bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Early Clinical Predictors of Treatment‐Resistant and Functional Outcomes in Parkinson's Disease
Authors: Kurlan Roger , Ravina Bernard , Eberly Shirley , Lang Anthony E. , Tanner Caroline M. , Marek Kenneth , Marder Karen , Beck James , Elliott Robin , Oakes David , Shoulson Ira ,   the PSG PostCEPT (LABS‐PD) Investigators
Published: December 2015

Background

The aim of this work was to identify early clinical predictors of important outcomes in Parkinson's disease (PD). In PD, treatment‐resistant (e.g., dementia, falling) and other important functional outcomes (e.g., declines in quality of life [QOL] and activities of daily living [ADL]) emerge and become increasingly disabling.

Methods

We analyzed longitudinal data from 491 early, untreated PD subjects who enrolled in the PreCEPT trial, had baseline SPECT dopamine transporter deficit, and have continued in the PostCEPT observational cohort. After PreCEPT, antiparkinsonian medications were added if needed. Baseline clinical precursors were examined as potential predictors of selected outcomes. Separate and multivariate logistic regressions, adjusted for certain baseline factors, were performed for dichotomized outcomes evaluated at the last PostCEPT visit.

Results

On enrollment, subjects had average disease duration of 0.8 years and were followed for an average of 5.5 years. Some baseline precursors were found to be predictive: disease stage, cognitive, and ADL scores for dementia; disease stage, ADL, and motor and freezing scores for hallucinations; disease stage, depression, ADL, and freezing and walking scores for falling; and ADL, depression, and motor and walking scores and disease stage for QOL decline. No baseline clinical feature predicted decline in ADL. Being on levodopa was not a significant predictor of any outcome, but subjects on a dopamine agonist were significantly less impaired with respect to falling, abnormal Mini–Mental State Examination, and QOL.

Conclusions

Although there are limitations, results support the value of longitudinal follow‐up of clinical trial populations to identify early clinical precursors of important outcomes and thereby identify high‐risk patients early on.
Exponential decay of solution to the viscoelastic porous‐thermoelastic system of type III with boundary time‐varying delay
Authors: Hao Jianghao , Wang Peipei
Published: December 2015

In this paper, we are concerned with a one‐dimensional porous‐thermoelastic system of type III with a viscoelastic damping and boundary time‐varying delay. Under suitable assumptions on relaxation function and time delay, we establish the exponential decay result of the system in which the damping is strong enough to stabilize the thermoelastic system in the presence of time delay. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Stability analysis of a system of second‐order difference equations
Authors: Thai Tran Hong , Khuong Vu Van
Published: December 2015

In this paper, we study the boundedness character and persistence, existence and uniqueness of the positive equilibrium, local and global behavior, and the rate of convergence of positive solutions of the following system of rational difference equations

urn:x-wiley:mma:media:mma3816:mma3816-math-0001
where the parameters αi,βi,ai,bi for i∈{1,2} and the initial conditions x−1,x0,y−1,y0 are positive real numbers. Some numerical example are given to verify our theoretical results. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Free vibrations of laminated rectangular plate reinforced with carbon nanotubes
Authors: Amraei J. , Emami J. , Jam J.E.
Published: December 2015

This article presents the analysis of free vibration of cross ply and angle ply laminated rectangular plate reinforced with carbon nanotubes. The methods were used for analysis, are based on classical laminated plate theory (CLPT), first order shear deformation theory (FSDT) and third order shear deformation theory (TSDT) with simply supported boundary conditions. The effective material properties of reinforced polymer with nanotubes are estimated according to the Cox model. Also to calculate the material of properties, the rule of mixture and Halpin‐Tsai relations were used. In this analysis, the effect of weight fraction of CNTs and width‐to‐thickness ratio are investigated. It is shown that analytical and FEM results have good agreements. POLYM. COMPOS., 38:2128–2139, 2017. © 2015 Society of Plastics Engineers
Prescription opioid exposures and adverse outcomes among older adults
Authors: West Nancy A. , Dart Richard C.
Published: December 2015

Purpose

A high prevalence of chronic pain and high rates of polypharmacy among older adults suggest that this age group may be particularly susceptible to unintentional misuse of prescription opioids. We examined recent trends in misuse of prescription opioids and associated medical outcomes among older‐aged adults (60+ years) and compared the patterns with trends among younger‐aged adults (20–59 years).

Methods

Linear regression trend analysis was used to analyze 57 681 misuse cases reported to participating US poison centers during 2006–2014.

Results

Population rates of misuse of prescription opioids were higher for older adults than for younger adults, and this disparity increased over time. Rates among the older ages increased each year, although the rate of increase slowed over time (p < 0.0001 for negative quadratic trend). In contrast, among the younger adults, there was a significant negative quadratic trend in population rates (p < 0.0001) with a rise in rates during 2006–2010 followed by a decline during 2011–2014. Rates of serious medical outcomes among the older ages followed an increasing linear trend (p < 0.0001); in contrast, rates among younger adults rose and fell during the period, with recent rates trending downward (p < 0.0001 for quadratic trend).

