bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Using Percentiles to Communicate Snowfall Uncertainty
Authors: Novak David R. , Brill Keith F. , Hogsett Wallace A.
Published: July 2014

An objective technique to determine forecast snowfall ranges consistent with the risk tolerance of users is demonstrated. The forecast snowfall ranges are based on percentiles from probability distribution functions that are assumed to be perfectly calibrated. A key feature of the technique is that the snowfall range varies dynamically, with the resultant ranges varying based on the spread of ensemble forecasts at a given forecast projection, for a particular case, for a particular location. Furthermore, this technique allows users to choose their risk tolerance, quantified in terms of the expected false alarm ratio for forecasts of snowfall range. The technique is applied to the 4–7 March 2013 snowstorm at two different locations (Chicago, Illinois, and Washington, D.C.) to illustrate its use in different locations with different forecast uncertainties. The snowfall range derived from the Weather Prediction Center Probabilistic Winter Precipitation Forecast suite is found to be statistically reliable for the day 1 forecast during the 2013/14 season, providing confidence in the practical applicability of the technique.
Display Clutter
Authors: Moacdieh Nadine , Sarter Nadine
Published: July 2014

Objective:

We aimed to synthesize the literature on display clutter by reviewing definitions and measurement techniques and to develop a comprehensive, ergonomics-oriented perspective on clutter. We provide guidance for the selection of measurement approaches that can capture the various aspects and effects of clutter on visual search in particular.

Background:

There is agreement that clutter may represent a significant problem to operators. The challenge is to determine the ideal middle ground between excessive data and insufficient information. However, definitions of clutter vary widely, which explains the range of measurement approaches, including image-processing algorithms, performance evaluation, subjective evaluation, and eye tracking. It is important to understand the affordances of each technique and provide guidance for their use.

Method:

We provide a systematic review of clutter definitions and develop a performance-oriented perspective for ergonomics research. Next, we present a critical overview of clutter measurement approaches. The benefits and limitations of each technique are detailed, and recommendations for best practice are provided.

Results:

From an ergonomics perspective, clutter matters to the extent that it affects performance, particularly, visual search. A combination of measurement techniques can be employed in order to assess the performance costs stemming from the multiple aspects of clutter.

Conclusion:

Display clutter is a multifaceted construct that is a problem when it results in performance and attentional costs. The assessment of these costs is critical and requires the use of appropriate and complementary techniques.

Application:

It is important that the performance costs of clutter are detected reliably to be able to better support attention management.
Transnational migration and urban informality: Ethnicity in Buenos Aires’ informal settlements
Authors: Bastia Tanja
Published: July 2014

Ethnicity is playing an increasingly important role in the ways in which informality is governed and regulated across cities in the global south. This raises concerns regarding the ensuing exclusion experienced by some groups of people living in informal settlements. In this paper I use the example of Buenos Aires, Argentina, to explore the extent to which ethnicity plays a role in the informal settlement. There is significant evidence that Argentina has gone through a process of de-ethnicisation, particularly at the national level. However, it is unclear whether this process is also evident at the level of the informal settlement. Drawing on a range of interviews, the paper finds that while grassroots organisations are de-ethnicising, the formal leadership of the informal settlement and to some extent also migrants reproduce ethnic divisions. The de-ethnicisation led by the state has therefore unequally percolated to the micro level.
Detecting hot topics from Twitter: A multiview approach
Authors: Fang Yixiang , Zhang Haijun , Ye Yunming , Li Xutao
Published: July 2014

Twitter is widely used all over the world, and a huge number of hot topics are generated by Twitter users in real time. These topics are able to reflect almost every aspect of people’s daily lives. Therefore, the detection of topics in Twitter can be used in many real applications, such as monitoring public opinion, hot product recommendation and incidence detection. However, the performance of traditional topic detection methods is still far from perfect largely owing to the tweets’ features, such as their limited length and arbitrary abbreviations. To address these problems, we propose a novel framework (MVTD) for Twitter topic detection using multiview clustering, which can integrate multirelations among tweets, such as semantic relations, social tag relations and temporal relations. We also propose some methods for measuring relations among tweets. In particular, to better measure the semantic similarity of tweets, we propose a new document similarity measure based on a suffix tree (STVSM). In addition, a new keyword extraction method based on a suffix tree is proposed. Experiments on real datasets show that the performance of MVTD is much better than that of a single view, and it is useful for detecting topics from Twitter.
Assessing the complex relationship between government alternation and ideological congruence
Authors: Pellegata Alessandro
Published: July 2014

This article analyses the impact of government alternation on ideological congruence, going beyond the traditional distinction between the majoritarian and proportional visions of democracy that characterises the literature. I postulate that the effects of alternation on congruence differ according to the concept of alternation adopted and the time frame considered. While the possibility of alternation has no significant effect on congruence, the actual levels of alternation do play an ambivalent role. Higher levels of alternation increase the distance between the median voter’s and the government’s preferences at the time of the election. However, in the long run, the level of alternation accumulated over time reduces the average level of ideological distance, compensating for gaps in one direction with opposing gaps in the other direction. Empirical analysis conducted on a sample of 32 democracies confirms all of the hypotheses advanced.
Early Marriage
Authors: Yüksel-Kaptanoğlu İlknur , Ergöçmen Banu Akadli
Published: July 2014

