bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Efficacy of mirabegron for overactive bladder with human T cell lymphotropic virus‐1 associated myelopathy
Authors: Matsuo Tomohiro , Miyata Yasuyoshi , Nakamura Tatsufumi , Satoh Katsuya , Sakai Hideki
Published: February 2018

Objective

Mirabegron is widely considered as an effective and safe drug for patients with overactive bladder (OAB). However, there is no evidence regarding the efficacy of mirabegron in human T cell lymphotropic virus‐1 (HTLV‐1)‐associated myelopathy/tropical spastic paraparesis (HAM/TSP) patients with OAB symptoms. The aim of the present study was to clarify the efficacy of mirabegron in HAM/TSP patients with OAB symptoms.

Methods

The present study evaluated the efficacy of mirabegron treatment (50 mg, once daily) in nineteen HAM/TSP patients with OAB symptoms by assessing subjective symptoms using the overactive bladder symptom score (OABSS) and International Prostate Symptom Score (IPSS) before and 12 weeks after administration. Voided volume (VV), maximum flow rate (Qmax), and post‐void residual (PVR) urine volume were evaluated as objective symptoms.

Results

Mirabegron treatment improved OABSS in terms of night‐time frequency, urgency, and total score (P < .001). In addition, on the IPSS, mirabegron therapy improved urgency, nocturia, storage symptoms (Questions 2, 4 and 7 on the IPSS), as well as the total score (P < .001). The quality of life (QoL) on the IPSS also improved after treatment (P < .001). However, there were no significant changes in objective symptoms, as measured by VV, Qmax, and PVR, after treatment. One patient (5.3%) complained of dry mouth; because this adverse effect was very mild, the patient did not discontinue mirabegron.

Conclusions

Mirabegron administration improved subjective symptoms in HAM/TSP patients with neurogenic OAB.
The genomic footprint of climate adaptation in Chironomus riparius
Authors: Waldvogel Ann‐Marie , Wieser Andreas , Schell Tilman , Patel Simit , Schmidt Hanno , Hankeln Thomas , Feldmeyer Barbara , Pfenninger Markus
Published: February 2018

The gradual heterogeneity of climatic factors poses varying selection pressures across geographic distances that leave signatures of clinal variation in the genome. Separating signatures of clinal adaptation from signatures of other evolutionary forces, such as demographic processes, genetic drift and adaptation, to nonclinal conditions of the immediate local environment is a major challenge. Here, we examine climate adaptation in five natural populations of the harlequin fly Chironomus riparius sampled along a climatic gradient across Europe. Our study integrates experimental data, individual genome resequencing, Pool‐Seq data and population genetic modelling. Common‐garden experiments revealed significantly different population growth rates at test temperatures corresponding to the population origin along the climate gradient, suggesting thermal adaptation on the phenotypic level. Based on a population genomic analysis, we derived empirical estimates of historical demography and migration. We used an FST outlier approach to infer positive selection across the climate gradient, in combination with an environmental association analysis. In total, we identified 162 candidate genes as genomic basis of climate adaptation. Enriched functions among these candidate genes involved the apoptotic process and molecular response to heat, as well as functions identified in studies of climate adaptation in other insects. Our results show that local climate conditions impose strong selection pressures and lead to genomic adaptation despite strong gene flow. Moreover, these results imply that selection to different climatic conditions seems to converge on a functional level, at least between different insect species.
Arabidopsis HIPP27 is a host susceptibility gene for the beet cyst nematode Heterodera schachtii
Authors: Radakovic Zoran S. , Anjam Muhammad Shahzad , Escobar Elizabeth , Chopra Divykriti , Cabrera Javier , Silva Ana Cláudia , Escobar Carolina , Sobczak Miroslaw , Grundler Florian M. W. , Siddique Shahid
Published: February 2018

