bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Geostrophic Circulation in the Tropical North Pacific Ocean Based on Argo Profiles
Authors: Yuan Dongliang , Zhang Zhichun , Chu Peter C. , Dewar William K.
Published: November 2013

Absolute geostrophic currents in the North Pacific Ocean are calculated from the newly gridded Argo profiling float data using the P-vector method for the period of 2004–11. The zonal geostrophic currents based on the Argo profile data are found to be stronger than those based on the traditional World Ocean Atlas 2009 (WOA09) data. A westward mean geostrophic flow underneath the North Equatorial Countercurrent is identified using the Argo data, which is evidenced by sporadic direct current measurements and geostrophic calculations in history. This current originates east of the date line and transports more than 4 × 106 m3 s−1 of water westward in the subsurface northwestern tropical Pacific Ocean. The authors name this current the North Equatorial Subsurface Current. The transport in the geostrophic currents is compared with the Sverdrup theory and found to differ significantly in several locations. Analyses have shown that errors of wind stress estimation cannot account for all of the differences. The largest differences are found in the area immediately north and south of the bifurcation latitude of the North Equatorial Current west of the date line and in the recirculation area of the Kuroshio and its extension, where nonlinear activities are vigorous. It is, therefore, suggested that the linear dynamics of the Sverdrup theory is deficient in explaining the geostrophic transport of the tropical northwestern Pacific Ocean.
Adolescents With Cerebral Palsy
Authors: Blackman James A. , Conaway Mark R.
Published: November 2013

Data from the 2009-2010 US National Survey of Children with Special Health Care Needs were examined to determine the health, developmental and behavioral status of adolescents with cerebral palsy (CP) and to assess how well pediatric health care providers were preparing them for transition to adult health care services. Adolescents with CP had no higher rates of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, depression, anxiety, oppositional or conduct disorders, or autism spectrum than a comparison group. However, those with CP participated less in sports, clubs, or other organized activities ( P < .001). Neither group reported much help in coordinating health services or preparing for transition to adult health care services. Inadequate adult health care services have a direct and unsatisfactory impact on the adult life span. Physicians and other health care providers who include adolescents with CP in their practices should begin discussion and planning for transition to adult health care early in adolescence.
Repositioning three models of social policy with reference to East Asian welfare systems
Authors: Lin Ka , Chan Raymond KH
Published: November 2013

This article compares features of the redistributive, developmental and productivist models of social policy. Using East Asian welfare systems as examples, it illustrates the application of the productivist and developmental models, and describes the contextual factors influencing these models. It argues that each model is an outgrowth of a particular social, economic and political context. When the context changes, the choice of model will also change, as shown in the recent development of redistributive policies in the East Asian region.
Hypokalaemic periodic paralysis in rural northern India – most have secondary causes
Authors: Kumar Vinod , Armstrong Lois , Seshadri MS , Finny Philip
Published: November 2013

Hypokalaemic periodic paralysis (HPP) is a life-threatening condition. Our aim was to study the clinical profile and laboratory parameters of HPP patients and to develop an algorithm to determine the causes of HPP. 84 patients presented with HPP over a 3 year period. 58 (69.0%) were found to have renal tubular acidosis (RTA). The other causes were idiopathic HPP (8 (9.5%)), acute gastroenteritis (4 (4.8%)), suspected primary hyperaldosteronism and familial HPP (2 each (2.4%)) and suspected Gitelman/Bartter Syndrome and thyrotoxic periodic paralysis (1 each (1.2%)). The number of cases peaks in the hot season. Over a third of the patients (35.7%) had recurrent episodes. 80% had secondary HPP and therefore a biochemical evaluation is mandatory. A simple algorithm was developed. Both health professionals and patients need further education regarding this problem in order to improve diagnosis and treatment and to improve compliance.
The Norwegian Communicative Development Inventories: Reliability, main developmental trends and gender differences
Authors: Simonsen Hanne Gram , Kristoffersen Kristian E. , Bleses Dorthe , Wehberg Sonja , Jørgensen Rune N.
Published: November 2013

This article presents results from a large population-based study of early communicative development in Norwegian children using an adaptation of the MacArthur–Bates Communicative Development Inventories, comprising 6574 children between 8 and 36 months. Data were collected via the Internet. In accordance with similar studies from other languages, it was found that vocabulary comprehension preceded vocabulary production, and that both use of gestures, comprehension and production of vocabulary, and grammatical complexity increased with age. Moreover, boys lagged behind girls in vocabulary production and comprehension, in grammatical complexity, and in certain types of imitation – this gender difference seems to come out more clearly in this study’s data than in data from other languages.
Structural Microfoundations of Innovation
Authors: Grigoriou Konstantinos , Rothaermel Frank T.
Published: November 2013

