bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Female offenders who commit domestic violence: Aggression characteristics and potential treatment pathways
Authors: McKeown Annette
Published: April 2014

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to inform understanding of female offenders who commit domestic violence. This contentious area of research is growing and there are strong indications that men and women perpetrate similar levels of domestic violence. This has resulted in increasing interest in understanding the characteristics of such offenders as well as considering treatment pathways.

Design/methodology/approach

– In this study, female prisoners (n=92) completed a measure of psychological and physical aggression (Revised Conflict Tactics Scales, Strauset al., 1996) to explore the types of domestic violence experienced and perpetrated in most recent and previous relationships.

Findings

– Results indicated high levels of psychological aggression and physical assaults both experienced and perpetrated by female offenders in current and previous relationships. Physical assaults tended to be severe and high levels of mutual violence were reported both in most recent and previous relationships.

Practical implications

– The findings suggest the importance of service provision and treatment pathways for female domestic violence perpetrators. On the basis of the findings, treatment needs of such offenders are considered and potential treatment pathways are reflected upon.

Originality/value

– There are little known publications exploring the prevalence and characteristics of female domestic violence perpetrators in prison. Research has also tended to focus on current relationships as opposed to considering both current and previous relationships. This paper explores these areas and will be of interest to practitioners working with this client group.
Assessing and treating sexual offenders with mental disorders
Authors: Lord Alex , Perkins Derek
Published: April 2014

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to increase our understanding of the role of mental disorder in sexual offending as well as identifying innovations in assessment and treatment with offenders who present with these typically complex risks and needs.

Design/methodology/approach

– The converging literatures on “good lives” and other developments in sexual offender treatment are compared with recovery from mental disorder and what is known about the particular needs and characteristics of sexual offenders with mental illness and severe personality disorder (PD).

Findings

– A key outcome of this review is that many mentally disordered sexual offenders have similar needs to those in prison and the community but there are particular challenges posed by severe PD, paraphilias and the relatively rare individuals whose offending is functionally linked to psychotic symptoms.

Practical implications

– Practical implications include the need for case formulation of complex needs related to mental disorder using direct and indirect measures of attitudes and interests. Treatment needs to be responsive to very different personality and mental health presentations as well as problems with offending and cognitive schemas. Direct functional links between mental health symptoms such as delusions and hallucinations are very rare in practice and are usually secondary to PD and sexual offending issues. In practice, treatment promoting recovery from mental disorder is highly compatible with the “good lives” approach to sexual offender treatment. Staff development, supervision and support are particularly important for staff treating mentally disordered sexual offenders.

Originality/value

– It is argued that mentally disordered sexual offenders are an under-researched sub-group within the wider sexual offender population. This paper brings together the relatively limited literature on treatment with examples of recent treatment innovations, multi-modal assessment approaches and reviews of research on the needs of this relatively uncommon but highly risky group.
After a market panic: cash is king
Authors: C.C. Smith Garrett
Published: April 2014

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to examine the effects of financial flexibility as represented by excess cash holdings and debt capacity upon firm returns after periods of high market uncertainty.

Design/methodology/approach

– Days of high uncertainty are identified from 1987-2011 using the VXO Index (implied volatility of the S&P 100) yielding approximately 45,000 firm events. The main variables of interest are excess cash (Duchin et al., 2010) and debt capacity. Two financial constraint indexes are used as controls in a cross-sectional OLS regression.

Findings

– The precautionary value of cash during and after times of uncertainty is beneficial. A positive relationship exists for periods of up to two years following the initial day of high uncertainty. Positive BHRs exist on a zero-cost trade investing in a portfolio of high excess cash firms and shorting a portfolio of cash constrained firms. The value of excess debt capacity, on the other hand, is harder to discern; positive profits are obtainable on a zero-cost trade while regression estimates are typically insignificant on average.

Originality/value

– This paper expands the financial flexibility literature by testing the effects of financial flexibility on returns following days of high market uncertainty.
Natural habitat loss and exotic plants reduce the functional diversity of flower visitors in a heterogeneous subtropical landscape
Authors: Grass Ingo , Berens Dana G. , Farwig Nina
Published: April 2014

Functional diversity (FD) of pollinators can increase plant reproductive output and the stability of plant‐pollinator communities. Yet, in times of world‐wide pollinator declines, effects of global change on pollinator FD remain poorly understood. Loss of natural habitat and exotic plant invasions are two major drivers of global change that particularly threaten pollinator diversity.

In a subtropical South African landscape, we investigated changes in the FD of flower visitor assemblages on native and exotic plants along gradients of natural habitat loss and relative abundance of exotic plants. We used a data set of 1434 flower visitor individuals sampled on 131 focal plants and calculated the FD in three flower visitor traits that are strongly related to plant–flower visitor interactions and pollination processes: proboscis length, proboscis diameter and body length.

