bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Protein translation, proteolysis and autophagy in human skeletal muscle atrophy after spinal cord injury
Authors: Lundell L. S. , Savikj M. , Kostovski E. , Iversen P. O. , Zierath J. R. , Krook A. , Chibalin A. V. , Widegren U.
Published: February 2018

Aim

Spinal cord injury‐induced loss of skeletal muscle mass does not progress linearly. In humans, peak muscle loss occurs during the first 6 weeks postinjury, and gradually continues thereafter. The aim of this study was to delineate the regulatory events underlying skeletal muscle atrophy during the first year following spinal cord injury.

Methods

Key translational, autophagic and proteolytic proteins were analysed by immunoblotting of human vastus lateralis muscle obtained 1, 3 and 12 months following spinal cord injury. Age‐matched able‐bodied control subjects were also studied.

Results

Several downstream targets of Akt signalling decreased after spinal cord injury in skeletal muscle, without changes in resting Akt Ser473 and Akt Thr308 phosphorylation or total Akt protein. Abundance of mTOR protein and mTOR Ser2448 phosphorylation, as well as FOXO1 Ser256 phosphorylation and FOXO3 protein, decreased in response to spinal cord injury, coincident with attenuated protein abundance of E3 ubiquitin ligases, MuRF1 and MAFbx. S6 protein and Ser235/236 phosphorylation, as well as 4E‐BP1 Thr37/46 phosphorylation, increased transiently after spinal cord injury, indicating higher levels of protein translation early after injury. Protein abundance of LC3‐I and LC3‐II decreased 3 months postinjury as compared with 1 month postinjury, but not compared to able‐bodied control subjects, indicating lower levels of autophagy. Proteins regulating proteasomal degradation were stably increased in response to spinal cord injury.

Conclusion

Together, these data provide indirect evidence suggesting that protein translation and autophagy transiently increase, while whole proteolysis remains stably higher in skeletal muscle within the first year after spinal cord injury.
Viral eradication reduces both liver stiffness and steatosis in patients with chronic hepatitis C virus infection who received direct‐acting anti‐viral therapy
Authors: Tada T. , Kumada T. , Toyoda H. , Sone Y. , Takeshima K. , Ogawa S. , Goto T. , Wakahata A. , Nakashima M. , Nakamuta M. , Tanaka J.
Published: February 2018

Background

Whether direct‐acting anti‐viral therapy can reduce liver fibrosis and steatosis in patients with chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is unclear.

Aims

To evaluate changes in liver stiffness and steatosis in patients with HCV who received direct‐acting anti‐viral therapy and achieved sustained virological response (SVR).

Methods

A total of 198 patients infected with HCV genotype 1 or 2 who achieved SVR after direct‐acting anti‐viral therapy were analysed. Liver stiffness as evaluated by magnetic resonance elastography, steatosis as evaluated by magnetic resonance imaging‐determined proton density fat fraction (PDFF), insulin resistance, and laboratory data were assessed before treatment (baseline) and at 24 weeks after the end of treatment (SVR24).

Results

Alanine aminotransferase and homeostatic model assessment‐insulin resistance levels decreased significantly from baseline to SVR24. Conversely, platelet count, which is inversely associated with liver fibrosis, increased significantly from baseline to SVR24. In patients with high triglyceride levels (≥150 mg/dL), triglyceride levels significantly decreased from baseline to SVR24 (P = 0.004). The median (interquartile range) liver stiffness values at baseline and SVR24 were 3.10 (2.70‐4.18) kPa and 2.80 (2.40‐3.77) kPa respectively (P < 0.001). The PDFF values at baseline and SVR 24 were 2.4 (1.7‐3.4)% and 1.9 (1.3‐2.8)% respectively (P < 0.001). In addition, 68% (19/28) of patients with fatty liver at baseline (PDFF ≥5.2%; n = 28) no longer had fatty liver (PDFF <5.2%) at SVR24.

Conclusion

Viral eradication reduces both liver stiffness and steatosis in patients with chronic HCV who received direct‐acting anti‐viral therapy (UMIN000017020).
Successful weight loss initiation and maintenance among adolescents with overweight and obesity: does age matter?
Authors: Rancourt D. , Jensen C. D. , Duraccio K. M. , Evans E. W. , Wing R. R. , Jelalian E.
Published: February 2018

Treatments for adolescents with overweight/obesity demonstrate mixed success, which may be due to a lack of consideration for developmental changes during this period. Potential developmental differences in weight loss motivations, weight maintenance behaviours and the role of parents in these efforts were examined in a sample of successful adolescent weight losers. Participants enrolled in the Adolescent Weight Control Registry (n = 49) self‐reported demographic information and weight history, reasons for weight loss and weight control, weight loss approach and weight maintenance strategies, and perceived parental involvement with weight loss. Associations between age at weight loss initiation and the aforementioned factors were examined using linear and generalized regressions, controlling for highest z‐BMI and sex. Adolescents who were older (≥16 years) at their weight loss initiation were more likely to report losing weight on their own (37.5% vs. 75%, P = 0.01) and reported greater responsibility for their weight loss and weight loss maintenance (P < 0.001) compared to younger adolescents. Younger age at weight loss initiation was associated with greater parental involvement (P = 0.005), whereas older age was associated with greater adolescent responsibility for the decision to lose weight (P = 0.002), the weight loss approach (P = 0.007) and food choices (P < 0.001). Findings suggest the importance of considering developmental differences in responsibility for weight loss and maintenance among adolescents with overweight/obesity.
Stage‐Gate Contracts to Screen Agents with Inside Information
Authors: Wang Chunlin , Schmidt Glen , van der Rhee Bo
Published: February 2018

