bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
An Intersectional Analysis of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) People’s Evaluations of Anti-Queer Violence
Authors: Meyer Doug
Published: September 2012

The author uses an intersectionality framework to examine how lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people evaluate the severity of their violent experiences. Previous research focusing on the severity of anti-LGBT violence has given relatively little attention to race, class, and gender as systems of power. In contrast, results from this study, based on 47 semi-structured, in-depth interviews, reveal that Black and Latino/Latina respondents often perceived anti-queer violence as implying that they had negatively represented their racial communities, whereas white respondents typically overlooked the racialized implications of their violent experiences. Furthermore, while lesbians of color emphasized their autonomy and self-sufficiency to challenge this discourse, Black and Latino gay men underscored their emotional and physical strength to undermine perceptions that they were weak for identifying as gay. Results also indicate that LGBT people experience forms of anti-queer violence in different ways depending on their social position, as Black lesbians faced discourse that neither white lesbians nor Black gay men were likely to confront. Thus, these findings suggest that topics primarily associated with homophobia should be examined through an intersectional lens.
What Are Kinship Terminologies, and Why Do We Care? A Computational Approach to Analyzing Symbolic Domains
Authors: Read Dwight , Fischer Michael , Leaf Murray
Published: September 2012

Kinship is a fundamental feature and basis of human societies. We describe a set of computational tools and services, and the logic that underlies these, developed to improve how we understand both the fundamental facts of kinship and how people use kinship as a resource in their lives. Mathematical formalism applied to cultural concepts is more than an exercise in model building, as it provides a way to represent and explore their logical consistency and implications. Not surprisingly, kinship terminologies are particularly amenable to formal representation. Researchers throughout the history of kinship studies have noted the logicality of kinship terminology systems. The logic is explored here through the kin term computations made by users of a terminology when computing the kinship relation one person has to another by referring to a third person for whom each has a kin term relationship. Kinship Algebra Modeler provides a set of tools, services, and an architecture to explore kinship terminologies and their properties in an accessible manner.
Bioterrorism: Pathogens as Weapons
Authors: Anderson Peter D. , Bokor Gyula
Published: September 2012

Biowarfare has been used for centuries. The use of biological weapons in terrorism remains a threat. Biological weapons include infectious agents (pathogens) and toxins. The most devastating bioterrorism scenario would be the airborne dispersal of pathogens over a concentrated population area. Characteristics that make a specific pathogen a high-risk for bioterrorism include a low infective dose, ability to be aerosolized, high contagiousness, and survival in a variety of environmental conditions. The most dangerous potential bioterrorism agents include the microorganisms that produce anthrax, plague, tularemia, and smallpox. Other diseases of interest to bioterrorism include brucellosis, glanders, melioidosis, Q fever, and viral encephalitis. Food safety and water safety threats are another area of concern.
Coupling 3-PSR/PSU 5-axis compensation mechanism for stabilized platform and its analysis
Authors: Liu Xiao , Zhao Tieshi , Luo Erjuan , Chen Weiwei , Pan Qiuyue
Published: September 2012

This article presents a coupling 3-PSR/PSU parallel mechanism for ship-based stabilized platform based on the coupling characteristics of the ship motions. With coupling characteristics, the goal of 3-axis drives and 5-axis compensation of the moving platform is achieved. From the screw theory, degrees-of-freedom and coupling kinematic characteristics of the mechanism are analyzed. A method for equivalent transformation of motion parameters is proposed. This presents a mapping relationship between the independent degrees-of-freedom and the coupling degrees-of-freedom. The investigations are further extended to the coupling dynamics characteristics of the mechanism. In particular, the effects produced by the coupling force/torque to the system are analyzed. Hence, taking minimum system driving force as the optimization goal, the coupling dynamic equation of the parallel mechanism is established. The numerical example reveals that this coupling parallel mechanism can be applied to the multi-axis compensation of ship-based stabilized platform. The study also enriches the application area of lower-mobility parallel mechanism.
A fast and adaptive varying-scale morphological analysis method for rolling element bearing fault diagnosis
Authors: Shen Changqing , He Qingbo , Kong Fanrang , Tse Peter W
Published: September 2012

The research in fault diagnosis for rolling element bearings has been attracting great interest in recent years. This is because bearings are frequently failed and the consequence could cause unexpected breakdown of machines. When a fault is occurring in a bearing, periodic impulses can be revealed in its generated vibration frequency spectrum. Different types of bearing faults will lead to impulses appearing at different periodic intervals. In order to extract the periodic impulses effectively, numerous techniques have been developed to reveal bearing fault characteristic frequencies. In this study, an adaptive varying-scale morphological analysis in time domain is proposed. This analysis can be applied to one-dimensional signal by defining different lengths of the structure elements based on the local peaks of the impulses. The analysis has been first validated by simulated impulses, and then by real bearing vibration signals embedded with faulty impulses caused by an inner race defect and an outer race defect. The results indicate that by using the proposed adaptive varying-scale morphological analysis, the cause of bearing defect could be accurately identified even the faulty impulses were partially covered by noise. Moreover, compared to other existing methods, the analysis can be functioned as an efficient faulty features extractor and performed in a very fast manner.
Modeling and optimization of laser bending parameters via response surface methodology
Authors: Zahrani Esmaeil Ghadiri , Marasi Abdolali
Published: September 2012

