bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Preservation of uropygial gland lipids in a 48-million-year-old bird
Authors: O'Reilly Shane , Summons Roger , Mayr Gerald , Vinther Jakob
Published: October 2017

Although various kinds of organic molecules are known to occur in fossils and rocks, most soft tissue preservation in animals is attributed to melanin or porphyrins. Lipids are particularly stable over time—as diagenetically altered ‘geolipids’ or as major molecular constituents of kerogen or fossil ‘geopolymers’—and may be expected to be preserved in certain vertebrate tissues. Here we analysed lipid residues from the uropygial gland of an early Eocene bird using pyrolysis gas chromatography mass spectroscopy. We found a pattern of aliphatic molecules in the fossil gland that was distinct from the host oil shale sediment matrix and from feathers of the same fossil. The fossil gland contained abundant
n
-alkenes,
n
-alkanes and alkylbenzenes with chain lengths greater than 20, as well as functionalized long-chain aldehydes, ketones, alkylnitriles and alkylthiophenes that were not detected in host sediment or fossil feathers. By comparison with modern bird uropygial gland wax esters, we show that these molecular fossils are likely derived from endogenous wax ester fatty alcohols and fatty acids that survived initial decay and underwent early diagenetic geopolymerization. These data demonstrate the high fidelity preservation of the uropygial gland waxes and showcase the resilience of lipids over geologic time and their potential role in the exceptional preservation of lipid-rich tissues of macrofossils.
Morphospaces of functionally analogous traits show ecological separation between birds and pterosaurs
Authors: Chan Nicholas R.
Published: October 2017

Birds originated and radiated in the presence of another group of flying vertebrates, the pterosaurs. Opinion is divided as to whether birds competitively displaced pterosaurs from small-body size niches or whether the two groups coexisted with little competition. Previous studies of Mesozoic birds and pterosaurs compared measurements of homologous limb bones to test these hypotheses. However, these characters probably reflect differing ancestries rather than ecologies. Here, competition and ecological separation were tested for using multivariate analyses of functionally equivalent morphological characters. As well as using characters from the fore- and hindlimbs, these analyses also included measurements of the lower jaw. The results of this study indicate that pterosaurs had relatively longer jaws, shorter metatarsals and shorter brachial regions compared with birds of similar size. Contrary to the results of previous studies, the distal wing was not important for separating the two clades in morphospace owing to the inclusion of the primary feathers in this unit. The differences found here indicate ecological separation based on differences in size, locomotory features and feeding adaptations. Thus, instead of one group displacing the other, birds and pterosaurs appear to have adopted distinctive ecological strategies throughout their period of coexistence.
Comparative analysis examining patterns of genomic differentiation across multiple episodes of population divergence in birds
Authors: Delmore Kira E. , Lugo Juan , Van Doren Benjamin M. , Lundberg Max , Bensch Staffan , Irwin Darren E. , Liedvogel Miriam
Published: October 2017

Heterogeneous patterns of genomic differentiation are commonly documented between closely related populations and there is considerable interest in identifying factors that contribute to their formation. These factors could include genomic features (e.g., areas of low recombination) that promote processes like linked selection (positive or purifying selection that affects linked neutral sites) at specific genomic regions. Examinations of repeatable patterns of differentiation across population pairs can provide insight into the role of these factors. Birds are well suited for this work, as genome structure is conserved across this group. Accordingly, we re-estimated relative (FST) and absolute (dXY) differentiation between eight sister pairs of birds that span a broad taxonomic range using a common pipeline. Across pairs, there were modest but significant correlations in window-based estimates of differentiation (up to 3% of variation explained forFSTand 26% fordXY), supporting a role for processes at conserved genomic features in generating heterogeneous patterns of differentiation. This suggestion was reinforced by linear models identifying several genomic features (e.g., gene densities) as significant predictors ofFSTanddXYrepeatability.FSTrepeatability was higher among pairs that were further along the speciation continuum (i.e., more reproductively isolated), suggesting that early stages of speciation may be dominated by positive selection that is different between pairs and replaced by processes acting according to shared genomic features as speciation proceeds.
MAGI: A method for metabolite, annotation, and gene integration
Authors: Erbilgin Onur , Rübel Oliver , Louie Katherine B. , Trinh Matthew , Raad Markus de , Wildish Tony , Udwary Daniel W. , Hoover Cindi A. , Deutsch Samuel , Northen Trent R. , Bowen Benjamin P.
Published: October 2017

