bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
A Hidden Markov Model for Detecting Confinement in Single Particle Tracking Trajectories
Authors: Slator PJ , Burroughs NJ
Published: March 2018

State-of-the-art single particle tracking (SPT) techniques can generate long trajectories with high temporal and spatial resolution. This offers the possibility of mechanistically interpreting particle movements and behaviour in membranes. To this end, a number of statistical techniques have been developed that partition SPT trajectories into states with distinct diffusion signatures, allowing a statistical analysis of diffusion state dynamics and switching behaviour. Here we develop a confinement model, within a hidden Markov framework, that switches between phases of free diffusion, and confinement in a harmonic potential well. By using a Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) algorithm to fit this model, automated partitioning of individual SPT trajectories into these two phases is achieved, which allows us to analyse confinement events. We demonstrate the utility of this algorithm on a previously published dataset, where gold nanoparticle (AuNP) tagged GM1 lipids were tracked in model membranes. We performed a comprehensive analysis of confinement events, demonstrating that there is heterogeneity in the lifetime, shape, and size of events, with confinement size and shape being highly conserved within trajectories. Our observations suggest that heterogeneity in confinement events is caused by both individual nanoparticle characteristics and the binding site environment. The individual nanoparticle heterogeneity ultimately limits the ability of iSCAT to resolve molecular dynamics to the order of the tag size; homogeneous tags could potentially allow the resolution to be taken below this limit by deconvolution methods. In a wider context, the presented harmonic potential well confinement model has the potential to detect and characterise a wide variety of biological phenomena, such as hop diffusion, receptor clustering, and lipid rafts.
Effect of chromatin flexibility on diffusive loop extrusion via molecular slip-links
Authors: Brackley C. A. , Johnson J. , Michieletto D. , Marenduzzo D.
Published: March 2018

We use Brownian dynamics simulations to study the formation of chromatin loops through diffusive sliding of molecular slip links, mimicking the behaviour of cohesin-like molecules. We recently proposed that diffusive sliding is sufficient to explain the extrusion of chromatin loops of hundreds of kilo-base-pairs (kbp), which may then be stabilised by interactions between cohesin and CTCF proteins. Here we show that the elasticity of the chromatin fibre strongly affects this dynamical process, and find that diffusive loop extrusion is more efficient on stiffer chromatin regions. Efficiency is also enhanced if cohesin loading sites are close to regions where CTCF is bound. In light of the heterogeneous physical properties of eukaryotic chromatin, we suggest that our results should be relevant to the looping and organisation of interphase chromosomes in vivo.
Electromechanics and Volume Dynamics in Non-excitable Tissue Cells
Authors: Yellin F. , Li Y. , Sreenivasan V. K. A. , Farrell B. , Johny M. B. , Yue D. , Sun S. X.
Published: March 2018

Cell volume regulation is fundamentally important in phenomena such as cell growth, proliferation, tissue homeostasis and embryogenesis. How the cell size is set, maintained, and changed over a cell’s lifetime is not well understood. In this work we focus on how the volume of non-excitable tissue cells is coupled to the cell membrane electrical potential and the concentration of membrane-permeable ions in the cell environment. Specifically, we demonstrate that a sudden cell depolarization using the whole cell patch clamp results in a 30 percent increase in cell volume, while hyperpolarization results in a slight volume decrease. We find that cell volume can be partially controlled by changing the chloride or the sodium/potassium concentrations in the extracellular environment while maintaining a constant external osmotic pressure. Depletion of external chloride leads to a volume decrease in suspended HN31 cells. Introducing cells to a high potassium solution causes volume increase by up to 50%. Cell volume is also influenced by cortical tension: actin depolymerization leads to cell volume increase. We present an electrophysiology model of water dynamics driven by changes in membrane potential and in the concentration of permeable ions in the cell surrounding. The model quantitatively predicts that the cell volume is determined by the total amount of intracellular ion and protein content.
Multi-Link Analysis: Brain Network Comparison via Sparse Connectivity Analysis
Authors: Crimi Alessandro , Giancardo Luca , Sambataro Fabio , Gozzi Alessandro , Murino Vittorio , Sona Diego ,   the Alzheimer’s Disease Neuroimaging Initiative
Published: March 2018

The analysis of the brain from a connectivity perspective is unveiling novel insights into brain structure and function. Discovery is, however, hindered by the lack of prior knowledge used to make hypotheses. On the other hand, exploratory data analysis is made complex by the high dimensionality of data. Indeed, in order to assess the effect of pathological states on brain networks, neuroscientists are often required to evaluate experimental effects in case-control studies, with hundreds of thousand connections.

