bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Bees and their floral visits in Sapporo in 1979 and 1989
Authors: Matsumura Takeshi , Nakamura Shoko , Taki Hisatomo
Published: January 2020

Bees are an important faunal group and function as pollinators for various flowering plants. The diversity and abundance of bees have decreased in some parts of the world, which has led to fears about habitat degradation and a pollination crisis worldwide. Therefore, establishing long‐term monitoring systems and making past data available widely are important for understanding bees and their ecosystem function, and to enable evidence‐based action for the conservation and restoration of bees and their ecosystem function. Decades ago, a group led by Shoichi F Sakagami established a systematic method of bee surveys and conducted surveys at multiple places in Japan. In Sapporo, intensive bee surveys involving sampling bees and recording the flowers that were visited by the bees from April to September were conducted systematically at the campus and Botanic Garden of Hokkaido University in 1979 and 1989. These involved sampling bees and recording the flowers that were visited by the bees from April to September. A total of 12,900 bee specimens were represented by Andrenidae, Apidae, Colletidae, Halictidae, Megachilidae, and Melittidae. Here, we have converted the information to digital data by archiving the data on the bee species and the plant species that the bees visited in 1979 and 1989 at two sites at Hokkaido University, in Sapporo, Japan.

The complete data set for this abstract published in the Data Paper section of the journal is available in electronic format in MetaCat in JaLTER at http://db.cger.nies.go.jp/JaLTER/metacat/metacat/ERDP-2020-01.1/jalter-en. [Correction added on 7 September 2020, after first online publication: JaLTER URL has been updated.]
Techniques of disinformation: Constructing and communicating “soft facts” after terrorism
Authors: Innes Martin
Published: January 2020

Informed by social media data collected following four terror attacks in the UK in 2017, this article delineates a series of “techniques of disinformation” used by different actors to try and influence how the events were publicly defined and understood. By studying the causes and consequences of misleading information following terror attacks, the article contributes empirically to the neglected topic of social reactions to terrorism. It also advances scholarship on the workings of disinforming communications, by focusing on a domain other than political elections, which has been the empirical focus for most studies of disinformation to date. Theoretically, the analysis is framed by drawing an analogy with Gresham Sykes and David Matza's (1957) account of the role of “techniques of neutralization” originally published in the American Sociological Review. The connection being that where they studied deviant behaviour, a similar analytic lens can usefully be applied to disinformation cast as “deviant” information.
The cost‐effectiveness of progesterone in preventing miscarriages in women with early pregnancy bleeding: an economic evaluation based on the PRISM trial
Authors: Okeke Ogwulu CB , Goranitis I , Devall AJ , Cheed V , Gallos ID , Middleton LJ , Harb HM , Williams HM , Eapen A , Daniels JP , Ahmed A , Bender‐Atik R , Bhatia K , Bottomley C , Brewin J , Choudhary M , Deb S , Duncan WC , Ewer AK , Hinshaw K , Holland T , Izzat F , Johns J , Lumsden M , Manda P , Norman JE , Nunes N , Overton CE , Kriedt K , Quenby S , Rao S , Ross J , Shahid A , Underwood M , Vaithilingham N , Watkins L , Wykes C , Horne AW , Jurkovic D , Coomarasamy A , Roberts TE
Published: January 2020

Objectives

To assess the cost‐effectiveness of progesterone compared with placebo in preventing pregnancy loss in women with early pregnancy vaginal bleeding.

Design

Economic evaluation alongside a large multi‐centre randomised placebo‐controlled trial.

Setting

Forty‐eight UK NHS early pregnancy units.

Population

Four thousand one hundred and fifty‐three women aged 16–39 years with bleeding in early pregnancy and ultrasound evidence of an intrauterine sac.

Methods

An incremental cost‐effectiveness analysis was performed from National Health Service (NHS) and NHS and Personal Social Services perspectives. Subgroup analyses were carried out on women with one or more and three or more previous miscarriages.

Main outcome measures

Cost per additional live birth at ≥34 weeks of gestation.

Results

Progesterone intervention led to an effect difference of 0.022 (95% CI −0.004 to 0.050) in the trial. The mean cost per woman in the progesterone group was £76 (95% CI −£559 to £711) more than the mean cost in the placebo group. The incremental cost‐effectiveness ratio for progesterone compared with placebo was £3305 per additional live birth. For women with at least one previous miscarriage, progesterone was more effective than placebo with an effect difference of 0.055 (95% CI 0.014–0.096) and this was associated with a cost saving of £322 (95% CI −£1318 to £673).

Conclusions

The results suggest that progesterone is associated with a small positive impact and a small additional cost. Both subgroup analyses were more favourable, especially for women who had one or more previous miscarriages. Given available evidence, progesterone is likely to be a cost‐effective intervention, particularly for women with previous miscarriage(s).

