bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Proteasome function shapes innate and adaptive immune responses
Authors: Kammerl Ilona E. , Meiners Silke
Published: June 2016

The proteasome system degrades more than 80% of intracellular proteins into small peptides. Accordingly, the proteasome is involved in many essential cellular functions, such as protein quality control, transcription, immune responses, cell signaling, and apoptosis. Moreover, degradation products are loaded onto major histocompatibility class I molecules to communicate the intracellular protein composition to the immune system. The standard 20S proteasome core complex contains three distinct catalytic active sites that are exchanged upon stimulation with inflammatory cytokines to form the so-called immunoproteasome. Immunoproteasomes are constitutively expressed in immune cells and have different proteolytic activities compared with standard proteasomes. They are rapidly induced in parenchymal cells upon intracellular pathogen infection and are crucial for priming effective CD8+T-cell-mediated immune responses against infected cells. Beyond shaping these adaptive immune reactions, immunoproteasomes also regulate the function of immune cells by degradation of inflammatory and immune mediators. Accordingly, they emerge as novel regulators of innate immune responses. The recently unraveled impairment of immunoproteasome function by environmental challenges and by genetic variations of immunoproteasome genes might represent a currently underestimated risk factor for the development and progression of lung diseases. In particular, immunoproteasome dysfunction will dampen resolution of infections, thereby promoting exacerbations, may foster autoimmunity in chronic lung diseases, and possibly contributes to immune evasion of tumor cells. Novel pharmacological tools, such as site-specific inhibitors of the immunoproteasome, as well as activity-based probes, however, hold promises as innovative therapeutic drugs for respiratory diseases and biomarker profiling, respectively.
Microarray Expression Profile of Circular RNAs in Heart Tissue of Mice with Myocardial Infarction-Induced Heart Failure
Authors: Wu Hong-Jin , Zhang Cheng-Ying , Zhang Sai , Chang Min , Wang Hong-Yun
Published: June 2016

Background/Aims: Myocardial infarction (MI) is a serious complication of atherosclerosis associated with increasing mortality attributable to heart failure. This study is aimed to assess the global changes in and characteristics of the transcriptome of circular RNAs (circRNAs) in heart tissue during MI induced heart failure (HF). Methods: Using a post-myocardial infarction (MI) model of HF in mice, we applied microarray assay to examine the transcriptome of circRNAs deregulated in the heart during HF. We confirmed the changes in circRNAs by quantitative PCR. Results: We revealed and confirmed a number of circRNAs that were deregulated during HF, which suggests a potential role of circRNAs in HF. Conclusions: The distinct expression patterns of circulatory circRNAs during HF indicate that circRNAs may actively respond to stress and thus serve as biomarkers of HF diagnosis and treatment.
Quercetin Stimulates Insulin Secretion and Reduces the Viability of Rat INS-1 Beta-Cells
Authors: Kittl Michael , Beyreis Marlena , Tumurkhuu Munkhtuya , Fürst Johannes , Helm Katharina , Pitschmann Anna , Gaisberger Martin , Glasl Sabine , Ritter Markus , Jakab Martin
Published: June 2016

Background/Aims: Previously we described insulinotropic effects of Leonurus sibiricus L. plant extracts used for diabetes mellitus treatment in Traditional Mongolian Medicine. The flavonoid quercetin and its glycoside rutin, which exert anti-diabetic properties in vivo by interfering with insulin signaling in peripheral target tissues, are constituents of these extracts. This study was performed to better understand short- and long-term effects of quercetin and rutin on beta-cells. Methods: Cell viability, apoptosis, phospho-protein abundance and insulin release were determined using resazurin, annexin-V binding assays, Western blot and ELISA, respectively. Membrane potentials (Vmem), whole-cell Ca2+ (ICa)- and ATP-sensitive K+ (IKATP) currents were measured by patch clamp. Intracellular Ca2+ (Cai) levels were measured by time-lapse imaging using the ratiometric Ca2+ indicator Fura-2. Results: Rutin, quercetin and the phosphoinositide-3-kinase (PI3K) inhibitor LY294002 caused a dose-dependent reduction in cell viability with IC50 values of ∼75 µM, ∼25 µM and ∼3.5 µM, respectively. Quercetin (50 µM) significantly increased the percentage of Annexin-V+ cells within 48 hrs. The mean cell volume (MCV) of quercetin-treated cells was significantly lower. Within 2 hrs, quercetin significantly decreased basal- and insulin-stimulated Akt(T308) phosphorylation and increased Erk1/2 phosphorylation, without affecting P-Akt(S473) abundance. Basal- and glucose-stimulated insulin release were significantly stimulated by quercetin. Quercetin significantly depolarized Vmem by ∼25 mV which was prevented by the KATP-channel opener diazoxide, but not by the L-type ICa inhibitor nifedipine. Quercetin significantly stimulated ICa and caused a 50% inhibition of IKATP. The effects on Vmem, ICa and IKATP rapidly reached peak values and then gradually diminished to control values within ∼1 minute. With a similar time-response quercetin induced an elevation in Cai which was completely abolished in the absence of Ca2+ in the bath solution. Rutin (50 µM) did not significantly alter the percentage of Annexin-V+ cells, MCV, Akt or Erk1/2 phosphorylation, insulin secretion, or the electrophysiological behavior of INS-1 cells. Conclusion: We conclude that quercetin acutely stimulates insulin release, presumably by transient KATP channel inhibition and ICa stimulation. Long term application of quercetin inhibits cell proliferation and induces apoptosis, most likely by inhibition of PI3K/Akt signaling.
Promoting health literacy in the classroom
Authors: Bruselius-Jensen Maria , Bonde Ane Høstgaard , Christensen Julie Hellesøe
Published: June 2016