Conceptualizing new knowledge development as a process of search and recombination, we suggest that a focus on individual productivity alone presents an undersocialized view of human capital. Rather, we emphasize the importance of embedded relationships by individuals to effectively perform knowledge-generating activities. We rely on intraorganizational knowledge networks emerging through individual collaboration to identify actors who can positively influence their organization’s knowledge outcomes. We study two types of such relational stars: integrators (outliers in centrality) and connectors (outliers in bridging behavior). We test our ideas using the patenting portfolios of 106 pharmaceutical firms from 1974 to 1998 predicting the effect of relational stars on their firm’s quantity and quality of inventive output—proxies for the firm’s capacity to develop more and better new knowledge stocks. We find that the presence of relational stars results in firm-level knowledge advantages not only through their own superior recombinant efforts, but also through their capacity to make others around them more effective at knowledge recombination. Relational stars are firm-specific, and their advantages are socially complex and causally ambiguous because they rely on a network of within-firm interactions. Relational stars, therefore, are prime candidates to be a source of sustainable firm-level knowledge advantage.
Reversing the Trend of Corruption in South Sudan
Authors: Riak Maker Mayek
Published: November 2013

Despite various strategies that have been applied to limit and control the pervasive impacts of corruption across the world, corruption continues to be a global menace. Sub-Saharan Africa has been the hardest affected by corruption which has led to serious underdevelopment in the region. South Sudan, the world’s newest State, has fallen in the trap of the preceding sub-Saharan African Countries which have been largely plagued by corrupt practices and serious deficit in governance. Since the region got a semi-autonomous status in 2005 and subsequently gained independence in 2011 as a result of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA), the country has been fraught with numerous challenges of governance. As recent as August this year, the President of South Sudan wrote a letter to 75 government officials accusing them of embezzling money in the order of $4 billion; money which was meant to be used for providing social services to the impoverished population. Today, South Sudan is receiving pressure, both from its citizens and international donors, to ensure that the right measures are put in place to combat the scourge of corruption.
Ten cases of resected solitary pulmonary metastases arising from gastric cancer
Authors: Yoshida Yasuhiro , Imakiire Takayuki , Yoneda Satoshi , Obuchi Toshiro , Inada Kazuo , Iwasaki Akinori
Published: November 2013

Background

Because carcinomatous lymphangitis and carcinomatous pleuritis are the usual forms of metastasis associated with gastric cancer, resection of solitary pulmonary metastases arising from gastric cancer is rarely performed. To clarify the characteristics of pulmonary metastases from gastric cancer, we investigated patients who underwent resection of metastatic solitary lung tumors arising from gastric cancer.

Methods

Between October 2003 and October 2012, 10 patients underwent pulmonary metastasectomy for metastatic gastric cancer at our institution. We retrospectively evaluated features of the primary gastric cancer and the clinicopathological features of the pulmonary metastases in these cases.

Results

70% of the patients had stage II disease. Lymphatic invasion was observed in all cases of primary gastric cancer. The method of pulmonary resection was partial resection in 5 cases, segmentectomy in 1, and lobectomy in 4. On histopathological examination, immunohistochemical staining was negative for thyroid transcription factor-1 and napsin A in all cases. Patients who underwent resection of pulmonary metastases arising from gastric cancer had a good prognosis: the 4-year survival rate was 75%.

Conclusions

Carefully chosen patients have a good opportunity to obtain benefits from resection of pulmonary metastases arising from gastric cancer.
Effects of respiratory muscle training on pulmonary functions in patients with slowly progressive neuromuscular disease: a randomized controlled trial
Authors: Aslan Goksen Kuran , Gurses H Nilgun , Issever Halim , Kiyan Esen
Published: November 2013

Objective:

To investigate the effects of inspiratory and expiratory muscle training on pulmonary functions in patients with slowly progressive neuromuscular disease.

Design:

Prospective randomized controlled double-blinded study.

Setting:

Chest diseases clinic of university hospital.

Subjects:

Twenty-six patients with slowly progressive neuromuscular disease followed for respiratory problems were included in the study. Patients were randomly divided into two groups; experimental ( n = 14; age 31.6 ±12.3 years) and sham ( n = 12; age 26.5 ±8.6 years) groups.

Methods:

Spirometry, peak cough flow, maximal inspiratory pressure, maximal expiratory pressure, and sniff nasal inspiratory pressure were measured before the eighth week of study, and subsequently at end of it. Respiratory muscle training was performed by inspiratory (Threshold Inspiratory Muscle Trainer) and expiratory (Threshold Positive Expiratory Pressure) threshold loading methods. Training intensities were increased according to maximal inspiratory and expiratory pressures in the experimental group, while the lowest loads were used for training in the sham group. Patients performed 15 minutes inspiratory muscle training and 15 minutes expiratory muscle training, twice a day, five days/week, for a total of eight weeks at home. Training intensity was adjusted in the training group once a week.

Results:

Maximal inspiratory and expiratory pressures (cmH2O, % predicted) (respectively p = 0.002, p = 0.003, p = 0.04, p = 0.03) and sniff nasal inspiratory pressure ( p = 0.04) were improved in the experimental group when compared with the sham group. However, there was no improvement in spirometric measurements when groups were compared ( p > 0.05).