Sedentary plant‐parasitic cyst nematodes are obligate biotrophs that infect the roots of their host plant. Their parasitism is based on the modification of root cells to form a hypermetabolic syncytium from which the nematodes draw their nutrients. The aim of this study was to identify nematode susceptibility genes in Arabidopsis thaliana and to characterize their roles in supporting the parasitism of Heterodera schachtii. By selecting genes that were most strongly upregulated in response to cyst nematode infection, we identified HIPP27 (HEAVY METAL‐ASSOCIATED ISOPRENYLATED PLANT PROTEIN 27) as a host susceptibility factor required for beet cyst nematode infection and development. Detailed expression analysis revealed that HIPP27 is a cytoplasmic protein and that HIPP27 is strongly expressed in leaves, young roots and nematode‐induced syncytia. Loss‐of‐function Arabidopsis hipp27 mutants exhibited severely reduced susceptibility to H. schachtii and abnormal starch accumulation in syncytial and peridermal plastids. Our results suggest that HIPP27 is a susceptibility gene in Arabidopsis whose loss of function reduces plant susceptibility to cyst nematode infection without increasing the susceptibility to other pathogens or negatively affecting the plant phenotype.
The glory and demise of monetary nationalism in the post‐communist Baltic states
Authors: Norkus Zenonas
Published: February 2018

This paper contributes to the body of research on the monetary variety of nationalism, which conceives of national currency as an essential element of nation state and national identity (‘one nation, one money’), exploring its contribution to the successful internal devaluation in the Baltic states during the economic crisis of 2008–2010. Contrary to the predictions of renowned experts in economics and finance, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania were able to keep the peg of their national currencies to euro. Because of peculiar features of their histories (a brief period of independence with national currencies allegedly based on a gold standard, interrupted by prolonged Soviet occupation and the despised ‘wooden rouble’) monetary nationalism was very strong in the restored independent Baltic states. Monetary nationalism predisposed their indigenous populations to embrace the neoliberal model of capitalism and to accept the welfare cost of the defence of currency pegging during the crisis. Paradoxically, the success was self‐defeating, as it enabled the Baltic states to join Eurozone, abolishing national currencies. Theorizing about this case study of Baltic monetary nationalism, this paper closes with the interpretation of the rise and demise of national currencies as the reversal of the Weberian disenchantment process. Monetary nationalism (making money a core part of national identity) is a product of this reversal.
Lipid catabolism in microalgae
Authors: Kong Fantao , Romero Ismael Torres , Warakanont Jaruswan , Li‐Beisson Yonghua
Published: February 2018

Lipid degradation processes are important in microalgae because survival and growth of microalgal cells under fluctuating environmental conditions require permanent remodeling or turnover of membrane lipids as well as rapid mobilization of storage lipids. Lipid catabolism comprises two major spatially and temporarily separated steps, namely lipolysis, which releases fatty acids and head groups and is catalyzed by lipases at membranes or lipid droplets, and degradation of fatty acids to acetyl‐CoA, which occurs in peroxisomes through the β‐oxidation pathway in green microalgae, and can sometimes occur in mitochondria in some other algal species. Here we review the current knowledge on the enzymes and regulatory proteins involved in lipolysis and peroxisomal β‐oxidation and highlight gaps in our understanding of lipid degradation pathways in microalgae. Metabolic use of acetyl‐CoA products via glyoxylate cycle and gluconeogenesis is also reviewed. We then present the implication of various cellular processes such as vesicle trafficking, cell cycle and autophagy on lipid turnover. Finally, physiological roles and the manipulation of lipid catabolism for biotechnological applications in microalgae are discussed.
Of crowds and talents: discursive constructions of global online labour
Authors: Pongratz Hans J.
Published: February 2018

Online platforms not only serve to exchange information and goods but increasingly also service work provided by the self‐employed. The emergence of crowdsourcing of paid work has created a global market for online labour where services can be fully acquired and provided irrespective of location via platforms such as upwork.com or freelancer.com. Drawing on a content analysis of the websites of 44 globally operating platforms, this study has investigated the discursive construction of this new type of labour market. The findings show that platforms address the online workforce in different ways, for instance, as workers or freelancers. Contrary to their blanket characterisation as an anonymous crowd in previous academic debate, in most cases, online workers are forced to present themselves as talented experts to distinguish themselves from the mass of competitors. The control over online labour that these platforms exercise challenges existing conceptions of professionalism and self‐employment.
Adverse work experiences and marital outcomes in middle years: Role of self‐esteem
Authors: KING VICTORIA , WICKRAMA KANDAUDA K. A. S. , O'NEAL CATHERINE WALKER , LORENZ FREDERICK O.
Published: February 2018

