bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Long-term reliability of the Athabasca River (Alberta, Canada) as the water source for oil sands mining
Authors: Sauchyn David J. , St-Jacques Jeannine-Marie , Luckman Brian H.
Published: September 2015

Significance

We show that current and projected surface water allocations from the Athabasca River, Alberta, Canada, for the exploitation of the Alberta oil sands are based upon an untenable assumption of the representativeness of the short instrumental gauge record. Our trend analysis of the instrumental data shows declining regional flows. Our tree-ring reconstruction shows periods of severe and prolonged low flows not captured by the instrumental record.
Early human use of anadromous salmon in North America at 11,500 y ago
Authors: Halffman Carrin M. , Potter Ben A. , McKinney Holly J. , Finney Bruce P. , Rodrigues Antonia T. , Yang Dongya Y. , Kemp Brian M.
Published: September 2015

Significance

Fish bones from the 11,500-y-old Upward Sun River site in interior Alaska represent the oldest evidence for salmon fishing in North America. We used ancient DNA analysis to identify the fish specimens as chum salmon (
Oncorhynchus keta
), and stable isotope analysis to confirm that the salmon were anadromous (sea-run). The exploitation of salmon at this early date is noteworthy because Paleoindians are traditionally portrayed as big-game hunting specialists. Furthermore, the presence of salmon at Upward Sun River over 1,400 km upriver from the coast shows that spawning runs had been established by the end of the last Ice Age. The early availability and use of anadromous salmon has important implications for understanding Paleoindian economies and expansion into North America.
The membrane anchor of the transcriptional activator SREBP is characterized by intrinsic conformational flexibility
Authors: Linser Rasmus , Salvi Nicola , Briones Rodolfo , Rovó Petra , de Groot Bert L. , Wagner Gerhard
Published: September 2015

Significance

Sterol regulatory element-binding protein (SREBP) signaling is responsible for transcriptional regulation of cellular lipid homeostasis. Aberrant regulation of the feedback loop that switches on transcription of related genes upon depletion of fatty acids and cholesterol abrogates cellular integrity and is a hallmark of many cancers and other diseases. Regulated intramembrane proteolysis is a conserved mechanism also involved in other signaling processes like Wnt and Notch and defines cellular regulation from homeostasis to proliferation, compartmentalization, and differentiation. An understanding of basic features, however, such as substrate selectivity and specificity, has remained elusive to date. Understanding the proteolysis of the SREBP precursor is an important goal both for understanding and medically intervening in SREBP signaling and related diseases as well as for understanding other regulated intramembrane proteolysis-dependent processes.
National Institutes of Health addresses the science of diversity
Authors: Valantine Hannah A. , Collins Francis S.
Published: September 2015

The US biomedical research workforce does not currently mirror the nation’s population demographically, despite numerous attempts to increase diversity. This imbalance is limiting the promise of our biomedical enterprise for building knowledge and improving the nation’s health. Beyond ensuring fairness in scientific workforce representation, recruiting and retaining a diverse set of minds and approaches is vital to harnessing the complete intellectual capital of the nation. The complexity inherent in diversifying the research workforce underscores the need for a rigorous scientific approach, consistent with the ways we address the challenges of science discovery and translation to human health. Herein, we identify four cross-cutting diversity challenges ripe for scientific exploration and opportunity: research evidence for diversity’s impact on the quality and outputs of science; evidence-based approaches to recruitment and training; individual and institutional barriers to workforce diversity; and a national strategy for eliminating barriers to career transition, with scientifically based approaches for scaling and dissemination. Evidence-based data for each of these challenges should provide an integrated, stepwise approach to programs that enhance diversity rapidly within the biomedical research workforce.
Human pluripotent stem cell-derived neural constructs for predicting neural toxicity
Authors: Schwartz Michael P. , Hou Zhonggang , Propson Nicholas E. , Zhang Jue , Engstrom Collin J. , Costa Vitor Santos , Jiang Peng , Nguyen Bao Kim , Bolin Jennifer M. , Daly William , Wang Yu , Stewart Ron , Page C. David , Murphy William L. , Thomson James A.
Published: September 2015

Significance

Stem cell biology, tissue engineering, bioinformatics, and machine learning were combined to implement an in vitro human cellular model for developmental neurotoxicity screening. Human pluripotent stem cell-derived neural tissue constructs with vascular networks and microglia were produced with high sample uniformity by combining precursor cells on synthetic hydrogels using standard culture techniques. Machine learning was used to build a predictive model from changes in global gene expression for neural constructs exposed to 60 toxic and nontoxic training chemicals. The model correctly classified 9 of 10 additional chemicals in a blinded trial. This combined strategy demonstrates the value of human cell-based assays for predictive toxicology and should be useful for both drug and chemical safety assessment.
Orientations toward interpersonal arguing in Chile
Authors: Santibañez Cristián , Hample Dale
Published: September 2015

