bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Lineage shift in Indian strains of Dengue virus serotype-3 (Genotype III), evidenced by detection of lineage IV strains in clinical cases from Kerala
Authors: Manakkadan Anoop , Joseph Iype , Prasanna Raji Rajendran , kunju Riaz Ismail , Kailas Lalitha , Sreekumar Easwaran
Published: January 2013

Background

Local epidemiology of Dengue is defined by the genetic diversity of the circulating Dengue virus (DENV) strains. This important information is not available for the virus strains from most parts of the Indian subcontinent. The present study focused on the genetic diversity of the serotype 3 DENV strains (DENV-3) from India.

Results

A total of 22 DENV-3 strains identified by reverse-transcription PCR analysis of serum samples from 709 patients were studied. These samples were collected over a period of 4 years (2008–2011) from dengue fever suspected patients from Kerala, a dengue endemic state in South India. Comparison of a 1740bp nucleotide sequence of the viral Capsid-Pre-membrane-Envelope coding region of our strains and previously reported DENV-3 strains from India, South Asia and South America revealed non-synonymous substitutions that were genotype III-specific as well as sporadic. Evidence of positive selection was detected in the I81 amino acid residue of the envelope protein. Out of the 22 samples, three had I81A and 18 had I81V substitutions. In the phylogenetic analysis by maximum likelihood method the strains from Kerala clustered in two different lineages (lineage III and IV) within genotype III clade of DENV-3 strains. The ten strains that belonged to lineage IV had a signature amino acid substitution T219A in the envelope protein. Interestingly, all these strains were found to be closely related to a Singapore strain GU370053 isolated in 2007.

Conclusions

Our study identifies for the first time the presence of lineage IV strains in the Indian subcontinent. Results indicate the possibility of a recent exotic introduction and also a shift from the existing lineage III strains to lineage IV. Lineage shifts in DENV-3 strains have been attributed to dramatic increase in disease severity in many parts of the world. Hence the present observation could be significant in terms of the clinical severity of future dengue cases in the region.
Effect of overexpressing nhaA and nhaR on sodium tolerance and lactate production in Escherichia coli
Authors: Wu Xianghao , Altman Ronni , Eiteman Mark A , Altman Elliot
Published: January 2013

Background

Like other bacteria, Escherichia coli must carefully regulate the intracellular concentration of sodium ion (Na+). During the bacterial production of any organic acid, cations like Na+ invariably accumulate during a process which must maintain a near neutral pH. In this study, the E. coli nhaA gene encoding the Na+/H+ antiporter membrane protein and the nhaR gene encoding the NhaA regulatory protein were overexpressed in wild-type E. coli MG1655 and in MG1655 pflB (ALS1317) which lacks pyruvate formate lyase activity and thus accumulates lactate under anaerobic conditions.

Results

Expression of either the nhaA or nhaR gene on the high copy inducible expression vector pTrc99A caused a significant reduction in the growth rate of MG1655. No change in growth rate was observed for MG1655 or ALS1317 for Na+ concentrations of 0.75–0.90 M when the medium copy pBR322 plasmid was used to overexpress the two genes. In a fed-batch process to produce the model acid lactate with NaOH addition for pH control, lactate accumulation ceased in MG1655, MG1655/pBR322, MG1655/pBR322-nhaR and MG1655/pBR322-nhaA when the concentration reached 55–58 g/L. In an identical process lactate accumulation in MG1655/pBR322-nhaAR did not terminate until the concentration reached over 70 g/L.

Conclusions

Although overexpression the genes did not improve growth rate at high Na+ concentrations, the overexpression of nhaA and nhaR together led to a 25% increase in lactate production. Thus, the observed (absence of) impact that these genetic modifications had on growth rate is a poor indicator of their effect on acid accumulation. The overexpression of nhaAR did not cause faster lactate production, but permitted the culture to continue accumulating lactate at 10% greater Na+ concentration.
Degradation of Poly(ε-caprolactone) by thermophilic Streptomyces thermoviolaceus subsp. thermoviolaceus 76T-2
Authors: Chua Te-Kuan , Tseng Min , Yang Mei-Kwei
Published: January 2013

A thermophilic Streptomyces thermoviolaceus subsp. thermoviolaceus isolate 76T-2 that can degrade poly(ε-caprolactone) (PCL) was isolated from soil in Taiwan. Isolate 76T-2 grew well in urea fructose oatmeal medium and exhibited clear zones on agar plates containing PCL, indicating the presence of extracellular PCL depolymerases. The PCL powder present in culture medium was completely degraded within 6 h of culture at 45°C. Two PCL-degrading enzymes were purified to homogeneity from the culture supernatant. The molecular weights of these two enzymes were estimated to be 25 kDa and 55 kDa, respectively. A portion of the N-terminal region of the 25-kDa protein was determined, and the sequence Ala-Asn-Phe-Val-Val-Ser-Glu-Ala thus obtained was identical to that of A64-A71 of the Chi25 chitinase of Streptomyces thermoviolaceus OPC-520. The 25-kDa protein was shown to also degrade chitin, suggesting that isolate 76T-2 has the ability to degrade both PCL and chitin.
Sex Differences in the Return-to-Work Process of Cancer Survivors 2 Years After Diagnosis: Results From a Large French Population-Based Sample
Authors: Marino Patricia , Luis Sagaon Teyssier , Laetitia Malavolti , Anne-Gaelle Le Corroller-Soriano
Published: January 2013

Purpose

To investigate the effects of clinical, sociodemographic, and occupational factors on time to return to work (RTW) during the 2 years after cancer diagnosis and to analyze whether sex differences exist.

