bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Downregulation of miR-154 in human glioma and its clinicopathological and prognostic significance
Authors: Wang Lingling , Wu Lei , Wu Jiang
Published: July 2016

Objective

MicroRNA-154 (miR-154) was previously reported to be downregulated in several types of human cancers and may act as a tumour suppressor. This study aimed to measure miR-154 levels and determine its clinical significance in human glioma.

Methods

This retrospective study analysed fresh human glioma specimens and non-neoplastic brain tissues using real-time quantitative reverse transcription–polymerase chain reaction to determine the relative levels of miR-154. The association between miR-154 levels and various clinicopathological characteristics and survival was analysed.

Results

A total of 115 patients with gliomas and 115 non-neoplastic brain tissues were examined. MiR-154 levels were significantly downregulated in gliomas compared with non-neoplastic brain tissues. Low levels of miR-154 were associated with high World Health Organization grade, large tumour size (≥ 5 cm), a low Karnofsky performance status score (< 80), and a shorter overall survival. Multivariate analyses using the Cox proportional hazards regression model confirmed that decreased miR-154 level was an independent predictor of a poor prognosis.

Conclusions

These results suggest that miR-154 downregulation may be involved in glioma formation and progression, and that miR-154 might serve as a potential prognostic biomarker for patients with this disease.
Evaluating the Relationship Between Naturalistic Content Acquisition Podcast Views and Course Performance
Authors: Kennedy Michael J. , Alves Kat D. , Miciak Jeremy , Romig John , Mathews Hannah Morris , Thomas Cathy Newman
Published: July 2016

Content Acquisition Podcasts for Teachers (CAP-T) are a form of multimedia-based instruction that are supported by an empirical record of effectiveness and are grounded in Mayer’s cognitive theory of multimedia learning and accompanying instructional design principles. In this study, 162 students enrolled in an introductory course in special education were assigned to watch CAP-Ts for a variety of topics throughout the semester. Students tracked their viewings per CAP-T and self-reported the number of views during the midterm and final examinations. Researchers included clusters of questions coded to each CAP-T on the exams. Linear regression was used to predict student performance on each cluster of questions based on the number of CAP-T viewings. Results show a positive, predictive relationship between CAP-T views and performance on midterm and final exam questions overall, but some unexpected findings emerged when looking at individual subcomponents of the assessments.
Numerical and experimental studies on the car body flexible vibration reduction due to the effect of car body-mounted equipment
Authors: Huang Caihong , Zeng Jing , Luo Guangbing , Shi Huailong
Published: July 2016

To study the effect of car body-mounted equipment on the car body flexible vibration, a vertical rigid-flexible coupling model of a high-speed vehicle is established, which includes a flexible car body, rigid bodies for two bogie frames, four wheelsets, and the car body-mounted equipment. The car body is approximated by an elastic beam, with dimensions selected to give similar mass and vertical bending frequency to an existing car body. Model validation is then carried out by comparing results from numerical simulation and on-track test. Using frequency response analysis and ride comfort analysis, parametric studies are undertaken in order to investigate the respective effect of equipment mounting systems on the car body flexible vibration and ride comfort perceived by the passenger. It is found that the equipment behaves as a dynamic vibration absorber on account of its elastic connections to the car body. The stiffness, damping, mass, and installing position of the equipment have a significant influence on the car body flexible vibration. The optimal parameters of the dynamic vibration absorber are given, which can contribute much to the vibration absorption of the car body flexible vibration. Finally, extensive tests on a high-speed test vehicle are conducted to represent a part of results obtained in the numerical study, including modal tests on the car body, component tests on rubber springs used in the equipment mounting systems, and roller rig tests on the vibration absorption performance of the equipment. It is shown that the car body flexible vibration can be effectively suppressed by reasonably suspending the car body-mounted equipment.
Track geometry degradation and maintenance modelling: A review
Authors: Soleimanmeigouni Iman , Ahmadi Alireza , Kumar Uday
Published: July 2016

Increased demand for railway transportation is creating a need for higher train speeds and axle loads. These, in turn, increase the likelihood of track degradation and failures. Modelling the degradation behaviour of track geometry and development of applicable and effective maintenance strategies has become a challenging concern for railway infrastructure managers. During the last three decades, a number of track geometry degradation and maintenance modelling approaches have been developed to predict and improve the railway track geometry condition. In this paper, existing track geometry measures are identified and discussed. Available models for track geometry degradation are reviewed and classified. Tamping recovery models are also reviewed and discussed to identify the issues and challenges of different available methodologies and models. Existing track geometry maintenance models are reviewed and critical observations on each contribution are provided. The most important track maintenance scheduling models are identified and discussed. Finally, the paper provides directions for further research.
Technology, informal workers and cities: insights from Ahmedabad (India), Durban (South Africa) and Lima (Peru)
Authors: Chen Martha A
Published: July 2016

