bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Chronic Migraine Responding to Intravenous Thiamine: A Report of Two Cases
Authors: Prakash Sanjay , Kumar Singh Ajai , Rathore Chaturbhuj
Published: May 2016

Background

Migraine is a risk factor for thiamine deficiency and Wernicke's encephalopathy (WE). WE is a highly underdiagnosed condition. The misdiagnosis is associated more with early or mild WE. The interrelation between migraine and thiamine deficiency is unknown

Case reports

Here, we report two female patients with chronic migraine. During examinations, we also noted clinical signs pertinent with a diagnosis of WE. Both patients had low blood thiamine level. Intravenous thiamine supplementation led to the improvement of both WE and associated headaches.

Discussion

Nausea, vomiting, and anorexia of migraine may lead to mild to moderate thiamine deficiency and WE. Review of the literature suggests that WE in early or subclinical form will have nonspecific symptoms that may include frequent headache, nausea, vomiting, and anorexia. So, WE in the early stage may simulate migrainous features and this will further aggravate thiamine deficiency and a vicious cycle may be formed, and that will progressively increase the chronicity of headaches and other features. Breaking of this cycle by thiamine supplementation might be a promising therapy in a subset of patients with chronic migraine.

Conclusion

Thiamine deficiency due to nausea, vomiting and anorexia of migraine may further aggravate migraine like headaches in cyclical pattern.
Evaluation of the Red Blood Cell Advanced Software Application on the CellaVision DM96
Authors: Criel M. , Godefroid M. , Deckers B. , Devos H. , Cauwelier B. , Emmerechts J.
Published: May 2016

Introduction

The CellaVision Advanced Red Blood Cell (RBC) Software Application is a new software for advanced morphological analysis of RBCs on a digital microscopy system. Upon automated precharacterization into 21 categories, the software offers the possibility of reclassification of RBCs by the operator. We aimed to define the optimal cut‐off to detect morphological RBC abnormalities and to evaluate the precharacterization performance of this software.

Methods

Thirty‐eight blood samples of healthy donors and sixty‐eight samples of hospitalized patients were analyzed. Different methodologies to define a cut‐off between negativity and positivity were used. Sensitivity and specificity were calculated according to these different cut‐offs using the manual microscopic method as the gold standard. Imprecision was assessed by measuring analytical within‐run and between‐run variability and by measuring between‐observer variability.

Results

By optimizing the cut‐off between negativity and positivity, sensitivities exceeded 80% for ‘critical’ RBC categories (target cells, tear drop cells, spherocytes, sickle cells, and parasites), while specificities exceeded 80% for the other RBC morphological categories. Results of within‐run, between‐run, and between‐observer variabilities were all clinically acceptable.

Conclusion

The CellaVision Advanced RBC Software Application is an easy‐to‐use software that helps to detect most RBC morphological abnormalities in a sensitive and specific way without increasing work load, provided the proper cut‐offs are chosen. However, evaluation of the images by an experienced observer remains necessary.
Multidimensional symptom clusters: an exploratory factor analysis in advanced chronic kidney disease
Authors: Almutary Hayfa , Douglas Clint , Bonner Ann
Published: May 2016

Aims

To explore the existence of symptom clusters in advanced chronic kidney disease.

Background

People with chronic kidney disease commonly report multiple symptoms. However, the complex relationships among these symptoms are still poorly understood.

Design

Cross‐sectional.

Methods

A total of 436 people with stage 4 and 5 chronic kidney disease were recruited from three tertiary hospitals during 2013–2014. Participants completed the Chronic Kidney Disease–Symptom Burden Index that assesses four symptom dimensions (occurrence, distress, severity and frequency) of 32 symptoms. Exploratory factor analysis was used to identify symptom clusters across each symptom dimension. Core symptoms in each cluster were determined based on stability across dimensions and clinical plausibility. A high cutoff of 0·50 for factor loading was used for all analyses.

Results

Five symptom clusters were consistently identified across all symptom dimensions: fluid volume symptoms, neuromuscular symptoms, gastrointestinal symptoms, sexual symptoms and psychological symptoms. Overall, clusters ranged from 2‐10 symptoms. Several symptoms were also interconnected with multiple clusters. Fatigue cross‐loaded on all five clusters, whereas sleep disturbance and restless leg symptoms cross‐loaded across three clusters.

Conclusions

Adopting a symptom cluster approach has the potential to significantly advance symptom assessment and nursing care for people in advanced stages of chronic kidney disease. Routine clinical assessment and management strategies targeted at the cluster level should have synergistic effects in reducing symptoms. Fatigue is a pervasive symptom in advanced chronic kidney disease that is interconnected with global symptom burden, suggesting better management of symptom clusters may also reduce fatigue.
Experience of hypertensive patients with self‐management of health care
Authors: Balduino Anice de Fátima Ahmad , Mantovani Maria de Fátima , Lacerda Maria Ribeiro , Marin Maria José Sanches , Wal Marilene Loewen
Published: May 2016

Aims

The aim of this study was to interpret how hypertensive patients experience health care self‐management.

