bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
TOURISM, ECONOMIC INSECURITY, AND NUTRITIONAL HEALTH IN RURAL COSTA RICA: USING SYNDEMICS THEORY TO UNDERSTAND THE IMPACT OF THE GLOBALIZING ECONOMY AT THE LOCAL LEVEL
Authors: Himmelgreen David A. , Romero‐Daza Nancy , Amador Edgar , Pace Cynthia
Published: November 2013

Rapid economic transformations have both positive and negative consequences for nutrition and health. This article presents data from an area of rural Costa Rica that has experienced a rapid economic shift from dairy farming and coffee production to a mixed economy based increasingly on tourism and to a lesser extent on agriculture. During a one‐year period (2004–2005), sociodemographic, employment, dietary intake, food security, anthropometric, and ethnographic (food habits) data were collected from 148 households in two rural communities. The results show that 50 percent of the households are directly involved in the tourism industry, while many others rely on economic strategies that combine involvement in tourism with agricultural activities. Overall, high rates of food insecurity were documented (with over 70 percent of the households experiencing some level of food insecurity over the previous 12 months). The data also show high rates of caregiver and child overweight and obesity and a diet that varies according to food security status. Syndemics theory, which postulates that the dynamic interaction between co‐occurring conditions magnifies the effects of each one in isolation can be used to understand how malnutrition (overnutrition) related to economic insecurity and overweight and obesity together may be contributing to the rise in chronic diet‐related diseases, such as hypertension and type‐2 diabetes, in the study area. The interactions between these comorbidities point to the need for the development of multidimensional public health interventions that couple individual behavior change and community‐driven efforts that reduce economic insecurity and ameliorate food insecurity, resulting in more balanced diets and a reduction in overweight and obesity.
“THERE'S NOWHERE I CAN GO TO GET HELP, AND I HAVE TOOTH PAIN RIGHT NOW”: THE ORAL HEALTH SYNDEMIC AMONG MIGRANT FARMWORKERS IN FLORIDA
Authors: Kline Nolan
Published: November 2013

This article explores the syndemic interaction between poverty, food insecurity, and limited access to dental care among migrant farm laborers in Central Florida. Although a great deal of syndemic research examines the role of pathogen–pathogen interaction (PPI; Singer ; Ventura and Mehra ), social factors, such as poverty, may be of greater importance than the pathogens that infect the body (Singer and Clair ) and demand increased research and policy attention. The data presented in this article show how poverty, food insecurity, and limited access to dental care work synergistically to exacerbate poor health conditions, presenting a syndemic that necessitates increased attention to mitigate poverty circumstances and promote what I call “oral health security” in an effort to advocate for vulnerable populations.
Distributed Development and Product Line Decisions
Authors: Bala Ram , Krishnan V. , Zhu Wenge
Published: November 2013

Distributed product development is becoming increasingly prevalent in a number of industries. We study how the global distribution of product development impacts the profit‐maximizing product line that a firm offers. Specifically, we formulate a model to understand the linkage between cost arbitrage as a driver of distributed development and consequent market implications such as customer perceived quality loss to remotely developed products. Analysis of the model reveals that a firm should expand the product line for a development‐intensive good only at intermediate values of cost advantage and quality loss. We modify the base model to include development capacity constraints as a driver of distributed development and find that the results are robust to this change. Our analysis affirms the need for product managers to incorporate the implications of distributed development in making their product line design decision.
Darwall, Habermas, and the Fluidity of Respect
Authors: Koppelman Andrew
Published: November 2013

What moral commitments do we manifest when we make claims upon one another? The practice of claiming is inescapable, and so any normative presuppositions of that practice are similarly inescapable (at least on pain of self‐contradiction). This inquiry thus promises an Archimedian point from which to address intractable moral disagreements in modern society. Whatever we happen to differ about, we can be shown to agree about these premises, and therefore to share commitment to whatever can be derived from these premises. The most prominent developer of this approach is Jürgen Habermas, who has sought to ground, inter alia, religious and cultural rights on this basis. I will argue that the strategy cannot resolve disagreement in the way Habermas hopes, and that this has been shown, perhaps inadvertently, by Stephen Darwall, who for very different reasons seeks to work out the premises of the practice of claiming (and who never discusses Habermas). Darwall has no apparent interest in finding a universally convincing basis for resolving moral controversies. He seeks to address, not the practical problems of a pluralistic society, but some specialized, albeit important, questions of metaethics, having to do with what kind of entity a moral claim is . Both Habermas and Darwall think that discourse presupposes a kind of respect among persons. Darwall, however, shows that respect is too fluid, and takes too many possible forms, to ground any but the most trivial specific moral claims.
The World Distribution of Income And Its Inequality, 1970–2009
Authors: Liberati Paolo
Published: November 2013

This paper provides a full decomposition of world inequality, as measured by the Gini coefficient, in the period 1970–2009. In particular, using the Analysis of Gini (ANOGI), the paper describes the evolution of between inequality, within inequality, and the impact of overlapping on both factors. While there is evidence that between inequality in the last decade significantly declined due to the rapid Chinese growth, within inequality and overlapping went in the opposite direction. Furthermore, with the exception of some Asian countries, the rest of the world has not moved significantly. As a result, world inequality remains high by any standard.
Capitalizing the Crisis? Explanatory Factors for the Design of Short‐time Work across Organisation for Economic Co‐operation and Development Countries
Authors: Hörisch Felix , Weber Jakob
Published: November 2013

This article looks at the financial and economic crisis 2008–10 in 18 Organisation for Economic Co‐operation and Development states and seeks to investigate explanatory paths for the subsidization of further education within short‐time work programmes. Several hypotheses are put to the test: first, a classical partisan difference argument; second, a varieties of capitalism approach proposing a successful joint rallying of employers and employees for subsidization in coordinated market economies; and, lastly, the merged hypothesis that right‐wing parties in a coordinated economic context might subsidize feeling the pressure to overcompensate an ‘issue ownership’ of left parties in the field of employee‐friendly policies.

