bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Kalanchoe (Crassulaceae) as invasive aliens in China – new records, and actual and potential distribution
Authors: Wang Zhi‐Qiang , Guillot Daniel , Ren Ming‐Xun , López‐Pujol Jordi
Published: March 2016

Kalanchoe daigremontiana and K. delagoensis are reported for the first time from Sichuan and Hainan, China. For K. daigremontiana, a new population located in Chengdu downtown has been found, being the first one in western China and thus representing a significant range extension of this species within the country. For K. delagoensis, a new population has been observed in the Old Quarter of Haikou, being the southernmost population of this species in China. The distribution areas of both species in China are summarized based on a review of the literature, as well as that of their putative hybrid, K. × houghtonii. In addition, the potential range of K. delagoensis is estimated through a niche‐based modelling approach. Finally, a key to taxa of Kalanchoe in China is provided.
Modified CADF and CIPS Panel Unit Root Statistics with Standard Chi‐squared and Normal Limiting Distributions
Authors: Westerlund Joakim , Hosseinkouchack Mehdi
Published: March 2016

In an influential paper Pesaran (‘A simple panel unit root test in presence of cross‐section dependence’, Journal of Applied Econometrics, Vol. 22, pp. 265–312, 2007) proposes two unit root tests for panels with a common factor structure. These are the CADF and CIPS test statistics, which are amongst the most popular test statistics in the literature. One feature of these statistics is that their limiting distributions are highly non‐standard, making for relatively complicated implementation. In this paper, we take this feature as our starting point to develop modified CADF and CIPS test statistics that support standard chi‐squared and normal inference.
Biomechanical potential of the temporal muscle in brachyfacial and dolichofacial subjects: a study on dry mandibles
Authors: Marques H. B. , Richter F. F. , Heck L. , Xavier L. L. , de Campos D.
Published: March 2016

Structured Abstract

Objectives

To measure the lengths of the force and resistance arms, in order to calculate the mechanical advantage and muscular work of the human temporalis muscle (TM) in brachyfacial (BR) and dolichofacial (DO) subjects.

Setting and Sample Population

Mandibles from 49 subjects of both genders (BR n = 9; DO n = 40) from the collection of the Laboratory of Human Anatomy at Universidade de Santa Cruz do Sul, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, were analyzed.

Material and Methods

The distance between the condylar process and the coronoid process (insertion site of the TM) represented the length of the force arm (LFA) of the TM. The distance between the condylar process and the mental protuberance represented the length of the resistance arm (LRA). Thus, the mechanical advantage of the TM was obtained using the following ratio: LFA/LRA, while the muscular work (LRA/LFA) of the TM was obtained using the inverse of this ratio.

Results

When compared with the DO, the parameters of the BR are significantly greater, as shown by the LFA (6.0%) and mechanical advantage (8.2%; p = 0.0078). By contrast, our results show that in the DO, the LRA was 2.4% longer and the muscular work was 10.4% greater (p = 0.0087).

Conclusion

The mechanical advantage of the TM in BR subjects is significantly greater than in DO subjects. Moreover, this greater mechanical advantage may explain, at least in part, the higher incidence of temporomandibular dysfunctions in BR subjects.
Saccoglossus testa from the Mazon Creek fauna (Pennsylvanian of Illinois) and the evolution of acorn worms (Enteropneusta: Hemichordata)
Authors: Cameron Christopher B.
Published: March 2016

The limited fossil record of enteropneust hemichordates (acorn worms) and the few external features that distinguish the four families have provided a challenge to our understanding of the evolution of the group and their various feeding adaptations. The middle Pennsylvanian Saccoglossus testa sp. nov. from the Mazon Creek, Westfalian D Carbonate Formation, Francis Creek Shale of northern Illinois provides evidence for the exploitation of surface sediments. Saccoglossus testa has a long proboscis characteristic of the extant genus Saccoglossus, a specialist in surface deposit feeding. The collar is as long as it is wide. The anterior trunk lacks a distinctively wide branchial region. These three features distinguish it from its sympatric enteropneust species Mazoglossus ramsdelli Bardack that has a proboscis characteristic of an infaunal deposit feeder. It is the seventh known species of fossil enteropneust, including a resting trace of a Lower Triassic fossil that has collar lips that characterize the extant deep‐sea family Torquaratoridae, and which represents a second parallel evolution of surface deposit feeding. An analysis of the seven fossils shows that the earliest Enteropneusta had a relatively simple harrimaniid‐like body plan, and that the spengelid, the torquaratorid and lastly the most complex ptychoderid body plan appeared in that chronological order.
An Orchestra of Civil Resistance: Privilege, Diversity, and Identification Among Cross‐Border Activists in a Palestinian Village
Authors: Hackl Andreas
Published: March 2016

