bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Quality foster care: who decides?
Authors: Juratowitch Dawn M. , Smith Norman J.
Published: March 2016

The selection of foster parents with qualities necessary to undertake care of other people's children is a difficult task. Little research has been done in identifying what the associated qualities are. This paper reports the first stage of a research study examining these qualities from the perspective of foster parents themselves and experienced family care workers. From a qualitative exercise involving 10 foster parents and 2 family care workers over 50 nominated qualities were elicited covering motivation; personal attributes; knowledge and skills with children and competencies emanating from experience. Arising from this exercise a model was constructed which identifies stages in foster parenting. This could enable differential educational strategies based on a competency approach to be developed in order to achieve a better level of quality control.
Family Violence and Child Protection
Authors: Callister Gill
Published: March 2016

Family violence is a serious and widespread issue in our community. Violence between adults within the same family is a risk factor encountered by child protection workers at all points of child protection intervention. Accurately measuring the extent of family violence within the general community and within families notified to child protection is difficult, but we do know that it is an increasing aspect of the workload of Child Protection workers. The Department of Human Services Child Protection program tracks the number and types of characteristics for parents involved with Child Protection according to six categories. These categories are: psychiatric disability, intellectual disability, physical disability, family violence, alcohol abuse and substance abuse. For substantiated cases of child abuse and neglect the percentage of families with family violence noted as a parental characteristic increased from 38 per cent in 1996-97 to 52 per cent in 2000-01 (Department of Human Services 2002). The same data also indicates that for parents for whom family violence was the major parental characteristic recorded over the past five-year period, the co-occurrence of psychiatric disability increased by more than 50 per cent, alcohol abuse increased by 20 per cent, and substance abuse increased by 52 per cent.
Improving hospital systems for disadvantaged children and babies
Authors: Hall Julie
Published: March 2016

In this paper, I will discuss the importance of early intervention with vulnerable families where children and babies may be at risk of neglect and disadvantaged by their social circumstances in accessing appropriate, preventative support services. I will describe the Strengthening Families Program located in the Social Work Department of the Royal Children's Hospital, which provides a model for interdisciplinary and intersectoral (welfare and health) collaboration. The Program offers care management to individual families and is working towards systemic changes in the hospital's response to these families. Finally, I will illustrate aspects of the work of the Royal Children's Hospital Strengthening Families Program with a case study wherein a recent history of domestic violence impacted on the family's capacity to access health and welfare services for both mother and children.
Defining children's needs in out-of-home care: Methods and challenges of a collaborative research project
Authors: Mason Jan , Urquhart Robert , Bolzan Natalie
Published: March 2016

The ‘future’ orientation of the out-of-home care research literature which has focused on outcomes of care has risked ignoring children's experiences of care in their ‘present(s)’. In this paper we describe a project, the design of which reflects an alternative to the traditional way of looking at childhood, of which this ‘future’ (adult constructed) orientation is part. We discuss the use of qualitative research methods to identify children's needs in care. The project has attempted to involve children as co-constructors of knowledge around their needs through participatory research methods. These methods have required us to recognise that children and their needs exist within a context of relational structures; to address the power imbalances between adult researchers and child participants; and to be flexible in responding to the consequences of a participative process. Challenges which have surfaced in the implementation of this research and our responses to them are described.
Barriers to permanency planning: What the literature suggests
Authors: Brydon Kerry
Published: March 2016

Early studies concerned with permanency planning identified that many children remained in care for prolonged periods of time, in the absence of clearly defined plans for their long-term future. The studies also highlighted concern that multiple placements have a deleterious impact on children. As a consequence, permanency planning frameworks were developed to address the problems of welfare drift, the essence of permanency planning being timely decision-making and concurrent planning. However, there appear to be some systemic issues impacting on the application of the permanency planning framework. There also remains a policy preference for family preservation, which adversely affects permanency planning. The need is to conceptualise permanency planning as existing along a continuum of planning options for children, co-existing with family preservation models.
A model for multi-disciplinary collaboration in child protection
Authors: McPherson Lynne , Macnamara Noel , Hemsworth Craig
Published: March 2016

Working from a background in child protective intervention and staff training and development, the authors sought to address two commonly reported deficits in child protection – the lack of a risk management framework and failures in interagency collaboration. This paper reports their approach to locating a risk and safety factor matrix and their evaluation of its use in a series of interagency workshops designed to improve collaboration.
Recent trends in the out-of-home of children in Australia
Authors: Bath Howard
Published: March 2016

The recent collection of out-of-home care data by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare has enabled an analysis of placement trends for the three year period 1993-1996. Significant findings include a sharp increase in overall numbers of children placed into care and a continuing decline in the use of residential/group care. The data are considered in the context of longer term placement trends and some implications for service delivery are discussed.
Home Visiting: An Australian perspective
Authors: Scott Dorothy
Published: March 2016

