bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The Madden–Julian Oscillation in ECHAM6 and the Introduction of an Objective MJO Metric
Authors: Crueger Traute , Stevens Bjorn , Brokopf Renate
Published: November 2012

This study presents a quantitative evaluation of the simulated Madden–Julian oscillation (MJO) in an ensemble of 42 experiments performed with ECHAM6 and previous ECHAM versions. The ECHAM6 experiments differ in their parameter settings, resolution, and whether the atmosphere is coupled to an ocean or not. The analysis concentrates on a few basic features of the MJO, namely, the signatures of convection/precipitation coupled with the circulation system and the eastward propagation strength of outgoing longwave radiation (OLR) and 850- and 200-hPa zonal winds within the MJO-related frequency–wavenumber range. It also examines whether precipitation and OLR show similar signatures in the MJO as simulated by ECHAM. The experiments reveal an MJO, however, to different degrees and in different aspects, so that a sound assessment requires a multivariate approach. In particular, the convective rainfall signatures are decoupled from the dynamic signature of the MJO in the simulations herein, which eventually leads to the introduction of a new MJO diagram and metric that incorporate OLR and the zonal winds in 850 and 200 hPa. The analysis here confirms the importance of the convection scheme: only with the Nordeng modifications to the Tiedtke scheme can realistic MJO features be simulated. High-resolution coupled experiments better represent the MJO as compared to low-resolution AMIP experiments. This is shown to follow from two more general findings, namely, that 1) air–sea interaction mainly increases the convective signature and 2) increased resolution enhances eastward propagation.
Interaction of Additive Noise and Nonlinear Dynamics in the Double-Gyre Wind-Driven Ocean Circulation
Authors: Sapsis Themistoklis P. , Dijkstra Henk A.
Published: November 2012

In this paper the authors study the interactions of additive noise and nonlinear dynamics in a quasigeostrophic model of the double-gyre wind-driven ocean circulation. The recently developed framework of dynamically orthogonal field theory is used to determine the statistics of the flows that arise through successive bifurcations of the system as the ratio of forcing to friction is increased. This study focuses on the understanding of the role of the spatial and temporal coherence of the noise in the wind stress forcing. When the wind stress noise is temporally white, the statistics of the stochastic double-gyre flow does not depend on the spatial structure and amplitude of the noise. This implies that a spatially inhomogeneous noise forcing in the wind stress field only has an effect on the dynamics of the flow when the noise is temporally colored. The latter kind of stochastic forcing may cause more complex or more coherent dynamics depending on its spatial correlation properties.
Transition and Equilibration of Neutral Atmospheric Boundary Layer Flow in One-Way Nested Large-Eddy Simulations Using the Weather Research and Forecasting Model
Authors: Mirocha Jeff , Kirkil Gokhan , Bou-Zeid Elie , Chow Fotini Katopodes , Kosović Branko
Published: November 2012

The Weather Research and Forecasting Model permits finescale large-eddy simulations (LES) to be nested within coarser simulations, an approach that can generate more accurate turbulence statistics and improve other aspects of simulated flows. However, errors are introduced into the finer domain from the nesting methodology. Comparing nested domain, flat-terrain simulations of the neutral atmospheric boundary layer with single-domain simulations using the same mesh, but instead using periodic lateral boundary conditions, reveals the errors contributed to the nested solution from the parent domain and nest interfaces. Comparison of velocity spectra shows good agreement among higher frequencies, but greater power predicted on the nested domain at lower frequencies. Profiles of mean wind speed show significant near-surface deficits near the inflow boundaries, but equilibrate to improved values with distance. Profiles of the vertical flux of x momentum show significant underprediction by the nested domain close to the surface and near the inlet boundaries. While these underpredictions of the stresses, which cause the near-surface velocity deficits, attenuate with distance within the nested domains, significant errors remain throughout. Profiles of the resolved turbulence kinetic energy show considerable deviations from their single-domain values throughout the nested domains. The authors examine the accuracy of these parameters and their sensitivities to the turbulence subfilter stress model, mesh resolution, and grid aspect ratio, and provide guidance to practitioners of nested LES.
Cyber Situation Awareness
Authors: Dutt Varun , Ahn Young-Suk , Gonzalez Cleotilde
Published: November 2012

Objective:

To determine the effects of an adversary’s behavior on the defender’s accurate and timely detection of network threats.

Background:

Cyber attacks cause major work disruption. It is important to understand how a defender’s behavior (experience and tolerance to threats), as well as adversarial behavior (attack strategy), might impact the detection of threats. In this article, we use cognitive modeling to make predictions regarding these factors.

Method:

Different model types representing a defender, based on Instance-Based Learning Theory (IBLT), faced different adversarial behaviors. A defender’s model was defined by experience of threats: threat-prone (90% threats and 10% nonthreats) and nonthreat-prone (10% threats and 90% nonthreats); and different tolerance levels to threats: risk-averse (model declares a cyber attack after perceiving one threat out of eight total) and risk-seeking (model declares a cyber attack after perceiving seven threats out of eight total). Adversarial behavior is simulated by considering different attack strategies: patient (threats occur late) and impatient (threats occur early).