Fluctuating forms of diversity have evolved as a result of cross‐border interventions by civil resistance activists. Such diversity is nurtured by the inflows and outflows of individuals form very different backgrounds on a local stage of action. Discussing civil resistance as an arena in which such fluctuating diversity produces multilayered patterns of identification, this paper looks at Israeli and international activists who interject themselves temporarily into the local sphere of civil resistance in a Palestinian village. Here, solidarity activists form a highly diverse and shifting assemblage of actors who divide among themselves according to power‐related ascriptions and privileges. As in a musical orchestra, individual activists and groups of activists each follow their own “score,” but align their distinct functions with one another to wage a struggle collectively. Within this orchestra of civil resistance, diversity is not the obstacle to collective action but its very basis.
The CO Photodissociation and Recombination Dynamics of the W172Y/F282T Ligand Channel Mutant of Rhodobacter sphaeroides aa3 Cytochrome c Oxidase
Authors: Cassano Jennifer A. , Choi Sylvia K. , McDonald William , Szundi Istvan , Villa Gawboy Terra R. , Gennis Robert B. , Einarsdóttir Ólöf
Published: March 2016

In the ligand channel of the cytochrome c oxidase from Rhodobacter sphaeroides (Rs aa3) W172 and F282 have been proposed to generate a constriction that may slow ligand access to and from the active site. To explore this issue, the tryptophan and phenylalanine residues in Rs aa3 were mutated to the less bulky tyrosine and threonine residues, respectively, which occupy these sites in Thermus thermophilus (Tt) ba3 cytochrome oxidase. The CO photolysis and recombination dynamics of the reduced wild‐type Rs aa3 and the W172Y/F282T mutant were investigated using time‐resolved optical absorption spectroscopy. The spectral changes associated with the multiple processes are attributed to different conformers. The major CO recombination process (44 μs) in the W172Y/F282T mutant is ~500 times faster than the predominant CO recombination process in the wild‐type enzyme (~23 ms). Classical dynamic simulations of the wild‐type enzyme and double mutant showed significant structural changes at the active site in the mutant, including movement of the heme a3 ring‐D propionate toward CuB and reduced binuclear center cavity volume. These structural changes effectively close the ligand exit pathway from the binuclear center, providing a basis for the faster CO recombination in the double mutant.
Noble Gas and Stable Isotopic Constraints on the Origin of the Ag–Cu Polymetallic Ore Deposits in the Baiyangping Area, Yunnan Province, SW China
Authors: Zou Zhichao , Hu Ruizhong , Bi Xianwu , Wu Liyan , Zhang Jinrang , Tang Yongyong , Li Na
Published: March 2016

The Lanping basin, Yunnan province, SW China, is located at the juncture of the Eurasian and Indian Plates in the eastern part of the Tibetan Plateau. The Lanping basin, in the Sanjiang Tethyan metallogenic province, is a significant Cu–Ag–Zn–Pb mineralized belt in China that includes the largest sandstone‐hosted Zn–Pb deposit in the world, the Jinding deposit, as well as several Ag–Cu deposits (the Baiyangping and Jinman deposits). These deposits, with total reserves of over 16.0 Mt Pb + Zn, 0.6 Mt Cu, and 7,000 t Ag, are mainly hosted in Meso‐Cenozoic clastic rocks and are dominantly controlled by two Cenozoic thrust systems developed in the western and eastern segments of the basin.

The Baiyangping, Babaoshan, and Hetaoqing ore deposits are representative of the epithermal base metal deposits in the Lanping basin. The microthermometric data show that the ore‐forming fluids for these deposits were low temperature (110–180 °C) and had bimodal distribution of salinity at moderate and mid to high salinities (approximately 2–8 wt.% and 18–26 wt.% NaCl equivalent). The C and O isotope data indicate that the ore‐forming fluids were related to hot basin brines. We present new He and Ar isotope data on volatiles released from fluid inclusions contained in sulfides and in barite in these three deposits. 3He/4He ratios of the ore‐forming fluids are 0.01 to 0.14 R/Ra with a mean of 0.07 Ra (where R is the 3He/4He ratio and Ra is the ratio for atmospheric helium). This mean value is intermediate to typical 3He/4He ratios for the crust (R/Ra = 0.01 to 0.05) and the ratio for air‐saturated water (R/Ra = 1). The mean ratio is also significantly lower than the ratios found for mantle‐derived fluids (R/Ra = 6 to 9). The 40Ar/36Ar ratios of the ore‐forming fluids range from 298 to 382 with a mean of 323. This value is slightly higher than that for the air‐saturated water (295.5). The 3He/4He ratios of fluids from the fluid inclusions imply that the ore‐forming fluid for the Baiyangping, Babaoshan, and Hetaoqing deposits was derived from the crust and that any mantle‐derived He was negligible. The content of the radiogenic Ar ranges between 0.2 to 20.4%, and the proportion of air‐derived 40Ar averages 94.1%. This indicates that atmospheric Ar was important in the formation of these deposits but that some radiogenic 40Ar was derived from crustal rocks. Based on these observations coupled with other geochemical evidence, we suggest that the ore‐forming fluids responsible for the formation of the Ag–Cu–Pb–Zn polymetallic ore deposits in the Baiyangping area of the Lanping basin were mainly derived from crustal fluids. The fluids may have mixed with some amount of air‐saturated water, but there was no significant involvement of mantle‐derived fluids.
“The Art of Penultimate Truth”: Dmitrii Prigov's Aesthetic Principles
Authors: LIPOVETSKY MARK , KUKULIN ILYA
Published: March 2016