Objective:

Research has shown that developing health literacy in early life is critical to reducing lifestyle-related diseases, with schools being identified as central settings for this purpose. This paper examines how one classroom-based health educational programme, IMOVE, helped Danish primary school pupils develop health literacy related to physical activity. It discusses curriculum-integrated health education’s contribution to promoting health literacy.

Design:

Qualitative classroom observation.

Setting:

IMOVE was implemented in 12 school classes (grades 5–7) in four public schools in Copenhagen, Denmark, during the autumn and winter of 2013–2014. Participants numbered 281 pupils and nine teachers.

Method:

We used Nutbeam’s conceptualisation of health literacy as a theoretical framework to assess which levels of health literacy the programme would promote; we assessed these using data derived from 59 IMOVE lesson transcripts.

Results:

IMOVE primarily contributed to the development of functional health literacy by building a relational understanding between everyday practice and step numbers. We observed the presence of interactive health literacy in discussions about how pupils and teachers could change their daily practices. Only a limited number of discussions supported the development of critical health literacy.

Conclusion:

Our findings suggest that educators can successfully integrate health literacy development into classroom-based curriculum teaching, with pupils’ own step counts and associated reflections positively influencing learning. However, in this study, classroom teaching was limited to a focus on cognitive skills and only partially supported the development of more critical health literacy skills. Our findings call for further research into approaches to support classroom-based critical health literacy development.
Assessing Employees’ Reactions to Organizational Change
Authors: Straatmann Tammo , Kohnke Oliver , Hattrup Kate , Mueller Karsten
Published: June 2016

The importance of diagnostic assessments during the design, implementation, and evaluation of change management processes is increasingly emphasized in the change management literature, and in practice. However, evidence-based change management is challenged by the rather fragmented state of research on employees’ reactions to change. Hence, this study proposes a theory-based framework for the design of change surveys that includes and links concrete classes of change management variables with specific employee reactions to change. The framework is applied and tested in the context of organizational changes following an international merger project ( N = 240). Structural equation modeling revealed a good fit of the framework to empirical data and demonstrated the usefulness for the systematic and comprehensive identification of relationships between change management variables and employees’ specific reactions to the change process. The results underscore the potential of the framework to guide researchers and practitioners alike in analyzing and optimizing organizational change processes.
“Picking up the crumbs of England”: East African Asians in Yasmin Alibhai-Brown’s autobiographies
Authors: Hand Felicity
Published: June 2016

Ugandan-born journalist, Yasmin Alibhai-Brown has published two autobiographical works: No Place like Home (1995) and The Settler’s Cookbook: A Memoir of Love, Migration and Food (2008). The former is an account of her childhood and adolescence in Uganda up to the expulsion of the Asian community in 1972. The latter work is a highly unusual combination of autobiography combined with no less than 113 recipes, each of which highlights a specific person, period, or event in her memoir. While No Place Like Home responds to the accepted principles of autobiographical writing, The Settler’s Cookbook defies generic classification and is perhaps the author’s own way of depicting the Asian community, sandwiched between two communities, the Europeans and the Africans. In this article I propose to focus on Alibhai-Brown’s critical stance towards her community in her analysis of the social and political reasons for the negative image of the Asian in East Africa, as reflected in the first part of my title. Despite her frank observations on the endogamic nature of her community, she also pays tribute to the many Asian women who tried to build bridges between communities, a difficult task considering the constraints placed on female agency. As she states in The Settler’s Cookbook, “[t]o be an Asian woman in the 1950s in East Africa must have been both exhilarating and confusing” (2008: 151). Alibhai-Brown’s work, written in the diaspora and with the benefit of hindsight, has unravelled many of the paradoxes of the ambiguous position of the South Asian community in East Africa.
Modelling of mechanical properties of randomly oriented strand thermoplastic composites
Authors: Selezneva Marina , Roy Steven , Meldrum Sean , Lessard Larry , Yousefpour Ali
Published: June 2016

There is an emerging interest in the aerospace industry to manufacture components with intricate geometries using discontinuous-fibre carbon/polyether-ether-ketone moulding systems (obtained by cutting unidirectional tape into strands). Great formability and high modulus can be achieved with this type of composites, but the high variability of measured properties can have a detrimental effect on the design allowables. When it comes to prediction of mechanical properties, it is important to capture the average strength and modulus as well as their statistical variability. This article proposes a stochastic finite element technique that uses the concept of randomly oriented strands to model variability, and the application of Hashin’s failure criteria and fracture energies to estimate strength. Overall, the model matches the trends observed during experiments and shows that strength of randomly oriented strand composites is significantly lower than that of continuous-fibre laminates due to the ‘weakest-link’ principle.
Characteristics and Pedagogical Behaviours of Good EFL Instructors: The Views of Selected Southeast Asian and Mexican SLTE Students
Authors: Richter Kenneth G. , Lara Herrera Romero
Published: June 2016

