show that the concentration of sodium thiopental in the blood of executed prisoners was not enough to ensure loss of consciousness and that these inadequate levels of anesthesia were not the result of pharmacokinetic changes after death. This activity could constitute human subjects research under existing law.
The Third‐Party Notification Dilemma
Authors: Adams Ann K.
Published: October 2014

In their report in this supplement on research regulatory systems, Barbara Bierer and Mark Barnes note that, when research misconduct has been detected but not yet proven, the individual with institutional responsibility for oversight of research misconduct investigations “may determine that notification of relevant journals or professional societies and correction or full retraction of implicated papers or presentations is appropriate. In those cases, even when a finding of research misconduct per se has not been made or has not been explicitly stated, the journal, professional society, and their readers or members may draw their own conclusions as to what led to the retraction or correction.” This statement highlights an aspect of the reviewed regulatory schemes that creates vulnerability for institutions of higher education subject to the regulations: while, as the authors suggest, it may be “appropriate” to notify third parties (that is, journals, professional societies, and other academic institutions) of suspected research misconduct, there is no regulatory obligation to provide such a notification, and, in fact, providing early (or any) notification is contrary to the confidentiality provisions of the research misconduct regulations. Moreover, the institution—and individuals acting on behalf of the institution—may face legal exposure for notifying outside entities.
The Woman Question in Medicine: An Update
Authors: Lindemann Hilde
Published: October 2014

The Women's Movement has greatly benefitted women in the workplace. What about in their encounters with medicine? This paper reviews the history of physicians’ attitudes toward women and then considers three contemporary areas of medicine in particular: health research relevant to women, health policies, and women's success at working their way into the medical profession. The picture that emerges is somewhat less than rosy. The androcentrism that has been so glaring in the history of medicine has not entirely gone away. Women and their concerns are still considered less important than men's, and women are valued more for what they provide than for who they are themselves.

These problems are mostly not the fault of specific physicians or other individuals; they are, rather, systemic problems—the result of social practices and institutions that work together quite impersonally to favor the interests of men over women. Correcting them requires listening to women's voices better than medicine, or bioethics, has so far managed to do.
The Time Is Now: Bioethics and LGBT Issues
Authors: Powell Tia , Foglia Mary Beth
Published: October 2014

Our goal in producing this special issue is to encourage our colleagues to incorporate topics related to LGBT populations into bioethics curricula and scholarship. Bioethics has only rarely examined the ways in which law and medicine have defined, regulated, and often oppressed sexual minorities. This is an error on the part of bioethics. Medicine and law have served in the past as society's enforcement arm toward sexual minorities, in ways that robbed many people of their dignity. We feel that bioethics has an obligation to discuss that history and to help us as a society take responsibility for it.

We can address only a small number of topics in this special issue of the Hastings Center Report, and we selected topics we believe will stimulate discourse. Andrew Solomon offers an elegant overview of the challenges that bioethics faces in articulating a solid basis for LGBT rights. Timothy F. Murphy asks whether bioethics still faces issues related to lesbian, gay, and bisexual people, given the deletion of homosexuality as a disease and the progress toward same‐sex marriage. Jamie Lindemann Nelson's essay addresses the search for identity for transgender persons and the role of science in that search. Two articles, those by Brendan S. Abel and by Jack Drescher and Jack Pula, take up the complex issue of medical treatment for children who reject their assigned birth gender. Celia B. Fisher and Brian Mustanski address the special challenges of engaging LGBT youth in research, balancing the need for better information about this vulnerable group against the existing restrictions on research involving children. Tia Powell and Edward Stein consider the merits of legal bans on psychotherapies intended to change sexual orientation, particularly in the light of current research on orientation. Mary Beth Foglia and Karen I. Fredricksen‐Goldsen highlight health disparities and resilience among LGBT older adults and then discuss the role of nonconscious bias in perpetuating disparities. Stephan Davis and Nancy Berlinger assess the challenges of access to care and health policy for transgender persons. Edward J. Callahan et al. tackle the ways in which diverse aspects of medicine should change to better incorporate the needs of LGBT patients, including through use of the electronic medical record, education of health professionals, and recruitment efforts for LGBT health professionals. Virginia Ashby Sharpe and Uchenna S. Uchendu describe multifaceted efforts within Veterans Administration facilities to create change for LGBT veterans across the largest integrated health care network in the United States. Lance Wahlert and Autumn Fiester find a mixed record in the use of case studies in teaching about LGBT issues
Eliminating LGBTIQQ Health Disparities: The Associated Roles of Electronic Health Records and Institutional Culture
Authors: Callahan Edward J. , Hazarian Shea , Yarborough Mark , Sánchez John Paul
Published: October 2014

