bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Impact of Patients’ Judgment Skills on Asthma Self-Management: A Pilot Study
Authors: Londoño Ana Maria Moreno , Schulz Peter J.
Published: December 2014

Background

The majority of current health literacy tools assess functional skills including reading, writing, and numeracy. Although these tools have been able to underline the impact of such skills on individuals’ health behaviour, there is a need for comprehensive measures to examine more advanced skills. The individual's ability to use health-related information considering his/her own health context, and judging positive and negative consequences of their decisions has been conceptualized as judgment skills. The present study used a newly developed judgment skills tool to explore asthma self-management practices.

Design and methods

Eighty asthma patients were recruited from medical offices during the year 2013. The questionnaire was self-administered and contained health literacy questions, the judgment skill tool, the Asthma Control Test, and several self-management questions.

Results

Sixty-nine percent of participants had adequate health literacy, while 24% and 5% had marginal and inadequate levels, respectively. The high-judgment group referred more to their doctor when experiencing asthma problems t(76)=–2.18, P<0.032; complied more with the use of their control medicine t(77)=–3.24, P<0.002 and went more regularly to the doctor t(78)=–1.80, P<0.038 (one-tailed) than the low-judgment group.

Conclusions

The judgment skills tool can help identify asthma patients’ health information use and reveal how this use may affect some self-management practices.
Sequential evacuation strategy for multiple rooms toward the same means of egress
Authors: Parisi Daniel R. , Negri Pablo A
Published: December 2014

This paper examines different evacuation strategies for systems where several rooms evacuate trough the same means of egress, using microscopic pedestrian simulation.As a case study, a medium-rise office building is considered. It was found that the standard strategy, whereby the simultaneous evacuation of all levels is performed, can be improved by a sequential evacuation, beginning with the  lowest floor and continuing successively with each one of the upper floors after a certain delay. The importance of the present research is that it provides the basis for the design and implementation of new evacuation strategies and alarm systems that could significantly improve the evacuation of multiple rooms trough a common means of escape. Received: 9 October 2014,  Accepted: 13 November 2014; Edited by: G. C. Barker; DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.4279/PIP.060013Cite as: D R Parisi, P A Negri, Papers in Physics 6, 060013 (2014)
Aerosol–computational fluid dynamics modeling of ultrafine and black carbon particle emission, dilution, and growth near roadways
Authors: Huang L. , Gong S. L. , Gordon M. , Liggio J. , Staebler R. , Stroud C. A. , Lu G. , Mihele C. , Brook J. R. , Jia C. Q.
Published: December 2014

Abstract. Many studies have shown that on-road vehicle emissions are the dominant source of ultrafine particles (UFPs; diameter < 100 nm) in urban areas and near-roadway environments. In order to advance our knowledge on the complex interactions and competition among atmospheric dilution, dispersion, and dynamics of UFPs, an aerosol dynamics–computational fluid dynamics (CFD) coupled model is developed and validated against field measurements. A unique approach of applying periodic boundary conditions is proposed to model pollutant dispersion and dynamics in one unified domain from the tailpipe level to the ambient near-road environment. This approach significantly reduces the size of the computational domain, and therefore allows fast simulation of multiple scenarios. The model is validated against measured turbulent kinetic energy (TKE) and horizontal gradient of pollution concentrations perpendicular to a major highway. Through a model sensitivity analysis, the relative importance of individual aerosol dynamical processes on the total particle number concentration (N) and particle number–size distribution (PSD) near a highway is investigated. The results demonstrate that (1) coagulation has a negligible effect on N and particle growth, (2) binary homogeneous nucleation (BHN) of H2SO4–H2O is likely responsible for elevated N closest to the road, and (3) N and particle growth are very sensitive to the condensation of semi-volatile organics (SVOCs), particle dry deposition, and the interaction between these processes. The results also indicate that, without the proper treatment of the atmospheric boundary layer (i.e., its wind profile and turbulence quantities), the nucleation rate would be underestimated by a factor of 5 in the vehicle wake region due to overestimated dilution. Therefore, introducing atmospheric boundary layer (ABL) conditions to activity-based emission models may potentially improve their performance in estimating UFP traffic emissions.
Using cloud ice flux to parametrise large-scale lightning
Authors: Finney D. L. , Doherty R. M. , Wild O. , Huntrieser H. , Pumphrey H. C. , Blyth A. M.
Published: December 2014