This study assesses the decade‐long influence of adverse work experiences on husbands' and wives' problem‐solving behaviors and marital quality through self‐esteem using structural equation modeling with a sample of 308 dual‐earning couples. Analyses controlled for earlier marital quality, allowing for assessment of the residual change in marital quality over 10 years. Adverse work experiences directly affected marital quality and indirectly affected decreases in marital quality through lower self‐esteem; lastly, individuals' self‐esteem was positively related to increased problem‐solving behaviors. In addition, there was a crossover association, with wives' and husbands' self‐esteem influencing one another's problem‐solving behaviors. These results contribute to a deeper understanding about the processes responsible for the detrimental impact of adverse work experiences.
Understanding, Self‐Evidence, and Justification
Authors: Audi Robert
Published: February 2018

Self‐evidence is plausibly taken to be a status that marks propositions as capable of being justifiedly believed (and known) on the basis of understanding them. This paper explicates and defends that view. The paper shows that the broadly linguistic kind of understanding implied by basic semantic comprehension of a formulation of a self‐evident proposition does not entail being justified in believing that proposition; that the kind of understanding adequate to yield such justification is multi‐dimensional; and that there are many variables partly constitutive of such understanding—all philosophically interesting in themselves—that a theory of self‐evidence must account for. The paper also shows why self‐evident propositions need not be obvious, need not be unprovable, and, far from being beyond dispute, can be rationally disputed. The concluding section shows how knowledge of self‐evident propositions is possible even if, on the one hand, their elements are abstract and causally inert and, on the other, beliefs constituting knowledge must meet both causal and reliability conditions connected with their truthmakers.
Not Only a Messenger: Towards an Attitudinal‐Representational Theory of Pain
Authors: Jacobson Hilla
Published: February 2018

The main goal of this paper is to present a theory of the most salient aspect of the phenomenal character of pain – namely, the painfulness of pain or its negative affective quality. This task involves developing an account of the evaluative structure of pain, according to which painfulness is constituted by a (subjectively) frustrated (first‐order) conative attitude that is directed towards the bodily condition the obtaining of which the pain represents. The argument for the proposed Attitudinal‐Representational Theory of Pain proceeds by presenting an explanatory challenge that concerns crucial aspects of the reason‐giving force of pain, and showing that, unlike extant theories of pain, it successfully accounts for them.
Central Limit Theorems of Local Polynomial Threshold Estimator for Diffusion Processes with Jumps
Authors: Song Yuping , Wang Hanchao
Published: February 2018

Central limit theorems play an important role in the study of statistical inference for stochastic processes. However, when the non‐parametric local polynomial threshold estimator, especially local linear case, is employed to estimate the diffusion coefficients of diffusion processes, the adaptive and predictable structure of the estimator conditionally on the σ‐field generated by diffusion processes is destroyed, so the classical central limit theorem for martingale difference sequences cannot work. In high‐frequency data, we proved the central limit theorems of local polynomial threshold estimators for the volatility function in diffusion processes with jumps by Jacod's stable convergence theorem. We believe that our proof procedure for local polynomial threshold estimators provides a new method in this field, especially in the local linear case.
Repercussions of institutional governance changes on communication practices in the Afar National Regional State, Ethiopia
Authors: Pearson Olivia , Schmidt Matthias
Published: February 2018

Formal and informal institutions guide and shape communities and communication practices worldwide. Colonization, modernization and political transformation processes changed and questioned the role and relevance of informal institutions and strengthened the position of formal institutions. This paper looks at institutional governance transitions and the increasing presence of formal as opposed to informal clan based practices in the pastoralist lowlands of the Afar Region, Ethiopia, by analysing its impact on communication practices. Afar is governed by numerous multi‐scale institutions; a complex network of governmental and traditional, formal and informal bodies at different scales. The region witnessed the devaluation of indigenous and traditional customs, which altered how and with whom pastoralists and agro‐pastoralists communicate. The paper's case study shows that although residents now report their concerns to formal institutional representatives, traditional institutions are still functional. This change allows females to take a more active role in reporting concerns and communicating with authority figures. However, spatial disadvantages are present in this vast and sparsely populated region as those based further away from government representatives are disadvantaged. The relevance for a clear understanding of communication methods on the ground is stressed, in particular for implementing and disseminating programs and policies in this aid‐dependent area.
Modeling the impact of players’ workload on the injury‐burden of English Premier League football clubs
Authors: Fuller C. W.
Published: February 2018

