bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Clinical features and outcomes of Sweet's syndrome associated with non‐tuberculous mycobacterial infection and other associated diseases
Authors: Chaowattanapanit Suteeraporn , Choonhakarn Charoen , Chetchotisakd Ploenchan , Sawanyawisuth Kittisak , Julanon Narachai
Published: October 2015

Sweet's syndrome (SS) is associated with various diseases including non‐tuberculous mycobacterial infection (NTM). Recent reports have shown thatSSassociated withNTMis increasing. Clinical features ofSSassociated withNTMmay be different fromSSassociated with other associated diseases. The aim of the present study was to compare clinical parameters and treatment outcomes ofSSassociated withNTMand other associated diseases. Patients from January 2004 to April 2014 diagnosed withSSwere retrospectively enrolled. Clinical variables were compared betweenSSpatients with and withoutNTMinfection. There were 51SSpatients during the study period; 36 patients (70.59%) hadNTM. Clinical variables between theNTMand other associated diseases were comparable: age, sex, and pattern and locations of skin lesions. Five laboratory factors were significantly different between the groups including white blood cell counts (NTM25 800 vs 12 850 cells/mm3), lymphocyte percentages (13.0% vs 18.7%), monocytes (3.0% vs 7.2%), blood urea nitrogen (BUN) (11.7 vs 8.1 mg/dL) and serum creatinine (Cr) (1.0 vs 0.7 mg/dL). The presence of markedly high white blood cell counts, a low percentage of mononuclear cells and highBUN/Cr levels inSSmay be a clinical clue to recognize the association withNTMinfections; particularly in dissemination.
The Pegida Movement and German Political Culture: Is Right‐Wing Populism Here to Stay?
Authors: Dostal Jörg Michael
Published: October 2015

This article outlines the rise and fall of the ‘Patriotic Europeans against the Islamisation of the West’ (Pegida), a right‐wing populist street movement that originated in the city of Dresden in October 2014 and peaked in January 2015. The Pegida movement combined fear of ‘Islamisation’ with general criticism of Germany's political class and the mainstream media. This ambivalent and largely undefined political profile proved its strength in mobilising a significant minority of right‐wing citizens in the local context of Dresden and the federal state of Saxony, but generally failed to spill over to other parts of Germany. The social profile of the Pegida movement, which included ‘ordinary citizens’ with centre‐right to far‐right attitudes, points to significant overlap between general disenchantment of the political centre ground in Germany with the political system, as outlined in recent sociological research, and the ability of a largely leaderless populism to mobilise in the streets.
Geographic Connections: Language, Power Relations, and Relevance
Authors: MCMANUS PHIL
Published: October 2015

The interrogation of language is crucial in all sub‐fields of geography and in related disciplines. This paper interrogates the terms nature, environment, sustainability, and resilience, given their importance in connecting geography with other academic pursuits and with people and organisations that make our discipline relevant. The paper explores how geography may be seen as ‘relevant’ while maintaining a constructively critical approach. It does so through the example of Sydney's metropolitan strategy/plan that was released in December 2014. The concept of resilience as defined and used in this new metropolitan plan fails to address transboundary issues such as climate change, raising concerns about sustainability. As such it serves the needs of political interests aligned with a growth agenda. This is one example highlighting that a challenge for many geographers is to maintain critical thinking while being relevant. It is an important challenge that geographers should relish.
Utilization of the Bombyx mori heat shock protein 70 promoter for screening transgenic silkworms
Authors: Kim Seong‐Wan , Yun Eun‐Young , Choi Kwang‐Ho , Kim Seong‐Ryul , Kang Seok‐Woo , Park Seung‐Won , Goo Tae‐Won
Published: October 2015

Silkworm transgenesis is now a routine method leading to a satisfactory yield of transformed animals and the reliable expression of transgenes during multiple successive generations. However, the screening of G1 transgenic individuals from numerous progeny has proved to be difficult and time‐consuming work. Previously, we characterized the promoter of heat shock protein 70 from Bombyx mori (bHsp70), which is ubiquitously expressed in all tissues and developmental stages. To investigate the utilization of the bHsp70 promoter to screen transgenic individuals, the EGFP marker gene was inserted into the piggyBac vector under the control of the bHsp70 promoter. Mixtures of the donor and helper vectors were micro‐injected into 3060 eggs of bivoltine silkworms (Keomokjam). EGFP fluorescence was observed in 17 broods of transgenic silkworms under a florescence stereomicroscope. Interestingly, this fluorescent marker protein was detected, not only in parts of the embryo segments on the seventh day of the G1 embryonic developmental stage, but also in a part of the body of G1 hatched larvae, in the middle silk gland of G1 fifth instar larvae, and in the wings of seven‐day‐old G1 pupae and G1 moths. Therefore, we suggest that the bHsp70 promoter can be used for the rapid and simple screening of transgenic silkworms.
Recombinant DNA production of spider silk proteins
Authors: Tokareva Olena , Michalczechen‐Lacerda Valquíria A. , Rech Elíbio L. , Kaplan David L.
Published: October 2015