Metabolomics is a widely used technology for obtaining direct measures of metabolic activities from diverse biological systems. However, ambiguous metabolite identifications are a common challenge and biochemical interpretation is often limited by incomplete and inaccurate genome-based predictions of enzyme activities (i.e. gene annotations). Metabolite, Annotation, and Gene Integration (MAGI) generates a metabolite-gene association score using a biochemical reaction network. This is calculated by a method that emphasizes consensus between metabolites and genes via biochemical reactions. To demonstrate the potential of this method, we applied MAGI to integrate sequence data and metabolomics data collected from Streptomyces coelicolor A3(2), an extensively characterized bacterium that produces diverse secondary metabolites. Our findings suggest that coupling metabolomics and genomics data by scoring consensus between the two increases the quality of both metabolite identifications and gene annotations in this organism. MAGI also made biochemical predictions for poorly annotated genes that were consistent with the extensive literature on this important organism. This limited analysis suggests that using metabolomics data has the potential to improve annotations in sequenced organisms and also provides testable hypotheses for specific biochemical functions. MAGI is freely available for academic use both as an online tool at https://magi.nersc.gov and with source code available at https://github.com/biorack/magi.
A population phylogenetic view of mitochondrial heteroplasmy
Authors: Wilton Peter R. , Zaidi Arslan , Makova Kateryna , Nielsen Rasmus
Published: October 2017

The mitochondrion has recently emerged as an active player in a myriad of cellular processes. Additionally, it was recently shown that more than 200 diseases are known to be linked to variants in mitochondrial DNA or in nuclear genes interacting with mitochondria. This has reinvigorated interest in its biology and population genetics. Mitochondrial heteroplasmy, or genotypic variation of mitochondria within an individual, is now understood to be common in humans and important in human health. However, it is still not possible to make quantitative predictions about the inheritance of heteroplasmy and its proliferation within the body, partly due to the lack of an appropriate model. Here, we present a population-genetic framework for modeling mitochondrial heteroplasmy as a process that occurs on an ontogenetic phylogeny, with genetic drift and mutation changing heteroplasmy frequencies during the various developmental processes represented in the phylogeny. Using this framework, we develop a Bayesian inference method for inferring rates of mitochondrial genetic drift and mutation at different stages of human life. Applying the method to previously published heteroplasmy frequency data, we demonstrate a severe effective germline bottleneck comprised of the cumulative genetic drift occurring between the divergence of germline and somatic cells in the mother and the separation of germ layers in the offspring. Additionally, we find that the two somatic tissues we analyze here undergo tissue-specific bottlenecks during embryogenesis, less severe than the effective germline bottleneck, and that these somatic tissues experience little additional genetic drift during adulthood. We conclude with a discussion of possible extensions of the ontogenetic phylogeny framework and its possible applications to other ontogenetic processes in addition to mitochondrial heteroplasmy.
Detecting genome-wide directional effects of transcription factor binding on polygenic disease risk
Authors: Reshef Yakir A , Finucane Hilary K , Kelley David R , Gusev Alexander , Kotliar Dylan , Ulirsch Jacob C , Hormozdiari Farhad , Nasser Joseph , O’Connor Luke , van de Geijn Bryce , Loh Po-Ru , Grossman Shari , Bhatia Gaurav , Gazal Steven , Palamara Pier Francesco , Pinello Luca , Patterson Nick , Adams Ryan P , Price Alkes L
Published: October 2017

Biological interpretation of GWAS data frequently involves analyzing unsigned genomic annotations comprising SNPs involved in a biological process and assessing enrichment for disease signal. However, it is often possible to generate signed annotations quantifying whether each SNP allele promotes or hinders a biological process, e.g., binding of a transcription factor (TF). Directional effects of such annotations on disease risk enable stronger statements about causal mechanisms of disease than enrichments of corresponding unsigned annotations. Here we introduce a new method, signed LD profile regression, for detecting such directional effects using GWAS summary statistics, and we apply the method using 382 signed annotations reflecting predicted TF binding. We show via theory and simulations that our method is well-powered and is well-calibrated even when TF binding sites co-localize with other enriched regulatory elements, which can confound unsigned enrichment methods. We further validate our method by showing that it recovers known transcriptional regulators when applied to molecular QTL in blood. We then apply our method to eQTL in 48 GTEx tissues, identifying 651 distinct TF-tissue expression associations at per-tissue FDR < 5%, including 30 associations with robust evidence of tissue specificity. Finally, we apply our method to 46 diseases and complex traits (averageN= 289,617) and identify 77 annotation-trait associations at per-trait FDR < 5% representing 12 independent TF-trait associations, and we conduct gene-set enrichment analyses to characterize the underlying transcriptional programs. Our results implicate new causal disease genes (including causal genes at known GWAS loci), and in some cases suggest a detailed mechanism for a causal gene’s effect on disease. Our method provides a new way to leverage functional data to draw inferences about disease etiology.
Advertising literacy training
Authors: De Jans Steffi , Hudders Liselot , Cauberghe Veroline
Published: October 2017

Purpose

This paper aims to examine the immediate and delayed effects of advertising literacy training on children’s cognitive advertising literacy for an embedded advertising format, product placement and, subsequently, its persuasive effects. In addition, this study explored whether this effect is moderated by children’s general advertising liking. The study also investigated whether the effects of training were dependent on children’s ages.