In this paper, we propose an approach to identify the multivariate relationships in brain connections that characterise two distinct groups, hence permitting the investigators to immediately discover sub-networks that contain information about the differences between experimental groups. In particular, we are interested in data discovery related to connectomics, where the connections that characterize differences between two groups of subjects are found. Nevertheless, those connections not necessarily maximize accuracy in classification since this does not guarantee reliable interpretation of specific differences between groups. In practice, our method exploits recent machine learning techniques employing sparsity to deal with weighted networks describing the whole-brain macro connectivity. We evaluated our technique on functional and structural connectomes from human and mice brain data. In our experiments, we automatically identified disease-relevant connections in datasets with supervised and unsupervised anatomy-driven parcellation approaches, and by using high-dimensional datasets.
Labels of aberrant Clusters of Differentiation gene expression in a compendium of systemic lupus erythematosus patients
Authors: Le Trang T. , Blackwood Nigel O. , Breitenstein Matthew K.
Published: March 2018

Background

This author manuscript serves as an extended annotation of gene expression for all known clusters of differentiation (CD) within a compendium of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) patients. The overarching goal for this line of research is to enrich the perspective of the CD transcriptome with upstream gene expression features.
Study of the DiI method accuracy on the example of the afferent connections of the Habenula in P6 F1-C57Bl6 / CBA mice
Authors: Klepukov A , Apryshko V.P , Yakovenko S.A.
Published: March 2018

ABSTACT

DiI (1,1’-dioctadecyl-3,3,3’3’-tetramethylindocarbocyanine perchlorate) is a lipophilic carbocyanine stain diffusing in the plasma membrane and coloring the cell as a whole.

The DiI injection method is an alternative to stereotaxis in the study of the neural connections of higher vertebrates. However, despite a number of studies performed to identify the neural connections of embryos and fetuses of different animals, the question of the accuracy of the DiI method remains open. The main goal of this study is to investigate the accuracy of the DiI method by examining the afferent Habenula (Hb) connections in P6 F1-C57Bl6/CBA mice. Hb is a paired structure of the intermediate brain, consisting of two nuclei - the medial (MHb) and lateral (LHb). At P6, the main Hb tracts are already formed but not yet myelinated. To estimate the accuracy of the method, two groups of cases with different types of application on different Hb nuclei were compared: bilateral applications of several DiI crystals - group 1 (26 applications); Unilateral applications of a single crystal DiI - control group 2 (7 applications). It is known that MHb is strictly innervated by Triangular septal nuclei (TS) and Septofimbrial septal nuclei (SFi); LHb is strictly innervated by the Lateral preopteic area (LPA). Any deviation from this scheme is a false positive result. When applying the marker to different Hb nuclei in group 1, the number of successful cases without deviations was -0%; in group 2 (control) - 28.57%. Unilateral applications of a single DiI crystal are more accurate. However, there are still a number of unavoidable problems, such as the fragmentation or loss of a single DiI crystal during application and the super-strong diffusion of the marker at the application site. Given this, the overall accuracy of the DiI injection method, even in the form of a single crystal, remains low.
Ancient Genomics Reveals Four Prehistoric Migration Waves into Southeast Asia
Authors: McColl Hugh , Racimo Fernando , Vinner Lasse , Demeter Fabrice , Víctor Moreno Mayar J. , Wilken Uffe Gram , Seguin-Orlando Andaine , Fuente Castro Constanza de la , Wasef Sally , Prohaska Ana , Margarayan Ashot , Barros Damgaard Peter de , Shoocongdej Rasmi , Souksavatdy Viengkeo , Sayavongkhamdy Thongsa , Saidin Mohd Mokhtar , Kaewsutthi Supannee , Lertrit Patcharee , Nguyen Huong Mai , Hung Hsiao-chun , Tran Thi Minh , Truong Huu Nghia , Shahidan Shaiful , Wiradnyana Ketut , Bacon Anne-Marie , Duringer Philippe , Ponche Jean-Luc , Shackelford Laura , Patole-Edoumba Elise , Nguyen Anh Tuan , Bellina-Pryce Bérénice , Galipaud Jean-Christophe , Kinaston Rebecca , Buckley Hallie , Pottier Christophe , Rasmussen Simon , Higham Tom , Foley Robert A. , Lahr Marta Mirazón , Orlando Ludovic , Sikora Martin , Higham Charles , Lambert David M. , Willerslev Eske
Published: March 2018

Two distinct population models have been put forward to explain present-day human diversity in Southeast Asia. The first model proposes long-term continuity (Regional Continuity model) while the other suggests two waves of dispersal (Two Layer model). Here, we use whole-genome capture in combination with shotgun sequencing to generate 25 ancient human genome sequences from mainland and island Southeast Asia, and directly test the two competing hypotheses. We find that early genomes from Hoabinhian hunter-gatherer contexts in Laos and Malaysia have genetic affinities with the Onge hunter-gatherers from the Andaman Islands, while Southeast Asian Neolithic farmers have a distinct East Asian genomic ancestry related to present-day Austroasiatic-speaking populations. We also identify two further migratory events, consistent with the expansion of speakers of Austronesian languages into Island Southeast Asia ca. 4 kya, and the expansion by East Asians into northern Vietnam ca. 2 kya. These findings support the Two Layer model for the early peopling of Southeast Asia and highlight the complexities of dispersal patterns from East Asia.
Loss of Peroxisomal Hydroxypyruvate Reductase Inhibits Triose Phosphate Isomerase but Stimulates Cyclic Photosynthetic Electron Flow and the Glc-6P-Phosphate Shunt
Authors: Li Jiying , Weraduwage Sarathi M. , Preiser Alyssa L. , Weise Sean E. , Strand Deserah D. , Froehlich John E. , Kramer David M. , Hu Jianping , Sharkey Thomas D.
Published: March 2018