The article discusses the corpus of Dmtri Prigov's manifestoes, articles, and programmatic interviews as a manifestation of a coherent theoretical concept. The author of the article argues that Prigov's theoretical ideas are structured in accordance with his own central artistic category–for which, oddly enough, he did not have a common name. The author refers to this category as performativity, although Prigov himself did not use this word, preferring to discuss the behavioral level, operational modes, characters, images (imidzhi), and so on. Performativity, in this interpretation, permeates the totality of an artistic practice, without exception. Texts, paintings, installations, actual performances, and any public utterance‐interviews, for example‐become “traces” of performative behavior. It is along these lines that one can speak about the performative life of the contemporary author, about the “behavior that is to be found within a non‐playful art form, in which the typical type of conventional professional language does not imply (or rather, until the relevant time period, did not imply) the appearance of the creator, who by his presence relativizes the very value, durability, uniqueness, and self‐sufficiency of the language of the objects he made.” It is from this perspective that the author discusses the overarching meaning of Prigov's oeuvre as the grandiose mockery of societal cultural practices rather than a collection of self‐sufficient works. This approach also elucidates Prigov's programmatic self‐modeling as the trickster who can only fulfill the performative as the central category of contemporary culture.
Prigov and the Gesamtkunstwerk
Authors: DOBRENKO EVGENY
Published: March 2016

This article discusses the relation of Prigov's cultural project to a concept of the Gesamtkunstwerk, the total work of art. It is not only notable that Prigov was simultaneously a poet, a painter, a sculptor, a performance artist, and a theoretician (and it is hard to say which of these roles he identified most strongly with), but that he also experimented with all possible materials, forms, genres, and types of art. Also remarkable is that openness and intersections are manifest in all his work: text in painting, a visual quality and theatricality in text, text as a score for performance (of the alphabet), philosophizing as an artistic text (premonitions), and so forth. The author traces the transformation of Wagner's concept from its reception in the Silver Age, to its appropriation by Socialist Realism, and finally to Prigov's ultimate vision of it. The article analyzes two main directions of transformations of the Gesamtkunstwerk in Prigov's oeuvre. Firstly, although Gesamtkunstwerk as an idea of shaped formlessness became irrelevant with the loss of traditional conventions and the crisis of modernist strategies of subversion, its practices, since it was itself the product of a modernist breakthrough, proved themselves to be extraordinarily fruitful. One can easily find those very same structural elements in Prigov's texts and visual works, where functionally they are completely reinvented and form part of a completely different–“de‐totalizing”–aesthetic strategy. Secondly, the transformations of Wagnerian mythology became the only possible realization of the totalitarian romantic utopia in contemporary mass society. Prigov took up the idea of the total work of art after the collapse of the utopia, completing the ruins and reconstructing them into an almost “intact” state. But the main thing is that he constructed his total work of art, not from different arts, but from a single subject–Dmitrii Aleksandrovich Prigov. He did not create a synthesis of the arts, but rather a personality synthesis, by carrying out an experiment in the creation of a total work of art after the experience of modernism. Accordingly, we should regard Prigov's texts not only as an new ideological construct that both defamiliarizes and makes explicit (thereby exposing the totalitarian aspirations of language and ideology), but also as the product of a unique experiment on himself, laying the headstone for not only the totalitarian utopia but also for its creator, the artist‐visionary.
The Persecution of Ethnic Germans in the USSR during World War II
Authors: POHL J. OTTO
Published: March 2016

The ethnic Germans were the single largest and one of the oldest diaspora groups in the USSR connected to a foreign state. During the Second World War the Soviet government forcibly resettled the German communities living in territory it controlled west of the Urals to Kazakhstan and Siberia. It placed these internal deportees under special settlement restrictions which greatly limited their freedom of movement and choice of residency. The NKVD counted, registered, and instituted a system of surveillance over the special settlers to prevent them from moving from their assigned places of resettlement. This in turn greatly constrained their options regarding education and employment. Initially almost all of the deportees including urban populations from Engles and other cities found themselves settled on kolkhozes and sovkhozes and assigned to unfamiliar agricultural work. The failure to integrate these men and women into productive agricultural work on the kolkhozes led to widespread unemployment, lack of work days, and subsequently severe food shortages. The Soviet solution to integrating them into the economy was to again move them and assign them to extractive enterprises. This took two forms. The first was a second deportation of tens of thousands of ethnic Germans to Siberia northward to work in the fishing industry. These men, women, and children remained special settlers. The second form was the mobilization of ethnic German men and later women into the labor army to work building factories, felling trees, and laying rail lines in NKVD camps, and mining coal, extracting oil, and manufacturing munitions for civilian commissariats under UNKVD supervision. The restrictions on the men and women in the labor army which ultimately comprised over a quarter of all ethnic Germans in the USSR were even more onerous than the special settlement regime and closely resembled the situation of convicted Gulag prisoners. The Stalin regime's policy towards its ethnic German citizens during World War II involved ethnic cleansing, the imposition of apartheid like residency restrictions, and their mass conscription into forced labor detachments.
HLA‐C*06:04:02 a novel HLA‐C allele isolated from donors of Southern African descent
Authors: Shepherd B. L. , Ferrand R. , Rowland‐Jones S. , Yindom L.‐M.
Published: March 2016