Design/methodology/approach

The present study is conducted using a three (training session: control condition vs advertising literacy training with immediate ad exposure vs advertising literacy training with ad exposure after one week) by two (age: 7-8 years vs 10-11 years) between-subjects experimental design.

Findings

The results of the experimental study showed that advertising literacy training increases children’s cognitive advertising literacy for product placement for both younger and older children and both immediately and delayed (measured after one week). In addition, cognitive advertising literacy had an influence on the effectiveness of product placement (i.e. purchase request) when children’s general ad liking was low, though not when it was high. No moderating effects of age were found.

Practical implications

This study shows that advertising literacy training sessions can improve children’s cognitive advertising literacy for non-traditional, embedded advertising formats.

Originality/value

This study is one of the first to examine and confirm the immediate and delayed effects of advertising literacy training sessions on children’s cognitive advertising literacy for non-traditional advertising formats.
Adaptations in traditional courtyard houses in Baghdad, Iraq
Authors: Agha Rand H.M. , Kamara John M.
Published: October 2017

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the adaptations that have been made to traditional courtyard houses (TCHs) in Baghdad, Iraq. The aim is to develop an understanding of various factors in the adaptation of these buildings to suit contemporary lifestyles, which will contribute to the wider field of building adaptability.

Design/methodology/approach

Empirical evidence was collected through case studies of 12 TCHs in the Al-Kadhimiya area of Baghdad, which involved a physical survey of buildings and semi-structured interviews with 24 occupants.

Findings

Case study analysis show that building adaptability involves both a change to physical spaces and also to lifestyles; with the latter being more likely when there are limitations in how much change can be made to the physical structure.

Research limitations/implications

The focus of this research is mainly on users’ adaptation of spaces and therefore does not consider the full range of stakeholders involved in the adaptation process. The findings also only apply to the cases considered and may not be applicable to other house types or locations.

Originality/value

Studies on building adaptability mostly focus on the ease of change to the building fabric, although the role of users is acknowledged. This study provides insights into the complexity and variety of changes that users can make, which are influenced by lifestyles and driven by the need for comfort. These insights are represented in an adaptation model, which can serve as a basis for further research.
Adapting the design of a new care home development for a changing climate
Authors: Botti Andrea , Ramos Marylis
Published: October 2017

Purpose

In the light of projected climate change impacts on buildings and their occupants, climate change adaptation for built environment to climate change is crucial. The risk of overheating is a key concern, particularly given its effect on heat-related health problems for elderly people. The purpose of this paper is to propose, test, and evaluate the strategies for climate change adaptation to minimise present and future risks of overheating for a new purpose-built care home and extra care accommodation near York.

Design/methodology/approach

The overheating risk was assessed through dynamic simulations, using probabilistic projections for 2030s, 2050s and 2080s. Suitable adaptation measures were tested and compared using industry metrics. A stakeholders’ workshop compared the relative effectiveness of the identified measures and made a broader evaluation using defined criteria. Highest-ranked measures were combined into “adaptation packages” in order to populate adaptation timelines for the project.

Findings

Results show that the original design presents a severe overheating risk. Increasing thermal mass and slightly improving ventilation are adequate for the 2030s; however solar shading and further improvements of ventilation are necessary for the 2050s. The stress test revealed that even the most effective passive measures combined would be insufficient to maintain comfortable conditions by the 2080s, and mechanical cooling would be needed.

Originality/value

The comparative analysis of adaptation measures using normalised CIBSE TM52 criteria improved risk communication and engagement with the client and the design team. The integration of quantitative and qualitative evaluation criteria led to an appropriate and timely strategy for adaptation.
Gated communities in Ankara: are they a tool of social segregation?
Authors: Alkan-Gökler Leyla
Published: October 2017

Purpose

Gated communities, surrounded by walls or fences, have emerged as a new trend in almost all cities in Turkey, and are homogenous in terms of the socioeconomic status of their occupants. Within these communities, several facilities and services are provided that are available only to the residents, with restrictions on access from the outside, and this has led to criticisms of social segregation. This study aims to analyze the impact of these communities on social segregation in Ankara, through two different surveys aimed at investigating the attitudes of the residents of local neighborhoods and gated communities toward each other.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper analyzes how the process of gating has affected social segregation in Ankara through two separate surveys: with the residents of gated communities and with the residents of local neighborhoods around these gated communities.

