bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
No evidence for associations between men’s salivary testosterone and responses on the Intrasexual Competitiveness Scale
Authors: Torrance Jaimie S , Hahn Amanda C , Kandrik Michal , DeBruine Lisa M , Jones Benedict C 
Published: October 2017

AbstractMany previous studies have investigated relationships between men’s competitiveness and testosterone. For example, the extent of changes in men’s testosterone levels following a competitive task predicts the likelihood of them choosing to compete again. Recent work investigating whether individual differences in men’s testosterone levels predict individual differences in their competitiveness have produced mixed results. Consequently, we investigated whether men’s (N=59) scores on the Intrasexual Competitiveness Scale were related to either within-subject changes or between-subject differences in men’s testosterone levels. Men’s responses on the Intrasexual Competitiveness Scale did not appear to track within-subject changes in testosterone. By contrast with one recent study, men’s Intrasexual Competitiveness Scale also did not appear to be related to between-individual differences in testosterone. Thus, our results present no evidence for associations between men’s testosterone and their responses on the Intrasexual Competitiveness Scale.
Introduction of single nucleotide variations into the promoter region of the mouse kidney anion exchanger 1 gene downstream of a TATA box changes its transcriptional activity
Authors: Takeuchi Takumi , Hattori-Kato Mami 
Published: October 2017

Abstract(Introduction) Distal renal tubular acidosis (dRTA) is characterized by an impairment of urine acidification and can be caused by variations in genes functioning in α-intercalated cells such as anion exchanger 1 (AE1). AE1 encodes the Cl-/HCO3-exchanger in erythrocytes (eAE1) and α-intercalated cells (kAE1). We previously reported that in human erythroid intron 3 containing the promoter region of human kAE1, a SNP (rs999716) 39 base pairs downstream of the TATA box showed a higher minor allele A frequency in incomplete dRTA patients and such a promoter region showed reduced activities, leading to the hypothesis that those with the A allele may express less kAE1, developing incomplete dRTA. Here, single nucleotide variations were introduced downstream of the TATA box in the murine erythroid intron 3 to investigate changes in the promoter activity for murine kAE1 mRNA. (Methods) The erythroid intron 3 of C57BL/6 was subcloned into the pGL4.17 reporter vector, leading to mu kAE1Pro-pGL4.17. Three types of G to A substitutions were introduced 33, 35, and 36 base pairs downstream of the TATA box in the murine kAE1 promoter region by inverse PCR (Var1, Var2, and Var3, respectively). The HEK 293 cells were transfected with vectors. After 24 hours, the firefly luciferase activity was determined. (Results and Discussion) The promoter activity of Var1, as well as that of Var2 to a lesser extent, was reduced compared with that of the wild-type. The introduction of variations such as Var1 and Var2 into the murine genome by genome editing may help to establish mouse models of incomplete dRTA.
Getting in shape and swimming: the role of cortical forces and membrane heterogeneity in eukaryotic cells
Authors: Wu Hao , de León Marco Avila Ponce , Othmer Hans G. 
Published: October 2017

AbstractRecent research has shown that motile cells can adapt their mode of propulsion to the mechanical properties of the environment in which they find themselves – crawling in some environments while swimming in others. The latter can involve movement by blebbing or other cyclic shape changes, and both highly-simplified and more realistic models of these modes have been studied previously. Herein we study swimming that is driven by membrane tension gradients that arise from flows in the actin cortex underlying the membrane, and does not involve imposed cyclic shape changes. Such gradients can lead to a number of different characteristic cell shapes, and our first objective is to understand how different distributions of membrane tension influence the shape of cells in a quiescent fluid. We then analyze the effects of spatial variation in other membrane properties, and how they interact with tension gradients to determine the shape. We also study the effect of fluid-cell interactions and show how tension leads to cell movement, how the balance between tension gradients and a variable bending modulus determine the shape and direction of movement, and how the efficiency of movement depends on the properties of the fluid and the distribution of tension and bending modulus in the membrane.Dedicated to the memory of Karl P. Hadeler, a pioneer in the field of Mathematical Biology and a friend and mentor to many.
The Elastic Network Contact Model applied to RNA: enhanced accuracy for conformational space prediction
Authors: Mailhot Olivier , Frappier Vincent , Major François , Najmanovich Rafael 
Published: October 2017

