bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Downregulation of miR-154 in human glioma and its clinicopathological and prognostic significance
Authors: Wang Lingling , Wu Lei , Wu Jiang 
Published: July 2016

Objective MicroRNA-154 (miR-154) was previously reported to be downregulated in several types of human cancers and may act as a tumour suppressor. This study aimed to measure miR-154 levels and determine its clinical significance in human glioma. Methods This retrospective study analysed fresh human glioma specimens and non-neoplastic brain tissues using real-time quantitative reverse transcription–polymerase chain reaction to determine the relative levels of miR-154. The association between miR-154 levels and various clinicopathological characteristics and survival was analysed. Results A total of 115 patients with gliomas and 115 non-neoplastic brain tissues were examined. MiR-154 levels were significantly downregulated in gliomas compared with non-neoplastic brain tissues. Low levels of miR-154 were associated with high World Health Organization grade, large tumour size (≥ 5 cm), a low Karnofsky performance status score (< 80), and a shorter overall survival. Multivariate analyses using the Cox proportional hazards regression model confirmed that decreased miR-154 level was an independent predictor of a poor prognosis. Conclusions These results suggest that miR-154 downregulation may be involved in glioma formation and progression, and that miR-154 might serve as a potential prognostic biomarker for patients with this disease.
Assessment of the ability of Aedes species mosquitoes to transmit feline Mycoplasma haemofelis and ‘Candidatus Mycoplasma haemominutum’
Authors: Reagan Krystle L , Clarke Lorelei L , Hawley Jennifer R , Lin Phillip , Lappin Michael R 
Published: July 2016

Objectives The objective of this study was to evaluate wild-caught mosquitoes for evidence of hemotropic Mycoplasma species DNA and to determine whether the feline hemoplasmas, Mycoplasma haemofelis (Mhf) and ‘ Candidatus Mycoplasma haemominutum’ (Mhm), can be transmitted by Aedes aegypti mosquitoes in a laboratory setting. Methods Wild-caught mosquito pools (50 mosquitoes per pool, 84 pools) utilized in routine public health department disease surveillance programs were tested for hemotropic Mycoplasma species DNA using PCR with primers designed to amplify all known hemoplasmas. Additionally, mosquitoes were trapped in the vicinity of known feral cat colonies, pooled (50 mosquitoes per pool) and tested (84 pools). Purpose-bred cats housed in a research facility were infected with Mhf or Mhm and then colonized laboratory A aegypti were fed upon the bacteremic cats. After a 7 day incubation period, mosquitoes previously fed on infected cats were allowed to feed again on naive cats, which were monitored for bacteremia for 10 weeks. Results Mycoplasma wenyonii DNA was confirmed in one wild-caught mosquito pool by DNA sequencing. While 7% of cats tested in feral colonies were hemoplasma positive, none of the mosquitoes trapped near colonies were positive. Hemoplasma DNA was amplified from A aegypti by PCR immediately after the infectious blood meal, but DNA was not detected at 7 and 14 days after feeding. Although evidence for uptake of organisms existed, hemoplasma DNA was not amplified from the experimentally infested cats in the 10 week observation period. Conclusions and relevance While wild-caught mosquitoes contained hemoplasma DNA and laboratory reared A aegypti mosquitoes take up hemoplasmas during the blood meal, there was no evidence of biologic transmission in this model.
Usambara effect in tourmaline: optical spectroscopy and colourimetric studies
Authors: Taran Michail N. , Naumenko Ievgen V. 
Published: July 2016