Multivariate FD of flower visitors decreased with both increasing natural habitat loss and relative exotic abundance. Importantly, changes in FD went beyond those in flower visitor richness. Furthermore, flower visitor richness was not related to either natural habitat loss or relative exotic abundance. Loss in multivariate FD seemed to be mediated by complementary reductions of FD in proboscis length with natural habitat loss and of FD in body length with both global change drivers. Correspondingly, we recorded lower abundances of long‐tongued flower visitors with natural habitat loss and reduced variance in body size with both drivers. In contrast, FD in proboscis diameter was unaffected by either driver. All effects of the two global change drivers were non‐interactive.

Our results show that both natural habitat loss and exotic plants negatively affect flower visitor FD, which may imperil pollination of specialized plant species in degraded habitats. In contrast, flower visitor richness may not cover all facets of flower visitor FD that are relevant to pollination processes. Distinct responses of visitor traits to the two drivers suggest limited options to infer relations of one trait to another. Finally, additive effects of natural habitat loss and exotic plant invasions highlight the need to consider multiple drivers of global change when investigating ecosystem processes at a community scale.
Matrix composition and patch edges influence plant–herbivore interactions in marine landscapes
Authors: Pagès Jordi F. , Gera Alessandro , Romero Javier , Alcoverro Teresa
Published: April 2014

The functioning of ecosystems can be strongly driven by landscape attributes. Despite its importance, however, our understanding of how landscape influences ecosystem function derives mostly from species richness and abundance patterns, with few studies assessing how these relate to actual functional rates.

We examined the influence of landscape attributes on the rates of herbivory in seagrass meadows, where herbivory has been identified as a key process structuring these relatively simple systems. The study was conducted in three representative Posidonia oceanica meadows. The principal herbivores in these meadows are the fish Sarpa salpa and the sea urchin Paracentrotus lividus, and we hypothesized that differences in their interaction with landscape attributes would significantly influence herbivory rates.

We measured herbivore abundance, herbivory rates, primary production and plant quality (C:N) in seagrass patches embedded either in rock or in sand (matrix attribute), in patches either near or far from a rocky reef (distance attribute) and at the edges and interior of meadows.

Our results show that matrix and meadow edges significantly affected the actual levels of herbivory. Herbivory rates were higher in seagrass patches embedded in a rocky matrix compared to those on sand, and herbivory at the centre of seagrass meadows was higher than at the edges. In contrast, patch distance to rocky reefs did not affect herbivory. Neither herbivore abundance nor food quality explained the patterns across different landscape attributes. This suggests that variation in herbivory across the landscape may be related much more to behavioural differences between species in their evaluation of risk, movement and food preference in relation to the landscape structure.

Our results indicate that richness and abundance patterns may mask critical interactions between landscape attributes and species responses, which result in considerable heterogeneity in the way key functional processes like herbivory are distributed across the ecosystem mosaic.
Food‐limited mothers favour offspring quality over offspring number: a principal components approach
Authors: Stahlschmidt Zachary R. , Adamo Shelley A.
Published: April 2014

Mothers are expected to balance the trade‐off between the number and quality of offspring, and many theoretical studies describe how the maternal environment might influence the evolution of the number–quality trade‐off.

However, few empirical studies attempt to test these theories (and their assumptions) by measuring the fitness consequences of variation in investment per offspring. Part of the problem is that measuring offspring fitness is difficult, which frequently leads experimenters to measure several proxies of offspring fitness in place of a comprehensive fitness assay. This strategy tends to result in multiple univariate analyses that involve different offspring fitness proxies, and these tests can have low power and may produce conflicting conclusions.

Here, we demonstrate the benefits of integrating maternal fecundity and proxies of offspring size and fitness into multivariate analyses to elucidate variation in reproductive allocation strategies. In a 2 × 2 factorial experiment, we manipulated the quality of maternal environment (food availability) throughout early and late adulthood (acute and chronic exposure to the maternal environment) in a field cricket.

We developed a multivariate index of reproductive allocation by incorporating maternal fecundity and the performance of offspring in low‐ and high‐food environments into a principle components analysis. This index of reproductive allocation indicated that females decreased fecundity and increased offspring quality after chronic exposure to low‐food environments, thereby providing evidence of adaptive plasticity in investment per offspring. In contrast, few treatment effects were observed using univariate analyses.