This article analyses trends in early marriage in Turkey over a period of 30 years from 1978 to 2008, and factors associated with early marriage, based on data from the 1978 Turkish Fertility Survey and 2008 Turkey Demographic and Health Survey. The proportion of all women aged 20 to 24 who married before age 18 declined from 38% in 1978 to 14% in 2008. For ever-married women aged 20 to 24 years, the article examines risk factors for the common explanatory variables such as educational level of women, childhood place of residence, type of place of residence, region and spousal age gap, using logistic regression analysis. For women, early marriage is associated with all the explanatory variables in both surveys. Increasing women’s education and achievement of gender equality in all spheres of life emerge as essential steps to cope with the problem of early marriage and to eliminate child marriage.
Recourse Seeking and Intervention in the Context of Intimate Partner Violence in Vietnam
Authors: Schuler Sidney Ruth , Lenzi Rachel , Hoang Tu-Anh , Vu Song-Ha , Yount Kathryn M. , Trang Quach Thu
Published: July 2014

This qualitative study examines attitudes toward recourse seeking and intervention in cases of intimate partner violence (IPV) against women in periurban Vietnam. The data come from 20 open-ended interviews, 4 focus group discussions, and 40 cognitive interviews conducted with married men and women. The findings indicate that many people hold contradictory beliefs and inconsistent attitudes about IPV and IPV intervention. Also, most informants know about the law against domestic violence in the abstract, but have limited knowledge of, and confidence in, potential mechanisms for recourse provided under the law. Strategies intended to undermine IPV and promote recourse seeking and intervention in Vietnam should be strategically designed to address ambivalence concerning IPV and recourse, and there should be a focus on changing norms associated with masculinity. Further efforts are needed to disseminate information about existing laws and mechanisms of recourse.
A study of the 200-metre fast walk test as a possible new assessment tool to predict maximal heart rate and define target heart rate for exercise training of coronary heart disease patients
Authors: Casillas Jean-Marie , Joussain Charles , Gremeaux Vincent , Hannequin Armelle , Rapin Amandine , Laurent Yves , Benaïm Charles
Published: July 2014

Objective:

To develop a new predictive model of maximal heart rate based on two walking tests at different speeds (comfortable and brisk walking) as an alternative to a cardiopulmonary exercise test during cardiac rehabilitation.

Design:

Evaluation of a clinical assessment tool.

Setting:

A Cardiac Rehabilitation Department in France.

Subjects:

A total of 148 patients (133 men), mean age of 59 ±9 years, at the end of an outpatient cardiac rehabilitation programme.

Main measures:

Patients successively performed a 6-minute walk test, a 200 m fast-walk test (200mFWT), and a cardiopulmonary exercise test, with measure of heart rate at the end of each test. An all-possible regression procedure was used to determine the best predictive regression models of maximal heart rate. The best model was compared with the Fox equation in term of predictive error of maximal heart rate using the paired t-test.

Results:

Results of the two walking tests correlated significantly with maximal heart rate determined during the cardiopulmonary exercise test, whereas anthropometric parameters and resting heart rate did not. The simplified predictive model with the most acceptable mean error was: maximal heart rate = 130 − 0.6 × age + 0.3 × HR200mFWT (R2 = 0.24). This model was superior to the Fox formula (R2 = 0.138). The relationship between training target heart rate calculated from measured reserve heart rate and that established using this predictive model was statistically significant ( r = 0.528, p < 10−6).

Conclusions:

A formula combining heart rate measured during a safe simple fast walk test and age is more efficient than an equation only including age to predict maximal heart rate and training target heart rate.
Prevalence of Biofilms on Surgical Suture Segments in Wounds of Dogs, Cats, and Horses
Authors: König L. , Klopfleisch R. , Kershaw O. , Gruber A. D.
Published: July 2014

The formation of biofilms on surgical implants is thought to play a major role in chronic infection and wound-healing disorders and has been rarely described in veterinary medicine. Due to poor and unreliable results from bacterial culturing, histology may be an economic tool for the detection of biofilms. In this study, the prevalence of biofilms on surgical suture materials and swabs with chronic wound-healing complications in dogs, cats, and horses was assessed by histologic examination using hematoxylin and eosin, Gram, and Giemsa stains, as well as periodic acid–Schiff reaction. Of the 91 tissue samples with intralesional suture material or swab residues associated with inflammation, only 2 contained bacterial colonies arranged in an extracellular polymeric matrix consistent with a biofilm. The results of this study suggest that biofilms on suture material may occur in veterinary medicine.
Social capital: Neither social, nor capital
Authors: Tittenbrun Jacek
Published: July 2014