Abstract. Lightning is an important natural source of nitrogen oxide especially in the middle and upper troposphere. Hence, it is essential to represent lightning in chemistry transport and coupled chemistry–climate models. Using ERA-Interim meteorological reanalysis data we compare the lightning flash density distributions produced using several existing lightning parametrisations, as well as a new parametrisation developed on the basis of upward cloud ice flux at 440 hPa. The use of ice flux forms a link to the non-inductive charging mechanism of thunderstorms. Spatial and temporal distributions of lightning flash density are compared to tropical and subtropical observations for 2007–2011 from the Lightning Imaging Sensor (LIS) on the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) satellite. The well-used lightning flash parametrisation based on cloud-top height has large biases but the derived annual total flash density has a better spatial correlation with the LIS observations than other existing parametrisations. A comparison of flash density simulated by the different schemes shows that the cloud-top height parametrisation has many more instances of moderate flash densities and fewer low and high extremes compared to the other parametrisations. Other studies in the literature have shown that this feature of the cloud-top height parametrisation is in contrast to lightning observations over certain regions. Our new ice flux parametrisation shows a clear improvement over all the existing parametrisations with lower root mean square errors (RMSEs) and better spatial correlations with the observations for distributions of annual total, and seasonal and interannual variations. The greatest improvement with the new parametrisation is a more realistic representation of the zonal distribution with a better balance between tropical and subtropical lightning flash estimates. The new parametrisation is appropriate for testing in chemistry transport and chemistry–climate models that use a lightning parametrisation.
Atmospheric black carbon and warming effects influenced by the source and absorption enhancement in central Europe
Authors: Nordmann S. , Cheng Y. F. , Carmichael G. R. , Yu M. , Denier van der Gon H. A. C. , Zhang Q. , Saide P. E. , Pöschl U. , Su H. , Birmili W. , Wiedensohler A.
Published: December 2014

Abstract. Particles containing black carbon (BC), a strong absorbing substance, exert a rather uncertain direct and indirect radiative forcing in the atmosphere. To investigate the mass concentration and absorption properties of BC particles over central Europe, the model WRF-Chem was used at a resolution of 12 km in conjunction with a high-resolution BC emission inventory (EUCAARI 42-Pan-European Carbonaceous Aerosol Inventory; 1/8° × 1/16°). The model simulation was evaluated using measurements of equivalent soot carbon, absorption coefficients and particle number concentrations at seven sites within the German Ultrafine Aerosol Network, PM
Techniques for analyses of trends in GRUAN data
Authors: Bodeker G. E. , Kremser S.
Published: December 2014

Abstract. The Global Climate Observing System (GCOS) Reference Upper Air Network (GRUAN) provides reference quality RS92 radiosonde measurements of temperature, pressure and humidity. A key attribute of reference quality measurements, and hence GRUAN data, is that each datum has a well characterised and traceable estimate of the measurement uncertainty. The long-term homogeneity of the measurement records, and their well characterised uncertainties, make these data suitable for reliably detecting changes in global and regional climate on decadal time scales. Considerable effort is invested in GRUAN operations to (i) describe and analyse all sources of measurement uncertainty to the extent possible, (ii) quantify and synthesize the contribution of each source of uncertainty to the total measurement uncertainty, and (iii) verify that the evaluated net uncertainty is within the required target uncertainty. However, if the climate science community is not sufficiently well informed on how to capitalize on this added value, the significant investment in estimating meaningful measurement uncertainties is largely wasted. This paper presents and discusses the techniques that will need to be employed to reliably quantify long-term trends in GRUAN data records. A pedagogical approach is taken whereby numerical recipes for key parts of the trend analysis process are explored. The paper discusses the construction of linear least squares regression models for trend analysis, boot-strapping approaches to determine uncertainties in trends, dealing with the combined effects of autocorrelation in the data and measurement uncertainties in calculating the uncertainty on trends, best practice for determining seasonality in trends, how to deal with co-linear basis functions, and interpreting derived trends. Synthetic data sets are used to demonstrate these concepts which are then applied to a first analysis of temperature trends in RS92 radiosonde upper air soundings at the GRUAN site at Lindenberg, Germany (52.21° N, 14.12° E).
Uncertainty in Lagrangian pollutant transport simulations due to meteorological uncertainty from a mesoscale WRF ensemble
Authors: Angevine W. M. , Brioude J. , McKeen S. , Holloway J. S.
Published: December 2014

Abstract. Lagrangian particle dispersion models require meteorological fields as input. Uncertainty in the driving meteorology is one of the major uncertainties in the results. The propagation of uncertainty through the system is not simple, and it has not been thoroughly explored. Here, we take an ensemble approach. Six different configurations of the Weather Research and Forecast (WRF) model drive otherwise identical simulations with FLEXPART-WRF for 49 days over eastern North America. The ensemble spreads of wind speed, mixing height, and tracer concentration are presented. Uncertainty of tracer concentrations due solely to meteorological uncertainty is 30–40%. Spatial and temporal averaging reduces the uncertainty marginally. Tracer age uncertainty due solely to meteorological uncertainty is 15–20%. These are lower bounds on the uncertainty, because a number of processes are not accounted for in the analysis.
A global dataset of the extent of irrigated land from 1900 to 2005
Authors: Siebert S. , Kummu M. , Porkka M. , Döll P. , Ramankutty N. , Scanlon B. R.
Published: December 2014