This paper reports the first empirical results aiming to characterize argumentative practices in Chile. We described features of Chilean interpersonal arguing among university students, compared those results with others obtained in the United States, and also compared the associations among variables from country to country. Chilean men displayed more aggressive and self-oriented arguing profiles than Chilean women. Compared to U.S. Americans, Chileans were more motivated to argue and saw the practice of arguing as more cooperative and civil. Many results and correlational patterns were recognizable from one nation to the other, but some differences deserve notice. For example, several measures that are routinely seen as opposites in the U.S. (e.g., impulses to approach or avoid arguing) have only modest negative correlations in the Chilean data.
The influence of the addressers’ and the addressees’ gender identities on the addressers’ linguistic politeness behavior
Authors: Tang Chihsia
Published: September 2015

People’s power and status can be manifested through the language they use. It was generally perceived that men’s speeches are more assertive and direct than women’s because of men’s higher social status in the societies. Yet, studies have argued that there should be no difference in terms of men and women’s linguistic politeness behaviors if they are in the same power position; instead, the addressees’gender is the critical determinant to the addressers’linguistic performances. This research provided some evidence from evaluative communications in TV reality talent shows to further verify whether or not the addressers’ and the addressees’ gender id entities are significantly correlated to the addressers’ linguistic politeness behavior, focusing specifically on their use of mitigating strategies for criticism amelioration. The current analysis referred to Brown and Levinson’s(1987) politeness theory and face notion. Results manifested that it is the addressers’ gender instead of the addressees’ gender that was related to the addressers’ communication style in this particular situational context. Specifically, male judges utilized more mitigating utterances than female judges did. The major implication of the findings is that the functions of politeness devices that speakers perceive and the situational information of the speech context leave greater influences on the addressers’ politeness behavior than the gender of their addressees.
Comparison of Electronarcosis and Carbon Dioxide Sedation Effects on Travel Time in Adult Chinook and Coho Salmon
Authors: Keep Shane G. , Allen M. Brady , Zendt Joseph S.
Published: September 2015

The immobilization of fish during handling is crucial in avoiding injury to fish and is thought to reduce handling stress. Chemical sedatives have been a primary choice for fish immobilization. However, most chemical sedatives accumulate in tissues, and often food fishes must be held until accumulations degrade to levels safe for human consumption. Historically, there have been few options for nonchemical sedation. Carbon dioxide (CO2) has been widely used for decades as a sedative, and while it does not require a degradation period, it does have drawbacks. The use of electronarcosis is another nonchemical option that does not require degradation time. However, little is known about the latent and delayed effects on migration rates of adult salmonids that have been immobilized with electricity. We compared the travel times of adult Chinook Salmon Oncorhynchus tshawytscha and Coho Salmon O. kisutch through a fishway at river kilometer (rkm) 4, and to rkm 16 and rkm 32 after being immobilized with either CO2 or electronarcosis. Travel times of fish treated with either CO2 or electronarcosis were similar within species. Because of the nearly instantaneous induction of and recovery from electronarcosis, we recommend it as an alternative to CO2 for handling large adult salmonids.

Received February 17, 2015; accepted June 27, 2015
Evaluation of Effectiveness of Fixed-Station Sampling for Monitoring American Lobster Settlement
Authors: Li Bai , Cao Jie , Chang Jui-Han , Wilson Carl , Chen Yong
Published: September 2015

The American lobster Homarus americanus supports one of the most valuable fisheries in the USA. One of the important monitoring programs is for benthically settled lobsters, which closely relates to recruitment. The lobster settlement sampling program follows a fixed-station design. However, the performance of this design has not been evaluated, and we are unclear if the design can capture the temporal dynamics of settlers, in particular in response to changes in spatial distribution of lobster in the last 2 decades. In this study, we compared the fixed-station design with a random sampling design for the mid-coast region of the Gulf of Maine. We developed a generalized additive model (GAM) to quantify the relationship between habitat variables and density of early benthic phase and older juvenile lobsters by using the data from inshore trawl surveys from 1989 to 2012. The GAM model was then used to simulate putative true populations using the habitat variables. The two different sampling designs were applied to sample the simulated true populations. The fixed-station sampling design tended to underestimate the true density but could capture the temporal trends in settler density. A persistence index analysis suggests that the fixed-station design could identify interannual change of the lobster settler density. This study suggests that fixed-station sampling design is effective in monitoring temporal changes in settler density but could not be used for the estimation of absolute density of settlers.