This paper is based on the Keynote Address given by the author at the First National Home Visiting Conference in Canberra, 18-20 August, 1997. The paper explores a range of questions fundamental in relation to the future of home visiting programs in Australia What are home visiting programs? Who visits whom and to what end? What type of relationship develops and what happens during the visit? Where should such programs fit into agencies and service systems? And what about issues such as funding, ethics and evaluation? Last but not least, how can we learn from the home visiting programs of the past to meet the needs of the present and the future?
Moral anguish and systemic failure: Notes on state child care and protection in Australia
Authors: Bessant Judith , Hil Richard
Published: March 2016

A recent, widely-publicised report based on a two year inquiry by the Australian Law Reform Commission and the Equal Opportunity Commission highlighted a range of serious shortcomings in the provision of care and protection for some of Australia’s most vulnerable children and young people. According to the report, Australia’s child protection system has failed in its basic duty of protecting children and young people from abuse and exploitation. The report confirms the argument presented in this paper that the abuse and neglect experienced by children and young people while under the care and protection of the state is systemic and widespread. While the media prefers to devote attention to ‘spectacular’ instances of departmental failure in regard to care and protection, the extent of the failures is far more routine than was initially apparent. One of the more vulnerable groups of young people ‘in care’ are state wards. Unfortunately the government’s record in respect to these young people indicates that many may be placed at greater risk in terms of their health, safety and general well-being after they have been taken into state ‘care’.
Why do we condone the ‘physical punishment’ of children?
Authors: Saunders Bernadette J. , Goddard Christopher R.
Published: March 2016

Societal tolerance of violence perpetrated between family members is evident in the generally unchallenged views condoning parents’ physical assault of children in the name of ‘discipline’. The authors suggest that such views reflect society’s devaluation of children and a denial of children’s basic human rights. This paper addresses the following areas related to the sanctioned physical punishment of children: the ‘fuzzy’ distinction between physical punishment and physical abuse; the law; the power of words; the media’s role and impact; parental explanations and motives for using physical punishment; the effects of physical punishment on children; the alternatives to physical punishment; and the reason this issue is so important, both for children and for society.
‘It must be because …’: Non-biological care and mental health Part III. Who refers – and why?
Authors: O’Neill Cas , Absler Deborah
Published: March 2016

This article, the final in a series of three, looks at how and why children are referred for psychiatric help, and then presents an analysis of referrals which occurred during the period, 1.7.1991–30.6.1993, at Alfred Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service in Melbourne.

Analysis of the referral sources for two groups of children (those who had experienced non-biological care and those who had not) showed very different patterns, the implications of which are discussed. In contrast, analysis of the presenting problems showed that the difference between the two groups of children was not as marked as had been expected. Possible explanations for this, involving systemic issues, are explored.
Reversing unnatural childhoods
Authors: Kunstal Frank
Published: March 2016

It is always a bit of a relief to have some guidance and a direction when you are asked to give a keynote or a plenary address. I was asked once to give a commencement address at a university … to be but one of a few such speeches that day. After accepting the honor, I asked the dean, who had nominated me, ‘What should I talk about?’ He replied, ‘Talk about five minutes … and be seated.’ I did. Today, will talk but a bit longer, and hope that afterwards few of you will say, ‘I thought that man would never sit down.’

I also want to tell you what a pleasure it is to talk with an audience that is here because they want to be here … here by choice. The direction that I want to take us in thisbrief time is a look at how we can involve ourselves with children in care, with the overarching goal of reversing some of the negative impacts on their lives that have come along with them and into our foster homes.
The impact of fostering on the biological children of foster carers: A review of literature
Authors: Moslehuddin Md Badal
Published: March 2016

Substantial changes in the nature of foster care during the last few decades place increasing demands not only on foster parents, but also on all members of their family. Some of these changes include the increasing number of children needing foster care and the resultant growth in the number of foster families, the move towards deinstitutionalisation, the use of treatment and specialist foster care and more emphasis on family reunification. Despite this, biological children of carers receive very little attention and recognition of their contribution.

In spite of the extensive literature on the subject of foster care, very little has been written on the impact of fostering on biological children. The literature related to foster care has primarily focused on professional processes, such as assessment and selection of foster families and management of the placement of a foster child. The limited amount of literature available on this topic is mainly from the UK and the US and is mainly related to foster mothers and their perceptions, with very little reference to their birth children. This along with my personal interest and practice experience has inspired me to conduct a literature review and write this paper.
Can child and family social work research really assist practice?
Authors: Sellick Clive
Published: March 2016

British social workers at the sharp end of foster care and social work practice have experienced a flood of official reports in recent years (Association of Directors of Social Services, 1997; Utting, 1997; Warren, 1997), mostly, though not exclusively, highlighting the problems of too few placements for an increasingly challenging number of children and young people. In addition, British and North American foster care research over the past twenty years has shown how children in public, including foster, care have been:
Families affected by the imprisonment of a parent: Towards restorative practices
Authors: Healy Karen , Foley Denise , Walsh Karyn
Published: March 2016

Over the past decade imprisonment rates in Australia have substantially increased. As imprisonment rates rise, so too do the number of families affected by the imprisonment of a parent. Yet the needs of parents in prison and their families have received little attention in social policies and service delivery practices. As the specific issues faced by parents in prison and their families cross many areas of government and community services responsibility, they all too easily slip from policy agendas. This paper outlines the challenges to, and potential for, restorative practices with families affected by the imprisonment of a parent. It draws on recent research undertaken by the authors into the family support needs of parents in prison and their families.
Breaking into schools: Establishing high quality human services in educational contexts
Authors: Winkworth Gail , McArthur Morag
Published: March 2016

This paper explores the ACT Government’s investment in a school based human services program. This program aims to improve educational and social outcomes for children and young people by creating effective working relationships between families, communities and their schools. It considers the contemporary challenges to achieving a quality service in a domain not normally inhabited by human services professionals. The main focus of the paper is an analysis of some of the factors which were considered in establishing a high quality service.