The existence of various variables in the laser forming process brings about the implementation of two important issues of modeling and optimization to more precisely predict bending angle so as to achieve desirable conditions. In this paper, the effect of independent process parameters such as laser power, beam diameter, scan speed, sheet thickness and also the heating position on the resulted bending angle from the sheet free edge was investigated through experimentation. The results indicate different influence of parameters on the angle. Also, using response surface methodology and after conducting analysis of variance, an efficient second-order mathematical model was fit to bending angle. Consequently, with the aim of making bending angle robust in relation to possible parametric fluctuations in the process, a simultaneous optimization was carried out by use of propagation of error approach and optimal parametric combination to reach the maximum value of the angle.
Grin and Bear It
Authors: Kraft Tara L. , Pressman Sarah D.
Published: September 2012

In the study reported here, we investigated whether covertly manipulating positive facial expressions would influence cardiovascular and affective responses to stress. Participants ( N = 170) naive to the purpose of the study completed two different stressful tasks while holding chopsticks in their mouths in a manner that produced a Duchenne smile, a standard smile, or a neutral expression. Awareness was manipulated by explicitly asking half of all participants in the smiling groups to smile (and giving the other half no instructions related to smiling). Findings revealed that all smiling participants, regardless of whether they were aware of smiling, had lower heart rates during stress recovery than the neutral group did, with a slight advantage for those with Duchenne smiles. Participants in the smiling groups who were not explicitly asked to smile reported less of a decrease in positive affect during a stressful task than did the neutral group. These findings show that there are both physiological and psychological benefits from maintaining positive facial expressions during stress.
Increased neutrophil oxidative burst metabolism in systemic lupus erythematosus
Authors: Perazzio SF , Salomão R , Silva NP , Andrade LEC
Published: September 2012

Introduction: There is increased frequency of discoid lesions (2.7%) and SLE (0.5%) in patients with chronic granulomatosus disease, but the literature is still controversial about phagocyte oxidative burst in SLE patients. Materials and methods: 300 SLE patients and 301 blood donors were evaluated for quantitation of the oxidative burst in phagocytes by flow cytometry based on the oxidation of 2,7-dichlorofluorescein-diacetate after stimuli with Staphylococcus aureus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Results: Neutrophils from SLE patients displayed higher basal reactive oxygen species (ROS) production than healthy controls [Mean of fluorescence intensity (MFI) = 53.77 ± 11.38 vs 15.08 ± 2.63, p < 0.001] and after stimulation with S. aureus (MFI = 355.46 ± 58.55 vs 151.92 ± 28.25, p < 0.001) or P. aeruginosa (MFI = 82.53 ± 10.1 vs 48.99 ± 6.74, p < 0.001). There was stronger neutrophil response after bacterial stimuli (ΔMFI) in SLE patients than in healthy controls ( S. aureus = 301.69 ± 54.42 vs 118.38 ± 26.03, p < 0.001; P. aeruginosa = 28.76 ± 12.3 vs 15.45 ± 5.15, p < 0.001), but no difference with respect to the oxidative burst profile according to disease activity (SLEDAI ≥ 6) or severity (SLICC-DI ≥2). Patients with kidney involvement presented higher basal and stimulated ROS production in neutrophils. Discussion: The present findings corroborate the important role of innate immunity in SLE and implicate neutrophils in the pathophysiology of the disease.
Understanding Work-to-Family Conflict among Self-employed Workers: Utilising a Cognitive Appraisal Framework
Authors: Bunk Jennifer A. , Dugan Alicia G. , D’Agostino Amy L. , Barnes-Farrell Janet L.
Published: September 2012

Acknowledging that there is diversity in the nature of work arrangements among the ranks of the self-employed, the authors sought to achieve a better understanding of work–family conflict among self-employed workers by using cognitive appraisal theory as a framework (Lazarus & Folkman, 1984) to consider the roles that both situation (work arrangement and number of hours worked) and person (preferred number of hours worked) factors play in predicting work-to-family conflict. Empirical data drawn from the 1997 and 2002 versions of the National Study of the Changing Workforce was used to test hypotheses. Results from both datasets indicated that small business owners (SBOs) were found to work significantly more hours than self-employed independents (SEIs) and that increased work hours were related to an increase in reported work-to-family conflict. In addition, preferred number of hours worked moderated the negative affect that number of work hours had on work-to-family conflict, although the form of the moderation differed between datasets. Theoretical and practical implications of the results are discussed in light of the clear differences that were found amongst members of the self-employed workforce.
Canine distemper outbreak in pet store puppies linked to a high-volume dog breeder
Authors: Schumaker Brant A. , Miller Myrna M. , Grosdidier Paul , Cavender Jacqueline L. , Montgomery Donald L. , Cornish Todd E. , Farr Robert M. , Driscoll Michael , Maness Lori J. , Gray Tangney , Petersen Dana , Brown William L. , Logan Jim , O’Toole Donal
Published: September 2012