Patients and Methods

This study was based on a French national cross-sectional survey involving 4,270 cancer survivors. Time to RTW was estimated through the duration of sick leave of 801 cancer survivors younger than 58 years who were employed during the 2-year survey. Multivariate analysis of the RTW after sick leave was performed using a Weibull accelerated failure time model.

Results

We found some sex differences in the RTW process. Older men returned to work more slowly than older women (P = .013), whereas married men returned to work much faster than married women (P = .019). Duration dependence was also sex-specific. In men, the time spent on sick leave was independent of the probability of returning to work, whereas in women, this duration dependence was positive (P < .001). For both men and women, clinical factors including chemotherapy, adverse effects, and cancer severity were found to delay RTW (P = .035, P = .001, and P < .001, respectively). Survivors investing most strongly in their personal lives also delayed their RTW (P = .006), as did those with a permanent work contract (P = .042). The factor found to accelerate RTW was a higher educational level (P = .014).

Conclusion

The RTW process 2 years after cancer diagnosis differed between men and women. A better knowledge of this process should help the national implementation of more cost-effective strategies for managing the RTW of cancer survivors.
Specificity of Problem-Solving Skills Training in Mothers of Children Newly Diagnosed With Cancer: Results of a Multisite Randomized Clinical Trial
Authors: Sahler Olle Jane Z. , Dolgin Michael J. , Phipps Sean , Fairclough Diane L. , Askins Martha A. , Katz Ernest R. , Noll Robert B. , Butler Robert W.
Published: January 2013

Purpose

Diagnosis of cancer in a child can be extremely stressful for parents. Bright IDEAS, a problem-solving skills training (PSST) intervention, has been shown to decrease negative affectivity (anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress symptoms) in mothers of newly diagnosed patients. This study was designed to determine the specificity of PSST by examining its direct and indirect (eg, social support) effects compared with a nondirective support (NDS) intervention.

Patients and Methods

This randomized clinical trial included 309 English- or Spanish-speaking mothers of children diagnosed 2 to 16 weeks before recruitment. Participants completed assessments prerandomization (T1), immediately postintervention (T2), and at 3-month follow-up (T3). Both PSST and NDS consisted of eight weekly 1-hour individual sessions. Outcomes included measures of problem-solving skill and negative affectivity.

Results

There were no significant between-group differences at baseline (T1). Except for level of problem-solving skill, which was directly taught in the PSST arm, outcome measures improved equally in both groups immediately postintervention (T2). However, at the 3-month follow-up (T3), mothers in the PSST group continued to show significant improvements in mood, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress; mothers in the NDS group showed no further significant gains.

Conclusion

PSST is an effective and specific intervention whose beneficial effects continue to grow after the intervention ends. In contrast, NDS is an effective intervention while it is being administered, but its benefits plateau when active support is removed. Therefore, teaching coping skills at diagnosis has the potential to facilitate family resilience over the entire course of treatment.
Role of Ubiquitin Ligases and the Proteasome in Oncogenesis: Novel Targets for Anticancer Therapies
Authors: Micel Lindsey N. , Tentler John J. , Smith Peter G. , Eckhardt Gail S.
Published: January 2013

The ubiquitin proteasome system (UPS) regulates the ubiquitination, and thus degradation and turnover, of many proteins vital to cellular regulation and function. The UPS comprises a sequential series of enzymatic processes using four key enzyme families: E1 (ubiquitin-activating enzymes), E2 (ubiquitin-carrier proteins), E3 (ubiquitin-protein ligases), and E4 (ubiquitin chain assembly factors). Because the UPS is a crucial regulator of the cell cycle, and abnormal cell-cycle control can lead to oncogenesis, aberrancies within the UPS pathway can result in a malignant cellular phenotype and thus has become an attractive target for novel anticancer agents. This article will provide an overall review of the mechanics of the UPS, describe aberrancies leading to cancer, and give an overview of current drug therapies selectively targeting the UPS.
Two-Year Randomized Controlled Prospective Trial Converting Treatment of Stable Renal Transplant Recipients With Cutaneous Invasive Squamous Cell Carcinomas to Sirolimus
Authors: Hoogendijk-van den Akker Judith M. , Harden Paul N. , Hoitsma Andries J. , Proby Charlotte M. , Wolterbeek Ron , Bouwes Bavinck Jan Nico , de Fijter Johan W.
Published: January 2013

Purpose

In light of the significant morbidity and mortality of cutaneous invasive squamous cell carcinomas (SCCs) in renal transplant recipients, we investigated whether conversion to sirolimus-based immunosuppression from standard immunosuppression could diminish the recurrence rate of these skin cancers.

