bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Education Inequality: Broadening Public Attitudes through Framing
Authors: Eng Norman
Published: December 2016

Research over the last 50 years have been remarkably consistent when it comes to addressing education inequality: background factors like family and socioeconomics matter to school success. Yet policies remain narrowly focused on school‐based reforms like testing, standards, and charter schools due in large part to the American public's limited understanding of education and inequality. I argue that scholars, as the experts, are ultimately responsible for changing how policymakers and the public think about these issues—a duty they have yet to embrace. In this connection, the use of framing can help education researchers broaden attitudes and stimulate political will. Drawing mainly from disciplines outside education, this article explores the potential of framing as a communication tool for education scholars. Specifically, I examine how it has been used in science, political, and marketing communication to broaden public opinion. I also offer ways to frame the issue of education inequality to help the public, including decision makers and influencers, conceive of solutions and opportunities beyond the status quo.
Living donor risk model for predicting kidney allograft and patient survival in an emerging economy
Authors: Zafar Mirza Naqi , Wong Germaine , Aziz Tahir , Abbas Khawar , Adibul Hasan Rizvi S.
Published: December 2016

Aim

Living donor kidney is the main source of donor organs in low to middle income countries. We aimed to develop a living donor risk model that predicts graft and patient survival in an emerging economy.

Methods

We used data from the Sindh Institute of Urology and Transplantation (SIUT) database (n = 2283 recipients and n = 2283 living kidney donors, transplanted between 1993 and 2009) and conducted Cox proportional hazard analyses to develop a composite score that predicts graft and patient survivals.

Results

Donor factors age, creatinine clearance, nephron dose (estimated by donor/recipient body weight ratio) and human leukocyte antigen (HLA) match were included in the living donor risk model. The adjusted hazard ratios (HRs) for graft failures among those who received a kidney with living donor scores (reference to donor score of zero) of 1, 2, 3 and 4 were 1.14 (95%CI: 0.94–1.39), 1.24 (95%CI:1.03–1.49), 1.25 (95%CI:1.03–1.51) and 1.36 (95%CI:1.08–1.72) (P‐value for trend =0.05). Similar findings were observed for patient survival.

Conclusions

Similar to findings in high income countries, our study suggests that donor characteristics such as age, nephron dose, creatinine clearance and HLA match are important factors that determine the long‐term patient and graft survival in low income countries. However, other crucial but undefined factors may play a role in determining the overall risk of graft failure and mortality in living kidney donor transplant recipients.
Disease drivers of aging
Authors: Hodes Richard J. , Sierra Felipe , Austad Steven N. , Epel Elissa , Neigh Gretchen N. , Erlandson Kristine M. , Schafer Marissa J. , LeBrasseur Nathan K. , Wiley Christopher , Campisi Judith , Sehl Mary E. , Scalia Rosario , Eguchi Satoru , Kasinath Balakuntalam S. , Halter Jeffrey B. , Cohen Harvey Jay , Demark‐Wahnefried Wendy , Ahles Tim A. , Barzilai Nir , Hurria Arti , Hunt Peter W.
Published: December 2016

It has long been known that aging, at both the cellular and organismal levels, contributes to the development and progression of the pathology of many chronic diseases. However, much less research has examined the inverse relationship—the contribution of chronic diseases and their treatments to the progression of aging‐related phenotypes. Here, we discuss the impact of three chronic diseases (cancer, HIV/AIDS, and diabetes) and their treatments on aging, putative mechanisms by which these effects are mediated, and the open questions and future research directions required to understand the relationships between these diseases and aging.
How life‐history traits affect ecosystem properties: effects of dispersal in meta‐ecosystems
Authors: Massol François , Altermatt Florian , Gounand Isabelle , Gravel Dominique , Leibold Mathew A. , Mouquet Nicolas
Published: December 2016

The concept of life‐history traits and the study of these traits are the hallmark of population biology. Acknowledging their variability and evolution has allowed us to understand how species adapt in response to their environment. The same traits are also involved in how species alter ecosystems and shape their dynamics and functioning. Some theories, such as the metabolic theory of ecology, ecological stoichiometry or pace‐of‐life theory, already recognize this junction, but only do so in an implicitly non‐spatial context. Meanwhile, for a decade now, it has been argued that ecosystem properties have to be understood at a larger scale using meta‐ecosystem theory because source–sink dynamics, community assembly and ecosystem stability are all modified by spatial structure. Here, we argue that some ecosystem properties can be linked to a single life‐history trait, dispersal, i.e. the tendency of organisms to live, compete and reproduce away from their birth place. By articulating recent theoretical and empirical studies linking ecosystem functioning and dynamics to species dispersal, we aim to highlight both the known connections between life‐history traits and ecosystem properties and the unknown areas, which deserve further empirical and theoretical developments.
Cd‐induced Cu deficiency responses in Arabidopsis thaliana: are phytochelatins involved?
Authors: Gielen Heidi , Vangronsveld Jaco , Cuypers Ann
Published: December 2016

