bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Direct measurement of ant predation of weed seeds in wheat cropping
Authors: Evans Theodore A. , Gleeson Patrick V.
Published: March 2016

The ecosystem service of predation of weed seeds by naturally occurring seed‐eating animals, including ants, in agricultural fields has been suggested to be a potentially important biocontrol option. Laboratory and field tests have found high levels of seed removal from experimentally placed seed; however, the effect of predation on naturally dispersed weed seeds is unknown. We measured the effect of invertebrate seed predators on natural weed seed dispersal and germination in a field experiment under commercial growing conditions.

The two‐factor, large‐scale field experiment in a field used to grow wheat with conservation tillage used an insecticide to remove soil invertebrates (ants had been reduced by 85% relative to water controls) and shallow tillage for mechanical weed removal (no effect on ants). There was one natural weed seeding event, when a wind storm blew one single incursion of Salsola australis (Chenopodiaceae) tumbleweeds across the field.

We measured the number of tumbleweeds after 2 months and found the removal of ants resulted in a doubling of tumbleweeds: 3383 ± 513 weeds ha−1 in the insecticide treatment plots compared with 1768 ± 100 weeds ha−1 in the water control treatment plots, and 1948 ± 227 weeds ha−1 in the rest of the field.

The difference in tumbleweed germination and growth was not due to growing conditions. We measured soil nutrients before the incursion and soil moisture during the weed growing period and found that there were higher levels of nitrogenous compounds in water control plots, but no other nutrient or moisture differences, than in insecticide exclusion plots.

Synthesis and applications. Our results provide evidence that the ecosystem service of ant predation of naturally dispersed weed seeds limits weed abundance in commercial cereal fields in warmer climates. The fields were not managed to increase ants; alternative conservation agricultural management methods that promote agro‐ecology, including low or zero tillage and low insecticide use, could increase ant abundance and thereby reduce weeds. The use of seed predators as a type of biocontrol agent will need to be integrated with other weed management methods, including herbicides and shallow tillage, although the latter may conflict with ant survival. The use of seed predators may be particularly advantageous in organic systems, or locations where economic margins are low.
Effect of pyric herbivory on source–sink dynamics in grassland birds
Authors: Davis Craig A. , Churchwell Roy T. , Fuhlendorf Samuel D. , Engle David M. , Hovick Torre J.
Published: March 2016

Grasslands world‐wide provide a host of ecosystem services. In particular, these grasslands serve as biodiversity repositories for a myriad of imperilled animal species. One such group is grassland birds, which have experienced significant declines, predominantly caused by extensive loss and degradation of native grasslands. Rangeland management that promotes increasing and sustaining livestock production through reducing the inherent, disturbance‐driven variability that historically occurred in grasslands is considered a major contributing factor to these declines.

An alternative approach to this homogeneous management paradigm attempts to restore a shifting mosaic of disturbance patches across the landscape through the spatial and temporal interactions of fire and grazing (i.e. pyric herbivory). Application of pyric herbivory through patch‐burn grazing increases overall habitat heterogeneity, likely a critically important factor in maintaining and enhancing grassland bird populations.

We compared reproductive rates and estimates of fecundity of three grassland birds nesting in grasslands maintained by traditional and patch‐burn grazing management paradigms in the Southern Great Plains of North America. Additionally, we used a sensitivity analysis approach to assess population stability (i.e. λ = 1) and source–sink population dynamics under the two management practices.

Nest survival for dickcissels Spiza americana and grasshopper sparrows Ammodramus savannarum was higher in patch‐burned grasslands than in traditionally managed grasslands, while nest survival for eastern meadowlarks Sturnella magna was higher in traditionally managed grasslands than in patch‐burned grasslands.

Dickcissels and grasshopper sparrows responded positively to patch burning with source habitats occurring over a wider range of survival rates under patch burning than traditional management, while no clear pattern emerged in source–sink dynamics of eastern meadowlarks.

Synthesis and applications. Management strategies such as patch‐burn grazing offer opportunities to restore landscape heterogeneity to benefit bird communities while maintaining livestock production goals. Applying patch‐burn grazing to rangelands can increase productivity of grassland birds and could be effective for reversing the decline of grassland birds by providing source habitats more consistently than traditional rangeland management. Our results emphasize the utility of using sensitivity analyses to determine source–sink population dynamics when evaluating management practices. However, land managers should consider that source–sink models have shortcomings and designation of a habitat as a sink does not necessarily mean the habitat has low conservation value.
Baldness and testicular cancer: the EPSAM case–control study
Authors: Moirano G. , Zugna D. , Grasso C. , Lista P. , Ciuffreda L. , Segnan N. , Merletti F. , Richiardi L.
Published: March 2016

