bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Ovarian Reserve After Salpingectomy: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis
Authors: Mohamed Ahmed Aboelfadle , Yosef Ali Haroun , James Cathryn , Al-Hussaini Tarek Khalaf , Bedaiwy Mohamed Ali , Amer Saad Ali
Published: August 2017

(Abstracted from Acta Obstet Gynecol Scand 2017;96:795–803)

The increasing use of salpingectomy has been associated with concern over its potential damaging effect on ovarian reserve in premenopausal women wishing to preserve their fertility potential. Among the many markers for ovarian reserve, circulating anti-müllerian hormone (AMH) is considered the most reliable.
A Comparison of Sentinel Lymph Node Biopsy to Lymphadenectomy for Endometrial Cancer Staging (FIRES Trial): A Multicentre, Prospective, Cohort Study
Authors: Rossi Emma C. , Kowalski Lynn D. , Scalici Jennifer , Cantrell Leigh , Schuler Kevin , Hanna Rabbie K. , Method Michael , Ade Melissa , Ivanova Anastasia , Boggess John F.
Published: August 2017

(Abstracted from Lancet Oncol 2017;18:384–392)

In more than 75% of women with endometrial cancer, the disease is confined to the uterus. Recurrence risk is defined by surgical staging with lymphadenectomy and helps in the decision to give adjuvant treatment to high-risk patients.
Effect of a New Risk Calculator on Patient Satisfaction With the Decision for Concomitant Midurethral Sling During Prolapse Surgery: A Randomized Controlled Trial
Authors: Miranne Jeannine Marie , Gutman Robert Eric , Sokol Andrew Ian , Park Amy Josephine , Iglesia Cheryl Bernadette
Published: August 2017

(Abstracted from Female Pelvic Med Reconstr Surg 2017;23:17–22)

Pelvic organ prolapse (POP) and stress urinary incontinence (SUI) often coexist. Patients with POP without symptoms of SUI are at high risk (72%) of developing de novo SUI after POP surgery.
Orbital Cellulitis Following Orbital Blow-out Fracture
Authors: Byeon Je Yeon , Choi Hwan Jun
Published: August 2017

Orbital cellulitis and abscess have been described in the literature as complication that usually occur secondary to infection in the maxillary, ethmoidal, and frontal sinuses. If left untreated, it can lead to blindness, cavernous sinus thrombosis, meningitis, or cerebral abscess. Orbital fractures are a common sequela of blunt orbital trauma, but are only rarely associated with orbital cellulitis. So, the authors present rare orbital cellulitis after orbital blow-out fracture. A 55-year-old Asian complains of severe orbital swelling and pain on the left side. These symptoms had started 2 days earlier and worsened within the 24 hours before hospital admission resulting in visual disturbances such as diplopia and photophobia. Contrast-enhanced computed tomography scan showed considerable soft tissue swelling and abscess formation on the left side. Patient was subjected to surgical drainage under general anesthesia in the operation room. In this case, the postoperative period was uneventful and the rapid improvement of symptoms was remarkable. In conclusion, the abscess of the orbit is a surgical emergency in patients whose impairment of vision or ocular symptoms cannot be controlled with medical therapy using antibiotics. In our case, orbital cellulitis can occur after blunt orbital trauma without predisposing sinusitis. Early and prompt diagnosis and surgical drainage before severe loss of visual acuity rescue or recover the vision in case of orbital cellulitis.
HIV-1 Unspliced RNA Expression Induces Innate Immune Activation in Macrophages
Authors: Akiyama Hisashi , Miller Caitlin M. , Ettinger Chelsea R. , Belkina Anna C. , Snyder-Cappione Jennifer , Gummuluru Suryaram
Published: August 2017

Low-levels of type I interferons (IFN-I) are thought to be a driving force for immune activation and T cell exhaustion in HIV-1 infected individuals on highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART), though the causative mechanisms for persistent IFN-I signaling have remained unclear. Here, we show Rev-CRM1 dependent nuclear export and peripheral membrane association of intron-containing HIV-1 unspliced RNA (usRNA), independent of primary viral sequence or viral protein expression, is subject to sensing, and results in IFN-I-dependent pro-inflammatory responses in macrophages. Our findings suggest that persistent expression of HIV-1 usRNA in macrophages contributes to chronic immune activation and that use of HIV RNA expression inhibitors as adjunct therapy might abrogate aberrant inflammation and restore immune function in HIV-infected individuals on HAART.
Theory of reinforcement learning and motivation in the basal ganglia
Authors: Bogacz Rafal
Published: August 2017