Conclusions:

As a conclusion of our study, we found that respiratory muscle strength improved by inspiratory and expiratory muscle training in patients with slowly progressive neuromuscular disease.
Relationship Between Isokinetic Strength and Tibiofemoral Joint Space Width Changes After Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction
Authors: Tourville Timothy W. , Jarrell Kathleen M. , Naud Shelly , Slauterbeck James R. , Johnson Robert J. , Beynnon Bruce D.
Published: November 2013

Background:

It has been hypothesized that quadriceps muscle weakness is directly associated with the onset and progression of posttraumatic osteoarthritis after anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury and reconstruction (ACLR). This relationship, however, has not been studied with a prospective approach that includes the use of tibiofemoral joint space width difference (JSW-D) measurements to characterize the onset of posttraumatic osteoarthritis before the clinical manifestation of the disease.

Purpose:

To assess the relationship between thigh muscle strength and JSW-D at presurgery baseline and at 1- and 4-year follow-up after ACLR compared with healthy, noninjured participants of similar sex, age, body mass index, and activity level.

Study Design:

Cohort study; Level of evidence, 3.

Methods:

A total of 39 unilateral ACL-injured patients and 32 healthy controls were followed prospectively. During each follow-up, JSW, isokinetic knee strength, single-legged hop, and clinical- and patient-oriented outcomes were assessed. At final follow-up, ACL-injured participants who had JSW-D values (considered as the injured minus normal knee) that were less than the 95% confidence interval of controls were considered to be in the ACLR-narrow group, while those with JSW-D values that fell within the confidence intervals were in the ACLR-normal group. Relationships were evaluated between ACLR groups and controls via multilevel regression, as well as Kruskal-Wallis tests for between-group comparisons at 4-year follow-up.

Results:

At 4-year follow-up, 30 participants (79%) were in the ACLR-normal group and 8 (21%) were in the ACLR-narrow group. At baseline, the extension, flexion, and extension/flexion ratio strength values for both ACLR groups were significantly lower than those of controls ( P ≤ .05), while the ACLR-narrow group had significantly lower extension strength at 60 and 180 deg/s ( P = .04 and .03, respectively), as well as extension/flexion ratio at 60 deg/s ( P = .04) in comparison with the ACL-normal group. At 4-year follow-up, 60 deg/s extension strength deficits persisted in the ACLR-narrow group compared with controls and ACLR-normal participants ( P = .01 and .04, respectively). Flexion strength at 180 and 300 deg/s was also significantly lower in the ACLR-narrow group compared with ACLR-normal ( P = .02 and .04, respectively), as was single-legged hop distance ( P = .04).

Conclusion:

Strength deficits present within months after ACL injury and persist through 4 years after ACLR in participants with significantly narrowed JSW-D, compared with ACLR participants with normal JSW-D and controls. This study revealed a significant relationship between quadriceps strength loss that occurred soon after injury and JSW narrowing.
Complaints and Their Researchers
Authors: Tokarska-Bakir Joanna
Published: November 2013

“Reading newspapers, watching television, taking part in public meetings, and also listening to the ‘popular voice,’ one can have an impression that Poland is a country full of frustrated, manipulated, ignored people who have been pushed to the margin and deprived of the respect they deserve,” claim the authors of the book Cudze problemy (Problems of Others) in 1991. From this perspective, it is impossible to overestimate the role played in the system of “popular democracy” by institutions of social control, worker/peasant inspections, bureaus of letters and complaints, and also by books of complaints and requests, which were supposed to act as substitutes for nonexistent democratic institutions. This article, based on a historical Old Polish tradition of laments and supplications, will contextualize the articulation of injustice in the trade discourse popularized in the period of the Polish People’s Republic through books of complaints and requests.
Vaccination to prevent varicella
Authors: Goldman GS , King PG
Published: November 2013

Background:

There is increasing evidence that herpes zoster (HZ) incidence rates among children and adults (aged <60 years) with a history of natural varicella are influenced primarily by the frequency of exogenous exposures, while asymptomatic endogenous reactivations help to cap the rate at approximately 550 cases/100,000 person-years when exogenous boosting becomes rare. The Antelope Valley Varicella Active Surveillance Project was funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in 1995 to monitor the effects of varicella vaccination in one of the three representative regions of the United States. The stability in the data collection and number of reporting sites under varicella surveillance from 1995–2002 and HZ surveillance during 2000–2001 and 2006–2007 contributed to the robustness of the discerned trends.

Discussion:

Varicella vaccination may be useful for leukemic children; however, the target population in the United States is all children. Since the varicella vaccine inoculates its recipients with live, attenuated varicella–zoster virus (VZV), clinical varicella cases have dramatically declined. Declining exogenous exposures (boosts) from children shedding natural VZV have caused waning cell-mediated immunity. Thus, the protection provided by varicella vaccination is neither lifelong nor complete. Moreover, dramatic increases in the incidence of adult shingles cases have been observed since HZ was added to the surveillance in 2000. In 2013, this topic is still debated and remains controversial in the United States.