This article reports on the views of selected Southeast Asian and Mexican second language teacher education students regarding the characteristics and pedagogical behaviours of good EFL instructors. A total of 116 participants from Mexico, Brunei, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Thailand, Indonesia, Cambodia, and Vietnam took part in the current investigation. These countries have all been characterized as pedagogically conservative and slow to adopt educational innovations. Data was gathered using the repertory grid technique and was subjected to content, cluster, and principal component analyses. Results foregrounded the importance placed on teachers’ positive personality traits. Most significantly, findings indicated a preference for modern teaching approaches among the research participants, despite the pedagogic conservatism of their home countries.
Listening Vocabulary: Embracing Forgotten Aural Features
Authors: Siegel Joseph
Published: June 2016

This article describes an innovation in the teaching and learning of vocabulary in English as a Foreign Language classes. Whereas vocabulary coverage in classrooms and textbooks traditionally focuses on lists of target words in printed form, this article promotes the notion of ‘aural vocabulary’ as an important part of ‘knowing’ words. It describes a set of activities used to improve learners’ academic listening abilities and illustrates the activities by using the Academic Word List (Coxhead, 2000).
The Habitus, Coping Practices, and the Search for the Ground of Action
Authors: Cahill Kevin M.
Published: June 2016

The article shows how in Outline of a Theory of Practice Pierre Bourdieu relies on a kind of philosophical myth in his attempt to dispel structuralist accounts of action. Section 2 is a summary of Bourdieu’s use of the concept of habitus against intellectualism and structuralism. Schatzki’s criticism of Bourdieu from a purportedly Wittgensteinian perspective is also examined. Section 3 relates Bourdieu’s use of habitus to a debate between Hubert Dreyfus and John McDowell about the role of concepts in action. Section 4 shows how McDowell’s rejection of foundationalist elements in Dreyfus’s account of action also raises problems for Bourdieu’s account of action. Diamond’s recent criticism of Winch is shown to have an interesting connection to this debate.
“Crashing America’s Back Gate”: Illegal Europeans, Policing, and Welfare in Industrial Detroit, 1921-1939
Authors: Bavery Ashley Johnson
Published: June 2016

Between 1921 and 1939, the border separating Detroit, Michigan, from Windsor, Canada, represented a key site for undocumented immigration on America’s northern border, and the migrants in question were European. This essay examines industrial urban America in the wake of 1921 and 1924 Immigration Acts to reveal the effects of restriction and policing on America’s emerging welfare state. It finds that in Detroit, after federal policies gave nativism the force of the law, local smuggling, policing, and enforcement practices branded foreign-born Europeans as illegal regardless of their legal status. During the New Deal Era, when the federal government built America’s welfare system, the stakes for belonging to the nation-state became higher than ever. In this moment of transition, local actors drew on rhetoric connecting foreigners to crime and dependence to urge federal policymakers to tie welfare benefits to citizenship. These local initiatives in Detroit and across the nation prompted the federal government to purge non-citizens from the Works Progress Administration, the new welfare program most associated with dependence and relief. Ultimately, this essay argues that a shift in national mood about foreignness in urban America took hold of the United States in the 1920s and shaped federal welfare policy by the 1930s.
Gender Diversity in Compensation Committees
Authors: Strobl Sascha , Rama Dasaratha V. , Mishra Suchismita
Published: June 2016

Gender diversity in corporate boards and the functioning of compensation committees are two issues that have caught the attention of legislators and regulators in many countries. Using data from 5,630 observations from public companies in the United States, we find that firm and board characteristics are associated with the presence of females on the compensation committee. However, female presence on the compensation committee is not significantly associated with CEO pay (as a proportion of shareholder wealth increase). We then discuss issues related to research on gender diversity in corporate boards, and offer some suggestions for future research on diversity in corporate boards.
Commentary
Authors: Aeffner Famke , Wilson Kristin , Bolon Brad , Kanaly Suzanne , Mahrt Charles R. , Rudmann Dan , Charles Elaine , Young G. David
Published: June 2016

Historically, pathologists perform manual evaluation of H&E- or immunohistochemically-stained slides, which can be subjective, inconsistent, and, at best, semiquantitative. As the complexity of staining and demand for increased precision of manual evaluation increase, the pathologist’s assessment will include automated analyses (i.e., “digital pathology”) to increase the accuracy, efficiency, and speed of diagnosis and hypothesis testing and as an important biomedical research and diagnostic tool. This commentary introduces the many roles for pathologists in designing and conducting high-throughput digital image analysis. Pathology review is central to the entire course of a digital pathology study, including experimental design, sample quality verification, specimen annotation, analytical algorithm development, and report preparation. The pathologist performs these roles by reviewing work undertaken by technicians and scientists with training and expertise in image analysis instruments and software. These roles require regular, face-to-face interactions between team members and the lead pathologist. Traditional pathology training is suitable preparation for entry-level participation on image analysis teams. The future of pathology is very exciting, with the expanding utilization of digital image analysis set to expand pathology roles in research and drug development with increasing and new career opportunities for pathologists.
States of maintenance: Power, politics, and Egypt’s irrigation infrastructure
Authors: Barnes Jessica
Published: June 2016

