bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
In Search of the ‘Economic Dividend’ of Devolution: Spatial Disparities, Spatial Economic Policy, and Decentralisation in the UK
Authors: Pike Andy , Rodríguez-Pose Andrés , Tomaney John , Torrisi Gianpiero , Tselios Vassilis
Published: January 2012

After a decade of devolution and amid uncertainties about its effects, it is timely to assess and reflect upon the evidence and enduring meaning of any ‘economic dividend’ of devolution in the UK. Taking an institutionalist and quantitative approach, we seek to discern the nature and extent of any economic dividend through a conceptual and empirical analysis of the relationships between spatial disparities, spatial economic policy, and decentralisation. Situating the UK experience within its evolving historical context, we find: (i) a varied and uneven nature of the relationships between regional disparities, spatial economic policy, and decentralisation that change direction during specific time periods; (ii) the role of national economic growth is pivotal in explaining spatial disparities and the nature and extent of their relationship with the particular forms of spatial economic policy and decentralisation deployed; and, (iii) there is limited evidence that any economic dividend of devolution has emerged, but this remains difficult to discern because its likely effects are overridden by the role of national economic growth in decisively shaping the pattern of spatial disparities and in determining the scope and effects of spatial economic policy and decentralisation.
Devolution and the Politics of Development in Northern Ireland
Authors: Murtagh Brendan , Shirlow Peter
Published: January 2012

The reintroduction of devolution in Northern Ireland is widely interpreted as the working out of the Belfast Agreement (1998) which aimed to embed political consensus in shared institutions of the state. However, such analysis tends to be limited with regard to wider political economy readings of the devolution project and historic struggles to find an appropriate institutional fix to manage different forms of crisis. Peace and stability have, it is argued, permitted Northern Ireland's reentry to global markets and circuits of capital with new governance structures being assembled to reconfigure ‘post-conflict’ economic space. We argue that the onset of devolution has promoted a mix between ethnosectarian resource competition and a constantly expanding neoliberal model of governance. Devolved neoliberal structures that sustain social polarisation may perpetuate strategies of resistance that could cut across and challenge ethnosectarian politics and deepening social segregation.
Competitive Nationalism: State, Class, and the Forms of Capital in Devolved Scotland
Authors: Law Alex , Mooney Gerry
Published: January 2012

Devolved government in Scotland actively reconstitutes the unequal conditions of social class reproduction. Recognition of state-led class reconstitution draws upon the social theory of Bourdieu. Our analysis of social class in devolved Scotland revisits theories that examine the state as a ‘power container’. A range of state-enabling powers regulate the legal, economic, social, and cultural containers of class relations as specific forms of what Bourdieu called economic, social, and cultural ‘capital’. The preconditions of class reproduction are structured in direct ways by the Scottish state as a wealth container but also, more indirectly, as a cultural container and a social container. Competitive nationalism in the devolved Scottish state enacts neoliberal policies as a class-specific worldview but, at the same time, discursively frames society as a panclass national fraternity in terms of distinctive Scottish values of welfare nationalism. Nationalism is able to express this ambiguity in symbolic ways in which the partisan language of social class cannot.
The Challenge of Policy Coordination for Sustainable Sociotechnical Transitions: The Case of the Zero-Carbon Homes Agenda in England
Authors: Greenwood Dan
Published: January 2012

Emerging in recent research on sociotechnical transitions towards a low-carbon economy is the question of the extent to which such transitions require centralised, intentional coordination by government. Drawing from Hayek's conceptualisation of coordination, I evaluate the effectiveness of policy for low-carbon and zero-carbon homes in England. A detailed analysis is presented of how policy makers address complex choices and trade-offs as well as significant uncertainty. Particular attention is given to those policy decisions which are widely agreed by stakeholders to cause distortive effects. The focus here on the impacts of policy definition and delivery in terms of multiple evaluative criteria can complement and enrich the more process-orientated cross-sector and multilevel analyses that predominate in existing research on policy coordination. Furthermore, the coordination problems identified yield further insights into the actual and potential effectiveness of policy processes in shaping complex sociotechnical transitions.
Making up a Region: The Rise and Fall of the ‘South East of England’ as a Political Territory
Authors: Cochrane Allan
Published: January 2012

Despite a growing academic scepticism about the significance of territory as a driver of politics, it remains a stubborn presence in the practice of politics. In the context of the wider UK devolution agenda the first decade of this century saw the emergence of an English regionalist project, based around a series of regional institutions and governance networks. In other words, it appeared that a new framework for subnational territorial politics was being constructed. With the help of a case study of the South East of England, I explore the fragility of the project in practice but also note the continuing importance of territory as a focus of politics, highlighting the importance of recognising that territory is not to be taken as something given, somehow preexisting and waiting to be filled with politics, but rather as something that is actively formed and shaped through the political process.
From Area-Based Initiatives to Strategic Partnerships: Have We Lost the Meaning of Regeneration?
Authors: Matthews Peter
Published: January 2012

