bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Interpreting President Barack Obama's Facial Displays of Emotion: Revisiting the Dartmouth Group
Authors: Stewart Patrick A. , Ford Dowe Pearl K.
Published: January 2013

Charismatic presidents like John F. Kennedy, Ronald Reagan, and now Barack Obama have been able to overcome stereotype‐based barriers to political power by connecting emotionally with viewers, particularly through their nonverbal skills. In this study we focus on the facial displays of emotion by President Obama and how participants interpret them. This study builds upon the pioneering research of the Dartmouth Group concerning response to displays of happiness‐reassurance by political leaders. It will first replicate and extend upon existing research by using Ekman and Friesen's Facial Action Coding System (FACS) to characterize facial displays by President Obama, specifically three neutral displays and three different types of smiles. Second, this study replicates research carried out over two decades ago concerning individual differences in sex, ethnicity, and age cohort on response to political candidates culturally defined as Black. Video focusing on the head and torso were FACS coded and presented in a web‐based experiment to 79 participants working at a southern institution of higher education. The participants identified the emotions felt by President Obama on a scale ranging from “not at all” to “extremely” focusing on the basic emotion terms of: “Happy” and “Playful” (happiness‐reassurance) and “Angry” and “Disgusted” (anger‐threat). Findings suggest participants differentiate between subtle facial‐display differences and that there are differences based upon ethnicity and support for President Obama when they interpret his facial displays of emotion.
Can We Name Earth's Species Before They Go Extinct?
Authors: Costello Mark J. , May Robert M. , Stork Nigel E.
Published: January 2013

Completing the Catalog

Despite the widely held belief that the number of taxonomists is decreasing, there is evidence that increasing numbers of authors are describing species new to science. In parallel, several statistically sophisticated attempts have been made to better quantify the number of species that may exist on Earth, including the oceans. Estimates of recent extinction rates have also been re-examined to question whether we are in, or heading toward, an anthropogenic mass extinction event.

Costello
et al.

(p.
413
) review these findings, provide hope that science will describe most species within this century, and suggest how this complete description can be facilitated.
Ebola Virus Exploits a Monocyte Differentiation Program To Promote Its Entry
Authors: Martinez Osvaldo , Johnson Joshua C. , Honko Anna , Yen Benjamin , Shabman Reed S. , Hensley Lisa E. , Olinger Gene G. , Basler Christopher F.
Published: January 2013

Antigen-presenting cells (APCs) are critical targets of Ebola virus (EBOV) infection
in vivo
. However, the susceptibility of monocytes to infection is controversial. Studies indicate productive monocyte infection, and yet monocytes are also reported to be resistant to EBOV GP-mediated entry. In contrast, monocyte-derived macrophages and dendritic cells are permissive for both EBOV entry and replication. Here, freshly isolated monocytes are demonstrated to indeed be refractory to EBOV entry. However, EBOV binds monocytes, and delayed entry occurs during monocyte differentiation. Cultured monocytes spontaneously downregulate the expression of viral entry restriction factors such as interferon-inducible transmembrane proteins, while upregulating the expression of critical EBOV entry factors cathepsin B and NPC1. Moreover, these processes are accelerated by EBOV infection. Finally, ectopic expression of NPC1 is sufficient to rescue entry into an undifferentiated, normally nonpermissive monocytic cell line. These results define the molecular basis for infection of APCs and suggest means to limit APC infection.
Enhanced Autointegration in Hyperstable Simian Immunodeficiency Virus Capsid Mutants Blocked after Reverse Transcription
Authors: Tipper Christopher , Sodroski Joseph
Published: January 2013

After entering a host cell, retroviruses such as simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV) uncoat, disassembling the viral capsid. Rates of uncoating that are too high and too low can be detrimental to the efficiency of infection. Rapid uncoating typically leads to blocks in reverse transcription, but the basis for replication defects associated with slow uncoating is less clear. Here we characterize the phenotypes of two SIVmac239 mutants with changes, A87E and A87D, in the helix 4/5 loop of the capsid protein. These mutant viruses exhibited normal capsid morphology but were significantly attenuated for infectivity. The infectivity of wild-type and mutant SIVmac239 was not decreased by aphidicolin-induced growth arrest of the target cells. In the cytosol of infected cells, the A87E and A87D capsids remained in particulate form longer than the wild-type SIVmac239 capsid, suggesting that the mutants uncoat more slowly than the wild-type capsid. Both mutants exhibited much higher levels of autointegrated DNA forms than wild-type SIVmac239. Thus, some changes in the helix 4/5 loop of the SIVmac239 capsid protein result in capsid hyperstability and an increase in autointegration.
Imatinib-induced Stevens-Johnsons syndrome
Authors: Jha Praveen , D Himanshu , Jain Nirdesh , Singh Ajay Kumar
Published: January 2013

