bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Improvement of MediaWiki to support mandatory collaboration
Authors: Kasemvilas Sumonta , Olfman Lorne
Published: August 2013

Purpose

– The purpose of this study was to design collaboration mechanisms for groups, particularly those who are performing mandatory collaborative writing of Wiki pages.

Design/methodology/approach

– This research study utilized six design science research methodology steps. Two case studies were conducted to understand how a MediaWiki with additional extensions potentially facilitates collaborative writing. Questionnaires were used to collect answers to questions about perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use.

Findings

– The findings from this research led to the innovative design of a set of MediaWiki mechanisms to improve collaborative writing in the classroom setting. The findings of the second round of the build-and-evaluate loop illustrate some potential impacts of MediaWiki when used in the classroom.

Research limitations/implications

– These mechanisms would increase the students' sense of awareness, clarify management, increase discussion, and clarify students' roles. The implications of this study can be useful for researchers and developers. They can make use of what the study articulates the benefits and the needs of MediaWiki extensions.

Practical implications

– The results of this study potentially offer new mechanisms that can be used to teach graduate students involved in collaborative writing.

Originality/value

– The creation of the newly developed extensions is the original and innovative component of this study. These extensions are designed to increase project control and accountability.
Aligning technology with learning theories
Authors: Alimisis Dimitris , Zoulias Emmanouil
Published: August 2013

Purpose

– The aim of this research is the development of a problem-based curriculum for robotic surgical training and its evaluation.

Design/methodology/approach

– First, the aim and objectives of the curriculum are defined and the background learning theories that guide our work are introduced. The methodology for designing the simulator-based training is presented and finally the output of this work is reported, that is the SAFROS training paradigm, resulted as a balanced synthesis of behavioural and constructivist learning theories.

Findings

– The evaluation of basic skills tasks of the curriculum revealed a high acceptance among the trainees.

Research limitations/implications

– Within this paper, a first implementation and evaluation of the basic skills tasks is described. Further cooperation between pedagogues and software engineers is required in order to put in practice the whole curriculum. Then, further training experiments with surgeons are necessary to check the validity of the whole curriculum. The authors also need to establish proficiency criteria that can come from the achievements of expert surgeons using the simulator and the robot and use them as final goals to be achieved by trainees in future courses. In the field of subjective evaluation, a possible future extension might be a bigger number of questions. Moreover, the innovative method of text mining in its application to opinion mining decisions can be further applied.

Originality/value

– In this paper, an innovative approach for the development of a simulator-based curriculum for robotic surgical training is presented and first evaluation results based on ratings from trainees are also presented. The value of this paper is relevant to medical trainers and curriculum designers.
Speech and touch enhanced interface for visually impaired users
Authors: Oppenheim Matthew
Published: August 2013

Purpose

– This paper presents a novel interface system to aid people with visual impairment to become proficient with operating unfamiliar devices. The system works by adding touch sensors that trigger audio tags to tactile controls. The touch sensors trigger the audio tags before the control is activated.

Design/methodology/approach

– The paper describes how several devices were enhanced with the new technology, tested and evaluated. Initial informational interviewing with visually impaired people was followed by user studies with blindfolded but visually able people. A final evaluation of the system was conducted by a visually impaired group.

Findings

– This paper shows that the technology is of benefit to a visually impaired user when using a complex unfamiliar device.

Originality/value

– This novel application of touch sensors coupled with audio tags has the potential to benefit visually impaired people. This technology can easily be incorporated into commercial devices. The idea can also be implemented using off the shelf development boards coupled with smart phones.
Design and analysis of a novel earpiece‐less eyeglass frame
Authors: Griffin Byron , Yang James
Published: August 2013

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to present design and analysis of a novel earpiece‐less eyeglass frame.

Design/methodology/approach

A virtual assembly process was used to test the part design and finally a prototype was built to check the design.

Findings

Earpiece‐less eyeglasses are easier to adjust for higher comfort levels and do not incorporate leg hinges compared to traditional eye‐glasses. This novel design is unique and will be in mass production.

Originality/value

This paper presents a novel earpiece‐less eyeglasses frame design and will have significant impact to the market.
Pioneering consumer economist: Elizabeth Ellis Hoyt (1893‐1980)
Authors: Parsons Elizabeth
Published: August 2013

Purpose

This paper aims to contribute to the project of recognising the contribution of female scholars to the development of marketing thought. The paper presents a biography of Elizabeth Ellis Hoyt, a home economist, who contributed to the shaping of contemporary ideas about consumption and the consumer.

Design/methodology/approach

Source material used includes the Elizabeth Ellis Hoyt Papers (1884‐2009) in the Iowa State University Archives. The collection contains a variety of materials, of which the most important for this paper were news clippings, personal diaries (1907‐1918), and published and unpublished manuscripts (1953, 1964, n.d.). Also important for this study were two sources published by Alison Comish Thorne, Elizabeth Hoyt's PhD student. These include Thorne's autobiography Leave the Dishes in the Sink and her entry on Elizabeth Hoyt in the Biographical Dictionary of Women Economists.