Spider dragline silk is considered to be the toughest biopolymer on Earth due to an extraordinary combination of strength and elasticity. Moreover, silks are biocompatible and biodegradable protein‐based materials. Recent advances in genetic engineering make it possible to produce recombinant silks in heterologous hosts, opening up opportunities for large‐scale production of recombinant silks for various biomedical and material science applications. We review the current strategies to produce recombinant spider silks.
Genes are information, so information theory is coming to the aid of evolutionary biology
Authors: Sherwin William B.
Published: October 2015

Speciation is central to evolutionary biology, and to elucidate it, we need to catch the early genetic changes that set nascent taxa on their path to species status (Via ). That challenge is difficult, of course, for two chief reasons: (i) serendipity is required to catch speciation in the act; and (ii) after a short time span with lingering gene flow, differentiation may be low and/or embodied only in rare alleles that are difficult to sample. In this issue of Molecular Ecology Resources, Smouse et al. () have noted that optimal assessment of differentiation within and between nascent species should be robust to these challenges, and they identified a measure based on Shannon's information theory that has many advantages for this and numerous other tasks. The Shannon measure exhibits complete additivity of information at different levels of subdivision. Of all the family of diversity measures (‘0’ or allele counts, ‘1’ or Shannon, ‘2’ or heterozygosity, FST and related metrics) Shannon's measure comes closest to weighting alleles by their frequencies. For the Shannon measure, rare alleles that represent early signals of nascent speciation are neither down‐weighted to the point of irrelevance, as for level 2 measures, nor up‐weighted to overpowering importance, as for level 0 measures (Chao et al. , ). Shannon measures have a long history in population genetics, dating back to Shannon's PhD thesis in 1940 (Crow ), but have received only sporadic attention, until a resurgence of interest in the last ten years, as reviewed briefly by Smouse et al. ().
Climate Discourse Complexes, National Climate Regimes and Australian Climate Policy
Authors: Christoff Peter
Published: October 2015

This paper develops the concepts of the climate discourse complex, and national climate policy regime, in order to analyse significant patterns in Australian national climate politics over the twenty‐five years from 1988 to 2013. Six major discursive fields — scientific, ethical, economic, technological, political/legal, and “everyday life”— contribute to the ensemble of discourses that constitute a climate discourse complex. The climate discourse complex in turn serves to frame and discipline climate debate and the articulation of a national climate policy regime. The composition of Australia's climate discourse complex has been dominated by the economic discursive field. Debates over “old” and “new” economic discourses have been the key drivers of and constraints on the trajectory of Australia's climate policy regime for much of the period under consideration. These debates have diminished and sometimes marginalized the influence of scientific, ethical and other discourses, contributing to Australia's weak mitigation ambition. The paper also suggests that significant changes in Australian climate discourses and Australia's climate discourse complex have largely been initiated by factors external to Australia, with the major shift occurring in the period 2006/2007.
The Great Divide: Political Candidate and Voter Polarisation over Global Warming in Australia
Authors: Tranter Bruce
Published: October 2015

Attitude polarization between conservative and progressive politicians over global warming has an important influence upon public acceptance of action on climate change. Political party identification theorists claim that political elites provide cues that guide party supporters on complex political issues. In Australia, as in the USA, the UK and elsewhere, public attitudes on climate change are deeply divided on the basis of party identification and political ideology. Multivariate analyses of Australian candidate and voter survey data show that coalition candidates and their supporters are far less likely than their Labor or Greens counterparts to believe global warming will pose a serious threat to their way of life. Attitudes toward global warming are also more polarized according to party allegiance among candidates than among voters. Controlling for social background and political ideology, Coalition identifiers are less concerned about the dangers of climate change, far less supportive of the carbon tax and less likely to support renewable energy options than Greens or Labor identifiers are, but much more supportive of nuclear power as an alternative energy source.
Pufferfish attack on Thursday Island
Authors: Farrell Sarah , Turner Perry
Published: October 2015

In rural Australia animal attacks and bites are an increasingly common phenomenon. The pufferfish is native to the north‐eastern coast of Australia and is becoming increasingly tempted closer ashore. We present the first case and review of the literature of a vicious fish bite from this animal in a child in rural Australia.
Male hormonal contraception: looking back and moving forward
Authors: Roth M. Y. , Page S. T. , Bremner W. J.
Published: October 2015

Despite numerous contraceptive options available to women, approximately half of all pregnancies in the United States and worldwide are unplanned. Women and men support the development of reversible male contraception strategies, but none have been brought to market. Herein we review the physiologic basis for male hormonal contraception, the history of male hormonal contraception development, currents agents in development as well as the potential risks and benefits of male hormonal contraception for men.
Do baseline estrogen and testosterone affect lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) prior to or after pharmacologic treatment with tadalafil?
Authors: Egan K. B. , Miner M. M. , Suh M. , McVary K. , Ni X. , Roehrborn C. G. , Wittert G. , Wong D. G. , Rosen R. C.
Published: October 2015