For all humans, sexual orientation and gender identity are essential elements of identity, informing how we plan and live our lives. The historic invisibility of sexual minorities in medicine has meant that these important aspects of their identities as patients have been ignored, with the result that these patients have been denied respect, culturally competent services, and proper treatment. Likely due to historic rejection and mistreatment, there is evidence of reluctance on the part of LGBT patients to disclose their sexual orientation (SO) or gender identity (GI) to their health care providers. There is some perception of risk in sharing SO and GI for many patients who have had bad prior experiences. Despite these risks, we argue that we can improve the quality of care provided this population only by encouraging them to self‐identify and then using that information to improve quality of care.

One strategy both to prompt patient self‐identification and to store and use SO and GI data to improve care centers on the use of electronic health records. However, gathering SO and GI data in the EHR requires a workforce that knows both how to obtain and how to use that information. To develop these competencies, educational programs for health professionals must prepare students and educators to elicit and to use sexual orientation and gender identity information to improve care while simultaneously ensuring the safety of patients, trainees, and staff and faculty members as SO and GI become openly discussed and integral parts of ongoing medical discussion and care. As determination of SO and GI demographics becomes more common in health research, we will more fully understand the health risks for all the LGBTIQQ populations.
Repaving the Road of Good Intentions: LGBT Health Care and the Queer Bioethical Lens
Authors: Wahlert Lance , Fiester Autumn
Published: October 2014

As the saying goes, “The road to hell is paved with good intentions.” And in the recent burst of clinical attention being paid to the needs of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender patients, good intentions abound. But while this long‐overdue interest in LGBT health care aims to highlight important gaps and bring into relief serious issues in health care delivery for LGBT persons, such work can inadvertently reinforce both the marginalization of sexual minorities and the cultural norms related to sexuality, gender identity, and the conventional family. To ensure that positive outcomes for LGBT patients are inextricably paired with those noble intentions, we advocate for a new, queer bioethics—a methodology of scholastic, bioethical, and critical scrutiny that not only addresses the needs of LGBT persons in health care settings but also considers the perspectives, histories, and feelings of such parties.
Reflections from a Troubled Stream: Giubilini and Minerva on “After‐Birth Abortion”
Authors: Hauskeller Michael
Published: October 2014

When Jonathan Swift published “A Modest Proposal for Preventing the Children of Poor People of Being a Burden on their Country or Parents, and for Making Them Beneficial to the Publick” in 1729, many early readers were shocked and repulsed. Yet if a similar proposal were published today in a reputable academic journal, we could not be sure of its satirical character: it might well be entirely sincere. In late February this year, the Journal of Medical Ethics prepublished online a paper that can be seen as a modernized bioethical version of Swift's “Modest Proposal.” All the authors had done is present a “well reasoned argument based on widely accepted premises” that allowed them to “proceed logically” from those premises to the conclusions.
What Law Really Requires
Authors: JOHNSON SANDRA H.
Published: October 2014

Most health reform efforts focus on devising legal norms and procedures that will push the practice of health care professionals in the desired direction. In fact, although the law is a powerful influence on health care delivery and treatment decision‐making, many health reform efforts that rely on changes in the law fail to produce the expected good effect. Experience teaches that there are many reasons a legal requirement can fail to work as expected. In health care, one occasion for slippage between good intentions and good outcomes for law reform is the transformation of legal standards through the formal and informal standards and procedures established within health care organizations.
How Many Justices Does It Take to Change the U.S. Health System?
Authors: Sage William M.
Published: October 2014

There were two ways for the solicitor general of the United States to litigate the constitutional challenge to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 brought by twenty‐six states and the National Federation of Independent Business. One path, which the solicitor general pursued, was to cautiously navigate judicial precedents, claim the barest increment of new congressional authority, and give the Supreme Court as many hooks as possible on which to hang a favorable decision.

The road not traveled was to offer a full‐throated defense of federal authority to comprehensively regulate the U.S. health care system, a multitrillion dollar commercial and social enterprise that represents the largest component of federal expenditure after national defense. The ACA has three cornerstones. First, make health insurance coverage as widespread as possible. Second, improve the quality and efficiency of health care delivery. Third, make individuals and communities healthier. The second and third pillars are sometimes overlooked because so much attention is paid to expanding coverage, but the hallmark of the ACA is that it combines major changes to health insurance, health care delivery, and health in a single piece of federal legislation.