Background

Hypertension is one of the most prevalent chronic diseases worldwide. The involvement of individuals in the management of their health care to treat this disease is fundamental, with aid and advice from healthcare professionals, especially nurses, so that hypertensive patients can effectively self‐manage their health care.

Design

Qualitative study.

Methods

Hypertensive patients were recruited using theoretical sampling. The study sample consisted of 28 hypertensive patients aged 18‐59 years who were registered in the e‐Health programme of the Ministry of Health. Data were collected and analyzed between September 2012–October 2014 using a semi‐structured interview based on the methodological framework of the constructivist grounded theory.

Findings

The participants’ statements depicted an outline of their experience with the disease: the beginning of the illness; understanding the disease process; incorporating behaviour for self‐management of the disease; experiencing attitudes and actions in the control and treatment of the disease; and being treated in the public healthcare system. A central phenomenon emerged, namely hypertensive patients’ experience of self‐management of health care.

Conclusion

This phenomenon has paths, actions and interactions. When patients discover that they have the disease and become aware of the disease process, they assume the identity of being hypertensive and become proactive in their health care and in living with their families and in communities.
Mitofusin‐2 knockdown increases ER–mitochondria contact and decreases amyloid β‐peptide production
Authors: Leal Nuno Santos , Schreiner Bernadette , Pinho Catarina Moreira , Filadi Riccardo , Wiehager Birgitta , Karlström Helena , Pizzo Paola , Ankarcrona Maria
Published: May 2016

Mitochondria are physically and biochemically in contact with other organelles including the endoplasmic reticulum (ER). Such contacts are formed between mitochondria‐associated ER membranes (MAM), specialized subregions of ER, and the outer mitochondrial membrane (OMM). We have previously shown increased expression of MAM‐associated proteins and enhanced ER to mitochondria Ca2+ transfer from ER to mitochondria in Alzheimer's disease (AD) and amyloid β‐peptide (Aβ)‐related neuronal models. Here, we report that siRNA knockdown of mitofusin‐2 (Mfn2), a protein that is involved in the tethering of ER and mitochondria, leads to increased contact between the two organelles. Cells depleted in Mfn2 showed increased Ca2+ transfer from ER to mitchondria and longer stretches of ER forming contacts with OMM. Interestingly, increased contact resulted in decreased concentrations of intra‐ and extracellular Aβ40 and Aβ42. Analysis of γ‐secretase protein expression, maturation and activity revealed that the low Aβ concentrations were a result of impaired γ‐secretase complex function. Amyloid‐β precursor protein (APP), β‐site APP‐cleaving enzyme 1 and neprilysin expression as well as neprilysin activity were not affected by Mfn2 siRNA treatment. In summary, our data shows that modulation of ER–mitochondria contact affects γ‐secretase activity and Aβ generation. Increased ER–mitochondria contact results in lower γ‐secretase activity suggesting a new mechanism by which Aβ generation can be controlled.
Evaluation of adult emergence and larval root injury for Cry3Bb1‐resistant populations of the western corn rootworm
Authors: Schrader P. M. , Estes R. E. , Tinsley N. A. , Gassmann A. J. , Gray M. E.
Published: May 2016

The transgenic maize (Zea mays L.) event MON 88017 produces the Bacillus thuringiensis Berliner (Bt) toxin Cry3Bb1 to provide protection from western corn rootworm (Diabrotica virgifera virgifera LeConte) larval feeding. In response to reports of reduced performance of Cry3Bb1‐expressing maize at two locations in Illinois, we conducted a two‐year experiment at these sites to characterize suspected resistance, as well as to evaluate root injury and adult emergence. Single‐plant bioassays were performed on larvae from each population that was suspected to be resistant. Results indicate that these populations had reduced mortality on Cry3Bb1‐expressing maize relative to susceptible control populations. No evidence of cross‐resistance between Cry3Bb1 and Cry34/35Ab1 was documented for the Cry3Bb1‐resistant populations. Field studies were conducted that included treatments with commercially available rootworm Bt hybrids and their corresponding non‐Bt near‐isolines. When compared with their near‐isolines, larval root injury and adult emergence were typically reduced for hybrids expressing Cry34/35Ab1 either alone or in a pyramid. In many instances, larval root injury and adult emergence were not significantly different for hybrids expressing mCry3A or Cry3Bb1 alone when compared with their non‐Bt near‐isolines. These findings suggest that Cry34/35Ab1‐expressing Bt maize may represent a valuable option for maize growers where Cry3Bb1 resistance is either confirmed or suspected. Consistent trends in adult size (head capsule width and dry mass) for individuals recovered from emergence cages were not detected during either year of this experiment. Because of the global importance of transgenic crops for managing insect pests, these results suggest that improved decision‐making for insect resistance management is needed to ensure the durability of Bt maize.
Dietary‐driven variation effects on the symbiotic flagellate protist communities of the subterranean termite Reticulitermes grassei Clément
Authors: Duarte S. , Duarte M. , Borges P. A. V. , Nunes L.
Published: May 2016

The ability of subterranean termites to digest lignocellulose relies not only on their digestive tract physiology, but also on the symbiotic relationships established with flagellate protists and bacteria. The objective of this work was to test the possible effect of different cellulose‐based diets on the community structure (species richness and other diversity metrics) of the flagellate protists of the subterranean termite Reticulitermes grassei. Termites belonging to the same colony were subjected to six different diets (natural diet, maritime pine wood, European beech, thermally modified European beech, cellulose powder and starvation), and their flagellate protist community was evaluated after the trials.