Imatinib mesylate is a tyrosine kinase inhibitor used widely as the first-line treatment for chronic myeloid leukaemia (CML). The side-effect profile of this drug includes fluid retention, muscle cramps, diarrhoea, myelosuppression and skin rashes. Of these, rashes of the type maculo-papular eruptions and oedema developed most commonly. The cutaneous adverse reactions other than maculo-papular eruptions are rare with imatinib. Severe and life-threatening cutaneous reactions can occur in 5% cases. Here, the author reports a case of newly diagnosed CML that developed Steven-Johnsons syndrome due to imatinib therapy. Patient responded and discharged successfully on withdrawal of the culminating drug.
Early postnatal development of GABAergic presynaptic inhibition of Ia proprioceptive afferent connections in mouse spinal cord
Authors: Sonner Patrick M. , Ladle David R.
Published: January 2013

Sensory feedback is critical for normal locomotion and adaptation to external perturbations during movement. Feedback provided by group Ia afferents influences motor output both directly through monosynaptic connections and indirectly through spinal interneuronal circuits. For example, the circuit responsible for reciprocal inhibition, which acts to prevent co-contraction of antagonist flexor and extensor muscles, is driven by Ia afferent feedback. Additionally, circuits mediating presynaptic inhibition can limit Ia afferent synaptic transmission onto central neuronal targets in a task-specific manner. These circuits can also be activated by stimulation of proprioceptive afferents. Rodent locomotion rapidly matures during postnatal development; therefore, we assayed the functional status of reciprocal and presynaptic inhibitory circuits of mice at birth and compared responses with observations made after 1 wk of postnatal development. Using extracellular physiological techniques from isolated and hemisected spinal cord preparations, we demonstrate that Ia afferent-evoked reciprocal inhibition is as effective at blocking antagonist motor neuron activation at birth as at 1 wk postnatally. In contrast, at birth conditioning stimulation of muscle nerve afferents failed to evoke presynaptic inhibition sufficient to block functional transmission at synapses between Ia afferents and motor neurons, even though dorsal root potentials could be evoked by stimulating the neighboring dorsal root. Presynaptic inhibition at this synapse was readily observed, however, at the end of the first postnatal week. These results indicate Ia afferent feedback from the periphery to central spinal circuits is only weakly gated at birth, which may provide enhanced sensitivity to peripheral feedback during early postnatal experiences.
Moses at Marah
Authors: German Brian T.
Published: January 2013

Abstract

With the uniqueness of the final form of the Marah account in relation to subsequent wilderness episodes as its impetus, this study proposes the following paraphrase for the textual ambiguities of Exodus 15:25b: “There the Lord appointed for Moses a statute and an ordinance on Israel’s behalf, and there He tested Moses for Israel’s sake.”
CALHM1 controls the Ca2+-dependent MEK, ERK, RSK and MSK signaling cascade in neurons
Authors: Dreses-Werringloer Ute , Vingtdeux Valérie , Zhao Haitian , Chandakkar Pallavi , Davies Peter , Marambaud Philippe
Published: January 2013

Calcium homeostasis modulator 1 (CALHM1) is a Ca2+ channel controlling neuronal excitability and potentially involved in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease (AD). Although strong evidence indicates that CALHM1 is required for neuronal electrical activity, its role in intracellular Ca2+ signaling remains unknown. In the present study, we show that in hippocampal HT-22 cells, CALHM1 expression led to a robust and relatively selective activation of the Ca2+-sensing kinases ERK1/2. CALHM1 also triggered activation of MEK1/2, the upstream ERK1/2-activating kinases, and of RSK1/2/3 and MSK1, two downstream effectors of ERK1/2 signaling. CALHM1-mediated activation of ERK1/2 signaling was controlled by the small GTPase Ras. Pharmacological inhibition of CALHM1 permeability using Ruthenium Red, Zn2+, and Gd3+, or expression of the CALHM1 N140A and W114A mutants, which are deficient in mediating Ca2+ influx, prevented the effect of CALHM1 on the MEK, ERK, RSK and MSK signaling cascade, demonstrating that CALHM1 controlled this pathway via its channel properties. Importantly, expression of CALHM1 bearing the natural P86L polymorphism, which leads to a partial loss of CALHM1 function and is associated with an earlier age at onset in AD patients, showed reduced activation of ERK1/2, RSK1/2/3, and MSK1. In line with these results obtained in transfected cells, primary cerebral neurons isolated from Calhm1 knockout mice showed significant impairments in the activation of MEK, ERK, RSK and MSK signaling. The present study identifies a previously uncharacterized mechanism of control of Ca2+-dependent ERK1/2 signaling in neurons, and further establishes CALHM1 as a critical ion channel for neuronal signaling and function.
Towards Moral and Authentic Generalization: Humanity, Individual Human Beings and Distortion
Authors: Rapport Nigel
Published: January 2013