Its enormous popularity across the social sciences notwithstanding, the concept of social capital is seriously flawed. More specifically, it is a misnomer; it does not capture the entire extent of the social and has nothing to do with capital in the proper sense of the word.
Key role of the expression of bone morphogenetic proteins in increasing the osteogenic activity of osteoblast-like cells exposed to shock waves and seeded on bioactive glass-ceramic scaffolds for bone tissue engineering
Authors: Muzio Giuliana , Martinasso Germana , Baino Francesco , Frairia Roberto , Vitale-Brovarone Chiara , Canuto Rosa A
Published: July 2014

In this work, the role of shock wave-induced increase of bone morphogenetic proteins in modulating the osteogenic properties of osteoblast-like cells seeded on a bioactive scaffold was investigated using gremlin as a bone morphogenetic protein antagonist. Bone-like glass-ceramic scaffolds, based on a silicate experimental bioactive glass developed at the Politecnico di Torino, were produced by the sponge replication method and used as porous substrates for cell culture. Human MG-63 cells, exposed to shock waves and seeded on the scaffolds, were treated with gremlin every two days and analysed after 20 days for the expression of osteoblast differentiation markers. Shock waves have been shown to induce osteogenic activity mediated by increased expression of alkaline phosphatase, osteocalcin, type I collagen, BMP-4 and BMP-7. Cells exposed to shock waves plus gremlin showed increased growth in comparison with cells treated with shock waves alone and, conversely, mRNA contents of alkaline phosphatase and osteocalcin were significantly lower. Therefore, the shock wave-mediated increased expression of bone morphogenetic protein in MG-63 cells seeded on the scaffolds is essential in improving osteogenic activity; blocking bone morphogenetic protein via gremlin completely prevents the increase of alkaline phosphatase and osteocalcin. The results confirmed that the combination of glass-ceramic scaffolds and shock waves exposure could be used to significantly improve osteogenesis opening new perspectives for bone regenerative medicine.
The Relationship Between Openness to Experience and Willingness to Engage in Online Political Participation Is Influenced by News Consumption
Authors: Jordan Gerald , Pope Megan , Wallis Patrick , Iyer Srividya
Published: July 2014

Openness to experience is known to be an independent predictor of online political behavior, although the degree to which this relationship is influenced by other factors has not been tested. One objective of this study was to test whether the relationship between openness to experience and the propensity to engage in online political participation is mediated by internal political efficacy and hours spent consuming news. The second objective was to determine if a preference for different news sources would be related to a willingness to participate in online political behavior. University students ( n = 419) were assessed on willingness to engage in online political participation, hours dedicated to news consumption, preference for different news sources, and internal political efficacy. Our results showed that openness to experience was related to a willingness to engage in online participation, and this was mediated by hours spent consuming news and internal political efficacy (95% confidence interval [CI] = [.0048, .32]). A preference for both semipublic and private news sources was related to greater internal efficacy (95% CI = [.2347, 1.4799]), which was in turn related to a greater propensity to engage in online political participation. These findings highlight the potential importance of news consumption for a propensity toward online political engagement.
Self-Regulatory Processes Mediating Between Career Calling and Perceived Employability and Life Satisfaction in Emerging Adults
Authors: Praskova Anna , Creed Peter A. , Hood Michelle
Published: July 2014

We tested a cross-sectional, mediation model of career calling, in which career calling was associated positively with life satisfaction and perceptions of future employability, and these relationships were explained by the self-regulatory mechanisms of work effort, career strategies, and emotional regulation. Using a sample of 664 emerging adults (74.8% female, mean age = 20.2 years) and structural equation modeling, we found that higher career calling was associated with higher life satisfaction and perceived employability. In addition, higher calling was associated with more work effort, greater use of career strategies, and higher emotional regulation. Work effort and emotional regulation mediated the relationship between career calling and life satisfaction. Additionally, work effort, emotional regulation, and career strategies mediated between career calling and perceived employability. We interpreted the results from a developmental and goal-setting perspective and made recommendations for practice.
A catalytic moment: The Greek crisis in the German financial press
Authors: Kutter Amelie
Published: July 2014

The Greek crisis has attracted more public-political attention than any other sovereign debt crisis within the European Union. This article investigates the argument that this is due to the symbolic-catalytic role that the Greek crisis played in forging a specific approach to state rescue and the reform of the European Economic and Monetary Union (EMU). Drawing on assumptions of interpretive-narrative political studies about the discursive construction of crisis and a Critical Discourse Analysis of editorials from the financial press, the study shows how this approach was ‘catalyzed’ by a specific construction of the ‘Greek case’. Reference to the ‘Greek case’, in particular the high level of government debt, rendered austerity a plausible option of crisis management. Reference to the contagion potential of the Greek crisis justified the application of austerity across the Eurozone. The Greek crisis was also seen to reveal the systemic flaws of the EMU and suggest deepened economic integration.
Waiting for democracy: Political crisis and the discursive (re)invention of the ‘national enemy’ in times of ‘Grecovery’
Authors: Boukala Salomi
Published: July 2014