This paper proposes how the neural circuits in vertebrates select actions on the basis of past experience and the current motivational state. According to the presented theory, the basal ganglia evaluate the utility of considered actions by combining the positive consequences (e.g. nutrition) scaled by the motivational state (e.g. hunger) with the negative consequences (e.g. effort). The theory suggests how the basal ganglia compute utility by combining the positive and negative consequences encoded in the synaptic weights of striatal Go and No-Go neurons, and the motivational state carried by neuromodulators including dopamine. Furthermore, the theory suggests how the striatal neurons to learn separately about consequences of actions, and how the dopaminergic neurons themselves learn what level of activity they need to produce to optimize behaviour. The theory accounts for the effects of dopaminergic modulation on behaviour, patterns of synaptic plasticity in striatum, and responses of dopaminergic neurons in diverse situations.
Effects of addition of Kappaphycus alvarezii on physicochemical properties and lipid oxidation of mechanically deboned chicken meat (MDCM) sausages
Authors: Pindi Wolyna , Mah Hin Wai , Munsu Elisha , Ab Wahab Noorakmar
Published: August 2017

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to determine both the physicochemical properties and lipid oxidation of sausages made from mechanically deboned chicken meat (MDCM) and the edible seaweed, Kappaphycus alvarezii (KA).

Design/methodology/approach

Four different sausage formulations were produced with different formulations containing 0(KA0), 2 (KA2), 4 (KA4) and 6 per cent (KA6) of KA.

Findings

Results have shown that the addition of KA increased the hardness and chewiness parameters, water holding capacity, redness (a*-value) and the pH value of the MDCM sausages (p<0.05). The adhesiveness, cohesiveness and springiness of all formulations showed no significant differences (p>0.05). The addition of KA reduced the cooking loss of MDCM sausages (p<0.05). However, the addition of KA made the sausages darker (lower L*-value) (p<0.05). Furthermore, the addition of KA aided in the reduction of lipid oxidation in the MDCM sausages when they were refrigerated at a temperature of 4°C for 12 days. The MDCM sausages that contained KA had lower two-thiobarbituric acid test values compared to the control sample (p<0.05) during the 12 days of storage at 4°C.

Originality/value

The addition of KA seaweed can potentially produce better quality MDCM sausages in terms of physicochemical properties and reduce the rate of lipid oxidation.
The vulnerability of human sensory evaluation and the promising senses instrumentation
Authors: Njoman Maria Fransisca , Nugroho Galih , Chandra Sonia Dwi Puspita , Permana Yoeska , Suhadi Suhadi , Mujiono Mujiono , Hermawan Agist Dwiki , Sugiono Sugiono
Published: August 2017

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to evaluate subjectivity issue, particularly sensitivity variance and fatigue effect, in human sensory evaluation, as well as review the feasibility of human-independent quality system, using E-tongue and E-nose.

Design/methodology/approach

The sensitivity level is evaluated by measuring the threshold of Acesulfame-K, while the fatigue effect is evaluated by measuring the accuracy level of evaluation through the time. The experiment was administered to six trained sensory panelists.

Findings

The experiment result shows that each panelist has a different level of sensitivity and tendency in evaluating samples containing Acesulfame-K. Furthermore, by simulating the panelists’ daily inspection, the fatigue effect is also found in one out of six panelists. The use of E-nose and E-tongue, may eliminate the subjectivity issue, supporting the development of human error-free quality system.

Research limitations/implications

The research findings indicate the needs of human substitution-built into the quality system to avoid both of subjectivity and error judgment while defining the products quality. However, the small numbers of panelists as well as the unvalidated substitute instruments application in the target workcenter were the main limitation of this study. Human-independent quality system could be applied only when the instruments have been calibrated to human response in perceiving taste and odor.

Originality/value

The research finding supports the theory of human panels’ tradeoffs in a sensory analysis in terms of sensitivity level variance and fatigue. It has provided additional contributions to the existing theories as well as developed effective strategies for the development of the human-independent quality system.
Effect of heat adaptation and pH adjustment on the survival of spray-dried Lactobacillus paracasei SNP2
Authors: Ardanareswari Katharina , Utami Tyas , Rahayu Endang Sutriswati
Published: August 2017

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to study the effect of heat adaptation, pH adjustment, and the combination pretreatments to the resistance of Lactobacillus paracasei SNP2 in heat shock and spray drying.

Design/methodology/approach

Sub-lethal and lethal temperature range of L. paracasei SNP2 was determined by enumeration of cell survival after incubation at 37-55°C for 30 min. A certain temperature from sub-lethal range was selected for heat adaptation. Heat adaptation (H), pH adjustment (pH), and combination of pretreatments (pH-H) were applied prior to heat shock and spray drying.

Findings

The selected condition for heat adaptation and heat shock is 44°C, 30 min and 55°C, 15 min, respectively, based on the sub-lethal and lethal temperature range. By heat shock, cells in the whey-sucrose medium showed cell death of 2.05 log cycles, lower than cell death in the MRS medium of 4.84 log cycles. The pretreatments showed slight increase of heat resistance in cell grown in whey sucrose. The effect of H, pH, and pH-H pretreatments highly increase heat resistance of cell grown in MRS indicated by cell death of 4.27, 3.79, and 2.43 log cycles, respectively, which is much lower than control. The pretreatments showed no significant effect to L. paracasei SNP2 survival to spray drying.