For forty years area-based initiatives (ABIs) were the primary tool used by UK governments to tackle problems of concentrated deprivation and dereliction. The last decade saw these initiatives end, replaced by new forms of city-wide or region-wide governance: Local Strategic Partnerships in England and Community Planning Partnerships in Scotland. It was argued in both policy documents and policy analysis that this change would deliver more effective regeneration for all communities. Challenging this narrative, I present this policy shift as a change in the meaning of regeneration policy using the methodology of interpretive policy analysis. The evidence from Scottish experience suggests that for a key policy actor—community activists in deprived neighbourhoods—the approach of ABIs had a great deal of meaning as regeneration. Furthermore, this meaning was still present a decade after an ABI had ended. Meanwhile, the newer strategic partnerships were delivering little meaningful change. This difference in meaning is used to reimagine strategic regeneration as a more positive process.
Remaking Places and Fashioning an Opposition Discourse: Struggle over the Star Ferry Pier and the Queen's Pier in Hong Kong
Authors: Ku Agnes Shuk-Mei
Published: January 2012

The paper integrates spatial analysis with dynamic discourse analysis to look at the interplay among discourse, agency, and spatial practices in the social production of space. It examines the dual process of place making and discursive formation with regard to the campaigns over the Star Ferry pier and the Queen's pier in Hong Kong in 2006–07. Drawing on and extending Lefebvre's theory, which asserts the priority of space over language, I argue that social movement presents a case of reappropriation of space that is intended to be read and lived interactively. The two case studies show that the events became vehicles for oppositional ideas and practices that gradually crystallised into a counterdiscourse of people's space in the process of remaking places from below. The dynamic discourse analysis focuses on the contestatory process of multivocal claims and interpretations among the activists, the media, and the government regarding memory, history, living space, and agency. The spatial analysis sheds light on the material embodiment of meanings in places as well as the activists' tactics and actions. The interplay between discourse and spatiality is registered in how one informed or prefigured the other's development, how action-guiding narratives were recounted in spatial terms, and how the activists enacted the agency of the narratives in and through the places. I conclude that the struggle underscores the rise of a new social movement in society.
Cougar — Human Entanglements and the Biopolitical Un/Making of Safe Space
Authors: Collard Rosemary-Claire
Published: January 2012

This paper explores how cougars and humans live together on Vancouver Island, Canada, a region home to what scientists estimate is the densest cougar population in North America and to one quarter of the continent's lethal and nonlethal cougar attacks in the last century. Drawing on biopolitical and spatial theory, I trace how safe space is made, maintained, and unmade and ask what the role of cougars has been in production of spaces and their imagined security. Discussion is informed foremost by stories of cougar - human encounters on Vancouver Island and then retold based on newspaper and archival research and semistructured interviews with island residents. The goal of this paper is to demonstrate how nonhumans matter to the material - semiotic construction of safety and space. In particular, I examine attempts to discipline cougars in the name of biosecurity, how cougars discipline humans, and how cougars' bodies and behaviors have resisted and shaped spatial configurations. I argue that these contestations and enforcements are biopolitical. My empirical research supports recent theoretical arguments by geographers and actor-network theorists regarding space—namely, that space is produced within network formations of which cougars, in this case, are key actors. My analyses suggest that the biothreat cougars and humans pose to each other precludes the formation of ethics through encounter and that conservation strategies must account for cougars' spatial requirements.
GARP regulates the bioavailability and activation of TGFβ
Authors: Wang Rui , Zhu Jianghai , Dong Xianchi , Shi Minlong , Lu Chafen , Springer Timothy A.
Published: January 2012

Glycoprotein-A repetitions predominant protein (GARP) associates with latent transforming growth factor-β (proTGFβ) on the surface of T regulatory cells and platelets; however, whether GARP functions in latent TGFβ activation and the structural basis of coassociation remain unknown. We find that Cys-192 and Cys-331 of GARP disulfide link to the TGFβ1 prodomain and that GARP with C192A and C331A mutations can also noncovalently associate with proTGFβ1. Noncovalent association is sufficiently strong for GARP to outcompete latent TGFβ-binding protein for binding to proTGFβ1. Association between GARP and proTGFβ1 prevents the secretion of TGFβ1. Integrin αVβ6and to a lesser extent αVβ8are able to activate TGFβ from the GARP–proTGFβ1 complex. Activation requires the RGD motif of latent TGFβ, disulfide linkage between GARP and latent TGFβ, and membrane association of GARP. Our results show that GARP is a latent TGFβ-binding protein that functions in regulating the bioavailability and activation of TGFβ.
Adverse drug reactions and drug interactions
Authors: Wiffen Philip , Mitchell Marc , Snelling Melanie , Stoner Nicola
Published: January 2012

Introduction to ADRs 14

Classification of ADRs 15

Adverse reactions: drug or disease? 16

Helping patients understand the risk of ADRs 17

Reporting ADRs 18

Drug interactions 20

Managing drug interactions 23

Adverse drug reactions (ADRs), also known as ‘side effects’, ‘adverse drug events’, or ‘drug misadventures’, are a frequent cause of morbidity in hospital and the community. They have a significant cost both financially and in terms of quality of life. Few studies of ADRs have been carried out in the community so the effect on primary care is harder to assess, but studies in the hospital environment have shown the following.
...
Anaphylaxis
Authors: Wiffen Philip , Mitchell Marc , Snelling Melanie , Stoner Nicola
Published: January 2012

