Showing papers by "University of Auckland published in 2009"
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TL;DR: An evaluation of double-blind reviewed journals through important academic publishing databases revealed that more than 30 academic articles in the domain of international marketing (in a broad sense) used PLS path modeling as means of statistical analysis.
Abstract: Purpose: This paper discusses partial least squares path modeling (PLS), a powerful structural equation modeling technique for research on international marketing. While a significant body of research provides guidance for the use of covariance-based structural equation modeling (CBSEM) in international marketing, there are no subject-specific guidelines for the use of PLS so far.Methodology/approach: A literature review of the use of PLS in international marketing reveals the increasing application of this methodology.Findings: This paper reveals the strengths and weaknesses of PLS in the context of research on international marketing, and provides guidance for multi-group analysis.Originality/value of paper: The paper assists researchers in making well-grounded decisions regarding the application of PLS in certain research situations and provides specific implications for an appropriate application of the methodology.
7,536 citations
TL;DR: Implementation of the checklist was associated with concomitant reductions in the rates of death and complications among patients at least 16 years of age who were undergoing noncardiac surgery in a diverse group of hospitals.
Abstract: The rate of death was 1.5% before the checklist was introduced and declined to 0.8% afterward (P = 0.003). Inpatient complications occurred in 11.0% of patients at baseline and in 7.0% after introduction of the checklist (P<0.001). Conclusions Implementation of the checklist was associated with concomitant reductions in the rates of death and complications among patients at least 16 years of age who were undergoing noncardiac surgery in a diverse group of hospitals.
4,764 citations
TL;DR: A systematic review of population-based studies of the incidence and early (21 days to 1 month) case fatality of stroke is based on studies published from 1970 to 2008 as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: This systematic review of population-based studies of the incidence and early (21 days to 1 month) case fatality of stroke is based on studies published from 1970 to 2008. Stroke incidence (incident strokes only) and case fatality from 21 days to 1 month post-stroke were analysed by four decades of study, two country income groups (high-income countries and low to middle income countries, in accordance with the World Bank's country classification) and, when possible, by stroke pathological type: ischaemic stroke, primary intracerebral haemorrhage, and subarachnoid haemorrhage. This Review shows a divergent, statistically significant trend in stroke incidence rates over the past four decades, with a 42% decrease in stroke incidence in high-income countries and a greater than 100% increase in stroke incidence in low to middle income countries. In 2000-08, the overall stroke incidence rates in low to middle income countries have, for the first time, exceeded the level of stroke incidence seen in high-income countries, by 20%. The time to decide whether or not stroke is an issue that should be on the governmental agenda in low to middle income countries has now passed. Now is the time for action.
2,389 citations
TL;DR: It is demonstrated that substantial gains in imputation accuracy accrue with increasingly large reference panel sizes, particularly when imputing low-frequency variants, and that unphased reference panels can provide highly accurate genotype imputation.
Abstract: We present methods for imputing data for ungenotyped markers and for inferring haplotype phase in large data sets of unrelated individuals and parent-offspring trios. Our methods make use of known haplotype phase when it is available, and our methods are computationally efficient so that the full information in large reference panels with thousands of individuals is utilized. We demonstrate that substantial gains in imputation accuracy accrue with increasingly large reference panel sizes, particularly when imputing low-frequency variants, and that unphased reference panels can provide highly accurate genotype imputation. We place our methodology in a unified framework that enables the simultaneous use of unphased and phased data from trios and unrelated individuals in a single analysis. For unrelated individuals, our imputation methods produce well-calibrated posterior genotype probabilities and highly accurate allele-frequency estimates. For trios, our haplotype-inference method is four orders of magnitude faster than the gold-standard PHASE program and has excellent accuracy. Our methods enable genotype imputation to be performed with unphased trio or unrelated reference panels, thus accounting for haplotype-phase uncertainty in the reference panel. We present a useful measure of imputation accuracy, allelic R2, and show that this measure can be estimated accurately from posterior genotype probabilities. Our methods are implemented in version 3.0 of the BEAGLE software package.