Cadmium (Cd) exposure can disturb the homeostasis of essential elements. In Arabidopsis thaliana, Cd induces a squamosa promoter binding protein‐like 7 (SPL7)‐dependent Cu deficiency response. We investigated how Cd induces a Cu deficiency response. The Cu deficiency response consists of the active SPL7 transcription factor binding to GTAC motifs in promoters of among others several Cu transporters, a Cu chaperone, and cupro‐miRNAs to regulate Cu homeostasis. We demonstrated that the addition of supplemental Cu to Cd‐exposed A. thaliana plants diminished the Cu deficiency response in roots, while it even disappeared in leaves. Exposure of plants to Cd in combination with extra Cu reduced Cd levels in both roots and leaves resulting in an improved cellular oxidative state. Furthermore, we demonstrated a role for phytochelatins (PCs) in the Cd‐induced Cu deficiency response, because it was reduced in roots of cad1‐3 mutant plants exposed to Cd. In conclusion, a working mechanism is provided in which it is suggested that Cd increases PC levels that can complex both Cd and Cu. This results in cellular Cu deficiency and subsequently the activation of SPL7 and hence the induction of the Cu deficiency response.
Exploring growth‐defence trade‐offs in Arabidopsis: phytochrome B inactivation requires JAZ10 to suppress plant immunity but not to trigger shade‐avoidance responses
Authors: Cerrudo Ignacio , Caliri‐Ortiz M. Emilia , Keller Mercedes M. , Degano M. Eugenia , Demkura Patricia V. , Ballaré Carlos L.
Published: December 2016

Under conditions that involve a high risk of competition for light among neighbouring plants, shade‐intolerant species often display increased shoot elongation and greater susceptibility to pathogens and herbivores. The functional links between morphological and defence responses to crowding are not well understood. In Arabidopsis, the protein JAZ10 is thought to play a key role connecting the inactivation of the photoreceptor phytochrome B (phyB), which takes place under competition for light, with the repression of jasmonate‐mediated plant defences. Here, we show that a null mutation of the JAZ10 gene in Arabidopsis did not affect plant growth nor did it suppress the shade‐avoidance responses elicited by phyB inactivation. However, the jaz10 mutation restored many of the defence traits that are missing in the phyB mutant, including the ability to express robust responses to jasmonate and to accumulate indolic glucosinolates. Furthermore, the jaz10phyB double mutant showed a significantly increased resistance to the pathogenic fungus Botrytis cinerea compared with the phyB parental line. Our results demonstrate that, by inactivating JAZ10, it is possible to partially uncouple shade avoidance from defence suppression in Arabidopsis. These findings may provide clues to improve plant resistance to pathogens in crops that are planted at high density.
Characterization of poplar metabotypes via mass difference enrichment analysis
Authors: Moritz Franco , Kaling Moritz , Schnitzler Jörg‐Peter , Schmitt‐Kopplin Philippe
Published: December 2016

Instrumentation technology for metabolomics has advanced drastically in recent years in terms of sensitivity and specificity. Despite these technical advances, data analytical strategies are still in their infancy in comparison with other ‘omics’. Plants are known to possess an immense diversity of secondary metabolites. Typically, more than 70% of metabolomics data are not amenable to systems biological interpretation because of poor database coverage. Here, we propose a new general strategy for mass‐spectrometry‐based metabolomics that incorporates all exact mass features with known sum formulas into the evaluation and interpretation of metabolomics studies. We extend the use of mass differences, commonly used for feature annotation, by redefining them as variables that reflect the remaining ‘omic’ domains. The strategy uses exact mass difference network analyses exemplified for the metabolomic description of two grey poplar (Populus × canescens) genotypes that differ in their capability to emit isoprene. This strategy established a direct connection between the metabotype and the non‐isoprene‐emitting phenotype, as mass differences pertaining to prenylation reactions were over‐represented in non‐isoprene‐emitting poplars. Not only was the analysis of mass differences able to grasp the known chemical biology of poplar, but it also improved the interpretability of yet unknown biochemical relationships.
Monoterpene ‘thermometer’ of tropical forest‐atmosphere response to climate warming
Authors: Jardine Kolby J. , Jardine Angela B. , Holm Jennifer A. , Lombardozzi Danica L. , Negron‐Juarez Robinson I. , Martin Scot T. , Beller Harry R. , Gimenez Bruno O. , Higuchi Niro , Chambers Jeffrey Q.
Published: December 2016

Tropical forests absorb large amounts of atmospheric CO2 through photosynthesis but elevated temperatures suppress this absorption and promote monoterpene emissions. Using 13CO2 labeling, here we show that monoterpene emissions from tropical leaves derive from recent photosynthesis and demonstrate distinct temperature optima for five groups (Groups 1–5), potentially corresponding to different enzymatic temperature‐dependent reaction mechanisms within β‐ocimene synthases. As diurnal and seasonal leaf temperatures increased during the Amazonian 2015 El Niño event, leaf and landscape monoterpene emissions showed strong linear enrichments of β‐ocimenes (+4.4% °C−1) at the expense of other monoterpene isomers. The observed inverse temperature response of α‐pinene (−0.8% °C−1), typically assumed to be the dominant monoterpene with moderate reactivity, was not accurately simulated by current global emission models. Given that β‐ocimenes are highly reactive with respect to both atmospheric and biological oxidants, the results suggest that highly reactive β‐ocimenes may play important roles in the thermotolerance of photosynthesis by functioning as effective antioxidants within plants and as efficient atmospheric precursors of secondary organic aerosols. Thus, monoterpene composition may represent a new sensitive ‘thermometer’ of leaf oxidative stress and atmospheric reactivity, and therefore a new tool in future studies of warming impacts on tropical biosphere‐atmosphere carbon‐cycle feedbacks.
God and gratuitous evil (Part I)
Authors: Kraay Klaas J.
Published: December 2016