Patients and Methods

In a 2-year randomized controlled trial, 155 renal transplant recipients with at least one biopsy-confirmed SCC were stratified according to age (< 55 v ≥ 55 years) and number of previous SCCs (one to nine v ≥ 10) and randomly assigned to conversion to sirolimus (n = 74) or continuation of their original immunosuppression (n = 81). Development of a new SCC within 2 years after random assignment was the primary end point.

Results

After 2 years of follow-up, the risk reduction of new SCCs in the multivariable analysis was not significant, with a hazard ratio (HR) of 0.76 (95% CI, 0.48 to 1.2; P = .255), compared with a non–sirolimus-based regimen. After the first year, there was a significant 50% risk reduction, with an HR of 0.50 (95% CI, 0.28 to 0.90; P = .021) for all patients together and an HR of 0.11 (95% CI, 0.01 to 0.94; P = .044) for patients with only one previous SCC. The tumor burden of SCC was reduced during the 2-year follow-up period in those receiving sirolimus (0.82 v 1.38 per year; HR, 0.51; 95% CI, 0.32 to 0.82; P = .006) if adjusted for the number of previous SCCs and age. Twenty-nine patients stopped taking sirolimus because of various adverse events.

Conclusion

Conversion to sirolimus-based immunosuppression failed to show a benefit in terms of SCC-free survival at 2 years.
“Some Queer Freak of Taste”: Gender, Authorship, and the “Rock Me to Sleep” Controversy
Authors: Putzi Jennifer
Published: January 2013

Published in 1860 under the pseudonym “Florence Percy,” “Rock Me to Sleep” quickly became one of the most popular and widely circulated poems of the nineteenth century. It also became the subject of a heated literary controversy, with multiple claimants coming forward to insist that they had authored the lyric; the most committed imposter was Alexander McWhorter Ball, a New Jersey legislator whose wealthy and powerful friends mounted a national campaign to prove his authorship. The poem’s actual author, Elizabeth Akers Allen, found herself in danger of losing her reputation and therefore her ability to place her work within the literary marketplace. Putzi argues that the poem’s sentimentality rendered it eminently reprintable but also distanced the text from its author, thus causing pretenders to imagine themselves in her place. The gendered implications of this sort of aggressive read ing were revealed most clearly in Ball’s claim to authorship, which was based on this middle-class gentleman’s emotional legitimacy as evidenced by the private circulation of (what he claimed as) his poetry. Rather than asserting her own femininity, however, Akers Allen exposed the gender and class privilege underlying Ball’s argument, claiming her own professionalism and disparaging Ball as a “poetaster” or a hopeless amateur. With publications across the United States taking sides on either side, the “Rock Me to Sleep” controversy became an important marker of the status of professional women writers in the post–Civil War era; more specifically, and perhaps more importantly, it positions one woman’s composition, publication, and circulation practices within a literary marketplace that paradoxically asked women poets to be simultaneously of and beyond the market—amateurs in a professional world.
Willing Workers: Urban Relocation and American Indian Initiative, 1940s–1960s
Authors: Miller Douglas K.
Published: January 2013

Scholarship on American Indian urbanization and the Bureau of Indian Affairs' mid-twentieth-century “voluntary relocation program” often characterizes native relocatees as hapless victims. The disastrous side of urban relocation is well documented: Indian Bureau promises lured native people away from their pastoral reservation existence and tossed them into the maelstrom of urban life, where they struggled to come to terms with modernity. Such accounts were true for many Indian migrants, but not all. Indeed, many native relocatees played an active and informed role in both accepting relocation's challenge and affecting the program's eventual outcome. By focusing attention on Indian appeals for urban industrial work opportunities both during and after World War II, this article contextualizes the relocation program within a larger trend of native people willingly embracing off-reservation employment as a necessary, if not always desirable, means toward supporting their families when reservation economies (and the Indian Bureau) failed them. Such a perspective challenges any notion that native people en masse were passive victims of what were at times nefarious schemes of federal policy makers. To be sure, thousands of Indians did suffer against the backdrop of an undeniably mismanaged program. Numerous relocatees, however, succeeded in using relocation not only as a means to improve their immediate economic prospects but also as an opportunity to clear a path for a generation of young Indians who used greater exposure to the off-reservation world as an avenue toward better education and economic opportunities. Drawing on handwritten letters from native people, relocation subject files, oral histories, and archival sources, this article is an attempt at a fresh analysis of both what was at stake for hopeful Indian relocatees and their attitudes toward the potential benefits and pitfalls of urban migration.
Stem cells living with a Notch
Authors: Koch Ute , Lehal Rajwinder , Radtke Freddy
Published: January 2013

Notch signaling has been shown over the past few decades to play fundamental roles in a plethora of developmental processes in an evolutionarily conserved fashion. Notch-mediated cell-to-cell signaling is involved in many aspects of embryonic development and control of tissue homeostasis in a variety of adult tissues, and regulates stem cell maintenance, cell differentiation and cellular homeostasis. The focus of this Review is the role of Notch signaling in stem cells, comparing insights from flies, fish and mice to highlight similarities, as well as differences, between species, tissues and stem cell compartments.
Human pluripotent stem cells: an emerging model in developmental biology
Authors: Zhu Zengrong , Huangfu Danwei
Published: January 2013