The etiology of testicular cancer is largely unexplained. Research has mainly focused on prenatal exposures, especially to sex hormones, while less attention has been paid to exposures that may act also postnatally. As baldness has been previously associated with testicular cancer risk we focused on baldness and body hairiness, which are both associated with androgen activity. We used data of the Postnatal Exposures and Male Health (EPSAM) study, a case–control study on testicular cancer conducted in the Province of Turin, Italy, involving cases diagnosed between 1997 and 2008. Information was collected using mailed questionnaires. Analyses included 255 cases and 459 controls. We calculated ORs and 95% CIs to estimate testicular cancer risk among those who developed baldness and among those with body hairiness. We found an inverse association between testicular cancer and baldness (OR: 0.67, 95% CI: 0.46–0.98) and body hairiness (OR: 0.78, 95% CI: 0.53–1.16), although the latter had wider CIs. The inverse association between baldness and testicular cancer is consistent with the results from previous studies. These results suggest that androgens activity may influence testicular cancer risk.
The association of endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) G894T gene polymorphism with responsiveness to a selective α1‐blocker in men with benign prostatic hyperplasia related lower urinary tract symptoms
Authors: Lee Yung‐Chin , Juan Yung‐Shun , Liu Chia‐Chu , Bao Bo‐Ying , Wang Chii‐Jye , Wu Wen‐Jeng , Huang Chun‐Nung , Huang Shu‐Pin
Published: March 2016

Objective

To prospectively investigate the association of endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) G894T gene polymorphism with responsiveness to a selective α1‐blocker in men with benign prostatic hyperplasia related lower urinary tract symptoms (BPH/LUTS), as nitric oxide has recently gained increasing recognition as an important neurotransmitter of functions in the lower urinary tract.

Patients and Methods

In all, 136 men with BPH/LUTS were recruited from urology outpatient clinics in a university hospital. Oral therapy with doxazosin gastrointestinal therapeutic system (GITS) 4 mg once‐daily was given for 12 weeks. The drug efficacy was assessed by the changes from baseline in the total International Prostate Symptom Score (IPSS), maximum urinary flow rate (Qmax) and post‐void residual urine volume (PVR) at 12 weeks of treatment. The ‘responders’ to doxazosin GITS were defined as those who had a total IPSS decrease of >4 points from baseline. eNOS G894T polymorphism was determined using the polymerase chain reaction‐restriction fragment length polymorphism method.

Results

Patients had statistically significant improvements in total IPSS, quality of life score, and Qmax (P < 0.01) after a 12‐week period of treatment. Using multiple logistic regression analysis adjusted for age and IPSS, our results showed that being a eNOS 894T allele carrier was an independent risk factor for being a drug non‐responder (P = 0.03, odds ratio 4.19). Moreover, a decreased responder rate (P = 0.01), as well as the lower improvements in IPSS (P = 0.02) and Qmax (P = 0.03) were significantly associated with increment in the T allele number.

Conclusions

The presence of the eNOS 894T allele had a significantly negative impact on responsiveness to a selective α1‐blocker in BPH/LUTS treatment, suggesting that eNOS G894T gene polymorphism may be a genetic susceptibility factor for α1‐blocker efficacy in men with BPH/LUTS.
Role of survivin expression in predicting biochemical recurrence after radical prostatectomy: a multi‐institutional study
Authors: Mathieu Romain , Lucca Ilaria , Vartolomei Mihai D. , Mbeutcha Aurélie , Klatte Tobias , Seitz Christian , Karakiewicz Pierre I. , Fajkovic Harun , Sun Maxine , Lotan Yair , Montorsi Francesco , Briganti Alberto , Rouprêt Morgan , Margulis Vitaly , Rink Michael , Rieken Malte , Kenner Lukas , Susani Martin , Wolgang Loidl , Shariat Shahrokh F.
Published: March 2016

Objective

To assess the association of survivin expression with clinicopathological features and biochemical recurrence (BCR) after radical prostatectomy (RP) in a large multi‐institutional cohort.

Methods

Survivin expression was evaluated by immunohistochemistry on a tissue microarray of RP cores from 3 117 patients. Survivin expression was considered altered when at least 10% of the tumour cells stained positive. The association of altered survivin expression with BCR was evaluated using Cox proportional hazards regression models.

Results

Survivin expression was altered in 1 330 patients (42.6%). Altered expression was associated with higher Gleason score on RP (P = 0.001), extracapsular extension (P = 0.019), seminal vesicle invasion (P < 0.001) and lymph node metastases (P = 0.009). The median (interquartile range) follow‐up was 38 (21–66) months. Patients with altered survivin expression had a shorter BCR‐free survival time than those with normal expression (5‐year BCR‐free survival estimates: 74.7 vs 79.0%; P = 0.008). Altered survivin expression did not retain its prognostic value, however, after adjustment for the effect of established clinicopathological factors (P = 0.73). Subgroup analyses also showed no independent prognostic value of survivin.

Conclusions

Survivin expression is commonly altered in patients undergoing RP. Altered survivin expression is associated with the clinicopathological features of biologically and clinically aggressive PCa. Survivin expression was associated with BCR only in univariable analysis, limiting its value in daily clinical decision‐making.
Preoperative diagnosis and prognosis in 40 Parathyroid Carcinoma Patients
Authors: Xue Song , Chen Haizhen , Lv Chunhui , Shen Xiaohui , Ding Jiazeng , Liu Jianmin , Chen Xi
Published: March 2016

Objective

Parathyroid carcinoma (PC) is a rare disease which is difficult to diagnose preoperatively and predict prognosis. The goal of this study was to analyse the preoperative predictive factors and prognostic factors in PC patients and to evaluate the possibility of diagnosing PC preoperatively.