All non‐treated sound woods produced similar flagellate protist communities that were more diverse and of high evenness (low dominance). On the contrary, flagellate protist communities from cellulose‐fed termites and starving termites were considered to be significantly different from all non‐treated woods; they were less diverse and some morphotypes became dominant as a consequence of flagellate protist communities having suffered major adaptations to these diets. The flagellate protist communities of untreated beech and thermally modified beech‐fed termites were considered to be significantly different in terms of abundance and morphotype diversity. This may be caused by a decrease in lignocellulose quality available for termites and from an interference of thermally treated wood with the chemical stability of the termite hindgut.

Our study suggests that as a consequence of the strong division of labour among these protists to accomplish the intricate process of lignocellulose digestion, termite symbiotic flagellate protist communities are a dynamic assemblage able to adapt to different conditions and diets. This study is important for the community‐level alteration approach, and it is the first study to investigate the effects of thermally modified wood on the flagellate protist communities of subterranean termites.
Prevalence and predictors of inadequate patient medication knowledge
Authors: Romero‐Sanchez Javier , Garcia‐Cardenas Victoria , Abaurre Raquel , Martínez‐Martínez Fernando , Garcia‐Delgado Pilar
Published: May 2016

Objectives

To assess medication knowledge in adult patients and to explore its determinants.

Method

Cross‐sectional study. Medication knowledge was the primary outcome and was assessed using a previously validated questionnaire. A multivariate logistic regression analysis was performed to explore the association between medication knowledge and the factors included in the model.

Results

Seven thousand two hundred seventy‐eight patients participated in the study. 71.9% (n = 5234) (95% CI: 70.9%–73.0%) of the surveyed patients had an inadequate knowledge of the medication they were taking. The dimensions obtaining the highest level of knowledge were the ‘medication use process’ and ‘therapeutic objective of medication’. The items ‘frequency’ (75.4%), ‘dosage’ (74.5%) and ‘indication’ (70.5%) had the highest percentage of knowledge. Conversely, ‘medication safety’ represented the dimension with the lowest scores, ranging from 12.6% in the item “contraindications” to 15.3% in the item ‘side effects’. The odds ratio (OR) of having an inadequate medication knowledge increased for unskilled workers (OR: 1.33; 85% CI:1.00–1.78; P = 0.050), caregivers (OR:1.46; 95% CI:1.18–1.81; P < 0.001), patients using more than one medication (OR: 1.14; 95% CI: 1.00–1.31; P = 0.050) and patients who did not know the name of the medication they were taking (OR: 2.14, 95% CI: 1.71–2.68 P < 0.001).

Conclusion

Nearly three quarters of the analysed patients had inadequate knowledge regarding the medicines they were taking. Unskilled workers and caregivers were at a higher risk of lacking of medication knowledge. Other factors that correlated with inadequate medication knowledge were the use of more than one drug and not knowing the name of the medication dispensed.
Late Pregnancy is a Critical Period for Changes in Phosphorylated Mitogen‐Activated Protein Kinase/Extracellular Signal‐Regulated Kinase 1/2 in Oxytocin Neurones
Authors: Chandaka G. K. , Wang L. , Senogles S. , Armstrong W. E.
Published: May 2016

The physiological demands of parturition and lactation lead to the increased pulsatile release of oxytocin (OT) into the circulation from the neurohypophysial axons of OT neurones in the supraoptic (SON) and paraventricular (PVN) nuclei. These states of increased OT release are accompanied by a significant plasticity in magnocellular OT neurones and their synaptic connections, and many of these changes require activation of a central OT receptor. The mitogen‐activated protein kinase/extracellular signal‐regulated kinase pathway (MAPK/ERK) is assumed to be up‐regulated in the PVN during lactation, and many of the effects of OT in peripheral and brain tissue are mediated through a MAPK/ERK pathway. The present study investigated whether this pathway is altered in the SON and PVN during late pregnancy [embryonic day (E)20–21], which is a critical period for OT plasticity induction, and for lactation, when plastic changes are sustained. Based on immunoreactivity for phosphorylated ERK1/2 (pERK1/2), the results suggest an enhanced activation of MAPK/ERK pathway in OT neurones specifically during late pregnancy in both the SON and PVN. Although immunoblots from the SON confirm this pregnancy‐associated up‐regulation in late pregnancy, they also suggest enhancement into lactation as well. Together, the results suggest an important role for the MAPK/ERK pathway during reproductive changes in the SON and PVN.
Hippocampal Neurometabolite Changes in Hypothyroidism: AnIn Vivo1H Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy Study Before and After Thyroxine Treatment
Authors: Singh S. , Rana P. , Kumar P. , Shankar L. R. , Khushu S.
Published: May 2016