Conclusions

Recent increases in rates of misuse of prescription opioids and associated unfavorable medical outcomes among older adults have important implications as the USA undergoes a rapid expansion of its elderly population. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Graphene Coating of Silicon Nanoparticles with CO2‐Enhanced Chemical Vapor Deposition
Authors: Son In Hyuk , Park Jong Hwan , Kwon Soonchul , Choi Jang Wook , Rümmeli Mark H.
Published: December 2015

Understanding the growth of graphene over Si species is becoming ever more important as the huge potential for the combination of these two materials becomes more apparent, not only for device fabrication but also in energy applications, particularly in Li‐ion batteries. Thus, the drive for the direct fabrication of graphene over Si is crucial because indirect approaches, by their very nature, require processing steps that, in general, contaminate, damage, and are costly. In this work, the direct chemical vapor deposition growth of few‐layer graphene over Si nanoparticles is systematically explored through experiment and theory with the use of a reducer, H2 or the use of a mild oxidant, CO2 combined with CH4. Unlike the case of CH4, with the use of CO2 as a mild oxidant in the reaction, the graphene layers form neatly over the surface and encapsulate the Si particles. SiC formation is also prevented. These structures show exceptionally good electrochemical performance as high capacity anodes for lithium‐ion batteries. Density functional theory studies show the presence of CO2 not only prevents SiC formation but helps enhance the catalytic activity of the particles by maintaining an SiOx surface. In addition, CO2 can enhance graphitization.
Estimating loads on shores during the construction of RC building structures
Authors: Buitrago Manuel , Adam Jose M. , Calderón Pedro A. , Moragues Juan J. , Alvarado Yezid A.
Published: December 2015

When constructing reinforced concrete (RC) building structures, knowing the loads to which the shoring system will be subjected during the entire process is one of the key aspects for ensuring safety during the work. Although various simplified methods of estimating the load transmission between shores and slabs during construction have been proposed to date, none of these methods can estimate the loads on individual shores during the different construction phases. This paper proposes a calculation method that allows the loads on individual shores to be calculated for each construction phase without having to resort to the use of advanced software. The proposal was validated by comparison with the results obtained from two actual buildings under construction and represents a step forward in the construction of RC building structures, as it is the first method that offers the possibility of estimating the loads acting on each shore during all the construction phases.
Implementation of Enhanced Recovery (ERAS) in Colorectal Surgery Has a Positive Impact on Non‐ERAS Liver Surgery Patients
Authors: Labgaa Ismail , Jarrar Ghada , Joliat Gaëtan‐Romain , Allemann Pierre , Gander Sylvain , Blanc Catherine , Hübner Martin , Demartines Nicolas
Published: December 2015

Background

Enhanced recovery after surgery (ERAS) reduces complications and hospital stay in colorectal surgery. Thereafter, ERAS principles were extended to liver surgery. Previous implementation of an ERAS program in colorectal surgery may influence patients undergoing liver surgery in a non‐ERAS setting, on the same ward. This study aimed to test this hypothesis.

Methods

Retrospective analysis based on prospective data of the adherence to the institutional ERAS‐liver protocol (compliance) in three cohorts of consecutive patients undergoing elective liver surgery, between June 2010 and July 2014: before any ERAS implementation (pre‐ERAS n = 50), after implementation of ERAS in colorectal (intermediate n = 50), and after implementation of ERAS in liver surgery (ERAS‐liver n = 74). Outcomes were functional recovery, postoperative complications, hospital stay, and readmissions.

Results

The three groups were comparable for demographics; laparoscopy was more frequent in ERAS‐liver (p = 0.009). Compliance with the enhanced recovery protocol increased along the three periods (pre‐ERAS, intermediate, and ERAS‐liver), regardless of the perioperative phase (pre‐, intra‐, or postoperative). ERAS‐liver group displayed the highest overall compliance rate with 73.8 %, compared to 39.9 and 57.4 % for pre‐ERAS and intermediate groups (p = 0.072/0.056). Overall complications were unchanged (p = 0.185), whereas intermediate and ERAS‐liver groups showed decreased major complications (p = 0.034). Consistently, hospital stay was reduced by 2 days (p = 0.005) without increased readmissions (p = 0.158).

Conclusions

The previous implementation of an ERAS protocol in colorectal surgery may induce a positive impact on patients undergoing non‐ERAS‐liver surgery on the same ward. These results suggest that ERAS is safely applicable in liver surgery and associated with benefits.
A Modest Art: Securing Privacy in Technologically Mediated Homecare
Authors: Kamphof Ike
Published: December 2015

This article addresses the art of living in a technological culture as the active engagement with technomoral change. It argues that this engagement does not just take the form of overt deliberation. It shows in more modest ways as reflection-in-action, an experimental process in which new technology is fitted into existing practices. In this process challenged values are re-articulated in pragmatic solutions to the problem of working with new technology. This art of working with technology is also modest in the sense that it is not oriented to shaping one’s own subjectivity in relation to technology. It emanates from human existence as relational and aims at securing good relationships. The argument will be developed in relation to a case study of the ways in which homecare workers engaged with the value of privacy, challenged by tele-monitoring technology that was newly introduced into their work.
Mechanism of Calcium Fluoride Acceleration for Vacuum Carbothermic Reduction of Magnesia
Authors: Jiang Yun , Liu Yu-qin , Ma Hong-wen , Zhou Wei-gong
Published: December 2015