The loss of players through injury is known to affect team performance in many sports; it is important, therefore, for professional teams to be able to quantify the likely injury‐burden that will be encountered throughout a season. A kinetic model, based on the rates at which match and training injuries are sustained and resolved, a team's squad size and the 2017/2018 season fixture schedule for teams competing in the English Premier League, is used to produce daily forecasts of injury‐burden experienced by a typical team. The incidences and median severities of match (incidence: 26.9 injuries/1000 player‐match hours, 95% CI: 21.5‐33.7; severity: 17.5 days, 95% CI: 13.0‐28.0) and training (incidence: 4.3 injuries/1000 player‐training hours, 95% CI: 3.4‐5.5; severity: 14.0 days, 95% CI: 11.0‐22.0) injuries were determined using data collected from four English Premier League football clubs during the 2016/2017 season. Time‐to‐recovery curves for the match and training injuries sustained in the Premier League closely matched the time‐to‐recovery curves predicted by the kinetic model used in this study. The kinetic model predicted higher match and lower training injury burdens and a higher overall injury burden for successful teams competing in both national and European club competitions compared to teams competing only in national competitions. The model also showed that, in terms of injury‐burden, there were no benefits in adopting a 4‐week mid‐season break during the season: reducing the number of clubs competing in the Premier League would, however, reduce the overall injury burden during a season.
Racial Resentment Attitudes Among White Millennial Youth: The Influence of Parents and Media*
Authors: Maxwell Angie , Schulte Stephanie R.
Published: February 2018

Objective

We examine levels of racial resentment among white Millennial youth. In addition, we explore the individual‐level determinants of racial resentment among this group, with specific attention given to the potential role of political socialization and social media.

Methods

Using a national survey of parents and children collected in October 2012 immediately prior to the U.S. presidential election, we examine the individual‐level predictors of racial resentment among white respondents (n = 613) who are 18 years old and younger. We test several competing explanations of racial resentment among Millennial youth, including demographic differences, traditional media use, social media use, general societal views, and levels of racial resentment among parents.

Results

Our findings suggest that white American Millennial youth may be slightly more racially progressive than their parents, and parental racial attitudes remain strong predictors of youth racial attitudes. In addition, some forms of social media may help to reduce levels of racial resentment.
Mitochondrial phylogenomics, the origin of swallowtail butterflies, and the impact of the number of clocks in Bayesian molecular dating
Authors: CONDAMINE FABIEN L. , NABHOLZ BENOIT , CLAMENS ANNE‐LAURE , DUPUIS JULIAN R. , SPERLING FELIX A. H.
Published: February 2018

Swallowtail butterflies (Lepidoptera: Papilionidae) have been instrumental in understanding many foundational concepts in biology; despite this, a resolved and robust phylogeny of the group has been a major impediment to elucidating patterns and processes of their ecological and evolutionary history. This study presents a mitogenomic, time‐calibrated phylogeny for all swallowtail genera. A shotgun sequencing approach was performed to obtain 32 complete mitogenomes that were added to available butterfly mitogenomes, resulting in a dataset including 142 butterfly taxa (and four outgroups) representing all butterfly families. Phylogenetic analyses were carried out under maximum likelihood (ML) and Bayesian inferences (BIs) with alternative partitioning strategies and the mixture (CAT) model. To test competing hypotheses about the systematics of Papilionidae, such as the enigmatic position of Baronia brevicornis or the status of the tribe Teinopalpini, we estimated the marginal likelihood of alternative topologies and computed Bayes factors. Estimates of divergence times were assessed using a Bayesian relaxed‐clock approach calibrated with six fossils while testing for the number of clocks. The results recovered a well‐resolved and supported phylogeny confirming that Baroniinae is sister to Parnassiinae + Papilioninae, both recovered as monophyletic. It also laid the foundations for classification at tribe and genus level, suggesting that the tribe Teinopalpini only contains the genus Teinopalpus (Meandrusa being sister to Papilio). The number of molecular clocks in dating analyses had a significant impact on divergence times. A single clock recovered an origin of butterflies in the Cretaceous (98, 66–188 Ma) and also for swallowtails (85, 55–163 Ma), while partitioning the clocks yielded an origin of Papilionoidea in the very Late Cretaceous (71, 64–86 Ma), and all butterfly families originated in the aftermath of the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction. These results challenge previous studies suggesting that butterflies appeared in the Early Cretaceous, 110 Ma, concurrently with the rise of angiosperms.
The true art of the tax deal: Evidence on aid flows and bilateral double tax agreements
Authors: Braun Julia , Zagler Martin
Published: February 2018