We identify four explanatory paths: coordinated economies in the sample subsidized when they were economically closed or highly indebted. The results also support our combined hypothesis, that New Zealand – a left‐governed liberal market economy – and right‐governed coordinated market economies of the non‐Scandinavian type subsidized.
Reply to “Comments on ‘Geomechanical and Geochemical Evidence of Piezonuclear Fission Reactions in the Earth's Crust’ by A. Carpinteri and A. Manuello” by U. Bardi and G. Comoretto
Authors: Carpinteri A. , Manuello A.
Published: November 2013

In the paper entitled “Comments on ‘Geomechanical and Geochemical Evidence of Piezonuclear Fission Reactions in the Earth's Crust’ by A. Carpinteri and Manuello” by U. Bardi and G. Comoretto, the authors criticise the hypothesis based on piezonuclear reactions for the interpretation of the compositional evolution of the Earth's crust. We report a detailed reply of how the traditional theories, used by the authors of the comments, are obviously inadequate to describe this new kind of nuclear phenomena. Only very recently, independent authors proposed a theoretical model explaining the anomalous energy emissions in the form of neutrons, involved in piezonuclear reactions, during fracture of nonradioactive rocks. It is also known how the evidences that Bardi and Comoretto claim to be non‐existent could be found in many independent works that appeared in most important journals about unexplained questions of the Earth's crust and environment. The data reported in the original work and the details included in this reply show that it is incorrect to consider impossible or simply to ignore the existence of unexplained phenomena only because they cannot be described by traditional models and conventional theories.
Canine antimicrobial peptides are effective against resistant bacteria and yeasts
Authors: Santoro Domenico , Maddox Carol W.
Published: November 2013

Background

Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) are small proteins present in most living species and they are involved in the defence against pathogenic organisms. β‐Defensins and cathelicidin are the most frequently studied AMPs in both people and dogs.

Hypothesis/Objectives

Our objectives were to determine the minimal inhibitory concentration and minimal bactericidal concentration of two canine β‐defensins and a cathelicidin against antibiotic‐sensitive and antibiotic‐resistant bacteria and yeasts using a broth microdilution method.

Methods

The micro‐organisms tested were ATCC strains of meticillin‐sensitive and meticillin‐resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MSSA and MRSA, respectively), meticillin‐sensitive Staphylococcus pseudintermedius (MSSP), Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Candida albicans and Malassezia pachydermatis. Field strains of meticillin‐resistant S, pseudintermedius (MRSP, n = 1) and MSSP (n = 11) were also tested. Mann–Whitney U‐test and Friedman test were used for statistical analysis.

Results

The MSSP and MRSP were more susceptible to canine AMPs than MSSA and MRSA. Malassezia pachydermatis was more sensitive than C. albicans to canine AMPs. The β‐defensin cBD103 was most effective against Staphylococci and P. aeruginosa, while the cathelicidin cCath was the most effective AMP against E. coli. Additionally, cBD103 was the most effective AMP for both yeasts studied, with M. pachydermatis being more susceptible than C. albicans. All AMPs tested exhibited killing within 2 h of exposure.

Conclusions and clinical importance

We demonstrated that natural canine AMPs are effective against canine‐specific pathogens, are equally effective against meticillin‐resistant or ‐susceptible strains, and are more effective against M. pachydermatis than against C. albicans organisms.
A catalytic independent function of the deubiquitinating enzyme USP14 regulates hippocampal synaptic short‐term plasticity and vesicle number
Authors: Walters Brandon J. , Hallengren Jada J. , Theile Christopher S. , Ploegh Hidde L. , Wilson Scott M. , Dobrunz Lynn E.
Published: November 2013

Key points

Mice carrying the ataxia (axJ) mutation have a 95% reduction in the deubiquitinating enzyme USP14, which results in a reduction in hippocampal paired pulse facilitation, a form of short‐term synaptic plasticity.

Hippocampal synapses in axJ mice have a 50% reduction in synaptic vesicles but no change in the initial release probability, which is a novel mechanism for regulating paired pulse facilitation.

USP14 modulates hippocampal short‐term plasticity and structure independent of its deubiquitinating activity, as overexpression of a catalytically inactive form of USP14 restores hippocampal paired pulse facilitation and vesicle number to the ataxia mice.

Pharmacological inhibition of the proteasome also rescues the deficits in hippocampal short‐term plasticity in ataxia mice, implying that the loss of USP14 causes increased protein degradation.

These results suggest that USP14 plays a modulatory role in regulating protein turnover by the proteasome that is independent of its canonical role in the disassembly of polyubiquitin conjugates.