This article seeks to identify the polarising rhetoric adopted by Greek mainstream political parties during the era of ‘Grecovery’. The article focuses on the war of words between New Democracy, the leading party of the coalition government, and Syriza, the main opposition party on the occasion of the fourth anniversary of the murder of a 15-year-old schoolboy, Alexandros Grigoropoulos, by a police officer and the subsequent riots of December 2008 and the authorities’ closure of the Hellenic Broadcasting Corporation (ERT). It draws on the political statements of two political parties – New Democracy and Syriza – and emphasises direct reference to the Greek civil war (1946–1949) and parallelisms of the current political climate with the colonels’ dictatorship (1967–1974). In focusing on those obscure pages of Greek modern history, this article analyses the discursive construction of collective memories of two different political poles and examines how the Greek left and right wings legitimise and redefine their political identities through the prism of their divided past. Using the discursive strategies of the discourse historical approach (DHA), the article illustrates how the DHA can reveal silencing strategies that lead to the discursive construction of the distinction between ‘Us’ – ‘democratic patriots’ and ‘Them’ – ‘enemies of the Greek nation’. Finally, recontextualisation in political rhetoric is highlighted as one of the ways of (re)constructing the tension and dichotomy between leftists and rightists. A systematic and explicit discourse analytic methodology of political rhetoric, that is based on history and (re)shapes collective memories, leads to an interdisciplinary approach that brings together and connects political rhetoric, argumentation and critical discourse analysis.
Struggles over legitimacy in the Eurozone crisis: Discursive legitimation strategies and their ideological underpinnings
Authors: Vaara Eero
Published: July 2014

This article focuses on the discursive underpinnings of the legitimacy crisis that the Eurozone as a transnational institution is facing. By adopting a critical discourse analysis (CDA) perspective, the empirical analysis focuses on the media discussion in Finland. The analysis shows how discourses of financial capitalism, humanism, nationalism and Europeanism played a central role in legitimation, delegitimation and relegitimation. Furthermore, the analysis elaborates on the legitimation strategies that were often used in the media texts: position-based authorizations involving institutionalized authorities and ‘voices of the common man’, knowledge-based authorizations focusing on economic expertise, rationalizations concentrating on economic arguments, moral evaluations based on unfairness used especially for delegitimation, mythopoiesis involving alternative future scenarios and cosmology used to construct inevitability. By so doing, this study adds to our understanding of the discursive and ideological underpinnings of the social, political and financial crisis in Greece and other European countries and contributes to research on discursive legitimation more generally.
Small stories transposition and social media: A micro-perspective on the ‘Greek crisis’
Authors: Georgakopoulou Alexandra
Published: July 2014

In this article, I employ small stories research as a micro-perspective for the scrutiny of any crisis-related positionings of ‘Greece’ and ‘the Greeks’ that accompany the circulation of news stories from Greece in social media. My claim is that such positionings cannot be fully understood without reference to what stories get circulated, where, by whom, for/with whom and how. To substantiate this, I draw on a particular incident involving the assault of two female MPs by a male MP on a Greek TV breakfast show (June 2012). My analysis will show that the ways in which the Greek crisis is invoked or disregarded and erased in the social media transpositions of the incident are intimately linked with two key-narrative processes, which I call narrative stancetaking and resemiotizations (i.e. video-based or text-based) that involve a rescripting of the initial incident. In both cases, I will show how processes of story making are important for what is signalled as relevant and for how the context of the Greek crisis is made sense of, critiqued and ultimately backgrounded or erased in favour of more personalized and localized interpretations, grounded in the original and the transposed tales and tellings.
Maya Angelou’s Children’s Books
Authors: Beegle Amy C.
Published: July 2014

This column presents books for children penned by Maya Angelou. These poems and stories, based on her experiences as an African American woman living in the United States, Egypt, Ghana, and South Africa, include extraordinary photography and artwork. Suggestions for inclusion in the general music classroom are provided.
Bone Health Evaluation in a Veteran Population
Authors: Ackman Jamie M. , Lata Paul F. , Schuna Arthur A. , Elliott Mary E.
Published: July 2014

Background: Approximately 2 million men in the United States have osteoporosis, but men are seldom evaluated or treated to prevent fracture. In the expanding veteran population, the fracture risk assessment tool, FRAX, could help reduce fracture risk. However, it is unknown how many veterans would meet the FRAX treatment threshold. Objective: To determine the proportion of untreated veterans who should be considered for osteoporosis treatment according to the Fracture Risk Assessment Tool (FRAX) among a randomly selected sample of older veterans receiving care at one Veterans Hospital and to determine the proportion of veterans in the sample who had received treatment. Methods: A retrospective review of 150 randomly selected charts from male veterans at least 70 years of age and female veterans at least 65 years of age receiving primary care at the William S. Middleton Memorial Veterans Hospital, Madison, WI, between January 1, 2007, and October 1, 2010. This study focused on men, but women were included per institutional review board policy. Results: Charts from 147 men and 3 women were reviewed; 25 men had received osteoporosis treatment. Of 122 untreated men, 74 (61%) met FRAX treatment criteria, including 14 who had fractured. Although bone density testing is recommended by the National Osteoporosis Foundation for men at least 70 years old, only 21 (17%) untreated men had been tested. Conclusions: Most veterans who met FRAX criteria were not treated, including some who had had fractures. The VA should consider recommending FRAX to identify veterans at high risk for fracture.
Co-Occurrence of ODD and CD in Preschool Children With Symptoms of ADHD
Authors: Bendiksen Bothild , Svensson Elisabeth , Aase Heidi , Reichborn-Kjennerud Ted , Friis Svein , Myhre Anne M. , Zeiner Pål
Published: July 2014

