bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Alternative timescales: a critical review of Willandra Lakes dating
Authors: Gillespie Richard
Published: November 2014

The Late Pleistocene radiocarbon record from the Willandra Lakes region is analysed to select the most reliable age estimates. Chemical pretreatment experiments addressing problems of contradictory ages on black organic samples from archaeological hearths and shell middens show that macroscopic charcoal is not present at some sites, although multiple sub‐samples of well preserved charcoal have been dated at other sites. Radiocarbon measurements on properly decontaminated charcoal are as reliable as other robust single component samples such as shell, fish otoliths and emu eggshell. After calibration, 14C ages are in close agreement with luminescence based ages on suitably analysed quartz from the same sites. Regional patterns of 14C and luminescence dates are correlated across the Murray‐Darling basin, implying rapid and sensitive responses to changing climate. Chemical arguments, and the likelihood of widespread sediment erosion prior to Last Glacial Maximum, suggest that probable ages for some human burials are younger than usually quoted. There is no unequivocal evidence for archaeological remains in the Willandra older than 43 ka.
Taphonomy of Mungo B assemblage: indicators for subsistence and occupation of Lake Mungo
Authors: Walshe Keryn
Published: November 2014

A bone assemblage from Shawcross' excavation at the Mungo B site shows that it is both burned at high temperatures and highly fragmented. Taphonomically, the assemblage displays post‐depositional disturbance by carnivores, human occupation and possibly fluvial sorting. The known breeding behaviour of the animals represented supports a picture of year round hunting in both the lacustrine environment and the forested hinterlands.
Long‐term Aboriginal use of western Victoria: reconsidering the significance of recent Pleistocene dates for the Grampians‐Gariwerd region
Authors: McNiven Ian J. , David Bruno , Lourandos Harry
Published: November 2014

Long‐term archaeological trends for western Victoria have been a cornerstone in the modelling of changes in Aboriginal site and regional land use in Australian prehistory since the early 1980s. Both the archaeological trends and the explanatory socio‐demographic models, however, have been contested in the archaeological literature. Bird et al.'s (1998:35) recent paper offers new data which are claimed to ‘call for a re‐evaluation of current thinking on south‐west Victoria’. We point out that contrary to their interpretations, sedimentation rates do increase significantly at the rockshelter sites of Drual and Billimina in the late Holocene. As such, the new dates for the Grampians‐Gariwerd region strongly support both existing chronological trends in the archaeological record of western Victoria and Lourandos' (1983, 1997) socio‐***demographic model of long‐term change for the region.
‘Nowadays with glass’: regional variation in Aboriginal bottle glass artefacts from Western Australia
Authors: Harrison Rodney
Published: November 2014

This paper builds on the few well known analyses of glass artefacts by recognising that bottle shape strongly influences glass artefact morphology in glass tool manufacture. Analysis of Aboriginally worked glass artefacts, using similar bottles, from two regions in Western Australia show differences that cannot be attributed to regional variation in raw materials. These differences may relate to long term approaches to artefact manufacture.
Lithic Technology in Tasmania
Authors: Moore Mark W.
Published: November 2014

Although a great deal of information exists about the types of stone implements made by Aboriginal Tasmanians, their stone technology is largely undescribed. Two studies initiated by Forestry Tasmania provided the opportunity to examine Tasmanian lithic technology in eastern Tasmania and the Southern Forests. The results of the studies indicate that two strategies of stone procurement and reduction were practiced in both parts of the state. One strategy involved collecting small cobbles and pebbles from surface exposures. These stones were reduced off‐source by freehand or bipolar percussion into small flake blanks. The blanks were used as cutting tools or retouched into scrapers. Many of the scrapers produced on these blanks fall within the “thumbnail” typological category. The other strategy involved reducing large blocks of material on‐source into large flake blanks. These large flake blanks were exported and used as cutting tools, reduced as small cores, or, most often, retouched into large scrapers. In contrast to most small scrapers originating from transported cores, these large scrapers were resharpened prior to discard. The expression of these strategies differs between the two project areas. The off‐source reduction strategy appears to be present in Pleistocene assemblages and the on‐source strategy may have emerged in the Holocene.
Uncertain supplies: water availability and regional archaeological structure in the Palmer River catchment, central Australia
Authors: Thorley Peter
Published: November 2014

This paper describes a seemingly paradoxical situation in a specific region of the Australian arid zone where indigenous archaeological material is more densely concentrated in areas away from, rather than near, the most permanent waters. In the Palmer River catchment, sites near certain ephemeral waters are argued to have functioned as regional centres while the role of permanent waters is seen to be secondary, particularly in respect of strategies of social interaction and ceremonial performance. Large aggregations at permanent waters were probably the exception rather than the rule and the general trend was toward a reduction in group size with resource scarcity. The use of ephemeral resources for regional interaction provided a means to distribute temporary surplus across a wider population while increasing certainty that essential resources would remain accessible from permanent waters in periods of low rainfall. These features, which were part of the settlement pattern from the mid to late Holocene, were not evident in the archaeological record from the late Pleistocene. The implications of the results for models held to account for settlement patterns in arid regions are addressed.
Source to discard: patterns of lithic raw material procurement and use in Sturt National Park, northwestern New South Wales
Authors: Doelman Trudy , Webb John , Domanski Marian
Published: November 2014