Originality/value

This is the first study of L. paracasei SNP2 resistance to heat shock and spray drying. This paper also enriches information about application of whey sucrose as a growth medium and a heating medium.
Reliability and validity of self-efficacy scales assessing students’ information literacy skills
Authors: Mahmood Khalid
Published: August 2017

Purpose

This paper systematically reviews the evidence of reliability and validity of scales available in studies that reported surveys of students to assess their perceived self-efficacy of information literacy (IL) skills.

Design/methodology/approach

Search in two subject and two general databases and scanning of titles, abstracts and full texts of documents have been carried out in this paper.

Findings

In total, 45 studies met the eligibility criteria. A large number of studies did not report any psychometric characteristics of data collection instruments they used. The selected studies provided information on 22 scales. The instruments were heterogeneous in number of items and type of scale options. The most used reliability measure was internal consistency (with high values of Cronbach’s alpha), and the most used validity was face/content validity by experts.

Practical implications

The culture of using good-quality scales needs to be promoted by IL practitioners, authors and journal editors.

Originality/value

This paper is the first review of its kind, which is useful for IL stakeholders.
Comparison of Persian bibliographic records with FRBR
Authors: Haji Zeinolabedini Mohsen
Published: August 2017

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is Identifying the degree of compatibility of the current situation of the Persian bibliographic records (PBRs) with FRBR, as well as identifying the possible approaches and strategies for appropriate application of the model to Persian. The required data were gathered via two checklists were devised for the purpose of this research and each of which was dedicated to “Shahname” and “Nahjolbalaghe”. Also, to determine the characteristics of a suitable functional requirements for bibliographic records (FRBR) model for Iran, 18 implementation projects round the world were surveyed and analysed. Results of the study show that some FRBR requirements were readily available in Persian bibliographic records (PBRs), but in some cases, there are some deficiencies due to some likely reasons, such as lack of commitment to the Anglo-American Cataloguing Rules 2, specifications of the library software structure and neglecting bibliographic and family relations in catalogues.

Design/methodology/approach

The main goal of this research was to identify the degree of compatibility of the current situation of the PBRs with FRBR, as well as identifying the possible approaches and strategies for appropriate application of the model to Persian records. Research publication was 3,502 records in the National Bibliography of Iran for “Shahname” and “Nahjolbalaghe” of which 365 records were selected using systematic sampling method. Resources types included in the study were books, audio-visual resources, geographical resources, theses, lithographic books, manuscripts and journals.

Findings

Results of the study also showed that the appropriate method for implementing FRBR in Iran is the comparative model. According to this model, the current records are saved while they are compared to FRBR model, as a result of which, anomalies are identified and resolved. In another part of this research, 16 important challenges that could exist in implementing the model in Iran were identified and introduced. Also, eight characteristics of a suitable implementation model in Iran are introduced.

Originality/value

FRBR, is a conceptual entity-relationship model, released by IFLA and aimed to determine a minimum level of catalogue functions based on user’s needs. This model consists of four main parts: entities, attributes, relations and user tasks. This research has studied the feasibility of implementing application of the model to Iranian library records. Any research before the present paper (based on PhD thesis) has not been conducted yet in Iran.
Organizational knowledge documentation in project-based institutes
Authors: Navidi Fatemeh , Hassanzadeh Mohammad , Zolghadr Shojai Ali
Published: August 2017

Purpose

Employees, as the most important assets of an organization, acquire a great deal of experience, skills and knowledge throughout the time period they work for the organization. If their skills and technical knowledge are not documented properly, these will be lost once the employees leave the organization. Therefore, documentation is necessary for preserving this invaluable knowledge, avoiding duplication and preventing repeated mistakes that occurred in the past and, providing the junior staff with experiences gained by their predecessors. Thus, this research aims to elaborate on the role of organizational knowledge management (KM) as an essential tool for turning tacit knowledge into explicit knowledge and sharing the gained experiences with others.

Design/methodology/approach

This research is developmental applied research with qualitative approach and it was conducted using thematic analysis method. This method includes a semi-structured interview with 18 researchers conducting research projects at the Satellite Research Institute under the supervision of the Iran Space Agency.

Findings

The projects contain knowledge that is a combination of “know why”, “know what”, “know who” and “know how”. A large amount of this knowledge is, indeed, the tacit knowledge. Most of this tacit knowledge is not reflected in the project documents. Generally, the documents contain results only and they do not include experience, technical details, methodology, analysis and mistakes that were made during research activities. Documentation challenges fall into three major types: technical, human resources and administrative.

Originality value

Considering the necessity of documentation within the knowledge transfer process and its important role in KM; and, with respect to the lack of technical knowledge and experience transfer observed in the documents of Satellite Research Institute, this research proposes some steps that need to be taken to turn the knowledge sharing into an organizational culture.
Towards a holistic model for quality of learning object repositories
Authors: Vidal-Castro Christian , Segura Navarrete Alejandra Andrea , Menendez-Dominguez Victor , Martinez-Araneda Claudia
Published: August 2017

Purpose

This paper aims to address the need to ensure the quality of metadata records describing learning resources. We propose improvements to a metadata-quality model, specifically for the compliance sub-feature of the functionality feature. Compliance is defined as adherence level of the learning object metadata content to the metadata standard used for its specification. The paper proposes metrics to assess the compliance, which are applied to a set of learning objects, showing their applicability and usefulness in activities related to resources management.