Symptoms and signs of anaphylaxis 26

Treatment of anaphylaxis 28

Prevention of anaphylaxis 31

Anaphylaxis is defined as an immediate systems hypersensitivity event produced by IgE-mediated release of chemicals from mast cells and basophils. Theoretically, prior exposure to the agent is required and the reaction is not dose- or route-related, but in practice anaphylaxis to injected antigen is more frequent, severe, and rapid in onset than following exposure to oral or topical antigen....
Herbal medicines
Authors: Wiffen Philip , Mitchell Marc , Snelling Melanie , Stoner Nicola
Published: January 2012

Herbal drugs 150

General information about commonly used herbal medications 154

Chinese herbal medicine 157

Herbal interactions 158

Perioperative considerations for herbal drugs 160

The efficacy and safety of herbal drugs present a number of issues to pharmacists. Herbal drugs are more often complex mixtures of active constituents that vary in quality for a number of reasons, such as environmental and genetic factors. Furthermore, the constituents responsible for the claimed therapeutic effects are frequently unknown or only partly explained....
Medical gases
Authors: Wiffen Philip , Mitchell Marc , Snelling Melanie , Stoner Nicola
Published: January 2012

Clinical uses 162

Cylinder identification coding 168

Guideline for oxygen use in adult patients 170

Domiciliary oxygen therapy 172

• In ventilators and incubators—to provide uncontaminated and controlled airflows.

• Replacement for contaminated atmospheric air.

• Carrier for volatile anaesthetic agents.

• Power source for pneumatic equipment....
Pharmaceutical care
Authors: Wiffen Philip , Mitchell Marc , Snelling Melanie , Stoner Nicola
Published: January 2012

The concept of pharmaceutical care 244

Core elements of pharmaceutical care 245

Medication problem checklist 246

Pharmaceutical care economics 248

Staffing 250

Standards for research 252

Pharmaceutical care was probably first defined by Mikeal et al. in 1975 as ‘the care that a given patient requires and receives, which assures safe and rational drug use...
Therapy-related issues: respiratory system
Authors: Wiffen Philip , Mitchell Marc , Snelling Melanie , Stoner Nicola
Published: January 2012

Asthma management in adults: British Thoracic Society and SIGN guidelines 390

Inhaler techniques 392

• Minimize symptoms during the day and night.

• Minimize need for reliever medication.

• No exacerbations.

• No limitation on physical activity.

• Achieve best possible pulmonary function.

•...
Therapy-related issues: nutrition and blood
Authors: Wiffen Philip , Mitchell Marc , Snelling Melanie , Stoner Nicola
Published: January 2012

Administration sets 498

Intravenous (IV) administration pumps and other devices 500

Management of magnesium imbalance 504

Management of phosphate imbalance 506

Management of hypokalaemia 508

Guidelines for the treatment of hypocalcaemia 512

Prescribing IV fluids 514

Nutritional support in adults 519

Normal nutritional requirements 520...
Therapy-related issues: palliative care
Authors: Wiffen Philip , Mitchell Marc , Snelling Melanie , Stoner Nicola
Published: January 2012

Anorexia and cachexia 578

Constipation 578

Fatigue 579

Hypercalcaemia of malignancy 580

Mouth care 581

Noisy breathing 581

Insomnia 582

Spinal cord compression 582

Malignant bowel obstruction 583

Syringe drivers and compatibility of medicines 584

End-of-life pathways 585

Anaemia 586

The dictionary definition of anorexia is a lack of appetite (for food). Cachexia is involuntary weight loss which can progress to an emaciated state. The majority of palliative care patients experience cachexia at some stage, and this difficult condition requires determination of the cause, if possible, and development of careful management. A number of Cochrane reviews have been published which summarize a fairly large volume of literature. The following interventions may be considered.
...
Somatic treatments
Authors: Lam Raymond W.
Published: January 2012

• Wake therapy, exercise and light therapy are non-invasive and clinically useful treatments.

• Electroconvulsive therapy remains an effective, safe and well-tolerated treatment for patients with severe, psychotic or medication-resistant depression.

• Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation is an emerging treatment with evidence for acute efficacy, but with limited data about long-term management....
Intraoperative Hypotension and Perioperative Ischemic Stroke after General Surgery
Authors: Bijker Jilles B. , Persoon Suzanne , Peelen Linda M. , Moons Karel G. M. , Kalkman Cor J. , Kappelle L. Jaap , van Klei Wilton A.
Published: January 2012

Background

Postoperative stroke is a rare but major complication after surgery. The most often proposed mechanism is an embolus originating from the heart or great vessels. The role of intraoperative hypotension in the occurrence and evolution of postoperative stroke is largely unknown.

Methods

A case-control study was conducted among 48,241 patients who underwent noncardiac and nonneurosurgical procedures in the period from January 2002 to June 2009. A total of 42 stroke cases (0.09%) were matched on age and type of surgery to 252 control patients. Conditional logistic regression analysis was used to estimate the effect of the duration of intraoperative hypotension (defined according to a range of blood pressure thresholds) on the occurrence of an ischemic stroke within 10 days after surgery, adjusted for potential confounding factors.

Results

After correction for potential confounders and multiple testing, the duration that the mean blood pressure was decreased more than 30% from baseline remained statistically significantly associated with the occurrence of a postoperative stroke.