Stage‐gate contracts are common in R&D projects, and outsourcing of R&D (from a principal to an agent) is becoming more prevalent. We explore how the principal can best formulate an outsourcing contract when the agent's effort is unobservable (moral hazard) and the agent has inside information (adverse selection) in a stage‐gate setting with two distinct stages. We find that the stage‐gate contract can help offset the information asymmetry and that the agent pays an upfront buy‐in.
Genetic variations and phylogeography of the swallowtail butterfly Papilio machaon on the Japanese Islands
Authors: Miyakawa Misa , Hosoi Mari , Kawakita Ai , Ito‐Harashima Sayoko , Yagi Takashi , Ishihara Michihiro
Published: February 2018

The swallowtail butterfly Papilio machaon Linnaeus, 1758 is widely distributed in the Holarctic region, including all of the main islands of Japan, as well as Sakhalin, and on other smaller islands south to Yakushima Island. The Japanese population is situated at the margin of the Eurasian distribution range of this species. It is morphologically different from other populations and has been classified as the subspecies hippocrates C. & R. Felder, 1864. The population of the Japanese Islands is considered to be genetically distinct from the continental populations in relation to the geographical history of the Japanese Islands. Therefore, we examined a part of the ND5 gene sequence of the mitochondrial DNA for P. machaon individuals of various localities in Japan and some nearby countries, and found 68 haplotypes in 400 individuals from the Japanese Islands and Sakhalin. A DNA polymorphism analysis revealed that the genetic structure of the Hokkaido population was significantly different from that of the southern populations on the main Japanese islands. These results imply that P. machaon expanded its range from the Amur region of Russia southward through Sakhalin to the Japanese Islands, and that the Tsugaru Strait between Hokkaido and Honshu may have subsequently limited their gene flow as a geographical barrier.
Predictors of Saudi nursing students’ attitudes towards environment and sustainability in health care
Authors: Cruz J.P. , Alshammari F. , Felicilda‐Reynaldo R.F.D.
Published: February 2018

Aim

This study aimed to investigate the predictors of Saudi nursing students’ attitudes towards the environment and sustainability in health care.

Background

With rising temperature and decreasing annual rainfall, Saudi Arabia is threatened by the harmful effects of climate change on its population. In response to these threats, the Ministry of Health adapted sustainable development and environmental preservation in their National E‐Health strategy.

Introduction

To implement these policies successfully, healthcare practitioners should be educated on how climate change could impact human health negatively.

Methods

A secondary analysis of 280 questionnaires from baccalaureate nursing students of a university in Hail City, Saudi Arabia, was completed. The New Ecological Paradigm (NEP) Scale and Sustainability Attitudes in Nursing Survey 2 (SANS‐2) were used to investigate the predictors of student attitudes towards the environment and sustainable development in health care.

Results

The NEP score indicated moderate pro‐environment attitudes, whereas the SANS‐2 mean score showed very positive attitudes towards sustainability in health care. Learning about the environment and related issues in the nursing programme, raising climate change awareness and attending environment‐related seminars and training positively influenced the environmental and sustainability attitudes of nursing students.

Discussion

Saudi nursing students moderately manifested pro‐environment attitudes but exhibited extremely positive attitudes towards sustainability in health care. The results support the need to strengthen the education of nursing students about environmental and sustainability concepts and the inclusion of these topics in the nursing curricula.

Conclusion

The study underscores the critical role of enriching the awareness of nursing students on environmental issues and concerns and sustainability in health care.

Implications for nursing and nursing policy

The findings of this study can support the inclusion of course contents, which deal specifically with environmental health and sustainability practices, in the creation of new policies directed towards curricular revision.
Physical restraint: perceptions of nurse managers, registered nurses and healthcare assistants
Authors: Leahy‐Warren P. , Varghese V. , Day M.R. , Curtin M.
Published: February 2018

Aim

To examine the perceptions of nurse managers, registered nurses and healthcare assistants of physical restraint use on older people in a long‐term care setting in the Republic of Ireland.

Background

The use of physical restraint, although controversial, persists in long‐term care settings, despite recommendations for restraint‐free environments. Perception and attitude of staff can influence use of physical restraint.

Methods

A descriptive cross‐sectional design was used. A total of 250 nursing and healthcare assistant staff were recruited. A questionnaire incorporating demographics and the Perceptions of Restraint Use Questionnaire was used. Descriptive and inferential statistical analyses were conducted.