In contemporary analytic philosophy, the problem of evil refers to a family of arguments that attempt to show, by appeal to evil, that God does not (or probably does not) exist. Some very important arguments in this family focus on gratuitous evil. Most participants in the relevant discussions, including theists and atheists, agree that God is able to prevent all gratuitous evil and that God would do so. On this view, of course, the occurrence of even a single instance of gratuitous evil falsifies theism. The most common response to such arguments attempts to cast doubt on the claim that gratuitous evil really occurs. The focus of these two survey papers will be a different response—one that has received less attention in the literature. This response attempts to show that God and gratuitous evil are compatible. If it succeeds, then the occurrence of gratuitous evil does not, after all, count against theism. After introducing some key terms, I survey the literature surrounding the attempts by Michael Peterson and John Hick to execute this strategy. In a follow‐up paper, I discuss the attempts of William Hasker, Peter van Inwagen, and Michael Almeida, respectively.
Exploitation as Domination: A Response to Arneson
Authors: Vrousalis Nicholas
Published: December 2016

In a recent paper in this journal, Richard Arneson criticizes the domination account of exploitation and attributes it to me and Allen Wood. In this paper, I defend the domination account against Arneson's criticisms. I begin by showing that the domination view is distinct from the vulnerability‐based view defended by Wood. I also show that Alan Wertheimer's influential account of exploitation is congenial to the domination view. I then argue that Arneson's own fairness‐based view of exploitation generates false negatives and trivializes the concept of exploitation, rendering it entirely parasitic on the notion of unfairness.
Bad Luck for the Anti‐Luck Epistemologist
Authors: Borges Rodrigo
Published: December 2016

Anti‐luck epistemologists tell us that knowledge is incompatible with epistemic luck and that epistemic luck is just a special case of luck in general. Much work has been done on the intricacies of the first claim. In this paper, I scrutinize the second claim. I argue that it does not survive scrutiny. I then offer an analysis of luck that explains the relevant data and avoids the problems from which the current views of luck suffer. However, this analysis of luck is of no help to the anti‐luck epistemologist for it uses knowledge to explain luck, making this account of knowledge circular. The main lesson is that the only viable analysis of luck is not suited for the anti‐luck epistemologist's coveted noncircular analysis of knowledge.
Natural and Ethical Normativity
Authors: Fisher Naomi
Published: December 2016

In this paper, I argue that ethical normativity can be grounded in the natural normativity of organisms without being reducible to it. Michael Thompson and Philippa Foot both offer forms of neo‐Aristotelian ethical naturalism; I argue that both accounts have gaps that point toward the need for a constructive virtue ethics grounded in natural normativity. Similarly, Korsgaard's constructivist ethics ignores the ongoing relevance of natural norms in human ethical life. I thus offer an account according to which the self‐shaping activity of human organisms supplements and transforms natural normativity, giving rise to ethical norms. Such an account grounds human ethical distinctiveness in rationality without excluding nonrational humans from the ethical community. In the final section of the paper, I argue that ethical standards can be discovered (or hidden) through human activities, thus allowing for gradual progression (or regression) in ethical knowledge, both on individual and cultural levels.
Formal Proper Parts through Strong Supplementation: A Reply to Bennett
Authors: Tomaszewski Christopher M. P.
Published: December 2016

Kathrin Koslicki argues that ordinary material objects like tables and motorcycles have formal proper parts that structure the material proper parts. Karen Bennett rejects a key premise in Koslicki's argument according to which the material ingredient out of which a complex material object is made is a proper part of that object. Koslicki defends this premise with a principle motivated by its power to explain three important phenomena of material composition. But these phenomena can be equally well explained by a weaker principle that does not support the questioned premise in Koslicki's argument, Bennett argues. I show that Bennett's weaker principle, together with an appropriate strengthening of a different premise in Koslicki's original argument, still yields a sound argument for the existence of formal parts.
The Place of Philosophy in Africa
Authors: Olivier Abraham
Published: December 2016