When the costs of the booster dose for varicella and the increased shingles recurrences are included, the universal varicella vaccination program is neither effective nor cost-effective.
Inhibition of Binding of β2-Glycoprotein 1 to Phosphatidylserine by Polymyxin B, a Lupus-Like Anticoagulant
Authors: Uchman Boguslaw , Triplett Douglas A.
Published: November 2013

Polymyxin B is a cationic peptide that inhibits phospholipid-dependent coagulation tests including activated partial thromboplastin time and to a lesser degree prothrombin time. Thrombin clotting time is insensitive to polymyxin B. β2-glycoprotein 1 (β2GP1) is a cofactor of antiphospholipid antibodies. Antiphospholipid autoantibodies also poses lupus anticoagulant activity through interactions with β2GP1. Using affinity chromatography, polymyxin B can effectively decrease the binding of β2GP1 to immobilize phosphatidylserine. Since then, anticoagulant effect of polymyxin B is most likely due to the binding to negatively charged phospholipids, preventing formation of coagulation complexes.
The support vector machine parameter optimization method based on artificial chemical reaction optimization algorithm and its application to roller bearing fault diagnosis
Authors: Ao HungLinh , Cheng Junsheng , Yang Yu , Truong Tung Khac
Published: November 2013

The accuracy of a support vector machine (SVM) classifier is decided by the selection of optimal parameters for SVM. An artificial chemical reaction optimization algorithm (ACROA) is a new method to solve the global optimization problem and is adapted to optimize SVM parameters. In this paper, a SVM parameter optimization method based on ACROA (ACROA-SVM) is proposed. Furthermore, the ACROA-SVM is applied to diagnose roller bearing faults. Firstly, the original modulation roller bearing vibration signals are decomposed into product functions (PFs) by using the local mean decomposition (LMD) method. Secondly, the ratios of amplitudes at the different fault characteristic frequencies in the envelope spectra of some PFs that include dominant fault information are defined as the characteristic amplitude ratios. Finally, the characteristic amplitude ratios are used as input to the ACROA-SVM classifiers, and the fault patterns of the roller bearing are identified. The result shows that the combination of this ACROA-SVM classifiers and LMD method can effectively improve the accurate rate of fault diagnosis and reduce cost time.
Indicators for cognitive performance and subjective cognitive complaints in multiple sclerosis: a role for advanced MRI?
Authors: Hulst Hanneke E , Gehring Karin , Uitdehaag Bernard MJ , Visser Leo H , Polman Chris H , Barkhof Frederik , Sitskoorn Margriet M , Geurts Jeroen JG
Published: November 2013

Previous studies showed that advanced neuroimaging measures (functional MRI, diffusion tensor imaging) could distinguish multiple sclerosis (MS) patients with and without cognitive impairment. Are these measures indeed better indicators for cognitive impairment or subjective cognitive complaints than conventional MRI?

Fifty MS patients and 29 controls were investigated. Regression analysis, including socio-demographic data, disease characteristics, psychological measures, and (advanced) neuroimaging, showed that worse cognitive performance was associated with male sex, lower education, and lower gray matter volume. Subjective cognitive complaints were associated with fatigue and less hippocampal atrophy. Advanced MRI measures did not add to the predictive power of our model.
Determinants of opposition fragmentation
Authors: Maeda Ko
Published: November 2013

Whether the opposition in a democratic country is unified or fragmented is an important characteristic that may influence the accountability of government, as a recent study demonstrates that the degree of opposition fragmentation has consequences for the electoral performance of ruling parties. This study explores the determinants of opposition fragmentation using data from 18 advanced democracies. I argue and provide evidence that deliberative parliamentary rules that allow opposition parties to have greater influence in the policymaking process lead to higher levels of opposition fragmentation. Opposition parties deprived of political influence tend to reduce their levels of fragmentation in order to become more competitive. This finding suggests that there may be a trade-off between deliberativeness and competitiveness in democratic politics.
The influence of programmatic diversity on the formation of new political parties
Authors: Zons Gregor
Published: November 2013

Quantitative studies aiming at general explanations for the emergence of new political parties stress the importance of new issues and the programmatic behaviour of other parties. I connect these two aspects by arguing that the programmatic diversity of existing parties is a strong influence on the incentives for new party formation, as it determines the scope for possible programmatic innovations. I use two measures for programmatic diversity in order to capture the programmatic supply by existing parties. It can be shown that the explanatory contribution of programmatic factors is as high as or even higher than that of the factors usually cited in the literature on new political parties, e.g. electoral institutions. Moreover, the results underline the necessity of differentiating between genuinely new parties and splits from existing parties as subtypes of new political parties.
The Biographical and Psychic Consequences of ‘Welfare Inaction’ for Young Women in Trouble with the Law
Authors: Myers Randolph R.
Published: November 2013

While the neo-liberal drift towards ‘responsibilizing’ youth justice programs and policies has been explored extensively in the literature, the lived realities of another aspect of the neo-liberal turn – welfare retrenchment – have been given much less attention. Drawing upon in-depth qualitative interviews with detained girls in the USA, this article explores what ‘welfare inaction’ means in the context of the lives of young women in trouble with the law. While gendered tropes about self-sufficiency and individualized empowerment may provide young women with the grammar by which to articulate self-reliance, the absence of welfare supports seemed the most important mechanism for offloading responsibility on to them and shaping what justice system intervention meant for them.
La Palabra es Salud (The Word Is Health)
Authors: Wiggins Noelle , Hughes Adele , Rodriguez Adriana , Potter Catherine , Rios-Campos Teresa
Published: November 2013