The paper draws attention to the importance of developing a conceptually sound program model, in particular one which demonstrates how evaluation can be integrated throughout the program cycle. It argues the importance of pursuing two key pathways to quality: the achievement of professional standards in program design, and the pursuit of the consumer voice in shaping and judging program performance.

The paper contends that program sustainability in this field of practice hinges on recognising who the consumers are, and achieving a range of outcomes which address their varied needs and priorities.
Taking account of the ‘to and fro’ of children’s experiences in family law
Authors: Graham Anne , Fitzgerald Robyn
Published: March 2016

This paper outlines the possibilities and tensions that emerge in legal and social discourse when popular images and narratives of children as ‘at risk’ are juxtaposed with more revised constructions of the child as capable and autonomous. The paper explores this shift in representation of children against a background of extensive family law reform currently under way in Australia. It then reports insights from a pilot study which found that children ‘to and fro’ between accounts of hurt and powerlessness associated with divorce, and their desire to participate in the processes and decisions taking place around them. The paper posits that discourses of participation taken up in research, practice and policy need to acknowledge a dialectic relationship between agency and vulnerability if we are to respond to children in ways that include rather than marginalise. The paper concludes by highlighting some of the challenges that exist for researchers and practitioners seeking to be open to new ways of thinking about children’s lives – ways based on an ethic that refuses the kind of normalisation and neat analyses conventionally pursued through research endeavours.
Wards leaving care: Follow up five years on
Authors: Cashmore Judy , Paxman Marina
Published: March 2016

Young people ‘ageing out of care’ have to manage multiple transitions – leaving ‘home’, moving into independent accommodation, leaving school and trying to find work or some other means of support, becoming financially independent, and often becoming parents - at a much younger age and with fewer resources and supports than other young people their age. This paper presents the findings of the fourth interview in the follow-up to the Longitudinal Study of Wards Leaving Care study in New South Wales, and focuses on three main questions. How were these young people faring 4–5 years after leaving care compared with other young people their age? How were they faring compared with their circumstances and outcomes 12 months after leaving care? What predicted better outcomes and not-so-good outcomes? While the pattern of low levels of educational attainment, and high rates of unemployment, mobility, homelessness, financial difficulty, loneliness and physical and mental health problems was consistent with that from other research in England, Ireland, Canada and the United States, some young people were faring quite well and much better than others. Understanding why is important in trying to support young people leaving care. The paper highlights some of the implications for policy and practice.
Parent blaming in child protection and health settings: A matter for concern
Authors: Hansen Patricia , Ainsworth Frank
Published: March 2016

This article is about parent blaming. It draws on the authors’ experience in health care agencies and the children’s court. Parent blaming involves practitioners attributing to parents an ‘excess’ level of responsibility expressed as ‘blame’ in regard to child care and protection or child treatment issues in the context of health. In the course of this process, structural factors such as low income, poor housing, unemployment, social isolation and prejudice that affect a parent’s capacity to protect and care for a child are frequently ignored.

Parent blaming is not a new phenomenon although currently it seems to be in vogue among practitioners in these fields. When blame is conveyed to parents, it creates anger and resentment and guarantees a non-cooperative response from them. This response is then all too readily used as evidence to support the view that parents are indeed to blame for their child’s lack of safety or medical condition. In practice, a blaming approach is futile. Suggestions are made about how this phenomenon can be avoided and how more positive approaches can be adopted to providing services to children and their families.
Law Reform and Children’s Rights
Authors: Rayner Moira
Published: March 2016

I wasn’t born a Commissioner for Equal Opportunity. I spent my formative years as a child, and my re-educative years as a lawyer, a teacher of law, and a law reformer.