Recently there has been a strong movement towards reflections about the “geography of reason,” especially among philosophers who deal with postcolonial thinking. There is also a renewed interest among different schools of thought, both analytical and continental, in the ways our “life world,” or “embodiment,” or “situated cognition,” shape our minds and eventually the philosophy we do. As a result, we have seen some recent publications on the nature and import of the concept of “place” by authors such as Edward Casey, Jeff Malpas, and Bruce Janz. In Philosophy in an African place, Bruce Janz introduces the concept of “philosophy‐in‐place” with the question as to what it is to do philosophy in a particular context of lived experience or, more specifically, what it is to do philosophy in an African place. This paper expands on Janz's “philosophy‐in‐place” by developing what will be called a “philosophy through place.” It starts with Janz's discussion of the problem of placing philosophy and a philosophy‐in‐place. Then it attempts to develop an argument for a “philosophy through place” and its implications for considering the place of philosophy in Africa and the challenge it poses to philosophy.
The Ontological Import of Heidegger's Analysis of Anxiety in Being and Time
Authors: Magid Oren
Published: December 2016

Heidegger's primary concern in Being and Time is the question of the meaning of being—a distinctly ontological concern. Yet, with discussions of death, guilt, conscience, anxiety, uncanniness, authenticity, and inauthenticity, Heidegger seems to end up in existential territory. The ontological import of these existential excursions is difficult to discern—indeed, it has not been identified in leading interpretations. In this paper, I aim to highlight the ontological import of Heidegger's analysis of anxiety—it manifests the inadequacy of Dasein's fallen and inauthentic self‐understanding, which is motivated by the inadequacy of Dasein's fallen and inauthentic, average understanding of being. In making this case, I will clarify the sense in which anxiety involves an experience of world‐collapse and show how it functions to reveal the possibilities of authenticity and inauthenticity.
An Investigation into Logical Thinking Skills and Proof Writing Levels of Prospective Mathematics Teachers
Authors: Özdemir Emine , Övez Filiz Tuba Dikkartin
Published: December 2016

The cognitive development of prospective teacher needs to be taken into estimate so that proofs are presented in forms that are potentially meaningful for them. This requires educators and mathematicians to rethink consider the use of types of proof related to the logical thinking improvement of the singular. The purpose of the study is to identify the proof writing levels of prospective teachers and to reveal the difference between varying proof writing levels and logical thinking skills. In this study mixed research design was used and the sample was selected through criterion sampling. “The Proof-Writing Scale” and “The Test of Logical Thinking” were used as data tools. The proofs written by the prospective teachers for the theorems included in the Proof-Writing Scale were subjected to a descriptive analysis. The proofs were assigned in accordance with Balacheff’s taxonomy. As a result of the study, the distribution of the proofs written by the prospective mathematics teachers to the theorems was as follows: pragmatic proofs (35%), intellectual proofs (49%) and demonstration proofs (16%). There was a significant difference, in terms of their logical thinking skills, among the prospective teachers who had varying levels of proof-writing.
Finding inspiration in high blood pressure
Authors: Macefield Vaughan
Published: December 2016

Simms AE, Paton JFR, Pickering AE & Allen AM (2009). Amplified respiratory–sympathetic coupling in the spontaneously hypertensive rat: does it contribute to hypertension? J Physiol 587, 597–610.

Fatouleh R, McKenzie DK & Macefield VG (2014). Respiratory modulation of muscle sympathetic nerve activity in obstructive sleep apnoea. Exp Physiol 99, 1288–1298.

Zoccal DB (2015). Peripheral chemoreceptors and cardiorespiratory coupling: a link to sympatho‐excitation. Exp Physiol 100, 143–148.
A New Method to Individualize Monitoring of Muscle Recovery in Athletes
Authors: Hecksteden Anne , Pitsch Werner , Julian Ross , Pfeiffer Mark , Kellmann Michael , Ferrauti Alexander , Meyer Tim
Published: December 2016

Purpose:

Assessment of muscle recovery is essential for the daily fine-tuning of training load in competitive sports, but individual differences may limit the diagnostic accuracy of group-based reference ranges. This article reports an attempt to develop individualized reference ranges using a Bayesian approach comparable to that developed for the Athlete Biological Passport.

Methods:

Urea and creatine kinase (CK) were selected as indicators of muscle recovery. For each parameter, prior distributions and repeated-measures SDs were characterized based on data of 883 squad athletes (1758 data points, 1–8 per athlete, years 2013–2015). Equations for the individualization procedure were adapted from previous material to allow for discrimination of 2 physiological states (recovered vs nonrecovered). Evaluation of classificatory performance was carried out using data from 5 consecutive weekly microcycles in 14 elite junior swimmers and triathletes. Blood samples were collected every Monday (recovered) and Friday according to the repetitive weekly training schedule over 5 wk. On the group level, changes in muscle recovery could be confirmed by significant differences in urea and CK and validated questionnaires. Group-based reference ranges were derived from that same data set to avoid overestimating the potential benefit of individualization.

Results:

For CK, error rates were significantly lower with individualized classification (P vs group-based: test-pass error rate P = .008; test-fail error rate P < .001). For urea, numerical improvements in error rates failed to reach significance.

Conclusions:

Individualized reference ranges seem to be a promising tool to improve accuracy of monitoring muscle recovery. Investigating application to a larger panel of indicators is warranted.
Identification of Sensitive Measures of Recovery After External Load From Football Match Play
Authors: Rowell Amber E. , Aughey Robert J. , Hopkins Will G. , Stewart Andrew M. , Cormack Stuart J.
Published: December 2016

Objective measures of recovery from football match play could be useful for assessing athletes’ readiness to train, if sensitive to preceding match load.