Results

Mean age of respondents (n = 156) was 41 years, and the majority were female. Overall, a low level of importance was attached to the use of restraint. Nurse managers and registered nurses compared favourably with healthcare assistants who attached a higher importance to use of restraint. Across all three staff groups, greatest importance was attached to the use of physical restraint for reducing falls, followed by prevention of treatment interference. Restraint was least favoured as a means of impairment management. Education was not an explanatory factor in perceived importance of physical restraint use.

Conclusion

Nurse managers and registered nurses are unlikely to use physical restraint. However, there is concern regarding perception of healthcare assistants on use of restraint.

Implications for nursing and health policy

Results from this study compare favourably with those in countries that have no policy on physical restraint use. Educational programmes alone are insufficient to address use of physical restraint. Attention to skill mix with adequate support for healthcare assistants in long‐term care settings is recommended.
A Place for Beauty in Art Education
Authors: Watts Robert
Published: February 2018

For the past 100 years beauty has been marginalised in Western art and regarded as a problematic notion in a range of cultural contexts. Art educators tend to associate experiences of beauty with passive appreciation rather than active engagement, while researchers of children's understanding of art characterise references to beauty as evidence of low levels of aesthetic development. This article draws on evidence from a recent study to challenge these assumptions. The study explored how children describe and analyse their perceptions of beauty and how they reflect upon and articulate their experiences of beauty. Fifty‐one children in two English primary schools were asked to find and photograph images they thought were beautiful, which they shared and discussed during a series of group interviews. The interviews provided evidence of the diversity of these children's perceptions of beauty, of their awareness of how visual and formal qualities contribute towards the beauty of images and of how their experiences of beauty can be meaningful and relevant to them. The article suggests that children's responses to beauty are not merely passive but often expressive, and that some of their responses to beauty illustrate art educators’ principles of participation, individuality and self‐expression. It argues that art educators should reappraise the value of beauty in art education and reflect on its potential for raising children's levels of engagement with the visual world.
A field study on watching eyes and hand hygiene compliance in a public restroom
Authors: Pfattheicher Stefan , Strauch Christoph , Diefenbacher Svenja , Schnuerch Robert
Published: February 2018

Humans modify their behavior in a socially desirable way when being watched by others. We applied this basic idea to hand hygiene compliance, a behavior that is crucial for preventing germ transmission and successive infections in many settings. Building on the assumption that hand hygiene behavior is socially desirable, we assume that individuals show stronger hand hygiene compliance when being watched. In a field study in a women's public restroom (N = 354), we exposed individuals to a message advising that hand‐washing protects against the spread of pathogens. In the experimental condition, stylized human watching eyes were presented above the message. In the control condition, three stars were presented. Analysis revealed a significantly higher percentage of hand hygiene compliance in the watching eyes condition (83.3%) compared to the control condition (71.9%; odds ratio: 1.95, p = .01). The applied value for employers and public institutions is discussed.
Environmental and genetic control of cold tolerance in the Glanville fritillary butterfly
Authors: de Jong M. A. , Saastamoinen M.
Published: February 2018

Thermal tolerance has a major effect on individual fitness and species distributions and can be determined by genetic variation and phenotypic plasticity. We investigate the effects of developmental and adult thermal conditions on cold tolerance, measured as chill coma recovery (CCR) time, during the early and late adult stage in the Glanville fritillary butterfly. We also investigate the genetic basis of cold tolerance by associating CCR variation with polymorphisms in candidate genes that have a known role in insect physiology. Our results demonstrate that a cooler developmental temperature leads to reduced cold tolerance in the early adult stage, whereas cooler conditions during the adult stage lead to increased cold tolerance. This suggests that adult acclimation, but not developmental plasticity, of adult cold tolerance is adaptive. This could be explained by the ecological conditions the Glanville fritillary experiences in the field, where temperature during early summer, but not spring, is predictive of thermal conditions during the butterfly's flight season. In addition, an amino acid polymorphism (Ala‐Glu) in the geneflightin, which has a known function in insect flight and locomotion, was associated with CCR. These amino acids have distinct biochemical properties and may thus affect protein function and/or structure. To our knowledge, our study is the first to link genetic variation inflightinto cold tolerance, or thermal adaptation in general.
Association between dental visiting and missing teeth: Estimation using propensity score adjustment
Authors: Bhat Meghashyam , Do Loc G. , Roberts‐Thomson Kaye
Published: February 2018

Aim

The aim of the present study was to determine the association between dental visiting and missing teeth using propensity score (PS) adjustment to control for confounding bias, and to compare the estimates with those obtained from traditional regression models.

Methods

A population‐based study was conducted on adults aged 35‐54 years in India. Multistage stratified cluster random sampling was used. Data were collected through interviews and oral examinations. The exposure factor was ‘dental visiting’, and the outcome was number of missing teeth. Sociodemographic factors, oral hygiene practices, periodontal disease, and caries experience were the covariates. Inverse probability weight (IPW) calculated from the PS for dental visiting from a logistic regression model was used to balance the covariates. The association between dental visiting and missing teeth was estimated from log‐binomial regression models with and without using IPW.

