bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
A new case series of Crisponi syndrome in a Turkish family and review of the literature
Authors: Bayraktar-Tanyeri Bilge , Hepokur Mervenur , Bayraktar Suleyman , Persico Ivana , Crisponi Laura
Published: December 2016

Crisponi syndrome/cold-induced sweating syndrome (CS/CISS) is a rare autosomal recessive disorder with a complex phenotype, reported in the neonatal period for CS and in the evolutive one for CISS. The syndrome usually manifests at birth. The aim of this study was to report on three new patients with CS and review the Turkish patients. We report here on three patients from two related families harboring a homozygous mutation in the cytokine receptor-like factor-1 (CRLF1) gene. DNA samples of the three patients and their parents were subjected to a mutational analysis of the CRLF1 gene at the Institute of Biomedical and Genetic Research – National Research Council, Cagliari (Italy). Direct sequencing of the nine coding exons and surrounding intronic regions of CRLF1 was performed using specific primers. All three patients were found to be homozygotes for the mutation c.708_709delinsT, which leads to a frameshift in the second fibronectin type III domain (p.Pro238Argfs∗6). CS should be considered in the differential diagnosis of newborns with muscle contractions, feeding and swallowing difficulties, dysmorphic facial findings, camptodactyly, and hypertermia. Neonatologists must be aware of this syndrome that, although very rare worldwide, has a higher prevalence in Turkey.
Unusual Presentations of Childhood Systemic Lupus Erythematosus to the Emergency Department
Authors: Gültekingil Keser Ayşe , Ertuğrul İlker , Tekşam Özlem , Konuşkan Bahadir , Özkutlu Süheyla , Özen Seza
Published: December 2016

Introduction

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a multisystemic autoinflammatory disease that can involve any organ system; therefore, diagnosis can be challenging. Hereby, we present 4 cases that presented to pediatric emergency department with unusual clinical pictures of SLE.

Cases

Case 1 presented with inability to walk or talk for the last 1 week as well as intermittent pain and swelling in her joints. Case 2 presented with generalized edema and severe dyspnea. Case 3 and 4 presented to pediatric emergency department with rashes on the legs.

Discussion

Systemic lupus erythematosus may mimic many clinical entities, and differential diagnosis may be difficult, especially if presentation is atypical. In every emergency physician, right diagnosis and prompt treatment are very important especially in life-threatening conditions such as cardiac involvement in SLE.
Dust evolution, a global view I. Nanoparticles, nascence, nitrogen and natural selection … joining the dots
Authors: Jones A. P.
Published: December 2016

The role and importance of nanoparticles for interstellar chemistry and beyond is explored within the framework of
The Heterogeneous dust Evolution Model for Interstellar Solids
(THEMIS), focusing on their active surface chemistry, the effects of nitrogen doping and the natural selection of interesting nanoparticle sub-structures. Nanoparticle-driven chemistry, and in particular the role of intrinsic epoxide-type structures, could provide a viable route to the observed gas phase OH in tenuous interstellar clouds en route to becoming molecular clouds. The aromatic-rich moieties present in asphaltenes probably provide a viable model for the structures present within aromatic-rich interstellar carbonaceous grains. The observed doping of such nanoparticle structures with nitrogen, if also prevalent in interstellar dust, could perhaps have important and observable consequences for surface chemistry and the formation of precursor pre-biotic species.
The anelastic Ericksen problem: universal eigenstrains and deformations in compressible isotropic elastic solids
Authors: Yavari Arash , Goriely Alain
Published: December 2016

The elastic Ericksen problem consists of finding deformations in isotropic hyperelastic solids that can be maintained for arbitrary strain-energy density functions. In the compressible case, Ericksen showed that only homogeneous deformations are possible. Here, we solve the anelastic version of the same problem, that is, we determine both the deformations and the eigenstrains such that a solution to the anelastic problem exists for arbitrary strain-energy density functions. Anelasticity is described by finite eigenstrains. In a nonlinear solid, these eigenstrains can be modelled by a Riemannian material manifold whose metric depends on their distribution. In this framework, we show that the natural generalization of the concept of homogeneous deformations is the notion ofcovariantly homogeneous deformations—deformations with covariantly constant deformation gradients. We prove that these deformations are the only universal deformations and that they put severe restrictions on possibleuniversal eigenstrains. We show that, in a simply-connected body, for any distribution of universal eigenstrains the material manifold is a symmetric Riemannian manifold and that in dimensions 2 and 3 the universal eigenstrains are zero-stress.
Atmospheric rivers and the mass mortality of wild oysters: insight into an extreme future?
Authors: Cheng Brian S. , Chang Andrew L. , Deck Anna , Ferner Matthew C.
Published: December 2016