Egypt’s irrigation infrastructure comprises a vast network of dams, canals, offtakes, and ditches, which direct water from the Nile throughout the Nile Valley and Delta to millions of farmers who rely on that water to cultivate their land. In this paper, I focus on the vital work of maintenance, which keeps this infrastructure functioning and the water flowing. Yet rather than taking maintenance as an inherent good, I look critically at what exactly is being maintained. I contrast two forms of canal maintenance: first, the work that Egypt’s Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation conducts, mostly during an annual maintenance period; second, the maintenance that farmers conduct on an everyday basis. State-led maintenance, I argue, is as much about reasserting state authority over the irrigation system as it is about fixing problems within the system. The unsung maintenance of irrigation ditches by farmers, on the other hand, is not only about cleaning ditches but also building communal relations among farmers that are key to the delivery of the water on which they depend. Focusing attention on the decision-making processes around maintenance reveals the variegated outcomes of this work and how it maintains not only the material but also social order.
Costs after hip fracture in independently living patients: a randomised comparison of three rehabilitation modalities
Authors: Lahtinen A , Leppilahti J , Vähänikkilä H , Harmainen S , Koistinen P , Rissanen P , Jalovaara P
Published: June 2016

Objective:

To evaluate costs and cost-effectiveness of physical and geriatric rehabilitation after hip fracture.

Design:

Prospective randomised study (mean age 78 years, 105 male, 433 female) in different rehabilitation settings: physically oriented (187 patients), geriatrically oriented (171 patients), and healthcare centre hospital (control, 180 patients).

Main measures:

At 12 months post-fracture, we collected data regarding days in rehabilitation, post-rehabilitation hospital treatment, other healthcare service use, number of re-operations, taxi use by patient or relative, and help from relatives.

Results:

Control rehabilitation (4945,2€) was significantly less expensive than physical (6609.0€, p=0.002) and geriatric rehabilitation (7034.7€ p<0.001). Total institutional care costs (primary treatment, rehabilitation, and post-rehabilitation hospital care) were lower for control (13,438.4€) than geriatric rehabilitation (17,201.7€, p<0.001), but did not differ between control and physical rehabilitation (15659.1€, p=0.055) or between physical and geriatric rehabilitation ( p=0.252). Costs of help from relatives (estimated as 30%, 50% and 100% of a home aid’s salary) with physical rehabilitation were lower than control ( p=0.016) but higher than geriatric rehabilitation ( p=0.041). Total hip fracture treatment costs were lower with physical (36,356€, 51,018€) than control rehabilitation (38,018€, 57,031€) at 50% and 100% of salary ( p=0.032, p=0.014, respectively). At one year post-fracture, 15D-score was significantly higher in physical rehabilitation group (0.697) than geriatric rehabilitation group (0.586, p=0.008) and control group (0.594, p=0.009).

Conclusions:

Considering total costs one year after hip fracture the treatment including physical rehabilitation is significantly more cost-effective than routine treatment. This effect could not be seen between routine treatment and treatment including geriatric rehabilitation.
Nanoagonist-mediated endothelial tight junction opening: A strategy for safely increasing brain drug delivery in mice
Authors: Gao Xihui , Wang Yuan-Cheng , Liu Yikang , Yue Qi , Liu Zining , Ke Mengjing , Zhao Shengyuan , Li Cong
Published: June 2016

Even though opening endothelial tight junctions is an efficient way to up-regulate brain drug delivery, the extravasation of blood-borne components from the compromised tight junctions can result in adverse consequences such as edema and neuronal injuries. In this work, we developed a nanoagonist that temporarily opened tight junctions by signaling adenosine 2A receptor, a type of G protein-coupled receptor expressed on brain capillary endothelial cells. Magnetic resonance imaging demonstrated remarkable blood–brain barrier permeability enhancements and significantly increased brain uptakes of both small molecular and macromolecular paramagnetic agents after nanoagonist administration. Gamma ray imaging and transmission electron microscope observed tight junction opening followed by spontaneous recovery after nanoagonist treatment. Immunofluorescence staining showed the unspoiled basal membrane, pericytes and astrocyte endfeet that enwrapped the vascular endothelium. Importantly, edema, apoptosis and neuronal injuries observed after hypertonic agent mediated tight junction-opening were not observed after nanoagonist intervention. The uncompromised neurovascular units may prevent the leakage of blood-borne constituents into brain parenchyma and accelerate tight junction recovery. Considering blood–brain barrier impermeability is a major obstacle in the treatment of central nervous system diseases, nanoagonist-mediated tight junction opening provides a promising strategy to enhance brain drug delivery with minimized adverse effects.
Analyzing the Religious War of Words over Climate Change
Authors: Landrum Nancy E. , Tomaka Connor , McCarthy John
Published: June 2016

