bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Clinical Significance of Persistent Global and Focal Computed Tomography Nephrograms After Cardiac Catheterization and Their Relationships to Urinary Biomarkers of Kidney Damage and Procedural Factors
Authors: Chu Lisa L. , Katzberg Richard W. , Solomon Richard , Southard Jeffrey , Evans Scott J. , Li Chin-Shang , McDonald Jennifer S. , Payne Catherine , Boone John M. , RamachandraRao Satish P.
Published: March 2016

Objectives

We evaluate the relationships between persistent computed tomography (CT) nephrograms and acute kidney injury after cardiac catheterization (CC). We compare changes in urinary biomarkers kidney injury molecule 1 (KIM-1), cystatin C, and serum creatinine to procedural factors.

Materials and Methods

From 159 eligible patients without renal insufficiency (estimated glomerular filtration rate >60 mL/min), 40 random patients (age range, 42–81 years; mean age, 64 years; 25 men, 15 women) gave written informed consent to undergo unenhanced CT limited to their kidneys 24 hours after CC. Semiquantitative assessment for global nephrograms and quantitative assessment of focal nephrograms in each kidney was performed. Computed tomography attenuation (Hounsfield units) of the renal cortex was measured. Serum creatinine, KIM-1, and cystatin C were measured before and 24 hours after CC.

Results

Robust linear regression showed that both relative changes in KIM-1 and cystatin C had positive relationships with kidney CT attenuation (P = 0.012 and 0.002, respectively). Spearman rank correlation coefficient showed that both absolute changes and relative changes in KIM-1 and cystatin C had positive correlations with global nephrogram grades (P = 0.025 and 0.040, respectively, for KIM-1; P = 0.013 and 0.019, respectively, for cystatin C).

Conclusions

Global nephrograms on unenhanced CT in patients who have undergone CC are significantly correlated with changes in urinary biomarkers for kidney damage.
Zig-zag twins and helical phase transformations
Authors: Ganor Yaniv , Dumitrică Traian , Feng Fan , James Richard D.
Published: March 2016

We demonstrate the large bending deformation induced by an array of permanent magnets (applied field ∼0.02 T) designed to minimize poles in the bent state of the crystal. Planar cantilevers of NiMnGa (5M modulated martensite) ferromagnetic shape memory alloy deform into an arched shape according to theory, with a zig-zag microstructure that complies with the kinematic and magnetic compatibility between adjacent twin variants. A general theory of bent and twisted states is given, applicable to both twinning and austenite/martensite transformations. Some of these configurations achieve order-of-magnitude amplification of rotation and axial strain. We investigate also atomistic analogues of these bent and twisted configurations with perfect interfaces between phases. These mechanisms of large deformation, induced by small magnetic fields or temperature changes, have potential application to the development of new actuation technologies for micro-robotic systems.
A new multipurpose diffractometer PILATUS@SNBL
Authors: Dyadkin Vadim , Pattison Philip , Dmitriev Vladimir , Chernyshov Dmitry
Published: March 2016

The diffraction beamline BM01A at the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (CRG Swiss–Norwegian beamlines) has been successfully operational for 20 years. Recently, a new multifunctional diffractometer based on the Dectris Pilatus 2M detector has been constructed, commissioned and offered to users. The diffractometer combines a fast and low-noise area detector, which can be tilted and moved horizontally and vertically, together with flexible goniometry for sample positioning and orientation. The diffractometer is controlled by a user-friendly and GUI-based softwarePylatuswhich is also used to control various auxiliary equipment. The latter includes several heating and cooling devices,in situcells and complimentary spectroscopic tools.
Nontypical iodine–halogen bonds in the crystal structure of (3E)-8-chloro-3-iodomethylidene-2,3-dihydro-1,4-oxazino[2,3,4-ij]quinolin-4-ium triiodide
Authors: Bartashevich E. V. , Batalov V. I. , Yushina I. D. , Stash A. I. , Chen Y. S.
Published: March 2016

Two kinds of iodine–iodine halogen bonds are the focus of our attention in the crystal structure of the title salt, C12H8ClINO+·I3−, described by X-ray diffraction. The first kind is a halogen bond, reinforced by charges, between the I atom of the heterocyclic cation and the triiodide anion. The second kind is the rare case of a halogen bond between the terminal atoms of neighbouring triiodide anions. The influence of relatively weakly bound iodine inside an asymmetric triiodide anion on the thermal and Raman spectroscopic properties has been demonstrated.
Crystal structure of 3-(4-hydroxyphenyl)-2-[(E)-2-phenylethenyl]quinazolin-4(3H)-one
Authors: Mierina Inese , Stepanovs Dmitrijs , Kuginyte Jolita , Janichev Artur , Jure Mara
Published: March 2016