Findings

The paper documents Elizabeth Hoyt's development of marketing thought, focusing on her early work on the cost of living index and subsequent contributions to an expanded theory of consumption and consumer learning.

Originality/value

Elizabeth Hoyt is one of a group of female home economists who pioneered consumption economics in America in the 1920s and 1930s yet who have been neglected in published accounts. Notwithstanding a short biographical note in the Biographical Dictionary of Women Economists, Hoyt's life and work are not yet documented.
Remembering female contributors to marketing theory, thought and practice
Authors: Tadajewski Mark , Maclaran Pauline
Published: August 2013

Purpose

This editorial aims to review the contents of the special issue, situating it within appropriate historical context.

Design/methodology/approach

A close reading of the contents of the special issue is provided.

Findings

This special issue reveals the important contributions of a number of previously forgotten female pioneers in marketing, advertising and consumer research.

Originality/value

This introduction adds further historical detail about the structures and biases that have limited the opportunities available to female contributors to marketing theory, thought and practice.
Knowledge, skills and personality of the effective business consultant
Authors: Banai Moshe , Tulimieri Philp
Published: August 2013

Purpose

The purpose of this paper to describe the effective business consultant's most desirable characteristics.

Design/methodology/approach

Development of propositions based on a review of the literature, anecdotal reports and the experience of the authors.

Findings

The effective business consultant should possess functional knowledge as well as knowledge of an industry, communication and analytical skills, creativity, strategic and tactical leadership abilities, and a set of personality traits that includes emotional stability, intellect, integrity and openness and agreeableness.

Practical implications

HR departments and training units in consulting firms may use the profile of the effective consultant as a tool in their selection and training procedures, as well as in matching consultants with clients. Consulting services clients may use the profile of the effective consultant to identify effective consulting service providers. Consultants may use the recommendations as a source for individual growth. Universities and business schools may use the study to improve training of future consultants.

Originality/value

The paper sets a research agenda for the study of the effective business consultant's characteristics.
From white paper writing to white water rafting
Authors: Marques Joan , Holt Svetlana , Green Virginia
Published: August 2013

Purpose

The purpose of the paper is to share practices with other scholars who are on the outlook for different, more rewarding ways of facilitating formal management education, and to invite feedback and additional suggestions from colleagues in formal and informal educational settings about additional approaches that make a positive difference.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper is structured in a sequential format, presenting the three contributors’ practices in separate sections, yet unifying them through a coherent structure of a brief course description, a description of the creative infusion, and some sample implementations.

Findings

Management courses that focus on creativity, involvement, interaction, and a trans‐disciplinary approach, ensure greater cohesion between left‐ and right‐brain thinking.

Practical implications

Management in an increasingly diversifying yet intertwining work environment brings along challenges that have not been encountered before. Some teaching scholars in higher education consider this challenge problematic, but others perceive it as a wonderful opportunity toward more effective and rewarding approaches to learning and communicating.

Originality/value

This paper presents a valuable piece of evidence, albeit on a minute scale, that scholars who engage in practice‐based management education and include elements from the real world in their courses, experience enhanced gratification within themselves and from their students.
Measuring the international usage of US institutional repositories
Authors: Fralinger Lauren , Bull Jonathan
Published: August 2013

Purpose

In an educational world with increasing internationalization, digitization, assessment and financial justification, US institutions, especially academic libraries, must justify each new project. Institutional Repositories (IRs) are no exception. The authors attempt to identify factors that might affect the international usage of US IRs as part of assessment efforts to determine an IR's return‐on‐investment.

Design/methodology/approach

A survey was disseminated to IR administrators asking for demographic information, international usage counts for website hits and downloads, and any internationalization efforts connected to the IR in order to determine any influencing factors on an IR's international usage.

Findings

While many IRs reported various rates of international usage, the largest group of respondents did not report an international usage rate for both page hits and downloads, despite overwhelmingly expressing an importance of international traffic to their IR and parent institution.

Research limitations/implications

It is not clear if this non‐reporting of international usage could be due to ignorance, apathy, or lack of technological support on the part of the IR administrators.

Practical implications

Determining international usage as a part of an IR assessment might be problematic or even impossible for many US IRs.

Originality/value

This study suggests that many IR administrators either do not know, do not care, and/or cannot record international usage data for their respective IRs, which could hinder determining an international return‐on‐investment for the IR.
Production outsourcing offshore in the New Zealand printing, publishing and packaging industries
Authors: Skiffington Hayden , Akoorie Michèle E.M. , Sinha Paresha , Jones Glyndwr
Published: August 2013

Purpose

The study aims to investigate the production offshore outsourcing practices of SMEs in the New Zealand printing, publishing and packaging industries. It identifies the techniques SMEs use to organise and manage their offshore outsourcing activities. The authors then develop a managerial framework to assist SMEs in their future offshore outsourcing ambitions.