This study examines the websites of two religious organizations representing opposing sides of the religious response toward environmentalism and climate change. This research seeks to understand how each side communicates with followers. Using rhetorical framing analysis, it is shown the religious right advocates a dominion stance and uses a romance genre filled with stories, contrast, spin, appeals to logic, and rhetoric of hope and fear. The religious left advocates a stewardship stance and uses a romance genre filled with stories, appeals to logic, and rhetoric of hope. Cultural cognition theory of risk perception reveals each side subscribes to opposing cultural worldviews of an ideal society. The hermeneutical analysis suggests that the debate is not a conflict over the science of climate change but instead is a conflict over cultural worldviews of an ideal society. This manuscript offers suggestions for macromarketing in confronting the conflicting views exhibited in this study.
Approaches to Concept Analysis
Authors: Berenskoetter Felix
Published: June 2016

This article takes as its point of departure Stefano Guzzini’s recent call for ‘ontological theorizing’ as a reflexive engagement with central concepts. In an attempt to advance this agenda, the article presents an accessible overview of different approaches to concept analysis to stake out the field for a discussion of what ontological theorising might entail. The article advances the notion of concepts as ‘basic’ and lays out the parameters through which they obtain meaning, followed by a discussion of three approaches, which tackle the multifaceted nature of basic concepts within and across different contexts. These approaches are labelled ‘historical’, ‘scientific’ and ‘political(critical)’ and presented through the work of Reinhart Koselleck, Giovanni Sartori and Michel Foucault, respectively. The article notes that concept analysis, as discussed here, stands in tension with modern forms of theory building yet is a creative source for theorising that accepts the unstable, political and context-bound nature of ontology.
Cerebral metabolism before and after external trigeminal nerve stimulation in episodic migraine
Authors: Magis Delphine , D’Ostilio Kevin , Thibaut Aurore , De Pasqua Victor , Gerard Pascale , Hustinx Roland , Laureys Steven , Schoenen Jean
Published: June 2016

Background and aim

A recent sham-controlled trial showed that external trigeminal nerve stimulation (eTNS) is effective in episodic migraine (MO) prevention. However, its mechanism of action remains unknown. We performed 18-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography (FDG-PET) to evaluate brain metabolic changes before and after eTNS in episodic migraineurs.

Methods

Twenty-eight individuals were recruited: 14 with MO and 20 healthy volunteers (HVs). HVs underwent a single FDG-PET, whereas patients were scanned at baseline, directly after a first prolonged session of eTNS (Cefaly®) and after three months of treatment (uncontrolled study).

Results

The frequency of migraine attacks significantly decreased in compliant patients ( N = 10). Baseline FDG-PET revealed a significant hypometabolism in fronto-temporal areas, especially in the orbitofrontal (OFC) and rostral anterior cingulate cortices (rACC) in MO patients. This hypometabolism was reduced after three months of eTNS treatment.

Conclusion

Our study shows that metabolic activity of OFC and rACC, which are pivotal areas in central pain and behaviour control, is decreased in migraine. This hypometabolism is reduced after three months of eTNS. eTNS might thus exert its beneficial effects via slow neuromodulation of central pain-controlling areas, a mechanism also previously reported in chronic migraine and cluster headache after percutaneous occipital nerve stimulation. However, this finding needs to be confirmed by further studies using a sham condition.
The Relation of Focal Lesions to Cortical Thickness in Pediatric Traumatic Brain Injury
Authors: Bigler Erin D. , Zielinski Brandon A. , Goodrich-Hunsaker Naomi , Black Garrett M. , Huff B. S. Trevor , Christiansen Zachary , Wood Dawn-Marie , Abildskov Tracy J. , Dennis Maureen , Taylor H. Gerry , Rubin Kenneth , Vannatta Kathryn , Gerhardt Cynthia A. , Stancin Terry , Yeates Keith Owen
Published: June 2016

In a sample of children with traumatic brain injury, this magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)–based investigation examined whether presence of a focal lesion uniquely influenced cortical thickness in any brain region. Specifically, the study explored the relation of cortical thickness to injury severity as measured by Glasgow Coma Scale score and length of stay, along with presence of encephalomalacia, focal white matter lesions or presence of hemosiderin deposition as a marker of shear injury. For comparison, a group of children without head injury but with orthopedic injury of similar age and sex were also examined. Both traumatic brain injury and orthopedic injury children had normally reduced cortical thickness with age, assumed to reflect neuronal pruning. However, the reductions observed within the traumatic brain injury sample were similar to those in the orthopedic injury group, suggesting that in this sample traumatic brain injury, per se, did not uniquely alter cortical thickness in any brain region at the group level. Injury severity in terms of Glasgow Coma Scale or longer length of stay was associated with greater reductions in frontal and occipitoparietal cortical thickness. However, presence of focal lesions were not related to unique changes in cortical thickness despite having a prominent distribution of lesions within frontotemporal regions among children with traumatic brain injury. Because focal lesions were highly heterogeneous, their association with cortical thickness and development appeared to be idiosyncratic, and not associated with group level effects.
The theatricality of accountability: The operation of governing bodies in schools
Authors: Farrell Catherine , Morris Jonathan , Ranson Stewart
Published: June 2016