Results:

For an impatient strategy, risk-averse models with threat-prone experiences show improved detection compared with risk-seeking models with nonthreat-prone experiences; however, the same is not true for a patient strategy.

Conclusions:

Based upon model predictions, a defender’s prior threat experiences and his or her tolerance to threats are likely to predict detection accuracy; but considering the nature of adversarial behavior is also important.

Application:

Decision-support tools that consider the role of a defender’s experience and tolerance to threats along with the nature of adversarial behavior are likely to improve a defender’s overall threat detection.
Using Virtual Reality to Assess User Experience
Authors: Rebelo Francisco , Noriega Paulo , Duarte Emília , Soares Marcelo
Published: November 2012

Objective:

The aim of this article is to discuss how user experience (UX) evaluation can benefit from the use of virtual reality (VR).

Background:

UX is usually evaluated in laboratory settings. However, considering that UX occurs as a consequence of the interaction between the product, the user, and the context of use, the assessment of UX can benefit from a more ecological test setting. VR provides the means to develop realistic-looking virtual environments with the advantage of allowing greater control of the experimental conditions while granting good ecological validity.

Method:

The methods used to evaluate UX, as well as their main limitations, are identified. The current VR equipment and its potential applications (as well as its limitations and drawbacks) to overcome some of the limitations in the assessment of UX are highlighted.

Results:

The relevance of VR for UX studies is discussed, and a VR-based framework for evaluating UX is presented.

Conclusion:

UX research may benefit from a VR-based methodology in the scopes of user research (e.g., assessment of users’ expectations derived from their lifestyles) and human–product interaction (e.g., assessment of users’ emotions since the first moment of contact with the product and then during the interaction).

Application:

This article provides knowledge to researchers and professionals engaged in the design of technological interfaces about the usefulness of VR in the evaluation of UX.
Childlessness and Support Networks in Later Life
Authors: Albertini Marco , Mencarini Letizia
Published: November 2012

Childlessness is an increasingly common condition in many European societies. The consequences that this demographic phenomenon might have on welfare systems—and long-term care policies in particular—are widespread. This is particularly the case for the familistic welfare states of Southern Europe. Using data from the 2003 Italian GGS, the article explores the relation between the absence of children and support received in later life. Overall, the results support the idea that in Italy elderly nonparents, compared with those who have children, do not face significantly large support deficits in terms of the likelihood of receiving support. However, it is shown that they are likely to miss those forms of support that are most needed in the case of bad health. Next, the childless are more likely to be helped by nonrelatives and not-for-profit organizations and to a lesser extent by the welfare system.
Antimicrobial and Analgesic Prescribing Patterns for Acute Otitis Externa, 2004‐2010
Authors: Collier Sarah A. , Hlavsa Michele C. , Piercefield Emily W. , Beach Michael J.
Published: November 2012

Objective

Acute otitis externa (AOE) is a common but preventable ear condition. Clinical guidelines issued in 2006 recommended topical treatments for uncomplicated AOE, but systemic antimicrobials appear to be commonly prescribed. The objective of this analysis was to describe pre‐ and postguideline prescribing patterns by clinician specialty and antimicrobial type and assess trends over time.

Study Design

Retrospective longitudinal analysis of a large insurance database.

Setting

Outpatient departments in the United States.

Methods

Initial outpatient visits in 2004 to 2010 for AOE (excluding visits with complicating conditions) were extracted from an insurance database. Prescription drug claims were linked and categorized by clinician specialty and antimicrobial type.

Results

The analysis included 907,261 initial outpatient visits. Use of systemic antimicrobials declined by 4.9% (95% confidence interval [CI], 4.1%, 5.7%) from 36.5% of initial visits in 2004 to 32.1% in 2010. Use of systemic antimicrobials varied by specialty. Systemic antimicrobials were prescribed in 47.1% of 2010 emergency department (ED) visits (−6.9% from 2004, 95% CI −12.3, −1.5), 25.9% of otolaryngologist visits (−1.6%, 95% CI −5.6, 2.4), and 20.4% of pediatrician visits (−6.6%, 95% CI −8.8, −4.4). Penicillins were prescribed most frequently (42.3% of systemic prescriptions in 2010), followed by cephalosporins (19.8%), erythromycin/macrolides (17.4%), and quinolones (11.1%). Opioids were prescribed in 26.4% of ED visits and 9% of outpatient visits.