The hippocampus is a thyroid hormone receptor‐rich region of the brain. A change in thyroid hormone levels may be responsible for an alteration in hippocampal‐associated function, such as learning, memory and attention. Neuroimaging studies have shown functional and structural changes in the hippocampus as a result of hypothyroidism. However, the underlying process responsible for this dysfunction remains unclear. Therefore, the present study aimed to investigate the metabolic changes in the brain of adult hypothyroid patients during pre‐ and post‐thyroxine treatment usingin vivoproton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (1HMRS).1HMRSwas performed in both healthy control subjects (n = 15) and hypothyroid patients (n = 15) (before and after thyroxine treatment). The relative ratios of the neurometabolites were calculated using the linear combination model (LCModel). Our results revealed a significant decrease of glutamate (Glu) (P = 0.045) and myo‐inositol (mI) (P = 0.002) levels in the hippocampus of hypothyroid patients compared to controls. No significant changes in metabolite ratios were observed in the hypothyroid patients after thyroxine treatment. The findings of the present study reveal decreased Glu/tCr andmI/tCr ratios in the hippocampus of hypothyroid patients and these metabolite alterations persisted even after the patients became clinically euthyroid subsequent to thyroxine treatment.
Clinical assessment of enamel wear caused by monolithic zirconia crowns
Authors: Stober T. , Bermejo J. L. , Schwindling F. S. , Schmitter M.
Published: May 2016

The purpose of this study was to measure enamel wear caused by antagonistic monolithic zirconia crowns and to compare this with enamel wear caused by contralateral natural antagonists. Twenty monolithic zirconia full molar crowns were placed in 20 patients. Patients with high activity of the masseter muscle at night (bruxism) were excluded. For analysis of wear, vinylpolysiloxane impressions were prepared after crown incorporation and at 6‐, 12‐, and 24‐month follow‐up. Wear of the occlusal contact areas of the crowns, of their natural antagonists, and of two contralateral natural antagonists (control teeth) was measured by use of plaster replicas and a 3D laser‐scanning device. Differences of wear between the zirconia crown antagonists and the control teeth were investigated by means of two‐sided paired Student's t‐tests and linear regression analysis. After 2 years, mean vertical loss was 46 μm for enamel opposed to zirconia, 19–26 μm for contralateral control teeth and 14 μm for zirconia crowns. Maximum vertical loss was 151 μm for enamel opposed to zirconia, 75–115 μm for control teeth and 60 μm for zirconia crowns. Statistical analysis revealed significant differences between wear of enamel by zirconia‐opposed teeth and by control teeth. Gender, which significantly affected wear, was identified as a possible confounder. Monolithic zirconia crowns generated more wear of opposed enamel than did natural teeth. Because of the greater wear caused by other dental ceramics, the use of monolithic zirconia crowns may be justified.
Post‐School Destination—A Study of Women and Men With Intellectual Disability and the Gender‐Segregated Swedish Labor Market
Authors: Arvidsson Jessica , Widén Stephen , Staland‐Nyman Carin , Tideman Magnus
Published: May 2016

Knowledge about people with intellectual disability (ID) and their connections to the labor market is scarce. The aim of this study was to describe and analyze the entry into and representation in the Swedish labor market for people with ID, discussed with a special focus on the gender perspective. This study included 2,745 individuals (30% women and 70% men) who graduated from Swedish upper secondary schools for pupils with intellectual disability (USSID) in the 2000s, and who were defined as employees in 2011. Graduation data from 2001 to 2011 were analyzed in relation to employment data from 2011 and adjusted for gender, graduation year, and educational program. Results show that men who attended a national USSID program and graduated between 2001 and 2006 were the most likely group to have a job. The authors conclude that the gender differences in the Swedish labor market are more clearly pronounced among women and men with ID in relation to employment rate, wage levels, and professions than in the general population. Education, welfare‐services, and interventions specifically targeted to meet the needs of people with ID have to develop in more gender‐sensitive ways.
Bayesian Deconvolution of Signals Observed on Arrays
Authors: Lin Ming , Suess Eric A. , Shumway Robert H. , Chen Rong
Published: May 2016

Time series data collected from arrays of seismometers are traditionally used to solve the core problems of detecting and estimating the waveform of a nuclear explosion or earthquake signal that propagates across the array. We consider here a parametric exponentially modulated autoregressive model. The signal is assumed to be convolved with random amplitudes following a Bernoulli normal mixture. It is shown to be potentially superior to the usual combination of narrow band filtering and beam forming. The approach is applied to analyzing series observed from an earthquake from Yunnan Province in China received by a seismic array in Kazakhstan.
Getting Schooled: Legal Mobilization as an Educative Process
Authors: Gallagher Mary , Yang Yujeong
Published: May 2016