The oxygenation of ribulose 1,5-bisphosphate by Rubisco is the first step in photorespiration and reduces the efficiency of photosynthesis in C3plants. Our recent data indicates that mutants in photorespiration have increased rates of photosynthetic cyclic electron flow around photosystem I. We investigated mutant lines lacking peroxisomal hydroxypyruvate reductase to determine if there are connections between 2-PG accumulation and cyclic electron flow. We found that 2-PG is a competitive inhibitor of triose phosphate isomerase (TPI), an enzyme in the Calvin-Benson cycle that converts glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate to dihydroxyacetone phosphate. This block in metabolism could be overcome if glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate is exported to the cytosol where the cytosolic triose phosphate isomerase could convert it to dihydroxyacetone phosphate. We found evidence that carbon is reimported as Glc-6P-phosphate forming a cytosolic bypass around the block of stromal TPI. However, this also stimulates a Glc-6P-phosphate shunt, which consumes ATP, which can be compensated by higher rates of cyclic electron flow.

Once Sentence Summary

Triose phosphate isomerase is inhibited in plants lacking hydroxypyruvate reductase 1 and this is overcome by exporting triose phosphate to the cytosol and importing Glc-6P, which stimulates a Glc-6P-phosphate shunt and cyclic electron flow.
Inferring the shape of global epistasis
Authors: Otwinowski Jakub , McCandlish David M. , Plotkin Joshua B.
Published: March 2018

Genotype-phenotype relationships are notoriously complicated. Idiosyncratic interactions between specific combinations of mutations occur, and are difficult to predict. Yet it is increasingly clear that many interactions can be understood in terms ofglobal epistasis. That is, mutations may act additively on some underlying, unobserved trait, and this trait is then transformed via a nonlinear function to the observed phenotype as a result of subsequent biophysical and cellular processes. Here we infer the shape of such global epistasis in three proteins, based on published high-throughput mutagenesis data. To do so, we develop a maximum-likelihood inference procedure using a flexible family of monotonic nonlinear functions spanned by an I-spline basis. Our analysis uncovers dramatic nonlinearities in all three proteins; in some proteins a model with global epistasis accounts for virtually all the measured variation, whereas in others we find substantial local epistasis as well. This method allows us to test hypotheses about the form of global epistasis and to distinguish variance components attributable to global epistasis, local epistasis, and measurement error.
The illusion of uniformity does not depend on low-level vision: evidence from sensory adaptation
Authors: Suárez-Pinilla Marta , Seth Anil K. , Roseboom Warrick
Published: March 2018

Visual experience appears richly detailed despite the poor resolution of the majority of the visual field, thanks to foveal-peripheral integration. The recently described Uniformity Illusion (UI), in which peripheral elements of a pattern seem to take on the properties of foveal elements, may shed light on this integration. We examined the basis of UI by generating adaptation to a pattern of Gabors suitable for producing UI on orientation. After removing the pattern, participants reported the tilt of a single peripheral Gabor. The tilt after-effect (TAE) followed the physical adapting orientation rather than the global orientation perceived under UI, even when the illusion had been reported for a long time. Conversely, a control experiment replacing illusory for physical uniformity for the same durations did produce an after-effect to the global orientation. Our results indicate that the UI is not associated with changes in sensory encoding, but likely depends on high-level processes.
Higher-Order Organization Principles of Pre-translational mRNPs
Authors: Metkar Mihir , Ozadam Hakan , Lajoie Bryan R. , Imakaev Maxim , Mirny Leonid A. , Dekker Job , Moore Melissa J.
Published: March 2018

Compared to noncoding RNAs (ncRNAs) such as rRNAs and ribozymes, for which high resolution structures abound, little is known about the tertiary structures of mRNAs. In eukaryotic cells, newly made mRNAs are packaged with proteins in highly compacted mRNPs, but the manner of this mRNA compaction is unknown. Here we developed and implemented RIPPLiT (RNA ImmunoPrecipitation and Proximity Ligation in Tandem), a transcriptome-wide method for probing the 3D conformations of RNAs stably-associated with defined proteins, in this case exon junction complex (EJC) core factors. EJCs multimerize with other mRNP components to form megadalton sized complexes that protect large swaths of newly synthesized mRNAs from endonuclease digestion. Unlike ncRNAs, mRNAs behave more like flexible polymers without strong locus-specific interactions. Polymer analysis of proximity ligation data for hundreds of mRNA species demonstrates that pre-translational mammalian mRNPs fold as linear rod-like structures with no strong propensity for 5’ and 3’ end interaction.
Three-dimensional cell geometry controls excitable membrane signaling in Dictyotelium cells
Authors: Hörning Marcel , Shibata Tatsuo
Published: March 2018