Findings

The study revealed that the residents of gated communities tended to have a positive view of the residents of local neighborhoods. In contrast, the responses of the local residents show evidence of feelings of social segregation, based on the presence of the high walls, fences and guards that are in place to keep them out of the community.

Originality/value

This study shows that, although segregation from the rest of the society is not the main reason for gating, the emergence of gated communities in Ankara leads inevitably to a socially and economically segregated city in which local residents feel excluded from these gated areas.
Mall image, shopping well-being and mall loyalty
Authors: Mohammad Shafiee Majid , Es-Haghi Sayyed Mohammad Sadiq
Published: October 2017

Purpose

This study was carried out to identify mall image dimensions, analyse and discuss how shopping well-being is influenced by mall image and impacts on mall loyalty with the moderating role of gender differences. Besides, the relationship between hedonic value (HV) and utilitarian value (UV) on shopping well-being are investigated. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

Design/methodology/approach

Through a questionnaire, data were obtained from shoppers at the biggest and the most remarkable malls in Tehran that has a high level of brand awareness. A two-stage method of structural equation modelling was used for testing the hypotheses.

Findings

The results show that shopping well-being is affected by mall image and HV but not by UV. In addition, as indicated in previous researches, this study supports the idea that shopping well-being influences mall loyalty. In other words, it is argued that shopping well-being is more about pleasure and fun than doing task-oriented activities.

Originality/value

Most of the mall image dimensions overlapped each other, therefore the purpose of this research is to choose and introduce the best and the most comprehensive combination of those dimensions. Also, in spite of the recent emergence of the shopping well-being concept, it has proved to be delicate in the Iranian context through value, consumer well-being, consumption experiences and sociological life space theories in the quantitative method. In addition, this study shows that shopping well-being is a subjective well-being. This is in contrast to what the common Islamic philosophers opine. Additionally, not only did it propose how to make shoppers more loyal through shopping well-being, but it also discussed the role of gender difference on the subject of shopper loyalty phenomenon. More importantly, this study enables other researchers to investigate cultural differences in this region and make it possible to compare Middle Eastern Countries, especially Iran, to other countries.
Duration estimation model for bridge construction projects in Ghana
Authors: Nani Gabriel , Mensah Isaac , Adjei-Kumi Theophilus
Published: October 2017

Purpose

A major concern for construction professionals at the rural road agency in Ghana is the problem of fixing contract duration for bridge construction projects in rural areas. The purpose of the study was to develop a tool for construction professionals to forecast duration for bridge projects.

Design/methodology/approach

In all, 100 questionnaires were distributed to professionals at the Department of Feeder Roads to ascertain their views on the work items in a bill of quantities (BOQ) that impact significantly on the duration of bridge construction projects. Historical data for 30 completed bridge projects were also collected from the same Department. The data collected were executed work items in BOQ and actual durations used in completing the works. The qualitative data were analysed using the relative importance index and the quantitative data, processed and analysed using both the stepwise regression method and artificial neural network (ANN) technique.

Findings

The identified predictors, namely, in-situ concrete, weight of prefabricated steel components, gravel sub-base and haulage of aggregates, used as independent variables resulted in the development of a regression model with a mean absolute percentage error (MAPE) of 25 per cent and an ANN model with a feed forward back propagation algorithm with an MAPE of 26 per cent at the validation stage. The study has shown that both regression and ANN models are appropriate for predicting the duration of a new bridge construction project.

Research limitations/implications

The predictors used in the developed models are limited to work items in BOQs only of completed bridge construction projects as well as the small sample size.

Practical implications

The study has developed a working tool for practitioners at the agency to forecast contract duration for bridge projects prior to its commencement.

Originality value

The study has quantified the relationship between the work items in BOQs and the duration of bridge construction projects using the stepwise regression method and the ANN techniques.
“Appily ever after”: how to create your own library mobile app through easy to use, low cost technology
Authors: Boller Susan
Published: October 2017

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate that library staff can develop their own mobile app without having significant technology experience by using existing, easily accessible low-cost programs. Smart phones and tablets are here to stay. Libraries need to embrace this trend by developing mobile apps to encourage reading and provide access to resources that are safe and educational. It is about putting technology at the service of reading. Susan Boller and Marie-Pierre Preece, librarians at Les Marronniers Primary School at the International School of Geneva, received wide recognition when they were awarded the 2016 ALA Presidential Citation for Innovative International Library Projects for their mobile application “Marronniers Library”.

Design/methodology/approach

The search to develop a mobile application was challenging. “The process was long and complex, as we had a very small budget and no particular expertise in information technology”. While researching the best way to develop an app for her library, Susan Boller explored a wide range of options with differing costs ranging from a few hundred dollars to over $20,000 (for a custom-built app).