Conclusions

Use of systemic antimicrobials declined over time, but one‐third of 2010 visits resulted in systemic antimicrobials, despite exclusion of visits with complicating factors. Use of systemic antimicrobials varied by specialty. Further educational efforts and outreach to other specialties might be warranted.
Negotiated Positions
Authors: Dlamini Nombuso , Anucha Uzo , Wolfe Barat
Published: November 2012

On the basis of a qualitative study with immigrant women in Windsor, Ontario, this article looks at women’s responses to the challenges they face in the Canadian workplace, together with the value they place on working outside the home. The women reflected on their job searches, employment conditions, and work experiences as mediated by the norms and traditions of their home countries. Because of the struggle to obtain a job and the delicacy of retaining a job in a precarious economic climate, the women did not fight the discrimination they encountered in the workplace.
Alcohol Use Among HIV-Positive Latinas and African American Women
Authors: Davis E. Maxwell , Galvan Frank H.
Published: November 2012

This analysis of focus group dialogues about the intersection of race/ethnicity, HIV/AIDS, and alcohol use among HIV-positive Latinas and African American women explores consumers’ and providers’ perspectives on issues that influence the misuse of alcohol, the mechanisms of that influence, and factors that are critical to addressing the misuse of alcohol successfully in this population. The findings highlight the social structural influences of gender, race/ethnicity, and poverty and the interpersonal influences of family relationships, the disclosure of HIV, trauma and abuse, romantic partnerships, and motherhood on the misuse of alcohol. The discussion highlights suggestions for gender-specific and culturally responsive elements of alcohol treatment for HIV-positive Latinas and African American women.
An Analysis of the Social Meanings of Conflict in Nonprofit Organizations
Authors: Mikkelsen Elisabeth Naima
Published: November 2012

This ethnographic study illustrates how staff and management’s sensemaking in conflict in a clerical unit in a Scandinavian nonprofit organization is shaped by institutionalized meanings. Staff and management draw on three institutionalized frameworks when making sense of conflict: The defective personality framework, the diversity framework, and the status inequality framework. Similarly to the organization’s practice of framing “conflicts” as “frictions,” the diversity framework is guided by organizational ideology of egalitarianism and similar to the defective personality framework it emphasises nonconfrontation as a main strategy in processes of conflict management. Despite the organization’s strong commitment to egalitarianism, the clerical workers view status inequality as the origin of many conflicts and they thereby draw from the same institutionalized meanings of political economy of distributional conflicts that the organization was founded to change. Implications for theory and practice are discussed.
Electoral authoritarianism and democracy: A formal model of regime transitions
Authors: Miller Michael K
Published: November 2012

Building on the formal literature on democratization, this paper models a dictator’s choice between closed authoritarianism, electoral authoritarianism, and democracy in the shadow of violent revolt. Under autocracy, the dictator controls policy but lacks information on the policy demands of citizens and thus the likelihood of popular revolt. Electoral authoritarianism enables the dictator to tie policy choice to an electoral signal from citizens, which may be advantageous even if elections make revolt more likely to succeed. Implications are drawn for how economic inequality, regime strength, and uncertainty predict regime type, policy concessions, and political violence. A key result is that electoral authoritarianism is chosen for middle values of inequality and uncertainty.
Respect in the care of older patients in acute hospitals
Authors: Koskenniemi Jaana , Leino-Kilpi Helena , Suhonen Riitta
Published: November 2012

The aim of this study was to describe the experiences of older patients and their next of kin with regards to respect in the care given in an acute hospital. The data were collected using tape-recorded interviews (10 patients and 10 next of kin) and analysed via inductive content analysis. Based on the analysis, the concept of respect can be defined by the actions taken by nurses (polite behaviour, the patience to listen, reassurance, response to information needs, assistance in basic needs, provision of pain relief, response to wishes and time management) and next of kin (support, assistance and advocacy) and by factors related to the environment (appreciation of older people in society, management of health-care organizations, the nursing culture, the flow of information and patient placement). The information will be used to develop an instrument for assessing how well respect is maintained in the care of older patients.
Emerging regional innovation strategies in Central Europe: institutions and regional leadership in generating strategic outcomes
Authors: Blažek Jiří , Žížalová Pavla , Rumpel Petr , Skokan Karel , Chládek Petr
Published: November 2012

The paper seeks to develop a comparative analysis of approaches to innovation support in three self-governing regions of the Czech Republic. Its analytical section presents an in-depth analysis of the development of innovation policies in three regions: the capital city of Prague, South Moravia and the old industrial region of Moravia-Silesia. Key dimensions of regional innovation strategy in each of the three regions are closely scrutinized and critically examined, within the context of state-of-the-art European approaches to innovation policy. Profound differences, both in approaches to innovation policy design and in the results so far achieved, have been found between the studied regions, reflecting differences in both structural and soft factors in the regions in question. Rapid progress, in terms of innovation strategy implementation, is evident in a region where strong knowledge creation capacity (in both the academic and the business spheres) exists in harmony with professional and enthusiastic key personnel in intermediary institutions as well as steady political support from regional decision-makers. The authors believe that some of their observations will have relevance for innovation policy design and implementation in other Czech regions and in other regions of the European Union’s new member states.
A Qualitative Identification of Categories of Patient Participation in Decision-Making by Health Care Professionals and Patients During Surgical Treatment
Authors: Heggland Liv-Helen , Hausken Kjell
Published: November 2012

The aim of this article is to identify how health care professionals and patients experience patient participation in decision-making processes in hospitals. Eighteen semi-structured interviews with experts from different disciplines such as medicine and nursing in surgical departments as well as patients who have undergone surgical treatment constitute the data. By content analysis four categories of patient participation were identified: information dissemination, formulation of options, integration of information, and control. To meet the increasing demands of patient participation, this categorization with four identified critical areas for participation in decision-making has important implications in guiding information support for patients prior to surgery and during hospitalization.
Myelination
Authors: Barnett Susan C. , Linington Christopher
Published: November 2012