This article explores the role of formal education and specific legal knowledge in the process of legal mobilization. Using survey data and in-depth case narratives of workplace disputes in China, we highlight three major findings. First, and uncontroversially, higher levels of formal education are associated with greater propensity to use legal institutions and to find them more effective. Second, informally acquired labor law knowledge can substitute for formal education in bringing people to the legal system and improving their legal experiences. The Chinese state's propagation of legal knowledge has had positive effects on citizens' legal mobilization. Finally, while education and legal knowledge are factors that push people toward the legal system, actual dispute experience leads people away from it, especially among disputants without effective legal representation. The article concludes that the Chinese state's encouragement of individualized legal mobilization produces contradictory outcomes—encouraging citizens to use formal legal institutions, imbuing them with new knowledge and rights awareness, but also breeding disdain for the law in practice.
Social simulation theory: a framework to explain nurses' understanding of patients' experiences of ill‐health
Authors: Nordby Halvor
Published: May 2016

A fundamental aim in caring practice is to understand patients' experiences of ill‐health. These experiences have a qualitative content and cannot, unlike thoughts and beliefs with conceptual content, directly be expressed in words. Nurses therefore face a variety of interpretive challenges when they aim to understand patients' subjective perspectives on disease and illness. The article argues that theories on social simulation can shed light on how nurses manage to meet these challenges. The core assumption of social simulationism is that we do not understand other people by forming mental representations of how they think, but by putting ourselves in their situation in a more imaginative way. According to simulationism, any attempt to understand a patient's behavior is made on the basis of simulating what it is like to be that patient in the given context. The article argues that this approach to social interpretation can clarify how nurses manage to achieve aims of patient understanding, even when they have limited time to communicate and incomplete knowledge of patients' perspectives. Furthermore, simulation theory provides a normative framework for interpretation, in the sense that its theoretical assumptions constitute ideals for how nurses should seek to understand patients' experiences of illness.
Lying to ourselves: rationality, critical reflexivity, and the moral order as ‘structured agency’
Authors: Goodman Benny
Published: May 2016

A report suggests that United States’ army officers may engage in dishonest reporting regarding their compliance procedures. Similarly, nurses with espoused high ethical standards sometimes fail to live up to them and may do so while deceiving themselves about such practices. Reasons for lapses are complex. However, multitudinous managerial demands arising within ‘technical and instrumental rationality’ may impact on honest decision‐making. This paper suggests that compliance processes, which operates within the social structural context of the technical and instrumental rationality manifest as ‘managerialism’, contributes to professional ‘dishonesty’ about lapses in care, sometimes through ‘thoughtlessness’. The need to manage risk, measure, account, and control in order to deliver efficiency, effectiveness, and economy (technical rationality) thus has both unintended and dysfunctional consequences. Meeting compliance requirements may be mediated by factors such as the ‘affect heuristic’ and ‘reflexive deliberations’ as part of the ‘structured agency’ of nurses. It is the complexity of ‘structured agency’ which may explain why some nurses fail to respond to such things as sentinel events, a failure to recognize ‘personal troubles’ as ‘public issues’, a failure which to outsiders who expect rational and professional responses may seem inconceivable. There is a need to understand these processes so that nurses can critique the context in which they work and to move beyond either/or explanations of structure or agency for care failures, and professional dishonesty.
Deceit and dishonesty as practice: the comfort of lying
Authors: Carter Melody
Published: May 2016

Lying and deceit are instruments of power, used by social actors in the pursuit of their practices as they seek to maintain social order. All social actors, nurses included, have deceit and dishonesty within their repertoire of practice. Much of this is benign, well intentioned and a function of being sociable and necessary in the pursuit of social order in the healthcare environment. Lying and deceit from a sociological point of view, is a reflection of the different modes of domination that exist within a social space. French philosopher Pierre Bourdieu theorized about the way that symbolic power works within social space. The social structures and the agency of individual actors moving within it are interrelated and interdependent. Bourdieu's ideas will be used to theorize about real clinical experiences where acts of deceit can be identified and a case example will be presented. Nurses are actors in the social space of clinical care, and their world is complex, challenging, and often fraught with the contradictory demands and choices that reflect and influence their behaviours. An exploration of lying and deceit in nursing as an instrument in the modes of domination that persist enables us to challenge some of the assumptions that are made about the motives that cause or tempt nurses to lie as well as to understand the way on which they are sometimes lied to, according to the acts of domination that exist in the field. Lying or acting dishonestly is a powerful act that is intent on retaining stability and social order and could be seen to be a justification of lying and deceit. However, we need to pause and consider, in whose interests are we striving to create social order? Is it in the end about the comfort of patients or for the comfort of professionals?
Morality is real, objective, and natural
Authors: Shermer Michael
Published: May 2016

To make the case that morality is real, objective, and natural, it will be argued, first, that morals exist in human nature as part of our evolutionary heritage; that morality involves how we think and act toward other moral agents in terms of whether our thoughts and actions are right or wrong with regard to their survival and flourishing; and that moral progress is real, quantifiable, and the result of our improved understanding of causality in the social and moral sciences in the same manner as our understanding of causality has progressed in the physical and biological sciences. A moral starting point is the survival and flourishing of sentient beings.
Inflexible versus flexible: the influence of temperature and photoperiod on pre‐ and post‐eyespot development time in Libellulidae (Odonata)
Authors: Hesse Lisa , Falk Joachim , Koch Kamilla
Published: May 2016