HLA‐C*06:04:02 allele differs from HLA‐C*06:02:01:01 with two nucleotide substitutions in exon 3 and 3′ untranslated region (UTR_.
HLA‐C*07:486, a novel HLA‐C*07 variant, detected in a Taiwanese individual
Authors: Yang K. L. , Hung J. H. , Lin P. Y.
Published: March 2016

One nucleotide exchange at residue 812 of the HLA‐C*07:02:01:01 results in a novel allele, HLA‐C*07:486.
Clinical presentation, treatment and outcome in 31 dogs with presumed primary colorectal lymphoma (2001–2013)
Authors: Desmas I. , Burton J. H. , Post G. , Kristal O. , Gauthier M. , Borrego J. F. , Di Bella A. , Lara‐Garcia A.
Published: March 2016

The objective of this multicentre retrospective study was to describe clinical presentation, treatment and outcome and to determine prognostic factors for dogs with presumed primary colorectal lymphoma (PCRL). A total of 31 dogs were included. The predominant features of PCRL were high grade (n = 18) and immunophenotype B (n = 24). Most dogs were substage b (n = 25) with higher prevalence of haematochezia (n = 20). One dog had surgery only. Thirty dogs received chemotherapy; amongst them 13 had surgery or radiotherapy. Progression free survival (PFS) was 1318 days and disease‐related median survival time (MST) was 1845 days. Fourteen dogs were alive at the end of the study with a median follow‐up time of 684 days (3–4678 days). Younger dogs had longer PFS (P = 0.031) and disease‐related MST (P = 0.01). Presence of haematochezia corresponded with longer PFS (P = 0.02). Addition of local treatment to chemotherapy did not significantly improve the outcome (P = 0.584). Canine PCRL has considerably longer PFS and MST than other forms of non‐Hodgkin's lymphoma.
The Development and Change of Brand Associations and Their Influence on Team Loyalty Over Time
Authors: Kunkel Thilo , Doyle Jason P. , Funk Daniel C. , Du James , McDonald Heath
Published: March 2016

The importance of team brand associations in sport management research is well documented, but the formation and stability of these associations has not been investigated. The current research tested the development, change, and predictive ability of brand associations over time. Longitudinal quantitative data were collected from consumers of a new Australian Football League (AFL) team (N = 169) at 3 points in time. One-sample t-tests revealed that brand associations had developed through marketing communications and the launch of the team before the team had played its first AFL game. Repeated-measures multivariate analysis of variance and latent growth modeling showed that brand associations changed over time, reflecting consumers’ experiences with the team. A cross-lagged panel model highlighted that brand associations influenced consumer loyalty in the future. Consequently, sport managers are provided with insights on the development of and change in brand associations that new consumers link with sport teams.
On-demand continuous-flow production of pharmaceuticals in a compact, reconfigurable system
Authors: Adamo Andrea , Beingessner Rachel L. , Behnam Mohsen , Chen Jie , Jamison Timothy F. , Jensen Klavs F. , Monbaliu Jean-Christophe M. , Myerson Allan S. , Revalor Eve M. , Snead David R. , Stelzer Torsten , Weeranoppanant Nopphon , Wong Shin Yee , Zhang Ping
Published: March 2016

Drug manufacturing in a fridge-sized box

Commodity chemicals tend to be manufactured in a continuous fashion. However, the preparation of pharmaceuticals still proceeds batch by batch, partly on account of the complexity of their molecular structures. Adamo
et al.
now present an apparatus roughly the size of a household refrigerator that can synthesize and purify pharmaceuticals under continuous-flow conditions (see the Perspective by Martin). The integrated set of modules can produce hundreds to thousands of accumulated doses in a day, delivered in aqueous solution.

Science
, this issue p.
61
; see also p.
44
Nursing the oocyte
Authors: Pepling Melissa E.
Published: March 2016

Mammalian egg cells receive material from neighboring “nurse” cells via bridges and gaps

[Also see Report by
Lei and Spradling
]
Pertussis: Microbiology, Disease, Treatment, and Prevention
Authors: Kilgore Paul E. , Salim Abdulbaset M. , Zervos Marcus J. , Schmitt Heinz-Josef
Published: March 2016

Pertussis is a severe respiratory infection caused byBordetella pertussis, and in 2008, pertussis was associated with an estimated 16 million cases and 195,000 deaths globally. Sizeable outbreaks of pertussis have been reported over the past 5 years, and disease reemergence has been the focus of international attention to develop a deeper understanding of pathogen virulence and genetic evolution ofB. pertussisstrains. During the past 20 years, the scientific community has recognized pertussis among adults as well as infants and children. Increased recognition that older children and adolescents are at risk for disease and may transmitB. pertussisto younger siblings has underscored the need to better understand the role of innate, humoral, and cell-mediated immunity, including the role of waning immunity. Although recognition of adult pertussis has increased in tandem with a better understanding ofB. pertussispathogenesis, pertussis in neonates and adults can manifest with atypical clinical presentations. Such disease patterns make pertussis recognition difficult and lead to delays in treatment. Ongoing research using newer tools for molecular analysis holds promise for improved understanding of pertussis epidemiology, bacterial pathogenesis, bioinformatics, and immunology. Together, these advances provide a foundation for the development of new-generation diagnostics, therapeutics, and vaccines.
The Point-of-Care Laboratory in Clinical Microbiology
Authors: Drancourt Michel , Michel-Lepage Audrey , Boyer Sylvie , Raoult Didier
Published: March 2016