Sturt National Park, located in arid Northwestern New South Wales, has an abundance of stone sources occurring as outcrops and pavements of rounded cobbles (gibber); the flaking quality of the silcrete varies according to its geological characteristics. Detailed studies have focused on the procurement and use of these silcrete sources using a quarry and two nearby lithic scatters in the Stud Creek catchment. The results show that quarry location was influenced by the outcrop type; rare massive outcrops were targeted while the much more common columnar silcrete was ignored. Furthermore, several factors have influenced stone use and tool forms, not only stone abundance and quality, but also the type of stone resource, the form and size of the blocks/boulders available, and the distance from the source. These factors have interacted to create the patterns of discard observed today.
Grand hypotheses: palaeodemographic modelling in Western Australia's South‐west
Authors: Dortch C. E. , Smith M. V.
Published: November 2014

Appraised are two palaeodemographic models proposed for Late Quaternary Aboriginal cultural history in Western Australia's South‐west. Both are grounded on two ideas: (1) wetter conditions regionally lead to replacement of open vegetative associations by forest unsuited for foraging populations; (2) large‐scale shifts in stone artefact 'discard rates' recorded in occupation deposits indicate regional population changes. The original model proposes regional Middle Holocene depopulation. The second model, partly based on the same archaeological evidence, is a large‐scale construct calling for variations in population sizes in the South‐west and elsewhere before and after the last glacial maximum, followed by Holocene population rise. In this construct, population fluctuations are caused by changes in Late Quaternary physical conditions outlined in a global climatic model, though this model disagrees with more generally accepted continental palaeoclimatic modelling, and with regional faunistic and vegetative records. Interpretation of artefact discard rates in the stone industrial sequences of three of four principal occupation sites on which both models are based disregards relevant stratigraphic, chronological and other site‐specific factors. Proposed is an alternative regional model of population mobility and fluctuating occupation patterns explaining variations in amounts of archaeological material discarded in occupation sites as well as variations in these sites' distributions.
Review
Authors: Burley David V.
Published: November 2014

On the Road of the Winds — An Archaeological History of the Pacific Islands Before Contact, By Patrick Vinton Kirch. University of California Press, Berkeley, 2000. ISBN 0 520 22347 0. Pp. xxii + 424. USD45
Lapita in the far west: recent developments
Authors: Summerhayes Glenn R.
Published: November 2014

Since the Lapita Homeland Project of 1985 there has been an upsurge of research on Lapita in the Bismarck Archipelago. A description and comparison of two Lapita pottery assemblages from the Arawe Islands and Anir in the Bismarck Archipelago is presented in order to explore the social and economic relationships between these early communities which produced and used the ware. Assemblages from a third area, Mussau, are then compared in order to show that these three assemblages have many similarities in both decoration and production which are best explained in terms of social interaction.
The Lapita site at Votua, northern Lau Islands, Fiji
Authors: Clark Geoffrey , Anderson Atholl , Matararaba Sepeti
Published: November 2014

Archaeological sites of exclusively Lapita provenance are important because they present an opportunity to tease out the elements of material culture and economic behaviour which belonged to the first colonisation phase in Remote Oceania from those which might have come later. Such sites are rare in the eastern Lapita province (Fiji and West Polynesia). We describe one from Mago Island in the northern Lau group of Fiji. Although excavations at the site were limited in extent, the modest range of faunal and artefactual remains should represent a more typical inventory of a single‐phase Lapita occupation than assemblages drawn from sites in which post‐Lapita habitation is also, and often inextricably, represented.
Review
Authors: Ross Anne
Published: November 2014

Australian Coastal Archaeology Edited by Jay Hall and Ian J. McNiven. 1999. ANH Publications, Department of Archaeology and Natural History, RSPAS, The Australian national University, Canberra. ISBN 0 7315 3314 3. Pp315. $A52 (o/s), $57.50 (Aust), post incl.
Review
Authors: Paterson Alistair
Published: November 2014

Waihou Journeys: The Archaeology of 400 Years of Maori Settlement. By Caroline Phillips, Auckland University Press, Auckland. 2000. ISBN 1 86940 222 7. 194 pages. $NZ39.95
Avifaunal extinctions, vegetation change, and Polynesian impacts in prehistoric Hawai'i
Authors: Athens J. Stephen , Toggle H. David , Ward Jerome V. , Welch David J.
Published: November 2014

Pre‐contact avifaunal extinctions in Hawai'i generally have been attributed to human predation and/or landscape alteration by colonizing Polynesians. However, until recently there have been insufficient data for evaluating most of the important variables involved in this issue. This situation has changed with recent archaeological, paleontological, and wetland coring research conducted on O'ahu's ‘Ewa Plain, a hot, dry emerged limestone reef characterized by numerous sinkholes. The main evidence obtained from this research includes (1) wetland coring data that stratigraphically demonstrate forest decline before any burning, (2) radiocarbon dating of bones of rats and extinct birds that provides a time frame for their occurrence unavailable from stratified deposits, and (3) the radiocarbon‐based history of human settlement of the 'Ewa Plain.