Abstract. Irrigation intensifies land use by increasing crop yield but also impacts water resources. It affects water and energy balances and consequently the microclimate in irrigated regions. Therefore, knowledge of the extent of irrigated land is important for hydrological and crop modelling, global change research, and assessments of resource use and management. Information on the historical evolution of irrigated lands is limited. The new global Historical Irrigation Dataset (HID) provides estimates of the temporal development of the area equipped for irrigation (AEI) between 1900 and 2005 at 5 arc-minute resolution. We collected subnational irrigation statistics from various sources and found that the global extent of AEI increased from 63 million ha (Mha) in 1900 to 112 Mha in 1950 and 306 Mha in 2005. We developed eight gridded versions of time series of AEI by combining subnational irrigation statistics with different data sets on the historical extent of cropland and pasture. Different rules were applied to maximize consistency of the gridded products to subnational irrigation statistics or to historical cropland and pasture data sets. The HID reflects very well the spatial patterns of irrigated land in the western United States as shown on historical maps. Mean aridity on irrigated land increased and river discharge decreased from 1900–1950 whereas aridity decreased from 1950–2005. The dataset and its documentation are made available in an open data repository at https://mygeohub.org/publications/8 (doi:10.13019/M2MW2G).
Western Faculty Profile: Dr. Elizabeth Webb
Authors: Kim Suzy
Published: December 2014

Dr. Elizabeth Webb is an Associate Professor in the Department of Earth Sciences at Western University. After studying classical geology for four years, she found her true passion in stable-isotope biogeochemistry, focusing specifically on the dynamic interaction between plant mineralization and climate. Her intriguing research on Central American soils has allowed for a comprehensive understanding of climate change and ecosystem response to climate change and anthropogenic landscape modifications. Suzy Kim, a WURJHNS representative, had the wonderful opportunity to interview Dr. Webb on her research and her experiences at Western University.
Long-Term follow-up of Standard Photodynamic Therapy with Standardized Small Spot Size for Diffuse Retinal Pigment Epitheliopathy
Authors: Rouvas Alexander , Nikita Eleni , Chatziralli Irini , Ladas Ioannis , Androu Aggeliki , Theodossiadis Panagiotis
Published: December 2014

Purpose

To evaluate the long-term efficacy and safety of standard-fluence photodynamic therapy (PDT) with verteporfin using the minimum PDT spot size in patients with diffuse retinal pigment epitheliopathy (DRPE).

Methods

This is a retrospective study of 67 DRPE cases treated with PDT using a standardized minimum spot size of 850 μm. Indocyanine green angiography (ICGA) was used to guide and determine the outcome of PDT treatment. Best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA), central retinal thickness (CRT), recurrences, and adverse events were recorded and analyzed.

Results

The mean follow-up period of the study was 35.8 ± 16.6 months. There was a statistically significant difference in BCVA between baseline and the end of the follow-up (p<0.001). The BCVA improved in 41 eyes (61.2%), remained stable in 20 eyes (29.9%), and deteriorated in 6 eyes (9%). Accordingly, there was a statistically significant difference in CRT between the baseline and the last follow-up visit (p<0.001). The recurrence rate was 13.4% and only one eye presented a recurrence at the same site as the laser treatment. No adverse events were noted.

Conclusions

Application of ICGA-guided standard PDT, with a laser spot size of minimum diameter, on the site of active leakage seems to be effective and safe in a long-term follow-up period, presenting improvement in BCVA, decrease in CRT, and low rate of recurrence.
Right Ventricular Infarction and Mitral Stenosis: A Resuscitation Challenge
Authors: Champion Sébastien , Braunberger Eric , Vandroux David , Gaüzere Bernard A. , Lefort Yannick
Published: December 2014

We report the case of a 49-year-old woman who experienced an inferior myocardial infarction with right ventricular extension, poorly tolerated, partly due to a severe rheumatic mitral stenosis discovered during the hospitalization. Following an initial emergent mechanical circulatory support with femoro-femoral extracorporeal life support (ECLS), the patient had the mitral valve replaced, and the arterio-venous ECLS was removed for a right ventricular assistance device. After seven weeks, she was discharged and fully recovered.
Measurement of in vitro and in vivo Stent Geometry and Deformation by Means of 3D Imaging and Stereo-Photogrammetry
Authors: Zwierzak Iwona , Cosentino Daria , Narracott Andrew J. , Bonhoeffer Philipp , Diaz Vanessa , Fenner John W. , Schievano Silvia
Published: December 2014

Purpose

To quantify variability of in vitro and in vivo measurement of 3D device geometry using 3D and biplanar imaging.

Methods

Comparison of stent reconstruction is reported for in vitro coronary stent deployment (using micro-CT and optical stereo-photogrammetry) and in vivo pulmonary valve stent deformation (using 4DCT and biplanar fluoroscopy). Coronary stent strut length and inter-strut angle were compared in the fully deployed configuration. Local (inter-strut angle) and global (dog-boning ratio) measures of stent deformation were reported during stent deployment. Pulmonary valve stent geometry was assessed throughout the cardiac cycle by reconstruction of stent geometry and measurement of stent diameter.