Of a total of 2,976 double tax agreements (DTAs), some 60% are signed between a developing and a developed economy. AsDTAs shift taxing rights from capital‐importing to capital‐exporting countries, the latter inherently benefit more from the agreements. In this paper, we argue that capital exporters use foreign aid to incite capital importers into signingDTAs. We demonstrate in a theoretical model that in a deal, one country does not trump the other, but that the deal must be mutually beneficial. In the case of an asymmetricDTA, this requires compensation from the capital‐exporting country to the capital‐importing country. ExaminingDTAs that are signed between donor and recipient countries between 1991 and 2012, and using a fixed effects Poisson model, we find that bilateral foreign aid commitments increase by 22% in the year of the signature of aDTA. Evaluated at the sample mean, this translates into around US$ six million additional aid commitments in aDTAsignatory year.
Habitat‐driven diversification, hybridization and cryptic diversity in the Fork‐tailed Drongo (Passeriformes: Dicruridae: Dicrurus adsimilis)
Authors: Fuchs Jérôme , De Swardt Dawie H. , Oatley Graeme , Fjeldså Jon , Bowie Rauri C. K.
Published: February 2018

Species complexes of widespread African vertebrates that include taxa distributed across different habitats are poorly understood in terms of their phylogenetic relationships, levels of genetic differentiation and diversification dynamics. The Fork‐tailed Drongo (Dicrurus adsimilis) species complex includes seven Afrotropical taxa with parapatric distributions, each inhabiting a particular bioregion. Various taxonomic hypotheses concerning the species limits of the Fork‐tailed Drongo have been suggested, based largely on mantle and upperpart coloration, but our understanding of diversity and diversification patterns remains incomplete. Especially given our lack of knowledge about how well these characters reflect taxonomy in a morphologically conservative group. Using a thorough sampling across Afrotropical bioregions, we suggest that the number of recognized species within the D. adsimilis superspecies complex has likely been underestimated and that mantle and upperpart coloration reflects local adaptation to different habitat structure, rather than phylogenetic relationships. Our results are consistent with recent phylogeographic studies of sub‐Saharan African vertebrates, indicating that widespread and often morphologically uniform species comprise several paraphyletic lineages, often with one or more of the lineages being closely related to phenotypically distinct forms inhabiting a different, yet geographically close, biome.
Atomic layer deposition of 2D and 3D standards for synchrotron-based quantitative composition and structure analysis methods
Authors: Becker Nicholas G. , Butterworth Anna L. , Salome Murielle , Sutton Stephen R. , De Andrade Vincent , Sokolov Andrey , Westphal Andrew J. , Proslier Thomas
Published: February 2018

Atomic layer deposition (ALD) is a scalable deposition technique known for producing uniform, conformal films of a wide range of compounds on nearly any substrate material. These traits make it an ideal deposition method for producing films to replace the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) standards and create Standard Reference Materials (SRMs) on a wide range of relevant two-dimensional and three-dimensional substrates. The use of SRM from NIST for quantitative analysis of chemical composition using synchrotron based x-ray fluorescence (SR-XRF) and scanning transmission x-ray microscopy (STXM) is common. Such standards, however, can suffer from inhomogeneity in chemical composition and thickness and often require further calculations, based on sample mounting and detector geometry, to obtain quantitative results. These inhomogeneities negatively impact the reproducibility of the measurements and the quantitative measure itself. Utilizing Rutherford backscattering, x-ray reflectivity, quartz crystal microbalance, STXM, and SR-XRF, the authors show that ALD is capable of producing high quality standards that are homogenous over scales ranging from nanometers to 100s of micrometers.
Towards real-time assessment of anisotropic plate properties using elastic guided waves
Authors: Bochud Nicolas , Laurent Jérôme , Bruno François , Royer Daniel , Prada Claire
Published: February 2018

