bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Successful rechallenge with clozapine after treatment associated eosinophilia
Authors: McArdle Peter A , Siskind Dan J , Kolur Uday , Parker Stephen , Korman Nicole , Purushothaman Subramanian
Published: June 2016

Objective:

Eosinophilia has been associated with the use of clozapine. Where clozapine associated eosinophilia develops, and is associated with organ specific damage, clozapine is usually ceased. In cases of treatment associated eosinophilia without evidence of organ specific damage, clozapine would also typically be withdrawn. There are small numbers of reports in the literature describing patients who have had a successful rechallenge of clozapine having previously stopped treatment due to eosinophilia without associated organ specific inflammation. We report the case of a man who underwent a successful retrial of clozapine.

Method:

Case from authors’ clinical practice reviewed.

Results:

We present the case of a young man with treatment resistant schizophrenia who underwent a successful re-challenge of clozapine, having previously ceased treatment due to an eosinophilia associated with treatment.

Conclusion:

We believe that the current report provides further evidence that it may be unnecessary to cease treatment in all patients who develop an eosinophilia without organ dysfunction whilst on clozapine. Furthermore, where clozapine has been ceased due to an eosinophilia without evidence of organ specific inflammation, clozapine rechallenge with increased haematological monitoring should be considered.
Guided wave temperature correction methods in structural health monitoring
Authors: Salmanpour MS , Sharif Khodaei Z , Aliabadi MH
Published: June 2016

In this article, a method for addressing temperature effects using Lamb waves is developed with application to baseline comparison damage detection. The proposed method is based on baseline signal stretch with an improved minimum residual allowing correction over a larger temperature range. The effectiveness of the proposed approach in detecting (artificial) damages is demonstrated experimentally over a large temperature. The method is also shown to accurately detect and localise a crack in an aluminium panel and actual impact damage on a carbon fibre reinforced polymer panel.
Input-dependent performance study of a nonlinear piezoelectric energy harvester
Authors: Deng Wei , Wang Ya
Published: June 2016

This work reports an input-dependent performance study of a nonlinear piezoelectric energy harvester with introduced magnetic interaction. The performances of the novel harvester with two external magnet arrays (I and II) are compared. Array II that has symmetric magnetic force yields better voltage output under frequency sweep test. As such, the energy harvesting capacity with Array II is performed under two vibration inputs (I and II). Under excitation Input I with periodic varying frequency, experimental results show that the nonlinear piezoelectric harvester outperforms its linear counterpart (no magnetic interaction) at alternating input bandwidths. A 104.5% improvement of root mean square voltage output (318.2% of power output) is obtained under excitation of 0.334 g (root mean square) and bandwidth of 7 Hz. No advantage is observed under Input II consisting of one principal and finite non-principal components. However, detailed study indicates that the amplitude of the principal component and the amplitude ratio of the non-principal components to the principal component in Input II are essential to maintain large-amplitude periodic motion. Our work provides useful insights into the design, characterization, and application of nonlinear energy harvesters with external magnetic forces based on a priori knowledge of input.
Malignant Mesothelioma in a Motor Vehicle Mechanic
Authors: Meisenkothen Christopher
Published: June 2016

Case reports remain an important source of data in the debate over the carcinogenic effect of asbestos-containing automotive friction products. This report documents a case of pleural mesothelioma accompanied by asbestos bodies in the lung tissue of a career auto mechanic with no other known sources of exposure. Previously unreported historical and contemporary exposure data are also discussed in the context of providing additional support for the proposition that work with asbestos-containing automotive products presents a risk of significant exposure. While there remains a body of negative epidemiology that fails to find an increased risk of disease among auto workers, those data must be approached with caution. Many of those studies have drawn technical criticisms, which are beyond the scope of this report, but they remain a key part of the legal defense mounted by defendant-companies who are involved in asbestos-related litigation. This ongoing debate provides the context for the continued relevance of case reports such as this one, as well as the presentation of new and previously unpublished exposure data.
Long-Term Depressive Symptoms and Acculturative Stress Issues Among Immigrants From the Former Soviet Union
Authors: Baker Cathy J.
Published: June 2016

BACKGROUND: Previous studies regarding depressive symptoms and acculturative stress among immigrants have been limited to the initial period after immigration. OBJECTIVE: The relationships between depressive symptoms, acculturation, and acculturative stress among immigrants from the former Soviet Union were examined in this descriptive study. DESIGN: Eighty immigrants from the former Soviet Union who had immigrated within the past 20 years were recruited in various community locations. RESULTS: Participants ( N = 80), including recent and longer residing immigrants, reported elevated depressive symptoms and acculturative stress. Acculturative stress predicted depressive symptoms, controlling for dominant culture (American) immersion. However, length of time in the United States was not associated with depressive symptoms, ethnic culture immersion, or acculturative stress. CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest that elevated depressive symptoms are related to acculturative stress but are not confined to the initial adjustment period. Steps to decrease acculturative stress might help decrease depressive symptoms in immigrants regardless of the number of years lived in the United States.
Disability progression in aggressive multiple sclerosis
Authors: Menon Suresh , Zhu Feng , Shirani Afsaneh , Oger Joel , Freedman Mark S , Tremlett Helen
Published: June 2016

Objective:

To examine disease progression in ‘aggressive’ multiple sclerosis (MS), British Columbia, Canada (1980–2009).