Design/methodology/approach

The study takes a qualitative approach; obtaining data from a sample of 22 New Zealand SMEs in the printing, publishing and packaging industries that are actively offshore outsourcing production tasks. Data was gathered in the form of semi‐structured interviews with SME managers who have carried out offshore outsourcing.

Findings

To mitigate offshore outsourcing costs, SMEs use the internet to locate suppliers and use short‐term reliable contracts that are managed remotely or by intermediaries. Customer involvement was highly important during the entire offshore outsourcing process. Most SMEs developed long‐term business relationships with reliable suppliers. These findings are integrated into the SME framework, which identifies ways SMEs can overcome resource constraints and minimise risks when offshore outsourcing.

Research limitations/implications

This study is confined to a single country and reports on findings for several related industries, i.e. the printing, publishing and packaging industries in New Zealand. This limits its applicability to research in other settings and other industries. However, it identifies an area of research (offshore outsourcing activities in SMEs) that could be extended to other industries and countries by future research.

Practical implications

The SME framework presents an easily understood approach that has been verified by SME managers who have successfully offshore outsourced production tasks. The research proves that SMEs can offshore outsource within the constraints of limited physical and managerial resources.

Social implications

The study showed that the decision‐making process to outsource is supported by the transaction costs approach. Firms have to balance out total cost considerations in making their decision to offshore (including contingency costs) to ensure that the savings from outsourcing are greater than the transaction costs. The resource‐based view of the firm is also used to suggest that offshore outsourcing means that firms may be able to improve their own competences by providing (through their suppliers) access to more sophisticated and higher‐quality processes.

Originality/value

The research contributes to the growing area of SME offshore outsourcing research, providing detailed empirical evidence of SME offshore outsourcing activities occurring in New Zealand.
The distance decay of similarity in communities of ectomycorrhizal fungi in different ecosystems and scales
Authors: Bahram Mohammad , Kõljalg Urmas , Courty Pierre‐Emmanuel , Diédhiou Abdala G. , Kjøller Rasmus , Põlme Sergei , Ryberg Martin , Veldre Vilmar , Tedersoo Leho
Published: August 2013

Despite recent advances in understanding community ecology of ectomycorrhizal fungi, little is known about their spatial patterning and the underlying mechanisms driving these patterns across different ecosystems.

This meta‐study aimed to elucidate the scale, rate and causes of spatial structure of ectomycorrhizal fungal communities in different ecosystems by analysing 16 and 55 sites at the local and global scales, respectively. We examined the distance decay of similarity relationship in species‐ and phylogenetic lineage‐based communities in relation to sampling and environmental variables.

Tropical ectomycorrhizal fungal communities exhibited stronger distance‐decay patterns compared to non‐tropical communities. Distance from the equator and sampling area were the main determinants of the extent of distance decay in fungal communities. The rate of distance decay was negatively related to host density at the local scale. At the global scale, lineage‐level community similarity decayed faster with latitude than with longitude.

Synthesis. Spatial processes play a stronger role and over a greater scale in structuring local communities of ectomycorrhizal fungi than previously anticipated, particularly in ecosystems with greater vegetation age and closer to the equator. Greater rate of distance decay occurs in ecosystems with lower host density that may stem from increasing dispersal and establishment limitation. The relatively strong latitude effect on distance decay of lineage‐level community similarity suggests that climate affects large‐scale spatial processes and may cause phylogenetic clustering of ectomycorrhizal fungi at the global scale.
Sigma factors in a thousand E. coli genomes
Authors: Cook Helen , Ussery David W.
Published: August 2013

Everyone working with bacterial genomics is familiar with the phrase ‘too much data’. In this Genome Update, we discuss two methods for helping to deal with this explosion of genomic information. First, we introduce the concept of calculating a quality score for each sequenced genome, and second, we describe a method to quickly sort through genomes for a particular set of protein families. We apply these two methods to all of the current Escherichia coli genomes available in the The National Center for Biotechnology Information database. Out of the 2074 E. coli/Shigella genomes listed (June, 2013), only less than half (983) are of sufficient quality to use in comparative genomic work. Unfortunately, even some of the ‘complete’ E. coli genomes are in pieces, and a few ‘draft’ genomes are good quality. Six of the seven known sigma factors in E. coli strain K‐12 are extremely well conserved; the iron‐regulating sigma factor FecI (σ19) is missing in most genomes. Surprisingly, the E. coli strain CFT073 genome does not encode a functional RpoD (σ70), which is obviously essential, and this is likely due to poor genome assembly/annotation. We find a possible novel sigma factor present in more than a hundred E. coli genomes.
Imitate Others? Not if We Have the Chance: Competitive Differentiation in Medical Malpractice Insurers' Pricing Decisions under Uncertainty
Authors: Desai Vinit M.
Published: August 2013