Results

Of the 873 participants, 77.7% visited a dentist. The ≥1 missing teeth prevalence was 65.3%. Post‐IPW adjustment covariate standardized bias between groups with or without dental visit was lower than the pre‐IPW adjustment. Those who visited a dentist had an adjusted prevalence ratio of 2.40 when IPW was used, and 2.03 when IPW was not used.

Conclusion

Dental visiting was strongly associated with missing teeth in this rural population.
ANAPHASE PROMOTING COMPLEX/CYCLOSOME‐mediated cyclin B1 degradation is critical for cell cycle synchronization in syncytial endosperms
Authors: Guo Lei , Jiang Li , Lu Xiu‐Li , Liu Chun‐Ming
Published: February 2018

Although it is known that in most angiosperms mitosis in early endosperm development is syncytial and synchronized, it is unclear how the synchronization is regulated. We showed previously that APC11, also named ZYG1, in Arabidopsis activates zygote division by interaction and degradation of cyclin B1. Here, we report that the mutation in APC11/ZYG1 led to unsynchronized mitosis and over‐accumulation of cyclin B1‐GUS in the endosperm. Mutations in two other APC subunits showed similar defects. Transgenic expression of stable cyclin B1 in the endosperm also caused unsynchronized mitosis. Further, downregulation of APC11 generated multi‐nucleate somatic cells with unsynchronized mitotic division. Together, our results suggest that APC/C‐mediated cyclin B1 degradation is critical for cell cycle synchronization.
Maya Moral and Ritual Discourse: Dialogical Groundings for Consuetudinary Law
Authors: Sparks Garry
Published: February 2018

Toward the end of the twentieth century, Highland Maya intellectuals and activists in Guatemala began to argue for the recognition of indigenous customary law, rooted in traditional Maya moral and ritual discourse. Such law is often in tension with the Western notion of rights (grounded in the idea of universal reason) that undergirds national and international treatises regarding indigenous peoples. This essay identifies three distinct but mutually engaged pairs of moral concepts—hot/cold, left/right (or positive/negative), and favorable/not favorable—articulated through K'iche' Maya quotidian and ceremonial practices and speech. It also identifies the extent to which they do not necessarily align with Western (Abrahamic and religious) notions of good and bad. These three pairs of moral terms, specifically as conserved through the high‐register of Maya discourse used by traditional ceremonial specialists, illustrate a normative means by which Highland Maya discern understandings of justice, and ground their advocacy for restorative (rather than retributive or punitive) justice.
A Theory of Providence for Distributive Justice
Authors: Rosen Shlomo Dov
Published: February 2018

Distributive justice assumes a morally critical judgment of nature, which typically contradicts providential conceptions. Hence, simple conceptions of divine Providence cannot support distributive justice. This essay analyzes and develops a complex strand of theorizing about Providence within Jewish philosophy that is compatible with distributive justice. According to this conception, the actions of divine Providence express different and mutually exclusive considerations of justice. Therefore, the moral value of outcomes is intransitive between the situations of different people. And while each providential action is justified from an ethical perspective, the total outcome is distinct from God's ultimate desire. Human ethics responds to this disparity by redistribution. This conception of Providence also contributes to the additional issue of intergenerational justice through the concomitant idea of life missions. The classical rendering of missions creates problems, however, for distributive justice. I conclude by formulating a conception of life missions that is compatible with both distributive and intergenerational justice.
Prophecy, Ethical Constraints, and Unjust Silence
Authors: Balthrop‐Lewis Alda
Published: February 2018

Cathleen Kaveny's Prophecy Without Contempt seeks to reorient the conversation among religious ethicists and political theorists about religion in public life. Rather than focus on religious speech in general, Kaveny distinguishes deliberation and indictment as forms of discourse, and she subjects indictment to ethical evaluation. She aims to constrain the public exercise of inordinate indictment, while encouraging prophetic indictment that meets the demands of justice. While the book is a much‐needed corrective, Kaveny's focus on the powerful rhetoric of prophetic indictment omits the harms that can come to the body politic from unjust silence. Such silence deserves more moral attention.
Prophecy Without Contempt: Metaphors, Imagination, and Evaluative Criteria
Authors: Childress James F.
Published: February 2018

While greatly appreciative of Kaveny's important study of a neglected form of religious/moral discourse in the public square, this essay critically examines her metaphors for prophetic indictments and finds the metaphor of moral chemotherapy particularly problematic and the metaphor of warfare, connected with the just‐war tradition, more promising. It stresses the difficulty, if not the impossibility, of avoiding contempt in prophetic indictments, as Kaveny conceives them, and finds her proposed solutions to this problem—standing with the people and expressing empathy and compassion toward them—inadequate to the task. It further argues that attending to prophetic imagination, in addition to prophetic denunciation, can broaden the scope of practical deliberation and, at the same time, increase possible prophetic contributions to moral and political discourse.
Response to Critics
Authors: Kaveny Cathleen
Published: February 2018