Climate change is predicted to increase the frequency and severity of extreme events. However, the biological consequences of extremes remain poorly resolved owing to their unpredictable nature and difficulty in quantifying their mechanisms and impacts. One key feature delivering precipitation extremes is an atmospheric river (AR), a long and narrow filament of enhanced water vapour transport. Despite recent attention, the biological impacts of ARs remain undocumented. Here, we use biological data coupled with remotely sensed and
in situ
environmental data to describe the role of ARs in the near 100% mass mortality of wild oysters in northern San Francisco Bay. In March 2011, a series of ARs made landfall within California, contributing an estimated 69.3% of the precipitation within the watershed and driving an extreme freshwater discharge into San Francisco Bay. This discharge caused sustained low salinities (less than 6.3) that almost perfectly matched the known oyster critical salinity tolerance and was coincident with a mass mortality of one of the most abundant populations throughout this species' range. This is a concern, because wild oysters remain a fraction of their historical abundance and have yet to recover. This study highlights a novel mechanism by which precipitation extremes may affect natural systems and the persistence of sensitive species in the face of environmental change.
Evolutionary heritage influences Amazon tree ecology
Authors: Coelho de Souza Fernanda , Dexter Kyle G. , Phillips Oliver L. , Brienen Roel J. W. , Chave Jerome , Galbraith David R. , Lopez Gonzalez Gabriela , Monteagudo Mendoza Abel , Pennington R. Toby , Poorter Lourens , Alexiades Miguel , Álvarez-Dávila Esteban , Andrade Ana , Aragão Luis E. O. C. , Araujo-Murakami Alejandro , Arets Eric J. M. M. , Aymard C Gerardo A. , Baraloto Christopher , Barroso Jorcely G. , Bonal Damien , Boot Rene G. A. , Camargo José L. C. , Comiskey James A. , Valverde Fernando Cornejo , de Camargo Plínio B. , Di Fiore Anthony , Elias Fernando , Erwin Terry L. , Feldpausch Ted R. , Ferreira Leandro , Fyllas Nikolaos M. , Gloor Emanuel , Herault Bruno , Herrera Rafael , Higuchi Niro , Honorio Coronado Eurídice N. , Killeen Timothy J. , Laurance William F. , Laurance Susan , Lloyd Jon , Lovejoy Thomas E. , Malhi Yadvinder , Maracahipes Leandro , Marimon Beatriz S. , Marimon-Junior Ben H. , Mendoza Casimiro , Morandi Paulo , Neill David A. , Vargas Percy Núñez , Oliveira Edmar A. , Lenza Eddie , Palacios Walter A. , Peñuela-Mora Maria C. , Pipoly John J. , Pitman Nigel C. A. , Prieto Adriana , Quesada Carlos A. , Ramirez-Angulo Hirma , Rudas Agustin , Ruokolainen Kalle , Salomão Rafael P. , Silveira Marcos , Stropp Juliana , ter Steege Hans , Thomas-Caesar Raquel , van der Hout Peter , van der Heijden Geertje M. F. , van der Meer Peter J. , Vasquez Rodolfo V. , Vieira Simone A. , Vilanova Emilio , Vos Vincent A. , Wang Ophelia , Young Kenneth R. , Zagt Roderick J. , Baker Timothy R.
Published: December 2016

Lineages tend to retain ecological characteristics of their ancestors through time. However, for some traits, selection during evolutionary history may have also played a role in determining trait values. To address the relative importance of these processes requires large-scale quantification of traits and evolutionary relationships among species. The Amazonian tree flora comprises a high diversity of angiosperm lineages and species with widely differing life-history characteristics, providing an excellent system to investigate the combined influences of evolutionary heritage and selection in determining trait variation. We used trait data related to the major axes of life-history variation among tropical trees (e.g. growth and mortality rates) from 577 inventory plots in closed-canopy forest, mapped onto a phylogenetic hypothesis spanning more than 300 genera including all major angiosperm clades to test for evolutionary constraints on traits. We found significant phylogenetic signal (PS) for all traits, consistent with evolutionarily related genera having more similar characteristics than expected by chance. Although there is also evidence for repeated evolution of pioneer and shade tolerant life-history strategies within independent lineages, the existence of significant PS allows clearer predictions of the links between evolutionary diversity, ecosystem function and the response of tropical forests to global change.
Passive drift or active swimming in marine organisms?
Authors: Putman Nathan F. , Lumpkin Rick , Sacco Alexander E. , Mansfield Katherine L.
Published: December 2016

Predictions of organismal movements in a fluid require knowing the fluid's velocity and potential contributions of the organism's behaviour (e.g. swimming or flying). While theoretical aspects of this work are reasonably well-developed, field-based validation is challenging. A much-needed study recently published by Briscoe and colleagues in
Proceedings of the Royal Society B
compared movements and distribution of satellite-tracked juvenile sea turtles to virtual particles released in a data-assimilating hindcast ocean circulation model. Substantial differences observed between turtles and particles were considered evidence for an important role of active swimming by turtles. However, the experimental design implicitly assumed that transport predictions were insensitive to (i) start location, (ii) tracking duration, (iii) depth, and (iv) physical processes not depicted in the model. Here, we show that the magnitude of variation in physical parameters between turtles and virtual particles can profoundly alter transport predictions, potentially sufficient to explain the reported differences without evoking swimming behaviour. We present a more robust method to derive the environmental contributions to individual movements, but caution that resolving the ocean velocities experienced by individual organisms remains a problem for assessing the role of behaviour in organismal movements and population distributions.
Recombination in the eggs and sperm in a simultaneously hermaphroditic vertebrate
Authors: Theodosiou L. , McMillan W. O. , Puebla O.
Published: December 2016