Design, Setting and Patients

This is a retrospective study from Jan 2000 to Aug 2015 conducted in Shanghai Ruijin Hospital.

Measurements

Comparisons were made between 40 parathyroid carcinoma patients and 282 patients with benign parathyroid lesions during the same period. All patients underwent parathyroid surgery, and the results were certified by paraffin pathology. Prognostic factors were analysed in the 40 PC patients.

Results

Patients with higher levels of intact parathyroid hormone (P < 0·001, OR = 1·001, CI: 1·000–1·002), calcium (P = 0·008, OR = 3·395, CI: 1·382–8·341) and a larger parathyroid volume (P = 0·001, OR = 2·023, CI: 1·333–3·071) were more likely to have PC. Local excision (P = 0·008, OR = 4·992, CI: 1·533–16·252), stage III in the Schulte staging system (P = 0·039, OR = 9·600, CI: 1·12–82·322), high risk in the Schulte Risk Classification (P = 0·012, OR = 5·466, CI: 1·448–20·628) and first surgery by other medical teams (P = 0·008, OR = 4·992, CI: 1·496–15·037) were associated with PC recurrence. Calcium (P = 0·01, OR = 7·270, CI: 1·611–32·812), intact parathyroid hormone (P = 0·037, OR = 1·001, CI: 1·000–1·001), local excision (P = 0·009, OR = 6·875, CI: 1·633–28·936) and recurrence (P = 0·014, OR = 7·762, CI: 1·504–40·055) were associated with death.

Conclusions

A preoperative diagnostic system may provide a new method to distinguish PC from benign parathyroid lesions before surgery. For PC patients who did not undergo en‐bloc resection at first operation, timely further surgery may offer a second chance of cure. Early diagnosis and surgery are pivotal to reduce mortality in PC patients.
Expanding the phenotype of RTTN variations: a new family with primary microcephaly, severe growth failure, brain malformations and dermatitis
Authors: Grandone A. , Torella A. , Santoro C. , Giugliano T. , del Vecchio Blanco F. , Mutarelli M. , Cirillo M. , Cirillo G. , Piluso G. , Capristo C. , Festa A. , Marzuillo P. , Miraglia del Giudice E. , Perrone L. , Nigro V.
Published: March 2016

Primary autosomal recessive microcephaly (MCPH) is a developmental disorder characterized by prenatal onset of abnormal brain growth. MCPH occurs both alone and as part of a broad range of neurodevelopmental syndromes with or without cortical malformations and growth retardation. Here we report a consanguineous Moroccan family with two siblings affected by severe primary microcephaly, failure to thrive, congenital dermatitis and severe developmental delay. Brain magnetic resonance imaging showed lissencephaly of frontal lobes and periventricular heterotopia of the gray matter. We performed both Comparative Genomic Hybridization array and whole exome sequencing (WES) analyses of the kindred. No quantitative defects were detected. However, WES identified a new homozygous missense variation in the penultimate nucleotide of exon 23 of RTTN gene (c.2953A>G;pArg985Gly). cDNA sequencing revealed two abnormal spliced products, one lacking only exon 23 and the other lacking exons 22 and 23 (out‐of‐frame). RTTN is a protein involved in cilia structure and function. Homozygous mutations in RTTN gene have been described in bilateral diffuse isolated polymicrogyria and, more recently, in microcephalic primordial dwarfism (PD). We found a novel homozygous mutation in RTTN associated with microcephalic PD as well as complex brain malformations and congenital dermatitis, thus expanding the phenotypic spectrum of both RTTN‐associated diseases and ciliary dysfunction.
Secular trends in antihyperglycaemic medication prescriptions in older adults with diabetes and chronic kidney disease: 2004–2013
Authors: Clemens K. K. , Liu K. , Shariff S. , Schernthaner G. , Tangri N. , Garg A. X.
Published: March 2016

Aim

To examine how antihyperglycaemic medications were prescribed to older adults with diabetes and chronic kidney disease over the last decade.

Methods

We conducted a population‐based study of 144 252 older adults with diabetes and chronic kidney disease (estimated glomerular filtration rate <60 ml/min/1.73 m2 or receiving chronic dialysis) in Ontario, Canada. In each study quarter (3‐month intervals from 1 April 2004 until 31 March 2013) we studied the proportion of treated and newly treated patients prescribed insulin, sulphonylureas, α‐glucosidase inhibitors, metformin, thiazolidinediones, meglitinides and dipeptidyl peptidase‐4 (DPP‐4) inhibitors. We further examined prescription trends by stage of chronic kidney disease.