Developmental biology has long benefited from studies of classic model organisms. Recently, human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs), including human embryonic stem cells and human induced pluripotent stem cells, have emerged as a new model system that offers unique advantages for developmental studies. Here, we discuss how studies of hPSCs can complement classic approaches using model organisms, and how hPSCs can be used to recapitulate aspects of human embryonic development ‘in a dish’. We also summarize some of the recently developed genetic tools that greatly facilitate the interrogation of gene function during hPSC differentiation. With the development of high-throughput screening technologies, hPSCs have the potential to revolutionize gene discovery in mammalian development.
Unusual chromatin status and organization of the inactive X chromosome in murine trophoblast giant cells
Authors: Corbel Catherine , Diabangouaya Patricia , Gendrel Anne-Valerie , Chow Jennifer C. , Heard Edith
Published: January 2013

Mammalian X-chromosome inactivation (XCI) enables dosage compensation between XX females and XY males. It is an essential process and its absence in XX individuals results in early lethality due primarily to extra-embryonic defects. This sensitivity to X-linked gene dosage in extra-embryonic tissues is difficult to reconcile with the reported tendency of escape from XCI in these tissues. The precise transcriptional status of the inactive X chromosome in different lineages has mainly been examined using transgenes or in in vitro differentiated stem cells and the degree to which endogenous X-linked genes are silenced in embryonic and extra-embryonic lineages during early postimplantation stages is unclear. Here we investigate the precise temporal and lineage-specific X-inactivation status of several genes in postimplantation mouse embryos. We find stable gene silencing in most lineages, with significant levels of escape from XCI mainly in one extra-embryonic cell type: trophoblast giant cells (TGCs). To investigate the basis of this epigenetic instability, we examined the chromatin structure and organization of the inactive X chromosome in TGCs obtained from ectoplacental cone explants. We find that the Xist RNA-coated X chromosome has a highly unusual chromatin content in TGCs, presenting both heterochromatic marks such as H3K27me3 and euchromatic marks such as histone H4 acetylation and H3K4 methylation. Strikingly, Xist RNA does not form an overt silent nuclear compartment or Cot1 hole in these cells. This unusual combination of silent and active features is likely to reflect, and might underlie, the partial activity of the X chromosome in TGCs.
Social Network Effects on Productivity and Job Security: Evidence from the Adoption of a Social Networking Tool
Authors: Wu Lynn
Published: January 2013

By studying the change in employees' network positions before and after the introduction of a social networking tool, I find that information-rich networks (low in cohesion and rich in structural holes), enabled by social media, have a positive effect on various work outcomes. Contrary to the notion that network positions are difficult to alter, I show that social media can induce a change in network structure, one from which individuals can derive economic benefits. In addition, I consider two intermediate mechanisms by which an information-rich network is theorized to improve work performance—information diversity and social communication—and quantify their effects on productivity and job security. Analysis shows that productivity, as measured by billable revenue, is more associated with information diversity than with social communication. However, the opposite is true for job security. Social communication is more correlated with reduced layoff risks than with information diversity. This, in turn, suggests that information-rich networks enabled through the use of social media can drive both work performance and job security, but that there is a trade-off between engaging in social communication and gathering diverse information.
Sourcing for Supplier Effort and Competition: Design of the Supply Base and Pricing Mechanism
Authors: Li Cuihong
Published: January 2013

We study a buyer's sourcing strategy along two dimensions: the supply base design and the pricing mechanism, considering supplier competition and cost-reduction effort. The supply base design concerns the number of suppliers (one or two) included in the supply base and the capacity to be invested in each supplier. The pricing mechanism determines the timing of the price decisions, with the buyer making price commitments before suppliers exert cost-reduction efforts that may be renegotiated afterward. We find that symmetric capacity investment in suppliers and low price commitments (more likely to be renegotiated) are effective at fostering supplier competition, whereas asymmetric investment and high price commitments (less likely to be renegotiated) are better at motivating supplier effort. A complementary relationship exists between the supply base design and pricing mechanism: A more symmetric supply base should be combined with lower price commitments, leading to more renegotiation opportunities. This results in three possible sourcing structures: sole sourcing (investing capacity in a single supplier and forming price with ex ante commitments), symmetric dual sourcing (investing equal capacity in both suppliers and forming price with ex post negotiations), and asymmetric dual sourcing (investing positive but unequal capacities in two (ex ante identical) suppliers and forming price using both ex ante commitments and ex post (re)negotiations). We characterize the conditions for each structure and identify a strategic role of capacity investment.