The article treats the issue of generality. How may one conceive of the relationship between the uniqueness of individuality and the commonality of the human (species and society) without reduction? Can generalization be made moral – es-chewing stereotypes in society – and can it be made authentic – enacting a human science which treats the individual as a thing-in-itself? Simmel’s seminal inter-vention was to see generality as a necessary kind of distortion. In contrast, this article offers rational models of the one and the whole which expect to retain the uniqueness of the one; and it suggests characteristics of human embodiment (ca-pacities, potentialities) that speak to individuality and generality at the same time. The article ends with a reconsideration of distortion as a humane artistic represen-tation, by way of the work of Stanley Spencer.
Thermal Properties of TiO2/PbS Nanoparticle Solar Cells
Authors: Padilla Derek , Zhai Guangmei , Breeze Alison J. , Zhang Daoli , Alers Glenn B. , Carter Sue A.
Published: January 2013

Photovoltaic performance is shown to depend on ligand capping on PbS nanoparticle solar cells by varying the temperature between 140K and 350K. The thermal response of open-circuit voltage, short-circuit current density, fill-factor and shunt resistance varies between the ligands. A large increase in short-circuit current density at low temperatures is observed for 1,2-ethanedithiol and 3-mercaptopropionic acid and a relatively constant short-circuit current density is observed for the stiffer 1,4-benzenedithiol. Dark data provide evidence for tunnelling transport being the dominant charge conduction mechanism for all three ligand devices with recombination occurring within deep trap states. Under illumination, devices exhibit band-to-band recombination, indicated by an ideality factor of nearly unity.
Residence time distribution in a single‐phase rotor–stator spinning disk reactor
Authors: Visscher Frans , de Hullu Jos , de Croon Mart H. J. M. , van der Schaaf John , Schouten Jaap C.
Published: January 2013

A reactor model for the single‐phase rotor–stator spinning disk reactor based on residence time distribution measurements is described. For the experimental validation of the model, the axial clearance between the rotor and both stators is varied from 1.0 × 10−3 to 3.0 × 10−3 m, the rotational disk speed is varied from 50 to 2000 RPM, and the volumetric flow rate is varied from 7.5 × 10−6 to 22.5 × 10−6 m3 s−1. Tracer injection experiments show that the residence time distribution can be described by a plug flow model in combination with 2–3 ideally stirred tanks‐in‐series. The resulting reactor model is explained with the effect of turbulence, the formation of Von Kármán and Bödewadt boundary layers, and the effect of the volumetric flow rate. © 2013 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 59: 2686–2693, 2013
Probability distributions of gas hydrate formation
Authors: Wu Reuben , Kozielski Karen A. , Hartley Patrick G. , May Eric F. , Boxall John , Maeda Nobuo
Published: January 2013

Induction time distributions for gas hydrate formation were measured for gas mixtures of methane + propane at pressures up to 11.3 MPa using a high‐pressure automated lag time apparatus (HP‐ALTA). Measurements were made at subcooling temperatures between 4.3 and 13.5 K and, while isothermal induction times between 0 and 15,000 s were observed, the median isothermal induction times for the distributions ranged from 100 to 4000 s. A hyperbolic relationship between median induction time and subcooling was used to correlate the data. A graphical interpretation is presented that relates the two types of data that can be acquired by using the HP‐ALTA in one of two modes to study hydrate formation: induction time distributions at constant subcooling and formation temperature distributions observed during linear cooling ramps. The equivalence of these two modes provides a robust method for studying the variation of formation phenomena in different hydrate systems. © 2013 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 59: 2640–2646, 2013
Synthesis of Macrosporin and Related 9,10‐Anthraquinones by Biomimetic Polyketide Aromatization and Cyclization of 6‐Benzylresorcylates
Authors: Cordes Jens , Barrett Anthony G. M.
Published: January 2013

This paper describes the synthesis of an array of 9,10‐anthraquinones 2 by initial preparation of 6‐benzylresorcylates 3 from oxo‐dioxinone precursors 4 and their subsequent conversion to anthrones by cyclization and oxidation. Resorcylates 3 were obtained by an improved two‐step procedure from oxo ester 5 and acyl chlorides 6. These methods were applied in a seven‐step synthesis of the fungal natural product macrosporin (1).
Intergalactic Winds
Authors: Richter Philipp
Published: January 2013

Stars contain only a small fraction of the visible matter. Forming the largest reservoir are filament‐like structures made of gas, which cross the entire universe. Research of these structures reveals a great deal about the formation and development of galaxies.
Policies to Support Corporate Social Responsibility: The Case of Telefónica
Authors: Palacios‐Marqués Daniel , Devece‐Carañana Carlos A.
Published: January 2013

This interview examines Telefónica's projects and efforts in the area of corporate social responsibility. Telefónica is one of the world's largest multinational firms in the telecommunications sector. It is present in 25 countries, serves more than 260 million customers, and employs a staff of approximately 285,000 professionals. The company is still advancing and finding new opportunities to increase its capacity to innovate, improving ways of doing business, enhancing customer satisfaction, and helping educate customers. In this interview, Oscar Maraver (managing director of the human resources area), Jose Buqueras Dobato (director of HR planning), and Alberto Andreu Panillos (director of corporate reputation and identity and environmental affairs) explain and share their vision of policies developed both internally with employees and externally with customers. Their approach includes a strong emphasis on corporate social responsibility.
Crowdsourcing for usability testing
Authors: Liu Di , Bias Randolph G. , Lease Matthew , Kuipers Rebecca
Published: January 2013

