bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
(Re)conceptualising precarity: institutions, structure and agency
Authors: Hardy Jane Ann
Published: March 2017

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to reflect on the notion of precarious work and addresses the temporal, historical and analytical weaknesses manifest in many accounts by proposing a political economy synthesis.

Design/methodology/approach

The discussion takes place through a political economy theoretical lens that takes seriously the structures and institutions of capitalism and the agency of workers individually and collectively.

Findings

The paper concludes that precarious work is intrinsic to capitalism and therefore the precariat cannot be understood as a class-in-itself. The implications of this for activists are that solidarity needs to be forged between all groups of workers in order to organise for decent and stable employment.

Originality/value

First, it is argued that two key structural influences on precarity are the spatiality of capitalism and its endemic tendency to crisis. Second, temporal and institutional “shapers” of precarity are discussed in historical and comparative context. Third, the agential influence on precarity is examined with regard to the possibility of the self-organisation precarious workers and their potential for forging solidarity with other groups.
Internet usage, user satisfaction, task-technology fit, and performance impact among public sector employees in Yemen
Authors: Isaac Osama , Abdullah Zaini , Ramayah T. , Mutahar Ahmed M.
Published: March 2017

Purpose

The internet technology becomes an essential tool for individuals, organizations, and nations for growth and prosperity. The purpose of this paper is to integrate the DeLone and McLean IS success model with task-technology fit (TTF) to explain the performance impact of Yemeni Government employees.

Design/methodology/approach

Questionnaire survey method was used to collect primary data from 530 internet users among employees within all 30 government ministries-institutions in Yemen. The four constructs in the proposed model were measured using existing scales. The data analysis starts with initial exploratory factor analysis, then confirmatory factor analysis and lastly structural equation modeling via AMOS.

Findings

The results showed that the proposed integrated model fits the data well. Findings of the multivariate analysis demonstrate four main results. First, actual usage has a strong positive impact on user satisfaction, TTF, and performance impact. Second, user satisfaction has a great influence on performance impact. Third, TTF has a strong positive impact on user satisfaction and performance impact. Fourth, both user satisfaction and TTF mediate the relationship between the actual usage and performance impact.

Research limitations/implications

The public sector in Yemen contains three parts: Yemeni prime minister, Yemeni ministries, and government agencies. This study focuses only on the Yemeni employees among Yemeni ministries; hence the results are not necessarily generalizable. Moreover, there are biases when the researcher measures the actual Internet usage variable through asking a participant about their opinion regarding their usage because these are generally found to differ from the true score of system usage.

Practical implications

The findings should be very useful for the Yemeni Government in presenting the importance of information technology effects on individual efficiency and effectiveness. Therefore, the information from these findings should encourage and support the formation of future policy at the organizational level and national level. If the government utilizes these findings by setting up strategies to promote internet usage, this may, in turn, improve professional practice, personal development, and quality of working life.

Originality/value

This paper adds to the existing literature of information systems by combining actual technology usage, user satisfaction, and TTF to predict performance impact within the organizations. Furthermore, this study proposed a second-order model of performance impact in order to increase the power of explaining the output by the model, which contains four first-order constructs: process, knowledge acquisition, communication quality, and decision quality. The predictive power of the proposed model has a higher ability to explain and predict performance impact compared to those obtained from some of the previous studies.
Supply chain contracting coordination for fresh products with fresh-keeping effort
Authors: Zheng Qi , Ieromonachou Petros , Fan Tijun , Zhou Li
Published: March 2017

Purpose

Fresh product loss rates in supply chain operations are particularly high due to the nature of perishable products. The purpose of this paper is to maximize profit through the contract between retailer and supplier. The optimized prices for the retailer and the supplier, taking the fresh-keeping effort into consideration, are derived.

Design/methodology/approach

To address this issue, the authors consider a two-echelon supply chain consisting of a retailer and a supplier (i.e. wholesaler) for two scenarios: centralized and decentralized decision making. The authors start from investigating the optimal decision in the centralized supply chain and then comparing the results with those of the decentralized decision. Meanwhile, a fresh-keeping cost-sharing contract and a fresh-keeping cost- and revenue-sharing contract are designed. Numerical examples are provided, and managerial insights are discussed at the end.

Findings

The results show that the centralized decision is more profitable than the decentralized decision; a fresh product supply chain (FPSC) can only be coordinated through a fresh-keeping cost- and revenue-sharing contract; the optimal retail price, wholesale price and fresh-keeping effort can all be achieved; and the profit of a FPSC is positively related to consumers’ sensitivity to freshness and negatively correlated with their sensitivity to price.

Research limitations/implications

This research is based on the assumption that demand is relatively stable. It has not addressed when demand is stochastic.

Practical implications

The findings would be useful for managers in fresh food sector in terms of how to deal with suppliers in order to maximize total profit while also provide freshest food to the customers.

Originality/value

Few studies have considered fresh-keeping effort as a decision variable in the modelling of supply chain. In this paper, a mathematical model for the fresh-keeping effort and for price decisions in a supply chain is developed. In particular, fresh-keeping cost-sharing contract and revenue-sharing contract are examined simultaneously in the study of the supply chain coordination problem.
Factors affecting creativity in information system development
Authors: Huang Li-Chun , Shiau Wen-Lung
Published: March 2017

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to elucidate the factors influencing creativity in information system development (ISD). Specifically, this paper compares two groups, students and practitioners, in order to identify salient factors influencing creativity in this field.