Results

Good agreement was obtained between methods for assessment of coronary stent geometry with maximum disagreement of+/- 0.03 mm (length) and +/- 3 degrees (angle). The stent underwent large, non-uniform, local deformations during balloon inflation, which did not always correlate with changes in stent diameter. Three-dimensional reconstruction of the pulmonary valve stent was feasible for all frames of the fluoroscopy and for 4DCT images, with good correlation between the diameters calculated from the two methods. The largest compression of the stent during the cardiac cycle was 6.98% measured from fluoroscopy and 7.92% from 4DCT, both in the most distal ring.

Conclusions

Quantitative assessment of stent geometry reconstructed from biplanar imaging methods in vitro and in vivo has shown good agreement with geometry reconstructed from 3D techniques. As a result of their short image acquisition time, biplanar methods may have significant advantages in the measurement of dynamic 3D stent deformation.
Relationship of Tricuspid Repair at the Time of Left Ventricular Assist Device Implantation and Survival
Authors: Brewer Robert J. , Cabrera Rafael , El-Atrache Mazen , Zafar Amna , Hrobowski Tara N. , Nemeh Hassan M. , Selektor Yelena , Paone Gaetano , Williams Celeste T. , Velez Mauricio , Tita Cristina , Morgan Jeffrey A. , Lanfear David E.
Published: December 2014

Purpose

Tricuspid regurgitation contributes to right ventricular failure (RVF) and is associated with worse clinical outcomes in patients undergoing left ventricular assist device (LVAD) treatment. However, whether tricuspid valve repair (TVR) at the time of LVAD implantation improves outcomes is not clear.

Methods

We identified all patients undergoing initial implantation of a long-term continuous-flow LVAD at our institution from March 2006 to August 2011. We assessed the impact of TVR on survival and incidence of RVF using Kaplan-Meier curves and proportional hazards regression adjusted for age, gender, baseline tricuspid regurgitation, RV function, MELD score, albumin, and indication (bridge vs. destination).

Results

A total of 101 patients were included in the analysis, of which 14 patients underwent TVR concomitant LVAD. All TVR patients had moderate or severe baseline regurgitation. Crude survival was not different between groups. In multivariable models adjusted for confounding factors, TVR showed a significant association with improved survival (HR = 0.1, p = 0.049). Adjusted models showed no difference in RVF.

Conclusions

In this cohort of patients, TVR at the time of LVAD implantation appears associated with better survival. Additional larger studies are needed to verify the effect of TVR at the time of LVAD implantation, and whether it should be utilized more frequently.
Adequacy of antimicrobial therapy in urinary tract infections (UTI)
Authors: Bassetti Matteo , Carnelutti Alessia
Published: December 2014

Urinary tract infections are one of the most common reasons for antimicrobial prescriptions, however urine cultures are often unavailable and the choice of antibiotics is therefore empiric. The ideal antimicrobial agent must have specific pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic characteristics and an adequate spectrum of activity in order to obtain the potential eradication of the pathogen from the site of infection, minimizing the risk of recurrences and ensuring the best safety profile. There are several factors to be considered in the therapy choice: the type of infection, the increasing presence of extended-spectrum beta-lactamase (ESBL) producing bacteria showing resistance to most antibiotics and the problem of the bacterial internalization, that is a frequent cause of treatment failure and early recurrences. Prulifloxacin is a recent oral fluoroquinolone antibiotic approved in several European countries for the treatment of lower urinary tract infections and shows some interesting advantages in comparison with other antibiotics.
Medico-legal notes in urology
Authors: Rizzotto Antonio
Published: December 2014

In recent years, claims for damages for medical liability have significantly increased. This implies that urologists need to know at least some basic concepts and updates regarding Forensic Medicine. Hence it is mandatory that, beyond the requirements of the law, every physician is covered by insurance liability for medical professionals. With the aim to protect and help the urologist in response to a claim for damages, the Italian Society of Urology has established and activated a “urological first aid”, which any member can turn to in a moment of need. In the case of an accident, urologists can contact the “urological first aid” otherwise they can send a letter within 3 days to his/her insurance company, which will analyze the complaint and prepare a brief statement of defence and choose a civil lawyer specializing in medical professional liability. In this paper we will deal with some concepts of forensic medicine, distinguishing between public-liability and penal setting.
Nosocomial Urinary Tract Infections: A Review
Authors: Iacovelli Valerio , Gaziev Gabriele , Topazio Luca , Bove Pierluigi , Vespasiani Giuseppe , Agrò Enrico Finazzi
Published: December 2014

Nosocomial urinary tract infections are a common complication in healthcare systems worldwide. A review of the literature was performed in June 2014 using the Medical Literature Analysis and Retrieval System Online (MEDLINE) database, through either PubMed or Ovid as a search engine, to identify publications regarding nosocomial urinary tract infections (NUTIs) definition, epidemiology, etiology and treatment.