Several perspectives assert that organizations facing uncertainty tend to imitate other organizations' actions. While one might therefore expect to see great homogeneity across fields characterized by uncertainty, it is surprising that this homogeneity has not been observed more frequently in practice. Research investigating this puzzle has typically focused on the role played by organizational characteristics or the information organizations possess about their environments. Instead, this study turns attention to the information others possess about the organization. To that end, I disaggregate organizational uncertainty into the uncertainty facing decision makers and the uncertainty faced by others about what those decision makers might ultimately do, providing a more fine grained analysis of uncertainty and its impact on competitive action than typically offered in this literature. I suggest that uncertainty in competitors' evaluations of the organization provides an opportunity for the organization to differentiate itself rather than imitate others. I also suggest that this effect is stronger than the effects of the uncertainty facing the decision makers themselves. Related hypotheses are tested on a panel of medical malpractice insurance providers. The study's perspective generates unique predictions regarding imitation and differentiation in this industry and across other contexts featuring both uncertainty and competition.
The Shifting Ideological Currents of the Transatlantic Puritan Community in the Early Seventeenth Century
Authors: van Duinen Jared
Published: August 2013

This article explores the ideological transfigurations which appeared when English Puritans relocated to New England. It does so by examining particular communications which took place between the Puritans of the “Great Migration” of the 1630s and their erstwhile associates in “Old” England. Though both sets of Puritans had seemingly much in common when they were ideological allies back in Old England, not least being an antipathy towards the Laudian ecclesiastical establishment of the late 1620s and 1630s, the movement to the colonial periphery of New England exposed previously unnoticed, or, at least, overlooked, ideological divisions. This article explicates one significant ideological issue upon which these Old and New England Puritans were divided: that of the appropriate relationship between the civil and ecclesiastical spheres of the polity.
Critical Cartography and the Use of New Technologies for Conserving the Australian Coastline: A Case Study from Lord Howe Island
Authors: HAMYLTON SARAH
Published: August 2013

Maps exert power. In this paper I explore the power of maps in relation to the technical methods employed and the political context of their production. The internal power of maps is realised in the actions taken by cartographers themselves when making maps, while the external power of maps is both realised by the patrons of cartography and wielded through the use of cartographic products as agents for natural resource management, in particular for defining conservation strategies. An Australian case study of coastal mapping is used to examine the methods employed and motivation behind map production through a series of recent remote sensing initiatives to map Lord Howe Island, New South Wales. Through this case study I explore the subjectivities associated with the placement of boundaries in the scientific practice of cartography. I argue that a new epistemological reading of maps is necessary, as sources of information on socio‐politically constructed worlds as much as the phenomenological world of objects. Such a reading is particularly important given recent advances in technologies, such as remote sensing, that are increasingly used to inform coastal management, and which propagate in profound new ways the power of maps.
Biology and trophic interactions of lucerne aphids
Authors: Ryalls James M. W. , Riegler Markus , Moore Ben D. , Johnson Scott N.
Published: August 2013

Lucerne or alfalfa Medicago sativa is the most important temperate forage legume worldwide. Only one or two varieties of lucerne were grown in the U.S.A. and Australia (the two leading exporters of lucerne) before the late 1950s and late 1970s, respectively. These dates coincided with the arrival of aphid species, which devastated lucerne stands and prompted the development of aphid resistant cultivars.

Lucerne-feeding aphids, including bluegreen aphids Acyrthosiphon kondoi, pea aphids Acyrthosiphon pisum, spotted alfalfa aphids Therioaphis trifolii maculata and cowpea aphids Aphis craccivora, however, still present significant risks for the lucerne industry worldwide and account for 25% of global production losses. Moreover, increased production costs, negative environmental effects and emerging aphid resistance to insecticide applications have led to a narrowing of management options against lucerne aphids.

Understanding lucerne aphid biology and trophic ecology will be needed to develop future management practices, including biological control. We review and synthesize research on the four lucerne aphid species, focussing on cultivar resistance and their interactions with other organisms, including predators, parasitoids, entomopathogens and bacterial symbionts. The effects of global climate change are considered, with a particular emphasis on the potential for compromised aphid resistance in lucerne cultivars under future climates.

We conclude by identifying future research questions and perspectives for the sustainable management of lucerne aphids. These include the characterization of plant secondary metabolites associated with natural enemy recruitment, an understanding of the role of endosymbionts in cultivar resistance and a better comprehension of multi-trophic interactions of lucerne aphids, both with other herbivores and higher trophic groups.
Acute fetal asphyxia after gastric rupture in a pregnant patient with a gastric band
Authors: Policiano Catarina , Rocha Pedro , Catanho Maria C. , Pinto Luísa , Valentim‐Lourenço Alexandre , Graça Luís M.
Published: August 2013

We report a 37‐year‐old primigravida with a gastric band who developed the clinical picture of abdominal pain, vomiting and regurgitation coexistent with a cardiotocogram with severe variable decelerations with absent variability at 33 weeks' gestation. After partial improvement with gastric band enlargement, new aggravation of symptoms and recurrence of a pathological cardiotocogram led to an emergency cesarean section. Intraoperatively, hemoperitoneum from gastric rupture was verified and partial gastrectomy was performed. After bariatric surgery, pregnant women are at increased risk of gastrointestinal complications, which may need prompt and multidisciplinary diagnosis and management in order to avoid maternal–fetal morbidity and mortality.
Effects of post‐windthrow salvage logging on microsites, plant composition and regeneration
Authors: Waldron Kaysandra , Ruel Jean‐Claude , Gauthier Sylvie , De Grandpré Louis , Peterson Chris J.
Published: August 2013

Questions

How does windthrow influence plant diversity and composition as well as regeneration and microsite characteristics? What are the consequences of post‐windthrow salvage logging on these key attributes?