In this “Response to Critics,” Cathleen Kaveny continues the conversation in the JRE symposium centered on her recent book, Prophecy without Contempt: Religious Discourse in the Public Square. The book's central argument is that adequate discussion of contention in the contemporary public square requires attending to matters of rhetoric, particularly the rhetoric of prophetic indictment. Kaveny engages the comments of four interlocutors: Alda Balthrop‐Lewis, James Childress, William Hart, and Martin Kavka. The first section, “Overarching Goals,” summarizes the objectives of the book. The second section, “Methodology,” engages critics regarding methodological issues, highlighting Kaveny's commitment to a version of MacIntyre's tradition theory and her indebtedness to her legal training. The third section, “Structure,” responds to particular questions her interlocutors raise about the four parts of the book. The fourth section, “Larger Questions,” ponders the next stages of the academic and political discussion about contention in the public square.
Effects of Luteinizing Hormone‐releasing Hormone Analog Injection on Intestinal Transcriptome in Grass Carp, Ctenopharyngodon idella
Authors: Zhang Hong , Zhong Huan , Guan Jiajun , Guo Zhongbao , Xiao Jun , Liu Zhen , Zhou Yi
Published: February 2018

The present study aimed to detect the changes in gene expression by luteinizing hormone‐releasing hormone analog (LHRH‐A) stimulation in the intestine of grass carp. LHRH‐A has been widely used for inducing ovulation of teleosts. The transcriptome changes induced by LHRH‐A are not fully understood, especially in intestines. To understand the changes of RNA expression after intraperitoneal injection of LHRH‐A, two cDNA libraries of intestines from grass carps, including LHRH‐A injection group and control group, were sequenced using Illumina HiSeq 4000 (Illumina, San Diego, CA, USA). In total, 13,581,225,000 nucleotides were obtained and 66,127 unigenes were generated by de novo assembly. The differentially expressed genes were identified by comparing the Fragments Per Kilobase Of Exon Per Million of the unigenes between the two groups. The results indicated that 255 and 212 unigenes were upregulated and downregulated, respectively, in the LHRH‐A injection group. Furthermore, the protein digestion and absorption pathways as well as fat digestion and absorption pathways tended to be upregulated by LHRH‐A injection. These findings provide a valuable resource for understanding the response of intestinal transcriptome levels to hormones.
Effects of Salinity, Commercial Salts, and Water Type on Cultivation of the Cryptophyte Microalgae Rhodomonas salina and the Calanoid Copepod Acartia tonsa
Authors: Jepsen Per M. , Thoisen Christina V. , Carron‐Cabaret Thibaut , Pinyol‐Gallemí Aleix , Nielsen Søren L. , Hansen Benni W.
Published: February 2018

Marine aquaculture facilities positioned far from the sea need access to seawater (SW); hence, commercial salts are often the chosen solution. In marine hatcheries, most fish larvae require live feed (zooplankton) that are in turn fed with microalgae. The objective of this research was to investigate the applicability of commercial salts and clarify the potential effects on the cultivation of the microalga Rhodomonas salina and the copepod Acartia tonsa. Three commercial salts were tested, Red Sea Salt (RS), Red Sea – Coral Pro Salt (CP), and Blue Treasure Salt. R. salina was cultured at salinities of 10, 20, and 30 psu resulting in equal growth rates at salinities 20 and 30 in SW and RS mixed with deionized (DI) water. The optimum salinity for R. salina was 29 psu. For A. tonsa eggs, we observed highest hatching success in 30 psu with CP or RS mixed with DI water. The egg hatching success was not affected by salinities 15–40 and optimal hatching was obtained at 27 psu. Results confirm it was possible to use commercial salts for rearing of both R. salina and A. tonsa, widening the application of these species for aquaculture facilities without access to SW.
Inheriting Wittgenstein's Augustine: A Grammatical Investigation of the Incarnation
Authors: Porter Philip G.
Published: February 2018

Through an examination of Augustine's understanding of language and an exegesis of key passages in De trinitate, this article exposits and critiques Augustine's theology of the Incarnation. It attends to the distinctions Augustine draws between the two verba—the verbum mentis and the verbum vocis—and asks if conceiving of language differently might better account for the Incarnation of the Word in terms of De trinitate’s focus on substantial and relational predication. The author maintains that Augustine's impulse to interpret the Incarnation linguistically is the right one, but argues that drawing upon the resources of a Wittgensteinian approach to language sits more soundly with the rest of the grammar of Christian theology. Deploying the work of Wittgenstein's inheritors, especially Stanley Cavell and Stephen Mulhall, this article shows that while critique is in order, the final result is something broadly in line with Augustine's own best impulses concerning language as found in De dialectica and De doctrina christiana.
Efficiency of multi‐strand steel, superelastic Ni‐Ti and ion‐implanted Ni‐Ti archwires for initial alignment
Authors: Cobb N.W. , Kula K.S. , Phillips C. , Proffit W.R.
Published: February 2018