The title compound, C22H16N2O2{systematic name: 3-(4-hydroxyphenyl)-2-[(E)-2-phenylethenyl]quinazolin-4(3H)-one}, consists of a substituted 2-[(E)-2-arylethenyl]-3-arylquinazolin-4(3H)-one skeleton. The substituents at the ethylene fragment are located intranspositions. The phenyl ring is inclined to the quinazolone ring by 26.44 (19)°, while the 4-hydroxyphenyl ring is inclined to the quinazolone ring by 81.25 (8)°. The phenyl ring and the 4-hydroxyphenyl ring are inclined to one another by 78.28 (2)°. In the crystal, molecules are connectedviaO—H...O hydrogen bonds, forming a helix along thea-axis direction. The helices are linked by C—H...π interactions, forming slabs parallel to (001).
Social media as complementary consumption: the relationship between consumer empowerment and social interactions in experiential and informative contexts
Authors: Yuksel Mujde , Milne George R , Miller Elizabeth G
Published: March 2016

Purpose

– This paper aims to explore the interaction between consumer empowerment and social interactions as fundamental social media elements. It demonstrates their relationship in both experiential and informative social media setting where social media complements an offline consumer activity. The study aims to contribute to the literature on social media by demonstrating its complementary role on offline activities through these fundamental elements.

Design/methodology/approach

– The paper reports three experimental designs that manipulate the empowering and the socializing elements of complementary activities to show their effects on both the complementary online and the complemented offline activities.

Findings

– The paper presents three empirical studies that reveal the effects of two fundamental social media elements (i.e. empowerment and socialization) on consumers’ responses toward consumption episodes that consist of complementary online and complemented offline activities. It reveals that that these elements increase positive consumer responses toward both the online and the offline activities through psychological empowerment. However, the interaction between the elements changes with respect to specific empowerment types.

Research limitations/implications

– The paper contributes to the literature on social media by demonstrating its complementary role on offline activities through its empowering and socializing elements. It bridges research on consumer empowerment and socialization in a way that reveals their interaction beyond the extant definitions of empowerment resulting from enhanced communication among consumers. The paper also demonstrates the complementary role of social media on offline consumer behaviors through the effects of these two fundamental elements.The participants of the experimental studies are presented with hypothetical scenarios and asked about their behavioral intentions. Thus, future studies should address the research questions in real-world settings.

Practical implications

– The paper includes implications for social media usage as a complementary activity to offline real-life consumer behavior through the effects of consumer empowerment and social interactions. Thus, it may benefit marketers seeking to optimize the empowering and socializing components of their social media strategies.

Originality/value

– This paper fulfils an identified need to study how social media may affect real-life consumer behavior. It also identifies the interaction between the empowering and the socializing elements of social media offerings in both experiential and informative settings.
The value of disclosing intellectual capital in Spanish universities
Authors: Ramirez Yolanda , Tejada Angel , Manzaneque Montserrat
Published: March 2016

Purpose

– This paper aims to provide a better understanding of the relationship between intellectual capital (IC) reporting and transparency in Spanish universities. The purpose of this paper is to obtain new empirical findings and an enhanced understanding of the role of IC in an organizational change process is obtained.

Design/methodology/approach

– In this study the authors developed a questionnaire which was sent to members of the Social Councils of Spanish public universities in order to analyse the views of university stakeholders in relation to the university’s annual reports and the adequacy and potential of IC reporting to meet their information needs.

Findings

– From the results of this study the authors are in the position of confirming the need for universities to offer information on IC in their accounting information model.

Practical implications

– All these results lead us to assert that to improve the information contained in the current university annual reports, it is necessary to make accounting regulators aware of the need to extend the information provided in the current accounting statements. Giving users access to a type of information relevant for good decision making constitutes a healthy exercise in transparency for universities.

Originality/value

– Although the scientific and professional literature has provided numerous studies about reporting a firm’s IC, further research is still needed for universities. This need is especially relevant when considering empirical supported IC models.
How does leader communication style promote employees’ commitment at times of change?
Authors: Luo Wenhao , Song Lynda Jiwen , Gebert Diether R , Zhang Kai , Feng Yunxia
Published: March 2016

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to explore the structure of leader communication style in the context of organizational change. In doing so, the authors intend to shed more light on how leaders can effectively communicate change projects to their subordinates, which is viewed as the key to implementing change initiatives.

Design/methodology/approach

– This paper builds an integrated conceptual model for understanding leader’s communication style and subordinates’ commitment to change. By analyzing subordinates’ different fears of change, the paper further proposes a multidimensional structure of leader communication style in the context of change. The authors then develop a scale to measure these different dimensions and test the relationship between the proposed communication style and subordinates’ affective commitment to change.

Findings

– Leader communication style in the context of change is found to be composed of five dimensions: hope orientation, reality orientation, subordinate orientation, support orientation, and enforcement orientation. A cross-level field study of 31 teams and 194 members shows that hope orientation, subordinate orientation, and support orientation are positively associated with subordinates’ affective commitment to change.

