bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
A process‐based approach to characterizing the effect of acute alprazolam challenge on visual paired associate learning and memory in healthy older adults
Authors: Pietrzak Robert H. , Scott James Cobb , Harel Brian T. , Lim Yen Ying , Snyder Peter J. , Maruff Paul
Published: October 2012

Objective

Alprazolam is a benzodiazepine that, when administered acutely, results in impairments in several aspects of cognition, including attention, learning, and memory. However, the profile (i.e., component processes) that underlie alprazolam‐related decrements in visual paired associate learning has not been fully explored.

Methods

In this double‐blind, placebo‐controlled, randomized cross‐over study of healthy older adults, we used a novel, “process‐based” computerized measure of visual paired associate learning to examine the effect of a single, acute 1‐mg dose of alprazolam on component processes of visual paired associate learning and memory.

Results

Acute alprazolam challenge was associated with a large magnitude reduction in visual paired associate learning and memory performance (d = 1.05). Process‐based analyses revealed significant increases in distractor, exploratory, between‐search, and within‐search error types. Analyses of percentages of each error type suggested that, relative to placebo, alprazolam challenge resulted in a decrease in the percentage of exploratory errors and an increase in the percentage of distractor errors, both of which reflect memory processes.

Conclusions

Results of this study suggest that acute alprazolam challenge decreases visual paired associate learning and memory performance by reducing the strength of the association between pattern and location, which may reflect a general breakdown in memory consolidation, with less evidence of reductions in executive processes (e.g., working memory) that facilitate visual paired associate learning and memory. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Relationship between carbohydrate‐deficient transferrin, gamma‐glutamyl transferase, and mean corpuscular volume levels and alcohol‐related brain volume decreases in male drinkers
Authors: de Bruin Eveline A. , Lemmens Paul H. H. H. M. , Hulshoff Pol Hilleke E. , Verbaten Marinus N. , Kenemans Johannes Leon
Published: October 2012

Objective

We investigated the association between mean corpuscular volume (MCV), carbohydrate‐deficient transferrin (CDT), and gamma‐glutamyl transferase (GGT) levels and gray and white brain matter in male drinkers to find out which if any of these biomarkers of alcohol consumption is indicative for alcohol‐related differences in brain volume.

Method

Plasma levels of CDT, GGT, and MCV and magnetic resonance imaging‐determined brain gray and white matter volumes were assessed in 55 male drinkers. Current alcohol intake and lifetime alcohol intake were determined by self‐report measures. The relationship between MCV, CDT, and GGT and brain volumes was explored using multiple linear regression analyses.

Results

There was a significant negative relationship between plasma GGT and MCV levels and gray matter volumes. Middle‐aged male drinkers with highly elevated GGT and MCV levels (twice the standard deviation above the mean) have 4–12% less parietal and occipital gray matter than males with average GGT and MCV levels. There was no association between CDT levels and brain gray or white matter.

Conclusions

Elevated GGT and MCV levels may be indicative of alcohol‐related gray‐matter decline in male drinkers. The link with GGT may reflect that elevated GGT levels are a sign of increased oxidative stress. The link with MCV levels may reflect a decreased oxygen transport to the brain. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Effects of Tobacco Smoking and Nicotine on Cancer Treatment
Authors: Petros William P. , Younis Islam R. , Ford James N. , Weed Scott A.
Published: October 2012

A substantial number of the world's population continues to smoke tobacco, even in the setting of a cancer diagnosis. Studies have shown that patients with cancer who have a history of smoking have a worse prognosis than nonsmokers. Modulation of several physiologic processes involved in drug disposition has been associated with long‐term exposure to tobacco smoke. The most common of these processes can be categorized into the effects of smoking on cytochrome P450–mediated metabolism, glucuronidation, and protein binding. Perturbation in the pharmacokinetics of anticancer drugs could result in clinically significant consequences, as these drugs are among the most toxic, but potentially beneficial, pharmaceuticals prescribed. Unfortunately, the effect of tobacco smoking on drug disposition has been explored for only a few marketed anticancer drugs; thus, little prescribing information is available to guide clinicians on the vast majority of these agents. The carcinogenic properties of several compounds found in tobacco smoke have been well studied; however, relatively little attention has been given to the effects of nicotine itself on cancer growth. Data that identify nicotine's effect on cancer cell apoptosis, tumor angiogenesis, invasion, and metastasis are emerging. The implications of these data are still unclear but may lead to important questions regarding approaches to smoking cessation in patients with cancer.
Reliability of a new scale for essential tremor
Authors: Elble Rodger , Comella Cynthia , Fahn Stanley , Hallett Mark , Jankovic Joseph , Juncos Jorge L. , LeWitt Peter , Lyons Kelly , Ondo William , Pahwa Rajesh , Sethi Kapil , Stover Natividad , Tarsy Daniel , Testa Claudia , Tintner Ron , Watts Ray , Zesiewicz Theresa
Published: October 2012

Background:

The objective of this study was to determine the reliability of a new scale for the clinical assessment of essential tremor. The Essential Tremor Rating Assessment Scale contains 9 performance items that rate action tremor in the head, face, voice, limbs, and trunk from 0 to 4 in half‐point intervals. Head and limb tremor ratings are defined by specific amplitude ranges in centimeters.