Little is known about how total testosterone and estradiol‐17β influence lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) in men with benign prostatic hypertrophy (BPH). We analyzed data from a subset of men aged ≥18 years randomized to tadalafil 5 mg once‐daily or placebo who had ≥6 month history of LUTS and an International Prostate Symptom Score (IPSS)≥13 enrolled in one of three randomized, placebo‐controlled tadalafil clinical trials (N = 958). Three specific aims were addressed, as follows: (i) To characterize enrolled men by treatment randomization and testosterone level; (ii) to assess cross‐sectional associations of estradiol‐17β, testosterone, and LUTS prior to treatment with tadalafil; and, (iii) to assess longitudinal associations between baseline estradiol‐17β and testosterone and improvements or worsening of LUTS during a 12‐week period of tadalafil or placebo administration. LUTS were assessed by total IPSS, IPSS voiding sub‐score (IPSS‐V) and IPSS storage sub‐score (IPSS‐S) for cross‐sectional analyses, and change in total IPSS (ΔIPSS), ΔIPSS‐V, and ΔIPSS‐S between baseline and 12‐week visit for longitudinal analyses. Correlation analyses and linear regression examined associations. Baseline testosterone was not significantly associated with IPSS. In contrast, estradiol‐17β was inversely correlated with IPSS (r = −0.08; p < 0.05) and IPSS‐S (r = −0.14; p < 0.05). Tadalafil treatment resulted in greater IPSS improvements in men with lower baseline estradiol‐17β versus those with higher baseline estradiol‐17β. Lower baseline estradiol‐17β was significantly associated with modestly improved ΔIPSS‐V (p = 0.04) and Δtotal IPSS (p = 0.05) but not with ΔIPSS‐S, following treatment which may substantiate the role of bladder dysfunction because of nerve and smooth muscle changes in the bladder in addition to benign prostatic enlargement in LUTS. Circulating baseline testosterone did not predict ΔIPSS. Men with lower baseline estradiol‐17β levels showed greater responsiveness to tadalafil 5 mg treatment than those with higher baseline estradiol‐17β levels when responsiveness was measured using total IPSS and IPSS‐V.
Guy de Chauliac: pre‐eminent surgeon of the Middle Ages
Authors: Watters David A. K.
Published: October 2015

Guy de Chauliac (c1300–1368) trained in Toulouse and the University of Montpellier from where he achieved the highest possible degree of Master of medicine. He undertook fellowships in Bologna (anatomical dissection) and Paris (surgery) and was qualified as a physician not a Barber Surgeon. He took Holy Orders and was appointed as physician to three Avignon‐based Popes. He survived an epidemic of the Black Death (1348–1350), suffering an axillary bubo. His book Chirugia Magna was written in medieval Latin in 1363, then circulated in manuscript form before its first printing in 1478. There were 70 editions as it became the most influential surgical text for over 200 years, particularly in France, spanning the period from the late 14th century until Paré (1510–1590). He divided surgery into swellings, wounds, ulcers, fractures and dislocations, and special diseases. Well researched and referenced, based on evidence and experience, he succeeded in incorporating antiquarian and contemporary thinking from French, Arabian, Italian (Bologna), Egyptian and Greek scholars about anatomy, surgical disease and treatment. He was a strong advocate for evaluating outcomes, knowing when not to operate, professionalism and the non‐technical competencies. His framework of professionalism was based on four domains: being learned, expert, ingenious and adaptable. The surgical aspirants and leaders of the following two centuries recognized the academic, professional and practical value of his teaching through their reference to and use of Chirugia Magna. The Cowlishaw collection in the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons' library contains four French copies, under the title La Grande Chirugie.
Impact of an acute care surgery model on appendicectomy outcomes
Authors: Poh Benjamin Ruimin , Cashin Paul , Dubrava Zdenek , Blamey Stephen , Yong Wei Wei , Croagh Daniel Gerald
Published: October 2015

Background

Monash Medical Centre introduced the acute surgical unit (ASU) in July 2011. The ASU is modelled on the concept of acute care surgery (ACS). This study reviews the impact of the ASU on the outcomes in an appendicectomy population.

Methods

A retrospective review of all patients (aged 16–99 years) who underwent appendicectomies in the 2‐year study time frame (from July 2010 to June 2012) at our centre was performed. The cohort (n = 539) was divided into two groups for analysis: the ASU group, patients admitted on or after 18 July 2011 (n = 283), and the control group, patients admitted prior to 18 July 2011 (n = 256).

Results

Median time to operation (1129 min versus 1080 min, P = 0.963) and negative appendicectomy rate (24.2% versus 24.8%, P = 0.871) were similar in both groups. The proportion of operations performed overnight (18.00–08.00 hours) was significantly decreased in the ASU group (17.1% versus 30.7%, P < 0.001). Perforation rate was marginally higher in the ASU group (17.8% versus 11.8%, P = 0.053) but failed to reach statistical significance. There was an increase in the usage of preoperative imaging (40.3% versus 30.5%, P = 0.018) in the ASU group. Operating times, length of stay, laparoscopic‐to‐open conversion and surgical site infection rates remained similar.

