bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Decoupling sensory from decisional choice biases in perceptual decision making
Authors: Linares Daniel , Aguilar-Lleyda David , López-Moliner Joan
Published: July 2016

The contribution of sensory and decisional processes to perceptual decision making is still unclear, even in simple perceptual tasks. When decision makers need to select an action from a set of balanced alternatives, any tendency to choose one alternative more often— choice bias—is consistent with a bias in the sensory evidence, but also with a preference to select that alternative independently of the sensory evidence. To decouple sensory from decisional biases, here we asked humans to perform a simple perceptual discrimination task with two symmetric alternatives under two different task instructions. The instructions varied the response mapping between perception and the category of the alternatives. We found that from 32 participants, 30 exhibited sensory biases and 15 decisional biases. The decisional biases were consistent with a criterion change in a simple signal detection theory model. Perceptual decision making, thus, even in simple scenarios, is affected by sensory and decisional choice biases.

IMPACT STATEMENT

Perceptual decision making, even in simple scenarios, is affected by sensory and decisional choice biases.
Lateral pressure profile in bent lipid membranes and mechanosensitive channels gating
Authors: Drozdova Anna A. , Mukhin Sergei I.
Published: July 2016

This review describes the analytical calculation of lateral pressure profile in the hydrophobic part of the lipid bilayer with finite curvature based on previously developed microscopic model for lipid hydrocarbon chains. According to this theory the energy per unit chain is represented as energy of flexible string (Euler’s elastic beam of finite thickness) and interaction between chains is considered as an entropic repulsion. This microscopic theory allows to obtain expression for lateral pressure distribution in bent bilayer if treating a bending as a small deviation from the flat membrane conformation and using perturbation theory. Because lateral pressure distribution is related to elastic properties of lipid bilayer then the first moment of lateral pressure and the expression for bending modulus may be derived from this theoretical model. Finally one can estimate the energy difference between two various conformational states of mechanosensitive channel embedded into the bilayer with pressure profile Пt(z).
Towards an emotional stress test: a reliable, non-subjective cognitive measure of anxious responding
Authors: Aylward Jessica , Robinson Oliver J
Published: July 2016

Response to stress is a key factor in mood and anxiety disorder aetiology. Current measures of stress-response are limited because they largely rely on retrospective self-report. Objectively quantifying individual differences in stress response would be a valuable step towards improving our understanding of disorder vulnerability. Our goal is to develop a reliable, objective, within-subject probe of stress response. To this end, we examined stress-potentiated performance on an inhibitory control task from baseline to 2-4 weeks (n=50) and again after 5-9 months (n=22) as well as examining population measures for a larger sample (n=165). Replicating previous findings, threat of shock improved distractor accuracy and slowed target reaction time on this task. Critically, both within-subject self-report measures of stress (ICC=0.74) and stress-potentiated task performance (ICC=0.58) showed clinically useful test-retest reliability. Threat-potentiated task performance may therefore hold promise as a non-subjective measure of individual stress-reactivity.
Evolution of mutation rates in rapidly adapting asexual populations
Authors: Good Benjamin H. , Desai Michael M.
Published: July 2016

Mutator and antimutator alleles often arise and spread in both natural microbial populations and laboratory evolution experiments. The evolutionary dynamics of these mutation rate modifiers are determined by indirect selection on linked beneficial and deleterious mutations. These indirect selection pressures have been the focus of much earlier theoretical and empirical work, but we still have a limited analytical understanding of how the interplay between hitchhiking and deleterious load influences the fates of modifier alleles. Our understanding is particularly limited when clonal interference is common, which is the regime of primary interest in laboratory microbial evolution experiments. Here, we calculate the fixation probability of a mutator or antimutator allele in a rapidly adapting asexual population, and we show how this quantity depends on the population size, the beneficial and deleterious mutation rates, and the strength of a typical driver mutation. In the absence of deleterious mutations, we find that clonal interference enhances the fixation probability of mutators, even as they provide a diminishing benefit to the overall rate of adaptation. When deleterious mutations are included, natural selection pushes the population towards a stable mutation rate that can be suboptimal for the adaptation of the population as a whole. The approach to this stable mutation rate is not necessarily monotonic, and selection can favor mutator and antimutator alleles that overshoot the stable mutation rate by substantial amounts.
Making the case for manager delegation of authority
Authors: Lyons Paul R.
Published: July 2016

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to present some of the foundational characteristics of the effective delegation of authority. Taken from a broad array of research and opinion, the fundamental aspects are given clear exposition.

Design/methodology/approach

Addressed in this paper are several areas that establish the basis for effective delegation to include the psychology of delegation, potential benefits, delegation and high performance human resource management practices, and fears of actually delegating authority.

Findings

Findings are grounded on actual practices which have been researched. There is a “science” to manager delegation of authority, and the critical information about how to delegate is presented.