Location

Eastern black spruce–moss forest,Quebec,Canada.

Methods

A total of 92 plots were sampled, each with a radius of 11.28 m; 49 of these plots were salvaged while 43 were unsalvaged. Regeneration density, plant diversity and seedbeds were characterized. We tested the effect of microtopography and windthrow severity on species richness and Shannon diversity index for salvaged and unsalvaged windthrows using a mixed model. Partial redundancy analysis (RDA) determined which environmental and stand characteristics were most important in explaining differences in plant species and forest floor types among the treatments. The effects of treatments (salvaged and unsalvaged windthrows), microtopography attributes, windthrow severity and regeneration species on seedling and sapling abundance were tested using a linear mixed model.

Results

Salvaged windthrow, with a large proportion of skid trails, dead mosses andSphagnum, had a lower degree of seedbed heterogeneity. Also, some understorey species present in the unsalvaged ecosystem were absent from the salvaged windthrow.Sphagnumand other moss species were clearly associated with the unsalvaged treatment. White birches were positively associated with mound microtopography in the unsalvaged windthrow.

Conclusion

From an ecosystem‐based forest management perspective, natural post‐windthrow understorey conditions and microsite heterogeneity can be in part maintained in salvaged cut blocks by incorporating retention patches that include downed and standing dead wood and living trees of diverse sizes. These steps should favour plant regeneration and augment diversity for salvage logging after wind disturbance.
Boldine improves endothelial function in diabetic db/db mice through inhibition of angiotensin II‐mediated BMP4‐oxidative stress cascade
Authors: Lau Yeh Siang , Tian Xiao Yu , Mustafa Mohd Rais , Murugan Dharmani , Liu Jian , Zhang Yang , Lau Chi Wai , Huang Yu
Published: August 2013

Background and Purpose

Boldine is a potent natural antioxidant present in the leaves and bark of the Chilean boldo tree. Here we assessed the protective effects of boldine on endothelium in a range of models of diabetes, ex vivo and in vitro.

Experimental Approach

Vascular reactivity was studied in mouse aortas from db/db diabetic and normal mice. Reactive oxygen species (ROS) production, angiotensin AT1 receptor localization and protein expression of oxidative stress markers in the vascular wall were evaluated by dihydroethidium fluorescence, lucigenin enhanced‐chemiluminescence, immunohistochemistry and Western blot respectively. Primary cultures of mouse aortic endothelial cells, exposed to high concentrations of glucose (30 mmol L−1) were also used.

Key Results

Oral treatment (20 mg kg−1day−1, 7 days) or incubation in vitro with boldine (1 μmol L−1, 12 h) enhanced endothelium‐dependent aortic relaxations of db/db mice. Boldine reversed impaired relaxations induced by high glucose or angiotensin II (Ang II) in non‐diabetic mouse aortas while it reduced the overproduction of ROS and increased phosphorylation of eNOS in db/db mouse aortas. Elevated expression of oxidative stress markers (bone morphogenic protein 4 (BMP4), nitrotyrosine and AT1 receptors) were reduced in boldine‐treated db/db mouse aortas. Ang II‐stimulated BMP4 expression was inhibited by boldine, tempol, noggin or losartan. Boldine inhibited high glucose‐stimulated ROS production and restored the decreased phosphorylation of eNOS in mouse aortic endothelial cells in culture.

Conclusions and Implications

Boldine reduced oxidative stress and improved endothelium‐dependent relaxation in aortas of diabetic mice largely through inhibiting ROS overproduction associated with Ang II‐mediated BMP4‐dependent mechanisms.
The whiteness of green: Racialization and environmental education
Authors: McLean Sheelah
Published: August 2013