Tweetable abstract

Progesterone treatment is likely to be cost‐effective in women with early pregnancy bleeding and a history of miscarriage.
Common structuring principles of the Drosophila melanogaster microbiome on a continental scale and between host and substrate
Authors: Wang Yun , Kapun Martin , Waidele Lena , Kuenzel Sven , Bergland Alan O. , Staubach Fabian
Published: January 2020

The relative importance of host control, environmental effects and stochasticity in the assemblage of host‐associated microbiomes is being debated. We analysed the microbiome among fly populations that were sampled across Europe by the European Drosophila Population Genomics Consortium (DrosEU). In order to better understand the structuring principles of the natural D. melanogaster microbiome, we combined environmental data on climate and food‐substrate with dense genomic data on host populations and microbiome profiling. Food‐substrate, temperature, and host population structure correlated with microbiome structure. Microbes, whose abundance was co‐structured with host populations, also differed in abundance between flies and their substrate in an independent survey. This finding suggests common, host‐related structuring principles of the microbiome on different spatial scales.
Papillary architecture in the tayra tongue
Authors: Gonçalves Thamara Cozzi , Branco Érika , Ribeiro Rodrigues Rogério Antônio , da Silva Simone Marques , Giese Elane Guerreiro , da Silva Leila Menezes , dos Santos Rosyvaldo Miranda , de Lima Ana Rita
Published: January 2020

The tayra (Eira barbara) is a mammal belonging to the Mustelidae family that occurs in all Brazilian biomes. The present work aimed to describe the morphology of the tongue of these specimens highlighting their structures and particularities that will serve as a subsidy to elucidate the anatomy of the same and for comparative studies among other species of domestic and wild animals. Five adult male specimens of E. barbara were studied, which were fixed using 10% aqueous formaldehyde solution. The tongue was removed by opening the oral cavity and separating the maxillary/mandible bone complex. Being in possession of the material, photodocumentations and collection of the fragments were made for the proper preparation of histological slides and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM). The lingual papillae found in tayra were mechanical: filiform and conical; and gustative: fungiform and circumvallated. Histologically, the papillae are constituted by keratinized stratified epithelium and in the innermost region, it was composed of tissue connective dense unshaped followed by a layer of muscle bundles of skeletal striated. In the region of the root of the tongue of E. barbara, there were a set of small mixed salivary glands (serous and mucous) and the punctual presence of gustatory corpuscles at the level of epithelium. The morphological description of the E. barbara tongue revealed similarity to that described in literature for other domestic and wild mammals. However, the particularity of the absence of foliate papilla and the quantitative of four papillae circumvallate in the region of the root of the tongue of this species.
Twenty‐year time trends in use of evidence‐based heart failure drug therapy in Denmark
Authors: Vinter Nicklas , Jensen Martin , Skjøth Flemming , Larsen Torben Bjerregaard , Frost Lars , Johnsen Søren Paaske
Published: January 2020

European guidelines for heart failure (HF) have continuously incorporated new evidence since the first publication in 1995. We aimed to explore time trends in utilisation of pharmacological treatment for HF and dispensing of recommended dosages among patients with a first‐time diagnosis of HF. We performed a historical cohort study of patients with a first‐time HF diagnosis from 1997 to 2015, identified in the Danish National Patient Registry. Dispensed pharmacological treatment included angiotensin‐converting enzyme inhibitors (ACEIs), angiotensin receptor blockers (ARBs), beta‐blockers, mineralocorticoid receptor blockers (MRAs), digoxin and diuretics. Furthermore, we estimated the proportion of patients receiving the recommended target dosages 1 year after the diagnosis. The utilisation increased and correlated with publication of landmark studies, and among patients diagnosed in 2015, approximately two of three received ACEI/ARB and beta‐blocker, respectively. Less than half of the patients redeeming prescriptions for ACEIs, ARBs, beta‐blockers or MRAs received the recommended target dosages. The utilisation of pharmacological therapy for HF appears to be correlated with the publications of landmark Phase III clinical trials. However, a high proportion of patients do not receive the recommended target dosages. Despite improvements over time, a substantial gap appears to remain between guideline recommendations and pharmacological therapy in routine care.
Estimating individualized treatment rules with risk constraint
Authors: Huang Xinyang , Xu Jin
Published: January 2020

Individualized treatment rules (ITRs) recommend treatments based on patient‐specific characteristics in order to maximize the expected clinical outcome. At the same time, the risks caused by various adverse events cannot be ignored. In this paper, we propose a method to estimate an optimal ITR that maximizes clinical benefit while having the overall risk controlled at a desired level. Our method works for a general setting of multi‐category treatment. The proposed procedure employs two shifted ramp losses to approximate the 0‐1 loss in the objective function and constraint, respectively, and transforms the estimation problem into a difference of convex functions (DC) programming problem. A relaxed DC algorithm is used to solve the nonconvex constrained optimization problem. Simulations and a real data example are used to demonstrate the finite sample performance of the proposed method.
Clinical diagnostic value of contrast‐enhanced ultrasonography in the diagnosis of cardiac masses: A pilot study
Authors: Wang Xin , Li Ying , Ren Weidong , Yu Xiaona , Tan Xueying
Published: January 2020

Objectives

To assess the qualitative and quantitative characteristics of suspected cardiac masses by contrast‐enhanced ultrasonography (CEUS) and to evaluate its usefulness.

Methods

Twenty‐eight adult patients with suspected cardiac masses were selected for this study. All of them were examined by conventional transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) and CEUS. The location, attachment point, basement, morphology, size, boundary, internal echo, shape change, range of motion, length, area, effect on hemodynamics, and peak enhancement of the masses (A1), and adjacent normal myocardium (A2) were measured. Then, the A1 to A2 ratio was calculated and the above parameters were analyzed.