Methods:

Aggressive (or ‘malignant’) MS was defined as Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS) ⩾6 within 5 years from onset. The first EDSS ⩾6 was termed ‘baseline’. Within 2, 3 and 5 years post-baseline, patients were categorized as follows: ‘worsened’ or ‘improved’, relative to baseline EDSS (the remainder exhibited no change or had no new scores). The associations between patient characteristics (sex, relapsing onset/primary progressive, onset age, onset symptoms, disease duration, cumulative prior relapses and baseline EDSS) and worsening in disability were examined longitudinally using logistic regression.

Results:

Of the 225/4341 (5.2%) aggressive/malignant MS patients, 134 (59.6%) were female, 167 (74.2%) were relapsing onset, 94 (41.8%) had received disease-modifying drugs at some point and the mean follow-up was 8.7 years. The proportion of patients who ‘worsened’ increased from 40.4% to 57.8%, while those who ‘improved’ varied little (range, 8.9%–10.2%). The odds of worsening increased with disease duration (adjusted odds ratio (AOR) = 1.36; 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.22–1.52) and the presence of primary progressive (vs relapsing-onset) MS (AOR = 1.85; 95% CI = 1.01–3.38).

Conclusion:

Apart from disease duration and a primary progressive course, no clinically useful associations of subsequent disease worsening in patients with aggressive/malignant MS were identified.
Effect of high-dose vitamin D3 supplementation on antibody responses against Epstein–Barr virus in relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis
Authors: Røsjø Egil , Lossius Andreas , Abdelmagid Nada , Lindstrøm Jonas C , Kampman Margitta T , Jørgensen Lone , Sundström Peter , Olsson Tomas , Steffensen Linn H , Torkildsen Øivind , Holmøy Trygve
Published: June 2016

Background:

Elevated antibody levels against Epstein–Barr virus (EBV) and a poor vitamin D status are environmental factors that may interact in relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) aetiology.

Objectives:

To examine effects of high-dose oral vitamin D3 supplementation on antibody levels against EBV nuclear antigen 1 (EBNA1) in RRMS.

Methods:

Serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D3 (25(OH)D) and immunoglobulin G antibody levels against EBNA1 (whole protein and amino acid 385–420 fragment), EBV viral capsid antigen (VCA), cytomegalovirus (CMV) and varicella zoster virus (VZV) were measured in 68 RRMS patients enrolled in a 96-week randomised double-blinded placebo-controlled clinical trial of oral vitamin D3 supplementation (20,000 IU/week) (NCT00785473).

Results:

The mean 25(OH)D level more than doubled in the vitamin D group and was significantly higher than in the placebo group at study conclusion (123.2 versus 61.8 nmol/L, p < 0.001). Compared to the placebo group, both anti-EBNA1 protein and fragment antibody levels decreased in the vitamin D group from baseline to week 48 ( p = 0.038 and p = 0.004, respectively), but not from baseline to week 96. Vitamin D3 supplementation did not affect antibodies against VCA, CMV or VZV.

Conclusion:

The results indicate that high-dose oral vitamin D3 supplementation can affect humoral immune responses against the latent EBV antigen EBNA1 in RRMS.
Don’t forget the siblings: School-aged siblings of children presenting to mental health services show at-risk patterns of attachment
Authors: Kozlowska Kasia , Elliott Bronwen
Published: June 2016

Family therapists understand that children presenting for treatment are often bearers of symptoms signalling relational problems within the family system. Rather than addressing the children’s symptoms in isolation, family therapists typically take those relational problems as their starting point in therapy. This study used the School-aged Assessment of Attachment (SAA) to assess the self-protective (attachment) strategies of the siblings of children presenting for psychiatric evaluation and also of the siblings of control children drawn from the normative population. Siblings of children in the clinical group were much more likely than siblings of control children to use at-risk self-protective strategies and to have markers suggestive of unresolved loss or trauma. School-aged siblings were found to use a broad range of strategies, and the pattern of change from first born to later born involved either a reversal of strategy or a shift to a more complex strategy. The study highlights that siblings of children presenting to mental health services are significantly affected by family relational stress. A family systems approach to assessment, one that enquires about the wellbeing of all family members, will ensure that the emotional needs of siblings are also addressed during the therapy process.
Commercial sex, clients, and Christian morals: Paying for sex in Ireland
Authors: Huschke Susann , Schubotz Dirk
Published: June 2016

