bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Microbial Nucleic Acid Sensing in Oral and Systemic Diseases
Authors: Crump K.E. , Sahingur S.E.
Published: October 2015

One challenge in studying chronic infectious and inflammatory disorders is understanding how host pattern recognition receptors (PRRs), specifically toll-like receptors (TLRs), sense and respond to pathogen- or damage-associated molecular patterns, their communication with each other and different components of the immune system, and their role in propagating inflammatory stages of disease. The discovery of innate immune activation through nucleic acid recognition by intracellular PRRs such as endosomal TLRs (TLR3, TLR7, TLR8, and TLR9) and cytoplasmic proteins (absent in melanoma 2 and DNA-dependent activator of interferon regulatory factor) opened a new paradigm: Nucleic acid sensing is now implicated in multiple immune and inflammatory conditions (e.g., atherosclerosis, cancer), viral (e.g., human papillomavirus, herpes virus) and bacterial (e.g., Helicobacter pylori, pneumonia) diseases, and autoimmune disorders (e.g., systemic lupus erythematosus, rheumatoid arthritis). Clinical investigations reveal the overexpression of specific nucleic acid sensors in diseased tissues. In vivo animal models show enhanced disease progression associated with receptor activation. The involvement of nucleic acid sensors in various systemic conditions is further supported by studies reporting receptor knockout mice being either protected from or prone to disease. TLR9-mediated inflammation is also implicated in periodontal diseases. Considering that persistent inflammation in the oral cavity is associated with systemic diseases and that oral microbial DNA is isolated at distal sites, nucleic acid sensing may potentially be a link between oral and systemic diseases. In this review, we discuss recent advances in how intracellular PRRs respond to microbial nucleic acids and emerging views on the role of nucleic acid sensors in various systemic diseases. We also highlight new information on the role of intracellular PRRs in the pathogenesis of oral diseases including periodontitis and oral cavity cancer, which might offer future possibilities for disease prevention and therapy.
Anti-bacterial activity of tetragonal and cross-pillar-shaped polyester/TiO2 filaments with photo-deposited silver and platinum nanoparticles
Authors: Hwang Sung-Ho , Lim Sang Kyoo , Hong Seong Hui , Kim Soonhyun , Choi Won Mi , Han Jae Sung , Lee Seung Hwan
Published: October 2015

In this work, we tried to enhance anti-bacterial activity of fabric fibers by controlling the shape of filaments, such as tetragonal and cross-pillar, which led to an increase of the surface portion of filaments. With this purpose, silver and platinum nanoparticles were immobilized on the surface of TiO2 nanoparticles within tetragonal and cross-pillar-shaped polyester (PET) filaments. The process consists of preparing 4 wt.% of TiO2 compounding PET chips, melt-spinning of them and photo catalytic deposition of nanoparticles in sequence. To obtain tetragonal and cross-pillar-shaped morphologies of filaments, two different nozzles were used in the melt-spinning process. For the photo-deposition of metal nanoparticles, adsorption of the metal ions on the surface of the filaments was performed by immersing them in AgNO3 and H2PtCl6 aqueous solutions, respectively, with simultaneous addition of methanol as a sacrificial agent. Photo-deposition was then carried out under ultraviolet light with an irradiation time of 300 s. The structural and antimicrobial properties of the tetragonal and cross-pillar-shaped PET/TiO2 filaments with noble metal loaded were systematically characterized. Ag and Pt metal photo-deposited filaments showed excellent antimicrobial effect against the two types of bacteria, Staphylococcus aureus and Klebsiella pneumonia, under the dark condition.
Morphology and pore size distribution of electrospun and centrifugal forcespun nylon 6 nanofiber membranes
Authors: Krifa Mourad , Yuan Wei
Published: October 2015

The porosity and high surface-area-to-volume ratio of nanofiber membranes offer potential for diverse applications, including high-efficiency filters and barrier fabrics for use in protective textiles. The objective of this research is to examine the morphology and pore size distribution of nanofiber membranes prepared using two spinning methods, that is, electrospinning and forcespinning. The results indicate that fiber diameter is impacted by spinning solution viscosity in an analogous way for both spinning methods. Higher concentrations resulted in larger fiber diameters in both electrospun and forcespun membranes. Fiber diameter and membrane areal density were found to significantly impact membrane pore size distribution. A theoretical model was used to describe pore size variation and was found to agree with the empirical patterns in the case of electrospun membranes.
The Structure and Measurement of the Work Values of Chinese Civil Servants
Authors: Zhang Weiwei , Chen Huixiong
Published: October 2015