Objective: Patterns of co-occurrence between ADHD, Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD), and Conduct Disorder (CD) were examined in a sample of non-referred preschool children. ADHD subtypes and sex differences were also explored. Method: Children aged 3.5 years ( n = 1,048) with high scores on ADHD characteristics were recruited from the Norwegian Mother and Child Cohort Study and clinically assessed, including a semi-structured psychiatric interview. Results: In children with ADHD, concurrent ODD was present more often than CD (31% vs. 10%), but having ADHD gave higher increase in the odds of CD than of ODD (ODD: odds ratio [OR] = 6.7, 95% confidence interval [CI] = [4.2, 10.8]; CD: OR = 17.6, 95% CI = [5.9, 52.9]). We found a greater proportion of children having the combined ADHD subtype as well as more severe inattentiveness among children with co-occurring CD compared with ODD. Sex differences were minor. Conclusion: There are important differences in co-occurring patterns of ODD and CD in preschool children with ADHD.
Changing narrative accounts: How young men tell different stories when arrested, enduring jail time and navigating community reentry
Authors: Rajah Valli , Kramer Ronald , Sung Hung-En
Published: July 2014

Using fieldwork, interviews, and survey data collected from male adolescent prisoners who completed a cognitive treatment program, this study addresses two questions: how do adolescent prisoners account for past and possible future acts to illegally acquire money? What frames are identifiable across these accounts? We identify three frames in adolescent prisoner narratives: a ‘victim’; ‘rebirth/redemptive’; and ‘critical’ frame. While the first frame is used to rationalize crime, the second promises that, as changed individuals, future crime will be avoided. The third frame questions the moral and structural hierarchies that render certain groups susceptible to being labeled deviant. Drawing on narrative-identity and intersectional theory, we argue that adolescents' narratives of economic prospects change over time as a function of navigating the different strains associated with initial incarceration, enduring jail programming, and reentering communities. We argue that these changing social conditions provide the context for adolescent males to shift their accounts from ‘hegemonic’ to ‘subversive’ narratives. To conclude, we discuss the implications of study findings for research on desistance.
Devolving the carceral state: Race, prisoner reentry, and the micro-politics of urban poverty management
Authors: Miller Reuben Jonathan
Published: July 2014

This article presents findings from an ethnographic study of prisoner reentry programming in a large Midwestern city to better understand the strategies reentry organizations employ to ‘rehabilitate’ prisoners and the ways in which those strategies articulate with larger social policy processes. Prisoner reentry is a hybrid welfare state–criminal justice institution. As the rehabilitative strategy of choice in the current age, the ascendance and proliferation of reentry services throughout low income communities of color represents the long standing collusion between social welfare and criminal justice actors to manage marginalized populations and a formal reconfiguration of the state, altering its scope, reach and consequence in the lives of the urban poor. I detail the experiences of former prisoners participating in reentry services and discuss the implications of the ascendance of prisoner reentry for race relations, punishment, and social welfare policy in the United States.
Hanging in Japan: What Occupation-era documents and a lay judge trial reveal about executions in the state that still kills in secret
Authors: Johnson David T , Nagata Kenji
Published: July 2014

Japan’s secretive system of capital punishment means that little is known about what happens when people are hanged. This article uses information from recently discovered records about 46 persons who were hanged during the postwar Occupation of Japan and from a murder trial in Osaka in 2011 to describe several aspects of Japan’s execution process – including how long hangings last. This new evidence suggests that in Japan as in the United States, it may well be impossible to carry out executions humanely. Future revelations about Japan’s execution process could weaken the legitimacy of capital punishment in that country, but they might also lead to efforts to ‘humanize’ hangings or change execution methods, with the ultimate effect of making the death penalty more resistant to repeal.
Field validation of controlled Monte Carlo data generation for statistical damage identification employing Mahalanobis squared distance
Authors: Nguyen Theanh , Chan Tommy HT , Thambiratnam David P
Published: July 2014

This article presents the field applications and validations for the controlled Monte Carlo data generation scheme. This scheme was previously derived to assist the Mahalanobis squared distance–based damage identification method to cope with data-shortage problems which often cause inadequate data multinormality and unreliable identification outcome. To do so, real-vibration datasets from two actual civil engineering structures with such data (and identification) problems are selected as the test objects which are then shown to be in need of enhancement to consolidate their conditions. By utilizing the robust probability measures of the data condition indices in controlled Monte Carlo data generation and statistical sensitivity analysis of the Mahalanobis squared distance computational system, well-conditioned synthetic data generated by an optimal controlled Monte Carlo data generation configurations can be unbiasedly evaluated against those generated by other set-ups and against the original data. The analysis results reconfirm that controlled Monte Carlo data generation is able to overcome the shortage of observations, improve the data multinormality and enhance the reliability of the Mahalanobis squared distance–based damage identification method particularly with respect to false-positive errors. The results also highlight the dynamic structure of controlled Monte Carlo data generation that makes this scheme well adaptive to any type of input data with any (original) distributional condition.
Human osteoblasts within soft peptide hydrogels promote mineralisation in vitro
Authors: Castillo Diaz Luis A , Saiani Alberto , Gough Julie E , Miller Aline F
Published: July 2014