Originality/value

This work gives shape to the actions that help to create effective delegation. There are many benefits that accrue from effective delegation, and these benefits are often under-represented.
Harnessing skills of the overqualified
Authors: Beal Brian
Published: July 2016

Purpose

Many organizations hold the traditional view that due to the potential of higher job dissatisfaction and employee turnover rates, hiring overqualified job candidates is risky. The purpose of this paper is to take an alternative perspective, using human capital and resource-based theories to propose that hiring overqualified job candidates adds to a firm’s human capital depth. This additional human capital depth, in turn, enables firms to improve near-term organizational effectiveness and, ultimately, build long-term competitive advantage. Thus, the conceptual framework makes reference to deployment of the overqualified as an under-used source of human capital.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper reviews theory and proposes a conceptual framework for reimaging overqualified human resources.

Findings

There are powerful benefits to hiring overqualified job candidates; however, by not hiring overqualified job candidates, organizations are missing out on a large, easily available, and potentially lower cost source of highly skilled human capital.

Originality/value

This paper uses human capital and resource-based theory to propose a conceptual framework which makes four key contributions. First, the authors propose that hiring overqualified job candidates increases an organization’s human capital depth. Next, this increased human capital leads to near-term improvements in employee performance and organizational effectiveness. In turn, firms using career development exercises such as job crafting, mentoring, and/or informal leadership to retain overqualified human capital are more likely to convert near-term organizational effectiveness into long-term competitive advantage.
“Well they would say that, wouldn’t they!”
Authors: Linacre Simon
Published: July 2016

Purpose

Reviews the latest management developments across the globe and pinpoints practical implications from cutting-edge research and case studies.

Design/methodology/approach

This briefing is prepared by an independent writer who adds their own impartial comments and places the articles in context.

Findings

What is cynicism? To the manager, it is a cancerous, evil flow of negativity that stops employees from getting on with the job they are paid to do; it is the holding back of a company on the rise; it is the contamination of enthusiastic, young employees with so-called wise words from more experienced members of staff. In short, it is nothing less than the almost willful sabotage of all the good things a company tries to do.

Practical Implications

Provides strategic insights and practical thinking that have influenced some of the world’s leading organizations.

Originality/value

The briefing saves busy executives and researchers hours of reading time by selecting only the very best, most pertinent information and presenting it in a condensed and easy-to-digest format.
REIT market efficiency through a binomial option pricing tree approach
Authors: Ho Kim Hin David , Tay Shea Jean
Published: July 2016

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to examine the risk neutral and non-risk neutral pricing of Singapore Real Estate Investment Trusts (S-REITs) via comparing the average of the individual ratios (of deviation between expected and observed closing price/observed closing price) with the ratio (of standard deviation/mean) for closing prices via the binomial options pricing tree model.

Design/methodology/approach

– If the ratio (of standard deviation/mean) ratio > the ratio (of deviation between expected and observed closing price/observed closing price), then the deviation of closing prices from the expected risk neutral prices is not significant and that the S-REIT is consistent with risk neutral pricing. If the ratio (of deviation between expected and observed closing price/observed closing price) is greater, then the S-REIT is not consistent with risk neutral pricing.

Findings

– Capitacommercial Trust (CCT), Capitamall Trust (CMT) and Keppel Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) have large positive differences between the two ratios (39.86, 30.79 and 18.96 percent, respectively), implying that these S-REITs are not trading at risk neutral pricing. Suntec REIT has a small positive difference of 2.35 percent between both ratios, implying that it is trading at risk neutral pricing. Ascendas REIT has the largest negative difference between the two ratios at −4.24 percent, to be followed by Mapletree Logistics Trust at −0.44 percent. Both S-REITs are trading at risk neutral pricing. The analysis shows that CCT, CMT and Keppel REIT exhibit risk averse pricing.

Research limitations/implications

– Results are consistent with prudential asset allocation for viable S-REIT portfolio investing but that not all these S-REITs exhibit strong market efficiency in their pricing.

Practical implications

– Pricing may be risk neutral over a certain period but investor sentiments, fear of risks and speculative activities could affect an S-REIT’s risk neutrality.

Social implications

– With enhanced risk diversification activities, the S-REITs should attain risk neutral pricing.

Originality/value

– Virtually no research of this nature has been undertaken for S-REITS.
A case study of the investment yields of high street banks
Authors: Lam Terence Y.M. , Tipping Malvern
Published: July 2016

Purpose

– Sale-and-leaseback has become an increasingly common approach during the last two decades in the investment of high street banks (banking-halls) in the UK. One measure commonly used in making property investment decisions is the all risks yield (ARY) which is associated with the level of rental income. Investors and their advisors need to know which factors are likely to result in the highest ARY when assembling investment portfolios of such properties. The purpose of this paper is to identify those yield influences.

Design/methodology/approach

– A qualitative multiple-case study was adopted. A literature review generated a hypothesis which was tested by a qualitative study, based upon semi-structured interviews and a questionnaire, to establish the influencing factors. Expert interviews were held with the heads of those three major auction-houses dealing with auctions of all retail bank premises in the Great Britain market, whilst the questionnaire survey involved investment professionals from within the auction-houses.

