bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Soil phosphorus status and environmental risk of phosphorus run-off from pastures in south-eastern New South Wales
Authors: Hart M. R. , Cornish P. S.
Published: June 2016

Soils were sampled from 136 sites representing the major soil types in the Sydney drinking water catchments to provide an overview of agronomic phosphorus requirement and phosphorus environmental risk for the various pastoral land uses, which together comprise 40% of the 15700-km2 catchment area. Critical values for Colwell P (estimated from the phosphorus buffering index) were subtracted from the measured Colwell P to derive a ‘normalised’ Colwell P for each site, with negative values broadly signifying potential agronomic response and positive values warranting an assessment of environmental risk. Normalised Colwell P was above zero at approximately half the sites, and >50mgkg–1 at 20% of sites that were considered to present a significant environmental risk, highlighting the need for more effective use of soil testing. Colwell P was highly variable within soil type and land use. No category could be singled out for special attention for management except for dairy and former dairy sites. Where dairy effluent must be applied to soils already high in P, a plan is needed to manage stormwater run-off. Pastures at approximately 20% of sites were ‘degraded’, where the priority should be to improve pasture management and reduce the risk of phosphorus loss in surface erosion.
Substrate-assisted mechanism of RNP disruption by the spliceosomal Brr2 RNA helicase
Authors: Theuser Matthias , Höbartner Claudia , Wahl Markus C. , Santos Karine F.
Published: June 2016

Significance

RNA helicases can remodel substrate RNA–protein complexes in diverse ways. However, these activities have typically been studied using noncognate helicase-substrate systems, because the in vivo targets of many helicases are unknown. We investigated how the Brr2 protein disrupts its cognate U4/U6 di-small nuclear RNA–protein complex (di-snRNP), a reaction required for spliceosome catalytic activation. Our results suggest that Brr2 acts like a switch, initiating displacement of U6 snRNA, thereby inducing it to adopt an alternative conformation incompatible with base pairing to U4 snRNA. This mechanism explains how one U4/U6-bound protein, pre-mRNA processing factor 3 (Prp3), is displaced, whereas Prp31 and small nuclear ribonucleoprotein-associated protein 1 (Snu13) are released in complex with U4 snRNA. This unprecedented mode of RNP disruption minimizes requirements for reassembly of the U4/U6 di-snRNP after splicing.
Computational and experimental investigations of one-step conversion of poly(carbonate)s into value-added poly(aryl ether sulfone)s
Authors: Jones Gavin O. , Yuen Alexander , Wojtecki Rudy J. , Hedrick James L. , García Jeannette M.
Published: June 2016

Significance

This work describes a convenient, quantitative, and robust one-step transformation of polycarbonates into high-value poly(aryl ether sulfone)s in the presence of a carbonate salt and bis(aryl fluorides). This strategy has important implications for the repurposing of plastic waste into value-added materials by the use of carefully controlled depolymerization conditions. Computational studies used to support these findings show how carbonate salts decompose organic carbonates and form the poly(aryl ether sulfone) products. Determining the role of the metal salt in the depolymerization/repolymerization process will enable future design for economic recycling and synthesis methods.
Detecting regional patterns of changing CO
2
flux in Alaska
Authors: Parazoo Nicholas C. , Commane Roisin , Wofsy Steven C. , Koven Charles D. , Sweeney Colm , Lawrence David M. , Lindaas Jakob , Chang Rachel Y.-W. , Miller Charles E.
Published: June 2016

Significance

Dramatic warming in northern high latitudes has led to increased photosynthetic carbon uptake during the short, intense growing season; however, microbial decomposition of soil carbon and increased emissions during the long cold season may offset summer uptake and impart a positive feedback on the global climate system. We show that current airborne and satellite measurements of atmospheric CO
2
can accurately quantify summer uptake but are insufficient to detect regional changes in cold season emissions. As the potential for Arctic carbon budgets to become impacted by permafrost thaw and cold season emissions increases, strategies focused on year-round vertical profiles and improved spatial sampling will be needed to track carbon balance changes.
Epigenetics and energetics in ventral hippocampus mediate rapid antidepressant action: Implications for treatment resistance
Authors: Bigio Benedetta , Mathé Aleksander A. , Sousa Vasco C. , Zelli Danielle , Svenningsson Per , McEwen Bruce S. , Nasca Carla
Published: June 2016

Significance

Responsiveness, resistance to, and speed of treatment are major problems for depression. The energetic and epigenetic agent acetyl-
l
-carnitine (LAC) is known to exert rapid antidepressant-like effects in LAC-deficient Flinders Sensitive Line rats. Here, we identified central metabolic-regulator genes (e.g., insulin and glucose signaling) in ventral dentate gyrus (vDG), a mood-regulatory region, as key factors predisposing to depression and LAC responsiveness. While improving central energy regulation and exerting rapid antidepressant-like effects, LAC corrects systemic metabolic markers of hyperinsulinemia. Also, acute stress during the treatment alters the responsiveness to LAC and induces some resistance to the treatment with a new gene profile, whereby, again, metabolic factors in vDG are key players. These results posit vDG energy regulation as factor to be considered for development of better therapeutics.
Enzyme surface rigidity tunes the temperature dependence of catalytic rates
Authors: Isaksen Geir Villy , Åqvist Johan , Brandsdal Bjørn Olav
Published: June 2016