The shift from political leadership to new forms of governance has led to the establishment of locally appointed bodies in many public organizations including schools. From a dramaturgical perspective, this article focuses on the accountability of these new bodies, in particular on the codes of accountability. Using school governing bodies to illustrate, the article evaluates whether accountability in practice might be likened to a theatrical performance. The findings presented are relevant to school governing bodies and there may be wider application in public sector boards more generally.
A smart prediction tool for estimating heat transfer and overall pressure drop from shell-and-tube heat exchanger
Authors: Bala Bhaskara Rao J , Ramachandra Raju V , Deepak BBVL
Published: June 2016

Almost all thermal/chemical industries are equipped with heat exchangers in order to enhance the thermal efficiency. The performance of a shell and tube heat exchanger depends significantly on the design parameters like the tube cross-sectional area, tube orientation, baffle cut, etc. However, there are no specific relationships among these parameters to obtain an optimal design, such that the heat transfer rate is maximized and the pressure drop is minimized. Therefore, experimental and numerical simulations are carried out for a heat exchanger at various process parameters. Heat exchanger considered in this investigation is a single shell-multiple pass type device. For the performed experimental datasets, a generalized regression neural network is applied to generate a relation among the input and output process parameters.
The effect of the grinding wheel modification on the state of the workpiece surface layer after internal cylindrical grinding of steel C45
Authors: Wójcik Ryszard , Nadolny Krzysztof
Published: June 2016

Internal cylindrical grinding is one of the most difficult grinding processes due to the very long zone of contact between the grinding wheel and the workpiece surface. Such conditions limit delivery of the grinding fluid into the grinding zone, as well as impeding the removal of chips from it. As a result, during the internal cylindrical grinding process, difficult thermal conditions occur in the machining zone which finally could lead to grinding defects. One of the most efficient and cost-effective ways of improving the grinding stability and repeatability is modifying the grinding wheel structure. As such, modifications usually do not require interfering with the construction of the grinding machine or its equipment, they are universal and, possibly, widely applicable. This article presents a modified grinding wheel with helical grooves shaped on its active surface. Such modification was developed to reduce the thermal load of the workpiece surface and the occurrence of thermal defects. The effectiveness of the proposed grinding wheel modification was examined experimentally in the reciprocal circumferential internal cylindrical grinding process of 45C steel. The goal of the described tests was to determine the influence of the suggested grinding wheel modification on the condition of the workpiece surface layer (the surface roughness and residual stresses). The test results obtained indicated that application of the modified grinding wheel has a positive influence on the residual stresses in the workpiece surface layer, resulting in better delivery of the grinding fluid into the area of contact between the wheel and the machined material. Moreover, a decrease of the Ra parameter value by approximately 7–19%, as compared to the results of the process carried out with the (unmodified) reference grinding wheel was indicated.
Holocene sea-ice conditions and circulation at the Chukchi-Alaskan margin, Arctic Ocean, inferred from biomarker proxies
Authors: Polyak Leonid , Belt Simon T , Cabedo-Sanz Patricia , Yamamoto Masanobu , Park Yu-Hyeon
Published: June 2016

Two sediment cores from the Chukchi Sea margin were investigated for the Arctic sea-ice biomarker IP25, along with marine and terrestrial sterols and glycerol dialkyl glycerol tetraethers (GDGTs). This is the first paleoclimatic application of IP25 in the Chukchi-Alaskan region of the Arctic, which is key for understanding Arctic–Pacific interactions and is experiencing rapid sea-ice retreat under present warming. Sea-ice and related circulation conditions were characterized in this study with a multicentury resolution for the long-term Holocene record to multidecadal for the last several centuries. Sea ice was found to be present during the entire record but with considerable spatial and temporal variability. After very low deglacial IP25 values, possibly related to permanent sea ice and/or an iceberg-dominated environment, cores from the upper slope and shelf show IP25 maxima, interpreted as representing a relative proximity to the sea-ice margin, in the early (ca. 8–9 ka) and middle (ca. 5–6 ka) Holocene, respectively. Along with isoprenoid GDGT distribution, this asynchronicity in sea-ice history probably reflects oceanographic evolution of the Chukchi margin affected by the Beaufort Gyre circulation and Pacific water inflow via Bering Strait. Data for the last several centuries, with elevated values of brassicasterol and terrestrial sterols covarying with dinosterol and IP25, are interpreted in terms of long-distance import by currents combined with diagenetic transformations. We infer that high-amplitude variability in the late ‘Little Ice Age’, starting in the late 18th century, is related to the intensity of the Alaskan Coastal Current. This interval is preceded by three centuries of presumably diminished Alaskan Coastal Current but overall increased Bering Strait Inflow resulting in reduced sea-ice cover according to dinocyst-based data.
Prevalence of Physical Activity and Sitting Time Among South Korean Adolescents
Authors: Lee Eun-Young , Carson Valerie , Jeon Justin Y. , Spence John C.
Published: June 2016