While usability evaluation is critical to designing usable websites, traditional usability testing can be both expensive and time consuming. The advent of crowdsourcing platforms such as Amazon Mechanical Turk and CrowdFlower offer an intriguing new avenue for performing remote usability testing with potentially many users, quick turn‐around, and significant cost savings. To investigate the potential of such crowdsourced usability testing, we conducted a usability study which evaluated a graduate school's website using a crowdsourcing platform. In addition, we performed a similar but not identical traditional lab usability test on the same site. While we find that crowdsourcing exhibits some notable limitations in comparison to the traditional lab environment, its applicability and value for usability testing is clearly evidenced. We discuss both methodological differences for crowdsourced usability testing, as well as empirical contrasts to results from more traditional, face‐to‐face usability testing.
“How much change do you get from 40$?” – Analyzing and addressing failed questions on social Q&A
Authors: Shah Chirag , Radford Marie L. , Connaway Lynn Silipigni , Choi Erik , Kitzie Vanessa
Published: January 2013

Online question‐answering (Q&A) services are becoming increasingly popular among information seekers. While online Q&A services encompass both virtual reference service (VRS) and social Q&A (SQA), SQA services, such as Yahoo! Answers and WikiAnswers, have experienced more success in reaching out to the masses and leveraging subsequent participation. However, the large volume of content on some of the more popular SQA sites renders participants unable to answer some posted questions adequately or even at all. To reduce this latter category of questions that do not receive an answer, the current paper explores reasons for why fact‐based questions fail on a specific Q&A service. For this exploration and analyses, thousands of failed questions were collected from Yahoo! Answers extracting only those that were fact‐based, information‐seeking questions, while opinion/advice‐seeking questions were discarded. A typology was then created to code reasons of failures for these questions using a grounded theory approach. Using this typology, suggestions are proposed for how the questions could be restructured or redirected to another Q&A service (possibly a VRS), so users would have a better chance of receiving an answer.
Collaborative hierarchical clustering in the browser for scatter/gather on the web
Authors: Ke Weimao , Gong Xuemei
Published: January 2013

Scatter/Gather is a powerful browsing model for exploratory information seeking. However, its potential on the web scale has not been demonstrated due to scalability challenges of interactive clustering. We have developed in previous research a two‐stage method to support on‐the‐fly Scatter/Gather, in which an offline module pre‐computes a hierarchical structure to support constant time on‐line interaction. In this work, we focus on the offline hierarchy construction and develop a novel distributed approach to hierarchical agglomerative clustering (HAC). Relying on Javascript that is commonly supported by browsers, the distributed clustering method has the potential to scale with growing traffics of a site. We show in experiments that a moderate increase in the number of parallel processes (in visitors' browsers) leads to a dramatic decrease of clustering time. This demonstrates great potentials in supporting large‐scale Scatter/Gather interactions on the web. We present preliminary analysis of clustering effectiveness and a related Scatter/Gather prototype for web search.
Tooling the aggregator's workbench: Metadata visualization through statistical text analysis
Authors: Fenlon Katrina , Efron Miles , Organisciak Peter
Published: January 2013

Digital library interoperability efforts have succeeded in making large‐scale aggregation of digital collections technically feasible, to the extent that aggregations have become critical organizational tools in the data universe. As diverse digital collections are increasingly unified into aggregations data heterogeneity presents burgeoning challenges to aggregators. Comprehension of massive aggregates and efficient metadata quality analysis are aggregator imperatives that rely on scalable evaluation techniques. This paper describes novel applications of visualization techniques, based on statistical text analysis, to the evaluation and maintenance of a large‐scale aggregation of descriptive, cultural heritage metadata. These techniques, and their implementation as part of an aggregator's workbench, provide new, administrator‐oriented perspectives on metadata aggregations, in order to improve aggregators' capacity to evaluate metadata quality and topical coverage in a scalable way.
“I just Wikipedia it”: Information behavior of first‐year writing students
Authors: Olsen M. Whitney , Diekema Anne R.
Published: January 2013

First‐year writing students are a very large, diverse, and ubiquitous information user group, as writing courses are typically required of all undergraduate students, regardless of major. While in their institution's writing program, students frequently must utilize research (information) in their writing assignments. While this formal, task‐related information behavior is important for stakeholders in the fields of information science and the humanities to understand, little research has been done on this significant group of students. This study arrived at key exploratory findings by collecting data and context from first‐year writing students through semi‐structured interviews. The researchers found that students continue to be Google‐dependent and fearful of using Wikipedia, though they use it anyway. Students appear to operate in comfort and convenience zones, and distinctly prefer secondary sources which they fail to read completely. People comprise a major part of students' information seeking behavior, but students tend only to consult friends and family members. This study offers practical implications of these behaviors which may be used to help students and inform further research.
The notion of relevance in teacher information behavior
Authors: Diekema Anne R. , Olsen M. Whitney
Published: January 2013

