bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The Year in Thoracic Surgery
Authors: Bennett Daine T. , Weyant Michael J.
Published: February 2014

Over the course of 2013, many important studies have been published affecting the care of thoracic surgery patients. Novel chemotherapeutics are being developed to target specific tumor mutations. The utilization of robotic-assisted surgery continues to expand within this exciting field as well. Improved data on endobronchial ultrasound staging and sublobar resections for non–small cell lung cancer as well as postoperative surveillance after esophagectomy have also been reported. This review summarizes important publications of the past year influencing the practice of thoracic surgery today.
Musical disembodiment: A phenomenological case study investigating the experiences of operatic career disruption due to physical incapacity
Authors: Oakland Jane , MacDonald Raymond , Flowers Paul
Published: February 2014

The effects of musical career disruption are an increasingly important, yet under-researched, area within music education. This article highlights psychological issues that can negatively affect an operatic career. Existing work has examined the effects of redundancy for opera choristers and confirmed the importance of a flexible approach to identity formation for career longevity. Using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA), this study investigates the effects of career disruption by focussing on the consequences of physical disabilities for one professional opera singer called Joe. Music and musical narratives are utilized as key elements to investigate various aspects of Joe’s music identity. Internal conflicts that can result from a perceived lack of autonomy over musical issues and the effects of bodily malfunction on a vocal identity are discussed as being crucial. Findings also highlight the importance for music educators to help young artists develop a balanced relationship with music and a sustainable identity within music.
Static characteristics of small aerodynamic foil thrust bearings operated up to 350,000 r/min
Authors: Somaya Kei , Kishino Tatsuma , Miyatake Masaaki , Yoshimoto Shigeka
Published: February 2014

Foil bearings have been attracting considerable attention for their application in achieving low power consumption in small-sized turbo machines, excellent stability at high speeds, and durability at high temperature. Foil bearings with bump foils are one of the most suitable candidates for these applications as indicated in recent studies. However, it was reported that current small foil thrust bearings had insufficient load capacity to support thrust forces in practical high-speed turbo machines, and were needed to improve the load capacity at high speeds. As a first step in improving the load capacity of small foil thrust bearings, the load capacity and rotational torque of this type of foil thrust bearings that operate at up to 350,000 r/min were investigated experimentally and numerically in this paper. In the numerical calculation, the Reynolds and elasticity equations for the top foil were solved simultaneously by using the finite difference and the finite element method, respectively. It was experimentally and numerically found that the foil thrust bearings treated in this paper have the load capacity coefficient of 5.36 × 10−6 N/(mm)3 kr/min, which was comparable to that of the second-generation foil thrust bearings.
Birth outcomes of pregnancies fathered by men with multiple sclerosis
Authors: Lu E , Zhu F , Zhao Y , van der Kop M , Sadovnick AD , Synnes A , Dahlgren L , Traboulsee A , Tremlett H
Published: February 2014

We linked several population-based clinical and health administrative databases in British Columbia, Canada. We identified and compared birth outcomes of pregnancies fathered by men with multiple sclerosis (MS) ( n=202) and men from a frequency-matched general population cohort ( n=981) between 1996 and 2010. Using multivariate models, we analyzed the association of paternal MS, disease duration at conception and disability (as measured by the Expanded Disability Status Scale) with birth weight and gestational age. Paternal MS and MS-related clinical factors were not significantly associated with birth outcomes ( p>0.05). This study provides assurance to expecting fathers with MS and their families.
Children’s Perceived Competence Scale
Authors: Nagai Yukiyo , Nomura Kayo , Nagata Masako , Ohgi Shohei , Iwasa Mitsuji
Published: February 2014

To support children with chronic diseases, reference values to measure developmental changes in self-perception and self-esteem are considered a useful yardstick. To develop reference values to measure self-perceived competence and self-esteem in Japanese children, the Children’s Perceived Competence Scale (CPCS) was administered to 768 children of elementary school grade 1 (6 years) to grade 6 (11 years) at four public schools in Japan, from November to December 2012. After excluding 74 with chronic diseases and/or incomplete responses, 694 children were included. CPCS measures children’s self-perceived competence in cognitive, social, physical domains, and general self-worth, namely self-esteem. There was a tendency for scores of cognitive and general self-worth to decrease with increasing grade. Scores among grade 5 respondents were significantly lower than those among grade 4 respondents for both social and physical domains. Scores among boys and girls differed significantly, with boys scoring higher for physical domain in grades 3 and 6 and for general self-worth domain in grade 6. The CPCS reference values to measure self-perceived competence and self-esteem in Japanese children were developed in this study. These reference values are useful to inform practitioners supporting children with psychological or psychiatric problems or those with chronic diseases.
Simulations of diesel–methanol dual-fuel engine combustion with large eddy simulation and Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes model
Authors: Xu Guang-Lan , Yao Chun-De , Rutland Christopher J
Published: February 2014