Originality/value

– This paper identifies a new structure of leader communication style that will lead to a richer understanding of how leaders communicate to their subordinates in the context of change. It also contributes to the leadership literature by implying effective ways of communicating change projects.
Holistic approach to human resources and organizational acceleration
Authors: Pluta Anna , Rudawska Aleksandra
Published: March 2016

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to propose holistic approach to human resources in the situation of organizational acceleration. Authors are postulating that the holistic approach to HR helps in maintaining sustainable individual resources of employees in the situation of continuous organizational changes and time pressure that further can prevent from the individual resources exhaustion.

Design/methodology/approach

– This conceptual paper builds on the problem of occupational stress that is connected with organizational acceleration. Authors define stress as the individually perceived inability to match expectations caused by the deficiency of individual resources. They conceptualize the individual resources of employees basing on the concepts of human capital and the individual energy at work and propose a framework of individual resources of employees that enables holistic view of an individual in an organization.

Findings

– In the situation of organizational acceleration HRM function plays important role in sustaining individual resources of employees in order to minimize threat of occupational stress and further burnout. HR practices should apply multidimensionality of individual resources and threat it holistically aiming at sustaining all four potentials – spiritual, intellectual, emotional and physical.

Research limitations/implications

– Authors indicate that managers need to understand how to deal with the acceleration in order to overcome the negative consequences for individuals. There is still need for identifying HR practices that are the key success factors in the situation of organizational acceleration.

Originality/value

– Authors take up the current problem of organizational acceleration from the individual perspective. They propose a concept of individual resources of employees and connected to it holistic approach to HR in the times of great time pressure, work overload, occupational stress and burnout threat.
Merging DNA metabarcoding and ecological network analysis to understand and build resilient terrestrial ecosystems
Authors: Evans Darren M. , Kitson James J. N. , Lunt David H. , Straw Nigel A. , Pocock Michael J. O.
Published: March 2016

Significant advances in both mathematical and molecular approaches in ecology offer unprecedented opportunities to describe and understand ecosystem functioning. Ecological networks describe interactions between species, the underlying structure of communities and the function and stability of ecosystems. They provide the ability to assess the robustness of complex ecological communities to species loss, as well as a novel way of guiding restoration. However, empirically quantifying the interactions between entire communities remains a significant challenge.

Concomitantly, advances in DNA sequencing technologies are resolving previously intractable questions in functional and taxonomic biodiversity and provide enormous potential to determine hitherto difficult to observe species interactions. Combining DNA metabarcoding approaches with ecological network analysis presents important new opportunities for understanding large‐scale ecological and evolutionary processes, as well as providing powerful tools for building ecosystems that are resilient to environmental change.

We propose a novel ‘nested tagging’ metabarcoding approach for the rapid construction of large, phylogenetically structured species‐interaction networks. Taking tree–insect–parasitoid ecological networks as an illustration, we show how measures of network robustness, constructed using DNA metabarcoding, can be used to determine the consequences of tree species loss within forests, and forest habitat loss within wider landscapes. By determining which species and habitats are important to network integrity, we propose new directions for forest management.

Merging metabarcoding with ecological network analysis provides a revolutionary opportunity to construct some of the largest, phylogenetically structured species‐interaction networks to date, providing new ways to: (i) monitor biodiversity and ecosystem functioning; (ii) assess the robustness of interacting communities to species loss; and (iii) build ecosystems that are more resilient to environmental change.

A lay summary is available for this article.
Nutrient utilization traits vary systematically with intraspecific cell size plasticity
Authors: Malerba Martino E. , Heimann Kirsten , Connolly Sean R.
Published: March 2016

Trait‐based approaches are increasingly used to help understanding community structure and ecosystem functioning. A large proportion of trait‐based studies define a species by its mean trait values and assume intraspecific trait variability to be negligible compared to interspecific differences. However, this assumption is rarely tested.

Phenotypic cell size plasticity can be particularly important in phytoplankton species, which are known for their rapid changes in cell size in response to variations in environmental conditions. While phytoplankton traits show clear systematic trends with mean cell size across species, how size‐related plasticity influences the dynamics of a species remains unknown.

In this study, we evaluate the effects of cell size plasticity on the nitrogen (N) utilization traits of the green alga Desmodesmus armatus (Chlorophyta), reared in different inorganic nitrogen sources (nitrate, ammonium or both) and nutrient histories (N‐replete and N‐deplete).

Results show that traits for per‐cell ammonium uptake, maximum cell growth rate and minimum N‐quota change substantially within the study species, depending on mean cell size and nutrient history. In contrast, per‐cell nitrate uptake was independent of cell size. These results indicate that representing phytoplankton species only by their mean trait values could underestimate the physiological performance of a species by as much as one order of magnitude.

This study highlights the extent to which explicit incorporation of within‐species trait variability can enhance our understanding of how species performance changes along environmental gradients.