Biomaterials that provide three-dimensional support networks for the culture of cells are being developed for a wide range of tissue engineering applications including the regeneration of bone. This study explores the potential of the versatile ionic-complementary peptide, FEFEFKFK, for such a purpose as this peptide spontaneously self-assembles into β-sheet-rich fibres that subsequently self-associate to form self-supporting hydrogels. Via simple live/dead cell assays, we demonstrated that 3 wt% hydrogels were optimal for the support of osteoblast cells. We went on to show that these cells are not only viable within the three-dimensional hydrogel but they also proliferate and produce osteogenic key proteins, that is, they behave like in vivo bone cells, over the 14-day period explored here. The gel elasticity increased over time when cells were present – in comparison to a decrease in control samples – indicating the deposition of matrix throughout the peptide scaffold. Moreover, significant quantities of calcium phosphate were deposited. Collectively, these data demonstrate that ionic-complementary octapeptides offer a suitable three-dimensional environment for osteoblastic cell function.
Presidential Address: The Emergence of Emerging Adulthood
Authors: Arnett Jeffrey Jensen
Published: July 2014

This article presents a brief history of the field of emerging adulthood, from the author’s early studies in the 1990s through the recent establishment of the Society for the Study of Emerging Adulthood (SSEA). Also included is an overview of the results of a recent national study, the Clark University Poll of Emerging Adults, which included items pertaining to the five features proposed in the theory of emerging adulthood. The results show that all five features are supported by a majority of 18- to 29-year-olds. The final part of the essay proposes that the SSEA will be international, open to a wide range of methods, and an organization where the leadership contributions of young scholars are encouraged and welcomed.
The role of Si interstitials in the migration and growth of Ge nanocrystallites under thermal annealing in an oxidizing ambient
Authors: Chen Kuan-Hung , Wang Ching-Chi , George Tom , Li Pei-Wen
Published: July 2014

We report a unique growth and migration behavior of Ge nanocrystallites mediated by the presence of Si interstitials under thermal annealing at 900°C within an H2O ambient. The Ge nanocrystallites were previously generated by the selective oxidation of SiGe nanopillars and appeared to be very sensitive to the presence of Si interstitials that come either from adjacent Si3N4 layers or from within the oxidized nanopillars. A cooperative mechanism is proposed, wherein the Si interstitials aid in both the migration and coarsening of these Ge nanocrystallites through Ostwald ripening, while the Ge nanocrystallites, in turn, appear to enhance the generation of Si interstitials through catalytic decomposition of the Si-bearing layers.
In vitro efficacy of N-acetylcysteine on bacteria associated with chronic suppurative otitis media
Authors: Lea Jane , Conlin Anne Elizabeth , Sekirov Inna , Restelli Veronica , Ayakar Komathi G , Turnbull LeeAnn , Doyle Patrick , Noble Michael , Rennie Robert , Schreiber William E , Westerberg Brian D
Published: July 2014

Background

The safety and efficacy of Ciprodex® has been demonstrated for treatment of chronic suppurative otitis media (CSOM). However, symptoms fail to resolve in 9-15% of patients. The objective of this study is to evaluate the efficacy of N-acetylcysteine (NAC) on S. aureus, and planktonic and sessile (biofilm forming) P. aeruginosa in vitro using clinical isolates from patients with CSOM.

Methods

1) Stability was assessed using liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry for each component in a prepared mixture of Ciprodex® and NAC over 15 days. Sterility was assessed by measuring bacterial growth on a blood agar plate. Efficacy was assessed using a disc diffusion method by inoculating plates with S. aureus ATCC 29513 and P. aeruginosa ATCC 27853, and measuring the clearance zone. 2) Fifteen P. aeruginosa strains were isolated from patients with CSOM and tested in vitro using the bioFILM PA™ antimicrobial susceptibility assay. Treatment solutions included Ciprodex® & ciprofloxacin +/- NAC, and NAC alone (0.25%, 0.5% & 1.25%).

Results

1) NAC combined with Ciprodex® demonstrated stability, sterility, and efficacy over a two-week period 2) P. aeruginosa strains in the sessile (33%-40%) and planktonic (13%) state demonstrated resistance to Ciprodex® and ciprofloxacin. When NAC ≥0.5% was used in isolation or as an adjunct to either of these medications, no resistance was found in the sessile or planktonic state among all 15 strains.