A comparison of large eddy simulation and Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes combustion models was performed using simulations of a diesel–methanol dual-fuel engine. The two models share the assumption that the reaction rate for each species is determined by the chemical kinetic processes as well as the relative magnitude of mixing and reaction effects, which are characterized by a kinetic timescale and a turbulence timescale. The main difference in the two models lies in their formulations of the turbulence timescale. The turbulence timescale in the Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes model is proportional to the eddy turnover time, while the turbulence timescale in the large eddy simulation model is the time needed for the mixture to reach perfectly mixed conditions based on the scalar dissipation rate. The models were tested using data from experiments on a modified heavy-duty diesel engine. Test cases using low methanol ratios, high methanol ratios and different initial temperatures were examined. In general, the ignition delay increases as the methanol ratio increases. In the models, this was found to occur due to the chemical interaction of the methanol and the diesel fuel. In addition, methanol auto-ignition occurs when the initial temperature is over 425 K. The large eddy simulation model and Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes model give similar predictions for the low methanol ratio cases. The large eddy simulation model shows improved capability to predict the high methanol ratio cases and methanol auto-ignition cases, represented by good agreement with experimental results.
In-cycle and life-time friction transience in piston ring–liner conjunction under mixed regime of lubrication
Authors: Styles Gema , Rahmani Ramin , Rahnejat Homer , Fitzsimons Brian
Published: February 2014

The piston ring/cylinder liner conjunction can experience various regimes of lubrication during piston strokes inside the engine cylinder. In the current engines, the nature of lubrication usually remains hydrodynamic at mid-stroke, while a mixed regime of lubrication may be experienced at and near reversals. The direct contact between the tips of some of the asperities of opposing surfaces leads to mixed (partial) regime of lubrication. A model proposed by Greenwood and Tripp can be used to predict asperity-level contribution to the total piston friction. At the same time, Reynolds equation can be employed to predict the portion of load carried by the lubricant trapped between the asperities. Friction between the asperity tips is usually proportional to the load that they support, stated in terms of a proportionality factor, that is, coefficient of friction. The surfaces are usually furnished with hard wear-resistant coatings and in parts by solid lubricants. Both the piston rings and cylinder liner surfaces are usually coated. These coatings change the friction characteristics of the counterfaces because of their surface topography as well as material mechanical properties. Atomic force microscope is used to obtain surface topographical parameters in contact tapping mode. The corresponding surface topographical parameters are obtained from representative regional areas of the contacting solid surfaces, using a Talysurf. The combination of topography and coating characteristics are used to develop the necessary parameters for a boundary friction model. A numerical model of the top compression ring to cylinder liner is developed based on mixed-hydrodynamic regime of lubrication. The results for friction and the effect of coating on the power loss and wear of the conjunction are discussed in this article.
How consumption prescriptions affect food practices: Assessing the roles of household resources and life-course events
Authors: Plessz Marie , Dubuisson-Quellier Sophie , Gojard Séverine , Barrey Sandrine
Published: February 2014

Food consumption has become the subject of many prescriptions that aim to improve consumers’ health and protect the environment. This study examined recent changes in food practices that occurred in response to prescriptions. Based on practice theories, we assume that links that connect practices with prescriptions result from evolving social interactions. Consistent with the life-course perspective, we focus on distinctions between public prescriptions and standards that individuals consider relevant to their lives. We rely on quantitative data and the results of qualitative fieldwork conducted in France. Our results suggest that consumers may change food practices when they reach turning points in their lives. They may reconsider resources, skills and standards. Middle- and upper-class individuals are more likely to adopt standards consistent with public prescriptions. Possible explanations are that they trust expert knowledge sources, their social networks are less stable and smaller gaps exist between their standards and prescriptions.
Constructing and communicating an ethical consumer identity: A Social Identity Approach
Authors: Papaoikonomou Eleni , Cascon-Pereira Rosalia , Ryan Gerard
Published: February 2014

In recent years the adoption of ethical criteria when making consumer decisions has gained increasing popularity and has been studied as a way of moving towards a more sustainable consumption–production paradigm. Much research has focused on what motivates people to engage in ethical consumer behaviours considered as the expression of an ethical self. However, there is a limited understanding of the construction and communication of these ethical selves. By focusing on how members of Spanish “Responsible Consumption Cooperatives” construct and communicate their ethical identities, this study sheds light on the underlying social psychological processes of ethical consumer behaviour from a Social Identity Approach. Findings from the multi-method qualitative study reveal how consumers negotiate their perceptions of ethics and respective behaviours through the construction and identification of in-groups and out-groups and communicate their shared social identity through different consumption practices, such as the deliberate avoidance of brands/symbols that embody the values of the consumerist society.
Forming digital self and parasocial relationships on YouTube
Authors: Chen Chih-Ping
Published: February 2014

The videos on YouTube come either from mass media or are created and uploaded by amateur individuals. This study focused on how amateur individuals explore their digital self and establish parasocial interaction with others via YouTube videos. Drawing upon in-depth interviews with 45 participants (11 females and 34 males), our data demonstrate that YouTube is a consumer narrative where multiple digital selves and parasocial relationships are made comprehensible. It also unfolds the complex process of forming one’s digital self and parasocial relationships on YouTube by undergoing three main phases: digital self-construction, digital-self presentation strategies, and parasocial relationship developments that are managed by digital-self images. The results suggest that YouTube is a set of cultural values in terms of symbolic meanings in everyday life that are essential for consumers to digitally self-construct, self-present, and parasocially interact with online viewers.
Dating Violence Among College Students
Authors: Kaukinen Catherine
Published: February 2014