The use of a small amount of calcium fluoride as an additive greatly accelerated the reduction of magnesia during the preparation of magnesium from magnesia using the vacuum carbothermic reduction method. At 1573 K (1300 °C), the magnesia reaction rates of the samples with 1, 3, and 5 pct CaF2 were all approximately 26 pct, three times that of free CaF2, and they were arranged in order of the calcium fluoride weight percentages at 1673 K (1400 °C). The residues were analyzed using chemical analysis, XRD, SEM, EDS, and XRF. The possible acceleration mechanism was discussed. Calcium fluoride combined with magnesia and silicon dioxide to form a eutectic that melted as a channel to aid the solid–solid reaction between carbon and magnesia at approximately 1573 K (1300 °C). Calcium fluoride in the molten state offered free calcium ions and fluorine ions. Fluorine ions entered and distorted the magnesia crystal lattice. The structural strength and chemical stability of the magnesia crystal lattice decreased, which facilitated the magnesia reduction by carbon. Calcium ions were employed to generate the calcium and magnesium silicate. The easyly evaporating fluorides, including magnesium fluoride and silicon tetrafluoride, were regarded as the main reason for the loss of fluorine.
OPTIMAL REINSURANCE FROM THE PERSPECTIVES OF BOTH AN INSURER AND A REINSURER
Authors: Cai Jun , Lemieux Christiane , Liu Fangda
Published: December 2015

Optimal reinsurance from an insurer's point of view or from a reinsurer's point of view has been studied extensively in the literature. However, as two parties of a reinsurance contract, an insurer and a reinsurer have conflicting interests. An optimal form of reinsurance from one party's point of view may be not acceptable to the other party. In this paper, we study optimal reinsurance designs from the perspectives of both an insurer and a reinsurer and take into account both an insurer's aims and a reinsurer's goals in reinsurance contract designs. We develop optimal reinsurance contracts that minimize the convex combination of the Value-at-Risk (VaR) risk measures of the insurer's loss and the reinsurer's loss under two types of constraints, respectively. The constraints describe the interests of both the insurer and the reinsurer. With the first type of constraints, the insurer and the reinsurer each have their limit on the VaR of their own loss. With the second type of constraints, the insurer has a limit on the VaR of his loss while the reinsurer has a target on his profit from selling a reinsurance contract. For both types of constraints, we derive the optimal reinsurance forms in a wide class of reinsurance policies and under the expected value reinsurance premium principle. These optimal reinsurance forms are more complicated than the optimal reinsurance contracts from the perspective of one party only. The proposed models can also be reduced to the problems of minimizing the VaR of one party's loss under the constraints on the interests of both the insurer and the reinsurer.
Comparative Postcolonialisms: Storytelling and Community in Sholem Aleichem and Chinua Achebe
Authors: Quayson Ato
Published: December 2015

This paper compares Sholem Aleichem’s Tevye the Dairyman and Chinua Achebe’s Arrow of God. Despite all their obvious differences in terms of cultural traditions and historical moments, the two authors’ fundamental commitment to modes of storytelling allows us to draw parallels and counterpoints between them. In both works storytelling is shaped by the essential polysemy of orality (such as the collocation of proverbs, gnomic statements, and anecdotes as crucial aspects of the stories being told), as well as an orientation toward ritual (in terms of the formal repetition of storytelling motifs and devices). In the Tevye stories, the first-person narration is addressed to various explicit and implied addressees and gives the impression of an immediate orality, whereas in Arrow of God the third-person narrator is coextensive with the one we encounter in Things Fall Apart in its quasi-ethnographic orientation. In both texts, storytelling and orality are mediums for identifying with an imagined community. Imagined implies a nonideal relationship to existing communities, something that is made clear in the agonistic infrastructure of the two central characters’ minds. The paper argues for seeing this agonistic infrastructure as a form of “contexture,” that is to say, a way to provide texture to the historical contexts in which they were written and to which their referential relays point us to.
Pre-conceptional intake of folic acid supplements is inversely associated with risk of preterm birth and small-for-gestational-age birth: a prospective cohort study
Authors: Zheng Ju-Sheng , Guan Yuhong , Zhao Yimin , Zhao Wei , Tang Xuejuan , Chen Hua , Xu Meilong , Wu Lingping , Zhu Shanlin , Liu Huijuan , Huang Tao , Li Duo
Published: December 2015