Technology is a key driver of change, not least in the world of work. Yet little is known about what technologies are used by – or impact on – the working poor in the informal economy, and in what ways. This paper presents findings from a 2015 study by the WIEGO network and local partners in three cities: Ahmedabad, India; Durban, South Africa; and Lima, Peru. The findings reveal that informal workers in the study cities are using diverse tools, from manual devices to electrical equipment and internet platforms, to strengthen their livelihoods. Overall, the tools used tend to be basic. Often they are being adapted in ingenious ways in order to adapt to resource and other constraints. Take-up of improved tools is limited by low incomes and concerns about theft and confiscation. It is also affected by city-level, context-specific systems of energy, transport and waste. This paper summarizes which types of technologies are most useful to different sectors of informal workers. It argues that the policy and regulatory environment, and city-wide technological systems, should be more responsive to the technological and other needs of the urban informal workforce.
A Lifestyle Analysis of the Elderly: Perceptions of Risk, Fear, and Vulnerability
Authors: Hennen Jason R. , Knudten Richard D.
Published: July 2016

This article examines the place of risk, fear, and vulnerability in the lifestyle choices of the elderly. Using the earlier lifestyle theory of the late researcher Michael Hindelang and his colleagues, Michael Gottfredson and James Garofalo, the authors note the extent to which the elderly lifestyle choices of Milwaukee citizens may be affected by beliefs about risk, fear, and vulnerability brought about by aging and corresponding losses in physical functioning. The study is based on a random sample of 1,100 Milwaukee County telephone subscribers contacted by mailed questionnaire by the authors under funding provided by Marquette's Urban Institute and Graduate School.
Bounded Grief at Work: Working and Caring for Children with Chronic Illness
Authors: Vickers Margaret H.
Published: July 2016

This article highlights the problem of bounded grief in our workplaces. The article commences by making the case that grief does exist at work—both grief from our personal lives brought to work, and grief emanating from workplace experiences. Then, I present a qualitative analysis that demonstrates grief that can exist in and around our workplaces; the grief of women who are in paid full time work while caring for a child with chronic illness. The findings reinforce that “there's always grief in the room.” For these women, their grief is ongoing, recurring and multiple-sourced. Often we don't recognise grief experienced at work or how to best to respond to it in a workplace setting. Some suggestions are made as to how individuals might best respond to the grief experienced in the work setting.
Overcome by or Overcoming Loss: A Call for the Development of Therapy for Individuals Mourning Vocational Loss in Schizophrenia
Authors: Hochman Karen M. , Fritz Elizabeth , Lewine Richard R. J.
Published: July 2016

People with schizophrenia are often unable to realize vocational expectations because of schizophrenia-related functional impairments. This is particularly acute in those individuals from advantaged sociocultural backgrounds of whom much is expected. We present the case history of an acclaimed woman artist who lost artistic productivity with the advent of severe and persistent psychotic symptoms. We suggest that “loss of vocational potential” is a major loss worthy of grief work. Introduction and rationale are presented, followed by a case presentation that aims to illustrate the psychological effects of intangible loss for individuals suffering from serious mental illness. Three approaches to grief work are reviewed. The notion of incorporating grief work into the treatment of persons with schizophrenia is introduced. The authors call for increased attention to and study of the symbolic and emotional impact of the interpersonal and vocational losses that accompany schizophrenia. A carefully structured grief work intervention needs to be developed that maximizes adaptation and minimizes risk for suicide and that should be coupled with clinical indicators and validated outcome measures.
Grief, Complicated Grief, and Trauma: The Role of the Search for Meaning, Impaired Self-Reference, and Death Anxiety
Authors: Tolstikova Katerina , Fleming Stephen , Chartier Brian
Published: July 2016

The present study explored the nature of grief and trauma following the loss of a loved one. The concept of complicated grief (CG) was investigated, and the overlapping symptoms of trauma, CG, and grief were explored. Comparisons were made between those who reported CG and/or trauma and those who did not report CG or trauma in relation to search for meaning, death anxiety, and self-regulation. The failure to find meaning in the death of a loved one, impaired self-reference, and death anxiety were found to play a significant role in both trauma and CG.
College Students' Responses to Traumatic Events Involving Sudden Death
Authors: Ryburn Jennifer , Festa Dan
Published: July 2016

The present study investigated undergraduate college students' responses to traumatic death events portrayed in video clips. We extracted a 1-minute clip from Final Destination and a 5-minute clip from Final Destination 2. The control groups viewed either a 1- or 5-minute clip of a nature video. The experimenter administered the DAS (Templer, 1970), before and then immediately following presentation of the videos, to measure any changes in death anxiety. The Myers/Briggs personality questionnaire (Myers & Briggs, 1962) measured personality type, and the Mood Survey (Underwood & Froming, 1980) and Ryburn/Festa Mood Survey measured mood prior to viewing the videos. We analyzed the data and obtained only a significant main effect for video duration. We also obtained a high correlation between the Mood Survey and the Ryburn/Festa Mood Survey.
Metaphorically Speaking: The Use of Metaphors in Grief Therapy
Authors: Nadeau Janice Winchester
Published: July 2016