Based on this evidence the argument is made that (1) at least some major avian extinctions occurred within the period immediately following Polynesian colonization, (2) these extinctions were due primarily to the rapid decline of their native lowland forest habitat, (3) human settlement of the 'Ewa Plain occurred after native forest collapse, not coincident with it, and (4) the main source of destruction of the native forests was the introduced Polynesian rat, Rattus exulans, not Hawaiian agricultural clearing and burning. This model also explains the absence of large quantities of bird bone in early sites (in contrast to other places in Polynesia and Micronesia), and the absence in early middens of many plants (notably Kanaloa kahoolawensis) that were common in the native forest.
Depicting cross‐cultural interaction: figurative designs in wood, earth and stone from south‐east Australia
Authors: Taçon Paul S.C. , South Barrina , Hooper Shaun Boree
Published: November 2014

We examine Aboriginal wooden artefacts traded between European and Aboriginal Australians in south‐east Australia in order to gain insight into the impact of cross‐cultural interaction on Aboriginal art traditions. Although we focus on wooden objects with figurative designs made and exchanged over the past 150 or more years, as well as their links to earlier ground, tree and rock‐art traditions, the study contributes to a larger understanding of cultural change not well documented with ethnography. Information from 469 individual pieces in 90 private and public collections, is summarised, along with the development of individual, community and regional styles. A theory about the role of such material culture during changing times in south‐east Australia is outlined. More generally, it is argued that material culture both mediates and expresses change, with figurative motifs and storytelling through pictures particularly effective when communicating to diverse groups of people of varying cultural and linguistic backgrounds.
Kimberley points and colonial preference: new insights into the chronology of pressure flaked point forms from the southeast Kimberley, Western Australia
Authors: Harrison Rodney
Published: November 2014

Based on recent archaeological research in the southeast Kimberley this paper argues that while bifacially pressure flaked points are clearly present in the archaeological record from c. 1400‐l000calBP, Kimberley point manufacture reached its zenith only after AD1885, when there was both an intensification in the numbers of points produced, and increasing formalisation of point design. Changes in the numbers and formalisation of the shape of points produced after AD1885 are linked both to post‐contact social changes and the dialectic role played by non‐Aboriginal collectors in selecting for particular point forms. It is suggested that 'Kimberley points' as defined by Akerman and Bindon (1995) should be seen as an extreme formal variation on the range of pressure flaked point shapes that were manufactured over the last millennia in the Kimberley, developed to meet the particular preferences of colonial collectors. This study of formal changes in artefacts as a result of colonial contact in Australia is set within a framework of other research in colonial New Britain and the Admiralty Islands on the influence of collectors on the formal qualities of Indigenous objects.
Late Lapita occupation and its ceramic assemblage at the Sigatoka Sand Dune site, Fiji, and their place in Oceanic prehistory
Authors: Burley David V. , Dickinson William R.
Published: November 2014

The Sigatoka Sand Dune site on the island of Viti Levu, Fiji, has been continuously eroding over the past half century. Large‐scale excavations here in the mid‐1960s documented a Late Lapita ceramic horizon, one significantly including many restorable or diagnostically complete vessels. A 1998 discovery of an intact segment of this deposit led to renewed excavation and the recovery of additional vessels. The results of this excavation are presented and used to redress long‐standing problems associated with the occupation and interpretation of the ceramic assemblage. Based on radiocarbon dates and geoarchaeological analysis, it is known that the ceramics originally were deposited and rapidly buried on a back beach sand flat over a very brief period of time ca. 2500 BP (ca. 2600 cal. BP). The distribution of ceramics, the relative absence of habitation features, non‐ceramic artifacts and fauna, and shoreline characteristics suggest the locale was employed as a canoe‐landing site. The temporal discreteness, and the completeness of ceramic vessels have made the collection a critical assemblage for comparative analyses in Oceanic prehistory. With only limited decoration applied to the vessels, the assemblage has been interpreted as a devolutionary stage, one intermediate between the complex and highly structured decorated vessels of the initial Lapita colonists and a sequent Plainware phase where decoration has all but disappeared. Rather than a devolutionary stage, the Sigatoka pottery represents a viable industry with functional if not social importance in late Lapita society.
New Pleistocene ages for backed artefact technology in Australia
Authors: Slack Michael J. , Fullagar Richard L.K. , Field Judith H. , Border Andrew
Published: November 2014