As a child I swore that I would never be as insensitive to children’s needs and desires as adults were being to mine. As I became an adult I realised the seductive truth that it is much more reasonable, and pleasurable it was, to assert my assessment of children’s best interests over their own.
Contextual Dimensions of Fostering
Authors: Tierney Len , Were Angela
Published: March 2016

Child welfare workers express criticism of the child-in-isolation model of child welfare practice. At the same time, however, they often persist with a “foster mother-in-isolation” model of fostering. The authors of this paper were conscious of an increasing interest in fostering by policy makers who however, often seemed to see little difference between the “staffing” implications of fostering and of family day care. This way of thinking about fostering is at odds with practitioner’s experience. A small scale empirical study was initiated which posed the question “Who are foster families”. The findings from this study make it clear that foster families have qualities and methods of functioning which become evident only when the foster family is understood as a whole and not merely as a foster mother who has connected to her various dependents beside the foster child. An appreciation that there are “foster families” and not just foster mothers actively engaged in the fostering process can make for more sensitive welfare policies and more appropriate service delivery models.
Foveolar Müller Cells of the Pied Flycatcher: Morphology and Distribution of Intermediate Filaments Regarding Cell Transparency
Authors: Zueva Lidia , Golubeva Tatiana , Korneeva Elena , Makarov Vladimir , Khmelinskii Igor , Inyushin Mikhail
Published: March 2016

Specialized intermediate filaments (IFs) have critical importance for the clearness and uncommon transparency of vertebrate lens fiber cells, although the physical mechanisms involved are poorly understood. Recently, an unusual low-scattering light transport was also described in retinal Müller cells. Exploring the function of IFs in Müller cells, we have studied the morphology and distribution pattern of IFs and other cytoskeletal filaments inside the Müller cell main processes in the foveolar part of the avian (pied flycatcher) retina. We found that some IFs surrounded by globular nanoparticles (that we suggest are crystallines) are present in almost every part of the Müller cells that span the retina, including the microvilli. Unlike IFs implicated in the mechanical architecture of the cell, these IFs are not connected to any specific cellular membranes. Instead, they are organized into bundles, passing inside the cell from the endfeet to the photoreceptor, following the geometry of the processes, and repeatedly circumventing numerous obstacles. We believe that the presently reported data effectively confirm that the model of nanooptical channels built of the IFs may provide a viable explanation of Müller cell transparency.
The distribution and source of boulders on asteroid 4179 Toutatis
Authors: Jiang Yun , Ji Jianghui , Huang Jiangchuan , Marchi Simone , Li Yuan , Ip Wing-Huen
Published: March 2016

Boulders are ubiquitous on the surfaces of asteroids and their spatial and size distributions provide information for the geological evolution and collisional history of parent bodies. We identify more than 200 boulders on near-Earth asteroid 4179 Toutatis based on images obtained by Chang'e-2 flyby. The cumulative boulder size frequency distribution (SFD) gives a power-index of −4.4 ± 0.1, which is clearly steeper than those of boulders on Itokawa and Eros, indicating much high degree of fragmentation. Correlation analyses with craters suggest that most boulders cannot solely be produced as products of cratering, but are probably survived fragments from the parent body of Toutatis, accreted after its breakup. Similar to Itokawa, Toutatis probably has a rubble-pile structure, but owns a different preservation state of boulders.
Secular evolution of asteroid families: the role of Ceres
Authors: Novaković Bojan , Tsirvoulis Georgios , Marò Stefano , Đošović Vladimir , Maurel Clara
Published: March 2016

We consider the role of the dwarf planet Ceres on the secular dynamics of the asteroid main belt. Specifically, we examine the post impact evolution of asteroid families due to the interaction of their members with the linear nodal secular resonance with Ceres. First, we find the location of this resonance and identify which asteroid families are crossed by its path. Next, we summarize our results for three asteroid families, namely (1726) Hoffmeister, (1128) Astrid and (1521) Seinajoki which have irregular distributions of their members in the proper elements space, indicative of the effect of the resonance. We confirm this by performing a set of numerical simulations, showcasing that the perturbing action of Ceres through its linear nodal secular resonance is essential to reproduce the actual shape of the families.
Wir brauchen eine Grundhaltung der vorurteilsfreien Begegnung im öffentlichen Raum, auch in Zeiten des «Wutbürgers»
Authors: Speerforck Sven , Schomerus Georg , Freyberger Harald J.
Published: March 2016

Zusammenfassung. Vor dem Hintergrund des Zusammenhangs zwischen politischer Gesellschaftsgestaltung, der Prävalenz psychischer Erkrankungen und dem Organisationsgrad des psychosozialen Hilfesystems stellt sich die Frage nach einer politischen Rolle der Sozialpsychiatrie. In einer offenen Gesellschaft ist die vorurteilsfreie und solidarische Begegnungskultur eine wichtige Voraussetzung, um die Interessen von Menschen mit schweren psychischen Erkrankungen zu vertreten. Nicht zuletzt im Kontext der PEGIDA-Bewegung und «Asylkritiker» offenbart sich jedoch eine unübersichtliche Gemengelage von simplifizierenden Stereotypen, Sorgen und teils menschenfeindlichen Auswüchsen von Wut und Hass. Hier kann die Sozialpsychiatrie einen politischen Beitrag leisten: Indem sie Eskalationsspiralen frühzeitig benennt und erklärt, kann sie eine kritische Begegnung im öffentlichen Raum beeinflussen. Stereotype können das Selbstkonzept eines Bürgers kurzfristig stabilisieren. Eine schnelle und nicht diskursive Abwertung von Stereotypen im öffentlichen Raum kann zu deren Immunisierung sowie Wut und Hass führen. «Angst» und «Wutbürger» sind diminutive Ferndiagnosen mit entlastender Funktion, die diesen Prozess katalysieren. Akteure des öffentlichen Raumes wie Politiker und Journalisten nutzen ebenfalls Stereotype und sind häufig gezwungen, zwischen Wählbarkeit, wirtschaftlichen Interessen und der Kontrolle einer gesellschaftsspaltenden Eskalationsdynamik abzuwägen. Politik im Sinne einer engagierten Sozialpsychiatrie sollte einen reflektierten und hartnäckigen Diskurs auf Augenhöhe zum Abbau von Unbehagen, Wut und Stereotypen moderieren. Das aktive und selbstbewusste Werben für die Zumutung des diskursiven Aneinanderwachsens sollte ein Teil des Selbstverständnisses einer politisch engagierten Sozialpsychiatrie sein.
Characterizing the Fault Beneath the Marmara Sea
Authors: Wheeling Kate
Published: March 2016