Associations of folic acid supplementation with risk of preterm birth (PTB) and small-for-gestational-age (SGA) birth were unclear for the Chinese populations. The aim of the present study was to investigate the associations in a large Chinese prospective cohort study: the Jiaxing Birth Cohort. In the Jiaxing Birth Cohort, 240 954 pregnant women visited local clinics or hospitals within their first trimester in Southeast China during 1999–2012. Information on anthropometric parameters, folic acid supplementation and other maternal characteristics were collected by in-person interviews during their first visit. Pregnancy outcomes were recorded during the follow-up of these participants. Multinomial logistic regression was used to examine the association of folic acid supplementation with pregnancy outcomes. The prevalence of folic acid supplementation was 24·9 % in the cohort. The prevalence of PTB and SGA birth was 3·48 and 9·2 %, respectively. Pre-conceptional folic acid supplementation was associated with 8 % lower risk of PTB (relative risk (RR) 0·92; 95 % CI 0·85, 1·00; P=0·04) and 19 % lower risk of SGA birth (RR 0·81; 95 % CI 0·70, 0·95; P=0·008), compared with non-users. Higher frequency of pre-conceptional folic acid use was associated with lower risk of PTB (Ptrend=0·032) and SGA birth (Ptrend=0·046). No significant association between post-conceptional initiation of folic acid supplementation and either outcome was observed. In conclusion, the present study suggests an association between pre-conceptional, but not post-conceptional, folic acid supplementation and lower risk of PTB and SGA birth in the Jiaxing Birth Cohort. Further research in other cohorts of large sample size is needed to replicate these findings.
Arithmetic Density
Authors: Garay Mauricio
Published: December 2015

We give measure estimates for sets appearing in the study of dynamical systems, such as preimages of Diophantine classes.
Shocking Intellectual Austerity: The Role of Ideas in the Demise of the Gold Standard in Britain
Authors: Morrison James Ashley
Published: December 2015

Britain's 1931 suspension of the gold standard remains one of the most shocking policy shifts of the past century. Conventional explanations focus on changing international conditions alongside the rise of social democracy: when Britons refused to shoulder the increasing costs of defending the exchange rate, the Bank of England was “forced” to abandon the gold standard. This article refocuses attention on policy-makers’ causal ideas at critical moments. Drawing on numerous primary sources held in several archives, it reveals a cleavage within the Bank over the appropriate response to the flight from sterling. Following the nervous collapse of the Bank's governor, the deputy governor shifted the Bank's strategy from making defensive rate hikes to pursuing fiscal austerity. He then “temporarily” suspended gold convertibility in a gambit to forestall the election he (incorrectly) assumed would unseat the gold standard's supporters in Parliament. When the unintended experiment with a managed float proved successful, Keynes was able to persuade policy-makers to embrace the new exchange rate regime.
Prognostic value of mean platelet volume on tinnitus
Authors: Kemal O , Müderris T , Başar F , Kutlar G , Gül F
Published: December 2015

Objective:

This study aimed to determine whether there was any relationship between tinnitus and mean platelet volume.

Methods:

This retrospective study was conducted between January 2013 and January 2014 in Ankara Atatürk Hospital and Ondokuz Mayıs University Hospital, Turkey, on a study group of 86 patients with tinnitus and a control group of 84 healthy subjects. Mean platelet volume was recorded and comparisons were made between the two groups.

Results:

Mean (± standard deviation) platelet volume was 7.67 ± 0.83 μm3in the study group and 7.28 ± 0.56 μm3in the control group. There was a statistically significant difference in mean platelet volume between the tinnitus patients and the healthy subjects (p< 0.05).

Conclusion:

The clinical findings indicated that tinnitus patients had a higher mean platelet volume than the healthy control subjects; however, the pathophysiological mechanism remains unclear.
Tokamak elongation – how much is too much? Part 1. Theory
Authors: Freidberg J. P. , Cerfon A. , Lee J. P
Published: December 2015

In this and the accompanying paper, the problem of the maximally achievable elongation${\it\kappa}$in a tokamak is investigated. The work represents an extension of many earlier studies, which were often focused on determining${\it\kappa}$limits due to (i) natural elongation in a simple applied pure vertical field or (ii) axisymmetric stability in the presence of a perfectly conducting wall. The extension investigated here includes the effect of the vertical stability feedback system which actually sets the maximum practical elongation limit in a real experiment. A basic resistive wall stability parameter,${\it\gamma}{\it\tau}_{w}$, is introduced to model the feedback system which although simple in appearance actually captures the essence of the feedback system. Elongation limits in the presence of feedback are then determined by calculating the maximum${\it\kappa}$against$n=0$resistive wall modes for fixed${\it\gamma}{\it\tau}_{w}$. The results are obtained by means of a general formulation culminating in a variational principle which is particularly amenable to numerical analysis. The principle is valid for arbitrary profiles but simplifies significantly for the Solov’ev profiles, effectively reducing the 2-D stability problem into a 1-D problem. The accompanying paper provides the numerical results and leads to a sharp answer of ‘how much elongation is too much’?
Tokamak elongation – how much is too much? Part 2. Numerical results
Authors: Lee J. P. , Cerfon A. , Freidberg J. P. , Greenwald M.
Published: December 2015