AbstractThe Usambara effect, i.e. a change of tourmaline colour from deep-green to dark-red with increasing path length of light, has been studied by optical absorption spectroscopy and colourimetric calculations on a sample of Tanzanian tourmaline of predominant dravite composition with 0.12 apfu Cr. For comparison a dark-green vanadium-bearing tourmaline from Tanzania (0.05 apfu V), which does not show such an effect, was also investigated. As established, the Usambara effect, by its nature, is closely related to the alexandrite effect, although in this case the colour change is not caused by change of spectral composition of the light of illumination, but by spectral positions of the spin-allowed absorption bands of Cr3+, a specific ratio of light transmission in two windows of transparency, green and red, and by non-linear, exponential dependence of the light transmittance on the thickness of sample. A threshold chromium content must be exceeded for the Usambara effect to show, that is, sufficient chromium for there to be two deep and well-demarcated windows of transparency in the visible range. The overall colouration results from mixing of two additive colours coming through the windows of transparency. A dark-green chromium-bearing tourmaline from the Ural Mountains (0.40 and 0.20 apfu Cr and Fe, respectively) shows how admixtures of other chromophore ions, namely, Fe2+ and Fe3+, can suppress the Usambara effect in tourmaline.
H-bonding scheme in allactite: a combined single-crystal X-ray and neutron diffraction, optical absorption spectroscopy, FTIR and EPMA-WDS study
Authors: Gatta G. Diego , Bosi Ferdinando , Fernandez Diaz Maria Teresa , Hålenius Ulf 
Published: July 2016

AbsatractThe crystal chemistry of allactite from Långban, Värmland (Sweden) was investigated by single-crystal X-ray and neutron diffraction, optical absorption spectroscopy, Fourier-transform infra-red spectroscopy (FTIR) and electron microprobe analysis by wavelength-dispersive spectroscopy (EPMA-WDS). The optical spectra indicate the presence of Mn in valence state 2+ only. Assuming 16 O atoms per formula unit, arsenic as As5+ and the (OH) content calculated by charge balance, the resulting formula based on the EPMA-WDS data is (Mn2+6.73Ca0.13Mg0.12Zn0.02)∑7.00(As5+)2.00O16H8, very close to the ideal composition Mn7(AsO4)2(OH)8. In the unpolarized FTIR spectrum of allactite, fundamental (OH)-stretching bands are observed at 3236, 3288, 3387, 3446, 3484, 3562 and 3570 cm–1, suggesting that a number of OH environments, with different hydrogen bond strengths, occur in the structure. The neutron structure refinement shows that four independent H sites occur in allactite with full site occupancy, all as members of hydroxyl groups. The complex hydrogen-bonding scheme in the allactite structure is now well defined, with at least nine hydrogen bonds energetically favourable with mono-, bi- and trifurcated configurations.
Refinement of the crystal structure of berezanskite, Ti22KLi3(Si12O30)
Authors: Hawthorne F. C. , Sokolova E. , Pautov L.A. , Agakhanov A. A. , Karpenko V. Yu. 
Published: July 2016

AbstractBerezanskite, ideally Ti□2KLi3(Si12O30), is hexagonal, space group P6/mcc, a = 9.898(4), c = 14.276(6) Å, V = 1211.2(9) Å3, Z = 2. The crystal structure was refined to an R1 index of 2.08% based on 392 unique observed reflections. Berezanskite is isostructural with milarite, ideally ACa2BoCKT(2)(Be2Al)(T(1)Si12O30)(H2O)0–2. The structural unit is of the form [T(2)3T(1)12O30] with T(1) = Si and T(2) = Li, in which (LiO4) tetrahedra link [Si12O30] six-membered double-rings into a framework. The A, B and C sites occur in the interstices of the framework with the following site populations: A = Ti4+2, <A–O>= 1.938(2) Å; B =□2; C = K, <C–O> = 3.058(2) Å. In the T(2) = Li3 milarite-group minerals, the <C–O> distance is inversely related to the occupancy of the B site.
Incident opioid drug use and adverse respiratory outcomes among older adults with COPD
Authors: Vozoris Nicholas T. , Wang Xuesong , Fischer Hadas D. , Bell Chaim M. , O'Donnell Denis E. , Austin Peter C. , Stephenson Anne L. , Gill Sudeep S. , Rochon Paula A. 
Published: July 2016