The present study demonstrates that multivariate analysis can increase our ability to assess the adaptive significance of reproductive strategies, particularly in situations when offspring size and fitness are difficult to measure with accuracy. Such an approach might ultimately help assess the adaptive significance of reproductive allocation across a wider range of taxa, thereby providing broader insight into the evolution of reproductive strategies.
‘Cats give funerals to rats’: making the dead modern with lament
Authors: Mueggler Erik
Published: April 2014

This article compares funeral laments in a Tibeto‐Burman‐speaking community in Yunnan, China, from two periods: the early 1990s, after ritual revitalization was thoroughly underway, and 2011, after this community had come into more intimate contact with the modernity‐obsessed cultures of urban and semi‐urban China. Laments fashion grief in a public setting by conceptualizing the dead and their relations with the living in vivid poetic language. Laments from the early 1990s described these relations as a circuit of suffering, in which children returned a debt of suffering they owed their parents after the latter's deaths. By 2011, innovative lamenters had reorientated their understanding of suffering to be personal, internal, and intimate. The dead became more ‘modern’, allowing the living, defined largely by their relations with the dead, to participate in ‘modernized’ forms of authentic, sincere emotional expression.
‘Stone is stone’: engagement and detachment in the craft of conservation masonry
Authors: Yarrow Thomas , Jones Siân
Published: April 2014

Since the mid‐nineteenth century, craft has been characterized by relations of engagement, resonating with broader romantic discourses that idealize craftsmen in explicit contrast to forms of alienation linked to capitalist production. In recent work on craft, the analytic lens of engagement usefully highlights the dynamic interplay of human and non‐human agencies. Our own account builds on these ideas but suggests that the conceptual privileging of engagement creates interpretative problems, precluding ethnographic attention to the role of detachment in craft. Focusing on the skilled practices of conservation stonemasons, we describe the specific constellations of ideology and practice involved in cutting and fixing stone. Through elucidating masons’ own understandings of their work, we highlight their commitment to the ‘disciplined’ embodiment of tradition as a means of separating personal subjectivity from the stones they carve. Our analysis of the skilled practices required to work stone questions the primacy of engagement, suggesting instead that detachment and engagement are mutually implicated relational forms. This finding sheds new light on craft practice and offers a position from which to reconsider broader anthropological commitments to concepts of engagement.
The annual Day of the Dead song contest: musical‐linguistic ideology and practice, piratability, and the challenge of scale
Authors: Faudree Paja
Published: April 2014

Building on research theorizing scale, this article proposes augmentations to existing frameworks that will help illuminate how localities are linked to ‘stranger collectives’ like nations, ethnicities, and global religious ‘communities’. In this case of ethnic revival from Mexico's Sierra Mazateca, people use new vernacular literacy practices tied to local musical performances as a way of ‘customizing’ modular forms deployed by national and global institutions to manage indigenous difference. People ‘re‐imagine’ locality through a localized indigenous literacy that takes templates provided by the Mexican state and the Catholic Church and places them in productive tension with local context: musical properties of the indigenous language Mazatec, locally valued performance practices, and local musical‐linguistic ideologies. While this revival movement draws on immanently modular forms, once locally embedded they become ‘unpiratable’, and constitute a new resource for inscribing local belonging. This case suggests the importance of considering linguistic and musical aspects of social context often taken for granted in anthropological investigations of scale.
Soaking in tapes: the haptic voice of globalPentecostal pedagogy inGhana
Authors: Reinhardt Bruno
Published: April 2014

Can a voice touch? This possibility is indeed what underlies ‘soaking in tapes’, a devotional practice performed in Anagkazo Bible and Ministry Training Center, aPentecostal seminary based inAccra,Ghana. Soaking in tapes is a form of impartation, or grace transmission, homologous to the biblical method of laying on of hands. In this article, I explore the conditions of possibility of this transposition of touch into speaking and hearing, arguing that the haptic voice of soaking in tapes is predicated upon a cultivated receptivity and a specific bond connecting addresser and addressee. I situate the practice in the school's broader pedagogical apparatus, where it operates simultaneously as a spiritual exercise, a method of discipleship, and a technology of church government. I conclude by showing how soaking in tapes gives a pedagogical inflection to the general tactility and flow‐orientated materiality of global Pentecostal power.
‘The muck of the past’: revolution, social transformation, and the Maoists in India
Authors: Shah Alpa
Published: April 2014

This article analyses revolutionary social change by exploring how people attempt to create a radically different future by taking action in the present, and the challenges that beset this transformation. Examining the relationship between the future, the present, and the past, the article takes the case of the spread of armed underground Maoist guerrillas in India to ask two questions: First, why does India hang on to this form of utopianism when the rest of the world appears to have abandoned it? Second, how and why does the ‘muck of the past’ influence the production of a radically different future? In answering these questions, this article suggests that for both processes of radical social change and our theories of them, we need to reinsert our analyses of politico‐economic conditions into our ideologies of social change.
Health Care Utilization and Receipt of Preventive Care for Patients Seen at Federally Funded Health Centers Compared to Other Sites of Primary Care
Authors: Laiteerapong Neda , Kirby James , Gao Yue , Yu Tzy‐Chyi , Sharma Ravi , Nocon Robert , Lee Sang Mee , Chin Marshall H. , Nathan Aviva G. , Ngo‐Metzger Quyen , Huang Elbert S.
Published: April 2014

Objective

To compare utilization and preventive care receipt among patients of federal Section 330 health centers (HCs) versus patients of other settings.

Data Sources

A nationally representative sample of adults from the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (2004–2008).