The ubiquitin proteasome system is required for the rapid and precise control of protein abundance that is essential for synaptic function. USP14 is a proteasome‐bound deubiquitinating enzyme that recycles ubiquitin and regulates synaptic short‐term synaptic plasticity. We previously reported that loss of USP14 in axJ mice causes a deficit in paired pulse facilitation (PPF) at hippocampal synapses. Here we report that USP14 regulates synaptic function through a novel, deubiquitination‐independent mechanism. Although PPF is usually inversely related to release probability, USP14 deficiency impairs PPF without altering basal release probability. Instead, the loss of USP14 causes a large reduction in the number of synaptic vesicles. Over‐expression of a catalytically inactive form of USP14 rescues the PPF deficit and restores synaptic vesicle number, indicating that USP14 regulates presynaptic structure and function independently of its role in deubiquitination. Finally, the PPF deficit caused by loss of USP14 can be rescued by pharmacological inhibition of proteasome activity, suggesting that inappropriate protein degradation underlies the PPF impairment. Overall, we demonstrate a novel, deubiquitination‐independent function for USP14 in influencing synaptic architecture and plasticity.
Functional properties of extrasynaptic AMPA and NMDA receptors during postnatal hippocampal neurogenesis
Authors: Schmidt‐Salzmann Charlotte , Li Liyi , Bischofberger Josef
Published: November 2013

Key points

Extrasynaptic AMPA and NMDA receptors (AMPARs and NMDARs) were studied in newly generated young hippocampal granule cells at different stages of functional synaptic integration.

Whereas AMPAR density increased dramatically with cell maturation, the NMDAR current density was nearly constant, leading to an initially high NMDAR to AMPAR conductance density ratio.

AMPAR desensitization was slowest during the main phase of synapse formation and substantially faster before and afterwards at fully integrated mature stages.

Steady state current amplitude was also largest during synaptic integration and ∼50% smaller afterwards.

The data suggest that during periods of new synapse formation prolonged extrasynaptic AMPAR currents might support effective depolarization and NMDAR activation during spillover of glutamate.

Abstract  In the mammalian hippocampus, new granule cells are continuously generated throughout life. Although it is well known that they rapidly form several thousand new glutamatergic synapses, the underlying mechanisms are not well understood. As extrasynaptic NMDA receptors are believed to support the generation of new spines, we have studied the functional properties of extrasynaptic ionotropic glutamate receptors in newborn granule cells in juvenile rats during and after synaptic integration. Using the fast application of glutamate to outside‐out membrane patches, we show that all immature granule cells express functional AMPA and NMDA receptors. The density of AMPA receptors was small in cells starting to receive excitatory synaptic input (∼30 pS μm−2) but substantially increased during synaptic integration to finally reach ∼120 pS μm−2 in fully mature cells. Interestingly, AMPA receptors showed a biphasic change in desensitization time constant which was slowest during synaptic integration and substantially faster before and afterwards. This was paralleled by a change in the non‐desensitizing current component which was maximal during synaptic integration and about 50% smaller afterwards. Surprisingly, the NMDA receptor kinetics and density in young cells was already comparable to mature cells (∼10 pS μm−2), leading to an enhanced NMDA/AMPA receptor density ratio. Similar to somatic outside‐out patches, iontophoretic application of glutamate onto dendrites also revealed an enhanced dendritic NMDA/AMPA ratio in young cells. These data indicate that prolonged AMPA receptor currents in newly generated young granule cells might support the effective activation of extrasynaptic NMDA receptors and therefore constitute a competitive advantage over mature cells for new synapse formation.
Aerodynamic Analysis and Optimization of Wind Turbines Based on Full Free Vortex Wake Model
Authors: Song Xiancheng , Chen Jiang , Du Gang , Ji Lucheng
Published: November 2013

The aerodynamic analysis and optimization of wind turbine based on a full free vortex wake model is presented. Instead of a simplification of the vortex wake structure, this model predict an adequate free-wake extension which can accurately take into account the profound influence of vortex sheet downstream on the aerodynamic performance of wind turbine. The problem that the model suffers from high computational costs is solved by combining the Fast Multipole Methods (FMM) for an efficient evaluation of the Biot–Savart law with the parallel processing. The model is applied to the aerodynamic analysis of wind turbine and a stable convergent numerical solution is achieved using the pseudo-implicit technique (steady) and predictor-corrector PC2B scheme (unsteady). The optimization based on this analysis is also efficiently carried out using a Fourier series representation of the bound circulation as optimization variables, using a given thrust coefficient as a constraint. The chord and twist distributions that completely define the geometry are produced from the obtained optimal bound circulation distribution. The optimization is capable of quickly finding an optimum design using a few optimization variables. The validations of presented methods are performed through comparisons with the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) wind turbine experiment.
Offshore Wind Farm Asset Management: Past Experiences and Future Challenges
Authors: Williams Richard , Crabtree Christopher , Hogg Simon
Published: November 2013

This paper considers the asset management of offshore wind farms and, in particular, how this will change as wind farms increase significantly in capacity and move to sites further offshore. Health monitoring, industrial operational structures, infrastructure, operations and maintenance and operational strategies are discussed based on the experiences and expectations of industry partners across the operational cycle of a wind farm. The exercise was undertaken through discussions with UK and European industrial companies and fellow academics to obtain their experiences to date, better define the challenges the industry expects to face in the coming years and establish the areas of significant research interest from an industrial point of view. This paper is of interest to both industrial and academic members of the offshore wind community who are interested in the challenges of future asset management strategy.
Numerical Analysis of Flow in a Transonic Compressor With a Single Circumferential Casing Groove: Influence of Groove Location and Depth on Flow Instability
Authors: Sakuma Yasunori , Watanabe Toshinori , Himeno Takehiro , Kato Dai , Murooka Takeshi , Shuto Yukari
Published: November 2013