Significance

Faced with an exponential decrease in chemical reaction rates as the temperature is lowered, cold-adapted organisms require specialized enzymes to maintain a functional metabolism. Such enzymes catalyze their reactions with lower activation enthalpies counterbalanced by more negative entropies, yielding higher rates at low temperatures compared with mesophilic enzymes, although the rates at room temperature are often similar. The structural mechanisms behind this universal property still remain largely unknown. We attack this problem with extensive computer simulations and high-precision Arrhenius plots, showing that the protein surface rigidity outside the active site region tunes the enthalpy–entropy balance. This enables significantly higher rates at low to moderate temperatures for cold-active enzymes compared with their warm-active counterparts.
β-arrestin–biased signaling through the β
2
-adrenergic receptor promotes cardiomyocyte contraction
Authors: Carr Richard , Schilling Justin , Song Jianliang , Carter Rhonda L. , Du Yang , Yoo Sungsoo M. , Traynham Christopher J. , Koch Walter J. , Cheung Joseph Y. , Tilley Douglas G. , Benovic Jeffrey L.
Published: June 2016

Significance

Commonly prescribed drugs for congestive heart failure (CHF) include β-adrenergic receptor antagonists or β-blockers. These drugs operate by inhibiting deleterious apoptotic signaling and normalizing inotropic signaling from these receptors. As the β-adrenergic receptor (β
1
AR) (dominant subtype in the heart) is systematically down-regulated during CHF while G
i
(a G protein that antagonizes contractile signaling) is up-regulated, the ability to selectively control β
2
AR signaling becomes an attractive therapeutic approach. It is proposed that biasing receptor interaction with β-arrestins (promoting antiapoptotic signaling and possibly contraction) over G proteins may be therapeutically advantageous for the treatment of CHF. Here, we report a β-arrestin–biased pepducin of the β
2
AR that is able to induce cardiomyocyte contractility and antiapoptotic signaling to provide a pharmacological template for next-generation cardiovascular pharmaceuticals.
Chromosome-level assembly ofArabidopsis thalianaLerreveals the extent of translocation and inversion polymorphisms
Authors: Zapata Luis , Ding Jia , Willing Eva-Maria , Hartwig Benjamin , Bezdan Daniela , Jiao Wen-Biao , Patel Vipul , Velikkakam James Geo , Koornneef Maarten , Ossowski Stephan , Schneeberger Korbinian
Published: June 2016

Significance

Despite widespread reports on deciphering the sequences of all kinds of genomes, most of these reconstructed genomes rely on a comparison of short DNA sequencing reads to a reference sequence, rather than being independently reconstructed. This method limits the insights on genomic differences to local, mostly small-scale variation, because large rearrangements are likely overlooked by current methods. We have de novo assembled the genome of a common strain ofArabidopsis thalianaLandsbergerectaand revealed hundreds of rearranged regions. Some of these differences suppress meiotic recombination, impacting the haplotypes of a worldwide population ofA. thaliana. In addition to sequence changes, this work, which, to our knowledge is the first comparison of an independent, chromosome-level assembledA. thalianagenome, revealed hundreds of unknown, accession-specific genes.
Large deviations of the shifted index number in the Gaussian ensemble
Authors: Pérez Castillo Isaac
Published: June 2016

We show that, using the Coulomb fluid approach, we are able to derive a rate function

Ψ
(
c
,
x
)

of two variables that captures: (i) the large deviations of bulk eigenvalues; (ii) the large deviations of extreme eigenvalues (both left and right large deviations); (iii) the statistics of the fraction c of eigenvalues to the left of a position x. Thus,

Ψ
(
c
,
x
)

explains the full order statistics of the eigenvalues of large random Gaussian matrices as well as the statistics of the shifted index number. All our analytical findings are thoroughly compared with Monte Carlo simulations, obtaining excellent agreement. A summary of preliminary results has already been presented in Pérez Castillo (2014 Phys. Rev. E 90 040102) in the context of one-dimensional trapped spinless fermions in a harmonic potential.
An equivariant discrete model for complexified arrangement complements
Authors: Delucchi Emanuele , Falk Michael
Published: June 2016

We define a partial ordering on the set

Q

=

Q

(

M

)

\mathcal {Q}=\mathcal {Q}(\mathsf {M})

of pairs of topes of an oriented matroid

M

\mathsf {M}

, and show the geometric realization

|

Q

|

|\mathcal {Q}|

of the order complex of

Q

\mathcal {Q}

has the same homotopy type as the Salvetti complex of

M

\mathsf {M}

. For any element

e
e

of the ground set, the complex

|

Q

e

|

|\mathcal {Q}_e|

associated to the rank-one oriented matroid on

{
e
}

\{e\}

has the homotopy type of the circle. There is a natural free simplicial action of

Z

4

\mathbb {Z}_4

on

|

Q

|

|\mathcal {Q}|

, with orbit space isomorphic to the order complex of the poset

Q

(

M

,
e
)

\mathcal {Q}(\mathsf {M},e)

associated to the pointed (or affine) oriented matroid

(

M

,
e
)