Point-of-care (POC) laboratories that deliver rapid diagnoses of infectious diseases were invented to balance the centralization of core laboratories. POC laboratories operate 24 h a day and 7 days a week to provide diagnoses within 2 h, largely based on immunochromatography and real-time PCR tests. In our experience, these tests are conveniently combined into syndrome-based kits that facilitate sampling, including self-sampling and test operations, as POC laboratories can be operated by trained operators who are not necessarily biologists. POC laboratories are a way of easily providing clinical microbiology testing for populations distant from laboratories in developing and developed countries and on ships. Modern Internet connections enable support from core laboratories. The cost-effectiveness of POC laboratories has been established for the rapid diagnosis of tuberculosis and sexually transmitted infections in both developed and developing countries.
Age at Vaccination and Timing of Infection Do Not Alter Vaccine-Associated Enhanced Respiratory Disease in Influenza A Virus-Infected Pigs
Authors: Souza Carine K. , Rajão Daniela S. , Loving Crystal L. , Gauger Phillip C. , Pérez Daniel R. , Vincent Amy L.
Published: March 2016

Whole inactivated virus (WIV) vaccines are widely used in the swine industry to reduce clinical disease against homologous influenza A virus (IAV) infection. In pigs experimentally challenged with antigenically distinct heterologous IAV of the same hemagglutinin subtype, WIV vaccinates have been shown to develop vaccine-associated enhanced respiratory disease (VAERD). We evaluated the impact of vaccine valency, age at vaccination, and duration between vaccination and challenge on the development of VAERD using vaccine containing δ1-H1N2 and challenge with pandemic H1N1 (pH1N1) virus. Pigs were vaccinated with monovalent WIV MN08 (δ1-H1N2) and bivalent (δ1-H1N2–H3N2 or δ1-H1N2–pH1N1) vaccines and then were challenged with pH1N1 at 3 weeks postboost (wpb). Another group was vaccinated with the same monovalent WIV and challenged at 6 wpb to determine if the time postvaccination plays a role in the development of VAERD. In a follow-up study, the impact of age of first WIV vaccination (at 4 versus 9 weeks of age) with a boost 3 weeks later (at 7 versus 12 weeks of age) was evaluated. A monovalent live-attenuated influenza virus (LAIV) vaccine administered at 4 and 7 weeks of age was also included. All mismatched WIV groups had significantly higher lung lesions than the LAIV, bivalent MN08-CA09, and control groups. Age of first vaccination or length of time between booster dose and subsequent challenge did not alter the development of VAERD in WIV-vaccinated pigs. Importantly, the mismatched component of the bivalent MN08-CA09 WIV did not override the protective effect of the matched vaccine component.
GenoType NTM-DR for Identifying Mycobacterium abscessus Subspecies and Determining Molecular Resistance
Authors: Kehrmann Jan , Kurt Nermin , Rueger Kai , Bange Franz-Christoph , Buer Jan
Published: March 2016

We studied the performance of a new line probe assay for identifying the subspecies and determining the macrolide and aminoglycoside resistance levels of 50
Mycobacterium abscessus
isolates. Agreement of GenoType NTM-DR results with sequencing and phenotypic resistance results was 92% for subspecies identification and 98% for determining molecular and phenotypic resistance.
Detection of the Emerging Picornavirus Senecavirus A in Pigs, Mice, and Houseflies
Authors: Joshi Lok R. , Mohr Kristin A. , Clement Travis , Hain Kyle S. , Myers Bryan , Yaros Joseph , Nelson Eric A. , Christopher-Hennings Jane , Gava Danielle , Schaefer Rejane , Caron Luizinho , Dee Scott , Diel Diego G.
Published: March 2016

Senecavirus A (SVA) is an emerging picornavirus that has been recently associated with an increased number of outbreaks of vesicular disease and neonatal mortality in swine. Many aspects of SVA infection biology and epidemiology remain unknown. Here, we present a diagnostic investigation conducted in swine herds affected by vesicular disease and increased neonatal mortality. Clinical and environmental samples were collected from affected and unaffected herds and were screened for the presence of SVA by real-time reverse transcriptase PCR and virus isolation. Notably, SVA was detected and isolated from vesicular lesions and tissues of affected pigs, environmental samples, mouse feces, and mouse small intestine. SVA nucleic acid was also detected in houseflies collected from affected farms and from a farm with no history of vesicular disease. Detection of SVA in mice and housefly samples and recovery of viable virus from mouse feces and small intestine suggest that these pests may play a role on the epidemiology of SVA. These results provide important information that may allow the development of improved prevention and control strategies for SVA.
Trimer Enhancement Mutation Effects on HIV-1 Matrix Protein Binding Activities
Authors: Alfadhli Ayna , Mack Andrew , Ritchie Christopher , Cylinder Isabel , Harper Logan , Tedbury Philip R. , Freed Eric O. , Barklis Eric
Published: March 2016