Grieving people use metaphors to describe their experience of loss. Therapists can engage clients by using their metaphors in ways that facilitate grieving. Lakoff and Johnson (1980) contend that metaphors are more than figures of speech; metaphors structure the way we perceive, how we think and what we do. Reality is negotiated by means of metaphors. People who have lost significant others to death or divorce are forced to construct a new reality. In this article four metaphors are used to illustrate how a therapist can listen for metaphors and work with clients to explore, expand and rework their metaphors in ways that are helpful to them in their suffering. Several current approaches to using metaphors in grief therapy are reviewed. Recommendations are made for future development of models that take advantage of the considerable power of metaphors while avoiding their potential for harm.
Letting Go While Holding On: Postmortem Photography as an Aid in the Grieving Process
Authors: Hilliker Laurel
Published: July 2016

This article examines how postmortem/funerary photography has created an historical as well as a cultural construction of visual images in the grieving process. Social practices of the display and use of postmortem photos are compared from the 19th century to present, revealing changes in societal attitudes over time. Modern rituals reflect the continued need to memorialize the deceased using a cherished keepsake, souvenir, or memento, such as a photograph. A new grieving ritual is observed, which emerged as a response to the September 11th terrorist attacks. This research employs theories from the discipline of visual sociology. The rarity of postmortem photography in the 21st century as a socially acceptable practice is acknowledged, as well as the value of using postmortem photos as an historical and cultural grieving ritual. Further research is recommended to continue the examination of attitudes toward death, while considering the use of visual aids (such as postmortem photography and other representations) as acceptable bereavement practices in contemporary U.S. culture.
Graves of Unknowns in Gardens of Stone: An Analysis of Infant Anonymity from a Midwestern Cemetery, 1863–1983
Authors: Foster Gary S. , Hendrickson Darren
Published: July 2016

To be named is to be, bestowing individuality and the most cogent dimension of social identity. Anonymity, the absence of a name, nearly defies scholarly consideration because the nameless are rarely located in records and documents. However, cemeteries receive both the named and the unnamed, offering the rare opportunity to examine anonymity. This research examines nameless infant burials for socio-demographic patterns that might explain anonymity. Anonymous cases were selected from a single cemetery of 16,440 interments in Coles County, Illinois. Findings revealed that age was inversely related, significantly, to anonymity, as was decade of death, with anonymity exceeding those named from about 1865 to 1915. Also statistically significant were the relationships between anonymity and a series of familial indicators. Having no significant relationship with anonymity were sex, ethnicity and race.
Depression, Hopelessness, and Suicidal Ideation among the Elderly: A Comparison between Veterans and New Immigrants
Authors: Ron Pnina
Published: July 2016

The study attempts to compare between levels of depression, hopelessness, and suicidal ideation among two groups of independent and relatively independent elderly in Israel: a) old immigrants from the former Soviet Union (FSU); and b) veteran persons who live in Israel since 1948 or earlier. The research assumption was that depression, hopelessness, and suicidal ideation will be found in higher levels among old immigrants compared to those veterans in Israel. Three hundred and seventy-six elderly immigrants and 392 veterans participated in the study. Findings show negatively significant differences regarding hopelessness, helplessness and depression among immigrants compared to those veterans. The conclusions of the study indicate the need for paying interdisciplinary attention to the mental health of elderly immigrants.
Spirituality: An Existentialist Perspective
Authors: Thompson Neil
Published: July 2016

Existentialism as a school of philosophy raises important questions about meaning and purpose and other such factors traditionally associated with spirituality. It also raises important questions about death and dying and the finite nature of human existence. As such, it provides a useful platform for developing our understanding of how spirituality relates to experiences of crisis, loss, and grief. This article explores some key existentialist issues, such as the paradox of meaning, the nature of human existence, personal and social identity and authenticity, and relates each of these to the interface between spirituality on the one hand, and crisis and loss on the other.
The Compassionate Workplace: Leading with the Heart
Authors: Tehan Mary
Published: July 2016

In the context of grief in the workplace, this article explores elements of what constitutes a compassionate employer and how this aspect of service leadership can be enacted through a “vital listening.” The different but interrelated aspects of vital listening which are presented frame a non-judgmental approach to avoid the potential for stigma and discrimination in the workplace, and to honor needs associated with the identity, worth and sense of belonging of the person being supported. In so doing, it builds on the work of Kellehear (2005). Material is used from three primary sources: Sendjaya's six dimensions of servant leadership (2005), Swann's eleven elements of compassionate leadership grounded in a matrix of Bolman and Deal's four leadership frames (2002) and the work of Bottomley and Tehan (2005), associated with the development of a “Best Practice Support Model” in the Australian workplace.
Fetal and Infant Mortality Review in Savannah, Georgia: Intervention Leading to Home Interview Success
Authors: Rose Deborah Abbott
Published: July 2016