Researchers mine seismic wave data to elucidate the stress relief system of the Main Marmara Fault beneath Turkey's inland sea.
Intensifying the response of distributed optical fibre sensors using 2D and 3D image restoration
Authors: Soto Marcelo A. , Ramírez Jaime A. , Thévenaz Luc
Published: March 2016

Distributed optical fibre sensors possess the unique capability of measuring the spatial and temporal map of environmental quantities that can be of great interest for several field applications. Although existing methods for performance enhancement have enabled important progresses in the field, they do not take full advantage of all information present in the measured data, still giving room for substantial improvement over the state-of-the-art. Here we propose and experimentally demonstrate an approach for performance enhancement that exploits the high level of similitude and redundancy contained on the multidimensional information measured by distributed fibre sensors. Exploiting conventional image and video processing, an unprecedented boost in signal-to-noise ratio and measurement contrast is experimentally demonstrated. The method can be applied to any white-noise-limited distributed fibre sensor and can remarkably provide a 100-fold improvement in the sensor performance with no hardware modification.
A polymer dataset for accelerated property prediction and design
Authors: Huan Tran Doan , Mannodi-Kanakkithodi Arun , Kim Chiho , Sharma Vinit , Pilania Ghanshyam , Ramprasad Rampi
Published: March 2016

Emerging computation- and data-driven approaches are particularly useful for rationally designing materials with targeted properties. Generally, these approaches rely on identifying structure-property relationships by learning from a dataset of sufficiently large number of relevant materials. The learned information can then be used to predict the properties of materials not already in the dataset, thus accelerating the materials design. Herein, we develop a dataset of 1,073 polymers and related materials and make it available at http://khazana.uconn.edu/. This dataset is uniformly prepared using first-principles calculations with structures obtained either from other sources or by using structure search methods. Because the immediate target of this work is to assist the design of high dielectric constant polymers, it is initially designed to include the optimized structures, atomization energies, band gaps, and dielectric constants. It will be progressively expanded by accumulating new materials and including additional properties calculated for the optimized structures provided.
Female and male life tables for seven wild primate species
Authors: Bronikowski Anne M. , Cords Marina , Alberts Susan C. , Altmann Jeanne , Brockman Diane K. , Fedigan Linda M. , Pusey Anne , Stoinski Tara , Strier Karen B. , Morris William F.
Published: March 2016

We provide male and female census count data, age-specific survivorship, and female age-specific fertility estimates for populations of seven wild primates that have been continuously monitored for at least 29 years: sifaka (Propithecus verreauxi) in Madagascar; muriqui (Brachyteles hypoxanthus) in Brazil; capuchin (Cebus capucinus) in Costa Rica; baboon (Papio cynocephalus) and blue monkey (Cercopithecus mitis) in Kenya; chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes) in Tanzania; and gorilla (Gorilla beringei) in Rwanda. Using one-year age-class intervals, we computed point estimates of age-specific survival for both sexes. In all species, our survival estimates for the dispersing sex are affected by heavy censoring. We also calculated reproductive value, life expectancy, and mortality hazards for females. We used bootstrapping to place confidence intervals on life-table summary metrics (R0, the net reproductive rate;λ, the population growth rate; andG, the generation time). These data have high potential for reuse; they derive from continuous population monitoring of long-lived organisms and will be invaluable for addressing questions about comparative demography, primate conservation and human evolution.
Comparative transcriptome analysis among parental inbred and crosses reveals the role of dominance gene expression in heterosis in Drosophila melanogaster
Authors: Wu Xianwen , Li Rongni , Li Qianqian , Bao Haigang , Wu Changxin
Published: March 2016