A stable and efficient team of civil servants facilitates high performance for their government. With further standardization of civil servants’ salary and bonuses, the tendency of turnover becomes apparent in public service. Under this context, it seems to be a critical issue regarding how to reduce the turnover intention and how to motivate civil servants to improve their work performance. Hangzhou City in China has historically demonstrated high performance and a low turnover rate. We developed an instrument and conducted a mixed-methods research to measure the work values of 349 civil service employees from Hangzhou City. The results indicate that the work values of Chinese civil servants show a second-order structure, which includes self-actualization, interpersonal harmony, utilitarian orientation, personal growth, comfort, stability, autonomy, and flexibility. The results also show significant difference in the six factors of the work values of 349 civil servants who are from Hangzhou City. This study contributes to our understanding of the work values of Chinese civil servants and provides theoretical support to administrators who are making and implementing policies to reduce the turnover intention and enhance the performance of Chinese civil servants.
Police Decision-Making in the Gray Zone
Authors: Schulenberg Jennifer L.
Published: October 2015

Research finds mentally ill persons have higher rates of police contacts, arrests, and criminal charges for minor offenses and noncriminal behavior. It remains unclear whether the decision-making process and factors affecting discretion reflect a procedural bias that criminalizes the mentally ill. Using observational data from a Canadian police service, the findings suggest higher odds for criminal charges with serious offenses, males, older citizens, a prior criminal record, being under the influence of alcohol or drugs, and being uncooperative with requests for information and compliance. The odds of a citation are higher for proactive calls, more serious offenses, older citizens, mentally ill persons, those under the influence, or with a disrespectful demeanor. The overall findings suggest an indirect procedural bias exists due to situational constraints, a disjuncture between policy and police culture, and limited mental health resources that lead to response strategies that contribute to criminalization of the mentally ill.
Gender, Ethnicity, and Their Intersectionality in the Prediction of Smoking Outcome Expectancies in Regular Cigarette Smokers
Authors: Aguirre Claudia G. , Bello Mariel S. , Andrabi Nafeesa , Pang Raina D. , Hendricks Peter S. , Bluthenthal Ricky N. , Leventhal Adam M.
Published: October 2015

The current study utilized the intersectionality framework to explore whether smoking outcome expectancies (i.e., cognitions about the anticipated effects of smoking) were predicted by gender and ethnicity, and the gender-by-ethnicity interaction. In a cross-sectional design, daily smokers from the general community (32.2% women; non-Hispanic African American [ n = 175], non-Hispanic White [ n = 109], or Hispanic [ n = 26]) completed self-report measures on smoking expectancies and other co-factors. Results showed that women reported greater negative reinforcement (i.e., anticipated smoking-induced negative affect reduction) and weight control (i.e., anticipated smoking-induced appetite/weight suppression) expectancies than men. Hispanic (vs. African American or White) smokers endorsed greater negative reinforcement expectancies. A gender-by-ethnicity interaction was found for weight control expectancies, such that White women reported greater weight control expectancies than White men, but no gender differences among African American and Hispanic smokers were found. These findings suggest that gender, ethnicity, and their intersectionality should be considered in research on cognitive mechanisms that may contribute to tobacco-related health disparities.
America and the Age of Genocide
Authors: Leidner Bernhard
Published: October 2015

Drawing on research on the collapse of compassion and group processes and interrelations, four experiments investigated how labeling a conflict “genocide” affects distant bystanders’ support for intervention. The genocide label (compared with no label or the label “not a genocide”) weakened Americans’ support for intervention in a crisis analogous to Darfur. Ingroup glorification moderated this effect such that the genocide label decreased support at high levels of glorification (Studies 1-3). Ingroup attachment, if anything, moderated such that the genocide label increased support at high levels of attachment (Studies 1 and 3). Importantly, the effects occurred even when controlling for conservatism (Studies 1 and 3), gender, religion, military affiliation, and level of education (Study 2). Decreases in anticipated guilt over possible nonintervention (Studies 1 and 3) among high glorifiers, and a subsequent decrease in perceived obligation to intervene (Study 3), mediated the effect of the genocide label on support for intervention.
Topic-based content and sentiment analysis of Ebola virus on Twitter and in the news
Authors: Kim Erin Hea-Jin , Jeong Yoo Kyung , Kim Yuyoung , Kang Keun Young , Song Min
Published: October 2015

The present study investigates topic coverage and sentiment dynamics of two different media sources, Twitter and news publications, on the hot health issue of Ebola. We conduct content and sentiment analysis by: (1) applying vocabulary control to collected datasets; (2) employing the n-gram LDA topic modeling technique; (3) adopting entity extraction and entity network; and (4) introducing the concept of topic-based sentiment scores. With the query term ‘Ebola’ or ‘Ebola virus’, we collected 16,189 news articles from 1006 different publications and 7,106,297 tweets with the Twitter stream API. The experiments indicate that topic coverage of Twitter is narrower and more blurry than that of the news media. In terms of sentiment dynamics, the life span and variance of sentiment on Twitter is shorter and smaller than in the news. In addition, we observe that news articles focus more on event-related entities such as person, organization and location, whereas Twitter covers more time-oriented entities. Based on the results, we report on the characteristics of Twitter and news media as two distinct news outlets in terms of content coverage and sentiment dynamics.
Hypertension in pregnancy: An unresectable mediastinal pheochromocytoma
Authors: Gazala Sayf , Switzer Noah , Bédard Eric LR
Published: October 2015