Received December 16, 2014; accepted July 9, 2015
Estimating the Sex Composition of the Summer Flounder Catch using Fishery-Independent Data
Authors: Morson Jason M. , Bochenek Eleanor A. , Powell Eric N. , Hasbrouck Emerson C. , Gius Jennifer E. , Cotton Charles F. , Gerbino Kristin , Froehlich Tara
Published: September 2015

Models that account for sex-specific behavior and population dynamics are becoming more common in the stock assessment of sexually dimorphic fishes. However, such models can be data intensive and require some knowledge or assumptions about the sex ratio of fishery landings. A recent stock assessment review of Summer Flounder Paralichthys dentatus identified the need to account for sex-specific fishing mortality in the assessment model; however, no data on the sex composition of the catch were available. Fishery-independent, sex-specific information for this species is collected annually by the National Marine Fisheries Service's Northeast Fisheries Science Center during their bottom trawl survey. Sex at age from the survey could be applied to the fishery landings if the probability of landing a given sex at a given age is equivalent for fish collected by the survey and those in the landings. To generate the first regionally comprehensive database on the sex ratio of Summer Flounder landings and to determine the efficacy of using survey sex-at-age keys to estimate the sex of landed fish, we recorded the sex composition of the commercial and recreational catches of Summer Flounder (n = 31,912) in 2010 and 2011. When (1) trawl survey length data were left-truncated to simulate the minimum retention sizes in the fisheries and (2) age–length keys generated from fishery-dependent data were applied to length frequency distributions from the survey to simulate the growth rates of landed fish, the sex-at-age pattern in the survey-derived data closely resembled the patterns in the catch. However, statistically significant differences in sex at age remained between the catch and the survey-derived data. We hypothesize that these differences are attributable to differences in the spatiotemporal distributions of the sexes and of the survey and fishing effort.

Received March 9, 2015; accepted June 23, 2015
Introduction
Authors: Johnson Gerald W. , Lapidus Michel L. , Nielsen Lance
Published: September 2015

The first part of the introduction provides a (short) historical overview of Feynman’s development of his operational calculus, i.e. the formation of functions of several not necessarily commuting operators. This is done using quotes from Feynman’s Nobel lecture, as well as from biographical information and parts of Feynman’s early papers. This portion of the introduction will aid the reader not familiar with Feynman’s ideas to gain some insight into their intellectual and physical origins. After this historical sketch of the origins of the operational calculus, we take the time to introduce, via simple examples, Feynman’s time-ordering convention and Feynman’s heuristic “rules.” The remainder of the introduction is devoted to a rather detailed chapter-by-chapter description of the contents of this volume.
Disentangling: Definitions, Properties and Elementary Examples
Authors: Johnson Gerald W. , Lapidus Michel L. , Nielsen Lance
Published: September 2015

A rigorous approach to Feynman’s operational calculus, the formation of functions of several noncommuting operators, is introduced, using Feynman’s heuristic “rules” as a guide. Two equivalent (i.e., isomorphic) commutative Banach algebras are constructed, in particular the disentangling algebra, which enable Feynman’s rules to be applied in a mathematically rigorous way. Once the necessary time-ordering calculations (i.e. the disentangling) have been carried out in the disentangling algebra, the resulting expression is mapped via the disentangling map to the noncommutative environment of L(X), the Banach algebra of linear operators on the Banach space X. The basic properties of the disentangling map are discussed. Simple (and detailed) examples of the disentangling process are presented in order to familiarize the reader with disentangling techniques. At the end of this chapter, there is a discussion of the behavior of the operational calculus under the assumption that one or more of the operators involved commute with all of the others.
Time-Dependent Feynman’s Operational Calculus and Evolution Equations
Authors: Johnson Gerald W. , Lapidus Michel L. , Nielsen Lance
Published: September 2015

This chapter starts by generalizing the time-independent operational calculus to the time-dependent situation, i.e. fixed operators are replaced by operator-valued functions. The disentangling map is defined in the time-dependent setting and its basic properties in this setting are established. Next, the disentangling of the exponential function exp(−tα+∫0Tβ1(s)μ1(ds)+⋯+∫0Tβn(s)μn(ds)) is examined in detail. (The operator α is the generator of a (C0) semigroup.) The initial discussion follows the use of Feynman’s “rules” in a heuristic fashion, and then this disentangling is put into the rigorous setting of the operational calculus developed in this volume. It is shown that the disentangled exponential satisfies a certain evolution equation. Finally, the evolution equation for the disentangled exponential is used to establish a generalized integral equation that is satisfied by the operational calculus in the presence of the (unbounded) generator of a (C0 semigroup. Connections are established between this generalized integral equation and certain analytic Feynman integrals.
Stability Properties of Feynman’s Operational Calculi
Authors: Johnson Gerald W. , Lapidus Michel L. , Nielsen Lance
Published: September 2015

The stability (or continuity) properties of Feynman’s operational calculus are considered in this chapter. In particular, we consider three types of stability: stability with respect to the time-ordering measures, stability with respect to the operator-valued functions, and joint stability (that is, stability with respect to the operator-valued functions and the time-ordering measures simultaneously).
Epilogue: Miscellaneous Topics and Possible Extensions
Authors: Johnson Gerald W. , Lapidus Michel L. , Nielsen Lance
Published: September 2015