Conclusions

Intraoperative hypotension might play a role in the development of postoperative ischemic stroke. Especially for mean blood pressure values decreasing more than 30% from baseline blood pressure, an association with postoperative ischemic stroke risks was observed.
Rectal Suction Biopsy to Exclude the Diagnosis of Hirschsprung Disease
Authors: Hayes Christopher E. , Kawatu David , Mangray Shamlal , LeLeiko Neal S.
Published: January 2012

Objectives:

Hirschsprung disease (HD) is defined as the absence of ganglion cells in the Meissner and Auerbach plexuses. Diagnosis depends on demonstrating the absence of ganglion cells in rectal biopsy specimens. Rectal suction biopsy is widely employed as the method of choice in obtaining such specimens. Classically, the diagnosis was made until the 1990s by using the Multipurpose Suction Biopsy Kit, or Rubin Tube. This device was replaced by the Model SBT‐100 Suction Biopsy Kit as the exclusive device used to procure rectal tissue. Because the suction devices are known to occasionally yield tissue that is insufficient, the present study was undertaken to determine the efficacy of using this technique to make or exclude the diagnosis of HD.

Methods:

The last 50 biopsy sessions using the Multipurpose Suction Biopsy Kit and the first 46 sessions using the Model SBT‐100 were included for review.

Results:

Both groups had similar yields (24%) of biopsy sessions with insufficient tissue to allow meaningful interpretation. The predictive value of rectal suction biopsy in excluding HD at the first biopsy session was 65%.

Conclusions:

We conclude that HD can be excluded with a single rectal suction biopsy 65% of the time. A second biopsy session will exclude the diagnosis in an additional 11% of patients. Both devices yield biopsies of comparable quality and are equally useful in excluding the diagnoses of HD.
The furrows of Rhinolophidae revisited
Authors: Vanderelst Dieter , Jonas Reijniers , Herbert Peremans
Published: January 2012

Rhinolophidae, a family of echolocating bats, feature very baroque noseleaves that are assumed to shape their emission beam. Zhuang & Muller (Zhuang & Muller 2006
Phys. Rev. Lett
.
97
, 218701 (
doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.97.218701
); Zhuang & Muller 2007
Phys. Rev. E Stat. Nonlin. Soft Matter Phys
.
76
(Pt. 1), 051902 (
doi:10.1103/PhysRevE.76.051902
)) have proposed, based on finite element simulations, that the furrows present in the noseleaves of these bats act as resonance cavities. Using
Rhinolophus rouxi
as a model species, they reported that a resonance phenomenon causes the main beam to be elongated at a particular narrow frequency range. Virtually filling the furrows reduced the extent of the main lobe. However, the results of Zhuang & Muller are difficult to reconcile with the ecological background of
R. rouxi.
In this report, we replicate the study of Zhuang & Muller, and extend it in important ways: (i) we take the filtering of the moving pinnae into account, (ii) we use a model of the echolocation task faced by Rhinolophidae to estimate the effect of any alterations to the emission beam on the echolocation performance of the bat, and (iii) we validate our simulations using a physical mock-up of the morphology of
R. rouxi
. In contrast to Zhuang & Muller, we find the furrows to focus the emitted energy across the whole range of frequencies contained in the calls of
R. rouxi
(both in simulations and in measurements). Depending on the frequency, the focusing effect of the furrows has different consequences for the estimated echolocation performance. We argue that the furrows act to focus the beam in order to reduce the influence of clutter echoes.
Menangle virus, a pteropid bat paramyxovirus infectious for pigs and humans, exhibits tropism for secondary lymphoid organs and intestinal epithelium in weaned pigs
Authors: Bowden Timothy R. , Bingham John , Harper Jennifer A. , Boyle David B.
Published: January 2012

This study is the first report of experimental infection and transmission of Menangle virus (MenPV) in pigs. Isolated in 1997 from piglets that were stillborn at a large commercial piggery in New South Wales, Australia, MenPV is a recently identified paramyxovirus of bat origin that causes severe reproductive disease in pigs and an influenza-like illness, with a rash, in humans. Although successfully eradicated from the infected piggery, the virus was only isolated from affected fetuses and stillborn piglets during the period of reproductive disease, and thus the mode of transmission between pigs was not established. To investigate the pathogenesis of MenPV, we undertook time-course studies in 6-week-old pigs following intranasal administration of a low-passage, non-plaque-purified isolate from the lung of an infected stillborn piglet. Viraemia was of short duration and low titre, as determined by real-time RT-PCR and virus isolation. Following an incubation period of 2–3 days, virus was shed in nasal and oral secretions, faeces and urine, typically for less than 1 week. Cessation of shedding correlated with the development of neutralizing antibodies in sera. Secondary lymphoid organs and intestine were identified, using quantitative real-time RT-PCR, as major sites of viral replication and dissemination, and this was confirmed by positive immunolabelling of viral antigen within various lymphoid tissues and intestinal epithelium. These data provide new insights into the pathogenesis of MenPV in weaned pigs, and will facilitate future control and eradication programmes should it ever re-emerge in the pig population.
Sensitivity of protein misfolding cyclic amplification versus immunohistochemistry in ante-mortem detection of chronic wasting disease
Authors: Haley Nicholas J. , Mathiason Candace K. , Carver Scott , Telling Glenn C. , Zabel Mark D. , Hoover Edward A.
Published: January 2012