The Obama administration's timidity echoes what is strikingly absent from the new law. Although the ACA represents the successful culmination of a decades‐long struggle to universalize coverage, its structure and text never convey the intent that all Americans have a common stake in the health care system. This lack of shared national identity is the missing fourth pillar of the ACA.
Abortion Bans Premised on Fetal Pain Capacity
Authors: Wilson Katie
Published: October 2014

Abortion bans premised on fetal pain capacity are this decade's “partial‐birth abortion”: a medically suspect anti‐choice initiative that can be politically difficult to oppose. No one is “pro–fetal pain.” But rhetorically, the concept of “fetal pain” works to conflate the capacity for pain with the experience of pain. If pain justified banning medical procedures, all surgery would be illegal. Pain is a routine side effect of medical practice. What's unethical is unnecessary pain, and that's why the standard medical response to pain is palliation.
Seven Things to Know about Female Genital Surgeries in Africa
Authors:   By The Public Policy Advisory Network on Female Genital Surgeries in Africa
Published: October 2014

Starting in the early 1980s, media coverage of customary African genital surgeries for females has been problematic and overly reliant on sources from within a global activist and advocacy movement opposed to the practice, variously described as female genital mutilation, female genital cutting, or female circumcision. Here, we use the more neutral expression female genital surgery. In their passion to end the practice, anti‐mutilation advocacy organizations often make claims about female genital surgeries in Africa that are inaccurate or overgeneralized or that don't apply to most cases.

The aim of this article—which we offer as a public policy advisory statement from a group of concerned research scholars, physicians, and policy experts—is not to take a collective stance on the practice of genital surgeries for either females or males. Our main aim is to express our concern about the media coverage of female genital surgeries in Africa, to call for greater accuracy in cultural representations of little‐known others, and to strive for evenhandedness and high standards of reason and evidence in any future public policy debates. In effect, the statement is an invitation to actually have that debate, with all sides of the story fairly represented.
Physician, Patient, Parent: Where Exactly Is the Line?
Authors: Opel Douglas J.
Published: October 2014

I have Crohn's disease. This essay is about how my experiences with this disease have shaped my perceptions of boundaries in medicine, particularly around the issue of self‐disclosure. I became a pediatrician first, then a parent, and now a patient, and with each new role, I have become increasingly confused on where boundaries regarding self‐disclosures in medicine lie. I'd like to make the case for more of a reframing and a blurring of personal and professional boundaries regarding physicians’ disclosures about their own health. Although historically thought of as a way to strengthen the physician‐patient relationship and therefore encouraged, physician disclosure has recently become more controversial, and boundary discussions that include it seem to increasingly begin from the edict, “Don't do it.” But why not capitalize on the shared experience of physicians and patients? It offers an opportunity to deepen our therapeutic relationship with our patients, to build trust, to help understanding, and maybe even to improve patient outcomes.
Progress in the Animal Research War
Authors: Gilbert Susan
Published: October 2014

Some years ago, Deborah Blum, a Pulitzer Prize–winning science journalist, nailed the divide between scientists who conduct research on animals in the hope of advancing medical knowledge and people who object to that work for being immoral and inhumane. They are “like two different nations, nations locked in a long, bitter, seemingly intractable political standoff,” she wrote in her 1994 book, The Monkey Wars. The two sides certainly have been like nations locked in a long, bitter standoff. That standoff has seemed intractable. But when Blum talked to people on both sides, she found glimmers of hope—a few individuals willing to listen to one another and find common ground. “When they can be freely heard,” she concluded, “then we will have progressed to another place, beyond this time of hostilities.”