The research review synthesizes the knowledge base on risk and protective factors for dating violence while highlighting its relevance to violence against college women. In particular, the review highlights the personal, family, relationship, and behavioral factors that heighten the risk of dating violence victimization and perpetration while also noting the methodological limitations of the current body of empirical research and identifying directions for future academic work. Researchers have identified the correlation between risky health and behavioral factors and dating violence, most often modeling these as part of the etiology of dating violence among college students. Less often have scholars explored these as co-occurring risk factors. This approach to dating violence may be used to develop meaningful and impactful interventions to reduce the incidence and prevalence of college dating violence while also addressing the other health risk behaviors that impact academic success and place students’ well-being at risk.
Campus and College Victim Responses to Sexual Assault and Dating Violence
Authors: Sabina Chiara , Ho Lavina Y.
Published: February 2014

After sexual assault or dating violence occurs, a college victim may disclose the event to formal and informal sources as well as seek services. The current review explores empirical research on formal disclosure, informal disclosure, service utilization, and service provision among college students. Forty-five empirical articles and reports that met certain criteria were reviewed. Overall, rates of informal disclosure were considerably higher than rates of formal disclosure. Characteristics of the incident, victim, and offender were associated with disclosure. Rates of service utilization were varied but appear to be low among those victimized in the past year. When services were used, physical and mental health services were most often utilized. Available services, policies for dating violence and sexual assault, and judicial processes varied according to the type of institution, and indicate several areas for improvement. A number of research, practice, and policy implications emerge from this critical review of the literature.
Electoral Career Movements and the Flow of Political Power in the American Federal System
Authors: Squire Peverill
Published: February 2014

I offer a novel way of documenting the flow of power between the state and federal governments. Rather than look at programs or expenditures, I examine the behavior of elected officials. Assuming that ambitious politicians gravitate toward the locus of political power, I track the flow of elected officials in the American federal system. Specifically, I look at the career paths of more than 12,000 individuals who served in the U.S. Congress between 1789 and 2012. By analyzing the movement of elected officials between the state and federal levels, I confirm the prevailing story line on the evolution of American federalism while generating a measure that can be used to assess the relative distribution of power in the system across time.
Multitargeted Effects of Hangeshashinto for Treatment of Chemotherapy-Induced Oral Mucositis on Inducible Prostaglandin E2 Production in Human Oral Keratinocytes
Authors: Kono Toru , Kaneko Atsushi , Matsumoto Chinami , Miyagi Chika , Ohbuchi Katsuya , Mizuhara Yasuharu , Miyano Kanako , Uezono Yasuhito
Published: February 2014

Objective. Chemotherapy-induced oral mucositis (COM) is characterized by painful inflammation with prolonged damage that involves the pathological pain-evoking prostaglandin E2 (PGE2). We previously found that gargling with hangeshashinto (HST), a traditional Japanese medicine, was effective for the treatment of COM. However, little is known regarding the mechanisms. Our aim was to identify the active ingredients and clarify the characteristic effects of HST on the PGE2 system. Methods. Prostanoids produced by human oral keratinocytes (HOK) stimulated with IL-1β were measured by enzyme immunoassay. Active ingredients that regulate PGE2 production were identified and quantified by liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) and a culture system of HOK cells. Results. Inducible PGE2, PGD2, and PGF2α, metabolites of cyclooxygenase (COX) pathways, were reduced by HST (10-300 µg/mL) without inducing cytotoxicity. The active ingredients of HST were quantified by LC-MS/MS, and [6]-shogaol, [6]-gingerol, wogonin, baicalein, baicalin, and berberine were shown to reduce PGE2 production. A mixture of these 6 ingredients at concentrations equal to 300 µg/mL of HST strongly suppressed PGE2 production to the same level as HST. [6]-Shogaol and [6]-gingerol did not decrease COX-2 mRNA expression and mostly inhibited PGE2 metabolic activity in an assay using intact HOK cells, suggesting that they regulate PGE2 synthesis at the posttranscriptional level. Wogonin, baicalin, and berberine inhibited expression of COX-2 mRNA without affecting PGE2 metabolic activity. Moreover, wogonin, but not [6]-shogaol, suppressed phosphorylation of mitogen-activated protein kinases (p38s and JNKs). Conclusions. These lines show that HST includes several PGE2-regulating ingredients that have different mechanisms and can function as a multicomponent and multitarget agent for treatment of COM, indicating that HST may be beneficial in a new medical strategy for COM treatment.
Mixed messages
Authors: Rosenthal Meagen , Chen Christopher B. , Hall Kevin , Tsuyuki Ross T.
Published: February 2014

Background:

More than 5 years ago, the Blueprint for Pharmacy developed a plan for transitioning pharmacy practice toward more patient-centred care. Much of the strategy for change involves communicating the new vision.

Objective:

To evaluate the communication of the Vision for Pharmacy by the organizations and corporations that signed the Blueprint for Pharmacy’s Commitment to Act.

