bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
An Early Emerging Internalizing Pathway to Substance Use and Disorder
Authors: Hussong Andrea M. , Shadur Julia , Burns Alison R. , Stein Gabriela , Jones Deborah , Solis Jess , McKee Laura G.
Published: July 2016

Accumulating evidence suggests that early emerging pathways to substance use and disorder may have identifiable markers in children as young as ages 3–6 years. Although most research has focused on the externalizing pathway, the current chapter describes an internalizing pathway to substance use and disorder. We consider potential mechanisms underlying early emerging risk related to this pathway that may emanate from responses to early stress exposure and the caregiving environment. We also discuss implications of the pathway for early prevention programming, particularly that targeting children of parents with substance use disorders.
Theory of Knowledge
Authors: Bolton Martha
Published: July 2016

Leibniz’s theory of knowledge is an investigation of the conditions that enable human beings to have that degree of certainty which is appropriate to our various areas of concern. This chapter concerns demonstrative certainty in the sciences of mathematics, which contain necessary a priori truths, and the natural sciences, which are based on the senses and structural principles drawn from reason. According to Leibniz, we rarely attain maximum certainty even in mathematical science. One main problem is to establish first principles with certainty. In lieu of that, Leibniz proposes to convert less than certain theorems to more certain conditionals with axioms as antecedents and theorems as consequents. This is worthwhile because the agreed upon results may prove useful or beneficial. In natural sciences, Leibniz gauges hypotheses on the basis of a theory of objective probability grounded in metaphysics.
Leibniz as Jurist
Authors: Artosi Alberto , Sartor Giovanni
Published: July 2016

This chapter discusses Leibniz’s contribution to legal theory and the significance of his legal engagements for his intellectual development. It opens by presenting Leibniz’s legal career, listing the sequence of legal offices he assumed and the series of often related writings addressing legal matters. It presents Leibniz’s early legal works, where a new approach to legal scholarship and decision-making is proposed that merges positive and natural law and enriches the law with methods and knowledge from logic, mathematics, physics, and philosophy. This new synthesis provides the basis of his proposed reform of legal education. Leibniz’s relation to Roman law is then considered, focusing on the role of Roman tradition in his approach to law and justice. The last two sections address Leibniz’s logic of deontic modalities and his view of legal reasoning as being both dialectical and presumptive.
Between Generation and Suspension
Authors: HaCohen Ruth
Published: July 2016

The chapter discusses two modes of combining music and moving images that developed in modernism. The first mode, which the author termsgeneration, relates to a type of animated narrative film in which the music precedes the visual sequence which generates the will or thought (modality) that gives rise to the narrative action. “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice,” from the Disney filmFantasia, is examined as an example. In the second mode,suspension, the picture appears as if preceding the music, even if the creative order was different, or the work does not have an actual visual manifestation. The visual sequence, which appears as if deriving from the composer’s inner world, is characterized by minute occurrences, wishing to arouse as an atmosphere or “third consciousness.” The movement “Colors” from Schoenberg’sFive Pieces for an Orchestra, opus 16, is examined as an example alongside examples from film music.
Microsound and Macrocosm
Authors: Schäfer Armin , Kursell Julia
Published: July 2016

This chapter investigates concepts of space in French composer Gérard Grisey’s music. From the 1970s onward, he used sound spectrograms, introducing the compositional technique of “spectralism,” which can be rooted in Arnold Schoenberg’s concept ofKlangfarbe. The cycleLes Espaces acoustiques(1974–1985) uses this technique to create a sequence of musical forms that grow from the acoustic seed of a single tone. The cycle can be traced back to a new role for acoustic space, which emerged in early atonal composition. Grisey confronts the natural order of acoustic space with the human order of producing and perceiving sounds. The dis-symmetry between these two orders of magnitude is further explored in Grisey’sLe Noir de l’Étoile(1990) for six percussionists, magnetic tape, and real-time astrophysical signals. This piece unfolds a triadic constellation of spatial orders where human perception and performance are staged between musical micro-space and cosmic marco-space.
At the Crossroads
Authors: Larmer Miles
Published: July 2016

The Copperbelt region of Central Africa sits at the crossroads of political borders, trade corridors, migratory flows, and identity formations. The division of the region by a colonial/national border shaped not only its differential political economy, but also how this was perceived and represented. At the heart of all such representations was the relationship between minerals and their supposed capacity to effect economic, political, and social transformation. This article analyzes how this relationship has been understood and articulated from the precolonial period until today, and the ways that actual and potential mineral wealth have underwritten successive, often contested, political projects and aspirations. In identifying changes and enduring patterns in mining-based political representation, it suggests an alternative history of the Copperbelt region rooted in the political imaginaries surrounding mining and its potential for transformation.
Mood Disorders in Late Life
Authors: Arean Pat , Lenze Eric , Anguera Joaquin A.
Published: July 2016