Purpose:

To identify the sensitivity of countermovement-jump (CMJ) performance and concentration of salivary testosterone and cortisol relative to elite football match load.

Methods:

CMJ performance and salivary hormones were measured in 18 elite football players before (27, 1 h) and after (0.5, 18, 42, 66, 90 h) 3 consecutive matches. Match load was determined via accelerometer-derived PlayerLoad and divided into tertiles. Sensitivity of CMJ performance and hormone concentrations to match load was quantified with t statistics and magnitude-based inferences (change in mean as % ± 90% confidence interval) derived with a linear mixed model.

Results:

Jump height was reduced in medium and high load at 0.5 h (10% ± 7% and 16% ± 8%) and 18 h (7% ± 4% and 9% ± 5%) postmatch. There was a 12% ± 7% reduction in ratio of flight time to contraction time (FT:CT) in high load at 0.5 h post, with reductions in medium and high load at 18 h. Reductions in FT:CT persisted at later postmatch time points than changes in jump height. Increased cortisol (range 55–165%) and testosterone (range 17–20%) were observed in all match loads at 0.5 h post, with individual variability thereafter.

Conclusions:

Measures of CMJ performance and hormonal concentrations were sensitive to levels of A League football match load. Although jump height was reduced immediately postmatch, FT:CT provided a more sensitive measure of recovery. Football match play induces an acute hormonal response with substantial individual variability thereafter.
Red, Amber, or Green? Athlete Monitoring in Team Sport: The Need for Decision-Support Systems
Authors: Robertson Samuel , Bartlett Jonathan D. , Gastin Paul B.
Published: December 2016

Decision-support systems are used in team sport for a variety of purposes including evaluating individual performance and informing athlete selection. A particularly common form of decision support is the traffic-light system, where color coding is used to indicate a given status of an athlete with respect to performance or training availability. However, despite relatively widespread use, there remains a lack of standardization with respect to how traffic-light systems are operationalized. This paper addresses a range of pertinent issues for practitioners relating to the practice of traffic-light monitoring in team sports. Specifically, the types and formats of data incorporated in such systems are discussed, along with the various analysis approaches available. Considerations relating to the visualization and communication of results to key stakeholders in the team-sport environment are also presented. In order for the efficacy of traffic-light systems to be improved, future iterations should look to incorporate the recommendations made here.
Mycosins of the Mycobacterial Type VII ESX Secretion System: the Glue That Holds the Party Together
Authors: Chen Jeffrey M.
Published: December 2016

Since their discovery as important determinants of virulence and growth, the type VII ESX secretion systems (ESX-1 to ESX-5) of slow-growing pathogenic mycobacteria have been the focus of intense scrutiny. Genetic studies have been instrumental in identifying the core components and substrates of these molecular secretion machines and have helped uncover the multifunctional properties of some of them. For instance, the mycosin MycP
1
of ESX-1, a membrane-associated subtilisin-like serine protease, was shown to have dual functions: the entire protein is essential for ESX-1 function, but only the serine protease regulates secretion activity. MycP
5
of ESX-5, on the other hand, is required for ESX-5 secretion activity, but the function of its predicted serine protease remains unknown. Recently, van Winden and colleagues (mBio 7:e01471-16, 2016,
http://dx.doi.org/10.1128/mBio.01471-16
) reported compelling evidence that MycP
1
and MycP
5
serve to stabilize the interactions of core ESX-1 and ESX-5 components, respectively, thus explaining how they facilitate the secretion activities of their associated systems.
Development of a Microscopic Colitis Disease Activity Index: a prospective cohort study
Authors: Cotter Thomas G , Binder Moritz , Loftus Edward V , Abboud Rami , McNally Meredythe A , Smyrk Thomas C , Tremaine William J , Sandborn William J , Pardi Darrell S
Published: December 2016

Objective

Microscopic colitis (MC) is a common cause of chronic diarrhoea, often with additional symptoms. No validated instruments exist to assess disease activity in MC, making it difficult to compare efficacy of treatments between clinical trials. We aimed to identify clinical features that independently predicted disease severity and create a Microscopic Colitis Disease Activity Index (MCDAI).

Design

Patients with MC were prospectively administered a survey assessing their GI symptoms and the IBD Questionnaire (IBDQ). A single investigator also scored a physician global assessment (PGA) of disease severity on a 10-point scale. Multiple linear regression identified which symptoms best predicted the PGA. These symptoms were then combined in a weighted formula to create the MCDAI. The relationship between MCDAI and the IBDQ was investigated.

Results

Of the 175 patients enrolled, 13 (7.4%) did not complete the survey. The remaining 162 had a median age of 66 years (range, 57–73) and 74% were female. Several clinical features were independently associated with PGA (number of unformed stools daily, presence of nocturnal stools, abdominal pain, weight loss, faecal urgency and faecal incontinence). These parameters were combined to create the MCDAI, which strongly predicted the PGA (R2=0.80). A 1-unit decrease in disease activity (ΔMCDAI) was associated with a 9-unit increase in quality of life (ΔIBDQ).