Astrocytes are the most abundant cell type in the adult central nervous system (CNS), and their functional diversity in response to injury is now being appreciated. Astrocytes have long been considered the main player in the inhibition of CNS repair via the formation of the gliotic scar, but now it is accepted that astrocyte can play an important role in CNS repair and remyelination. Interest in the relationship between astrocytes and myelination focused initially on attempts to understand how the development of plaques of astroglial scar tissue in multiple sclerosis was related to the failure of these lesions to remyelinate. It is now considered that this is an end stage pathological response to injury, and that normally astrocytes play important roles in supporting the development and maintenance of CNS myelin. This review will focus on how this new understanding may be exploited to develop new strategies to enhance remyelination in multiple sclerosis and other diseases.
Women as Easy Scapegoats
Authors: Chaudhuri Soma
Published: November 2012

This article revisits a much-debated question: Why are women popular targets during witch hunts? By using in-depth interviews this article provides an answer. Women are easy targets or scapegoats for two reasons. First, it is widely believed in the community that was studied that witches do, in fact, exist, and the images of witches are always female. Second, tribal women hold lower positions than men in all social, political, and ritual matters, and this contributes to their vulnerability during the hunt for scapegoats. This article also highlights the roles that rumors play during manipulation of witchcraft accusations to gather support for witch hunts.
Local hematopoietic renin-angiotensin system in myeloid versus lymphoid hematological neoplastic disorders
Authors: Uz Burak , Tatonyan Suzin Catal , Sayitoglu Muge , Erbilgin Yucel , Ng Ozden Hatirnaz , Buyukasik Yahya , Sayinalp Nilgun , Aksu Salih , Goker Hakan , Ozcebe Osman I , Ozbek Ugur , Haznedaroglu Ibrahim C
Published: November 2012

There is preliminary evidence that the local renin-angiotensin system (RAS) could affect neoplastic hematopoiesis. The aim of this study is to search messenger RNA (mRNA) expressions of the essential RAS elements in myeloid and lymphoid hematological neoplastic disorders. Forty-six patients with newly diagnosed myeloid (AML, biphenotypic leukemia, CML) or lymphoid (CLL, NHL, B-ALL, T-ALL) hematological disorders were included in the study. In the lymphoid group, the median expression values of RENIN, ACE1, ACE2 and ANGIOTENSINOGEN (ANGTS) mRNAs were 1.96%, 0.42%, 0.00% and 0.00%, respectively; in the myeloid group, 0.73%, 1.55%, 0.04% and 0.006%, respectively. In the lymphoid group, RENIN levels were significantly higher ( p = 0.001), whereas ACE1 and ACE2 levels were significantly higher in the myeloid group ( p values were 0.013 and 0.010, respectively). ANGTS levels were similar in both groups. In patients with non-ALL lymphoid malignancies, RENIN expressions were significantly higher when compared to ALL patients ( p = 0.004). All patients with active disease had significantly higher RENIN mRNA expression levels than patients without active disease (2.03% vs 0.30%) ( p = 0.034). The result of our present study indicates that the activities of local RAS may differ in distinct disease states such as leukemia and lymphomas.
Scientific Utopia
Authors: Nosek Brian A. , Spies Jeffrey R. , Motyl Matt
Published: November 2012

An academic scientist’s professional success depends on publishing. Publishing norms emphasize novel, positive results. As such, disciplinary incentives encourage design, analysis, and reporting decisions that elicit positive results and ignore negative results. Prior reports demonstrate how these incentives inflate the rate of false effects in published science. When incentives favor novelty over replication, false results persist in the literature unchallenged, reducing efficiency in knowledge accumulation. Previous suggestions to address this problem are unlikely to be effective. For example, a journal of negative results publishes otherwise unpublishable reports. This enshrines the low status of the journal and its content. The persistence of false findings can be meliorated with strategies that make the fundamental but abstract accuracy motive—getting it right—competitive with the more tangible and concrete incentive—getting it published. This article develops strategies for improving scientific practices and knowledge accumulation that account for ordinary human motivations and biases.
The Long Way From α-Error Control to Validity Proper
Authors: Fiedler Klaus , Kutzner Florian , Krueger Joachim I.
Published: November 2012

Several influential publications have sensitized the community of behavioral scientists to the dangers of inflated effects and false-positive errors leading to the unwarranted publication of nonreplicable findings. This issue has been related to prominent cases of data fabrication and survey results pointing to bad practices in empirical science. Although we concur with the motives behind these critical arguments, we note that an isolated debate of false positives may itself be misleading and counter-productive. Instead, we argue that, given the current state of affairs in behavioral science, false negatives often constitute a more serious problem. Referring to Wason’s (1960) seminal work on inductive reasoning, we show that the failure to assertively generate and test alternative hypotheses can lead to dramatic theoretical mistakes, which cannot be corrected by any kind of rigor applied to statistical tests of the focal hypotheses. We conclude that a scientific culture rewarding strong inference (Platt, 1964) is more likely to see progress than a culture preoccupied with tightening its standards for the mere publication of original findings.
Resolving Post-Abortion Health Issues Using Available Statistical Data
Authors: Carroll Patrick S.
Published: November 2012