The analytic theory presented in Paper I is converted into a form convenient for numerical analysis. A fast and accurate code has been written using this numerical formulation. The results are presented by first defining a reference set of physical parameters based on experimental data from high performance discharges. Scaling relations of maximum achievable elongation (${\it\kappa}_{max}$) versus inverse aspect ratio (${\it\varepsilon}$) are obtained numerically for various values of poloidal beta (${\it\beta}_{p}$), wall radius $(b/a)$ and feedback capability parameter (${\it\gamma}{\it\tau}_{w}$) in ranges near the reference values. It is also shown that each value of ${\it\kappa}_{max}$ occurs at a corresponding value of optimized triangularity (${\it\delta}$), whose scaling is also determined as a function of ${\it\varepsilon}$. The results show that the theoretical predictions of ${\it\kappa}_{max}$ are slightly higher than experimental observations for high performance discharges, as measured by high average pressure. The theoretical ${\it\delta}$ values are noticeably lower. We suggest that the explanation is associated with the observation that high performance involves not only $n=0$ MHD stability, but also $n\geqslant 1$ MHD modes described by ${\it\beta}_{N}$ in the Troyon limit and transport as characterized by ${\it\tau}_{E}$. Operation away from the $n=0$ MHD optimum may still lead to higher performance if there are more than compensatory gains in ${\it\beta}_{N}$ and ${\it\tau}_{E}$. Unfortunately, while the empirical scaling of ${\it\beta}_{N}$ and ${\it\tau}_{E}$ with the elongation (${\it\kappa}$) has been determined, the dependence on ${\it\delta}$ has still not been quantified. This information is needed in order to perform more accurate overall optimizations in future experimental designs.
Functional morphology, biology and sexual strategy of the circumboreal, adventitious crypt-building,Crenella decussata(Bivalvia: Mytiloidea: Crenellidae)
Authors: Morton Brian , Dinesen Grete E. , Ockelmann Kurt W.
Published: December 2015

The anatomy ofCrenella decussata(Mytiloidea) is described. Individuals of this circumboreal species occupy granular crypts composed of sand grains held in place by mucus. The swollen basal region of the tubule is occupied by an individual, which connects to the sediment surface by two posterior tubes accommodating the inhalant and exhalant streams. There is reduction in musculature and, most importantly, anterior foreshortening of the outer ctenidial demibranchs and loss of the labial palps. This creates an anterior space in the mantle for the initial brooding of fertilized ova by females to the prodissoconch stage. Subsequently, these larvae are transferred to the exhalant tube of the crypt wherein they attach by a single fine byssal thread and are further brooded until the crawl-away juvenile stage is attained. Experimental studies of larval behaviour suggest that parental pheromones sustain the female/offspring bond. Newly hatched individuals responded to parental exhalant water by actively attaching themselves using a byssal thread. This response persisted for 28 days, but not after 55 days when, we suggest, the pheromonal response ceases and offspring are developed sufficiently to take up life in their own nests. Offspring retrieved from parental crypts and fed continuously reached an average shell length of 500 μm after 7.5 months. Brooded offspring thus appear to rely on embryonal energy resources until post-metamorphosis, after which suspension feeding becomes essential for further growth and development before the parental crypt is vacated.
Social Quality and Work: What Impact Does Low Pay Have on Social Quality?
Authors: TOMLINSON MARK , WALKER ALAN , FOSTER LIAM
Published: December 2015

Using Confirmatory Factor Analysis models in conjunction with the British Household Panel Survey (BHPS) this paper reports the first application of the concept of Social Quality to a UK data set. Social Quality is concerned with the quality of society, or social relations, and consists of both a theoretical model and an empirically tested set of measures. Social Quality is explored in relation to the policy issues of low pay and the working poor given the challenges presented by the rising number of households in work and in poverty. This analysis reveals several striking characteristics. In terms of poverty per se poor employees are worse off in terms of economic security, housing, health, human capital, trust, voluntarism, citizenship, knowledge and culture whichever part of the employment structure they belong to. However, in addition, even those in the so-called upper level of the labour market (professional, managerial occupations which require reasonably high levels of skill and motivation) are significantly worse off on these dimensions if they are low paid. Therefore it suggests that measures to raise low pay, such as the living wage, are likely to have considerable implications for Social Quality.
ON THE POWER OF INVARIANT TESTS FOR HYPOTHESES ON A COVARIANCE MATRIX
Authors: Preinerstorfer David , Pötscher Benedikt M.
Published: December 2015

The behavior of the power function of autocorrelation tests such as the Durbin–Watson test in time series regressions or the Cliff-Ord test in spatial regression models has been intensively studied in the literature. When the correlation becomes strong, Krämer (1985, Journal of Econometrics 28, 363–370.) (for the Durbin–Watson test) and Krämer (2005, Journal of Statistical Planning and Inference, 128, 489–496) (for the Cliff-Ord test) have shown that power can be very low, in fact can converge to zero, under certain circumstances. Motivated by these results, Martellosio (2010, Econometric Theory, 26, 152–186) set out to build a general theory that would explain these findings. Unfortunately, Martellosio (2010) does not achieve this goal, as a substantial portion of his results and proofs suffer from nontrivial flaws. The present paper now builds a theory as envisioned in Martellosio (2010) in an even more general framework, covering general invariant tests of a hypothesis on the disturbance covariance matrix in a linear regression model. The general results are then specialized to testing for spatial correlation and to autocorrelation testing in time series regression models. We also characterize the situation where the null and the alternative hypothesis are indistinguishable by invariant tests.
Spatial, temporal and age sources of variation in parrot poaching in Bolivia
Authors: PIRES STEPHEN F. , SCHNEIDER JACQUELINE L. , HERRERA MAURICIO , TELLA JOSÉ L.
Published: December 2015