Results

The mean age of patients increased slightly (from 76 to 78 years) over the study period and the percentage with comorbidities declined. Metformin was the predominant therapy prescribed (prescribed to a mean of 56.1% of treated patients). Glyburide (glibenclamide) and thiazolidinedione prescriptions decreased (glyburide prescriptions declined from 45.5 to 9.5%, rosiglitazone from 3.6 to 0.2% and pioglitazone from 1.9 to 1.7%), while gliclazide and DPP‐4 inhibitor prescriptions increased (gliclazide prescriptions increased from 0.6 to 26.4%, sitagliptin from 0 to 15.3% and saxagliptin from 0 to 2.0%). Up to 48.6% of patients with stage 3a–5 chronic kidney disease or receiving chronic dialysis were prescribed glyburide, and up to 27.6% of patients with stage 4–5 disease or receiving chronic dialysis were prescribed metformin.

Conclusions

In patients with chronic kidney disease, there were trends towards safer antihyperglycaemic medication prescribing. A considerable number of patients, however, continue to receive medications that should be avoided.
Clinging to Hope through Education: The Consequences of Hope for Rural Laborers in Telangana, India
Authors: Jakimow Tanya
Published: March 2016

Education is for marginalized people in agrarian Telangana, India,themeans to getting ahead, at the same time that structural conditions have diminished its potential. This article considers the consequences of education's failures for parents’ positioning within a society that is purported to be “moving forward.” I draw upon Berlant (2011) and Ahmed (2010) as a starting point to explore the possibility that the idea of progress through education is critical to one's sense of self, anchoring the self to conventional hopes and desires as a way to survive present‐day uncertainties. Variations in the narratives of villagers complicate any straightforward analysis, however. Hope is precarious when faced with the improbability of the next generation escaping hardship, coexisting with relative resignation and a lack of agency. It is thealmostimpossibility of getting ahead through education that establishes its theoretical possibility and hence the obligation to pursue normative aspirations. Through close attention to the texture of hope in agrarian Telangana, I aim to reveal unintended consequences of the continued emphasis on education as a development goal.
Transnational Ties: Children's Reactions to Parental Emigration in Guayaquil, Ecuador
Authors: Rae‐Espinoza Heather
Published: March 2016

Culture prominently shapes psychological adaptations and social adjustments for children facing potentially distressing circumstances. With three years of fieldwork on the children who stay after parental emigration in Guayaquil, Ecuador, I describe how children synthesize the competing values on émigré parents in wider society and in their transnational households that form a disjunctive socialization context. Children create a culturally constituted defense mechanism in their peer culture, which I call “transnational ties.” This defense allows children to view their geographically distant émigré parents as emotionally present by emphasizing continuing bonds, downplaying transitional periods, focusing on age‐graded care, and disconnecting family from the domestic unit. Children's personal practices reveal that enculturation is a social and psychological process.
Fatigue crack initiation prediction of cope hole details in orthotropic steel deck using the theory of critical distances
Authors: Zhou H. , Wen J. , Wang Z. , Zhang Y. , Du X.
Published: March 2016

Orthotropic steel decks are vulnerable to fatigue cracking in welded connections and complex geometrical details. A total of three fatigue tests were conducted on segments of orthotropic steel deck to evaluate the fatigue performance of trough‐to‐crossbeam connections with various cut‐out configurations. In the tests, the specimens were subjected to cyclic three‐point bending load and the fatigue cracks were more likely to initiate from the cope holes in the crossbeam web rather than the trough‐to‐crossbeam fillet welds. Three‐dimensional finite element models (FEM) of the specimens were built and validated by the measured deflections and stresses. Using the validated FEM, the characteristic stresses based on the theory of critical distances (TCD) were calculated for the stress concentrations along the cope holes. The fatigue crack initiation life, predicted by the TCD‐based stress combined with the plain material S–N curve, agreed reasonably with the fatigue test results. The TCD method could further form a basis of fatigue crack propagation analysis using the fracture mechanics approaches.
Communal nesting under climate change: fitness consequences of higher incubation temperatures for a nocturnal lizard
Authors: Dayananda Buddhi , Gray Sarah , Pike David , Webb Jonathan K.
Published: March 2016

Communal nesting lizards may be vulnerable to climate warming, particularly if air temperatures regulate nest temperatures. In southeastern Australia, velvet geckos Oedura lesueurii lay eggs communally inside rock crevices. We investigated whether increases in air temperatures could elevate nest temperatures, and if so, how this could influence hatching phenotypes, survival, and population dynamics. In natural nests, maximum daily air temperature influenced mean and maximum daily nest temperatures, implying that nest temperatures will increase under climate warming. To determine whether hotter nests influence hatchling phenotypes, we incubated eggs under two fluctuating temperature regimes to mimic current ‘cold’ nests (mean = 23.2 °C, range 10–33 °C) and future ‘hot’ nests (27.0 °C, 14–37 °C). ‘Hot’ incubation temperatures produced smaller hatchlings than did cold temperature incubation. We released individually marked hatchlings into the wild in 2014 and 2015, and monitored their survival over 10 months. In 2014 and 2015, hot‐incubated hatchlings had higher annual mortality (99%, 97%) than cold‐incubated (11%, 58%) or wild‐born hatchlings (78%, 22%). To determine future trajectories of velvet gecko populations under climate warming, we ran population viability analyses in Vortex and varied annual rates of hatchling mortality within the range 78– 96%. Hatchling mortality strongly influenced the probability of extinction and the mean time to extinction. When hatchling mortality was >86%, populations had a higher probability of extinction (PE: range 0.52– 1.0) with mean times to extinction of 18–44 years. Whether future changes in hatchling survival translate into reduced population viability will depend on the ability of females to modify their nest‐site choices. Over the period 1992–2015, females used the same communal nests annually, suggesting that there may be little plasticity in maternal nest‐site selection. The impacts of climate change may therefore be especially severe on communal nesting species, particularly if such species occupy thermally challenging environments.
Beyond the American Colonization Society
Authors: Seeley Samantha
Published: March 2016