ABSTRACTMotivationThe use of Normal Mode Analysis (NMA) methods to study both protein and nucleic acid dynamics is well established. However, the most widely used coarse-grained methods are based on backbone geometry alone and do not take into account the chemical nature of the residues. Elastic Network Contact Model (ENCoM) is a coarse-grained NMA method that includes a pairwise atom-type non-bonded interaction term, which makes it sensitive to the sequence of the studied molecule. We adapted ENCoM to simulate the dynamics of ribonucleic acid (RNA) molecules.ResultsENCoM outperforms the most commonly used coarse-grained model on RNA, Anisotropic Network Model (ANM), in the prediction of b-factors, in the prediction of conformational change as measured by overlap (a measure of effective prediction of structural transitions) and in the prediction of structural variance from NMR ensembles. These benchmarks were derived from the set of all RNA structures available from the Protein Data Bank (PDB) and contain more total cases than previous studies applying NMA to RNA. We thus established ENCoM as an attractive tool for fast and accurate exploration of the conformational space of RNA molecules.AvailabilityENCoM is open source software available athttps://github.com/NRGlab/ENCoM
Social movement organizations in Spain
Authors: Simsa Ruth , Totter Marion 
Published: October 2017

Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to analyze how activists of the Spanish protest movement 15M conceptualize organizational practices in relation to the movement’s goals.

Design/methodology/approach
In order to theoretically understand social movement organizations (SMO), the concept of partial organization is placed within the context of the politics of prefiguration. Empirically, the paper is based on field research conducted in Spain in three consecutive years (2014-2016) that included 82 qualitative interviews and participant observation.

Findings
Activists consider the organizational practices as crucial means to achieve social change. They conceptualize SMO in a meaningful and systematic way as partial organizations, specifically, by aiming at open membership and non-hierarchical structures. As they do this to enact the movement’s goals prefiguratively in their daily organizational practices, the limits and restrictions of the practices of self-organization are widely accepted.

Research limitations/implications
The research focused on studying the relatively young and often very successful organizations of the Spanish movement. It remains open to what extent the prefigurative practices will survive organizational life cycles.

Practical implications
By contributing to a deeper understanding of the underlying philosophy of SMO, this paper is useful for social movement activists and scholars.

Originality/value
This is one of the first papers, which analyzes the organizations of the Spanish protest movement with respect to both empirical and theoretical aspects.
Repertoires of knowledge practices: social movements in times of crisis
Authors: della Porta Donatella , Pavan Elena 
Published: October 2017

PurposeStarting from the assumption that knowledge becomes all the more important for movements in times of crisis, as old structures are challenged and new ones envisaged and proved feasible, the purpose of this paper is to suggest ways to expand the toolkit of social movement studies in order to empirically address knowledge practices as a meaningful part of contemporary progressive activism.Design/methodology/approachThe authors start by arguing that, in their effort to pursue or resist social and political changes, contemporary progressive social movements form collective spaces of knowledge production that are true laboratories for innovation. For this reason, the authors begin by making a case for accounting more explicitly for knowledge production within social movement studies - not as a substitution for but, rather, as a necessary complement to current cultural approaches. Building on extant literature on the nexus between movements and knowledge, the authors then outline the peculiarities of movement knowledge.FindingsOn these bases, the authors outline the core components of what the authors call repertoires of knowledge practices - that is, the set of practices that foster the coordination of disconnected, local, and highly personal experiences and rationalities within a shared cognitive system able to provide movements and their supporters with a common orientation for making claims and acting collectively to produce social, political, and cultural changes.Originality/valueThe authors conclude by identifying some promising avenues of research to further develop the understanding of movement practices of knowledge production and transmission.
Voicing researched activists with responsive action research
Authors: Varkarolis Orestis , King Daniel 
Published: October 2017

PurposeWhat it is like to experience being the subject of the research process when you are an actor within a new social movement organization? And what lessons can be learned for researchers engaging with members of New Social Movements? Debates on engagement and the relationship between the researcher and the researched so far have taken the perspective solely of the researcher. Based on insights gained by full participation in a horizontal worker cooperative, the purpose of this paper is to contribute to the facilitation of more fruitful, mutually engaging research relations between organizational theory scholars and members of New Social Movement organizations by voicing the researched in this debate.Design/methodology/approachAfter providing some accounts from the researched point of view, the paper focuses on crafting an appropriate research process based on participatory action research (PAR) ethos and experience.FindingsSince the research findings suggest that PAR combines elements that both trouble and inspire research participants, namely, workload/availability and relevancy/contribution in practice, the authors introduce and provide a case study of responsive action research that emphasizes adaptation and responsiveness in the research process instead of shared governance.Originality/valueThe originality of this paper lies in voicing the research participants with the aim to aid both scholars and social movements adopt appropriate research designs for the mutual benefit of both theory/action and researchers/researched (even when researchers are already active in the field).
Fungal inoculants in the field: Is the reward greater than the risk?
Authors: Hart Miranda M. , Antunes Pedro M. , Chaudhary Veer Bala , Abbott Lynette K. 
Published: October 2017

Abstract

Biofertilizers are a large part of the global agricultural economy.

Recently, there has been an increase in the number of companies producing fungal inoculants.