(\mathsf {M},e)

. If

M

\mathsf {M}

is the oriented matroid of an arrangement

A

\mathscr {A}

of linear hyperplanes in

R

n

\mathbb {R}^n

, the

Z

4

\mathbb {Z}_4

action corresponds to the diagonal action of

C

∗

\mathbb {C}^*

on the complement

M
M

of the complexification of

A

\mathscr {A}

:

|

Q

|

|\mathcal {Q}|

is equivariantly homotopy-equivalent to

M
M

under the identification of

Z

4

\mathbb {Z}_4

with the multiplicative subgroup

{
±
1
,
±
i
}
⊂

C

∗

\{\pm 1, \pm i\}\subset \mathbb {C}^*

, and

|

Q

(

M

,
e
)

|

|\mathcal {Q}(\mathsf {M},e)|

is homotopy-equivalent to the complement of the decone of

A

\mathscr {A}

relative to the hyperplane corresponding to

e
e

. All constructions and arguments are carried out at the level of the underlying posets.

We also show that the class of fundamental groups of such complexes is strictly larger than the class of fundamental groups of complements of complex hyperplane arrangements. Specifically, the group of the non-Pappus arrangement is not isomorphic to any realizable arrangement group. The argument uses new structural results concerning the degree-one resonance varieties of small matroids.
Nodal and other properties of the second eigenfunction of the Laplacian in the plane
Authors: Liboff Richard
Published: June 2016

Rules are established for the intersection of nodals at a boundary in the plane relevant to the second eigenfunction of the Laplacian. Employing these results together with regularity theorems related to odd reflection of solutions of the Helmholtz equation, as well as a variation of C.S. Lin’s analysis, the following theorem is revisited: The nodal curve of the second eigenstate of the Laplacian for bounded convex domains in the plane, with Dirichlet boundary conditions, is a simple curve that intersects the boundary in two distinct points. Application is made to the regular convex polygons with

C

n

,
n
≥
2

C_{n}, n \geq 2

, symmetry and to convex billiards with smooth boundaries.
Γ-convergence for a fault model with slip-weakening friction and periodic barriers
Authors: Ionescu Ioan , Onofrei Daniel , Vernescu Bogdan
Published: June 2016

We consider a three-dimensional elastic body with a plane fault under a slip-weakening friction. The fault has

ϵ
\epsilon

-periodically distributed holes, called (small-scale) barriers. This problem arises in the modeling of the earthquake nucleation on a large-scale fault. In each

ϵ
\epsilon

-square of the

ϵ
\epsilon

-lattice on the fault plane, the friction contact is considered outside an open set

T
ϵ

T_\epsilon

(small-scale barrier) of size

r
ϵ

>
ϵ

r_\epsilon >\epsilon

, compactly inclosed in the

ϵ
\epsilon

-square. The solution of each

ϵ
\epsilon

-problem is found as local minima for an energy with both bulk and surface terms. The first eigenvalue of a symmetric and compact operator

K
ϵ

K^\epsilon

provides information about the stability of the solution. Using

Γ
\Gamma

-convergence techniques, we study the asymptotic behavior as

ϵ
\epsilon

tends to

0
0

for the friction contact problem. Depending on the values of

c
=:

lim

ϵ
→
0

r
ϵ

/

ϵ
2

c=:\lim _{\epsilon \rightarrow 0} r_\epsilon /\epsilon ^2

we obtain different limit problems. The asymptotic analysis for the associated spectral problem is performed using

G
G

-convergence for the sequence of operators

K
ϵ

K^\epsilon

. The limits of the eigenvalue sequences and the associated eigenvectors are eigenvalues and respectively eigenvectors of a limit operator. From the physical point of view our result can be interpreted as follows: i) if the barriers are too large (i.e.

c
=
∞

c = \infty

), then the fault is locked (no slip), ii) if

c
>
0

c >0

, then the fault behaves as a fault under a slip-dependent friction. The slip weakening rate of the equivalent fault is smaller than the undisturbed fault. Since the limit slip-weakening rate may be negative, a slip-hardening effect can also be expected. iii) if the barriers are too small (i.e.

c
=
0

c=0

), then the presence of the barriers does not affect the friction law on the limit fault.
The chemical identity of intervessel pit membranes inAcerchallenges hydrogel control of xylem hydraulic conductivity
Authors: Klepsch Matthias M. , Schmitt Marco , Paul Knox J. , Jansen Steven
Published: June 2016

Ion-mediated enhancement of the hydraulic conductivity of xylem tissue (i.e. the ionic effect) has been reported for various angiosperm species. One explanation of the ionic effect is that it is caused by the swelling and shrinking of intervessel pit membranes due to the presence of pectins and/or other cell-wall matrix polymers such as heteroxylans or arabinogalactan–proteins (AGPs) that may contain acidic sugars. Here, we examined the ionic effect for six Acer species and their pit membrane chemistry using immunocytochemistry, including antibodies against glycoproteins. Moreover, anatomical features related to the bordered pit morphology and vessel dimensions were investigated using light and electron microscopy. The ionic effect varied from 18 % (± 9) to 32 % (± 13). Epitopes of homogalacturonan (LM18) and xylan (LM11) were not detected in intervessel pit membranes. Negative results were also obtained for glycoproteins (extensin: LM1, JIM20; AGP glycan: LM2), although AGP (JIM13)-related epitopes were detected in parenchyma cells. The mean vessel length was significantly correlated with the magnitude of the ionic effect, unlike other pit or vessel-related characteristics. Our results suggest that intervessel pit membranes of Acer are unlikely to contain pectic or other acidic polysaccharides. Therefore, alternative explanations should be tested to clarify the ionic effect.
Cyclo-lib: a database of computational molecular dynamics simulations of cyclodextrins
Authors: Mixcoha Edgar , Rosende Roberto , Garcia-Fandino Rebeca , Piñeiro Ángel
Published: June 2016