When the Fetal and Infant Mortality Review (FIMR) program began in Savannah, Georgia, in April 1995, there were high hopes of reaching every woman via home interview who had lost a baby in the neonatal or postneonatal period, as well as those women who had experienced fetal loss after the twenty-week gestation mark or who had given birth to a fetus weighing 385 grams or more. After the first year, which was spent developing the program, making community contacts, putting together a working coalition to review the deaths, and hiring home interviewers and record abstractors, researchers in the FIMR realized they were not reaching those women in the population who were most at risk and isolated from the service system. While each death is reviewed, particular attention is paid to a five–ZIP code area within the city limits that has the highest rate of unemployment, crime, teen pregnancies, and infant mortality.
Aortic Arch Replacement in Patients With Chronic Dissection
Authors: de la Cruz Kim I. , Green Susan Y. , Preventza Ourania A. , Coselli Joseph S.
Published: July 2016

The progressive expansion of residual, chronic DeBakey type I dissection often necessitates repair of the aortic arch and the distal aorta (ie, descending thoracic and thoracoabdominal aorta). The vast majority of patients with chronic aortic dissection facing aortic arch surgery are survivors of emergent proximal aortic repair for acute dissection, and thus, these patients now face a reoperative procedure necessitating a redo median sternotomy. One approach for repairing the chronic type I aortic dissection incorporates total transverse aortic arch replacement with and without an elephant trunk extension; an elephant trunk extension is a useful strategy, because the proximal descending thoracic aorta is commonly ectatic or aneurysmal at the time of aortic arch repair—using an elephant trunk approach facilitates subsequent repair in the distal aorta. Patients with chronic DeBakey type I dissection should participate in an imaging surveillance protocol.
Mediators and Moderators of Improvements in Medication Adherence
Authors: Hofer Rebecca , Choi Hwajung , Mase Rebecca , Fagerlin Angela , Spencer Michael , Heisler Michele
Published: July 2016

Objective. In a randomized controlled trial we compared two models of community health worker–led diabetes medication decision support for low-income Latino and African American adults with diabetes. Most outcomes were improved when community health workers used either an interactive e-Health tool or print materials. This article investigates mediators and moderators of improved medication adherence in these two models. Method. Because both programs significantly improved satisfaction with medication information, medication knowledge, and decisional conflict, we examined whether improvements in each of these outcomes in turn were associated with improvements in self-reported medication adherence, and if so, whether these improvements were mediated by improvements in diabetes self-efficacy or diabetes distress. Potential moderators of improvement included gender, race/ethnicity, age, education, insulin use, health literacy, and baseline self-efficacy, diabetes distress, and A1c. Results. A total of 176 participants (94%) completed all assessments. After adjusting for potential confounders, only increased satisfaction with medication information was correlated with improved medication adherence ( p = .024). Improved self-efficacy, but not diabetes distress, was associated with improvements in both satisfaction with medication information and medication adherence. However, the Sobel–Goodman Mediation test did not support improvements in self-efficacy as a mechanism by which improved satisfaction led to better adherence. None of the examined variables achieved statistical significance as moderators. Conclusions. Improvements in satisfaction with medication information but not in medication knowledge or decision conflict were associated with improvements in medication adherence. Interventions that target low-income ethnic and racial minorities may need to focus on increasing participants’ satisfaction with information provided on diabetes medications and not just improving their knowledge about medications. Future research should explore in more depth other possible mediators and moderators of improvements in medication adherence in low-income minority populations.
Assessment of the ability of Aedes species mosquitoes to transmit feline Mycoplasma haemofelis and ‘Candidatus Mycoplasma haemominutum’
Authors: Reagan Krystle L , Clarke Lorelei L , Hawley Jennifer R , Lin Phillip , Lappin Michael R
Published: July 2016

Objectives

The objective of this study was to evaluate wild-caught mosquitoes for evidence of hemotropic Mycoplasma species DNA and to determine whether the feline hemoplasmas, Mycoplasma haemofelis (Mhf) and ‘ Candidatus Mycoplasma haemominutum’ (Mhm), can be transmitted by Aedes aegypti mosquitoes in a laboratory setting.

Methods

Wild-caught mosquito pools (50 mosquitoes per pool, 84 pools) utilized in routine public health department disease surveillance programs were tested for hemotropic Mycoplasma species DNA using PCR with primers designed to amplify all known hemoplasmas. Additionally, mosquitoes were trapped in the vicinity of known feral cat colonies, pooled (50 mosquitoes per pool) and tested (84 pools). Purpose-bred cats housed in a research facility were infected with Mhf or Mhm and then colonized laboratory A aegypti were fed upon the bacteremic cats. After a 7 day incubation period, mosquitoes previously fed on infected cats were allowed to feed again on naive cats, which were monitored for bacteremia for 10 weeks.

Results

Mycoplasma wenyonii DNA was confirmed in one wild-caught mosquito pool by DNA sequencing. While 7% of cats tested in feral colonies were hemoplasma positive, none of the mosquitoes trapped near colonies were positive. Hemoplasma DNA was amplified from A aegypti by PCR immediately after the infectious blood meal, but DNA was not detected at 7 and 14 days after feeding. Although evidence for uptake of organisms existed, hemoplasma DNA was not amplified from the experimentally infested cats in the 10 week observation period.

