Social bookmarking: an empirical analysis of connotea users’ perspectives

This study examined the perspectives of experienced and inexperienced users of Connotea in terms of reported bookmarking behaviors, perceived usefulness of social bookmarking in information discovery and management, and perceived usefulness of particular Connotea features. A convenience sample of experienced (n=30) and inexperienced users (n=32) responded to an online survey. The questionnaire utilized a 4-point Likert scale to examine the respondents’ opinions. The findings showed that both experienced and inexperienced users of Connotea perceived social bookmarking to be useful for information discovery and management. They also perceived the features and policies of Connotea to be useful for their personal purposes. However, the reported frequencies of usage indicated that the extent of use of social bookmarking may not be substantial. Experienced users were also found to use social bookmarking for managing relevant websites while inexperienced users still preferred to use traditional bookmarking in dedicated computers. These findings have potential implications on the development and use of social bookmarking services. Through our results, we provided information on the human factors that may be considered for further improvement of social bookmarking applications.published_or_final_versionThe 2010 CITE Research Symposium on 'e-Learning Design and Designs for Learning', the University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, 4-6 March 2010

The association of anti-CCP antibodies with disease activity in rheumatoid arthritis

Antibodies to citrullinated proteins have been described in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and these appear to be the most specific markers of the disease. Our objective was to determine the frequency of antibodies to cyclic citrullinated peptides (CCPs) in patients with RA and the association of anti-CCP antibodies with disease activity, radiological erosions and HLA DR genotype. Forty patients with RA and 38 patients with fibromyalgia were included in this study. Serum samples were collected from both patient groups with RA and fibromyalgia. Anti-CCP was measured by the corresponding enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Additionally, erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), C-reactive protein (CRP), rheumatoid factor (RF), disease activity score (DAS), visual analog scala (VAS), HLA genotype and radiographic information were determined in patients with RA. The rate of sensitivity and specificity of anti-CCP reactivity for the diagnosis RA were measured (sensitivity 50%, specificity100%). There is no significant difference between anti-CCP (+) and anti-CCP (−) RA patients for DAS28, VAS, ESR, CRP, disease duration, HLA genotype, and radiological assessment of hand. However, there was a significant difference between anti-CCP (+) and anti-CCP (−) RA patients for RF and the radiological assessment of left and right wrists (respectively, P < 0.05, P = 0.04, P = 0.01). There was no significant correlation between anti-CCP antibody and ESR, CRP, VAS, DAS 28 or radiological assessment. A small but significant correlation was found between RF and anti-CCP antibody (P = 0.02, r = 0.35)

Abscisic acid induced a negative geotropic response in dark-incubated Chlamydomonas reinhardtii

© 2019, The Author(s). The phytohormone abscisic acid (ABA) plays a role in stresses that alter plant water status and may also regulate root gravitropism and hydrotropism. ABA also exists in the aquatic algal progenitors of land plants, but other than its involvement in stress responses, its physiological role in these microorganisms remains elusive. We show that exogenous ABA significantly altered the HCO3− uptake of Chamydomonas reinhardtii in a light-intensity-dependent manner. In high light ABA enhanced HCO3− uptake, while under low light uptake was diminished. In the dark, ABA induced a negative geotropic movement of the algae to an extent dependent on the time of sampling during the light/dark cycle. The algae also showed a differential, light-dependent directional taxis response to a fixed ABA source, moving horizontally towards the source in the light and away in the dark. We conclude that light and ABA signal competitively in order for algae to position themselves in the water column to minimise photo-oxidative stress and optimise photosynthetic efficiency. We suggest that the development of this response mechanism in motile algae may have been an important step in the evolution of terrestrial plants and that its retention therein strongly implicates ABA in the regulation of their relevant tropisms