According to current definitions, more than 30% of nosocomial infections are urinary tract infections (UTIs). A UTI is defined ‘nosocomial’ (NUTI) when it is acquired in any healthcare institution or, more generally, when it is related to patient management. The origin of nosocomial bacteria is endogenous (the patient's flora) in two thirds of the cases. Patients with indwelling urinary catheters, those undergoing urological surgery and manipulations, long-stay elderly male patients and patients with debilitating diseases are at high risk of developing NUTIs. All bacterial NUTIs should be treated, whether the patient is harboring a urinary catheter or not. The length of treatment depends on the infection site. There is abundance of important guidance which should be considered to reduce the risk of NUTIs (hand disinfection with instant hand sanitizer, wearing non-sterile gloves permanently, isolation of infected or colonized catheterized patients). Patients with asymptomatic bacteriuria can generally be treated initially with catheter removal or catheter exchange, and do not necessarily need antimicrobial therapy. Symptomatic patients should receive antibiotic therapy. Resistance of urinary pathogens to common antibiotics is currently a topic of concern.
“So What.” “Who Cares?” “Whatever.” Changing Adolescents’Attitudes in the Art Classroom
Authors: Cummings Karen L.
Published: December 2014

While teaching art in a small midwestern high school, I began an investigation to better understand my students’ learning experiences. As my students engaged in a visual culture—oriented art curriculum, I investigated their responses to curricular activities, their interactions, and my teaching practice. Student journal entries, survey responses, teacher observations and reflections, transcriptions of classroom discourse, and student artwork were among data collected for analysis. Although the activities the students encountered during the curriculum were noteworthy, the relationships and interactions occurring in response to curricular activities were of most significance in influencing students’ actions. This essay further describes my observations and findings from this study, and offers suggestions for the teaching of adolescents in the art classroom.
Jacques Lacan’s Conception of Desire in a Course on Psychology of Art for Fine Arts Students
Authors: Petry Paulo Padilla , Hernández Fernando Hernández
Published: December 2014

Jacques Lacan’s ideas have produced deep changes in the psychoanalytic field and have also had great influence on several disciplines. Our interest here is to question what the theoretical and practical implications of adopting his conception of desire would be in contemporary art education. To explore this issue, we divide this essay into three parts. In the first, we look at some of Lacan’s views on education; in the second, we seek the contributions made by Lacan to the notion of desire in psychoanalytic discourse; finally, we present an example of the process of introducing Lacan’s ideas about desire into a course of Psychology of Art for Fine Arts undergraduates at the University of Barcelona. The purpose was to facilitate the recognition of the students’ own desire, both in a pedagogical relationship and in their lives.
Technology and the Limites of the Information Age circa 2002
Authors: Faux Derek ,   Philosophy Documentation Center
Published: December 2014

This essay examines three competing views of technological change, developed at the beginning of the millennium, and their impact on our lives. The discussion will lead to three conclusions. First, we must be involved in decisions about how technology is regulated and used. Second, we should be wary not to consider all technologies as having the same effects. The cell phone is neither the personal computer nor the television, and there is no reason to consider each as having the same potential social consequences. Third, new methodologies must be developed to account for any changes in social relations that come about as a result of our adoption of these technologies. In the final section of the essay, the consequences of contemporary technologies on what it means to be human are briefly discussed. Rather than substitute technology for democracy or big data for the ability to find significant information, we must take democratic control of these technologies and affirm our humanity. Indeed, I argue along with noted commentators on technology that what makes us human is our ability to sort and find relevant information, reflect on our actions and take risks in associating with other humans. These are things that we must always bear in mind if we are to flourish in the information age.
Cartoons in Middle School Classrooms
Authors: Cho Hoyun , Lawrence Gary D.
Published: December 2014

Learn the best ways to incorporate cartoon-based instruction.
Stepwise visualization of membrane pore formation by suilysin, a bacterial cholesterol-dependent cytolysin
Authors: Leung Carl , Dudkina Natalya V , Lukoyanova Natalya , Hodel Adrian W , Farabella Irene , Pandurangan Arun P , Jahan Nasrin , Pires Damaso Mafalda , Osmanović Dino , Reboul Cyril F , Dunstone Michelle A , Andrew Peter W , Lonnen Rana , Topf Maya , Saibil Helen R , Hoogenboom Bart W
Published: December 2014