The myth of “safe” abortion continues despite a large and growing body of research linking induced abortion to preterm birth, breast cancer, depressive disorders, and other sequelae. 1 After forty years of legally induced abortion, some comprehensive data sets exist in several countries. European data from several countries including England, Wales, Scotland, and the Scandinavian nations is more comprehensive than that available in the United States. There is a full count of legal induced abortions along with age and other demographic details. To investigate effectively the medical and social impact of abortion on a population, the demographic pattern and profile of modern abortion provides useful information in situations in which the methods of Bradford Hill are difficult to apply. Demographic grouping of women with higher rates of abortion, such as black American women, who have a threefold higher abortion rate than Caucasian American women, facilitates inferences from correlation analysis in ecological studies. Consideration of the sequence of abortion in parity history allows investigation of specific disorders such as breast cancer, which is linked most strongly to termination of nulliparous pregnancies. While a large amount of research has established the linkage between induced abortion and subsequent preterm birth, potential exists for more precise delineation of the interaction between known risk factors.
Right of Conscience for Health-Care Providers
Authors: Davenport Mary L. , Lahl Jennifer , Rosa Evan C.
Published: November 2012

Health-care providers have been challenged by changes in medical practice to include abortion, euthanasia, and controversial fertility technologies. These procedures go beyond saving lives, healing disease, and alleviating pain, the traditional purposes of medicine. The foundational principles of Western medical ethics, as characterized by the Hippocratic Oath, have been weakened or even rejected. The consequences of abandoning the Hippocratic tradition are illustrated by the eugenics movement, the Nazi Holocaust, the Tuskegee experiments, and contemporary bioethics theories. Physicians and other health-care personnel are under institutional and governmental pressure to succumb to anti-Hippocratic ethics. Conscience clauses are a means of defending medical practitioners from these trends. Characteristics of conscience legislation that protect health-care providers are described. Strong conscience clauses also protect the public by ensuring the survival of healthcare personnel with shared Hippocratic values.
Preterm Birth Update
Authors: Calhoun Byron C.
Published: November 2012

Preterm birth plagues modern society, with over three million deaths worldwide annually. When combined with low birth weight, preterm births are estimated to cost over one hundred million disability-adjusted life years. In the U.S., the low birth weight (newborn less than 2,500 gms) delivery rate in 2002 increased to 7.8 percent from 6.8 percent in 1985. This marks the highest rate in over thirty years. A large meta-analysis from 2009 analyzing abortion and preterm birth found an increased risk for preterm birth with an odds ratio of 1.35 (95 percent CI 1.20–1.52) for preterm demonstrating a 35 percent increase in the preterm birth rate in patients with only one abortion. The odds ratio for preterm birth for greater than two induced abortions was 1.72 (95 percent CI 1.45–2.04) demonstrating a 72 percent increase in the preterm birth rate and the important epidemiological principle of a dose-related effect: The more abortions one has prior to first pregnancy, the higher the risk for preterm birth. Finally, it is estimated that the concomitant expense due to prematurity from abortion may cost well over $1.2 billion per year in the U.S. in hospitalization (neonatal intensive care unit) costs alone.
Anti-Abortion Movement Led by Obstetrician/Gynecologists in South Korea
Authors: Choi Anna
Published: November 2012

Abortion has been regarded as one of the methods for birth-control in South Korea for decades, since the 1970s when the government encouraged people to choose abortion for the sake of population control during its industrialization process. Most abortions used to be easily performed because doctors or women undergoing abortions were not prosecuted even though abortion was illegal. Even following economic development, such a trend of encouraging abortion was prevalent in our society, and as a result, women used to be compelled by social pressure to undergo abortion.
Significant Risks of Oral Contraceptives (OCPs)
Authors: Peck Rebecca , Norris Charles W.
Published: November 2012

Pregnancy is not a disease. But more fundamentally, neither is human fertility. They are normal physiologic processes of the sexually mature person. By classifying pregnancy and fertility as disease states, certain entities are able to position contraception as “the cure.” Currently, these same organizations want to include oral contraceptive counseling and medications in the new national health-care plan under a preventive care mandate. But it is the physician's role to counsel patients on preventive care measures. We understand that these evidenced-based screenings help to change risky behaviors and catch disease in its earliest stages, thereby reducing patients' overall morbidity and mortality. However, we believe that patients incur substantial health risks when choosing oral contraceptives (OCPs). This paper reviews the major risks of OCPs. The authors presume that the prevailing widespread acceptance and promotion of OCPs indicates general agreement within the medical community that OCPs are good for the patient (or at least not significantly harmful). Therefore, this paper concentrates on the studies which show increased harm and risk to the patient choosing to use OCPs. We have concentrated our efforts on three major areas: increased rates of cardiovascular disease, breast cancer, and human papillomavirus (HPV) or cervical cancer. If fertility and pregnancy are not disease states, and are, in fact, normal conditions associated with healthy individuals, OCPs fail the most important test of preventive medicine: they increase risk of disease instead of decreasing it. Patients should not be misled or confused into believing that what they are taking is “good for them” and is of the same beneficial effect as other preventive measures.
Current Medical Research Summer–Fall 2011
Authors: Fehring Richard J.
Published: November 2012