We observed heteroses for body weight in Drosophila melanogaster after generating hybrids from three inbred lines. To better understand the mechanism for this phenomenon at the mRNA level, we compared the mRNA profiles of the parental and hybrid lines using high-throughput RNA-seq. A total of 5877 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were found and about 92% of these exhibited parental expression level dominance. Genes in the dominance category were functionally characterized using the Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) and the gene classifications offered by the Gene Ontology (GO) Consortium. The analysis identified genes associated with crucial processes such as development and growth in all three crosses. Functional assignments involving aminoglycan metabolism, starch and sucrose metabolism, and galactose metabolism are significantly overrepresented amongst the 215 common dominance DEGs. We conclude that dominance DEGs are important in heteroses in Drosophila melanogaster and contribute specifically to body weight heterosis.
Significant impact of miRNA–target gene networks on genetics of human complex traits
Authors: Okada Yukinori , Muramatsu Tomoki , Suita Naomasa , Kanai Masahiro , Kawakami Eiryo , Iotchkova Valentina , Soranzo Nicole , Inazawa Johji , Tanaka Toshihiro
Published: March 2016

The impact of microRNA (miRNA) on the genetics of human complex traits, especially in the context of miRNA-target gene networks, has not been fully assessed. Here, we developed a novel analytical method, MIGWAS, to comprehensively evaluate enrichment of genome-wide association study (GWAS) signals in miRNA–target gene networks. We applied the method to the GWAS results of the 18 human complex traits from >1.75 million subjects and identified significant enrichment in rheumatoid arthritis (RA), kidney function and adult height (P < 0.05/18= 0.0028, most significant enrichment in RA with P = 1.7 × 10−4). Interestingly, these results were consistent with current literature-based knowledge of the traits on miRNA obtained through the NCBI PubMed database search (adjusted P = 0.024). Our method provided a list of miRNA and target gene pairs with excess genetic association signals, part of which included drug target genes. We identified a miRNA (miR-4728-5p) that downregulates PADI2, a novel RA risk gene considered as a promising therapeutic target (rs761426, adjusted P = 2.3 × 10−9). Our study indicated the significant impact of miRNA–target gene networks on the genetics of human complex traits and provided resources which should contribute to drug discovery and nucleic acid medicine.
Metabolic Trade-offs in Yeast are Caused by F1F0-ATP synthase
Authors: Nilsson Avlant , Nielsen Jens
Published: March 2016

Intermediary metabolism provides living cells with free energy and precursor metabolites required for synthesizing proteins, lipids, RNA and other cellular constituents, and it is highly conserved among living species. Only a fraction of cellular protein can, however, be allocated to enzymes of intermediary metabolism and consequently metabolic trade-offs may take place. One such trade-off, aerobic fermentation, occurs in both yeast (the Crabtree effect) and cancer cells (the Warburg effect) and has been a scientific challenge for decades. Here we show, using flux balance analysis combined with in vitro measured enzyme specific activities, that fermentation is more catalytically efficient than respiration, i.e. it produces more ATP per protein mass. And that the switch to fermentation at high growth rates therefore is a consequence of a high ATP production rate, provided by a limited pool of enzymes. The catalytic efficiency is also higher for cells grown on glucose compared to galactose and ethanol, which may explain the observed differences in their growth rates. The enzyme F1F0-ATP synthase (Complex V) was found to have flux control over respiration in the model, and since it is evolutionary conserved, we expect the trade-off to occur in organisms from all kingdoms of life.
Identification of candidate diagnostic biomarkers for adolescent idiopathic scoliosis using UPLC/QTOF-MS analysis: a first report of lipid metabolism profiles
Authors: Sun Zhi-jian , Jia Hong-mei , Qiu Gui-xing , Zhou Chao , Guo Shigong , Zhang Jian-guo , Shen Jian-xiong , Zhao Yu , Zou Zhong-mei
Published: March 2016

Adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS) is a complex spine deformity, affecting approximately 1–3% adolescents. Earlier diagnosis could increase the likelihood of successful conservative treatment and hence reduce the need for surgical intervention. We conducted a serum metabonomic study to explore the potential biomarkers of AIS for early diagnosis. Serum metabolic profiles were firstly explored between 30 AIS patients and 31 healthy controls by ultra high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry. Then, the candidate metabolites were validated in an independent cohort including 31 AIS patients and 44 controls. The results showed that metabolic profiles of AIS patients generally deviated from healthy controls in both the discovery set and replication set. Seven differential metabolites were identified as candidate diagnostic biomarkers, including PC(20:4), 2-hexenoylcarnitine, beta-D-glucopyranuronicacid, DG(38:9), MG(20:3), LysoPC(18:2) and LysoPC(16:0). These candidate metabolites indicated disrupted lipid metabolism in AIS, including glycerophospholipid, glycerolipid and fatty acid metabolism. Elevated expressions of adipose triglyceride lipase and hormone sensitive lipase in adipose tissue further corroborated our findings of increased lipid metabolism in AIS. Our findings suggest that differential metabolites discovered in AIS could be used as potential diagnostic biomarkers and that lipid metabolism plays a role in the pathogenesis of AIS.
Evolving Methanococcoides burtonii archaeal Rubisco for improved photosynthesis and plant growth
Authors: Wilson Robert H. , Alonso Hernan , Whitney Spencer M.
Published: March 2016