Design/methodology/approach

An empirical study was conducted through two online surveys in Taiwan. The subjects were university students (n=220) and practitioners (n=187) who had ISD project experiences. Data were collected via an online survey and analyzed using partial least squares (PLS) structural equation modeling. The authors present state-of-the-art PLS path modeling, including heterotrait-monotrait, standardized root mean square residual, second-order identification, and partial least squares multigroup analysis (PLS-MGA).

Findings

Both the student and practitioner results showed that the most salient factor influencing creative behavior was use of creativity technologies. In addition, cognitive style, recognition, and database programming had a significant positive effect on creative behavior for the students but not for the practitioners. The PLS-MGA results indicated that differences in creative behavior between the students and practitioners need to be considered.

Research limitations/implications

There are two main limitations. The first one is its design. This study was cross-sectional and there is a likelihood of common source bias due to self-reported data. In the future, researchers can use brain-imaging tools (e.g. functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI)) or eye tracking measurement to reduce self-reporting bias in creative behavior research. The second limitation is related to the sample. The subjects were university students and practitioners who had ISD project experiences; however, the heterogeneity of the investigated individuals (e.g. background, ability or experience) in university or industry may limit the power and generalizability of this study. Future studies may take same samples into consideration.

Originality/value

No previous study has investigated factors influencing the creativity of information system (IS) students and practitioners by using a decomposed and second-order research model. Thus, this paper, based on Amabile’s creativity theory, attempts to elucidate the factors influencing IS students’ and practitioners’ creativity.
Long‐term stoichiometry and fates highlight animal egestion as nutrient repackaging, not recycling, in aquatic ecosystems
Authors: Halvorson Halvor M. , Hall Delaney J. , Evans‐White Michelle A.
Published: March 2017

Animal defecation, or egestion, is a pronounced transformation of organic matter in many ecosystems. However, because egesta have been presumed recalcitrant and low nutrient, their significance and variability as an animal nutrient flux in aquatic settings – especially relative to mineralization via excretion – are poorly known.

We compared carbon (C), nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) dynamics over short‐ to long‐term (up to 107 days) microbial decomposition of egesta from the aquatic shredders Allocapnia spp., Lirceus spp. and Tipula spp. fed low‐ or high‐P content Platanus occidentalis litter to investigate roles of egesta in aquatic nutrient dynamics.

Tipula produced N and P deplete egesta of higher N : P compared to Lirceus and Allocapnia, and high‐P diets increased egesta P content compared to low‐P diets. Despite measurable C losses to decomposition, these differences in nutrient content persisted through decomposition, showing diet and species control both immediate and long‐term properties of egested particles.

Egesta switched between uptake and release of dissolved phosphorus and ammonium during decomposition, and exhibited consistent net N uptake as nitrate–nitrite. Across species and diets, lower N : P egesta tended to exhibit greater uptake of dissolved inorganic N, suggesting P enrichment of egesta drove stronger dissolved N demand by decomposer microbes.

Shredder egesta exhibit stable nutrient contents long term and, counter to assumptions that they are negligible or minor net sources, can be strong, extended sinks of dissolved inorganic nutrients. Future studies should consider contrasts between animal nutrient fluxes as excretion, which facilitates nutrient recycling via mineralization, vs. egestion, which slows nutrient recycling via organic nutrient repackaging and can create sinks of dissolved nutrients.

A lay summary is available for this article.
Manipulating two olfactory cues causes a biological control beetle to shift to non‐target plant species
Authors: Li Na , Li Shuang , Ge Jin , Schuman Meredith C. , Wei Jia‐Ning , Ma Rui‐Yan
Published: March 2017

Olfactory cues can determine the host preferences of herbivorous insects, but their role in host shifting is unclear. Host specificity and the potential for host shifts are important criteria for screening and post‐release evaluation of biological control agents for invasive plants. However, the role of olfactory cues in mediating host shifts in biological control agents is not well understood.

To investigate the role of olfactory cues in host selection of a reportedly monophagous flea beetle (Agasicles hygrophila), an important biocontrol agent for invasive alligator weed (Alternanthera philoxeroides), we extracted and analysed the volatiles produced by the host‐plant A. philoxeroides and the non‐host plants Alternanthera sessilis, Beta vulgaris and Amaranthus mangostanus. Moreover, we used electrophysiological techniques, behavioural bioassays and field trials to test the antennal responses and behavioural preferences of A. hygrophila to combinations of different plant volatiles and treatments, and pure compounds in different dosages and combinations.