Methods:

Videos of 44 patients and 6 controls were rated by 10 specialists on 2 occasions 1–2 months apart. Inter‐ and intrarater reliability was assessed with a 2‐way random‐effects intraclass correlation, using an absolute agreement definition.

Results:

Inter‐ and intrarater intraclass correlations for head and upper‐limb tremor ranged from 0.86 to 0.96, and intraclass correlations for total score were 0.94 and 0.96. The intraclass correlations for voice, face, trunk, and leg were less robust.

Conclusions:

This scale is an exceptionally reliable tool for the clinical assessment of essential tremor. © 2012 Movement Disorder Society
Strong solutions of 3D compressible Oldroyd‐B fluids
Authors: Fang Daoyuan , Zi Ruizhao
Published: October 2012

This paper is concerned with a compressible viscoelastic fluids of Oldroyd‐B type. We prove the existence of unique local strong solutions for all initial data satisfying some compatibility condition. Moreover, we establish a blow‐up criterion for the strong solution in terms of the norm of the density tensor ρ and the norm of the symmetric tensor of constraints τ. All the results hold for the initial density vanishing from below. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Optimal topology design of continuum structures with stress concentration alleviation via level set method
Authors: Zhang Wei Sheng , Guo Xu , Wang Michael Yu , Wei Peng
Published: October 2012

Although the phenomenon of stress concentration is of paramount importance to engineers when they are designing load‐carrying structures, stiffness is often used as the solely concerned objective or constraint functional in the studies of optimal topology design of continuum structures. Sometimes this will lead to optimal designs with severe stress concentrations that may be highly responsible for the fracture, creep, and fatigue of structures. The aim of the present work is to develop some effective numerical techniques for designing stiff structures with less stress concentrations. This is achieved by introducing some specific stress measures, which are sensitive to the existence of high local stresses, in the problem formulation and resolving the corresponding optimization problem numerically in a level set framework. Our study indicates that with use of the proposed numerical schemes, some intrinsic difficulties in stress‐related topology optimization of continuum structures can be overcome in a natural way. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
SPATIAL VARIATION OF STRUCTURAL AND FUNCTIONAL INDICATORS IN A LARGE NEW ZEALAND RIVER
Authors: Collier K. J. , Clapcott J. E. , Duggan I. C. , Hamilton D. P. , Hamer M. , Young R. G.
Published: October 2012

The ecological responses of large rivers to human pressure can be assessed at multiple scales using a variety of indicators, but little is known about how the responses of ecological indicators vary over small spatial scales. We sampled phytoplankton, zooplankton and macroinvertebrates and measured river metabolism and cotton strip breakdown rates (loss in tensile strength) in contrasting habitats along a 21‐km urban‐industrial reach on a constrained section of the Waikato River, New Zealand's longest river. Rates of gross primary production (2.8–7.8 g O2/m2/d) and ecosystem respiration (3.5–12.7 g O2/m2/d) did not differ consistently between near‐shore (2–3 m from river side) and far‐shore (ca. 10 m from side) locations, urban and industrial reaches or between autumn and spring sampling occasions. Rates of cotton decay (−k) ranged from 0.014 to 0.112 per day and were typically faster at far‐shore locations and in the section of river receiving industrial inputs, but slower in spring compared with autumn. Nonmetric multidimensional scaling analysis of phytoplankton and zooplankton data did not reveal spatial patterns relating to pressure or location (embayment, edge, mid‐river). However, the macroinvertebrate ordination suggested distinct communities for the mid‐river benthos compared with near‐shore communities and a distinction between sites in the urban reach and the industrial reach. Our results suggest that large‐river macroinvertebrate communities and cotton decay rates can be influenced to varying degrees by reach‐scale pressures and local habitat conditions. Monitoring designs in spatially complex rivers should account for habitat heterogeneity that can lead to differences in structural and functional indicator responses. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Implementation of a Multidisciplinary Approach to Solve Complex Nano EHS Problems by the UC Center for the Environmental Implications of Nanotechnology
Authors: Xia Tian , Malasarn Davin , Lin Sijie , Ji Zhaoxia , Zhang Haiyuan , Miller Robert J. , Keller Arturo A. , Nisbet Roger M. , Harthorn Barbara H. , Godwin Hilary A. , Lenihan Hunter S. , Liu Rong , Gardea‐Torresdey Jorge , Cohen Yoram , Mädler Lutz , Holden Patricia A. , Zink Jeffrey I. , Nel Andre E.
Published: October 2012

UC CEIN was established with funding from the US National Science Foundation and the US Environmental Protection Agency in 2008 with the mission to study the impact of nanotechnology on the environment, including the identification of hazard and exposure scenarios that take into consideration the unique physicochemical properties of engineered nanomaterials (ENMs). Since its inception, the Center has made great progress in assembling a multidisciplinary team to develop the scientific underpinnings, research, knowledge acquisition, education and outreach that is required for assessing the safe implementation of nanotechnology in the environment. In this essay, the development of the infrastructure, protocols, and decision‐making tools that are required to effectively integrate complementary scientific disciplines allowing knowledge gathering in a complex study area that goes beyond the traditional safety and risk assessment protocols of the 20th century is outlined. UC CEIN's streamlined approach, premised on predictive hazard and exposure assessment methods, high‐throughput discovery platforms and environmental decision‐making tools that consider a wide range of nano/bio interfaces in terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems, demonstrates the implementation of a 21st‐century approach to the safe implementation of nanotechnology in the environment.
Risikoorientierte Bemessung von Tragstrukturen – Kombinationsbeiwert für ständige Lasten
Authors: Pertermann Ina , Puthli Ram , Ummenhofer Thomas
Published: October 2012