The effect of circumferential single grooved casing treatment on the stability enhancement of NASA Rotor 37 has been examined with CFD analysis. Stall inception mechanism of Rotor 37 is presented first with principal focus on the tip leakage flow behavior, passage blockage, and the vortical flow structures. Detailed observation showed that the combined interaction of the stagnated flow of tip leakage vortex breakdown and the jet-like leakage flow from the mid-chord region leads to the blade tip-initiated stall inception. The result of numerical parametric study is then demonstrated to show the effect of varying the axial location and the depth of a circumferential single groove. The evaluation based on stall margin improvement showed a higher potential of deeper grooves in stability enhancement, and the optimal position for the groove to be located was indicated to exist near the leading edge of the blade.
Unsteady Analysis on the Effects of Tip Clearance Height on Hot Streak Migration Across Rotor Blade Tip Clearance
Authors: Liu Zhaofang , Liu Zhao , Feng Zhenping
Published: November 2013

This paper presents an investigation on the hot streak migration across rotor blade tip clearance in a high pressure gas turbine with different tip clearance heights. The blade geometry is taken from the first stage of GE-E3 turbine engine. Three tip clearances, 1.0%, 1.5% and 2.5% of the blade span with a flat tip were investigated respectively, and the uniform and non-uniform inlet temperature profiles were taken as the inlet boundary conditions. By solving the unsteady compressible Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes equations, the time dependent solutions were obtained. The results indicate that the large tip clearance intensifies the leakage flow, increases the hot streak migration rate, and aggravates the heat transfer environment on blade tip. However, the reverse secondary flow dominated by the relative motion of casing is insensitive to the change of tip clearance height. Attributed to the high-speed rotation of rotor blade and the low pressure difference between both sides of blade, a reverse leakage flow zone emerges over blade tip near trailing edge. To eliminate the effects of blade profile variation due to twist along the blade span on the aerothermal performance in tip clearance, the tested rotor (straight) blade and the original rotor (twisted) blade of GE-E3 first stage with the same tip profile are compared in this paper.
A van der Pol Based Reduced-Order Model for Non-Synchronous Vibration (NSV) in Turbomachinery
Authors: Clark Stephen T. , Kielb Robert E. , Hall Kenneth C.
Published: November 2013

This paper demonstrates the potential of using a multi-degree-of-freedom, traditional van der Pol oscillator to model non-synchronous vibration (NSV) in turbomachinery. It is shown that the two main characteristics of NSV are captured by the reduced-order, van der Pol model. First, a stable limit cycle oscillation (LCO) is maintained for various conditions. Second, the lock-in phenomenon typical of NSV is captured for various fluid-structure frequency ratios. This research identifies values and significance of the coupling parameters used in the van der Pol model. These coefficients are chosen to model confirmed instances of experimental NSV, and to develop a preliminary design tool that engineers can use to better design turbomachinery for NSV. Specifically, coefficient tuning from experimental instances of NSV are considered to identify the unknown coupling coefficients in the van der Pol model.

The goal of future research will be to identify values and significance of the coupling parameters used in the van der Pol model, to match these coefficients with confirmed instances of experimental NSV, and to develop a preliminary design tool that engineers can use to better design turbomachinery for NSV. Proper orthogonal decomposition (POD) CFD techniques and coefficient tuning from experimental instances of NSV have been considered to identify the unknown coupling coefficients in the van der Pol model. The finalization of this preliminary-design research will be completed in future research.
Balanced Can
Authors: Shakerin Said
Published: November 2013

The ordinary 12-oz beverage cans in the figures below are not held up with any props or glue. The bottom of such cans is stepped at its circumference for better stacking. When this kind of can is tilted, as shown in Fig. 1, the outside corners of the step touch the surface beneath, providing an effective contact about 1 cm wide. Because the contact is relatively wide and the geometry is symmetrical, it is easy to balance an empty can by simply adding an appropriate amount of water so that the overall center of mass is located directly above the contact. In fact, any amount of water between about 40 and 210 mL will work. A computational animation of this trick by Sijia Liang and Bruce Atwood that shows center of mass as a function of amount of added water is available at http://demonstrations.wolfram.com. Once there, search “balancing can.”
Science Signaling
Podcast: 12 November 2013
Authors: Rogers Stephen L. , Peifer Mark , VanHook Annalisa M.
Published: November 2013

The G protein–coupled receptor Mist is the receptor for Fog, a secreted factor that drives gastrulation in fruit fly embryos.
Lighting Up Immunity
Authors: Pickersgill Helen
Published: November 2013

Diurnal regulation of an immune cell lineage in the intestine protects against inflammatory disease in mice.
Ceftaroline plus Avibactam Demonstrates Bactericidal Activity against Pathogenic Anaerobic Bacteria in a One-Compartment
In Vitro
Pharmacokinetic/Pharmacodynamic Model
Authors: Werth Brian J. , Rybak Michael J.
Published: November 2013