In a clinical trial involving 155 dental arches with irregularity > 5 mm, the rate of alignment was used to compare the alignment efficiency of 16 mil superelastic Ni‐Ti versus 17.5 mil triple‐stranded steel archwires, and to determine whether ion implantation of the Ni‐Ti wire improved its performance. Subjects were randomly assigned to archwire types; both 18 and 22 slot edgewise appliances were employed. Pre‐treatment equivalence of the experimental groups was verified. Anterior irregularity was determined monthly (using Little's irregularity index) until it decreased below 2 mm, and the elastomeric ligatures were replaced at each appointment. Effective tooth movement occurred with each of the archwire types. There were no significant differences among wires, but the rate of alignment was significantly faster in the lower arch for subjects with the 22 slot appliance.
Prediction of mandibular third molar impaction in the orthodontic patient from a panoramic radiograph
Authors: Castella P. , Albright R.H. , Tuncay O.C. , Straja S.
Published: February 2018

In this study we explored the predictability of mandibular third molar impactions. Serial panoramic radiographs from 50 non‐extraction and 15 extraction patients were traced for various angular and linear measurements. A linear discriminant function analysis was performed for each stage of third molar development. The results indicate that the earliest stages of development have very little predictive value. Accordingly, a justification for the oft‐practiced enucleation procedure cannot be made. Although the more the tooth is developed, the higher is the accuracy of prediction, two earlier stages where the crown is fully formed or the roots 1/3 formed possess high predictive values. Based on our data, impaction of third molars in the mandible is a predictable event both in extraction and non‐extraction patients.
Misinterpreting growth and treatment outcome from serial cephalographs
Authors: Ghafari Joseph , Baumrind Sheldon , Efstratiadis Stella
Published: February 2018

This communication addresses the issue of interpretation of serial cephalometric records. Angular measurements provide information that combines the vertical and sagittal components of a landmark's displacement. For example, a decrease in the SNA angle following orthodontic treatment with a headgear demonstrates maxillary retraction relative to nasion, an important assessment to depict a change closely related to the facial profile. Upon superimposition on the anterior cranial base, however, the vertical movement of point A may be the prevalent displacement, which would still account for the decrease in the SNA angle. The superposition allows the evaluation of the displacement in its vertical and sagittal components separately, relative to a structure that is relatively more stable than nasion. The superimposition enhanced the precision of the information regarding the actual displacement of the jaw. A patient's cephalometric records are presented, further demonstrating that the interpretation of changes during growth and treatment should be based not only on angular measurements, but also on regional superpositions. The frames of reference of both procedures are needed to fully understand the facial changes.
Clinical studies in orthodontics An overview of NIDR‐sponsored clinical orthodontic studies in the US
Authors: Baumrind Sheldon
Published: February 2018

A number of clinical trials sponsored by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) use rigorous methods of data acquisition and analysis previously developed in fundamental biology and the physical sciences. The naive expectation that these trials would lead relatively rapidly to definitive answers concerning the therapeutic strategies and techniques under study is dispelled. This presentation focuses on delineating differences between the study of central tendencies and individual variation, more specifically on the strategy to study this variation: measure additional sources of variance within each patient at more timepoints and perhaps with greater precision. As rigorous orthodontic research is still in its infancy, the problem of defining the proper mix between prospective and retrospective trials is discussed. In view of the high costs of prospective clinical trials, many of the questions germane to orthodontics can be answered by well‐conducted retrospective trials, assuming that properly randomized sampling procedures are employed. Definitive clinical trials are likely to require better theoretical constructs, better instrumentation, and better measures than now available. Reasons for concern are the restricted resources available and the fact that current mensurational approaches may not detect many of the individual differences. The task of constructing sharable databases and record bases stored in digital form and available either remotely from servers, or locally from CD‐ROMs or optical disks, is crucial to the optimization of future investigations.
Condylar bony change and craniofacial morphology in orthodontic patients with temporomandibular disorders (TMD) symptoms: A pilot study using helical computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging
Authors: Yamada Kazuhiro , Hiruma Yasuaki , Hanada Kooji , Hayashi Takafumi , Koyama Jun-ichi , Ito Jusuke
Published: February 2018

The present study was performed to investigate how condylar bony changes related to craniofacial morphology. Twenty‐nine subjects (an average age of 18.8) with condylar bony changes were selected from orthodontic patients who had undergone both helical computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to evaluate suspected temporomandibular joint (TMJ) internal derangement and condylar bony changes. Craniofacial morphology was assessed with lateral and frontal cephalograms. For each patient, six linear and five angular measurements were compared with an age‐ and sex‐matched population from the Japanese standard.

In the bilateral condylar bony change group (bilateral group), osteophyte formation and erosion were the common bony change and were present in adult as well as juvenile subjects. In the unilateral condylar bony change group (unilateral group), flattening was the most common feature, erosion was only present in subjects below 19 years.