1,603 citations
TL;DR: It is concluded that the Bayesian phylogeographic framework will make an important asset in molecular epidemiology that can be easily generalized to infer biogeogeography from genetic data for many organisms.
Abstract: As a key factor in endemic and epidemic dynamics, the geographical distribution of viruses has been frequently interpreted in the light of their genetic histories. Unfortunately, inference of historical dispersal or migration patterns of viruses has mainly been restricted to model-free heuristic approaches that provide little insight into the temporal setting of the spatial dynamics. The introduction of probabilistic models of evolution, however, offers unique opportunities to engage in this statistical endeavor. Here we introduce a Bayesian framework for inference, visualization and hypothesis testing of phylogeographic history. By implementing character mapping in a Bayesian software that samples time-scaled phylogenies, we enable the reconstruction of timed viral dispersal patterns while accommodating phylogenetic uncertainty. Standard Markov model inference is extended with a stochastic search variable selection procedure that identifies the parsimonious descriptions of the diffusion process. In addition, we propose priors that can incorporate geographical sampling distributions or characterize alternative hypotheses about the spatial dynamics. To visualize the spatial and temporal information, we summarize inferences using virtual globe software. We describe how Bayesian phylogeography compares with previous parsimony analysis in the investigation of the influenza A H5N1 origin and H5N1 epidemiological linkage among sampling localities. Analysis of rabies in West African dog populations reveals how virus diffusion may enable endemic maintenance through continuous epidemic cycles. From these analyses, we conclude that our phylogeographic framework will make an important asset in molecular epidemiology that can be easily generalized to infer biogeogeography from genetic data for many organisms.
1,535 citations
TL;DR: There are rapidly developing research interests in the biota attracted to freely floating marine debris, commonly known as ‘hangers-on and hitch-hikers’ as well as material sinking to the sea floor despite being buoyant.
Abstract: Over the past five or six decades, contamination and pollution of the world’s enclosed seas, coastal waters and the wider open oceans by plastics and other synthetic, non-biodegradable materials (generally known as ‘marine debris’) has been an ever-increasing phenomenon. The sources of these polluting materials are both land- and marine-based, their origins may be local or distant, and the environmental consequences are many and varied. The more widely recognized problems are typically associated with entanglement, ingestion, suffocation and general debilitation, and are often related to stranding events and public perception. Among the less frequently recognized and recorded problems are global hazards to shipping, fisheries and other maritime activities. Today, there are rapidly developing research interests in the biota attracted to freely floating (i.e. pelagic) marine debris, commonly known as ‘hangers-on and hitch-hikers’ as well as material sinking to the sea floor despite being buoyant. Dispersal of aggressive alien and invasive species by these mechanisms leads one to reflect on the possibilities that ensuing invasions could endanger sensitive, or at-risk coastal environments (both marine and terrestrial) far from their native habitats.
1,450 citations
TL;DR: It is demonstrated that resequencing studies can identify important genetic associations, provided that specialised analysis methods, such as the weighted-sum method, are used.
Abstract: Resequencing is an emerging tool for identification of rare disease-associated mutations. Rare mutations are difficult to tag with SNP genotyping, as genotyping studies are designed to detect common variants. However, studies have shown that genetic heterogeneity is a probable scenario for common diseases, in which multiple rare mutations together explain a large proportion of the genetic basis for the disease. Thus, we propose a weighted-sum method to jointly analyse a group of mutations in order to test for groupwise association with disease status. For example, such a group of mutations may result from resequencing a gene. We compare the proposed weighted-sum method to alternative methods and show that it is powerful for identifying disease-associated genes, both on simulated and Encode data. Using the weighted-sum method, a resequencing study can identify a disease-associated gene with an overall population attributable risk (PAR) of 2%, even when each individual mutation has much lower PAR, using 1,000 to 7,000 affected and unaffected individuals, depending on the underlying genetic model. This study thus demonstrates that resequencing studies can identify important genetic associations, provided that specialised analysis methods, such as the weighted-sum method, are used.