Motivation: Cyclodextrins (CDs) are amongst the most versatile/multi-functional molecules used in molecular research and chemical applications. They are natural cyclic oligosaccharides typically employed to encapsulate hydrophobic groups in their central cavity. This allows solubilizing, protecting or reducing the toxicity of a large variety of different molecules including drugs, dyes and surfactant agents. In spite of their great potential, atomic level information of these molecules, which is key for their function, is really scarce. Computational Molecular Dynamics (MD) simulations have the potential to efficiently fill this gap, providing structural-dynamic information at atomic level in time scales ranging from ps to μs.

Results: Cyclo-lib is a database with a publicly accessible web-interface containing structural and dynamic analysis obtained from computational MD simulation trajectories (250 ns long) of native and modified CDs in explicit water molecules. Cyclo-lib currently includes 70 CDs typically employed for fundamental and industrial research. Tools for comparative analysis between different CDs, as well as to restrict the analysis to specific time-segments within the trajectories are also available. Cyclo-lib provides atomic resolution information aimed to complement experimental results performed with the same molecules.

Availability and Implementation: The database is freely available under http://cyclo-lib.mduse.com/ .

Contact:  Angel.Pineiro@usc.es
pSumo-CD: predicting sumoylation sites in proteins with covariance discriminant algorithm by incorporating sequence-coupled effects into general PseAAC
Authors: Jia Jianhua , Zhang Liuxia , Liu Zi , Xiao Xuan , Chou Kuo-Chen
Published: June 2016

Motivation: Sumoylation is a post-translational modification (PTM) process, in which small ubiquitin-related modifier (SUMO) is attaching by covalent bonds to substrate protein. It is critical to many different biological processes such as replicating genome, expressing gene, localizing and stabilizing proteins; unfortunately, it is also involved with many major disorders including Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases. Therefore, for both basic research and drug development, it is important to identify the sumoylation sites in proteins.

Results: To address such a problem, we developed a predictor called pSumo-CD by incorporating the sequence-coupled information into the general pseudo-amino acid composition (PseAAC) and introducing the covariance discriminant (CD) algorithm, in which a bias-adjustment term, which has the function to automatically adjust the errors caused by the bias due to the imbalance of training data, had been incorporated. Rigorous cross-validations indicated that the new predictor remarkably outperformed the existing state-of-the-art prediction method for the same purpose.

Availability and implementation: For the convenience of most experimental scientists, a user-friendly web-server for pSumo-CD has been established at http://www.jci-bioinfo.cn/pSumo-CD, by which users can easily obtain their desired results without the need to go through the complicated mathematical equations involved.

Contact: jjia@gordonlifescience.org, xxiao@gordonlifescience.org or kcchou@gordonlifescience.org

Supplementary information:  Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.
CellProfiler Analyst: interactive data exploration, analysis and classification of large biological image sets
Authors: Dao David , Fraser Adam N. , Hung Jane , Ljosa Vebjorn , Singh Shantanu , Carpenter Anne E.
Published: June 2016

Summary: CellProfiler Analyst allows the exploration and visualization of image-based data, together with the classification of complex biological phenotypes, via an interactive user interface designed for biologists and data scientists. CellProfiler Analyst 2.0, completely rewritten in Python, builds on these features and adds enhanced supervised machine learning capabilities (Classifier), as well as visualization tools to overview an experiment (Plate Viewer and Image Gallery).

Availability and Implementation: CellProfiler Analyst 2.0 is free and open source, available at http://www.cellprofiler.org and from GitHub (https://github.com/CellProfiler/CellProfiler-Analyst) under the BSD license. It is available as a packaged application for Mac OS X and Microsoft Windows and can be compiled for Linux. We implemented an automatic build process that supports nightly updates and regular release cycles for the software.