Disk displacement without reduction was seen in 90.6% of the bilateral group, and in 76.9% of the unilateral group.

In the bilateral group, retrognathic mandible was shown. In the unilateral group, all subjects exhibited a lateral shift of the menton to the side with condylar bony changes.

These findings suggested that condylar bony changes might be progressive and unstable in adults of the bilateral group as well as juveniles of the both groups. It is concluded that condylar bony changes may be related to a lateral shift of the mandible and a retrognathic mandible in orthodontic patients with temporomandibular disorders (TMD) symptoms.
The mechanical advantage of the masseter muscle in subjects with different vertical and sagittal facial morphology
Authors: Ferrario Virgilio F. , Sforza Chiarella , Sartori Matteo , Ciusa Veronica
Published: February 2018

Investigations on the relationship between facial morphology and the mechanical advantage of the masticatory muscles (the ratio between the muscular and the bite force moment arms) have been focused on the vertical facial parameters, while the sagittal position of the jaws have received limited attention. In this study, the relationships between the mechanical advantage of the masseter muscle and the two parameters describing vertical and sagittal (corrected subspinal‐nasion‐supramentale (ANB*) angle) facial morphology were analysed in 468 pre‐treatment lateral cephalograms of orthodontic patients (209 males, 259 females) aged 6–50 years. The condylar point was digitised in 90 cephalograms, its relationship to articulare was estimated, and used to estimate the position of anterior condylion in all the other radiographs. Masseter muscle mechanical advantage was, on average, 79.5 ± 6.1%, ranging between 53 and 94%. No sex‐related characteristics were found. A moderate effect of age was found (r = 0.19), with a certain increment in the mean mechanical advantage in adults. No relationship with the corrected ANB* angle was found (r = 0.099), while a significant effect of the posterior‐to‐anterior facial height ratio was detected (r = 0.542). The lack of correlation between the mechanical advantage of masseter muscle and corrected ANB* angle might be explained by: (1) when the occlusal point moves (dependent upon Angle skeletal classification), the ramus width might concomitantly modify, and both arms change; (2) the present assessment analysed only the lateral two‐dimensional projection of a three‐dimensional structure: the retroposition of occlusal point also involves a modification of line slope, and a subsequent reduction of its projection and arm. The corrected ANB* angle was computed as:

ANB* = original ANB angle + 0.5 a (81.5° −SNA angle) + 0.25 × (32° − SN‐GoMe angle).
Radiation reduction using a modified collimated lateral skull radiograph during orthodontic treatment
Authors: Mandall N.A. , O'Brien K.D. , Worthington H.V.
Published: February 2018

The aim of the study was to investigate whether routine ‘during‐treatment’ clinical cephalometric measurements could be obtained from a lateral skull radiograph collimated to show the maxilla and mandible. The sample consisted of 30 lateral skull radiographs, taken during treatment, of patients with upper and lower fixed appliances. These conventional cephalograms (CC) were copied to give a radiograph with modified collimation (MC) showing the maxilla and mandible and the dentition only. Both types of radiographs were digitised and the readings compared to determine whether the same during‐treatment cephalometric values were obtained from both types of radiographs. The limits of agreement obtained, when comparing cephalometric values obtained from the CC and MC lateral skull radiographs, were only marginally larger than those for CC alone. Therefore, the use of an MC lateral skull radiograph to show the maxilla and mandible is a viable alternative for cephalometric measurements for patients wearing two arch fixed appliances.
Clinical comparison between a resin‐reinforced self‐cured glass ionomer cement and a composite resin for direct bonding of orthodontic brackets. Part 2: bonding on dry enamel and on enamel soaked with saliva
Authors: Cacciafesta Vittorio , Bosch Carles , Melsen Birte
Published: February 2018

The purposes of this investigation were to compare the clinical performance of a resin‐reinforced self‐cured glass ionomer cement to a standard composite resin in the direct bonding of orthodontic brackets when bonded onto: a) dry teeth and b) teeth soaked with saliva. The two bonding agents wore compared using a split‐mouth design. In that, both systems were used for direct bonding of stainless steel brackets in every patient. Thirty‐eight consecutive patients with fixed appliances were followed for a period of 12 months. The patients were randomly divided into two groups: group A (11 patients) and group B (27 patients). In group A, the performance of 220 stainless steel brackets was evaluated: 110 brackets were bonded with GC Fuji Ortho glass ionomer cement (GC Industrial Co., Tokyo, Japan) onto dry teeth, and 110 bonded with System 1 + composite resin (Ormco Corp., Glendora, CA). In group B, the performance of 540 stainless steel brackets was evaluated: 270 brackets were bonded with GC Fuji Ortho onto teeth soaked with saliva, and 270 bonded with System 1 +. In group A, GC Fuji Ortho recorded an overall failure rate (34.5%) significantly higher (p < 0.05) than System 1 + (9%) when applied onto completely dry teeth. Conversely, in group B, no statistically significant differences (p> 0.05) between the failure rates of the two bonding agents were found when GC Fuji Ortho was used on teeth soaked with saliva. It was concluded, therefore, that GC Fuji Ortho shows clinically acceptable bond strengths when bonded onto moist teeth, but not when used on dry enamel. Both bonding agents failed mostly at the enamel/adhesive interface, without causing any enamel damage.
Electrophysiological evidence of low salience distractor interference during visual search
Authors: Fortier‐Gauthier Ulysse , Jolicœur Pierre
Published: February 2018