1,092 citations
TL;DR: Marine scientists need to educate the public to the dangers of using products that pose an immediate and long-term threat to the health of the oceans and the food the authors eat, as the majority of facial cleansers now contain polyethylene microplastics which are not captured by wastewater plants and will enter the oceans.
1,047 citations
TL;DR: Climate change mitigation in transport should benefit public health substantially and policies to increase the acceptability, appeal, and safety of active urban travel, and discourage travel in private motor vehicles would provide larger health benefits than would policies that focus solely on lower-emission motor vehicles.
1,013 citations
California Institute of Technology1, SRI International2, University of Edinburgh3, Leibniz Association4, Martin Luther University of Halle-Wittenberg5, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center6, University of Hertfordshire7, National Institutes of Health8, University of Auckland9, University of Washington10, Heidelberg University11, University of Manchester12, Monash University13, Mines ParisTech14, University of British Columbia15, Bilkent University16, Keio University17, Ontario Institute for Cancer Research18, Stellenbosch University19, Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology20
TL;DR: The Systems Biology Graphical Notation (SBGN), a visual language developed by a community of biochemists, modelers and computer scientists, believes that it will foster efficient and accurate representation, visualization, storage, exchange and reuse of information on all kinds of biological knowledge.
Abstract: Circuit diagrams and Unified Modeling Language diagrams are just two examples of standard visual languages that help accelerate work by promoting regularity, removing ambiguity and enabling software tool support for communication of complex information. Ironically, despite having one of the highest ratios of graphical to textual information, biology still lacks standard graphical notations. The recent deluge of biological knowledge makes addressing this deficit a pressing concern. Toward this goal, we present the Systems Biology Graphical Notation (SBGN), a visual language developed by a community of biochemists, modelers and computer scientists. SBGN consists of three complementary languages: process diagram, entity relationship diagram and activity flow diagram. Together they enable scientists to represent networks of biochemical interactions in a standard, unambiguous way. We believe that SBGN will foster efficient and accurate representation, visualization, storage, exchange and reuse of information on all kinds of biological knowledge, from gene regulation, to metabolism, to cellular signaling.
880 citations
TL;DR: The notion of a high-performance work system (HPWS) constitutes a claim that there exists a system of work practices for core workers in an organisation that leads in some way to superior performance as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: The notion of a high-performance work system (HPWS) constitutes a claim that there exists a system of work practices for core workers in an organisation that leads in some way to superior performance. In this article, we dissect this fuzzy notion and examine its companion terminology: high-involvement work systems and high-commitment management. We argue that a focus on the high-involvement stream usefully grounds HPWS studies in an important area of workplace change in the current context and takes us away from eclectic and contentious selections of ‘best practices’. We review research models and findings in this stream. The path to better research lies in examining the underpinning processes experienced by workers when management seeks to pursue high-involvement systems, and charting their links to employee and operational outcomes.
TL;DR: The concept of policy entrepreneurship has been used extensively in the literature to explain the dynamics of public policy change as discussed by the authors, and the role played by specific advocates of policy change has been frequently noted.