Today, while we are not yet beyond hostilities, we have progressed to another place.
Numerical Analysis of Heat Transfer and Nanofluid Flow in a Triangular Duct with Vortex Generator: Two‐Phase Model
Authors: Ahmed Hamdi E. , Yusoff M.Z. , Hawlader M.N.A. , Ahmed M.I.
Published: October 2014

Laminar forced convection heat transfer and nanofluids flow in an equilateral triangular channel using a delta‐winglet pair of vortex generators is numerically studied. Three nanofluids, namely; Al2O3, CuO, and SiO2 nanoparticles suspended in an ethylene glycol base fluid are examined. A two‐phase mixture model is considered to simulate the governing equations of mass, momentum and energy for both phases and solved using the finite volume method (FVM). Constant and temperature dependent properties methods are assumed. The single‐phase model is considered here for comparison. The nanoparticle concentration is assumed to be 1% and 4% and Reynolds number is ranged from 100 to 800. The results show that the heat transfer enhancement by a using vortex generator and nanofluids is greater than the case of vortex generator and base fluid only, and the latest case provided higher enhancement of heat transfer compared to the case of a base fluid flowing in a plain duct. Considering the nanofluid as two separated phases is more reasonable than assuming the nanofluid as a homogeneous single phase. Temperature dependent properties model provided higher heat transfer and lower shear stress than the constant properties model.
DNA Microarray and Signal Transduction Analysis in Pulmonary Artery Smooth Muscle Cells From Heritable and Idiopathic Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension Subjects
Authors: Yu Jun , Wilson Jamie , Taylor Linda , Polgar Peter
Published: October 2014

Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is characterized by increased pulmonary vascular smooth muscle contraction and proliferation. Here, we analyze genome‐wide mRNA expression in human pulmonary arterial smooth muscle cells (HPASMC) isolated from three control, three hereditary (HPAH), and three idiopathic PAH (IPAH) subjects using the Affymetrix Human Gene ST 1.0 chip. The microarray analysis reveals the expression of 537 genes in HPAH and 1024 genes in IPAH changed compared with control HPASMC. Among those genes, 227 genes show similar directionality of expression in both HPAH and IPAH HPASMC. Ingenuity™ Pathway Analysis (IPA) suggests that many of those genes are involved in cellular growth/proliferation and cell cycle regulation and that signaling pathways such as the mitotic activators, polo‐like kinases, ATM signaling are activated under PAH conditions. Furthermore, the analysis demonstrates downregulated mRNA expression of certain vasoactive receptors such as bradykinin receptor B2 (BKB2R). Using real time PCR, we verified the downregulated BKB2R expression in the PAH cells. Bradykinin‐stimulated calcium influx is also decreased in PAH PASMC. IPA also identified transcriptional factors such p53 and Rb as downregulated, and FoxM1 and Myc as upregulated in both HPAH and IPAH HPASMC. The decreased level of phospho‐p53 in PAH cells was confirmed with a phospho‐protein array; and we experimentally show a dysregulated proliferation of both HPAH and IPAH PASMC. Together, the microarray experiments and bioinformatics analysis highlight an aberrant proliferation and cell cycle regulation in HPASMC from PAH subjects. These newly identified pathways may provide new targets for the treatment of both hereditary and idiopathic PAH. J. Cell. Biochem. 116: 386–397, 2015. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Effect of rMnSOD on Survival Signaling in Pediatric High Risk T‐Cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia
Authors: Pica A. , Di Santi A. , D'angelo V. , Iannotta A. , Ramaglia M. , Di Martino M. , Pollio M.L. , Schiattarella A. , Borrelli A. , Mancini A. , Indolfi P. , Casale F.
Published: October 2014

Manganese superoxide dismutase (MnSOD) is a mitochondrial enzyme that defends against oxidative damage due to reactive oxygen species (ROS). A new isoform of MnSOD with cytotoxic activity was recently discovered in liposarcoma cells. Here, we tested the effectiveness of a recombinant form of this isoform (rMnSOD) on leukemic T cells, Jurkat cells, and lymphocytes. Our results confirm that leukemic T cells can internalize rMnSOD and that rMnSOD causes apoptosis of 99% of leukemic cells without showing toxic effects on healthy cells. Using light and electron microscopy, we determined that an rMnSOD concentration of 0.067 μM most effective on apoptosis induction. Western blot analysis showed that treatment with 0.067 μM rMnSOD resulted in high expression of the pro‐apoptotic protein Bax and low expression of the anti‐apoptotic protein Bcl‐2 in leukemia cells. Concerning signal transduction pathway no influence was observed after treatment except for Jurkat cells showing a slightly decreased expression of ERK phosphorylation. These results suggest that rMnSOD may be an effective and non‐toxic treatment option for T‐cell leukemia. J. Cell. Physiol. 230: 1086–1093, 2015. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc., A Wiley Company
Prostaglandin Dependent Control of an Endogenous Estrogen Receptor Agonist by Osteoblasts
Authors: McCarthy Thomas L. , Centrella Michael
Published: October 2014