Note that the “Current Medical Research” feature focuses on issues relevant to natural family planning and the beginning of life. This piece is complemented by medical reviews published in The National Catholic Bioethics Quarterly, which focus more on other areas of general medical interest including end-of-life issues.—Ed.
Constant intermittent flow of dislocations: Central problems in plasticity
Authors: Brown L M
Published: November 2012

Plastic flow is never a continuous process either in time or in space, yet it continues to be modelled in this way. In this review, plasticity is discussed from the perspective of self-organised criticality (SOC). The following topics are discussed: slip bands and models for them; how crystallographic is slip?; distributed sources and collective motion of dislocations; the triumph and the failure of the Taylor model; long range stress does not contribute directly to the flow stress, so the forest rules; the perils of coarse-graining and the relationship between smoothed engineering variables and intermittently fluctuating physical variables; work-hardening of a slip band; what controls the structure of slip bands?; interpretation of precursor and exhaustion phases; relationship to other recent theories; consequences which follow from a sound theory of plastic flow. Brief appendices present algebraic results for slip bands modelled as ellipsoids.
Effect of Mn on cooling behaviour and microstructure of chill cast Zn–Al (ZA8) alloy
Authors: Ramesh G , Vishwanath H M , Prabhu K N
Published: November 2012

In the present work, the effect of manganese addition to ZA8 alloy on thermal analysis parameters, heat transfer and microstructure was investigated. The thermal analysis parameters were found to be significantly affected by chemical modification of ZA8 alloy. Cooling curve and differential scanning calorimetry analyses of modified alloy showed nucleation of new phase other than β dendrites. Chilling of modified alloy resulted in decreased liquidus temperature and enhanced eutectoid transformation. Further, chilling avoids the formation of intermetallic compounds in modified alloy. The heat flux transients were estimated using inverse modelling during solidification of unmodified and modified alloys against different chills. The peak heat flux decreased on addition of Mn to ZA8 alloy. Differential scanning calorimetry analysis indicated that the addition of Mn to ZA8 alloy decreases the heat of solidification. The addition of Mn to ZA8 alloy increased the contact angle, indicating decreased wettability of the modified alloy on the chill surface. The microstructure of ZA8 with Mn showed an increased amount of β phase and a decreased amount of eutectic. X-ray diffraction analysis confirmed the formation of MnAl6 intermetallics in Mn added ZA8 alloy. Chilling with chemical modification resulted in enhanced decomposition of β phase.
Annealing effects in non-polar ZnMgO thin films fabricated by PLD
Authors: Wei X Q , Zhao R R , Wang Y J , Liu L Y , Cao B Q
Published: November 2012

ZnMgO thin films deposited on Si (111) substrates by pulsed laser deposition at 300°C were annealed at different temperatures from 400 to 800°C in air. Non-polar films with (110) orientation have been obtained. The thin film annealed at 500°C shows the co-existence of (002), (200) and (110) orientations according to X-ray diffraction observation, which illustrated that Mg has been incorporated into ZnO. Scanning electron microscopy images and energy dispersive X-ray revealed the variation of surface morphology and element content. The largest band gap value has been determined to be 4·31 eV when the film was annealed at 700°C. The typical peaks of Zn–O and Mg–O bonds were observed in the IR spectrum. The shift of UV peaks in photoluminescence spectra emerged due to the increase in Mg doping as the annealing temperature increases.
Effect of growth rate and thickness on kinetic roughening and multifractal properties of electrodeposited Ni thin films
Authors: Hedayati K , Nabiyouni G , Jafari G R
Published: November 2012

The effects of growth rate and deposition time on the surface roughness and statistical properties of electrodeposited Ni thin films were studied using the atomic force microscopy technique. The stochastic analysis and multifractal detrended fluctuation analysis (MF-DFA) methods were applied to calculate the Ni film roughness. The results clearly show that the film surface roughness increases as the deposition current density or film thickness increases. By comparing the MF-DFA results of the original series to those for shuffled and surrogate series, one can distinguish the fractality due to long range correlations and a broad probability density function. A generalised scaling exponent of partition function, fractal dimensions, Holder exponent and singularity spectrum is determined. The fractality nature is mainly attributed to the long range correlations.
Allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation for XIAP deficiency: an international survey reveals poor outcomes
Authors: Marsh Rebecca A. , Rao Kanchan , Satwani Prakash , Lehmberg Kai , Müller Ingo , Li Dandan , Kim Mi-Ok , Fischer Alain , Latour Sylvain , Sedlacek Petr , Barlogis Vincent , Hamamoto Kazuko , Kanegane Hirokazu , Milanovich Sam , Margolis David A. , Dimmock David , Casper James , Douglas Dorothea N. , Amrolia Persis J. , Veys Paul , Kumar Ashish R. , Jordan Michael B. , Bleesing Jack J. , Filipovich Alexandra H.
Published: November 2012