Two recently excavated sites adjacent to the Gregory River at Riversleigh in northwestern Queensland have yielded backed artefacts from Pleistocene sediments. One backed artefact is from an 80 cm deep, dense shell midden near the Old Lilydale Homestead (OLH) and radiocarbon determinations on associated freshwater mussel Alathyria cf. pertexta returned Late Pleistocene ages. Two backed artefacts from the limestone rockshelter GRE8 were also recovered from Pleistocene levels. All three backed artefacts are similar to geometric microliths, which are commonly associated with Holocene archaeological deposits. These data complement arguments for early Holocene and Pleistocene backed artefacts in southeastern Australia.
Is there a Pleistocene archaeological site at Cuddie Springs?
Authors: Gillespie Richard , Brook Barry W.
Published: November 2014

The juxtaposition of stone tools, charcoal and bones at Cuddie Springs has been used to support claims that people were butchering now‐extinct animals, and grinding seeds about 30,000 BP. Statistical analysis of dates for the site shows significant sediment disturbance, and the anomalous presence of hair residues in the absence of bone collagen suggests that bones and stone tools are not the same age. We argue that the published studies on the Cuddie Springs claypan deposits do not show a stratified and undisturbed Late Pleistocene archaeological site, as proposed by the excavators, instead revealing a palimpsest of Late Holocene and European occupational debris superimposed on a much longer‐term record of Quaternary landscape evolution. There is no reliable evidence that extinct Australian megafauna coexisted with people using seed‐grinding technology at Cuddie Springs, nullifying the excavators' support for climate change models of extinction and dietary choice.
Inhibition of acid‐sensing ion channels by levo‐tetrahydropalmatine in rat dorsal root ganglion neurons
Authors: Liu Ting‐Ting , Qu Zu‐Wei , Qiu Chun‐Yu , Qiu Fang , Ren Cuixia , Gan Xiong , Peng Fang , Hu Wang‐Ping
Published: November 2014

Levo‐tetrahydropalmatine (l‐THP), a main bioactive Chinese herbal constituent from the genera Stephania and Corydalis, has been in use in clinical practice for years in China as a traditional analgesic agent. However, the mechanism underlying the analgesic action of l‐THP is poorly understood. This study shows that l‐THP can exert an inhibitory effect on the functional activity of native acid‐sensing ion channels (ASICs), which are believed to mediate pain caused by extracellular acidification. l‐THP dose dependently decreased the amplitude of proton‐gated currents mediated by ASICs in rat dorsal root ganglion (DRG) neurons. l‐THP shifted the proton concentration–response curve downward, with a decrease of 40.93% ± 8.45% in the maximum current response to protons, with no significant change in the pH0.5 value. Moreover, l‐THP can alter the membrane excitability of rat DRG neurons to acid stimuli. It significantly decreased the number of action potentials and the amplitude of the depolarization induced by an extracellular pH drop. Finally, peripherally administered l‐THP inhibited the nociceptive response to intraplantar injection of acetic acid in rats. These results indicate that l‐THP can inhibit the functional activity of ASICs in dissociated primary sensory neurons and relieve acidosis‐evoked pain in vivo, which for the first time provides a novel peripheral mechanism underlying the analgesic action of l‐THP. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
First‐trimester combined screening for trisomy 21 in women with renal disease
Authors: Valentin Morgane , Muller Françoise , Beaujard Marie Paule , Dreux Sophie , Czerkiewicz Isabelle , Meyer Valérie , Leruez Marianne , Ville Yves , Salomon Laurent J.
Published: November 2014

Objective

To evaluate the results of first‐trimester combined screening for Down syndrome in women with chronic renal disease.

Method

Fifty‐five pregnant women with renal disease were compared with 110 patients matched for maternal age, maternal weight, smoking status, and gestational age. Maternal renal function was assayed at the time of the combined screening, and renal insufficiency was defined by serum creatinine >90 µmol/L and renal clearance <80 mL/min. We defined three groups: kidney disease and normal renal function (group 1), kidney disease and renal insufficiency (group 2), and a control group (group 3). The values of nuchal translucency, pregnancy‐associated plasma protein A, human β‐chorionic gonadotrophin (hCGβ), and false‐positive rates for Down syndrome screening were compared.

Results

There were 39 (71%) and 16 (29%) cases in groups 1 and 2, respectively. Nuchal translucency and multiple of the median (MoM) pregnancy‐associated plasma protein A were similar in the three groups. However, MoM hCGβ levels were higher in group 2 than in groups 1 and 3 (5.37 vs 1.1 vs 0.98 MoM, p = 0.0001). The resulting screen‐positive rate was also higher in group 2 than in groups 1 and 3 (43.7% vs 10.2% vs 5.5%, p = 0.0001).