Anaerobic pathogens are often associated with polymicrobial infections, such as diabetic foot infections. Patients with these infections are often treated with broad-spectrum, multidrug therapies targeting resistant Gram-positive bacteria, such as methicillin-resistant
Staphylococcus aureus
, as well as Gram-negative bacteria and anaerobes. The broad-spectrum, non-beta-lactam, beta-lactamase inhibitor avibactam has been combined with ceftaroline and may provide a single-product alternative for complicated polymicrobial infections. We compared the activity of ceftaroline-avibactam (CPA) to that of ertapenem (ERT) against common anaerobic pathogens in an
in vitro
pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic (PK/PD) model. Simulations of doses of ceftaroline-fosamil at 600 mg every 8 h (q8h) (maximum free drug concentration [
fC
max
], 17.04 mg/liter, and half-life [
t
1/2
], 2.66 h) plus avibactam at 600 mg q8h (
fC
max
, 11.72 mg/liter, and
t
1/2
, 1.8 h) and of ertapenem at 1 g q24h (
f
C
max
, 13 mg/liter, and
t
1/2
, 4 h) were evaluated against two strains of
Bacteroides fragilis
, one strain of
Prevotella bivia
, and one strain of
Finegoldia magna
in an anaerobic one-compartment
in vitro
PK/PD model over 72 h with a starting inoculum of ∼8 log
10
CFU/ml. Bactericidal activity was defined as a reduction of ≥3 log
10
CFU/ml from the starting inoculum. Both CPA and ERT were bactericidal against all four strains. CPA demonstrated improved activity against
Bacteroides
strains compared to that of ERT but had similar activity against
Finegoldia magna
and
P. bivia
, although modest regrowth was observed with CPA against
P. bivia
. No resistance emerged from any of the models. The pharmacokinetics achieved were 92 to 105% of the targets. CPA has potent
in vitro
activity against common anaerobic pathogens at clinically relevant drug exposures and may be a suitable single product for the management of complicated polymicrobial infections.
Population Pharmacokinetic Modeling of the Unbound Levofloxacin Concentrations in Rat Plasma and Prostate Tissue Measured by Microdialysis
Authors: Hurtado Felipe K. , Weber Benjamin , Derendorf Hartmut , Hochhaus Guenther , Dalla Costa Teresa
Published: November 2013

Levofloxacin is a broad-spectrum fluoroquinolone used in the treatment of both acute and chronic bacterial prostatitis. Currently, the treatment of bacterial prostatitis is still difficult, especially due to the poor distribution of many antimicrobials into the prostate, thus preventing the drug to reach effective interstitial concentrations at the infection site. Newer fluoroquinolones show a greater penetration into the prostate. In the present study, we compared the unbound levofloxacin prostate concentrations measured by microdialysis to those in plasma after a 7-mg/kg intravenous bolus dose to Wistar rats. Plasma and dialysate samples were analyzed using a validated high-pressure liquid chromatography-fluorescence method. Both noncompartmental analysis (NCA) and population-based compartmental modeling (NONMEM 6) were performed. Unbound prostate tissue concentrations represented 78% of unbound plasma levels over a period of 12 h by comparing the extent of exposure (unbound AUC
0–∞
) of 6.4 and 4.8 h·μg/ml in plasma and tissue, respectively. A three-compartment model with simultaneous passive diffusion and saturable distribution kinetics from the prostate to the central compartment gave the best results in terms of curve fitting, precision of parameter estimates, and model stability. The following parameter values were estimated by the population model:
V
1
(0.38 liter; where
V
1
represents the volume of the central compartment), CL (0.22 liter/h),
k
12
(2.27 h
−1
),
k
21
(1.44 h
−1
),
k
13
(0.69 h
−1
),
V
max
(7.19 μg/h),
k
M
(0.35 μg/ml),
V
3
/fu
prostate
(0.05 liter; where fu
prostate
represents the fraction unbound in the prostate), and
k
31
(3.67 h
−1
). The interindividual variability values for
V
1
, CL,
V
max
, and
k
M
were 21, 37, 42, and 76%, respectively. Our results suggest that levofloxacin is likely to be substrate for efflux transporters in the prostate.
Association of HER1 amplification with poor prognosis in well differentiated gastric carcinomas
Authors: Kandel Christine , Leclair François , Bou-Hanna Chantal , Laboisse Christian L , Mosnier Jean-François
Published: November 2013

Aims

The pattern of E-cadherin expression and the HER1/HER2 status were studied in European patients with gastric carcinomas in relation with their differentiation and prognosis.

Methods

82 gastric carcinomas (five papillary, 52 tubular, 19 poorly cohesive and six mixed according to WHO classification) were investigated for E-cadherin distribution (normal: restricted to the membrane; abnormal: absent or cytoplasmic expression), HER1 and HER2 expression using HercepTest and amplification using fluorescent in situ hybridisation. Statistical analysis assessed the association between the markers and their correlation with clinicopathological parameters and follow-up information.