This article reports on the results of a study on men who pay for sex across Ireland. In presenting a detailed picture of the diverse group of sex workers’ clients, their motives and attitudes, we debunk the prevalent stereotypes about men who pay for sex, as continuously used in the public discourse about sex work on both sides of the Irish border: we show that the majority of clients do not fit the image of violent, careless misogynists. We argue that these debates about commercial sex as well as the experiences of those who pay for sex are shaped and nurtured by the specific local context, by conservative Christian morals and the dominant sex-negative culture across Ireland. Finally, we argue that the criminalization of paying for sex which came into effect in Northern Ireland in 2015 and is being discussed in the Republic of Ireland will likely not stop the majority of clients from paying for sex and thus fail to achieve its aim to reduce or abolish sex work.
The effect of combat experience on adult attachment: A stepfamily perspective
Authors: Turner Ryan D , Wood David S , Parks D Aaron , Shafer Kevin
Published: June 2016

Social science researchers have long examined the impact of combat experience on individual and family outcomes, but doing so within a stepfamily context has yet to be done. Drawn from a sample of young adults living in the USA, this study examines the effect of emerging adults’ combat experience on the relationship between their childhood attachment with a biological parent in a stepfamily setting and their adult attachment style with a romantic partner.

Findings

Results of multiple regression analysis indicate that a secure parent–child relationship within a stepfamily reduces the likelihood of exhibiting more characteristics of avoidant attachment style in adulthood. However, when interacted with combat experience, a secure parent-child relationship significantly increases the likelihood of exhibiting more characteristics of avoidant attachment in adulthood.

Applications

Results from this study advance previous research findings on the effect of wartime experience on individual outcomes by examining postcombat deployment attachment styles for individuals who were raised in a stepfamily context. Incorporating these findings into social work research and practice can help clinicians more effectively prevent service members’ maladaptive postdeployment attachment styles and treat individuals and families affected by them.
Care coordination in adult social care: Exploring service characteristics within the non-statutory sector in England
Authors: Sutcliffe Caroline , Jasper Rowan , Hughes Jane , Abendstern Michele , Challis David
Published: June 2016

As a result of national policy in respect of social care of adults in England, the non-statutory sector is increasingly more evident in the provision of care services previously undertaken by local government, including the delivery of care coordination for older people. However, little is currently known about the scope, content, or quality of services providing care coordination within this sector. This article reports the findings from a postal survey undertaken in January 2014 of non-statutory organisations in England providing care coordination services and investigates variations in their key attributes. Organisations providing care coordination services were identified using various strategies to create a database of services. Questionnaires encompassing several areas of enquiry were mailed to managers of care coordination services identified from the database.

Findings

There was similarity in the operation of the care coordination services sampled. Many were small-scale services, contract-funded, and providing short-term support. Volunteer staff were a feature of most services. All services worked to written protocols and standards and almost all levied no charge. Many shared information with healthcare or local authority staff with user consent. Service user satisfaction was measured and used for service improvement.

Application

This is one of the first studies undertaken in England to investigate the provision of care coordination by the non-statutory sector and to identify patterns of variation in key service attributes. Implications for commissioners, service providers, workforce, and social workers are further discussed. The findings provide baseline data against which future developments can be measured.
Autonomous mobile lock-in thermography system for detecting and quantifying voids in liquefied natural gas cargo tank second barrier
Authors: Lee Sangmin , Lim Hyung Jin , Sohn Hoon , Yun Wonjun , Song Eunha
Published: June 2016

In this study, an autonomous mobile inspection system that can detect and quantify hidden voids in a secondary barrier (triplex layer) of a liquefied natural gas cargo tank is developed using lock-in thermography. The triplex layer is the secondary barrier to prevent gas leaks from a Mark III–type membrane liquefied natural gas carrier cargo tank and consists of three sub-layers: a flexible secondary barrier, a bonding layer, and a rigid secondary barrier. The proposed mobile inspection system consists of a lock-in thermography measurement unit, a mobile inspection unit, and image processing algorithms. First, thermal images are obtained using the lock-in thermography unit as the mobile inspection system maneuvers over triplex layers. Second, the raw thermal images are processed by several image processing techniques to compensate for non-uniform heating, eliminate noise components, and disregard trivial voids in accordance with the current inspection guideline. Third, the void size is more precisely quantified using an empirical mapping function that relates the void size estimated in the previous step to that measured by an independent X-ray test. The contributions of this study include the following: (1) an autonomous mobile inspection system is developed for real-time inspection of the triplex during its installation, significantly saving the inspection cost and time; (2) a suite of image processing techniques is developed, overcoming shortcomings of the existing thermography non-destructive testing techniques; and (3) the sizes as well as the locations of the hidden voids are quantified with high accuracy, reliability, and fast inspection speed.
Combined fiber Bragg grating and fiber optic polarimetric sensors on a single fiber for structural health monitoring of two-dimensional structures
Authors: Maheshwari Muneesh , Tjin Swee Chuan , Asundi Anand
Published: June 2016