Study Design

HC patients were defined as those with ≥50 percent of outpatient visits at HCs in the first panel year. Outcomes included utilization and preventive care receipt from the second panel year. We used negative binomial and logistic regression models with propensity score adjustment for confounding differences between HC and non‐HC patients.

Principal Findings

Compared to non‐HC patients, HC patients had fewer office visits (adjusted incidence rate ratio [aIRR], 0.63) and hospitalizations (aIRR, 0.43) (both p < .001). HC patients were more likely to receive breast cancer screening than non‐HC patients (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] 2.78, p < .01). In subgroup analyses, uninsured HC patients had fewer outpatient and emergency room visits and were more likely to receive dietary advice and breast cancer screening compared to non‐HC patients.

Conclusions

Health centers add value to the health care system by providing socially and medically disadvantaged patients with care that results in lower utilization and maintained or improved preventive care.
The relationship between lysine 4 on histone H3 methylation levels of alcohol tolerance genes and changes of ethanol tolerance in Saccharomyces cerevisiae
Authors: Wang Hang , Ji Binfeng , Ren Hongzhen , Meng Chun
Published: April 2014

We evaluated whether epigenetic changes contributed to improve ethanol tolerance in mutant populations of Saccharomyces cerevisiae (S. cerevisiae). Two ethanol‐tolerant variants of S. cerevisiae were used to evaluate the genetic stability in the process of stress‐free passage cultures. We found that acquired ethanol tolerance was lost and transcription level of some genes (HSP104, PRO1, TPS1, and SOD1) closely related to ethanol tolerance decreased significantly after the 10th passage in ethanol‐free medium. Tri‐methylation of lysine 4 on histone H3 (H3K4) enhanced at the promoter of HSP104, PRO1, TPS1 and SOD1 in ethanol‐tolerant variants of S. cerevisiae was also diminished after tenth passage in stress‐free cultures. The ethanol tolerance was reacquired when exogenous SOD1 transferred in some tolerance‐lost strains. This showed that H3K4 methylation is involved in phenotypic variation with regard to ethanol tolerance with respect to classic breeding methods used in yeast.
Construction of leaky strains and extracellular production of exogenous proteins in recombinant Escherichia coli
Authors: Chen Zhao‐Yuan , Cao Jie , Xie Li , Li Xiao‐Fei , Yu Zhen‐Hai , Tong Wang‐Yu
Published: April 2014

In this study, a strategy of the construction of leaky strains for the extracellular production of target proteins was exploited, in which the genes mrcA, mrcB, pal and lpp (as a control) from Escherichia coli were knocked out by using single‐ and/or double‐gene deletion methods. Then the recombinant strains for the expression of exogenous target proteins including Trx‐hPTH (human parathyroid hormone 1–84 coupled with thioredoxin as a fusion partner) and reteplase were reconstructed to test the secretory efficiency of the leaky strains. Finally, the fermentation experiments of the target proteins from these recombinant leaky strains were carried out in basic media (Modified R media) and complex media (Terrific Broth media) in flasks or fermenters. The results demonstrated that the resultant leaky strains were genetically stable and had a similar growth profile in the complex media as compared with the original strain, and the secretory levels of target proteins into Modified R media from the strains with double‐gene deletion (up to 88.9%/mrcA lpp‐pth) are higher than the excretory levels from the strains with single‐gene deletion (up to 71.1%/lpp‐pth) and the host E. coli JM109 (DE3) (near zero). The highest level of extracellular production of Trx‐hPTH in fermenters is up to 680 mg l−1.
QDD version 3.1: a user‐friendly computer program for microsatellite selection and primer design revisited: experimental validation of variables determining genotyping success rate
Authors: Meglécz Emese , Pech Nicolas , Gilles André , Dubut Vincent , Hingamp Pascal , Trilles Aurélie , Grenier Rémi , Martin Jean‐François
Published: April 2014

Microsatellite marker development has been greatly simplified by the use of high‐throughput sequencing followed by in silico microsatellite detection and primer design. However, the selection of markers designed by the existing pipelines depends either on arbitrary criteria, or older studies on PCR success. Based on wet laboratory experiments, we have identified the following factors that are most likely to influence genotyping success rate: alignment score between the primers and the amplicon; the distance between primers and microsatellites; the length of the PCR product; target region complexity and the number of reads underlying the sequence. The QDD pipeline has been modified to include these most pertinent factors in the output to help the selection of markers. Furthermore, new features are also included in the present version: (i) not only raw sequencing reads are accepted as input, but also contigs, allowing the analysis of assembled high‐coverage data; (ii) input data can be both in fasta and fastq format to facilitate the use of Illumina and IonTorrent reads; (iii) A comparison to known transposable elements allows their detection; (iv) A contamination check can be carried out by BLASTing potential markers against the nucleotide (nt) database of NCBI; (v) QDD3 is now also available imbedded into a virtual machine making installation easier and operating system independent. It can be used both on command‐line version as well as integrated into a Galaxy server, providing a user‐friendly interface, as well as the possibility to utilize a large variety of NGS tools.
Influence of ecology and landscape on snake road mortality in a sagebrush‐steppe ecosystem
Authors: Jochimsen D. M. , Peterson C. R. , Harmon L. J.
Published: April 2014