Conclusion

Trisomy 21 first‐trimester screening using hCGβ is not suitable in the case of maternal renal failure. © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
A rapid, sensitive and solvent‐less method for determination of malonaldehyde in meat by stir bar sorptive extraction coupled thermal desorption and gas chromatography/mass spectrometry with in situ derivatization
Authors: Ruan Eric Dongliang , Aalhus Jennifer , Juárez Manuel
Published: November 2014

RATIONALE

The traditional methods for analysis of malonaldehyde (MDA), such as the thiobarbituric acid (TBA) assay, require strong acidity at high temperature for derivatization and lack specificity in analysis. Stir bar sorptive extraction (SBSE) coupled with thermal desorption‐gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (TD‐GC/MS) with in situ derivatization using pentafluorophenylhydrazine (PFPH) under mild conditions is an emerging technique for MDA analysis.

METHODS

MDA in meat was derivatized with PFPH at pH ~4 for 1 h at room temperature, forming a relative stable derivative of MDA‐PFPH. The derivative of MDA‐PFPH was simultaneously extracted using SBSE. Then, MDA‐PFPH was thermally released and quantitatively analyzed by GC/MS in selected ion monitoring (SIM) mode.

RESULTS

The method of SBSE‐TD‐GC/MS for MDA analysis with in situ derivatization was optimized and validated with good linearity, specificity and limit of detection/quantification (LOD/LOQ). The method was successfully applied for analysis of MDA in raw and cooked meat (pork).

CONCLUSIONS

The SBSE‐TD‐GC/MS method was suitable to monitor and analyze MDA in meat samples at trace levels. The simple, sensitive and solvent‐less method with moderated in situ derivatization can be applied for analysis of MDA in a wide variety of foods and biological samples. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Studies on quantitative phosphopeptide analysis by matrix‐assisted laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry without label, chromatography or calibration curves
Authors: Ho Hsin‐Pin , Rathod Pratikkumar , Louis Marissa , Tada Christine K. , Rahaman Sherida , Mark Kevin J. , Leng Jin , Dana Dibyendu , Kumar Sanjai , Lichterfeld Mathias , Chang Emmanuel J.
Published: November 2014

RATIONALE

Matrix‐assisted laser desorption/ionization (MALDI) mass spectrometry combined with isotope labeling methods are effective for protein and peptide quantification, but limited in their multiplexing capacity, cost‐effectiveness and dynamic range. This study investigates MALDI‐MS‐based quantification of peptide phosphorylation without labeling, and aims to overcome the shot‐to‐shot variability of MALDI using a mathematical transformation and extended data acquisition times.

METHODS

A linear relationship between the reciprocal of phosphopeptide mole fraction and the reciprocal of phosphorylated‐to‐unphosphorylated signal ratio is derived, and evaluated experimentally using three separate phosphopeptide systems containing phosphorylated serine, threonine and tyrosine residues: mixtures of phosphopeptide and its des‐phospho‐analog with known stoichiometry measured by vacuum MALDI‐linear ion trap mass spectrometry and fit to the linear model. The model is validated for quantifying in vitro phosphorylation assays with inhibition studies on Cdk2/cyclinA.

RESULTS

Dynamic range of picomoles to femtomoles, good accuracy (deviations of 1.5–3.0% from expected values) and reproducibility (relative standard deviation (RSD) = 4.3–6.3%) are achieved. Inhibition of cyclin‐dependent kinase phosphorylation by the classical inhibitors olomoucine and r‐roscovitine was evaluated and IC50 values found to be in agreement with reported literature values. These results, achieved with single‐point calibration, without isotope or chromatography, compare favorably to those arrived at using isotope dilution (p >0.5 for accuracy).

CONCLUSIONS

The mathematical relationship derived here can be applied to a method that we term Double Reciprocal Isotope‐free Phosphopeptide Quantification (DRIP‐Q), as a strategy for quantification of in vitro phosphorylation assays, the first MALDI‐based, isotope‐ and calibration curve‐free method of its type. These results also pave the way for further systematic studies investigating the effect of peptide composition and experimental conditions on quantitative, label‐free MALDI. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Identification of xenobiotic metabolites from biological fluids using flow injection analysis high‐resolution mass spectrometry and post‐acquisition data filtering
Authors: Rathahao‐Paris Estelle , Paris Alain , Bursztyka Julian , Jaeg Jean‐Philippe , Cravedi Jean‐Pierre , Debrauwer Laurent
Published: November 2014

RATIONALE

Concern for public health entails the need to evaluate the degree of exposure of population to toxicants. To do this, robust high‐throughput approaches are required to be able to perform a large number of analyses in cohort studies. In this study, a data‐filtering procedure was applied to mass spectral data acquired by direct analysis of biological fluids leading to rapid detection of metabolites in a model xenobiotic system.

METHODS

Flow injection analysis (FIA) coupled to negative electrospray ionization (ESI)‐LTQ Orbitrap Fourier transform mass spectrometry was used to directly analyze urine of rats treated with vinclozolin. Tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS) experiments were subsequently performed for confirmation of a new metabolite structure. The isotope filtering based on the difference between accurate masses of 35Cl and 37Cl was applied to the raw data for the specific detection of ions containing at least one chlorine atom.