Findings

– The study confirmed that the four factors influencing yields and investors’ decision-making when purchasing retail banking premises were tenant banking company (brand names), regional location (north and south super-regions), lot size (hammer price), and tenure (freehold or leasehold).

Research limitations/implications

– This investigation focuses on Great Britain’s geographical and political area which includes England, Scotland and Wales, but excludes Northern Ireland. This research focuses on banking-halls as a sub-class of retail property investment. The findings form a baseline upon which further research can be conducted on other sub-types of retail property such as high street shops and retail parks. The results will also underpin the development of a quantitative yield predictive model based on regression analysis.

Practical implications

– To maximize the returns on property investments, investors and their professional advisors can use those factors having the greatest influence on yields to make informed investment decisions for the building of property portfolios.

Originality/value

– As a sub-sector, bank premises do not necessarily correlate to the generic retail sector. This research consolidates the broad systematic drivers of retail yields into specific factors influencing the ARY of banking-halls. The findings provide better understanding of an active but sparsely analysed sub-market of banking hall investments, and by so-doing help investors to maximize their investment returns.
Elevation and latitude interact to drive life‐history variation in precocial birds: a comparative analysis using galliformes
Authors: Balasubramaniam Priya , Rotenberry John T.
Published: July 2016

Elevational gradients provide a powerful laboratory for understanding the environmental and ecological drivers of geographic variation in avian life‐history strategies. Environmental variation across elevational gradients is hypothesized to select for a trade‐off of reduced fecundity (lower clutch size and/or fewer broods) for higher offspring quality (larger eggs and/or increased parental care) in higher elevation species and populations. In birds, a focus on altricial species from north temperate latitudes has prevented an evaluation of the generality of this trade‐off, and how it is affected by latitude and intrinsic factors (development mode).

We performed a comparative analysis controlling for body size and phylogenetic relationships on a global data set of 135 galliform species to test (i) whether higher elevation precocial species have lower fecundity (smaller clutch and/or fewer broods) and invest more in offspring quality (greater egg mass) and (ii) whether latitude influences the traits involved and/or the trade‐off, and (iii) to identify ecological and environmental drivers of life‐history variation along elevational gradients.

Life‐history traits showed significant interaction effects across elevation and latitude: temperate higher elevation species had smaller clutches and clutch mass, larger eggs and shorter incubation periods, whereas more tropical species had larger clutches, eggs and clutch mass, and longer incubation periods as elevation increased. Number of broods and body mass did not vary with elevation or latitude. Latitudinal gradient in clutch size was observed only for low‐elevation species.

Significantly, an overlooked latitude‐by‐elevation interaction confounds our traditional view of clutch size variation across a tropical‐to‐temperate gradient. Across all latitudes, higher elevation species invested in offspring quality via larger eggs but support for reduced fecundity resulting from smaller clutches was found only along temperate elevational gradients; contrary to expectations, tropical high‐elevation species showed increased fecundity. Variation in nest predation risk could explain differences between temperate and tropical elevational gradients, but we lack a consistent mechanism to explain why predation risk should vary in this manner. Alternatively, a resource availability hypothesis based on physical attributes that globally differ between elevation and latitude (seasonality in day length and temperature) seems more plausible.
The ontogeny of tolerance curves: habitat quality vs. acclimation in a stressful environment
Authors: Nougué Odrade , Svendsen Nils , Jabbour‐Zahab Roula , Lenormand Thomas , Chevin Luis‐Miguel
Published: July 2016

Stressful environments affect life‐history components of fitness through (i) instantaneous detrimental effects, (ii) historical (carry‐over) effects and (iii) history‐by‐environment interactions, including acclimation effects. The relative contributions of these different responses to environmental stress are likely to change along life, but such ontogenic perspective is often overlooked in studies of tolerance curves, precluding a better understanding of the causes of costs of acclimation, and more generally of fitness in temporally fine‐grained environments.

We performed an experiment in the brine shrimp Artemia to disentangle these different contributions to environmental tolerance, and investigate how they unfold along life. We placed individuals from three clones of A. parthenogenetica over a range of salinities during a week, before transferring them to a (possibly) different salinity for the rest of their lives. We monitored individual survival at repeated intervals throughout life, instead of measuring survival or performance at a given point in time, as commonly done in acclimation experiments. We then designed a modified survival analysis model to estimate phase‐specific hazard rates, accounting for the fact that individuals may share the same treatment for only part of their lives.

Our approach allowed us to distinguish effects of salinity on (i) instantaneous mortality in each phase (habitat quality effects), (ii) mortality later in life (history effects) and (iii) their interaction. We showed clear effects of early salinity on late survival and interactions between effects of past and current environments on survival. Importantly, analysis of the ontogenetic dynamics of the tolerance curve reveals that acclimation affects different parts of the curve at different ages.

Adopting a dynamical view of the ontogeny of tolerance curve should prove useful for understanding niche limits in temporally changing environments, where the full sequence of environments experienced by an individual determines its overall environmental tolerance, and how it changes throughout life.
Species and population diversity in Pacific salmon fisheries underpin indigenous food security
Authors: Nesbitt Holly K. , Moore Jonathan W.
Published: July 2016

Indigenous people are considered to be among the most vulnerable to food insecurity and biodiversity loss. Biodiversity is cited as a key component of indigenous food security; however, quantitative examples of this linkage are limited.