Canine distemper is uncommon in the pet trade in the United States, in large part due to effective vaccines against Canine distemper virus (CDV). This is a report of CDV affecting 24 young dogs of multiple breeds shortly after sale by 2 pet stores in Wyoming during August–October 2010. Cases were diagnosed over 37 days. Diagnosis was established by a combination of fluorescent antibody staining, reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction, negative stain electron microscopy, and necropsy with histopathology. Viral hemagglutinin gene sequences were analyzed from 2 affected dogs and were identical (GenBank accession no. JF283477). Sequences were distinct from those in a contemporaneous unrelated case of CDV in a Wyoming dog (JF283476) that had no contact with the pet store dogs. The breeding property from which the puppies originated was quarantined by the Kansas Animal Health Department. Puppies intended for sale were tested for CDV. Canine distemper was diagnosed on site in November 2010. At that point 1,466 dogs were euthanized to eliminate dispersal of the disease through commercial channels. The investigation underscores the risks inherent in large-scale dog breeding when vaccination and biosecurity practices are suboptimal.
Feline toxoplasmosis in Finland
Authors: Jokelainen Pikka , Simola Outi , Rantanen Elina , Näreaho Anu , Lohi Hannes , Sukura Antti
Published: September 2012

Three subgroups of the Finnish cat population underwent investigation for different aspects of feline toxoplasmosis. Blood samples of 445 purebred pet cats and 45 shelter cats were screened for Toxoplasma gondii–specific immunoglobulin G antibodies with a direct agglutination test. The overall seroprevalence was 48.4%; older cats and cats receiving raw meat in their diet were more often seropositive. Fecal samples were obtained from 131 shelters cats; 2 of the cats were found shedding T. gondii–like oocysts, and the oocysts shed by 1 of the 2 were confirmed as T. gondii with polymerase chain reaction. Among 193 cats submitted for necropsy during a 3.5-year period, 6 (3.1%) had been diagnosed with generalized toxoplasmosis and were retrospectively further investigated. The main pathological lesions included acute interstitial pneumonia, acute necrotizing hepatitis, and nonsuppurative meningoencephalitis with glial granulomas. Immunohistochemical staining demonstrated a mild to massive parasite burden in tissues with pathological lesions as well as in unaffected tissues. The results of the direct multilocus genotyping of T. gondii parasites detected were consistent with endemic genotype II, and the causative parasite strains were isolated from 2 of the generalized toxoplasmosis cases. The results indicate that cats in Finland commonly encounter T. gondii and contribute to the environmental oocyst burden, while the endemic genotype II can also prove fatal to the parasite’s definitive host. Preventing feline T. gondii infections is not only of public health importance but also a welfare issue for the cats themselves.
Fatal disseminated blastomycosis in a free-ranging American black bear (Ursus americanus)
Authors: Dykstra Jaclyn A. , Rogers Lynn L. , Mansfield Susan A. , Wünschmann Arno
Published: September 2012

An aged, free-ranging, female, radio-collared American black bear ( Ursus americanus) died after an approximately 5 month long period of weight loss. Gross necropsy findings included severe diffuse pyogranulomatous bronchopneumonia, marked granulomatous lymphadenitis of tracheobronchial lymph nodes and multiple intra-abdominal lymph nodes, chronic focal jejunal ulceration, and widespread alopecia. Histopathologic examination revealed abundant fungal organisms morphologically compatible with Blastomyces sp. within pyogranulomatous inflammatory lesions in the lungs, multiple lymph nodes, liver, kidneys, jejunum, and right adrenal gland. In addition, the haircoat had a mild infestation of chewing lice ( Trichodectes pinguis euarctidos), and large numbers of rhabditid nematodes consistent with Pelodera sp. were histologically observed within hair follicles.
“Truly Disabled?”
Authors: Etscheidt Susan
Published: September 2012

The construct of learning disabilities has been challenged pedagogically, politically, and in the judiciary. Some claim that learning disabilities are socially constructed and created by misdirected efforts of educational reform. Politicians worry about the growing number of children served in special education and propose that many LD students are instructional casualties and not truly disabled. The judiciary has applied a severity screen that narrows the class of eligible children and has contributed to the LD eligibility confusion. This article traces the legislative history of LD eligibility, reviews administrative and judicial decisions pertaining to LD eligibility, and explores the dilemma inherent in a rights-based approach to ensuring equitable educational opportunity for students with LD.
Science Centers and Public Participation
Authors: Bandelli Andrea , Konijn Elly A.
Published: September 2012