Hypertension is a relatively common occurrence during pregnancy, which usually has a benign course with an excellent prognosis. However, physicians caring for pregnant women should have a high index of suspicion for underlying medical conditions that could lead to a more perilous outcome. Herein, we present the case of a pregnant woman who was found to have uncontrollable hypertension late in her pregnancy, secondary to a mediastinal pheochromocytoma, which was deemed unresectable at the time of exploration after her delivery.
The case of a needle exchange policy debate in Fresno, California
Authors: Clarke Kris
Published: October 2015

Needle exchange is one of the most effective public health interventions to prevent the transmission of infectious disease by injecting drug users. Despite the preponderance of scientific evidence, US federal funding for needle exchange programmes has been banned since 1988. This prohibition has resulted in the lack of a centralised policy on needle exchange and has given birth to a patchwork of diverse practices and regulations throughout the nation. This article focuses on how various local players interpreted the meaning of needle exchange through the debate on an unauthorised site in Fresno, California. In exploring a specific context, this study delineates the narratives used to outline competing views about needle exchange and to offer a snapshot of how the issue of widespread injecting drug use was handled in an impoverished and socially conservative region of the United States.
Selecting and coordinating local and regional climate change interventions
Authors: Culotta Daniel , Wiek Arnim , Forrest Nigel
Published: October 2015

Local and regional organizations are designing and implementing interventions to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions through various programs and projects. These efforts have been less effective than anticipated, and emissions have continued to rise. Because awareness, intent, planning, and actions are all present, yet results not being achieved, the processes organizations use to select interventions may be insufficient. We derive criteria to assess intervention selection processes from the literature and use them to evaluate the intervention selection processes of a county-wide climate change mitigation initiative in Sonoma County, California. The initiative in Sonoma County is far short of its 2015 emissions reduction goal. Our analysis suggests the initiative’s process has shortcomings including poor coordination, a focus on end-use emissions instead of systemic solutions, and short-term opportunism. We also find that the governance of the county-wide initiative may also have been a significant factor in failing to achieve the goal.
Linking Transparency to Trust in Government and Voice
Authors: Porumbescu Gregory
Published: October 2015

The objective of this study is to provide a more nuanced assessment of the relationship between public sector transparency and trust in government. Specifically, we examine how different tools used to enhance transparency—social media and e-government websites—relate to citizens’ perceptions of government trustworthiness. We then examine how these relationships vary according to how frequently citizens exercise voice. Findings indicate respondents’ use of public sector social media is positively related to perceptions of government trustworthiness. E-government website use lacks a significant relationship to perceptions of government trustworthiness. However, a strong negative relationship emerged between e-government website use and perceptions of trustworthiness as respondents’ frequency of voice increased.
Is collective repression an effective counterinsurgency technique? Unpacking the cyclical relationship between repression and civil conflict
Authors: Hultquist Philip
Published: October 2015

Research on the relationship between civil conflict and repression has led to one conclusion—the law-like finding that states respond to internal challengers with repression—and one puzzle with competing hypotheses—whether state repression escalates civil conflict or not. Studies of repression’s effect on conflict dynamics have been limited to case studies and subnational designs, which limits the external validity of the arguments. Studies of conflict’s effect on repression have treated conflict as a control variable without taking into account the inherent endogeneity between internal conflict and state repression. This article contributes by providing a general, cross-national study of repression’s effect on conflict, and vice versa, for external validity. Results of simultaneous equation models demonstrate that both directions of the relationship between state repression and conflict are positive and significant—suggesting a cyclical relationship—while single equation models with a lag structure establish that the effect of repression on conflict is greater than the reverse.
The mutual shaping of governance and regulation of quality and safety in Dutch healthcare
Authors: Stoopendaal Annemiek , van de Bovenkamp Hester
Published: October 2015

Developing the concepts of governance and regulation is path dependent: working with the complexity of governance and regulation shapes and reshapes both their meaning and form. We conducted a case study on governance and regulation of quality and safety in Dutch hospitals to reveal these processes. We found that governance was given meaning in several phases, ranging from a focus on institutional design (e.g. corporate governance) through coping with incidents and using quality measurements, to prospective risk management. Governance changed incrementally in form and practice. We also saw that governance and regulation are intertwined; regulation shapes governance and is simultaneously shaped by changes in the meaning of governance. Insight into these processes is important to better understand what is defined as “good governance” and “good regulation” in a certain context. Understanding the mutual development of these concepts and practices reveals potential pathways to continuous shaping of good governance.
Challenges in Exploratory Methods for Tuberculosis Research in South Africa
Authors: Macdonald Helen , Abney Kate , Abrams Amber , Truyts Carina
Published: October 2015