A lay summary is available for this article.
How persistent are the impacts of logging roads on Central African forest vegetation?
Authors: Kleinschroth Fritz , Healey John R. , Sist Plinio , Mortier Frédéric , Gourlet‐Fleury Sylvie
Published: March 2016

Logging roads can trigger tropical forest degradation by reducing the integrity of the ecosystem and providing access for encroachment. Therefore, road management is crucial in reconciling selective logging and biodiversity conservation. Most logging roads are abandoned after timber harvesting; however, little is known about their long‐term impacts on forest vegetation and accessibility, especially in Central Africa.

In 11 logging concessions in the Congo Basin, we field‐sampled a chronosequence of roads that, judging from satellite images, had been abandoned between 1985 and 2015. We assessed recovery of timber resources, tree diversity and above‐ground biomass in three zones: the road track, the road edge (where forest had been cleared during road construction) and the adjacent logged forest.

The density of commercial timber species <15 cm d.b.h. was almost three times higher in the road track (321 individuals ha−1) and edge (267) than in the logged adjacent forest (97). Over time, tree species diversity converged to a comparable level between roads and adjacent forests, along with an increase in canopy closure.

The average width of forest clearing for road construction was 20 m, covering a total 0·76% of the forest area inside concessions. After 15 years following abandonment, road tracks had recovered 24 Mg ha−1 of above‐ground woody biomass, which was 6% of that in the adjacent forest, while road edges had accumulated 167 Mg ha−1 (42%). Ten years after abandonment, roads were no longer penetrable by poachers on motorcycles. An exotic herb species was fully replaced by dominant Marantaceae that have even higher abundance in the adjacent forest.

Synthesis and applications. Our evidence of vegetation recovery suggests that logging roads are mostly transient elements in the forest landscapes. However, given the slow recovery of biomass on abandoned road tracks, we advocate both reducing the width of forest clearing for road construction and reopening old logging roads for future harvests, rather than building new roads in intact forests. Road edges seem suitable for post‐logging silviculture which needs to be assisted by removing dominant herbs during the early years after abandonment while the road track is still accessible.
Heterotrophic Proteobacteria in the vicinity of diffuse hydrothermal venting
Authors: Meier Dimitri V. , Bach Wolfgang , Girguis Peter R. , Gruber‐Vodicka Harald R. , Reeves Eoghan P. , Richter Michael , Vidoudez Charles , Amann Rudolf , Meyerdierks Anke
Published: March 2016

Deep‐sea hydrothermal vents are highly dynamic habitats characterized by steep temperature and chemical gradients. The oxidation of reduced compounds dissolved in the venting fluids fuels primary production providing the basis for extensive life. Until recently studies of microbial vent communities have focused primarily on chemolithoautotrophic organisms. In our study, we targeted the change of microbial community compositions along mixing gradients, focusing on distribution and capabilities of heterotrophic microorganisms. Samples were retrieved from different venting areas within the Menez Gwen hydrothermal field, taken along mixing gradients, including diffuse fluid discharge points, their immediate surroundings and the buoyant parts of hydrothermal plumes. High throughput 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing, fluorescence in situ hybridization, and targeted metagenome analysis were combined with geochemical analyses. Close to diffuse venting orifices dominated by chemolithoautotrophic Epsilonproteobacteria, in areas where environmental conditions still supported chemolithoautotrophic processes, we detected microbial communities enriched for versatile heterotrophic Alpha‐ and Gammaproteobacteria. The potential for alkane degradation could be shown for several genera and yet uncultured clades. We propose that hotspots of chemolithoautotrophic life support a ‘belt’ of heterotrophic bacteria significantly different from the dominating oligotrophic microbiota of the deep sea.
Erotic Attachment, Identity Formation and the Body Politic: The Woman‐as‐nation in Canadian Graphic Satire, 1867–1914
Authors: Nielson Carmen J.
Published: March 2016

Using depictions of ‘Miss Canada’ in editorial cartoons and political campaign posters published in English Canada between 1867 and 1914 as a case study, this article argues that the repetitive deployment of feminised and eroticised images of the nation summoned particular gender, sexual and political identities into being and entangled viewers’ psychic investments in masculine, heterosexual and nationalist subjectivities. It also considers how Miss Canada's normative representation as white conflated racial whiteness and Canadian‐ness, and how images hailed viewers into racial subjectivities that were leashed to national identity. Rather than querying how or why the woman‐as‐nation trope elicited nationalist sentiment in an already‐constituted subject, this analysis examines how imagery provoked viewers’ identification with subject positions that were co‐constituted with nationalism. Impassioned and even violent nationalism becomes more comprehensible when we consider that the woman‐as‐nation was capable of producing attachments to national identity that, for some, were inseparable from and tantamount to psychic investments in gender, sexual and racial identities. While Canadian scholars have recognised that Miss Canada was a significant popular culture icon during the long nineteenth century and acknowledged this icon's embeddedness in gender, sexual and national discourses, studies have tended to describe Miss Canada's role in consolidating hegemonic ideologies and power relations and underestimate visual culture's constitutive capacities. The extent of Miss Canada's hetero‐erotic coding has also largely escaped historians’ notice. Although a few scholars have explored visual culture's role in Canadian national identity formation during this era, this study makes a unique contribution by foregrounding the productive work of popular imagery in co‐constituting and entwining national and sexual subjectivities.
The Company Owns the Mine but They Don't Own Us: Feminist Critiques of Capitalism in the Coalfields of Kentucky in the 1970s
Authors: Wilkerson Jessica
Published: March 2016