Abstract: This article reviews the concept of policy entrepreneurship and its use in explaining policy change. Although the activities of policy entrepreneurs have received close attention in several studies, the concept of policy entrepreneurship is yet to be broadly integrated within analyses of policy change. To facilitate more integration of the concept, we here show how policy entrepreneurship can be understood within more encompassing theorizations of policy change: incrementalism, policy streams, institutionalism, punctuated equilibrium, and advocacy coalitions. Recent applications of policy entrepreneurship as a key explanation of policy change are presented as models for future work. Room exists for further conceptual development and empirical testing concerning policy entrepreneurship. Such work could be undertaken in studies of contemporary and historical policy change. Scholars of public policy often seek to explain how particular policy ideas catch on. The dynamics of policy change have been theorized and explored empirically from a range of perspectives during the past few decades. In these investigations, the role played by specific advocates of policy change has been frequently noted. Highly motivated individuals or small teams can do much to draw attention to policy problems, present innovative policy solutions, build coalitions of supporters, and secure legislative action. Of course, no political activity or policy initiative can go anywhere without many actors getting involved. The question then arises: By what means can advocates of policy change come to have broad influence? Several policy scholars have argued that such advocates achieve success because they exhibit a high degree of entrepreneurial flare. According to this line of argument, by closely observing the practices of advocates of policy change, we can come to appreciate how they perform a function in the policy process equivalent to entrepreneurs in the business context. Following an emerging convention, we here define such advocates of policy change as policy entrepreneurs. This article foregrounds policy entrepreneurship as an explanation of policy change. While the activities of policy entrepreneurs have received close attention in several studies (Crowley, 2003; Kingdon, 1984/1995; Mintrom, 2000; Roberts & King, 1991; Weissert, 1991), the concept of policy entrepreneurship is yet to be broadly integrated within studies of policy change. We contend that new applica
TL;DR: These guidelines are based on a framework for theorizing in grounded theory studies that focuses on conceptualization and theory scope and it is hoped that the guidelines will help to raise the quality and aspirations of grounded theory Studies in information systems.
Abstract: Over the past decade, there has been increasing interest in the use of grounded theory in information systems research. Grounded theory is a qualitative research method that seeks to develop theory that is grounded in data systematically gathered and analysed. The purpose of this paper is to suggest guidelines for grounded theory studies in information systems. Our guidelines are based on a framework for theorizing in grounded theory studies that focuses on conceptualization and theory scope. Our hope is that the guidelines will help to raise the quality and aspirations of grounded theory studies in information systems.
TL;DR: This chapter focuses on phylogenetic tree estimation under the maximum likelihood (ML) principle, a software that implements recent ML phylogenetic methods and algorithms and illustrates the strengths and pitfalls of this program through the analysis of a real data set.
Abstract: Our understanding of the origins, the functions and/or the structures of biological sequences strongly depends on our ability to decipher the mechanisms of molecular evolution. These complex processes can be described through the comparison of homologous sequences in a phylogenetic framework. Moreover, phylogenetic inference provides sound statistical tools to exhibit the main features of molecular evolution from the analysis of actual sequences. This chapter focuses on phylogenetic tree estimation under the maximum likelihood (ML) principle. Phylogenies inferred under this probabilistic criterion are usually reliable and important biological hypotheses can be tested through the comparison of different models. Estimating ML phylogenies is computationally demanding, and careful examination of the results is warranted. This chapter focuses on PhyML, a software that implements recent ML phylogenetic methods and algorithms. We illustrate the strengths and pitfalls of this program through the analysis of a real data set. PhyML v3.0 is available from http://atgc.lirmm.fr/phyml.
TL;DR: ISAAC Phase Three provides comprehensive global data on the prevalence of Eczema symptoms that is essential for public health planning and reveals that eczema is a disease of developing as well as developed countries.