A brief discussion is given of possible extensions to the theory developed in this book, and suggestions for the direction of future research in this general area are given. This is done via a collection of eleven open problems, of different scopes and levels of difficulty, and discussing possible techniques and directions of investigation. They involve many different areas and fields of pure mathematics, applied mathematics and theoretical physics, including functional analysis, operator theory, semigroup theory, operator algebras, harmonic analysis, probability theory, differential and partial differential equations, real analysis and measure theory, distribution theory, infinite-dimensional stochastic and geometric analysis, multivariable complex analysis, fractal geometry, quantum mechanics and quantum field theory, quantum statistical physics, renormalization theory, supersymmetry, quantum groups, and Hopf algebras, as well as aspects of noncommutative algebra, geometry, combinatorics and probability theory.
Harmonic Functions and the Mean-Value Property
Authors: Taheri Ali
Published: September 2015

This chapter introduces harmonic functions and discussing some of their basic properties, including the mean-value property, strong and weak maximum principles, uniqueness of solutions to the classical Dirichlet problem in bounded domains. It also presents Harnack inequality and its consequences and Weyl’s lemma.
Harmonic-Hardy Spaces hp(D)
Authors: Taheri Ali
Published: September 2015

Harmonic functions in the disc and the Harmonic-Hardy spaces hp are discussed in this chapter. Relations to Poisson integral representation and existence of boundary functions lie at the heart of this chapter. Some applications including the Rado-Kneser-Choquet theorem on the nodal sets of harmonic functions are also covered.
Harmonic-Hardy Spaces hp(Bn)
Authors: Taheri Ali
Published: September 2015

This chapter examines the passage to higher dimensional Harmonic-Hardy spaces. It also discusses removable singularities of harmonic functions. The chapter then provides more detailed discussion of spherical and zonal harmonics and their spectral properties and relations to Gegenbauer (or ultra-spherical) polynomials.
From Abel-Poisson to Bochner-Riesz Summability
Authors: Taheri Ali
Published: September 2015

This chapter begins with an introduction of Fourier transform on ℝn and then covers various summability methods including Abel-Poisson, Gauss-Weierstrass and later Bochner-Riesz. It also discusses the Calderon-Zygmund decomposition and Fefferman’s ball multiplier theorem.
Fourier Transform on S′(Rn); The Hilbert-Sobolev Spaces Hs(Rn)
Authors: Taheri Ali
Published: September 2015

This chapter starts by taking Fourier transform to the space of tempered distributions. It studies the Laplace, heat, wave and Schrödinger equations in the upper half-space. It also looks at fractional integration and finally Hilbert-Sobolev spaces Hs(ℝn) and their embeddings, and trace theorem.
Function Spaces and Partial Differential Equations
Authors: Taheri Ali
Published: September 2015

This book presents a comprehensive treatment of aspects of classical and modern analysis relating to theory of ‘partial differential equations’ and the associated ‘function spaces’. It begins with a quick review of basic properties of harmonic functions and Poisson integrals and then moves into a detailed study of Hardy spaces. The classical Dirichlet problem is considered and a variety of methods for its resolution ranging from potential theoretic (Perron’s method of sub-harmonic functions and Wiener’s criterion, Green’s functions and Poisson integrals, the method of layered potentials or integral equations) to variational (Dirichlet principle) are presented. Parallel to this is the development of the necessary function spaces: Lorentz and Marcinkiewicz spaces, Sobolev spaces (integer as well as fractional order), Hardy spaces, the John-Nirenberg space BMO, Morrey and Campanato spaces, Besov spaces and Triebel-Lizorkin spaces. Harmonic analysis is deeply intertwined with the topics covered and the subjects of summability methods, Tauberian theorems, convolution algebras, Calderon-Zygmund theory of singular integrals and Littlewood-Paley theory that on the one hand connect to various PDE estimates (Calderon-Zygmund inequality, Strichartz estimates, Mihlin-Hormander multipliers, etc.) and on the other lead to a unified characterisation of various function spaces are discussed in great depth. The book ends by a discussion of regularity theory for second order elliptic equations in divergence form— first with continuous and next with measurable coefficients—and covers, in particular, De Giorgi’s theorem, Moser iteration, Harnack inequality and local boundedness of solutions. (The case of elliptic systems and related topics is discussed in the exercises.)
Maximal Function; Bounding Averages and Pointwise Convergence
Authors: Taheri Ali
Published: September 2015

This chapter introduces the Hardy-Littlewood maximal functions and establishes its bounded properties in various Lebesgue and Marcinkiewicz type spaces. The chapter also presents many applications to differentiability and a.e. convergence.
Sobolev Spaces Wk,p(Ω); A Resolution of the Dirichlet Principle
Authors: Taheri Ali
Published: September 2015

This chapter introduces the Sobolev spaces of integer order on domains and discusses their embeddings and trace theorems. Here, the starting point is establishing various approximation results by smooth functions. Compact embeddings as well as Poincare and Sobolev type inequalities are also covered in detail.
Singular Integral Operators and Vector-Valued Inequalities
Authors: Taheri Ali
Published: September 2015