Design/methodology/approach

The methodology considers a first stage of metrics refinement to obtain the indicator of the sub-feature compliance. The next stage is the proposal evaluation, where it is determined if metrics can be used as a conformity indicator of learning object metadata with a standard (metadata compliance). The usefulness of this indicator in the information retrieval area is approached through an assessment of learning objects where the quality level of its metadata and the ranking in which they are retrieved by a repository are correlated.

Findings

This study confirmed that the best results for metrics of standardization, completeness, congruence, coherence, correctness and understandability, which determine the compliance indicator, were obtained for learning objects whose metadata were better labelled. Moreover, it was found that the learning objects with the highest level of compliance indicator have better positions in the ranking when a repository retrieves them through an exact search based on metadata.

Research limitations/implications

In this study, only a sub-feature of the quality model is detailed, specifically the compliance of learning object standard. Another limitation was the size of the learning objects set used in the experiment.

Practical implications

This proposal is independent from any metadata standard and can be applied to improve processes associated with the management of learning objects in a repository-like retrieval and recommendation.

Originality/value

The originality and value of this proposal are related to quality of learning object metadata considered from a holistic point of view through six metrics. These metrics quantify both technical and pedagogical aspects through automatic evaluation and supported by experts. In addition, the applicability of the indicator in recovery systems is shown, by example to be incorporated as an additional criterion in the learning object ranking.
Haze in the digital library: design issues hampering accessibility for blind users
Authors: Babu Rakesh , Xie Iris
Published: August 2017

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to explore design issues hampering the accessibility of digital libraries (DLs) for first-time blind users.

Design/methodology/approach

A combination of questionnaire, pre-interview, think-aloud and post-interview methods was used to collect data on non-visual interaction experiences with American Memory Digital Collection (AMDC) from 15 blind participants. Qualitative analysis via open coding revealed recurring themes on design problems and consequent difficulties for blind users in accessing DLs.

Findings

It was found that AMDC is not blind-friendly. Five categories of design problems were identified. Participants faced difficulty perceiving, operating and understanding content and controls needed for information retrieval.

Research limitations/implications

This paper does not offer a comprehensive set of design issues prevalent across DL design models, instead it focuses on design problems observed in a publicly available DL.

Practical implications

This paper raises awareness of design choices that can unintentionally bar blind information seekers from DL access, and further suggests solutions to reduce these design problems for blind users.

Originality/value

The paper’s originality is its identification of unique design problems that prevent blind users from effectively interacting with DLs.
Citation impact of health and medical journals in Africa: does open accessibility matter?
Authors: Ezema Ifeanyi Jonas , Onyancha Omwoyo Bosire
Published: August 2017

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to examine whether open accessibility of medical journals published in Africa may influence journals’ citation impact.

Design/methodology/approach

An evaluative informetric research approach was used to compare 134 health and medical (H&M) journals hosted in the African Journals Online (AJOL) database. Harzing’s Publish or Perish (PoP) software was used to extract the following publication and citation data from Google Scholar: citation counts, number of papers and the h-index of the journals. Three null hypotheses were formulated to guide the study.

Findings

A total of 65 open access (OA) and 69 non-OA H&M journals of African origin were found in AJOL. Only 20 African countries have journals hosted in AJOL, with more than 53% of them from Nigeria and 13.4% from South Africa. Findings reveal that non-OA H&M journals performed poorly in terms of citations compared with their OA counterparts. The t-test analysis revealed high significant difference in the citations and research impacts of OA and non-OA H&M journals published in Africa.

Practical implications

The study will assist in collection development in medical and health libraries globally and in Africa particularly. The study will also be a useful guide to journal publishers, health researchers and health workers providing information on where to publish and the journals to subscribe.

Social implications

Apart from adding to the body of knowledge in scholarly communication in Africa, this study will go a long way in influencing policies in H&M research in Africa.

Originality/value

AJOL is the only online database hosting journals from all countries in Africa. Unfortunately, the quality and research impact of the journals in the database have not been adequately investigated. The paper adopted an informetric approach to evaluate H&M journals in Africa so as to provide wider insight on the contents and quality of the journals hosted in it.
Queer, visible, present: the visibility of older LGB adults in long-term care environments
Authors: Willis Paul
Published: August 2017

Purpose

This paper is a conceptual discussion of the ways in which the diverse lives, identities and collective politics of lesbian, gay and bisexual (LGB) people can be made visible, and how they are made visible, in long-term care environments for older people. The purpose of this paper is to problematise strategies of visibility as methods for promoting social inclusion in care environments.