Methods:

The list of 88 signatories of the Commitment to Act was obtained from the Blueprint for Pharmacy document. The website of each of these signatories was searched for all references to the Blueprint for Pharmacy or Vision for Pharmacy. Each of the identified references was then analyzed using summative content analysis.

Results:

A total of 934 references were identified from the webpages of the 88 signatories. Of these references, 549 were merely links to the Blueprint for Pharmacy’s website, 350 of the references provided some detailed information about the Blueprint for Pharmacy and only 35 references provided any specific plans to transition pharmacy practice.

Conclusion:

Widespread proliferation of the Vision for Pharmacy has not been achieved. One possible explanation for this is that communication of the vision by the signatories has been incomplete. To ensure the success of future communications, change leaders must develop strategies that consider how individual pharmacists and pharmacies understand the message.
Principals’ and teachers’ views of spirituality in principal leadership in three primary schools
Authors: Gibson Alaster
Published: February 2014

This article discusses key findings from my doctoral research involving a qualitative case study inquiring into the lived experiences of spirituality in principal leadership and its influence on teachers and their teaching within three public primary school contexts in New Zealand. Spirituality is understood in this article as a complex and controversial human phenomenon, the meaning of which may be shaped and re-shaped by diverse perspectives and experiences. It includes personal, social-cultural and transcendent connectedness, meaning making about life and living, and a desire for greater authenticity, resulting in consistency between people’s beliefs, moral-values, attitudes and their actions. The three principal participants believed their personal meanings of spirituality were intentionally and yet appropriately interwoven into a range of professional tasks, linked to characteristics of servant, transformational, moral and relational leadership styles, and contributed to their sense of resilience in the job. Most teacher participants perceived spirituality in their principal’s leadership as influential through the quality of their professional character, competence and conduct. Most teacher participants attributed positive effects on their professional attitudes and practice. However, there was some ambivalence and uncertainty associated with the phenomenon of spirituality and difficulty attributing influence to an integral dimension of the person who leads. The article concludes with several implications for school leaders and teachers.
Leading the small rural school in Iceland and Australia
Authors: Wildy Helen , Siguräardóttir Sigríäur Margrét , Faulkner Robert
Published: February 2014

This study builds on a set of Australian case studies exploring the impact of Place on the work of principals and of the importance of Place in the preparation and development of principals. The project compares the ways that principals in Iceland and Australia build leadership capacity in small rural schools. Leaders of small schools in both settings face challenges because of their remoteness, such as lack of access to professional learning opportunities, professional isolation and teaching roles in addition to leadership and administrative responsibilities. Qualitative data from interviews and observations were used to construct narrative accounts of salient aspects of the principal’s work. It was evident that these schools were good schools, hardly noticed and rarely visited by their respective educational authority personnel. Their principals accommodate the changes they face, accepting the conditions they find. These schools are characterised by a culture of acceptance, where expectations for performance and behaviour are known and shared and not questioned. But is this enough? Could they be great schools or even simply better schools? In what ways? At what cost? How might these schools become great schools if principals were to develop a culture of inquiry?
Experience in the use of clobazam in the treatment of Lennox–Gastaut syndrome
Authors: Purcarin Gabriela , Ng Yu-Tze
Published: February 2014

Clobazam is a 1,5-benzodiazepine used successfully worldwide since the 1970s as an anxiolytic and antiepileptic drug. Since its recent Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval in the United States in 2011 as adjunctive treatment for Lennox–Gastaut syndrome, it has continued to show sustained efficacy and a better safety and tolerability profile compared with other benzodiazepines. The two randomized, controlled studies that led to the US FDA approval, as well as the follow-up multicenter, open-label study of clobazam, showed ≥50% seizure reduction for more than 50% of Lennox–Gastaut syndrome patients, while none of the other FDA-approved treatments for LGS have demonstrated efficacy rates better than 50%. Clobazam appears to have a safe profile and sustained effectiveness over the first 3 years of use in LGS and other epilepsy syndromes with intractable seizures, which makes it a viable long-term treatment option.
The type I BMP receptor Alk3 is required for the induction of hepatic hepcidin gene expression by interleukin-6
Authors: Mayeur Claire , Lohmeyer Lisa K. , Leyton Patricio , Kao Sonya M. , Pappas Alexandra E. , Kolodziej Starsha A. , Spagnolli Ester , Yu Binglan , Galdos Rita L. , Yu Paul B. , Peterson Randall T. , Bloch Donald B. , Bloch Kenneth D. , Steinbicker Andrea U.
Published: February 2014

Key Points

Presence of the BMP type I receptor Alk3 is required for interleukin-6 to induce hepatic hepcidin gene expression. Alk3 contributes to the induction of hypoferremia by interleukin-6.
Clinical impact of small TP53 mutated subclones in chronic lymphocytic leukemia
Authors: Rossi Davide , Khiabanian Hossein , Spina Valeria , Ciardullo Carmela , Bruscaggin Alessio , Famà Rosella , Rasi Silvia , Monti Sara , Deambrogi Clara , De Paoli Lorenzo , Wang Jiguang , Gattei Valter , Guarini Anna , Foà Robin , Rabadan Raul , Gaidano Gianluca
Published: February 2014