Increasing recognition of the role of social conditions in health has led to calls for methods that can be used to change social conditions. Popular education has demonstrated great promise as a methodology that can be used to address the underlying social and structural determinants of health. To date, most studies of popular education have used qualitative methods and case study designs, making them less compelling for decision makers. La Palabra es Salud (The Word Is Health) compared the relative effectiveness of popular and conventional education using a participatory, quasi-experimental, mixed methods design. Use of this model can enhance our understanding of popular education and raise its profile among researchers and practitioners in multiple disciplines, thus potentially extending its benefits.
Market Orientation and Organizational Performance
Authors: Chin Chee-Hua , Lo May-Chiun , Ramayah T.
Published: November 2013

Orientation plays a vital role for organizations to compete to create sustainable competitive advantage. The objective of this study is to examine the relationship between market orientation (MO) and organizational performance (OP) with service quality (SQ) as a moderator in the context of the hotel industry in Malaysia. MO and OP were conceptualized as three- and two-dimensional constructs, respectively, whereas SQ, which consists of two-dimensional constructs, namely, technical quality and functional quality, was used as a moderator. Data were gathered through a survey using a structured questionnaire with a sample of 187 executive-level employees employed in hotels rated three stars and above in Malaysia. SmartPLS 2.0 (M3) with path modeling and bootstrapping was used to examine the standard error of the estimate and t-values. The findings suggest that only competitor orientation dimension of MO was significantly related to OP, whereas customer orientation and inter-functional coordination were not related. Interestingly, SQ was found to have moderated the relationship between MO and performance of the hotels in Malaysia. SQ exists to fill in the gap between customers’ expectations and their perception of the service providers’ performance that further creates differentiation and competitive advantage, which enhance MO practices and ultimately lead to improvements in the firm’s performance. Implications of the findings, potential limitations of the study, and directions for future research are highlighted.
Histological Predictors of Maximum Failure Loads Differ Between the Healing ACL and ACL Grafts After 6 and 12 Months In Vivo
Authors: Proffen Benedikt L. , Fleming Braden C. , Murray Martha M.
Published: November 2013

Background:

Bioenhanced anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) repair, where the suture repair is supplemented with a biological scaffold, is a promising novel technique to stimulate healing after ACL rupture. However, the histological properties of a successfully healing ACL and how they relate to the mechanical properties have not been fully described.

Purpose:

To determine which histological features best correlate with the mechanical properties of the healing ACL repairs and ACL grafts in a porcine model at 6 and 12 months after injury.

Study Design:

Controlled laboratory study.

Methods:

A total of 48 Yucatan mini-pigs underwent ACL transection followed by: (1) conventional ACL reconstruction with bone–patellar tendon–bone (BPTB) allograft, (2) bioenhanced ACL reconstruction with BPTB allograft using a bioactive scaffold, or (3) bioenhanced ACL repair using the same bioactive scaffold. After 6 and 12 months of healing, structural properties of the ACL or graft (yield and failure load, linear stiffness) were measured. Following mechanical testing, ACL specimens were histologically analyzed for cell and vascular density and qualitatively assessed using the advanced Ligament Maturity Index.

Results:

After 6 months of healing, the cellular organization subscore was most predictive of yield load ( r2 = 0.98), maximum load ( r2 = 0.89), and linear stiffness ( r2 = 0.95) of the healing ACL, while at 12 months, the collagen subscore ( r2 = 0.68) became the best predictor of maximum load. For ACL grafts, the reverse was true, with the collagen subscore predictive of yield and maximum loads at 6 months ( r2 = 0.55) and graft cellularity predictive of maximum load of the graft at 12 months ( r2 = 0.50).

Conclusion:

These findings suggest there may be key biological differences in development and maintenance of ACL tissue after repair or reconstruction, with early ligament function dependent on cellular population of the repair but early graft function dependent on the maintenance of organized collagen.

Clinical Relevance:

Bioenhanced ACL repair shows promising potential as an alternative clinical treatment for ACL injury. This study contributes to the understanding of the cellular contribution to mechanical characteristics of the healing ACL in both repaired and reconstructed ACLs.
The Spiegelmer NOX-A12, a novel CXCL12 inhibitor, interferes with chronic lymphocytic leukemia cell motility and causes chemosensitization
Authors: Hoellenriegel Julia , Zboralski Dirk , Maasch Christian , Rosin Nathalie Y. , Wierda William G. , Keating Michael J. , Kruschinski Anna , Burger Jan A.
Published: November 2013

Key Points

NOX-A12, a structured mirror-image RNA oligonucleotide that neutralizes CXCL12, interferes with CLL migration and drug resistance. NOX-A12 inhibits chemotaxis and sensitizes CLL cells toward cytotoxic drugs, providing a rationale for NOX-A12 combination therapy.
CXCR7 participates in CXCL12-induced CD34+ cell cycling through β-arrestin–dependent Akt activation
Authors: Torossian Frédéric , Anginot Adrienne , Chabanon Aurélie , Clay Denis , Guerton Bernadette , Desterke Christophe , Boutin Laetitia , Marullo Stefano , Scott Mark G. H. , Lataillade Jean-Jacques , Le Bousse-Kerdilès Marie-Caroline
Published: November 2013