We show that A. hygrophila female beetles indeed use olfactory cues to select plants for feeding and oviposition and that the survivorship of larvae on the second preferred non‐host plant A. sessilis, a close relative of the first preferred host plant A. philoxeroides, was over 75% in a field trail. Although female beetles responded to many volatile compounds from host and non‐host plants, (E)‐4,8‐dimethyl‐1,3,7‐nonatriene (DMNT) positively encouraged the beetle's feeding and oviposition preferences, whereas (Z)‐3‐hexenol displayed repellent effect. Remarkably, complementation assays with (Z)‐3‐hexenol on host plant or DMNT on non‐host plants significantly shifted A. hygrophila host preferences to non‐host plants and resulted in oviposition and egg hatching on the non‐host plant A. sessilis in field trials.

Synthesis. We demonstrate an olfactory mechanism by which a specialized herbivorous beetle uses the ratio of two common plant volatiles, (E)‐4,8‐dimethyl‐1,3,7‐nonatriene and (Z)‐3‐hexenol, to discriminate between its host and non‐host plants in nature. This study highlights an important mechanism by which olfactory cues could lead to undesired host range expansion in biocontrol agent, thus representing an important warning of the potential for a host shift and development of invasiveness in a common biocontrol agent, the flea beetle.
Dominican and Jesuit Formal Education in the First Years of Spanish Manila (c. 1571–1621)
Authors: Crossley John N.
Published: March 2017

In the sixteenth‐century explorations of the Far East, the Dominicans and the Jesuits had different attitudes to the indigenous peoples they encountered, while the peoples of China and the Philippines also had very different cultures. In this article I consider three pairs: Dominicans and Jesuits and their approaches to education, their attitudes to China and the Philippines, and to indigenous and non‐indigenous students in the earliest years of Spanish Manila.
The evolutionary development of plant‐feeding insects and their nutritional endosymbionts
Authors: Skidmore Isabel H. , Hansen Allison K.
Published: March 2017

Herbivorous insects have evolved diverse mechanisms enabling them to feed on plants with suboptimal nutrient availability. Low nutrient availability negatively impacts insect herbivore development and fitness. To overcome this obstacle numerous insect lineages have evolved intimate associations with nutritional endosymbionts. This is especially true for insects that specialize on nitrogen‐poor substrates, as these insects are highly dependent on intracellular symbionts to provide nitrogen lacking in their insect host's diet. Emerging evidence in these systems suggest that the symbiont's and/or the insect's biosynthetic pathways are dynamically regulated throughout the insect's development to potentially cope with the insect's changing nutritional demands. In this review, we evaluate the evolutionary development of symbiotic insect cells (bacteriocytes) by comparing and contrasting genes and mechanisms involved in maintaining and regulating the nutritional symbiosis throughout insect development in a diversity of insect herbivore‐endosymbiont associations. With new advances in genome sequencing and functional genomics, we evaluate to what extent nutritional symbioses are shaped by (i) the regulation of symbiont titer, (ii) the regulation of insect symbiosis genes, and (iii) the regulation of symbiont genes. We discuss how important these mechanisms are for the biosynthesis of essential amino acids and vitamins across insect life stages in divergent insect–symbiont systems. We conclude by suggesting future directions of research to further elucidate the evolutionary development of bacteriocytes and the impact of these nutritional symbioses on insect–plant interactions.
Determination of the Free Amino Acid, Organic Acid, and Nucleotide in Commercial Vinegars
Authors: Kong Yan , Zhang Li‐Li , Sun Ying , Zhang Yu‐Yu , Sun Bao‐Guo , Chen Hai‐Tao
Published: March 2017

The selected taste‐active compounds in several kinds of commercial vinegar including amino acids, organic acids, and nucleotides were determined by High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC). The results showed that glutamine and alanine, which contribute the umami and sweet taste to the flavor of vinegar, are high in Taste Activity Value (TAV). Acetic acid is the major organic acid in vinegar, making up as much as 91.4% of the total organic acid composition. Nucleotides, which were only detected in 5 brands of commercial vinegar and are both low in TAV, contribute less taste in vinegar. Our research provides a multiple chemical compositional characterization of vinegar and proposes a possibility of classification of different kinds of vinegar.
Do children with grapheme‐colour synaesthesia show cognitive benefits?
Authors: Simner Julia , Bain Angela E.
Published: March 2017

Grapheme‐colour synaesthesia is characterized by conscious and consistent associations between letters and colours, or between numbers and colours (e.g., synaesthetes might see A as red, 7 as green). Our study explored the development of this condition in a group of randomly sampled child synaesthetes. Two previous studies (Simner & Bain, 2013, Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 7, 603; Simner, Harrold, Creed, Monro, & Foulkes, 2009, Brain, 132, 57) had screened over 600 primary school children to find the first randomly sampled cohort of child synaesthetes. In this study, we evaluate this cohort to ask whether their synaesthesia is associated with a particular cognitive profile of strengths and/or weaknesses. We tested our child synaesthetes at age 10–11 years in a series of cognitive tests, in comparison with matched controls and baseline norms. One previous study (Green & Goswami, 2008, Cognition, 106, 463) had suggested that child synaesthetes might perform differently to non‐synaesthetes in such tasks, although those participants may have been a special type of population independent of their synaesthesia. In our own study of randomly sampled child synaesthetes, we found no significant advantages or disadvantages in a receptive vocabulary test and a memory matrix task. However, we found that synaesthetes demonstrated above‐average performance in a processing‐speed task and a near‐significant advantage in a letter‐span task (i.e., memory/recall task of letters). Our findings point to advantages for synaesthetes that go beyond those expected from enhanced coding accounts and we present the first picture of the broader cognitive profile of a randomly sampled population of child synaesthetes.
Long‐term third‐party assessment of results after continent cutaneous diversion with Lundiana pouch
Authors: Liedberg Fredrik , Gudjonsson Sigurdur , Xu Abai , Bendahl Pär‐Ola , Davidsson Thomas , Månsson Wiking
Published: March 2017

Objectives

To investigate the long‐term functional outcomes and complications after continent cutaneous diversion with the Lundiana pouch.