Fiber optic sensors have a lot to offer in the field of structural health monitoring. The most widely investigated and implemented fiber optic sensors for structural health monitoring are fiber Bragg grating and fiber optic polarimetric sensor. Fiber Bragg grating sensors provide localized strain data, thereby providing local damage information, while fiber optic polarimetric sensors are known for their capabilities of global damage monitoring for both static and dynamic loadings. However, each sensor has to be used with its own instrumentation and processing system. In this article, it is shown that an fiber Bragg grating written on a polarizing maintaining fiber can discern information from both fiber Bragg grating and fiber optic polarimetric sensors using only one decoding system. This reduces costs and complexities. Furthermore, by proper multiplexing the polarizing maintaining-fiber Bragg grating sensor, it is possible to predict the damage location in plates. The results demonstrate that the damage site can be located in two-dimensional structures using this multiplexed sensing array.
Our Island Story: England, Europe and the Anglosphere Alternative
Authors: Wellings Ben
Published: June 2016

This article sets out to place political support for Henrietta Marshall’s Our Island Story in the context of debates about Englishness, the European Union and the Anglosphere. It argues that support for this book was not just a debate about the teaching of history, but was part of a wider contest over the memory of Empire and England’s constitutional past. This traditional narrative was deployed to help imagine and suggest a global future for Britain at a moment when a politics of disengagement with the European Union played out domestically. This contest was not formed in isolation, but was part of a re-engagement with ‘traditional allies’ within the ‘Anglosphere’ helping to answer a dilemma about Britain’s future framed in terms of an English Conservative reading of the past. Arguments in favour of Our Island Story served to emphasise a significant tradition in Anglo-British thought that situated England as the dominant partner in a historic political-economic and cultural enterprise with a global legacy ill-suited to the political project of European integration. Thus, Our Island Story was not merely an innocuous children’s tale, but was part of a politics of disengagement from the European Union that blurred the boundaries of political Englishness.
Radical Nostalgia, Progressive Patriotism and Labour’s ‘English Problem’
Authors: Robinson Emily
Published: June 2016

‘Progressive patriots’ have long argued that Englishness can form the basis of a transformative political project, whether based on an historic tradition of resistance to state power or an open and cosmopolitan identity. However, this article suggests that the politics of Englishness presents a number of specific dilemmas for Labour. First, the historical narrative of a radical tradition in British history is not straightforwardly English and cannot easily be used to support a competitive politics of nationhood, in the way that disaffected English identifiers might desire. Second, the deliberately alternative nature of this ‘radical nostalgic’ narrative makes it an unlikely basis for a unifying national story. It is also at odds with Labour’s status as a successful party of government, committed to using the power of the British state, rather than opposing it. Finally, while ‘everyday Englishness’ may well align with core Labour values and be less socially conservative, intolerant or racially exclusive than it is often described, its very nature as an everyday practice rather than a political identity makes it difficult for Labour to co-opt.
Improvement of insulin sensitivity in response to exercise training in type 2 diabetes mellitus is associated with vascular endothelial growth factor A expression
Authors: Wagner Henrik , Fischer Helene , Degerblad Marie , Alvarsson Michael , Gustafsson Thomas
Published: June 2016

Purpose:

Insulin sensitivity changes in response to exercise training demonstrate a large variation. Vascular endothelial growth factor A could promote increased insulin sensitivity through angiogenesis. We investigated associations between changes in expression of key genes and insulin sensitivity, aerobic capacity and glycaemic control following exercise training in diabetes mellitus type 2.

Methods:

Subjects with diabetes mellitus type 2 underwent 12 weeks of structured exercise. Euglycaemic clamp, exercise test and HbA1c were performed. Muscle biopsies were obtained for mRNA expression.

Results:

A total of 16 subjects completed the study. Change in vascular endothelial growth factor A expression was positively associated with an increase in insulin sensitivity ( p = 0.004) and with a decrease in HbA1c ( p = 0.034). Vascular endothelial growth factor A receptor-1 expression showed similar associations.

Conclusion:

The variation in physical adaptation to exercise training in diabetes mellitus type 2 was associated with changes in expression of vascular endothelial growth factor A in muscle. This difference in induced gene expression could contribute to the variation in exercise training effects on insulin sensitivity. Measures of capillary blood flow need to be assessed in future studies.
Short- and Long-term Results of Hybrid Arch and Proximal Descending Thoracic Aortic Repair
Authors: Martin Guy , Riga Celia , Gibbs Richard , Jenkins Michael , Hamady Mohamad , Bicknell Colin
Published: June 2016