In photosynthesis Ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase (Rubisco) catalyses the often rate limiting CO2-fixation step in the Calvin cycle. This makes Rubisco both the gatekeeper for carbon entry into the biosphere and a target for functional improvement to enhance photosynthesis and plant growth. Encumbering the catalytic performance of Rubisco is its highly conserved, complex catalytic chemistry. Accordingly, traditional efforts to enhance Rubisco catalysis using protracted “trial and error” protein engineering approaches have met with limited success. Here we demonstrate the versatility of high throughput directed (laboratory) protein evolution for improving the carboxylation properties of a non-photosynthetic Rubisco from the archaea Methanococcoides burtonii. Using chloroplast transformation in the model plant Nicotiana tabacum (tobacco) we confirm the improved forms of M. burtonii Rubisco increased photosynthesis and growth relative to tobacco controls producing wild-type M. burtonii Rubisco. Our findings indicate continued directed evolution of archaeal Rubisco offers new potential for enhancing leaf photosynthesis and plant growth.
Structural basis for the regulation of enzymatic activity of Regnase-1 by domain-domain interactions
Authors: Yokogawa Mariko , Tsushima Takashi , Noda Nobuo N. , Kumeta Hiroyuki , Enokizono Yoshiaki , Yamashita Kazuo , Standley Daron M. , Takeuchi Osamu , Akira Shizuo , Inagaki Fuyuhiko
Published: March 2016

Regnase-1 is an RNase that directly cleaves mRNAs of inflammatory genes such as IL-6 and IL-12p40, and negatively regulates cellular inflammatory responses. Here, we report the structures of four domains of Regnase-1 from Mus musculus—the N-terminal domain (NTD), PilT N-terminus like (PIN) domain, zinc finger (ZF) domain and C-terminal domain (CTD). The PIN domain harbors the RNase catalytic center; however, it is insufficient for enzymatic activity. We found that the NTD associates with the PIN domain and significantly enhances its RNase activity. The PIN domain forms a head-to-tail oligomer and the dimer interface overlaps with the NTD binding site. Interestingly, mutations blocking PIN oligomerization had no RNase activity, indicating that both oligomerization and NTD binding are crucial for RNase activity in vitro. These results suggest that Regnase-1 RNase activity is tightly controlled by both intramolecular (NTD-PIN) and intermolecular (PIN-PIN) interactions.
Vitamin D improves endothelial dysfunction and restores myeloid angiogenic cell function via reduced CXCL-10 expression in systemic lupus erythematosus
Authors: Reynolds John A. , Haque Sahena , Williamson Kate , Ray David W. , Alexander M. Yvonne , Bruce Ian N.
Published: March 2016

Patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) have accelerated cardiovascular disease and dysfunctional endothelial repair mechanisms. Myeloid angiogenic cells (MACs), derived from circulating monocytes, augment vascular repair by paracrine secretion of pro-angiogenic factors. We observed that SLE MACs are dysfunctional and secrete pro-inflammatory cytokines. We also found that the vitamin D receptor was transiently expressed during MAC differentiation and that in vitro, calcitriol increased differentiation of monocytes into MACs in both SLE and in a model using the prototypic SLE cytokine, interferon-alpha. The active form of vitamin D (calcitriol) restored the SLE MAC phenotype towards that of healthy subjects with reduced IL-6 secretion and normalised surface marker expression. Calcitriol also augmented the angiogenic capacity of MACs via the down-regulation of CXCL-10. In SLE patients treated with cholecalciferol for 12 weeks, the improvement in endothelial function correlated with increase in serum 25(OH)D concentrations independently of disease activity. We also show that MACs were able to positively modulate eNOS expression in human endothelial cells in vitro, an effect further enhanced by calcitriol treatment of SLE MACs. The results demonstrate that vitamin D can positively modify endothelial repair mechanisms and thus endothelial function in a population with significant cardiovascular risk.
Obesity impairs lactation performance in mice by inducing prolactin resistance
Authors: Buonfiglio Daniella C. , Ramos-Lobo Angela M. , Freitas Vanessa M. , Zampieri Thais T. , Nagaishi Vanessa S. , Magalhães Magna , Cipolla-Neto Jose , Cella Nathalie , Donato Jose
Published: March 2016

Obesity reduces breastfeeding success and lactation performance in women. However, the mechanisms involved are not entirely understood. In the present study, female C57BL/6 mice were chronically exposed to a high-fat diet to induce obesity and subsequently exhibited impaired offspring viability (only 15% survival rate), milk production (33% reduction), mammopoiesis (one-third of the glandular area compared to control animals) and postpartum maternal behaviors (higher latency to retrieving and grouping the pups). Reproductive experience attenuated these defects. Diet-induced obese mice exhibited high basal pSTAT5 levels in the mammary tissue and hypothalamus and an acute prolactin stimulus was unable to further increase pSTAT5 levels above basal levels. In contrast, genetically obese leptin-deficient females showed normal prolactin responsiveness. Additionally, we identified the expression of leptin receptors specifically in basal/myoepithelial cells of the mouse mammary gland. Finally, high-fat diet females exhibited altered mRNA levels of ERBB4 and NRG1, suggesting that obesity may involve disturbances to mammary gland paracrine circuits that are critical in the control of luminal progenitor function and lactation. In summary, our findings indicate that high leptin levels are a possible cause of the peripheral and central prolactin resistance observed in obese mice which leads to impaired lactation performance.
Genetic polymorphisms in circadian negative feedback regulation genes predict overall survival and response to chemotherapy in gastric cancer patients
Authors: Qu Falin , Qiao Qing , Wang Nan , Ji Gang , Zhao Huadong , He Li , Wang Haichao , Bao Guoqiang
Published: March 2016