Der Eurocode DIN EN 1990 [1] stellt in Abschnitt 6.4.3.2, Satz (3) mit den Gln. (6.10a) und (6.10b) eine alternative Kombinationsregel für Einwirkungen vor, die in Deutschland bisher nicht bekannt war. Jedoch wird deren Anwendung im nationalen Anhang DIN EN 1990/NA [2] mit NCI zu 6.4.3.2 (3) und mit dem NDP zu A.1.3.1 (4) pauschal abgelehnt. Die Anwendung dieser alternativen Kombinationsregel erlaubt jedoch in bestimmten Fällen eine wirtschaftlichere Bemessung bei Einhaltung des geforderten Zuverlässigkeitsniveaus.

In diesem dritten Beitrag der Reihe “Risikoorientierte Bemessung von Tragstrukturen“ – die beiden bisherigen Beiträge sind in [12] und [13] veröffentlicht – werden die Hintergründe der Kombinationsregel nach [1], Gln. (6.10a) und (6.10b), die Herleitung des Kombinationsbeiwertes x für ungünstig wirkende ständige Einwirkungen G und mögliche Anwendungsbereiche vorgestellt.

Risk oriented structural design – Reduction factor for permanent actions. The Eurocode DIN EN 1990: 2010‐12 [1] presents in Clause 6.4.3.2 (3) equations (6.10a) and (6.10b) an alternative rule for combinations of actions for persistent or transient design situations, that is not known in Germany until now. It has therefore been summarily dismissed in the national Annex DIN EN 1990/NA [2] with NCI 6.4.3.2 (3) and with NDP A.1.3.1 (4). The use of this alternative combination rule allows a more economic design in certain cases, while maintaining an acceptable reliability level.

In this third contribution to the series “Risk oriented structural design” following [12] and [13], the background to the combination rule in [1], (6.10a) and (6.10b), the derivation of the reduction factor x for unfavourable permanent actions G and possible areas of application are presented.
Tausend Tonnen Präzision
Authors: Klingelhöfer Tina
Published: October 2012

Eine gewaltige Gebäudebrücke suggeriert entmaterialisierte Leichtigkeit und verwirklicht das architektonische Konzept des fließenden Übergangs von Innen und Außen. Eigentlich ein Paradox, aufgelöst durch den Baustoff Stahl. In der scheinbar schwebenden Gebäudebrücke stecken 1000 t Stahl und eine Menge Präzision. Mit viel Liebe für’s Detail, Know‐how und Herzblut haben die Ingenieure von Christmann
Analytische Lösungen für Kreis‐ und Kreisringplatten unter symmetrischer und antimetrischer Einwirkung — Anwendungen für Detailprobleme im Konstruktiven Glasbau. Stahlbau 81 (2012), H. 9, S. 711–718.
Authors: Seel M. , Siebert G.
Published: October 2012

Bild 8 auf S. 718 des o.g. Aufsatzes muß durch das folgende Bild ersetzt werden. Wir bitten um Entschuldigung und Beachtung. Die Redaktion
The Demand for California Wine Grapes
Authors: Fuller Kate B. , Alston Julian M.
Published: October 2012

Wine grapes contribute significantly to the economy of California, with a gross production value of more than $2 billion in 2010. Studies on economic issues in the industry require measures of demand response to price, but despite the economic importance of this industry, estimates of elasticities of demand for wine grapes have not been published. We use a flexible-form inverse demand system model to estimate elasticities of demand for wine grapes from three grape-growing regions in California, representing three different quality (price) categories. The resulting estimates of own-price elasticities are high, ranging from −2.6 for grapes in the low-price region to −9.5 for grapes in the high-price region. Such high elasticities are plausible given the role of international trade in wine, and they are consistent with synthetic estimates that we computed based on a combination of economic theory, data on market shares, estimates of some pertinent parameters in the literature, and informed guesstimates of values for other parameters. (JEL Classification: Q11, Q12, Q13)
The Tomb Monument of Katherine, Daughter of Henry III and Eleanor of Provence (1253–7)
Authors: Badham Sally , Oosterwijk Sophie
Published: October 2012

An English princess of the mid-thirteenth century, dead by the age of three and a half, Katherine occupies only a footnote in the history of England. Yet the costly tomb monument at Westminster Abbey provided by her grieving father, Henryiii, was probably the earliest recorded memorial to a child known to have been set up in England. It may also have been part of Henry's response to the commemoration programme that his brother-in-law, Louisixof France, had instigated. Nothing now apparently remains of Katherine's tomb to remind posterity of her brief existence, but its commissioning marked a step up in Henry's growing ambition to be seen as an innovator at the forefront of the artistic developments of his age, and the story surrounding its provision affords insights into the role of display and material culture in Henrician politics.
Consistent differences in macroparasite community composition among populations of three-spined sticklebacks,Gasterosteus aculeatusL.
Authors: DE ROIJ JOB , MacCOLL ANDREW D. C.
Published: October 2012