Conclusions

The MCDAI strongly predicted the PGA and correlated with a validated measure of quality of life. Several symptoms in addition to diarrhoea are associated with disease severity in MC.
Public pensions and unmet medical need among older people: cross-national analysis of 16 European countries, 2004–2010
Authors: Reeves Aaron , McKee Martin , Mackenbach Johan , Whitehead Margaret , Stuckler David
Published: December 2016

Background

Since the onset of the Great Recession in Europe, unmet need for medical care has been increasing, especially in persons aged 65 or older. It is possible that public pensions buffer access to healthcare in older persons during times of economic crisis, but to our knowledge, this has not been tested empirically in Europe.

Methods

We integrated panel data on 16 European countries for years 2004–2010 with indicators of public pension, unemployment insurance and sickness insurance entitlement from the Comparative Welfare Entitlements Dataset and unmet need (due to cost) prevalence rates from EuroStat 2014 edition. Using country-level fixed-effects regression models, we evaluate whether greater public pension entitlement, which helps reduce old-age poverty, reduces the prevalence of unmet medical need in older persons and whether it reduces inequalities in unmet medical need across the income distribution.

Results

We found that each 1-unit increase in public pension entitlement is associated with a 1.11 percentage-point decline in unmet medical need due to cost among over 65s (95% CI −0.55 to −1.66). This association is strongest for the lowest income quintile (1.65 percentage points, 95% CI −1.19 to −2.10). Importantly, we found consistent evidence that out-of-pocket payments were linked with greater unmet needs, but that this association was mitigated by greater public pension entitlement (β=−1.21 percentage points, 95% CI −0.37 to −2.06).

Conclusions

Greater public pension entitlement plays a crucial role in reducing inequalities in unmet medical need among older persons, especially in healthcare systems which rely heavily on out-of-pocket payments.
Why diets fail: a hypothesis for discussion
Authors: Welsby Philip D
Published: December 2016

Weight regulation depends on the difference between weights of absorbed and metabolised carbon and excretion of the end products of metabolism, calories and carbon dioxide, which can be independently and variably excreted. Calories can be variably excreted as heat by vasoconstriction or vasodilation and carbon dioxide can be excreted variably as exhaled carbon dioxide (the major route of carbon excretion). Unless there are changes in ventilatory carbon excretion, ‘metabolism,’ ‘genetic factors,’ ‘hormones’ or ‘exercise’ do not provide complete explanatory mechanisms for weight changes, obesity and failure of diets. Low sensitivity of respiratory centres to carbon dioxide may cause overweight and dietary failures after initial weight loss.
Coeliotomy under general anaesthesia and removal of an enterolith from a sand tiger shark (Carcharias taurus)
Authors: Monreal‐Pawlowsky Tania , Thornton Susan M , Stidworthy Mark Frederick , Hale Paul
Published: December 2016

Sporadic feeding over a period of 18 months was observed in a previously healthy adult female sand tiger shark (Carcharias taurus) housed in an aquarium. This led to severe weight loss, revealing a mobile rounded bulge in the abdomen of the shark. Due to the failure of non‐invasive treatments with antibiotics and NSAIDs, coeliotomy under general anaesthesia was performed in a bespoke anaesthesia/surgery tank. A spherical enterolith (10 cm in diameter) was found in the spiral valve, causing partial obstruction, and constituted from concentrically lamellated calcium hydroxyapatite (the major component of fish scales and skeletons) around an undigested octopus beak. After closing the incision, the shark was returned to the water but died seven hours postsurgery without recovering from the anaesthesia. Factors leading to postsurgical mortality, and the potential for anaesthetic monitoring methods and postsurgical gastric reinflation to improve outcome, are discussed.
A framework for optimal reliability-based storm sewer network design in flat areas
Authors: Moussavi Ali , Samani Hossein Mohammad Vali , Haghighi Ali
Published: December 2016

This paper presents a framework for the optimal design of a storm sewer network in flat areas where there is insufficient energy from gravity for runoff drainage. A reliability index based on nodal partial flooding is introduced as a performance criterion and utilizes the intrinsic storage capacity of the sewer network. The Storm Water Management Model is used for hydraulic simulation of the sewer system. This model is coupled with an adaptive genetic algorithm to obtain the least-cost design of the network. The model offers numerous design alternatives with various levels of reliability. The model was successfully applied to the Kianpars storm sewer network, a flat district of the city of Ahvaz in Iran. The proposed model is useful for managing the budget and technical limitations of sewer system design in flat areas as well as efficiently deriving an optimum trade-off between design cost and reliability.
Fracture characteristics of laboratory-tested soda lime glass specimens
Authors: Yankelevsky David Z. , Spiller Kevin , Packer Jeffrey A. , Seica Michael V.
Published: December 2016