Educators use information to support their teaching, which is largely concerned with the transfer of information. To support this information exchange, teachers manage complex information environments that are continually changing based on outside influences. Decisions on when to go out and seek additional information, what information to incorporate, and what information to dispose of are all based on notions of relevance. This exploratory study found that notions of relevance are largely driven by the educational context and are therefore unique to this particular user group. Relevance is often prescriptive for teachers, that is, information needs are driven by curriculum and school policy. Teachers also appear to stack the deck when looking for relevant resources, increasing their chances for finding a good resource fit by drawing on shared experience and information from close colleagues. Resource selection is again curriculum based, but also has the interesting feature that teachers are proxies for relevance decisions that affect their students. Anticipated relevance is present in various aspects of teachers' personal information management (PIM), such as deciding whether to keep resources for future use, organizing their physical classroom space, and resource housekeeping decisions.
Internet searching, tablet technology and older adults
Authors: Jayroe Tina J. , Wolfram Dietmar
Published: January 2013

Tablet technology presents a simplified interface for users to interact with Internet resources. A comparison of user interaction with iPad tablet technology and desktop computers by older adults was conducted to better understand how they interact with each technology to perform basic information search tasks. Ten computer literate, senior citizens were given six search tasks. User interactions were videotaped and the participants were interviewed about their search experiences. Collected data were coded and analyzed qualitatively. Participants struggled with some features of the tablet technology, but overall found the experience to be positive and were able to complete most of their search tasks to their satisfaction. Some features of the tablet were not intuitive and differed from the desktop systems the participants used regularly. The size and sensitivity of the display area also presented some usability challenges. The greatest obstacles to search task completion arose more from the design of the websites visited rather than the features of the devices used.
Gendered literacy: An integrated conceptual model
Authors: Seitz Emily
Published: January 2013

The term “gendered literacy” is appearing with increasing frequency in both the education and library and information science literatures but has not yet been fully defined. This poster treats the concept of gendered literacy within Western cultures and discusses the importance of children's literacy in a rapidly changing reading and information environment, especially in light of the apparent gender gap in reading favoring girls. The poster also presents a cohesive literature‐based model for gendered literacy. Although previous research has addressed gendered literacy from a variety of perspectives, it has not yet provided an integrated conceptual model.
Social media and E‐Government: A case study assessing Twitter use in the implementation of the open government directive
Authors: Unsworth Kristene , Townes Adam
Published: January 2013

The first official order of business carried out by President Obama in 2008 was the presentation of a memorandum entitled Transparency and Open Government. Three pillars for Open Government are outlined in the document and consist of transparency, participation and collaboration which form the foundation for the initiative. Here we report on a case study, where the use of social media by the United States Department of Agriculture was assessed in relation to the agencies implementation of goals set by the Open Government Initiative. In the Open Government Initiative, the use of social media features strongly as a means to connect with the public and to promote the three pillars. We question whether use of social actually results in realization of the three pillars, but with a particular focus on dialogue between the USDA and the public. We apply a mixed‐methods approach based in grounded theory, social network analysis, content analysis and discourse analysis. Early findings suggest that although the USDA is mentioned there is no clear evidence of discourse, in the sense of exchange of tweets between the USDA and other posters. This is assuming that anyone who may post from the USDA would do so under the auspices of the organization and not as an individual with a unique user name. Our research indicates that traditional definitions of these terms (transparency, collaboration and participation) may need to be expanded to account for the types of interactions occurring via social media. In this paper, we report on our research plan and initial observations.
Social media practices and support in U.S. public libraries and school library media centers
Authors: Magee Rachel M. , Naughton Robin , O'Gan Patri , Forte Andrea , Agosto Denise E.
Published: January 2013

Many U.S. teens spend hours each day communicating with friends via social technologies like Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, and Flickr. To develop a better understanding of the state of library support of teens' social technology practices, we are conducting a national survey of a representative sample of 750 public and 750 school libraries in the United States about their current policies and social media strategies. Preliminary results indicate that public and school libraries' use of social media differ in terms of policy and strategies, and that rather than enabling libraries to harness the power of social networking tools, library policies often serve as use barriers.
PERFORMANCE EVALUATION AND ACCOUNTABILITY FOR SCHOOL PSYCHOLOGISTS: CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES
Authors: Morrison Julie Q.
Published: January 2013

The call for school psychologists to demonstrate accountability in the evaluation of services at the individual, group, and system levels comes at a time when school districts nationally are pursuing personnel evaluation models that link teachers’ instructional practices to student achievement. School psychologists have an opportunity to take a leadership role in determining how the impact of their service delivery will be evaluated. The purpose of this article is to: (a) describe the legislative context and historical trends for professional accountability for school psychologists; (b) provide four key principles to consider in designing an accountability system for school psychologists; (c) outline the advantages, disadvantages, and recommended guidelines for using case studies (i.e., single‐case designs) and rubric‐based approaches for evaluating school psychological services; (d) illustrate how case studies are used to demonstrate accountability in a state‐wide school psychology internship program; and (e) discuss the implications for the graduate preparation of school psychologists.
Simultaneous prediction of protein secondary structure and transmembrane spans
Authors: Leman, Julia Koehler , Mueller Ralf , Karakas Mert , Woetzel Nils , Meiler Jens
Published: January 2013