Results

Abnormal E-cadherin distribution was found in 34 of the 82 gastric carcinomas (41%) (18/25 poorly cohesive or mixed (72%); 16/57 papillary or tubular type (28%)). HER1 overexpression (3+) and equivocal expression (2+) were found in five carcinomas (6%; four tubular and one poorly cohesive) and eight carcinomas (10%; six tubular and two poorly cohesive), respectively. HER2 overexpression (3+) and equivocal expression (2+) were found in seven carcinomas (8%; five papillary and two tubular) and three carcinomas (4%; three tubular), respectively. Amplification ofHER1orHER2was detected in 14 gastric carcinomas (five papillary and nine tubular). All of them showed a normal E-cadherin distribution. In the univariate analysis, onlyHER1amplification had a prognostic impact, whileHER2amplification and E-cadherin expression/distribution were not per se prognostically relevant.

Conclusions

E-cadherin immunostaining andHER1in situ hybridisation define a group of well differentiated gastric carcinomas with poor prognosis eligible for an aggressive therapeutic approach.
Epstein–Barr virus is rarely associated with diffuse large B cell lymphoma in Taiwan and carries a trend for a shorter median survival time
Authors: Chang Sheng-Tsung , Lu Yi-Hsuan , Lu Chin-Li , Weng Shih-Feng , Lin Shu-Hui , Kuo Szu-Yin , Chuang Yu-Ting , Takeuchi Kengo , Ohshima Koichi , Chuang Shih-Sung
Published: November 2013

Aims

Epstein–Barr virus (EBV)-positive diffuse large B cell lymphoma (DLBCL) of the elderly is characterised by frequent extranodal involvement, a morphological spectrum from polymorphous to monomorphous and a poor prognosis. The frequency is higher in Japan and Korea but lower in the West, while the status in Taiwan has not been reported yet.

Methods

We conducted a retrospective study of DLBCL in a single institute in Taiwan by immunohistochemistry and in situ hybridisation for EBV.

Results

Of the 424 consecutive DLBCL cases, 332 cases were studied for EBV. 15 (4.5%) were EBV-positive and 13 (3.9%) fulfil WHO criteria of EBV-positive DLBCL of the elderly with a median age of 75. Of these 15 cases, extranodal presentation occurred in 11 (73%) patients with predominance in the gastrointestinal tract and 6 (40%) were of germinal centre B cell phenotype. There was no difference between EBV-positive and -negative patients in terms of age, gender, nodal versus extranodal presentation, and immunophenotypical profile. EBV-positive patients showed a trend for a shorter median survival time (5.0 vs 39.3 months; p=0.058). Of all DLBCL patients, multivariable analysis revealed a significantly worse overall survival for patients older than 50 (p=0.001) and for those with bcl-6-negative tumours (p=0.003) but not with other clinicopathological factors including EBV status.

Conclusions

EBV-positive DLBCL of the elderly is relatively rare in Taiwan, with an incidence intermediate between Japan/Korea and the West. Further studies are warranted to clarify the association of EBV and the clinicopathological features and the prognostic significance in patients with DLBCL.
Fascin and cyclin D1 immunoreactivity in non-neoplastic vulvar squamous epithelium, vulvar intraepithelial neoplasia and invasive squamous carcinoma: correlation with Ki67 and p16 protein expression
Authors: Stewart C J R , Crook M L
Published: November 2013

Aims

To investigate cyclin D1 and fascin immunoreactivity in normal, reactive and neoplastic vulvar skin correlating the findings with p16 protein and Ki67 expression.

Methods

66 vulvar biopsy or resection specimens demonstrating normal appearances, reactive epidermal changes, usual-type vulvar intraepithelial neoplasia (uVIN), differentiated-type VIN (dVIN), p16-positive squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) and p16-negative SCC were examined immunohistochemically for cyclin D1, fascin, Ki67 and p16 protein. Where applicable, expression patterns were compared in microanatomically distinct areas, particularly at the invasive front (deep tumour margin) of SCC.

Results

Normal epidermis showed parabasal Ki67 and cyclin D1 staining while fascin labelled cells in the lower one-third of the epithelium. Reactive and dVIN specimens demonstrated mildly increased Ki67 and cyclin D1 expression that maintained parabasal polarity, whereas uVIN and p16-positive SCC were characterised by loss of cyclin D1 staining. However, in 14 of 20 p16-positive SCC small infiltrative tumour groups and single infiltrating cells at the invasive front showed a cyclin D1-positive/ Ki67-negative phenotype. In contrast, p16-negative SCC generally showed diffuse and concordant cyclin D1 and Ki67 labelling, including at the invasive margin. Fascin expression was increased in all VIN and SCC lesions.

Conclusions

Variations in cyclin D1 and Ki67 expression between p16-positive and p16-negative vulvar SCCs suggest different mechanisms of invasion in these tumour subgroups. Fascin is upregulated in vulvar squamous neoplasia but immunostaining does not discriminate in situ from invasive lesions nor putative human papilloma virus (HPV)-associated and HPV-independent SCCs.
Predictors of help-seeking behaviour among women exposed to violence in Nigeria: a multilevel analysis to evaluate the impact of contextual and individual factors
Authors: Linos Natalia , Slopen Natalie , Berkman Lisa , Subramanian S V , Kawachi Ichiro
Published: November 2013

Objectives

To simultaneously examine contextual and individual-level predictors of help-seeking behaviour among women exposed to physical and sexual violence in Nigeria.

Design

A multi-level cross-sectional study. We fit three 3-level random intercepts models to examine contextual and individual-level characteristics associated with help seeking, simultaneously.

Setting

Nigerian Demographic and Health Survey for 2008.