In this chapter, the boundedness of the Hilbert transform on the line is established using both the real and the more classical complex methods. Riesz transforms and Calderon-Zygmund type operators are also discussed at length and then the method of rotations for homogenous singular integral operators with odd kernels is discussed before the vector-valued inequalities is further extended.
Second Order Equations in Divergence Form: Continuous Coefficients
Authors: Taheri Ali
Published: September 2015

Optimal Holder regularity results on solutions to second order equations in divergence form with continuous coefficients are presented in this chapter. It then discusses the technique of comparision with A-harmonic functions and iteration lemma where Morrey and Campanato spaces as discussed in earlier chapters play a key role.
The Insubstantial and the Substantial Seculars
Authors: Lee Lois
Published: September 2015

This chapter outlines the theoretical underpinnings of the notions of the secular as insubstantial and as substantial, as well as highlighting theoretical questions that preconceived notions of the secular have obscured. It draws out tensions between rival accounts of the secular as substantial and insubstantial that have rarely been articulated. It shows how problematic assumptions about the secular are rooted in established areas of theory—including secularization theory, rational choice theory, and postcolonial and critical accounts of the categories ‘religion’, ‘secular’, and ‘secularism’—but demonstrates also how these literatures provide resources for approaching secularity and non-religion in new research methodologies.
Out of the Shadows
Authors: Lee Lois
Published: September 2015

This chapter explores the challenging and contested idea of a secular body. It considers how distinguishing between non-religiosity, secularism, and secularity helps identify distinct forms of embodiment, variously manifest in modes of dress, physical habits, and attitudes. In a continued effort to recognize forms of non-religiosity that have not yet been given much attention (or even conceived of), this chapter highlights ways in which people infer non-religiosity through different types of absence—the notable absence of religious modes of dress or practice, the combination of religious representations from which non-religious meanings are emergent, the objectified sense of freedom from obstacle between people sharing non-religious norms—the real presence of which is only visible when these practices are disrupted in some way.
Beyond Unbelief
Authors: Lee Lois
Published: September 2015

Having established the existence and array of visual, spatial, material, and embodied forms of non-religiosity, of the relationships and patterns of association informed by it, and of self-understandings and personal and political practices of self-classification and identification, this chapter focuses on belief. It demonstrates the existential threads that run through and appear to determine non-religious cultures in significant ways. It considers how existential positions are expressed in ideas and beliefs and are bound up with the material, social, and symbolic. The chapter shows how the philosophical gives form to these existential cultures, but also that these philosophical threads are experienced aesthetically and communally as well as intellectually. Demonstrating that existential cultures are refracted through religious and spiritual as well as non-religious cultures, this chapter argues that the study of existential cultures provides opportunities for developing new inclusive approaches to the study of religion.
Conclusion Reimagining the Secular
Authors: Lee Lois
Published: September 2015

The Introduction suggests there are multiple ways of recognizing the non-religious in society and rethinking our idea of secularity in light of this. This concluding chapter revisits the notion of the secular, showing how recognizing non-religion as autonomous from it draws attention to implicit but long-standing questions about how the two relate. Shifts in thinking about non-religion and secularity have immediate implications—empirical, methodological, theoretical, and political, and this chapter also considers the central ones of these. It is also full of questions, because recognizing the non-religious and reformulating the idea of secularity points to multiple configurations of the religious, spiritual, non-religious, areligious, secular, and secularist—and about which there will be very much more to say.
Can camera trapping provide accurate estimates of small mammal ( Myodes rutilus and Peromyscus maniculatus ) density in the boreal forest?
Authors: Villette Petra , Krebs Charles J. , Jung Thomas S. , Boonstra Rudy
Published: September 2015

Estimating population densities of small mammals (< 100g) has typically been carried out by intensive livetrapping, but this technique may be stressful to animals and the effort required is considerable. Here, we used camera traps to detect small mammal presence and assessed if this provided a feasible alternative to livetrapping for density estimation. During 2010–2012, we used camera trapping in conjunction with mark–recapture livetrapping to estimate the density of northern red-backed voles ( Myodes rutilus ) and deer mice ( Peromyscus maniculatus ) in the boreal forest of Yukon, Canada. Densities for these 2 species ranged from 0.29 to 9.21 animals/ha and 0 to 5.90 animals/ha, respectively, over the course of this investigation. We determined if hit window—the length of time used to group consecutive videos together as single detections or “hits”—has an effect on the correlation between hit rate and population density. The relationship between hit rate and density was sensitive to hit window duration for Myodes with R2 values ranging from 0.45 to 0.59, with a 90-min hit window generating the highest value. This relationship was not sensitive to hit window duration for Peromyscus , with R2 values for the tested hit windows ranging from 0.81 to 0.84. Our results indicate that camera trapping may be a robust method for estimating density of small rodents in the boreal forest when the appropriate hit window duration is selected and that camera traps may be a useful tool for the study of small mammals in boreal forest habitat.
Preliminary Evidence of an Association Between ADHD Medications and Diminished Bone Health in Children and Adolescents
Authors: Howard Jeffrey T. , Walick Kristina S. , Rivera Jessica C.
Published: September 2015

Background:

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimate that 3.5 million children use psychotropic drugs for attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). With an increase in use of these types of drugs, thorough understanding of their potential side effects on the growing skeleton is needed. The purpose of this study was to determine whether there is an association between use of ADHD medication and diminished bone health.