Key Points

High mortality rates are observed in patients with XIAP deficiency treated with myeloablative conditioning regimens for hematopoietic cell transplantation.
Characterization of replication and conjugation of plasmid pWTY27 from a widely distributed Streptomyces species
Authors: Wang Tao , Chen Zhenhua , Cheng Qiuxiang , Zhou Min , Tian Xinli , Xie Pengfei , Zhong Li , Shen Meijuan , Qin Zhongjun
Published: November 2012

Background

Streptomyces species are widely distributed in natural habitats, such as soils, lakes, plants and some extreme environments. Replication loci of several Streptomyces theta-type plasmids have been reported, but are not characterized in details. Conjugation loci of some Streptomyces rolling-circle-type plasmids are identified and mechanism of conjugal transferring are described.

Results

We report the detection of a widely distributed Streptomyces strain Y27 and its indigenous plasmid pWTY27 from fourteen plants and four soil samples cross China by both culturing and nonculturing methods. The complete nucleotide sequence of pWTY27 consisted of 14,288 bp. A basic locus for plasmid replication comprised repAB genes and an adjacent iteron sequence, to a long inverted-repeat (ca. 105 bp) of which the RepA protein bound specifically in vitro, suggesting that RepA may recognize a second structure (e.g. a long stem-loop) of the iteron DNA. A plasmid containing the locus propagated in linear mode when the telomeres of a linear plasmid were attached, indicating a bi-directional replication mode for pWTY27. As for rolling-circle plasmids, a single traA gene and a clt sequence (covering 16 bp within traA and its adjacent 159 bp) on pWTY27 were required for plasmid transfer. TraA recognized and bound specifically to the two regions of the clt sequence, one containing all the four DC1 of 7 bp (TGACACC) and one DC2 (CCCGCCC) and most of IC1, and another covering two DC2 and part of IC1, suggesting formation of a high-ordered DNA-protein complex.

Conclusions

This work (i) isolates a widespread Streptomyces strain Y27 and sequences its indigenous theta-type plasmid pWTY27; (ii) identifies the replication and conjugation loci of pWTY27 and; (iii) characterizes the binding sequences of the RepA and TraA proteins.
Identification of genes involved in the ACC-mediated control of root cell elongation in Arabidopsis thaliana
Authors: Markakis Marios Nektarios , De Cnodder Tinne , Lewandowski Michal , Simon Damien , Boron Agnieszka , Balcerowicz Daria , Doubbo Thanaa , Taconnat Ludivine , Renou Jean-Pierre , Höfte Herman , Verbelen Jean-Pierre , Vissenberg Kris
Published: November 2012

Background

Along the root axis of Arabidopsis thaliana, cells pass through different developmental stages. In the apical meristem repeated cycles of division increase the numbers of cells. Upon leaving the meristem, these cells pass the transition zone where they are physiologically and mechanically prepared to undergo subsequent rapid elongation. During the process of elongation epidermal cells increase their length by 300% in a couple of hours. When elongation ceases, the cells acquire their final size, shape and functions (in the differentiation zone). Ethylene administered as its precursor 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylic acid (ACC) is capable of inhibiting elongation in a concentration-dependent way. Using a microarray analysis, genes and/or processes involved in this elongation arrest are identified.

Results

Using a CATMA-microarray analysis performed on control and 3h ACC-treated roots, 240 differentially expressed genes were identified. Quantitative Real-Time RT-PCR analysis of the 10 most up and down regulated genes combined with literature search confirmed the accurateness of the analysis. This revealed that inhibition of cell elongation is, at least partly, caused by restricting the events that under normal growth conditions initiate elongation and by increasing the processes that normally stop cellular elongation at the end of the elongation/onset of differentiation zone.

Conclusions

ACC interferes with cell elongation in the Arabidopsis thaliana roots by inhibiting cells from entering the elongation process and by immediately stimulating the formation of cross-links in cell wall components, diminishing the remaining elongation capacity. From the analysis of the differentially expressed genes, it becomes clear that many genes identified in this response, are also involved in several other kind of stress responses. This suggests that many responses originate from individual elicitors, but that somewhere in the downstream signaling cascade, these are converged to a ’common pathway’. Furthermore, several potential keyplayers, such as transcription factors and auxin-responsive genes, were identified by the microarray analysis. They await further analysis to reveal their exact role in the control of cell elongation.
Habitual snoring and atopic state: correlations with respiratory function and teeth occlusion
Authors: Zicari Anna Maria , Marzo Giuseppe , Rugiano Anna , Celani Camilla , Carbone Maria Palma , Tecco Simona , Duse Marzia
Published: November 2012

Background

Allergy represents a risk factor at the base of sleep-disordered breathing in pediatric age. Among allergic diseases, the atopy is characterized by a tendency to be “hyperallergic.” Sleep-disordered breathing is also known in orthodontics as correlated with the morphology of craniofacial complex. The aim of this study was to investigate the relation between atopy and sleep-disordered breathing (oral breathers with habitual snoring), comparing atopic children with sleep-disordered breathing (test group) with nonatopic ones with sleep-disordered breathing (control group), in the prevalence of dento-skeletal alterations and other risk factors that trigger sleep-disordered breathing, such as adenotonsillar hypertrophy, turbinate hypertrophy, obesity, and alteration of oxygen arterial saturation.