Participants

5553 women (15–49 years) who reported physical or sexual violence, drawn from 23 715 women in the Nigerian Demographic and Health Survey that responded to questions on violence exposure.

Main outcome measures

Help seeking to prevent future victimisation was based on self-report.

Results

In our sample of women exposed to physical and sexual violence, 39.7% reported that they sought help to stop the perpetrator from hurting them again. Rates of help seeking were geographically patterned by state (range: 12% to 65%). State-level development, measured by the Human Development Index (z-score), was positively associated with help seeking (OR=1.30, 95% CI 1.05 to 1.61), after adjusting for individual-level characteristics. State-level prevalence of violence against women (z-score) was negatively associated with help-seeking (OR=0.68, 95% CI 0.55 to 0.84), suggesting that service providers who may target their programmes to areas with high prevalence of violence, may need to simultaneously address barriers to help seeking. Few individual-level characteristics were associated with help seeking, including wealth, marital status, employment status, ethnicity, history of witnessing domestic violence and relationship to perpetrator.

Conclusions

Efforts to support female survivors of violence should consider broader social and contextual determinants that are associated with help-seeking behaviours.
Prenatal exposure to alcohol, and gender differences on child mental health at age seven years
Authors: Niclasen J , Nybo Andersen A M , Teasdale T W , Strandberg-Larsen K
Published: November 2013

Background

It remains uncertain whether exposure to lower doses of alcohol is damaging to the developing fetus. The present study aimed to investigate associations for boys and girls between prenatal exposure to binge drinking and lower doses of alcohol in pregnancy, and parent-reported behavioural and emotional development at age seven.

Methods

This study used data from the Danish National Birth Cohort. Associations between cumulated alcohol exposure and binge drinking from full pregnancy and parent scores on the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) measured at age seven were investigated. The SDQ was used as continuous externalising/internalising scores, and as above/below cut-off for the specific scales of hyperactivity/inattention, conduct, emotional and peer problems. Inclusion criteria were information on alcohol exposure from three interviews, SDQ scores at age seven and being born full term (n=37 152).

Results

Controlling for relevant confounders, small positive associations were observed between binge drinking and internalising (relative change in mean: 1.04–1.06), externalising scores (relative change in mean: 1.01–1.07), and conduct scores (OR 1.12 to 1.23) for boys. No associations were observed with lower doses of alcohol.

Conclusions

Exposure to binge drinking is weakly associated with impaired behavioural and emotional development measured at age seven. Large differences in background characteristics were observed between the groups defined by cumulated alcohol exposure, leaving the interpretations of findings uncertain.
Preventive roles of swimming exercise and pioglitazone treatment on hepatic dysfunction in a rat model of metabolic syndrome
Authors: Sakr Hussein F. , Al-Hashem Fahaid H. , El-Naby Waffaa M. Hassab , Alkhateeb Mahmoud A. , Zaki Mohamed Samir A. , Refaey Hesham M. El , Morsy Mohamed D.
Published: November 2013

Pioglitazone (Pio) and swimming exercise (SE) are insulin sensitisers. This investigation was suggested because of the significant side effects associated with Pio treatment in metabolic syndrome (MetS). This study was, therefore, designed to investigate the preventive role of Pio treatment and SE in terms of efficiency and pathological changes in MetS in a rat model. Sixty male Sprague–Dawley rats were distributed equally among 6 groups: (i) control group (C), (ii) exercised control group (C+E), (iii) Pio-treated control group (C+Pio), (iv) group with MetS, (v) group with MetS treated with Pio (MetS+Pio), and (vi) exercised MetS group (MetS+E). Systolic blood pressure and heart rate were measured at the end of the experiments (16 weeks). Retro-orbital blood samples were used to determine the serum levels of glucose, insulin, lipids, gamma glutamyl transferase, alanine transaminase, aspartate transaminase, alkaline phosphatase, fetuin-A, and adiponectin. Semiquantitative reverse transcriptase – PCR insulin gene expression assays and hepatic histopathological examination were conducted. Swimming exercise significantly improved all of the aforementioned parameters, more so than the Pio treatment. In particular, the serum hepatic enzyme levels and hepatic histopathological changes were improved compared with the MetS group. These results suggested that swimming exercise might be an alternative physiological preventive tool against hepatic dysfunction to avoid the side effects associated with Pio treatment, and this could be demonstrated in a rat model of metabolic syndrome.
Effects of freeze-dried red wine on cardiac function and ECG of the Langendorff-perfused rat heart
Authors: Ferrara Antonella , Fusi Fabio , Gorelli Beatrice , Sgaragli Giampietro , Saponara Simona
Published: November 2013

The effect of freeze-dried red wine (FDRW) on cardiac function and electrocardiogram (ECG) in Langendorff-isolated rat hearts was investigated. FDRW significantly decreased left ventricular pressure and coronary perfusion pressure, the latter being dependent on the activation of both phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase and eNOS. FDRW did not affect the QRS and QT interval in the ECG, although at 56 μg of gallic acid equivalents/mL, it prolonged PQ interval and induced a second-degree atrioventricular block in 3 out of 6 hearts. This is the first study demonstrating that at concentrations resembling a moderate consumption of red wine, FDRW exhibited negative inotropic and coronary vasodilating activity leaving unaltered ECG, whereas at very high concentrations, it induced arrhythmogenic effects.
AGGREGATION OF SPARSE LINEAR DISCRIMINANT ANALYSES FOR EVENT-RELATED POTENTIAL CLASSIFICATION IN BRAIN-COMPUTER INTERFACE
Authors: ZHANG YU , ZHOU GUOXU , JIN JING , ZHAO QIBIN , WANG XINGYU , CICHOCKI ANDRZEJ
Published: November 2013