This article examines women's involvement in the Brookside Mine strike of 1974, which captivated US audiences and provided women with an unprecedented public platform to challenge the class and gender system undergirding coalfield capitalism. During the strike, female kin of miners in Harlan County, Kentucky, started a club to support striking miners and their families and to organise picket lines; they were joined by women from across the region and country. With the strike as their foundation these women generated a women's movement that revealed the specific ways class and gender inequality shaped their lives, defined by the heavy‐duty care work characteristic of the coalfields. This article argues that the Brookside women's support of striking miners was fundamentally about gendered class inequality: the denigration of working‐class, female caregivers alongside the devaluing of men's labour. Using collective memory and individual experience as their interpretive devices, the Brookside women forged a class‐conscious feminism. In it they exposed the traumas of coalfield capitalism, shone a light on women's unpaid care work (one of the foundations of corporate capitalism) and destabilised the gender and class hierarchies that defined coalfield communities.
‘A Reformer's Wife ought to be an Heroine’: Gender, Family and English Radicals Imprisoned under the Suspension of Habeas Corpus Act of 1817
Authors: NAVICKAS KATRINA
Published: March 2016

In 1817, the British government reacted to the rise of popular agitation for parliamentary reform by passing the Suspension of Habeas Corpus Act and arresting the leaders of the new working‐class radical societies. The imprisonment of these men was a severe blow to the democratic movement. Despite the recent revival of scholarly interest in early nineteenth‐century popular politics, historians have treated the events of 1817 as a brief interlude before the better‐known Peterloo Massacre of 1819. This article argues that the development of the post‐war democratic movement cannot be understood without examining the impact of the imprisonments on the radical leaders and their families. It analyses a previously unstudied series of letters confiscated from the radical prisoners and kept in the Home Office files. The correspondence demonstrates the essential role of letter‐writing within radical culture, and how radical thought and self‐expression were mediated through the pressures of both government surveillance and financial difficulty. This article secondly offers new evidence about the gender politics of radicalism in this period. It shows how women's experience of separation from their husbands, and male attitudes towards their role in 1817–18 crucially shaped the emergence of female radicalism in public for the first time in 1819.
BJOG Editor's Choice
Authors: Chien Patrick
Published: March 2016

Deputy Editor‐in‐Chief, Dr Patrick Chien, discusses his top articles from this issue in an audio podcast available https://soundcloud.com/bjog/april-editors-choice-2016
Organic‐ and Animal Welfare‐labelled Eggs: Competing for the Same Consumers?
Authors: Gerini Francesca , Alfnes Frode , Schjøll Alexander
Published: March 2016

To understand the market for sustainable foods, it is important to allow for heterogeneous preferences. However, most studies of consumer preferences for sustainable foods only investigate average consumer preferences. They do not take into account that some consumer segments attempt to purchase as much sustainable food as possible, others are almost indifferent to the notion of sustainable food, and still others consider sustainable food a complete hoax. The aim of this study is to explore the preferences for various types of premium eggs across three consumer segments. We conduct a choice experiment including 900 Norwegian consumers and perform a behavioural segmentation based on the frequency of organic food purchase. We find that the segment purchasing the most organic food is, as expected, willing to pay a significant premium for organic eggs over eggs displaying only enhanced animal welfare. However, most consumers, who only occasionally purchase organic products, are unwilling to pay more for organic eggs than for enhanced animal welfare eggs, suggesting diminishing marginal utility for additional attributes. We find that a third consumer segment attempts to avoid organic eggs, even when they cost the same as other eggs. Our findings suggest that organic products will be unsuccessful in acquiring a larger share of the market as long as most consumers are unwilling to pay a premium for organic products with all their cost increasing sustainable attributes over products that have only a single sustainable attribute, in our case enhanced animal welfare.
Curriculum Mapping: A Before‐and‐After Look at Faculty Perceptions of Their Courses and the Mapping Process
Authors: Joyner (Melito) Helen S.
Published: March 2016