This paper was accepted by Martin Lariviere, operations management.
Does Pooling Purchases Lead to Higher Profits?
Authors: Hu Bin , Duenyas Izak , Beil Damian R.
Published: January 2013

Consider two buyers facing uncertain demands who need to purchase a common critical component from a powerful sole-source supplier. If the two buyers pool their demands and purchase from the supplier as a single entity, will they necessarily earn higher profits than purchasing separately? We show that when a powerful supplier extracts profits from the buyers through optimal contract design, the demand variability reduction achieved by pooling can harm the buyers because it makes extracting profits easier for the supplier. We characterize cases when pooling is disadvantageous and also provide insights into when it is still advantageous. Our result is in contrast to the case where the price of the component is exogenous (typically assumed in most of the pooling literature), in which case pooling demands is always beneficial for the buyers.

This paper was accepted by Yossi Aviv, operations management.
Multiresource Allocation Scheduling in Dynamic Environments
Authors: Huh Woonghee Tim , Liu Nan , Truong Van-Anh
Published: January 2013

Motivated by service capacity-management problems in healthcare contexts, we consider a multiresource allocation problem with two classes of jobs (elective and emergency) in a dynamic and nonstationary environment. Emergency jobs need to be served immediately, whereas elective jobs can wait. Distributional information about demand and resource availability is continually updated, and we allow jobs to renege. We prove that our formulation is convex, and the optimal amount of capacity reserved for emergency jobs in each period decreases with the number of elective jobs waiting for service. However, the optimal policy is difficult to compute exactly. We develop the idea of a limit policy starting at a particular time, and use this policy to obtain upper and lower bounds on the decisions of an optimal policy in each period, and also to develop several computationally efficient policies. We show in computational experiments that our best policy performs within 1.8% of an optimal policy on average.
Resource-Based Patient Prioritization in Mass-Casualty Incidents
Authors: Mills Alex F. , Argon Nilay Tanık , Ziya Serhan
Published: January 2013

The most widely used standard for mass-casualty triage, START, relies on a fixed-priority ordering among different classes of patients, and does not explicitly consider resource limitations or the changes in survival probabilities with respect to time. We construct a fluid model of patient triage in a mass-casualty incident that incorporates these factors and characterize its optimal policy. We use this characterization to obtain useful insights about the type of simple policies that have a good chance to perform well in practice, and we demonstrate how one could develop such a policy. Using a realistic simulation model and data from emergency medicine literature, we show that the policy we developed based on our fluid formulation outperforms START in all scenarios considered, sometimes substantially.
Feasibility of Eight Physical Fitness Tests in 1,050 Older Adults with Intellectual Disability: Results of the Healthy Ageing with Intellectual Disabilities Study
Authors: Hilgenkamp Thessa I. M. , van Wijck Ruud , Evenhuis Heleen M.
Published: January 2013

Although physical fitness is relevant for well-being and health, knowledge on the feasibility of instruments to measure physical fitness in older adults with intellectual disability (ID) is lacking. As part of the study Healthy Ageing with Intellectual Disabilities with 1,050 older clients with ID in three Dutch care services, the feasibility of 8 physical fitness tests was expressed in completion rates: box and block test, response time test, Berg balance scale, walking speed, grip strength, 30-s chair stand, 10-m incremental shuttle walking test, and the extended modified back saver sit and reach test. All tests had moderate to good feasibility in all subgroups, except for the participants with profound ID (all tests), severe ID (response time test and Berg balance scale), and wheelchair users (all tests that involve the legs). We conclude that the 8 tests are feasible to measure physical fitness in most older adults with ID.
Family Caregivers' Perspectives on Barriers and Facilitators of Cervical and Breast Cancer Screening for Women with Intellectual Disability
Authors: Swaine Jamie G. , Dababnah Sarah , Parish Susan L. , Luken Karen
Published: January 2013

Women with intellectual disability do not receive cervical and breast cancer screening at the same number as women without disabilities. Numerous barriers to receipt of screening have been reported by individuals with intellectual disability, paid caregivers, nurses, and other medical professionals. This study utilized semi-structured qualitative interviews to assess barriers to care from the perspective of female familial caregivers (n  =  32). Caregivers reported a number of barriers to care including not knowing or not believing the exam was needed for their family member and discomfort during exams. Caregivers also described enablers to screening. The most common response to what enabled the woman with an intellectual disability to receive the exam was preparation prior to the exam. A significant portion of the sample of family caregivers lacked knowledge about the need for cervical and breast cancer screening by women with intellectual disability. Policy recommendations are discussed.
Ellul’s alternative theory of technology: Anticipating the fourth milieu of virtuality
Authors: Garrison Kevin
Published: January 2013

Jacques Ellul was a self-proclaimed ‘watchman’ over the progression of twentieth-century technology, and he argues that humans have adopted a sociological determinism that he dubbed ‘technique’, an idea explored in his widely read book The Technological Society
(1964). Technique, for Ellul, explains both large-scale and small-scale trends in human civilizations by considering rationalized efficiency as the primary instigator of twentieth-century change. This article argues that Ellul’s conception of technique as a determining factor in technological
change has been subsumed by a trend not for rationalized efficiency but rather for evolved efficiency. Specifically, I look at the underlying hypothesis that informed Ellul’s thought – his theory of the three milieus – to offer an interpretative framework for understanding
how several current civilizations have moved into a fourth milieu of virtuality. Positing a fourth milieu could potentially revitalize Ellulian scholarship in studies of technology, media ecology and sustainability.
A phenomenology of the podcast lecture
Authors: Jubien Peggy
Published: January 2013