Conclusions and relevance

While wild-caught mosquitoes contained hemoplasma DNA and laboratory reared A aegypti mosquitoes take up hemoplasmas during the blood meal, there was no evidence of biologic transmission in this model.
Peer critique as a signature pedagogy in writing studies
Authors: Heinert Jennifer
Published: July 2016

In this essay, the author connects research on student learning in writing studies with the theory of signature pedagogies first presented by Shulman in 2005. In particular, the author unpacks how peer critique (also called peer review) develops the habits of mind of the discipline articulated in the “Framework for Success in Postsecondary Writing”(Hansen, 2012). By looking through the lens of Shulman’s structural definition of signature pedagogies, the author shows how peer critique develops the “habits of head, hand, and heart” of writing studies (Ciccone, 2009).
Mentoring, Managing, and Helping
Authors: Williams Michael Steven , Brown Burnett Tiffany Jeanette , Carroll Talia Kay , Harris Cameron J.
Published: July 2016

This study utilizes a critical race theory framework to explore the ways race and gender influence Black doctoral students’ socialization experiences. Themes about the varied roles and identities of important socialization agents emerged from the data. Managing expectations, engaging in help-seeking behavior, and developing fulfilling mentoring relationships, also proved instrumental to these students’ retention and persistence in doctoral study. Furthermore, their experiences offer insights about the complexity of navigating the various relationships, including, but not limited to the traditional mentor-protégé, student–advisor relationship in doctoral studies as Black students. Through their narratives, participants describe vivid experiences of fear, distrust, and betrayal that halted their development as scholars. They also share stories of support, care, and triumph as the potential of supportive relationships are realized. Implications for praxis, theory, and future research are discussed.
Shallow water effects on wave energy converters with hydraulic power take-off system
Authors: Sinha Ashank , Karmakar D , Guedes Soares C
Published: July 2016

The effect of water depth on the power absorption by a single heaving point absorber wave energy converter, attached to a hydraulic power take-off system, is simulated and analysed. The wave energy flux for changing water depths is presented and the study is carried out at a location in the north-west Portuguese coast, favourable for wave power generation. This analysis is based on a procedure to modify the wave spectrum as the water depth reduces, namely, the TMA spectrum (Transformation spectrum). The present study deals with the effect of water depth on the spectral shape and significant wave heights. The reactive control strategy, which includes an external damping coefficient and a negative spring term, is used to maximize power absorption by the wave energy converter. The presented work can be used for making decisions regarding the best water depth for the installation of point absorber wave energy converters in the Portuguese nearshore.
Usambara effect in tourmaline: optical spectroscopy and colourimetric studies
Authors: Taran Michail N. , Naumenko Ievgen V.
Published: July 2016

The Usambara effect, i.e. a change of tourmaline colour from deep-green to dark-red with increasing path length of light, has been studied by optical absorption spectroscopy and colourimetric calculations on a sample of Tanzanian tourmaline of predominant dravite composition with 0.12 apfu Cr. For comparison a dark-green vanadium-bearing tourmaline from Tanzania (0.05 apfu V), which does not show such an effect, was also investigated. As established, the Usambara effect, by its nature, is closely related to the alexandrite effect, although in this case the colour change is not caused by change of spectral composition of the light of illumination, but by spectral positions of the spin-allowed absorption bands of Cr3+, a specific ratio of light transmission in two windows of transparency, green and red, and by non-linear, exponential dependence of the light transmittance on the thickness of sample. A threshold chromium content must be exceeded for the Usambara effect to show, that is, sufficient chromium for there to be two deep and well-demarcated windows of transparency in the visible range. The overall colouration results from mixing of two additive colours coming through the windows of transparency. A dark-green chromium-bearing tourmaline from the Ural Mountains (0.40 and 0.20 apfu Cr and Fe, respectively) shows how admixtures of other chromophore ions, namely, Fe2+ and Fe3+, can suppress the Usambara effect in tourmaline.
H-bonding scheme in allactite: a combined single-crystal X-ray and neutron diffraction, optical absorption spectroscopy, FTIR and EPMA-WDS study
Authors: Gatta G. Diego , Bosi Ferdinando , Fernandez Diaz Maria Teresa , Hålenius Ulf
Published: July 2016