Roads fragment our landscape, posing a severe threat to the persistence of wildlife populations through losses of individuals to direct mortality and decreased connectivity. Although they possess a particular suite of life history characteristics that make them especially vulnerable, snakes tend to be underrepresented in research examining vertebrate road mortality. Here, we report a statistical analysis of snake mortality along a 183‐km road circuit in sagebrush‐steppe habitat located in southeastern Idaho. We describe differential road mortality across snake species, season, sex and age. We also analyze both fine‐scale and broad‐scale habitat measurements to identify various habitat and landscape factors associated with snake road mortality. Our results show clearly that snake road mortality is influenced by interactions among demographic, ecological and temporal factors. Vagile species and life stages were particularly vulnerable to road mortality during periods of peak activity. Gophersnakes dominated our road observations, with adult male mortality peaking in spring and high casualties of neonates in the fall. Snake crossings were especially common along roadsides with high vegetative cover, in areas dominated by non‐native grasses. These results suggest the potential for snake populations to become fragmented over time, and that habitat conversion and species invasions may be compounding this effect. This study suggests that conservation efforts need to account for inter‐ and intraspecific differences in road mortality risk and provides guidance for roadside management that may serve to minimize vertebrate mortality on roads.
The EAACI/GA2LEN/EDF/WAO Guideline for the definition, classification, diagnosis, and management of urticaria: the 2013 revision and update
Authors: Zuberbier T. , Aberer W. , Asero R. , Bindslev‐Jensen C. , Brzoza Z. , Canonica G. W. , Church M. K. , Ensina L. F. , Giménez‐Arnau A. , Godse K. , Gonçalo M. , Grattan C. , Hebert J. , Hide M. , Kaplan A. , Kapp A. , Abdul Latiff A. H. , Mathelier‐Fusade P. , Metz M. , Nast A. , Saini S. S. , Sánchez‐Borges M. , Schmid‐Grendelmeier P. , Simons F. E. R. , Staubach P. , Sussman G. , Toubi E. , Vena G. A. , Wedi B. , Zhu X. J. , Maurer M.
Published: April 2014

This guideline is the result of a systematic literature review using the ‘Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation’ (GRADE) methodology and a structured consensus conference held on 28 and 29 November 2012, in Berlin. It is a joint initiative of the Dermatology Section of the European Academy of Allergy and Clinical Immunology (EAACI), the EU‐funded network of excellence, the Global Allergy and Asthma European Network (GA2LEN), the European Dermatology Forum (EDF), and the World Allergy Organization (WAO) with the participation of delegates of 21 national and international societies. Urticaria is a frequent, mast cell‐driven disease, presenting with wheals, angioedema, or both. The life‐time prevalence for acute urticaria is approximately 20%. Chronic spontaneous urticaria and other chronic forms of urticaria do not only cause a decrease in quality of life, but also affect performance at work and school and, as such, are members of the group of severe allergic diseases. This guideline covers the definition and classification of urticaria, taking into account the recent progress in identifying its causes, eliciting factors and pathomechanisms. In addition, it outlines evidence‐based diagnostic and therapeutic approaches for the different subtypes of urticaria. This guideline was acknowledged and accepted by the European Union of Medical Specialists (UEMS).
Repeated exclusive enteral nutrition in the treatment of paediatric Crohn's disease: predictors of efficacy and outcome
Authors: Frivolt K. , Schwerd T. , Werkstetter K. J. , Schwarzer A. , Schatz S. B. , Bufler P. , Koletzko S.
Published: April 2014

Background

Exclusive enteral nutrition (EEN) induces remission and mucosal healing in children with active Crohn's disease (CD).

Aim

To compare short‐ and long‐term outcomes of the first vs. second courses of EEN, and to identify predictors of sustained remission.

Methods

Retrospective single centre analysis of all patients with CD (6–18 years) treated with EEN over 7.5 years. Patients were excluded if exposed to anti‐TNFα or corticosteroids 3 months prior to EEN. Data included disease phenotype, activity, NOD2 genotype, laboratory indices and anthropometrics. Remission and relapse were defined by mathematically weighted Paediatric Crohn's Disease Activity Index (wPCDAI) with 1‐year follow‐up.