We examined how species and population diversity influence the food security of indigenous fisheries for Pacific salmon (Oncorhynchus species). We compared two dimensions of food security – catch stability (interannual variability) and access (season length) – across a salmon diversity gradient for 21 fisheries on the Fraser River, Canada, over 30 years, using linear regression models. We used population diversity proxies derived from a range of existing measures because population‐specific data were unavailable.

While both population and species diversity were generally associated with higher catch stability and temporal access, population diversity had a stronger signal. Fisheries with access to high species diversity had up to 1·4 times more stable catch than predicted by the portfolio effect and up to 1·2 times longer fishing seasons than fisheries with access to fewer species. Fisheries with access to high population diversity had up to 3·8 times more stable catch and three times longer seasons than fisheries with access to fewer populations.

Catch stability of Chinook Oncorhynchus tshawytscha and sockeye Oncorhynchus nerka fisheries was best explained by the number of populations and conservation units, respectively, that migrate past a fishery en route to spawning grounds. Similar population diversity metrics were important explanatory variables for season length of sockeye, pink Oncorhynchus gorbuscha, coho Oncorhynchus kisutch and chum Oncorhynchus keta fisheries.

Synthesis and applications. We show an empirical example of how multiple scales of biodiversity support food security across a large watershed and suggest that protecting fine‐scale salmon diversity will help promote food security for indigenous people. The scales of environmental assessments need to match the scales of the socio‐ecological processes that will be affected by development. We illustrate that upstream projects that damage salmon habitat could degrade the food security of downstream indigenous fisheries, with implications to Canadian indigenous people and to watersheds around the world where migratory fishes support local fisheries.
Cost and feasibility of a barrier to halt the spread of invasive cane toads in arid Australia: incorporating expert knowledge into model‐based decision‐making
Authors: Southwell Darren , Tingley Reid , Bode Michael , Nicholson Emily , Phillips Ben L.
Published: July 2016

Active engagement with practitioners is a crucial component of model‐based decision‐making in conservation management; it can assist with data acquisition, improve models and help narrow the ‘knowing–doing’ gap.

We worked with practitioners of one of the worst invasive species in Australia, the cane toad Rhinella marina, to revise a model that estimates the effectiveness of landscape barriers to contain spread. The original model predicted that the invasion could be contained by managing artificial watering points on pastoral properties, but was initially met with scepticism by practitioners, in part due to a lack of engagement during model development.

We held a workshop with practitioners and experts in cane toad biology. Using structured decision‐making, we elicited concerns about the original model, revised its structure, updated relevant input data, added an economic component and found the most cost‐effective location for a barrier across a range of fixed budgets and management scenarios. We then conducted scenario analyses to test the sensitivity of management decisions to model revisions.

We found that toad spread could be contained for all of the scenarios tested. Our modelling suggests a barrier could cost $4·5 M (2015 AUD) over 50 years for the most likely landscape scenario. The incorporation of practitioner knowledge into the model was crucial. As well as improving engagement, when we incorporated practitioner concerns (particularly regarding the effects of irrigation and dwellings on toad spread), we found a different location for the optimal barrier compared to a previously published study (Tingley et al. 2013).

Synthesis and applications. Through engagement with practitioners, we turned an academic modelling exercise into a decision‐support tool that integrated local information, and considered more realistic scenarios and constraints. Active engagement with practitioners led to productive revisions of a model that estimates the effectiveness of a landscape barrier to contain spread of the invasive cane toad R. marina. Benefits also include greater confidence in model predictions, improving our assessment of the cost and feasibility of containing the spread of toads.
Mollusc‐shell debris can mitigate the deleterious effects of organic pollution on marine sediments
Authors: Casado‐Coy Nuria , Martínez‐García Elena , Sánchez‐Jerez Pablo , Sanz‐Lázaro Carlos
Published: July 2016

Organic pollution is widespread in coastal areas and can have profound impacts on the seabed. Coastal sediments play an important role at a global scale in the recycling of organic matter, and this process is influenced by the habitat complexity of the sediments, among other factors. Mollusc shells are produced as a waste product from a range of anthropogenic activities, but we demonstrate that they can be used to increase the habitat complexity of sediments.

We studied the effect of mussel‐shell debris (shell‐hash) on the biogeochemical processes of marine sediments affected by organic pollution, using a mesocosm experiment simulating the bioturbation effects of macrofauna.

We found that shell‐hash improved the ecological status of organically polluted sediments by reducing the accumulation of sulphide from anaerobic metabolic pathways.

Additionally, when shell‐hash was present in an organically polluted sediment, there was a decrease in ammonium release to the water column, thus preventing the negative ecological consequences of eutrophication.