Subjective Distresses of Nasogastric Tube Feeding

Health care professionals assume that tube feeding is an unpleasant, distressing experience for patients, which is only partially substantiated by experience. Thirty patients were interviewed via a tube feeding and hospital experience checklist (a 47–item interview schedule). Common experiences were operationally defined as those felt by at least 50%; subjectively distressful experiences were those identified by patients as causing distress. The most common and most distressful experiences of nasogastric tube feeding were: sensory irritations and sensory deprivation. The psychosensory irritation experiences were: thirst, sore nose or throat, dry mouth, runny nose, a tube in the nose, taking food through a tube, breathing through the mouth, breathing with a tube in the nose, taking food in a treatment type container, and taking food with a different texture and smell than usual. The psychosensory deprivation experiences were: an unsatisfied appetite for certain foods, deprivation of tasting, chewing, swallowing food, and drinking liquids, limited mobility, and deprivation of regular food. Except for burping, gastrointestinal symptoms were not common though they were usually distressful. This information has been used to develop teaching programs which are being tested for effectiveness in reducing distress associated with nasogastric tube feeding.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/68702/2/10.1177_014860717900300204.pd

European clinical guidelines for Tourette syndrome and other tic disorders. Part II: pharmacological treatment

To develop a European guideline on pharmacologic treatment of Tourette syndrome (TS) the available literature was thoroughly screened and extensively discussed by a working group of the European Society for the Study of Tourette syndrome (ESSTS). Although there are many more studies on pharmacotherapy of TS than on behavioral treatment options, only a limited number of studies meets rigorous quality criteria. Therefore, we have devised a two-stage approach. First, we present the highest level of evidence by reporting the findings of existing Cochrane reviews in this field. Subsequently, we provide the first comprehensive overview of all reports on pharmacological treatment options for TS through a MEDLINE, PubMed, and EMBASE search for all studies that document the effect of pharmacological treatment of TS and other tic disorders between 1970 and November 2010. We present a summary of the current consensus on pharmacological treatment options for TS in Europe to guide the clinician in daily practice. This summary is, however, rather a status quo of a clinically helpful but merely low evidence guideline, mainly driven by expert experience and opinion, since rigorous experimental studies are scarce

A Net Energy Analysis of the Global Agriculture, Aquaculture, Fishing and Forestry System

The global agriculture, aquaculture, fishing and forestry (AAFF) energy system is subject to three unsustainable trends: (1) the approaching biophysical limits of AAFF; (2) the role of AAFF as a driver of environmental degradation; and (3) the long-term declining energy efficiency of AAFF due to growing dependence on fossil fuels. In response, we conduct a net energy analysis for the period 1971–2017 and review existing studies to investigate the global AAFF energy system and its vulnerability to the three unsustainable trends from an energetic perspective. We estimate the global AAFF system represents 27.9% of societies energy supply in 2017, with food energy representing 20.8% of societies total energy supply. We find that the net energy-return-on-investment (net EROI) of global AAFF increased from 2.87:1 in 1971 to 4.05:1 in 2017. We suggest that rising net EROI values are being fuelled in part by ‘depleting natures accumulated energy stocks’. We also find that the net energy balance of AAFF increased by 130% in this period, with at the same time a decrease in both the proportion of rural residents and also the proportion of the total population working in AAFF—which decreased from 19.8 to 10.3%. However, this comes at the cost of growing fossil fuel dependency which increased from 43.6 to 62.2%. Given the increasing probability of near-term fossil fuel scarcity, the growing impacts of climate change and environmental degradation, and the approaching biophysical limits of global AAFF, ‘Odum’s hoax’ is likely soon to be revealed

Clinical spectrum and genotype-phenotype associations of KCNA2-related encephalopathies

Recently, de novo mutations in the gene KCNA2, causing either a dominant-negative loss-of-function or a gain-of-function of the voltage-gated K+ channel Kv1.2, were described to cause a new molecular entity within the epileptic encephalopathies. Here, we report a cohort of 23 patients (eight previously described) with epileptic encephalopathy carrying either novel or known KCNA2 mutations, with the aim to detail the clinical phenotype associated with each of them, to characterize the functional effects of the newly identified mutations, and to assess genotype–phenotype associations. We identified five novel and confirmed six known mutations, three of which recurred in three, five and seven patients, respectively. Ten mutations were missense and one was a truncation mutation; de novo occurrence could be shown in 20 patients. Functional studies using a Xenopus oocyte two-microelectrode voltage clamp system revealed mutations with only loss-of-function effects (mostly dominant-negative current amplitude reduction) in eight patients or only gain-of-function effects (hyperpolarizing shift of voltage-dependent activation, increased amplitude) in nine patients. In six patients, the gain-of-function was diminished by an additional loss-of-function (gain-and loss-of-function) due to a hyperpolarizing shift of voltage-dependent activation combined with either decreased amplitudes or an additional hyperpolarizing shift of the inactivation curve. These electrophysiological findings correlated with distinct phenotypic features. The main differences were (i) predominant focal (loss-of-function) versus generalized (gain-of-function) seizures and corresponding epileptic discharges with prominent sleep activation in most cases with loss-of-function mutations; (ii) more severe epilepsy, developmental problems and ataxia, and atrophy of the cerebellum or even the whole brain in about half of the patients with gain-of-function mutations; and (iii) most severe early-onset phenotypes, occasionally with neonatal onset epilepsy and developmental impairment, as well as generalized and focal seizures and EEG abnormalities for patients with gain- and loss-of-function mutations. Our study thus indicates well represented genotype–phenotype associations between three subgroups of patients with KCNA2 encephalopathy according to the electrophysiological features of the mutations