Findings

It is feasible for a school library with limited resources to develop its own mobile application. The library staff can develop such an app without having significant technology experience by using existing easily accessible low-cost programs. Developing and maintaining such an app do not require specialist IT knowledge, and these can be done internally by people interested in technology. The app is good value. The annual cost, excluding subscriptions to databases, is approximately $400. Such an app is well sustainable. The chosen platform is flexible and allows the content to be continuously maintained and updated internally at any moment without additional cost.

Originality/value

Having been awarded the 2016 ALA Presidential Citation for Innovative International Library Projects demonstrates the originality of the author's “Marronniers Library” mobile application. It is, to the best of the author's knowledge, the only one of its kind in a primary school library.
Implications of the selfie for marketing management practice in the era of celebrity
Authors: Hackley Chris , Hackley Rungpaka Amy , Bassiouni Dina H.
Published: October 2017

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explore the implications of the selfie for marketing management in the era of celebrity. The purpose is to show that the facilitation of the creative performance of consumer identity is a key element of the marketing management task for the media convergence era.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper uses the selfie, the picture of oneself taken by oneself, as a metaphor to develop a conceptual exploration of the nature of marketing in the light of the dominance of celebrity and entertainment in contemporary media and entertainment.

Findings

The paper suggests that marketing management in the era of convergence should facilitate consumers’ identity projects through participatory and engaging social media initiatives. Marketers must furnish and facilitate not only the props for consumers mediated identity performances, but also the scripts, sets and scenes, plot devices, cinematographic and other visual techniques, costumes, looks, movements, characterizations and narratives.

Research limitations/implications

This is a conceptual paper that sketches out the beginning of a re-framed, communication-focussed vision of marketing management in the era of media convergence.

Practical implications

Marketing managers can benefit from thinking about consumer marketing as the stage management of consumer visual, physical, virtual, sensory and psychic environments that enable consumers to actively participate in celebrity culture.

Originality/value

This paper suggests ways in which marketing practice can emerge from its pre-digital frame to embrace the new digital cultures of consumption.
Cherry‐picking participation: Explaining the fate of proposals from participatory processes
Authors: FONT JOAN , SMITH GRAHAM , GALAIS CAROL , ALARCON PAU
Published: October 2017

What happens to the proposals generated by participatory processes? One of the key aspects of participatory processes that has been the subject of rare systematic analysis and comparison is the fate of their outputs: their policy proposals. Which specific factors explain whether these proposals are accepted, rejected or transformed by public authorities? In this article contextual and proposal‐related factors are identified that are likely to affect the prospect of proposals being implemented. The explanatory power of these factors are tested through multilevel analysis on a diverse set of 571 policy proposals. The findings offer evidence that both contextual and proposal‐related variables are important. The design of participatory processes affects the degree of implementation, with participatory budgeting and higher quality processes being particularly effective. Most significant for explaining outcomes are proposal‐level, economic and political factors: a proposal's cost, the extent to which it challenges existing policy and the degree of support it has within the municipality all strongly affect the chance of implementation.
Trends in non‐lactation breast abscesses in a tertiary hospital setting
Authors: Saboo Apoorva , Bennett Ian
Published: October 2017

Background

The aim of this paper was to retrospectively review non‐lactation breast abscesses treated in Princess Alexandra Hospital over a 10‐year period and to illustrate the trends in size, risk factors, microbiological profile and management.

Methods

A computerized search of the medical records was undertaken to identify all adult patients with a diagnosis of breast abscesses during June 2005–June 2015. Patients concurrently breastfeeding were excluded. A retrospectively review of the clinical records was performed.

Results

Eighty‐five abscesses were identified in 77 patients. The median patient age was 45 years and 93.7% were females. Smoking and diabetes mellitus were associated with a longer inpatient hospital stay. There was a significant difference in microbiology of abscesses in relation to size. Smaller abscesses (≤3.0 cm) predominantly had mixed anaerobes (54%), whereas larger abscesses had a dominance of Staphylococcus aureus (29%) and other aerobic microbes (33%) (P < 0.05). Seven percent of all abscesses had methicillin‐resistant S. aureus. Flucloxacillin was prescribed solely in majority of the cases (45%) with addition of suitable mixed anaerobic cover in 12% cases. Of the 85 abscesses, 58.8% were managed non‐operatively with antibiotics ± percutaneous drainage. Percutaneous aspiration had a shorter inpatient stay compared with patients who underwent operative management.