Absatract

The crystal chemistry of allactite from Långban, Värmland (Sweden) was investigated by single-crystal X-ray and neutron diffraction, optical absorption spectroscopy, Fourier-transform infra-red spectroscopy (FTIR) and electron microprobe analysis by wavelength-dispersive spectroscopy (EPMA-WDS). The optical spectra indicate the presence of Mn in valence state 2+ only. Assuming 16 O atoms per formula unit, arsenic as As5+ and the (OH) content calculated by charge balance, the resulting formula based on the EPMA-WDS data is (Mn2+6.73Ca0.13Mg0.12Zn0.02)∑7.00(As5+)2.00O16H8, very close to the ideal composition Mn7(AsO4)2(OH)8. In the unpolarized FTIR spectrum of allactite, fundamental (OH)-stretching bands are observed at 3236, 3288, 3387, 3446, 3484, 3562 and 3570 cm–1, suggesting that a number of OH environments, with different hydrogen bond strengths, occur in the structure. The neutron structure refinement shows that four independent H sites occur in allactite with full site occupancy, all as members of hydroxyl groups. The complex hydrogen-bonding scheme in the allactite structure is now well defined, with at least nine hydrogen bonds energetically favourable with mono-, bi- and trifurcated configurations.
Refinement of the crystal structure of berezanskite, Ti22KLi3(Si12O30)
Authors: Hawthorne F. C. , Sokolova E. , Pautov L.A. , Agakhanov A. A. , Karpenko V. Yu.
Published: July 2016

Berezanskite, ideally Ti□2KLi3(Si12O30), is hexagonal, space group P6/mcc, a = 9.898(4), c = 14.276(6) Å, V = 1211.2(9) Å3, Z = 2. The crystal structure was refined to an R1 index of 2.08% based on 392 unique observed reflections. Berezanskite is isostructural with milarite, ideally ACa2BoCKT(2)(Be2Al)(T(1)Si12O30)(H2O)0–2. The structural unit is of the form [T(2)3T(1)12O30] with T(1) = Si and T(2) = Li, in which (LiO4) tetrahedra link [Si12O30] six-membered double-rings into a framework. The A, B and C sites occur in the interstices of the framework with the following site populations: A = Ti4+2, = 1.938(2) Å; B =□2; C = K,  = 3.058(2) Å. In the T(2) = Li3 milarite-group minerals, the  distance is inversely related to the occupancy of the B site.
Incident opioid drug use and adverse respiratory outcomes among older adults with COPD
Authors: Vozoris Nicholas T. , Wang Xuesong , Fischer Hadas D. , Bell Chaim M. , O'Donnell Denis E. , Austin Peter C. , Stephenson Anne L. , Gill Sudeep S. , Rochon Paula A.
Published: July 2016

We evaluated risk of adverse respiratory outcomes associated with incident opioid use among older adults with chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases (COPD).

This was a retrospective population-based cohort study using a validated algorithm applied to health administrative data to identify adults aged 66 years and older with COPD. Inverse probability of treatment weighting using the propensity score was used to estimate hazard ratios comparing adverse respiratory outcomes within 30 days of incident opioid use compared to controls.

Incident opioid use was associated with significantly increased emergency room visits for COPD or pneumonia (HR 1.14, 95% CI 1.00–1.29; p=0.04), COPD or pneumonia-related mortality (HR 2.16, 95% CI 1.61–2.88; p<0.0001) and all-cause mortality (HR 1.76, 95% CI 1.57–1.98; p<0.0001), but significantly decreased outpatient exacerbations (HR 0.88, 95% CI 0.83–0.94; p=0.0002). Use of more potent opioid-only agents was associated with significantly increased outpatient exacerbations, emergency room visits and hospitalisations for COPD or pneumonia, and COPD or pneumonia-related and all-cause mortality.

Incident opioid use, and in particular use of the generally more potent opioid-only agents, was associated with increased risk for adverse respiratory outcomes, including respiratory-related mortality, among older adults with COPD. Potential adverse respiratory outcomes should be considered when prescribing new opioids in this population.
Note on essential fixed points of approximable multivalued mappings
Authors: Andres Jan , Górniewicz Lech
Published: July 2016

A new definition of essential fixed points is introduced for a large class of multivalued maps. Two abstract existence theorems are presented for approximable maps on compact ANR-spaces in terms of a nontrivial fixed point index, or a nontrivial Lefschetz number and a zero topological dimension of the fixed point set. The second one is applied to the periodic dissipative Marchaud differential inclusions for obtaining the existence of a discretely essential subharmonic solution. Three simple illustrative examples are supplied.
The Association between Individual Counselling and Health Behaviour Change: The See Kidney Disease (SeeKD) Targeted Screening Programme for Chronic Kidney Disease
Authors: Galbraith Lauren , Hemmelgarn Brenda , Manns Braden , Samuel Susan , Kappel Joanne , Valk Nadine , Ronksley Paul
Published: July 2016

Background:

Health behaviour change is an important component of management for patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD); however, the optimal method to promote health behaviour change for self-management of CKD is unknown. The See Kidney Disease (SeeKD) targeted screening programme screened Canadians at risk for CKD and promoted health behaviour change through individual counselling and goal setting.

Objectives:

The objectives of this study are to determine the effectiveness of individual counselling sessions for eliciting behaviour change and to describe participant characteristics associated with behaviour change.

Design:

This is a cross-sectional, descriptive study.

Setting:

The study setting is the National SeeKD targeted screening programme.

Patients:

The participants are all ‘at risk’ patients who were screened for CKD and returned a follow-up health behaviour survey ( n = 1129).

Measurements:

Health behaviour change was defined as a self-reported change in lifestyle, including dietary changes or medication adherence.