We evaluated risk of adverse respiratory outcomes associated with incident opioid use among older adults with chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases (COPD).This was a retrospective population-based cohort study using a validated algorithm applied to health administrative data to identify adults aged 66 years and older with COPD. Inverse probability of treatment weighting using the propensity score was used to estimate hazard ratios comparing adverse respiratory outcomes within 30 days of incident opioid use compared to controls.Incident opioid use was associated with significantly increased emergency room visits for COPD or pneumonia (HR 1.14, 95% CI 1.00–1.29; p=0.04), COPD or pneumonia-related mortality (HR 2.16, 95% CI 1.61–2.88; p<0.0001) and all-cause mortality (HR 1.76, 95% CI 1.57–1.98; p<0.0001), but significantly decreased outpatient exacerbations (HR 0.88, 95% CI 0.83–0.94; p=0.0002). Use of more potent opioid-only agents was associated with significantly increased outpatient exacerbations, emergency room visits and hospitalisations for COPD or pneumonia, and COPD or pneumonia-related and all-cause mortality.Incident opioid use, and in particular use of the generally more potent opioid-only agents, was associated with increased risk for adverse respiratory outcomes, including respiratory-related mortality, among older adults with COPD. Potential adverse respiratory outcomes should be considered when prescribing new opioids in this population.
Note on essential fixed points of approximable multivalued mappings
Authors: Andres Jan , Górniewicz Lech 
Published: July 2016

AbstractA new definition of essential fixed points is introduced for a large class of multivalued maps. Two abstract existence theorems are presented for approximable maps on compact ANR-spaces in terms of a nontrivial fixed point index, or a nontrivial Lefschetz number and a zero topological dimension of the fixed point set. The second one is applied to the periodic dissipative Marchaud differential inclusions for obtaining the existence of a discretely essential subharmonic solution. Three simple illustrative examples are supplied.
The Association between Individual Counselling and Health Behaviour Change: The See Kidney Disease (SeeKD) Targeted Screening Programme for Chronic Kidney Disease
Authors: Galbraith Lauren , Hemmelgarn Brenda , Manns Braden , Samuel Susan , Kappel Joanne , Valk Nadine , Ronksley Paul 
Published: July 2016

Background: Health behaviour change is an important component of management for patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD); however, the optimal method to promote health behaviour change for self-management of CKD is unknown. The See Kidney Disease (SeeKD) targeted screening programme screened Canadians at risk for CKD and promoted health behaviour change through individual counselling and goal setting. Objectives: The objectives of this study are to determine the effectiveness of individual counselling sessions for eliciting behaviour change and to describe participant characteristics associated with behaviour change. Design: This is a cross-sectional, descriptive study. Setting: The study setting is the National SeeKD targeted screening programme. Patients: The participants are all ‘at risk’ patients who were screened for CKD and returned a follow-up health behaviour survey ( n = 1129). Measurements: Health behaviour change was defined as a self-reported change in lifestyle, including dietary changes or medication adherence. Methods: An individual counselling session was provided to participants by allied healthcare professionals to promote health behaviour change. A survey was mailed to all participants at risk of CKD within 2-4 weeks following the screening event to determine if behaviour changes had been initiated. Descriptive statistics were used to describe respondent characteristics and self-reported behaviour change following screening events. Results were stratified by estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) (< 60 and >60 mL/min/1.73 m2). Log binomial regression analysis was used to determine the predictors of behaviour change. Results: Of the 1129 respondents, the majority (89.8 %) reported making a health behaviour change after the screening event. Respondents who were overweight (body mass index [BMI] 25-29.9 kg/m2) or obese (BMi ≥ 30.0 kg/m2) were more likely to report a behaviour change (prevalence rate ratio (PRR) 0.66, 95 % confidence interval (CI) 0.44-0.99 and PRR 0.49, 95 % CI 0.30-0.80, respectively). Further, participants with a prior intent to change their behaviour were more likely to make a behaviour change (PRR 0.58, 95 % CI 0.35-0.96). Results did not vary by eGFR category. Limitations: We are unable to determine the effectiveness of the behaviour change intervention given the lack of a control group. Potential response bias and social desirability bias must also be considered when interpreting the study findings. Conclusions: Individual counselling and goal setting provided at screening events may stimulate behaviour change amongst individuals at risk for CKD. However, further research is required to determine if this behaviour change is sustained and the impact on CKD progression and outcomes.
Cosmoecological Sheep and the Arts of Living on a Damaged Planet
Authors: Despret Vinciane , Meuret Michel 
Published: July 2016