Results

The benign lesions showed regular morphology and clear‐boundary uniform enhancement of the contrast agent. Malignant lesions showed an irregular shape, unclear boundary with surrounding tissue, and uneven enhancement of the contrast agent. The normal myocardial perfusion intensity was the same; there was no enhancement inside a simple thrombus, and the A1 of the benign lesion was lower than that of the normal myocardium (mean value [dB] ± SD, 0.63 ± 0.42); the A2 of the malignant lesion was higher than that of the normal myocardium (mean value [dB] ± SD, 1.49 ± 0.09). The difference in the ratio of A1 to A2 between groups was statistically significant (P < .05).

Conclusions

Contrast‐enhanced ultrasonography can assess the basic biological characteristics and properties of cardiac masses and has a high diagnostic accuracy for differentiation of a thrombus from a tumor or a benign tumor from a malignant tumor.
Determinants of left intra‐atrial electromechanical delay as evaluated by tissue Doppler imaging in candidates for coronary artery bypass graft surgery
Authors: Etemad Taimoor , Hosseinsabet Ali
Published: January 2020

Objectives

Inhomogeneity in the atrial conduction time is a predisposing factor for atrial fibrillation. The aim of our study was to determine the independent determinants of the left intra‐atrial electromechanical delay (LIAEMD) as a marker of left atrial (LA) dyssynchrony in candidates for coronary artery bypass graft surgery (CABGS).

Methods

This prospective cross‐sectional study recruited 516 consecutive candidates for CABGS. Via the pulsed‐wave tissue Doppler imaging modality in echocardiography, the times between the P wave and the peak of the a′ wave at the septal and lateral mitral annuli were measured and the difference between these times was considered to be LIAEMD. Additionally, clinical and laboratory data on each patient were gathered. The odds ratio for an increased LIAEMD was calculated in patients with and without diabetes in univariate and multivariate analyses.

Results

The multivariable analysis revealed that in the patients without diabetes, obesity, calcium‐channel blocker usage, an increased maximal LA volume, and a decreased lateral e′/a′ ratio and in the diabetic patients, diuretic usage and a decreased lateral e′/a′ ratio were independently correlated with an increased likelihood of LIAEMD occurrence (P < .05).

Conclusions

In our study on CABGS candidates, in the patients without diabetes, obesity, an increased maximal LA volume, calcium‐channel blocker usage, and a decreased lateral e′/a′ ratio and in the diabetic patients, diuretic usage and a decreased lateral e′/a′ ratio independently determined increased LIAEMD. The prevention or treatment of factors that are detrimental to the LA electromechanical function may be helpful for the preservation of the LA electromechanical integrity.
THE EXTENT OF THE MARKET AND INTEGRATION THROUGH FACTOR MARKETS: EVIDENCE FROM WHOLESALE ELECTRICITY
Authors: Butters R. Andrew , Spulber Daniel F.
Published: January 2020

We document the influence of factor markets in determining the extent of the market, appealing to the Mundell hypothesis that trade in goods and factor markets are substitutes. We confirm this influence using the U.S. wholesale market for electric power. Although the Eastern, Western, and Texas regions cannot trade electricity, inputs such as natural gas move freely across these regions. Through a set of price transmission ratios, and a supply model for natural gas, we find regional electricity shocks do propagate across regions. We conclude output markets institutionally in autarky achieve modest degrees of economic integration through factor markets. (JEL C32, L94, Q41)
Ivermectin residues in cattle dung impair insect‐mediated dung removal but not organic matter decomposition
Authors: Kavanaugh Bernadette , Manning Paul
Published: January 2020

1. Veterinary parasiticide residues in livestock dung have been repeatedly shown to negatively affect the abundance and diversity of dung‐associated insects. While these losses are concerning from a conservation perspective, they can also translate to impairment of ecosystem functions in agricultural landscapes (e.g. nutrient cycling, primary productivity and greenhouse gas mitigation).

2. Most research focusing on decomposition‐related ecosystem functioning has focused on dung beetles (Coleoptera: Scarabaeoidea) while other insects, particularly flies, have received comparatively less attention.

3. Using mesocosms, this study manipulated the insect groups colonising cow dung (beetles only, flies only, beetles and flies together, and an insect‐free control). Half of the insects were exposed to 1 mg kg−1 ivermectin in dung, while the other half were exposed to ivermectin‐free dung. Dung decomposition (mass of organic matter lost) and dung removal (change in the dry mass of the dung pat attributed to both dung decomposition and burial) were measured.

4. Comparison of beetles and flies in ivermectin‐free dung showed that beetles removed nearly twice as much dung as did flies. Comparison of dung removal across all treatments showed that ivermectin residues significantly reduced dung removal provided by beetles by 47% and dung removal provided by beetles and flies together by 32%.