As the only prion disease affecting free-ranging animals, ante-mortem identification of affected cervids has become paramount in understanding chronic wasting disease (CWD) pathogenesis, prevalence and control of horizontal or vertical transmission. To seek maximal sensitivity in ante-mortem detection of CWD infection, this study used paired tonsil biopsy samples collected at various time points from 48 CWD-exposed cervids to compare blinded serial protein misfolding cyclic amplification (sPMCA) with the assay long considered the ‘gold standard’ for CWD detection, immunohistochemistry (IHC). sPMCA-negative controls (34 % of the samples evaluated) included tissues from mock-inoculated animals and unspiked negative controls, all of which tested negative throughout the course of the study. It was found that sPMCA on tonsil biopsies detected CWD infection significantly earlier (2.78 months, 95 % confidence interval 2.40–3.15) than conventional IHC. Interestingly, a correlation was observed between early detection by sPMCA and host PRNP genotype. These findings demonstrate that in vitro-amplification assays provide enhanced sensitivity and advanced detection of CWD infection in the peripheral tissues of cervids, with a potential role for spike or substrate genotype in sPMCA amplification efficiency.
Genetic characterization of the Wyeomyia group of orthobunyaviruses and their phylogenetic relationships
Authors: Chowdhary Rashmi , Street Craig , Travassos da Rosa Amelia , Nunes Marcio R. T. , Tee Kok Keng , Hutchison Stephen K. , Vasconcelos Pedro F. C. , Tesh Robert B. , Lipkin W. Ian , Briese Thomas
Published: January 2012

Phylogenetic analyses can give new insights into the evolutionary history of viruses, especially of viruses with segmented genomes. However, sequence information for many viral families or genera is still limited and phylogenies based on single or short genome fragments can be misleading. We report the first genetic analysis of all three genome segments of Wyeomyia group viruses Wyeomyia, Taiassui, Macaua, Sororoca, Anhembi and Cachoeira Porteira (BeAr328208) in the genus Orthobunyavirus of the family Bunyaviridae. In addition, Tucunduba and Iaco viruses were identified as members of the Wyeomyia group. Features of Wyeomyia group members that distinguish them from other viruses in the Bunyamwera serogroup and from other orthobunyaviruses, including truncated NSs sequences that may not counteract the host’s interferon response, were characterized. Our findings also suggest genome reassortment within the Wyeomyia group, identifying Macaua and Tucunduba viruses as M-segment reassortants that, in the case of Tucunduba virus, may have altered pathogenicity, stressing the need for whole-genome sequence information to facilitate characterization of orthobunyaviruses and their phylogenetic relationships.
Evidence of inter-component recombination, intra-component recombination and reassortment in banana bunchy top virus
Authors: Stainton Daisy , Kraberger Simona , Walters Matthew , Wiltshire Elizabeth J. , Rosario Karyna , Halafihi Mana’ia , Lolohea Samiuela , Katoa Ika , Faitua Tu’amelie H. , Aholelei Waikato , Taufa Luseane , Thomas John E. , Collings David A. , Martin Darren P. , Varsani Arvind
Published: January 2012

Banana bunchy top virus (BBTV; family Nanoviridae, genus Babuvirus) is a multi-component, ssDNA virus, which causes widespread banana crop losses throughout tropical Africa and Australasia. We determined the full genome sequences of 12 BBTV isolates from the Kingdom of Tonga and analysed these together with previously determined BBTV sequences to show that reassortment and both inter- and intra-component recombination have all been relatively frequent occurrences during BBTV evolution. We found that whereas DNA-U3 components display evidence of complex inter- and intra-component recombination, all of the South Pacific DNA-R components have a common intra-component recombinant origin spanning the replication-associated protein gene. Altogether, the DNA-U3 and DNA-M components display a greater degree of inter-component recombination than the DNA-R, -S, -C and -M components. The breakpoint distribution of the inter-component recombination events reveals a primary recombination hotspot around the 5′ side of the common region major and, in accordance with recombination hotspots detectable in related ssDNA viruses, a secondary recombination hotspot near the origin of virion-strand replication.
Identification of High-Temperature-Responsive Genes in Cereals
Authors: Hemming Megan N. , Walford Sally A. , Fieg Sarah , Dennis Elizabeth S. , Trevaskis Ben
Published: January 2012