Temperature and photoperiod are important environmental parameters for organisms. The present study tests the hypothesis that, during embryogenesis, temperature and photoperiod influence pre‐ and post‐eyespot development time in dragonflies of the family Libellulidae differently. Eggs are used from eight species (five different genera, from Africa/Europe, and lentic/lotic habitat preferences). The eggs are reared under different constant or fluctuating temperature and light conditions. There are no general species‐specific degree‐days for pre‐ or the post‐eyespot development in these species. In all study species, the variance within and between the treatments of the duration in days and the degree‐days of pre‐eyespot development is lower than that of post‐eyespot development. Pre‐eyespot development appears to be less flexible in its reaction to environmental influences. By contrast, post‐eyespot development appears to react more flexibly to environmental influences. All eight species show the same pattern. This indicates strongly that this flexibility is a general pattern in Libellulidae that might help the species within this family to cope successfully with variations in environmental conditions. Because eyespot development and katatrepsis occur close to each other, the above‐described pattern might also appear in other odonates and in other insect groups that exhibit katatrepsis. For all of them, it is essential for survival to match the time of hatching with adequate external temperature and photoperiodic conditions.
Strategies for new and improved vaccines against ticks and tick‐borne diseases
Authors: de la Fuente J. , Kopáček P. , Lew‐Tabor A. , Maritz‐Olivier C.
Published: May 2016

Ticks infest a variety of animal species and transmit pathogens causing disease in both humans and animals worldwide. Tick–host–pathogen interactions have evolved through dynamic processes that accommodated the genetic traits of the hosts, pathogens transmitted and the vector tick species that mediate their development and survival. New approaches for tick control are dependent on defining molecular interactions between hosts, ticks and pathogens to allow for discovery of key molecules that could be tested in vaccines or new generation therapeutics for intervention of tick–pathogen cycles. Currently, tick vaccines constitute an effective and environmentally sound approach for the control of ticks and the transmission of the associated tick‐borne diseases. New candidate protective antigens will most likely be identified by focusing on proteins with relevant biological function in the feeding, reproduction, development, immune response, subversion of host immunity of the tick vector and/or molecules vital for pathogen infection and transmission. This review addresses different approaches and strategies used for the discovery of protective antigens, including focusing on relevant tick biological functions and proteins, reverse genetics, vaccinomics and tick protein evolution and interactomics. New and improved tick vaccines will most likely contain multiple antigens to control tick infestations and pathogen infection and transmission.
Affect and Taste: Bourdieu, Traditional Music, and the Performance of Possibilities
Authors: Ashwood Loka , Bell Michael M.
Published: May 2016

In his famousDistinction, Bourdieu set forth musical and artistic taste as reflections of class positions developed early in life. With classical music as an explanatory tool, Bourdieu argued that cultural capital becomes deeply embodied and difficult to change. In temperance of Bourdieu's use of class, we suggest an affective theory of taste through the case of traditional music, based on a performance of possibilities inspired by our experiences in two pubs, one English and one Irish. Commonly played in pubs, traditional music can draw on rural lore to share its message with singing patrons of mixed class backgrounds. We use traditional music to argue that place shapes diverse social ties at all levels of economics, education, and age. We do not dispute that class powerfully shapes taste. But through what we term the joy of transcendence – formed through distinct and relative experiences, bonds, and friendships, enacted through place – participants can find pleasure in opening the cages of class and connecting across difference.
Optimal Stopping Location of a High Speed Train using GIS and Multicriteria Decision‐making
Authors: Sañudo Roberto , Luis Moura Jose , Cordera Ruben , Ibeas Angel
Published: May 2016

This article develops a methodology using a Geographical Information System (GIS) to evaluate the best location to stop a high speed passenger train when faced with an undesired event. The proposed method is based on multicriteria decision‐making where different stretches of line which could be chosen as the stopping point are ranked depending on the characteristics of the line, the surrounding area and its accessibility for equipment. The method was integrated into the GIS to develop an expert support system for decision makers faced with different kinds of undesired events. It has been applied to a case study on the high speed line between Valladolid and Madrid (Spain). The proposed method is new and has not previously been applied to high speed railway networks and could be adapted to other case studies. The speed of the algorithm provides an almost instantaneous reply within seconds of an emergency situation occurring. The method can therefore be part of an overall support system for decision making in undesired rail events.
Microvasculature of the California sea lion (Zalophus californianus) eye and its functional significance
Authors: Ninomiya Hiroyoshi
Published: May 2016

Objective

To examine the ocular circulation in California sea lions (Zalophus californianus).

Animals studied

Eyes were obtained postmortem from three sea lions that died while in captivity.

Procedures

Specimens from sea lions were investigated using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) of vascular corrosion casts. The thermal characteristics of live animal eyes were measured using an infrared imaging system.