5. Organic matter decomposition was not significantly affected by insect colonists or by the presence of ivermectin, indicating that organic matter decomposition can occur independently of insect activity and chemical perturbations.
Discovering the virtue of hope
Authors: Milona Michael
Published: January 2020

This paper asks whether there is a moral virtue of hope, and if so, what it is. The enterprise is motivated by a historical asymmetry, namely, that while Christian thinkers have long classed hope as a theological virtue, it has not traditionally been classed as a moral one. But this is puzzling, for hoping well is not confined to the sphere of religion; and consequently, we might expect that if the theological virtue is structurally sound, there will be a secular, moral analogue. This paper proposes that there is such an analogue and that it is closely linked to the everyday notion of “having your priorities straight,” a phenomenon which is naturally understood in terms of the attitude of hope. It turns out that the priorities model provides an abstract way of characterizing a central but underexplored virtue, one which can be developed in secular or theological ways.
A pathogen‐derived metabolite induces microglial activation via odorant receptors
Authors: Lee NaHye , Jae YoonGyu , Kim Minhyung , Cho TaeHo , Lee ChaeEun , Hong Yu Ri , Hyeon Do Young , Ahn Sanghyun , Kwon Hongmok , Kim Kyul , Jung Jae Hoon , Chae Sehyun , Shin Jeong‐Oh , Bok Jinwoong , Byun Youngjoo , Hwang Daehee , Koo JaeHyung
Published: January 2020

Microglia (MG), the principal neuroimmune sentinels in the brain, continuously sense changes in their environment and respond to invading pathogens, toxins, and cellular debris, thereby affecting neuroinflammation. Microbial pathogens produce small metabolites that influence neuroinflammation, but the molecular mechanisms that determine whether pathogen‐derived small metabolites affect microglial activation of neuroinflammation remain to be elucidated. We hypothesized that odorant receptors (ORs), the largest subfamily of G protein‐coupled receptors, are involved in microglial activation by pathogen‐derived small metabolites. We found that MG express high levels of two mouse ORs, Olfr110 and Olfr111, which recognize a pathogenic metabolite, 2‐pentylfuran, secreted by Streptococcus pneumoniae. These interactions activate MG to engage in chemotaxis, cytokine production, phagocytosis, and reactive oxygen species generation. These effects were mediated through the Gαs–cyclic adenosine monophosphate–protein kinase A–extracellular signal‐regulated kinase and Gβγ–phospholipase C–Ca2+ pathways. Taken together, our results reveal a novel interplay between the pathogen‐derived metabolite and ORs, which has major implications for our understanding of microglial activation by pathogen recognition.

Database

Model data are available in the PMDB database under the accession number PM0082389.
Benchmarking within a DEA framework: setting the closest targets and identifying peer groups with the most similar performances
Authors: Ruiz José L. , Sirvent Inmaculada
Published: January 2020

Data envelopment analysis (DEA) is widely used as a benchmarking tool for improving performance of organizations. For that purpose, DEA analyses provide information on both target setting and peer identification. However, the identification of peers is actually a by‐product of DEA. DEA models seek a projection point of the unit under evaluation on the efficient frontier of the production possibility set, which is used to set targets, while peers are identified simply as the members of the so‐called reference sets, which consist of the efficient units that determine the projection point as a combination of them. In practice, the selection of peers is crucial for benchmarking, because organizations need to identify a peer group in their sector or industry that represents actual performances from which to learn. In this paper, we argue that DEA benchmarking models should incorporate into their objectives criteria for the selection of suitable benchmarks among peers, in addition to considering the setting of appropriate targets (as usual). Specifically, we develop models having two objectives: setting the closest targets and selecting the most similar reference sets. Thus, we seek to establish targets that require the least effort from organizations for their achievement in addition to identifying peer groups with the most similar performances, which are potential benchmarks to emulate and improve.
Performance of pedigree and various forms of marker‐derived relationship coefficients in genomic prediction and their correlations
Authors: Solaymani Samaneh , Ayatollahi Mehrgardi Ahmad , Esmailizadeh Ali , Tusell Llibertat , Momen Mehdi
Published: January 2020

In recent years, with development and validation of different genotyping panels, several methods have been proposed to build efficient similarity matrices among individuals to be used for genomic selection. Consequently, the estimated genetic parameters from such information may deviate from their counterpart using traditional family information. In this study, we used a pedigree‐based numerator relationship matrix (A) and three types of marker‐based relationship matrices () including two identical by descent, that is and and one identical by state, as well as four Gaussian kernel () similarity kernels with different smoothing parameters to predict yet to be observed phenotypes. Also, we used different kinship matrices that are a linear combination of marker‐derived IBD or IBS matrices with A, constructed as , where the weight () assigned to each source of information varied over a grid of values. A Bayesian multiple‐trait Gaussian model was fitted to estimate the genetic parameters and compare the prediction accuracy in terms of predictive correlation, mean square error and unbiasedness. Results show that the estimated genetic parameters (heritability and correlations) are affected by the source of the information used to create kinship or the weight placed on the sources of genomic and pedigree information. The superiority of GK‐based model depends on the smoothing parameters (θ) so that with an optimum θ value, the GK‐based model statistically yielded better performance (higher predictive correlation, lowest MSE and unbiased estimates) and more stable correlations and heritability than the model with IBD, IBS or kinship matrices or any of the linear combinations.
Cutaneous melanoma in vicenarians: Patients in their twenties and older patients show similar clinical behaviors and survival rates
Authors: Tas Faruk , Erturk Kayhan
Published: January 2020

Background

Adolescent and young adult melanomas show different histopathological characteristics and clinical behaviors from adult melanomas.