High temperature influences plant development and can reduce crop yields. We examined how ambient temperature influences reproductive development in the temperate cereals wheat (Triticum aestivum) and barley (Hordeum vulgare). High temperature resulted in rapid progression through reproductive development in long days, but inhibited early stages of reproductive development in short days. Activation of the long-day flowering response pathway through day-length-insensitive alleles of the PHOTOPERIOD1 gene, which result in high FLOWERING LOCUS T-like1 transcript levels, did not allow rapid early reproductive development at high temperature in short days. Furthermore, high temperature did not increase transcript levels of FLOWERING LOCUS T-like genes. These data suggest that genes or pathways other than the long-day response pathway mediate developmental responses to high temperature in cereals. Transcriptome analyses suggested a possible role for vernalization-responsive genes in the developmental response to high temperature. The MADS-box floral repressor HvODDSOC2 is expressed at elevated levels at high temperature in short days, and might contribute to the inhibition of early reproductive development under these conditions. FLOWERING PROMOTING FACTOR1-like, RNase-S-like genes, and VER2-like genes were also identified as candidates for high-temperature-responsive developmental regulators. Overall, these data suggest that rising temperatures might elicit different developmental responses in cereal crops at different latitudes or times of year, due to the interaction between temperature and day length. Additionally, we suggest that different developmental regulators might mediate the response to high temperature in cereals compared to Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana).
Expression, purification, crystallization and preliminary X-ray diffraction analysis of a ribokinase from the thermohalophileHalothermothrix orenii
Authors: Kori Lokesh D. , Hofmann Andreas , Patel Bharat K. C.
Published: January 2012

A ribokinase gene (rbk) from the anaerobic halothermophilic bacteriumHalothermothrix oreniiwas cloned and overexpressed inEscherichia coli. The recombinant protein (Ho-Rbk) was purified using immobilized metal-ion affinity chromatography and crystals were obtained using the sitting-drop method. Diffraction data were collected to a resolution of 3.1 Å using synchrotron radiation. The crystals belonged to the orthorhombic space groupP212121, with unit-cell parametersa= 45.6,b= 61.1,c= 220.2, and contained two molecules per asymmetric unit. A molecular-replacement solution has been found and attempts are currently under way to build a model of the ribokinase. Efforts to improve crystal quality so that higher resolution data can be obtained are also being considered.
Expression, purification, crystallization and preliminary X-ray analysis ofPseudomonas aeruginosaPelD
Authors: Marmont Lindsey S. , Whitney John C. , Robinson Howard , Colvin Kelly M. , Parsek Matthew R. , Howell P. Lynne
Published: January 2012

The production of the PEL polysaccharide inPseudomonas aeruginosarequires the binding of bis-(3′,5′)-cyclic dimeric guanosine monophosphate (c-di-GMP) to the cytoplasmic GGDEF domain of the inner membrane protein PelD. Here, the overexpression, purification and crystallization of a soluble construct of PelD that encompasses the GGDEF domain and a predicted GAF domain is reported. Diffraction-quality crystals were grown using the hanging-drop vapour-diffusion method. The crystals grew as flat plates, with unit-cell parametersa = 88.3,b= 114.0,c= 61.9 Å, α = β = γ = 90.0°. The PelD crystals exhibited the symmetry of space groupP21212 and diffracted to a minimumd-spacing of 2.2 Å. On the basis of the Matthews coefficient (VM= 2.29 Å3 Da−1), it was estimated that two molecules are present in the asymmetric unit.
Purification, crystallization and preliminary X-ray characterization ofBacillus cereusarylamineN-acetyltransferase 3 [(BACCR)NAT3]
Authors: Kubiak Xavier , Pluvinage Benjamin , Li de la Sierra-Gallay Inès , Weber Patrick , Haouz Ahmed , Dupret Jean-Marie , Rodrigues-Lima Fernando
Published: January 2012

ArylamineN-acetyltransferases (NATs) are xenobiotic metabolizing enzymes (XMEs) that catalyze the acetylation of arylamines. All functional NATs described to date possess a strictly conserved Cys-His-Asp catalytic triad. Here, the purification, crystallization and preliminary X-ray characterization ofBacillus cereusarylamineN-acetyltransferase 3 [(BACCR)NAT3], a putative NAT isoenzyme that possesses a unique catalytic triad containing a glutamate residue, is reported. The crystal diffracted to 2.42 Å resolution and belonged to the monoclinic space groupC121, with unit-cell parametersa= 90.44,b= 44.52,c = 132.98 Å, β = 103.8°.
Cloning, expression, crystallization and preliminary X-ray crystallographic analysis of aspartyl aminopeptidase from theapeBgene ofPseudomonas aeruginosa
Authors: Natarajan Sampath , Mathews Rita
Published: January 2012

Aminopeptidases (APs) are a group of exopeptidases that catalyze the removal of amino acids from the N-termini of proteins and peptides. The APs are ubiquitous in nature and are of critical biological and medical importance because of their key role in protein degradation.Pseudomonas aeruginosaaspartyl aminopeptidase (PaAAP), which is encoded by theapeBgene, was expressed inEscherichia coli, purified and crystallized using the microbatch method. A preliminary structural study has been performed using the X-ray crystallographic method. The PaAAP crystal diffracted to 2.0 Å resolution and belonged to the rhombohedral space groupH3, with unit-cell parametersa = b = 133.6,c= 321.2. The unit-cell volume of the crystal is compatible with the presence of four monomers in the asymmetric unit, with a corresponding Matthews coefficientVMof 2.95 Å3 Da−1and a solvent content of 58.3%.
Crystallization and preliminary X-ray diffraction analysis of anL-amino-acid oxidase fromBothrops jararacussuvenom
Authors: Ullah Anwar , Coronado Monika , Murakami Mário T. , Betzel Christian , Arni Raghuvir K.
Published: January 2012