Parasite ecologists are often interested in the repeatability of patterns in parasite communities in space and/or time, because of implications for the dynamics of host-parasite interactions. Field studies usually examine temporal and spatial variation in isolation or limit themselves to a small number of host populations. Here, we studied the macroparasite communities of 12 populations of three-spined stickleback,Gasterosteus aculeatusL., on North Uist, Scotland, separated by small geographical distances, during the breeding season in 2 consecutive years (2007 and 2008) to determine: (1) the extent of spatial variation in macroparasite communities, (2) whether this variation is consistent across years, and (3) whether habitat characteristics can explain differences in macroparasite community composition among populations. We found substantial variation in parasite communities among populations. Generally, measures of parasite community composition were higher in 2008 than in 2007, but this effect of year was consistent across populations, such that the relative differences in these measures among populations changed little between years. These data suggest that there is short-term stability in the spatial variation in macroparasite communities of North Uist sticklebacks. However, none of the 5 habitat characteristics measured explained spatial variation in any measure of parasite community composition.
Damus–Kaye–Stansel procedure 5 years after Fontan operation with ligated main pulmonary artery
Authors: Karimi Mohsen , Rosenberg Carol A. , Lutin William
Published: October 2012

We report a case of tricuspid atresia with transposed great arteries and rudimentary right ventricle owing to which the patient developed severe subaortic stenosis and restrictive bulboventricular foramen 5 years after her extracardiac Fontan operation. She underwent a successful modified Damus–Kaye–Stansel operation using her native pulmonary valve. Spiral cardiac computed tomography with three-dimensional reconstructions was instrumental in pre-operative surgical planning.
Prehospital Trauma Care Systems: Potential Role Toward Reducing Morbidities and Mortalities from Road Traffic Injuries in Nigeria
Authors: Adeloye Davies
Published: October 2012

Introduction

Road traffic injuries (RTIs) and attendant fatalities on Nigerian roads have been on an increasing trend over the past three decades. Mortality from RTIs in Nigeria is estimated to be 162 deaths/100,000 population. This study aims to compare and identify best prehospital trauma care practices in Nigeria and some other African countries where prehospital services operate.

Methods

A review of secondary data, grey literature, and pertinent published articles using a conceptual framework to assess: (1) policies; (2) structures; (3) first responders; (4) communication facilities; (5) transport and ambulance facilities, and (6) roadside emergency trauma units.

Results

There is no national prehospital trauma care system (PTCS) in Nigeria. The lack of a national emergency health policy is a factor in this absence. The Nigerian Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) mainly has been responsible for prehospital services. South Africa, Zambia, Kenya, and Ghana have improved prehospital services in Africa.

Conclusions

Commercial drivers, laypersons, military, police, a centrally controlled communication network, and government ambulance services are feasible delivery models that can be incorporated into the Nigerian prehospital system. Prehospital trauma services have been useful in reducing morbidities and mortalities from traffic injuries, and appropriate implementation of this study's recommendations may reduce this burden in Nigeria.

AdeloyeD. Prehospital trauma care systems: potential role toward reducing morbidities and mortalities from road traffic injuries in Nigeria. Prehosp Disaster Med. 2012;27(6):1-7.
Electromagnetic constraints on a melt region beneath the central Mariana back‐arc spreading ridge
Authors: Matsuno Tetsuo , Evans Rob L. , Seama Nobukazu , Chave Alan D.
Published: October 2012

An electrical resistivity profile across the central Mariana subduction system shows high resistivity in the upper mantle beneath the back‐arc spreading ridge where melt might be expected to exist. Although seismic data are equivocal on the extent of a possible melt region, the question arises as to why a 2‐D magnetotelluric (MT) survey apparently failed to image any melt. We have run forward models and inversions that test possible 3‐D melt geometries that are consistent with the MT data and results of other studies from the region, and that we use to place upper bounds on the possible extent of 3‐D melt region beneath the spreading center. Our study suggests that the largest melt region that was not directly imaged by the 2‐D MT data, but that is compatible with the observations as well as the likely effects of melt focusing, has a 3‐D shape on a ridge‐segment scale focused toward the spreading center and a resistivity of 100 Ω‐m that corresponds to ∼0.1–∼1% interconnected silicate melt embedded in a background resistivity of ∼500 Ω‐m. In contrast to the superfast spreading southern East Pacific Rise, the 3‐D melt region suggests that buoyant mantle upwelling on a ridge‐segment scale is the dominant process beneath the slow‐spreading central Mariana back‐arc. A final test considers whether the inability to image a 3‐D melt region was a result of the 2‐D survey geometry. The result reveals that the 2‐D transect completed is useful to elucidate a broad range of 3‐D melt bodies.
Across‐ and along‐arc geochemical variations of lava chemistry in the Sangihe arc: Various fluid and melt slab fluxes in response to slab temperature
Authors: Hanyu Takeshi , Gill James , Tatsumi Yoshiyuki , Kimura Jun‐Ichi , Sato Keiko , Chang Qing , Senda Ryoko , Miyazaki Takashi , Hirahara Yuka , Takahashi Toshiro , Zulkarnain Iskandar
Published: October 2012