Mobile technology is an integral part of all areas of life today, including business, government and education. Through the use of mobile devices such as digital audio players, smartphones and tablet computers, students can access pre-recorded lectures immediately from their homes and
schools or as they move between locations. Now that mobile lectures (or podcasts) are common, it is important that we study the experience of listening to them in order to discover how it is different from the experience of listening in a classroom or lecture hall. This phenomenological study
uses Max van Manen’s four existentials of lived space, time, relationship with others and body as a guide to uncover some of the hidden dimensions of listening to podcast lectures. It reveals new insights and understandings that educators may want to consider as lectures move out of
classrooms.
Reviews Books
Authors: Flett Tracey , Gates Brendan , Nunoda Erin , Stamm Matthew D.C.
Published: January 2013

Film and Stereotypes: A Challenge for the Consciousness of Man

Film and Stereotypes: A Challenge for Cinema and Theory, Jorg Schweinitz, Laura Schleussner (trans.), (2011) New York: Columbia University Press, 368pp., ISBN: 9780231151498 (pbk), $27.50 ISBN: 9780231151481 (hbk),
$84.50

Death in Venice: A Queer Film Classic, Will Aitken, (2011) Vancouver: Arsenal Pulp Press, 187pp., ISBN: 9781551524184 (pbk), $14.95

Gender Meets Genre in Postwar Cinemas, Christine Gledhill (ed.), (2012) Champaign: University of Illinois Press, 288pp., ISBN: 9780252078316
(pbk), $30.00

Documentary (Routledge Film Guidebooks), Dave Saunders, (2010) London: Routledge, 274pp., ISBN: 0415473101 (pbk), $28.95, ISBN: 0415473098 (hbk), $105.00, ISBN: 0203852680 (ebk), $28.95
Reviews DVDs
Authors: Powell Joey , Agostino Louise
Published: January 2013

The Future (2011) USA Director Miranda July Runtime 91 minutes DVD USA, 2011

Island of Lost Souls (1932) USA Director Erle c. Kenton Runtime 70 Minutes DVD USA, 2011
writing with light: The screenplay and photography
Authors: Millard Kathryn
Published: January 2013

This article considers alternative processes for recording the screen idea, specifically, processes that draw on photography and images in the writing process. It discusses screen works inspired by the photographs of Samuel Bollendorff (Journey to the End of Coal, 2009), Arthur Felig
Weegee (The Naked City, 2002) and August Sanders (Do Right and Fear No-one, 1975), and proposes that ‘writing with light’ is an appropriate metaphor for screenplays that are inherently unstable and always in transition.
Don’t Look Now: The screenwork as palimpsest
Authors: Davies Rosamund
Published: January 2013

The development of the screen idea is a dynamic, interactive process, involving a range of documents and collaborators. This article will consider the extra layer that adaptation from prose fiction to script adds to this process. Taking as my example the short story by Daphne du Maurier,
Don’t Look Now, adapted for the screen by Allan Scott and Chris Bryant and subsequently directed by Nicolas Roeg (1973), I will focus in particular on the adaptation of narrative voice, from short story to screen: examining narration strategies in the short story, screenplay drafts and
film, and the relationship between them. My discussion will explore the relevance of Ferrer and Groden’s notion of the creative process as an ‘always virtually present’ background process, of which each element of text and avant-texte constitutes but one manifestation. It
will also introduce the figure of the palimpsest, considering how it might illuminate an understanding of the screenwork as constructed through the various layers that have contributed to its genesis, producing a multiple rather than a singular entity.
New organizational and institutional vehicles for managing innovation in South Asia: Opportunities for using research for technical change and social gain
Authors: Reddy T. S. Vamsidhar , Hall AndY , Sulaiman V.Rrasheed
Published: January 2013

This article sets out to explore the nature of new organizational and institutional vehicles for managing innovation in order to put research into use for social gain. It has reviewed four classes of such vehicles found in South Asia. The first two contract farming and organized retailing
– represent what is becoming commonly accepted in policy circles: namely that the private corporate sector can play a more prominent role in agricultural development, particularly in arrangements that combine providing access to markets in combination with access to technology needed
to service those markets. The second two classes of vehicles – hybrid enterprises and social venture capital (SVC) – represent a new, albeit fluid in definition, class of initiatives and organizations that combine features referred to as bottom-of the-pyramid and below-the-radar
innovation. For each of these classes of innovation management vehicles this review has mapped the diversity of emerging examples and discussed their relevance for putting research into use for social gain. The article concludes by saying that it is these new and as yet poorly understood modes
of innovation that have the greatest potential to effect change, although developing ways of supporting them is going to require some creative public policy instruments.
The role of innovation support initiatives in Brazil: The case of FAPERJ in the State of Rio de Janeiro
Authors: Gonzalez Fernando Barreiros , Terra Branca , Almeida Mariza
Published: January 2013