Snake-venom L-amino-acid oxidases (SV-LAAOs) trigger a wide range of local and systematic effects, including inhibition of platelet aggregation, cytotoxicity, haemolysis, apoptosis and haemorrhage. These effects mainly arise from the uncontrolled release of the hydrogen peroxide that is produced by the redox reaction involving L-amino acids catalyzed by these flavoenzymes. Taking their clinical relevance into account, few SV-LAAOs have been structurally characterized and the structural determinants responsible for their broad direct and indirect pharmacological activities remain unclear. In this work, an LAAO fromBothrops jararacussuvenom (BJu-LAAO) was purified and crystallized. The BJu-LAAO crystals belonged to space groupP21, with unit-cell parametersa = 66.38,b= 72.19,c= 101.53 Å, β = 90.9°. The asymmetric unit contained two molecules and the structure was determined and partially refined at 3.0 Å resolution.
Does smoking cannabis affect work commitment?
Authors: Hyggen Christer
Published: January 2012

Aims This study aimed to examine the associations between cannabis use and work commitment

Design We used a 25‐year panel survey initiated in 1985 with follow‐ups in 1987, 1989, 1993, 2003 and 2010. Registered data from a range of public registers were matched with individual responses for the entire period.

Setting The panel survey was a nation‐wide study set in Norway.

Participants A total of 1997 respondents born between 1965 and 1968 were included in the panel.

Measurements Work involvement scale (WIS) was used to assess work commitment. Involvement with cannabis was based on self‐reported smoking of cannabis within the last 12 months and exposure to cannabis through friends. This information was categorized into ‘abstaining’, ‘exposed’, ‘experimented’ and ‘involved’. Control measures included socio‐economic background, mental health (HSCL‐10), education, work satisfaction, unemployment, receipt of social assistance, consumption of alcohol, alcohol‐related problems and use of other illicit drugs.

Findings The level of work commitment was associated with involvement with cannabis. In 1993, when the respondents were in their mid‐20s, those who were involved or had experimented with cannabis displayed lower levels of work commitment than those who were abstaining or merely exposed to cannabis through friends (P < 0.05). Work commitment among those who experimented with cannabis converged towards the levels reported by abstainers and the exposed as they grew older, whereas those involved reported decreasing work commitment into adulthood (P < 0.001). Using linear regression models for panel data, an association with continued use of cannabis across the life‐course and a lowering of work commitment was established. Results remained significant even when controlling for a range of other factors known to be related to work commitment, such as socio‐economic background, education, labour market experiences, mental health and family characteristics (P < 0.05).

Conclusions In Norway the use of cannabis is associated with a reduction in work commitment among adults.
Continuing to wear nicotine patches after smoking lapses promotes recovery of abstinence
Authors: Ferguson Stuart G. , Gitchell Joseph G. , Shiffman Saul
Published: January 2012

Aims  Smokers who lapse during a cessation attempt are at particularly high risk of relapse, so interventions to help smokers recover from lapses are urgently needed. Two recent studies have suggested continuing to use nicotine patches following a lapse may be a beneficial relapse prevention strategy. However, to date no study that uses approved doses of nicotine patches under real‐world conditions has tested this hypothesis.

Design and setting  Clinical trial conducted across eight US study sites.

Participants and measurements  Using data from 509 subjects (240 active; 269 placebo) who lapsed during weeks 3–5 of treatment in a randomized, double‐blind placebo‐controlled trial of 21‐mg nicotine patches, we examined whether active nicotine patch use improved the chances of recovering abstinence (7‐day point‐prevalence) at weeks 6 and 10.

Findings  Active patch use (versus placebo) increased the likelihood of recovery from a lapse both at 6 weeks [8.3% versus 0.8%; relative risk (RR) = 11.0, P < 0.001] and at 10 weeks (9.6% versus 2.6%; RR = 3.7, P < 0.001).

Conclusions  Continuing treatment to aid smoking cessation with active patches promotes recovery from lapses. Smokers should be encouraged to persist with patch treatment if they lapse to smoking.
Acceleration data reveal the energy management strategy of a marine ectotherm during reproduction
Authors: Fossette Sabrina , Schofield Gail , Lilley Martin K. S. , Gleiss Adrian C. , Hays Graeme C.
Published: January 2012

1. Maintaining a high and stable body temperature is often critical for female ectotherms during reproduction. Yet this strategy may be energetically costly, and therefore challenging, during this period of already high‐energy demand.

2. Here, the 6‐week deployment of tri‐axial accelerometers (n = 6) on a marine ectotherm, the loggerhead turtle (Caretta caretta), reproducing at the northern limit of the species’ breeding range (i.e. in a thermally dynamic environment) revealed the behavioural mechanisms underlying its energy management strategy during the breeding season.

3. The estimated activity levels of female loggerheads using overall dynamic body acceleration (ODBA) were high during the breeding season, suggesting that marine turtles may not be able to remain inactive for long periods in the same manner as terrestrial ectotherms, because of the thermally dynamic nature of their environment.

4. However, activity levels were not constant throughout the season, being impacted by both ambient water temperature and female reproductive status. In cold water at the beginning of the nesting season, high levels of activity suggested that females behaviourally thermoregulated by seeking out warm water patches along the shoreline. Interactions with male turtles (courtship and/or avoidance) may also explain this high level of activity. As sea temperatures warmed up and the amount of energy devoted to reproduction probably increased, the turtles spent more time resting during long sequential flat‐bottomed dives, and reduced any unnecessary locomotory activity.