Patients and Methods

Complications, re‐operations, renal function, and continence were ascertained from patient charts. Outcome variables were validated by a second and independent review of the patient files.

Results

A complication of Clavien–Dindo grade ≥III, including unscheduled re‐admissions, occurred in 45/193 patients (23%) at ≤90 days of surgery. At a median follow‐up of 13 years, 105/193 patients (54%) had undergone at least one re‐operation, with uretero‐intestinal stricture being the most prevalent cause [28 patients (15%)]. Re‐operations were more prevalent in patients operated during the first half of the study period than during the second half (2000–2007; 62% vs 47%; P = 0.03), and they were also more frequent in patients who underwent surgery for benign causes than in patients who underwent surgery for malignancy (60% vs 51%; P = 0.04). Continence was achieved in 172/188 patients (91%). In all, 16% of all patients required revisional surgery of the outlet to remain continent with an easily catheterisable pouch or to address stomal stenosis. The mean decrease in estimated glomerular filtration rate was more pronounced in patients with benign indications for urinary diversion than in those with malignancies, even after adjusting for younger age at surgery and longer follow‐up in the former group (22 vs 11 mL/min/1.73 m2; P < 0.006). A disinterested third‐party assessment revealed 10 postoperative complications, 17 re‐operations during follow‐up, and seven occasions of hospitalisation due to pyelonephritis (included in data above) not recorded at the primary data review.

Conclusions

The Lundiana pouch is associated with a high risk of re‐operation, although the functional results are good. Independent review by a third party increased the validity of the outcome data.
Short‐term outcome of percutaneous tibial nerve stimulation for low anterior resection syndrome: results of a pilot study
Authors: Altomare D. F. , Picciariello A. , Ferrara C. , Digennaro R. , Ribas Y. , De Fazio M.
Published: March 2017

Aim

Percutaneous tibial nerve stimulation (PTNS) is a minimally invasive procedure which has been demonstrated to be effective in faecal/urinary incontinence but has never been tested in low anterior resection syndrome (LARS). The severity of LARS may be evaluated by the LARS score, but rectal cancer treatments may also affect urinary and sexual function, which are not explored by the LARS score. The Three Axial Perineal Evaluation (TAPE) score is a new validated index addressing the overall pelvic floor functions. This study aims to assess the efficacy of PTNS in LARS patients and to evaluate the results by the LARS and TAPE scores.

Methods

Twenty‐one patients operated on for rectal cancer between 2009 and 2014 complaining of LARS underwent PTNS (12 sessions of 30 min each). Six patients reported urinary incontinence and all except two (men) were sexually inactive. The LARS score and the TAPE score questionnaires were administered at baseline and after 6 months of follow‐up.

Results

At 6 months’ follow‐up, nine patients reported a significant improvement of faecal incontinence and 3/6 an improvement of urinary incontinence after PTNS. Median LARS score significantly decreased from 32 to 27 (P = 0.009), while the median TAPE score improved significantly from 55 to 58 (P = 0.004).

Conclusions

PTNS may be a further option in the treatment of selected patients with LARS and in addition may improve associated urinary incontinence. The severity of LARS can be detected by the LARS score; however, the adoption of the TAPE score is preferred in the case of concomitant urinary and/or sexual problems not explored by the LARS score.
PISA in Spain: Expectations, impact and debate
Authors: Tiana Ferrer Alejandro
Published: March 2017

PISA, which was launched by OECD, is one of the most significant and successful initiatives on which education systems have recently collectively embarked. However, although it is a well‐coordinated international programme, its reception differs according to country. There is therefore a need to analyse specific national circumstances in order to gain a deeper understanding of the undertaking as a whole. This article specifically considers Spain's participation in PISA and focuses on a number of aspects: a) the expectations created when it joined the programme, in parallel to the implementation of its own national education evaluation system; b) the impact PISA has had, both in the media and in political and discursive spheres; and c) the technical and scientific debates generated in Spanish academic media. Finally, it is argued that, in the last few years, PISA has met with a certain disenchantment among specialists and the public opinion because of its limitations as a ranking tool, the difficulty in explaining its findings, and its inability to prescribe education policies that are suitable for very different contexts.
In Sickness and in Health: Cripping and Queering Marriage Equality
Authors: Rainey Sarah Smith
Published: March 2017