This chapter discusses how clinicians will need to prepare for a worldwide exponentially growing aging community by describing the current scope of practices with respect to the assessment and treatment mood disorders, including minor and major depression. Particularly for those in later life, the meaningful interpretation of standardized assessment scores requires consideration of medical and neurological complexities. Clinicians must be flexible not only with respect to characterization, but especially with respect to treatment, given the inherent challenges associated with access to care and the range of disability amongst these individuals. Indeed, these late-life individuals are typically assessed in a similar fashion to younger adults (which may obscure meaningful interpretations), making understanding the nuances underlying existing behavioral and pharmaceutical approaches an essential endeavor.
A synergistic DNA logic predicts genome-wide chromatin accessibility
Authors: Hashimoto Tatsunori , Sherwood Richard I. , Kang Daniel D. , Rajagopal Nisha , Barkal Amira A. , Zeng Haoyang , Emons Bart J.M. , Srinivasan Sharanya , Jaakkola Tommi , Gifford David K.
Published: July 2016

Enhancers and promoters commonly occur in accessible chromatin characterized by depleted nucleosome contact; however, it is unclear how chromatin accessibility is governed. We show that log-additive cis-acting DNA sequence features can predict chromatin accessibility at high spatial resolution. We develop a new type of high-dimensional machine learning model, the Synergistic Chromatin Model (SCM), which when trained with DNase-seq data for a cell type is capable of predicting expected read counts of genome-wide chromatin accessibility at every base from DNA sequence alone, with the highest accuracy at hypersensitive sites shared across cell types. We confirm that a SCM accurately predicts chromatin accessibility for thousands of synthetic DNA sequences using a novel CRISPR-based method of highly efficient site-specific DNA library integration. SCMs are directly interpretable and reveal that a logic based on local, nonspecific synergistic effects, largely among pioneer TFs, is sufficient to predict a large fraction of cellular chromatin accessibility in a wide variety of cell types.
Crystal structure of 4,4-dibromo-1-(3,4-dimethoxyphenyl)-2-azabuta-1,3-diene-1-carbonitrile
Authors: Chaabene Marwa , Khatyr Abderrahim , Knorr Michael , Askri Moheddine , Rousselin Yoann , Kubicki Marek M.
Published: July 2016

The title compound, C12H10Br2N2O2, represents an example of a planar π-conjugated 2-azabutadiene molecule, which is both an interesting starting material for further organic transformations and a potential ligand in organometallic coordination chemistry. Its metric molecular parameters are typical for the family of 2-azabuta-1,3-dienes not substituted at the (CH) 3-position. In the crystal, the almost planar (r.m.s. deviation = 0.0658 Å) azadiene molecules form one-dimensional double-wide ribbons through intermolecular halogen bonds (C—Br...O and C—Br...Br—C), which then stack in a slipped manner through weak C—H...Br and π–π interactions to generate a three-dimensional network.
The 1.1 Å resolution structure of a periplasmic phosphate-binding protein fromStenotrophomonas maltophilia: a crystallization contaminant identified by molecular replacement using the entire Protein Data Bank
Authors: Keegan Ronan , Waterman David G. , Hopper David J. , Coates Leighton , Taylor Graham , Guo Jingxu , Coker Alun R. , Erskine Peter T. , Wood Steve P. , Cooper Jonathan B.
Published: July 2016

During efforts to crystallize the enzyme 2,4-dihydroxyacetophenone dioxygenase (DAD) fromAlcaligenessp. 4HAP, a small number of strongly diffracting protein crystals were obtained after two years of crystal growth in one condition. The crystals diffracted synchrotron radiation to almost 1.0 Å resolution and were, until recently, assumed to be formed by the DAD protein. However, when another crystal form of this enzyme was eventually solved at lower resolution, molecular replacement using this new structure as the search model did not give a convincing solution with the original atomic resolution data set. Hence, it was considered that these crystals might have arisen from a protein impurity, although molecular replacement using the structures of common crystallization contaminants as search models again failed. A script to perform molecular replacement usingMOLREPin which the first chain of every structure in the PDB was used as a search model was run on a multi-core cluster. This identified a number of prokaryotic phosphate-binding proteins as scoring highly in theMOLREPpeak lists. Calculation of an electron-density map at 1.1 Å resolution based on the solution obtained with PDB entry 2q9t allowed most of the amino acids to be identified visually and built into the model. ABLASTsearch then indicated that the molecule was most probably a phosphate-binding protein fromStenotrophomonas maltophilia(UniProt ID B4SL31; gene ID Smal_2208), and fitting of the corresponding sequence to the atomic resolution map fully corroborated this. Proteins in this family have been linked to the virulence of antibiotic-resistant strains of pathogenic bacteria and with biofilm formation. The structure of theS. maltophiliaprotein has been refined to anRfactor of 10.15% and anRfreeof 12.46% at 1.1 Å resolution. The molecule adopts the type II periplasmic binding protein (PBP) fold with a number of extensively elaborated loop regions. A fully dehydrated phosphate anion is bound tightly between the two domains of the protein and interacts with conserved residues and a number of helix dipoles.
Dynamic grey target decision making method with three-parameter grey numbers
Authors: Yan Shuli , Liu Sifeng , Liu Xiaqing
Published: July 2016

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to present a new method about dynamic decision problems with three-parameter grey numbers from other angle of view which not only aggregates the attribute values of alternatives of all the periods, but also excavates changes of attribute values about alternatives between the adjacent periods.