Phosphatidylinositol (3,4,5)-trisphosphate (PtdInsP3) is known to propagate as waves on the plasma membrane and is related to the membrane protrusive activities in Dictyostelium and mammalian cells. While there have been a few attempts to study the three-dimensional dynamics of these processes, most studies have focused on the dynamics extracted from single focal planes. However, the relation between the dynamics and three-dimensional cell shape remains elusive, due to the lack of signaling information about the unobserved part of the membrane. Here we show that PtdInsP3 wave dynamics are directly regulated by the three-dimensional geometry - size and shape - of the plasma membrane. By introducing an analysis method that extracts the three-dimensional spatiotemporal activities on the entire cell membrane, we show that PtdInsP3 waves self-regulate their dynamics within the confined membrane area. This leads to changes in speed, orientation and pattern evolution, following the underlying excitability of the signal transduction system. Our findings emphasize the role of the plasma membrane topology in reaction-diffusion driven biological systems and indicate its importance in other mammalian systems.
A generalization of the informational view of non-random mating: Models with variable population frequencies
Authors: Carvajal-Rodríguez A.
Published: March 2018

Mate choice may generate non-random mating patterns. It has been recently shown that the mating distribution caused by mate choice can be expressed as a gain in information with respect to random mating. In that model, the population phenotypic frequencies were assumed as constant during the breeding season. In the present work such restriction was relaxed to consider different encounter-mating processes in which the population frequencies of available individuals change over mating rounds. As with the constant case, here we describe the change in the mating phenotypes by the flow of information with respect to random mating. This information can be partitioned into sexual selection, sexual isolation and a mixed effect. Likewise, the pairwise statistics for total change, sexual selection and sexual isolation are generalized for variable population frequencies.

The new tests had more power for the detection of the effects of non-random mating when the population frequencies vary during the breeding season. The differences in power were high for sexual selection but slight for sexual isolation scenarios. However, the application of the new formulas require the estimation of frequencies at each mating round. Therefore, choosing one or another type of statistics would depend on the biological scenario as well as in the availability and easiness to split the sampling in more than one mating round.
Providing rescue services in remote areas of Estonia
Authors: Puolokainen Tarmo , Jaansoo Annika , Klaos Margo
Published: March 2018

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the effect of delivering rescue services in remote areas, where there is little or no natural incentive to provide this service, taking the case of Estonia as an example.

Design/methodology/approach

The case study is based on secondary data obtained via analysis of legal acts, rescripts and strategic documents, as well as (applied) studies. In addition, the transcripts of ten half-structured interviews were analyzed, which were conducted with rescue services experts in December 2012. The benefits and risks pointed out in the literature are discussed against an example of providing rescue services in the remote areas of Estonia.

Findings

Outsourcing rescue services has led to cost effectiveness and thereby provides a better-quality service in densely populated areas. The main risks are yet to emerge. It is highly probable that the Estonian Rescue Board has to deal with the issues regarding the lack of control over service, which in turn is caused by the lack of skills and competence to manage the relationships and to design appropriate service-level agreements.

Research limitations/implications

Since the voluntary rescue service provision is rapidly evolving, there have not yet been many studies undertaken to describe the positive and negative aspects of its development. Therefore, the collected data have gaps and are open for discussion.

Practical implications

The introduction of an extensive network of voluntary fire and rescue service brigades is a paradigm shift in Estonia, where the rescue services have so far been provided publicly. Thus, it gives a guidance to other practitioners, on which aspects they should focus on, while planning a change in service provision/provider.

Originality/value

The novelty of this paper is to systematically analyze the benefits and risks occurred on a shift from public provision of rescue services to providing it in an extensive co-operation with voluntary rescuers.
Can we mandate partnership working? Top down meets bottom up in structural reforms in Scotland and Norway
Authors: Huby Guro Øyen , Cook Ailsa , Kirchhoff Ralf
Published: March 2018

Purpose

Partnership working across health and social care is considered key to manage rising service demand whilst ensuring flexible and high-quality services. Evidence suggests that partnership working is a local concern and that wider structural context is important to sustain and direct local collaboration. “Top down” needs to create space for “bottom up” management of local contingency. Scotland and Norway have recently introduced “top down” structural reforms for mandatory partnerships. The purpose of this paper is to describe and compare these policies to consider the extent to which top-down approaches can facilitate effective partnerships that deliver on key goals.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors compare Scottish (2015) and Norwegian (2012) reforms against the evidence of partnership working. The authors foreground the extent to which organisation, finance and performance management create room for partnerships to work collaboratively and in new ways.

Findings

The two reforms are held in place by different health and social care organisation and governance arrangements. Room for manoeuvre at local levels has been jeopardised in both countries, but in different ways, mirroring existing structural challenges to partnership working. Known impact of the reforms hitherto suggests that the potential of partnerships to facilitate user-centred care may be compromised by an agenda of reducing pressure on hospital resources.