Contact:  anne@broadinstitute.org

Supplementary information: Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.
Dynastic Politics, International Protestantism and Royal Rebellion: Prince George of Denmark and the Glorious Revolution
Authors: Farguson Julie
Published: June 2016

This article reveals the importance of Prince George of Denmark to James II and William of Orange. It places George in the world of early modern European politics, when foreign policy and international relations were inextricably linked with dynastic politics, and many were concerned about the future well-being of Protestantism. The religious component is crucial as the evidence strongly suggests that George felt he belonged to a ‘Protestant International’, not defined by membership of a particular nation. By drawing attention to the polycentric nature of the Stuart court in the 1680s, the workings of dynastic politics in the international arena that involved secret political manoeuvrings in the run up to the invasion, and then detailing the way in which George behaved following William’s arrival, this article argues that Prince George played a crucial role in the Glorious Revolution. It will also demonstrate that in the 1690s George helped to consolidate and promote the new regime. During the period in question the Prince and Princess of Denmark were a political partnership, and rather than being led by others, they joined forces with William and Mary because they each had a distinct political agenda. George pursued policies he believed would benefit the Stuart–Oldenburg dynasty in England, and its related houses in Europe, and the cause of international Protestantism. A subsidiary theme of this article will be the continuing importance of ceremonies involving royalty to the political culture of urban communities in early modern England.
Organisational Responses to the Abolition of Mandatory Retirement: Case Studies of Australian University Practice
Authors: Blackham Alysia
Published: June 2016

The abolition of the UK default retirement age (DRA) poses particular challenges for universities. However, it is still unclear how UK universities will respond to this change. To investigate these issues, this article considers theoretical perspectives regarding how organisations respond to change, with a particular focus on reflexive law. It then compares this literature with the results of comparative organisational case studies undertaken with six Australian universities in November 2013. Drawing on comparative analysis of labour laws in Australia and the UK, it considers the extent to which these responses may inform the future reactions of UK universities to the abolition of the DRA.
Creating advanced health informatics certification
Authors: Gadd Cynthia S , Williamson Jeffrey J , Steen Elaine B , Fridsma Douglas B
Published: June 2016

In 2005, AMIA leaders and members concluded that certification of advanced health informatics professionals would offer value to individual practitioners, organizations that hire them, and society at large. AMIA’s work to create advanced informatics certification began by leading a successful effort to create the clinical informatics subspecialty for American Board of Medical Specialties board-certified physicians. Since 2012, AMIA has been working to establish advanced health informatics certification (AHIC) for all health informatics practitioners regardless of their primary discipline. In November 2015, AMIA completed the first of 3 key tasks required to establish AHIC, with the AMIA Board of Directors’ endorsement of proposed eligibility requirements. This AMIA Board white paper describes efforts to establish AHIC, reports on the current status of AHIC components, and provides a context for the proposed AHIC eligibility requirements.
Differences in Impact of Definitional Elements on Mortality Precludes International Comparisons of Sepsis Epidemiology—A Cohort Study Illustrating the Need for Standardized Reporting*
Authors: Shankar-Hari Manu , Harrison David A. , Rowan Kathryn M.
Published: June 2016

Objectives:

Sepsis generates significant global acute illness burden. The international variations in sepsis epidemiology (illness burden) have implications for region specific health policy. We hypothesised that there have been changes over time in the sepsis definitional elements (infection and organ dysfunction), and these may have impacted on hospital mortality.

Design:

Cohort study.

Setting:

We evaluated a high quality, nationally representative, clinical ICU database including data from 181 adult ICUs in England.

Patients:

Nine hundred sixty-seven thousand five hundred thirty-two consecutive adult ICU admissions from January 2000 to December 2012.

Interventions:

None.

Measurements and Main Results:

To address the proposed hypothesis, we evaluated a high quality, nationally representative, clinical, ICU database of 967,532 consecutive admissions to 181 adult ICUs in England, from January 2000 to December 2012, to identify sepsis cases in a robust and reproducible way. Multinomial logistic regression was used to report unadjusted trends in sepsis definitional elements and in mortality risk categories based on organ dysfunction combinations. We generated logistic regression models and assessed statistical interactions with acute hospital mortality as outcome and cohort characteristics, sepsis definitional elements, and mortality risk categories as covariates. Finally, we calculated postestimation statistics to illustrate the magnitude of clinically meaningful improvements in sepsis outcomes over the study period. Over the study period, there were 248,864 sepsis admissions (25.7%). Sepsis mortality varied by infection sources (19.1% for genitourinary to 43.0% for respiratory; p < 0.001), by number of organ dysfunctions (18.5% for 1 to 69.9% for 5; p < 0.001), and organ dysfunction combinations (18.5% for risk category 1 to 58.0% for risk category 4). The rate of improvement in adjusted hospital mortality was significant (odds ratio, 0.939 [0.934–0.945] per year; p < 0.001), but showed different secular trends in improvement between infection sources.

Conclusions:

Within a sepsis cohort, we illustrate case-mix heterogeneity using definitional elements (infection source and organ dysfunction). In the context of improving outcomes, we illustrate differential secular trends in impact of these variables on adjusted mortality and propose this as a valid reason for international variations in sepsis epidemiology. Our article highlights the need to determine standardized reporting elements for optimal comparisons of international sepsis epidemiology.
Hospital safety climate and safety behavior: A social exchange perspective
Authors: Ancarani Alessandro , Di Mauro Carmela , Giammanco Maria D.
Published: June 2016

Background:

Safety climate is considered beneficial to the improvement of hospital safety outcomes. Nevertheless, the relations between two of its key constituents, namely those stemming from leader–subordinate relations and coworker support for safety, are still to be fully ascertained.

Purpose:

This article uses the theoretical lens of Social Exchange Theory to study the joint impact of leader–member exchange in the safety sphere and coworker support for safety on safety-related behavior at the hospital ward level. Social exchange constructs are further related to the existence of a shame-/blame-free environment, seen as a potential antecedent of safety behavior.