Conclusion

We conclude that implementation of an ACS model does not lead to objective differences in outcome for patients after appendicectomy. However, the ACS model significantly decreased the number of operations performed after‐hours.
Simulator training and non‐technical factors improve laparoscopic performance among OBGYN trainees
Authors: Ahlborg Liv , Hedman Leif , Nisell Henry , Felländer‐Tsai Li , Enochsson Lars
Published: October 2015

Objective

To investigate how simulator training and non‐technical factors affect laparoscopic performance among residents in obstetrics and gynecology.

Design

In this prospective study, trainees were randomized into three groups. The first group was allocated to proficiency‐based training in the LapSimGyn® virtual reality simulator. The second group received additional structured mentorship during subsequent laparoscopies. The third group served as control group. At baseline an operation was performed and visuospatial ability, flow and self‐efficacy were assessed. All groups subsequently performed three tubal occlusions. Self‐efficacy and flow were assessed before and/or after each operation.

Setting

Simulator training was conducted at the Center for Advanced Medical Simulation and Training, Karolinska University Hospital. Sterilizations were performed at each trainee's home clinic.

Population

Twenty‐eight trainees/residents from 21 hospitals in Sweden were included.

Methods/main outcome measures

Visuospatial ability was tested by the Mental Rotation Test‐A. Flow and self‐efficacy were assessed by validated scales and questionnaires. Laparoscopic performance was measured as the duration of surgery. Visuospatial ability, self‐efficacy and flow were correlated to the laparoscopic performance using Spearman's correlations. Differences between groups were analyzed by the Mann–Whitney U‐test.

Results

No differences across groups were detected at baseline. Self‐efficacy scores before and flow scores after the third operation were significantly higher in the trained groups. Duration of surgery was significantly shorter in the trained groups. Flow and self‐efficacy correlate positively with laparoscopic performance.

Conclusions

Simulator training and non‐technical factors appear to improve the laparoscopic performance among trainees/residents in obstetrics and gynecology.
Preventing postnatal growth restriction in infants with birthweight less than 1300 g
Authors: Lapointe M , Barrington KJ , Savaria M , Janvier A
Published: October 2015

Aim

To examine nutritional and growth outcomes in very preterm infants with a birthweight (BW) of ≤1300 g before and after the introduction of enhanced enteral and parenteral nutrition protocols.

Methods

A comparison of two historical cohorts.

Results

There were 153 infants in cohort 1 and 118 in cohort 2. A total of 19% were growth restricted at birth in both cohorts. Feeds advanced more quickly in cohort 2, with decreased duration of central lines and TPN; breastmilk fortification occurred sooner. Calorie and protein intakes were increased during all of the first 14 days of life. Adverse clinical outcomes were unchanged, including NEC. The proportion of infants discharged <10th percentile of expected weight, decreased from 23% to 9%. In cohort 2, the z‐score for body weight decreased by 0.39, compared to an average 1.03 in cohort 1 (p < 0.001). Head circumference and body weight were also significantly improved at discharge (p < 0.01), but length was improved to a lesser degree.

Conclusion

Early and enhanced postnatal intravenous and enteral feeding can provide good postnatal growth among very immature infants without adverse effects. Calorie and particularly protein intake in early life could probably be further optimised.
Redefining “Old Age” and “Dependency” in East Asia: Is “Prospective Aging” A More Helpful Concept?
Authors: Basten Stuart
Published: October 2015

East Asian societies are currently some of the most rapidly aging in the world. Projections of the traditional old‐age dependency ratios (OADR) present a daunting future of the size of the aged population both in absolute terms and, in the context of low fertility, relative to the future workforce. Recently scholars, especially Sanderson and Scherbov, have argued that OADR is inadequate as a guide to future levels of dependency based, as it is, on past scenarios of “old age” and “dependency” rather than current and future notions. Indeed, in the context of rapidly aging settings in East Asia with developmental welfare states, the OADR has probably never been truly relevant, is profoundly unhelpful and could lead to policy paralysis. As such, Sanderson and Scherbov suggested a new method to measure aging prospectively to take into account both improved life expectancy and health across the life‐course. We introduce these new measurements as a possible new, more radical and optimistic way to think about aging in East Asia. These measurements more accurately demonstrate the “boundaries” to “dependency” and, hence, demonstrate the potential room for social policy interventions to maximize “active aging” for the population currently, perhaps incorrectly, defined as “old” and “dependent”.
Business in society or business and society: the construction of business–society relations in responsibility reports from a critical discursive perspective
Authors: Siltaoja Marjo E. , Onkila Tiina J.
Published: October 2015

In this article, we analyse the discursive construction of business–society relations in Finnish businesses’ social and environmental responsibility reports. Drawing on critical discourse analysis, we examine how these discursive constructions maintain and reproduce various interests and societal conditions as a precondition of corporate social responsibility (CSR). Our study contributes to the recent discussion on discursive struggles in business–society relations and the role various interests play in this struggle. We find that not only are power asymmetries between actors veiled through the universalization of interests, but reporting can also be seen as a communicative action that provides a right to define the role of societal actors for the achievement of CSR. We suggest that the discursive struggle over whose interests dominate, and how they dominate, shapes the role of social and environmental reporting as a social practice.
Understanding chronic neutropenia: life is short
Authors: Bartels Marije , Murphy Kate , Rieter Ester , Bruin Marrie
Published: October 2015