Synthesis and applications. Our study indicates that shell‐hash debris can be used as a potential tool to mitigate the effects of organic enrichment on marine sediments. A density of shell‐hash debris of 1900 g m−2 in the sediment can diminish toxic by‐products (sulphides and ammonium) derived from the stimulation of anaerobic metabolic pathways by organic pollution, at levels that are biologically relevant. The mitigation effect of shell‐hash is more pronounced in sediments where macrofauna is not present.
Experimental study showed that adding fortifier and extra‐hydrolysed proteins to preterm infant mothers' milk increased osmolality
Authors: Rosas R , Sanz MP , Fernández‐Calle P , Alcaide MJ , Montes MT , Pastrana N , Segovia C , Omeñaca F , Sáenz de Pipaón M
Published: July 2016

Aim

Measuring milk osmolality after adjustable fortification is clinically relevant, as values exceeding recommended safety thresholds might result in gastrointestinal consequences. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of four fortification levels and storage time on the osmolality of human milk.

Methods

This was an experimental study using 71 spare samples of fresh breastmilk collected from 31 mothers of preterm infants. Osmolality was measured before and after adding commercial human milk fortifier containing dextrinomaltose and hydrolysed proteins at four different concentrations. Measurements were performed at various points during the 23 hours after fortification.

Results

The mean basal osmolality of the 71 human milk samples was 296 ± 14 milliosmoles (mOsm)/kg, and these remained stable over a period of 23 hours. Just after fortification, the four fortified formulas showed higher osmolalities than the nonfortified human milk, ranging between 384 ± 14 and 486 ± 15 mOsm/kg, respectively (p < 0.01). This osmolality increased significantly from 20 minutes to 23 hours after fortification (p < 0.05).

Conclusion

Adding fortifier and extra‐hydrolysed proteins to human preterm milk increased osmolality, and these osmolality levels also increased with time. We recommend evaluating the risk of hyperosmolality when a higher fortification level is needed, to avoid gastrointestinal problems.
Developing graduate attributes in an open online course
Authors: Rowe Michael
Published: July 2016

In an increasingly connected world where solving complex problems is not possible by solitary experts, educators and learners need opportunities to develop ways of thinking that allow them to engage with the dynamic and complex situations that arise in the world. The development of graduate attributes has been suggested as one way in which students can be prepared as active agents of social good. However, there are significant challenges with respect to developing these graduate attributes. This paper argues that the use of authentic learning in the design of open online courses may provide a structure for educators to develop generic graduate attributes.

The use of collaborative technologies that are informed by authentic learning enables new forms of communication that allow students to fully engage with the academic process in ways that are difficult to achieve with traditional, classroom‐based teaching methods. This study made use of a blogging platform to create a collaborative open online course using principles of authentic task design in order to develop graduate attributes in undergraduate physiotherapy students.

The study used an interpretive, qualitative design that gathered data via focus group discussions. Transcripts were analysed inductively in order to determine categories, which were then analysed in relation to the graduate attributes of the institution in which the study took place. Student discussions suggested that they had developed at least some components of generic graduate attributes, including an approach to learning that was personal and internally motivated, the ability to consider alternative points of view and acknowledge different perspectives, the confidence to challenge knowledge and authority, and skills as empathic communicators.
Detection of prognostic factors in children and adolescents with Burkitt and Diffuse Large B‐Cell Lymphoma treated with theAIEOP LNH‐97 protocol
Authors: Pillon Marta , Mussolin Lara , Carraro Elisa , Conter Valentino , Aricò Maurizio , Vinti Luciana , Garaventa Alberto , Piglione Matilde , Buffardi Salvatore , Sala Alessandra , Santoro Nicola , Lo Nigro Luca , Mura Rossella , Tondo Annalisa , Casale Fiorina , Farruggia Piero , Pierani Paolo , Cesaro Simone , d'Amore Emanuele S. G. , Basso Giuseppe
Published: July 2016

Burkitt lymphoma (BL) and Diffuse Large B‐Cell Lymphoma (DLBCL) account for most cases of non‐Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) in childhood. We report the clinical characteristics, outcome and prognostic factors in children withBLorDLBCLtreated according to the Associazione Italiana Ematologia Oncologia Pediatrica (AIEOP)LNH‐97 protocol. Patients aged up to 18 years that were newly diagnosed withBL/DLBCLwere included in the study. Therapy consisted of pre‐phase followed by 2–6 high‐dose chemotherapy courses tailored according to lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) value and disease stage. A total of 442 patients (379BL, 63DLBCL) were enrolled between 1997 and 2014, of whom 18 failed to achieve remission, 6 experienced treatment‐related death, 2 developed second malignancy and 20 relapsed. At a median follow‐up time of 5 years, overall survival was 93% (±1%) and event‐free survival was 90% (±1%).LDHvalue above the median value had an independently negative prognostic value (P < 0·0001). However, in the subgroup of 128 patients in which minimal disseminated disease (MDD) was analysed,MDD‐positivity became the only unfavourable prognostic factor for progression‐free survival. Tailored chemotherapy could be extremely effective with limited toxicity. Identification ofMDDas a hallmark of a higher risk of treatment failure may provide a target population for treatment intensification by anti‐CD20.
Choices of incidental findings of individuals undergoing genome wide sequencing, a single center's experience
Authors: Bishop C.L , Strong K.A , Dimmock D.P
Published: July 2016