Science centers and museums are currently experimenting to strengthen the participation of the public in two-way conversations between the public and the institution. Eventually, these activities will lead to a stronger role of the public in the decision-making process of the museum. We analyzed the current situation faced by science museums in Europe in light of the recent discourse on public engagement with science and identified the main barriers and obstacles that prevent actual decision making of the public within the institutions. Finally, we discuss suggestions for solutions.
Merging Empiricism and Humanism
Authors: Marchant Michelle , Heath Melissa Allen , Miramontes Nancy Y.
Published: September 2012

Criteria for evaluating behavior support programs are changing. Consumer-based educational and behavioral programs, such as School-Wide Positive Behavior Support (SWPBS), are particularly influenced by consumer opinion. Unfortunately, the need for and use of social validity measures have not received adequate attention in the empirical literature related to these increasingly utilized behavioral programs. The purpose of this article is to illustrate the importance of social validity and to present an in-depth discussion of its history, merits, and practical applications relevant to the expanded scope of Positive Behavior Intervention and Support, specifically, SWPBS. In addition, the importance of social validity in bridging the gap between research and practice is discussed; current limitations are noted; and suggestions are made for future direction regarding this critical area of assessment.
Advanced ultrasonic non-destructive testing for damage detection on thick and curved composite elements for constructions
Authors: Revel Gian Marco , Pandarese Giuseppe , Cavuto Alfonso
Published: September 2012

In this work, the problem of non-destructive testing on composite components with complex shapes for civil constructions and transport infrastructures is analyzed. In such applications at the state of the art main challenges are related with the inspection of thick sandwiches with low density cores (below 80 kg/m3) and curved panels. After a review of suitable non-destructive testing techniques, an original set-up for low frequency (100 kHz) ultrasonic inspection is proposed, which combines different solutions in through-transmission mode. The set-up is based on a hybrid configuration coupling a contact emitting probe with a non-contact air-coupled receiver. The use of a contact probe in emission is necessary to have enough energy to analyze thick components with low density core. The contact between probe and surface is made small (spot of 1 mm) and smooth using a spherical cap to increase lateral resolution at low frequency and to allow scan on irregular surfaces sometimes present in curved parts. To improve understanding this cap has been tested here also with a single probe in pulse echo mode. The non-contact probe in reception allows a better inspection flexibility on curved and thick components, where pulse echo is not feasible at all. The system is mainly developed for inspection after production in an industrialized production process, where through-transmission testing is possible. The analysis of results on two different samples (one thick sandwich with low density 40 kg/m3, 50 mm thick PUR core and one curved laminate panel) shows that the proposed methods can efficiently inspect construction composites of complex shape with satisfactory signal-to-noise ratio (usually SNR > 15 dB) and lateral resolution (2–3 mm).
A comparison of levels and predictors of emotional problems among preadolescent Ethiopians in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, and Toronto, Canada
Authors: Beiser Morton , Taa Busha , Fenta-Wube Haile , Baheretibeb Yonas , Pain Clare , Araya Mesfin
Published: September 2012

According to a literature of theory and advocacy, immigration and resettlement jeopardize the mental health of children and youth, largely because of factors such as intergenerational tensions arising from conflicts about the retention of traditional values, and experiences of prejudice and discrimination. The current study examines the specificity of these putative mental health risks to the immigration experience. The level and predictors of emotional problems among preadolescent Ethiopians living in immigrant families in Toronto, Canada, were compared with a matched sample of Ethiopian youngsters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Data came from structured interviews with the person most knowledgeable about the family (usually a parent), as well as from the children themselves. Youth reported higher levels of emotional problems (EP) than their parents. Predictors differed for parent and child ratings. In both the Toronto and Addis Ababa samples, parental mental health predicted parent-rated, but not self-rated EP. Contrary to immigration stress theory, parental perceptions of prejudice predicted EP in Addis Ababa, but not Toronto, and parent–child discordance regarding ethnic adherence were predictors of self-rated emotional problems in Ethiopia, but not in Canada. Perceived discrimination was a significant predictor of self-rated emotional problems in both settings. Implications for theory and further research are discussed.
The ars moriendi of US serial television: Towards a good textual death
Authors: Harrington C. Lee
Published: September 2012

While a growing body of scholarship explores narrative beginnings, much less is known about narrative endings or narrative ‘deaths’. In this article I draw on media studies as well as gerontological and thanatological literature to explore the endings of US serial television, focusing on the criteria required for a ‘good textual death’. Situated in the notion that cultural objects have a biography or a life span much as individuals do, I ultimately explore the implications of a thanatology of media studies.
Piloting HIV rapid testing in community-based settings in Estonia
Authors: RüüTel Kristi , Ustina Valentina , Parker R. David
Published: September 2012