Results

The major orbital artery of the sea lion was the ophthalmic artery. The artery was remarkably thick in diameter, showed a marked convolution and formed an ophthalmic rete around the optic nerve at the posterior pole of the eyeball. The long posterior ciliary artery terminates to form a prominent inner arterial circle at the pupillary margin. The iridial arteries originated from the arterial circle showing either a crimped or somewhat coiled course, extending toward the root of the iris and formed a root supplying a large amount of blood to the iris and ciliary bodies. The venules in the conjunctiva formed a well‐developed venous plexus. The vortex veins showed a dilation and constriction at the site passing through the sclera. Thermographic examination revealed that the eye showed a higher degree of thermal emission than adjacent skin areas.

Conclusions

These characteristics suggest that the ocular vasculature might play roles in thermoregulation as well as in hemodynamics by draining a large amount of blood so that the appropriate operating temperature for the eye can be maintained in a deep and cold aquatic environment.
Farm‐scale evaluation of herbicide band application integrated with inter‐row mechanical weeding for maize production in four European regions
Authors: Vasileiadis V P , van Dijk W , Verschwele A , Holb I J , Vámos A , Urek G , Leskovšek R , Furlan L , Sattin M
Published: May 2016

To promote integrated weed management (IWM) implementation in Europe, robust evidence on the sustainability of such tools and strategies is needed to motivate their adoption by stakeholders. This can only be achieved through assessing and validating them at real farm scale and using existing farm equipment, under diverse climatic and soil conditions representative of European agriculture. In 2013 and 2014, 12 on‐farm experiments (i.e. real field conditions on commercial farms, with natural weed flora) were conducted in four important European grain maize‐producing regions comparing the efficacy of herbicide band application integrated with inter‐row mechanical weeding as a potential IWM tool with the conventional broadcast herbicide application (CON) used by the farms. The IWM tools tested were as follows: (i) early post‐emergence herbicide band application combined with hoeing, followed by a second hoeing in southern Germany, (ii) early post‐emergence herbicide band application followed by hoeing in eastern Hungary and central Slovenia and (iii) pre‐emergence herbicide band application followed by hoeing in northern Italy. Herbicide band application integrated with hoeing provided good and partial weed control along and between maize rows respectively. No significant yield differences were detected between IWM and CON. IWM greatly reduced herbicide input and was economically sustainable over the duration of this study with no significant difference in gross margin compared with CON in all cases. This IWM tool could therefore be considered for implementation in European maize systems.
A new method for skin grafting in murine model
Authors: Pakyari Mohammadreza , Farokhi Ali , Khosravi‐Maharlooei Mohsen , Kilani Ruhangiz T. , Ghahary Aziz , Brown Erin
Published: May 2016

Skin transplantation provides an excellent potential model to investigate the immunology of allograft rejection and tolerance induction. Despite the theoretical ease of performing skin transplantation, as well as the potential of directly observing the reaction to the transplanted tissue, the poor reliability of skin transplantation in the mouse has largely precluded the use of this model. Furthermore, there is controversy regarding the most appropriate skin graft donor site due to poor success of back skin transplantation, as compared with the thinner ear or tail skin. This study demonstrates a reliable method to successfully perform skin grafts in a mouse model, as well as the clinical and histologic outcome of syngeneic grafts. A total of 287 grafts were performed (in 126 mice) utilizing donor skin from the ear, tail or back. No graft failure or postoperative mortality was observed. Comparison of this technique with two previously established protocols of skin transplantation (5.0 absorbable Suture + tissue glue technique and no‐suture technique) demonstrates the significant improvement in the engraftment success of the new technique. In summary, a new technique for murine skin grafting demonstrates improved reliability across donor site locations and strains, increasing the potential for investigating interventions to alter the rejection process.
Cellular and circuit mechanisms underlying spinocerebellar ataxias
Authors: Meera Pratap , Pulst Stefan M. , Otis Thomas S.
Published: May 2016

Degenerative ataxias are a common form of neurodegenerative disease that affect about 20 individuals per 100,000. The autosomal dominant spinocerebellar ataxias (SCAs) are caused by a variety of protein coding mutations (single nucleotide changes, deletions and expansions) in single genes. Affected genes encode plasma membrane and intracellular ion channels, membrane receptors, protein kinases, protein phosphatases and proteins of unknown function. Although SCA‐linked genes are quite diverse they share two key features: first, they are highly, although not exclusively, expressed in cerebellar Purkinje neurons (PNs), and second, when mutated they lead ultimately to the degeneration of PNs. In this review we summarize ataxia‐related changes in PN neurophysiology that have been observed in various mouse knockout lines and in transgenic models of human SCA. We also highlight emerging evidence that altered metabotropic glutamate receptor signalling and disrupted calcium homeostasis in PNs form a common, early pathophysiological mechanism in SCAs. Together these findings indicate that aberrant calcium signalling and profound changes in PN neurophysiology precede PN cell loss and are likely to lead to cerebellar circuit dysfunction that explains behavioural signs of ataxia characteristic of the disease.
Kinematic Design of a Generalized Double Parallelogram Based Remote Center-of-Motion Mechanism for Minimally Invasive Surgical Robot
Authors: Kong Kang , Li Jianmin , Zhang Huaifeng , Li Jinhua , Wang Shuxin
Published: May 2016