Conclusion

This represents the first Australian study solely analysing non‐lactation breast abscess. Size was correlated significantly to characteristic bacteriology and empiric therapy should include both aerobic and anaerobic cover. The majority of non‐lactation breast abscesses can be managed non‐operatively with a combination of antibiotics and percutaneous aspiration.
Ectogenesis, abortion and a right to the death of the fetus
Authors: Räsänen Joona
Published: October 2017

Many people believe that the abortion debate will end when at some point in the future it will be possible for fetuses to develop outside the womb. Ectogenesis, as this technology is called, would make possible to reconcile pro‐life and pro‐choice positions. That is because it is commonly believed that there is no right to the death of the fetus if it can be detached alive and gestated in an artificial womb. Recently Eric Mathison and Jeremy Davis defended this position, by arguing against three common arguments for a right to the death of the fetus. I claim that their arguments are mistaken. I argue that there is a right to the death of the fetus because gestating a fetus in an artificial womb when genetic parents refuse it violates their rights not to become a biological parent, their rights to genetic privacy and their property rights. The right to the death of the fetus, however, is not a woman's right but genetic parents’ collective right which only can be used together.
Re‐working mobilities: Emergent geographies of employment‐related mobility
Authors: Dorow Sara , Roseman Sharon R. , Cresswell Tim
Published: October 2017

Over the last decade, an increasing number of geographers and other social science researchers have deployed the insights of the new mobilities paradigm to study work, labour, and employment. These insights include attention to the meanings, practices, and politics of work‐related movement as well as to multiple spatial and temporal scales and types of im/mobility for and at work. In a review of this literature, we find five different vantage points on “re‐working” mobility: articulations of labour migration with other forms of mobility; geometries of power in the daily journey to work; embodiment and affect in work‐related movement; mobility and labour across the life course; and co‐mobilities of workers, ideas, and things. We argue that on whole, a mobility lens offers a “critical phenomenology” of the dynamic relations between the everyday lifeworlds and broader political, social, and economic contexts of both paid and unpaid work. This is especially important as work involves ever more complex patterns and experiences of mobility and is more deeply entwined with the mobilities of other domains of social life. We conclude by considering the rich implications of “re‐working mobilities” for methodological diversity and for animating both mobilities studies and labour studies as critical geographical endeavors.
Human papillomavirus vaccination of adult women and risk of autoimmune and neurological diseases
Authors: Hviid A. , Svanström H. , Scheller N. M. , Grönlund O. , Pasternak B. , Arnheim‐Dahlström L.
Published: October 2017

Background

Since 2006, human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccines have been introduced in many countries worldwide. Whilst safety studies have been reassuring, focus has been on the primary target group, the young adolescent girls. However, it is also important to evaluate safety in adult women where background disease rates and safety issues could differ significantly.

Objective

We took advantage of the unique Danish and Swedish nationwide healthcare registers to conduct a cohort study comparing incidence rate ratios (RRs) of 45 preselected serious chronic diseases in quadrivalent HPV (qHPV)‐vaccinated and qHPV‐unvaccinated adult women 18–44 years of age.

Methods

We used Poisson regression to estimate RRs according to qHPV vaccination status with two‐sided 95% confidence intervals (95% CIs).

Results

The study cohort comprised 3 126 790 women (1 195 865 [38%] Danish and 1 930 925 [62%] Swedish) followed for 16 386 459 person‐years. Vaccine uptake of at least one dose of qHPV vaccine was 8% in the cohort: 18% amongst Danish women and 2% amongst Swedish. We identified seven adverse events with statistically significant increased risks following vaccination—Hashimoto's thyroiditis, coeliac disease, localized lupus erythematosus, pemphigus vulgaris, Addison's disease, Raynaud's disease and other encephalitis, myelitis or encephalomyelitis. After taking multiple testing into account and conducting self‐controlled case series analyses, coeliac disease (RR 1.56 [95% confidence interval 1.29–1.89]) was the only remaining association.

Conclusion

Unmasking of conditions at vaccination visits is a plausible explanation for the increased risk associated with qHPV in this study because coeliac disease is underdiagnosed in Scandinavian populations. In conclusion, our study of serious adverse event rates in qHPV‐vaccinated and qHPV‐unvaccinated adult women 18–44 years of age did not raise any safety issues of concern.
Effectors involved in fungal–fungal interaction lead to a rare phenomenon of hyperbiotrophy in the tritrophic system biocontrol agent–powdery mildew–plant
Authors: Laur Joan , Ramakrishnan Gowsica Bojarajan , Labbé Caroline , Lefebvre François , Spanu Pietro D. , Bélanger Richard R.
Published: October 2017

Tritrophic interactions involving a biocontrol agent, a pathogen and a plant have been analyzed predominantly from the perspective of the biocontrol agent. We have conducted the first comprehensive transcriptomic analysis of all three organisms in an effort to understand the elusive properties of Pseudozyma flocculosa in the context of its biocontrol activity against Blumeria graminis f.sp. hordei as it parasitizes Hordeum vulgare.

After inoculation of P. flocculosa, the tripartite interaction was monitored over time and samples collected for scanning electron microscopy and RNA sequencing.