Abstract
In recent decades, in the South of France some young people from urban backgrounds have chosen to become shepherds and to learn to reconnect with the herding practices that many livestock breeders had abandoned under the pressure of agricultural modernization policies. In some cases they have found themselves entrusted with sheep that are as naive about herding as they themselves were. Before their introduction to transhumance—seasonal movement between pastures—these animals were primarily confined and fed indoors or in small fenced areas. The shepherds had to learn how to lead, how to understand other modes of living, how to teach their sheep what is edible and what is not, and how to form a flock; the sheep had to learn how to “compose with” dogs and humans, to acquire new feeding habits, a new ethos, and moreover, new ways of living in an enlarged world. These practices cannot be reduced to a livestock economy: shepherds consider herding a work of transformation and ecological recuperation—of the land, of the sheep, of ways of being together. Learning the “arts of living on a damaged planet,” as Anna Tsing has termed it, humans and animals are making their own contributions to a new cosmoecology, creating cosmoecological connections and contributing to what Ghassan Hage has called alter-politics.
The Xenopus Pregnancy Test
Authors: Kirksey Eben , Hannah Dehlia , Lotterman Charlie , Moore Lisa Jean 
Published: July 2016

Abstract
There is an appreciable distance between the biochemistry of being pregnant and the experience of recognizing oneself as pregnant—a speculative gap that technology can serve to narrow or widen depending on how one chooses to choreograph an ontological state. Conducting an outmoded pregnancy test with live Xenopus frogs, we probed the contours of this gap. As we took an antiquated bioassay out of medical archives, we conducted a performative experiment—an intervention that blurred the boundaries between performance art, science, and ethnography. Like queer enactments of gender, performative experiments exhibit the performativity of conventional science and thereby make scientific modes of knowledge production and claims available for critical inspection. Moving beyond the domain of human self-fashioning and debates about the ethics of animal experimentation, our experiment also considered speculation linking the Xenopus pregnancy test to the extinction of other frogs. Amphibian biologists once hypothesized that Xenopus frogs brought a pathogenic fungus out of Africa. We found that this outbreak narrative projected colonial and racial stereotypes into the domain of animals and limited the scope of the scientific imagination. DNA test kits enabled us to determine that the frogs used in our study were not carrying the pathogenic chytrid fungus. Getting past stigma attached to particular species and locales, we found that parasites are nonetheless emerging within the biotechnology marketplace. Global commerce is generating hypervirulent strains of disease that threaten to disrupt human dreams and schemes.
Lively Ethography
Authors: van Dooren Thom , Rose Deborah Bird 
Published: July 2016

AbstractThis article is an effort to dwell with the kinds of writing and thinking practices that we have been developing in our research, especially over the past seven years. This is an approach grounded in an attentiveness to the evolving ways of life (or ēthea; singular: ethos) of diverse forms of human and nonhuman life and in an effort to explore and perhaps restory the relationships that constitute and nourish them. Our aim is to develop “lively ethographies”: a mode of knowing, engaging, and storytelling that recognizes the meaningful lives of others and that, in so doing, enlivens our capacity to respond to them by singing up their character or ethos. Most of our work in this area has focused on extinction, but this approach might readily be taken up in a range of other contexts. This article alternates between two types of writing. One is expository and lays out an analysis of ethos, liveliness, storytelling, “response-ability,” and becoming witness. The second is performative, offering short ethographic vignettes that enact some of the qualities and approaches we have discussed. Here each of these vignettes is taken from our recent work in Hawai‘i, a deeply generative and often fraught field site that has inspired much of our thinking.
webANIMO: Improving the accessibility of ANIMO
Authors: Siers Willem , Bakker Michiel , Rubbens Bob , Haasjes Ruben , Brandt Jacco , Schivo Stefano 
Published: July 2016

ANIMO is a Cytoscape 3 app to model biological signalling pathways. Useful analyses can be performed and displayed to the user in an effective way. However, all this power comes at a cost: the additional software requirements for ANIMO have been hindering its widespread adoption. Our goal has been to provide beginner to intermediate ANIMO users with a simpler and more effective platform to perform their research: webANIMO. The minimalistic interface provides everything the regular ANIMO user needs for the most common tasks. Adding the fact that it is a web interface removes any software requirements from the equation. This article describes how webANIMO works: its client/server architecture, how Cytoscape and ANIMO compatibility was maintained, the visualization techniques implemented and other general design decisions.
Chimney Technique with Nellix EndoVascular Aneurysm Sealing System in a Patient with Single Kidney and Juxtarenal Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm
Authors: Kisis Kaspars , Savlovskis Janis , Gedins Marcis , Ezite Natalija , Zellans Edgars , Krievins Dainis 
Published: July 2016