Design/methodology/approach

This is a conceptual discussion that draws on several social theorists that have previously discussed the politics of visibility, knowledge and sexuality.

Findings

Promoting increased visibility in itself does not fully grapple with the ways in which older LGB can be represented and known as particular kinds of sexual citizens. This potentially curtails a more holistic recognition of their needs, interests and wishes, inclusive of their sexual lives and histories. Making LGB lives visible in care environments may not always be a productive or affirmative strategy for dismantling homophobic views and beliefs.

Practical implications

The theoretical implications of a politics of visibility warrant a deeper consideration of strategies for promoting visibility. The paper concludes with a discussion of some of the practical implications for rethinking strategies of visibility in care environments.

Originality/value

Critical discussions about the application of visibility strategies, and the problematic assumptions contained within such strategies, are lacking in relation to mainstream housing and social care provision for older LGB people. This paper seeks to initiate this important discussion.
LGBT-specific housing in the USA
Authors: Johnston Tim R. , Meyer Hilary
Published: August 2017

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to outline current efforts in the USA to build and create safe and affirming housing for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) older adults.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors approach this task through a survey of existing publicly available information about LGBT-specific housing projects, as well as literature on methods to make existing housing welcoming to LGBT elders.

Findings

The authors find that there are a number of LGBT-specific housing options currently available, and many more in the development phase. Additionally, given the large number of LGBT older adults in the USA and the relatively small number of LGBT-specific housing units, the authors also discuss other interventions that can be applied to create safe housing. The practical implication of this research is to provide advocates for LGBT people with a sense of what is happening in the USA, as well as some guidance on how to replicate LGBT affirming housing models in other contexts.

Originality/value

To the authors’ knowledge, this is the only and most comprehensive survey of LGBT-specific elder housing in the USA to be published in the academic literature.
Corporate social responsibility and corporate fraud
Authors: Harjoto Maretno Agus
Published: August 2017

Purpose

This study aims to examine the impact of corporate culture, measured by corporate social responsibility (CSR), on the likelihood and severity of corporate fraud. CSR literature indicates that corporate managers are moral actors and are obliged to exercise their discretionary decisions according to their moral standards. Based on the moral development theory, this study argues that higher managers’ ethical values reflected by higher CSR activities are less likely to commit fraud and have lower severity of fraud.

Design/methodology/approach

This study argues that at the firm level, corporate culture can be measured by firms’ CSR activities. Using probit, match-pair, propensity matching and Heckman regressions on a sample of 152 criminal corporate fraud cases in the USA from the US Department of Justice (DOJ) during 2000 and 2010, this study empirically examines the impact of CSR, CSR strengths and concerns scores on the likelihood and the severity of corporate fraud.

Findings

Firms with higher CSR and CSR strengths (concerns) scores have lower (higher) likelihood and lower (higher) severity of corporate fraud. This study finds that firms with higher community, employee, environment and product-related CSR have lower likelihood of fraud, and firms with higher diversity, employee, environment and product-related CSR have lower fraud severity.

Practical implications

Establishing a positive corporate ethical culture is essential to curb the outbreak of corporate fraud that threatens our societal norms. The findings also shed some light for investors, corporate board of directors and regulators to consider CSR as a reflection of top managers’ moral values that is negatively related to the occurrence and severity of corporate fraud.

Social implications

Strengthening moral values among top executives and employees in corporations by encouraging CSR activities aid our society to alleviate future outbreak of epidemic problem for corporate fraud.

Originality/value

This study brings a new perspective that there is a relationship between corporate ethical culture within an organization, measured by CSR activities, and corporate fraud based on the cognitive moral development theory in organization.
Body temperature distributions of active diurnal lizards in three deserts: Skewed up or skewed down?
Authors: Huey Raymond B. , Pianka Eric R.
Published: August 2017

The performance of ectotherms integrated over time depends in part on the position and shape of the distribution of body temperatures (Tb) experienced during activity. For several complementary reasons, physiological ecologists have long expected that Tb distributions during activity should have a long left tail (left‐skewed), but only infrequently have they quantified the magnitude and direction of Tb skewness in nature.

To evaluate whether left‐skewed Tb distributions are general for diurnal desert lizards, we compiled and analysed Tb (∑ = 9,023 temperatures) from our own prior studies of active desert lizards in three continents (25 species in Western Australia, 10 in the Kalahari Desert of Africa and 10 species in western North America). We gathered these data over several decades, using standardized techniques.

Many species showed significantly left‐skewed Tb distributions, even when records were restricted to summer months. However, magnitudes of skewness were always small, such that mean Tb were never more than 1°C lower than median Tb. The significance of Tb skewness was sensitive to sample size, and power tests reinforced this sensitivity.

The magnitude of skewness was not obviously related to phylogeny, desert, body size or median body temperature. Moreover, a formal phylogenetic analysis is inappropriate because geography and phylogeny are confounded (i.e. are highly collinear).