Research Design:

A cross-sectional study including 166 inpatients in hospital wards belonging to 10 public hospitals in Italy was undertaken to test the hypotheses developed.

Methodology:

Hypothesized relations have been analyzed through a fully mediated multilevel structural equation model. This methodology allows studying behavior at the individual level, while keeping into account the heterogeneity among hospital specialties.

Findings:

Results suggest that the linkage between leader support for safety and individual safety behavior is mediated by coworker support on safety issues and by the creation of a shame-free environment.

Practical Implications:

These findings call for the creation of a safety climate in which managerial efforts should be directed not only to the provision of new safety resources and the enforcement of safety rules but also to the encouragement of teamwork and freedom to report errors as ways to foster the capacity of the staff to communicate, share, and learn from each other.
MRI features of testicular spermatic granuloma
Authors: Huang Mengyue , Gao Xuemei , Cheng Jingliang , Han Jing , Liu Jingjing
Published: June 2016

Rationale:

A spermatic granuloma is a nonbacterial granulomatous disease that is clinically rare. To the best of our knowledge, there are no reports on the magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) features of a spermatic granuloma.

Patient concerns:

A 64-year-old man presented with a mass in the left testicular region for over 2 months, with a hard texture and without tenderness, redness, swelling, heat, or pain. The patient had no low-grade fever, lack of strength, lumbago, dysuria, or a history of trauma.

Diagnosis:

On MRI, the volume of the left testis and epididymis increased, and the lesion of the left testis showed slight hyperintensity on T1 weighted imaging and hypointensity on T2-weighted imaging (T2WI). Scattered small patchy higher signal could be observed in the lesions on T2WI, and the lesion showed hypointensity on diffusion-weighted imaging, with testicular hydrocele on both sides. After the contrast medium was injected, the lesion showed persistent enhancement, and the time signal intensity curve was of the “plateau type” on MR dynamic enhancement. The MRI diagnosis was a testicular tumor. The lesion was pathologically confirmed to be a spermatic granuloma.

Interventions:

The patient underwent left orchiectomy and epididymal resection.

Outcomes:

The testicular and epididymal lesions showed no recurrent, in 9 years follow-up time period.

Lessons:

Testicular sperm granuloma is a diffuse lesion with an increased volume in the testis and epididymis. Slight hyperintensity on T1 weighted imaging, hypointensity with spotted hyperintensity on T2WI, hypointensity on diffusion-weighted imaging, and persistent enhancement can be considered in the differential diagnosis.
Strategies for Postoperative Seroma Prevention: A Systematic Review
Authors: Janis Jeffrey E. , Khansa Lara , Khansa Ibrahim
Published: June 2016

Background:

There is conflicting evidence on the effectiveness of the various strategies to prevent postoperative seroma. Many high-quality studies have been performed to evaluate those strategies, but the numbers of patients included in those studies have been small. The authors’ goal was to perform a systematic review of all Level I and II studies on the prevention of postoperative seroma.

Methods:

A PubMed search was performed of all Level I and II studies that evaluated strategies for the prevention of postoperative seroma. Only English-language comparative studies on humans, defining seroma as a postoperative serous fluid collection detectable on physical examination, were included. Data from all the studies were compiled, and a systematic review was performed to evaluate the effectiveness of each strategy.

Results:

Seventy-five studies comprising 7173 patients were included. Effective strategies for seroma prevention included the use of closed-suction drains; keeping the drains until their output volume was minimal; maintaining a high pressure gradient in the drains; using sharp or ultrasonic dissection rather than cautery; dissecting the abdomen in a place superficial to the Scarpa fascia; ligating blood vessels with sutures or clips; using quilting or progressive tension sutures; using fibrin, thrombin, or talc; and immobilizing the surgical site postoperatively. Surgical-site compression did not prevent seroma accumulation. The use of sclerosants at the initial operation actually increased the risk of seroma.

Conclusions:

Seroma is a common and frustrating complication in plastic surgery. This study demonstrates that simple strategies can be used to lower the risk of seroma.

CLINICAL QUESTION/LEVEL OF EVIDENCE:

Therapeutic, II.
Prospective and Bidirectional Cross-Sectional Associations between Body Mass Index and Physical Activity following Liposuction: A Cohort Study
Authors: Valente Denis Souto , Padoin Alexandre Vontobel , Carvalho Lauro Aita , Pereira Filho Gustavo de Azambuja , Ribeiro Vinicius Weissheimer , Zanella Rafaela Koehler
Published: June 2016

Background:

It has been speculated that the immediate decrease in body fat following liposuction may affect body composition by feedback mechanisms of body fat regain. Physical activity has both short- and long-term impacts on health. Although the lay public often associates higher levels of physical activity with body fat distribution changes, studies on the association between physical activity and body fat distribution present inconsistent results. The aim of this study was to investigate the cross-sectional and prospective associations between physical activity and body mass index following liposuction.

Methods:

This is a prospective, bidirectional, cross-sectional study, including 526 liposuction patients, who were followed up at a mean of 11.7 and 24.3 months after surgery.