Key Points

Small TP53 mutated subclones have the same unfavorable prognostic impact as clonal TP53 defects in chronic lymphocytic leukemia.
Selective depletion of factor XI or factor XII with antisense oligonucleotides attenuates catheter thrombosis in rabbits
Authors: Yau Jonathan W. , Liao Peng , Fredenburgh James C. , Stafford Alan R. , Revenko Alexey S. , Monia Brett P. , Weitz Jeffrey I.
Published: February 2014

Key Points

Antisense oligonucleotides reduce levels of target hepatic mRNA and protein and decrease clotting activity in rabbits. Selective depletion of factors XI and XII in rabbits attenuates catheter thrombosis, whereas factor VII depletion does not.
Levels of salivary immunoglobulins and periodontal evaluation in smoking patients
Authors: Giuca Maria Rita , Pasini Marco , Tecco Simona , Giuca Giacomo , Marzo Giuseppe
Published: February 2014

Objective

The aim of this study was to assess the level of salivary immunoglobulins and periodontal status in smokers and non-smokers.

Materials and methods

Unstimulated saliva of 30 subjects (mean age 24.2 ± 3.5 years) who were smokers (test group) and of 30 subjects (mean age 25.3 ± 3.8 years) who were non-smokers (control group) was collected and centrifugated; IgA, IgG, and IgM were measured with the colorimetric immunoenzymatic method. Moreover, the following periodontal clinical parameters were recorded for each subject: plaque index (PI), gingival index (GI), probing depth (PD), and clinical attachment level (CAL).

Results

A significantly (p< 0.05) lower Ig level was observed in smoking patients (IgA: 20.0 ± 1.2 mg/dl; IgM: 19.5 ± 1.6 mg/dl; IgG: 8.1 ± 1.4 mg/dl) compared to levels in the non-smoking control group (IgA: 234.1 ± 65.2 mg/dl; IgM: 121.0 ± 31.7 mg/dl; IgG: 1049.4 ± 102 mg/dl). In the test group, PI (2.2 ± 0.3), GI (2.4 ±0.5), PD (49.3 ± 9.2%), and CAL (49.3 ± 4.6%) were higher (p< 0.05) than those observed in the control group (PI: 0.8 ± 0.4; GI: 0.7 ± 0.3; PD: 10.6 ± 2.4%; CAL: 3.1 ± 0.8%).

Conclusion

Smoking subjects showed lower levels of salivary IgA, IgG, and IgM and a worse periodontal condition than non-smoking subjects. On the base of our study, as smoking subjects also had lower levels of IgA, IgG, and IgM in their saliva than non-smoking subjects, despite the fact that there is little evidence that the salivary Igs have a protective action against periodontitis and that the whole saliva does not result in whole from the salivary glands, it can be concluded that the deteriorated periodontal health conditions of these patients can be attributed in part to a lowering of the host’s defense due to a decrease in the quantity of Igs in salivary fluid.
Cooperative activation of Xenopus rhodopsin transcription by paired-like transcription factors
Authors: Reks Sarah E , McIlvain Vera , Zhuo Xinming , Knox Barry E
Published: February 2014

Background

In vertebrates, rod photoreceptor-specific gene expression is regulated by the large Maf and Pax-like transcription factors, Nrl/LNrl and Crx/Otx5. The ubiquitous occurrence of their target DNA binding sites throughout rod-specific gene promoters suggests that multiple transcription factor interactions within the promoter are functionally important. Cooperative action by these transcription factors activates rod-specific genes such as rhodopsin. However, a quantitative mechanistic explanation of transcriptional rate determinants is lacking.

Results

We investigated the contributions of various paired-like transcription factors and their cognate cis-elements to rhodopsin gene activation using cultured cells to quantify activity. The Xenopus rhodopsin promoter (XOP) has a bipartite structure, with ~200 bp proximal to the start site (RPP) coordinating cooperative activation by Nrl/LNrl-Crx/Otx5 and the adjacent 5300 bp upstream sequence increasing the overall expression level. The synergistic activation by Nrl/LNrl-Crx/Otx5 also occurred when XOP was stably integrated into the genome. We determined that Crx/Otx5 synergistically activated transcription independently and additively through the two Pax-like cis-elements, BAT1 and Ret4, but not through Ret1. Other Pax-like family members, Rax1 and Rax2, do not synergistically activate XOP transcription with Nrl/LNrl and/or Crx/Otx5; rather they act as co-activators via the Ret1 cis-element.