Prediction of transmembrane spans and secondary structure from the protein sequence is generally the first step in the structural characterization of (membrane) proteins. Preference of a stretch of amino acids in a protein to form secondary structure and being placed in the membrane are correlated. Nevertheless, current methods predict either secondary structure or individual transmembrane states. We introduce a method that simultaneously predicts the secondary structure and transmembrane spans from the protein sequence. This approach not only eliminates the necessity to create a consensus prediction from possibly contradicting outputs of several predictors but bears the potential to predict conformational switches, i.e., sequence regions that have a high probability to change for example from a coil conformation in solution to an α‐helical transmembrane state. An artificial neural network was trained on databases of 177 membrane proteins and 6048 soluble proteins. The output is a 3 × 3 dimensional probability matrix for each residue in the sequence that combines three secondary structure types (helix, strand, coil) and three environment types (membrane core, interface, solution). The prediction accuracies are 70.3% for nine possible states, 73.2% for three‐state secondary structure prediction, and 94.8% for three‐state transmembrane span prediction. These accuracies are comparable to state‐of‐the‐art predictors of secondary structure (e.g., Psipred) or transmembrane placement (e.g., OCTOPUS). The method is available as web server and for download at www.meilerlab.org. Proteins 2013; 81:1127–1140. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Liver Resection for Bismuth Type I and Type II Hilar Cholangiocarcinoma
Authors: Lim Jin Hong , Choi Gi Hong , Choi Sung Hoon , Kim Kyung Sik , Choi Jin Sub , Lee Woo Jung
Published: January 2013

Background

In patients with Bismuth type I and II hilar cholangiocarcinoma (HCCA), bile duct resection alone has been the conventional approach. However, many authors have reported that concomitant liver resection improved surgical outcomes.

Methods

Between January 2000 and January 2012, 52 patients underwent surgical resection for a Bismuth type I and II HCCA (type I: n = 22; type II: n = 30). Patients were classified into two groups: concomitant liver resection (n = 26) and bile duct resection alone (n = 26).

Results

Bile duct resection alone was performed in 26 patients. Concomitant liver resection was performed in 26 patients (right side hepatectomy [n = 13]; left‐side hepatectomy [n = 6]; volume‐preserving liver resection [n = 7]). All liver resections included a caudate lobectomy. Patient and tumor characteristics did not differ between the two groups. Although concomitant liver resection required longer operating time (P < 0.001), it had a similar postoperative complication rate (P = 0.764), high curability (P = 0.010), and low local recurrence rate (P = 0.006). Concomitant liver resection showed better overall survival (P = 0.047).

Conclusions

Concomitant liver resection should be considered in patients with Bismuth type I and II HCCA.
Comparison of the Screening Practices of Unaffected Noncarriers under 40 and between 40 and 49 in BRCA1/2 Families
Authors: Duprez Christelle , Christophe Véronique , Milhabet Isabelle , Krzeminski Aurélie , Adenis Claude , Berthet Pascaline , Peyrat Jean‐Philippe , Vennin Philippe
Published: January 2013

This study aimed to 1) compare the cancer screening practices of unaffected noncarrier women under 40 and those aged 40 to 49, following the age‐based medical screening guidelines, and 2) consider the way the patients justified their practices of screening or over‐screening. For this study, 131 unaffected noncarriers—77 women under age 40 and 54 between 40 and 49, all belonging to a BRCA1/2 family—responded to a questionnaire on breast or ovarian cancer screenings they had undergone since receiving their negative genetic test results, their motives for seeking these screenings, and their intentions to pursue these screenings in the future. Unaffected noncarriers under age 40 admitted practices that could be qualified as over‐screening. Apart from mammogram and breast ultrasounds, which the women under 40 reported seeking less often, these women's screening practices were comparable to those of women between 40 and 49. Cancer prevention and a family history of cancer were the two most frequently cited justifications for pursuing these screenings. We suggest that health care professionals discuss with women under 50 the ineffectiveness of breast and ovarian cancer screenings so that they will adapt their practices to conform to medical guidelines and limit their exposure to the potentially negative impacts of early cancer screening.
The sympatric occurrence of two genetically divergent lineages of sucking louse,Polyplax arvicanthis(Phthiraptera: Anoplura), on the four-striped mouse genus,Rhabdomys(Rodentia: Muridae)
Authors: DU TOIT NINA , MATTHEE SONJA , MATTHEE CONRAD A.
Published: January 2013