Abstract: Background In 1999, The International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood (ISAAC) Phase One reported the prevalence of eczema symptoms in 715,033 children from 154 centers in 56 countries by using standardized epidemiologic tools. Objective To update the world map of eczema prevalence after 5 to 10 years (ISAAC Phase Three) and include additional data from over 100 new centers. Methods Cross-sectional surveys using the ISAAC questionnaire on eczema symptoms were completed by adolescents 13 to 14 years old and by parents of children 6 to 7 years old. Current eczema was defined as an itchy flexural rash in the past 12 months and was considered severe eczema if associated with 1 or more nights per week of sleep disturbance. Results For the age group 6 to 7 years, data on 385,853 participants from 143 centers in 60 countries showed that the prevalence of current eczema ranged from 0.9% in India to 22.5% in Ecuador, with new data showing high values in Asia and Latin America. For the age group 13 to 14 years, data on 663,256 participants from 230 centers in 96 countries showed prevalence values ranging from 0.2% in China to 24.6% in Columbia with the highest values in Africa and Latin America. Current eczema was lower for boys than girls (odds ratio, 0.94 and 0.72 at ages 6 to 7 years and 13 to 14 years, respectively). Conclusion:ISAAC Phase Three provides comprehensive global data on the prevalence of eczema symptoms that is essential for public health planning. New data reveal that eczema is a disease of developing as well as developed countries.
TL;DR: In this article, the Cheng-Minkowycz problem of natural convection past a vertical plate, in a porous medium saturated by a nanofluid, is studied analytically.
TL;DR: A novel model predictive control scheme is proposed that keeps the motor torque, the stator flux, and (if present) the inverter's neutral point potential within given hysteresis bounds while minimizing the switching frequency of the inverters.
Abstract: This paper focuses on direct torque control (DTC) for three-phase AC electric drives. A novel model predictive control scheme is proposed that keeps the motor torque, the stator flux, and (if present) the inverter's neutral point potential within given hysteresis bounds while minimizing the switching frequency of the inverter. Based on an internal model of the drive, the controller predicts several future switch transitions, extrapolates the output trajectories, and chooses the sequence of inverter switch positions (voltage vectors) that minimizes the switching frequency. The advantages of the proposed controller are twofold. First, as underlined by the experimental results in the second part of this paper, it yields a superior performance with respect to the industrial state of the art. Specifically, the switching frequency is reduced by up to 50% while the torque and flux are kept more accurately within their bounds. Moreover, the fast dynamic torque response is inherited from standard DTC. Second, the scheme is applicable to a large class of (three-phase) AC electric machines driven by inverters.
TL;DR: In this article, a simple aqueous solution route has been developed for the preparation of luminescent carbogenic dots from carbohydrates, which can be tuned by differing the starting materials or the duration of nitric acid treatment.
Abstract: A simple aqueous solution route has been developed for the preparation of luminescent carbogenic dots from carbohydrates. The optical properties of the carbogenic dots can be tuned by differing the starting materials or the duration of nitric acid treatment. The multicolor emission capability and potential nontoxic nature of these carbogenic dots should enable them to find a wide range of applications in life sciences research.
Pennington Biomedical Research Center1, Thomas Jefferson University2, Cornell University3, University of Wisconsin-Madison4, University of Alabama at Birmingham5, Michigan State University6, Johns Hopkins University7, University of Auckland8, Louisiana State University9, University of Verona10, Wayne State University11, University of Louisville12, Baylor College of Medicine13
TL;DR: Evidence for microorganisms, epigenetics, increasing maternal age, greater fecundity among people with higher adiposity, assortative mating, sleep debt, endocrine disruptors, pharmaceutical iatrogenesis, reduction in variability of ambient temperatures, and intrauterine and intergenerational effects as contributing factors to the obesity epidemic are reviewed.
Abstract: The obesity epidemic is a global issue and shows no signs of abating, while the cause of this epidemic remains unclear. Marketing practices of energy-dense foods and institutionally-driven declines...
TL;DR: The literature about human responses to healthcare robots is reviewed and the variables that have been found to influence responses are summarised.
Abstract: The rapidly ageing population is placing increasing strain on healthcare services. Robots have been proposed as a way to assist people to stay healthy and safe in their own homes. However, despite the need for such assistive devices and the success of some healthcare robots, other robots have had a poor response. This article reviews the literature about human responses to healthcare robots and summarises the variables that have been found to influence responses. It may be possible to increase acceptance of healthcare robots by properly assessing the needs of the human user and then matching the robot’s role, appearance and behaviour to these needs. Because robots have limitations in their abilities, another way to increase acceptance may be to modify the expectations of users to better match robots’ abilities. More research needs to investigate potential users’ needs and expectations in specific situations and whether interventions to increase the match between robot and human can increase acceptance.