On the heels of the groundbreaking Obergefell v. Hodges ruling legalizing same‐sex marriage in the United States, the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) movement for marriage equality has received unprecedented coverage. Few people, however, have heard of the marriage equality movement for people with disabilities (PWD). In order to understand the lack of coalition between the two movements, as well as the invisibility of the PWD marriage equality movement, I provide a conceptual analysis of both marriage movement discourses. Drawing on Cathy Cohen's work on secondary marginalization in the black community, I argue that both LGBT folks and PWD actively obscure the most needy, most dependent, and most queer members of their respective communities to gain sympathy and support from a (perceived) independent, heteronormative majority. However, bringing the two movements into dialogue can help us rethink intimate relationships, marriage, and who counts as a citizen worthy of rights.
The Relationship between High School Sector and Educational Success: Focusing on the Social Background of Private High School Students
Authors: Nishimaru Ryoichi
Published: March 2017

This study investigates the influence of high school sector on educational success in Japan. A range of previous research on disparities among high schools has revealed that high school rank (based on the academic ability of pupils, etc.) originated from the democratization of high school. However, given that the democratization of high school is supported by private high schools, high school sector may become a factor for high school ranking. The data used for the analysis are the 2005 National Survey of Social Stratification and Social Mobility (SSM) in Japan. The results indicate that students who enter private high schools have lower academic ability than students who enter public high schools. By contrast, private high school students have greater educational success than public high school students. Moreover, this study reveals that private high school students are generally from a higher social class than public high school students. Given that the use of entrance examinations for private junior high schools has been increasing since the 1990s, in the future, the effect of private schools on educational success may become stronger in not only high schools but also junior high schools. This study thus emphasizes the importance of paying greater attention to the relationship between educational success and the private and public school sectors.
The Influence of Living in Two Places on Conjugal Relations: “Instrumental” Characteristic of Norm of Love in China
Authors: Yu Jianming
Published: March 2017

This research focuses on dual residences (living in two places) on Chinese married couples, a phenomenon with a unique Chinese social background, based on the analysis of 15 cases sampled in the form of interviews, exploring the influence of having dual residences on husband‐wife relations and then further exploring its influence of the norm of love and how it works in China. There are three main conclusions. First, compulsory dual residence is closely connected to the rigorous systems of household registration and job allocation during the planned economy period. Voluntary dual residence is related to utilitarian values, including the pursuit of social status and income, against the background of the market economy. Second, at a time when to be working was the first and foremost goal for both men and women, compulsory dual residence was influenced by mainstream social norms that gave priority to work over relationships. Such recognition weakens the influence of dual residences on husband‐wife relations. The influence of voluntarily having dual residences on husband‐wife relations is mainly connected with how this situation comes to an end. Third, in China, the norm of love in coexistence with multiple values has not been shown to have a decisive influence no matter how the spouses were selected selection or how husband‐wife relations are maintained.
Architectonics Matter: Some Advantages of Treating the Unicity of God in Advance of the Trinity of Persons, in Dialogue with Thomas Aquinas
Authors: Holmes Christopher R.J.
Published: March 2017

Aquinas's distinction between what is essential and personal in God has been widely criticized in Protestant and Catholic modernity because of its supposed isolation of God from the economy of salvation. Based upon consideration of the divine goodness, I defend Aquinas's arrangement in Summa Theologiae I, qq. 1–49, advancing metaphysical inquiry along four lines. I discuss, first, the fittingness of ascribing conceptual priority to the common in advance of the particular; second, how Aquinas's ‘double perspective’ illuminates the New Testament language of ‘participation’ in the divine nature; third, the manner in which God's attributes structure God's works, illustrating the concordance of nature and works; fourth, and last, how Aquinas’s architectonic clarifies the relationship between God's essential names and transcendentality.
Path and correlation analysis of perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne L.) seed yield components
Authors: Abel S. , Gislum R. , Boelt B.
Published: March 2017

Maximum perennial ryegrass seed production potential is substantially greater than harvested yields with harvested yields representing only 20% of calculated potential. Similar to wheat, maize and other agriculturally important crops, seed yield is highly dependent on a number of interacting seed yield components. This research was performed to apply and describe path analysis of perennial ryegrass seed yield components in relation to harvested seed yields. Utilising extensive yield components which included subdividing reproductive inflorescences into five size categories, path analysis was undertaken assuming a unidirectional causal‐admissible relationship between seed yield components and harvested seed yield in six commercial seed production fields. Both spikelets per inflorescence and florets per spikelet had a significant (p < .05) direct effect on the overall seed yield; however, total path correlation coefficients showed that inflorescence size had the largest positive influence on seed yield via its indirect effects on other seed yield components. Our results will allow seed producers, seed production researchers and plant breeders alike to more efficiently increase harvested seed yield.
Synthesis of TiB2 from a carbon‐coated precursors method
Authors: Fu Zhezhen , Koc Rasit
Published: March 2017