Membrane attack complex/perforin/cholesterol-dependent cytolysin (MACPF/CDC) proteins constitute a major superfamily of pore-forming proteins that act as bacterial virulence factors and effectors in immune defence. Upon binding to the membrane, they convert from the soluble monomeric form to oligomeric, membrane-inserted pores. Using real-time atomic force microscopy (AFM), electron microscopy (EM), and atomic structure fitting, we have mapped the structure and assembly pathways of a bacterial CDC in unprecedented detail and accuracy, focussing on suilysin from Streptococcus suis. We show that suilysin assembly is a noncooperative process that is terminated before the protein inserts into the membrane. The resulting ring-shaped pores and kinetically trapped arc-shaped assemblies are all seen to perforate the membrane, as also visible by the ejection of its lipids. Membrane insertion requires a concerted conformational change of the monomeric subunits, with a marked expansion in pore diameter due to large changes in subunit structure and packing.
Early asymmetric cues triggering the dorsal/ventral gene regulatory network of the sea urchin embryo
Authors: Cavalieri Vincenzo , Spinelli Giovanni
Published: December 2014

Dorsal/ventral (DV) patterning of the sea urchin embryo relies on a ventrally-localized organizer expressing Nodal, a pivotal regulator of the DV gene regulatory network. However, the inceptive mechanisms imposing the symmetry-breaking are incompletely understood. In Paracentrotus lividus, the Hbox12 homeodomain-containing repressor is expressed by prospective dorsal cells, spatially facing and preceding the onset of nodal transcription. We report that Hbox12 misexpression provokes DV abnormalities, attenuating nodal and nodal-dependent transcription. Reciprocally, impairing hbox12 function disrupts DV polarity by allowing ectopic expression of nodal. Clonal loss-of-function, inflicted by blastomere transplantation or gene-transfer assays, highlights that DV polarization requires Hbox12 action in dorsal cells. Remarkably, the localized knock-down of nodal restores DV polarity of embryos lacking hbox12 function. Finally, we show that hbox12 is a dorsal-specific negative modulator of the p38-MAPK activity, which is required for nodal expression. Altogether, our results suggest that Hbox12 function is essential for proper positioning of the DV organizer.
Validation of dentine deposition rates in beluga whales by interspecies cross dating of temporal δ13C trends in teeth
Authors: Matthews Cory JD , Ferguson Steven H
Published: December 2014

Isotopic time series from sequentially sampled growth layer groups (GLGs) in marine mammal teeth can be combined to build chronologies allowing assessment of isotopic variation in marine ecosystems. Synchronous recording of baseline isotopic variation across dentinal GLGs of species with temporal and spatial overlap in foraging offers a unique opportunity for validation of marine mammal age estimation procedures through calibration of GLG deposition rates in one species against another whose GLG deposition has been independently determined. In this study, we compare trends in stable carbon isotope ratios (d13C) across dentinal GLGs of three eastern Canadian Arctic (ECA) beluga (Delphinapterus leucas) populations through the 1960s-2000s with a d13C time series measured across dentinal GLGs of ECA/Northwest Atlantic killer whales (Orcinus orca) from 1944-1999. We use confirmed annual GLG deposition in killer whales as a means to assess beluga GLG deposition, and show linear d13C declines across chronologies of both species were statistically indistinguishable when based on annual GLG deposition in beluga whales, but differed when based on biannual deposition. We suggest d13C declines reflect the oceanic 13C Suess effect, and provide additional support for annual GLG deposition in beluga whales by comparing rates of d13C declines across beluga GLGs with published annual d13C declines attributed to the oceanic 13C Suess effect in the North Atlantic.
Open Access Publishing in 2010: what publishers offer, what researchers want - First results of the SOAP project
Authors: Mele Salvatore
Published: December 2014

The SOAP project (Study of Open Access Publishing http://soap-fp7.eu), describes and analyses the open access publishing landscape as well as exploring the risks and opportunities of the transition to open access publishing for libraries, publishers and funding agencies. Findings from the most detailed study so far of the current offering and success of gold open access journals, publishers and models will be presented, spotlighting the amazing difference between large and small publishing houses and learned societies, licensing practices and business models. The first results of a comprehensive survey of opinions and attitudes on open access of 50'000 researchers across all disciplines and around the world will be discussed. This largest survey to date shows that "one size does not fit all" in the open access need, attitudes and practices of researchers, and there is a myriad factors libraries, publishers and funding agencies have to consider to trace a path through these shifting sands.Note: The project, funded by the European Commission, comprise publishers (BioMed Central, SAGE Publication Ltd., Springer Science and Business Media), research institutions (CERN - European Organization for Nuclear Research, Max Planck Society) and funding agencies (STFC - Science & Technology Facilities Council UK).
Beyond conferences and journal publications: Publishing and presenting research online through a virtual poster session
Authors: Renner Angelika , Baeseman Jenny
Published: December 2014