Originality/value

Large-scale reforms risk losing sight of user outcomes. Making room for collaboration between user and services in delivering desired outcomes at individual and local levels is an incremental way to join bottom up to top down in partnership policy, retaining the necessary flexibility and involving key constituencies along the way.
Consumer-led experience customization: a socio-spatial approach
Authors: Torres Edwin N. , Lugosi Peter , Orlowski Marissa , Ronzoni Giulio
Published: March 2018

Purpose

Adopting a socio-spatial approach, this study develops a consumer-centric conception of service experience customization. In contrast to existing service customization research, which has focused on company-centric approaches, the purpose of this paper is to examine the practices through which consumers use, abuse, subvert, transform, or complement organizational resources to construct their consumption experiences.

Design/methodology/approach

The empirical context for this study is a Meetup group: a consumer network organized around members’ shared interests and activities in theme parks. The research utilized participant observation of members’ face-to-face activities during two years and over 80 events, interviews with key informants, and content analysis of online interactions.

Findings

The findings outline how consumers interact across physical and virtual spaces utilizing technologies and material objects. The data are used to propose a new consumer-centric conceptualization of experience customization, distinguishing between three modes: collaborative co-production, cooperative co-creation, and subversive co-creation.

Originality/value

It is argued that the three modes of customization provide a way to understand how consumers mobilize and (re)deploy organizational resources to create experiences that may complement existing service propositions, but may also transform them in ways that challenge the service provider’s original goals and expectations. Furthermore, this study identifies the factors that shape which modes of customization are possible and how they are enacted. Specifically, the discussion examines how experiential complexity, governability, the compatibility of consumer and organizational practices, and the collective mobilization of resources may determine the scope and form of customization.
Towards understanding social innovation in multicultural societies
Authors: de Bruin Anne , Read Christine
Published: March 2018

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to argue, using the New Zealand context as reference, that heterogeneous societies with diverse cultures have an expanded space of possibilities for developing social innovations.

Design/methodology/approach

Incorporation of the cultural context is integral to finding innovative, collective solutions for mitigating complex social problems and sparking transformational social change. Empirical support for this contention draws on examples of social innovations that embed the cultural values of Māori, New Zealand’s indigenous people.

Findings

Using illustrative cases, the authors highlight the capacity of Māori values, encompassed in an ecosystem of Māori social institutions, to catalyse social innovation in New Zealand. The authors position these examples within two paradigms of social innovation.

Research limitations/implications

The paper limits its focus to the implications of Māori cultural values for social innovation. However, it serves to highlight that appreciation of indigenous and minority cultural values can provide a foundation for social innovations in other contexts too.

Practical implications

Recognising cultural values increases the range of possibilities for innovatively addressing social and environmental challenges.

Social implications

Respect and recognition of indigenous culture and knowledge offers potential for sustainable solutions to complex social challenges.

Originality/value

This is one of the few papers to explore the cultural embeddedness of social innovation and highlight public policy social innovations.
Reflections on the theme issue outcomes
Authors: Dornier Raphaël , Mauri Chiara , Teare Richard
Published: March 2018

Purpose

The aim of this paper is to profile the World Hospitality and Tourism Themes (WHATT) theme issue “Tourism sustainability in the Alpine region: What are the major trends and challenges?” with reference to the experience of the theme editors and writing team.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper uses structured questions to enable the theme editors to reflect on the rationale for the theme issue question, the starting-point, the selection of the writing team and material and the editorial process.

Findings

It draws on a multidisciplinary approach to identify some key components of sustainable tourism for the French and Italian Alps. It reflects on research and stakeholder interaction that helped to shape the current and future thinking about how Alpine mountain resorts can enhance sustainability in relation to the destination offer, accommodation, transport and mobility and institutional, legal and socio-economic aspects.

Practical implications

The theme issue outcomes provide lines of enquiry for others to explore, and they reinforce the value of WHATT’s approach to collaborative working and writing.

Originality/value

The work reported in this theme issue provides research-based evidence of the need for rapid adaptation to sustainable tourism development for resorts in the French and Italian Alps. Traditionally designed to facilitate skiing and snow sports, the impact of climate change is forcing a rethink to safeguard Alpine tourism – a vital economic activity to these and most mountain tourism destinations.
The great crossing of the Alps or move your Alps (GTA)
Authors: Leroux Erick
Published: March 2018

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to highlight the Grande Traversée des Alpes or – Move your Alps (GTA) which can be regarded as one of the first organizations to promote sustainable tourism in the Alps.

Design/methodology/approach

The study is based on a case study of the GTA.

Findings

The GTA is a key case study for understanding stakeholders’ management and sustainable tourism in the Alps.

Originality/value

There has been insufficient attention given in the literature to the role of the GTA, especially given its importance in the promotion of sustainable tourism in the Alps.
Inaccurate Conception: ACB v Thomson Medical
Authors: Foxton Tom
Published: March 2018

This note considers the decision of the Singapore Court of Appeal in ACB v Thomson Medical in which the plaintiff sought damages for the upkeep costs of a child conceived using sperm from someone other than her husband as a result of negligence by a fertility clinic. The Court held that upkeep costs could not be recovered as a matter of public policy, but recognised a new head of loss, namely damages for loss of genetic affinity. In a controversial ruling, the Court quantified these damages at thirty per cent of the upkeep costs of the child. While holding that punitive damages could be recovered outside the categories recognised in Rookes v Barnard, the Court rejected such an award on the facts of the case.
Urban Politics as the Unfolding of Social Relations in Place: The Case of Sexually Transmitted Disease Investigation in Mid‐Twentieth‐Century Gay Seattle
Authors: Knopp Larry , Brown Michael , Mckeithen Will
Published: March 2018