This article deals with the synthesis of TiB2 from carbon‐coated TiO2 precursors with the addition of B4C. The carbon‐coated precursors method alters the reaction process, compared with the conventional mixing of reactants, to produce high‐quality TiB2 powders. The produced powders have a single phase, a submicron particle size (~0.3 to 0.8 μm), regular shape, loose agglomeration, and low level of contaminations (less than 0.5 wt% carbon and 0.6 wt% oxygen). The formation mechanism proposed is based on experimental results and thermodynamic evaluations. For comparison, the powders obtained from the mixture of reactants show higher agglomeration, a large particle size (>1 μm), high level of contaminations (0.7 wt% carbon and 1.1 wt% oxygen), and difficulty to control the reaction process (formation of TiBO3 and Ti2O3 as the intermediate phases). The synthesized powders from the precursors method can be hot pressed to a relative density of ~94.5% with the formation of platelike grains at 1800°C under a pressure of 35 MPa without additives.
A phylogeny of open‐habitat lizards (Squamata: Lacertidae: Ophisops) supports the antiquity of Indian grassy biomes
Authors: Agarwal Ishan , Ramakrishnan Uma
Published: March 2017

Aim

India is dominated by tropical grassy biomes (TGBs), traditionally considered seres or degraded forest, with low diversity relative to the restricted, ancestral wet zone. It is unclear if Indian grasslands and other open habitats are anthropogenically derived or native, old‐growth habitats; without a clear timescale of grassland evolution. One way to understand grassland evolution is to study the diversification in taxa restricted to open habitats. We use a dated phylogeny of Ophisops to address questions related to the origin, diversification and inter‐relationships of Indian and Saharo‐Arabian Ophisops, and ultimately the origin of Indian grasslands and open habitats.

Location

The Indian subcontinent; the Saharo‐Arabian Realm.

Methods

We generated up to 2736 base pairs of aligned sequence data (one mitochondrial, two nuclear genes) for Indian lacertids and reconstructed phylogenetic relationships using maximum likelihood and Bayesian inference. We use a fossil‐calibrated timetree, diversification analyses and ancestral area reconstructions to test the hypotheses of origin and relationships with Saharo‐Arabian Ophisops.

Results

Ophisops is strongly supported as monophyletic, with a basal split into a large‐bodied (LBC) and small‐bodied clade (SBC). The Saharo‐Arabian species are nested within the Indian species in the LBC. Species diversity in Indian Ophisops is grossly underestimated, with 26–47 candidate species. Ophisops began diversifying in the late Oligocene with significant rate shifts in the late Miocene‐Pliocene and Pleistocene within the SBC.

Main conclusions

Our results are consistent with an ancient origin of grassland taxa and TGBs in India. Ophisops is a dramatic example of overlooked cryptic diversity outside forests, with ~30 species where five were known. Ophisops dispersed into India from the Saharo‐Arabian Realm in the Oligocene with a back dispersal in the Middle Miocene, a novel biogeographical pattern. Diversification in the SBC of Ophisops increased 8‐fold during the global C4 grassland expansion. Indian TGBs are old‐growth ecosystems that need urgent conservation attention.
Use of Medications of Questionable Benefit at the End of Life in Nursing Home Residents with Advanced Dementia
Authors: Matlow Jeremy N. , Bronskill Susan E. , Gruneir Andrea , Bell Chaim M. , Stall Nathan M. , Herrmann Nathan , Seitz Dallas P. , Gill Sudeep S. , Austin Peter C. , Fischer Hadas D. , Fung Kinwah , Wu Wei , Rochon Paula A.
Published: March 2017

Objectives

To determine the prevalence of and resident characteristics associated with the prescription of medications of questionable benefit (MQBs) near the end of life in older adults with advanced dementia in nursing homes.

Design

Population‐based, cross‐sectional study using Resident Assessment Instrument Minimum Data Set 2.0 linked to health administrative data.

Setting

Ontario, Canada.

Participants

All 9,298 nursing home residents with advanced dementia who died between June 1, 2010, and March 31, 2013; were aged 66 and older at time of death; and received at least one MQB in their last year of life.

Measurements

Prevalence of eight classes of MQBs (e.g., lipid‐lowering agents, antidementia drugs) used in the last 120 days and last week of life.

Results

Of older nursing home residents with advanced dementia who received at least one MQB in the last year of life, 8,027 (86.3%) received them in the last 120 days and 4,180 (45.0%) in the last week of life. The most commonly prescribed MQB were antidementia (63.6%) and lipid‐lowering agents (47.8%). Severe cognitive impairment (adjusted odds ratio (aOR) = 1.19, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.07–1.33, P = .002) and fewer signs and symptoms of health instability (aOR = 1.58, 95% CI = 1.44–1.74, P < .001) were associated with MQB use into the last week of life. Seeing a neurologist or psychiatrist was associated with less likelihood of MQB use in the last week of life.

Conclusion

Many nursing home residents with advanced dementia are dispensed MQBs in the last week of life. Given that MQBs may cause more harm than benefit in this vulnerable population, it is important for physicians to actively reassess the role of all medications toward the end of life.
Cerebral Gray Matter Atrophy Is Associated with the CSF IgG index in African American with Multiple Sclerosis
Authors: Seraji‐Bozorgzad Navid , Khan Omar , Cree Bruce A.C. , Bao Fen , Caon Christina , Zak Imad , Razmjou Sara , Tselis Alexandros , Millis Scott , Bernitsas Evanthia
Published: March 2017

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

African American (AA) patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) have been reported to have a more aggressive disease course compared to their white counterparts. We explored the relation of gray matter (GM) volume, a marker of tissue injury, and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) IgG index in both AA and white MS patients.