Background: In the European Union it is estimated that up to 30% of HIV-infected people are not aware of their status. Community-based testing (CBT) models are implemented to increase the uptake of HIV testing. Aims: The aim of this project was to assess the feasibility and acceptance of HIV rapid testing in CBT settings in Estonia to identify non-clinical recruitment venues for people more likely to engage in high-risk behaviours. Methods: Participants for this anonymous, cross-sectional study were recruited from a syringe exchange programme and gay-oriented locations using convenience sampling. Socio-demographic and HIV testing preferences data were collected using a semi-structured questionnaire. HIV rapid testing was performed using Determine HIV-1/2 (Abbott) rapid test system. Results: With a participation rate of 88.3%, this project enrolled 308 persons and identified 58 preliminary positive cases. Out of them, 52 reported injecting drug use in last 12 months and 30 reported no previous HIV test. Approximately 45% of all participants preferred rapid testing while 25% reported a preference for a full blood test. Conclusions: This project demonstrates that HIV rapid testing in community-based settings in Eastern Europe can be an effective approach for reaching people who engage in high-risk behaviours and increasing the number of HIV-infected people who are aware of their status.
The ideal of the person: Recovering the novelty of Durkheim’s sociology. Part I: The idea of society and its relation to the individual
Authors: Callegaro Francesco
Published: September 2012

For Durkheim, sociology, as a new kind of science, is part and parcel of the constitutional process of modern societies. This conception of sociology rests on two fundamental theses. First, society, as a normative realm made up of ideas, and especially of ideals, is an ontological novelty: it shows itself in the constitution of individuals, since human beings are persons able to think and act only as long as they are social individuals. Second, modern society is an historical novelty, constituted by an ideal of the person which asks and enables each social individual to become a fully autonomous being. The aim of this paper is to clarify these two basic foundations of Durkheimian sociology. Part I focuses on the first thesis: Durkheim’s reconstruction of the sociological tradition as a conceptual struggle toward the idea of society, conceived as a new order of reality. It examines the social philosophy Durkheim developed in order to account for the relation between society and the individual; the conceptualization of the human individual as social in The Division of Social Labor, its later development in the framework of The Elementary Forms of Religious Life. Part II, to be published in a second volume, will focus on the second thesis.
Sociology face to face with pragmatism: Action, concept, and person
Authors: Karsenti (Author) Bruno , Susen (Translator) Simon
Published: September 2012

Émile Durkheim faced his final challenge in the confrontation with pragmatism. Pragmatism had emerged as an important theoretical approach for the study of both life and action. As argued in this article, Durkheim’s attempt to explain the philosophical underpinnings of sociology was sharpened by his critical engagement with pragmatism. In Durkheim’s work, the confrontation between pragmatism and sociology brought the focus onto the problem of the irreducibility of thought and action. According to the French scholar, one of the main challenges for sociology was to reconstruct the basic concepts of pragmatism, but in a way that stood in opposition to various central presuppositions underlying classical forms of this philosophical doctrine. His in-depth confrontation with pragmatism gave Durkheim the opportunity to clarify the meaning of his own scientific project, including the meaning of its fundamental categories. The theory of knowledge arising from Durkheim’s interpretation of pragmatism was most clearly established in his The Elementary Forms of Religious Life, resulting in a genuinely sociological understanding of action, concept, and person. More importantly, however, some of Durkheim’s most valuable contributions can be derived from his effort to move away from pragmatism.
Durkheim on law and morality: The disintegration thesis
Authors: Lukes Steven , Prabhat Devyani
Published: September 2012

A celebrated and much-discussed article by the distinguished English legal philosopher H.L.A. Hart entitled ‘Social Solidarity and the Enforcement of Morality’ (1967) presents a radically simplified account – a caricature, so to speak – of Émile Durkheim’s views on law and morality. Hart called this account ‘the disintegration thesis’ and identified the then eminent English judge, Lord Devlin, and Durkheim as proponents of this thesis. We here seek to set out the disintegration thesis as formulated by Hart and also his helpful suggestions for rendering it into a set of empirical claims. We dispute his attribution of this thesis to Durkheim and present an alternative account of Durkheim’s views about law and its relation to morality. The critique of Hart’s characterization of Durkheim helps to identify what is distinctive about Durkheim’s views and to explore various questions raised by Durkheim’s writings concerning the legal regulation of morality. We conclude by suggesting ways in which Durkheim’s answer is particularly relevant to our time.
What Durkheimian thought shares with pragmatism: How the two can work together for the greater relevance of sociological practice
Authors: Lemieux Cyril
Published: September 2012