TL;DR: The results are robust to assumptions about the rooting and calibration of the trees and demonstrate the combined power of linguistic scholarship, database technologies, and computational phylogenetic methods for resolving questions about human prehistory.
Abstract: Debates about human prehistory often center on the role that population expansions play in shaping biological and cultural diversity. Hypotheses on the origin of the Austronesian settlers of the Pacific are divided between a recent “pulse-pause” expansion from Taiwan and an older “slow-boat” diffusion from Wallacea. We used lexical data and Bayesian phylogenetic methods to construct a phylogeny of 400 languages. In agreement with the pulse-pause scenario, the language trees place the Austronesian origin in Taiwan approximately 5230 years ago and reveal a series of settlement pauses and expansion pulses linked to technological and social innovations. These results are robust to assumptions about the rooting and calibration of the trees and demonstrate the combined power of linguistic scholarship, database technologies, and computational phylogenetic methods for resolving questions about human prehistory.
TL;DR: This first article in a three‐part series describes the GRADE framework in relation to grading the quality of evidence about interventions based on examples from the field of allergy and asthma.
Abstract: The GRADE (Grades of Recommendation, Assessment, Development, and Evaluation) approach provides guidance to grading the quality of underlying evidence and the strength of recommendations in health care. The GRADE system's conceptual underpinnings allow for a detailed stepwise process that defines what role the quality of the available evidence plays in the development of health care recommendations. The merit of GRADE is not that it eliminates judgments or disagreements about evidence and recommendations, but rather that it makes them transparent. This first article in a three-part series describes the GRADE framework in relation to grading the quality of evidence about interventions based on examples from the field of allergy and asthma. In the GRADE system, the quality of evidence reflects the extent to which a guideline panel's confidence in an estimate of the effect is adequate to support a particular recommendation. The system classifies quality of evidence as high, moderate, low, or very low according to factors that include the study methodology, consistency and precision of the results, and directness of the evidence.
TL;DR: The prevalence of COPD in newly diagnosed lung cancer cases was six-fold greater than in matched smokers; this is much greater than previously reported.
Abstract: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a common comorbid disease in lung cancer, estimated to affect 40-70% of lung cancer patients, depending on diagnostic criteria. As smoking exposure is found in 85-90% of those diagnosed with either COPD or lung cancer, coexisting disease could merely reflect a shared smoking exposure. Potential confounding by age, sex and pack-yr smoking history, and/or by the possible effects of lung cancer on spirometry, may result in over-diagnosis of COPD prevalence. In the present study, the prevalence of COPD (pre-bronchodilator Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease 2+ criteria) in patients diagnosed with lung cancer was 50% compared with 8% in a randomly recruited community control group, matched for age, sex and pack-yr smoking exposure (n = 602, odds ratio 11.6; p<0.0001). In a subgroup analysis of those with lung cancer and lung function measured prior to the diagnosis of lung cancer (n = 127), we found a nonsignificant increase in COPD prevalence following diagnosis (56-61%; p = 0.45). After controlling for important variables, the prevalence of COPD in newly diagnosed lung cancer cases was six-fold greater than in matched smokers; this is much greater than previously reported. We conclude that COPD is both a common and important independent risk factor for lung cancer.
TL;DR: The evidence that environmental influences during mammalian development lead to stable changes in the epigenome that alter the individual's susceptibility to chronic metabolic and cardiovascular disease is reviewed, and the clinical implications are discussed.