The Sangihe arc, northern Indonesia, is an oceanic arc that is the western half of the only active arc–arc collision on Earth. To elucidate magma genesis and slab thermal structure in such a setting, we have obtained new geochemical data for lavas from the entire Sangihe arc. In the southern arc, the volcanic front lavas are enriched in fluid‐mobile elements, while the rear arc lavas are more enriched in melt‐mobile elements. The proportion of sediment versus altered oceanic crust in the slab component is only ∼20% but still larger in Sangihe than other arcs in the western Pacific such as Izu, suggesting more subduction of the thick sediments in the narrowing Molucca Sea. The slab component changes in character across the arc from low‐temperature fluid, through high‐temperature fluid, to partial melt during progressive subduction. The geochemical systematics, the estimated mass fraction of the slab component, and the inferred stability of accessory rutile, zircon, and phengite in the slab are all similar between the southern Sangihe and Izu arcs, indicating that the thermal structure of the slab is not affected by impending collision. In contrast, lavas from the dormant northern Sangihe arc show geochemical characteristics similar to the Quaternary rear arc rather than the Quaternary volcanic front lavas in the southern arc. This may be related to advanced collision in the northern arc that could have slowed the subduction rate and heated the slab in the Pliocene followed by cessation of volcanic activity in the Quaternary.
The age of Yellow River water in the Bohai Sea
Authors: Liu Zhe , Wang Haiyan , Guo Xinyu , Wang Qiang , Gao Huiwang
Published: October 2012

To quantitatively understand the transport timescales of dissolved material discharged from large rivers into a semienclosed sea, the age of Yellow River water in the Bohai Sea was calculated with the constituent‐oriented age and residence time theory (CART) and particle‐tracking method. Yellow River water has a mean age of 3.0 years for the entire Bohai Sea. The spatial variation of the water age is significant: 1.2 years near the Yellow River estuary but 3.9 years in the Liaodong Bay. However, the temporal variation in water age is insignificant. The water particles released at the river mouth need only several days to reach the estuary area. The great water age (1.2 years) near the Yellow River estuary is caused by the presence of old water particles that initially left this area but returned to this area again. Without the reentry of Yellow River water from the Yellow Sea to the Bohai Sea, the mean age of Yellow River water in the entire Bohai Sea decreases to 1.2 years. Calculations without tidal forcing give a reduction in water age by more than 50%, suggesting that tidal forcing plays the most dominant role in controlling the age of Yellow River water in the Bohai Sea. Calculations without winds give an increase in water age by 20–30%, suggesting that wind forcing is secondary factor to the age of Yellow River water. Changes in discharge of the Yellow River and in thermal stratification have limited influence on the age of Yellow River water.
The added value to global model projections of climate change by dynamical downscaling: A case study over the continental U.S. using the GISS‐ModelE2 and WRF models
Authors: Racherla P. N. , Shindell D. T. , Faluvegi G. S.
Published: October 2012

Dynamical downscaling is being increasingly used for climate change studies, wherein the climates simulated by a coupled atmosphere‐ocean general circulation model (AOGCM) for a historical and a future (projected) decade are used to drive a regional climate model (RCM) over a specific area. While previous studies have demonstrated that RCMs can add value to AOGCM‐simulated climatologies over different world regions, it is unclear as to whether or not this translates to a better reproduction of the observed climate change therein. We address this issue over the continental U.S. using the GISS‐ModelE2 and WRF models, a state‐of‐the‐science AOGCM and RCM, respectively. As configured here, the RCM does not effect holistic improvement in the seasonally and regionally averaged surface air temperature or precipitation for the individual historical decades. Insofar as the climate change between the two decades is concerned, the RCM does improve upon the AOGCM when nudged in the domain proper, but only modestly so. Further, the analysis indicates that there is not a strong relationship between skill in capturing climatological means and skill in capturing climate change. Though additional research would be needed to demonstrate the robustness of this finding in AOGCM/RCM models generally, the evidence indicates that, for climate change studies, the most important factor is the skill of the driving global model itself, suggesting that highest priority should be given to improving the long‐range climate skill of AOGCMs.
Inflammation and the pathogenesis of diabetic nephropathy
Authors: Wada Jun , Makino Hirofumi
Published: October 2012