RESULTS

Seven metabolites of vinclozolin were manually identified thanks to the characteristic isotope pattern of dichlorinated compounds. A new metabolite of vinclozolin was detected for the first time and identified as a sulfate conjugate. The application of an isotope‐filtering procedure allowed the selective extraction of pertinent signals from the data. The processed mass spectrum was greatly simplified, significantly facilitating the detection of the seven metabolites previously identified.

CONCLUSIONS

The use of FIA‐HRMS in combination with dedicated bio‐informatics data processing is shown to be an efficient approach for the rapid detection of metabolites in biological fluids. This is a very promising high‐throughput approach for rapid characterization of the exposure status to xenobiotics. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Glycogen pathways in disease: new developments in a classical field of medical genetics
Authors: Kilimann Manfred W. , Oldfors Anders
Published: November 2014

Glycogen is the storage form of glucose in animal cells. Its degradation can rapidly provide fuel for energy production (particularly important in muscle), or replenish blood glucose during fasting by the liver. Genetic defects of glycogen metabolism give rise to glycogen storage diseases (GSDs), manifesting histologically in abnormal quantity or quality of glycogen in the cells. GSDs can be caused by defects of proteins participating in the synthesis or degradation of glycogen itself, in the glycolytic degradation of glucose phosphates in muscle and erythrocytes, in the release of glucose from liver and kidney into the bloodstream, in the clearance of glycogen from lysosomes (all, “primary GSDs”), or in the control of these pathways (“secondary GSDs”). Most genes responsible for classical, primary GSDs have probably been identified, and future progress in understanding the biochemical and genetic defects underlying unsolved disorders presenting with glycogen storage abnormalities will perhaps be predominantly in the field of secondary GSDs.
Cognitive profile of patients with glycogen storage disease type III: a clinical description of seven cases
Authors: Michon Claire‐Cécile , Gargiulo Marcela , Hahn‐Barma Valérie , Petit François , Nadaj‐Pakleza Aleksandra , Herson Ariane , Eymard Bruno , Labrune Philippe , Laforet Pascal
Published: November 2014

Background

Glycogen storage disease type III (GSDIII) is a rare autosomal recessive disorder due to glycogen debranching enzyme (GDE) deficiency. It results in a multisystemic disease with predominant hepatic and myopathic symptoms. While frequent social maladjustment has been observed in our clinical practice, cognitive and psychological disturbances have never been assessed. The aim of this pilot study was to examine and characterize the cognitive profile of patients with GSDIII.

Methods

Seven patients (six women and one man, mean age: 38.7 ± 11.6 years) with GSDIII underwent a neuropsychological set of tests assessing global cognitive efficiency, executive functions, social cognition, apathy, and episodic memory.

Results

All patients presented previous psychopathological history. We observed attention fluctuations for each patient, and impaired global cognitive efficiency with deficiencies in executive functions in 5/7 patients. Emotional skills (social cognition) were impaired in five patients. Memory was mostly preserved.

Conclusion

The impairment in social cognition (recognition of emotions and ability to attribute mental states to others) and executive functions observed could be a consequence of orbito‐frontal dysfunction due to the abnormal glycogen metabolism characteristic of the underlying disease. These results are consistent with the hypothesis of a central nervous system involvement in patients with GSDIII, but need to be confirmed in future research. This could explain the social and economic difficulties, and the lack of compliance to the medical follow‐up presented by these patients. It suggests that these disturbances need to be taken into account when planning the medical management of patients with GSDIII.
Workplace care: a sensible form of support to convalescents from occupational injuries or diseases
Authors: Taddicken Markus
Published: November 2014

In order to ensure the success of medical and occupational rehabilitation, the BGW – the occupational insurer – offers its clients to accompany them at the workplace. This aims at transferring the working methods, which the rehabilitant has acquired during rehabilitation and are therefore partly new to him, into operational practice and at verifying their fitness for practical applicability. Apart from that, this shall facilitate to identify factors jeopardizing reintegration and to beneficially influence them, if possible.

Work is resumed with the approval by the client in question and their employer, accompanied by a specialized workplace attendant. Depending on the severity of the health impairment and on the prevailing contextual factors, such care is provided on an hourly or daily basis for one or up to several weeks.

Thereby, the workplace attendant refers the client to the most reasonable and gentle mode of working that is possible. Moreover, the workplace attendant takes care of potential difficulties arising during the stage of resuming employment, in order to work out strategies early on for ensuring the success of rehabilitation and for transferring such strategies to operational practice, jointly with all parties involved, including the BGW rehab managers.

The potential need for qualification, following the motto of “Occupational placement comes before qualification”, is thereby identified at an early stage and in a purposeful way.