Based on our observations, P. flocculosa indirectly parasitizes barley, albeit transiently, by diverting nutrients extracted by B. graminis from barley leaves through a process involving unique effectors. This brings novel evidence that such molecules can also influence fungal–fungal interactions. Their release is synchronized with a higher expression of powdery mildew haustorial effectors, a sharp decline in the photosynthetic machinery of barley and a developmental peak in P. flocculosa. The interaction culminates with a collapse of B. graminis haustoria, thereby stopping P. flocculosa growth, as barley plants show higher metabolic activity.

To conclude, our study has uncovered a complex and intricate phenomenon, described here as hyperbiotrophy, only achievable through the conjugated action of the three protagonists.
Predicted global warming scenarios impact on the mother plant to alter seed dormancy and germination behaviour inArabidopsis
Authors: Huang Z. , Footitt S. , Tang A. , Finch‐Savage W.E.
Published: October 2017

Abstract

Seed characteristics are key components of plant fitness that are influenced by temperature in their maternal environment, and temperature will change with global warming. To study the effect of such temperature changes,Arabidopsis thalianaplants were grown to produce seeds along a uniquely designed polyethylene tunnel having a thermal gradient reflecting local global warming predictions. Plants therefore experienced the same variations in temperature and light conditions but different mean temperatures. A range of seed‐related plant fitness estimates were measured. There were dramatic non‐linear temperature effects on the germination behaviour in two contrasting ecotypes. Maternal temperatures lower than 15–16 °C resulted in significantly greater primary dormancy. In addition, the impact of nitrate in the growing media on dormancy was shown only by seeds produced below 15–16 °C. However, there were no consistent effects on seed yield, number, or size. Effects on germination behaviour were shown to be a species characteristic responding to temperature and not time of year. Elevating temperature above this critical value during seed development has the potential to dramatically alter the timing of subsequent seed germination and the proportion entering the soil seed bank. This has potential consequences for the whole plant life cycle and species fitness.
Waterbird communities and seed biomass in managed and reference‐restored wetlands in the Mississippi Alluvial Valley
Authors: Tapp Jessica L. , Weegman Matthew M. , Webb Elisabeth B. , Kaminski Richard M. , Davis J. Brian
Published: October 2017

The Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) commenced the Migratory Bird Habitat Initiative (MBHI) in summer 2010 after the April 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. The MBHI enrolled in the program 193,000 ha of private wet‐ and cropland inland from potential oil‐impaired wetlands. We evaluated waterfowl and other waterbird use and potential seed/tuber food resources in NRCS Wetland Reserve Program easement wetlands managed via MBHI funding and associated reference wetlands in the Mississippi Alluvial Valley of Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Missouri. In Louisiana and Mississippi, nearly three times more dabbling ducks and all ducks combined were observed on managed than reference wetlands. Shorebirds and waterbirds other than waterfowl were nearly twice as abundant on managed than referenced wetlands. In Arkansas and Missouri, managed wetlands had over twice more dabbling ducks and nearly twice as many duck species than reference wetlands. Wetlands managed via MBHI in Mississippi and Louisiana contained ≥1.3 times more seed and tuber biomass known to be consumed by waterfowl than reference wetlands. Seed and tuber resources did not differ between wetlands in Arkansas and Missouri. While other studies have documented greater waterbird densities on actively than nonmanaged wetlands, our results highlighted the potential for initiatives focused on managing conservation easements to increase waterbird use and energetic carrying capacity of restored wetlands for waterbirds.
Determination of constitutive parameters from a Taylor test using inverse analysis
Authors: Hernandez C. , Maranon A.
Published: October 2017

Identification of material constitutive parameters is critical for accurate representation of the mechanical behavior of materials at high strain rates. However, customary characterization procedures based on curve fitting of stress‐strain curves, in some cases, are not accurate when the mechanical response exhibits strain rate dependency. In this paper, an inverse characterization technique based on the Taylor impact test is proposed. The technique uses a data reduction operator based on line moments and genetic algorithm optimization to determine the optimum constitutive parameters. Material parameters for a low carbon steel associated with the Plastic Kinematic model were determined using the proposed method.
Managing a rare donor programme: the immunohaematology laboratory perspective
Authors: Paccapelo C.
Published: October 2017

Alloimmunization is a major complication of blood transfusion which occurs more frequently in patients who are chronically transfused. It causes serologic investigations and makes the selection of compatible blood difficult, expensive and time‐consuming. Prompt availability of compatible units for patients with complex alloimmunization requires access to an inventory of extensively typed blood and to a database of rare donors. There are two key factors for rare donor provision. First, the routine programmes of red cell antigen typing in large cohorts of donors. Second, the ability to enrol healthy donors and patients negative for high‐prevalence antigens as well as family members. The immunohaematology laboratory is a highly specialized unit in charge of identifying challenging antibodies. It uses multiple methods of analysis and a broad inventory of reagents and cells not easily available. The laboratory also finds compatible blood units for patients with complex alloimmunization and designs appropriate transfusion strategies for these patients often in cooperation with international programmes.
The Future of Aging as Reflected in José Saramago's Novel "Death with Interruptions" – Israel as a Case Study
Authors: Bitzur Avi
Published: October 2017