Estrogen receptor (ER) activation has complex effects on bone cells, and loss of circulating estradiol adversely affects skeletal status in women. Hormone replacement therapy effectively circumvents bone loss after menopause, but enhances disease risk in other tissues. Here we show that prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) augments the activity of an osteoblast‐derived selective ER modulator, ObSERM. The stimulatory effect of PGE2 is replicated in part by either the PG receptor EP3 agonist 17‐phenyl trinor PGE2 or by the PG receptor FP agonist PGF2α⋅ Whereas activation of the various PG receptors induces multiple downstream signals, the response to PGE2 was mimicked by activators of protein kinase C, and suppressed by inhibition of protein kinase C but not by inhibition of protein kinase A. Moreover, inhibition of nitric oxide synthesis and activation of the PTH and Wnt pathways increases ObSERM activity. Our studies therefore reveal that ObSERM activity is controlled in distinct ways and revise our understanding of ER activation within bone by agents or events associated with PG expression. They also predict ways to sustain or improve bone formation, fracture repair, and surgical healing without adding the risk of disease in other tissues where ER activation also has important biological functions. J. Cell. Physiol. 230: 1104–1114, 2015. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc., A Wiley Company
Transcriptional adaptation of Shigella flexneri during adherence to epithelial cells
Authors: Ni Zhiwei , Jiang Lingyan , Feng Lu , Wang Lei , Liu Bin
Published: October 2014

Shigella adhesion to host cells is a transitional stage from an extracellular to an intracellular environment. However, the dynamic adaptations of Shigella during adhesion are poorly understood. To address this, we performed the first transcriptome analysis of Shigella flexneri 2457T during adhesion. A total of 1,757 genes were differentially regulated (>twofold). The majority of plasmid‐borne ipa‐mxi‐spa locus genes were downregulated, indicating these virulence genes were strictly regulated after successful adhesion. Altered expression of genes involved in stress response indicates that adherent S. flexneri encountered envelope stress and oxidative stress. Shigella flexneri also experienced reduced energy production during adherence. Transcript profiling and cell culture assays using glpD and glpK mutants showed that enhancement of glycerol catabolism were related with adhesion ability of S. flexneri. In addition, regulation of expression of some ionic transport system may be required for S. flexneri adhesion. Expression levels of 26 genes were further examined using qRT‐PCR, which were congruent with transcriptome data. A comparison with expression profile during intracellular growth revealed major differences in genes involved in translation, surface modification, and utilization of carbon and iron. These results contribute to the knowledge of the adaptation mechanisms of S. flexneri during adhesion.
Modelling sustainable salt water management under deficit irrigation conditions for melon in Spain and Brazil
Authors: Leite Kelly N , Cabello María J , Valnir Júnior Manuel , Tarjuelo José M , Domínguez Alfonso
Published: October 2014

BACKGROUND

In water scarcity areas the use of saline water for irrigation is a common practice. In this study, experimental data from two two‐year melon tests were collected for the calibration (2004 ‘Yellow Melon’ (YeMe) type) and validation (2002 YeMe, 2005 and 2006 ‘Piel de Sapo’ (PiSa) type) processes in melon crop simulation under deficit irrigation conditions using salt water. The simulations were carried out for Castilla‐La Mancha (Spain) and Ceará (Brazil) using the MOPECO model, which includes optimized regulated deficit irrigation (ORDI) methodology. The objective was to determine the most suitable irrigation strategy for both areas.

RESULTS

Under fresh water conditions, ORDI may increase yield by up to 20% (PiSa) and 7% (YeMe) compared with constant deficit irrigation. Higher water deficit should be induced during the vegetative development and ripening stages. The rainfall between irrigation periods is able to leach the salts supplied by the irrigation water.

CONCLUSION

The combination of ORDI with different strategies for managing saline water may increase water use efficiency. In these areas it may be of interest not to apply the leaching fraction (saving up to 67% of irrigation water). However, leaching of the soluble salts accumulated before starting the most sensitive periods may be suitable. © 2014 Society of Chemical Industry
Comparison of different cleanup procedures for oil crops based on the development of a trace analytical method for the determination of pyraclostrobin and epoxiconazole
Authors: Pan Xinglu , Dong Fengshou , Xu Jun , Liu Xingang , Cheng Youpu , Chen Zenglong , Liu Na , Chen Xixi , Tao Yan , Zheng Yongquan
Published: October 2014