Parrot poaching and the subsequent illegal trade in the Neotropics are exacerbating the decline in parrot populations. Little is known, however, on where, when and how parrots are poached. The goals of this study were to identify the spatio-temporal patterns of parrot poaching in order to identify ways in which poaching could be reduced, using parrot data (9,013 individuals from 27 species) collected daily in a major illicit wildlife market in Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia, in 2005. Parrot data identified the individuals by species, age, date of arrival at market, and the poaching location. Parrot poaching strongly varied seasonally, with differences among municipalities, species, and age classes. While almost 90% of parrots were poached within a 234 km radius of the market, 84% originated from seven municipalities in which two of them accounted for 56% alone. With regard to species, six of the 27 market species accounted for nearly 90% of total individuals. A disproportionate share of parrots (47%) arrived between July and September. Poaching of adults and juveniles peaked however at different times of the year, offering valuable information for species where very little is known about their breeding phenology. Contrary to the idea that most parrot trade comes from nest poaching, most poached parrots (c.70%) were adults, which outnumbered juveniles in 21 out of the 26 native species. Therefore, the detrimental effects of parrot poaching are higher than simple trade numbers would suggest when considering that harvesting of adults has a stronger impact on the population viability and risk of extinction of long-lived species. Based on the findings, we recommend the allocation of police and conservation resources to patrol particular areas at particular times of the year in order to reduce the likelihood of poaching by species, age classes, and conservation status.
A classification approach for detecting cross-lingual biomedical term translations
Authors: HAKAMI H. , BOLLEGALA D.
Published: December 2015

Finding translations for technical terms is an important problem in machine translation. In particular, in highly specialized domains such as biology or medicine, it is difficult to find bilingual experts to annotate sufficient cross-lingual texts in order to train machine translation systems. Moreover, new terms are constantly being generated in the biomedical community, which makes it difficult to keep the translation dictionaries up to date for all language pairs of interest. Given a biomedical term in one language (source language), we propose a method for detecting its translations in a different language (target language). Specifically, we train a binary classifier to determine whether two biomedical terms written in two languages are translations. Training such a classifier is often complicated due to the lack of common features between the source and target languages. We propose several feature space concatenation methods to successfully overcome this problem. Moreover, we study the effectiveness of contextual and character n-gram features for detecting term translations. Experiments conducted using a standard dataset for biomedical term translation show that the proposed method outperforms several competitive baseline methods in terms of mean average precision and top-k translation accuracy.
Challenges Faced and Practical Techniques for Managing a Dispersed Team
Authors: Blair Rona
Published: December 2015

This paper, which was written by Rona Blair, is drawn from her presentation at the 2015 BIALL Annual Conference. The article looks at the challenges of working in a geographically dispersed team and how to overcome these challenges using pragmatic and workable procedures.
Ethical Considerations in Adolescent Bariatric Surgery: A Case Presentation
Authors: Cohen Megan J. , Datto George A.
Published: December 2015

Bariatric surgery has become a more common treatment option for adolescents with severe obesity. However, it is also an elective procedure with both risks and benefits. Commentary by Price, Lee, Washington, and Brandt (2015) outlines ethical considerations for clinicians providing care for these adolescents, and they recommend that decision making be jointly made by adolescents, their guardians, and an interdisciplinary medical team including a psychologist. Key issues raised by Price et al. (2015) include whether consent/assent may be obtained, whether surgery is appropriate in light of medical and psychological comorbidities, and whether adolescents and families can adhere to lifestyle recommendations to maximize safety and long-term health outcomes. This report includes 2 case illustrations with the goal of describing how these ethical considerations appear in clinical practice. It highlights the complexity of decision-making surrounding surgery, as well as the value of working within an interdisciplinary team.
Correction: Corrigendum: Contribution and distribution of inorganic ions and organic compounds to the osmotic adjustment in Halostachys caspica response to salt stress
Authors: Zeng Youling , Li Ling , Yang Ruirui , Yi Xiaoya , Zhang Baohong
Published: December 2015

The mechanism by which plants cope with salt stress remains poorly understood. The goal of this study is to systematically investigate the contribution and distribution of inorganic ions and organic compounds to the osmotic adjustment (OA) in the halophyte species Halostachys caspica. The results indicate that 100–200 mM NaCl is optimal for plant growth; the water content and degree of succulence of the assimilating branches are higher in this treatment range than that in other treatments; parenchyma cells are more numerous with 100 mM NaCl treatment than they are in control. Inorganic ions (mainly Na+ and Cl-) may play a more important role than organic compounds in NaCl-induced OA and are the primary contributors in OA in H. caspica. The inorganic ions and organic solutes display a tissue-dependent distribution. Na+ and Cl− are accumulated in the reproductive organs and within assimilating branches, which may represent a mechanism for protecting plant growth by way of salt ion dilution and organ abscission. Additionally, OA via increased accumulation of organic substances also protected plant growth and development. This finding provides additional evidence for plant tolerance to salinity stress which can be used for breeding new cultivars for stress tolerance.
Broadband activation by white-opsin lowers intensity threshold for cellular stimulation
Authors: Batabyal Subrata , Cervenka Gregory , Birch David , Kim Young-tae , Mohanty Samarendra
Published: December 2015