The increased interest in program‐ and university‐level assessment over the past few decades has led to increased faculty involvement in developing program learning outcomes and performing program assessment activities. Depending on the level of support and encouragement faculty receive from administration and other entities, they may support or resist these activities. Faculty resistance may stem from fear of losing control of their course content, discouragement over previous failed assessment attempts, or confusion from inconsistent leadership. The School of Food Science, a joint program between the Washington State University and the University of Idaho, recently completed a curriculum mapping and assessment exercise that was conducted entirely by faculty. Faculty members teaching undergraduate courses were surveyed about their opinions of the mapping and assessment process both before and after the process was conducted. The goal of the surveys was to evaluate faculty opinion of these processes and how that opinion changed after completing the processes. Faculty members were generally supportive of the mapping and assessment processes, and willing to participate, and this opinion did not change after the processes were complete. The results of the mapping and assessment activities surprised most of the faculty, and they stated that they had ideas to address the issues found during the exercises. Overall, these results are encouraging in terms of faculty support of the mapping and assessment processes. Provided that administrative support of these processes continues and there is consistent leadership, faculty should continue to be supportive of program level assessment.
Ancestry Estimation in Forensic Anthropology: Geometric Morphometric versus Standard and Nonstandard Interlandmark Distances
Authors: Katherine Spradley M. , Jantz Richard L.
Published: March 2016

Standard cranial measurements are commonly used for ancestry estimation; however, 3D digitizers have made cranial landmark data collection and geometric morphometric (GM) analyses more popular within forensic anthropology. Yet there has been little focus on which data type works best. The goal of the present research is to test the discrimination ability of standard and nonstandard craniometric measurements and data derived from GM analysis. A total of 31 cranial landmarks were used to generate 465 interlandmark distances, including a subset of 20 commonly used measurements, and to generate principal component scores from procrustes coordinates. All were subjected to discriminant function analysis to ascertain which type of data performed best for ancestry estimation of American Black and White and Hispanic males and females. The nonstandard interlandmark distances generated the highest classification rates for females (90.5%) and males (88.2%). Using nonstandard interlandmark distances over more commonly used measurements leads to better ancestry estimates for our current population structure.
Left Diaphragm Laceration Due to Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation
Authors: Dupont Vincent , Rougé‐Maillart Clotilde , Gaudin Arnaud , Jeanneteau Audrey , Jousset Nathalie , Malbranque Stéphane
Published: March 2016

External cardiac massage is the essential life‐saving gesture for the management of any cardiac arrest. Since the 1960s, many recommendations have been published to improve the effectiveness of chest compressions alongside the development of automated systems intended to maximize the chances of survival. The use of these manual and/or instrumental techniques can cause secondary injuries, of which rib fractures are the most commonly observed by forensic pathologists. However, a comprehensive review of the literature seldom highlights reports of injuries to the abdomen, even less so to the diaphragm. In this observation, an iatrogenic left diaphragmatic laceration for the first time is described, as a result of manual and instrumental cardiopulmonary resuscitation, in a victim from an intrathoracic wound caused by a bladed weapon.
Evaluation of Virulence Factors and Antifungal Susceptibility in Yeast Isolates from Postmortem Specimens
Authors: Yagmur Gulhan , Sav Hafize , Ziyade Nihan , Elgormus Neval , Sen Sumeyye , Akkoyun Bilgi Esma , Atan Yusuf , Buyuk Yalcin , Kiraz Nuri
Published: March 2016

Invasive fungal infections are a leading cause of morbidity and mortality in immunocompromised patients, especially in cases requiring a prolonged stay in the intensive care unit. A total of 99 yeast strains were isolated from 42 postmortem cases. In this study, virulence factors and antifungal susceptibility of these species were evaluated. The isolates were identified as Candida albicans (54), C. tropicalis (15), C. glabrata (12), C. parapsilosis (6), C. lipolytica (3), C. utilis (3), C. krusei (2), C. kefyr (1), and Cryptococcus neoformans (3). The most commonly isolated species was C. albicans, and no resistant species were determined. Despite the equal number of specimens, no secretion of significant virulence factors was associated with the postmortem specimen in the Candida species. Postmortem fungal investigations in forensic autopsies are useful in explaining cause of death in such cases, also may lead to protocols for the treatment of fungal infections and contribute to fungal pathogenesis and epidemiological data.
Cinnamomum camphora Seed Kernel Oil Ameliorates Oxidative Stress and Inflammation in Diet‐Induced Obese Rats
Authors: Fu Jing , Zeng Cheng , Zeng Zheling , Wang Baogui , Gong Deming
Published: March 2016