Recent debates in urban politics stress the need to broaden conceptions of what counts as urban politics, as well as of where they take place. This means shifting attention to include more quotidian and prosaic social relations, including those taking place in spaces of civil society. We answer this call with a case study of the relations between an emerging gay male community in mid‐twentieth‐century Seattle, USA and the local public health department’s disease investigators (DIs). We focus on both the biopolitics and cultural politics of the investigation process, from the perspectives of both DIs and gay men. We point out certain tensions and paradoxes in these processes as a form of governmentality, and interpret them through a ‘noir’ cultural lens that is consistent with a notion of urban politics as the unfolding of social relations in place. We conclude by stressing how our findings and framework can augment urban political inquiry both intellectually and empirically.
Sperm limitation affects sex allocation in a parasitoid wasp Nasonia vitripennis
Authors: Chirault Marlène , Bressac Christophe , Goubault Marlène , Lécureuil Charlotte
Published: March 2018

Insect reproduction is influenced by various external factors including temperature, a well‐studied constraint. We investigated to what extent different levels of sperm limitation of males exposed to different heat stresses (34 and 36 °C) affect females’ offspring production and sex allocation in Nasonia vitripennis. In this haplodiploid parasitoid wasp attacking different species of pest flies, we investigated the effect of the quantity of sperm females received and stored in their spermatheca on their sperm use decisions, hence sex allocation, over successive ovipositions. In particular, we compared the sex allocation of females presenting three levels of sperm limitation (i.e., mated with control, 34 °C heat‐stressed or 36 °C heat‐stressed males) on each host they parasitized. To disentangle the potential reduction of sperm quality after a heat stress exposure from that of sperm quantity, we also explored the clutch size and sex ratio produced by females that were partially sperm limited after copulating with multiply mated males. Independently of their sperm numbers, all types of females produced a similar total number of offspring, but the more limited ones had fewer daughters. Sperm limitation further affected the distribution of daughters’ production across time. In addition to constraints acting on female physiology, male fertility should therefore be considered in studies measuring reproductive outputs of insects submitted to heat stresses.
Empirical metronidazole for patients with severe bacterial infection: protocol for a systematic review
Authors: Petersen M. W. , Perner A. , Bahador M. , Sjövall F. , Møller M. H.
Published: March 2018

Introduction

Anaerobic bacteria are believed to be common pathogens in severe infections. Yet, they are difficult to culture and consequently often unrecognised in clinical infections. Metronidazole is often used empirically for potential anaerobic infections, as the resistance to metronidazole is low. However, disadvantages of metronidazole use exist, including drug interactions, side effects and economical expenses. Currently, the balance between the benefits and harms of empirical metronidazole for severe bacterial infections is unknown.

We aim to assess patient‐important benefits and harms of empirical metronidazole vs. placebo or no treatment in adult patients with severe bacterial infection of any origin in a systematic review of randomised clinical trials with meta‐analysis and trial sequential analysis.

Methods and analysis

This protocol provides details on the planned systematic review, which will be prepared according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta‐analyses (PRISMA) statement, the Cochrane Handbook, and the Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) criteria. The primary outcome is all‐cause mortality. Secondary outcomes include adverse events, secondary infections, use of life support, antibiotic resistance and hospital length of stay. We will conduct conventional meta‐analyses, including predefined subgroup‐ and sensitivity analyses. Additionally, we will assess the risk of random errors by trial sequential analysis.

Ethics and dissemination

Ethical approval is not needed, as the outlined review exclusively will include previously published data. We aim to publish in an international, peer‐reviewed journal.
Audit committee characteristics and financial statement comparability
Authors: Endrawes Medhat , Feng Zhuoan , Lu Meiting , Shan Yaowen
Published: March 2018

Financial statement comparability enables weighing the similarities and differences in financial performance between firms. Prior studies mainly focus on the role of accounting standards in the production of comparability, but the role of economic agents has been largely overlooked. We find that a firm's audit committee size and financial expertise affect its financial statement comparability. Financial information tends to be more comparable among industry peers when audit committees are larger and more members have financial and accounting expertise. The effect of audit committee expertise on comparability is stronger for firms with less independent and smaller boards, for firms with non‐Big 4 auditors and for firms with CEOs serving as the chairperson of the boards.
The effects of the selective muscarinic M3 receptor antagonist darifenacin, and of hyoscine (scopolamine), on motion sickness, skin conductance & cognitive function
Authors: Golding John F. , Wesnes Keith A. , Leaker Brian R.
Published: March 2018

Aims

The aim of this study was to compare the effects of the selective M3 muscarinic acetylcholine receptor antagonist darifenacin, oral hyoscine hydrobromide and placebo on motion sickness induced by cross‐coupled stimulation.