Abstract: Cellular commitment to a specific lineage is controlled by differential silencing of genes, which in turn depends on epigenetic processes such as DNA methylation and histone modification. During early embryogenesis, the mammalian genome is 'wiped clean' of most epigenetic modifications, which are progressively re-established during embryonic development. Thus, the epigenome of each mature cellular lineage carries the record of its developmental history. The subsequent trajectory and pattern of development are also responsive to environmental influences, and such plasticity is likely to have an epigenetic basis. epigenetic marks may be transmitted across generations, either directly by persisting through meiosis or indirectly through replication in the next generation of the conditions in which the epigenetic change occurred. Developmental plasticity evolved to match an organism to its environment, and a mismatch between the phenotypic outcome of adaptive plasticity and the current environment increases the risk of metabolic and cardiovascular disease. These considerations point to epigenetic processes as a key mechanism that underpins the developmental origins of chronic noncommunicable disease. Here, we review the evidence that environmental influences during mammalian development lead to stable changes in the epigenome that alter the individual's susceptibility to chronic metabolic and cardiovascular disease, and discuss the clinical implications.
TL;DR: Compared with ovarian conservation, bilateral oophorectomy at the time of hysterectomy for benign disease is associated with a decreased risk of breast and ovarian cancer but an increased risk of all-cause mortality, fatal and nonfatal coronary heart disease, and lung cancer.
TL;DR: This work experimentally recombined event details from participants' own past experiences, thus preventing the recasting of past events as imagined events, and identified two subsystems within the core network that were preferentially engaged when remembering past events rich in contextual and visuospatial detail.
TL;DR: An estimate of sea lice costs to the world salmonid farming industry is provided to stimulate better estimates, and reflect the different costs between parasiticides and for the same parasiticides between countries, and to a lesser extent price changes over time.
Abstract: The economic cost of a problem may be the best metric for prioritizing research and management resources. Other metrics could be based on fish welfare, and risks or impacts of parasiticides on the environment, farm staff or the consumer; but these are not addressed here. Sea lice, ectoparasitic copepod crustaceans, are the most damaging parasite to the salmonid farming industry in both Europe and the Americas (Costello 2006). Despite major research efforts over 30 years, as evident from over 800 research publications, they remain a persistent problem. The damage includes the impact on the fish and the environment, and public perceptions of aquaculture (Costello 1993; Pike & Wadsworth1999; Costello, Grant, Davies, Cecchini, Papoutsoglou, Quigley & Saroglia 2001). However, their economic cost has only been estimated at national or regional scales. Here, published estimates of sea lice costs are presented to stimulate better estimates, and provide an estimate of sea lice costs to the world salmonid farming industry. Estimated costs of sea lice control were obtained from the literature (Table 1) and compared with the most recently available salmonid production statistics (Table 2). The salmonid data used included marine production of Atlantic salmon, Salmo salar L., Pacific salmon species, Oncorhynchus spp., sea trout, Salmo trutta L., and charr, Salvelinus alpinus (L.), from countries where sea lice have been reported to be a problem. Data were excluded for countries where sea lice have not been reported as a significant problem, namely Australia, Finland, France, Iceland, Japan, New Zealand and Sweden. To calculate costs per region, average costs from Table 1 were used for UK (Scotland), most recent cost for Norway, Norwegian cost for Faeroes, average of Atlantic Canada for all of Canada and USA, and only the full cost for Chile. These costs were then multiplied by the 2006 marine salmonid production to calculate costs per country and globally (Table 2). Costs of sea lice control are reported in the original currency but converted to cost per kilogram of fish produced by country. For comparative purposes, all values were converted to euros (€) in April 2008 to minimize the effect of recent changes in the value of the US$. Ten estimates of costs because of sea lice were obtained from eight publications for Canada, Chile, Ireland, Norway and Scotland (Table 1). However, what costs the estimates included was only reported in five publications. Whether costs varied between Pacific and Atlantic Canada, and what they were for the USA, were not available. The lowest and highest estimates vary by a factor of 100 for full lice costs, and by 1000 where lower estimates only considered treatment expenses. These differences reflect the different costs between parasiticides and for the same parasiticides between countries, and to a lesser extent price changes over time. Most estimates fell within the range of €0.1–0.2 kg fish produced annually. Journal of Fish Diseases 2009, 32, 115–118 doi:10.1111/j.1365-2761.2008.01011.x
Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research1, Millennium Institute2, Griffith University3, University of Queensland4, University of Oxford5, University of Tasmania6, Royal Melbourne Hospital7, University of Melbourne8, John Hunter Hospital9, University of Newcastle10, Nepean Hospital11, University of Otago12, University of Auckland13, Box Hill Hospital14, Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital15, Geelong Hospital16, Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital17, Flinders University18, University College Dublin19
TL;DR: To identify multiple sclerosis (MS) susceptibility loci, a genome-wide association study in 1,618 cases and used shared data for 3,413 controls and observed a statistical interaction between SNPs in EVI5-RPL5 and HLA-DR15.