Design/methodology/approach

– The authors adopt grey target method to calculate the distance between every alternative and the best, worst bull’s eye, the distance between change series and the best, worst change bull’s eye, then both distances can be aggregated to reflect information about two aspects.

Findings

– This dynamic decision-making method not only aggregates the existing state of alternatives all of the stages, but also excavates the change information from vertical and horizontal direction, the decision result conforming to decision maker’s psychological behavior is obtained though adjusting the priority parameter.

Originality/value

– The paper considers on change of alternative’s attribute values from one period to the next period, and the dynamic characteristic has been reflected adequately. The grey target decision-making method reflects the distance between alternative and bull’s eye, the comprehensive target distance between alternative and positive, worst bull’s eye about change series are separately provided. And the final target distance reflecting both existing state and change trend is constructed.
Crime prevention aspects of public space renewal in Budapest
Authors: Benkő Melinda , Germán Tibor
Published: July 2016

Purpose

Security is one of the most important challenges for contemporary integrated urban developments. In Hungary, every strategic document highlights this goal, seeking social and smart city solutions to the problem. Yet, what about crime prevention through environmental design (CPTED)? The purpose of the paper is to introduce a Central-European perspective into the international discussion of the topic.

Design/methodology/approach

Focusing on European Union-funded renewal of public space in the historic city centre of Budapest, the research investigates how urban security can be facilitated through urban planning and design. The analysis of two projects based on design documents and interviews with actors highlights the importance of CPTED, although it is not recognised officially either in the development or in the management phase.

Findings

March 15th Square is an attractive contemporary public space in the tourist-historic city centre. The project was centrally planned, executed with typical EU indicators, but without any special requirements for security. The process resulted in a safescape. By contrast, the main principal for the renewal of Teleki László Square, the first Hungarian example of community-based planning, was to instil a feeling of security. The public square became a fenced defensible space.

Practical implications

The analysis method can be used for other projects evaluating changes in urban security due to public space renewal: history, requirements for security, design solutions for space division, materials and urban furniture, as well as use of space and management after the regeneration.

Originality/value

The paper uncovers Hungarian cases where environmental crime prevention criteria are not explicitly but implicitly present in contemporary urban planning and design. In relation to urban security, it highlights the gap that exists among disciplines, indicative of a lack of dialogue among policymakers, researchers, designers and management.
Electrical fault diagnosis in induction motors using local extremes analysis
Authors: Lamim Filho Paulo Cezar Monteiro , Batista Fabiano Bianchini , Pederiva Robson , Silva Vinicius Augusto Diniz
Published: July 2016

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to introduce an algorithm based only on local extreme analysis of a time sequence to further the detection and diagnosis of inter-turn short circuits and unbalanced voltage supply using vibration signals.

Design/methodology/approach

– The upper and lower extreme envelopes from a modulated and oscillatory time sequence present a particular characteristic being of, theoretically, symmetrical versions with regard to amplitude reflection around the time axis. Thus, one may say that they carry the same characteristics in terms of waveforms and, consequently, frequency content. These envelopes can easily be built by an interpolation process of the local extremes, maximums and minimums, from the original time sequence. Similar to modulator signals, they contain more detailed and useful information about the required electrical fault frequencies.

Findings

– Results show the efficiency of the proposed algorithm and its relevance to detecting and diagnosing faults in induction motors with the advantage of being a technique that is easy to implement in any computational code.

Practical implications

– A laboratory investigation carried out through an experimental setup for the study of faults, mainly related to the stator winding inter-turn short circuit and voltage phase unbalance, is presented.

Originality/value

– The main contribution of the work is the presentation of an alternative tool to demodulate signals which may be used in real applications like the detection of faults in three-phase induction machines.
Human factors in maintenance: a review
Authors: Sheikhalishahi Mohammad , Pintelon Liliane , Azadeh Ali
Published: July 2016

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to review current literature analyzing human factors in maintenance, and areas in need of further research are suggested.

Design/methodology/approach

– The review applies a novel framework for systematically categorizing human factors in maintenance into three major categories: human error/reliability calculation, workplace design/macro-ergonomics and human resource management. The framework further incorporates two well-known human factor frameworks, i.e., the Swiss Cheese model and the ergonomic domains framework.

Findings

– Human factors in maintenance is a pressing problem. The framework yields important insights regarding the influence of human factors in maintenance decision making. By incorporating various approaches, a robust framework for analyzing human factors in maintenance is derived.

Originality/value

– The framework assists decision makers and maintenance practitioners to evaluate the influence of human factors from different perspectives, e.g. human error, macro-ergonomics, work planning and human performance. Moreover, the review addresses an important subject in maintenance decision making more so in view of few human error reviews in maintenance literature.
Normative and systems integration in human resource management in Japanese multinational companies
Authors: Furusawa Masayuki , Brewster Chris , Takashina Toshinori
Published: July 2016

Purpose

This paper aims to conceptualise a framework of “transnational human resource management” (HRM) and to demonstrate the validity of the model.