Methods:

An individual counselling session was provided to participants by allied healthcare professionals to promote health behaviour change. A survey was mailed to all participants at risk of CKD within 2-4 weeks following the screening event to determine if behaviour changes had been initiated. Descriptive statistics were used to describe respondent characteristics and self-reported behaviour change following screening events. Results were stratified by estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) (< 60 and >60 mL/min/1.73 m2). Log binomial regression analysis was used to determine the predictors of behaviour change.

Results:

Of the 1129 respondents, the majority (89.8 %) reported making a health behaviour change after the screening event. Respondents who were overweight (body mass index [BMI] 25-29.9 kg/m2) or obese (BMi ≥ 30.0 kg/m2) were more likely to report a behaviour change (prevalence rate ratio (PRR) 0.66, 95 % confidence interval (CI) 0.44-0.99 and PRR 0.49, 95 % CI 0.30-0.80, respectively). Further, participants with a prior intent to change their behaviour were more likely to make a behaviour change (PRR 0.58, 95 % CI 0.35-0.96). Results did not vary by eGFR category.

Limitations:

We are unable to determine the effectiveness of the behaviour change intervention given the lack of a control group. Potential response bias and social desirability bias must also be considered when interpreting the study findings.

Conclusions:

Individual counselling and goal setting provided at screening events may stimulate behaviour change amongst individuals at risk for CKD. However, further research is required to determine if this behaviour change is sustained and the impact on CKD progression and outcomes.
Cosmoecological Sheep and the Arts of Living on a Damaged Planet
Authors: Despret Vinciane , Meuret Michel
Published: July 2016

In recent decades, in the South of France some young people from urban backgrounds have chosen to become shepherds and to learn to reconnect with the herding practices that many livestock breeders had abandoned under the pressure of agricultural modernization policies. In some cases they have found themselves entrusted with sheep that are as naive about herding as they themselves were. Before their introduction to transhumance—seasonal movement between pastures—these animals were primarily confined and fed indoors or in small fenced areas. The shepherds had to learn how to lead, how to understand other modes of living, how to teach their sheep what is edible and what is not, and how to form a flock; the sheep had to learn how to “compose with” dogs and humans, to acquire new feeding habits, a new ethos, and moreover, new ways of living in an enlarged world. These practices cannot be reduced to a livestock economy: shepherds consider herding a work of transformation and ecological recuperation—of the land, of the sheep, of ways of being together. Learning the “arts of living on a damaged planet,” as Anna Tsing has termed it, humans and animals are making their own contributions to a new cosmoecology, creating cosmoecological connections and contributing to what Ghassan Hage has called alter-politics.
The Xenopus Pregnancy Test
Authors: Kirksey Eben , Hannah Dehlia , Lotterman Charlie , Moore Lisa Jean
Published: July 2016

There is an appreciable distance between the biochemistry of being pregnant and the experience of recognizing oneself as pregnant—a speculative gap that technology can serve to narrow or widen depending on how one chooses to choreograph an ontological state. Conducting an outmoded pregnancy test with live Xenopus frogs, we probed the contours of this gap. As we took an antiquated bioassay out of medical archives, we conducted a performative experiment—an intervention that blurred the boundaries between performance art, science, and ethnography. Like queer enactments of gender, performative experiments exhibit the performativity of conventional science and thereby make scientific modes of knowledge production and claims available for critical inspection. Moving beyond the domain of human self-fashioning and debates about the ethics of animal experimentation, our experiment also considered speculation linking the Xenopus pregnancy test to the extinction of other frogs. Amphibian biologists once hypothesized that Xenopus frogs brought a pathogenic fungus out of Africa. We found that this outbreak narrative projected colonial and racial stereotypes into the domain of animals and limited the scope of the scientific imagination. DNA test kits enabled us to determine that the frogs used in our study were not carrying the pathogenic chytrid fungus. Getting past stigma attached to particular species and locales, we found that parasites are nonetheless emerging within the biotechnology marketplace. Global commerce is generating hypervirulent strains of disease that threaten to disrupt human dreams and schemes.
Lively Ethography
Authors: van Dooren Thom , Rose Deborah Bird
Published: July 2016

This article is an effort to dwell with the kinds of writing and thinking practices that we have been developing in our research, especially over the past seven years. This is an approach grounded in an attentiveness to the evolving ways of life (or ēthea; singular: ethos) of diverse forms of human and nonhuman life and in an effort to explore and perhaps restory the relationships that constitute and nourish them. Our aim is to develop “lively ethographies”: a mode of knowing, engaging, and storytelling that recognizes the meaningful lives of others and that, in so doing, enlivens our capacity to respond to them by singing up their character or ethos. Most of our work in this area has focused on extinction, but this approach might readily be taken up in a range of other contexts. This article alternates between two types of writing. One is expository and lays out an analysis of ethos, liveliness, storytelling, “response-ability,” and becoming witness. The second is performative, offering short ethographic vignettes that enact some of the qualities and approaches we have discussed. Here each of these vignettes is taken from our recent work in Hawai‘i, a deeply generative and often fraught field site that has inspired much of our thinking.
webANIMO: Improving the accessibility of ANIMO
Authors: Siers Willem , Bakker Michiel , Rubbens Bob , Haasjes Ruben , Brandt Jacco , Schivo Stefano
Published: July 2016