Humanity has won one of the most challenging battles ever presented to it – the struggle to extend human life and increasing life expectancy. Current data and the figures predicted for future generations forecast significant longevity, and humanity has ostensibly marked a monumental achievement: containing death.This achievement, however, is not without its challenges. This essay argues that humanity is not ready to deal with the challenges posed by aging and the dramatic increase in longevity. As the number of older people increases, so will social, political, human, economic, and health issues that are naturally associated with older age. Society will face a so-called "human tsunami," or, alternatively, a "demographic revolution" in which man will find himself preoccupied with his elders in a world that has not prepared for such a revolution.This essay will review José Saramago's masterpiece "Death with Interruptions," which sarcastically describes a world free of death that, in turn, must contend with a myriad of problems. Faced with the issues plaguing Saramago's "deathless" world, authorities attempt to exercise a series of macabre and preposterous solutions vis-à-vis an issue that has all but upturned the "human pyramid" in the book.The novel will serve as the backdrop for presenting the case study at the heart of this essay, aging in Israel. I will present the existing situation in terms of aging-oriented services in Israel and the issues, obstacles and shortcomings of the system currently in place.This essay strives to illustrate the fact that global and Israeli society alike, fall short of rising to the challenges presented by this revolution, as the communities, families and the formal and informal state systems are not ready for the dramatic rise in longevity and its implications.Only nations that prepare themselves from social, religious, healthcare, economic, and organizational standpoints ahead of time will be able to properly deal with this phenomenon.
Protein Structure Facilitates High-Resolution Immunological Mapping
Authors: Zuverink Madison , Barbieri Joseph T.
Published: October 2017

Select agents (SA) pose unique challenges for licensing vaccines and therapies. In the case of toxin-mediated diseases, HHS assigns guidelines for SA use, oversees vaccine and therapy development, and approves animal models and approaches to identify mechanisms for toxin neutralization. In this commentary, we discuss next-generation vaccines and therapies against ricin toxin and botulinum toxin, which are regulated SA toxins that utilize structure-based approaches for countermeasures to guide rapid response to future biothreats.
Unraveling the Self-Assembly of the
Pseudomonas aeruginosa
XcpQ Secretin Periplasmic Domain Provides New Molecular Insights into Type II Secretion System Secreton Architecture and Dynamics
Authors: Douzi Badreddine , Trinh Nhung T. T. , Michel-Souzy Sandra , Desmyter Aline , Ball Geneviève , Barbier Pascale , Kosta Artemis , Durand Eric , Forest Katrina T. , Cambillau Christian , Roussel Alain , Voulhoux Romé
Published: October 2017

The type II secretion system (T2SS) releases large folded exoproteins across the envelope of many Gram-negative pathogens. This secretion process therefore requires specific gating, interacting, and dynamics properties mainly operated by a bipartite outer membrane channel called secretin. We have a good understanding of the structure-function relationship of the pore-forming C-terminal domain of secretins. In contrast, the high flexibility of their periplasmic N-terminal domain has been an obstacle in obtaining the detailed structural information required to uncover its molecular function. In
Pseudomonas aeruginosa
, the Xcp T2SS plays an important role in bacterial virulence by its capacity to deliver a large panel of toxins and degradative enzymes into the surrounding environment. Here, we revealed that the N-terminal domain of XcpQ secretin spontaneously self-assembled into a hexamer of dimers independently of its C-terminal domain. Furthermore, and by using multidisciplinary approaches, we elucidate the structural organization of the XcpQ N domain and demonstrate that secretin flexibility at interdimer interfaces is mandatory for its function.

IMPORTANCE
Bacterial secretins are large homooligomeric proteins constituting the outer membrane pore-forming element of several envelope-embedded nanomachines essential in bacterial survival and pathogenicity. They comprise a well-defined membrane-embedded C-terminal domain and a modular periplasmic N-terminal domain involved in substrate recruitment and connection with inner membrane components. We are studying the XcpQ secretin of the T2SS present in the pathogenic bacterium
Pseudomonas aeruginosa
. Our data highlight the ability of the XcpQ N-terminal domain to spontaneously oligomerize into a hexamer of dimers. Further
in vivo
experiments revealed that this domain adopts different conformations essential for the T2SS secretion process. These findings provide new insights into the functional understanding of bacterial T2SS secretins.