This study aimed to describe physical activity (PA) and sitting time, and to examine associations between sociodemographic factors, weight status, PA, and sitting time among South Korean adolescents (12-18 years). Findings are based on self-report data from 638 participants in the 2013 Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Only 4.9% of adolescents accumulated 60 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous PA daily. Adolescents spent 532.4 ± 9.3 mins/d sitting. After controlling for age and sex, individuals in higher income groups compared with the lowest income group, living in nonmetro Seoul compared with metro Seoul, and who were overweight compared with nonoverweight were more likely to meet PA guidelines. Participants in the highest income group compared with lowest income group, and residing in nonmetro Seoul compared with metro Seoul were more likely to be in the high sitting time group (>720 min/d) ( P < .05). Increasing PA and reducing sitting should be a public health priority in South Korea.
Identity Work as an Event
Authors: Aslan Alper
Published: June 2016

Depending on the dualisms of mind–body, subject–object, inside–outside, and so forth, most identity work studies in organization studies neglect the affective and material aspects of identity work. Drawing on an ethnographic study and practice theory, I analyze how the live-statue enacts her identity in the street. Her identity work can highlight the affective and material aspects of identity work beyond dualisms. Conceptualizing identity work as an event depending on existential feelings, I found that the live-statue’s identity work depends on existential feelings of “submission to the street” that have both active and passive aspects, and which emerge from the process of to affect and to be affected. My study also highlights this process within situated interactions and material arrangements.
A synergy of costly punishment and commitment in cooperation dilemmas
Authors: Han The Anh , Lenaerts Tom
Published: June 2016

To ensure cooperation in the Prisoner’s Dilemma, individuals may require prior commitments from others, subject to compensations when agreements to cooperate are violated. Alternatively, individuals may prefer to behave reactively, without arranging prior commitments, by simply punishing those who misbehave. These two mechanisms have been shown to promote the emergence of cooperation, yet are complementary in the way they aim to promote cooperation. Although both mechanisms have their specific limitations, either one of them can overcome the problems of the other. On one hand, costly punishment requires an excessive effect-to-cost ratio to be successful, and this ratio can be significantly reduced by arranging a prior commitment with a more limited compensation. On the other hand, commitment-proposing strategies can be suppressed by free-riding strategies that commit only when someone else is paying the cost to arrange the deal, whom in turn can be dealt with more effectively by reactive punishers. Using methods from Evolutionary Game Theory, we present here an analytical model showing that there is a wide range of settings for which the combined strategy outperforms either strategy by itself, leading to significantly higher levels of cooperation. Interestingly, the improvement is most significant when the cost of arranging commitments is sufficiently high and the penalty reaches a certain threshold, thereby overcoming the weaknesses of both mechanisms.
Association of Cigarette Use and Complication Rates and Outcomes Following Total Ankle Arthroplasty
Authors: Lampley Alexander , Gross Christopher E. , Green Cynthia L. , DeOrio James K. , Easley Mark , Adams Samuel , Nunley James A.
Published: June 2016

Background:

Tobacco use is a known risk factor for increased perioperative complications and having worse functional outcomes in many orthopedic procedures. To date, no study has elucidated the effect of cigarette smoking on complications or functional outcome scores after total ankle replacement (TAR).

Methods:

We retrospectively reviewed the records of 642 patients who had TAR between June 2007 and February 2014 with a known smoking status. These patients were separated into 3 groups based on their smoking status: 34 current smokers, 249 former smokers, and 359 nonsmokers. Outcome scores and perioperative complications, which included infection, wound complications, revision surgeries, and nonrevision surgeries were compared between the groups.

Results:

When comparing perioperative complications in the active smokers to the nonsmokers, we found a statistically significant increased risk of wound breakdown (hazard ratio [HR] 3.08, P = .047). Although the active smokers had an increased rate of infection (HR 2.61, P = .392), revision surgery (HR 1.75, P = .470), and nonrevision surgery (HR 1.69, P = .172), these findings were not statistically significant. With regard to outcome scores, all groups demonstrated improvement at 1- and 2-year follow-up compared with their preoperative outcome scores. However, the active smokers had less improvement in their outcome scores than the nonsmokers at 1- and 2-year follow-up. Furthermore, there was no significant difference in the outcome scores when comparing the nonsmokers to the former smokers.

Conclusion:

Active cigarette smokers undergoing TAR had a significantly higher risk of wound complications and worse outcome scores compared with nonsmokers and former smokers. Furthermore, tobacco cessation appeared to reverse the effects of smoking, which allowed TAR to be an effective and safe procedure for providing pain relief and improving function in former smokers as they had perioperative complication rates and outcomes similar to nonsmokers.