Haunted by a legacy of apartheid governance that left millions in material poverty, South Africa has among the highest tuberculosis (TB) morbidity and mortality rates in the world. Our Social Markers of TB research project shared a vision of working with ethnographic research methods to understand TB-infected persons, their families, care providers, and social networks. We argue that felt and enacted TB stigma and the related HIV-TB stigma impaired our ability to collect the necessary data for a full portrait of TB-infected persons and their lived conditions. To circumvent this limitation, each researcher improvised and augmented conventional anthropological methods with more creative, directed, and at times destabilizing methods. We present three case studies as useful illustrations of the complexities and challenges we encountered in our attempts to conduct ethically sound TB research. We discuss the implications of our call for “improvisation” for the politics of research and ethical oversight.
Violent Rhetoric in Protracted Group Conflicts
Authors: Gubler Joshua R. , Kalmoe Nathan P.
Published: October 2015

How do messages from political elites interact with individual traits of citizens to spur intergroup aggression? Building on research in social psychology, we expect that in places of protracted conflict, violent rhetoric from elites will be enough to mobilize antagonism toward an outgroup, especially among those who are generally less apt to be hostile toward the outgroup. We present results from two large survey experiments, the first conducted with young Jewish-Israeli adults across Israel and the second with a nationally diverse sample of adults in India. The results show that mild “fighting” words (e.g. “battle,” “fight”), combined with a reference to the outgroup, provoke significantly greater support for policies that harm the outgroup among some citizens. This effect is largest among individuals low in outgroup prejudice and low in aggressive personality traits, people who are usually less inclined to support policies that hurt the outgroup. Effects of violent rhetoric persist even with policies and rhetoric to help the outgroup. This work highlights the importance of considering both individual traits and contextual factors together to understand their full impact in the study of intergroup conflict.
Development and Validation of the Awareness of Narrative Identity Questionnaire (ANIQ)
Authors: Hallford David John , Mellor David
Published: October 2015

The utility of a narrative approach to identity and its role in psychological functioning are becoming increasingly recognized across various fields of inquiry. The current study aimed to develop a quantitative, self-report measure of the awareness of narrative identity and how globally coherent one’s autobiographical memories are perceived to be, specifically, in terms of temporal ordering, causal associations, and the perception of unifying themes. The construct validity and reliability of the Awareness of Narrative Identity Questionnaire (ANIQ) were assessed across three studies. In the first study, exploratory factor analysis of the responses of a large sample ( N = 441, M [age in years] = 33.1, SD = 15.2) to an initial item pool resulted in a 20-item four-factor structure congruent with the proposed subscales, and convergent and divergent validity were established. In the second study, and with a different sample ( N = 320, M [age in years] = 26.2, SD = 4.0), further evidence for the factor structure was provided through confirmatory factor analysis. Validity findings from Study 1 were replicated and extended on, and test–retest reliabilities were found to be high ( r = .72-.79). Importantly, in the third study ( N = 71, M [age in years] = 24.9, SD = 6.9), criterion validity was established, whereby the ANIQ subscales were demonstrated to be associated with dimensions of narrative coherence coded from written turning-point narratives. Across all studies, the internal reliabilities for the subscales were high (α = .86-.96). The ANIQ represents a valid, psychometrically sound, and novel method of assessing the awareness of narrative identity and autobiographical memory coherence.
Science and the Social Media in an African Context
Authors: Gastrow Michael
Published: October 2015

This study presents a media content analysis of representations of the Square Kilometre Array telescope on Twitter by South African users, drawing on a sample of 1,588 Tweets recorded over a period of 1 year from September 2011 to August 2012. The framing of the Square Kilometre Array was dominated by the site allocation process, which focused on the contestation between South Africa and Australia and formed a proxy discourse for politico-symbolic themes that framed the project as a symbol of African achievement. The overall composition of messages is dominated by large media firms, but there remains substantial scope for individual agency in shaping the discourse, particularly for high-profile users and leading science journalists. Micro-determinants also played a key role in shaping the virality of messages.
Shaping the Future of Health Education: From Behavior Change to Social Change
Authors: Freudenberg Nicholas
Published: October 2015

The view that individual behavior change is the primary goal of health education presents several serious problems. Although individual behavior does contribute to health and disease, social organization is perhaps a more powerful influence. The use of behavior change as the primary tool for health education raises grave ethical issues. Health education which seeks to change individual behavior has also failed to have a significant impact on public health. An alternative strategy is health education for social change. The goal of this approach is to involve people in collective action to create health promoting environments and life-styles. Several contemporary models for and principles characteristic of health education for social change are described.
Conceptualizing viewpoint diversity in news discourse
Authors: Baden Christian , Springer Nina
Published: October 2015