Conclusion

1) Ciprodex® combined with NAC has a shelf life of at least two weeks given the documented preservation of stability, sterility, and clinical efficacy of the mixed compounds. 2) P. aeruginosa strains demonstrated resistance to both Ciprodex® and ciprofloxacin. NAC ≥0.5% overcomes issues with resistance and shows promise in the treatment of CSOM.
Cerebral inflammation is an underlying mechanism of early death in Alzheimer’s disease: a 13-year cause-specific multivariate mortality study
Authors: Nägga Katarina , Wattmo Carina , Zhang Yi , Wahlund Lars-Olof , Palmqvist Sebastian
Published: July 2014

Introduction

Although Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is associated with early death, its life expectancy differs greatly between patients. A better understanding of this heterogeneity may reveal important disease mechanisms underlying the malignancy of AD. The aim of this study was to examine the relation between AD pathologies and early death in AD caused by dementia.

Methods

At a memory clinic, 247 referred consecutive patients with AD were monitored during 12.6 ± 1.6 years. Multivariate Cox regression analyses were performed with baseline measures of amyloid beta (Aβ) pathology (APOE genotype, cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) Aβ42) tau pathology (CSF phosphorylated tau and total tau), cerebrovascular pathology (white-matter lesions and CSF/serum albumin ratio), neuroinflammatory pathology (CSF soluble vascular cell adhesion molecule-1, sVCAM-1), frontal, temporal, and central brain atrophies, global cognition, sex, and age. Comorbidities and medications also were analyzed. All continuous variables were transformed to z scores to compare hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs).

Results

At follow-up, 89% of the patients had died. The mean survival time was 6.4 ± 3.0 years. The AD pathology that independently predicted an early death caused by dementia was cerebral inflammation (sVCAM-1; HR, 1.32; 95% CI, 1.07–1.64). Other independent predictors were lower global cognition (HR, 0.51; 95% CI, 0.43–0.61), frontal atrophy (HR, 1.38; 95% CI, 1.12–1.70), and medial temporal atrophy (HR, 1.23; 95% CI, 1.02–1.49). When examining death caused by dementia and related causes (vascular diseases and infections), age (HR, 1.23; 95% CI, 1.04–1.46) and cerebrovascular pathology (white-matter lesions: HR, 1.17; 95% CI, 1.01–1.36; and CSF/serum albumin ratio: HR, 1.16; 95% CI, 1.001–1.34) were also significant risk factors in addition to the previous variables. No comorbidity or medication was significant in the specific-cause models.

Conclusions

This is the first study to link neuroinflammation independently to early death in AD and, hence, a rapidly progressing disease. Frontal and medial temporal atrophies and low cognition were also significant predictors. These are probably downstream biomarkers that reflect neuronal degeneration and late-stage disease. Our results suggest that inflammation, and not amyloid or tau pathology, is an independent underlying mechanism in the malignancy of AD.
Therapeutic benefit of balneotherapy and hydrotherapy in the management of fibromyalgia syndrome: a qualitative systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials
Authors: Naumann Johannes , Sadaghiani Catharina
Published: July 2014

Introduction

In the present systematic review and meta-analysis, we assessed the effectiveness of different forms of balneotherapy (BT) and hydrotherapy (HT) in the management of fibromyalgia syndrome (FMS).

Methods

A s ystematic literature search was conducted through April 2013 (Medline via Pubmed, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, EMBASE, and CAMBASE). Standardized mean differences (SMDs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated using a random-effects model.

Results

Meta-analysis showed moderate-to-strong evidence for a small reduction in pain (SMD −0.42; 95% CI [−0.61, −0.24]; P < 0.00001; I2 = 0%) with regard to HT (8 studies, 462 participants; 3 low-risk studies, 223 participants), and moderate-to-strong evidence for a small improvement in health-related quality of life (HRQOL; 7 studies, 398 participants; 3 low-risk studies, 223 participants) at the end of treatment (SMD −0.40; 95% CI [−0.62, −0.18]; P = 0.0004; I2 = 15%). No effect was seen at the end of treatment for depressive symptoms and tender point count (TPC).

BT in mineral/thermal water (5 studies, 177 participants; 3 high-risk and 2 unclear risk studies) showed moderate evidence for a medium-to-large size reduction in pain and TPC at the end of treatment: SMD −0.84; 95% CI [−1.36, −0.31]; P = 0.002; I2 = 63% and SMD −0.83; 95% CI [−1.42, −0.24]; P = 0.006; I2 = 71%. After sensitivity analysis, and excluding one study, the effect size for pain decreased: SMD −0.58; 95% CI [−0.91, −0.26], P = 0.0004; I2 = 0. Moderate evidence is given for a medium improvement of HRQOL (SMD −0.78; 95% CI [−1.13, −0.43]; P < 0.0001; I2 = 0%). A significant effect on depressive symptoms was not found. The improvements for pain could be maintained at follow-up with smaller effects.

Conclusions

High-quality studies with larger sample sizes are needed to confirm the therapeutic benefit of BT and HT, with focus on long-term results and maintenance of the beneficial effects.
The interaction between C5a and sphingosine-1-phosphate in neutrophils for antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibody mediated activation
Authors: Hao Jian , Huang Yi-Min , Zhao Ming-Hui , Chen Min
Published: July 2014

Introduction

C5a plays an crucial role in antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibody (ANCA)-mediated neutrophil recruitment and activation. The current study further investigated the interaction between C5a and sphingosine-1-phosphate (S1P) in neutrophils for ANCA-mediated activation.