The effects of different cleanup procedures in removing high‐molecular‐mass lipids and natural colorants from oil‐crop extracts, including dispersive solid‐phase extraction, low‐temperature precipitation and gel permeation chromatography, were studied. The pigment removal, lipid quantity, and matrix effects of the three cleanup methods were evaluated. Results indicated that the gel permeation chromatography method is the most effective way to compare the dispersive solid‐phase extraction and low‐temperature precipitation. Pyraclostrobin and epoxiconazole applied extensively in oil‐crop production were selected as typical pesticides to study and a trace analytical method was developed by gel permeation chromatography and ultra high performance liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry. Average recoveries of the target pesticides at three levels (10, 50, and 100 μg/kg) were in the range of 74.7–96.8% with relative standard deviation values below 9.2%. The limits of detection did not exceed 0.46 μg/kg, whereas the limits of quantification were below 1.54 μg/kg and much lower than maximum residue limit in all matrices. This study may provide the essential data for optimizing the analytical method of pesticides in oil‐crop samples.
In Situ Synthesis of Polymer Embedded Silver Nanoparticles via Photopolymerization
Authors: Nazar Rabia , Ronchetti Silvia , Roppolo Ignazio , Sangermano Marco , Bongiovanni Roberta M.
Published: October 2014

Photocured polymeric films are a promising candidate for the realization of flexible electronics, due to their easy processability, low cost, and availability. In this work, electrically conductive UV‐cured films have been prepared by irradiating an acrylic difunctional monomer in the presence of silver nitrate, pyrrole, and a photoinitiator. Homogeneously dispersed silver nanoparticles (size range 50–80 nm) embedded by polypyrrole formed throughout the acrylic matrix. Interestingly, the electrical conductivity of the acrylic films increased a hundred times after the formation of the Ag‐polypyrrole nanoparticles.Evaluation of the irradiation process was conducted by UV–Vis spectroscopy using model systems where the acrylic monomer was substituted by a solvent. It has been shown that as a function of composition and irradiation time there is a simultaneous reduction of silver nitrate and pyrrole polymerization forming silver nanoparticles covered by the conductive polymer.
Effects of levodopa on regional cerebral metabolism and blood flow
Authors: Ko Ji Hyun , Lerner Renata P. , Eidelberg David
Published: October 2014

Levodopa (l‐dopa) has been at the forefront of antiparkinsonian therapy for a half century. Recent advances in functional brain imaging have contributed substantially to the understanding of the effects of l‐dopa and other dopaminergic treatment on the activity of abnormal motor and cognitive brain circuits in Parkinson's disease patients. Progress has also been made in understanding the functional pathology of dyskinesias, a common side effect of l‐dopa treatment, at both regional and network levels. Here, we review these studies, focusing mainly on the new mechanistic insights provided by metabolic brain imaging and network analysis. © 2014 International Parkinson and Movement Disorder Society
Norepinephrine deficiency in Parkinson's disease: The case for noradrenergic enhancement
Authors: Espay Alberto J. , LeWitt Peter A. , Kaufmann Horacio
Published: October 2014

The dramatic response of most motor and some nonmotor symptoms to dopaminergic therapies has contributed to maintaining the long‐established identity of Parkinson's disease (PD) as primarily a nigrostriatal dopamine (DA) deficiency syndrome. However, DA neurotransmission may be neither the first nor the major neurotransmitter casualty in the neurodegenerative sequence of PD. Growing evidence supports earlier norepinephrine (NE) deficiency resulting from selective degeneration of neurons of the locus coeruleus and sympathetic ganglia. Dopaminergic replacement therapy therefore would seem to neglect some of the motor, behavioral, cognitive, and autonomic impairments that are directly or indirectly associated with the marked deficiency of NE in the brain and elsewhere. Therapeutic strategies to enhance NE neurotransmission have undergone only limited pharmacological testing. Currently, these approaches include selective NE reuptake inhibition, presynaptic α2‐adrenergic receptor blockade, and an NE prodrug, the artificial amino acid L‐threo‐3,4‐dihydroxyphenylserine. In addition to reducing the consequences of deficient noradrenergic signaling, enhancement strate gies have the potential for augmenting the effects of dopaminergic therapies in PD. Furthermore, early recognition of the various clinical manifestations associated with NE deficiency, which may precede development of motor symptoms, could provide a window of opportunity for neuroprotective interventions. © 2014 International Parkinson and Movement Disorder Society
Parkinson's Disease, the Subthalamic Nucleus, Inhibition, and Impulsivity
Authors: Jahanshahi Marjan , Obeso Ignacio , Baunez Christelle , Alegre Manuel , Krack Paul
Published: October 2014