Journalistic news coverage plays an essential role for providing an audience with a diverse, multifaceted perspective upon public affairs. However, in the scholarly debate, most measures of viewpoint diversity do not distinguish between statements raising commensurable interpretations, and contributions that construct different meaning in a consequential sense. We provide an operationalization of viewpoint diversity that builds upon a tradition of identifying distinct interpretations through framing analysis. Going beyond frame diversity, we then distinguish between equivalent, complementary and competing, diverse interpretations: we consider as commensurable those frames that derive from the same ‘interpretative repertoire’, a notion borrowed from discourse studies. We propose a strategy for operationalization and the measurement of viewpoint diversity. Our focus on meaningfully different interpretations contributes to advancing research into journalism, political opinion formation, audience elaboration, and other important fields of study.
Angiotensin receptor blockers use and the risk of lung cancer: A meta-analysis
Authors: Zhang Weizhen , Liang Zhenyu , Li Jing , Cai Shaoxi
Published: October 2015

Background:

Several reports suggest that the use of angiotensin receptor blockers (ARBs) is associated with lung cancer (LC) reduction. However, the results were contradictory.

Methods:

Four online databases were searched. The strength of the association between ARB and the risk of LC was measured by odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence interval (CI). OR was analyzed by random-effects model.

Results:

Eight studies with 298000 subjects were included in this meta-analysis. Using of ARB was significantly associated with decreased LC risk (OR = 0.81; 95% CI 0.69–0.94; p = 0.005). In the subgroup analysis by race, Asians treated with ARB showed decreased LC risk (OR = 0.60; 95% CI 0.54–0.67; p < 0.00001). However, Caucasians treated with ARB did not show significantly decreased LC risk (OR = 0.90; 95% CI 0.79–1.02; p = 0.11). Subgroup analysis by duration of follow-up was conducted. The studies with less than 5 years showed significant result (OR = 0.79; 95% CI 0.64–0.97; p = 0.02). However, the studies with more than 5 years did not show significantly decreased LC risk (OR = 0.84; 95% CI 0.61–1.16; p = 0.29).

Conclusions:

This meta-analysis indicated that ARBs may be associated with decreased risk of LC.
Melt electrospinning process optimization of polylactic acid nanofibers
Authors: Doustgani Amir , Ahmadi Ebrahim
Published: October 2015

Melt electrospinning is a safe and simple technique for the production of micro and nanofibers which can be an alternative to conventional solvent electrospinning. The effects of various melt-electrospinning parameters, including molecular weight, electric field strength, flow rate and temperature on the morphology, and fiber diameter of polylactic acid nanofibers were studied. An orthogonal design was used to examine process parameters. It was shown that molecular weight was the predominant factor in determining the obtainable fiber diameter of the collected fibers and is the most effective parameter on the average fiber diameter of melt electrospun PLA nanofibers. The flow rate has the less important impact. Mean fiber diameter (MFD) increased by increasing MW and flow rate, but decreased by increasing electric field strength and temperature. MFD of optimized fibers was below 100 nm and the result of statistical analysis using Design Expert software was in good agreement with the experimental condition.
The Effect of Testosterone Topical Solution in Hypogonadal Men With Suboptimal Response to a Topical Testosterone Gel
Authors: Burns Patrick R. , Kim Edward D. , Ruff Dustin D. , Seftel Allen D.
Published: October 2015

This study evaluated the effect of axillary administration of a 2% testosterone solution (Axiron®) in hypogonadal (HGN) men who had had a suboptimal response to treatment with a commercially available topical testosterone gel. HGN men averaging 57 years old, with a mean body mass index of 31.9 kg/m2 and median baseline testosterone level (T-level) of 185.2 ng/dL, who had failed to reach normal T-levels with a topical testosterone gel (Androgel 1.62%, Androgel, Testim, or Fortesta) were treated with a 2% testosterone solution until T-levels reached a normal range (from ≥300 to ≤1,050 ng/dL) or for up to 9 weeks. Outcomes included the cumulative percentage of men with a serum T-level in the normal range during treatment with Axiron and improvement in symptoms of low energy level and low sexual drive. During the study, 95% of HGN men (72/78) attained a T-level in the normal range. The median T-level at endpoint was 495.7 ng/dL, a threefold increase over baseline, p < .001, 70% achieving normal T-levels within the first 2 weeks of treatment. In a post hoc analysis, all subjects with baseline body mass indexes >35 kg/m2 ( n = 19) achieved T-levels in the normal range. Prior to treatment, over 61% of subjects (48/78) reported impairment in either energy level or sexual drive. After treatment (or testosterone normalization), energy level improved in 75% of subjects and sexual drive improved in 70%. Topical 2% testosterone solution is a safe and effective treatment for HGN men who have had a suboptimal response to previous treatment with topical testosterone gels.
Balloon protection of the Labbé vein during transarterial embolization of a dural arterio-venous fistula
Authors: Pop Raoul , Manisor Monica , Wolff Valérie , Aloraini Ziad , Tigan Leonardo , Kehrli Pierre , Marescaux Christian , Beaujeux Rémy
Published: October 2015

Introduction

Endovascular treatment of type III dural arterio-venous fistulas can be challenging if the fistulous point is close to a functionally important cortical vein.