Design/methodology/approach

Evidence is drawn from survey of 93 large Japanese multinational companies (MNCs). Data are analysed through descriptive statistics, hierarchical multiple regression analyses and mediation effect analyses.

Findings

The analysis reveals that the practices for normative and systems integration are associated with increasing levels of social capital and geocentric staffing, respectively, and the social capital and geocentric staffing fully mediate the relationship between normative and systems integration and transnationality.

Originality/value

The research extends the integration theory in international HRM and demonstrates the validity of our framework for transnational HRM. The authors also shed light on the reality of the integration aspects of international HRM in Japanese MNCs.
eWOM, eReferral and gender in the virtual community
Authors: Abubakar Abubakar Mohammed , Ilkan Mustafa , Sahin Pinar
Published: July 2016

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to examine the influence of electronic referral (eReferral) marketing and electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) on brand image and purchase intention, coupled with the moderating effect of gender in the relationship.

Design/methodology/approach

– Structural equation modeling was applied to examine the interplay between the proposed variables, using a random sample of 308 respondents in Cyprus.

Findings

– The empirical results suggest the following: eReferral does influence brand image, and the impact is significant with women only; eWOM influences brand image, and the impact is more significant with women than men; eWOM influences purchase intention, and the impact is the same for both genders; brand image influences purchase intention, and the impact is more significant with women than men.

Research limitations/implications

– Marketing managers can benefit from these competitive advantage tools. Brand image, awareness and sales volume can be increased by utilizing eWOM or eReferral, depending on the product and/or service functionality as well as gender.

Originality/value

– While there is a substantial research stream on eWOM, to the best of the authors’ knowledge no research has differentiated eReferral from eWOM. This paper provides useful insights regarding the two concepts.
How HR flexibility contributes to customer value co-creation behavior
Authors: Tuan Luu Trong
Published: July 2016

Purpose

– Service-dominant logic perspective underscores the role of customers as value co-creators for an organization. The purpose of this paper is to build the understanding of how HR flexibility contributes to customer value co-creation behavior through mediating roles of employees’ role breadth self-efficacy and customer-organization identification and also to assess the interaction between CSR and role breadth self-efficacy in predicting customer-organization identification, leading to a higher level of customer value co-creation behavior.

Design/methodology/approach

– Responses to the questionnaire survey came from 214 managers and 427 sales employees from 62 software companies, and 427 purchase managers of their customer companies in Vietnam context.

Findings

– Research findings confirmed the path from HR flexibility to customer value co-creation behavior through the mediating mechanisms of role breadth self-efficacy and customer-organization identification. The research data also provided evidence for the role of CSR in enhancing the effect of employees’ role breadth self-efficacy on customer-organization identification.

Originality/value

– The novel relationship between HR flexibility and customer value co-creation behavior extends both HRM and service-dominant logic literature. The moderation mechanism of CSR for that relationship further converges CSR into HRM research stream.
Using values to segment virtual consumers on social networking sites
Authors: Madi Aziz
Published: July 2016

Purpose

– Although social networking sites (SNS) are providing marketers a lot of information, it is also providing consumers with the ability to present their virtual identities, limiting the benefit of such information. The purpose of this paper is to understand how marketers can segment virtual consumers.

Design/methodology/approach

– A review of the literature is first conducted. Followed by a survey method, data from 258 consumers were analyzed using a combination of scales including best-worst scaling. Classes and other demographics, behavioral and psychographic covariates were determined using latent-class analysis.

Findings

– Findings show there exist three different segments based on values: self-conservers, social entertainers, and achievers. The results show how SNS consumers differ in their motivation to use social media, even when there is similarity in the uses (virtual behaviors) of SNS.

Research limitations/implications

– Analyzing behavior of virtual consumers can be limited by the fact that they are presenting their virtual identity. Psychographic metrics should be the focus of future research when dealing with online consumers, values and motivations provide a better way as they are more consistent than the virtual behavior.

Practical implications

– Practitioners should look for more ways to integrate SNS segments with traditional segments, values-segmentation can aid in this. Additionally, practitioners should maximize the information access benefits of SNS by focussing also on underlying motives to certain behaviors on SNS.