Genome wide sequencing is an emerging clinical tool that may provide information on genetic variants that are not directly related to the patient's primary disorder. These incidental findings (IFs) may include information about conditions that can be treated and may also indicate conditions for which treatments are not currently available. Data is currently limited regarding what IFs an individual would want to disclose. This study reports on 305 individual choices for return of IFs that were completed at the Medical College of Wisconsin's clinical sequencing laboratory. Individuals were given access to five categories of IFs to select from: no incidental findings, untreatable childhood disorders, treatable adulthood disorders, untreatable adulthood disorders, and carrier of a disorder. Retrospective chart review was conducted and individual choices were recorded and analyzed. The majority of individuals (76.1%) selected every IF to be reported, 14.4% wanted a subset of the options, and 9.5% did not want any IFs reported. This study contributes to the limited data that demonstrates what an individual would actually choose when undergoing genetic sequencing. Furthermore, this data supports the opinion that individuals want and utilize the ability to choose the findings reported.
Photodynamic therapy with 5‐aminolaevulinic acid and DNA damage: unravelling roles of p53 and ABCG2
Authors: Postiglione I. , Barra F. , Aloj S. M. , Palumbo G.
Published: July 2016

Objectives

In spite of high sensitivity of A549 cells (p53+/+) to lethal effects of photodynamic therapy with 5‐aminolaevulinic acid (5‐ALA/PDT), DNA damage was observed only in H1299 cells (p53−/−), suggesting that p53 may exert a protective effect. Studies on human colon adenocarcinoma cell lines HCT‐116, and their cognate knockouts for p53, were not entirely consistent with the assumption above. Exploring alternative explanations for such conflicting behaviour, we observed that expression of the ATP‐binding cassette G2 (ABCG2), a regulator of cell component efflux, had important effects on PDT‐generated DNA injury in PC3 cells (prostate) which are p53−/− and positive for ABCG2. Addition of an ABCG2 inhibitor in ABCG2 positive A549 (p53+/+) and PC3 (p53−/−) cells eliminated resistance to DNA damage.

Materials and methods

All cell lines investigated were incubated with 5‐ALA and irradiated. Effects of PDT were evaluated assessing residual cell viability, cell‐cycle profiles, PpIX localization, comet assay and Western blotting. Identical measurements were made in the presence of ABCG2 inhibitor, in cells expressing the transporter.

Results

Our data show that cell aptitude to defend its DNA from PDT‐induced injury was mainly ruled by ABCG2 expression. These findings, while providing helpful information in predicting effectiveness of 5‐ALA/PDT, may indicate a way to shift PDT from a palliative to a more effective approach in anti‐cancer therapy.
Ecological and phylogenetic perspectives on wing stiffness in nine Theclini species (Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae)
Authors: Uchida Akihiko , Imafuku Michio
Published: July 2016

We studied the relationship between wing stiffness and butterfly ecology and phylogeny. Nine species belonging to the tribe Theclini of the family Lycaenidae were selected and examined for the wing stiffness of dried specimens by a three‐point bending test. It was found in Japonica lutea that the wing stiffness was not affected by the humidity to which it had been exposed, but was strongly affected by wing size and sex. Comparisons of sexual differences in four species indicated that females of patrolling species had stiffer wings than conspecific males, but that males of territorial species had stiffer wings than conspecific females. Finally, the wing stiffness was compared among males of nine species that use different mate‐locating tactics, and the results revealed a tendency that males of territorial species have stiffer wings than males of patrolling species. These results, though including a few exceptional cases, are discussed from the perspective of ecological requirements and phylogenetic constraints on the species.
Crown group Oxyphotobacteria postdate the rise of oxygen
Authors: Shih P. M. , Hemp J. , Ward L. M. , Matzke N. J. , Fischer W. W.
Published: July 2016

The rise of oxygen ca. 2.3 billion years ago (Ga) is the most distinct environmental transition in Earth history. This event was enabled by the evolution of oxygenic photosynthesis in the ancestors of Cyanobacteria. However, long‐standing questions concern the evolutionary timing of this metabolism, with conflicting answers spanning more than one billion years. Recently, knowledge of the Cyanobacteria phylum has expanded with the discovery of non‐photosynthetic members, including a closely related sister group termed Melainabacteria, with the known oxygenic phototrophs restricted to a clade recently designated Oxyphotobacteria. By integrating genomic data from the Melainabacteria, cross‐calibrated Bayesian relaxed molecular clock analyses show that crown group Oxyphotobacteria evolved ca. 2.0 billion years ago (Ga), well after the rise of atmospheric dioxygen. We further estimate the divergence between Oxyphotobacteria and Melainabacteria ca. 2.5–2.6 Ga, which—if oxygenic photosynthesis is an evolutionary synapomorphy of the Oxyphotobacteria—marks an upper limit for the origin of oxygenic photosynthesis. Together, these results are consistent with the hypothesis that oxygenic photosynthesis evolved relatively close in time to the rise of oxygen.
Tree demography dominates long‐term growth trends inferred from tree rings
Authors: Brienen Roel J. W. , Gloor Manuel , Ziv Guy
Published: July 2016