Conclusions

We have provided a quantitative model of cooperative transcriptional activation of the rhodopsin promoter through interaction of Crx/Otx5 with Nrl/LNrl at two paired-like cis-elements proximal to the NRE and TATA binding site. Further, we have shown that Rax genes act in cooperation with Crx/Otx5 with Nrl/LNrl as co-activators of rhodopsin transcription.
A novel deleterious PTEN mutation in a patient with early-onset bilateral breast cancer
Authors: Pradella Laura Maria , Evangelisti Cecilia , Ligorio Claudia , Ceccarelli Claudio , Neri Iria , Zuntini Roberta , Amato Laura Benedetta , Ferrari Simona , Martelli Alberto Maria , Gasparre Giuseppe , Turchetti Daniela
Published: February 2014

Background

An early age at Breast Cancer (BC) onset may be a hallmark of inherited predisposition, but BRCA1/2 mutations are only found in a minority of younger BC patients. Among the others, a fraction may carry mutations in rarer BC genes, such as TP53, STK11, CDH1 and PTEN. As the identification of women harboring such mutations allows for targeted risk-management, the knowledge of associated manifestations and an accurate clinical and family history evaluation are warranted.

Case presentation

We describe the case of a woman who developed an infiltrating ductal carcinoma of the right breast at the age of 32, a contralateral BC at age 36 and another BC of the right breast at 40. When she was 39 years-old, during a dermatological examination, mucocutaneous features suggestive of Cowden Syndrome, a disorder associated to germ-line PTEN mutations, were noticed. PTEN genetic testing revealed the novel c.71A > T (p.Asp24Val) mutation, whose deleterious effect, suggested by conservation data and in silico tools, was definitely demonstrated by the incapacity of mutant PTEN to inhibit Akt phosphorylation when used to complement PTEN-null cells. In BC tissue, despite the absence of LOH or somatic mutations of PTEN, Akt phosphorylation was markedly increased in comparison to normal tissue, thus implying additional somatic events into the deregulation of the PI3K/Akt/mTOR pathway and, presumably, into carcinogenesis. Hence, known oncogenic mutations in PIK3CA (exons 10 and 21) and AKT1 (exon 2) were screened in tumor DNA with negative results, which suggests that the responsible somatic event(s) is a different, uncommon one.

Conclusion

This case stresses the importance of clinical/genetic assessment of early-onset BC patients in order to identify mutation carriers, who are at high risk of new events, so requiring tailored management. Moreover, it revealed a novel PTEN mutation with pathogenic effect, pointing out, however, the need for further efforts to elucidate the molecular steps of PTEN-associated carcinogenesis.
Schedule-based sequential localization in asynchronous wireless networks
Authors: Zachariah Dave , Angelis Alessio De , Dwivedi Satyam , Händel Peter
Published: February 2014

In this paper, we consider the schedule-based network localization concept, which does not require synchronization among nodes and does not involve communication overhead. The concept makes use of a common transmission sequence, which enables each node to perform self-localization and to localize the entire network, based on noisy propagation-time measurements. We formulate the schedule-based localization problem as an estimation problem in a Bayesian framework. This provides robustness with respect to uncertainty in such system parameters as anchor locations and timing devices. Moreover, we derive a sequential approximate maximuma posteriori(AMAP) estimator. The estimator is fully decentralized and copes with varying noise levels. By studying the fundamental constraints given by the considered measurement model, we provide a system design methodology which enables a scalable solution. Finally, we evaluate the performance of the proposed AMAP estimator by numerical simulations emulating an impulse-radio ultra-wideband (IR-UWB) wireless network.
Biomechanics of the natural, arthritic, and replaced human ankle joint
Authors: Leardini Alberto , O'Connor John J , Giannini Sandro
Published: February 2014

The human ankle joint complex plays a fundamental role in gait and other activities of daily living. At the same time, it is a very complicated anatomical system but the large literature of experimental and modelling studies has not fully described the coupled joint motion, position and orientation of the joint axis of rotation, stress and strain in the ligaments and their role in guiding and stabilizing joint motion, conformity and congruence of the articular surfaces, patterns of contact at the articular surfaces, patterns of rolling and sliding at the joint surfaces, and muscle lever arm lengths.

The present review article addresses these issues as described in the literature, reporting the most recent relevant findings.
CO2 laser versus cold steel margin analysis following endoscopic excision of glottic cancer
Authors: Makki Fawaz M , Rigby Matthew H , Bullock Martin , Brown Timothy , Hart Robert D , Trites Jonathan , Hinni Michael L , Taylor S Mark
Published: February 2014

Objective

To compare the suitability of CO2 laser with steel instruments for margin excision in transoral laser microsurgery.

Methods

Prospective randomized blinded study. Patients with glottic cancer undergoing laser resection were randomized to margin excision by either steel instruments or CO2 laser. Margins were analyzed for size, interpretability and degree of artifact by a pathologist who was blinded to technique.

Results

45 patients were enrolled in the study with 226 total margins taken. 39 margins taken by laser had marked artifact and 0 were uninterpretable. 20 margins taken by steel instruments had marked artifact, and 2 were uninterpretable. Controlling for margin size, the laser technique was associated with increasing degrees of margin artifact (p = 0.210), but there was no difference in crude rates of uninterpretability (p = 0.24).