Although Parkinson's disease (PD) is primarily considered a disorder of initiation of actions, patients also have deficits in inhibitory control, both in the motor and cognitive domains. Impulse control disorders, which can develop in association with dopaminergic medication in a small proportion of patients with PD, are the symptoms most commonly considered as representing inhibitory deficits. However, there is now also a body of evidence suggesting a role for the subthalamic nucleus (STN), which is ordinarily hyperactive in PD, in inhibitory control. Here, we review evidence from animal studies, imaging studies, and investigations recording STN activity intra‐ or perioperatively in patients with PD having surgery for DBS of the STN (STN‐DBS). We also highlight relevant hypotheses about the role of the STN and consider evidence from studies that have examined the effect of STN‐DBS in patients with PD on performance of experimental tasks requiring inhibition of prepotent or habitual responses or decision making under conflict, as well as the psychiatric side effects of STN‐DBS. Though the results are not always consistent, nevertheless, this body of evidence supports the role of the STN in inhibitory and executive control. © 2014 International Parkinson and Movement Disorder Society
CHINA'S PENSION CHALLENGE: ADAPTIVE STRATEGY FOR SUCCESS
Authors: Dong Keyong , Wang Gengyu
Published: October 2014

After 30 years of reformation, China has set up a multi‐tiered pension system. This paper aims to observe China's current complex pension scheme longitudinally by analyzing the overall impact and changes it brings to Chinese society. As a broad overview of the whole of China's pension scheme and a discussion of its future challenges, this paper will follow the following order. Firstly, China's pension scheme will be introduced along with the observation of the current standing of the pension scheme from the perspective of a multi‐tiered system and with a brief summary of its history. Secondly, different kinds of pension plans based on urban/rural areas and different occupational groups will be studied. Thirdly, problems of the current pension fund system and its future challenges focusing on financial stability, income support, and controversy over the system will be dealt with, and finally, the adaptive strategy of recent reforms will be discussed. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Apert syndrome: temporal lobe abnormalities on fetal brain imaging
Authors: Stark Zornitza , McGillivray George , Sampson Amanda , Palma‐Dias Ricardo , Edwards Andrew , Said Joanne M. , Whiteley Gillian , Fink A. Michelle
Published: October 2014

Objectives

Apert syndrome is characterized by craniosynostosis and complex hand and foot syndactyly, and an increased risk of brain, palate, heart, and visceral malformations, and intellectual disability. This study aims to describe the structural brain abnormalities detected by dedicated neuroimaging of fetuses with Apert syndrome.

Methods

Retrospective review of ultrasound and magnetic resonance imaging brain imaging obtained in six fetuses with a diagnosis of Apert syndrome.

Results

Five fetuses had attenuation of the septal leaflets, and two had corpus callosum dysgenesis. All six had temporal lobe expansion and overconvolution and temporal lobe clefts. The temporal lobe abnormalities preceded the development of cranial deformity in two fetuses.

Conclusion

Overexpansion and overconvolution of the temporal lobe is evident antenatally and is particularly conspicuous in the fetus when the normal brain is still relatively smooth (approximately 24 to 28 weeks of gestation). © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Challenges of Huntington's disease and quest for therapeutic biomarkers
Authors: Kotrcova Eva , Jarkovska Karla , Valekova Ivona , Zizkova Martina , Motlik Jan , Gadher Suresh Jivan , Kovarova Hana
Published: October 2014

Huntington's disease (HD) is the most common inherited neurodegenerative disorder among polyglutamine (polyQ) diseases caused by cytosine–adenine–guanine repeat expansion in exon 1 of the huntingtin gene whose translation results in polyQ stretch in the N‐terminus of the huntingtin protein (HD protein). This mutation significantly affects huntingtin conformation, proteolysis, PTMs, as well as its ability to bind interacting proteins. As a consequence, a variety of cellular mechanisms such as transcription, mitochondrial energy metabolism, axonal transport, neuronal vulnerability to oxidative stress, neurotransmission, and immune response are altered and involved in the pathogenesis of HD. Promising candidate molecular biomarkers of HD have emerged from proteomic studies. Recent analyses focused on HD protein itself, its PTM, and interacting proteins, which are of great importance for disease course. Furthermore, brain, body fluids, and immune system are intensively studied in order to search for additional proteins with a view to their use as a biomarker(s) or set of biomarkers in clinical trials in HD translational research.
A single aromatic core mutation converts a designed “primitive” protein from halophile to mesophile folding
Authors: Longo Liam M. , Tenorio Connie A. , Kumru Ozan S. , Middaugh C. Russell , Blaber Michael
Published: October 2014