The most problematic issue in clinical nephrology is the relentless and progressive increase in patients with ESRD (end-stage renal disease) worldwide. The impact of diabetic nephropathy on the increasing population with CKD (chronic kidney disease) and ESRD is enormous. Three major pathways showing abnormality of intracellular metabolism have been identified in the development of diabetic nephropathy: (i) the activation of polyol and PKC (protein kinase C) pathways; (ii) the formation of advanced glycation end-products; and (iii) intraglomerular hypertension induced by glomerular hyperfiltration. Upstream of these three major pathways, hyperglycaemia is the major driving force of the progression to ESRD from diabetic nephropathy. Downstream of the three pathways, microinflammation and subsequent extracellular matrix expansion are common pathways for the progression of diabetic nephropathy. In recent years, many researchers have been convinced that the inflammation pathways play central roles in the progression of diabetic nephropathy, and the identification of new inflammatory molecules may link to the development of new therapeutic strategies. Various molecules related to the inflammation pathways in diabetic nephropathy include transcription factors, pro-inflammatory cytokines, chemokines, adhesion molecules, Toll-like receptors, adipokines and nuclear receptors, which are candidates for the new molecular targets for the treatment of diabetic nephropathy. Understanding of these molecular pathways of inflammation would translate into the development of anti-inflammation therapeutic strategies.
Methyl donor supplementation of gestating sow diets improves pregnancy outcomes and litter size
Authors: van Wettere W. H. E. J. , Smits R. J. , Hughes P. E.
Published: October 2012

Maternal intake of B-vitamin and methyl donors can affect sow prolificacy. A total of 1079 Large White/Landrace sows (parities 2–9 at mating) were used in a 2 by 2 by 2 factorial design to determine the effects of two levels of betaine supplementation (0 versus 3 g added betaine/kg feed), two levels of folic acid plus vitamin B12 supplementation (0 versus 20 mg/kg folic acid plus 150 µg/kg vitamin B12) during gestation, and two parity groups (parity 2 and 3 versus parity 4 and greater) on litter size and pregnancy outcomes. The number of sows returning to oestrus post-insemination, as well as the number of early (Day 30) pregnancy losses were recorded. At farrowing, the total number of piglets born, the number of piglets born alive and dead, as well as the number of mummified fetuses were recorded. Pre-prandial blood samples were collected from a subset of 20 sows/treatment on Days 3, 30 and 107 of gestation to analyse homocysteine. The incidence of early pregnancy loss was reduced (P < 0.001) by folic acid plus vitamin B12 supplementation (0.03 versus 0.07). There was a significant interaction between parity at mating (parities 2 and 3 versus parity 4 and greater) and the addition of betaine or folic acid plus vitamin B12 to the gestation diet on litter size. Litter size was higher (0.5 piglets; P < 0.05) for betaine supplemented, compared with unsupplemented, parity 4 plus sows. Folic acid plus vitamin B12-supplemented parity 2 and 3 sows gave birth to more (P < 0.05) piglets than all other treatment groups. Folic acid plus vitamin B12 supplementation decreased (P < 0.001) plasma homocysteine concentration by 2.2 and 2.8 μM, respectively, on Days 3 and 107 of gestation. However, betaine supplementation decreased (P < 0.05) homocysteine on Day 3 only. Overall, folic acid plus vitamin B12 supplementation decreased incidences of early pregnancy failure and increased litter size in early parity sows, while betaine increased litter size in older parity sows.
Why tourism may not be everybody's business: the challenge of tradition in resource peripheries
Authors: Carson Doris A. , Carson Dean B.
Published: October 2012

Tourism is commonly promoted as a tool for economic diversification in peripheral regions that have traditionally relied on exporting natural resources (the ‘staples’). However, developing tourism in these regions has often proven immensely difficult. Part of the reason for this is that tourism seems to require different institutional arrangements to those common in traditional staples economies. This paper analyses the case of the Flinders Ranges in South Australia to examine how the conflicting institutional requirements of tourism and staples industries impacted on the capacity of the regional economic system to innovate and diversify its staples-based economy to include tourism. The paper further documents how conflicts in the diversification process have been mitigated. The research concludes that harnessing tourism for successful economic diversification in peripheral regions requires fundamental changes to previous ways of operating, including new approaches to business creation, capacity building, education and knowledge exchange, networking and public–private interactions.
Representatives in orbit: livelihood options for Aboriginal people in the administration of the Australian desert
Authors: Ganter Elizabeth
Published: October 2012

Aboriginal people comprise ~30% of the Northern Territory population, but make up well under 10% of the government bureaucracy designed to serve that population. This paper is based on PhD research into Aboriginal experiences of participating in this bureaucracy. Interviews were conducted in 2007 with 76 people of Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander background who had worked in the Northern Territory Government since self-government in 1978. The process of recruiting interviewees revealed a high degree of career mobility between government and the Indigenous sector of publicly funded organisations which operates at arm’s length from government. This finding was quite pronounced in the desert centre of Alice Springs, at the periphery of the Northern Territory administration, where those who were encouraged as a livelihood option to build Aborigines’ numeric representation in government were unable to represent their people in more substantive ways without coming into tension either with the terms of their employment or with their communities. The paper explores the ways in which Aboriginal public servants sought substantively to represent others and the phenomenon whereby many who sought representative roles in the government of the desert were in orbit and thus neither inside nor outside but somewhere at the edges of government. The paper concludes by observing that the knowledge and experience of Aboriginal people who orbit at the edges of government may be made more accessible through collaborations with the Indigenous sector than solely through government employment.
Secreted Vago restricts West Nile virus infection in
Culex
mosquito cells by activating the Jak-STAT pathway
Authors: Paradkar Prasad N. , Trinidad Lee , Voysey Rhonda , Duchemin Jean-Bernard , Walker Peter J.
Published: October 2012