Skewness might be limited if lizards pre‐warm inside retreats before emerging in the morning, emerge only when operative temperatures are high enough to speed warming to activity Tb, or if cold lizards are especially wary and difficult to spot or catch. Telemetry studies may help evaluate these possibilities.

A plain language summary is available for this article.
Methylmalonate‐semialdehyde dehydrogenase mediated metabolite homeostasis essentially regulate conidiation, polarized germination and pathogenesis in Magnaporthe oryzae
Authors: Norvienyeku Justice , Zhong Zhenhui , Lin Lili , Dang Xie , Chen Meilian , Lin Xiaolian , Zhang Honghong , Anjago Wilfred M. , Lin Lianyu , Abdul Waheed , Wang Zonghua
Published: August 2017

Plants generate multitude of aldehydes under abiotic and biotic stress conditions. Ample demonstrations have shown that rice‐derived aldehydes enhance the resistance of rice against the rice‐blast fungus Magnaporthe oryzae. However, how the fungal pathogen nullifies the inhibitory effects of host aldehydes to establish compatible interaction remains unknown. Here we identified and evaluated the in vivo transcriptional activities of M. oryzae aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH) genes. Transcriptional analysis of M. oryzae ALDH genes revealed that the acetylating enzyme Methylmalonate‐Semialdehyde Dehydrogenase (MoMsdh/MoMmsdh) elevated activities during host invasion and colonization of the fungus. We further examined the pathophysiological importance of MoMSDH by deploying integrated functional genetics, and biochemical approaches. MoMSDH deletion mutant ΔMomsdh exhibited germination defect, hyper‐branching of germ tube and failed to form appressoria on hydrophobic and hydrophilic surface. The MoMSDH disruption caused accumulation of small branch‐chain amino acids, pyridoxine and AMP/cAMP in the ΔMomsdh mutant and altered Spitzenkörper organization in the conidia. We concluded that MoMSDH contribute significantly to the pathogenesis of M. oryzae by regulating the mobilization of Spitzenkörper during germ tube morphogenesis, appressoria formation by acting as metabolic switch regulating small branch‐chain amino acids, inositol, pyridoxine and AMP/cAMP homeostasis.
Functional and technological aspects of whey powder and whey protein products
Authors: Ghanimah Mohamed Abed
Published: August 2017

Commercial whey powder, whey protein concentrates and whey protein isolates (WPIs) were evaluated for certain functional properties and for their application in full‐fat and nonfat yoghurts. The functional properties of whey products varied, and the highest functionality was recorded in samples with high protein levels. Whey powder had the lowest foaming performance and emulsifying capacity, while WPIs possessed the best functional properties of all the other samples. Curd tension (CT), viscosity and syneresis were improved in yoghurts made using fortified cow's milk or reconstituted skim milk with any whey products, while whey powder had no impact on CT.
Mapping EU agencies as political entrepreneurs
Authors: WOOD MATTHEW
Published: August 2017

The European Union relies on decentralised agencies to implement important transnational regulations, such as certifying the safety of medicines. However, the authority of these agencies does not have ‘hard’ legal status and crucially depends on disseminating ideas and information effectively: what can be termed ‘political entrepreneurship’. This article provides the first comprehensive analysis of the political entrepreneurship of EU agencies by constructing a conceptual typology of entrepreneurial strategies. Drawing conceptually on transnational public administration, a new database is constructed of the ‘entrepreneurship’ of 33 EU agencies in 2014 based on their media communication activities, face‐to‐face networking in workshops and collaborations, and knowledge dissemination and ‘learning’ exercises. This is mapped against the political salience of agencies in the European Parliament and media. The mapping exercise shows four types of entrepreneurial strategies covering the population of EU agencies: technical functional, insulating, network‐seeking and politicised. The typology is validated through semi‐structured interviews in 11 EU agencies, showing the core characteristics of each type of strategy. The article concludes by arguing that this typology provides an important addition to existing categories of EU agencies based on autonomy and accountability, and advocates a future research strategy examining the interaction between agencies’ entrepreneurial strategies and the expectations and reactions of stakeholder audiences.
The valosin‐containing protein is a novel repressor of cardiomyocyte hypertrophy induced by pressure overload
Authors: Zhou Ning , Ma Ben , Stoll Shaunrick , Hays Tristan T. , Qiu Hongyu
Published: August 2017