The Carlos Chagas Filho Foundation for Support to Research in the State of Rio de Janeiro (FAPERJ) is a public institution, linked to the Rio de Janeiro State Department for Science and Technology. It was set up for the purpose of promoting research and encouraging the scientific and
technological activities necessary for the sociocultural development of the State of Rio de Janeiro. The aim of this article is to evaluate the evolution of FAPERJ’s role with reference to public policies developed in support of innovation, and to analyse the transition of policy objective
from provision of a system of foment for scientific and technological development to another one that also induces innovation. The study involves an analysis of FAPERJ’s performance in the context of the national public policy provision of incentives to technology and innovation with
reference to the types of programmes supported and the diversity of the players involved in those activities.
Factors affecting diversification in rain-fed agriculture in four amphoes (districts) in Khon Kaen Province, Thailand
Authors: Taweekul Krailert , Caldwell John , Yamada Ryuichi , FuJimoto Akimi
Published: January 2013

Factors affecting diversification before initiation of the scaling out of farmer-to-farmer learning and innovation were examined for 2308 households in eighteen villages in eight sub-districts (tambons) in four districts (amphoes) of south-eastern Khon Kaen Province, Thailand. The districts,
sub-districts and villages were selected in a rapid process based on the criteria of similarity with a pilot site: predominance of sandy soils, undulating topography, presence of farm ponds, absence of large areas with saline soils, absence of other development projects and presence of similar
cropping systems based on rain-fed rice, sugarcane and cassava. Each district had two paired tambons termed ‘intervention’ and ‘control’. All 2308 farm households were classified in a rapid census based on the number of farm ponds and combinations of three types of
income generating agricultural diversification activities using pond water: (1) fruit, (2) livestock and (3) vegetables. Amphoes, tambons and villages with similar topography, soil and cropping system had similar number of ponds, household size, level of diversity and income levels. Farms
with higher numbers of ponds generated more diversification activities. Total and agricultural revenue increased as diversification level increased. Agricultural revenue increased more rapidly as diversification level rose to 2 and 3, while only one diversification activity had less effect.
Surfactant Administration via Thin Catheter During Spontaneous Breathing: Randomized Controlled Trial
Authors: Kanmaz H. Gozde , Erdeve Omer , Canpolat F. Emre , Mutlu Banu , Dilmen Ugur
Published: January 2013

BACKGROUND:

The primary aim of this randomized study was to describe the feasibility of early administration of surfactant via a thin catheter during spontaneous breathing (Take Care) and compare early mechanical ventilation (MV) requirement with the InSurE (Intubate, Surfactant, Extubate) procedure.

METHODS:

Preterm infants, who were <32 weeks and stabilized with nasal continuous positive airway pressure (nCPAP) in the delivery room, were randomized to receive early surfactant treatment either by the Take Care or InSurE technique. Tracheal instillation of 100 mg/kg poractant α via 5-F catheter during spontaneous breathing under nCPAP was performed in the intervention group. In the InSurE procedure, infants were intubated, received positive pressure ventilation for 30 seconds after surfactant instillation, and placed on nCPAP immediately.

RESULTS:

One hundred infants in each group were analyzed. The MV requirement in the first 72 hours of life was significantly lower in the Take Care group when compared with the InSurE group (30% vs 45%, P = .02, odds ratio –0.52, 95% confidence interval –0.94 to –0.29). Mean duration of both nCPAP and MV were significantly shorter in the Take Care group (P values .006 and .002, respectively). Bronchopulmonary dysplasia rate was significantly lower among the infants treated with the Take Care technique (relative risk –0.27, 95% confidence interval –0.1 to –0.72)

CONCLUSIONS:

The Take Care technique is feasible for the treatment of respiratory distress syndrome in infants with very low birth weight. It significantly reduces both the need and duration of MV, and thus the bronchopulmonary dysplasia rate in preterm infants.
Parental Leave for Residents and Pediatric Training Programs
Authors:   SECTION ON MEDICAL STUDENTS, RESIDENTS, AND FELLOWSHIP TRAINEES,   COMMITTEE ON EARLY CHILDHOOD, Fussell Jill J. , Johnson Lara W. , Batlivala Sarosh , Riedmann Natalie , Haischer-Rollo Gayle , Von Oettingen Julia , Tjoeng Yuen Lie , Kelly Erin , Garg Padma , Slovin Sara , Myles David , Becton Lauren , Thattaliyath Bijoy , Hornik Matthew , Reynolds Kimberly , Marks Jessie , Kuehler Maggie , Patel Rupal M. , Lucke Ashley , Patel Neha , Malik Faisal , Van Dyne Elizabeth , Chao Nicole , Marriott Oneka , Diamond Melissa , Matos Renee , Donoghue Elaine , Gleason Mary Margaret , Jones Veronnie F. , Mendelsohn Alan L. , Schulte Elaine E. , Williamson Patricia Gail
Published: January 2013

This Policy Statement was reaffirmed April 2019.