Purpose: To evaluate the short- and long-term outcomes of hybrid repair of the arch and proximal descending aorta in a single tertiary center for aortic disease. Methods: A retrospective analysis was performed of 55 patients (median age 67 years; 36 men) who underwent hybrid repair of thoracic aortic pathology with involvement of the arch between January 2005 and May 2015 at a single tertiary center. The pathologies included 40 (73%) with aneurysmal disease, 10 (18%) acute type B aortic dissections, 2 with acute aortic syndrome, an acute type A dissection, and left and aberrant right subclavian artery aneurysms. Seven (13%) procedures were performed as an emergency. Demographics and procedure characteristics were collected for analysis of survival and reinterventions. Results: Complete aortic debranching was performed in 14 (25%) to facilitate endograft placement in zone 0; debranching was partial in 20 (36%) patients for zone 1 deployments and 21 (38%) for zone 2. Primary technical success was achieved in 51 (93%) cases. One patient died in-hospital from aneurysm rupture following aortic debranching prior to stent-graft repair. In another, the stent-graft procedure proved infeasible and was abandoned. The other 2 technical failures were due to type Ia endoleaks. Five (9%) patients died in-hospital (4 of 48 elective and 1 of 7 emergency cases); 2 of these patients died within 30 days (4%). Eight (14%) patients had a stroke, 6 of 48 elective and 2 of the 7 emergency patients. Spinal cord ischemia was reported in 3 (6%) patients. Mean follow-up was 74.6 months. Overall cumulative survival was 70% at 1 year, 68% at 2 years, and 57% at 5 years. Reintervention to the proximal landing zone for type Ia endoleak was required in 6% of cases. The overall rate of aortic reintervention was 18% at 1 year, 21% at 2 years, and 36% at 5 years. Overall extra-anatomic graft patency was 99%. Conclusion: Hybrid repair of the aortic arch and proximal descending thoracic aorta is technically feasible, with acceptable short-term mortality. There is a low rate of proximal landing zone reintervention when hybrid techniques are used to create an adequate proximal landing zone. Extra-anatomic bypass grafts have good long-term patency. Ongoing disease progression means that further distal aortic interventions are often necessary in patients with extensive disease.
PKIB promotes cell proliferation and the invasion-metastasis cascade through the PI3K/Akt pathway in NSCLC cells
Authors: Dou Penghui , Zhang Danfeng , Cheng Zhuoxin , Zhou Gang , Zhang Linyou
Published: June 2016

Lung cancer is one of the most common malignancies in the world, and non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is a major subtype of lung cancer. Overgrowth of tumor cells usually results from the intensive proliferation of cancer cells, but the mechanisms by which the proliferation of cancer cells are promoted are currently unclear. Thus, it is necessary to determine the vital factors involved in regulating the growth of NSCLC. The MTT assay, BrdU assay, western blots, and migration and invasion assays were used in our study. Here, we found that PKIB (cAMP-dependent protein kinase inhibitor-β), a novel molecular target, was up-regulated in NSCLC tissues compared with the normal tissues adjacent to the tumors. Moreover, overexpression of PKIB promoted cell proliferation and potentiated the invasion and migration in A549 cells, whereas knocking down PKIB gene expression inhibited the proliferation and attenuated the invasive behavior and metastasis in H1299 cells. However, all of these effects of PKIB on cell proliferation and metastasis were reduced by inhibiting the PI3K/Akt pathway. Our results indicate that PKIB promotes cell proliferation and tumorigenesis by activating the PI3K/Akt pathway in NSCLC, implying that this is an important underlying mechanism that affects the progression of NSCLC.
Same Intervention–Different Reorganization
Authors: Carey Leeanne M. , Abbott David F. , Lamp Gemma , Puce Aina , Seitz Rüdiger J. , Donnan Geoffrey A.
Published: June 2016

Background. The brain may reorganize to optimize stroke recovery. Yet relatively little is known about neural correlates of training-facilitated recovery, particularly after loss of body sensations. Objective. Our aim was to characterize changes in brain activation following clinically effective touch discrimination training in stroke patients with somatosensory loss after lesions of primary/secondary somatosensory cortices or thalamic/capsular somatosensory regions using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Methods. Eleven stroke patients with somatosensory loss, 7 with lesions involving primary (S1) and/or secondary (S2) somatosensory cortex (4 male, 58.7 ± 13.3 years) and 4 with lesions primarily involving somatosensory thalamus and/or capsular/white matter regions (2 male, 58 ± 8.6 years) were studied. Clinical and MRI testing occurred at 6 months poststroke (preintervention), and following 15 sessions of clinically effective touch discrimination training (postintervention). Results. Improved touch discrimination of a magnitude similar to previous clinical studies and approaching normal range was found. Patients with thalamic/capsular somatosensory lesions activated preintervention in left ipsilesional supramarginal gyrus, and postintervention in ipsilesional insula and supramarginal gyrus. In contrast, those with S1/S2 lesions did not show common activation preintervention, only deactivation in contralesional superior parietal lobe, including S1, and cingulate cortex postintervention. The S1/S2 group did, however, show significant change over time involving ipsilesional precuneus. This change was greater than for the thalamic/capsular group ( P = .012; d = −2.43; CI = −0.67 to −3.76). Conclusion. Different patterns of change in activation are evident following touch discrimination training with thalamic/capsular lesions compared with S1/S2 cortical somatosensory lesions, despite common training and similar improvement.
Correlation Between Bispectral Index and Electrocorticographic Features During Epilepsy Surgery
Authors: Ramírez Martha Itzhel G. , Rodríguez-Arias Laura Regina , Santiago Areli O. , Pizano Alejandro L. , Zamora Roberto Ll , Gregorio Rafael V. , Trenado Carlos , Sánchez Héctor Manuel G. , San-Juan Daniel
Published: June 2016