Originality/value

– This research value is derived from the fact that it is the first to perform values-segmentation on SNS. The results show that it is reliable and necessary when segmenting consumers on SNS.
Well tie for broadband seismic data
Authors: Zabihi Naeini Ehsan , Gunning James , White Roy
Published: July 2016

The seismic industry is increasingly acquiring broadband data in order to reap the benefits of extra low‐ and high‐frequency contents. At the low end, as the sharp low‐cut decay gets closer to zero frequency, it becomes harder for a well tie to estimate the low‐frequency response correctly. The fundamental difficulty is that well logs are too short to allow accurate estimation of the long‐period content of the data. Three distinctive techniques, namely parametric constant phase, frequency‐domain least squares with multi‐tapering, and Bayesian time domain with broadband priors, are introduced in this paper to provide a robust solution to the wavelet estimation problem for broadband seismic data. Each of these techniques has a different mathematical foundation that would enable one to explore a wide range of solutions that could be used on a case‐by‐case basis depending on the problem at hand. A case study from the North West Shelf Australia is used to analyse the performance of the proposed techniques. Cross‐validation is proposed as a robust quality control measure for evaluating well‐tie applications. It is observed that when the seismic data are carefully processed, then the constant phase approach would likely offer a good solution. The frequency‐domain method does not assume a constant phase. This flexibility makes it prone to over‐fitting when the phase is approximately constant. Broadband priors for the time‐domain least‐squares method are found to perform well in defining low‐frequency side lobes to the wavelet.
The theory and application of space microbiology: China's experiences in space experiments and beyond
Authors: Liu Changting
Published: July 2016

Microorganisms exhibit high adaptability to extreme environments of outer space via phenotypic and genetic changes. These changes may affect astronauts in the space environment as well as on Earth because mutant microbes will inevitably return with the spacecraft. However, the role and significance of these phenotypic changes and the underlying mechanisms are important unresolved questions in the field of space biology. By reviewing, especially the Chinese studies, we propose a space microbial molecular effect theory, that is, the space environment affects the nature of genes and the molecular structure of microorganisms to produce phenotypic changes. In this review, we discussed three basic theories for the research of space microbiology, including (1) space microbial pathogenicity and virulence mutations and the human mutualism theory; (2) space microbial drug‐resistance mutations and metabolism associated with space pharmaceuticals theory; (3) space corrosion, microbial decontamination, and new materials technology theory.
Corticostriatal and Dopaminergic Response to Beer Flavor with Both fMRI and [11C]raclopride Positron Emission Tomography
Authors: Oberlin Brandon G. , Dzemidzic Mario , Harezlak Jaroslaw , Kudela Maria A. , Tran Stella M. , Soeurt Christina M. , Yoder Karmen K. , Kareken David A.
Published: July 2016

Background

Cue‐evoked drug‐seeking behavior likely depends on interactions between frontal activity and ventral striatal (VST) dopamine (DA) transmission. Using [11C]raclopride (RAC) positron emission tomography (PET), we previously demonstrated that beer flavor (absent intoxication) elicited VST DA release in beer drinkers, inferred by RAC displacement. Here, a subset of subjects from this previous RAC‐PET study underwent a similar paradigm during functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to test how orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) and VST blood oxygenation level‐dependent (BOLD) responses to beer flavor are related to VST DA release and motivation to drink.

Methods

Male beer drinkers (n = 28, age = 24 ± 2, drinks/wk = 16 ± 10) from our previous PET study participated in a similar fMRI paradigm wherein subjects tasted their most frequently consumed brand of beer and Gatorade® (appetitive control). We tested for correlations between BOLD activation in fMRI and VST DA responses in PET, and drinking‐related variables.

Results

Compared to Gatorade, beer flavor increased wanting and desire to drink, and induced BOLD responses in bilateral OFC and right VST. Wanting and desire to drink correlated with both right VST and medial OFC BOLD activation to beer flavor. Like the BOLD findings, beer flavor (relative to Gatorade) again induced right VST DA release in this fMRI subject subset, but there was no correlation between DA release and the magnitude of BOLD responses in frontal regions of interest.

Conclusions

Both imaging modalities showed a right‐lateralized VST response (BOLD and DA release) to a drug‐paired conditioned stimulus, whereas fMRI BOLD responses in the VST and medial OFC also reflected wanting and desire to drink. The data suggest the possibility that responses to drug‐paired cues may be rightward biased in the VST (at least in right‐handed males) and that VST and OFC responses in this gustatory paradigm reflect stimulus wanting.
Caffeine‐mediated BDNF release regulates long‐term synaptic plasticity through activation of IRS2 signaling
Authors: Lao‐Peregrín Cristina , Ballesteros Jesús Javier , Fernández Miriam , Zamora‐Moratalla Alfonsa , Saavedra Ana , Gómez Lázaro María , Pérez‐Navarro Esther , Burks Deborah , Martín Eduardo D.
Published: July 2016

Caffeine has cognitive‐enhancing properties with effects on learning and memory, concentration, arousal and mood. These effects imply changes at circuital and synaptic level, but the mechanism by which caffeine modifies synaptic plasticity remains elusive. Here we report that caffeine, at concentrations representing moderate to high levels of consumption in humans, induces an NMDA receptor‐independent form of LTP (CAFLTP) in the CA1 region of the hippocampus by promoting calcium‐dependent secretion of BDNF, which subsequently activates TrkB‐mediated signaling required for the expression of CAFLTP. Our data include the novel observation that insulin receptor substrate 2 (IRS2) is phosphorylated during induction of CAFLTP, a process that requires cytosolic free Ca2+. Consistent with the involvement of IRS2 signals in caffeine‐mediated synaptic plasticity, phosphorylation of Akt (Ser473) in response to LTP induction is defective in Irs2−/− mice, demonstrating that these plasticity changes are associated with downstream targets of the phosphoinositide 3‐kinase (PI3K) pathway. These findings indicate that TrkB‐IRS2 signals are essential for activation of PI3K during the induction of LTP by caffeine.
Cornual wedge resection for interstitial pregnancy and postoperative outcome
Authors: Liao Chi‐Yuan , Tse Jessica , Sung Shu‐Yi , Chen Shu‐Hui , Tsui Wen‐Huei
Published: July 2016