Results:

The sum of skinfolds at 11.7 months was highly correlated with skinfolds at 24.3 months (rho = 0.74, p < 0.001). More than 85 percent of participants remained in the same quintile or changed by not more than one quintile during the 13.6-month period. Tracking of physical activity was considerably lower but still significant; the correlation was 0.24 (p < 0.001), and 61.4 percent of the patients moved one or less quintiles. In fully adjusted models, no significant cross-sectional or longitudinal associations were found between physical activity and body mass index.

Conclusions:

The authors provide evidence of tracking of physical activity and particularly body mass index following liposuction. The authors’ results do not support the hypothesis that physical activity and fatness are strongly related following liposuction.
The American Association of Plastic Surgeons Recent History, with a Review of the Past
Authors: Lawrence W. Thomas
Published: June 2016

The American Association of Plastic Surgeons was founded in 1921 and is the oldest of the plastic surgery societies. It was born out of the enthusiasm of reconstructive surgeons who had recently increased in numbers and expanded the scope of their activities as a result of the challenges posed by battle-injured soldiers during World War I. Early meetings were small, focused exclusively on the head and neck, and often included live surgical demonstrations. The Association has grown in size and scope with time, but it has maintained its academic focus. This article focuses on the most recent 15 years of the Association’s history, as prior publications have chronicled the history of the organization up to 2000. The organization has remained robust in the new millennium, with the national meetings being its most prominent activity. The format of the meetings has continually been improved to remain relevant and of interest to the membership and other attendees. The organization continues to support the development of young academic plastic surgeons through the Academic Scholars Program. It has established new programs such as the Constable Fellowship to support international exchange and has also sponsored two consensus conferences to help define standards of care in plastic surgery–related issues. The Association annually recognizes significant contributors to the field through the variety of awards that it bestows as well. The mission of the American Association of Plastic Surgeons is to provide scholarly leadership in plastic surgery, and the organization continues to successfully accomplish this mission.
An Analysis of the Decisions Made for Contralateral Prophylactic Mastectomy and Breast Reconstruction
Authors: Buchanan Patrick J. , Abdulghani Mariam , Waljee Jennifer F. , Kozlow Jeffrey H. , Sabel Michael S. , Newman Lisa A. , Chung Kevin C. , Momoh Adeyiza O.
Published: June 2016

Background:

Little is known about the role breast reconstruction plays in decisions made for contralateral prophylactic mastectomy. This study explores factors critical to patient medical decision-making for contralateral prophylactic mastectomy and reconstruction among women with early stage, unilateral breast cancer.

Methods:

A mixed methods approach was used to gain an understanding of patients’ choices and experiences. Patients with stage 0 to III unilateral breast cancer who underwent reconstruction were recruited, and semistructured interviews were conducted. Patient-reported outcomes were evaluated using the Concerns About Recurrence Scale and the BREAST-Q.

Results:

Thirty patients were enrolled; 13 (43 percent) underwent unilateral mastectomy and 17 (57 percent) underwent contralateral prophylactic mastectomy. Three broad categories emerged from patient interviews: medical decision-making, quality of life after mastectomy, and breast reconstruction expectations. Patients who chose contralateral prophylactic mastectomy made the decision for mastectomy based primarily on worry about recurrence. Quality of life after mastectomy was characterized by relief of worry, especially in patients who chose contralateral prophylactic mastectomy [n = 14 (82.4 percent)]. Patients’ desires for symmetry, although not the primary reason for contralateral prophylactic mastectomy, played a role in supporting decisions made. Levels of worry after treatment were similar in both groups (72.7 percent). Patients with contralateral prophylactic mastectomy had higher mean scores for satisfaction with breast (82.4 versus 70.6) and satisfaction with outcome (89.9 versus 75.2).

Conclusions:

The choice for contralateral prophylactic mastectomy is greatly influenced by fear of recurrence, with desires for symmetry playing a secondary role in decisions made.
Long-Term Results in Face Lifting: Observational Results and Evolution of Technique
Authors: Rohrich Rod J. , Narasimhan Kailash
Published: June 2016

Background:

Attaining a long-lasting result has always been a major goal of facial rejuvenation surgery. A major objective of this article is for the reader to understand which specific factors have been the keys to durability and consistency in facial rejuvenation.

Methods:

The authors describe the evolution and development of their current techniques for face lifting. The authors review reliable techniques and point to factors that in their experience increase longevity of facial rejuvenation.

Results:

The authors’ experience spans 25 years and 1089 facial surgery patients. Long-term follow-up was difficult beyond 3 years in addition to a lack of uniform photography before the 1990s. Plication and superficial musculoaponeurotic system excision techniques have achieved consistent and reliable results with skin undermining based on an individualized component analysis. Neck techniques that involve wide skin undermining and midline plication help prevent recurrence and optimize shape.

Conclusions:

Patient selection is just as important as technical advances. Patients with better long-term results included younger, more attractive patients with fuller faces. Patients with fuller necks had a higher relapse rate. Opening and treating midline platysmal bands decreased recurrence of neck deformities. Skin resurfacing and the use of topical retinoids has improved our long-term results. Male and female patients had similar results and revision rates. Through trial and error and a wealth of experience, the authors have found techniques that can produce practical, durable, and consistent result in the paradigm of facial rejuvenation.