When there is no recombination (achiasmy) in one sex, it is in the heterogametic one. This observation is so consistent that it constitutes one of the few patterns in biology that may be regarded as a ‘rule’ and Haldane (Haldane 1922J. Genet.12, 101–109. (doi:10.1007/BF02983075)) proposed that it might be driven by selection against recombination in the sex chromosomes. Yet differences in recombination rates between the sexes (heterochiasmy) have also been reported in hermaphroditic species that lack sex chromosomes. In plants—the vast majority of which are hermaphroditic—selection at the haploid stage has been proposed to drive heterochiasmy. Yet few data are available for hermaphroditic animals, and barely any for hermaphroditic vertebrates. Here, we leverage reciprocal crosses between two black hamlets (Hypoplectrus nigricans, Serranidae), simultaneously hermaphroditic reef fishes from the wider Caribbean, to generate high-density egg- and sperm-specific linkage maps for each parent. We find globally higher recombination rates in the eggs, with dramatically pronounced heterochiasmy at the chromosome peripheries. We suggest that this pattern may be due to female meiotic drive, and that this process may be an important source of heterochiasmy in animals. We also identify a large non-recombining region that may play a role in speciation and local adaptation inHypoplectrus.
The influence of wing morphology upon the dispersal, geographical distributions and diversification of the Corvides (Aves; Passeriformes)
Authors: Kennedy Jonathan D. , Borregaard Michael K. , Jønsson Knud A. , Marki Petter Z. , Fjeldså Jon , Rahbek Carsten
Published: December 2016

New species are sometimes known to arise as a consequence of the dispersal and establishment of populations in new areas. It has nevertheless been difficult to demonstrate an empirical link between rates of dispersal and diversification, partly because dispersal abilities are challenging to quantify. Here, using wing morphology as a proxy for dispersal ability, we assess this relationship among the global radiation of corvoid birds. We found that species distributions are associated with wing shape. Widespread species (occurring on both islands and continents), and those that are migratory, exhibit wing morphologies better adapted to long-distance flight compared with sedentary continental or insular forms. Habitat preferences also strongly predict wing form, with species that occur in canopies and/or areas of sparse vegetation possessing dispersive morphologies. By contrast, we found no significant differences in diversification rates among either the migratory or habitat classifications, but species distributed in island settings diversify at higher rates than those found on continents. This latter finding may reflect the elevated dispersal capabilities of widespread taxa, facilitating the radiation of these lineages across insular areas. However, as the correlations between wing morphology and diversification rates were consistently weak throughout our dataset, this suggests that historical patterns of diversification are not particularly well reflected by present-day wing morphology.
Quantitative Analysis of Dopamine Neuron Subtypes Generated from Mouse Embryonic Stem Cells
Authors: Dingle Yu-Ting L. , Xiong Katherine B. , Machan Jason T. , Seymour Kimberly A. , Ellisor Debra , Hoffman-Kim Diane , Zervas Mark
Published: December 2016

Dopamine (DA) neuron subtypes modulate specific physiological functions and are involved in distinct neurological disorders. Embryonic stem cell (ESC) derived DA neurons have the potential to aid in the study of disease mechanisms, drug discovery, and possibly cell replacement therapies. DA neurons can be generated from ESCs in vitro, but the subtypes of ESC-derived DA neurons have not been investigated in detail despite the diversity of DA neurons observed in vivo. Due to cell culture heterogeneity, sampling methods applied to ESC-derived cultures can be ambiguous and potentially biased. Therefore, we developed a quantification method to capture the depth of DA neuron production in vitro by estimating the error associated with systematic random sampling. Using this method, we quantified calbindin+ and calretinin+ subtypes of DA neurons generated from mouse ESCs. We found a higher production of the calbindin+ subtype (11−27%) compared to the calretinin+ subtype (2-13%) of DA neuron; in addition, DA neurons expressing neither subtype marker were also generated. We then examined whether exogenous sonic hedgehog (SHH) and fibroblast growth factor 8 (FGF8) affected subtype generation. Our results demonstrate that exogenous SHH and FGF8 did not alter DA neuron subtype generation in vitro. These findings suggest that a deeper understanding DA neuron derivation inclusive of mechanisms that govern the in vitro subtype specification of ESC-derived DA neurons is required.

Note

All research was planned and conducted while members were at Brown University

Research funding

NIH/NCRR/NIGMS RI Hospital COBRE Center for Stem Cell Biology (8P20GM103468-04) (MZ) Brown Institute for Brain Science Pilot Grant (4-63662) (MZ/DHK)
The triple-flash illusion reveals a driving role of alpha-band reverberations in visual perception
Authors: Gulbinaite Rasa , İlhan Barkin , VanRullen Rufin
Published: December 2016

The modulatory role of spontaneous brain oscillations on perception of threshold-level stimuli is well established. Here, we provide evidence that alpha-band (7-14 Hz) oscillations not only modulate but also can drive perception. We used the “triple-flash” illusion: Occasional perception of three flashes when only two spatially-coincident veridical ones are presented, separated by ~100 ms. The illusion was proposed to result from superposition of two hypothetical oscillatory impulse response functions (IRF) generated in response to each flash (Bowen, 1989). In Experiment 1, we varied stimulus onset asynchrony (SOA) and validated Bowen's theory: the optimal SOA for illusion to occur was correlated, across subjects, with the subject-specific IRF period. Experiment 2 revealed that pre-stimulus parietal alpha EEG phase and power, as well as post-stimulus alpha phase-locking, together determine the occurrence of the illusion on a trial-by-trial basis. Thus, oscillatory reverberations create something out of nothing – a third flash where there are only two.
CONTINUATION: Evaluation of adaptive somatic models in a gold standard whole genome somatic dataset
Authors: Campagne Fabien
Published: December 2016