Methods

The plasma levels of S1P from 29 patients with ANCA-associated vasculitis (AAV) in active stage and in remission were tested by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The generation of S1P was tested in C5a-triggered neutrophils. The effect S1P receptor antagonist was tested on respiratory burst and degranulation of C5a-primed neutrophils activated with ANCA.

Results

The plasma level of circulating S1P was significantly higher in patients with AAV with active disease compared with patients in remission (2034.2 ± 438.5 versus 1489.3 ± 547.4 nmol/L, P < 0.001). S1P can prime neutrophils for ANCA-induced respiratory burst and degranulation. Compared with non-triggered neutrophils, the mean fluorescence intensity (MFI) value for CD88 expression was up-regulated significantly in S1P-triggered neutrophils. S1P receptor antagonist decreased oxygen radical production in C5a primed neutrophils induced by ANCA-positive IgG from patients. Blocking S1P inhibited C5a-primed neutrophil migration.

Conclusions

S1P triggered by C5a-primed neutrophils could further activate neutrophils. Blocking S1P could attenuate C5a-induced activation of neutrophils by ANCA. The interaction between S1P and C5a plays an important role in neutrophils for ANCA-mediated activation.
Developing a new generation of breast cancer clinical gene expression tests
Authors: Kos Zuzana , Nielsen Torsten O
Published: July 2014

When treatment decisions are based purely on clinicopathological factors, many women with estrogen receptor-positive/human epidermal growth factor receptor 2-negative cancers are overtreated. Gene expression profiles are valuable clinical tools that stratify the recurrence risk to identify patients most likely to benefit from adjuvant systemic therapies. Building upon greater understanding of tumor biology and more rigorous approaches to validation (including independent studies with a high level of evidence), several second-generation multigene tests have been developed. In the previous issue, Martin and colleagues report the third clinical validation study for EndoPredict, a distributed assay to assess risk of distant recurrences in estrogen receptor-positive/human epidermal growth factor receptor 2-negative women. The authors confirm the assay’s independent prognostic value in premenopausal and postmenopausal, node-positive women treated with contemporary chemotherapy followed by endocrine therapy. EndoPredict did not, however, predict benefit from adding paclitaxel. Predictive signatures for selecting among chemotherapy regimens remain an area needing further development.
Application of resequencing to rice genomics, functional genomics and evolutionary analysis
Authors: Guo Longbiao , Gao Zhenyu , Qian Qian
Published: July 2014

Rice is a model system used for crop genomics studies. The completion of the rice genome draft sequences in 2002 not only accelerated functional genome studies, but also initiated a new era of resequencing rice genomes. Based on the reference genome in rice, next-generation sequencing (NGS) using the high-throughput sequencing system can efficiently accomplish whole genome resequencing of various genetic populations and diverse germplasm resources. Resequencing technology has been effectively utilized in evolutionary analysis, rice genomics and functional genomics studies. This technique is beneficial for both bridging the knowledge gap between genotype and phenotype and facilitating molecular breeding via gene design in rice. Here, we also discuss the limitation, application and future prospects of rice resequencing.
ICG-liver test versus new biomarkers as prognostic markers for prolonged length of stay in critically ill patients - a prospective study of accuracy for prediction of length of stay in the ICU
Authors: Zoller Bernhard , Spanaus Katharina , Gerster Rahel , Fasshauer Mario , Stehberger Paul A , Klinzing Stephanie , Vergopoulos Athanasios , von Eckardstein Arnold , Béchir Markus
Published: July 2014

Background

Prognostic abilities of medical parameters, which are scoring systems, measurements and biomarkers, are important for stratifying critically ill patients. Indocyanine green plasma disappearance (ICG-PDR) is an established clinical tool for the assessment of liver perfusion and function. Copeptin, MR-proANP and pro-ADM are biomarkers whose prognostic value is still unclear. The goal of this prospective study was to evaluate ICG-PDR, copeptin, MR-proANP and pro-ADM to predict prolonged length of stay (pLOS) in the ICU.

Methods

This study was conducted as a prospective single center study including 110 consecutively admitted ICU patients. Primary endpoint was prolonged length of stay (pLOS) in the ICU, defined as more than three days of stay there.

Results

ROC analysis showed an AUC of 0.73 for ICG-PDR, 0.70 for SAPS II, 0.65 for MR-proANP, 0.64 for pro-ADM and 0.54 for copeptin for pLOS in the ICU.

Conclusions

The prediction of pLOS in the ICU might be better by means of ICG-PDR than with the new biomarkers copeptin, MR-proANP or pro-ADM. Nevertheless, there is more need for research to evaluate whether ICG-PDR is an overall prognostic marker for pLOS.

Trial registration

(ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT01126554).
President's Page
Authors: Carstens Gustavo
Published: July 2014

It is amazing to see how fast SEG is evolving into a truly global society. The changes introduced in 2012 with the new governance structure are paying dividends. Every day, we can see new activities in every part of the globe.