Although West Nile virus (WNV) and other arthropod-borne viruses are a major public health problem, the mechanisms of antiviral immunity in mosquitoes are poorly understood. Dicer-2, responsible for the RNAi-mediated response through the C-terminal RNase-III domain, also contains an N-terminal DExD/H-box helicase domain similar to mammalian RIG-I/MDA5 which, in
Drosophila
, was found to be required for activation of an antiviral gene,
Vago
. Here we show that the
Culex
orthologue of Vago (
Cx
Vago) is up-regulated in response to WNV infection in a Dicer-2–dependent manner. Further, our data show that
Cx
Vago is a secreted peptide that restricts WNV infection by activation of the Jak-STAT pathway. Thus, Vago appears to function as an IFN-like antiviral cytokine in mosquitoes.
Solar UV radiation reduces the barrier function of human skin
Authors: Biniek Krysta , Levi Kemal , Dauskardt Reinhold H.
Published: October 2012

The ubiquitous presence of solar UV radiation in human life is essential for vitamin D production but also leads to skin photoaging, damage, and malignancies. Photoaging and skin cancer have been extensively studied, but the effects of UV on the critical mechanical barrier function of the outermost layer of the epidermis, the stratum corneum (SC), are not understood. The SC is the first line of defense against environmental exposures like solar UV radiation, and its effects on UV targets within the SC and subsequent alterations in the mechanical properties and related barrier function are unclear. Alteration of the SC’s mechanical properties can lead to severe macroscopic skin damage such as chapping and cracking and associated inflammation, infection, scarring, and abnormal desquamation. Here, we show that UV exposure has dramatic effects on cell cohesion and mechanical integrity that are related to its effects on the SC’s intercellular components, including intercellular lipids and corneodesmosomes. We found that, although the keratin-controlled stiffness remained surprisingly constant with UV exposure, the intercellular strength, strain, and cohesion decreased markedly. We further show that solar UV radiation poses a double threat to skin by both increasing the biomechanical driving force for damage while simultaneously decreasing the skin’s natural ability to resist, compromising the critical barrier function of the skin.
Mental time travel and default-mode network functional connectivity in the developing brain
Authors: Østby Ylva , Walhovd Kristine B. , Tamnes Christian K. , Grydeland Håkon , Westlye Lars Tjelta , Fjell Anders M.
Published: October 2012

A core brain network is engaged in remembering the past and envisioning the future. This network overlaps with the so-called default-mode network, the activity of which increases when demands for focused attention are low. Because of their shared brain substrates, an intriguing hypothesis is that default-mode activity, measured at rest, is related to performance in separate attention-focused recall and imagination tasks. However, we do not know how functional connectivity of the default-mode network is related to individual differences in reconstruction of the past and imagination of the future. Here, we show that functional connectivity of the default-mode network in children and adolescents is related to the quality of past remembering and marginally to future imagination. These results corroborate previous findings of a common neuronal substrate for memory and imagination and provide evidence suggesting that mental time travel is modulated by the task-independent functional architecture of the default-mode network in the developing brain. A further analysis showed that local cortical arealization also contributed to explain recall of the past and imagination of the future, underscoring the benefits of studying both functional and structural properties to understand the brain basis for complex human cognition.
Variation in personality and fitness in wild female baboons
Authors: Seyfarth Robert M. , Silk Joan B. , Cheney Dorothy L.
Published: October 2012

Studies of personality in nonhuman primates have usually relied on assessments by humans and seldom considered the function of the resulting “trait” classifications. In contrast, we applied exploratory principal component analysis to seven behaviors among 45 wild female baboons over 7 y to determine whether the personality dimensions that emerged were associated with measures of reproductive success. We identified three relatively stable personality dimensions, each characterized by a distinct suite of behaviors that were not redundant with dominance rank or the availability of kin. Females scoring high on the “Nice” dimension were friendly to all females and often grunted to lower-ranking females to signal benign intent. “Aloof” females were aggressive, less friendly, and grunted primarily to higher-ranking females. “Loner” females were often alone, relatively unfriendly, and also grunted most often to higher-ranking females. Aloof and Loner females were rarely approached by others. Personality dimensions were correlated in different ways with three measures previously shown to be associated with fitness: stress levels and two behavioral indices reflecting the closeness of dyadic bonds formed by individuals. Females who scored high on Nice had high composite sociality indices (CSI) and stable partner preferences, whereas females who scored high on Aloof had lower CSI scores but significantly more stable partner preferences. Loner females had significantly lower CSI scores, less stable partner preferences, and significantly higher glucocorticoid levels. It remains to be determined which of the Nice or Aloof personality dimensions is more adaptive, or whether variation is maintained by contrasting effects on fitness.
End‐of‐Life Decisions and the Reinvented Rule of Double Effect: A Critical Analysis
Authors: Lindblad Anna , Lynöe Niels , Juth Niklas
Published: October 2012

The Rule of Double Effect (RDE) holds that it may be permissible to harm an individual while acting for the sake of a proportionate good, given that the harm is not an intended means to the good but merely a foreseen side‐effect. Although frequently used in medical ethical reasoning, the rule has been repeatedly questioned in the past few decades. However, Daniel Sulmasy, a proponent who has done a lot of work lately defending the RDE, has recently presented a reformulated and more detailed version of the rule. Thanks to its greater precision, this reinvented RDE avoids several problems thought to plague the traditional RDE.