Photoreceptors, which initiate the conversion of ambient light to action potentials via retinal circuitry, degenerate in retinal diseases such as retinitis pigmentosa and age related macular degeneration leading to loss of vision. Current prosthetic devices using arrays consisting of electrodes or LEDs (for optogenetic activation of conventional narrow-band opsins) have limited spatial resolution and can cause damage to retinal circuits by mechanical or photochemical (by absorption of intense narrow band light) means. Here, we describe a broad-band light activatable white-opsin for generating significant photocurrent at white light intensity levels close to ambient daylight conditions. White-opsin produced an order of magnitude higher photocurrent in response to white light as compared to narrow-band opsin channelrhodopsin-2, while maintaining the ms-channel kinetics. High fidelity of peak-photocurrent (both amplitude and latency) of white-opsin in response to repetitive white light stimulation of varying pulse width was observed. The significantly lower intensity stimulation required for activating white-opsin sensitized cells may facilitate ambient white light-based restoration of vision for patients with widespread photoreceptor degeneration.
Integrating longitudinal serum IL-17 and IL-23 follow-up, along with autoantibodies variation, contributes to predict bullous pemphigoid outcome
Authors: Plée Julie , Le Jan Sébastien , Giustiniani Jérôme , Barbe Coralie , Joly Pascal , Bedane Christophe , Vabres Pierre , Truchetet François , Aubin François , Antonicelli Frank , Bernard Philippe
Published: December 2015

Bullous pemphigoid (BP) is an inflammatory autoimmune bullous disease involving cytokines and proteases in the process of blister formation. Recently, IL-17 and IL-23 were evidenced in lesional skin and serum of BP patients at time of diagnosis, but their involvement in disease outcome has still not been investigated yet. We then analysed IL-17 and IL-23 serum levels during the first months of follow-up upon treatment. Compared with age- and sex- matched controls, high levels of IL-23 were observed at baseline in BP patients serum (P < 0.01), while IL-17 levels was not. However, some BP patients expressed high IL-17 serum level, independently of disease severity. In these patients, those with ongoing remission reduced IL-17 concentration upon treatment (P < 0.001), whereas IL-17 level remained elevated in patients who relapsed. Meanwhile, IL-23 serum levels increased during the first month of treatment in BP patients who later relapsed (P < 0.01) and MMP-9 serum level was not controlled. Accordingly, we found that both IL-17 and IL-23 increased MMP-9 secretion from leukocytes in-vitro. Then, we showed that elevated IL-17/IL-23 serum concentrations helped to discriminate BP patients who later relapsed. Such uncontrolled inflammatory response raises the question whether these molecules could become biological target for BP patients resistant to steroid treatment.
Plasmon-induced strong interaction between chiral molecules and orbital angular momentum of light
Authors: Wu Tong , Wang Rongyao , Zhang Xiangdong
Published: December 2015

Whether or not chiral interaction exists between the optical orbital angular momentum (OAM) and a chiral molecule remains unanswered. So far, such an interaction has not been observed experimentally. Here we present a T-matrix method to study the interaction between optical OAM and the chiral molecule in a cluster of nanoparticles. We find that strong interaction between the chiral molecule and OAM can be induced by the excitation of plasmon resonances. An experimental scheme to observe such an interaction has been proposed. Furthermore, we have found that the signal of the OAM dichroism can be either positive or negative, depending on the spatial positions of nanocomposites in the cross-sections of OAM beams. The cancellation between positive and negative signals in the spatial average can explain why the interaction has not been observed in former experiments.
0.54 μm resolution two-photon interference with dispersion cancellation for quantum optical coherence tomography
Authors: Okano Masayuki , Lim Hwan Hong , Okamoto Ryo , Nishizawa Norihiko , Kurimura Sunao , Takeuchi Shigeki
Published: December 2015

Quantum information technologies harness the intrinsic nature of quantum theory to beat the limitations of the classical methods for information processing and communication. Recently, the application of quantum features to metrology has attracted much attention. Quantum optical coherence tomography (QOCT), which utilizes two-photon interference between entangled photon pairs, is a promising approach to overcome the problem with optical coherence tomography (OCT): As the resolution of OCT becomes higher, degradation of the resolution due to dispersion within the medium becomes more critical. Here we report on the realization of 0.54 μm resolution two-photon interference, which surpasses the current record resolution 0.75 μm of low-coherence interference for OCT. In addition, the resolution for QOCT showed almost no change against the dispersion of a 1 mm thickness of water inserted in the optical path, whereas the resolution for OCT dramatically degrades. For this experiment, a highly-efficient chirped quasi-phase-matched lithium tantalate device was developed using a novel ‘nano-electrode-poling’ technique. The results presented here represent a breakthrough for the realization of quantum protocols, including QOCT, quantum clock synchronization and more. Our work will open up possibilities for medical and biological applications
Multimode fibre: Light-sheet microscopy at the tip of a needle
Authors: Plöschner Martin , Kollárová Věra , Dostál Zbyněk , Nylk Jonathan , Barton-Owen Thomas , Ferrier David E. K. , Chmelík Radim , Dholakia Kishan , Čižmár Tomáš
Published: December 2015