AbstractWe present a saccular asymptomatic juxtarenal abdominal aortic aneurysm in a 70-year-old male with a very short left renal artery supplying the only kidney. The case was successfully treated with the Nellix EndoVascular Aneurysm Sealing system combined with a chimney technique.
The Mystery of the Z-Score
Authors: Curtis Alexander , Smith Tanya , Ziganshin Bulat , Elefteriades John 
Published: July 2016

AbstractReliable methods for measuring the thoracic aorta are critical for determining treatment strategies in aneurysmal disease. Z-scores are a pragmatic alternative to raw diameter sizes commonly used in adult medicine. They are particularly valuable in the pediatric population, who undergo rapid changes in physical development. The advantage of the Z-score is its inclusion of body surface area (BSA) in determining whether an aorta is within normal size limits. Therefore, Z-scores allow us to determine whether true pathology exists, which can be challenging in growing children. In addition, Z-scores allow for thoughtful interpretation of aortic size in different genders, ethnicities, and geographical regions. Despite the advantages of using Z-scores, there are limitations. These include intra- and inter-observer bias, measurement error, and variations between alternative Z-score nomograms and BSA equations. Furthermore, it is unclear how Z-scores change in the normal population over time, which is essential when interpreting serial values. Guidelines for measuring aortic parameters have been developed by the American Society of Echocardiography Pediatric and Congenital Heart Disease Council, which may reduce measurement bias when calculating Z-scores for the aortic root. In addition, web-based Z-score calculators have been developed to aid in efficient Z-score calculations. Despite these advances, clinicians must be mindful of the limitations of Z-scores, especially when used to demonstrate beneficial treatment effect. This review looks to unravel the mystery of the Z-score, with a focus on the thoracic aorta. Here, we will discuss how Z-scores are calculated and the limitations of their use.
Yucatan Musical Youth Bands: Challenges to Implement a Social-Musical Program
Authors: Cupul Paulina Bautista 
Published: July 2016

The program “Bandas Juveniles Musicales de Yucatán”, started in 2009, funded by the National Council for Culture and Arts of Mexico (CONACULTA), represents a preventive and innovative strategy for the context, being one of the first programs to be implemented in the State of Yucatan with a musical-social approach derived from the famous Venezuelan program “El Sistema.” In order to provide feedback to the program on its implementation, a qualitative evaluation was carried out through a case study of the community called “Norte.” The purpose was to determine if the activities implemented in the selected community were consistent with the philosophy of the program, determining if they were favoring the achievement of its objectives in the short, medium and long term. The results of this study show that the change of the “Major Instructor” was crucial for improving communication and quality of musical education services. However, since the beginning of the program has prevailed an ambiguity in the establishment and communication purposes, without risks of it provided. There is also a need to strengthen the trainers training on the teaching-learning process, given the constraints of the professional context in the region.
Social transformation of two students in an El Sistema-inspired orchestra program
Authors: D'Alexander Christine , Ilari Beatriz 
Published: July 2016

In recent years there has been a substantial increase in El Sistema-inspired programs for young musicians. An overwhelming majority of these programs across the USA are centered in underserved communities where access to instrumental music training would otherwise be sparse. Most often, this is due to budget cuts partially or completely being wiped off from school curricula, or the financial cost associated with instrumental lessons. These programs, often free of cost to families, consist of musical training several days a week in small and large group classes, and claim to promote social change amongst these children's lives. It is of importance to carefully study if, and how, these young musicians believe their lives are transforming through participation in these El Sistema-inspired programs, and if in fact, social change is occurring. This article reports on a multiple case study which sought to dive deeper into the lives of two children taking part in one El Sistema-inspired orchestral program located in Los Angeles, California. The study focused on the influence and impact this program has had on the lives of students, the exploration and formation of their beliefs surrounding musical learning, as well as experiences they share both as individuals and members of the orchestra.