Principal Experience and Summary: Workplace care facilitates highly practice‐oriented reintegration; Difficulties in the reintegration process are identified at an early stage; Workplace accompaniment gears prevention very effectively to rehabilitation. Clients as well as employers perceive such support provided by the BGW as being sensible and helpful.
Studies to evaluate the outcome of DM in the public and private sector in China
Authors: Lo-Hui Karen Y. L.
Published: November 2014

Disability management (DM) is quite a fresh idea to Mainland China (Mainland). The government has thus turned to professionals from outside Mainland, i.e. Hong Kong (HK). Nevertheless, since HK is under ‘one country, two systems’ policy, it has developed an approach differing from that of Mainland. A DM pilot study was jointly conducted by the Guangdong Provincial Work Injury Rehabilitation Center (GPWIRC) and the Hong Kong Workers’ Health Centre (HKWHC) to review the developments of DM reform in China and HK. In China, the foundation of DM approach is the work injury insurance system. Under this system, GPWIRC established her services to provide work injury prevention and occupational rehabilitation as a pilot study in early 2000s. Following this pilot project, GPWIRC further develops work and social rehabilitation and work injury prevention in the context of the labor insurance system. While in HK, mainly NGOs, insurance companies and some public organizations contribute to the promotion of DM approach. On the other hand, the study also reveals similar challenges that Mainland and HK are currently facing in the development of DM, such as professional's training in local rehabilitation, the underdeveloped reimbursement system and etc.. The aforementioned pilot study shows that DM's principles are accepted at a national level and some specific public organizations in China context. There thus is a research need to study the current DM development situation in the private sector. By doing so, an ongoing study, namely “Demographic change and private sector disability management in Australia, Canada, China and Switzerland. A comparative study” launched in Nov. 2013. Through this research, questions of process and procedure of the DM system used in the company, benefits gained and drawbacks encountered by the companies, and the strengths and weaknesses in the current DM systems will be answered. Other than that, data will also be collected from the employees’ perspective on their job satisfaction, physical and mental health, employee morale and workplace attendance and etc.. The primary result is expected in 2016.
Employer costs of mental health claims and how psychologically healthy workplaces align with successful DM programs
Authors: Coduti Wendy
Published: November 2014

Mental health (MH) and disability management (DM) businesses and DM professionals are proficient at addressing employee physical health, yet promoting employee MH is often ignored. Individuals claiming long-term disability (LTD), 85% identified MH conditions as their primary disability (Carls et al., 2012). Mental health LTD expenses are often higher due to longer recovery and challenges in return to work (Salkever, Goldman, Purushothaman, & Shinogle, 2000). Financial burdens of depression, anxiety, and emotional disorders are among the greatest of any disease condition in the workforce (Johnston et al., 2009). Globally, a fifth to a quarter of employees go to work everyday with a mental illness (Lorenzo-Romanella, 2011). Health care research has shown the impact of mental illness on work performance, however many employers and researchers are unaware of the value quality MH care has on employees and costs (Langlieb, & Kahn, 2005). The American Psychological Association (APA) identified five categories of workplace practices that promote psychological health in employees including: employee involvement; work-life balance; employee growth and development; health and safety; and employee recognition (APA, 2014). Organizational benefits of the five elements include: improved quality, performance and productivity; reduced absenteeism, presenteeism and turnover; fewer accidents and injuries; improved ability to attract and retain quality employees; improved customer service and satisfaction; and lower healthcare costs (APA, 2014). The presenters will discuss employer costs of MH claims and how psychologically healthy workplaces align with successful DM programs, decreasing MH claims and costs. Opportunities for future research include the United States Affordable Care Act (ACA) and its impact on MH (Mechanic, 2012) through provisions that encourage employers to adopt health promotion programs (Goetzel et al., 2012) and opportunities for research including comparisons of multinational employers regarding MH costs in countries with single payer systems, and in those without (United States), (Tanner, 2013).
The role of employers in retaining older workers
Authors: Howe Caroline
Published: November 2014

Background: Previous research into the retirement experience tends to focus on the individual experience. This study looks at the role of work and retirement on subjective wellbeing and how corporations must change to engage workers for longer if they themselves are to remain sustainable.

Objectives: The objective of the study was to ascertain the need for creative solutions for older employer engagement.

Method: Using mixed methods Internet-based research methodology, 317 people were recruited with an online survey. Thematic content analysis was utilised to explore trends that emerged from the qualitative analysis.

Findings: The principle finding was that, employers need to rethink how they engage the older worker to ensure that their workforce remains stable.

Discussion: Low levels of life satisfaction were linked with being dissatisfied at work. Being at work also decreased the likelihood of social interaction. In contrast retirement offered freedom from the constraints of work. Employers need to adopt suggested solutions around flexibility, offering choices and a differentiation of the meaning of the “working day” to this cohort if they are to be successful in retaining older workers in employment.