Key Points

CXCR7 is a key actor of the cell cycling and survival promoting effect of CXCL12 on primary human CD34+ HSPCs through Akt signaling. β-arrestins are signaling hubs downstream of CXCL12-activated receptors in primary human CD34+ HSPCs.
Matrix regulation of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis: the role of enzymes
Authors: Clarke Deborah L , Carruthers Alan M , Mustelin Tomas , Murray Lynne A
Published: November 2013

Repairing damaged tissues is an essential homeostatic mechanism that enables clearance of dead or damaged cells after injury, and the maintenance of tissue integrity. However, exaggeration of this process in the lung can lead to the development of fibrotic scar tissue. This is characterized by excessive accumulation of extracellular matrix (ECM) components such as fibronectin, proteoglycans, hyaluronic acid, and interstitial collagens. After tissue injury, or a breakdown of tissue integrity, a cascade of events unfolds to maintain normal tissue homeostasis. Inflammatory mediators are released from injured epithelium, leading to both platelet activation and inflammatory cell migration. Inflammatory cells are capable of releasing multiple pro-inflammatory and fibrogenic mediators such as transforming growth factor (TGF)β and interleukin (IL)-13, which can trigger myofibroblast proliferation and recruitment. The myofibroblast population is also expanded as a result of epithelial cells undergoing epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition and of the activation of resident fibroblasts, leading to ECM deposition and tissue remodeling. In the healthy lung, wound healing then proceeds to restore the normal architecture of the lung; however, fibrosis can develop when the wound is severe, the tissue injury persists, or the repair process becomes dysregulated. Understanding the processes regulating aberrant wound healing and the matrix in the chronic fibrotic lung disease idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), is key to identifying new treatments for this chronic debilitating disease. This review focuses primarily on the emerging role of enzymes in the lungs of patients with IPF. Elevated expression of a number of enzymes that can directly modulate the ECM has been reported, and recent data indicates that modulating the activity of these enzymes can have a downstream effect on fibrotic tissue remodeling.
Identifying common and specific microRNAs expressed in peripheral blood mononuclear cell of type 1, type 2, and gestational diabetes mellitus patients
Authors: Collares Cristhianna VA , Evangelista Adriane F , Xavier Danilo J , Rassi Diane M , Arns Thais , Foss-Freitas Maria C , Foss Milton C , Puthier Denis , Sakamoto-Hojo Elza T , Passos Geraldo A , Donadi Eduardo A
Published: November 2013

Background

Regardless the regulatory function of microRNAs (miRNA), their differential expression pattern has been used to define miRNA signatures and to disclose disease biomarkers. To address the question of whether patients presenting the different types of diabetes mellitus could be distinguished on the basis of their miRNA and mRNA expression profiling, we obtained peripheral blood mononuclear cell (PBMC) RNAs from 7 type 1 (T1D), 7 type 2 (T2D), and 6 gestational diabetes (GDM) patients, which were hybridized to Agilent miRNA and mRNA microarrays. Data quantification and quality control were obtained using the Feature Extraction software, and data distribution was normalized using quantile function implemented in the Aroma light package. Differentially expressed miRNAs/mRNAs were identified using Rank products, comparing T1DxGDM, T2DxGDM and T1DxT2D. Hierarchical clustering was performed using the average linkage criterion with Pearson uncentered distance as metrics.

Results

The use of the same microarrays platform permitted the identification of sets of shared or specific miRNAs/mRNA interaction for each type of diabetes. Nine miRNAs (hsa-miR-126, hsa-miR-1307, hsa-miR-142-3p, hsa-miR-142-5p, hsa-miR-144, hsa-miR-199a-5p, hsa-miR-27a, hsa-miR-29b, and hsa-miR-342-3p) were shared among T1D, T2D and GDM, and additional specific miRNAs were identified for T1D (20 miRNAs), T2D (14) and GDM (19) patients. ROC curves allowed the identification of specific and relevant (greater AUC values) miRNAs for each type of diabetes, including: i) hsa-miR-1274a, hsa-miR-1274b and hsa-let-7f for T1D; ii) hsa-miR-222, hsa-miR-30e and hsa-miR-140-3p for T2D, and iii) hsa-miR-181a and hsa-miR-1268 for GDM. Many of these miRNAs targeted mRNAs associated with diabetes pathogenesis.

Conclusions

These results indicate that PBMC can be used as reporter cells to characterize the miRNA expression profiling disclosed by the different diabetes mellitus manifestations. Shared miRNAs may characterize diabetes as a metabolic and inflammatory disorder, whereas specific miRNAs may represent biological markers for each type of diabetes, deserving further attention.
EMPeror: a tool for visualizing high-throughput microbial community data
Authors: Vázquez-Baeza Yoshiki , Pirrung Meg , Gonzalez Antonio , Knight Rob
Published: November 2013

Background

As microbial ecologists take advantage of high-throughput sequencing technologies to describe microbial communities across ever-increasing numbers of samples, new analysis tools are required to relate the distribution of microbes among larger numbers of communities, and to use increasingly rich and standards-compliant metadata to understand the biological factors driving these relationships. In particular, the Earth Microbiome Project drives these needs by profiling the genomic content of tens of thousands of samples across multiple environment types.