The pathophysiological mechanisms underlying chronic neutropenia are extensive, varying from haematopoietic stem cell disorders resulting in defective neutrophil production, to accelerated apoptosis of neutrophil progenitors or circulating mature neutrophils. While the knowledge concerning genetic defects associated with congenital neutropenia or bone marrow failure is increasing rapidly, the functional role and consequences of these genetic alterations is often not well understood. In addition, there is a large group of diseases, including primary immunodeficiencies and metabolic diseases, in which chronic neutropenia is one of the symptoms, while there is no clear bone marrow pathology or haematopoietic stem cell dysfunction. Altogether, these disease entities illustrate the complexity of normal neutrophil development, the functional role of the (bone marrow) microenvironment and the increased propensity to undergo apoptosis, which is typical for neutrophils. The large variety of disorders associated with chronic neutropenia makes classification almost impossible and possibly not desirable, based on the clinical phenotypes. However, a better understanding of the regulation of normal myeloid differentiation and neutrophil development is of great importance in the diagnostic evaluation of unexplained chronic neutropenia. In this review we propose insights in the pathophysiology of chronic neutropenia in the context of the functional role of key players during normal neutrophil development, neutrophil release and neutrophil survival.
Incorporation of staphylococci into titanium‐grown biofilms: an in vitro “submucosal” biofilm model for peri‐implantitis
Authors: Thurnheer Thomas , Belibasakis Georgios N.
Published: October 2015

Objectives

Staphylococcus spp. are postulated to play a role in peri‐implantitis. This study aimed to develop a “submucosal” in vitro biofilm model, by integrating two staphylococci into its composition.

Materials and methods

The standard “subgingival” biofilm contained Actinomyces oris, Fusobacterium nucleatum, Streptococcus oralis, Veillonella dispar, Campylobacter rectus, Prevotella intermedia, Streptococcus anginosus, Porphyromonas gingivalis, Tannerella forsythia and Treponema denticola, and was further supplemented with Staphyoccous aureus and/or Staphylococcus epidermidis. Biofilms were grown anaerobically on hydroxyapatite or titanium discs and harvested after 64 h for real‐time polymerase chain reaction, to determine their composition. Confocal laser scanning microscopy and fluorescence in situ hybridization were used for identifying the two staphylococci within the biofilm.

Results

Both staphylococci established within the biofilms when added separately. However, when added together, only S. aureus grew in high numbers, whereas S. epidermidis was reduced almost to the detection limit. Compared to the standard subgingival biofilm, addition of the two staphylococci had no impact on the qualitative or quantitative composition of the biofilm. When grown individually in the biofilm, S. epidermidis and S. aureus formed small distinctive clusters and it was confirmed that S. epidermidis was not able to grow in presence of S. aureus.

Conclusions

Staphyoccous aureus and S. epidermidis can be individually integrated into an oral biofilm grown on titanium, hence establishing a “submucosal” biofilm model for peri‐implantitis. This model also revealed that S. aureus outcompetes S. epidermidis when grown together in the biofilm, which may explain the more frequent association of the former with peri‐implantitis.
Methylisothiazolinone contact allergy – a growing epidemic
Authors: Lundov Michael D. , Opstrup Morten S. , Johansen Jeanne D.
Published: October 2015

Background

The prevalence of contact allergy to the isothiazolinone preservative methylchloroisothiazolinone (MCI) in combination with methylisothiazolinone (MI) and MI alone has increased in the last couple of years.

Objectives

To investigate the prevalence of contact allergy to MI, MCI/MI and benzisothiazolinone (BIT) among patch tested patients at Gentofte Hospital, as well as the use of MI in cosmetic products.

Methods

Patients patch tested with either MI, MCI/MI or BIT from 2010 to 2012 were included in the study. The MOAHLFA index was registered in all patch tested patients, and relevant exposures were determined in patients with an isothiazolinone allergy. In a market survey, the ingredient labels of cosmetic products were investigated for MI content.

Results

The prevalence of MI and MCI/MI contact allergy increased significantly from 2010 to 2012: from 2.0% to 3.7% for MI (n = 2766), and from 1.0% to 2.4% for MCI/MI (n = 2802). MI‐allergic patients had occupational, hand and face dermatitis significantly more often, and were aged > 40 years. Cosmetics were the most common substances causing relevant exposure found in both MCI/MI‐allergic and MI‐allergic patients. MI was found in 3.3% of cosmetics on the Danish retail market.