Numerous research studies have explored how institutions such as schools are produced as white spaces. Whiteness is a socio‐spatial process that constitutes particular bodies as possessing the normative, ordinary power to enjoy social privilege. Within the Canadian colonial context, whiteness has been produced historically through the violent confiscation of land and resources from Indigenous Peoples. This violence has been silenced through grand narratives of Canadian “tolerance,” and white‐settler fantasies of the Canadian landscape as empty and wild. Many environmental education programs continue to rely upon and reproduce these colonial ideas of race and space. Escaping the classroom, Canadian environmental education programs propose to advance personal and educational decolonization through experiential land‐based learning. Integrating the discussions in anti‐racist, anti‐colonial education with the literature on race and nature, this qualitative article draws from student interviews and artefacts to interrogate how whiteness continues to be normalized within environmental education through various dominant narratives of Canadian nation building, such as: the disaffiliation of whiteness from the violence of colonialism, reifying Canadianness as goodness and innocence; the ongoing erasure of Indigenous Peoples and histories from the land; and the reification of wilderness as an essentialized, empty space. These narratives continue to entitle white people to occupy and claim originary status in Canada, signifying wilderness and the environment as a white space.
Natural killer T cell defects in multiple myeloma and the impact of lenalidomide therapy
Authors: Chan A C , Neeson P , Leeansyah E , Tainton K , Quach H , Prince H M , Harrison S J , Godfrey D I , Ritchie D , Berzins S P
Published: August 2013

The causes of multiple myeloma (MM) remain obscure and there are few known risk factors; however, natural killer T (NKT) cell abnormalities have been reported in patients with MM, and therapeutic targeting of NKT cells is promoted as a potential treatment. We characterized NKT cell defects in treated and untreated patients with MM and determined the impact of lenalidomide therapy on the NKT cell pool. Lenalidomide is an immunomodulatory drug with co-stimulatory effects on NKT cells in vitro and is an approved treatment for MM, although its mode of action in that context is not well defined. We find that patients with relapsed/progressive MM had a marked deficiency in NKT cell numbers. In contrast, newly diagnosed patients had relatively normal NKT cell frequency and function prior to treatment, although a specific NKT cell deficiency emerged after high-dose melphalan and autologous stem cell transplantation (ASCT) regimen. This also impacted NK cells and conventional T cells, but the recovery of NKT cells was considerably delayed, resulting in a prolonged, treatment-induced NKT cell deficit. Longitudinal analysis of individual patients revealed that lenalidomide therapy had no in-vivo impact on NKT cell numbers or cytokine production, either as induction therapy, or as maintenance therapy following ASCT, indicating that its clinical benefits in this setting are independent of NKT cell modulation.
Alterations in chemokine receptor expressions on peripheral blood monocytes in multiple sclerosis and neuromyelitis optica
Authors: Cui Yi Wen , Kawano Yuji , Shi Nan , Masaki Katsuhisa , Isobe Noriko , Yonekawa Tomomi , Matsushita Takuya , Tateishi Takahisa , Yamasaki Ryo , Murai Hiroyuki , Kira Jun‐ichi
Published: August 2013

Objectives

Human peripheral blood monocytes comprise three different subtypes: CD14+CD16− (classical type), CD14lowCD16+ (non‐classical type) and CD14+CD16+ (intermediate type). These subsets are known to have different functions, but little is known about their roles in multiple sclerosis (MS), especially for maintaining remission. We aimed to clarify the alterations in monocyte subsets in patients with MS and neuromyelitis optica (NMO)/NMO spectrum disorder (NMOSD) in the remission phase.

Methods

Blood samples were collected from 19 MS patients and 10 NMO/NMOSD patients in the remission phase, and 42 healthy controls (HC). The surface expressions of CCR2, CX3CR1, CD64 (FcγR1) and CD62L were analyzed in the monocyte subsets by flow cytometry.

Results

CCR2 expression was significantly decreased in classical monocytes from MS patients, regardless of interferon‐β (IFN‐β) treatment, but not in those from NMO/NMOSD patients. CX3CR1 expression was also decreased in all monocyte subsets from MS patients receiving IFN‐β, whereas CX3CR1 expression in classical monocytes was only decreased in NMO/NMOSD patients receiving prednisolone. In NMO/NMOSD patients on prednisolone, the percentages of CD14+CD16+ intermediate monocytes, CD14lowCD16+ non‐classical monocytes and CD64+CD14+CD16+ monocytes among total monocytes were significantly lower than in HC. CD62L expression on the monocyte subsets showed no significant differences among the patients and HC.

Conclusions

Our findings suggest that alterations in chemokine receptor expressions on peripheral blood monocytes can occur in MS and NMO/NMOSD during the remission phase. Down‐modulation of CCR2 in MS, and CX3CR1 in MS and NMO/NMOSD could partly contribute to sustained remission by preventing monocyte infiltration into the central nervous system.
Are magnetic resonance imaging findings influenced by genetic background in multiple sclerosis patients?
Authors: Niino Masaaki
Published: August 2013

The genetic contribution to multiple sclerosis susceptibility is undeniable, and genetic background could influence clinical characteristics including magnetic resonance imaging findings. Huang et al. (Clin Exp Neuroimmunol, 4, 2013, 173–180) showed that genetic profiles differ between Japanese multiple sclerosis patients with and without Barkhof brain lesions seen on magnetic resonance imaging.
Confocal laser endomicroscopy in gastrointestinal and pancreatobiliary diseases
Authors: Nakai Yousuke , Isayama Hiroyuki , Shinoura Susumu , Iwashita Takuji , Samarasena Jason B. , Chang Kenneth J. , Koike Kazuhiko
Published: August 2013