Results

Of 94 patients treated with EEN, 52 fulfilled inclusion criteria (31 male, mean age 13.2 years). Azathioprine was started within the first month in 33/52 patients; 26/52 received a second EEN course. First compared to second EEN revealed higher wPCDAI at start (59 vs. 40, P < 0.0001), tended to higher remission rates after 3 months (92% vs. 77%, n.s.), but showed comparable 1‐year relapse rates (67% vs. 70%, median time 231 vs. 145 days, n.s.). Disease activity, weight gain and inflammatory markers showed better improvement with first EEN. Faecal calprotectin >200 μg/g during EEN was associated with shorter remission (median time 157 vs. 287 days, n.s.). Certain NOD2 genotypes were related to higher relapse rates (92% R702W or G908R vs. 50% 1007fs vs. 60% wild‐type, P < 0.01).

Conclusions

Exclusive enteral nutrition induces remission in active Crohn's disease, but efficacy tends to decrease with the second course. Despite early azathioprine use, 1‐year relapse rates are high, but may be related to NOD2 genotype.
Nucleoside transporters and human organic cation transporter 1 determine the cellular handling of DNA‐methyltransferase inhibitors
Authors: Arimany‐Nardi C , Errasti‐Murugarren E , Minuesa G , Martinez‐Picado J , Gorboulev V , Koepsell H , Pastor‐Anglada M
Published: April 2014

Background and Purpose

Inhibitors of DNA methyltransferases (DNMTs), such as azacytidine, decitabine and zebularine, are used for the epigenetic treatment of cancer. Their action may depend upon their translocation across the plasma membrane. The aim of this study was to identify transporter proteins contributing to DNMT inhibitor action.

Experimental Approach

Drug interactions with selected hCNT and hENT proteins were studied in transiently transfected HeLa and MDCK cells. Interaction with human organic cation transporters (hOCTs) was assessed in transiently transfected HeLa cells and Xenopus laevis oocytes.

Key Results

Zebularine uptake was mediated by hCNT1, hCNT3 and hENT2. Decitabine interacted with but was not translocated by any nucleoside transporter (NT) type. hCNT expression at the apical domain of MDCK cells promoted net vectorial flux of zebularine. Neither hOCT1 nor hOCT2 transported decitabine, but both were involved in the efflux of zebularine, suggesting these proteins act as efflux transporters. hOCT1 polymorphic variants, known to alter function, decreased zebularine efflux.

Conclusions and Implications

This study highlights the influence of human NTs and hOCTs on the pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of selected DNMT inhibitors. As hOCTs may also behave as efflux transporters, they could contribute either to chemoresistance or to chemosensitivity, depending upon the nature of the drug or combination of drugs being used in cancer therapy.
NPY/Y1 receptor‐mediated vasoconstrictory and proliferative effects in pulmonary hypertension
Authors: Crnkovic S , Egemnazarov B , Jain P , Seay U , Gattinger N , Marsh L M , Bálint Z , Kovacs G , Ghanim B , Klepetko W , Schermuly R T , Weissmann N , Olschewski A , Kwapiszewska G
Published: April 2014

Background and Purpose

Pulmonary arteries (PAs) are innervated, but little is known about the role of neuronal axis in pulmonary hypertension (PH). Here, we have examined the role of the neuropeptide Y (NPY) and its Y1 receptor in PH pathogenesis.

Experimental Approach

NPY was localized by immunofluorescence. Expression of NPY and Y1 receptor were determined by quantitative PCR. Cellular response to NPY stimulation was assessed by Western blotting, thymidine incorporation and calcium imaging. Wire myography and isolated perfused mouse lung were applied to study pulmonary vasoactive effects of NPY. Selective receptor antagonists were used to assess the contribution of receptor subtypes in mediating NPY effects.

Key Results

Samples from PH patients showed increased NPYergic innervation within the PA wall and higher Y1 receptor expression, compared with donors. However, NPY levels were unchanged in both PA and serum. In the chronic hypoxic mouse model, Y1 receptor were up‐regulated, while expression of both NPY and Y1 receptor was increased in the lungs of monocrotaline and SU5416‐hypoxia rats. On a functional level, NPY acutely increased intracellular calcium levels and enhanced vasoconstriction of lung vessels preconstricted with adrenaline. Furthermore, NPY stimulated proliferation of human pulmonary arterial smooth muscle cells and activated p38 and PKD pathways. Correspondingly, higher phosphorylation of PKD was observed in remodelled vessels from PH patients. The selective Y1 receptor antagonist, BIBO 3304, concentration‐dependently inhibited vasoconstrictive and proliferative effects of NPY.