Two main issues for event-related potential (ERP) classification in brain–computer interface (BCI) application are curse-of-dimensionality and bias-variance tradeoff, which may deteriorate classification performance, especially with insufficient training samples resulted from limited calibration time. This study introduces an aggregation of sparse linear discriminant analyses (ASLDA) to overcome these problems. In the ASLDA, multiple sparse discriminant vectors are learned from differently l1-regularized least-squares regressions by exploiting the equivalence between LDA and least-squares regression, and are subsequently aggregated to form an ensemble classifier, which could not only implement automatic feature selection for dimensionality reduction to alleviate curse-of-dimensionality, but also decrease the variance to improve generalization capacity for new test samples. Extensive investigation and comparison are carried out among the ASLDA, the ordinary LDA and other competing ERP classification algorithms, based on different three ERP datasets. Experimental results indicate that the ASLDA yields better overall performance for single-trial ERP classification when insufficient training samples are available. This suggests the proposed ASLDA is promising for ERP classification in small sample size scenario to improve the practicability of BCI.
THE STABILIZERS IN A DRINFELD MODULAR GROUP OF THE VERTICES OF ITS BRUHAT–TITS TREE: AN ELEMENTARY APPROACH
Authors: MASON A. W. , SCHWEIZER ANDREAS
Published: November 2013

Let K be an algebraic function field of one variable with constant field k and let [Formula: see text] be the Dedekind domain consisting of all those elements of K which are integral outside a fixed place ∞ of K. When k is finite the group [Formula: see text] plays a central role in the theory of Drinfeld modular curves analogous to that played by SL2(ℤ) in the classical theory of modular forms. When k is finite (respectively, infinite) we refer to a group [Formula: see text] as an arithmetic (respectively, non-arithmetic) Drinfeld modular group. Associated with [Formula: see text] is its Bruhat–Tits tree, [Formula: see text]. The structure of the group is derived from that of the quotient graph [Formula: see text]. Using an elementary approach which refers explicitly to matrices we determine the structure of all the vertex stabilizers of [Formula: see text]. This extends results of Serre, Takahashi and the authors. We also determine all possible valencies of the vertices of [Formula: see text] for the important special case where ∞ has degree 1.
COMPLEX SYSTEMS: NEW CHALLENGES WITH MODELING HEADACHES
Authors: BELLOMO N. , BREZZI F.
Published: November 2013

This brief note is an introduction to the papers published in this special issue devoted to complex systems in life sciences. Out of this presentation some perspective ideas on conceivable future research objectives are extracted and brought to the reader's attention. The final (ambitious) aim is to develop a mathematical theory for complex living systems.
MODULATIONS IN LOW-TEMPERATURE TRANSIENT REFLECTIVITY MEASUREMENTS
Authors: KHAN SALAHUDDIN , CHARI RAMA , JAYABALAN J. , PAL SUPARNA , SHARMA T. K. , SAGAR A. K. , ANSARI M. S. , KUSH P. K.
Published: November 2013

Periodic modulations that appear in the low-temperature transient reflectivity signal of a GaAsP / AlGaAs single quantum well is studied. Similar anomalous oscillations are also reported in layered manganite [K. Kouyama et al., J. Phys. Soc. Jpn.76 (2007) 123702(1–3).] We show that such periodic modulations are caused by changes in the linear reflectivity of the sample during transient reflectivity measurements. Studies carried out on reflectivity of different materials under identical conditions show that these modulations on the true transient reflectivity signal are caused by condensation of residual gases on the surface of quantum well. Methods to obtain reliable transient reflectivity data are also described.
TaskGenies
Authors: Kokkalis Nicolas , Köhn Thomas , Huebner Johannes , Lee Moontae , Schulze Florian , Klemmer Scott R.
Published: November 2013

People complete tasks more quickly when they have concrete plans. However, they often fail to create such action plans. (How) can systems provide these concrete steps automatically? This article demonstrates that these benefits can also be realized when these plans are created by others or reused from similar tasks. Four experiments test these approaches, finding that people indeed complete more tasks when they receive externally-created action plans. To automatically provide plans, we introduce the Genies workflow that combines benefits of crowd wisdom, collaborative refinement, and automation. We demonstrate and evaluate this approach through the TaskGenies system, and introduce an NLP similarity algorithm for reusing plans. We demonstrate that it is possible for people to create action plans for others, and we show that it can be cost effective.
Analysis of Recursively Parallel Programs
Authors: Bouajjani Ahmed , Emmi Michael
Published: November 2013

We propose a general formal model of isolated hierarchical parallel computations, and identify several fragments to match the concurrency constructs present in real-world programming languages such as Cilk and X10. By associating fundamental formal models (vector addition systems with recursive transitions) to each fragment, we provide a common platform for exposing the relative difficulties of algorithmic reasoning. For each case we measure the complexity of deciding state reachability for finite-data recursive programs, and propose algorithms for the decidable cases. The complexities which include PTIME, NP, EXPSPACE, and 2EXPTIME contrast with undecidable state reachability for recursive multithreaded programs.