Introduction

Traditionally, interstitial pregnancies were treated with cornual resection or hysterectomy via laparotomy. However, increasingly, interstitial pregnancies are treated with laparoscopic cornuotomy, ie, removal of ectopic pregnancy tissue with preservation of uterine architecture. Although this technique may increase the incidence of persistent and recurrent interstitial pregnancy, it can potentially maintain patient fertility and decrease their risk for future uterine rupture. In a case series of patients with interstitial pregnancies treated with cornual wedge resection, we examined fertility outcomes, rates of subsequent uterine rupture, and rates of persistent or recurrent interstitial pregnancy.

Materials and methods

We conducted a retrospective medical record review of cases (n = 29) of cornual wedge resection for interstitial pregnancy, performed between 1992 and 2013 at one hospital.

Results

Of the 29 cases, two later presented with uterine rupture; one, who also had a prior wedge resection, was found with scar dehiscence during a subsequent caesarean section. The incidence of subsequent uterine rupture and dehiscence was 30%. There were no cases of persistent ectopic pregnancy or recurrent interstitial pregnancy. Most (71.4%) patients who were trying to conceive achieved subsequent pregnancy.

Discussion

There is debate regarding the recommended surgical technique to treat interstitial pregnancies; cornual resection and cornuotomy are both important considerations. Choice of the technique employed continues to require careful consideration.
Predicting post‐endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography pancreatitis using the 4‐h serum lipase level
Authors: Papachristos Alexander , Howard Tess , Thomson Benjamin N. , Thomas Peter R.
Published: July 2016

Background

Endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) is a complex therapeutic procedure that is complicated by pancreatitis in 3–5% of cases. The aim of this study is to determine whether a 4‐h post‐ERCP serum lipase level is superior to the serum amylase level in predicting the occurrence of post‐ERCP pancreatitis (PEP).

Methods

We performed a retrospective review of prospectively collected data on 543 consecutive patients undergoing therapeutic ERCP at a single centre. Serum lipase and amylase levels were measured at 4‐h post‐procedure and were recorded as a factor of the upper limit of normal: amylase factor (AF) and lipase factor (LF). Sensitivity and specificity were compared using receiver‐operating characteristics and the Youden index (YI).

Results

A total of 506 procedures were considered for analysis. PEP occurred in 19 patients (3.8%). A LF of <10 was useful for the exclusion of PEP with a sensitivity of 100% and a specificity of 94%, YI = 0.94. In contrast, an AF <3 yielded a sensitivity of 79% and specificity of 94%, YI = 0.73.

Conclusion

Serum lipase measured at 4‐h post‐ERCP better excludes PEP than serum amylase measured at the same time point. Patients with a LF <10 may be safely considered for same‐day discharge.
C‐reactive protein is a useful negative predictor of anastomotic leak in oesophago‐gastric resection
Authors: Gordon Alexandra C. , Cross Andrea J. , Foo Elizabeth W. , Roberts Ross H.
Published: July 2016

Background

Post‐operative C‐reactive protein (CRP) has been investigated as a predictor of anastomotic leak (AL) following colorectal surgery, but its role in oesophago‐gastric surgery is not yet established.

Methods

Clinical data and post‐operative CRP values of patients who underwent elective oesophago‐gastric resection between January 2004 and July 2014 were analysed retrospectively. Only patients with an oesophageal anastomosis were included. AL was defined as leakage of contrast material seen on imaging or a leak confirmed intraoperatively on return to theatre.

Results

One hundred and forty‐five patients were identified. Of the 145 patients, 13 (9%) developed AL. The CRP on post‐operative days (POD) 2, 3 and 6 had the greatest diagnostic accuracy, with an area under the curve of 0.82, 0.80 and 0.91 respectively. Using a cut‐off value of 209 mg/L on POD 2, the sensitivity was 100%, the specificity was 61%, the positive predictive value (PPV) was 21% and the negative predictive value (NPV) was 100%. Using a cut‐off value of 190 mg/L on POD 3, the sensitivity was 100%, the specificity was 59%, the PPV was 21% and the NPV was 100%. Using a cut‐off value of 154 mg/L on POD 6, the sensitivity was 100%, the specificity was 78%, the PPV was 29% and the NPV was 100%.