Cinnamomum camphora seed kernel oil (CCSKO) was found to reduce body fat deposition and improve blood lipid in both healthy and obese rats. The study was aimed to investigate the antioxidative stress and anti‐inflammatory effects of CCSKO in high‐fat‐diet‐induced obese rats. The obese rats were treated with CCSKO, lard, and soybean oil, respectively, for 12 wk. The level of total antioxidant capacity (T‐AOC), activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione peroxidase, and catalase, and levels of malondialdehyde (MDA), tumor necrosis factor (TNF)‐α, peroxisome proliferator‐activated receptor (PPAR)‐γ, interleukin (IL)‐6, and P65 were compared among CCSKO, lard, and soybean oil groups. Our results showed that the level of T‐AOC and activities of SOD and catalase were significantly increased and the level of MDA was significantly decreased in CCSKO group. In addition, CCSKO treatment reduced the activities of serum glutamic oxaloacetic transaminase and glutamate‐pyruvate transaminase, and levels of serum TNF‐α, IL‐6, and P65 through raising the level of PPAR‐γ. In conclusion, CCSKO has, for the first time, been found to ameliorate oxidative stress and inflammation in high‐fat‐diet‐induced obese rats.
Development of a universal double‐digest RAD sequencing approach for a group of nonmodel, ecologically and economically important insect and fish taxa
Authors: Burford Reiskind M. O. , Coyle K. , Daniels H. V. , Labadie P. , Reiskind M. H. , Roberts N. B. , Roberts R. B. , Schaff J. , Vargo E. L.
Published: March 2016

The generation of genome‐scale data is critical for a wide range of questions in basic biology using model organisms, but also in questions of applied biology in nonmodel organisms (agriculture, natural resources, conservation and public health biology). Using a genome‐scale approach on a diverse group of nonmodel organisms and with the goal of lowering costs of the method, we modified a multiplexed, high‐throughput genomic scan technique utilizing two restriction enzymes. We analysed several pairs of restriction enzymes and completed double‐digestion RAD sequencing libraries for nine different species and five genera of insects and fish. We found one particular enzyme pair produced consistently higher number of sequence‐able fragments across all nine species. Building libraries off this enzyme pair, we found a range of usable SNPs between 4000 and 37 000 SNPS per species and we found a greater number of usable SNPs using reference genomes than de novo pipelines in STACKS. We also found fewer reads in the Read 2 fragments from the paired‐end Illumina Hiseq run. Overall, the results of this study provide empirical evidence of the utility of this method for producing consistent data for diverse nonmodel species and suggest specific considerations for sequencing analysis strategies.
Zero expiratory pressure and low oxygen concentration promote heterogeneity of regional ventilation and lung densities
Authors: Borges J. B. , Porra L. , Pellegrini M. , Tannoia A. , Derosa S. , Larsson A. , Bayat S. , Perchiazzi G. , Hedenstierna G.
Published: March 2016

Background

It is not well known what is the main mechanism causing lung heterogeneity in healthy lungs under mechanical ventilation. We aimed to investigate the mechanisms causing heterogeneity of regional ventilation and parenchymal densities in healthy lungs under anesthesia and mechanical ventilation.

Methods

In a small animal model, synchrotron imaging was used to measure lung aeration and regional‐specific ventilation (sV̇). Heterogeneity of ventilation was calculated as the coefficient of variation in sV̇ (CVsV̇). The coefficient of variation in lung densities (CVD) was calculated for all lung tissue, and within hyperinflated, normally and poorly aerated areas. Three conditions were studied: zero end‐expiratory pressure (ZEEP) and FIO2 0.21; ZEEP and FIO2 1.0; PEEP 12 cmH2O and FIO21.0 (Open Lung‐PEEP = OLP).

Results

The mean tissue density at OLP was lower than ZEEP‐1.0 and ZEEP‐0.21. There were larger subregions with low sV̇ and poor aeration at ZEEP‐0.21 than at OLP: 12.9 ± 9.0 vs. 0.6 ± 0.4% in the non‐dependent level, and 17.5 ± 8.2 vs. 0.4 ± 0.1% in the dependent one (P = 0.041). The CVsV̇ of the total imaged lung at PEEP 12 cmH2O was significantly lower than on ZEEP, regardless of FIO2, indicating more heterogeneity of ventilation during ZEEP (0.23 ± 0.03 vs. 0.54 ± 0.37, P = 0.049). CVD changed over the different mechanical ventilation settings (P = 0.011); predominantly, CVD increased during ZEEP. The spatial distribution of the CVD calculated for the poorly aerated density category changed with the mechanical ventilation settings, increasing in the dependent level during ZEEP.

Conclusion

ZEEP together with low FIO2 promoted heterogeneity of ventilation and lung tissue densities, fostering a greater amount of airway closure and ventilation inhomogeneities in poorly aerated regions.
Biology of two members of the Euwallacea fornicatus species complex (Coleoptera: Curculionidae: Scolytinae), recently invasive in the U.S.A., reared on an ambrosia beetle artificial diet
Authors: Cooperband Miriam F. , Stouthamer Richard , Carrillo Daniel , Eskalen Akif , Thibault Tim , Cossé Allard A. , Castrillo Louela A. , Vandenberg John D. , Rugman‐Jones Paul F.
Published: March 2016

Recent molecular studies have found that the ambrosia beetle Euwallacea fornicatus Eichhoff (Coleoptera: Curculionidae: Scolytinae) is a complex of cryptic species, each carrying a different species of symbiotic fungus, in the genus Fusarium, which they farm within galleries inside woody hosts. Several of these beetle species have become invasive pests around the world for attacking and infecting healthy trees with their phytopathogenic fungal symbionts.