METHODS

This was a cross‐sectional study of 150 self‐identified AA and 150 white patients with MS who underwent magnetic resonance imaging scan of brain and CSF sampling. Intrathecal IgG synthesis was quantified as IgG index. The Spearman test was used for univariate correlation analysis, followed by generalized linear model (GLM) to assess the effect of race on the correlation between IgG index and GM volume.

RESULTS

The GM volume was inversely related to the IgG index for the entire group (rho = –.57, P < .0004). The AA group showed a stronger correlation (rho = –.893, P < .00004), as compared to whites (rho = –.019, P = .85), between GM and IgG index. Furthermore, GLM analysis showed a significant effect of race on the relation between IgG index and GM volume (P < .0005).

CONCLUSIONS

AA patients with MS have lower GM volume and a stronger inverse correlation between GM volume and CSF IgG index, compared to the whites. These findings suggest a potentially prominent role of humoral immunity in mediating tissue injury in AA patients with MS.
Angiopoietin‐2 is expressed in oral Kaposi's sarcoma
Authors: Rossi Antonio , Ferreira Leticia , Cuevas‐Nunez Maria , Wright John M. , De‐Paula Alfredo M. B. , Basile John R. , Jham Bruno C.
Published: March 2017

Background

Kaposi's sarcoma (KS) persists today as a highly prevalent vascular cancer, often found in HIV patients. Studies have shown that angiopoietin 2 (Ang2), a pro‐angiogenic protein, is involved in the pathogenesis of this tumor. However, expression of this protein has not been investigated in oral KS lesions. Thus, we aimed to investigate the expression of Ang2 in samples of oral KS.

Methods

Immunohistochemistry was used to evaluate Ang2 expression in 14 oral KS cases, with degrees of expression being analyzed in a semi‐quantitative manner. In addition, clinical information such as age, gender, race, tumor location, size, color, and appearance, as well as HIV status, was collected and included in the analysis.

Results

All patients were white males, mostly HIV‐positive, with a mean age of 40 years. Clinically, the lesions were dark red/blue/purple masses, ranging from 1 to 2.5 cm in diameter, found in various locations such as the tongue, palate, and gingiva. Expression of Ang2 was noted in 72% (10/14) of the samples. Of these, 10% showed weak expression, 60% moderate, and 30% strong expression.

Conclusions

Our results indicate that Ang2 is expressed in oral KS and, consistent with results from previous studies, show that Ang2 may contribute to the pathogenesis of this lesion.
Immunophenotype of neutrophils in oral squamous cell carcinoma patients
Authors: Caldeira Patrícia Carlos , Vieira Érica Leandro Marciano , Sousa Alexandre Andrade , Teixeira Antônio Lúcio , Aguiar Maria Cássia Ferreira
Published: March 2017

Background

The aim was to explore the immunophenotype of neutrophils and lymphocytes and the inflammatory mediators in patients with oral squamous cell carcinoma, comparing with controls; and to associate with clinicopathological data.

Methods

Blood was collected from 13 patients and 13 controls. The immunophenotype of neutrophils (CD66b, CD16, CD11a, arginase‐1), T lymphocytes (CD4, CD8) and the intracellular cytokine production (IL‐10, TNF, IFN‐γ) was evaluated by flow cytometry. Plasma concentration of sVCAM‐1, sTNF‐RI, sTNF‐RII, and IL‐1β was measured by ELISA. MPO, Lipocalin‐2/NGAL, sICAM‐1, and p‐selectin were quantified by Luminex assay. The excised tumors were submitted to immunohistochemistry for neutrophils (CD66b) and lymphocytes (CD3, CD4, CD8). Association with clinical data was explored. P values <.05 were considered significant.

Results

Patients presented higher percentage of neutrophils and lower lymphocytes, resulting a higher neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio than controls. They also presented higher percentage of neutrophils expressing CD66b+, CD66b+Arginase‐1+, CD66b+IL10+, CD66b+TNF+, CD66b+Arginase‐1+IL‐10+, and lower CD66b+CD16+CD11a+ and CD66b+Arginase‐1+TNF+. CD66b+neutrophils were detected in all tumors, with a CD66b+/CD3+ ratio of 0.40. Patients showed higher concentration of plasmatic sVCAM‐1 and lower Lipocalin‐2/NGAL. Patients with good outcome presented lower percentage of neutrophils, higher percentage of lymphocytes, and lower NLR than patients who died.