A method to recover the elastic properties, thickness, or orientation of the principal symmetry axes of anisotropic plates is presented. This method relies on the measurements of multimode guided waves, which are launched and detected in arbitrary directions along the plate using a multi-element linear transducer array driven by a programmable electronic device. A model-based inverse problem solution is proposed to optimally recover the properties of interest. The main contribution consists in defining an objective function built from the dispersion equation, which allows accounting for higher-order modes without the need to pair each experimental data point to a specific guided mode. This avoids the numerical calculation of the dispersion curves and errors in the mode identification. Compared to standard root-finding algorithms, the computational gain of the procedure is estimated to be on the order of 200. The objective function is optimized using genetic algorithms, which allow identifying from a single out-of-symmetry axis measurement the full set of anisotropic elastic coefficients and either the plate thickness or the propagation direction. The efficiency of the method is demonstrated using data measured on materials with different symmetry classes. Excellent agreement is found between the reported estimates and reference values from the literature.
Nasalization by
Nasalis larvatus
: Larger noses audiovisually advertise conspecifics in proboscis monkeys
Authors: Koda Hiroki , Murai Tadahiro , Tuuga Augustine , Goossens Benoit , Nathan Senthilvel K.S.S. , Stark Danica J. , Ramirez Diana A. R. , Sha John C. M. , Osman Ismon , Sipangkui Rosa , Seino Satoru , Matsuda Ikki
Published: February 2018

Multidimensional approaches support audiovisually coevolved large noses on the unique society of proboscis monkeys.
Human Interleukin-32γ Plays a Protective Role in an Experimental Model of Visceral Leishmaniasis in Mice
Authors: Gomes Rodrigo Saar , Silva Muriel Vilela Teodoro , dos Santos Jéssica Cristina , van Linge Christine , Reis Juliana Machado , Teixeira Mauro Martins , Pinto Sebastião Alves , Dorta Miriam Leandro , Bai Xiyuan , Chan Edward D. , Dinarello Charles A. , Oliveira Milton Adriano Pelli , Joosten Leo A. B. , Ribeiro-Dias Fátima
Published: February 2018

Visceral leishmaniasis (VL) is a chronic parasitic disease caused byLeishmania infantumin the Americas. During VL, several proinflammatory cytokines are produced in spleen, liver, and bone marrow. However, the role of interleukin-32 (IL-32) has not been explored in this disease. IL-32 can induce production of proinflammatory cytokines in innate immune cells and polarize the adaptive immune response. Herein, we discovered thatL. infantumantigens induced expression of mRNA mainly for the IL-32γ isoform but also induced low levels of the IL-32β transcript in human peripheral blood mononuclear cells. Furthermore, infection of human IL-32γ transgenic mice (IL-32γTg mice) withL. infantumpromastigote forms increased IL-32γ expression in the spleen and liver. Interestingly, IL-32γTg mice harbored less parasitism in the spleen and liver than wild-type (WT) mice. In addition, IL-32γTg mice showed increased granuloma formation in the liver compared to WT mice. The protection against VL was associated with increased production of nitric oxide (NO), interferon gamma (IFN-γ), IL-17A, and tumor necrosis factor alpha by splenic cells restimulatedex vivowithL. infantumantigens. In parallel, there was an increase in the number of Th1 and Th17 T cells in the spleens of IL-32γTg mice infected withL. infantum. IL-32γ induction of IFN-γ and IL-17A expression was found to be essential for NO production by splenic cells of infected animals. These data indicate that IL-32γ potentiates the Th1/Th17 immune response during experimental VL, thus contributing to the control ofL. infantuminfection.
Development and validation of the Swedish national stroke register Riksstroke’s questionnaires in patients at 3 and 12 months after stroke: a qualitative study
Authors: Palmcrantz Susanne , Sommerfeld Disa K
Published: February 2018

Objectives

Because healthcare and community organisations and treatment methods are always changing, continuous changes might also be needed in questionnaires that register patient-reported outcomes (PRO) and patient-reported experiences (PRE) of healthcare interventions and community support. Thus, the aim of this study was to test the content and face validity, including the readability, of two questionnaires used by the Swedish national stroke register Riksstroke to register PRO and PRE at 3 and 12 months poststroke.

Design

Clinicians’ and patients’ knowledge and experiences of current care, rehabilitation, community support and functioning after stroke as well as comments noted regarding the content and layout of the questionnaires were retrieved in focus-groups with expert clinicians and in patient interviews analysed with content analysis. A workgroup of experts with experience in stroke care, rehabilitation and research repeatedly revised the questionnaires regarding content, layout and consistency throughout the validation process.