Static testing of glass plates has shown a pronounced distribution in the plate strength. The origin of fracture location along the plate span, the corresponding critical tensile stress, and the size of the critical flaw at the origin of fracture are failure characteristics of major importance. This paper provides data and insight into parameters influencing these failure characteristics through laboratory testing and analysis of soda lime glass, to find a rationale behind the observed disorder of their magnitudes and distributions. A recent stochastic model for glass plate analysis is implemented to predict the magnitudes and distributions of the failure characteristics, and to compare these with laboratory tests. The model provides good predictions of the distributions and magnitudes of the failure characteristics and sheds light on glass plate behaviour. It demonstrates that there are mechanics-based explanations to the wide scatter of experimental results and to the apparent disorder in glass behaviour.
The ecological impacts of lakewater calcium decline on softwater boreal ecosystems
Authors: Jeziorski Adam , Smol John P.
Published: December 2016

In recent decades, marked declines in calcium (Ca) concentrations have been noted in many softwater boreal lakes, and are believed to be a long-term consequence of acid deposition as well as other stressors (such as timber harvesting). Reduced Ca availability may act as a potent environmental stressor. Investigations of the direct ecological impacts of lower Ca concentrations in freshwater systems have largely focused on Ca-rich members of the Cladocera; however, a growing body of work, spanning several scientific fields, suggests Ca decline will have profound direct and indirect consequences for aquatic ecosystems. Here, we synthesize recent laboratory analyses and field surveys to provide an overview of these consequences, while highlighting paleolimnological investigations that provide some long-term perspective on the phenomenon. However, considerable questions remain regarding ‘baseline’ or pre-impact conditions, due to the accelerated leaching of Ca from watershed soils during the period of anthropogenic influence. Furthermore, catchment-specific differences in both leaching rates and the initial size of the Ca pool in watershed soils complicate determination of the eventual endpoints of the declines. Despite these uncertainties, persistent low Ca concentrations are anticipated to impede biological recovery from lake acidification, and that ongoing declines will have cascading effects throughout aquatic ecosystems due to the loss of vulnerable taxa. To better understand how reduced Ca availability will continue to change affected surface waters and how these changes will interact with other environmental stressors will require continued investigation of the declines from multiple scientific perspectives.
The dynamic evolutionary history of genome size in North American woodland salamanders
Authors: Newman Catherine E. , Gregory T. Ryan , Austin Christopher C.
Published: December 2016

The genus Plethodon is the most species-rich salamander genus in North America, and nearly half of its species face an uncertain future. It is also one of the most diverse families in terms of genome sizes, which range from 1C = 18.2 to 69.3 pg, or 5–20 times larger than the human genome. Large genome size in salamanders results in part from accumulation of transposable elements and is associated with various developmental and physiological traits. However, genome sizes have been reported for only 25% of the species of Plethodon (14 of 55). We collected genome size data for Plethodon serratus to supplement an ongoing phylogeographic study, reconstructed the evolutionary history of genome size in Plethodontidae, and inferred probable genome sizes for the 41 species missing empirical data. Results revealed multiple genome size changes in Plethodon: genomes of western Plethodon increased, whereas genomes of eastern Plethodon decreased, followed by additional decreases or subsequent increases. The estimated genome size of P. serratus was 21 pg. New understanding of variation in genome size evolution, along with genome size inferences for previously unstudied taxa, provide a foundation for future studies on the biology of plethodontid salamanders.
HEALTHY STATE MONITOR OF UPPER LIMB FOR SPACE FLIGHT TASK BASED ON SIGNAL ANALYSES OF MULTIPLE MUSCLE FORCES
Authors: LIU HAOTING , XU FENGGANG , ZHOU QIANXIANG , LIU ZHIZHEN , LI FAN , WANG CHUNHUI , CHEN SHANGUANG
Published: December 2016

A novel healthy state monitor method of upper limb for space flight task is proposed. Without taking other complex diagnosis equipment in orbit, this method only uses the ordinary exercise instruments to collect and analyze the multiple muscle forces of astronauts, and deduces where the serious muscle atrophy occurs in their muscle groups of upper limb. First, the typical multiple muscle forces data of upper limb are accumulated. A 45-day 6-degree head-down tilt bed rest experiment together with a multiple muscle forces test experiment are carried out to collect the corresponding data. These data include both the muscle force data of healthy state and the related data of unhealthy state. Second, the Wavelet Packet Transform (WPT) and the Empirical Mode Decomposition (EMD) methods are used to compute the signal features of these data above. Third, a Support Vector Machine (SVM) classifier is trained by the related signal features. Finally, the trained SVM can be utilized to evaluate the healthy state of upper limb in orbit for astronaut. If the output of SVM is negative, the C-means method and the Euclidean distance can be used to locate the abnormal muscle forces and muscle groups. The concept of typical muscle group health state evaluation for upper limb is emphasized in this paper. The comparisons among the traditional diagnosis-based method, the electromyogram (EMG)-based muscle forces analysis method, and the proposed method are made. Many experiment results on ground have verified the effectiveness of proposed method.
Kölliker-Fuse nuclei regulate respiratory rhythm variability via a gain-control mechanism
Authors: Dhingra Rishi R. , Dutschmann Mathias , Galán Roberto F. , Dick Thomas E.
Published: December 2016