Conclusion

The amount and immunophenotype of neutrophils and lymphocytes differ between patients and healthy individuals, with a pro‐tumorigenic profile of neutrophils. As these cells also get within tumor microenvironment, they possibly exert systemic and local functions in cancer pathogenesis. The association of neutrophil count with outcome corroborates recent studies and this merits further investigation for applicability as a prognosticator.
Spectral analysis of the stick‐slip phenomenon in “oral” tribological texture evaluation
Authors: Sanahuja Solange , Upadhyay Rutuja , Briesen Heiko , Chen Jianshe
Published: March 2017

“Oral” tribology has become a new paradigm in food texture studies to understand complex texture attributes, such as creaminess, oiliness, and astringency, which could not be successfully characterized by traditional texture analysis nor by rheology. Stick‐slip effects resulting from intermittent sliding motion during kinetic friction of oral mucosa could constitute an additional determining factor of sensory perception where traditional friction coefficient values and their Stribeck regimes fail in predicting different lubricant (food bolus and saliva) behaviors. It was hypothesized that the observed jagged behavior of most sliding force curves are due to stick‐slip effects and depend on test velocity, normal load, surface roughness as well as lubricant type. Therefore, different measurement set‐ups were investigated: sliding velocities from 0.01 to 40 mm/s, loads of 0.5 and 2.5 N as well as a smooth and a textured silicone contact surface. Moreover, dry contact measurements were compared to model food systems, such as water, oil, and oil‐in‐water emulsions. Spectral analysis permitted to extract the distribution of stick‐slip magnitudes for specific wave numbers, characterizing the occurrence of jagged force peaks per unit sliding distance, similar to frequencies per unit time. The spectral features were affected by all the above mentioned tested factors. Stick‐slip created vibration frequencies in the range of those detected by oral mechanoreceptors (0.3–400 Hz). The study thus provides a new insight into the use of tribology in food psychophysics.

Practical applications

Dynamic spectral analysis has been applied for the first time to the force‐displacement curves in “oral” tribology. Analyzing the stick‐slip phenomenon in the dynamic friction provides new information that is generally overlooked or confused with machine noise and which may help to understand friction‐related sensory attributes. This approach allows us to differentiate samples that have similar friction coefficient, but are perceived differently in the mouth. The next step of our research will be to combine spectral attributes, such as the magnitudes of specific wave number bands and possibly their evolution during sliding, together with friction coefficient and viscosity values of foods with sensory results. The highest potential lies in predicting smoothness in opposition to roughness of a surface, such as a rough tongue when eating astringent or dry foods, or of particles when eating grainy foods. The effects of food ingredients at the nano to macroscales can then be used to optimize a specific lubrication behavior.
Vitamin A deficiency in chronic cholestatic liver disease: Is vitamin A therapy beneficial?
Authors: Freund Cora , Gotthardt Daniel N.
Published: March 2017

Chronic cholestatic diseases are progressive diseases of the biliary tract that cause hepatic fibrosis and ultimately lead to liver failure. Liver transplantation is the sole curative option currently available, and because of high morbidity and mortality rates of these diseases, new therapeutic approaches are needed. Vitamin A is a nutrient essential for health as it regulates many processes, including epithelial growth and immunological processes. Vitamin A is primarily stored in hepatic stellate cells, and during liver injury, through an unknown mechanism, these cells lose vitamin A and convert into collagen‐producing myofibroblasts, which contributes to hepatic fibrosis. Vitamin A deficiencies in chronic cholestatic diseases have been frequently reported, and therefore, retinoid metabolism has attracted a lot of attention. Retinoids have been shown to attenuate or even prevent hepatic fibrosis, and to regulate hepatic immunological response to cholestatic injury in different rodent models of chronic cholestasis. Recently, their potential as therapeutic drugs in primary sclerosing cholangitis patients was analyzed. The aim of this review is to summarize the existing knowledge and hypotheses about vitamin A role and the disease progression in cholestatic liver disease.
Efficacy of an Intervention Program for Attention and Reflexivity in Children With Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder
Authors: Campeño‐Martínez Yoana , Santiago‐Ramajo Sandra , Navarro‐Asencio Enrique , Vergara‐Moragues Esperanza , Santiuste Bermejo Victor
Published: March 2017

There has been increasing evidence in recent years of the need to adapt intervention programs to the specific needs of children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). The main goal of this research work was to study the efficacy of an educational intervention program to improve attention and reflexivity in school children with ADHD in order to verify the improvements in symptoms associated with ADHD such as aggressivity, social isolation, anxiety, and attention deficit. The sample was comprised of 26 primary school children ranging from 7 to 10 years of age with ADHD. Symptoms of children with ADHD were evaluated by applying the Escalas Magallanes Screening Scale for Attention Deficits and Other Developmental Problems in Children (EMA‐DDA) at two time points (pre and post). The results show a statistically significant reduction in symptoms on the aggressivity and social isolation scales measured with the EMA‐DDA after applying the intervention program. These data supports the potential value of an intervention program for working with ADHD children.
On Decreasing Marginal Impatience, Stability and Monetary Policy in a Sidrauskian Economy
Authors: Daway Sarah Lynne Salvador
Published: March 2017

This paper analyzes the long‐run dynamics with which decreasing marginal impatience (DMI) is consistent with a saddle‐path equilibrium in a Sidrauskian economy. With exogenous growth, this occurs with a strong substitutability between capital and money. Otherwise, diminishing returns to capital have to be stronger than in a nonmonetary setting if capital and money are complements. With endogenous growth, saddle‐path stability ensues when the rate of time preference—the rate at which “impatience” is increasing—exceeds the rate at which the real economy is growing along a balanced growth path. Two monetary implications also emerge. One, DMI can be consistent with both a negative and positive long‐run inflation‐growth nexus. Two, under capital‐money substitutability, the Friedman optimal rule might even fail to hold.