Findings

Features of EMPeror include: ability to visualize gradients and categorical data, visualize different principal coordinates axes, present the data in the form of parallel coordinates, show taxa as well as environmental samples, dynamically adjust the size and transparency of the spheres representing the communities on a per-category basis, dynamically scale the axes according to the fraction of variance each explains, show, hide or recolor points according to arbitrary metadata including that compliant with the MIxS family of standards developed by the Genomic Standards Consortium, display jackknifed-resampled data to assess statistical confidence in clustering, perform coordinate comparisons (useful for procrustes analysis plots), and greatly reduce loading times and overall memory footprint compared with existing approaches. Additionally, ease of sharing, given EMPeror's small output file size, enables agile collaboration by allowing users to embed these visualizations via emails or web pages without the need for extra plugins.

Conclusions

Here we present EMPeror, an open source and web browser enabled tool with a versatile command line interface that allows researchers to perform rapid exploratory investigations of 3D visualizations of microbial community data, such as the widely used principal coordinates plots. EMPeror includes a rich set of controllers to modify features as a function of the metadata. By being specifically tailored to the requirements of microbial ecologists, EMPeror thus increases the speed with which insight can be gained from large microbiome datasets.
Seismic Site Factors and Design Response Spectra Based on Conditions in Charleston, South Carolina
Authors: Aboye Shimelies A. , Andrus Ronald D. , Ravichandran Nadarajah , Bhuiyan Ariful H. , Harman Nicholas
Published: November 2013

Seismic site factors based on conditions typical of Charleston, South Carolina, are derived from the results of more than 13,000 one-dimensional equivalent linear and nonlinear dynamic response simulations. The site factors are plotted versus average shear wave velocity in the top 30 m ( VS30) of soil and grouped by spectral acceleration and period. Median relationships for the site factors are expressed by a linear model for lower values of VS30 and a linear or exponential model for higher values. The computed factors are found to be somewhat different from the factors recommended in design codes. It is also found that amplifications greater than predicted by the common (or three-point) acceleration design response spectrum method can occur at periods greater than 1.0 s, particularly when VS30 < 200 m/s. Thus, when VS30 < 200 m/s, it is recommended that a multipoint response spectrum be constructed and compared with the three-point spectrum.
17β-Estradiol Replacement Reverses Age-Related Lung Disease in Estrogen-Deficient C57BL/6J Mice
Authors: Glassberg Marilyn K. , Choi Rhea , Manzoli Vita , Shahzeidi Shahriar , Rauschkolb Peter , Voswinckel Robert , Aliniazee Muddassir , Xia Xiaomei , Elliot Sharon J.
Published: November 2013

The role that estrogens play in the aging lung is poorly understood. Remodeling of the aging lung with thickening of the alveolar walls and reduction in the number of peripheral airways is well recognized. The present study was designed to address whether estrogen deficiency would affect age-associated changes in the lungs of female C57BL/6J mice. Lungs isolated from old mice (24 months old, estrogen-deficient) demonstrated decreased lung volume and decreased alveolar surface area. There was no difference in alveolar number in the lungs of old and young mice (6 months old, estrogen-replete). Estrogen replacement restored lung volume, alveolar surface area, and alveolar wall thickness to that of a young mouse. Estrogen receptor-α (ERα) protein expression increased without a change in ERβ protein expression in the lung tissue isolated from old mice. In the lungs of old mice, the number of apoptotic cells was increased as well as the activation of matrix metalloproteinase-2 and ERK. Young mice had the highest serum 17β-estradiol levels that decreased with age. Our data suggest that in the aging female mouse lung, estrogen deficiency and an increase of ERα expression lead to the development of an emphysematous phenotype. Estrogen replacement partially prevents these age-associated changes in the lung architecture by restoration of interalveolar septa. Understanding the role of estrogens in the remodeling of the lung during aging may facilitate interventions and therapies for aging-related lung disease in women.
Battling Babylon: The “Military-Archaeology Complex” In Stargate Sg-1
Authors: Malley Shawn
Published: November 2013

Examining relationships between performance and archaeology in the science fiction television series Stargate SG-1 (1997–2007), this essay explores the show's dual representation of Mesopotamia as a theater of archaeological activity and geopolitical conflict. Employing archaeological exploration as a pretext for military action and adventure, Stargate SG-1 raises troubling questions about the long history of archaeological and military collaboration in the region and, moreover, archaeology's role in the political and cultural tensions in Iraq today. SG-1 offers a symbolic perspective of the war in Iraq by dramatizing the ways archaeology has been conscripted into justificatory narratives for the invasion and occupation of ancient and contemporary Mesopotamia.
Splitting the Husk: The Day Novel and Storm Jameson'sA Day Off
Authors: Covington Elizabeth
Published: November 2013