Inhttp://dx.doi.org/10.1101/079087, we presented adaptive models for calling somatic mutations in high-throughput sequencing data. These models were developed by training deep neural networks with semi-simulated data. In this continuation, I evaluate how such models can predict known somatic mutations in a real dataset. To address this question, I tested the approach using samples from the International Cancer Genome Consortium (ICGC) and the previously published ground-truth mutations (GoldSet). This evaluation revealed that training models with semi-simulation does produce models that exhibit strong performance in real datasets. I found a linear relationship between the performance observed on a semi-simulated validation set and independent ground-truth in the gold set (R2= 0.952,P< 2−16). I also found that semi-simulation can be used to pre-train models before continuing training with true labels and that this pre-training improves model performance substantially on the real dataset compared to training models only with the real dataset. The best model pre-trained with semi-simulation achieved an AUC of 0.969 [0.957-0.982] (95% confidence interval) compared to 0.911 [0.890-0.932] when training with real labels only. These data demonstrate that semi-simulation can be a very effective approach to training filtering and ranking probabilistic models.
Cultivation and genomics of the first freshwater SAR11 (LD12) isolate
Authors: Henson Michael W. , Lanclos V. Celeste , Faircloth Brant C. , Thrash J. Cameron
Published: December 2016

Evolutionary transitions between fresh and salt water happen infrequently among bacterioplankton. Within the ubiquitous and highly abundant heterotrophic Alphaproteobacteria orderPelagibacterales(SAR11), most members live in marine habitats, but the LD12 subclade has evolved as a unique freshwater lineage. LD12 cells occur as some of the most dominant freshwater bacterioplankton, yet this group has remained elusive to cultivation, hampering a more thorough understanding of its biology. Here, we report the first successful isolation of an LD12 representative, strain LSUCC0530, using high throughput dilution to extinction cultivation methods, and its complete genome sequence. Growth experiments corroborate ecological data suggesting active populations of LD12 in brackish water up to salinities of ~5. LSUCC0530 has the smallest closed genome thus far reported for a SAR11 strain (1.16 Mbp). The genome affirms many previous metabolic predictions from cultivation-independent analyses, like a complete Embden-Meyerhof-Parnas glycolysis pathway, but also provides novel insights, such as the first isocitrate dehydrogenase in LD12, a likely homologous recombination of malate synthase from outside of the SAR11 clade, and analogous substitutions of ion transporters with others that occur throughout the rest of the SAR11 clade. Growth data support metagenomic recruitment results suggesting temperature-based ecotype diversification within LD12. Key gene losses for osmolyte uptake provide a succinct hypothesis for the evolutionary transition of LD12 from salt to fresh water. For strain LSUCC0530, we propose the provisional nomenclatureCandidatusFonsibacter ubiquis.
Correlated Evolution of Metabolic Functions over the Tree of Life
Authors: Patterson Murray , Bernard Thomas , Kahn Daniel
Published: December 2016

We are interested in the structure and evolution of metabolism in order to better understand its complexity. We study metabolic functions in 1459 species within which several hundreds of thousands of families of homologous genes have been identified [17]. Given a protein sequence, PRIAM search [5] delivers probabilities of the presence of several thousand enzymes (ECs). This allows us to infer reaction sets and to construct a metabolic network for an organism, given its set of sequences.

We then propagate these ECs to the ancestral nodes of the species tree using maximimum likelihood methods. These evolutionary scenarios are systematically compared using pairwise mutual information. We identify co-evolving enzyme sets from the graph of these relationships using community detection algorithms [1,3]. This sheds light on the structure of the metabolic networks in terms of co-evolving metabolic modules. These modules are also interpreted from a functional perspective using stoichiometric models of metabolic networks.
Openspritzer: an open hardware pressure ejection system for reliably delivering picolitre volumes
Authors: Forman C.J. , Tomes H. , Mbobo B. , Baden T. , Raimondo J.V.
Published: December 2016

The ability to reliably and precisely deliver picolitre volumes is an important component of biological research. Here we describe a high-performance, low-cost, open hardware pressure ejection system (Openspritzer), which can be constructed from off the shelf components. When connected to a standard micro-pipetteviasuitable pneumatic tubing, the device is capable of delivering minute doses of reagents to a wide range of biological and chemical systems. In this work, we characterise the performance of the device and compare it to a popular commercial system using two-photon fluorescence microscopy. We found that Openspritzer provides the same level of control over delivered reagent dose as the commercial system. Next, we demonstrate the utility of Openspritzer in a series of standard neurobiological applications. First, we used Openspritzer to deliver precise amounts of the neurotransmitters glutamate and GABA to hippocampal neurons to elicit time- and dose-precise excitatory and inhibitory responses, respectively. Second, we used Openspritzer to deliver infectious viral and bacterial agents to living tissue. Viral transfection of hippocampal interneurons with channelrhodopsin allowed for the optogenetic manipulation of hippocampal circuitry with light. Finally, we successfully used Openspritzer to infect organotypic hippocampal slice cultures with fluorescentMycobacterium bovisbacilli. We anticipate that due to its high performance and low cost Openspritzer will be of interest to a broad range of researchers working in the life and physical sciences.
A polymerisation-associated conformational switch in FtsZ that enables treadmilling
Authors: Wagstaff James M. , Tsim Matthew , Oliva María A. , García-Sanchez Alba , Kureisaite-Ciziene Danguole , Andreu José Manuel , Löwe Jan
Published: December 2016

Bacterial cell division in many organisms involves a constricting cytokinetic ring that is orchestrated by the tubulin-like protein FtsZ. FtsZ forms dynamic filaments close to the membrane at the site of division that have recently been shown to treadmill around the division ring, guiding septal wall synthesis.