This article offers a critical review of scholarship on black colonization and emigration beyond the United States between the 1770s and the 1850s. In 1816, a group of elite white men founded the American Colonization Society (ACS), an organization committed to sending free African Americans outside the bounds of the nation. By 1821, the ACS had secured federal funding for the project and purchased land for the new black colony of Liberia in West Africa. Historians have long disagreed about the aims of the ACS beyond its prejudicial presumption that African Americans did not belong within the nation. This founding debate has obscured the much longer and more diffuse history of colonization thought across the American colonies and the new United States. Well before and after 1816, both black and white activists planned alternative black colonies outside the bounds of the United States in West Africa, Florida, Haiti, Canada, Texas, Mexico, and the American West. This essay briefly reviews the major arguments in the scholarship on the ACS before turning to examine work that has looked beyond Liberia to embrace creative approaches to the scattered field of black colonization and emigration across the Anglo‐Atlantic world. This growing body of scholarship demonstrates ever more forcefully that removal and migration were at the center of conceptions of race, citizenship, and freedom in the early United States.
African Mobility and Labor in Global History
Authors: Callebert Ralph
Published: March 2016

Popular discourses on globalization and many global histories do not have much to say about Africa, despite significant advances in global history's engagements with Africa in recent decades. The continent generally only features to the extent that it trades, usually as subordinate partner, with the rest of the world or is penetrated by foreign merchants and colonizers. Such accounts approach the continent's integration into world marketsfrom without. This literature thus emphasizes colonial transport infrastructure, export trade, and forms of labor that feed directly into global markets, including wage labor and cash cropping. The historiography on African mobility and labor, however, opens up promising avenues for better integrating the continent into global history. African historians' growing focus on local mobility and informal trade, on the ways in which Africans took part in shaping connections with global markets, and on productive activities not geared towards export allows us to reframe Africa in global history as more than a passive victim of colonialism, the slave trade, or global capital.
A new alternative to cosmetics preservation and the effect of the particle size of the emulsion droplets on preservation efficacy
Authors: Fang B. , Yu M. , Zhang W. , Wang F.
Published: March 2016

Objective

This study describes a new alternative combination preservative containing caprylyl glycol, phenethyl alcohol and glyceryl caprylate and investigates the effects of the particle size of the emulsion droplet on the anti‐microbial activity of the said blend in the formulation.

Methods

The anti‐microbial activity of the ingredients and the blend were determined via MIC, MBC, MFC and fractional inhibitory concentration (FIC) determination using the broth microdilution method. The blend inhibited the micro‐organism contamination of the oil‐in‐water emulsion, and its performance was affected by the particle size of the emulsion droplet, as shown by the in vitro microbial challenge test.

Results

Results show that the MIC/MBC/MFC values of the blend were lower than those of any of the ingredients used alone. Any two of the ingredients presented no antagonistic activities against all the tested micro‐organisms, and synergism or additive effects were also observed. The challenge test also showed that the action of the blend against bacteria and yeast was only 0.3% and 0.2%, respectively, and mould was completely inhibited at 1.4%, meeting the requirements of the PCPC and European Pharmacopoeia. The results showed that anti‐microbial activity was gradually enhanced when the particle size of the emulsion droplets increased significantly in the range of 100–900 nm. A positive correlation was found between anti‐microbial activity and particle size.

Conclusion

The synergistic performance of caprylyl glycol, phenethyl alcohol and glyceryl caprylate and the anti‐microbial activity of their blend suggest that their combination is effective and exhibits broad‐spectrum anti‐microbial activity. Furthermore, the results show a positive correlation between the anti‐microbial activity of the preservative and the particle size of the emulsion droplets in the range of 100–900 nm, when the same concentration of the blend is used in the same formulation. The particle size of the emulsion droplets is demonstrated to be a newly discovered factor that influences the preservation of cosmetic products.
Skin grafting for the treatment of chronic leg ulcers – a systematic review in evidence‐based medicine
Authors: Serra Raffaele , Rizzuto Antonia , Rossi Alessio , Perri Paolo , Barbetta Andrea , Abdalla Karim , Caroleo Santo , Longo Chiara , Amantea Bruno , Sammarco Giuseppe , de Franciscis Stefano
Published: March 2016