Participants

The participants included allied healthcare professionals, nurses and physicians with extensive experience of working with stroke care and rehabilitation (expert clinicians) as well as patients who had suffered a stroke 3 or 12 months earlier and who were purposefully selected among those who had completed and returned the 3-month questionnaire.

Setting

Expert clinicians met at their work place in focus-groups. Patients were interviewed where they resided, that is, in their home or nursing home, including rural, town and city areas in Sweden.

Results

Based on clinical expertise and comments from the patients (n=47), the questionnaires were revised and then found to be valid in terms of content validity and face validity, including readability.

Conclusions

The present evaluation emphasises the need for testing aspects of validity, including readability, of questionnaires addressing PRO and PRE and for the recurrent revision of such questionnaires in order to maintain their validity in a society undergoing constant change.
Pathways: patient-centred decision counselling for women at risk of cancer-related infertility: a protocol for a comparative effectiveness cluster randomised trial
Authors: Woodard Terri Lynn , Hoffman Aubri S , Crocker Laura C , Holman Deborah A , Hoffman Derek B , Ma Jusheng , Bassett Roland L , Leal Viola B , Volk Robert J
Published: February 2018

Introduction

National guidelines recommend that all reproductive-age women with cancer be informed of their fertility risks and offered referral to fertility specialists to discuss fertility preservation options. However, reports indicate that only 5% of patients have consultations, and rates of long-term infertility-related distress remain high. Previous studies report several barriers to fertility preservation; however, initial success has been reported using provider education, patient decision aids and navigation support. This protocol will test effects of a multicomponent intervention compared with usual care on women’s fertility preservation knowledge and decision-making outcomes.

Methods and analysis

This cluster-randomised trial will compare the multicomponent intervention (provider education, patient decision aid and navigation support) with usual care (consultation and referral, if requested). One hundred newly diagnosed English-speaking women of reproductive age who are at risk of cancer-related infertility will be recruited from four regional oncology clinics.

ThePathwayspatient decision aid website provides (1) up-to-date evidence and descriptions of fertility preservation and other family-building options, tailored to cancer type; (2) structured guidance to support personalising the information and informed decision-making; and (3) a printable summary to help women prepare for discussions with their oncologist and/or fertility specialist. Four sites will be randomly assigned to intervention or control groups. Participants will be recruited after their oncology consultation and asked to complete online questionnaires at baseline, 1 week and 2 months to assess their demographics, fertility preservation knowledge, and decision-making process and quality. The primary outcome (decisional conflict) will be tested using Fisher’s exact test. Secondary outcomes will be assessed using generalised linear mixed models, and sensitivity analyses will be conducted, as appropriate.

Ethics and dissemination

The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center provided approval and ongoing review of this protocol. Results will be presented at relevant scientific meetings and submitted for publication in a peer-reviewed journal.

Trial registration number

NCT03141437; Pre-results.
Rethinking pain education
Authors: Swift Amelia , Twycross Alison
Published: February 2018

EBN engages readers through a range of Online social media activities to debate issues important to nurses and nursing. EBN Opinion papers highlight and expand on these debates.
Prevalence of medical workplace violence and the shortage of secondary and tertiary interventions among healthcare workers in China
Authors: Hall Brian J , Xiong Peng , Chang Kay , Yin Ming , Sui Xin-ru
Published: February 2018

Medical workplace violence (MWV) is a key occupational hazard facing medical professionals worldwide. MWV involves incident where medical staff are abused, threatened and assaulted. MWV affects the health and well-being of medical staff exposed, causes significant erosion of patient–physician trust and leads to poorer health outcomes for patients. In China, the prevalence of MWV appears to be rising. Laws were enacted to keep medical staff safe, but clear surveillance and enforcement is needed to improve the condition. In the current essay, we conducted a systematic literature review to identify secondary and tertiary prevention programmes designed to ameliorate psychological suffering following MWV. This review identified only 10 published studies. A critical gap in the intervention literature exists with regard to addressing the public health burden of MWV.
Commercial porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV)‐2 modified live virus vaccine against heterologous single and dual Korean PRRSV‐1 and PRRSV‐2 challenge
Authors: Jeong Jiwoon , Kim Seeun , Park Changhoon , Park Kee Hwan , Kang Ikjae , Park Su‐Jin , Chae Chanhee
Published: February 2018