Whether these inoculants are useful is not clear; they are difficult to monitor in the field.

The unintended consequences of inoculants in natural systems is not known, but if invasive, they may pose a threat to soil and plant biodiversity and ecosystem functioning.

A plain language summary is available for this article.
When ‘Anxious Scrutiny’ of Arms Exports Facilitates Humanitarian Disaster
Authors: Stavrianakis Anna 
Published: October 2017

AbstractHow is it that the UK government continues to export weapons to Saudi Arabia for use in the war in Yemen, despite an explicit commitment to international humanitarian law (IHL)? And how is it that the High Court recently dismissed a case of judicial review, confirming that the government was ‘rationally entitled to conclude’ that arms exports pose no clear risk to IHL in Yemen? In what follows, I explain how a flexible interpretation of risk, reliance on secret information, and deference of the Court to the executive serve to facilitate rather than restrict arms exports. The judges’ decision provides a stamp of approval to an arms export policy that has directly contributed to the deaths of thousands of civilians in Yemen. Attention to the Saudi/Yemen case shows the political and legal manoeuvring that goes into managing the contradictions in government arms export policy.
From loss to repair. A study of body narratives in patient claims for medical injury
Authors: Winance Myriam , Barbot Janine , Parizot Isabelle 
Published: October 2017

AbstractIn this article we examine the body's status in the complaints that patients filed with a compensation agency. Taking a corpus of letters, we analyse the way in which the patients mobilise their bodily experience from the angle of the damage for which they demand compensation. To this end, we articulate an approach in terms of the sociology of complaint with an approach rooted in the sociology of medicine, health and illness. To analyse the body narratives, we use the notion of loss. We highlight the manner in which patients approach their losses as ‘losses in practice’. These losses are defined by the patients putting forward the concrete experience of a body harmed by the treatment received, and by their formulation of expectations in terms of compensation. We therefore identify four ways in which the reality of the damaged body is given a form in terms of expectations of repair: the ‘body‐producer’, the ‘body‐ecological’, the ‘body‐help’ and the ‘body‐self‐image’. Our analysis adds to studies on the status of the body in care and in complaint by showing: the specific influence of the enunciative situation, the plurality of patient evaluations and their temporal dynamic.
A new framework for analysing automated acoustic species detection data: Occupancy estimation and optimization of recordings post‐processing
Authors: Chambert Thierry , Waddle J. Hardin , Miller David A. W. , Walls Susan C. , Nichols James D. 
Published: October 2017

Abstract

The development and use of automated species detection technologies, such as acoustic recorders, for monitoring wildlife are rapidly expanding. Automated classification algorithms provide cost‐ and time‐effective means to process information‐rich data, but often at the cost of additional detection errors. Appropriate methods are necessary to analyse such data while dealing with the different types of detection errors.

We developed a hierarchical modelling framework for estimating species occupancy from automated species detection data. We explore design and optimization of data post‐processing procedures to account for detection errors and generate accurate estimates. Our proposed method accounts for both imperfect detection and false‐positive errors and utilizes information about both occurrence and abundance of detections to improve estimation.

Using simulations, we show that our method provides much more accurate estimates than models ignoring the abundance of detections. The same findings are reached when we apply the methods to two real datasets on North American frogs surveyed with acoustic recorders.

When false positives occur, estimator accuracy can be improved when a subset of detections produced by the classification algorithm is post‐validated by a human observer. We use simulations to investigate the relationship between accuracy and effort spent on post‐validation, and found that very accurate occupancy estimates can be obtained with as little as 1% of data being validated.

Automated monitoring of wildlife provides opportunity and challenges. Our methods for analysing automated species detection data help to meet key challenges unique to these data and will prove useful for many wildlife monitoring programmes.
Challenges in Patient Enrollment and Retention in Clinical Studies for Alcoholic Hepatitis: Experience of the TREAT Consortium
Authors: Comerford Megan , Lourens Spencer , Liangpunsakul Suthat , Chalasani Naga P. , Sanyal Arun J. , Shah Vijay H. , Kamath Patrick S. , Puri Puneet , Katz Barry P. , Radaeva Svetlana , Crabb David W. 
Published: October 2017