Methods

A technique is described for temporary balloon protection of the vein of Labbé during transarterial Onyx embolization of a type III dural arterio-venous fistula. One illustrative case is presented. Careful anatomic consideration of the concerned venous segment (at the insertion point into the lateral sinus) and the choice of balloon minimized the risk of venous rupture.

Results

Using this method, satisfactory progression of Onyx was obtained within the arterio-venous shunt while preserving the patency of the Labbé vein.

Conclusion

Temporary balloon protection of the Labbé vein is a feasible option to preserve its patency during embolization of dural arterio-venous fistulas. To the authors’ knowledge, this is the first report on the use of temporary balloon protection of a cortical vein.
Very Like a Whale: Analogy and the Law
Authors: Kahn Jeffrey D.
Published: October 2015

Analogical reasoning is common in legal writing, just as analogies are a part of everyday life. Indeed, they may be inescapable features of human cognition. Used well, analogies illuminate the writer’s reasons and persuade the reader. Used poorly, however, they may obscure or even replace the precision and detail in reasoning that is crucial to the development of law. Without entering the ongoing debate about the nature of human thought, this article explores some of the dangers present in the relationship that analogy maintains with law. In particular, the article examines the risks inherent in analogizing across a technological or social divide. The article concludes by noting the long-term consequences of analogies and metaphors in shaping thought and, therefore, society.
What next for environmental health?
Authors: Dhesi Surindar , Lynch Zena
Published: October 2015

Aims:

The aim of the wider research was to explore Health and Wellbeing Boards (HWBs) during their early development stages, with a focus on health inequalities and the role of environmental health (EH). This article presents empirical findings relating to challenges facing the EH profession in the new English public health (PH) system and offers new practical suggestions as to how they might be overcome in relation to educating and training the new generation of EH practitioners (EHPs).

Methods:

Four case study HWBs in the Midlands and North of England were followed for 18 months from early 2012. In addition, EHPs and managers from each English region were interviewed. In total, 50 semi-structured interviews were carried out, around 55 h of HWB meetings were observed, and documents associated with HWBs such as strategies and minutes of meetings were collected. Data were analysed thematically, both inductively and deductively, using Atlas.ti.

Results:

EH is largely invisible in the new PH system due to a variety of internal and external factors, including existing skill sets and practices. There is a new imperative to move away from reliance on statutory functions for funding and to engage with wider PH issues and colleagues, requiring new skills of evaluation and a change in perception from being ‘doers’ to include a greater role as ‘thinkers’. This is being recognised by EHPs and managers, who are seeking ways to adapt to these new expectations.

Conclusion:

Recent changes to the English PH system have led to a period of reflection and the beginnings of adaptation in EH to overcome new challenges. Linked to this is a need for graduate training to prepare new practitioners to think critically, to thrive and become high-level managers of the future, while being technically competent. We suggest a new, enhanced role for Chartered Institute of Environmental Health (CIEH)–accredited universities in securing the future of the profession by supporting new graduates. Specifically, a mentoring scheme could be introduced for the practical training element for new practitioners. This would help to embed criticality and evaluation in practice, provide consistency in training, and overcome the disconnect between academia and practice.
Do Bad Guys Get Ahead or Fall Behind? Relationships of the Dark Triad of Personality With Objective and Subjective Career Success
Authors: Spurk Daniel , Keller Anita C. , Hirschi Andreas
Published: October 2015

This study analyzed incremental effects of single Dark Triad traits (i.e., narcissism, psychopathy, and Machiavellianism) on objective (i.e., salary and leadership position) and subjective (i.e., career satisfaction) career success. We analyzed 793 early career employees representative of age and education from the private industry sector in Germany. Results from multiple and logistic regressions revealed bright and dark sides of the Dark Triad, depending on the specific Dark Triad trait analyzed. After controlling for other relevant variables (i.e., gender, age, job tenure, organization size, education, and work hours), narcissism was positively related to salary, Machiavellianism was positively related to leadership position and career satisfaction, and psychopathy was negatively related to all analyzed outcomes. These results provide evidence that the Dark Triad plays a role in explaining important career outcomes. Implications for personality and career research are derived.
Are Strategic Communication Management Competencies and Personal Attributes Global? A Case Study of Practice in Finland and New Zealand
Authors: Brunton Margaret , Kankaanranta Anne , Louhiala-Salminen Leena , Jeffrey Lynn
Published: October 2015