Within southern Africa, the widely distributed four-striped mouse genus (Rhabdomys) is parasitized by, amongst others, the specific ectoparasitic sucking louse,Polyplax arvicanthis. Given the presence of significant geographically structured genetic divergence inRhabdomys, and the propensity of parasites to harbour cryptic diversity, the molecular systematics ofP. arvicanthiswas investigated. Representatives ofP. arvicanthiswere sampled fromRhabdomysat 16 localities throughout southern Africa. Parsimony and Bayesian gene trees were constructed for the mitochondrial COI, 12S rRNA, 16S rRNA and nuclear CAD genes. Our findings support the existence of 2 genetic groups withinP. arvicanthisseparated by at least 25% COI sequence divergence, which is comparable to that observed among recognizedPolyplaxspecies. We therefore propose that these 2 genetic lineages probably represent distinct species and that the apparent absence of clear morphological differences may point to cryptic speciation. The 2 taxa have sympatric distributions throughout most of the sampled host range and also occasionally occur sympatrically on the same host individual. The co-occurrence of these genetically distinct lineages probably resulted from parasite duplication via host-associated allopatric divergence and subsequent reciprocal range expansions of the 2 parasite taxa throughout southern Africa.
Beyond a constructivist curriculum: a critique of competing paradigms in music education
Authors: Garnett James
Published: January 2013

The distinction between learning to perform on an instrument or voice and learning music in a wider sense is one that is made in many countries, and is especially pertinent in England in the context of recent policy developments. This article argues that, whilst this distinction has come to represent curricula based on the opposing paradigms of behaviourist and constructivist approaches to learning, this opposition does not necessarily extend to the pedagogy through which the curricula are taught. A case study of the National Curriculum in England highlights the characteristics of a curriculum based on constructivist principles, along with the impact this has when taught in a behaviourist way. It is argued that conceiving the curriculum in terms of musical competencies, and pedagogy in terms of musical understanding, would provide a basis for greater continuity and higher quality in the music education experienced by young people.
Entropy of polydisperse chains: Solution on the Husimi lattice
Authors: Neto Minos A. , Stilck Jürgen F.
Published: January 2013

We consider the entropy of polydisperse chains placed on a lattice. In particular, we study a model for equilibrium polymerization, where the polydispersity is determined by two activities, for internal and endpoint monomers of a chain. We solve the problem exactly on a Husimi lattice built with squares and with arbitrary coordination number, obtaining an expression for the entropy as a function of the density of monomers and mean molecular weight of the chains. We compare this entropy with the one for the monodisperse case, and find that the excess of entropy due to polydispersity is identical to the one obtained for the one-dimensional case. Finally, we obtain a distribution of molecular weights with a rather complex behavior, but which becomes exponential for very large mean molecular weight of the chains, as required by scaling properties, which should apply in this limit.
Electronic and magnetic tunability of Sr2CrReO6 films by growth-mediated oxygen modulation
Authors: Hauser A. J. , Lucy J. M. , Wang H. L. , Soliz J. R. , Holcomb A. , Morris P. , Woodward P. M. , Yang F. Y.
Published: January 2013

Highly ordered epitaxial films of ferrimagnetic semiconductor Sr2CrReO6 (SCRO) have been fabricated by off-axis magnetron sputtering, and characterized as a function of the oxygen partial pressure. In this Letter, we report 18 000% modulation in electrical resistivity at T = 7K (60% at room temperature) from a 1% modulation in the oxygen partial pressure during film growth. The growth window was centered at peak saturation magnetization, which drops due to both increasing and decreasing oxygen growth pressure. The results suggest that n-type doping due to oxygen vacancies plays a dominant role in the electrical properties and modulation of Sr2CrReO6 thin films.
Population dynamics of normal and leukaemia stem cells in the haematopoietic stem cell niche show distinct regimes where leukaemia will be controlled
Authors: MacLean Adam L. , Lo Celso Cristina , Stumpf Michael P. H.
Published: January 2013

Haematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) are responsible for maintaining immune cells, red blood cells and platelets throughout life. HSCs must be located in their ecological niche (the bone marrow) to function correctly, that is, to regenerate themselves and their progeny; the latter eventually exit the bone marrow and enter circulation. We propose that cells with oncogenic potential—cancer/leukaemia stem cells (LSC)—and their progeny will also occupy this niche. Mathematical models, which describe the dynamics of HSCs, LSCs and their progeny allow investigation into the conditions necessary for defeating a malignant invasion of the niche. Two such models are developed and analysed here. To characterize their behaviour, we use an inferential framework that allows us to study regions in parameter space that give rise to desired behaviour together with an assessment of the robustness of the dynamics. Using this approach, we map out conditions under which HSCs can outcompete LSCs. In therapeutic applications, we clearly want to drive haematopoiesis into such regimes and the current analysis provide some guidance as to how we can identify new therapeutic targets. Our results suggest that maintaining a viable population of HSCs and their progenies in the niche may often already be nearly sufficient to eradicate LSCs from the system.
An unusual arrangement of two 14-3-3-like domains in the SMG5–SMG7 heterodimer is required for efficient nonsense-mediated mRNA decay
Authors: Jonas Stefanie , Weichenrieder Oliver , Izaurralde Elisa
Published: January 2013