Prognostic model to predict postoperative acute kidney injury in patients undergoing major gastrointestinal surgery based on a national prospective observational cohort study.

Background: Acute illness, existing co-morbidities and surgical stress response can all contribute to postoperative acute kidney injury (AKI) in patients undergoing major gastrointestinal surgery. The aim of this study was prospectively to develop a pragmatic prognostic model to stratify patients according to risk of developing AKI after major gastrointestinal surgery. Methods: This prospective multicentre cohort study included consecutive adults undergoing elective or emergency gastrointestinal resection, liver resection or stoma reversal in 2-week blocks over a continuous 3-month period. The primary outcome was the rate of AKI within 7 days of surgery. Bootstrap stability was used to select clinically plausible risk factors into the model. Internal model validation was carried out by bootstrap validation. Results: A total of 4544 patients were included across 173 centres in the UK and Ireland. The overall rate of AKI was 14·2 per cent (646 of 4544) and the 30-day mortality rate was 1·8 per cent (84 of 4544). Stage 1 AKI was significantly associated with 30-day mortality (unadjusted odds ratio 7·61, 95 per cent c.i. 4·49 to 12·90; P < 0·001), with increasing odds of death with each AKI stage. Six variables were selected for inclusion in the prognostic model: age, sex, ASA grade, preoperative estimated glomerular filtration rate, planned open surgery and preoperative use of either an angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor or an angiotensin receptor blocker. Internal validation demonstrated good model discrimination (c-statistic 0·65). Discussion: Following major gastrointestinal surgery, AKI occurred in one in seven patients. This preoperative prognostic model identified patients at high risk of postoperative AKI. Validation in an independent data set is required to ensure generalizability

Iron Behaving Badly: Inappropriate Iron Chelation as a Major Contributor to the Aetiology of Vascular and Other Progressive Inflammatory and Degenerative Diseases

The production of peroxide and superoxide is an inevitable consequence of aerobic metabolism, and while these particular "reactive oxygen species" (ROSs) can exhibit a number of biological effects, they are not of themselves excessively reactive and thus they are not especially damaging at physiological concentrations. However, their reactions with poorly liganded iron species can lead to the catalytic production of the very reactive and dangerous hydroxyl radical, which is exceptionally damaging, and a major cause of chronic inflammation. We review the considerable and wide-ranging evidence for the involvement of this combination of (su)peroxide and poorly liganded iron in a large number of physiological and indeed pathological processes and inflammatory disorders, especially those involving the progressive degradation of cellular and organismal performance. These diseases share a great many similarities and thus might be considered to have a common cause (i.e. iron-catalysed free radical and especially hydroxyl radical generation). The studies reviewed include those focused on a series of cardiovascular, metabolic and neurological diseases, where iron can be found at the sites of plaques and lesions, as well as studies showing the significance of iron to aging and longevity. The effective chelation of iron by natural or synthetic ligands is thus of major physiological (and potentially therapeutic) importance. As systems properties, we need to recognise that physiological observables have multiple molecular causes, and studying them in isolation leads to inconsistent patterns of apparent causality when it is the simultaneous combination of multiple factors that is responsible. This explains, for instance, the decidedly mixed effects of antioxidants that have been observed, etc...Comment: 159 pages, including 9 Figs and 2184 reference