Light-sheet fluorescence microscopy has emerged as a powerful platform for 3-D volumetric imaging in the life sciences. Here, we introduce an important step towards its use deep inside biological tissue. Our new technique, based on digital holography, enables delivery of the light-sheet through a multimode optical fibre – an optical element with extremely small footprint, yet permitting complex control of light transport processes within. We show that this approach supports some of the most advanced methods in light-sheet microscopy: by taking advantage of the cylindrical symmetry of the fibre, we facilitate the wavefront engineering methods for generation of both Bessel and structured Bessel beam plane illumination. Finally, we assess the quality of imaging on a sample of fluorescent beads fixed in agarose gel and we conclude with a proof-of-principle imaging of a biological sample, namely the regenerating operculum prongs of Spirobranchus lamarcki.
Zepto-molar electrochemical detection of Brucella genome based on gold nanoribbons covered by gold nanoblooms
Authors: Rahi Amid , Sattarahmady Naghmeh , Heli Hossein
Published: December 2015

Gold nanoribbons covered by gold nanoblooms were sonoelectrodeposited on a polycrystalline gold surface at −1800 mV (vs. AgCl) with the assistance of ultrasound and co-occurrence of the hydrogen evolution reaction. The nanostructure, as a transducer, was utilized to immobilize a Brucella-specific probe and fabrication of a genosensor and the process of immobilization and hybridization was detected by electrochemical methods, using methylene blue as a redox marker. The proposed method for detection of the complementary sequence, sequences with base-mismatched (one-, two- and three-base mismatches) and the sequence of non-complementary sequence was assayed. The fabricated genosensor was evaluated for the assay of the bacteria in the cultured and human samples without polymerase chain reactions (PCR). The genosensor could detect the complementary sequence with a calibration sensitivity of 0.40 μA dm3 mol−1, a linear concentration range of 10 zmol dm−3 to 10 pmol dm−3 and a detection limit of 1.71 zmol dm−3.
Strategies for Early Vaccination During Novel Influenza Outbreaks
Authors: Laskowski M. , Xiao Y. , Charland N. , Moghadas S. M.
Published: December 2015

Ongoing research and technology developments hold the promise of rapid production and large-scale deployment of strain-specific or cross-protective vaccines for novel influenza viruses. We sought to investigate the impact of early vaccination on age-specific attack rates and evaluate the outcomes of different vaccination strategies that are influenced by the level of single or two-dose vaccine-induced protections. We developed and parameterized an agent-based model for two population demographics of urban and remote areas in Canada. Our results demonstrate that there is a time period before and after the onset of epidemic, during which the outcomes of vaccination strategies may differ significantly and are highly influenced by demographic characteristics. For the urban population, attack rates were lowest for children younger than 5 years of age in all vaccination strategies. However, for the remote population, the lowest attack rates were obtained for adults older than 50 years of age in most strategies. We found that the reduction of attack rates following the start of vaccination campaigns during the epidemic depends critically on the disease transmissibility, suggesting that for a sufficiently high transmissibility, vaccine delivery after the onset of epidemic has little or no effect, regardless of the population demographics.
Methoprene-tolerant (Met) and Krüpple-homologue 1 (Kr-h1) are required for ovariole development and egg maturation in the brown plant hopper
Authors: Lin Xinda , Yao Yun , Wang Bo
Published: December 2015

The brown plant hopper is one of the most destructive known pests of rice. We studied the roles of the JH receptor Met and the downstream transcription factor Kr-h1 in ovariole development and egg maturation. The predicted Met protein in N. lugens (NlMet) contained 517 amino acids. qRT-PCR showed that NlMet was expressed in all tissues and that the highest expression occurred in the embryonic stage. In NlMet- or NlKr-h1-silenced female adults, ovarian development varied significantly, whereas the numbers of ovarioles were less variable in those injected with dsRNA targeting NlMet, NlKrh-1 or both NlMet and NlKr-h1. In females injected with dsNlKr-h1 or with dsNlMet in combination with dsNlKr-h1 dsRNA, the preoviposition period was prolonged, whereas the females injected with NlMet dsRNA showed no significant changes. Moreover, we found no differences in the length of the preoviposition period between macropterous and brachypterous females. The disruption of Nlmet or NlKr-h1 or the dual knockdown of NlMet and NlKr-h1 significantly reduced the number of eggs laid. Moreover, significant differences were also found between the macropterous and the brachypterous brown plant hoppers. These results indicated that Met and Kr-h1 are required for ovariole development and egg maturation in the brown plant hopper.