Methods:

Three waves of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey public-use data set, collected from 2005 through 2010, were compiled for this study (N=5315). Bone health was measured using dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry scans, which were performed for participants aged 8 to 17 years to determine bone mineral density (BMD) for 3 regions: (1) total femur; (2) femoral neck; and (3) lumbar. Use of ADHD medications was determined by self-reported responses to questions regarding prescription drug use, which were answered by either the respondent or the respondent’s parent or guardian. Multiple statistical techniques were used to produce estimates of association between ADHD medication use and z score age and sex standardized BMD measures, including survey adjusted univariate, survey adjusted multiple linear regression, and generalized estimating equations with a propensity-matched subsample (N=1967). Multivariate models adjusted for covariates including time period, age, sex, race/ethnicity, family income to poverty ratio, and total number of prescription medications.

Results:

Conservative estimates of the difference in standardized BMD measures between the ADHD medication group and the nonmedicated group range from −0.4855 (±0.27; P<0.001) for total femoral, −0.4671 (±0.27; P<0.001) for femoral neck, and −0.3947 (±0.29; P<0.01) for lumbar. Significantly more children on ADHD medications versus match subjects on no medication had BMDs with in osteopenic range (38.3% vs. 21.6%, P<0.01).

Discussion:

The findings suggest that there are real and nontrivial differences in BMD for children and adolescents taking ADHD medications, as compared with similar children not taking any prescription medications. Prescribing physicians and parents should be aware of potential bone health risks associated with these medications.

Level of Evidence:

Level III—case-control study.
Palaeotsunamis and tsunami hazards in the Eastern Mediterranean
Authors: England Philip , Howell Andrew , Jackson James , Synolakis Costas
Published: September 2015

The dominant uncertainties in assessing tsunami hazard in the Eastern Mediterranean are attached to the location of the sources. Reliable historical reports exist for five tsunamis associated with earthquakes at the Hellenic plate boundary, including two that caused widespread devastation. Because most of the relative motion across this boundary is aseismic, however, the modern record of seismicity provides little or no information about the faults that are likely to generate such earthquakes. Independent geological and geophysical observations of two large historical to prehistorical earthquakes, in Crete and Rhodes, lead to a coherent framework in which large to great earthquakes occurred not on the subduction boundary, but on reverse faults within the overlying crust. We apply this framework to the less complete evidence from the remainder of the Hellenic plate boundary zone, identifying candidate sources for future tsunamigenic earthquakes. Each such source poses a significant hazard to the North African coast of the Eastern Mediterranean. Because modern rates of seismicity are irrelevant to slip on the tsunamigenic faults, and because historical and geological data are too sparse, there is no reliable basis for a probabilistic assessment of this hazard, and a precautionary approach seems advisable.
The Fukushima accident was preventable
Authors: Synolakis Costas , Kânoğlu Utku
Published: September 2015

The 11 March 2011 tsunami was probably the fourth largest in the past 100 years and killed over 15 000 people. The magnitude of the design tsunami triggering earthquake affecting this region of Japan had been grossly underestimated, and the tsunami hit the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant (NPP), causing the third most severe accident in an NPP ever. Interestingly, while the Onagawa NPP was also hit by a tsunami of approximately the same height as Dai-ichi, it survived the event ‘remarkably undamaged’. We explain what has been referred to as the cascade of engineering and regulatory failures that led to the Fukushima disaster. One, insufficient attention had been given to evidence of large tsunamis inundating the region earlier, to Japanese research suggestive that large earthquakes could occur anywhere along a subduction zone, and to new research on mega-thrusts since Boxing Day 2004. Two, there were unexplainably different design conditions for NPPs at close distances from each other. Three, the hazard analysis to calculate the maximum probable tsunami at Dai-ichi appeared to have had methodological mistakes, which almost nobody experienced in tsunami engineering would have made. Four, there were substantial inadequacies in the Japan nuclear regulatory structure. The Fukushima accident was preventable, if international best practices and standards had been followed, if there had been international reviews, and had common sense prevailed in the interpretation of pre-existing geological and hydrodynamic findings. Formal standards are needed for evaluating the tsunami vulnerability of NPPs, for specific training of engineers and scientists who perform tsunami computations for emergency preparedness or critical facilities, as well as for regulators who review safety studies.
Quasispecies dynamics in hepatitis C liver transplant recipients receiving grafts from hepatitis C virus infected donors
Authors: Pérez-del-Pulgar Sofía , Gregori Josep , Rodríguez-Frías Francisco , González Patricia , García-Cehic Damir , Ramírez Santseharay , Casillas Rosario , Domingo Esteban , Esteban Juan I. , Forns Xavier , Quer Josep
Published: September 2015