Durkheimian thought and pragmatism are often considered inconsistent with each other. Nevertheless, beyond their most obvious differences, they share some fundamental postulates – like immanentism, pluralism, and relative indeterminacy. Realizing these common points seems particularly crucial in the current situation of the social sciences. Firstly, it allows us to overcome the structural-functionalist and structuralist versions of Durkheim’s work that prevent the understanding that at its core is his theory of practice. Secondly, it forces us to distance ourselves from the aspects of pragmatism that are most hostile to sociological thought (that is, that are the most oriented towards individualism). Finally, and above all, it provides social scientists with the means to escape their difficulties in assessing their own practices, and it aids in defining their political role in society. Indeed, taking into account what pragmatism shares with the Durkheimian tradition leads to a better understanding that what the social sciences are founded on, both historically and in terms of scientific practice, is a political undertaking of emancipation. Such an undertaking aims to implement an approach involving the ideas of truth and historical progress in human thinking that is neither objectivist nor relativist. In order to describe this undertaking and its limits, this article explores the famous text published by Durkheim and Mauss in 1903 under the title ‘On Some Primitive Forms of Classification’.
Clinical Outcomes among HIV/Tuberculosis-Coinfected Patients Developing Immune Reconstitution Inflammatory Syndrome after HAART Initiation in South India
Authors: Kumarasamy N. , Venkatesh Kartik K. , Vignesh R. , Devaleenal B. , Poongulali S. , Yepthomi Tokuga , Flanigan Timothy P. , Benson Constance , Mayer Kenneth H.
Published: September 2012

Introduction:

We determine the frequency and immunological outcome of developing immune reconstitution inflammatory syndrome (IRIS) among HIV/tuberculosis (TB)–coinfected Indians receiving highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART).

Methods:

Patients coinfected with TB and HIV who initiated HAART were classified based on treatment outcomes (IRIS and non-IRIS) utilizing an observational HIV/AIDS cohort.

Results:

A total of 1731 HIV/TB-coinfected patients initiated HAART, and 95 of these patients (5.5%) developed TB-IRIS, with an incidence rate of 0.26 per 100 person-years. Patients who developed IRIS had significantly higher CD4 counts than non-IRIS patients at the time of initiating HAART, as well as after 6 months, 18 months, and 24 months following HAART initiation ( P < .05).

Conclusions:

HIV/TB-coinfected patients who developed IRIS following HAART initiation had equivalent clinical outcomes compared with their HIV/TB-coinfected counterparts who did not develop IRIS, suggesting minimal long-term risks associated with IRIS.
Obesity management: what brings success?
Authors: Lagerros Ylva Trolle , Rössner Stephan
Published: September 2012

The upward trend in obesity prevalence across regions and continents is a worldwide concern. Today a majority of the world’s population live in a country where being overweight or obese causes more deaths than being underweight. Only a portion of those qualifying for treatment will get the health care they need. Still, a minor weight loss of 5–10% seems to be sufficient to provide a clinically significant health benefit in terms of risk factors for cardiovascular disease and diabetes. Diet, exercise and behavior modifications remain the current cornerstones of obesity treatment. Weight-loss drugs play a minor role. Drugs which were available and reasonably effective have been withdrawn because of side effects. The fact that the ‘old’ well known, but pretty unexciting tools remain the basic armamentarium causes understandable concern and disappointment among both patients and therapists. Hence, bariatric surgery has increasingly been recognized and developed, as it offers substantial weight loss and prolonged weight control. The present review highlights the conventional tools to counter obesity, lifestyle modification, pharmacotherapy and bariatric surgery, including some of the barriers to successful weight loss: (1) unrealistic expectations of success; (2) high attrition rates; (3) cultural norms of self-acceptance in terms of weight and beliefs of fat being healthy; (4) neighborhood attributes such as a lack of well-stocked supermarkets and rather the presence of convenience stores with low-quality foods; and (5) the perception of the neighborhood as less safe and with low walkability. Prevention is the obvious key. Cost-effective societal interventions such as a tax on unhealthy food and beverages, front-of-pack traffic light nutrition labeling and prohibition of advertising of junk food and beverages to children are also discussed.
Early uptake of seasonal influenza vaccines incorporated with pH1N1 strain among regularly vaccinated healthcare workers
Authors: Poon Chin Man , Lee Shui Shan , Lee Sing
Published: September 2012

Objectives:

This study aims to assess the vaccination uptake and attitudes of healthcare workers (HCWs) towards seasonal influenza vaccination after incorporating pandemic H1N1 (pH1N1) strain in the vaccines.

Methods:

A self-administered anonymous questionnaire was issued to nurses registered with any of three collaborating nursing associations in Hong Kong.

Results:

A total of 709 questionnaires were completed, representing a response rate of 28.4%. The coverage of 2010/11 seasonal influenza vaccines was 24.1%. It was lower than that of 2009/10 seasonal influenza vaccines, in which pH1N1 strain was not yet included (37.1%), but higher than that of monovalent pH1N1 vaccines introduced during the pandemic in 2009 (14.2%). The reduction in the number of vaccinated HCWs varied among sub-groups classified by age, duration of employment, type of contacts with patients or past seasonal influenza vaccination record. Early recipients of the vaccine were more likely to have already been vaccinated in the preceding year (odds ratio (OR)=2.95, 95% confidence interval (95% CI) =1.15–7.59) and showed an intention to be vaccinated in the following year (OR=2.78, 95% CI=1.13–6.83). However, incorporation of pH1N1 strain in trivalent seasonal vaccines did not significantly increase the desire for vaccination.