Hypertension‐induced left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) is an independent risk factor for heart failure. Regression of LVH has emerged as a major goal in the treatment of hypertensive patients. Here, we tested our hypothesis that the valosin‐containing protein (VCP), an ATPase associate protein, is a novel repressor of cardiomyocyte hypertrophy under the pressure overload stress. Left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) was determined by echocardiography in 4‐month male spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHRs) vs. age‐matched normotensive Wistar Kyoto (WKY) rats. VCP expression was found to be significantly downregulated in the left ventricle (LV) tissues from SHRs vs. WKY rats. Pressure overload was induced by transverse aortic constriction (TAC) in wild‐type (WT) mice. At the end of 2 weeks, mice with TAC developed significant LVH whereas the cardiac function remained unchanged. A significant reduction of VCP at both the mRNA and protein levels in hypertrophic LV tissue was found in TAC WT mice compared to sham controls. Valosin‐containing protein VCP expression was also observed to be time‐ and dose‐dependently reduced in vitro in isolated neonatal rat cardiomyocytes upon the treatment of angiotensin II. Conversely, transgenic (TG) mice with cardiac‐specific overexpression of VCP showed a significant repression in TAC‐induced LVH vs. litter‐matched WT controls upon 2‐week TAC. TAC‐induced activation of the mechanistic target of rapamycin complex 1 (mTORC1) signaling observed in WT mice LVs was also significantly blunted in VCP TG mice. In conclusion, VCP acts as a novel repressor that is able to prevent cardiomyocyte hypertrophy from pressure overload by modulating the mTORC1 signaling pathway.
Ameliorative response to detoxification, psychotherapy, and medical management in patients maintained on opioids for pain
Authors: Belkin Molly , Reinheimer Howard Stephen , Levy Jordan , Johnson Brian
Published: August 2017

Background and Objectives

The prevalence of opioid‐induced hyperalgesia (OIH) among patients maintained on opioids for chronic non‐malignant pain has not been estimated. As a contribution toward establishing its prevalence, we report a case series of opioid maintained patients whose pain tolerance was measured by the cold pressor test at baseline.

Methods

A case series of 117 patients who had undergone detoxification was reviewed retrospectively. Most patients (n = 108) and selected non‐addicted support persons who accompanied them (controls; n = 37) had cold pressor time (CPT) assessments at baseline. Twenty patients had a repeat CPT after 1 month.

Results

When 61 patients completed one month abstinent reported pain was improved (51%), unchanged (46%), or worse (3%). Baseline CPT was 48 sec for patients and 102 sec for controls, suggesting that opioid maintained patients were more pain sensitive than opioid naïve controls. CPT increased for 90% of 1‐month completers, suggesting improved pain tolerance. Ameliorative response to detoxification, psychotherapy, and medical management, as defined as the absence of worsening pain with removal of opioids, was 97% in this population.

Conclusion

The difference in CPT between opioid maintained patients and controls, and the response to detoxification, psychotherapy and medical management suggest the possibility that the prevalence of OIH may be high.

Scientific Significance

This study adds to the growing evidence that chronic opioid treatment contributes little to the management of chronic pain and in fact appears to frequently make it worse. (Am J Addict 2017;26:738–743)
Using local clinical educators and shared resources to deliver simulation training activities across rural and remote South Australia and south‐west Victoria: A distributed collaborative model
Authors: Masters Stacey C. , Elliott Sandi , Boyd Sarah , Dunbar James A.
Published: August 2017

Problem

There is a lack of access to simulation‐based education (SBE) for professional entry students (PES) and health professionals at rural and remote locations.

Design

A descriptive study.

Setting

Health and education facilities in regional South Australia and south‐west Victoria.

Key measures for improvement

Number of training recipients who participated in SBE;

geographical distribution and locations where SBE was delivered;

number of rural clinical educators providing SBE.

Strategies for change

A distributed model to deliver SBE in rural and remote locations in collaboration with local health and community services, education providers and the general public. Face‐to‐face meetings with health services and education providers identified gaps in locally delivered clinical skills training and availability of simulation resources. Clinical leadership, professional development and community of practice strategies were implemented to enhance capacity of rural clinical educators to deliver SBE.

Effects of change

The number of SBE participants and training hours delivered exceeded targets. The distributed model enabled access to regular, localised training for PES and health professionals, minimising travel and staff backfill costs incurred when attending regional centres. The skills acquired by local educators remain in rural areas to support future training.

Lessons learnt

The distributed collaborative model substantially increased access to clinical skills training for PES and health professionals in rural and remote locations. Developing the teaching skills of rural clinicians optimised the use of simulation resources. Consequently, health services were able to provide students with flexible and realistic learning opportunities in clinical procedures, communication techniques and teamwork skills.
Integument in Antarctic seals: A comparative study and its relation to extreme environments
Authors: Krmpotic Cecilia Mariana , Loza Cleopatra Mara , Negrete Javier , Scarano Alejo Carlos , Carlini Alfredo Armando , Guerrero Alicia , Barbeito Claudio Gustavo
Published: August 2017