ANIMO is a Cytoscape 3 app to model biological signalling pathways. Useful analyses can be performed and displayed to the user in an effective way. However, all this power comes at a cost: the additional software requirements for ANIMO have been hindering its widespread adoption. Our goal has been to provide beginner to intermediate ANIMO users with a simpler and more effective platform to perform their research: webANIMO. The minimalistic interface provides everything the regular ANIMO user needs for the most common tasks. Adding the fact that it is a web interface removes any software requirements from the equation. This article describes how webANIMO works: its client/server architecture, how Cytoscape and ANIMO compatibility was maintained, the visualization techniques implemented and other general design decisions.
Chimney Technique with Nellix EndoVascular Aneurysm Sealing System in a Patient with Single Kidney and Juxtarenal Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm
Authors: Kisis Kaspars , Savlovskis Janis , Gedins Marcis , Ezite Natalija , Zellans Edgars , Krievins Dainis
Published: July 2016

We present a saccular asymptomatic juxtarenal abdominal aortic aneurysm in a 70-year-old male with a very short left renal artery supplying the only kidney. The case was successfully treated with the Nellix EndoVascular Aneurysm Sealing system combined with a chimney technique.
The Mystery of the Z-Score
Authors: Curtis Alexander , Smith Tanya , Ziganshin Bulat , Elefteriades John
Published: July 2016

Reliable methods for measuring the thoracic aorta are critical for determining treatment strategies in aneurysmal disease. Z-scores are a pragmatic alternative to raw diameter sizes commonly used in adult medicine. They are particularly valuable in the pediatric population, who undergo rapid changes in physical development. The advantage of the Z-score is its inclusion of body surface area (BSA) in determining whether an aorta is within normal size limits. Therefore, Z-scores allow us to determine whether true pathology exists, which can be challenging in growing children. In addition, Z-scores allow for thoughtful interpretation of aortic size in different genders, ethnicities, and geographical regions. Despite the advantages of using Z-scores, there are limitations. These include intra- and inter-observer bias, measurement error, and variations between alternative Z-score nomograms and BSA equations. Furthermore, it is unclear how Z-scores change in the normal population over time, which is essential when interpreting serial values. Guidelines for measuring aortic parameters have been developed by the American Society of Echocardiography Pediatric and Congenital Heart Disease Council, which may reduce measurement bias when calculating Z-scores for the aortic root. In addition, web-based Z-score calculators have been developed to aid in efficient Z-score calculations. Despite these advances, clinicians must be mindful of the limitations of Z-scores, especially when used to demonstrate beneficial treatment effect. This review looks to unravel the mystery of the Z-score, with a focus on the thoracic aorta. Here, we will discuss how Z-scores are calculated and the limitations of their use.
Yucatan Musical Youth Bands: Challenges to Implement a Social-Musical Program
Authors: Cupul Paulina Bautista
Published: July 2016

The program “Bandas Juveniles Musicales de Yucatán”, started in 2009, funded by the National Council for Culture and Arts of Mexico (CONACULTA), represents a preventive and innovative strategy for the context, being one of the first programs to be implemented in the State of Yucatan with a musical-social approach derived from the famous Venezuelan program “El Sistema.”

In order to provide feedback to the program on its implementation, a qualitative evaluation was carried out through a case study of the community called “Norte.” The purpose was to determine if the activities implemented in the selected community were consistent with the philosophy of the program, determining if they were favoring the achievement of its objectives in the short, medium and long term.

The results of this study show that the change of the “Major Instructor” was crucial for improving communication and quality of musical education services. However, since the beginning of the program has prevailed an ambiguity in the establishment and communication purposes, without risks of it provided. There is also a need to strengthen the trainers training on the teaching-learning process, given the constraints of the professional context in the region.
Social transformation of two students in an El Sistema-inspired orchestra program
Authors: D'Alexander Christine , Ilari Beatriz
Published: July 2016

In recent years there has been a substantial increase in El Sistema-inspired programs for young musicians. An overwhelming majority of these programs across the USA are centered in underserved communities where access to instrumental music training would otherwise be sparse. Most often, this is due to budget cuts partially or completely being wiped off from school curricula, or the financial cost associated with instrumental lessons. These programs, often free of cost to families, consist of musical training several days a week in small and large group classes, and claim to promote social change amongst these children's lives. It is of importance to carefully study if, and how, these young musicians believe their lives are transforming through participation in these El Sistema-inspired programs, and if in fact, social change is occurring.

This article reports on a multiple case study which sought to dive deeper into the lives of two children taking part in one El Sistema-inspired orchestral program located in Los Angeles, California. The study focused on the influence and impact this program has had on the lives of students, the exploration and formation of their beliefs surrounding musical learning, as well as experiences they share both as individuals and members of the orchestra.