Here, using X-ray crystallography ofStaphylococcus aureusSaFtsZ we reveal how an FtsZ can adopt two functionally distinct conformations, open and closed. The open form is found in SaFtsZ filaments formed in crystals and also in soluble filaments ofE. coliFtsZ as deduced by cryoEM. The closed form is found within several crystal forms of two non-polymerising SaFtsZ mutants and corresponds to many previous FtsZ structures from other organisms.

We argue that FtsZ undergoes a polymerisation-associated conformational switch. We show that such a switch provides explanations for both how treadmilling may occur within a single-stranded filament, and why filament assembly is cooperative.
Les déterminants du faible degré d'intégration commerciale de la CEEAC: le poids de la fragmentation politique, de la prolifération des Communautés Economiques Régionales et du niveau de démocratie
Authors: Gandjon Fankem Gislain Stéphane
Published: December 2016

L'objectif de cet article est d'évaluer empiriquement le poids de la fragmentation politique, de la prolifération des Communautés Economiques Régionales et du niveau de démocratie dans l'explication du faible degré d'intégration commerciale de la Communauté Economique des Etats de l'Afrique Centrale (CEEAC). La méthodologie utilisée repose sur les avancées théoriques du modèle de gravité et des techniques d'estimation en panel. Ceteris paribus, les principaux résultats montrent que: (i) la fragmentation politique réduit le commerce bilatéral dans la CEEAC de 51,42 %; (ii) plus un pays de la CEEAC est membre d'accords régionaux concurrents, moins il commerce avec un autre pays de la CEEAC. Une augmentation de 1 % de l'indicateur de prolifération des Communautés Economiques Régionales se traduit par une réduction des exportations de 0,69 %; (iii) les pays de la CEEAC commercent également moins entre eux parce qu'ils sont peu démocratiques. Une diminution d'un écart‐type par rapport à la moyenne du niveau de démocratie du pays importateur se traduit par une baisse des importations de 20,99 %. Ces résultats invitent les autorités de la CEEAC à agir prioritairement sur ces facteurs de répulsion pour parvenir à un niveau de commerce interne élevé.
Pouvoir de marché et stabilité financière: Etude du secteur bancaire Tunisien
Authors: Zidi Manel , Djelassi Mouldi , Hamdi Helmi
Published: December 2016

Cette étude vise à tester empiriquement la relation entre la diversification des revenus et le pouvoir de marché ainsi que la relation entre le pouvoir de marché, la diversification des revenus et la stabilité financière bancaire. En se basant sur une base de données de 10 banques commerciales Tunisiennes sur la période allant de 1990 à 2013, on démontre qu'il existe une relation significative et positive entre le pouvoir de marché et la stabilité financière. Ceci vient renforcer les résultats des recherches antérieures portant sur différents systèmes bancaires dans plusieurs pays.
YOUR STRENGTHS – YOUR LIFE
Authors: Johnston Anna , Gratton Lynda , Scott Andrew , Erickson Tammy , Cable Dan , Jolly Richard
Published: December 2016

In a multi‐stage working life, with much competition for your time, it's more important than ever to act on your authentic choices
BEING CHOOSY ABOUT CHOICE
Authors: Cloney Emily , Botti Simona
Published: December 2016

Often assumed to be good for business and customers, choice can be bewildering and destructive when handled wrongly. We get picky with Simona Botti
PROMISE BEFORE PROFIT
Authors: Edmans Alex
Published: December 2016

Not built in a day …: The cautionary adage about Rome remains true for business, where short termism is rife. So look to your corporate purpose, put promise before profit, and success will follow, argues Alex Edmans
THE MASTER'S CHOICE
Authors: Chambers David , Dimson Elroy
Published: December 2016

JM Keynes is arguably the most famous economist of all time, but what of his own investing activity? David Chambers and Elroy Dimson learn some lessons from his mixed legacy
CAPTAIN OF CONSCIENCE
Authors: MacKenzie Annette , Woodford Neil
Published: December 2016

He's hailed as a star investor and Britain's answer to Warren Buffett, but Neil Woodford resists the description ‘captain of industry’
MY DAY
Authors: Eskinasy Pat
Published: December 2016

Pat Eskinasy is the founder of Hen.ai, a virtual assistant app for microentrepreneurs. She gives us a peek into her world
BIG READS
Authors: DeMiguel Victor
Published: December 2016

If you've ever wrangled with a tough decision, you know how agonising it can be. Here, Victor DeMiguel, Professor of Management Science and Operations at LBS, outlines eight books that can assist good decision‐making
The dark side of public participation: Participative processes that legitimize elected officials’ values
Authors: Bouchard Nancy
Published: December 2016