Objective

To describe the histopathological and clinical features pertinent to vicenarian skin melanomas and compare them with adult melanomas using a large cohort from a single institution.

Methods

A total of 146 melanomas in their twenties and 1139 older melanoma patients were analyzed retrospectively.

Results

The median age of vicenarian patients was 27 years (ranging from 20 to 29, inclusive). The females predominated over the males (55.5%) and slightly more than half of the tumors were thick (≥2 mm) (58.6%) and ulcerated (51.6%). Majority of the lesions were associated with favorable prognostic indicators such as non‐nodular histotype (68%), lower mitotic rate (≤3 per mm2) (58.1%), low lymphovascular invasion (87.5%), node negativity (70.1%), and nonmetastatic disease (91.8%). Compared to adult melanomas, vicenarians were mostly females (P = .009), and their lesions were significantly BRAF‐mutant (P = .04). Nevertheless, vicenarian melanomas were not associated with other major prognostic parameters, such as thickness, ulceration, mitotic rate, nodal involvement, or metastasis. The recurrence and death rates between age groups were found similar (P = .5 and P = .1, respectively). The 5‐year disease‐free survival rates for vicenarians v adult melanomas were 62.6% and 57.4%, respectively (P = .4). Likewise, 5‐year overall survival rates in vicenarians and older group were 68.1% v 60%, respectively, (P = .1).

Conclusion

Since both the vicenarian and adult melanomas are associated with same clinicopathological indicators they share similar survival rates.
The correlation of gagging threshold with intra‐oral tactile and psychometric profiles in healthy subjects: A pilot study
Authors: Park Mi‐Ju , Byun Jin‐Seok , Jung Jae‐Kwang , Choi Jae‐Kap
Published: January 2020

Excessive gag reflex could be problematic for adequate dental care. Although various factors may increase the susceptibility to gagging, its contributing factors have not been fully determined. This study aimed to determine whether gag reflex was associated with tactile sensitivity and psychological characteristics. Fifteen volunteers of healthy males and females each were recruited for this study. After completing a questionnaire describing the self‐perceived gag reflex activity, a disposable saliva ejector was inserted along the palate into the mouth until gagging was evoked. The ratio of the insertion depth to the palatal length was used as an index for the gagging threshold. The two‐point discrimination (TPD) and Semmes‐Weinstein monofilament (SWM) tests were performed to assess the tactile sensitivity of the palatal regions (hard palate, anterior and posterior soft palate). The Symptom Checklist‐90‐Revised was used to investigate the relationship between the gagging threshold and the psychological status. Our findings showed that the gagging threshold had a significant positive correlation with the TPD and SWM thresholds on the hard palate. The psychological profiles of psychoticism and hostility score were also significantly correlated with the gagging threshold. However, there were no significant differences in the tactile and gagging thresholds, as well as the psychological profiles, between males and females. Our results suggested that the tactile sensitivity of the anterior palate is a determining factor for the gagging threshold and implied that the initial response of the oral entry site to stimulation may lead to the development of gag reflex.
Herbivory enhances the effect of environmental variability on plant community composition and beta diversity
Authors: Brambila Alejandro , Chesnut John W. , Prugh Laura R. , Hallett Lauren M.
Published: January 2020

Aim

Understanding the factors that shape biodiversity over space and time is a central question in ecology. Spatiotemporal environmental variation in resource availability can favor different species, generating beta diversity patterns that increase overall diversity. A key question is the degree to which biotic processes—in particular herbivory—enhance or dampen the effect of environmental variation on resource availability at different scales.

Location

We tested this question in a semi‐arid California grassland, which is characterized by high rainfall variability. The system supports giant kangaroo rats (Dipodomys ingens), which form mounds that structure spatial variability in soil nutrient availability.

Methods

From 2008 to 2017 we implemented a cattle herbivory exclusion experiment to test whether herbivory moderates the effect of spatial and inter‐annual resource variability on plant biomass and diversity both on and off mounds.

Results

Grazing reduced local diversity regardless of mound status or amount of precipitation. However, we found that plant productivity was higher on than off mounds, increased following high rainfall years, and that grazing increased these on‐ versus off‐mound differences in wet years—especially after a major drought. Correspondingly, grazing led to on‐mound communities that were more different from each other and from off‐mound communities.

Conclusions

Taken together, our results suggest that herbivory generally enhances habitat heterogeneity across this arid landscape, but is resource context‐dependent with greater effects seen in wetter years.
Malnutrition in rural Solomon Islands: An analysis of the problem and its drivers
Authors: Albert Joelle , Bogard Jessica , Siota Faye , McCarter Joe , Diatalau Salome , Maelaua Josephine , Brewer Tom , Andrew Neil
Published: January 2020