Confocal laser endomicroscopy (CLE) is an emerging diagnostic procedure that enables in vivo pathological evaluation during ongoing endoscopy. There are two types of CLE: endoscope‐based CLE (eCLE), which is integrated in the tip of the endoscope, and probe‐based CLE (pCLE), which goes through the accessory channel of the endoscope. Clinical data of CLE have been reported mainly in gastrointestinal (GI) diseases including Barrett's esophagus, gastric neoplasms, and colon polyps, but, recently, a smaller pCLE, which goes through a catheter or a fine‐needle aspiration needle, was developed and clinical data in the diagnosis of biliary stricture or pancreatic cysts have beenincreasingly reported. The future application of this novel technique expands beyond the pathological diagnosis to functional or molecular imaging. Despite these promising data, the generalizability of the procedure should be confirmed especially in Japan and other Asian countries, where the current diagnostic yield for GI luminal diseases is high. Given the high cost of CLE devices, cost–benefit analysis should also be considered.
Soluble TWEAK plasma levels increase after renal transplantation and associate with the improvement of endothelial function
Authors: Yilmaz Mahmut I. , Sonmez Alper , Saglam Mutlu , Yaman Halil , Unal Hilmi Umut , Gok Mahmut , Cetinkaya Hakki , Eyileten Tayfun , Oguz Yusuf , Sari Sebahattin , Yildirim Ali Osman , Vural Abdulgaffar , Carrero Juan J. , Blanco‐Colio Luis M.
Published: August 2013

Background

Soluble TWEAK (sTWEAK) and asymmetric dimethyl arginine (ADMA) concentrations have been associated with endothelial function in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD). We tested the hypothesis that the improvement in endothelial function observed after renal transplantation is directly linked to the normalization of both sTWEAK and ADMA.

Materials and methods

One hundred and seventy‐five kidney transplant recipients (71% men; 31·6 ± 9·4 years) were studied immediately before and on the 180th day post‐transplantation. At each visit, blood samples were taken to assess circulating levels of sTWEAK and ADMA. Brachial artery endothelium‐dependent vasodilatation (FMD) assessments were also performed.

Results

Renal transplantation was followed by an improvement in FMD. This improvement was paralleled by an increase in sTWEAK and a reduction in ADMA after transplantation (P < 0·001 for all). Cross‐sectionally, both molecules associated with FMD before as well as after transplantation (P < 0·001 for all). Longitudinally, the changes observed in sTWEAK (β = 0·26, P < 0·001) and ADMA (β = −0·44, P < 0·001) levels were independently associated with the improvement of FMD (r2 = 0·30).

Conclusions

Renal transplantation is followed by an improvement of FMD that is independently associated with the normalization of both sTWEAK and ADMA concentrations. We identify two surrogate biomarkers of endothelial function with potential as therapeutic targets.
The Coextensiveness Thesis andKant's Modal Agnosticism in the ‘Postulates’
Authors: Abaci Uygar
Published: August 2013

In theCritique of Pure Reason, following his elucidation of the ‘postulates’ of possibility, actuality, and necessity,Kant makes a series of puzzling remarks. He seems to deny the somewhat metaphysically intuitive contention that the extension of possibility is greater than that of actuality, which, in turn, is greater than that of necessity (A230/B283). Further, he states that the actual adds nothing to the possible (B284). This leads to the view, fairly common in the literature, thatKant holds that all modal categories, in their empirical applications, are coextensive. I diverge from the common view. First,Kant is not committed to the coextensiveness thesis, understood as above. Instead, he espouses a weaker, epistemological version of the coextensiveness thesis, namely that what we can assert to be really possible is coextensive with what we cognize to be actual. Second,Kant's remarks are not intended to introduce a positive ontological thesis about the extensions of modal categories. Rather, he means to criticize a certain conception of modalities that was prevalent among his rationalist predecessors, i.e., the conception of modalities as various determinations that enter the intensions of concepts of things.
Kant's Commitment to Metaphysics of Morals
Authors: Theunissen L. Nandi
Published: August 2013

A definitive feature ofKant's moral philosophy is its rationalism.Kant insists that moral theory, at least at its foundation, cannot take account of empirical facts about human beings and their circumstances in the world. This is the core ofKant's commitment to ‘metaphysics of morals’, and it is what he sees as his greatest contribution to moral philosophy. The paper clarifies what it means to be committed to metaphysics of morals, whyKant is committed to it, and where he thinks empirical considerations may enter moral theory. The paper examines recent work of contemporaryKantians (BarbaraHerman,AllenWood, andChristineKorsgaard) who argue that there is a central role for empirical considerations inKant's moral theory. Either these theorists interpretKant himself as permitting empirical considerations to enter, or they propose to extendKant's theory so as to allow them to enter. With some qualifications, I argue that these interpretive trends are not supported by the texts, and that the proposed extensions are not plausiblyKantian.Kant's insistence on the exclusion of empirical considerations from the foundations of moral theory is not an incidental feature of his thought which might be modified while the rest remains unchanged. Rather, it is the very centre of his endeavours in moral philosophy. If we disagree with it, I argue, we have grounds for moving to a distinctly different theoretical framework.
Synthesis of hyaluronan and superficial zone protein in synovial membrane cells modulated by fluid flow
Authors: Yanagida‐Suekawa Tamami , Tanimoto Kotaro , Tanne Yuki , Mitsuyoshi Tomomi , Hirose Naoto , Su Shaoching , Tanne Kazuo , Tanaka Eiji
Published: August 2013