Respiration varies from breath to breath. On the millisecond timescale of spiking, neuronal circuits exhibit variability due to the stochastic properties of ion channels and synapses. Does this fast, microscopic source of variability contribute to the slower, macroscopic variability of the respiratory period? To address this question, we modeled a stochastic oscillator with forcing; then, we tested its predictions experimentally for the respiratory rhythm generated by the in situ perfused preparation during vagal nerve stimulation (VNS). Our simulations identified a relationship among the gain of the input, entrainment strength, and rhythm variability. Specifically, at high gain, the periodic input entrained the oscillator and reduced variability, whereas at low gain, the noise interacted with the input, causing events known as “phase slips”, which increased variability on a slow timescale. Experimentally, the in situ preparation behaved like the low-gain model: VNS entrained respiration but exhibited phase slips that increased rhythm variability. Next, we used bilateral muscimol microinjections in discrete respiratory compartments to identify areas involved in VNS gain control. Suppression of activity in the nucleus tractus solitarii occluded both entrainment and amplification of rhythm variability by VNS, confirming that these effects were due to the activation of the Hering-Breuer reflex. Suppressing activity of the Kölliker-Fuse nuclei (KFn) enhanced entrainment and reduced rhythm variability during VNS, consistent with the predictions of the high-gain model. Together, the model and experiments suggest that the KFn regulates respiratory rhythm variability via a gain control mechanism.
Characterizing the dynamic interaction among gastric emptying, glucose absorption, and glycemic control in nondiabetic obese adults
Authors: Wilbaux Mélanie , Wölnerhanssen Bettina K. , Meyer-Gerspach Anne Christin , Beglinger Christoph , Pfister Marc
Published: December 2016

The effects of altered gastric emptying on glucose absorption and kinetics are not well understood in nondiabetic obese adults. The aim of this work was to develop a physiology-based model that can characterize and compare interactions among gastric emptying, glucose absorption, and glycemic control in nondiabetic obese and lean healthy adults. Dynamic glucose, insulin, and gastric emptying (measured with breath test) data from 12 nondiabetic obese and 12 lean healthy adults were available until 180 min after an oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) with 10, 25, and 75 g of glucose. A physiology-based model was developed to characterize glucose kinetics applying nonlinear mixed-effects modeling with NONMEM7.3. Glucose kinetics after OGTT was described by a one-compartment model with an effect compartment to describe delayed insulin effects on glucose clearance. After the interactions between individual gastric emptying and glucose absorption profiles were accounted for, the glucose absorption rate was found to be similar in nondiabetic obese and lean controls. Baseline glucose concentration was estimated to be only marginally higher in nondiabetic obese subjects (4.9 vs. 5.2 mmol/l), whereas insulin-dependent glucose clearance in nondiabetic obese subjects was found to be cut in half compared with lean controls (0.052 vs. 0.029 l/min) and the insulin concentration associated with 50% of insulin-dependent glucose elimination rate was approximately twofold higher in nondiabetic obese subjects compared with lean controls (7.1 vs. 15.3 μU/ml). Physiology-based models can characterize and compare the dynamic interaction among gastric emptying, glucose absorption and glycemic control in populations of interest such as lean healthy and nondiabetic obese adults.
MicroRNA-30e targets BNIP3L to protect against aldosterone-induced podocyte apoptosis and mitochondrial dysfunction
Authors: Guo Yan , Deng Xu , Chen Shuang , Yang Lingyun , Ni Jiajia , Wang Rong , Lin Jiajuan , Bai Mi , Jia Zhanjun , Huang Songming , Zhang Aihua
Published: December 2016

MicroRNAs are essential for the maintenance of podocyte homeostasis. Emerging evidence has demonstrated a protective role of microRNA-30a (miR-30a), a member of the miR-30 family, in podocyte injury. However, the roles of other miR-30 family members in podocyte injury are unclear. The present study was undertaken to investigate the contribution of miR-30e to the pathogenesis of podocyte injury induced by aldosterone (Aldo), as well as the underlying mechanism. After Aldo treatment, miR-30e was reduced in a dose-and time-dependent manner. Notably, overexpression of miR-30e markedly attenuated Aldo-induced apoptosis in podocytes. In agreement with this finding, miR-30e silencing led to significant podocyte apoptosis. Mitochondrial dysfunction (MtD) has been shown to be an early event in Aldo-induced podocyte injury. Here we found that overexpression of miR-30e improved Aldo-induced MtD while miR-30e silencing resulted in MtD. Next, we found that miR-30e could directly target the BCL2/adenovirus E1B-interacting protein 3-like (BNIP3L) gene. Aldo markedly enhanced BNIP3L expression in podocytes, and silencing of BNIP3L largely abolished Aldo-induced MtD and cell apoptosis. On the contrary, overexpression of BNIP3L induced MtD and apoptosis in podocytes. Together, these findings demonstrate that miR-30e protects mitochondria and podocytes from Aldo challenge by targeting BNIP3L.