Methods

The effects of darifenacin 10 mg or 20 mg, hyoscine hydrobromide 0.6 mg and placebo were assessed in a randomized, double‐blind, four‐way cross over trial of 16 healthy subjects. Motion sickness, skin conductance (a measure of sweating) and psychomotor cognitive function tests were investigated.

Results

Hyoscine hydrobromide produced significantly increased tolerance to motion versus placebo (P < 0.05 to P < 0.01). The motion protection effect of darifenacin (10 or 20 mg) was approximately one third that of hyoscine hydrobromide but was not significant versus placebo. Darifenacin and hyoscine hydrobromide both significantly reduced skin conductance versus placebo. Darifenacin produced either no effect or an enhanced effect on cognitive function in contrast to hyoscine hydrobromide, where there was significant impairment of psychomotor performance.

Conclusion

The results suggest that selective antagonism of the M3 receptor may not be important in the prevention of motion sickness. However, selective M3 antagonism does not impair cognitive function. These observations may be important given that long‐term treatment with non‐selective anti‐muscarinic agents such as oxybutynin may lead to an increased incidence of dementia.
Preventability of serious thromboembolic and bleeding events related to the use of oral anticoagulants: a prospective study
Authors: Sennesael Anne‐Laure , Larock Anne‐Sophie , Devalet Bérangère , Mathieux Valérie , Verschuren Franck , Muschart Xavier , Dalleur Olivia , Dogné Jean‐Michel , Spinewine Anne
Published: March 2018

Aims

To determine the preventability of serious adverse drug reactions (ADRs) related to the use of direct oral anticoagulants (DOACs), and to explore contributing factors to preventable ADRs. Results were compared with vitamin K antagonists (VKAs).

Methods

We conducted a prospective observational study in the emergency departments of two teaching hospitals from July 2015 to January 2016. Patients admitted with a thrombotic or bleeding event while under DOAC or VKA were included. Four independent reviewers assessed causality, seriousness and preventability of ADRs using pilot‐tested scales. For cases of serious and potentially preventable ADRs, we performed semi‐structured interviews with general practitioners to identify contributing factors to ADRs. The primary outcome was the proportion of serious ADRs that were potentially preventable.

Results

The analysis included 46 DOAC and 43 VKA patients (median age 79 years). Gastrointestinal (n = 34) and intracranial (n = 16) bleedings were the most frequent ADRs. Results were that 53% of DOAC‐ and 61% of VKA‐related serious ADRs were deemed potentially preventable. Prescribing issues and inadequate monitoring were frequent for DOAC and VKA respectively. We identified many causes of preventable ADRs that applied to all oral anticoagulants, such as pharmacodynamic drug interactions and lack of communication.

Conclusions

More than half of serious ADRs were potentially preventable for both DOACs and VKAs. Interventions focusing on prescribing, patient education and continuity of care should help improve the use of DOACs in practice.
Be bad but (still) look good: Can controversial industries enhance corporate reputation through CSR initiatives?
Authors: Aqueveque Claudio , Rodrigo Pablo , Duran Ignacio J.
Published: March 2018

Even though the link between perceived corporate social responsibility fit (PCSR‐fit) and corporate reputation has received much attention from scholars, this tradition has ignored that the underpinnings of this association vary depending on the particular characteristics of each industry under study. To delve into this matter, we investigate in the increasingly relevant context of controversial industries (CIs) how PCSR‐fit could enhance corporate reputation and which are the mediating mechanisms of this association. Our academic contribution is twofold. First, we find that controversial sectors indeed can increase corporate reputation through CSR activities. However, we find that to achieve this goal, the nature of PCSR‐fit should be different than what extant literature indicates, because companies in these settings should directly focus on avoiding or reducing their inherent controversial harm or impact. Second, we evidence that “CSR initiatives' legitimacy” and “situational skepticism” mediate the PCSR‐fit and corporate reputation relationship in CIs. Therefore, we further unravel the underpinnings of this association to advance what we know on the matter and aid practitioners in this particular context.
Reproductive organ‐sparing cystectomy significantly improves continence in women after orthotopic bladder substitution without affecting oncological outcome
Authors: Gross Tobias , Furrer Marc , Schorno Petra , Wuethrich Patrick Y. , Schneider Marc P. , Thalmann George N. , Burkhard Fiona C.
Published: March 2018

Objectives

To compare functional and oncological outcomes of reproductive organ‐sparing cystectomy (ROSC) compared with standard cystectomy (SC) in women undergoing orthotopic bladder substitution (OBS).

Patients and Methods

Between 1995 and 2016, 121 consecutive women undergoing OBS were prospectively included in this single‐centre non‐randomized clinical follow‐up study comprising an ROSC and an SC group. Urinary continence, the need for intermittent self‐catheterization (ISC), lateral standing micturition cystourethrogram (MCUG), urethral pressure profile findings, if available, and oncological outcomes were assessed and compared between ROSC and SC.