Surgical resection guided by intraoperative electrocorticography (iECoG) has been in clinical use for many decades. The use of the bispectral index (BIS) for monitoring depth of anesthesia during different types of surgery, including epilepsy surgery, is increasing nowadays. The BIS is an EEG-derived variable indicating cortical electrical activity. However, the correlation between the BIS score and the iECoG score, with the purpose of optimizing the quality and time of the iECoG recordings in epilepsy surgery is unknown. The goal of this study was to evaluate the correlation between BIS values and iECoG parameters during the epilepsy surgery under anesthesia with propofol and fentanyl. This is a prospective study that included patients with epilepsy who underwent epilepsy surgery guided by BIS and iECoG (September 2008 to October 2013). Clinical, physiological, and sociodemographic characteristics are shown. We correlated the iECoG parameters (presence of burst suppressions [BS], suppression time [seconds], background frequency [Hz], and type of iECoG score by Mathern et al) with BIS values. We included 28 patients, 15/28 (53.5%) female, general mean age of 30.5 years (range 13-56 years). Patients underwent epilepsy surgery: 22/28 (79%) temporal and 6/28 (21%) extratemporal. We found a nonlinear polynomial cubic relationship between the mentioned variables noting that a BIS range of 40 to 60 gave the following results: iECoG BS periods <5 seconds, background frequency 10 to 17 Hz, and iECoG score 2 characterized by lack of >20-Hz background frequencies. No BS were observed with a BIS > 60. In conclusion BIS values and iECoG parameters during the epilepsy surgery under anesthesia with propofol and fentanyl have a nonlinear correlation. BS patterns were not found with a BIS > 60. These findings show that BIS is a nonlinear multidimensional measure, which possesses high variability with the iECoG parameters. BS patterns are not found with BIS > 60.
Using Naturalistic Decision Making to Identify Support Requirements in the Traffic Incident Management Work Environment
Authors: Cattermole Vanessa T. , Horberry Tim , Hassall Maureen
Published: June 2016

The road crash environment is a complex, dynamic, and dangerous workplace for responders at the scene. Decisions made by senior officers from responder agencies can alter the survival outcomes of road crash victims and the safety of responder crews. Although no previous studies have utilized naturalistic decision making principles to research traffic incident management, the characteristics of the workplace seem ideally suited to it. This study used critical decision method (CDM) interviews and the recognition-primed decision model to analyze decisions made by experienced senior responders at traffic incidents. CDM interviews were conducted with officers from three agencies: police, emergency services, and road authority traffic officers. The results revealed useful and novel information about the traffic incident management system, for example, interagency coordination issues. The process identified key decision points at incidents as well as countermeasures to the identified issues using decision-centered design. These countermeasures were subsequently validated by subject matter experts.
Ethics Oversight Mechanisms for Surgical Innovation
Authors: Karpowicz Lila , Bell Emily , Racine Eric
Published: June 2016

Surgical innovation typically falls under the purview of neither conventional clinical ethics nor research ethics. Due to a lack of oversight for surgical innovation—combined with a potential for significant risk—a wide range of arguments has been advanced in the literature to support or undermine various oversight mechanisms. To scrutinize the argumentation surrounding oversight options, we conducted a systematic review of published arguments. We found that the arguments are typically grounded in common sense and speculation instead of evidence. Presently, the justification or superiority for any single oversight mechanism for surgical innovation cannot be established convincingly. We suggest ways to improve the argument-based literature and discuss the value of systematic reviews of arguments and reasons.
Workday Sitting Time and Marital Status: Novel Pretreatment Predictors of Weight Loss in Overweight and Obese Men
Authors: Morgan Philip J. , Hollis Jenna L. , Young Myles D. , Collins Clare E. , Teixeira Pedro J.
Published: June 2016

The evidence base for weight loss programs in men is limited. Gaining a greater understanding of which personal characteristics and pretreatment behaviors predict weight loss and attrition in male-only studies would be useful to inform the development of future interventions for men. In December 2010, 159 overweight/obese men (mean age = 47.5 years; body mass index = 32.7 kg/m2) from the Hunter Region of New South Wales, Australia, participated in a randomized controlled trial testing the effectiveness of two versions of a 3-month gender-targeted weight loss program. In the current analyses, social–cognitive, behavioral, and demographic pretreatment characteristics were examined to determine if they predicted weight loss and attrition in the participants over 6 months. Generalized linear mixed models (intention-to-treat) revealed weight change was associated with education level ( p = .02), marital status ( p = .03), fat mass ( p = .045), sitting time on nonwork ( p = .046), and workdays ( p = .03). Workday sitting time and marital status accounted for 6.5% ( p = .01) of the variance in the final model. Attrition was associated with level of education ( p = .01) and body fat percentage ( p = .01), accounting for 9.5% ( p = .002) of the variance in the final model. This study suggests men who spend a lot of time sitting at work, especially those who are not married, may require additional support to experience success in self-administered weight loss programs targeting males. Additional high-quality evidence is needed to improve the understanding which pretreatment behaviors and characteristics predict weight loss and attrition in men.
The Legal Construction of Whiteness and Citizenship in Maryland, 1780–1820
Authors: Reid Patricia A.
Published: June 2016