Solomon Islands, like many Pacific Island nations, suffer from the burden of malnutrition. External drivers including population growth, declining agriculture and fisheries productivity and global food trade have contributed to the transition to greater reliance on imported foods. Globally, diets are recognized as both a cause of and solution to the burden of malnutrition. Using a mixed‐method approach this study assessed nutritional status and key determinants of malnutrition among women and young children in rural Solomon Island communities. Quantitative 24‐hour recall surveys identified diets of women and young children in these communities to be very limited in diversity. Typical daily diets comprised of fish, sweet potato (and/or rice) and slippery cabbage (a leafy green) usually boiled in coconut milk or baked. Participatory research using problem tree and biocultural approaches identified basic determinants of poor diets and opportunities to address these challenges. We highlight three domains of opportunity to improve diets across multiple scales; 1) improve nutrition‐sensitive agriculture and fisheries to produce and distribute diverse, productive and nutrient rich foods; 2) nutrition education and empowerment, focusing on the first 1000 days of life, to influence and inform choices regarding food consumption; and 3) reducing the consumption of imported, energy‐rich nutrient poor foods through national and regional policies. These multi‐scale domains highlight that food system approaches that strengthen integrated policy and empower people are essential for healthy and sustainable diets in Solomon Islands and more broadly in the Pacific region.
Relationships between gustatory function tests
Authors: Kang Min‐Goo , Choi Jee‐Hye , Kho Hong‐Seop
Published: January 2020

Objectives

To investigate the relationships among four different gustatory function tests in healthy young adults: electrogustometry (EGM), filter paper disk (FPD), whole‐mouth, and taste strip methods. The relationships of the results of gustatory function tests with salivary flow rate were also investigated.

Methods

Sixty healthy young adults (30 men, 26.9 ± 4.7 years; 30 women, 25.7 ± 4.6 years) who did not have disorders or conditions related with gustatory function were included. Four different gustatory function tests using the EGM, FPD, whole‐mouth, and taste strip methods were performed in each participant with 2‐ to 3‐day intervals between tests. The flow rates of unstimulated and stimulated whole saliva were measured.

Results

There were no significant differences between sexes in all the examined gustatory function tests. The levels of correlations between the gustatory function tests were low. The EGM threshold correlated with the taste score of the FPD method in the chorda tympani nerve area. Different chemical gustatory function tests did not correlate significantly in any of the four taste qualities. Salivary flow rates did not correlate with taste perception.

Conclusions

The correlations between gustatory function tests were weak. A significant correlation was found between the results of EGM and FPD methods in the chorda tympani nerve area.
Right Singular Vector Projection Graphs: Fast High Dimensional Covariance Matrix Estimation under Latent Confounding
Authors: Shah Rajen D. , Frot Benjamin , Thanei Gian-Andrea , Meinshausen Nicolai
Published: January 2020

We consider the problem of estimating a high dimensional p × p covariance matrix Σ, given n observations of confounded data with covariance Σ+ΓΓT, where Γ is an unknown p × q matrix of latent factor loadings. We propose a simple and scalable estimator based on the projection onto the right singular vectors of the observed data matrix, which we call right singular vector projection (RSVP). Our theoretical analysis of this method reveals that, in contrast with approaches based on the removal of principal components, RSVP can cope well with settings where the smallest eigenvalue of ΓTΓ is relatively close to the largest eigenvalue of Σ, as well as when the eigenvalues of ΓTΓ are diverging fast. RSVP does not require knowledge or estimation of the number of latent factors q, but it recovers Σ only up to an unknown positive scale factor. We argue that this suffices in many applications, e.g. if an estimate of the correlation matrix is desired. We also show that, by using subsampling, we can further improve the performance of the method. We demonstrate the favourable performance of RSVP through simulation experiments and an analysis of gene expression data sets collated by the GTEX consortium.
Evaluation of three ligatures in simulated equine open castration
Authors: Gandini Marco , Comino Francesco , Caramello Vittorio , Giusto Gessica
Published: January 2020

Objective

To compare three surgical knots for preventing leakage from the vascular bundle during ligation in simulated equine open castrations.

Study design

Randomized, case‐control, in vitro study.

Sample population

Testes (N = 60) collected from 30 horses.

Methods

Testes were collected from 30 horses and randomly assigned to one of three groups: group G (friction, giant knot), group T (modified transfixing knot), or group S (sliding, strangle knot; n = 20/group). The assigned knot was used to ligate the vascular bundle during open castration. The length of suture material used and the leak pressure of the testicular artery were measured and compared between groups.

Results

Strangle knots consistently leaked at higher pressures (median, 735.5 mm Hg; interquartile range [IQR], 735.5‐735.5) compared with giant (median, 441.3 mm Hg; IQR, 367.8‐643.6) and transfixing (median, 419.2 mm Hg; IQR, 323.6‐643.6; P < .0001) knots. Both the strangle (median, 5 cm; IQR, 4.5‐5.5) and giant (median, 6 cm; IQR, 5.35‐6.075) knots required less suture material compared with the transfixing (median, 9.2 cm; IQR, 8.425‐10.38; P < .0001) knot.

Conclusion

The three surgical knots tested withstood pressure well above physiological levels in simulated open castrations. The strangle knot withstood higher pressure and required similar (giant) or less (transfixing) suture material than the other two knots.