Results

After 12 months, patients who had undergone ROSC with OBS had significantly higher daytime and nighttime continence rates than patients who had undergone SC with OBS (87.5% vs 63.5%; P = 0.027 and 87.5% vs 57.7%; P = 0.008), whereas no significant differences were found between groups in ISC rates (12.5% vs 12.94%; P > 0.99). The degree of attempted nerve‐sparing (none, unilateral, bilateral) positively affected continence rates in both groups. No significant differences were found in local recurrence rates (0% vs 9.4%; P = 0.126), 5‐ and 10‐year overall survival rates (80.9% and 80.9% vs 64.9% and 55.7%; P = 0.443) or 5‐ and 10‐year cancer‐specific survival rates (84.3% and 84.3% vs 73% and 66.2%; P = 0.431).

Conclusion

Superior continence rates were found for ROSC with an OBS compared with SC, without a negative impact on oncological outcome. ROSC should, therefore, be offered to women receiving an OBS whenever justifiable.
Experimental design and analysis and their reporting II: updated and simplified guidance for authors and peer reviewers
Authors: Curtis Michael J , Alexander Steve , Cirino Giuseppe , Docherty James R , George Christopher H , Giembycz Mark A , Hoyer Daniel , Insel Paul A , Izzo Angelo A , Ji Yong , MacEwan David J , Sobey Christopher G , Stanford S Clare , Teixeira Mauro M , Wonnacott Sue , Ahluwalia Amrita
Published: March 2018

This article updates the guidance published in 2015 for authors submitting papers to British Journal of Pharmacology (Curtis et al., 2015) and is intended to provide the rubric for peer review. Thus, it is directed towards authors, reviewers and editors. Explanations for many of the requirements were outlined previously and are not restated here. The new guidelines are intended to replace those published previously. The guidelines have been simplified for ease of understanding by authors, to make it more straightforward for peer reviewers to check compliance and to facilitate the curation of the journal's efforts to improve standards.
A novel treatment for height growth in patients with growth hormone insensitivity syndrome by cyproheptadine hydrochloride
Authors: Razzaghy‐Azar Maryam , Nourbakhsh Mitra , Nourbakhsh Mona
Published: March 2018

Background

Cyproheptadine HCl (CyproH) is an appetite‐stimulating drug and while it was prescribed for a patient with growth hormone insensitivity syndrome (GHIS) for increasing appetite, his height growth was surprisingly increased. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate the effect of CyproH on growth parameters of the patients with GHIS.

Patients and design

Twenty patients were enrolled in two prospective cohorts at two different times. Fifteen cases were observed for 1.17 ± 1.3 years without treatment (observation period, OP). Then, CyproH was administered for 2.2 ± 2.7 years (treatment period, TP), and growth parameters were compared within these two periods. Five patients who did not receive any treatment for 1‐8.24 years (4 ± 2.9) were the control group.

Results

Height velocity (HV) increased from 1.88 ± 0.7 to 6.1 ± 0.8 cm/year and HV‐SDS reached from −4.5 ± 0.74 to −0.21 ± 1.2 in OP and TP, respectively (P < .001), whereas HV and HV‐SDS were 2.2 ± 1.1 cm/yr and −4.2 ± 1.2, respectively, in controls (P < .001). Height SDS was −7.0 ± 1.7 and increased to −6 ± 2.2 after treatment (P = .002). Gain in height was 2.3 ± 0.6 SDS in 5 patients who were treated for 5.4 ± 2.8 years. BMI‐SDS was not significantly changed within two time periods and also in cases and controls.

Conclusion

CyproH caused height growth in the patients with GHIS, and therefore, this treatment can be considered as an alternative option to IGF‐I injection.
The Resonances of Public Art: Thoughts on the Notion of Co‐Productive Acts and Public Art
Authors: palmer joni m
Published: March 2018

Using a serendipitous public art encounter as a point of departure, this article explores how what I call co‐productive acts are an important part of building relationships between individuals, public art installations, communities, and public art programs. This article is a “thought piece”; as such, I present an introductory examination into an important arena in need of further inquiry: public art and co‐productive acts. As will be made clear, co‐productive acts are different from the production of public art, co‐productions, and collaborations. Though all are important parts of the making of public art, they occur at different times in the life cycle of a piece, and involve different people and interactions. Many people are unaware of their community's public art program (e.g., the process, the funding, and the collection); however, when they experience a piece of public art, there is a possibility that they might have a very different understanding of the piece, themselves, the collection, and the public art program. As a contribution to the literature and practice of public art, I pose questions and suggest directions for further inquiry that might help the field consider how co‐productive acts are, indeed, an important part of the life of public art (installations and municipal public art programs).
No “Blank Canvas”: Public Art and Gentrification in Houston's Third Ward
Authors: WRIGHT WILLIE JAMAAL , HERMAN CAMERON “KHALFANI”
Published: March 2018

Public art and urban renewal have become integral to reconstructing urban landscapes. In this essay we assess how these two spatial practices converge and diverge in the historically and predominately Black community of the Third Ward in Houston, Texas. The essay examines the work of MF Problem and the Black Guys, two Black artist collectives based in the Third Ward. We argue that their public performances critically engage the spatial processes of gentrification and ghettoization in their neighborhood. Furthermore, these performances indicate a unique spatial imaginary held by Black artists that privileges the use value associated with long‐term residents’ views of public and private space over the potential exchange value rooted in urban renewal projects.