Conclusion

Post‐operative CRP is an accurate negative predictive test for the development of AL following oesophago‐gastric surgery. It may help to discriminate between patients with a high risk of leak and those in which AL is unlikely to occur.
Adding ribavirin to newer DAA regimens does not affect SVR rates in HCV genotype 1 infected persons: results from ERCHIVES
Authors: Butt A. A. , Yan P. , Marks K. , Shaikh O. S. , Sherman K. E. ,   the ERCHIVES Study Team
Published: July 2016

Background

Ribavirin is a key component of several hepatitis C virus (HCV) treatment regimens. However, its utility in combination with newer directly acting anti‐viral agents regimens is unclear.

Aim

To determine the SVR rates with paritaprevir/ritonavir/ombitasvir/dasabuvir (PrOD) regimen ± ribavirin and compare this with sofosbuvir/simeprevir and sofosbuvir/ledipasvir regimens.

Methods

We used Electronically Retrieved Cohort of HCV Infected Veterans (ERCHIVES), a well‐established national cohort of HCV‐infected Veterans to identify HCV genotype 1 infected persons initiated on the above regimens. We excluded those with HIV coinfection, positive HBsAg and missing HCV RNA.

Results

We identified 1235 persons on PrOD (75.5% ribavirin), 1254 on sofosbuvir/simeprevir (16.9% ribavirin) and 4247 on sofosbuvir/ledipasvir (23.3% ribavirin). Among HCV genotype 1a infected persons, ribavirin was prescribed to 99.2% on PrOD, 18.2% on sofosbuvir/simeprevir and 23.3% on sofosbuvir/ledipasvir. The SVR rates ranged from 92.6% to 100% regardless of the treatment regimen, presence of cirrhosis or HCV subtype, except in PrOD group without ribavirin, HCV genotype 1a without cirrhosis (SVR 80%, N = 5). There were minor, clinically insignificant differences in SVR rates in those treated with or without ribavirin in each of the treatment groups, regardless of presence of cirrhosis at baseline. In multivariable logistic regression analysis, ribavirin use was not associated with achieving SVR in any group.

Conclusions

In HCV genotype 1 infected persons, PrOD, sofosbuvir/simeprevir and sofosbuvir/ledipasvir regimens, are associated with high rates of SVR in actual clinical settings, which are comparable to clinical trials results (except PrOD genotype 1a with cirrhosis where the number was too small). The benefit of adding ribavirin to these regimens in the ERCHIVES treated cohort is not established.
Designing Massive Open Online Courses to take account of participant motivations and expectations
Authors: Salmon Gilly , Pechenkina Ekaterina , Chase Anne‐Marie , Ross Bella
Published: July 2016

We report on a study conducted on a Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) to explore and improve understanding and practice about MOOC learning design and participant motivations and expectations. The “Carpe Diem” MOOC was designed, developed and delivered in 2014. The MOOC participants' experiences were studied through surveys and interviews, and the analysis was triangulated. Three dominant motivations to complete the MOOC were found: to further existing knowledge, to acquire skills in the learning design process and to apply the learning design methodology in practice. We describe the relationship between participant motivations and expectations in this MOOC, which was undertaken mainly by participants who were themselves educators, and make recommendations for pedagogical design in MOOCs to promote and enable participant engagement and completion.
A short note on the maximal point‐biserial correlation under non‐normality
Authors: Cheng Ying , Liu Haiyan
Published: July 2016

The aim of this paper is to derive the maximal point‐biserial correlation under non‐normality. Several widely used non‐normal distributions are considered, namely the uniform distribution, t‐distribution, exponential distribution, and a mixture of two normal distributions. Results show that the maximal point‐biserial correlation, depending on the non‐normal continuous variable underlying the binary manifest variable, may not be a function of p (the probability that the dichotomous variable takes the value 1), can be symmetric or non‐symmetric around p = .5, and may still lie in the range from −1.0 to 1.0. Therefore researchers should exercise caution when they interpret their sample point‐biserial correlation coefficients based on popular beliefs that the maximal point‐biserial correlation is always smaller than 1, and that the size of the correlation is always further restricted as p deviates from .5.
Does Variability Across Events Affect Verb Learning in English, Mandarin, and Korean?
Authors: Childers Jane B. , Paik Jae H. , Flores Melissa , Lai Gabrielle , Dolan Megan
Published: July 2016

Extending new verbs is important in becoming a productive speaker of a language. Prior results show children have difficulty extending verbs when they have seen events with varied agents. This study further examines the impact of variability on verb learning and asks whether variability interacts with event complexity or differs by language. Children (aged 2½ to 3 years) in the United States, China, Korea, and Singapore learned verbs linked to simple and complex events. Sets of events included one or three agents, and children were asked to extend the verb at test. Children learning verbs linked to simple movements performed similarly across conditions. However, children learning verbs linked to events with multiple objects were less successful if those events were enacted by multiple agents. A follow‐up study rules out an influence of event order. Overall, similar patterns of results emerged across languages, suggesting common cognitive processes support children's verb learning.
Access to the Albanian VET System: social, individual and school‐based barriers
Authors: Xhumari Merita , Dibra Sidita
Published: July 2016