Conclusions and Implications

NPY and Y1 receptor are possible mediators of both vasoconstriction and pulmonary vascular remodelling in PH.
Everolimus with low‐dose tacrolimus in simultaneous pancreas and kidney transplantation
Authors: Sageshima Junichiro , Ciancio Gaetano , Chen Linda , Dohi Takehiko , El‐Hinnawi Ashraf , Paloyo Siegfredo , Misawa Ryosuke , Ekwenna Obi , Yatawatta Ashanga , Burke George W.
Published: April 2014

The efficacy and safety of everolimus (EVR) in simultaneous pancreas and kidney transplantation (SPKT) is unclear. We retrospectively evaluated 25 consecutive SPKT recipients at our center from November 2011 to March 2013. All patients received dual induction (Thymoglobulin/basiliximab) and low‐dose tacrolimus plus corticosteroids. Nine patients who received EVR were compared with 14 patients who received enteric‐coated mycophenolate sodium (EC‐MPS); two patients who received sirolimus were excluded from the analysis. With a median follow‐up of 14 months, the pancreas graft survival rate was 100% in both groups, and the kidney graft survival rate was 100% and 93% in EVR and EC‐MPS patients, respectively. One EC‐MPS patient lost her kidney graft from proteinuric kidney disease. Another EC‐MPS patient received treatment for clinically diagnosed pancreas and kidney graft rejection. No rejection was observed in EVR patients. Serum creatinine and HbA1c levels were similar between the groups. There was no significant difference of surgical or medical complications. In conclusion, EVR seems to provide comparable short‐term outcome to EC‐MPS when combined with low‐dose tacrolimus/steroids and dual induction therapy. A larger study with a longer follow‐up is required to further assess this combination.
Regional abundance of on‐premise outlets and drinking patterns among Swiss young men: District level analyses and geographic adjustments
Authors: Astudillo Mariana , Kuendig Hervé , Centeno‐Gil Adriana , Wicki Matthias , Gmel Gerhard
Published: April 2014

Introduction and Aims

This study investigated the associations of alcohol outlet density with specific alcohol outcomes (consumption and consequences) among young men in Switzerland and assessed the possible geographically related variations.

Design and Methods

Alcohol consumption and drinking consequences were measured in a 2010–2011 study assessing substance use risk factors (Cohort Study on Substance Use Risk Factors) among 5519 young Swiss men. Outlet density was based on the number of on‐ and off‐premise outlets in the district of residence. Linear regression models were run separately for drinking level, heavy episodic drinking (HED) and drinking consequences. Geographically weighted regression models were estimated when variations were recorded at the district level.

Results

No consistent association was found between outlet density and drinking consequences. A positive association between drinking level and HED with on‐premise outlet density was found. Geographically weighted regressions were run for drinking level and HED. The predicted values for HED were higher in the southwest part of Switzerland (French‐speaking part).

Discussion and Conclusions

Among Swiss young men, the density of outlets and, in particular, the abundance of bars, clubs and other on‐premise outlets was associated with drinking level and HED, even when drinking consequences were not significantly affected. These findings support the idea that outlet density needs to be considered when developing and implementing regional‐based prevention initiatives. [Astudillo M, Kuendig H, Centeno‐Gil A, Wicki M, Gmel G. Regional abundance of on‐premise outlets and drinking patterns among Swiss young men: District level analyses and geographic adjustments. Drug Alcohol Rev 2014;33:526–33]
Here be dragons: a tool for quantifying novelty due to covariate range and correlation change when projecting species distribution models
Authors: Mesgaran Mohsen B. , Cousens Roger D. , Webber Bruce L.
Published: April 2014

Aim

Correlative species distribution models (SDMs) often involve some degree of projection into novel covariate space (i.e. extrapolation), because calibration data may not encompass the entire space of interest. Most methods for identifying extrapolation focus on the range of each model covariate individually. However, extrapolation can occur that is well within the range of univariate variation, but which exhibits novel combinations between covariates. Our objective was to develop a tool that can detect, distinguish and quantify these two types of novelties: novel univariate range and novel combinations of covariates.

Location

Global, Australia, South Africa.

Methods

We developed a new multivariate statistical tool, based on the Mahalanobis distance, which measures the similarity between the reference and projection domains by accounting for both the deviation from the mean and the correlation between variables. The method also provides an assessment tool for the detection of the most influential covariates leading to dissimilarity. As an example application, we modelled an Australian shrub (Acacia cyclops) widely introduced to other countries and compared reference data, global distribution data and both types of model extrapolation against the projection globally and in South Africa.

Results

The new tool successfully detected and quantified the degree of dissimilarity for points that were either outside the univariate range or formed novel covariate combinations (correlations) but were still within the univariate range of covariates. For A. cyclops, more than half of the points (6617 of 10,785) from the global projection space that were found to lie within the univariate range of reference data exhibited distorted correlations. Not all the climate covariates used for modelling contributed to novelty equally over the geographical space of the model projection.