The HIV-1 matrix (MA) protein is the amino-terminal domain of the HIV-1 precursor Gag (Pr55Gag) protein. MA binds to membranes and RNAs, helps transport Pr55Gag proteins to virus assembly sites at the plasma membranes of infected cells, and facilitates the incorporation of HIV-1 envelope (Env) proteins into virions by virtue of an interaction with the Env protein cytoplasmic tails (CTs). MA has been shown to crystallize as a trimer and to organize on membranes in hexamer lattices. MA mutations that localize to residues near the ends of trimer spokes have been observed to impair Env protein assembly into virus particles, and several of these are suppressed by the 62QR mutation at the hubs of trimer interfaces. We have examined the binding activities of wild-type (WT) MA and 62QR MA variants and found that the 62QR mutation stabilized MA trimers but did not alter the way MA proteins organized on membranes. Relative to WT MA, the 62QR protein showed small effects on membrane and RNA binding. However, 62QR proteins bound significantly better to Env CTs than their WT counterparts, and CT binding efficiencies correlated with trimerization efficiencies. Our data suggest a model in which multivalent binding of trimeric HIV-1 Env proteins to MA trimers contributes to the process of Env virion incorporation.

IMPORTANCE
The HIV-1 Env proteins assemble as trimers, and incorporation of the proteins into virus particles requires an interaction of Env CT domains with the MA domains of the viral precursor Gag proteins. Despite this knowledge, little is known about the mechanisms by which MA facilitates the virion incorporation of Env proteins. To help elucidate this process, we examined the binding activities of an MA mutant that stabilizes MA trimers. We found that the mutant proteins organized similarly to WT proteins on membranes, and that mutant and WT proteins revealed only slight differences in their binding to RNAs or lipids. However, the mutant proteins showed better binding to Env CTs than the WT proteins, and CT binding correlated with MA trimerization. Our results suggest that multivalent binding of trimeric HIV-1 Env proteins to MA trimers contributes to the process of Env virion incorporation.
Short Intracellular HIV-1 Transcripts as Biomarkers of Residual Immune Activation in Patients on Antiretroviral Therapy
Authors: Ishizaka Aya , Sato Hidenori , Nakamura Hitomi , Koga Michiko , Kikuchi Tadashi , Hosoya Noriaki , Koibuchi Tomohiko , Nomoto Akio , Kawana-Tachikawa Ai , Mizutani Taketoshi
Published: March 2016

HIV-1 patients continue to remain at an abnormal immune status despite prolonged combination antiretroviral therapy (cART), which results in an increased risk of non-AIDS-related diseases. Given the growing recognition of the importance of understanding and controlling the residual virus in patients, additional virological markers to monitor infected cells are required. However, viral replication in circulating cells is much poorer than that in lymph nodes, which results in the absence of markers to distinguish these cells from uninfected cells in the blood. In this study, we identified prematurely terminated short HIV-1 transcripts (STs) in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) as an efficient intracellular biomarker to monitor viral activation and immune status in patients with cART-mediated full viral suppression in plasma. STs were detected in PBMCs obtained from both treated and untreated patients. ST levels in untreated patients generally increased with disease progression and decreased after treatment initiation. However, some patients exhibited sustained high levels of ST and low CD4+cell counts despite full viral suppression by treatment. The levels of STs strongly reflected chronic immune activation defined by coexpression of HLA-DR and CD38 on CD8+T cells, rather than circulating proviral load. These observations represent evidence for a relationship between viral persistence and host immune activation, which in turn results in the suboptimal increase in CD4+cells despite suppressive antiretroviral therapy. This cell-based measurement of viral persistence contributes to an improved understanding of the dynamics of viral persistence in cART patients and will guide therapeutic approaches targeting viral reservoirs.

IMPORTANCECombination antiretroviral therapy (cART) suppresses HIV-1 load to below the detectable limit in plasma. However, the virus persists, and patients remain at an abnormal immune status, which results in an increased risk of non-AIDS-related complications. To achieve a functional cure for HIV-1 infection, activities of viral reservoirs must be quantified and monitored. However, latently infected cells are difficult to be monitored. Here, we identified prematurely terminated short HIV-1 transcripts (STs) as an efficient biomarker for monitoring viral activation and immune status in patients with cART-mediated full viral suppression in plasma. This cell-based measurement of viral persistence will contribute to our understanding of the impact of residual virus on chronic immune activation in HIV-1 patients during cART.
Mimicker of necrotising fasciitis with systemic inflammatory response syndrome: recurrent necrotising Sweet's syndrome associated with chronic myelogenous leukaemia
Authors: Nakanishi Kensuke , Kinjo Mitsuyo
Published: March 2016

A 73-year-old man presented with severe right upper quadrant abdominal pain, overlying erythema, hypotension and fever. CT scan revealed fasciitis and myositis of the right rectus abdominis muscle with subcutaneous inflammation involving the fasciae and muscle. Laboratory studies showed extreme leucocytosis. The combination of his symptoms, CT findings and laboratory results suggested necrotising fasciitis with systemic inflammatory response syndrome. Subsequent negative cultures on skin and muscle biopsy led to a diagnosis of necrotising neutrophilic panniculitis. Recurrent episodes of fever, and abdominal and buttocks pain at various sites, suggested an underlying haematological condition. Bone marrow biopsy and genetic analysis revealed chronic myelogenous leukaemia. The patient's symptoms of Sweet's syndrome resolved with glucocorticoid treatment and did not recur after starting treatment with a tyrosine kinase inhibitor.
Effects of prehospital hypothermia on transfusion requirements and outcomes: a retrospective observatory trial
Authors: Klauke Nora , Gräff Ingo , Fleischer Andreas , Boehm Olaf , Guttenthaler Vera , Baumgarten Georg , Meybohm Patrick , Wittmann Maria
Published: March 2016