Although an improvement compared with the traditional version, we argue that Sulmasy's reinvented RDE will not stand closer scrutiny. Not only has the range of proper applicability narrowed significantly, but, more importantly, Sulmasy fails to establish that there is a morally relevant distinction between intended and foreseen effects. In particular, he fails to establish that there is any distinction that can account for the alleged moral difference between sedation therapy and euthanasia.
Justifying Community Benefit Requirements in International Research
Authors: Hughes Robert C.
Published: October 2012

It is widely agreed that foreign sponsors of research in low‐ and middle‐income countries (LMICs) are morally required to ensure that their research benefits the broader host community. There is no agreement, however, about how much benefit or what type of benefit research sponsors must provide, nor is there agreement about what group of people is entitled to benefit. To settle these questions, it is necessary to examine why research sponsors have an obligation to benefit the broader host community, not only their subjects. Justifying this claim is not straightforward. There are three justifications for an obligation to benefit host communities that each apply to some research, but not to all. Each requires a different amount of benefit, and each requires benefit to be directed toward a different group. If research involves significant net risk to LMIC subjects, research must provide adequate benefit to people in LMICs to avoid an unjustified appeal to subjects’ altruism. If research places significant burdens on public resources, research must provide fair compensation to the community whose public resources are burdened. If research is for profit, research sponsors must contribute adequately to the upkeep of public goods from which they benefit in order to avoid the wrong of free‐riding, even if their use of these public goods is not burdensome.
Perceived sources of stress amongst Chilean and Argentinean dental students
Authors: Fonseca J. , Divaris K. , Villalba S. , Pizarro S. , Fernandez M. , Codjambassis A. , Villa‐Torres L. , Polychronopoulou A.
Published: October 2012

Introduction

The prevalence of high levels of stress as well as its multilevel consequences is well documented amongst students in the health sciences, and particularly in dentistry. However, investigations of perceived stress amongst Spanish‐speaking student groups are sparse. This study aimed to (i) describe the translation, adaptation and psychometric properties of a Spanish version of the Dental Environment Stressors questionnaire and (ii) to examine the perceived sources of stress and their associations with the students' study year and gender in two dental schools in Latin America.

Materials and methods

All students officially registered in the dental schools of the University of San Sebastian (USS) in Chile and the Catholic University of Cordoba (CUC) in Argentina were invited to participate in the study. The DES30 questionnaire was adapted in Spanish using translation/back‐translation, an expert bilingual committee, and consensus building. Cronbach's alpha was used to measure the instrument's internal consistency, and iterated principal factor analysis with promax rotation was employed to explore its underlying factor structure. Descriptive, bivariate and multivariate methods were used to examine the patterns of association between individual stressors, factor scores and students' characteristics.

Results

Three hundred and four students comprised the study's analytical sample, with two‐thirds of those being female. The DES30‐Sp demonstrated good internal consistency (Cronbach's α = 0.89). A four‐factor solution emerged and included ‘academic workload’, ‘clinical training’, ‘time constraints’ and ‘self‐efficacy beliefs’ factors. ‘Fear of failing a course or a year’, ‘examinations and grades’ and ‘lack of time for relaxation’ were amongst the top individual‐item stressors reported by students in both schools. Amongst this group of undergraduate dental students, those in Argentina, in higher study year, and females reported higher perceived stress.

Conclusions

Increased workload, time constraints and some aspects of clinical training were the top stressors of approximately 300 Chilean and Argentinean dental undergraduates. Some variations between schools, males and females and study years were noted. The Spanish version of the DES30 questionnaire performed well, but future studies should evaluate the instrument's properties in larger and more diverse dental student populations.
Quantifying the functional responses of vegetation to drought and oxygen stress in temperate ecosystems
Authors: Douma Jacob C. , Bardin Vincent , Bartholomeus Ruud P. , van Bodegom Peter M.
Published: October 2012

Our understanding of the generality of plant functional responses to water availability is limited; current field studies use either very rough approximations of water and oxygen availability or only focus on water‐stressed ecosystems. Studies that relate species' responses to a surplus of water are limited to controlled experiments.

The aim of this study was to investigate how traits are selected along a gradient of soil moisture, ranging from oxygen‐stressed to drought‐stressed. We tested 15 traits: eight leaf traits, two root traits, two seed traits and three allometry traits and related their community means to process‐based measures of drought stress and oxygen stress for 171 plots in the Netherlands. Because the trait values had been taken from a large database, an independent field survey was carried out to validate the relationships thus derived.

We show that root porosity and seed floating capacity are mostly strongly related, although still moderately, to oxygen and drought stress (R2 = 27% and 42%, respectively). Leaf traits responded weakly to either of the stressors. The field survey yielded similar relationships. Trait combinations were much more closely related to oxygen or drought stress than individual traits, suggesting that there are multiple trait solutions at a given level of water and oxygen stress.

The relatively weak relationships found between traits and water‐related stressors contrast with the strong control of other environmental drivers (disturbance, nutrients) on traits and suggest that these strong constraints imposed by other environmental drivers necessitate varied solutions to cope with water availability.