The TREAT Consortium has carried out clinical studies on alcoholic hepatitis (AH) for over 4 years. We encountered problems with participant recruitment, retention, and eligibility for specific protocols. To improve our ability to carry out such trials, we reviewed recruitment screening logs, end of study logs, and surveyed study coordinators to learn the reasons for missing patients, why patients declined enrollment, and the number of patients eligible for treatment trials. Associations of the recruited subjects’ demographics with their adherence to follow‐up appointments were examined. Three hundred eight‐seven patients (AH and heavy drinking controls) were enrolled in the observational study, and 55 AH patients were recruited into treatment trials. About half of patients identified with AH could not be recruited; no specific reason could be determined for about two‐thirds of these. Among the patients who gave a reason for not participating, the most common reasons were feeling too sick to participate, desire to concentrate on abstinence, and lack of interest in research. Approximately a quarter of the AH patients met eligibility criteria for treatment trials for moderate or severe AH and we were able to recruit half to two‐thirds of those eligible. Approximately 35% of participants in the observational study returned for both 6‐ and 12‐month follow‐up visits. We did not identify biopsychosocial or demographic correlates of retention in the study. This analysis revealed that attempts at recruitment into trials for AH miss some subjects because of structural issues surrounding their hospital admission, and encounter a high rate of patient refusal to participate. Nonetheless, more than half of the patients who met the eligibility criteria for moderate or severe AH were entered into clinical trials. Retention rates for the observational study are relatively low. These findings need to be accounted for in clinical trial design and power analysis.
Comparing pathological complete response rate using oral capecitabine versus infusional 5‐fluorouracil with preoperative radiotherapy in rectal cancer treatment
Authors: Jootun Narotam , Evans Tess , Mak Jackie , Makin Greg , Platell Cameron 
Published: October 2017

BackgroundInfusional 5‐fluorouracil (5‐FU) has been the standard radiation sensitizer in patients undergoing preoperative long‐course chemoradiotherapy (CRT) for locally advanced rectal cancer in Australia. Capecitabine (Xeloda) is an oral 5‐FU prodrug of comparable pharmacodynamic activity, currently preferred in place of 5‐FU infusion, its established counterpart in neoadjuvant CRT for rectal cancer. The few studies quantifying pathological complete response (pCR) of Xeloda versus 5‐FU have produced inconsistent results. We reviewed our own data to determine if the rates of pCR of oral capecitabine were non‐inferior to intravenous 5‐FU in patients undergoing neoadjuvant CRT for rectal cancer.MethodsA retrospective study was performed from a prospectively kept database. Four hundred and fifty‐two patients received preoperative CRT from January 2006 to January 2016. Pelvic radiotherapy was delivered concurrently with capecitabine (n = 42) or infusional 5‐FU (n = 341). The remaining received different chemotherapy regimens. Surgery was performed 6–12 weeks of CRT completion. Pathological responses were assessed using Dworak regression grading score (0–4). Clinical outcomes were evaluated in terms of local control and recurrence‐free survival.ResultsThe proportion of patients who had a tumour regression score of 4 (pCR) after CRT was 4/42 (9.5%) in the capecitabine group and 71/341 (20%) in the infusional 5‐FU group (P = 0.082). pCR was an independent predictor for survival in this group of patients (hazard ratio: 0.002, P = 0.0001, 95% confidence interval: 0.0001–0.027).ConclusionThe use of capecitabine as neoadjuvant chemotherapy in patients with rectal cancer was associated with a reduced rate of pCR. However this difference did not achieve statistical significance.
Cost‐effective imaging for resectability of liver lesions in colorectal cancer: an economic decision model
Authors: Saing Sopany , Haywood Phil , Duncan Joanna K. , Ma Ning , Cameron Alun L. , Goodall Stephen 
Published: October 2017

BackgroundThis study aimed to determine the cost‐effectiveness of contrast‐enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (CE‐MRI) compared with multiphase CE computed tomography (CE‐CT) scan to characterize suspected liver lesions in patients with known colorectal carcinoma.MethodsA decision analytic model linking diagnostic accuracy to health outcomes in patients with colorectal carcinoma was constructed. The model assumed that CE‐MRI has superior sensitivity and equivalent specificity to CE‐CT, and patients with a colorectal liver metastasis could be eligible for curative surgery or chemotherapy and palliation. Delayed diagnosis or misdiagnosis was associated with worse health outcomes (disutility). Cost‐effectiveness was calculated as the incremental cost relative to the incremental benefit, the benefit was estimated using quality‐adjusted life years. Sensitivity analyses were conducted to test the robustness of the results.ResultsThe clinical evidence supports increased sensitivity of CE‐MRI compared with CE‐CT (0.943 versus 0.768). CE‐MRI was more effective and more costly than CE‐CT. The incremental cost‐effectiveness ratio was estimated to be $40 548 per quality‐adjusted life year gained. The model is most sensitive to the cost of MRI, cost of palliative treatment and the disutility associated with delayed palliative care. The results were also sensitive to the assumptions made about the clinical algorithm.ConclusionThe results provide evidence of the potential cost‐effectiveness associated with CE‐MRI for the diagnosis of liver metastases in patients with identified colorectal carcinoma. CE‐MRI can be recommended as cost‐effective provided it replaces CE‐CT and that improved diagnostic accuracy results in earlier, curative, disease management.