Abstract: To identify multiple sclerosis (MS) susceptibility loci, we conducted a genome-wide association study (GWAS) in 1,618 cases and used shared data for 3,413 controls. We performed replication in an independent set of 2,256 cases and 2,310 controls, for a total of 3,874 cases and 5,723 controls. We identified risk-associated SNPs on chromosome 12q13-14 (rs703842, P = 5.4 x 10(-11); rs10876994, P = 2.7 x 10(-10); rs12368653, P = 1.0 x 10(-7)) and upstream of CD40 on chromosome 20q13 (rs6074022, P = 1.3 x 10(-7); rs1569723, P = 2.9 x 10(-7)). Both loci are also associated with other autoimmune diseases. We also replicated several known MS associations (HLA-DR15, P = 7.0 x 10(-184); CD58, P = 9.6 x 10(-8); EVI5-RPL5, P = 2.5 x 10(-6); IL2RA, P = 7.4 x 10(-6); CLEC16A, P = 1.1 x 10(-4); IL7R, P = 1.3 x 10(-3); TYK2, P = 3.5 x 10(-3)) and observed a statistical interaction between SNPs in EVI5-RPL5 and HLA-DR15 (P = 0.001).
TL;DR: This review gives an overview of the structure, assembly and function of the best-characterized pili of both Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria.
Abstract: Many bacterial species possess long filamentous structures known as pili or fimbriae extending from their surfaces. Despite the diversity in pilus structure and biogenesis, pili in Gram-negative bacteria are typically formed by non-covalent homopolymerization of major pilus subunit proteins (pilins), which generates the pilus shaft. Additional pilins may be added to the fiber and often function as host cell adhesins. Some pili are also involved in biofilm formation, phage transduction, DNA uptake and a special form of bacterial cell movement, known as ‘twitching motility’ In contrast, the more recently discovered pili in Gram-positive bacteria are formed by covalent polymerization of pilin subunits in a process that requires a dedicated sortase enzyme. Minor pilins are added to the fiber and play a major role in host cell colonization.
TL;DR: The authors examines a number of controversies relating to how corrective feedback has been viewed in SLA and language pedagogy and concludes with some general guidelines for conducting CF in language classrooms based on a sociocultural view of L2 acquisition and suggest how these guidelines might be used for teacher development.
Abstract: This article examines a number of controversies relating to how corrective feedback (CF) has been viewed in SLA and language pedagogy. These controversies address (1) whether CF contributes to L2 acquisition, (2) which errors should be corrected, (3) who should do the correcting (the teacher or the learner him/herself), (4) which type of CF is the most effective, and (5) what is the best timing for CF (immediate or delayed). In discussing these controversies, both the pedagogic and SLA literature will be drawn on. The article will conclude with some general guidelines for conducting CF in language classrooms based on a sociocultural view of L2 acquisition and will suggest how these guidelines might be used for teacher development.