Conclusions

The increase in MI contact allergy is alarming, and urgent action is needed.
Recommendation to include methylisothiazolinone in the European baseline patch test series – on behalf of the European Society of Contact Dermatitis and the European Environmental and Contact Dermatitis Research Group
Authors: Bruze Magnus , Engfeldt Malin , Gonçalo Margarida , Goossens An
Published: October 2015

Background

Methylisothiazolinone (MI) is used as a preservative in occupational and household products, and cosmetics. It is a part of the preparation of methylchloroisothiazolinone (MCI)/MI, which is patch tested in water in the European baseline series. However, this preparation fails to detect a significant percentage of allergic contact reactions to MI.

Objectives

To investigate whether a separate test preparation with MI should be included in the European baseline series.

Methods

Literature survey.

Results

In consecutively tested dermatitis patients, the contact allergy rate for MI varies between 0.6% and 6%, with a marked increase in recent years. The contact allergy rate for MI alone, not detected with MCI/MI, varies between 0% and 1.6%. Most cases are relevant, as shown by repeated open application test studies, and are mainly related to exposure from cosmetic products.

Conclusions

Owing to the increase in contact allergy to MI not detected with MCI/MI, it is recommended that MI in water at 2000 ppm be included in the European baseline series. With the Finn Chamber® (diameter, 8 mm) technique, a volume of 15 µl should be applied, giving a dose of 60 µg/cm2.
Benign colonic metaplasia at a previous stoma site in a patient without adenomatous polyposis
Authors: Prouty Megan , Patrawala Samit , Vogt Adam , Kelleher Michael , Lee Michael , Parker Douglas C.
Published: October 2015

There are few reported cases of cutaneous intestinal metaplasia or primary adenocarcinoma arising at the ileostomy site following panproctocolectomy. These complications have been seen almost exclusively in patients with familial adenomatous polyposis and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). However, benign intraepidermal colonic mucosa at a reversed ileostomy site in a patient without familial adenomatous polyposis or IBD has not been documented. We report a case of a 51‐year‐old female with a history of colonic adenocarcinoma who presented with pruritic, erythematous, scaly plaques on the right lower abdomen, present since reversal of her ileostomy in 2007. Skin biopsy revealed benign foci of colonic epithelium with no evidence of adenomatous change. Benign intraepidermal colonic mucosa was diagnosed based on histopathologic findings and immunohistochemistry. To our knowledge, this is the first case of intraepidermal benign colonic metaplasia forming in a patient following ostomy reversal. The case emphasizes the importance of patient education and physical examination of the stoma or stoma remnants for detection of unusual or changing lesions due to the risk for malignant transformation. It also demonstrates that benign colonic mucosa should be considered in the differential diagnosis when evaluating lesions near ileostomy sites, regardless of whether the patient has a history of familial adenomatous polyposis or IBD.
ICT, Social Media, and the Arab Transition to Democracy: From Venting to Acting
Authors: Aman Mohammed M. , Jayroe Tina J.
Published: October 2015

There is widespread use of information and communications technology (ICT) in the Middle East and North African countries. Blogging and social media have played an important role in the recent calls for reform and change. Using these new communication systems and devices, citizens have been venting their anger and frustration with their autocratic governments and rulers. Most recently, the venting has turned into action, as shown by the eradication of the old regimes in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, and Yemen, as well as the ongoing struggle in Syria. The most notable issues include lack of individual freedoms, deteriorating economic conditions, high unemployment, increased corruption, and violent treatment of citizens at the hands of security forces. The Arab Spring, or Awakening, and the events that have since followed have, in part, been promoted by ICT and other means of modern communications. Along with the popular Arab traditions of oral communication as well as Friday and Sunday sermons at mosques and churches, social media were used by organizers of the Arab Spring to call for and coordinate demonstrations against the regimes. Access to this newer media has circumvented the established and government‐controlled media such as printed press, radio, and television—outlets bent on appeasing the rulers and misinforming the masses. Arab authoritarian systems have discovered that they cannot simply flip a big red switch to stop the flow of information that they would rather keep hidden from the masses. Further discussed are digital democracies that are currently emerging because of the growing population of netizens, bloggers, and social media political activists throughout the Arab world and the many attempts to silence them.
Climate‐Change Adaptation in Ethiopia: To What Extent Does Social Protection Influence Livelihood Diversification?
Authors: Weldegebriel Zerihun Berhane , Prowse Martin
Published: October 2015

Social‐protection programmes like the Productive Safety‐Net Programme (PSNP) in Ethiopia can play a positive role in promoting livelihoods and enhancing risk management. This article uses propensity score matching to estimate its effect on income diversification. The results suggest that receiving transfers from the PSNP, on average, did not increase farm or non‐farm income but significantly increases natural‐resource extraction (one component of off‐farm income). While these results should be treated with caution, they suggest that the PSNP may not be helping smallholders diversify income sources in a positive manner for climate adaptation. The article concludes by arguing for the promotion of positive forms of income diversification and the further investigation of the PSNP's influence on autonomous adaptation strategies.
What Are Social Laboratories?
Authors: Hassan Zaid
Published: October 2015

We have scientific and technical labs for solving our most difficult scientific and technical challenges. Now we are exploring the growing field of social labs to solve our most pressing social challenges.