Conclusion

Laser margin excision is associated with a greater degree of artifact than steel instrument excision, but was not associated with higher rate of uninterpretability.
Donor-derived 47, XXY in an unrelated cord blood transplant recipient
Authors: Kawaguchi Kuniki , Nakamura Takayuki , Nohara Masayuki , Koteda Satoko , Nomura Kei , Morishige Satoshi , Oku Eijiro , Imamura Rie , Mouri Fumihiko , Seki Ritsuko , Osaki Koichi , Hashiguchi Michitoshi , Yoshimoto Kohji , Nagafuji Koji , Okamura Takashi
Published: February 2014

A 65-year-old Japanese male with therapy-related myelodysplastic syndrome was admitted for unrelated cord blood transplantation. A cord blood unit from a male donor was obtained from the Japan Cord Blood Bank Network. The patient then received a conditioning regimen consisting of fludarabine, intravenous busulfan, and total body irradiation. Successful engraftment was obtained. The bone marrow examination on day 28 revealed trilineage engraftment, and chimerism analysis by variable number of tandem repeat polymerase chain reaction confirmed complete donor chimerism. At that time, conventional cytogenetics of the bone marrow aspirate showed 20 out of 20 metaphases with the 47, XXY karyotype characteristic of Klinefelter syndrome. Klinefelter syndrome is the most common genetic cause of human male infertility with a reported prevalence of 0.1–0.2% in the general population. In Japan Cord Blood Bank Network, there is no informed consent from parents about the possibility that post-unrelated cord blood transplantation patient evaluation may reveal donor-origin inherited diseases including cytogenetic abnormality. It is desirable to have opportunities in Japan discussing whether parents will be notified of the possibility that post-unrelated cord blood transplantation evaluation may reveal donor-derived illness incidentally.
DARE: DOCUMENTATION AND DATING
Authors: Goebel George H.
Published: February 2014

This article begins by discussing some of the factors that determine the content of the quotation paragraphs in an historical dictionary and compares how they apply to the Dictionary of American Regional English (DARE) and to the Oxford English Dictionary. Basic policies and how they are implemented are important, but equally important is the quality of the material you have to select from; this material includes not only the quotations already on hand, but also the potential body of quotations available to lexicographers from a variety of resources. It is this last factor that has changed radically since the earlier volumes of DARE were published, with the advent of the Internet. The rest of the article takes a statistical look at the quotation paragraphs in DARE and how they have (and have not) changed over the years in response to this and other factors, with special emphasis on the documentation of chronology.
THE PEOPLE WITHIN THE Dictionary: DEMOGRAPHICS OF THEDAREINFORMANTS
Authors: Abrams Kelly D. , Leary Erin E. , Stickle Trini
Published: February 2014

In anticipation of the availability of many of the Dictionary of American Regional English (DARE) primary materials, this article explores the demographic composition of the 3,577 DARE informants, expanding on what has been published in volume 1. This article compares the community type, sex, race, age, education, and socioeconomic status of the DARE informants to contemporary U.S. Census numbers to determine the extent to which they can be taken as a representative sample of the U.S. population. The ancillary materials of the DARE archive provide a sample of the language, culture, and history of the United States and its people, an archive that is of potential interest to a wide range of scholars who may have new uses for this data.
DAREAND REGIONAL AMERICAN LEXICOGRAPHY
Authors: Montgomery Michael B.
Published: February 2014

The recent completion of the Dictionary of American Regional English (DARE) makes timely an assessment of its achievements and the implications for pursuing regional dictionaries of American English. Using the author’s forthcoming Dictionary of Southern Appalachian English, this article explores how DARE’s practices can instruct a regional dictionary in evaluating sources and incorporating material from three indispensable domains: the library, the field, and the mind. In illustrating lessons learned and new practices developed, the article shows how DARE, far from being the culminating work in the field, creates opportunities for smaller-scale works to benefit from its practices.
Speaking of Metis: Reading Family Life into Colonial Records
Authors: Macdougall Brenda
Published: February 2014

Kinship studies are the hallmark of anthropological research into Native American societies, while genealogical reconstruction is common in historical studies of the Metis. The study of kinship has a twofold outcome. It reveals the worldview of various indigenous societies as evidenced by their construction of family and other relationships. But it also serves as a means to document their differences, culturally and socially, from mainstream North American society. Genealogical research, conversely, reveals little about the mentalité of the Metis because its purpose is simply to establish a documentary link between living and historical generations. The primary records sought in such work are then used to reconstitute the lives of particular individuals within the family but are not used to evaluate the connection those individuals had to the establishment of communities or their role within a societal framework defined by a worldview. By merging kinship and genealogical methods, the research presented here reconstructs Metis genealogies in northwestern Saskatchewan, not to trace any one individual but rather to analyze the emergence of a community over time through family interconnections, and it seeks to articulate the worldview of the people as expressed through cultural norms and practices. By bridging the methodological approaches and sources, we can produce a transformative approach to studying the Metis.
Sleights of Capital: Fantasies of Commensurability, Transparency, and a “Cultural Bourgeoisie”
Authors: Des Forges Alexander
Published: February 2014