The literature on public participation suggests that engaging the public in policy‐making empowers citizens and enhances democracy. Drawing on conditions of “authentic” participation derived from this literature, this critical analysis shows that the public consultation said to have informed Canada's new prostitution laws served to legitimize the governing party's policy orientation. The contribution of this article is twofold: providing an in‐depth, critical account of how a public participation process can endorse elected officials’ values; and identifying factors that may be associated to this outcome. Ultimately, this article shines the spotlight on a force often neglected in the public participation literature: power.
Processes of Racialization in New York City's Child Welfare System
Authors: LEE TINA
Published: December 2016

This paper argues that daily practices in the child welfare system in the urban United States contribute to the racialization—the process of creating and recreating racial groups, meanings, experiences, and inequalities—of African American communities. First, child welfare practices reinforce and legitimize views of poor women of color as irresponsible mothers and urban black communities and families as in need of state supervision. Second, the child welfare system plays an important role in the “prison pipeline,” the interrelated factors that converge to make minority boys more likely to end up in prison. Child welfare is thus a key, yet relatively unexamined, set of state practices that perpetuates inequalities and recreates race. [Race; Racialization; Child Welfare; Urban United States; Prison Pipeline]
Xenophilia in Muizenberg, South Africa: New potentials for race relations?
Authors: OWEN JOY
Published: December 2016

Since the advent of democracy in 1994 race relations in South Africa have not improved substantially. The arrival of transmigrants from other African countries has emphasized a wounded South African psyche, as various xenophobic attitudes and attacks attest. However, a lesser known reality is the expression of xenophilia by South African women. In this article I argue that an intimate relationship between a South African coloured woman and a Congolese black man scripts a different potentiality for multiracial relations in the private and public spaces of urban Cape Town, South Africa. [Coloured; Congolese; Xenophilia; South Africa; Race; Love; Transnationalism]
Transoral laser microsurgery versus radiation therapy in the management of T1 and T2 laryngeal glottic carcinoma: which modality is cost‐effective within the UK?
Authors: Prettyjohns M. , Winter S. , Kerawala C. , Paleri V. ,   the NICE cancer of the upper aerodigestive tract guideline committee
Published: December 2016

Objectives

To identify the most cost‐effective treatment strategy in patients with early stage (T1 and T2) cancers of the laryngeal glottis.

Design

A Markov decision model populated using data from updated systematic reviews and meta‐analyses, with attributable costs from NHS sources. Data on local control and mortality were obtained from updates of existing systematic reviews conducted for the NICE guideline on cancer of the upper aerodigestive tract. Procedure costs were sourced from NHS reference costs 2013/14 by applying tariffs associated with the appropriate health resource group code

Setting

The UK National Health Service.

Population

Patients with early stage (T1 and T2) cancers of the laryngeal glottis.

Interventions

Transoral laser microsurgery (TLM) and radiation therapy (RT).

Main outcome measures

Total costs, incremental costs and quality adjusted life years (QALYs) over a 10‐year time horizon.

Results

Radiation therapy as the initial treatment strategy was found to be more expensive (£2654 versus £623) and less effective (QALY reduction of 0.141 and 0.04 in T1a and T1b–T2 laryngeal cancers, respectively) than TLM. The dominance of TLM for T1a cancers was unchanged in most scenarios modelled in sensitivity analysis. For T1b–T2 laryngeal cancers, the result changed in numerous scenarios. In probabilistic sensitivity analysis, TLM was found to have a 71% and 58% probability of being cost‐effective in T1a and T1b–T2 laryngeal cancers, respectively.

Conclusions

Transoral laser microsurgery is a cost‐effective strategy to adopt in the management of T1a laryngeal cancers. Uncertainty remains over the optimal strategy to adopt in T1b–T2 laryngeal cancers.
Theology of the Cross and the Experience of God's Presence: A Lutheran Response to Pentecostal Wonderings
Authors: Peterson Cheryl M.
Published: December 2016

As Lutherans and Pentecostals begin an official international dialogue, the author, a Lutheran member of the dialogue, responds to two related sets of questions raised by a Pentecostal member of the dialogue during a preceding six‐year consultation between these traditions: whether there is a place in the Lutheran tradition for a “theology of glory,” considering the centrality of “a theology of the cross” for Luther; and how Lutherans speak about experiencing the presence of God, and the means through which one encounters God.
Pure Gospel or Full Gospel: On the Principles of Lutheran and Pentecostal Theology
Authors: Vondey Wolfgang
Published: December 2016

The claim in recent conversations among Lutherans and Pentecostals that the “pure gospel” and “full gospel” paradigms held respectively by each tradition represent contrasting theological principles is examined through a historical and theological study of the notion of “gospel.” The two paradigms, although not mutually exclusive, identify different hermeneutical and doctrinal commitments that suggest that the contrast between the two traditions exists not in the idea of the gospel but in its mode of expression.
The Means of Prosperity: The Neo‐Pentecostal Interpretation of the Lord's Supper in Nigeria
Authors: Bitrus Ibrahim
Published: December 2016

This article investigates the Nigerian neo‐Pentecostal reinterpretation of the sacrament of the Lord's Supper using the lens of the prosperity gospel. This article describes the neo‐Pentecostal view of prosperity as an integral part of salvation, and shows how this impacts its hermeneutics of the Lord's Supper as the means of prosperity. The article argues that such neo‐Pentecostal reinterpretation does not distort the traditional significance of the Lord's Supper, but expands and complements it. As a result, Lutherans may have much to learn from the neo‐Pentecostal view of the Lord's Supper.
Exploring Pietism as an Intermediary for Lutheran‐Pentecostal Dialogue
Authors: Brunner Daniel L. , Payne Leah
Published: December 2016