Circadian negative feedback loop (CNFL) genes play important roles in cancer development and progression. To evaluate the effects of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in CNFL genes on the survival of GC patients, 13 functional SNPs from 5 CNFL genes were genotyped in a cohort of 1030 resected GC patients (704 in the training set, 326 in the validation set) to explore the association of SNPs with overall survival (OS). Among the 13 SNPs, three SNPs (rs1056560 in CRY1, rs3027178 in PER1 and rs228729 in PER3) were significantly associated with OS of GC in the training set, and verified in the validation set and pooled analysis. Furthermore, a dose-dependent cumulative effect of these SNPs on GC survival was observed, and survival tree analysis showed higher order interactions between these SNPs. In addition, protective effect conferred by adjuvant chemotherapy (ACT) on GC was observed in patients with variant alleles (TG/GG) of rs1056560, but not in those with homozygous wild (TT) genotype. Functional assay suggested rs1056560 genotypes significantly affect CRY1 expression in cancer cells. Our study presents that SNPs in the CNFL genes may be associated with GC prognosis, and provides the guidance in selecting potential GC patients most likely responsive to ACT.
A novel approach of chemical mechanical polishing using environment-friendly slurry for mercury cadmium telluride semiconductors
Authors: Zhang Zhenyu , Wang Bo , Zhou Ping , Guo Dongming , Kang Renke , Zhang Bi
Published: March 2016

A novel approach of chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) is developed for mercury cadmium telluride (HgCdTe or MCT) semiconductors. Firstly, fixed-abrasive lapping is used to machine the MCT wafers and the lapping solution is deionized water. Secondly, the MCT wafers are polished using the developed CMP slurry. The CMP slurry consists of mainly SiO2 nanospheres, H2O2 and malic and citric acids, which are different from previous CMP slurries, in which corrosive and toxic chemical reagents are usually employed. Finally, the polished MCT wafers are cleaned and dried by deionized water and compressed air, respectively. The novel approach of CMP is environment-friendly. Surface roughness Ra and peak-to-valley (PV) values of 0.45 and 4.74 nm are achieved, respectively on MCT wafers after CMP. The first and second passivating processes are observed in electrochemical measurements on MCT wafers. The fundamental mechanisms of CMP are proposed according to the X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and electrochemical measurements. Malic and citric acids dominate the first passivating process and the CMP slurry governs the second process. Te4+3d peaks are absent after CMP induced by the developed CMP slurry, indicating the removing of oxidized films on MCT wafers, which is difficult to achieve using single H2O2 and malic and citric acids solutions.
Discovering communities in complex networks by edge label propagation
Authors: Liu Wei , Jiang Xingpeng , Pellegrini Matteo , Wang Xiaofan
Published: March 2016

The discovery of the community structure of real-world networks is still an open problem. Many methods have been proposed to shed light on this problem, and most of these have focused on discovering node community. However, link community is also a powerful framework for discovering overlapping communities. Here we present a novel edge label propagation algorithm (ELPA), which combines the natural advantage of link communities with the efficiency of the label propagation algorithm (LPA). ELPA can discover both link communities and node communities. We evaluated ELPA on both synthetic and real-world networks, and compared it with five state-of-the-art methods. The results demonstrate that ELPA performs competitively with other algorithms.
The hGFAP-driven conditional TSPO knockout is protective in a mouse model of multiple sclerosis
Authors: Daugherty Daniel J. , Chechneva Olga , Mayrhofer Florian , Deng Wenbin
Published: March 2016

The mitochondrial translocator protein (TSPO) has been implicated in CNS diseases. Here, we sought to determine the specific role of TSPO in experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE), the most studied animal model of multiple sclerosis (MS). To fundamentally elucidate the functions of TSPO, we first developed a viable TSPO knockout mouse. A conditional TSPO knockout mouse was generated by utilizing the Cre-Lox system. We generated a TSPO floxed mouse and then crossed this mouse with a Cre recombinase expressing mouse driven by the human glial fibrillary acidic protein (hGFAP) promoter. The resultant mouse was a neural linage line specific TSPO knockout. The loss of TSPO in the CNS did not result in overt developmental defects or phenotypes. The TSPO−/− mouse showed a decrease in GFAP expression, correlating with a decrease in astrogliosis in response to neural injury during EAE. This decrease in astrogliosis was also witnessed in the lessening of severity of EAE clinical scoring, indicating an in vivo functional role for TSPO in suppressing EAE. The TSPO−/− mouse could be a useful tool in better understanding the role of TSPO in CNS disease and our results implicate TSPO as a potential therapeutic target in MS.