This article analyses the determinants of access to the VET system in Albania and its impact on the inclusion of young people and vulnerable groups. The VET system often attracts students who have completed the compulsory levels of education with weak academic results. Many come from families with a low level of income and a low education level. Skill development can make a positive contribution to social inclusion and is particularly important for Albania at a time of greater unemployment among young people, lack of proper skills and competences of the labour force, demographic changes, and high levels of emigration. Yet, Albania has the lowest enrolment rate in the vocational education and training (VET) system in the Western Balkans and a variety of factors hinders access to VET schools. This article draws on original research based on in‐depth interviews with national and local actors, school managers and parents, focus groups and structured survey questionnaires with teachers and students at three VET providers in Albania. It finds that social, individual and school‐based factors all place barriers for enrolment of children from disadvantaged backgrounds in the VET system and that this contributes to the wider landscape of social exclusion in Albania.
Declining incidence of intracerebral hemorrhage over two decades in a population‐based study
Authors: Sacco S. , Ornello R. , Degan D. , Tiseo C. , Pistoia F. , Carolei A.
Published: July 2016

Background and purpose

The incidence and case‐fatality rate (CFR) of primary intracerebral hemorrhage (PICH) over two decades were assessed in a prospective population‐based study.

Methods

Cases of incident first‐ever PICH were recorded over a 2‐year period (2011–2012) from multiple sources in the district of L'Aquila, central Italy. Included patients were followed up to 1 year after the event to ascertain CFRs. Current data were compared with those previously collected from 1994 through 1998.

Results

In all, 115 patients (52 men; 45.2%) with a first‐ever PICH were included. Mean age ± SD was 77.4 ± 11.8 years. The hemorrhage was lobar in 43 (37.4%) patients, deep in 56 (48.7%), in the posterior fossa in 11 (9.6%) and intraventricular or multiple localized in five (4.3%). Crude annual incidence rate was 19.3 per 100 000 and 14.8 per 100 000 when standardized to the 2011 European population, indicating a 48% reduction comparing data of 2011–2012 to those of 1994–1998 (incidence rate ratio 0.52; 95% confidence interval 0.43–0.64; P < 0.001). In 2011–2012, the 7‐day CFR was 27.8%, the 30‐day CFR was 42.6% and the 1‐year CFR was 52.2%; the 1‐year standardized mortality ratio was 0.81 (95% confidence interval 0.63–1.04) compared with 1994–1998.

Conclusions

The annual incidence rate of PICH was lower than that found two decades before and close to the rates recently found in other western countries. Data also indicated a non‐significant trend towards a decrease in mortality, which nonetheless remained high, pointing to the need for more appropriate treatments in order to reduce PICH severity and mortality.
Asymmetric Response to Heterotypic Distress Calls in the Lizard Liolaemus chiliensis
Authors: Labra Antonieta , Reyes‐Olivares Claudio , Weymann Michael
Published: July 2016

The weeping lizard, Liolaemus chiliensis, emits distress calls when trapped by a predator. Conspecific lizards respond to such calls with prolonged immobility, which may increase their probability of remaining undetected by a predator. This benefit, however, depends on the ability to react to the alert message of the call, which may be impaired by natural variation in the calls. The distress calls of L. chiliensis show geographic variation, and here we tested the response of two geographically distant populations (>700 km apart) to local (homotypic) and non‐local (heterotypic) distress calls; if populations are finely tuned to their local calls, they may not be able to respond to heterotypic calls. We found that geographic variation in calls affects the lizards’ response, but this effect was population dependent; whereas southern lizards responded to calls of both populations, the northern lizards only reacted to homotypic distress calls. The factors that determine this asymmetric response to heterotypic calls are unclear and we discuss three hypotheses that have a common component in the difference in body size between the tested populations, which seems to play a key role in determining the response to distress calls in this species.
Three‐dimensional mixed‐mode (I and II) crack‐front fields in ductile thin plates — effects of T‐stress
Authors: Ding P. , Wang X.
Published: July 2016

It has been well‐established that the non‐singular T‐stress provides a first‐order estimate of geometry and loading mode (e.g. tension versus bending) effects on elastic–plastic crack‐front field under mode I loading conditions. The objective of this paper is to exam the T‐stress effect on three‐dimensional (3D) crack‐front fields under mixed‐mode (modes I and II) loading. To this end, detailed 3D small strain, elastic–plastic simulations are carried out using a 3D boundary layer (small‐scale yielding) formulation. Characteristics of near crack‐front fields are investigated for a wide range of T‐stresses (T/σ0 = −0.8, −0.4, 0.0, 0.4, 0.8). The plastic zones and thickness and angular and radial variations of the stresses are studied, corresponding to two values of the remote elastic mixity parameters Me = 0.3 and 0.7, under both low and high levels of applied loads. It is found that different T‐stresses have a significant effect on the plastic zones size and shapes, regardless of the mode mixity and load level. The thickness, angular and radial distributions of stresses are also affected markedly by T‐stress. It is important to include these effects when investigating the mixed‐mode ductile fracture failure process in thin‐walled structural components.