In the years before the Missouri Compromise, petitioners who won their freedom suits based upon their ancestral links to white women, with land, could participate in the body politic. However, as Maryland legislators began to identify with the plantation south, they invented a legal understanding that would deny ambiguously freed blacks freedom, and justices would re-invent proslavery jurispudence, using the attachment clause, which would remand the previously freed into a status worse than before they had petitioned the court. Those who were freed and could claim citizenship in the years immediately after the American Revolution, by 1810, case law had changed and they lost many of their rights they once held. By using a slave state like Maryland as a microcosm, this research hopes to show the gradual way African Americans were not only denied claims to legal protections but, were deprived of their rightful place as agents in this new democratic experiment.
Novel CLCN7 mutation identified in a Han Chinese family with autosomal dominant osteopetrosis-2
Authors: Deng Hao , He Dan , Rong Pengfei , Xu Hongbo , Yuan Lamei , Li Liu , Lu Qian , Guo Yi
Published: June 2016

Osteopetrosis is a heritable bone condition featuring increased bone density due to defective osteoclastic bone resorption. Exome sequencing and Sanger sequencing were conducted in Han Chinese family members, some of whom had typical osteopetrosis, and a novel missense variant c.2350A>T (p.R784W) in the chloride channel 7 gene ( CLCN7) was identified. This variant cosegregated with the disorder in the family but was not observed in 800 controls. The data indicate that exome sequencing is a powerful and effective molecular diagnostic tool for detecting mutations in osteopetrosis, which is a genetically and clinically heterogeneous disorder. This discovery broadens the CLCN7 gene mutation spectrum and has important implications for clinical therapeutic regimen decisions, prognosis evaluations, and antenatal diagnoses.
Mycolactone-mediated neurite degeneration and functional effects in cultured human and rat DRG neurons
Authors: Anand U , Sinisi M , Fox M , MacQuillan A , Quick T , Korchev Y , Bountra C , McCarthy T , Anand P
Published: June 2016

Background

Mycolactone is a polyketide toxin secreted by the mycobacterium Mycobacterium ulcerans, responsible for the extensive hypoalgesic skin lesions characteristic of patients with Buruli ulcer. A recent pre-clinical study proposed that mycolactone may produce analgesia via activation of the angiotensin II type 2 receptor (AT2R). In contrast, AT2R antagonist EMA401 has shown analgesic efficacy in animal models and clinical trials for neuropathic pain. We therefore investigated the morphological and functional effects of mycolactone in cultured human and rat dorsal root ganglia (DRG) neurons and the role of AT2R using EMA401. Primary sensory neurons were prepared from avulsed cervical human DRG and rat DRG; 24 h after plating, neurons were incubated for 24 to 96 h with synthetic mycolactone A/B, followed by immunostaining with antibodies to PGP9.5, Gap43, β tubulin, or Mitotracker dye staining. Acute functional effects were examined by measuring capsaicin responses with calcium imaging in DRG neuronal cultures treated with mycolactone.

Results

Morphological effects: Mycolactone-treated cultures showed dramatically reduced numbers of surviving neurons and non-neuronal cells, reduced Gap43 and β tubulin expression, degenerating neurites and reduced cell body diameter, compared with controls. Dose-related reduction of neurite length was observed in mycolactone-treated cultures. Mitochondria were distributed throughout the length of neurites and soma of control neurons, but clustered in the neurites and soma of mycolactone-treated neurons. Functional effects: Mycolactone-treated human and rat DRG neurons showed dose-related inhibition of capsaicin responses, which were reversed by calcineurin inhibitor cyclosporine and phosphodiesterase inhibitor 3-isobutyl-1-Methylxanthine, indicating involvement of cAMP/ATP reduction. The morphological and functional effects of mycolactone were not altered by Angiotensin II or AT2R antagonist EMA401.