The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) is committed to the development of rational, equitable, and effective parental leave policies that are sensitive to the needs of pediatric residents, families, and developing infants and that enable parents to spend adequate and good-quality time with their young children. It is important for each residency program to have a policy for parental leave that is written, that is accessible to residents, and that clearly delineates program practices regarding parental leave. At a minimum, a parental leave policy for residents and fellows should conform legally with the Family Medical Leave Act as well as with respective state laws and should meet institutional requirements of the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education for accredited programs. Policies should be well formulated and communicated in a culturally sensitive manner. The AAP advocates for extension of benefits consistent with the Family Medical Leave Act to all residents and interns beginning at the time that pediatric residency training begins. The AAP recommends that regardless of gender, residents who become parents should be guaranteed 6 to 8 weeks, at a minimum, of parental leave with pay after the infant’s birth. In addition, in conformance with federal law, the resident should be allowed to extend the leave time when necessary by using paid vacation time or leave without pay. Coparenting, adopting, or fostering of a child should entitle the resident, regardless of gender, to the same amount of paid leave (6–8 weeks) as a person who takes maternity/paternity leave. Flexibility, creativity, and advanced planning are necessary to arrange schedules that optimize resident education and experience, cultivate equity in sharing workloads, and protect pregnant residents from overly strenuous work experiences at critical times of their pregnancies.
Infant Feeding and Transmission of Human Immunodeficiency Virus in the United States
Authors:   COMMITTEE ON PEDIATRIC AIDS, Mofenson Lynne M. , Flynn Patricia M. , Aldrovandi Grace M. , Chadwick Ellen Gould , Chakraborty Rana , Cooper Ellen Rae , Schwarzwald Heidi , Martinez Jaime , Van Dyke Russell B.
Published: January 2013

This Policy Statement was revised. See https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2024-066843.

Physicians caring for infants born to women infected with HIV are likely to be involved in providing guidance to HIV-infected mothers on appropriate infant feeding practices. It is critical that physicians are aware of the HIV transmission risk from human milk and the current recommendations for feeding HIV-exposed infants in the United States. Because the only intervention to completely prevent HIV transmission via human milk is not to breastfeed, in the United States, where clean water and affordable replacement feeding are available, the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that HIV-infected mothers not breastfeed their infants, regardless of maternal viral load and antiretroviral therapy.
Occurrence of CCA-treated timber in caterers’ fuelwood stocks in the Cape Town region
Authors: Niyobuhungiro Rissa , Naidoo Sivapregasen , Dalvie Aqiel , Von Blottnitz Harro
Published: January 2013

Wood used as fuel under conditions of urban poverty is a source of air pollution. Fuelwood is harvested from peri-urban green areas or sourced as waste from industry or commerce, and used in the informal economy, both by households and by productive activities such as roadside catering. End-of-life timber may have previously been treated for protection, sometimes by impregnation with chromated copper arsenate (CCA). Combustion of CCA-treated timber could magnify the health and environmental risks associated with air pollution, as a result of the release of arsenic and chromium in toxic and carcinogenic forms. Fuelwood supplies of roadside caterers in the urban settlements of Nyanga and Khayelitsha were randomly sampled and 86 collected specimens were prepared for analysis. A further 12 samples were taken, based on their appearance, from households and caterers in settlements near Stellenbosch, Worcester and Paarl. Shavings from the timber specimens were microwave digested using nitric acid and analysed using inductively coupled plasma analysis. All samples collected in the first round showed low concentrations of Cr, Cu and As, believed to be representative of natural backgrounds. Of the 12 peri-urban samples collected in the second round, 8 showed higher levels, typical of treatment to H2–H5 standards. Once it was clear that appearance was a fair indicator of treatment, a further set of 18 suspect pieces from caterers’ supplies in Langa, Nyanga, Khayelitsha and Kayamandi were tested, of which at least 1 sample from each area was found to be treated. CCA-treated timber was found infrequently in fuel supplies of urban caterers, and more frequently in peri-urban areas. Further research and interventions to limit health and environmental risks are recommended.
Vegetable oil based liquid nanocomposite dielectric
Authors: Chetty Leon , Serukenya Isaac W. , Ijumba Nelson M.
Published: January 2013

Physically smaller dielectric materials would improve the optimisation of space for power systems. Development of nanotechnology provides an effective way to improve the performances of insulating oils used in power system applications. In this research study, we focused on the development of nanomodified vegetable oils to be used in power transformers. Higher conduction currents were observed in virgin linseed oil than in virgin castor oil. However, for both virgin linseed and virgin castor oil, the DC conduction current increased approximately linearly with the applied DC voltage. In nanomodified linseed oil, the characteristic curve showed two distinct regions: a linear region (at lower applied voltage) and a saturation region (at slightly higher voltage). Conversely, in nanomodified castor oil, the characteristic curve showed three distinct regions: a linear region (at lower applied voltage), a saturation region (at intermediate applied voltage) and an exponential growth region (at higher applied voltage). The nanomodified linseed oil exhibited a better dielectric performance than the nanomodified castor oil. Overall, the addition of nanodielectrics to vegetable oils decreased the dielectric performance of the vegetable oils. The results of this study contribute to the understanding of the pre-breakdown phenomenon in liquid nanocomposite dielectrics.