Understanding responses of forests to increasing CO2 and temperature is an important challenge, but no easy task. Tree rings are increasingly used to study such responses. In a recent study, van der Sleen et al. (2014) Nature Geoscience, 8, 4 used tree rings from 12 tropical tree species and find that despite increases in intrinsic water use efficiency, no growth stimulation is observed. This challenges the idea that increasing CO2 would stimulate growth. Unfortunately, tree ring analysis can be plagued by biases, resulting in spurious growth trends. While their study evaluated several biases, it does not account for all. In particular, one bias may have seriously affected their results. Several of the species have recruitment patterns, which are not uniform, but clustered around one specific year. This results in spurious negative growth trends if growth rates are calculated in fixed size classes, as ‘fast‐growing’ trees reach the sampling diameter earlier compared to slow growers and thus fast growth rates tend to have earlier calendar dates. We assessed the effect of this ‘nonuniform age bias’ on observed growth trends and find that van der Sleen's conclusions of a lack of growth stimulation do not hold. Growth trends are – at least partially – driven by underlying recruitment or age distributions. Species with more clustered age distributions show more negative growth trends, and simulations to estimate the effect of species’ age distributions show growth trends close to those observed. Re‐evaluation of the growth data and correction for the bias result in significant positive growth trends of 1–2% per decade for the full period, and 3–7% since 1950. These observations, however, should be taken cautiously as multiple biases affect these trend estimates. In all, our results highlight that tree ring studies of long‐term growth trends can be strongly influenced by biases if demographic processes are not carefully accounted for.
Factors associated with end‐of‐life by home‐visit nursing‐care providers in Japan
Authors: Nakanishi Miharu , Niimura Junko , Nishida Atsushi
Published: July 2016

Aim

Home‐visit nursing‐care services in Japan are expected to provide home hospice services for older patients with non‐cancer diseases. The aim of the present study was to examine factors that contribute to the provision of end‐of‐life care by home‐visit nursing‐care providers in Japan.

Methods

The present retrospective study was carried out using nationally representative cross‐sectional data from the 2007, 2010, and 2013 Survey of Institutions and Establishments for Long‐Term Care. A total of 138 008 randomly sampled home‐visit nursing‐care service users were included in this analysis. End‐of‐life care (study outcome) was defined as the provision of nursing‐care within the last month of life.

Results

Of the 138 008 patients at home, 2280 (1.7%) received home‐based nursing care within the last month of life, and end‐of‐life care was offered primarily to cancer patients (n = 1651; 72.4%). After accounting for patient characteristics, patients were more likely to receive end‐of‐life care when they used home‐visit nursing‐care providers that had a greater number of nursing staff or were located in a region with fewer hospital beds.

Conclusions

Among home‐visit nursing‐care providers, the nursing staff ratio and the availability of hospital beds were related to the provision of end‐of‐life care. Home‐visit nursing‐care providers should establish specialist hospice care teams with enhanced staffing ratios to allow for the adequate provision of home‐based end‐of‐life care. A community‐based network between home‐visit nursing‐care providers and hospitals should also be established to attain an integrated end‐of‐life care system for elderly populations in regions with more hospital beds. Geriatr Gerontol Int 2017; 17: 991–998.
Fear of falling, but not gait impairment, predicts subjective memory complaints in cognitively intact older adults
Authors: Sakurai Ryota , Suzuki Hiroyuki , Ogawa Susumu , Kawai Hisashi , Yoshida Hideyo , Hirano Hirohiko , Ihara Kazushige , Obuchi Shuichi , Fujiwara Yoshinori
Published: July 2016

Aim

Understanding the risk factors for developing subjective memory complaints (SMC) could help with early screening and treatment for cognitive impairment. The aim of the present study was to explore the risk factors for developing SMC, by focusing on gait‐related variables.

Methods

A total of 406 community‐dwelling older adults aged 65–85 years without impending cognitive impairment participated in baseline and 1‐year follow‐up evaluations. A comprehensive evaluation was carried out, and included gait speed and fear of falling (FoF) assessments, and the Montreal Cognitive Assessment test. Logistic regression analyses were carried out to independently evaluate the risk factors at baseline and follow‐up evaluations.

Results

At baseline, 45.1% of older adults had SMC. The presence of SMC at baseline was associated with being female, subjective hearing loss and FoF. Of 223 participants who did not report SMC at baseline, 48 had newly developed SMC at follow up (21.5%). The significant predictors for developing SMC were being female and FoF, but not gait speed, and were independent of depression symptoms. The Montreal Cognitive Assessment total score at baseline was a marginally significant predictor for developing SMC at follow up (P = 0.06), but a lower score in the language domain was a significant predictor in further analysis.