Main conclusions

Identifying non‐analogous environments is a critical component of model interrogation. Our extrapolation detection (ExDet) tool can be used as a quantitative method for exploring novelty and interpreting the projections from correlative SDMs and is available for free download as stand‐alone software from http://www.climond.org/exdet.
HOUSEHOLD PRODUCTION AND SEXUAL ORIENTATION
Authors: Allen Douglas W.
Published: April 2014

The 2006 Canada census is used, along with a well‐known model of household production, to estimate the value of household commodities produced by gay, lesbian, and heterosexual couples. The results show some intriguing differences and similarities. Unlike heterosexuals, gay and lesbian couples respond differently to changes in the cost of time. However, all couples are characterized by the importance of market goods over time and the importance of human capital in the market over the home, with respect to household production. Hence, although there are differences in the sexual division of labor between households of different sexual orientations, the value of household commodities is mostly driven by differences in the amount of market goods used in the home. Market goods are determined by income, and differences in income within a couple‐type swamp differences in income across couple‐types, and as a result there is no statistical difference in the value of household commodities produced across the three sexual orientations. (JEL D13)
Special Needs Dentistry: perception, attitudes and educational experience of Malaysian dental students
Authors: Ahmad M. S. , Razak I. A. , Borromeo G. L.
Published: April 2014

A compromised oral health condition amongst patients with special health care needs (SHCN) has been associated with the reluctance and shortage of skills of dental professionals in managing such patients. Lack of training and experience at the undergraduate level are reported barriers to the provision of care for this patient cohort. Undergraduate education therefore, plays an important role in producing professionals with the knowledge, skills and positive attitude in treating patients with SHCN. This study aims to determine the level of knowledge, comfort and attitudes of Malaysian undergraduate dental students towards caring for patients with SHCN, as well as their perception on education in this field. A self‐administered questionnaire was administered in the classroom style to final year undergraduate dental students in Malaysian public dental schools. Most students were aware of Special Needs Dentistry (SND) as a specialty after being informed by academic staff. The majority of the students demonstrated poor knowledge in defining SND and felt uncomfortable providing care for such patients. They perceived their undergraduate training in SND as inadequate with most students agreeing that they should receive didactic and clinical training at undergraduate level. A high percentage of students also expressed interest in pursuing postgraduate education in this area of dentistry despite the lack of educational exposure during undergraduate years. The study supports a need for educational reform to formulate a curriculum that is more patient‐centred, with earlier clinical exposure in various clinical settings for students to treat patients with special health care needs, applying the concept of holistic care in a variable clinical condition.
Retinal nerve fiber layer thickness and thalamus pathology in multiple sclerosis patients
Authors: Zivadinov R. , Bergsland N. , Cappellani R. , Hagemeier J. , Melia R. , Carl E. , Dwyer M. G. , Lincoff N. , Weinstock‐Guttman B. , Ramanathan M.
Published: April 2014

Background and purpose

Visual impairments are frequent in multiple sclerosis (MS). Optic neuritis can directly reduce retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) thickness. Our objectives were to evaluate associations of the RNFL thickness (RNFLT) of MS patients with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) measures of regional brain atrophy and tissue injury in the post‐chiasmatic deep gray matter (GM) section of the visual pathway.

Methods

Retinal nerve fiber layer thickness was measured using optical coherence tomography (OCT) in 96 relapsing−remitting MS (RR‐MS) patients and 46 controls. MRI was obtained within ±3 months of OCT. RNFLT associations with MRI measures from diffusion tensor imaging and regional and tissue specific atrophy were assessed.

Results

In RR‐MS, lower RNFLT was associated with lower white matter volume and lower whole brain volume. Lower RNFLT was associated with lower total deep gray matter volume and lower thalamus volume. Lower RNFLT was associated with greater mean diffusivity (MD) in normal appearing (NA) brain tissue and NA gray matter. Trends were found for lower RNFLT with greater MD in NA white matter and thalamus. RNFLT in controls was not associated with MD.

Conclusions

Lower RNFLT is associated with microscopic tissue injury in NA regions of the brain and with neurodegeneration of the deep gray matter and thalamus in RR‐MS.
Photic hypersensitivity in the premonitory phase of migraine – a positron emission tomography study
Authors: Maniyar F. H. , Sprenger T. , Schankin C. , Goadsby P. J.
Published: April 2014

Background and purpose

Sensitivity to light (photophobia) is a common ill‐understood symptom of migraine, whose neurobiology is important in understanding the disorder.

Methods

Patients reporting premonitory symptoms before migraine headache were infused with nitroglycerin (GTN) at a first visit. Patients who responded with premonitory symptoms followed by a delayed headache resembling their migraine had positron emission tomography (PET) scans at least 1 week later, during which GTN infusion was repeated. H215O PET scans were performed during baseline (pain free), premonitory phase (pain free) and migraine headache. Patients were divided into two groups, with and without photophobia in the premonitory phase. The differences between the premonitory and baseline scans were analysed within groups and between groups using statistical parametric mapping.

Results

Thirteen patients participated in the PET study, 10 of whom had at least one PET scan during the premonitory phase in the absence of pain. Data from these 10 patients were included in the final analysis. Five patients had photophobia and five patients did not have photophobia in the premonitory phase. Comparing the premonitory scans to baseline scans, there was activation of extrastriate visual cortex (BA18) in patients with photophobia. This activation was significantly greater than in the patients without photophobia.

Conclusion

Our findings indicate that photic hypersensitivity is linked to activation of the visual cortex during the premonitory phase of migraine in the absence of headache.