The Virtual Poster Session (VPS), developed by the Association of Polar Early Career Scientists (APECS), is an open access online tool for publishing conference posters and discussing the research presented through  posters outside the traditional conference environment. Instead of having posters collect dust or confining them to an archive on a computer’s hard drive after they were presented at a conference, they can be uploaded and displayed on the APECS website, with each poster having a unique webpage link. There, they can be accessed from any computer with an internet connection, and others can comment and contact the author. Additional monthly online seminars  give the authors of these posters the opportunity to present their research live to an international and interdisciplinary audience and respond to questions and feedback.  In these sessions, scientists can hone their presentation and discussion skills in a friendly and informal setting as well as publicize their research even further. Currently, over 200 posters by authors and co-authors from 34 countries are accessible through the APECS website (http://www.apecs.is/virtual-poster-session). Over 30 of these posters have been presented in live Virtual Poster Sessions to date, centered on themes such as research areas, countries, and post-meeting round-ups. The audience during the calls included early career and senior scientists, educators, journalists and others. The calls provide useful opportunities to talk to an international and interdisciplinary audience irrespective of location or funding situation. Online tools such as the VPS create ways to open up new collaborations to discuss research ideas, and to share results and methodologies outside the restrictions of national, financial, and disciplinary boundaries.
The Other Josquin - Enhanced Editions of 16th century music
Authors: Van Berchum Marnix
Published: December 2014

Conflicting and doubtful composer attributions are a common phenomenon in early musical repertories, but the problem is particularly acute with the output of Josquin des Prez (c. 1450-1521), the foremost musical authority figure of the 16th century. The matter is far from unambiguous; the problems of determining which pieces really are authentic is a veritable scholarly minefield in which academic opinion changes constantly. The Other Josquin has two goals: to contribute to musicological research and humanities computing by producing 40 online music editions of compositions dubiously ascribed to Josquin des Prez, using the CMME system for digital early music editions; and the semantic enrichment of the CMME web dataset in accordance with semantic web standards such as RDF-XML.
Sharing of research data – a study among researchers at UMB
Authors: Kvale Live
Published: December 2014

Digital research data collected in the sciences has the potential to be reused and shared openly. Several arguments for such sharing have come forward both from funders and researchers during the last decade. This study investigates the attitudes towards such reuse along with current traditions for sharing, reuse and the storage of research data in the universities, particularly the Life Sciences in Norway. A survey has been conducted among researchers at the Norwegian University of Life Sciences (UMB) collecting data on various aspects of the ‘researcher – research’ data relationship.The two main focuses are practical issues regarding storage, sharing and reuse of research data and perspectives on the future of data sharing, issues regarding publishing channels and the usage of online research collaboratories are also covered. The research aims to create an understanding of how researchers handle the data they collect, how they retrieve research data for reuse from other sources and how they imagine the future potential of data sharing was explored trough the research question “What are the attitudes and experience with data sharing among the researchers at the Norwegian University of Life Sciences?”In order to uncover attitudes and experience with data sharing the collected data has been analyzed according to years of experience, research field and previous experience with data sharing, as well as compared with data from previous studies in the field. These comparisons led to an understanding of which factors influence the researchers’ opinion or experience. Through the study it was found to be large differences according to years of experience in how the researchers see data sharing, this presentation will focus on that aspect.The study concludes that the processes of data sharing are far from optimized as researchers today primarily retrieve data from colleagues and a collegial network for data exchange takes time to establish. For the researchers to be willing to share their data certain criteria such as first publication and accreditation for reuse must be fulfilled, in addition, the fears among the researchers for misuse must be taken into account. The attitude among the researchers towards making data openly available depends much on where the researchers are in their careers. PhD students are the most positive ones towards sharing their research data openly, whereas the researchers with 5 to 10 years of experience are the least positive ones. As the researchers become more experienced they again turn to be more positive towards giving open access to the research data they collect. This is likely to reflect how the ambition to become famous is a key motivation for the researchers, and strongly present in the early stages in the career, and then gradually become less important as the researchers gain experience.
Elsevier’s commitment to Universal Access
Authors: Rosetta Federica
Published: December 2014

At Elsevier we recognise that access to quality research is vital to the scientific community and beyond. For us this means providing support and the latest tools to maintain the quality and integrity of published scientific literature, achieving the widest dissemination of content, and embracing the opportunities of open access.Elsevier is committed to universal access, quality, and sustainability. We encourage active engagement and discussions about access.  We are investing our resources in developing new initiatives, expanding our open access and other access initiatives, and in developing our policies.Global Access initiatives are enabled with organisations throughout the world. Elsevier has established agreements and developed policies to allow authors who publish in Elsevier journals to comply with manuscript archiving requirements of several funding bodies, as specified as conditions of researcher grant awards. Our intention is to further explore collaborations with funding bodies to ensure maximum compliance for their authors, hence also the possibility offered by 1214 of STM subscription-based journals for authors, funding bodies, or other parties to sponsor open access to articles. With 74 journals offering Open Archive and 23 Open Access journal titles available on ScienceDirect and a number already in the pipeline, Elsevier offers several ways for authors to make their work available beyond the subscription model in several scientific areas spanning from Immunology, to Pharma, Physics, Genomics and including well-known brands such as Cell Reports.Elsevier Open Access Solutions are thought in line with our commitment to delivering the highest level of sustainable access to quality content. An example of which is our support towards major academic achievements as exemplified by our commitment to annually making the work of Nobel Prize winners freely available on ScienceDirect. Similarly, Elsevier is making all articles in the high-energy physics area reporting results from CERN’s LHC Project freely available on ScienceDirect.We believe subscription and open-access publishing can co-exist and we will continue to invest to close remaining access gaps globally – thus, also via philanthropic programmes that address the needs of less developed countries -  and support a balanced mix of universal access mechanisms as the key drivers for a high-quality and sustainable scholarly communication system.
Open Access mandatory? A comment on the new policy from Research Councils UK
Authors: Sand Jan Yngve
Published: December 2014