Hyaluronan (HA) and superficial zone protein (SZP) distribute in joint structures and play a crucial role in joint lubrication. The aim of this study was to examine the effect of fluid flow on the synthesis of both HA and SZP in synovial membrane cells. Shear stress was applied by fluid flow to the rabbit synovial membrane cell line, HIG‐82. The mRNA levels of HA synthase 2 (HAS2) , HA synthase 3 (HAS3), and SZP were examined by real‐time PCR. The levels of HA and SZP protein were determined by sandwich ELISA and western blotting, respectively. The expression of SZP protein was increased by the application of low‐magnitude shear stress, whereas high‐magnitude shear stress decreased expression of SZP protein. Meanwhile, the level of HA protein in culture was decreased when high‐magnitude shear stress was applied. The levels of both HAS2 and HAS3 mRNAs were down‐regulated by high‐magnitude shear stress, resulting in a significant decrease in HA concentration. In conclusion, it is shown that the application of shear stress to synovial membrane cells substantially affects the synthesis of both HA and SZP, which are inhibited if excessive stress is applied.
Nitrogen and harvest date affect developmental morphology and biomass yield of warm‐season grasses
Authors: Waramit Naroon , Moore Kenneth J. , Heaton Emily
Published: August 2013

Information on the growth and development of warm‐season grasses in response to management is required to use them successfully as a biomass crop. Our objectives were to determine optimum harvest periods and effect of N fertilization rates on the biomass production of four warm‐season grasses, and to investigate if traits of canopy structure can explain observed yields with varying harvest dates and N rates. A field study was conducted at Sorenson Research Farm near Ames, IA, during 2006 and 2007. The experimental design was split‐split plot arranged in a randomized complete block with four replications. Big bluestem (Andropogon gerardii Vitman), eastern gamagrass (Tripsacum dactyloides L.), indiangrass (Sorghastrum nutrans L. Nash), and switchgrass (Panicum virgatum L.) were main plots. Three N application rates (0, 65, and 140 kg ha−1) were subplots, and 10 harvest dates were sub‐sub plots. Biomass of warm‐season grasses increased with advanced maturity, but differently among species. The maximum yield of eastern gamagrass occurred at the highest MSC (1.6 and 2.2) when the largest seed ripening tillers were present. Big bluestem, switchgrass, and indiangrass obtained the maximum yields at MSC 3.5, 3.9, and 2.9, respectively when the largest reproductive tillers were present. In terms of a biomass supply strategy, eastern gamagrass may be used during early summer, while big bluestem and switchgrass may be best used between mid‐ and late‐ summer, and indiangrass in early fall. Nitrogen fertilization increased yield by increasing tiller development. Optimum biomass yields were obtained later in the season when they were fertilized with 140 kg ha−1.
Current status of auditory aging and anti‐aging research
Authors: Ruan Qingwei , Ma Cheng , Zhang Ruxin , Yu Zhuowei
Published: August 2013

The development of presbycusis, or age‐related hearing loss, is determined by a combination of genetic and environmental factors. The auditory periphery exhibits a progressive bilateral, symmetrical reduction of auditory sensitivity to sound from high to low frequencies. The central auditory nervous system shows symptoms of decline in age‐related cognitive abilities, including difficulties in speech discrimination and reduced central auditory processing, ultimately resulting in auditory perceptual abnormalities. The pathophysiological mechanisms of presbycusis include excitotoxicity, oxidative stress, inflammation, aging and oxidative stress‐induced DNA damage that results in apoptosis in the auditory pathway. However, the originating signals that trigger these mechanisms remain unclear. For instance, it is still unknown whether insulin is involved in auditory aging. Auditory aging has preclinical lesions, which manifest as asymptomatic loss of periphery auditory nerves and changes in the plasticity of the central auditory nervous system. Currently, the diagnosis of preclinical, reversible lesions depends on the detection of auditory impairment by functional imaging, and the identification of physiological and molecular biological markers. However, despite recent improvements in the application of these markers, they remain under‐utilized in clinical practice. The application of antisenescent approaches to the prevention of auditory aging has produced inconsistent results. Future research will focus on the identification of markers for the diagnosis of preclinical auditory aging and the development of effective interventions. Geriatr Gerontol Int 2014; 14: 40–53.