Robot-assisted minimally invasive surgery (MIS) has shown tremendous advances over the traditional techniques. To improve dexterity and back-drivability of the existing planar remote center-of-motion (RCM) mechanism, on which an active prismatic joint is required to drive the surgical tool move in–out of the patient's body, a two degrees-of-freedom (DOFs) planar RCM mechanism is proposed by constructing virtual parallelograms in this paper. The mechanism can be considered as a generalized double parallelogram; both of the actuated joints are revolute joints. This feature enhances the intrinsic back-drivability of the mechanism. The mathematical framework is introduced first to prove that the mechanism could execute RCM. Then, the inverse kinematics of the planar mechanism is solved, and the Jacobian matrix is derived in this paper. Further, the singularity and the kinematic performance based on the kinematic equations are investigated, and the workspace of the mechanism is verified. Finally, a prototype was built to test the function of the proposed RCM mechanism. The results show that the mechanism can fulfill the constraint of MIS, and it can be used as the basic element of the active manipulator in an MIS robot.
Systems Thinking and Team Performance Analysis
Authors: Soltanzadeh Sadjad , Mooney Mitchell
Published: May 2016

Systems thinking has been developed and used in many fields such as management, economics, and engineering in the past few decades. Although implicit elements of systems thinking may be found in some coaching biographies and autobiographies, a critical and explicit work on systems thinking that examines its principles and its relevance to sport sciences and coaching is yet to be developed. The aim of this Insight paper is to explore systems thinking and its potential for modelling and analysing team performance by (a) explaining how systems thinking is used in other fields, (b) highlighting the importance of conceptual analysis and critical thinking next to data collecting practices, and (c) contrasting systems thinking with the common approaches to modelling and analysing team performance.
WELFARE-REDUCING GROWTH AND COST-BENEFIT ANALYSIS: ESSAY IN MEMORY OF E.J. MISHAN
Authors: NG YEW-KWANG
Published: May 2016

Mishan’s emphasis on the costs of economic growth half a century ago is becoming more important in this era of environmental concerns. More recently, another possible source of immiserizing growth is the one-child policy (recently relaxed) of China. This resulted in a biased sex-ratio and higher competition to earn incomes (to increase the probability of getting a wife), resulting in positive effects on GDP but negative effects on welfare. The implications of welfare-reducing growth for cost-benefit analysis and the legalization of prostitution are also discussed.
THE ROLE OF INSTITUTIONAL QUALITY IN THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN FDI AND ECONOMIC GROWTH IN VIETNAM: EMPIRICAL EVIDENCE FROM PROVINCIAL DATA
Authors: VAN BON NGUYEN
Published: May 2016

All investigations into the role of institutions in the relationship between foreign direct investment (FDI) and economic growth conclude the impact of interaction between FDI and institutional quality on economic growth is significantly positive. Contrary to the conclusion of these studies, this paper finds it is significantly negative for a panel data of 43 provinces in Vietnam over the period 2005–2012 via the estimation method of difference panel GMM Arellano–Bond. In addition, the estimated results also show: (1) FDI inflows significantly foster economic growth; (2) Good institutional quality has a significantly positive impact while bad institutional quality has a negative albeit insignificant effect on economic growth. From the policy perspective, these findings signal an important message to developing countries that governments should carefully adjust policies and institutions because aside from attracting more FDI inflows and promoting the economic activities, it can also be detrimental to economic growth.
Comparative Analysis of Some Metaheuristics for Discrete-Continuous Project Scheduling with Activities of Identical Processing Rates
Authors: Waligóra Grzegorz
Published: May 2016

Discrete-continuous project scheduling problems with positive discounted cash flows and maximization of the net present value are considered. A class of these problems with an arbitrary number of discrete resources and one continuous, renewable resource is taken into account. Activities are nonpreemptable, and the processing rate of each activity is the same continuous, increasing, and concave function of the amount of the continuous resource allotted to the activity at a time. Three common payment models — lump sum payment, payments at activity completion times, and payments in equal time intervals are analyzed. Adaptations of three well-known metaheuristics — simulated annealing, tabu search, and genetic algorithm are described. The paper focuses on a comparative analysis of the metaheuristics. The algorithms are computationally compared on a basis of an extensive experiment. Some conclusions and directions for future research are pointed out.
Pricing European options and currency options by time changed mixed fractional Brownian motion with transaction costs
Authors: Shokrollahi Foad , Kılıçman Adem , Magdziarz Marcin
Published: May 2016

This study investigates a new formula for option pricing with transaction costs in a discrete time setting. The value of the financial assets is based on time-changed mixed fractional Brownian motion [Formula: see text] model. The pricing method is obtained for European call option using the time-changed [Formula: see text] model in a discrete time setting. Particularly, the minimal value [Formula: see text] of an option respect to transaction costs is obtained. Furthermore, the new model for pricing currency option is presented by utilizing the time-changed [Formula: see text] model. In addition, the impact of time step [Formula: see text], Hurst parameter H and transaction costs [Formula: see text] are also investigated, which substantiate that these parameters play a significant role in our pricing formula. Finally, the empirical studies and the simulation findings corroborate the theoretical bases and indicate the time-changed [Formula: see text] is a satisfactory model.