The drive to both maintain competitiveness and to meet marketplace expectations using the strategic management of communication is a feature of the international workplace. In the complex and dynamic commercial environment of the new millennium, this drive includes the imperatives to employ competent communication professionals. Whether organizations are intent on acquiring or developing proficient practitioners, the ability to achieve these aims rests on the identification of relevant competencies and attributes. This study uses the Critical Incident Technique to explore the practice of Communication Management in a sample of practitioners in New Zealand and Finland—two geographically disperse countries. The identified critical incidents mostly related to managing crisis communication across both countries. To manage the incidents, communication practitioners predominantly used two competencies: stakeholder relationship management and external interface management. In addition, the personal attribute of adaptability was most commonly employed in both countries. Despite the similarity of incidents and the competencies and attributes required to manage them, also variability in practitioners’ strategic and personal responses was evident.
Dramatic Response of Topical Doxycycline in Umbilical Granuloma
Authors: Wang Huaijie , Gao Ya , Duan Yitao , Zheng Baijun , Guo Xinkui
Published: October 2015

We previously observed that topical doxycycline powder was effective in the treatment of umbilical granuloma. This study aims to evaluate the efficacy of this agent. The patients were randomly assigned into inpatient group and outpatient group. Doxycycline powder was administered topically once daily for 5 days. The protocol was restarted if no response observed. Eighty-four patients were included in this study. With one course of therapy, the overall cure rate was 82.14% (69/84), and the statistical difference in response rate was not significant between the 2 groups ( P > .05). With 2 courses of therapy, the overall cure rate was 94.05% (79/84). No complication was observed during treatment. No recurrence was observed during follow-up. The treatment of umbilical granuloma using topical doxycycline is safe and efficacious. The administration of the agent can be performed conveniently by parents at home. This protocol could be considered to be the first treatment option for this disorder in neonates and infants.
Intravenous immune globulin and thromboembolic adverse events in patients with hematologic malignancy
Authors: Ammann Eric M. , Jones Michael P. , Link Brian K. , Carnahan Ryan M. , Winiecki Scott K. , Torner James C. , McDowell Bradley D. , Fireman Bruce H. , Chrischilles Elizabeth A.
Published: October 2015

Key Points

Acute myocardial infarction and ischemic stroke risk was 3 times higher during days 0 to 1 following IVIg treatment in patients with secondary hypogammaglobulinemia. In patients treated with IVIg for 1 year, the estimated increase in the absolute risk of a severe thromboembolic event was ∼1%.
High evolutionary turnover of satellite families in Caenorhabditis
Authors: Subirana Juan A. , Albà M. Mar , Messeguer Xavier
Published: October 2015

Background

The high density of tandem repeat sequences (satellites) in nematode genomes and the availability of genome sequences from several species in the group offer a unique opportunity to better understand the evolutionary dynamics and the functional role of these sequences. We take advantage of the previously developed SATFIND program to study the satellites in four Caenorhabditis species and investigate these questions.

Methods

The identification and comparison of satellites is carried out in three steps. First we find all the satellites present in each species with the SATFIND program. Each satellite is defined by its length, number of repeats, and repeat sequence. Only satellites with at least ten repeats are considered. In the second step we build satellite families with a newly developed alignment program. Satellite families are defined by a consensus sequence and the number of satellites in the family. Finally we compare the consensus sequence of satellite families in different species.

Results

We give a catalog of individual satellites in each species. We have also identified satellite families with a related sequence and compare them in different species. We analyze the turnover of satellites: they increased in size through duplications of fragments of 100-300 bases. It appears that in many cases they have undergone an explosive expansion. In C. elegans we have identified a subset of large satellites that have strong affinity for the centromere protein CENP-A. We have also compared our results with those obtained from other species, including one nematode and three mammals.

Conclusions

Most satellite families found in Caenorhabditis are species-specific; in particular those with long repeats. A subset of these satellites may facilitate the formation of kinetochores in mitosis. Other satellite families in C. elegans are either related to Helitron transposons or to meiotic pairing centers.
Rapid assay of stem cell functionality and potency using electric cell-substrate impedance sensing
Authors: Rutten Michael J. , Laraway Bryan , Gregory Cynthia R. , Xie Hua , Renken Christian , Keese Charles , Gregory Kenton W.
Published: October 2015