The authors, a Lutheran and a Pentecostal, explore similarities and differences between their respective traditions using German Lutheran Pietism as a bridge. Parallels include conversionism, devotion to the Bible, practical holiness, missional activism, and opposition to the shortcomings of the religious status quo. Key divergences between the movements include the role of the sacraments, the place of manifestational gifts, and eschatology. The authors highlight how Pietism can be a useful channel and translator for dialogue.
Gap junctions in epilepsy: for better or worse
Authors: Dan Bernard
Published: December 2016

Video Podcast: https://youtu.be/irqLF8mtzN8
Bilateral Investment Treaties and Foreign Direct Investment: Evidence of Asymmetric Effects on Vertical and Horizontal Investments
Authors: Sirr Gordon , Garvey John , Gallagher Liam A.
Published: December 2016

Bilateral investment treaties (BITs) are legal instruments used by developing and transition countries to provide investor protection and, by extension, promote higher levels of inward foreign direct investment (FDI). While the link between BITs and FDI has been extensively studied, little is known about the impact of the treaties on different forms of investment. Motivated by this observation, we examine the effects of BITs on vertical and horizontal FDI. We find that BITs are more positively related to vertical than to horizontal FDI. We also find that BITs tend to act as stronger substitutes for better institutions in the case of vertical relative to horizontal investments. The findings inform BIT strategies that are compatible with development objectives in developing and transition countries.
Unthinkable Solitude: Successful Aging in Denmark Through the Lacanian Real
Authors: Mikkelsen Henrik Hvenegaard
Published: December 2016

As states across the world develop strategies for administering their aging populations, different assumptions and anxieties regarding the condition of old age and how they haunt people are disclosed, across national‐cultural settings. Within recent years, loneliness has been identified as one of the key threats to the well‐being of the elderly in the Danish welfare society, and the tendency to view solitary seniors in terms of “loneliness” and “social isolation”—along with the attempts to reintegrate these solitary seniors into society—reveals how solitude is being tied to detrimental states of existence. Based on an ethnographic fieldwork among healthcare workers and solitary elderly men in the rural area of southern Sealand, Denmark, this article lays out the Danish configuration of what has been called the paradigm of “successful aging.” However, not only is the attention to loneliness among Danish eldercare professionals a sign of an inherent fear; at the same time, I will argue, it reveals an inherent inability to conceptualize “solitude” as other than “loneliness.” By employing the concept of the Real—the enigmatic realm within Lacanian psychoanalysis that represents the limit of language—the aim of this article is to uncover how the current discourse on successful aging renders solitude “unthinkable.”
The Legacy of Agrarian Reform in Latin America: Foundations of the Fair Trade Cooperative System
Authors: Bruce Analena
Published: December 2016

Cooperatives are essential to the success of fair trade because small farmers must be organized into cooperatives in order to be certified. Fair trade aims to empower small farmers, yet many farmers are only able to obtain fair trade certification because they fought for land and organized themselves into strong cooperatives through state‐led agrarian reform programs. To explore the link between agrarian reform and fair trade, I review the history of agrarian reform in Nicaragua, describing how many of the country's fair trade‐certified cooperatives have roots in the reform programs of the 1980s. The review contributes to a broader historical perspective on the cooperative system at the heart of fair trade. It brings together scholarship with archived magazine articles to explore the connection between the contemporary fair trade system and the hard‐won successes of peasant movements for land reform.
Can twice weekly hemodialysis expand patient access under resource constraints?
Authors: Savla Dipal , Chertow Glenn M. , Meyer Timothy , Anand Shuchi
Published: December 2016

The convention of prescribing hemodialysis on a thrice weekly schedule began empirically when it seemed that this frequency was convenient and likely to treat symptoms for a majority of patients. Later, when urea was identified as the main target and marker of clearance, studies supported the prevailing notion that thrice weekly dialysis provided appropriate clearance of urea. Today, national guidelines on hemodialysis from most countries recommend patients receive at least thrice weekly therapy. However, resource constraints in low‐ and middle‐income countries (LMIC) have resulted in a substantial proportion of patients using less frequent hemodialysis in these settings. Observational studies of patients on twice weekly dialysis show that twice weekly therapy has noninferior survival rates compared with thrice weekly therapy. In fact, models of urea clearance also show that twice weekly therapy can meet urea clearance “targets” if patients have significant residual function or if they follow a protein‐restricted diet, as may be common in LMIC. Greater reliance on twice weekly therapy, at least at the start of hemodialysis, therefore has potential to reduce health care costs and increase access to renal replacement therapy in low‐resource settings; however, randomized control trials are needed to better understand long‐term outcomes of twice versus thrice weekly therapy.
Treatment of a soft tissue calcification in a patient receiving peritoneal dialysis
Authors: Lindhard Kristine , Broberg Bo , Groenberg Henrik , Post Hansen Henrik
Published: December 2016