Objectives

Prehospital hypothermia is defined as a core temperature <36.0°C and has been shown to be an independent risk factor for early death in patients with trauma. In a retrospective study, a possible correlation between the body temperature at the time of admission to the emergency room and subsequent in-hospital transfusion requirements and the in-hospital mortality rate was explored.

Setting

This is a retrospective single-centre study at a primary care hospital in Germany.

Participants

15 895 patients were included in this study. Patients were classified by admission temperature and transfusion rate. Excluded were ambulant patients and patients with missing data.

Primary and secondary outcome measures

The primary outcome values were length of stay (LOS) in days, in-hospital mortality, the transferred amount of packed red blood cells (PRBCs), and admission to an intensive care unit. Secondary influencing variables were the patient's age and the Glasgow Coma Scale.

Results

In 22.85% of the patients, hypothermia was documented. Hypothermic patients died earlier in the course of their hospital stay than non-hypothermic patients (p<0.001). The administration of 1–3 PRBC increased the LOS significantly (p<0.001) and transfused patients had an increased risk of death (p<0.001). Prehospital hypothermia could be an independent risk factor for mortality (adjusted OR 8.521; p=0.001) and increases the relative risk for transfusion by factor 2.0 (OR 2.007; p=0.002).

Conclusions

Low body temperature at hospital admission is associated with a higher risk of transfusion and death. Hence, a greater awareness of prehospital temperature management should be established.
Time trends in statin utilisation and coronary mortality in Western European countries
Authors: Vancheri Federico , Backlund Lars , Strender Lars-Erik , Godman Brian , Wettermark Björn
Published: March 2016

Objectives

To determine whether there is a relation between statin utilisation and coronary heart disease (CHD) mortality in populations with different levels of coronary risk, and whether the relation changes over time.

Design

Ecological study using national databases of dispensed medicines and mortality rates.

Setting

Western European countries with similar public health systems.

Main outcome measures

Population CHD mortality rates (rate/100 000) as a proxy for population coronary risk level, and statin utilisation expressed as Defined Daily Dose per one Thousand Inhabitants per Day (DDD/TID), in each country, for each year between 2000 and 2012. Spearman's correlation coefficients between CHD mortality and statin utilisation were calculated. Linear regression analysis was used to assess the relation between changes in CHD mortality and statin utilisation over the years.

Results

12 countries were included in the study. There was a wide range of CHD mortality reduction between the years 2000 and 2012 (from 25.9% in Italy to 57.9% in Denmark) and statin utilisation increase (from 121% in Belgium to 1263% in Denmark). No statistically significant relations were found between CHD mortality rates and statin utilisation, nor between changes in CHD and changes in statin utilisation in the countries over the years 2000 and 2012.

Conclusions

Among the Western European countries studied, the large increase in statin utilisation between 2000 and 2012 was not associated with CHD mortality, nor with its rate of change over the years. Factors different from the individual coronary risk, such as population ageing, health authority programmes, guidelines, media attention and pharmaceutical industry marketing, may have influenced the large increase in statin utilisation. These need to be re-examined with a greater emphasis on prevention strategies.
Diseases in gamebirds: an update
Authors: Welchman David
Published: March 2016

Since previous publications in In Practice on disease control in adult pheasants (Pennycott 2001) and diseases in young pheasants (Welchman 2008), the numbers of gamebirds reared and released in Britain have continued to increase. In 2015, it was estimated that 40 million pheasants (Phasianus colchicus) and 12 million red‐legged partridges (Alectoris rufa) were being reared, the two major gamebird species. This article gives an update on veterinary developments in gamebird disease and management.
Chronic pain management in dogs and cats
Authors: Walsh Karen
Published: March 2016

Chronic pain is difficult to treat and quantify, even in people. However, this does not mean that it should not be considered when examining veterinary patients. As veterinary medicine progresses, chronic pain may become an increasingly common component of the clinical picture, mostly in elderly animals and those undergoing palliative treatment for incurable conditions. Documenting the clinical signs objectively is difficult and can often be the main problem with assessing progress; owner involvement is key to assessment and treatment. This article describes the different mechanisms involved in chronic pain and how it is diagnosed, and discusses various treatments.
Too feral to save?
Authors: Mills David
Published: March 2016

THIS series gives readers the opportunity to consider and contribute to discussion of some of the ethical dilemmas that can arise in veterinary practice. Each month, a case scenario is presented, followed by discussion of some of the issues involved.

In addition, a possible way forward is suggested; however, there is rarely a cut‐and‐dried answer in such cases, and readers may wish to suggest an alternative approach. This month's dilemma, ‘Too feral to save?’, was submitted and is discussed by David Mills. Readers with comments to contribute are invited to send them as soon as possible, so that they can be considered for publication in the next issue. Discussion of the dilemma ‘Questioning morals’, which was published in the March issue of In Practice, appears on page 199.