Clinical significance

This study provides evidence to support the use of a strangle knot to ligate the vascular bundle during simulated open castrations in horses.
An improved differential evolution algorithm with a restart technique to solve systems of nonlinear equations
Authors: Wetweerapong Jeerayut , Puphasuk Pikul
Published: January 2020

In this research, an improved differential evolution algorithm with a restart technique (DE-R) is designed for solutions of systems of nonlinear equations which often occurs in solving complex computational problems involving variables of nonlinear models. DE-R adds a new strategy for mutation operation and a restart technique to prevent premature convergence and stagnation during the evolutionary search to the basic DE algorithm. The proposed method is evaluated on various real world and synthetic problems and compared with the recently developed methods in the literature. Experiment results show that DE-R can successfully solve all the test problems with fast convergence speed and give high quality solutions. It also outperforms the compared methods.
Sex differences in paediatric airway anatomy
Authors: Ripoll Juan G. , Guo Winston , Andersen Kylie J. , Baker Sarah E. , Wiggins Chad C. , Shepherd John R. A. , Carter Rickey E. , Welch Brian T. , Joyner Michael J. , Dominelli Paolo B.
Published: January 2020

New Findings

What is the central question of this study?

Are sex difference in the central airways present in healthy paediatric patients?

What is the main finding and its importance?

In patients ≤12 years we found no sex differences in central airway luminal area. After 14 years, the males had significantly larger central airway luminal areas than the females. The sex differences were minimized, but preserved when correcting for height. Luminal area is the main determinant of airway resistance and our finding could help explain sex differences in pulmonary system limitations to exercise in paediatric patients.

Cross‐sectional airway area is the main determinant of resistance to airflow in the respiratory system. In paediatric patients (<18 years), previous evidence for sex differences in cross‐sectional airway area was limited to patients with history of pulmonary disease or cadaveric studies with small numbers of subjects. These studies either only report tracheal data and do not include a range of ages or correct for height. Therefore, we sought to assess sex differences in airway luminal area utilizing paediatric patients of varying ages and no history of respiratory disease. Using three‐dimensional reconstructions from high‐resolution computed tomography scans, we retrospectively assessed the cross‐sectional airway area in healthy paediatric females (n = 97) and males (n = 128) over a range of ages (1–17 years). The areas of the trachea, left main bronchus, left upper lobe, left lower lobe, right main bronchus, intermediate bronchus and right upper lobe were measured at three discrete points by a blinded investigator. No differences between the sexes were noted in the cross‐sectional areas of the youngest (ages 1–12 years) patients (P > 0.05). However, in patients ≥14 years the cross‐sectional areas were larger in the males compared to females in most airway sites. For instance, the cross‐sectional size of the trachea was 25% (218 ± 44 vs. 163 ± 24 mm2, P < 0.01) larger in males vs. females among ages 13–17 years. When accounting for height, these sex differences in airway areas were attenuated, but persisted. Our results indicate that sex differences in paediatric airway cross‐sectional area manifest after age ≥14 years and are independent of height.
High‐intensity interval exercise reduces tolerance to a simulated haemorrhagic challenge in heat‐stressed individuals
Authors: Trotter Claire E. , Tourula Erica , Pizzey Faith K. , Batterson Philip M. , Jacobs Robert A. , Pearson James
Published: January 2020

New Findings

What is the central question of this study?

In heat‐stressed individuals, does high‐intensity interval exercise reduce tolerance to a simulated haemorrhagic challenge (lower body negative pressure, LBNP) relative to steady state exercise?

What is the main finding and its importance?

LBNP tolerance was lower in heat‐stressed individuals following high‐intensity interval exercise relative to steady state exercise. This was likely owing to the greater cardiovascular strain required to maintain arterial blood pressure prior to and early during LBNP following high‐intensity interval exercise. These findings are of importance for individuals working in occupations in which combined heat stress and intense intermittent exercise are common and where the risk of haemorrhagic injury is increased.

This study investigated whether tolerance to a simulated haemorrhagic challenge (lower body negative pressure, LBNP) was lower in heat‐stressed individuals following high‐intensity interval exercise relative to steady state exercise. Nine healthy participants completed two trials (Steady State and Interval). Participants cycled continuously at ∼38% (Steady State) or alternating between 10 and ∼88% (Interval) of the maximal power output whilst wearing a hot water perfused suit until core temperatures increased ∼1.4°C. Participants then underwent LBNP to pre‐syncope. LBNP tolerance was quantified as cumulative stress index (CSI; mmHg min). Mean skin and core temperatures were elevated in both trials following exercise prior to LBNP (to 38.1 ± 0.6°C and 38.3 ± 0.2°C, respectively, both P < 0.001 relative to baseline) but not different between trials (both P > 0.05). In the Interval trial, heart rate was greater (122 ± 12 beats min−1) prior to LBNP, relative to the Steady State trial (107 ± 8 beats min−1, P < 0.001) while mean arterial pressure was similarly reduced in both trials prior to LBNP (from baseline 89 ± 5 to 77 ± 7 mmHg; P = 0.001) and at pre‐syncope (to 62 ± 9 mmHg, P < 0.001). CSI was lower in the Interval trial (280 ± 194 vs. 550 ± 234 mmHg min; P = 0.0085). In heat‐stressed individuals, tolerance to a simulated haemorrhagic challenge is reduced following high‐intensity interval exercise relative to steady state exercise.
Effects of food sources on the fecundity and gene expression of vitellogenin and its receptor from Amblyseius eharai (Acari: Phytoseiidae)

Authors: Wang Ji , Xin Tianrong , Ye Xianyan , Huang Xinyu , Gao Shangren , Zou Zhiwen , Xia Bin
Published: January 2020