In this excerpt from The Social Labs Revolution, Zaid Hassan calls for setting up social labs to solve social challenges in the same way technology and science labs solve technical and scientific challenges.
Shopping Around: How Households Adjusted Food Spending Over the Great Recession
Authors: Griffith Rachel , O'Connell Martin , Smith Kate
Published: October 2015

Over the Great Recession, UK households reduced real food expenditure. We show that they were able to maintain the number of calories that they purchased, and the nutritional quality of these calories, by adjusting their shopping behaviour. We document the mechanisms that households used. We motivate our analysis with a model of shopping behaviour in which households adjust shopping effort and the characteristics of their shopping basket in response to economic shocks. We use detailed longitudinal data and focus on within‐household changes in basket characteristics and proxies for shopping effort.
The emergence of convergent price clusters in China
Authors: Zhu Yanjie , Oxley Les , Ma Hengyun , Wang Wenchao
Published: October 2015

This paper reports new evidence on the existence of both large and small price divergent clusters for China's energy markets, 2000–2009. The largest convergent price clusters suggest that the coal and gasoline markets are well integrated, however, small convergent price clusters suggest that electricity and diesel markets are proving harder to integrate. The paper argues that the traditional approach to price convergence analysis should be applied with caution, especially in a transitional economy such as China where questions to be asked should relate to the ‘degree of market‐orientation’ and not simply whether it is a market‐based economy or not.
Developmental sequences of squamate reptiles are taxon specific
Authors: Andrews Robin M. , Brandley Matthew C. , Greene Virginia W.
Published: October 2015

Recent studies in comparative vertebrate embryology have focused on two related questions. One concerns the existence of a phylotypic period, or indeed any period, during development in which sequence variation among taxa is constrained. The second question concerns the degree to which developmental characters exhibit a phylogenetic signal. These questions are important because they underpin attempts to understand the evolution of developmental characters and their links to adult morphology. To address these questions, we compared the sequence of developmental events spanning the so‐called phylotypic period of vertebrate development in squamate reptiles (lizards and snakes), from the formation of the primary optic placode to the first appearance of scale anlagen. We used Bayesian phylogenetic ancestral state reconstruction analyses and estimates of Bayesian posterior probabilities of the rank order of developmental events to determine the level of support for phylogenetically associated variation in development. We assessed the amount of variation in event sequences by plotting the proportions of reconstructed ranks (excluding unlikely events, PP < 0.05) associated with each event. Sequence variability was the lowest towards the middle of the phylotypic period and involved three events (allantois contacts chorion, maximum number of pharyngeal slits, and appearance of the apical epidermal ridge [AER]); these events each had only two reconstructed ranks. Squamate clades also differed in the rank order of developmental events. Of the 20 events in our analyses, 12 had strongly supported (PP ≥ 0.95) sequence ranks that differed at two or more internal nodes of the tree. For example, gekkotans are distinguished by the late appearance of the allantois bud compared to all other squamates (ranks 7 and 8 vs. rank 3, respectively) and Serpentes are distinguished by the earlier completion of torsion (rank 3) compared to acrodonts and pleurodonts (ranks 7 and 5, respectively). Clade specific sequences of developmental events mean that investigators should not extend observations on the development on particular squamate species to distantly related taxa for use in comparative studies.
Effect of vegetation on density thresholds of adult desert locust gregarization from survey data in Mauritania
Authors: Cisse Sory , Ghaout Saïd , Mazih Ahmed , Babah Ebbe Mohamed Abdallahi Ould , Benahi Ahmed Salem , Piou Cyril
Published: October 2015

In the desert locust, Schistocerca gregaria (Forskål) (Orthoptera: Acrididae), the threshold density inducing the gregarization phenomenon has never been determined under natural conditions. The influence of environmental factors on this phenomenon has been studied mostly in controlled environments. Based on data collected during several years by the survey teams of the National Center for Locust Control in Mauritania, we analyzed the influence of locust density, vegetation cover, and vegetation status on the probability of observing gregarious locusts. We assumed that a probability to observe gregarious locusts of 0.5 corresponded to the density threshold of gregarization. The results showed in detail the change in the threshold of gregarization according to the cover and status of the vegetation. Low cover and dry vegetation led to a low density threshold of gregarization probably due to high probability of individuals to touch each other. Dense and green vegetation favored a high threshold of gregarization probably due to a dispersion of the individuals and a low probability of individual encounters. These findings should help the management of locusts and decision making during control operations.
Rebound spiking properties of mouse medial entorhinal cortex neurons in vivo
Authors: Tsuno Yusuke , Chapman George W. , Hasselmo Michael E.
Published: October 2015