Skin grafting is one of the most common surgical procedures in the area of non‐healing wounds by which skin or a skin substitute is placed over a wound to replace and regenerate the damaged skin. Chronic leg ulcers are an important problem and a major source of expense for Western countries and for which many different forms of treatment have been used. Skin grafting is a method of treatment that decreases the area of chronic leg ulcers or heals them completely, thus improving a patient's quality of life. Skin grafting is an old technique, rediscovered during the first and second world wars as the main treatment for wound closure. Nowadays, skin grafting has a pivotal role in the context of modern wound healing and tissue regeneration. The aim of this review was to track and to analyse the specific outcomes this technique achieved, especially in the last decade, in relation to venous, arterial, diabetic, rheumatoid and traumatic leg ulcers. Our main findings indicate that autologous split‐thickness skin grafting still remains the gold standard in terms of safety and efficacy for chronic leg ulcers; skin grafting procedures have greater success rates in chronic venous leg ulcers compared to other types of chronic leg ulcers; skin tissue engineering, also supported by genetic manipulation, is quickly expanding and, in the near future, may provide even better outcomes in the area of treatments for long‐lasting chronic wounds.
Nurse practitioners’ focus on health care in terms of cure and care: analysis of graduate theses using the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health
Authors: Stallinga Hillegonda A. , Jansen Gerard J. , Kastermans Marijke C. , Pranger Albert , Dijkstra Pieter U. , Roodbol Petrie F.
Published: March 2016

Aim

To explore the focus of nurse practitioners on health care in terms of cure and care.

Background

Nurse practitioners are expected to act on the intersection of cure and care. However, in clinical practice and education, a clear model covering this area is lacking; therefore, it is unknown to what extent nurse practitioners are focused on this specific area. Graduate theses may reflect the focus of nurse practitioners.

Design

Sequential exploratory mixed method.

Methods

In total, 413 published abstracts of graduate theses of a Dutch Master of Advanced Nursing Practice (2000–2015) were analysed using the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health. Data source included aim, question and outcome of each thesis and graduates’ characteristics. A qualitative deductive approach was used for the analyses. Theses were classified as focused on cure, care, or on the intersection of cure and care.

Results

A small majority of 53% (N = 219) of the graduate theses addressed patient's health status and could be classified in the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health. Of the classified theses, 48% were focused on cure, 39% on the intersection of cure and care and 13% on care. While the percentage of theses addressing health status increased significantly over the 15‐year period, the percentage of theses focused on cure, care and on the intersection of cure and care remained the same.

Conclusion

The graduate theses reflected that nurse practitioners are increasingly oriented towards patients’ health status. However, their focus is predominantly on cure rather than on the intersection of cure and care.
Theorising and Exposing Institutional Racism in Britain: The Contribution of Ann and Michael Dummett to Critical Philosophy of Race
Authors: Bernasconi Robert
Published: March 2016

By helping to introduce the relatively new concept of institutional racism into Britain, Sir Michael and Ann Dummett expanded the concept of racism beyond the limited sense it had been given in the 1940s and 1950s when racism tended to be associated with the scientific concept of race and when the focus tended to fall on the intent to harm or speak harm of a group that was identified as a race by science. They recognised that ‘race’ was primarily a political and not a scientific concept. This led them in a different direction from that taken by the next generation of mainstream philosophers working in this area, such as Kwame Anthony Appiah, who adopted the UNESCO approach of highlighting the scientific deficiencies of the concept of race. However, although they both succeeded in developing ways to break through the forms of self‐deception that allow institutional racism to go unnoticed and at the same time offered instructive insights into the ways politicians hide behind the racism of others, I argue that they failed to see, as clearly as Sartre and Fanon did, that the conception of institutional racism necessitates a structural changes in society beyond anything they contemplated.
CLAWBACK PROVISIONS IN REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT TRUSTS
Authors: Cashman George D. , Harrison David M. , Panasian Christine A.
Published: March 2016

Using a sample of 195 unique real estate investment trusts (REITs), we examine factors related to the adoption of clawback provisions within managerial compensation contracts. In general, we find strong and consistent empirical evidence that clawback provision are directly related to firm size, complexity, leverage, growth options, monitoring incentives, and CEO performance incentives. We also find that clawbacks are associated with enhanced market and accounting performance, with stronger performance relations observed for adoption decisions tied directly to regulatory mandates. In sum, we conclude compensation clawback provisions represent a value‐relevant, strategic governance mechanism for REITs.
Comparative Perspectives on Oxytocin and Vasopressin Receptor Research in Rodents and Primates: Translational Implications
Authors: Freeman Sara M. , Young Larry J.
Published: March 2016