Diet and rearing protocols were developed for two members of the E. fornicatus species complex, polyphagous shot hole borer (PSHB) and tea shot hole borer (TSHB), using sawdust from host trees, allowing collection of data on beetle biology, phenology and sex ratios. Adults developed within 22 days at 24 °C. Single PSHB or TSHB foundresses averaged 32.4 and 24.7 adult female offspring, respectively, and up to 57 and 68 female adults within 6–7 weeks. A strong predictor of the number of offspring in a colony was the number of entry holes. Average sex ratios (% male) for PSHB and TSHB, respectively, were 7.4% and 7.2%.

Being haplodiploid, virgin PSHB foundresses were able to produce and mate with male offspring, then subsequently produce female offspring, confirming that they have arrhenotokous reproduction.

A cold tolerance study found significant mortality rates among PSHB colonies exposed to −5° or −1 °C but not colonies exposed to 0°, 1° or 5 °C.

Given Hamilton's local mate competition (LMC) theory, a number of LMC predictions were violated. PSHB sex ratios were not affected by the number of foundresses; approximately 14% of broods did not contain males; males did not usually eclose before females but eclosed around the same time (22–23 days); and PSHB males were found walking outside of their natal galleries on the trunk of a heavily infested tree in the field. Alternatives to LMC are considered, such as early forms of sociality (maternal care, cooperative brood care), local resource enhancement and kin selection.
Importance of Genetic Studies in Consanguineous Populations for the Characterization of Novel Human Gene Functions
Authors: Erzurumluoglu A. Mesut , Shihab Hashem A. , Rodriguez Santiago , Gaunt Tom R. , Day Ian N.M.
Published: March 2016

Consanguineous offspring have elevated levels of homozygosity. Autozygous stretches within their genome are likely to harbour loss of function (LoF) mutations which will lead to complete inactivation or dysfunction of genes. Studying consanguineous offspring with clinical phenotypes has been very useful for identifying disease causal mutations. However, at present, most of the genes in the human genome have no disorder associated with them or have unknown function. This is presumably mostly due to the fact that homozygous LoF variants are not observed in outbred populations which are the main focus of large sequencing projects. However, another reason may be that many genes in the genome—even when completely “knocked out,” do not cause a distinct or defined phenotype. Here, we discuss the benefits and implications of studying consanguineous populations, as opposed to the traditional approach of analysing a subset of consanguineous families or individuals with disease. We suggest that studying consanguineous populations “as a whole” can speed up the characterisation of novel gene functions as well as indicating nonessential genes and/or regions in the human genome. We also suggest designing a single nucleotide variant (SNV) array to make the process more efficient.
Hormone receptor positive, HER2 negative metastatic breast cancer: A systematic review of the current treatment landscape
Authors: BEITH Jane , BURSLEM Katie , BELL Richard , WOODWARD Natasha , MCCARTHY Nicole , DE BOER Richard , LOI Sherene , REDFERN Andrew
Published: March 2016

Endocrine therapy for the treatment of hormone receptor positive, HER2 negative, metastatic breast cancer is continually evolving. We systematically reviewed phase 2 and 3 randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of agents used in this setting to assess the effectiveness and safety of these agents for postmenopausal women. Across the 32 studies in more than 10 000 patients, the greatest improvement in progression‐free survival (PFS) was seen with the addition of a cyclin‐dependent kinase (CDK)4/6 inhibitor to standard endocrine therapy. Treatment with a mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) inhibitor, phosphoinositol‐3‐kinase (Pi3K) inhibitor, vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) inhibitor and with a selective estrogen receptor degrader (SERD) also showed benefit in PFS for selected trials. Overall survival (OS) improved with the use of mTOR inhibitors and a SERD; however, studies were not powered for an OS endpoint. Encouraging results from early studies of histone deacetylase (HDAC) and B‐cell lymphoma (BCL2) inhibitors are yet to be confirmed in phase III clinical trials. Study discontinuation rates and toxicity‐related deaths were highest with VEGF inhibitors in combination with endocrine therapy, limiting their use in hormone receptor positive breast cancer. CDK4/6 inhibitors and mTOR inhibitors appeared to have activity in both first and second line settings, but required additional monitoring for common toxicities. The activity of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) tyrosine kinase inhibitors was limited to the first‐line setting and treatment discontinuation rates were higher than with mTOR inhibitors and SERDs. Overall, PFS benefit appears to be greatest when agents acting on CDK4/6, mTOR and Pi3K pathways, and SERDs are added to standard endocrine therapy. If these early results persist in further studies, these data are likely to change the way we treat hormone receptor positive, HER2 negative metastatic breast cancer. In the follow‐up article to this review, we will consider the potential future treatment options for these patients.