Conclusion: The results are significant because governments, both local and federal, are encouraging an ageing workforce to remain in work longer. However employers need to consider how they can create greater autonomy for older people in the workplace to encourage them to want to work longer.
Perceived injustice contributes to poor rehabilitation outcomes in individuals who have sustained workplace injuries
Authors: Adams Heather
Published: November 2014

The experience of unnecessary suffering as a result of another's actions or the experience of irreparable losses are likely to give rise to perceptions of injustice. Until recently, little systematic research had been conducted on the effects of perceptions of injustice on recovery outcomes following injury. It is now becoming clear that justice-related appraisals can have a dramatic impact on the physical and emotional consequences of injury. High levels of perceived injustice have been associated with more severe pain, more severe emotional distress, and more pronounced disability. Research has also pointed to multiple sources of a client's perceptions of injustice including, the person responsible for the accident, the insurance representative, as well as the health care provider. This presentation will summarize what is currently known about the relation between perceived injustice and recovery outcomes. The presentation will also address the processes by which perceptions of injustice might contribute to adverse health and mental health outcomes consequent to injury. Implications for prevention and intervention will be discussed.
How to select appropriate cases for rehabilitation management - approach of the German Social Accident Insurance
Authors: Köhler Thomas
Published: November 2014

In Germany, people injured in occupational-related accidents are offered comprehensive benefits ranging from medical care to occupational and social reintegration. Statutory accident insurance, funded solely by employers’ contributions, has developed specific structures and practical guidelines for rehabilitation management. This management process involves comprehensive planning, coordination and targeted encouragement and support for those needing rehabilitation. Rehabilitation management must commence promptly, be properly coordinated and achieve long-term effects. The measures deployed aim at restoring health and fitness to work as quickly and comprehensively as possible. In cases involving serious injury, rehabilitation management includes individual counselling and support as a follow-up to the primary medical care and extends beyond medical rehabilitation to include measures that assist occupational and social inclusion. Rehabilitation management demands considerable financial and human resources. To justify this relatively high expenditure, the cases involved need to be identified carefully based on relevant criteria. The accident insurance institutions have investigated how well this works in practice on the basis of their own experience and a wide range of case studies. An extremely important factor is the severity and complexity of the injury. A prognosis of inability to work for more than 112 days determines eligibility as a case needing rehabilitation management because occupational or social integration is at risk. Medical, psychological and social risk factors also need considering, as do the specific occupational requirements. A person's social and professional environment has to be taken into account from the very start. These variables must be examined and analysed as methodically as possible to establish the appropriate course of action.
Return to work rate rises in the Sunshine State (Queensland, Australia)
Authors: Stratford Sharon
Published: November 2014

Measuring return to work outcomes after injury is in itself a challenge for most workers’ compensation schemes. Increasing return to work rates is even more difficult. In Australia, the national return to work measure obtained via an annual survey of injured workers has not risen since its introduction in 1997/98. However, unlike most other Australian jurisdictions, Queensland, Australia's ‘sunshine state’, records return to work outcomes at the end of every time lost claim. More than this, Queensland has increased its overall return to work outcome in recent years from 90% to over 95%. A number of specific strategies were introduced to improve these return to work results. The presentation will outline these strategies which other jurisdictions and countries can hopefully learn from. In addition, WorkCover Queensland, the state's monopoly insurer outside self-insurers, has introduced further return to work measures it successfully uses both internally and externally.
Improving injury outcomes and experience of indigenous New Zealanders
Authors: Witheford-Smith Suzanne , Karaitiana Ronald
Published: November 2014

This presentation outlines disparities in the uptake of accident compensation entitlements by indigenous New Zealanders and a programme to prevent injury and improve outcomes/experience for Māori. ACC administers NZ's 24/7 no-fault accident compensation scheme which covers New Zealanders and visitors to NZ injured at work, home, play, in road crashes, or during treatment. Research has shown that disparities persist in injury outcomes/experience for NZ's indigenous population (Māori make-up 15% of the population and experience multiple disadvantage). This is inconsistent with the Government's commitment to Crown-Māori partnership.

Disparities findings persist for Māori included; higher rates of serious/fatal injuries on the roads, lower GP referral rates to medical/surgical specialists, found the claim process more complicated and ACC less helpful in their return to work and lower rates of employment participation following a serious injury.

ACC's 10 year vision of success; improved outcomes/experience for Māori clients and businesses, increased injury prevention effectiveness for Māori and improved ACC culture and capability in relation to Māori.

Over a three year period, the ACC Board considered a series of papers on disparities in the uptake of entitlements by Māori. In early 2013, the Board considered advice on the Scheme's and organisation's responsiveness to Māori and endorsed the need for significant improvements. We shall explore two phases. Phase 1 of ACC's Māori Programme aims to reduce disparities, build organisational capability and establish relationships. Initiatives include innovative solutions to improve employment participation of seriously injured Māori. Phase 2 builds new partnerships with indigenous organisations and embeds cultural-responsiveness into the organisation/system. Challenges include building genuine partnerships and sustaining the Programme in a changing organisational, social, political and economic context. Improving injury outcomes/experience for Māori is a long-term commitment. Programme success includes fewer fatal/serious injuries to Maori, better employment participation after injury, and new partnerships.