Visual search displays often include distractors of lesser salience in addition to a target and one or more salient distractors. We investigated low salience distractor effects on the N2pc, an ERP component indexing the deployment of attention, and the Ptc, a component purported to reflect attentional disengagement. We hypothesized that salient distractors pull the attentional focus away from the target, which could lead to increased attentional processing of low salience distractors close to the target and salient distractor. Participants looked for a colored inverted T during a visual search task while ignoring an L of the same color at a fixed distance on an imaginary circle around fixation. There were four conditions: no additional gray (low salience) distractors, two additional gray distractors between color items, two additional gray distractors just outside the area delimited by the colored items, and four additional gray distractors inside and outside the attended region. The gray distractors impacted N2pc and Ptc amplitude and latency, indicating an effect of gray distractors on attentional processing. Also, additional gray distractors led to increasingly more deviation of the N2pc and Ptc waveforms from the baseline offered by the condition with no additional gray distractors. When we increased the difficulty to individuate the target, we observed more displacement of lateralized activity from the N2pc to the Ptc time window. We argue that distractor‐related modulations likely result from increased variance in the latency of attentional engagement activity to the target instead of distractor inhibition or attentional disengagement.
Translation and opportunity: Byzantine monastic studies since ca. 1990
Authors: Ewing Hannah
Published: February 2018

While monks were integral parts of the long‐lasting Byzantine world, Byzantine monasticism and its study can be relatively obscure to nonspecialists, given the diversity of monastic forms practiced in the empire. This piece presents a brief primer on Byzantine monastic studies and evaluates key scholarship in this increasingly vigorous field. In particular, it assesses the major impact of critical editions and primary‐source translation projects since the 1990s and 2000s, including both archival materials and hagiography. Furthermore, it evaluates the current state of the field and outlines several opportunities and directions for further research.
Characterization of rabies post‐exposure prophylaxis in a region of the eastern Amazon, state of Pará, Brazil, between 2000 and 2014
Authors: De Paula N. S. , Saraiva E. A. , Araújo I. M. , Nascimento K. K. G. , Xavier D. A. , Santos K. S. , Abreu E. M. N. , Guimãraes R. J. P. S. , Abel I.
Published: February 2018

Animal bites are a serious public health issue, and prevention strategies have been consistently documented worldwide. The aim of this study was to characterize human anti‐rabies treatment in 11 counties of the Salgado microregion, Pará state, Brazil, which borders the Bragantina microregion, where exposures of human rabies were reported in 2004 and 2005. A descriptive retrospective study was conducted using anti‐rabies treatment notifications registered in the Information System for Notifiable Diseases (SINAN) database of the State Department of Public Health of Pará (SESPA) from January 2000 to December 2014. In this period, 13,403 exposures were reported, with a growing annual trend (Y = 68.571x + 344.96). The years 2012 and 2013 presented the highest exposure incidence. Salinópolis was the county with the highest average annual incidence per 10,000 persons (62.83), followed by São João de Pirabas (43.28) and São Caetano de Odivelas (41.27). Most patients were males (59.6%) and were 1–19 years old (48.7%). The main species involved in aggressions were dogs (74.1%), followed by bats (13.1%) and cats (7.4%). Biting was the most common kind of exposure, mostly on the lower limbs (39.6%). This study shows that aggression by bats was the second most common cause of demand for the service in the region for the past 14 years. The low quality of records may increase the difficulty of rabies surveillance in Pará.
How well does the National Disability Insurance Scheme respond to the issues challenging Indigenous people with disability?
Authors: Do Phuong Lan
Published: February 2018

INTRODUCTION: The participation rates of Indigenous Australians in disability services were significantly lower than the prevalence of disability in Indigenous communities. The Australia’s National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) promises changes to the lives of Australians with disability in general and particularly for the Indigenous population living with disability. This article presents research exploring how the NDIS takes into consideration the issues challenging Indigenous people’s access to, and use of, disability services.METHODS: The theoretical underpinning of the research drew on the social model of disability and post-colonial theory, which informed a systematic review of disability services for Indigenous people, an analysis of the current policy-making process and current NDIS legislation.FINDINGS: The systematic literature review revealed the social, attitudinal, physical and communication barriers experienced by Indigenous people accessing and using disability services; however, the policy analysis of the NDIS indicates that the new legislation does not address these challenges faced by this multi-disadvantaged Australian population group.CONCLUSION: This research highlights the urgent need for disability policy improvements and promotes further design of culturally appropriate healthcare for Indigenous populations, who are still “disabled”, not only by colonised histories but also through contemporary socio-economic marginalization.