Vitellogenin (Vg) and Vitellogenin receptor (VgR) play key roles in the reproductive process and development of many arthropod species, including Amblyseius eharai, a dominant natural enemy of spider mites and other small pests. In this study, impacts of different food on A. eharai fecundity were investigated. Two Vg genes (AeVg1 and AeVg2) and AeVgR genes were cloned, with their expression pattern analyzed. When fed with different foods including Tetranychus cinnabarinus, Aleuroglyphus ovatus and Camellia oleifera pollen, the number of eggs for each female of A. eharai was influenced significantly (P<0.05), while the hatching rate of eggs not signiﬁcantly (P>0.05). The open reading frames of AeVg1, AeVg2 and AeVgR were 5673, 5634 and 5597 bp, encoding 1857, 1851 and 1830 amino acids, respectively. Phylogenetic analysis of the amino acid sequences between the AeVgs and AeVgR and 35 other Vg and VgRs from other arthropod species showed that A. eharai AeVg1 was related most closely to Neoseiulus barkeri Vg1, AeVg2 was related most closely to Neoseiulus cucumeris Vg2, AeVgR was most similar to Varroa jacobsori VgR. AeVgs and AeVgR had similar expression patterns: the highest expression was observed in the oviposition female stage, and the highest expression was observed in A. eharai fed with C. oleifera pollen. Positive correlations between expression of AeVgs and AeVgR and fecundity were observed. These results will help us understand the molecular mechanism of the reproductive capacity in A. eharai.
In situ nanoindentation measurements of arc-evaporated Cr0.49Al0.51N, Al0.66Ti0.34N, and Al0.65Ti0.33Y0.02N films up to 800 °C
Authors: Wu Zhengtao , Wang Qimin , Kim Kwang Ho
Published: January 2020

In this study, the in situ hardness and elastic modulus measurements of arc-evaporated Cr0.49Al0.51N, Al0.66Ti0.34N, and Al0.65Ti0.33Y0.02N films are investigated using a high-temperature nanoindentation tester. It is found that the hardness of Cr0.49Al0.51N initially increases from 30.2 ± 2.3 GPa at room temperature (RT) and reaches a maximum of 33.2 ± 2.4 GPa at 600 °C before decreasing to 27.9 ± 2.1 GPa at 800 °C. However, the results for elastic modulus versus temperature follow a degraded trend, with 405 ± 23 GPa for RT, decreasing to 280 ± 18 GPa at 800 °C. Increases in the hardness and the elastic modulus can be achieved for both Al0.66Ti0.34N and Al0.65Ti0.33Y0.02N films as their temperatures increase. The addition of Y effectively promotes the hardness and the elastic modulus of Al0.66Ti0.34N at RT–300 °C. However, both hardness and elastic modulus change slightly as Y is incorporated at 300–800 °C.
Perception of local and non-local vowels by adults and children in the South
Authors: Jacewicz Ewa , Fox Robert Allen
Published: January 2020

This study assessed the ability of Southern listeners to accommodate extensive talker variability in identifying vowels in their local Appalachian community in the context of sound change. Building on prior work, the current experiment targeted a subset of spectrally overlapping vowels in local and two non-local varieties to establish whether adult and child listeners will demonstrate the local dialect advantage. Listeners responded to isolated target words, which minimized the interaction of multiple linguistic and dialect-specific features. For most vowel categories, the local dialect advantage was not demonstrated. However, adult listeners showed sensitivity to generational changes, indicating their familiarity with the local norms. A differential response pattern in children suggests that children perceived the vowels through the lens of their own experience with vowel production, representing a sound change in the community. Compared with the adults, children also relied more on stress cues, with increased confusions when the vowels were unstressed. The study provides evidence that identification accuracy is dependent upon the robustness of cues in individual vowel categories—whether local or non-local—and suggests that the bottom-up processes underlying phonetic vowel categorization in isolated monosyllables can interact with the top-down processing of dialect- and talker-specific information.
Perceiving Southernness: Vowel categories and acoustic cues in Southernness ratings
Authors: Gunter Kaylynn M. , Vaughn Charlotte R. , Kendall Tyler S.
Published: January 2020

Southern U.S. speech has been the focus of much sociophonetic work. In terms of vowel patterns, Southern speech is often characterized by the Southern Vowel Shift (SVS, involving shifts in /e/, /ɛ/, and /aɪ/), back vowel fronting, and changes in glide dynamics. The SVS, in particular, is said to play a primary role in distinguishing the South as a unique dialect region. However, there have been few investigations of the role of various vowel quality differences in perceptions of Southern accent, particularly across the vowel space beyond /e/, /ɛ/, and /aɪ/, or that ask whether any aggregate speaker-level acoustic measures align with listeners' perceptions, despite some suggestions in the literature to this effect. The current study examines what acoustic cues contribute to non-Southern listeners' evaluations of words spoken by Southerners as sounding more or less Southern accented, looking at a range of vowels from across the vowel space. Results indicate that listeners rate the speakers' productions of /u/ and /ɔ/ as most Southern and that vowel dynamics and speaker-level measures were the acoustic factors most predictive of Southernness ratings. These results together call for further work examining vowel dynamics and a more complete set of vowel categories in perception studies of Southern speech.