This article argues that the concept of cultural capital as it is generally used in the study of the modern West constitutes a catachresis with three fundamentally problematic aspects: it shortchanges the productive capacity of capital; it assumes a commensurability between different types of aesthetic production and consumption that cannot obtain; and it overlooks the crucial contribution of individual labor to the accumulation and exchange of cultural capital. If we turn our attention from nineteenth- and twentieth-century Europe to early modern (Ming and Qing) China, the first of these three objections finds a relatively satisfactory answer in a society that defines an elite class as a class in large part through aesthetic production: the national civil service examination system grounded Chinese political, economic, and cultural orders from the fifteenth through the nineteenth centuries. Even in this “best-case” scenario, however, it becomes clear that the assumed commensurability on which the trope of cultural capital is predicated, and the spontaneity and directness with which it is supposed to manifest itself, with little room for individual agency and efforts at self-representation, remain substantial obstacles to a nuanced understanding of the complicated relationship between aesthetic and material production. The article concludes with an inquiry into the specific work that discourse on cultural capital accomplishes in the contemporary global academy: the trope of cultural capital turns out to serve best not as a tool for the critical analysis of past cultural production but rather as the ideological foundation for a new sense of the aesthetic in the Internet era.
Aperture effects in squid jet propulsion
Authors: Staaf Danna J. , Gilly William F. , Denny Mark W.
Published: February 2014

Squid are the largest jet propellers in nature as adults, but as paralarvae they are some of the smallest, faced with the inherent inefficiency of jet propulsion at low Reynolds number. In this study we describe the behavior and kinematics of locomotion in 1 mm paralarvae of Dosidicus gigas, the smallest squid yet studied. They swim with hop-and-sink behavior and can engage in fast jets by reducing the size of the mantle aperture during the contraction phase of a jetting cycle. We go on to explore the general effects of a variable mantle and funnel aperture in a theoretical model of jet propulsion scaled from the smallest (1 mm mantle length) to the largest (3 m) squid. Aperture reduction during mantle contraction increases propulsive efficiency at all squid sizes, although 1 mm squid still suffer from low efficiency (20%) due to a limited speed of contraction. Efficiency increases to a peak of 40% for 1 cm squid, then slowly declines. Squid larger than 6 cm must either reduce contraction speed or increase aperture size to maintain stress within maximal muscle tolerance. Ecological pressure to maintain maximum velocity may lead them to increase aperture size, which reduces efficiency. This effect may be ameliorated by nonaxial flow during the refill phase of the cycle. Our model's predictions highlight areas for future empirical work, and emphasize the existence of complex behavioral options for maximizing efficiency at both very small and large sizes.
Tight junction protein gene expression patterns and changes in transcript abundance during development of model fish gill epithelia
Authors: Kolosov Dennis , Chasiotis Helen , Kelly Scott P.
Published: February 2014

In vertebrates, tight junction (TJ) proteins play an important role in epithelium formation and development, the maintenance of tissue integrity and regulating TJ permeability. In this study, primary cultured model gill epithelia composed of pavement cells (PVCs) were used to examine TJ protein transcript abundance during the development of epithelium confluence and epithelium resistive properties. Differences in TJ protein expression patterns and transcript abundance between gill models composed of PVCs and models composed of PVCs and mitochondrion-rich cells (MRCs) were also examined. Marked alterations in TJ protein transcript abundance were observed during the formation of confluence in flask cultured model gill epithelia. In contrast, during the formation of tissue resistance in insert cultured epithelia (i.e. epithelia cultured on a permeable substrate), changes in TJ protein mRNA abundance were conservative, despite paracellular marker flux decreasing by orders of magnitude. In both cases significant changes in claudin-8b,-8d, -27b, -28b and -32a transcript abundance were observed, suggesting that temporal alterations in the abundance of these genes are important endpoints of model gill epithelium integrity. When MRCs were present in cultured gill models, the mRNA abundance of several TJ proteins significantly altered and claudin-10c, -10d and -33b were only detected in preparations possessing MRCs. These data provide insight into the role of select TJ proteins in the formation and development of gill epithelia and the maintenance of gill barrier properties. In addition, observations reveal a heterogeneous distribution of claudin TJ proteins in the gill epithelial cells of rainbow trout.
Cyclic TTF Tetramer Linked by Methylenedithio Spacers
Authors: Nakamura Ken-ichi , Okada Yuuki , Shirahata Takashi , Misaki Yohji
Published: February 2014

A new cyclic tetrathiafulvalene (TTF) tetramer 1 was synthesized. The cyclic voltammogram of 1 consists of four pairs of two-electron redox waves. UV–vis–NIR spectra of the oxidative species of 1 suggest that 12+, 14+, and 16+ possibly adopt two pairs of dimeric TTF structures that interact with each other through the so-called side-by-side interaction.
Water Proton Relaxivity, Superoxide Dismutase-like Activity, and Cytotoxicity of a Manganese(III) Porphyrin Having Four Poly(ethylene glycol) Tails
Authors: Hitomi Yutaka , Ekawa Tomoyuki , Kodera Masahito
Published: February 2014

A high-molecular-weight water-soluble manganese(III) porphyrin having four poly(ethylene glycol) tails was prepared, which enhanced the T1 relaxation rate of water protons by ca. 7.5-fold compared with manganese(III)–tetra(4-sulfonatophenyl)porphyrin. The new compound also exhibited superoxide dismutase-like activity and significantly lower cytotoxicity.