In the last several decades, sophisticated experimental techniques have been used to determine the neurobiology of the oxytocin and vasopressin systems in rodents. Using a suite of methodologies, including electrophysiology, site‐specific selective pharmacology, receptor autoradiography, in vivo microdialysis, and genetic and optogenetic manipulations, we have gained unprecedented knowledge about how these neuropeptides engage neural circuits to regulate behaviour, particularly social behaviour. Based on this foundation of information from rodent studies, we have started generating new hypotheses and frameworks about how the oxytocin and vasopressin systems could be acting in humans to influence social cognition. However, despite the recent inundation of publications using intranasal oxytocin in humans, we still know very little about the neurophysiology of the oxytocin system in primates more broadly. Furthermore, the design and analysis of these human studies have remained largely uninformed of the potential neurobiological mechanisms underlying their findings. Although the methods available for studying the oxytocin and vasopressin systems in humans are incredibly limited as a result of practical and ethical considerations, there is great potential to fill the gaps in our knowledge by developing better nonhuman primate models of social functioning. Behavioural pharmacology and receptor autoradiography have been used to study the oxytocin and vasopressin systems in nonhuman primates, and there is now great potential to broaden our understanding of the neurobiology of these systems. In this review, we discuss comparative findings in receptor distributions in rodents and primates, with perspectives on the functionality of conserved regions of expression in these distinct mammalian clades. We also identify specific ways that established technologies can be used to answer basic research questions in primates. Finally, we highlight areas of future research in nonhuman primates that are experimentally poised to yield critical insights into the anatomy, physiology and behavioural effects of the oxytocin system, given its remarkable translational potential.
Material Presence and the Detox Delusion: Insights from Social Nudism
Authors: Cherrier Hélène
Published: March 2016

Tous à Poil!(Everybody Gets Naked!), a book for children, aimed at countering images of the ideal body, often undressed, elicited austere reactions. This study considers the mythic elements of the clothed body as explicative of such austerity. An analysis of clothing absence in the context of social nudism reveals that the myth of the clothed body cannot easily be remythologized or adapted to suit individual preferences. Rather, social interactions in contemporary societies remain largely locked in material presence. This study calls for public policymakers and social marketers to consider dominating myths as possible constraints to anticonsumption and consumer well‐being.
Effect of Direct Transfer to Different Salinities on Early Juvenile Pot‐bellied Seahorse, Hippocampus abdominalis, Survival in Culture Conditions
Authors: Martinez‐Cardenas Leonardo , Purser John G.
Published: March 2016

In Tasmania, commercial seahorse culture takes place in tank systems in which approximately 75% of the water is exchanged daily from the Tamar River estuary. The aim of this study was to examine the effect on survival of early juvenile pot‐bellied seahorses, Hippocampus abdominalis, directly transferred and cultured for 9 d in salinities of 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, and 32 g/L. Direct transfer of seahorses to 5 g/L salinity resulted in 100% mortality within 7 d. After 9 d, an improvement in survival was recorded in seahorses cultured in 10 and 15 g/L compared to those cultured in 25 and 32 g/L salinities. This study is the first to report on the tolerance of H. abdominalis in captivity at salinities as low as 10 g/L in early life stages without compromising survival.
Functional neuroimaging studies in functional dyspepsia patients: a systematic review
Authors: Lee I.‐S. , Wang H. , Chae Y. , Preissl H. , Enck P.
Published: March 2016

Background

There is increasing evidence in support of the presence of abnormal central changes (compared to healthy controls) in functional dyspepsia (FD) in addition to the peripheral changes in gastrointestinal tract.

Purpose

This systematic review aims to provide an integrative understanding of the abnormal functional brain activity, visceral sensation, dyspeptic symptoms, and psychological changes of FD. Electronic and hand searches were conducted to identify functional neuroimaging studies involving FD patients. Sixteen studies were selected and divided into three categories: 10 resting state studies, three visceral distention studies, and three acupuncture studies. Changes were reported in several brain areas in FD patients including the frontal cortex, somatosensory cortex, insula, anterior cingulate cortex, thalamus, hippocampus, and amygdala. These brain activity changes were associated with visceral hypersensitivity, dyspeptic symptoms, poorer quality of life, anxiety, and depression. The results show that FD is associated with functional abnormalities in sensory and pain modulation, emotion, saliency, and homeostatic processing regions. The diversity of conditions, heterogeneous results, poorly standardized diagnoses of FD, and various comorbidities may be responsible for the variability in the results.
An Incomplete Markets Explanation of the Uncovered Interest Rate Parity Puzzle
Authors: Rabitsch Katrin
Published: March 2016

A large literature attributes failure of uncovered interest rate parity (UIP) to the existence of a time‐varying risk premium. This paper presents a mechanism in a simple two‐country two‐good endowment economy with incomplete markets that generates sizeable deviations from UIP. In a parameterization where international wealth effects are important, liquidity constraints on an internationally traded bond and agents’ strong resulting precautionary motives successfully generates a time‐varying risk premium: countries that have accumulated large outstanding external positions have, being closer to the constraints, stronger precautionary motives and their asset carries a risk premium.
First update of the International Xenotransplantation Association consensus statement on conditions for undertaking clinical trials of porcine islet products in type 1 diabetes—Executive summary
Authors: Hering Bernhard J. , Cozzi Emanuele , Spizzo Thomas , Cowan Peter J. , Rayat Gina R. , Cooper David K.C. , Denner Joachim
Published: March 2016