CLINICAL QUESTION/LEVEL OF EVIDENCE:

Therapeutic, V.
The impeccable credentials of an untrained philosopher: Willem Jacob 's Gravesande's career before his Leiden professorship, 1688–1717
Authors: van Besouw Jip
Published: June 2016

The mathematician, physicist and philosopher W. J. 's Gravesande is particularly known for his adherence to ‘Newtonian philosophy’. Currently, it is widely held that 's Gravesande got his main inspiration for his scholarly calling from Newton himself, whom he met in 1715 during a first career as a lawyer; and that it was mainly Newton's own intervention that ensured the appointment of the unqualified 's Gravesande at Leiden University. I challenge these views by bringing together all currently known information about 's Gravesande, including a number of as yet unused documents. I show that 's Gravesande's appointment resulted from a very carefully built up reputation in scholarly circles rather than from accidental meetings and patronage. 's Gravesande had written several innovative papers and was in contact with both leading mathematicians and local political and patrician figures already before 1715. This article therefore explains the rationale behind his appointment in Leiden.
Emergent weak home-range behaviour without spatial memory
Authors: Sakiyama Tomoko , Gunji Yukio-Pegio
Published: June 2016

Space-use problems have been well investigated. Spatial memory capacity is assumed in many home-range algorithms; however, actual living things do not always exploit spatial memory, and living entities can exhibit adaptive and flexible behaviour using simple cognitive capacity. We have developed an agent-based model wherein the agent uses only detected local regions and compares global efficiencies for a habitat search within its local conditions based on memorized information. Here, memorized information was acquired by scanning locally perceived environments rather than remembering resource locations. When memorized information matched to its current environments, the agent changed resource selection rules. As a result, the agent revisited previous resource sites while exploring new sites, which was demonstrating a weak home-range property.
Helicity and celestial magnetism
Authors: Moffatt H. K.
Published: June 2016

This informal article discusses the central role of magnetic and kinetic helicity in relation to the evolution of magnetic fields in geophysical and astrophysical contexts. It is argued that the very existence of magnetic fields of the intensity and scale observed is attributable in large part to the chirality of the background turbulence or random-wave field of flow, the simplest measure of this chirality being non-vanishing helicity. Such flows are responsible for the generation of large-scale magnetic fields which themselves exhibit magnetic helicity. In the geophysical context, the turbulence has a ‘magnetostrophic’ character in which the force balance is primarily that between buoyancy forces, Coriolis forces and Lorentz forces associated with the dynamo-generated magnetic field; the dominant nonlinearity here arises from the convective transport of buoyant elements erupting from the ‘mushy zone’ at the inner core boundary. At the opposite extreme, in a highly conducting low-density plasma, the near-invariance of magnetic field topology (and of associated helicity) presents the challenging problem of ‘magnetic relaxation under topological constraints’, of central importance both in astrophysical contexts and in controlled-fusion plasma dynamics. These problems are reviewed and open issues, particularly concerning saturation mechanisms, are reconsidered.
A possible role of DNA methylation in functional divergence of a fast evolving duplicate gene encoding odorant binding protein 11 in the honeybee
Authors: Kucharski R. , Maleszka J. , Maleszka R.
Published: June 2016

Although gene duplication is seen as the main path to evolution of new functions, molecular mechanisms by which selection favours the gain versus loss of newly duplicated genes and minimizes the fixation of pseudo-genes are not well understood. Here, we investigate in detail a duplicate honeybee geneobp11belonging to a fast evolving insect gene family encoding odorant binding proteins (OBPs). We report thatobp11is expressed only in female bees in rare antennalsensilla basiconicain contrast to its tandem partnerobp10that is expressed in the brain in both females and males (drones). Unlike all otherobpgenes in the honeybee,obp11is methylated suggesting that functional diversification ofobp11andobp10may have been driven by an epigenetic mechanism. We also show that increased methylation in drones near one donor splice site that correlates with higher abundance of a transcript variant encoding a truncated OBP11 protein is one way of controlling its contrasting expression. Our data suggest that like in mammals and plants, DNA methylation in insects may contribute to functional diversification of proteins produced from duplicated genes, in particular to their subfunctionalization by generating complementary patterns of expression.
Sexual cannibalism increases male material investment in offspring: quantifying terminal reproductive effort in a praying mantis
Authors: Brown William D. , Barry Katherine L.
Published: June 2016

Models of the evolution of sexual cannibalism argue that males may offset the cost of cannibalism if components of the male body are directly allocated to the eggs that they fertilize. We tested this idea in the praying mantidTenodera sinensis. Males and females were fed differently radiolabelled crickets and allowed to mate. Half of the pairs progressed to sexual cannibalism and we prevented cannibalism in the other half. We assess the relative allocation of both male-derived somatic materials and ejaculate materials into the eggs and soma of the female. Our results show that male somatic investment contributes to production of offspring. The eggs and reproductive tissues of cannibalistic females contained significantly more male-derived amino acids than those of non-cannibalistic females, and there was an increase in the number of eggs produced subsequent to sexual cannibalism. Sexual cannibalism thus increases male material investment in offspring. We also show that males provide substantial investment via the ejaculate, with males passing about 25% of their radiolabelled amino acids to females via the ejaculate even in the absence of cannibalism.