Regenerative medicine studies using autologous bone marrow mononuclear cells (BM-MNCs) have shown improved clinical outcomes that correlate toin vitroBM-MNC invasive capacity. The current Boyden-chamber assay for testing invasive capacity is labor-intensive, provides only a single time point, and takes 36 hours to collect data and results, which is not practical from a clinical cell delivery perspective. To develop a rapid, sensitive and reproducible invasion assay, we employed Electric Cell-substrate Impedance Sensing (ECIS) technology. Chemokine-directed BM-MNC cell invasion across a Matrigel-coated Transwell filter was measurable within minutes using the ECIS system we developed. This ECIS-Transwell chamber system provides a rapid and sensitive test of stem and progenitor cell invasive capacity for evaluation of stem cell functionality to provide timely clinical data for selection of patients likely to realize clinical benefit in regenerative medicine treatments. This device could also supply robust unambiguous, reproducible and cost effective data as a potency assay for cell product release and regulatory strategies.
Transdifferentiation of differentiated stem cells contributes to remyelination
Authors: Chelluboina Bharath , Dinh Dzung H. , Veeravalli Krishna Kumar
Published: October 2015

Evidence suggests that transdifferentiation of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) into various neuronal cells contributes to functional recovery after experimental spinal cord injury. Qiu et al. have recently published an exciting article in Stem Cell Research & Therapy demonstrating the transdifferentiation of already differentiated MSCs that contributes to remyelination of injured/regenerating axons, and thereby to functional recovery of spinal cord injured animals. The authors highlight the importance of interaction between neurotrophin-3 and tropomyosin receptor kinase C for the observed effects. This study provided important evidence that manipulation of rat bone marrow-derived MSCs before transplantation could enhance the therapeutic benefit of cell-based treatment.
Evaluating a multigene environmental DNA approach for biodiversity assessment
Authors: Drummond Alexei J. , Newcomb Richard D. , Buckley Thomas R. , Xie Dong , Dopheide Andrew , Potter Benjamin CM , Heled Joseph , Ross Howard A. , Tooman Leah , Grosser Stefanie , Park Duckchul , Demetras Nicholas J. , Stevens Mark I. , Russell James C. , Anderson Sandra H. , Carter Anna , Nelson Nicola
Published: October 2015

Background

There is an increasing demand for rapid biodiversity assessment tools that have a broad taxonomic coverage. Here we evaluate a suite of environmental DNA (eDNA) markers coupled with next generation sequencing (NGS) that span the tree of life, comparing them with traditional biodiversity monitoring tools within ten 20 × 20 meter plots along a 700 meter elevational gradient.

Results

From six eDNA datasets (one from each of 16S, 18S, ITS, trnL and two from COI) we identified sequences from 109 NCBI taxonomy-defined phyla or equivalent, ranging from 31 to 60 for a given eDNA marker. Estimates of alpha and gamma diversity were sensitive to the number of sequence reads, whereas beta diversity estimates were less sensitive. The average within-plot beta diversity was lower than between plots for all markers. The soil beta diversity of COI and 18S markers showed the strongest response to the elevational variation of the eDNA markers (COI: r = 0.49, p < 0.001; 18S: r = 0.48, p < 0.001). Furthermore pairwise beta diversities for these two markers were strongly correlated with those calculated from traditional vegetation and invertebrate biodiversity measures.

Conclusions

Using a soil-based eDNA approach, we demonstrate that standard phylogenetic markers are capable of recovering sequences from a broad diversity of eukaryotes, in addition to prokaryotes by 16S. The COI and 18S eDNA markers are the best proxies for aboveground biodiversity based on the high correlation between the pairwise beta diversities of these markers and those obtained using traditional methods.
A combined Wigner-Ville and maximum entropy method for high-resolution time-frequency analysis of seismic data
Authors: Zoukaneri Ibrahim , Porsani Milton J.
Published: October 2015

The variation of frequency content of a seismic trace with time carries information about the properties of the subsurface reflectivity sequence. As a result, analysis of the data in terms of the local frequency content can provide a worthwhile addition to the standard procedures that are used in seismic processing and seismostratigraphic interpretation. The theory of quadratic time-frequency (TF) representations, such as the Wigner-Ville distribution (WVD), provides a solid foundation for local frequency analysis of seismic data and seismic attribute extraction. However, because of its quadratic nature, the WVD processes cross terms, which can limit the readability of the decomposition. To overcome this problem, we have used the key idea of the maximum entropy method of Burg, to compute a prediction error operator associated with the power spectrum of a given signal. The operator was then used to extend the kernel of Wigner-Ville of the signal, given by the elements of its covariance matrix. The Fourier transform of the extended kernel provided a high-resolution maximum entropy power spectrum of Wigner-Ville. We found, from the framework of the proposed method, how the common seismic attributes can be extracted as characteristics of the local spectrum. Furthermore, we devised a formula to estimate a robust and stable average instantaneous frequency (AIF) in the time domain. The high resolution achieved in the TF domain has been a key aspect for applying the proposed method to the Gulf of Mexico data set. Mapping of the channels and infill lithology is made possible by analyzing the spectral variation of the AIF cube, and the spectral decomposition based on the proposed method allows reliable information on the probable location and extension of a gas reservoir.