5. Turtles may therefore adjust their activity patterns in response to seasonal variations in abiotic (i.e. ambient temperature) and biotic (i.e. reproductive status) factors. This may help minimize activity‐linked metabolic rate and maximize reproductive output over a season while breeding in thermally dynamic environments.

6. A mechanistic model gave support to these empirical results. The model revealed that actively maintaining high and stable body temperature is of clear benefit to female turtles at temperate breeding sites. While energetically costly, such active thermoregulatory behaviour may speed up egg maturation, allowing turtles to initiate nesting earlier in the season, and hence maximize reproductive output.
Flow cytometric detection and quantification of CD56 (neural cell adhesion molecule, NCAM) expression in diffuse large B cell lymphomas and review of the literature
Authors: Stacchini Alessandra , Barreca Antonella , Demurtas Anna , Aliberti Sabrina , di Celle Paola Francia , Novero Domenico
Published: January 2012

Stacchini A, Barreca A, Demurtas A, Aliberti S, di Celle P F & Novero D  (2012) Histopathology 60, 452–459  Flow cytometric detection and quantification of CD56 (neural cell adhesion molecule, NCAM) expression in diffuse large B cell lymphomas and review of the literature

Aim:  To report unusual CD56 (neural cell adhesion molecule, NCAM) expression on diffuse large B cell lymphoma (DLBCL).

Methods and results:  CD56 expression was first detected and quantified on tissues obtained from five cases of DLBCL by flow cytometry (FC), then confirmed by immunohistochemistry. The CD56 expression pattern was heterogeneous among the cases [the molecular equivalent of soluble fluorochrome (MESF) level ranged from 2214 to 133 466]. All were CD10 and Bcl‐6 positive, suggesting their germinal centre origin; one was also CD5 positive. An extranodal presentation occurred in three of five cases.

Conclusions:  CD56 expression in B cell lymphoma is a rare occurrence. FC is able to identify aberrant immunophenotypes that can be useful in the identification and monitoring of B cell lymphoma subtypes. The presence of CD56 reported by the literature on certain DLBCL with extranodal presentation might be related to mechanisms involved in growth and expansion.
Relationship between laser fluorescence values and visual evaluation of fissure caries in schoolchildren – a field study
Authors: SEPPÄ LIISA , ANTTONEN VUOKKO , NIINIMAA AHTI , HAUSEN HANNU
Published: January 2012

International Journal of Paediatric Dentistry 2012; 22: 467–472

Background.  In our previous study of oral health intervention in children, laser fluorescence (LF) values of occlusal surfaces were reduced after 1 year.

Aim.  The aim of this study was to explore the relationship between DIAGNOdent pen values and clinical status of the occlusal surfaces.

Design.  The study conducted in 2007 and 2008 in 700 children aged 13–14 included a clinical examination and LFpen measurement of the occlusal surfaces of first and second molars. Four teams consisting of a dental hygienist and a dental nurse performed the examinations on school premises. The dental hygienist scored the surfaces using the Nyvad criteria for caries assessment; the surfaces were then scanned using a DIAGNOdent pen® device.

Results.  The more severe the visual caries category was, the higher the mean LFpen values were. Correlation coefficients between LF values and NY categories were 0.542 and 0.408 in years 2007 and 2008, respectively (all examiners combined). The LFpen values of active and inactive lesions did not differ significantly.

Conclusions.  The correlation between the mean LFpen values and the NY categories was significant. Fissures can be reliably examined with LF and by visual inspection on school premises if certain special arrangements are made.
Managerial coaching: a concept analysis
Authors: Batson Vicki D. , Yoder Linda H.
Published: January 2012

batson v.d. & yoder l.h. (2012) Managerial coaching: a concept analysis. Journal of Advanced Nursing68(7), 1658–1669.

Aim.  This article presents a report of a concept analysis of managerial coaching.

Backgound.  Managerial coaching has been identified as a means for managers to give support to staff nurses, however, no clear delineation of what behaviours and attributes constitute managerial coaching or differentiate it from other career development relationships is provided in the current nursing literature.

Data sources.  The CINAHL, ProQuest, Business Source Complete and PscyhIFNO databases were searched for articles published between 1980–2009 using the keywords coaching, managerial coaching, nurse manager support, nursing leadership, self‐efficacy, work environment and empowerment.

Review methods.  A hybrid approach was used, incorporating both Walker and Avant’s method of concept analysis and King’s conceptual system and Theory of Goal Attainment to explore the meaning of managerial coaching. Inclusive years of search ranged from 1980–2009.

Findings.  Managerial coaching is a specific dyadic relationship between the nurse manager and staff nurse intended to improve skills and knowledge as they relate to expected job performance. Antecedents and consequences are categorized at the individual and organizational level. Defining attributes, empirical referents and a model case are presented.

Conclusion.  The theoretical definition for this concept helps to differentiate it from other types of career development relationships and will give a basis for nurse managers to understand what skills and attributes are necessary to establish an effective managerial coaching relationship with staff nurses. Conceptualization will also assist in developing empirical studies examining managerial coaching behaviours in the work environment.