The genre of the circadian or one-day novel, of which James Joyce's Ulysses (1922) and Virginia Woolf's Mrs. Dalloway (1925) are the most famous examples, relies on John Locke's theory of individual identity composed of memories over time. The modernist writer and critic Storm Jameson published a day novel in 1933 that draws attention to the paucity of memories in the time-starved working poor and challenges the implicit class distinction in identity formation in this genre. Jameson's A Day Off draws on Ulysses and Mrs. Dalloway to demonstrate the class assumptions made by the high modernists. By expanding the scope of the day novel to include the working poor, Jameson proposes a revised theory of memory and identity that takes into consideration the realities of class and the scarcity of time for the majority of people in modernity.
Risk Management by Organisms of the Phototoxicity of Chlorophylls
Authors: Kashiyama Yuichiro , Tamiaki Hitoshi
Published: November 2013

The phototoxic effects of chlorophylls on the cells of organisms have been debated for decades. The extreme phototoxicity of uncontrolled chlorophylls and the concomitant need for rapid elimination of chlorophylls in cells have again attracted attention since the robust processes of higher plants for their catabolism during senescence have been clarified (e.g., autumnal tints). Recently, another type of chlorophyll catabolism has been identified in aquatic microbes that digest algae. Both of these processes involve the detoxification of chlorophylls: the former degrading them into colorless compounds in multiple steps and the latter rapidly converting them into colored but nonphotosensitive molecules. In this paper, we describe various ways that organisms circumvent the phototoxicity of chlorophylls, emphasizing the costs of the adaptive mechanisms against this risk to biological processes.
Integrating Problem Solvers from Analogous Markets in New Product Ideation
Authors: Franke Nikolaus , Poetz Marion K. , Schreier Martin
Published: November 2013

Who provides better inputs to new product ideation tasks, problem solvers with expertise in the area for which new products are to be developed or problem solvers from “analogous” markets that are distant but share an analogous problem or need? Conventional wisdom appears to suggest that target market expertise is indispensable, which is why most managers searching for new ideas tend to stay within their own market context even when they do search outside their firms' boundaries. However, in a unique symmetric experiment that isolates the effect of market origin, we find evidence for the opposite: Although solutions provided by problem solvers from analogous markets show lower potential for immediate use, they demonstrate substantially higher levels of novelty. Also, compared to established novelty drivers, this effect appears highly relevant from a managerial perspective: we find that including problem solvers from analogous markets versus the target market accounts for almost two-thirds of the well-known effect of involving lead users instead of average problem solvers. This effect is further amplified when the analogous distance between the markets increases, i.e., when searching in far versus near analogous markets. Finally, results indicate that the analogous market effect is particularly strong in the upper tail of the novelty distribution, which again underscores the effect's practical importance. All of this suggests that it might pay to systematically search across firm-external sources of innovation that were formerly out of scope for most managers.

Data, as supplemental material, are available at http://dx.doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.2013.1805.

This paper was accepted by Lee Fleming, entrepreneurship and innovation.
Dating the Anthropocene: Towards an empirical global history of human transformation of the terrestrial biosphere
Authors: Ellis Erle C. , Fuller Dorian Q. , Kaplan Jed O. , Lutters Wayne G.
Published: November 2013

Human use of land is a major cause of the global environmental changes that define the Anthropocene. Archaeological and paleoecological evidence confirm that human populations and their use of land transformed ecosystems at sites around the world by the late Pleistocene and historical models indicate this transformation may have reached globally significant levels more than 3000 years ago. Yet these data in themselves remain insufficient to conclusively date the emergence of land use as a global force transforming the biosphere, with plausible dates ranging from the late Pleistocene to AD 1800. Conclusive empirical dating of human transformation of the terrestrial biosphere will require unprecedented levels of investment in sustained interdisciplinary collaboration and the development of a geospatial cyberinfrastructure to collate and integrate the field observations of archaeologists, paleoecologists, paleoenvironmental scientists, environmental historians, geoscientists, geographers and other human and environmental scientists globally from the Pleistocene to the present. Existing field observations may yet prove insufficient in terms of their spatial and temporal coverage, but by assessing these observations within a spatially explicit statistically robust global framework, major observational gaps can be identified, stimulating data gathering in underrepresented regions and time periods. Like the Anthropocene itself, building scientific understanding of the human role in shaping the biosphere requires both sustained effort and leveraging the most powerful social systems and technologies ever developed on this planet.
In Defence of Children and Youth: Reforming Juvenile Justice Policies
Authors: Benekos Peter J. , Merlo Alida V. , Puzzanchera Charles M.
Published: November 2013

When US Attorney-General Eric Holder unveiled Defending Childhood in 2010, he signalled that the Department of Justice was prioritising the victimisation and abuse of children and youth with federal initiatives. Reflective of this pronouncement, there has been increasing awareness of youth as victims and the detrimental and counterproductive effects of punitive sanctions that have characterised recent decades of juvenile justice policy. In this paper, the authors identify judicial and legislative initiatives that indicate a rejuvenilisation in juvenile justice policy. Some developments signify that the system is returning to its earlier mission and model in which youth are perceived as victims rather than mini-adult offenders, and greater emphasis is placed on interventions designed to protect and treat child victims. The authors propose that although punitive policies remain, the juvenile justice system has returned to a more youth-oriented system.
Vocabulario enla lengua castellano, la del ynga y xebera
Authors: Alexander-Bakkerus Astrid
Published: November 2013

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