The allocation of liver grafts from hepatitis C virus (HCV)-positive donors in HCV-infected liver transplant (LT) recipients leads to infection with two different viral populations. In a previous study, we examined quasispecies dynamics during reinfection by clonal sequencing, which did not allow an accurate characterization of coexistence and competition events. To overcome this limitation, here we used deep-sequencing analysis of a fragment of the HCV NS5B gene in six HCV-infected LT recipients who received HCV-infected grafts. Successive expansions and contractions of quasispecies complexity were observed, evolving in all cases towards a more homogeneous population. The population that became dominant was the one displaying the highest mutant spectrum complexity. In four patients, coexistence of minority mutants, derived from the donor or the recipient, were detected. In conclusion, our study shows that, during reinfection with a different HCV strain in LT recipients, the viral population with the highest diversity always becomes dominant.
Medial prefrontal cortex population activity is plastic irrespective of learning
Authors: Singh Abhinav , Peyrache Adrien , Humphries Mark D.
Published: September 2015

The prefrontal cortex is thought to learn the relationships between actions and their outcomes. But little is known about what changes to population activity in prefrontal cortex are specific to learning these relationships. Here we characterise the plasticity of population activity in the medial prefrontal cortex of male rats learning rules on a Y-maze. First, we show that the population always changes its patterns of joint activity between the periods of sleep either side of a training session on the maze, irrespective of successful rule learning during training. Next, by comparing the structure of population activity in sleep and training, we show that this population plasticity differs between learning and non-learning sessions. In learning sessions, the changes in population activity in posttraining sleep incorporate the changes to the population activity during training on the maze. In non-learning sessions, the changes in sleep and training are unrelated. Finally, we show evidence that the non-learning and learning forms of population plasticity are driven by different neuron-level changes, with the non-learning form entirely accounted for by independent changes to the excitability of individual neurons, and the learning form also including changes to firing rate couplings between neurons. Collectively, our results suggest two different forms of population plasticity in prefrontal cortex during the learning of action-outcome relationships, one a persistent change in population activity structure decoupled from overt rule-learning, the other a directional change driven by feedback during behaviour.

Significance statement

The prefrontal cortex is thought to represent our knowledge about what action is worth doing in which context. But we do not know how the activity of neurons in prefrontal cortex collectively changes when learning which actions are relevant. Here we show in a trial-and-error task that population activity in prefrontal cortex is persistently changing, irrespective of learning. Only during episodes of clear learning of relevant actions are the accompanying changes to population activity carried forward into sleep, suggesting a long-lasting form of neural plasticity. Our results suggest that representations of relevant actions in prefrontal cortex are acquired by reward imposing a direction onto ongoing population plasticity.
Haplotype synthesis analysis in public reference data reveals functional variants underlying known genome-wide associated susceptibility loci
Authors: Lacour Andre , Becker Tim
Published: September 2015

The functional mechanisms underlying disease association identified by Genome-wide Association Studies remain unknown for susceptibility loci located outside gene coding regions. In addition to the regulation of gene expression, synthesis of effects from multiple surrounding functional variants has been suggested as an explanation of hard-to-interpret associations. Here, we define filter criteria based on linkage disequilibrium measures and allele frequencies which reflect expected properties of synthesizing variant sets. For eligible candidate sets we search for those haplotypes that are highly correlated with the risk alleles of a genome-wide associated variant. We applied our methods to 1,000 Genomes reference data and confirmed Crohn's Disease and Type 2 Diabetes susceptibility loci. Of these, a proportion of 32% allowed explanation by three-variant-haplotypes carrying at least two functional variants, as compared to a proportion of 16% for random variants (P=2.9 x t10^-6). More importantly, we detected examples of known loci whose association can fully be explained by surrounding missense variants: three missense variants from MUC19 synthesize rs11564258 (LOC105369736/MUC19, intron; Crohn's Disease). Next, rs2797685 (PER3, intron; Crohn's Disease) is synthesized by a 57 kilobase haplotype defined by five missense variants from PER3 and three missense variants from UTS2. Finally, the association of rs7178572 (HMG20A, intron; Type 2 Diabetes) can be explained by the synthesis of eight haplotypes, each carrying at least one missense variant in either PEAK1, TBC1D2B, CHRNA5 or ADAMTS7. In summary, application of our new methods highlights the potential of synthesis analysis to guide functional follow-up investigation of findings from association studies.
Spatially-constrained growth enhances conversional meltdown
Authors: Lavrentovich Maxim O. , Wahl Mary E. , Nelson David R. , Murray Andrew W.
Published: September 2015