The halophile environment has a number of compelling aspects with regard to the origin of structured polypeptides (i.e., proteogenesis) and, instead of a curious niche that living systems adapted into, the halophile environment is emerging as a candidate “cradle” for proteogenesis. In this viewpoint, a subsequent halophile‐to‐mesophile transition was a key step in early evolution. Several lines of evidence indicate that aromatic amino acids were a late addition to the codon table and not part of the original “prebiotic” set comprising the earliest polypeptides. We test the hypothesis that the availability of aromatic amino acids could facilitate a halophile‐to‐mesophile transition by hydrophobic core‐packing enhancement. The effects of aromatic amino acid substitutions were evaluated in the core of a “primitive” designed protein enriched for the 10 prebiotic amino acids (A,D,E,G,I,L,P,S,T,V)—having an exclusively prebiotic core and requiring halophilic conditions for folding. The results indicate that a single aromatic amino acid substitution is capable of eliminating the requirement of halophile conditions for folding of a “primitive” polypeptide. Thus, the availability of aromatic amino acids could have facilitated a critical halophile‐to‐mesophile protein folding adaptation—identifying a selective advantage for the incorporation of aromatic amino acids into the codon table.
Kinetics study of vacancy–oxygen‐related defects in monocrystalline solar silicon
Authors: Quemener V. , Raeissi B. , Herklotz F. , Murin L. I. , Monakhov E. V. , Svensson B. G.
Published: October 2014

In this work, diffusion and dissociation mechanisms related to the formation and evolution of vacancy–oxygen complexes have been studied. Czochralski‐grown silicon samples have been irradiated at room temperature using fast electrons resulting in the formation of several defects including vacancy–oxygen complexes (VO). The samples were isothermally annealed at different temperatures in the range of 370–470 C. Fourier‐transform infrared spectroscopy has been employed to measure the local vibrational modes associated with the individual defects. The evolution and generation kinetics of vacancy–oxygen complexes have been simulated within the framework of the theory for diffusion‐limited reactions and compared with the experimental data.
Stokes–anti‐Stokes contribution to double resonance Raman processes in graphene
Authors: Kukucska G. , Koltai J. , Kürti J.
Published: October 2014

The most relevant two‐phonon band in the Raman spectrum of graphene is the 2D band. In addition, there are numerous other combination bands with much smaller intensities in the observed spectra (e.g. or ). Their origin can be understood within the double resonance theory. However, calculations on single‐layer graphene found in the literature so far took into account only the Stokes processes for both electron–phonon interaction steps. This leads to the creation of two phonons, thus it gives the positive combination of the phonon frequencies in the Raman shift. Here we calculate the Raman spectra considering the Stokes–anti‐Stokes combinations as well: one phonon is created and another is annihilated. As a consequence features at the differences of the phonon frequencies show up. Tight binding calculations are carried out including the electron–photon and electron–phonon matrix elements explicitly. Phonon normal‐modes and frequencies are calculated at the level of density functional theory.
Toxicity of Metal Oxide Nanoparticles: Mechanisms, Characterization, and Avoiding Experimental Artefacts
Authors: Djurišić Aleksandra B. , Leung Yu Hang , Ng Alan M. C. , Xu Xiao Ying , Lee Patrick K. H. , Degger Natalie , Wu R. S. S.
Published: October 2014

Metal oxide nanomaterials are widely used in practical applications and represent a class of nanomaterials with the highest global annual production. Many of those, such as TiO2 and ZnO, are generally considered non‐toxic due to the lack of toxicity of the bulk material. However, these materials typically exhibit toxicity to bacteria and fungi, and there have been emerging concerns about their ecotoxicity effects. The understanding of the toxicity mechanisms is incomplete, with different studies often reporting contradictory results. The relationship between the material properties and toxicity appears to be complex and diifficult to understand, which is partly due to incomplete characterization of the nanomaterial, and possibly due to experimental artefacts in the characterization of the nanomaterial and/or its interactions with living organisms. This review discusses the comprehensive characterization of metal oxide nanomaterials and the mechanisms of their toxicity.