The International Xenotransplantation Association has updated its original “Consensus Statement on Conditions for Undertaking Clinical Trials of Porcine Islet Products in Type 1 Diabetes,” which was published in Xenotransplantation in 2009. This update is timely and important in light of scientific progress and changes in the regulatory framework pertinent to islet xenotransplantation. Except for the chapter on “informed consent,” which has remained relevant in its 2009 version, all other chapters included in the initial consensus statement have been revised for inclusion in this update. These chapters will not provide complete revisions of the original chapters; rather, they restate the key points made in 2009, emphasize new and under‐appreciated topics not fully addressed in 2009, suggest relevant revisions, and communicate opinions that complement the consensus opinion. Chapter 1 provides an update on national regulatory frameworks addressing xenotransplantation. Chapter 2 a, previously Chapter 2, suggests several important revisions regarding the generation of suitable source pigs from the perspective of the prevention of xenozoonoses. The newly added Chapter 2b discusses conditions for the use of genetically modified source pigs in clinical islet xenotransplantation. Chapter 3 reviews porcine islet product manufacturing and release testing. Chapter 4 revisits the critically important topic of preclinical efficacy and safety data required to justify a clinical trial. The main achievements in the field of transmission of all porcine microorganisms, the rationale for more proportionate recipient monitoring, and response plans are reviewed in Chapter 5. Patient selection criteria and circumstances where trials of islet xenotransplantation would be both medically and ethically justified are examined in Chapter 6 in the context of recent advances in available and emerging alternative therapies for serious and potentially life‐threatening complications of diabetes. It is hoped that this first update of the International Xenotransplantation Association porcine islet transplant consensus statement will assist the islet xenotransplant scientific community, sponsors, regulators, and other stakeholders actively involved in the clinical translation of islet xenotransplantation.
Origins of the vagal drive controlling left ventricular contractility
Authors: Machhada Asif , Marina Nephtali , Korsak Alla , Stuckey Daniel J. , Lythgoe Mark F. , Gourine Alexander V.
Published: March 2016

Key points

The strength, functional significance and origins of parasympathetic innervation of the left ventricle remain controversial.

This study tested the hypothesis that parasympathetic control of left ventricular contractility is provided by vagal preganglionic neurones of the dorsal motor nucleus (DVMN).

Under β‐adrenoceptor blockade combined with spinal cord (C1) transection (to remove sympathetic influences), systemic administration of atropine increased left ventricular contractility in rats anaesthetized with urethane, confirming the existence of a tonic inhibitory muscarinic influence on cardiac inotropy.

Increased left ventricular contractility in anaesthetized rats was observed when DVMN neurones were silenced.

Functional neuroanatomical mapping revealed that vagal preganglionic neurones that have an impact on left ventricular contractility are located in the caudal region of the left DVMN.

These neurones provide functionally significant parasympathetic control of left ventricular inotropy.

The strength, functional significance and origins of direct parasympathetic innervation of the left ventricle (LV) remain controversial. In the present study we used an anaesthetized rat model to first confirm the presence of tonic inhibitory vagal influence on LV inotropy. Using genetic neuronal targeting and functional neuroanatomical mapping we tested the hypothesis that parasympathetic control of LV contractility is provided by vagal preganglionic neurones located in the dorsal motor nucleus (DVMN). It was found that under systemic β‐adrenoceptor blockade (atenolol) combined with spinal cord (C1) transection (to remove sympathetic influences), intravenous administration of atropine increases LV contractility in rats anaesthetized with urethane, but not in animals anaesthetized with pentobarbital. Increased LV contractility in rats anaesthetized with urethane was also observed when DVMN neurones targeted bilaterally to express an inhibitory Drosophila allatostatin receptor were silenced by application of an insect peptide allatostatin. Microinjections of glutamate and muscimol to activate or inhibit neuronal cell bodies in distinct locations along the rostro‐caudal extent of the left and right DVMN revealed that vagal preganglionic neurones, which have an impact on LV contractility, are located in the caudal region of the left DVMN. Changes in LV contractility were only observed when this subpopulation of DVMN neurones was activated or inhibited. These data confirm the existence of a tonic inhibitory muscarinic influence on LV contractility. Activity of a subpopulation of DVMN neurones provides functionally significant parasympathetic control of LV contractile function.
Membrane resistance and shunting inhibition: where biophysics meets state‐dependent human neurophysiology
Authors: Paulus Walter , Rothwell John C.
Published: March 2016

Activation of neurons not only changes their membrane potential and firing rate but as a secondary action reduces membrane resistance. This loss of resistance, or increase of conductance, may be of central importance in non‐invasive magnetic or electric stimulation of the human brain since electrical fields cause larger changes in transmembrane voltage in resting neurons with low membrane conductances than in active neurons with high conductance. This may explain why both the immediate effects and after‐effects of brain stimulation are smaller or even reversed during voluntary activity compared with rest. Membrane conductance is also increased during shunting inhibition, which accompanies the classic GABAA IPSP. This short‐circuits nearby EPSPs and is suggested here to contribute to the magnitude and time course of short‐interval intracortical inhibition and intracortical facilitation.

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Structures of ribosome-bound initiation factor 2 reveal the mechanism of subunit association
Authors: Sprink Thiemo , Ramrath David J. F. , Yamamoto Hiroshi , Yamamoto Kaori , Loerke Justus , Ismer Jochen , Hildebrand Peter W. , Scheerer Patrick , Bürger Jörg , Mielke Thorsten , Spahn Christian M. T.
Published: March 2016

Researchers determine the structure of the ribosome-bound initiation factor 2.