Cells that mutate or commit to a specialized function (differentiate) often undergo conversions that are effectively irreversible. Slowed growth of converted cells can act as a form of selection, balancing unidirectional conversion to maintain both cell types at a steady-state ratio. However, when one-way conversion is insuffciently counterbalanced by selection, the original cell type will ultimately be lost, often with negative impacts on the population’s overall ftness. The critical balance between selection and conversion needed for preservation of unconverted cells and the steady-state ratio between cell types depends on the spatial circumstances under which cells proliferate. We present experimental data on a yeast strain engineered to undergo irreversible conversion: this synthetic system permits cell type-specifc fuorescent labeling and exogenous variation of the relative growth and conversion rates. We fnd that populations confned to grow on a fat agar surface are more susceptible than their well-mixed counterparts to ftness loss via a conversion-induced “meltdown.” We then present analytical predictions for growth in several biologically-relevant geometries – well-mixed liquid media, radially-expanding two-dimensional colonies, and linear fronts in two dimensions – by employing analogies to the directed percolation transition from non-equilibrium statistical physics. These simplifed theories are consistent with the experimental results.
Bacterial infection remodels the DNA methylation landscape of human dendritic cells
Authors: Pacis Alain , Tailleux Ludovic , Morin Alexander M. , Lambourne John , MacIsaac Julia L. , Yotova Vania , Dumaine Anne , Danckaert Anne , Luca Francesca , Grenier Jean-Christophe , Hansen Kasper D. , Gicquel Brigitte , Yu Miao , Pai Athma , He Chuan , Tung Jenny , Pastinen Tomi , Kobor Michael S. , Pique-Regi Roger , Gilad Yoav , Barreiro Luis B.
Published: September 2015

DNA methylation is an epigenetic mark thought to be robust to environmental perturbations on a short time scale. Here, we challenge that view by demonstrating that the infection of human dendritic cells (DCs) with a live pathogenic bacteria is associated with rapid and active demethylation at thousands of loci, independent of cell division. We performed an integrated analysis of data on genome-wide DNA methylation, histone mark patterns, chromatin accessibility, and gene expression, before and after infection. We found that infection-induced demethylation rarely occurs at promoter regions and instead localizes to distal enhancer elements, including those that regulate the activation of key immune transcription factors. Active demethylation is associated with extensive epigenetic remodeling, including the gain of histone activation marks and increased chromatin accessibility, and is strongly predictive of changes in the expression levels of nearby genes. Collectively, our observations show that active, rapid changes in DNA methylation in enhancers play a previously unappreciated role in regulating the transcriptional response to infection, even in nonproliferating cells.
Crystal structure of [(2S,3R)-3-hydroxy-3-phenylbutan-2-yl]pyrrolidinium chloride
Authors: Kandhaswamy Abirami , Meena K.S. , Deepa S. , Murugavel S.
Published: September 2015

In the title molecular salt, C14H22NO+·Cl−, the pyrrolidinium ring adopts a twisted conformation about one of the N—C bonds. It is oriented at a dihedral angle of 42.0 (1)° with respect to the benzene ring. The torsion angle for the central N—C—C—Car(ar = aromatic) linkage is 163.74 (15)°. In the crystal, the components are linkedviaN—H...Cl and O—H...Cl hydrogen bonds, forming zigzig chains along theb-axis direction. These chains are connected along thecaxis by very weak C—H...π interactions, forming a two-dimensional supramolecular network.
Aligning corporate real estate with the corporate strategies of higher education institutions
Authors: Beckers Ronald , van der Voordt Theo , Dewulf Geert
Published: September 2015

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to explore how corporate real estate (CRE) managers of higher education institutions formulate their CRE strategies and CRE operating decisions to align CRE with the corporate strategies of these institutions.

Design/methodology/approach

– An analytical alignment framework has been developed, which was used to study the possible and actual connections between CRE management and corporate management at 13 large Dutch Universities of Applied Sciences. The data collection included a content analysis of the strategic plans of these universities and interviews with the CRE managers.

Findings

– The research findings show several layers of how CRE managers aim to align CRE with corporate goals to add value to the organization. It appears that the CRE strategies in-use are more clearly aligned with the corporate strategies than with the espoused CRE strategies.

Practical implications

– The paper emphasizes the relevance of involving CRE management in corporate decision-making to contribute to the attainment of the organizational objectives with an efficient and effective accommodation.

Originality/value

– Substantial changes in learning and teaching practices in higher education lead to evolving corporate strategies, which result in the need for aligned CRE strategies and CRE operating decisions. This paper makes practitioners and researchers aware of the differences between alignment-based espoused CRE strategies and alignment that results from CRE strategies in-use in the field of higher education. The findings and insights might be applicable in other sectors as well.