Conclusion:

In addition to upholding the efficacy and safety standard of influenza vaccines, compliance and acceptance strategies shall be developed as early as possible, and tailored to the needs of different sub-groups.
Intrigued, But Not Immersed
Authors: Batsell Jake
Published: September 2012

The arrival of Apple’s iPad tablet in April 2010 was trumpeted as a pivotal, game-changing moment for the news industry. But did the iPad’s initial news applications live up to the hype? The author assigned college students to rate and analyze television, radio, newspaper, and magazine news apps during the iPad’s first year. This study, drawing from uses and gratifications theory, considers student ratings based on four factors: immediacy/urgency, nonlinear news presentation, multimedia, and reader interactivity. The apps scored highest in multimedia, but fell far short of students’ expectations for interactivity and immediacy. Too often for these millennials, the first year of iPad news apps amounted to digital “shovelware”—news outlets simply shoveling content from website to app, with minimal added value. This exploratory study provides early insight into how this “digital native” generation, crucial to the iPad’s long-term success, is reacting to the tablet as a news medium.
On-Air or on Life Support
Authors: Likes Terry
Published: September 2012

An essay on whether local television sports coverage can survive in the current economy, the continued rise of regional and national sports networks and the multitude of online information offerings.
Spreading Social Media Messages on Facebook
Authors: Kwok Linchi , Yu Bei
Published: September 2012

As a method of determining what types of social media messages work best for hospitality firms, this study examined what types of messages gained the most clicks of “Like” and comments on Facebook. An analysis of the number of likes and comments regarding nine hundred and eighty-two Facebook messages from ten restaurant chains and two independent operators revealed clear patterns. The more popular keywords involved information about the restaurant (e.g., menu descriptions) and the less popular messages were those that contained marketing-related words (including “winner” and “check”). Dividing the messages into four media types, namely, status (text only), link (containing a URL), video (embedding a video), and photo (showing photos), revealed that photo and status receive more likes and comments than the other two categories. Social media messages can also be categorized into two message types: sales and marketing (about two-thirds of the messages in this study) and conversational messages. Based on number of likes and comments, conversational messages are endorsed by more Facebook users. Finally, cross-effects of media type and message type affect the number of comments a message received. Although these results do not expressly assess Facebook users’ reactions, the guidelines developed here should help managers improve their use of Facebook, as well as provide groundwork for developing a defined typology of Facebook messages and an automatic text classifier with the machine learning techniques.
Diagnosis and management of congenital and idiopathic erythrocytosis
Authors: McMullin Mary Frances
Published: September 2012

An erythrocytosis occurs when there is an increased red-cell mass. The causes of erythrocytosis are divided into primary, when there is an intrinsic defect in the erythroid cell, and secondary, when the cause is extrinsic to the erythroid cell. An idiopathic erythrocytosis occurs when the increased red-cell mass has no identifiable cause. Primary and secondary defects can be further classified as either congenital or acquired causes. The diagnostic pathway starts with a careful history and examination followed by measurement of the erythropoietin (EPO) levels. This allows a division of those patients with a low EPO level, who can then be investigated for primary causes of erythrocytosis, and those with a normal or high EPO level, where the oxygen-sensing pathway needs to be explored further. Physiological studies in those with congenital defects in the oxygen-sensing pathway show many changes in the downstream metabolism adapting to the defect, which has a bearing on the management of the disorders. Low-dose aspirin and venesection to an achievable target are the main therapeutic options that can be considered in the management of erythrocytosis. Specific guidance on venesection options should be considered with certain causes such as high oxygen-affinity hemoglobins.
Chemokine-mediated tissue recruitment of CXCR3+ CD4+ T cells plays a major role in the pathogenesis of chronic GVHD
Authors: Croudace Joanne E. , Inman Charlotte F. , Abbotts Ben. E. , Nagra Sandeep , Nunnick Jane , Mahendra Prem , Craddock Charles , Malladi Ram , Moss Paul A. H.
Published: September 2012