Methods

In a group of 110 subjects with sleep-disordered breathing (6 to 12 years old), we grouped the subjects into atopic (test group, 60 subjects) and nonatopic (control group, 50 subjects) children and compared the data on the following: skin allergic tests, rhinoscopy, rhinomanometry, night home pulsoxymetry, body mass index, and dento-facial alterations.

Results

Even if our results suggest that atopy is not a direct risk factor for sleep-disordered breathing, the importance of a physiologic nasal respiration in the pathogenesis of sleep-disordered breathing seems to be demonstrated in our study by the higher prevalence of hypertrophy in the adenotonsillar lymphatic tissue, odontostomatological alterations, alterations of the oxygen saturation to pulsoxymetry, and higher prevalence of obesity observed in our children with sleep-disordered breathing, in percentages higher than that of the general pediatric population previously observed in the literature.

Conclusions

The importance of a physiologic nasal respiration in the pathogenesis of sleep-disordered breathing is demonstrated in our study.
A descriptive study on health workforce performance after decentralisation of health services in Uganda
Authors: Lutwama George William , Roos Janetta Hendrika , Dolamo Bethabile Lovely
Published: November 2012

Background

Uganda, like many developing countries, is committed to achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by 2015. However, serious challenges prove to hamper the attainment of these goals, particularly the health related MDGs. A major challenge relates to the human resources for health. The health system in Uganda was decentralised in the 1990s. Despite the health sector reforms, the services have remained significantly deficient and performance of health workers is thought to be one of the contributing factors. The purpose of this study was, therefore, to investigate the performance of health workers after decentralisation of the health services in Uganda in order to identify and suggest possible areas for improvement.

Methods

A cross-sectional descriptive survey, using quantitative research methods was utilised. A structured self-administered questionnaire was used to collect quantitative data from 276 health workers in the districts of Kumi, Mbale, Sironko and Tororo in Eastern Uganda. The health workers included doctors, clinical officers, professional nurses and midwives. The sample was selected using stratified random sampling. The data was analysed using SPSS version 18.0 and included both univariate and bivariate analysis. The results were presented in tabular and text forms.

Results

The study revealed that even though the health workers are generally responsive to the needs of their clients, the services they provide are often not timely. The health workers take initiatives to ensure that they are available for work, although low staffing levels undermine these efforts. While the study shows that the health workers are productive, over half (50.4%) of them reported that their organisations do not have indicators to measure their individual performance. The findings indicate that the health workers are skilled and competent to perform their duties. In general, the results show that health workers are proficient, adaptive, proactive and client-oriented.

Conclusion

Although Uganda is faced with a number of challenges as regards human resources for health, the findings show that the health workers that are currently working in the health facilities are enthusiastic to perform. This may serve as a motivator for the health workers to improve their performance and that of the health sector.
Acetate supplementation reduces microglia activation and brain interleukin-1β levels in a rat model of Lyme neuroborreliosis
Authors: Brissette Catherine A , Houdek Heidi M , Floden Angela M , Rosenberger Thad A
Published: November 2012

Background

We have found that acetate supplementation significantly reduces neuroglia activation and pro-inflammatory cytokine release in a rat model of neuroinflammation induced with lipopolysaccharide. To test if the anti-inflammatory effect of acetate supplementation is specific to a TLR4-mediated injury, we measured markers of neuroglia activation in rats subjected to B. burgdorferi-induced neuroborreliosis that is mediated in large part by a TLR2-type mechanism.

Methods

In this study, rats were subjected to Lyme neuroborreliosis following an intravenous infusion of B. burgdorferi (B31-MI-16). Acetate supplementation was induced using glyceryl triacetate (6g/kg) by oral gavage. Immunohistochemistry, qPCR, and western blot analyses were used to measure bacterial invasion into the brain, neuroglial activation, and brain and circulating levels of interleukin 1β. Statistical analysis was performed using one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) followed by a Tukey’s post hoc tests or using a Student’s t test assuming unequal variances when appropriate.

Results

We found that acetate supplementation significantly reduced microglia activation by 2-fold as determined by immunohistochemical and western blot analysis. Further, acetate supplementation also reduced the expression of the pro-inflammatory cytokine IL-1β by 2-fold as compared to controls. On the other hand, the inoculation of rats with B. burgdorferi had no effect on astroglial activation as determined by immunocytochemistry and western blot analysis despite significant increases in circulation levels of antigen toward B. burgdorferi and presence of the bacteria in the central nervous system.

Conclusions

These results suggest that microglial activation is an essential component to neuroborreliosis and that acetate supplementation may be an effective treatment to reduce injury phenotype and possibly injury progression in Lyme neuroborreliosis.