Due to the semi‐aquatic lifestyle of seals and the extreme climates they inhabit, their integumentary system has aroused the curiosity of several authors for more than a century. The aim of this contribution was to perform an exhaustive histological description of the integument Antarctic seals through different methodological approaches in a comparative framework. The species considered include the ice‐obligate—Weddell (Leptonychotes weddellii) and leopard (Hydrurga leptonyx) seal—and the ice‐tolerant, and southern elephant seal (Mirounga leonina). In addition, we attempted to link the histological features to their different lifestyles. All three species showed features related to their amphibious lifestyle (i.e., parakeratotic epidermis with abundant melanin granules, dermis with numerous arteriovenous anastomoses and a great amount of elastic fibres). In aquatic mammals, parakeratosis would decrease cellular replacement, the great amount of melanin is related to the high exposure to solar radiation, the presence of arteriovenous anastomoses is related to thermoregulatory mechanisms, and the presence of elastic fibres is due to variations of thickness in the adipose tissue that requires high elasticity of the dermis.
Epithelial desquamation observed in a phase I study of an oral cathepsin C inhibitor (GSK2793660)
Authors: Miller Bruce E. , Mayer Ruth J. , Goyal Navin , Bal Joanne , Dallow Nigel , Boyce Malcolm , Carpenter Donald , Churchill Alison , Heslop Teresa , Lazaar Aili L.
Published: August 2017

Aims

Cathepsin C (CTSC) is necessary for the activation of several serine proteases including neutrophil elastase (NE), cathepsin G and proteinase 3. GSK2793660 is an oral, irreversible inhibitor of CTSC that is hypothesized to provide an alternative route to achieve NE inhibition and was tested in a Phase I study.

Methods

Single escalating oral doses of GSK2793660 from 0.5 to 20 mg or placebo were administered in a randomized crossover design to healthy male subjects; a separate cohort received once daily doses of 12 mg or placebo for 21 days. Data were collected on safety, pharmacokinetics, CTSC enzyme inhibition and blood biomarkers.

Results

Single, oral doses of GSK2793660 were able to dose‐dependently inhibit whole blood CTSC activity. Once daily dosing of 12 mg GSK2793660 for 21 days achieved ≥90% inhibition (95% CI: 56, 130) of CTSC within 3 h on day 1. Only modest reductions of whole blood enzyme activity of approximately 20% were observed for NE, cathepsin G and proteinase 3. Seven of 10 subjects receiving repeat doses of GSK2793660 manifested epidermal desquamation on palmar and plantar surfaces beginning 7–10 days after dosing commencement. There were no other clinically important safety findings.

Conclusions

GSK2793660 inhibited CTSC activity but not the activity of downstream neutrophil serine proteases. The palmar–plantar epidermal desquamation suggests a previously unidentified role for CTSC or one of its target proteins in the maintenance and integrity of the epidermis at these sites, with some similarities to the phenotype of CTSC‐deficient humans.
The relation between cognitive and metacognitive strategic processing during a science simulation
Authors: Dinsmore Daniel L. , Zoellner Brian P.
Published: August 2017

Background

This investigation was designed to uncover the relations between students’ cognitive and metacognitive strategies used during a complex climate simulation. While cognitive strategy use during science inquiry has been studied, the factors related to this strategy use, such as concurrent metacognition, prior knowledge, and prior interest, have not been investigated in a multidimensional fashion.

Aims

This study addressed current issues in strategy research by examining not only how metacognitive, surface‐level, and deep‐level strategies influence performance, but also how these strategies related to each other during a contextually relevant science simulation.

Sample

The sample for this study consisted of 70 undergraduates from a mid‐sized Southeastern university in the United States. These participants were recruited from both physical and life science (e.g., biology) and education majors to obtain a sample with variance in terms of their prior knowledge, interest, and strategy use.

Methods

Participants completed measures of prior knowledge and interest about global climate change. Then, they were asked to engage in an online climate simulator for up to 30 min while thinking aloud. Finally, participants were asked to answer three outcome questions about global climate change.

Results

Results indicated a poor fit for the statistical model of the frequency and level of processing predicting performance. However, a statistical model that independently examined the influence of metacognitive monitoring and control of cognitive strategies showed a very strong relation between the metacognitive and cognitive strategies. Finally, smallest space analysis results provided evidence that strategy use may be better captured in a multidimensional fashion, particularly with attention paid towards the combination of strategies employed.

Conclusions

Conclusions drawn from the evidence point to the need for more dynamic, multidimensional models of strategic processing that account for the patterns of optimal and non‐optimal strategy use. Additionally, analyses that can capture these complex patterns need to be further explored.
M‐type K+ channels in peripheral nociceptive pathways
Authors: Du Xiaona , Gao Haixia , Jaffe David , Zhang Hailin , Gamper Nikita
Published: August 2017

Pathological pain is a hyperexcitability disorder. Since the excitability of a neuron is set and controlled by a complement of ion channels it expresses, in order to understand and treat pain, we need to develop a mechanistic insight into the key ion channels controlling excitability within the mammalian pain pathways and how these ion channels are regulated and modulated in various physiological and pathophysiological settings. In this review, we will discuss the emerging data on the expression in pain pathways, functional role and modulation of a family of voltage‐gated K+ channels called ‘M channels’ (KCNQ, Kv7). M channels are increasingly recognized as important players in controlling pain signalling, especially within the peripheral somatosensory system. We will also discuss the therapeutic potential of M channels as analgesic drug targets.

Linked Articles

This article is part of a themed section on Recent Advances in Targeting Ion Channels to Treat Chronic Pain. To view the other articles in this section visit http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/bph.v175.12/issuetoc/