(Abstract missing)
OA Fund Delft University of Technology
Authors: De Leeuwe Just , Versteeg Anke
Published: December 2014

TU Delft advocates Open Access, intended to enable free and unlimited access to scientific publications. In 2005 TU Delft signed the Berlin Declaration, the moral charter of the Open Access movement. An institution has various means of promoting Open Access among its own staff. One such means is a fund to which scientists can apply if they wish to share their publications. Authors wishing to publish Open Access will almost always be required to pay the publisher an author fee. In 2008 TU Delft set up a small-scale experimental OA fund. The theory behind this was that while scientists (represented by a faculty or research group) remain responsible for financing OA publications, the fund offers valuable backing.
Welcome to UiT The Arctic University of Norway
Authors: Ruud Kenneth
Published: December 2014

See video of the presentation.Welcome address to the 8th Munin Conference, 2013
The European Commission and Open Access
Authors: Dechamp Jean-François
Published: December 2014

See video of the presentation.The Commission strategy is to develop and implement open access to research results from projects funded by the EU Research Framework Programs, namely FP7 and Horizon2020.
Monitoring the Open Access Policy Compliance at Malmö University
Authors: Andersson Jacob
Published: December 2014

Malmö University implemented an open access policy in 2011. It states that research staff and postgraduate students at Malmö University must deposit a copy of their research publications in the university's open repository Malmö University Electronic Publishing (MUEP), a DSpace installation, unless copyright prevents this. It is our ambition that our researchers will investigate their open access rights for each of their publications, regardless of publication type.In late 2012 we made changes in the submission interface of the repository in order to improve the support given to the researchers regarding copyright issues. With these changes we also made it easier to monitor the compliance with the open access policy.The submission process now asks two new questions. The first of these require the author/submitter to state either that she is aware of her rights to deposit a copy of the publication in an open institutional repository, or ask for assistance. The second question is if the author has the right to make this deposit, or if assistance to interpret the agreement is needed. These mandatory questions have made it easier for our librarian specialized in legal issues to detect where support is needed. Hopefully it also raises awareness of the copyright issues among all authors.Monitoring of the compliance with the open access policy falls under the responsibility of the faculty management. It is done through a web interface, Extramuep[1], where a spreadsheet detailing a specific year’s publications can be downloaded. One of the columns in the spreadsheet describes, among other things, whether or not that specific publication is in compliance with the open access policy.Our poster presentation will describethe submission process for a researcherthe work processes of the library’s researcher support staffhow compliance with the policy can be monitored by faculty managementthe experiences of the researcher support staffthe result in the form of an increasing number of full text files in the repositoryThe focus in this poster presentation is on how this implementation has changed the day-to-day work of the researcher support staff and the results in repository content quality.
Assessing the Economic Impacts of Marine Protected Area in Quilitisan, Calatagan, Batangas: An Input to Coastal Resource Management
Authors: LUNAR BERNARDO C. , MACALALAD ANGELICA A.
Published: December 2014

One of the management goals of the Verde Island Passage Marine Corridoris to increase the area and numbers of well managed Marine Protected Areas bythe year 2018. The establishment and maintenance of these MPAs are faced withissues on sustainability. The question on whether they create economic sense isanswered by looking into the generation of benefits that are at least equal tothe costs they incur. Employing the descriptive method of study, it assessed themangrove related ecotourism impacts inside the MPA of Quilitisan, CalataganBatangas. Secondary data came from the management of the Calatagan Mangrove Forest Conservation Park (CMFCP). The study revealed that compared to the estimated number of visitors in the nearby resorts, the park is still behind on thenumber of its visitors. Relying heavily on its revenue from entrance fees, servicesrentals and donations, its operation is not that sustainable as it lacks a fund formaintenance and site development. With the survey and FGDs conducted, itwas deduced that the ecotourism experience being offered by the CMFCP is satisfying to the visitors as reflected on their mean value of their WTP amountingto Php 150.00 which is higher than the current payment scheme. The value iscommensurate with the raise that the management plans to implement.Keywords: Marine Ecology, economic valuation, coastal resource management,willingness to pay, marine protected area, tourism impacts, ecotourism, Batangas,Philippines