Conclusions

FoF was a significant risk for future development of SMC, suggesting that FoF might reflect the risk of cognitive impairment at an earlier stage, or that FoF and SMC could share the same basis of anxiety for daily activities. The mechanisms and consequence of this longitudinal relationship require further study. Geriatr Gerontol Int 2017; 17: 1125–1131.
Automating Recession Curve Displacement Recharge Estimation
Authors: Smith Brennan , Schwartz Stuart
Published: July 2016

Recharge estimation is an important and challenging element of groundwater management and resource sustainability. Many recharge estimation methods have been developed with varying data requirements, applicable to different spatial and temporal scales. The variability and inherent uncertainty in recharge estimation motivates the recommended use of multiple methods to estimate and bound regional recharge estimates. Despite the inherent limitations of using daily gauged streamflow, recession curve displacement methods provide a convenient first‐order estimate as part of a multimethod hierarchical approach to estimate watershed‐scale annual recharge. The implementation of recession curve displacement recharge estimation in the United States Geologic Survey (USGS) RORA program relies on the subjective, operator‐specific selection of baseflow recession events to estimate a gauge‐specific recession index. This paper presents a parametric algorithm that objectively automates this tedious, subjective process, parameterizing and automating the implementation of recession curve displacement. Results using the algorithm reproduce regional estimates of groundwater recharge from the USGS Appalachian Valley and Piedmont Regional Aquifer‐System Analysis, with an average absolute error of less than 2%. The algorithm facilitates consistent, completely automated estimation of annual recharge that complements more rigorous data‐intensive techniques for recharge estimation.
Changes in health‐related quality of life with treatment of longer‐acting clotting factors: results in the A‐LONG and B‐LONG clinical studies
Authors: Wyrwich K. W. , Krishnan S. , Auguste P. , Poon J.‐L. , von Maltzahn R. , Yu R. , Pierce G. F. , Mei B. , Mahlangu J. , von Mackensen S.
Published: July 2016

Introduction

In haemophilia, prophylactic infusion of replacement factor can result in improvements in health‐related quality of life (HRQoL) when compared with episodic treatment. The Haemophilia‐specific Quality of Life (Haem‐A‐QoL) questionnaire assessed HRQoL in adults with severe haemophilia A or B who received prophylactic or episodic treatment with recombinant factor VIII or IX Fc fusion protein (rFVIIIFc or rFIXFc) in the A‐LONG or B‐LONG clinical studies.

Aims

Understand changes in HRQoL during the A‐LONG and B‐LONG trials.

Methods

Group‐level and individual‐level changes over time for the Haem‐A‐QoL key domains of ‘Physical Health’ and ‘Sports & Leisure,’ and ‘Total Score’ were evaluated in adults through baseline and 6‐month HRQoL assessments. Previously determined responder definitions (RDs) were used for evaluating meaningful subject‐level HRQoL improvements.

Results

The analysis included 67 A‐LONG and 51 B‐LONG subjects who completed the Haem‐A‐QoL (baseline and 6 months). While HRQoL improvements were observed among all treatment groups, greater improvements in HRQoL were observed among subjects who received episodic treatment pre‐study (and prophylaxis on‐study) compared to those who received hyphenate prophylaxis. Applying the RDs for interpreting 6‐month changes, 47.4%/33.3% (‘Physical Health’), 35.9%/50.0% (‘Sports & Leisure’) and 23.9%/33.3% (‘Total Score’) of A‐LONG subjects who received individualized or weekly prophylaxis were classified as HRQoL responders. In B‐LONG, 69.2%/57.9% (‘Physical Health’), 44.4%/56.7% (‘Sports & Leisure’) and 41.7%/44.1% (‘Total Score’) of subjects who received individualized or weekly prophylaxis were classified as HRQoL responders.

Conclusion

Changes in Haem‐A‐QoL key domains and ‘Total Score’ suggest that prophylaxis with long‐acting rFVIIIFc or rFIXFc resulted in meaningful HRQoL improvements.
A case of gabapentin‐induced rhabdomyolysis requiring renal replacement therapy
Authors: Choi Min Seok , Jeon Howook , Kim Hyo Suk , Jang Bo Hyun , Lee Yoon Hee , Park Hoon Suk , Kim HyungWook , Jin Dong Chan
Published: July 2016

Gabapentin is commonly used for controlling convulsions, restless pain syndrome, and pain in diabetic neuropathy. Common side effects include dizziness, somnolence, ataxia, peripheral edema, and confusion; gabapentin‐induced rhabdomyolysis is rarely reported. To date, the reported cases of gabapentin‐induced rhabdomyolysis have been associated with patients with multiple underlying diseases and assuming multiple medicines for various reasons. In this report, we describe a case of gabapentin‐induced rhabdomyolysis in a 32‐year‐old woman with no medical history. We also review related literature and discuss the possible mechanism and the association with other factors. This case shows that gabapentin can induce rhabdomyolysis in healthy patients and that clinicians must consider the possible association between gabapentin and rhabdomyolysis.