The nonsense-mediated mRNA decay (NMD) pathway triggers the rapid degradation of aberrant mRNAs containing premature translation termination codons (PTCs). In metazoans, NMD requires three 14-3-3-like proteins: SMG5, SMG6, and SMG7. These proteins are recruited to PTC-containing mRNAs through the interaction of their 14-3-3-like domains with phosphorylated UPF1, the central NMD effector. Recruitment of SMG5, SMG6, and SMG7 causes NMD target degradation. In this study, we report the crystal structure of the Caenorhabditis elegans SMG5–SMG7 complex. The 14-3-3-like phosphopeptide recognition domains of SMG5 and SMG7 heterodimerize in an unusual perpendicular back-to-back orientation in which the peptide-binding sites face opposite directions. Structure-based mutants and functional assays indicate that the SMG5–SMG7 interaction is conserved and is crucial for efficient NMD in human cells. Notably, we demonstrate that heterodimerization increases the affinity of the SMG5–SMG7 complex for UPF1. Furthermore, we show that the degradative activity of the SMG5–SMG7 complex resides in SMG7 and that the SMG5–SMG7 complex and SMG6 play partially redundant roles in the degradation of aberrant mRNAs. We propose that the SMG5–SMG7 complex binds to phosphorylated UPF1 with high affinity and recruits decay factors to the mRNA target through SMG7, thus promoting target degradation.
Factors influencing income level of (agro‐) pastoral communities
Authors: Adunga Eneyew
Published: January 2013

Purpose

Most of the studies done on pastoralists in Ethiopia either rely on qualitative data or mainly focus on descriptive analysis and thus lack rigorous econometric measures. As a result, very little is known about the economics of household level activities in pastoral production systems. Thus, the aim of this paper is to use analysis factors influencing household income among (agro‐) pastoralists of southern Ethiopia. This information therefore can contribute to more evidence‐based decision making occurring across pastoral areas and inform policy decisions regarding the design of income generating strategies in pastoral areas.

Design/methodology/approach

Multi stage sampling technique was followed to select 197 household heads. Descriptive statistics like mean, standard deviation and percentages were used to explain the socioeconomic characteristics of respondents. The relationship between the household income and the independent variables were estimated using multiple regression procedure.

Findings

The finding shows that wealth and income are highly skewed; agro‐pastoralists earned two‐fold more than pastoralists by virtue of their crop activity. The variables explaining the variations in income level are family size, market distance, land size, education level and livelihood diversification status. Households with larger family members, farm land, nearer to market centres, diversification status and literate heads have earned larger income than their counterparts.

Practical implications

Improving market access and developing marketing opportunities are essential to (agro‐) pastoralists to get the best value for their products; alongside the expansion of crop cultivation and creation of alternative livelihood opportunities and access to education should be emphasized.

Originality/value

The paper presents an analysis of original survey conducted by the author from December to January 2010/11.
Consumer decision making styles in retailing: evolution of mindsets and psychological impacts
Authors: Lysonski Steven , Durvasula Srinivas
Published: January 2013

Purpose

– India has undergone dramatic change in its retail markets since economic liberalization in 1992. The authors aim to use the framework of consumer decision making styles to investigate longitudinally how these styles have changed from 1994 to 2009. They also conducted a cross-sectional analysis of the 2009 data to determine whether decision making styles are shaped by psychological variables: perceived time pressure, shopping opinion leadership, shopping self-confidence, consumer susceptibility to interpersonal influence, and materialism.

Design/methodology/approach

– The eight different consumer decision making styles were measured with instrument by Sproles and Kendall. The psychological variables were measured with established instruments with adequate reliabilities. The survey was administered to young adults. The Indian samples from 1994 and 2009 were matched allowing for comparisons.

Findings

– The longitudinal analysis showed that four of the eight decision making styles changed statistically between 1994 and 2009; there were increases for brand consciousness, novelty-fashion consciousness, and impulsive-careless shopping while perfectionist-quality consciousness decreased. The cross sectional analysis of the psychological variables showed that perceived time pressure had minimal impact while shopping opinion leadership and shopping self confidence had a major impact. Materialism and consumer susceptibility to interpersonal influence had a moderate impact.

Research limitations/implications

– The authors used an urban sample; a rural sample would also be useful. Future research could examine other emerging markets such as Brazil and Vietnam to identify the impact of the psychological variables on decision making styles in those countries.

Practical implications

– The study shows that decision making styles do change as an emerging economy becomes more developed. The study also shows that psychological variables can explain some of the differences in decision making styles among consumers. Retailers and marketers can use this information to be more strategic in the way they develop their planning.

Social implications

– Changes in decision making styles show that consumers are now more brand and fashion conscious while being more impulsive and careless in their shopping. These changes may signal that Indians are becoming more materialistic and more focused on brands and fashion which can lead to excessive buying and debt.

Originality/value

– The paper offers a longitudinal view of changes in decision making and a cross sectional analysis of how psychological variables affect decision making styles. This study focuses on issues not presently discussed in the literature.