Conclusion

Mycolactone induces toxic effects in DRG neurons, leading to impaired nociceptor function, neurite degeneration, and cell death, resembling the cutaneous hypoalgesia and nerve damage in individuals with M. Ulcerans infection.
‘Just’ punishment? Offenders’ views on the meaning and severity of punishment
Authors: van Ginneken Esther FJC , Hayes David
Published: June 2016

In England and Wales, ‘punishment’ is a central element of criminal justice. What punishment entails exactly, however, and how it relates to the other aims of sentencing (crime reduction, rehabilitation, public protection and reparation), remains contested. This article outlines different conceptualizations of punishment and explores to what extent offenders subscribe to these perspectives. The analysis is supported by findings from two empirical studies on the subjective experiences of imprisonment and probation, respectively. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 15 male and 15 female prisoners and seven male and two female probationers. Two primary conceptualizations of punishment were identified: ‘punishment as deprivation of liberty’ and ‘punishment as hard treatment’. The comparative subjective severity of different sentences and the collateral (unintended) consequences of punishment are also discussed. It is shown that there are large individual differences in the interpretation and subjective experience of punishment, which has implications for the concept of retributive proportionality, as well as the function of punishment more generally.
Placing second: Empathic unsettlement as a vehicle of consubstantiality at the Silent Gesture statue of Tommie Smith and John Carlos
Authors: Marinelli Kevin
Published: June 2016

In this article, I explore the material rhetorics of place from the perspective of transferential space. Specifically, I examine the Silent Gesture statue of Tommie Smith and John Carlos at San José State University. Drawing on Alison Landsberg’s concept of transferential space and Dominick LaCapra’s concept of empathic unsettlement, I argue that the statue explores the limits of identification in such a way that illuminates new possibilities for the rhetoricity of transferential space. Specifically, I argue that the statue’s invitation to physically and metaphorically ‘Take a Stand’ with Smith and Carlos facilitates noteworthy tensions of civic identity and, in turn, fosters mnemonic practices of consubstantiality with the disenfranchised for its visitors.
Memory studies: The state of an emergent field
Authors: Dutceac Segesten Anamaria , Wüstenberg Jenny
Published: June 2016

The article explores the degree to which memory studies has become established as an academic field. Although we acknowledge that there are drawbacks to formal institutionalization, we contend that it is useful to think strategically about the future of memory studies. We argue that three key developments must take place in order for a field to become institutionalized. First, individual scholars must articulate the field through scientific production and collaboration. Second, higher education institutions must formally recognize the existence of the field through specialized programs and departments. And third, public and private donors must sponsor research via dedicated scholarships and grants. We use these phases as benchmarks in order to assess memory studies’ current state of development. After surveying important writings of key authors in memory studies, we test our assumptions through an online survey with 255 self-identified memory scholars. The results show memory studies to be in a mid-level state of development, where individual agents are the most active drivers of defining the boundaries of the field and driving its further establishment. The major obstacle in this process, identified in both the survey and in the literature review, is the fragmented nature of the discipline, which could be addressed through the pursuit of a more interdisciplinary (rather than multidisciplinary) research agenda.
Real-World Data Collection Regarding Titration Algorithms for Insulin Glargine in Patients With Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus
Authors: Pfützner Andreas , Stratmann Bernd , Funke Klaus , Pohlmeier Harald , Rose Ludger , Sieber Jochen , Flacke Frank , Tschoepe Diethelm
Published: June 2016

The primary objective of this study was to collect data regarding the effectiveness of different dose titration algorithms (TAs) for optimization or initiation of basal insulin supported oral therapy (BOT) in patients with type 2 diabetes. A total of 50 patients were enrolled in this trial (17 women, 33 men, age 63 ± 8 years, HbA1c 7.9 ± 0.8%). The investigator decided on an individual basis to apply any of 4 standard TAs: standard (S: fasting glucose target 90-130 mg/dL, n = 39), standard-fast titration (S-FT: 90-130 mg/dL, larger dose increments at FBG < 180 mg/dl, n = 1), less tight (LT: 110-150 mg/dL, n = 5), and tight (T: 70-100 mg/dL, n = 5). During the next 30 days daily contacts were used to adapt the insulin dose. The majority of all patients (70%) achieved a stable insulin glargine dose within 5 ± 6 days after initiation of the dose titration. HbA1c improved from 7.9 ± 0.8% to 7.5 ± 0.7% ( P < .001). In total, 1300 dose decisions were made (1192 according to the TA and 108 by the physicians independently from the TA in 29 patients [58% of study population]). Reasons for TA-overruling dosing decisions were hypoglycemic events (14 mild/4 moderate) in 9 patients. In the majority of these cases (89.8%), the physician recommended continuation of the previous dose or a higher dose. The majority of FBG values were within the respective target range after 4 weeks. In conclusion, the insulin glargine TAs delivered safe dose recommendations with a low risk of hypoglycemia, which successfully led to a stable dose in the vast majority of patients.
Fibrous Dysplasia in the Calcaneus
Authors: Bartley Justin , Munroe Scott M. , Ward Russell A.
Published: June 2016

Fibrous dysplasia in the calcaneus is extremely rare; the most common locations of monostotic fibrous dysplasia of extremity bones being the proximal femoral shaft, tibia, humerus, and radius. An extensive literature search has revealed only 3 case reports that have been published concerning this topic, the most recent published in 2003. This is a case report of fibrous dysplasia in the calcaneus of a young male, including a discussion of the classical presentation of fibrous dysplasia and how this case differed.

Levels of Evidence: Therapeutic, Level IV: Case study