The medial entorhinal cortex is the gateway between the cortex and hippocampus, and plays a critical role in spatial coding as represented by grid cell activity. In the medial entorhinal cortex, inhibitory circuits are robust, and the presence of the h‐current leads to rebound potentials and rebound spiking in in vitro experiments. It has been hypothesized that these properties, combined with network oscillations, may contribute to grid cell formation. To examine the properties of in vivo rebound spikes, we performed whole‐cell patch‐clamp recordings in medial entorhinal cortex neurons in anaesthetized mice. We injected hyperpolarizing inputs representing inhibitory synaptic inputs along with sinusoidal oscillations and found that hyperpolarizing inputs injected at specific phases of oscillation had a higher probability of inducing subsequent spikes at the peak of the oscillation in some neurons. This effect was prominent in the cells with large sag potential, which is a marker of the h‐current. In addition, larger and longer hyperpolarizing current square‐pulse stimulation resulted in a larger probability of eliciting rebound spikes, though we did not observe a relationship between the amplitude or duration of hyperpolarizing current pulse stimulation and the delay of rebound spikes. Overall these results suggest that rebound spikes are observed in vivo and may play a role in generating grid cell activity in medial entorhinal cortex neurons.
Comparative Institutional Analysis, the European Court of Justice and the General Principle of Non‐Discrimination—or—Alternative Tales on Equality Reasoning
Authors: Croon Johanna
Published: October 2015

The general principle of equality in European law is often held to be inconsistently applied by the European Court of Justice (ECJ) and insufficiently supported by methodology. Contrary to this assessment, this paper argues that there is substantial coherence and theoretical underpinning to the court's equality reasoning. First, it shows that the respective case‐law can be subdivided into three groups, depending on the level of scrutiny applied. Second, it establishes that the prevailing accounts have difficulty in explaining the court's choice of scrutiny due to their limited selection of analytical parameters. Third, it concludes that comparative institutional analysis offers an alternative framework to make the ECJ's testing approaches in equality matters more intelligible.
From Rhetoric to Practice: The Case of Spanish Local Government Reforms
Authors: Brusca Isabel , Montesinos Vicente
Published: October 2015

This paper aims to explore what performance management tools are implemented in practice in Spanish local governments and whether they have led to an improvement in public management and accountability. We also analyse the usefulness of performance reporting, comparing it with that of accrual financial reporting. The results show that most of the entities that have introduced performance indicators do not use them for decision‐making or accountability. After two decades of reforms in financial and management systems, financial directors still consider that budgetary reporting is the most useful, basically because the control of expenditure is still based on the budget.
A Comparison of Budgeting and Accounting Reforms in the National Governments of France, Germany, the UK and the US
Authors: Jones Rowan , Lande Evelyne , Lüder Klaus , Portal Marine
Published: October 2015

This paper compares technical aspects of accrual‐based budgeting and accounting reforms of the national governments of France, Germany, the UK and the US. It shows that there is no consensus among the four countries about the complete package of technical reform possibilities that is most appropriate; there is also no consensus among the four countries about each one of the possibilities that is most appropriate. What is clear is the resilience of traditional budgetary accounting systems. It is also clear that, in the fundamental context and content of the reforms, the UK is the striking exception.
Accounting for Competition, ‘Circuits of Power’ and Negotiated Order Between Not‐For‐Profit and Public Sector Organisations
Authors: Mutiganda Jean C. , Hassel Lars G. , Fagerström Arne
Published: October 2015

This study analyses the role of accounting information in negotiating contractual relationships in the framework of circuits of power during a competitive tendering process. The study asks how institutionalised accounting information affects taken‐for‐granted ways of thinking and acting by institutional actors in negotiating inter‐organisational order when analysed using the framework of circuits of power. Field research took place in a Finnish not‐for‐profit aged care organisation and municipality from 2008 to 2012. The study shows that institutionalised accounting information cannot be taken‐for‐granted to prevail in obligatory passage points of the circuits of power in negotiating order.
Father Involvement and Early Intervention: Effects of Empowerment and Father Role Identity
Authors: Fox Greer L. , Nordquist Vey M. , Billen Rhett M. , Savoca Emily Furst
Published: October 2015

The family‐centered service delivery model used in early intervention is meant to empower families of children with disabilities. The present analysis examined the effects of empowerment and father identity on father involvement with children with disabilities. Father involvement was measured using three indices: attachment (i.e., feeling a strong connection to the child), engagement (i.e., participating in activities with the child), and responsibility (i.e., meeting the child's needs). Father empowerment and father identity, measured as salience, satisfaction, and reflected appraisals, consistently predicted higher levels of father involvement in hierarchical regression models. In addition, mediation analyses revealed that father identity partially mediated the relationship between empowerment and father involvement. These findings support the family‐centered service delivery model and suggest that it may be able to improve the lives of children with disabilities by enhancing father role identity and subsequent fathering activities.
Determinants of Sovereign Wealth Fund Cross‐Border Investments
Authors: Megginson William L. , You Miao , Han Liyan
Published: October 2015

Using a sample of 1,590 purchases of stock by sovereign wealth funds (SWFs) in listed firms in 78 target countries between 1985 and 2011, we study the country‐level determinants of SWF cross‐border investment. We find that SWFs from countries with high levels of openness and economic development, but with less developed local capital markets, will make more cross‐country transactions, while target countries with higher levels of investor protection and more developed capital markets will attract more SWF investment. Our findings support the investment facilitation hypothesis, suggesting that SWFs act purely or principally as commercial investors facilitating cross‐border corporate investment.