Level of Evidence:

Level III, retrospective comparative series.
Acupuncture-Induced Analgesia
Authors: Tang Yong , Yin Hai-Yan , Rubini Patrizia , Illes Peter
Published: June 2016

Chronic pain is a debilitating and rather common health problem. The present shortage in analgesic drugs with a favorable spectrum but without remarkable side effects furthered the search for alternative therapeutic manipulations. Increasing evidence from both basic and clinical research on acupuncture, a main alternative therapy of traditional Chinese medicine, suggests that chronic pain is sensitive to acupuncture procedures. Clarification of the underlying mechanisms is a challenge of great theoretical and practical significance. The seminal hypothesis of Geoffrey Burnstock and the astounding findings of Maiken Nedergaard on the involvement of purinergic signaling in the beneficial effects of acupuncture fertilized the field and led to an intensification of research on acupurines. In this review, we will summarize the state-of-the-art situation and try to forecast how the field is likely to develop in the future.
Continuous microwave pasteurization of a vegetable smoothie improves its physical quality and hinders detrimental enzyme activity
Authors: Arjmandi Mitra , Otón Mariano , Artés Francisco , Artés-Hernández Francisco , Gómez Perla A , Aguayo Encarna
Published: June 2016

The effect of a pasteurization treatment at 90 ± 2 ℃ for 35 s provided by continuous microwave under different doses (low power/long time and high power/short time) or conventional pasteurization on the quality of orange-colored smoothies and their changes throughout 45 days of storage at 5 ℃ was investigated. A better color retention of the microwave pasteurization- treated smoothie using high power/short time than in conventionally processed sample was evidenced by the stability of the hue angle. The continuous microwave heating increased the viscosity of the smoothie more than the conventional pasteurization in comparison with non-treated samples. Lower residual enzyme activities from peroxidase, pectin methylesterase and polygalacturonase were obtained under microwave heating, specifically due to the use of higher power/shorter time. For this kind of smoothie, polygalacturonase was the more thermo-resistant enzyme and could be used as an indicator of pasteurization efficiency. The use of a continuous semi-industrial microwave using higher power and shorter time, such as 1600 W/206 s and 3600 W/93 s, resulted in better quality smoothies and greater enzyme reduction than conventional thermal treatment.
Reduction in Re-Hospitalization Rates Utilizing Physical Therapists Within a Post–Acute Transitional Care Program for Home Care Patients With Heart Failure
Authors: Miller Amy , Edenfield Erin E. , Roberto Janet , Erb Joann K.
Published: June 2016

Up to 25% of patients hospitalized with heart failure (HF) are re-admitted within 30 days. The highest risk of re-admission is within the first days after discharge. Transitional care programs usually only involve nurses and physicians. The purpose of this study was to describe a post–acute care program including physical therapists and to evaluate re-admission rates following program implementation. The program provided HF-specific training encouraging nurses and physical therapists to assess HF status and instruct on self-monitoring. Thresholds for communication with medical providers were established. Patient groups before ( n = 162) and after implementation ( n = 300) were similar. Following implementation, there was a 16% decrease in re-hospitalization with little change in the number of visits. Similar multidisciplinary programs may impact re-hospitalization rates and health care costs for HF.
The ‘dark side’ of knowledge brokering
Authors: Kislov Roman , Wilson Paul , Boaden Ruth
Published: June 2016

Deploying knowledge brokers to bridge the ‘gap’ between researchers and practitioners continues to be seen as an unquestionable enabler of evidence-based practice and is often endorsed uncritically. We explore the ‘dark side’ of knowledge brokering, reflecting on its inherent challenges which we categorize as: (1) tensions between different aspects of brokering; (2) tensions between different types and sources of knowledge; and (3) tensions resulting from the ‘in-between’ position of brokers. As a result of these tensions, individual brokers may struggle to maintain their fragile and ambiguous intermediary position, and some of the knowledge may be lost in the ‘in-between world’, whereby research evidence is transferred to research users without being mobilized in their day-to-day practice. To be effective, brokering requires an amalgamation of several types of knowledge and a multidimensional skill set that needs to be sustained over time. If we want to maximize the impact of research on policy and practice, we should move from deploying individual ‘brokers’ to embracing the collective process of ‘brokering’ supported at the organizational and policy levels.
Motivational climate, 2×2 achievement goal orientation and dominance, self-regulation, and physical activity in pre-service teacher education
Authors: Cecchini-Estrada José-Antonio , Méndez-Giménez Antonio
Published: June 2016

This longitudinal study investigated the effects of a mastery motivational climate in physical education (PE) classes on 2×2 achievement goal orientation and dominance, self-regulated learning (SRL), and physical activity (PA) in leisure time. A total of 408 (264 women, 144 men) university students were randomly assigned to two groups: experimental and control. For 12 weeks (24 one-hour sessions), the experimental group received an intervention programme based on TARGET model, which emphasized a mastery climate. The control group carried out the same content but without highlighting such strategies. By means of the structural equation model, true intraindividual change in relation to orientation to 2×2 achievement goals, SRL, and PA in leisure time was analyzed. An increase in different variables within the experimental group was confirmed, these being: (a) the orientation to and dominance of mastery-approach (MAp) goals at the expense of the remaining goals; (b) competences in SRL; and (c) moderate and vigorous levels of PA in their free time. In addition, intraindividual changes in the MAp goals were positively related to intraindividual changes in self-efficacy of learning, which, in turn, positively predicted intraindividual changes in PA, regardless of the group (experimental or control). Thus, the mastery climate increases the percentage of participants with a dominant MAp goal and can effectively help to promote regular habits of PA in free time, by mediation of self-efficacy in SRL.