Chronic Kidney Disease patients suffer from Mineral and Bone Disorder (CKD‐MBD) leading to increased vascular and soft‐tissue calcification. The prevalence of soft tissue calcification in dialysis patients is not well described, and most cases describe such calcifications in hemodialysis patients. We describe a case of a massive soft tissue calcification in the right gluteal region in a peritoneal dialysis patient. The patient had severe pain and were disabled. The treatment was converted to an intensive hemodialysis regimen with a minimal calcium load and high dose of cinacalcet. During the treatment, the calcification diminished rapidly from a diameter of 26.6 to 2.9 cm, and the patient symptoms were relieved, leaving the patient with no pain or restriction in mobilization.
News
Authors: Tarran Brian
Published: December 2016

The polls got Trumped

Donald Trump's unexpected win in the US presidential election is a bruising loss for public opinion researchers and election modellers.
A Variation of The Birthday Problem
Authors: Borja Mario Cortina
Published: December 2016

Alec Campbell of Bellevue College writes: I've read about the birthday problem, and how you only need 23 randomly chosen people for there to be a 50% chance that two people share a birthday. But how many people would you need for there to be a 50% chance that every possible birthday is represented by at least one person?
How Many Dead People Vote?
Authors: Purdam Kingsley
Published: December 2016

Deceased voters do cast ballots, says Kingsley Purdam. But how many are there, and what are the consequences for democracy and the outcome of elections?
Young Statistician, you shall Live in Adventurous Times
Authors: Saltelli Andrea
Published: December 2016

The so-called “crisis in science” presents challenges for statisticians starting out in their career. But there are strategies for survival, says Andrea Saltelli
Autonomic Tone Activity Before the Onset of Atrial Fibrillation
Authors: GALLO CRISTINA , BOCCHINO PIER PAOLO , MAGNANO MASSIMO , GAIDO LUCA , ZEMA DOMENICA , BATTAGLIA ALBERTO , ANSELMINO MATTEO , GAITA FIORENZO
Published: December 2016

Autonomic Nervous System Activity Before AF Onset

Introduction

The autonomic nervous system has been proven to play a major role in the onset of atrial fibrillation (AF), along with a predisposing substrate and a specific trigger event usually consisting of a premature supraventricular ectopic beat (SVEB). By means of heart rate variability (HRV) analysis, we investigated the activity of the autonomic nervous system before SVEBs nontriggering and triggering AF.

Methods and Results

We evaluated 28 patients with at least 1 episode of sustained AF (>30 seconds) recorded during 24‐hour Holter monitorings. We performed HRV analysis during the hour preceding 35 AF onsets and compared these results with the HRV values before nontriggering SVEBs with similar prematurity. According to the low frequency (LF)/high frequency (HF) ratio in the 5 minutes before the onset, AF episodes were classified as either vagal (LF/HF ratio <1.5) or adrenergic (LF/HF ratio ≥1.5).Vagal episodes (16) showed a decrease in LF (from 50.81 ± 1.67 to 32.73 ± 3.54) and an increase in HF (from 36.00 ± 2.30 to 54.7 ± 3.69) throughout the hour preceding the onset. Adrenergic episodes (19) had opposite changes in LF (from 55.4 ± 4.95 to 67.51 ± 5.24) and HF (from 33.78 ± 5.82 to 27.96 ± 3.51) during the same period. No similar trends were observed before the selected nontriggering SVEBs.

Conclusion

Only SVEBs occurring during a phase of hyperactivity of one of the 2 branches of the autonomic nervous system are able to trigger episodes of AF.
Fluid pathways and high‐P metasomatism in a subducted continental slice (Mt. Emilius klippe, W. Alps)
Authors: Angiboust S. , Yamato P. , Hertgen S. , Hyppolito T. , Bebout G. E. , Morales L.
Published: December 2016

The Mt. Emilius klippe (Western Alps, Italy) corresponds to a segment of the stretched Adriatic continental margin metamorphosed at granulite facies during Permian. This slice was subducted during the early Cenozoic Alpine subduction with the underlying eclogite facies remnants of the Tethyan seafloor (Zermatt‐Saas zone). Near the base of the Mt. Emilius massif, there is a shear zone with eclogite facies hydrofracture systems associated with deformation‐induced re‐equilibration of granulites during high‐P metamorphism. In the basal part of the massif, a pluri‐hectometre domain of sheared mafic boudins is hosted in the granulitic paragneiss. In these mafic boudins, there are garnetites, garnet veins and clinopyroxenites, as well as clinozoisite and calcite veins. These features record multiple events of fracture opening, brecciation, boudinage and parallelization of structures coevally with fluid–rock interaction, metasomatism and volume change. This integrated petrological, micro‐textural and geochemical investigation illustrates the multiplicity and the chemical variability of fluid sources during prograde to peak metamorphic evolution in the lawsonite–eclogite‐facies field (at ~2.15–2.4 GPa, 500–550 °C) during subduction of the Mt. Emilius slice. The calcite veins crosscutting the garnetites have relatively low δ18OVSMOW values (∼+6.5‰) near those for marble layers (and nearby calcsilicates) embedded within the metasomatized granulites (+8 to +10‰). It is proposed that infiltration of externally‐derived H2O‐rich fluids derived from the plate interface flushed the marbles, promoting decarbonation followed by short‐distance transport and re‐precipitation along garnetite fractures. This study highlights the importance of inherited structural heterogeneities (such as mafic bodies or sills) in localizing deformation, draining fluids from the downgoing plate and creating long‐lasting mechanical instabilities during subduction zone deformation.