The series is being coordinated by Steven McCulloch, a practising vet with a PhD in the ethics of veterinary policy. It is hoped it will provide a framework that will help practitioners find solutions when facing similar dilemmas.
Comments on the dilemma in the March issue: Questioning morals
Authors: McCulloch Steven
Published: March 2016

In the dilemma discussed in the March issue of In Practice, a dairy client with a large herd asked you to bring out an equine booster on your upcoming visit. The client's disabled daughter had been riding their eight‐year‐old pony at local pony events, to great success. The daughter had been invited to partake in the Pony Club summer camp. Everything on the passport was fine; however, you discovered that the flu booster was out of date by two days. As the pony would have to recommence the course of treatment, it would not be ready to ride in time for the summer camp. The owner was upset and asked you to falsify the certificate (IP, March 2016, vol 38, pp 150–151). Richard Brown suggested that it was worth having a calm conversation with the client to find a solution. Phone calls could be made to colleagues or the organisers of the summer camp; it was possible that the organisers might agree to a special isolation and quarantine protocol for this pony. The club might also have spare ponies that the daughter could ride. The client should be informed that if you were to falsify the certification, there could be serious consequences. Once the immediate situation was resolved, it might be worth having a conversation with owner about ensuring their animal was up‐to‐date with its vaccination to avoid a similar situation in the future.
What is the most efficient and effective method for long-term monitoring of alpine tundra vegetation?
Authors: Mamet Steven D. , Young Nathan , Chun Kwok P. , Johnstone Jill F.
Published: March 2016

Nondestructive estimations of plant community characteristics are essential to vegetation monitoring programs. However, there is no universally accepted method for this purpose in the Arctic, partly because not all programs share the same logistical constraints and monitoring goals. Our aim was to determine the most efficient and effective method for long-term monitoring of alpine tundra vegetation. To achieve this, we established 12 vegetation-monitoring plots on a south-facing slope in the alpine tundra of southern Yukon Territory, Canada. Four observers assessed these plots for vascular plant species abundance employing three methods: visual cover (VC) and subplot frequency (SF) estimation and modified point-intercept (PI) (includes rare species present but not intersected by a pin). SF performed best in terms of time required per plot and sensitivity to variations in species richness. All methods were similarly poor at estimating relative abundance for rare species, but PI and VC were substantially better at high abundances. Differences among methods were larger than among observers. Our results suggest that SF is best when the monitoring focus is on rare species or species richness across extensive areas. However, when the focus is on monitoring changes in relative abundance of common species, VC or PI should be preferred.
Robust Face Recognition Providing the Identity and Its Reliability Degree Combining Sparse Representation and Multiple Features
Authors: Grossi Giuliano , Lanzarotti Raffaella , Lin Jianyi
Published: March 2016

For decades, face recognition (FR) has attracted a lot of attention, and several systems have been successfully developed to solve this problem. However, the issue deserves further research effort so as to reduce the still existing gap between the computer and human ability in solving it. Among the others, one of the human skills concerns his ability in naturally conferring a “degree of reliability” to the face identification he carried out. We believe that providing a FR system with this feature would be of great help in real application contexts, making more flexible and treatable the identification process. In this spirit, we propose a completely automatic FR system robust to possible adverse illuminations and facial expression variations that provides together with the identity the corresponding degree of reliability. The method promotes sparse coding of multi-feature representations with LDA projections for dimensionality reduction, and uses a multistage classifier. The method has been evaluated in the challenging condition of having few (3–5) images per subject in the gallery. Extended experiments on several challenging databases (frontal faces of Extended YaleB, BANCA, FRGC v2.0, and frontal faces of Multi-PIE) show that our method outperforms several state-of-the-art sparse coding FR systems, thus demonstrating its effectiveness and generalizability.
Performance Analysis of Complex System in Series Configuration Under Different Failure and Repair Discipline Using Copula
Authors: Singh V. V. , Gulati Jyoti , Rawal D. K. , Goel C. K.
Published: March 2016

This paper deal with the study of reliability of a complex system consists of three subsystems, (subsystem-1, subsystem-2 and subsystem-3) connected in series configuration. The subsystem-1 has three units and working under the policy 2-out-of-3: F policy, subsystem-2 has two units in parallel configuration and is working under 1-out-of-2: G policy and subsystem-3 is connected with subsystem-2. All three subsystems are connected in series configuration. The system has two types of failure, partial failure and completely failure. It is assumed that the partial failure bring the system to degraded state, while the complete failure stop functioning in the system. All failure rates are constant and assumed to follow exponential time distribution, but the repair follow two types of distribution, i.e., general distribution and exponential distribution. It is assumed that the system in partially failed/degraded states are repaired by employing general time distribution but the completely failed states are repaired by Gumbel–Hougaard family copula distribution. The system is analyzed by supplementary variable technique. Some crucial measures of reliability such as Availability, mean-time-to-failure (MTTF) and profit analysis have been discussed. Some computations are taken as special case by evaluating Availability, MTTF and profit by taking different failure rates.