Chemokines regulate the migration of hemopoietic cells and play an important role in the pathogenesis of many immune-mediated diseases. Intradermal recruitment of CD8+ T cells by CXCL10 is a central feature of the pathogenesis of cutaneous acute GVHD (aGVHD), but very little is known about the pathogenesis of chronic GVHD (cGVHD). Serum concentrations of the 3 CXCR3-binding chemokines, CXCL9, CXCL10, and CXCL11, were found to be markedly increased in patients with active cGVHD of the skin (n = 8). An 80% decrease in CD4+ cells expressing CXCR3 was seen in the blood of these patients (n = 5), whereas CD4+ cells were increased in tissue biopsies and were clustered around the central arterioles of the dermis. The well-documented increase in expression of CXCL10 in aGVHD therefore diversifies in cGVHD to include additional members of the CXCR3-binding family and leads to preferential recruitment of CD4+ T cells. These observations reveal a central role for chemokine-mediated recruitment of CXCR3+ T cells in cGVHD.
ESTclean: a cleaning tool for next-gen transcriptome shotgun sequencing
Authors: Tae Hongseok , Ryu Dongsung , Sureshchandra Suhas , Choi Jeong-Hyeon
Published: September 2012

Background

With the advent of next-generation sequencing (NGS) technologies, full cDNA shotgun sequencing has become a major approach in the study of transcriptomes, and several different protocols in 454 sequencing have been invented. As each protocol uses its own short DNA tags or adapters attached to the ends of cDNA fragments for labeling or sequencing, different contaminants may lead to mis-assembly and inaccurate sequence products.

Results

We have designed and implemented a new program for raw sequence cleaning in a graphical user interface and a batch script. The cleaning process consists of several modules including barcode trimming, sequencing adapter trimming, amplification primer trimming, poly-A tail trimming, vector screening and low quality region trimming. These modules can be combined based on various sequencing applications.

Conclusions

ESTclean is a software package not only for cleaning cDNA sequences, but also for helping to develop sequencing protocols by providing summary tables and figures for sequencing quality control in a graphical user interface. It outperforms in cleaning read sequences from complicated sequencing protocols which use barcodes and multiple amplification primers.
Gene duplications contribute to the overrepresentation of interactions between proteins of a similar age
Authors: Fokkens Like , Hogeweg Paulien , Snel Berend
Published: September 2012

Background

The study of biological networks and how they have evolved is fundamental to our understanding of the cell. By investigating how proteins of different ages are connected in the protein interaction network, one can infer how that network has expanded in evolution, without the need for explicit reconstruction of ancestral networks. Studies that implement this approach show that proteins are often connected to proteins of a similar age, suggesting a simultaneous emergence of interacting proteins. There are several theories explaining this phenomenon, but despite the importance of gene duplication in genome evolution, none consider protein family dynamics as a contributing factor.

Results

In an S. cerevisiae protein interaction network we investigate to what extent edges that arise from duplication events contribute to the observed tendency to interact with proteins of a similar age. We find that part of this tendency is explained by interactions between paralogs. Age is usually defined on the level of protein families, rather than individual proteins, hence paralogs have the same age. The major contribution however, is from interaction partners that are shared between paralogs. These interactions have most likely been conserved after a duplication event. To investigate to what extent a nearly neutral process of network growth can explain these results, we adjust a well-studied network growth model to incorporate protein families. Our model shows that the number of edges between paralogs can be amplified by subsequent duplication events, thus explaining the overrepresentation of interparalog edges in the data. The fact that interaction partners shared by paralogs are often of the same age as the paralogs does not arise naturally from our model and needs further investigation.

Conclusion

We amend previous theories that explain why proteins of a similar age prefer to interact by demonstrating that this observation can be partially explained by gene duplication events. There is an ongoing debate on whether the protein interaction network is predominantly shaped by duplication and subfunctionalization or whether network rewiring is most important. Our analyses of S. cerevisiae protein interaction networks demonstrate that duplications have influenced at least one property of the protein interaction network: how proteins of different ages are connected.
Intraclass correlation coefficients in the Brazilian network for surveillance of severe maternal morbidity study
Authors: Haddad Samira M , Sousa Maria H , Cecatti Jose G , Parpinelli Mary A , Costa Maria L , Souza Joao P ,   for the Brazilian Network for Surveillance of Severe Maternal Morbidity Group
Published: September 2012

Background

The purpose of the study was to evaluate intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC) of variables concerning personal characteristics, structure, outcome and process in the Brazilian Network for Surveillance of Severe Maternal Morbidity study conducted to identify severe maternal morbidity/near miss cases using the World Health Organization criteria.

Method

It was a cross-sectional, multicenter study involving 27 hospitals providing care for pregnant women in Brazil. Cluster size and the mean size of the primary sampling unit were described. Estimated prevalence rates, ICC, their respective 95% confidence intervals, the design effect and the mean cluster size were presented for each variable.

Results

Overall, 9,555 cases of severe maternal morbidity (woman admitted with potentially life-threatening conditions, near miss events or death) were included in the study. ICC ranged from < 0.001 to 0.508, with a median of 0.035. ICC was < 0.1 for approximately 75% of the variables. For process-related variables, median ICC was 0.09, with 0.021 for those related to outcome. These findings confirm data from previous studies. Homogeneity may be considered minor, thus increasing reliability of these findings.

Conclusions

These results may be used to design new cluster trials in maternal and perinatal health and to help calculate sample sizes.