This study evaluated porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV)‐2 modified live virus (MLV) vaccine against heterologous single and dual challenge of Korean PRRSV‐1 and PRRSV‐2. Pigs were administered PRRSV‐2 MLV vaccine intramuscularly at 21 days of age and inoculated intranasally with both genotypes at 56 days of age. Vaccination of pigs with PRRSV‐2 MLV vaccine resulted in reduction of viral loads of both PRRSV‐1 and PRRSV‐2 after heterologous single and dual challenge with PRRSV‐1 and PRRSV‐2. In addition, pigs vaccinated with PRRSV‐2 MLV vaccine exhibited higher frequencies of PRRSV‐1 and PRRSV‐2 specific interferon‐γ secreting cells (IFN‐γ‐SC) and showed a significant reduction in lung lesions and PRRSV nucleic acid within the lung lesions after single and dual challenge compared with unvaccinated challenged pigs. Taken together these results demonstrated that vaccination of pigs with PRRSV‐2 is efficacious in protecting growing pigs from respiratory disease against heterologous single and dual PRRSV‐1 and PRRSV‐2 challenge.
Participation of nucleons among different harmonics of anisotropic flow
Authors: Deepshikha  , Kumar Suneel
Published: February 2018

We present the comprehensive interpretation of the momentum distribution of nucleons participating in different kinds of nuclear flow, within the framework of isospin-dependent quantum molecular dynamics (IQMD) model. Our study reveals that the number of nucleons decreases with increasing order of different harmonics ⟨v1⟩, ⟨v2⟩, ⟨v3⟩, and ⟨v4⟩. The magnitude of flow harmonics depends strongly on transverse momentum.
Correction: The first pterosaur pelvic material from the Dinosaur Park Formation (Campanian) and implications for azhdarchid locomotion
Authors: Funston Gregory F. , Martin-Silverstone Elizabeth , Currie Philip J.
Published: February 2018

UALVP 56200, originally identified as a partial pelvis of an azhdarchid pterosaur, is a badly broken tyrannosaurid squamosal. Previous conclusions presented about pelvic myology and locomotion in azhdarchids are unsubstantiated and should be disregarded. UALVP 56200 is briefly redescribed here as a squamosal, and provides insights on the extent of cranial pneumaticity in tyrannosaurids.
NEMR: A Nonequidistant DPA Attack-Proof of Modular Reduction in a CRT Implementation of RSA
Authors: Kaedi S. , Doostari M. , Ghaznavi-Ghoushchi M. B.
Published: February 2018

One of the most common algorithms in a digital signature is the RSA-CRT. Several side channel attacks have been presented on the RSA-CRT’s embedded design. Such attacks are divided into two categories: attack in the modular reduction step and attack in the recombination step. The former are plaintext attacks and based on the modular reduction on equidistant data attack, which is introduced in [B. den Boer, et al., “A DPA attack against the modular reduction within a CRT implementation of RSA,” in CHES 2002]. In these attacks, instead of using random plaintext, an equidistant series of input data is used. In a chosen and equidistant plaintext attack, the attacker needs a higher level of accessibility, and it is more difficult than a nonchosen plaintext attack. In this paper, we present a nonequidistant plaintext (but chosen plaintext) differential power analysis attack on the modular reduction in RSA-CRT, named NEMR (nonequidistant plaintext on modular reduction). We also present a new countermeasure on NEMR attack, which is resistant against equidistant and nonequidistant data attack on reduction step in RSA-CRT. In order to prove the idea, the NEMR attack is applied on the RSA-CRT 2048-bit implementation on SAKURA-G board, and the result is evaluated. Then, the presented countermeasure on NEMR attack is tested, and practical results demonstrate the validity of the proposed approach.
A Systematic Review of Cloud Modeling Languages
Authors: Bergmayr Alexander , Breitenbücher Uwe , Ferry Nicolas , Rossini Alessandro , Solberg Arnor , Wimmer Manuel , Kappel Gerti , Leymann Frank
Published: February 2018

Modern cloud computing environments support a relatively high degree of automation in service provisioning, which allows cloud service customers (CSCs) to dynamically acquire services required for deploying cloud applications. Cloud modeling languages (CMLs) have been proposed to address the diversity of features provided by cloud computing environments and support different application scenarios, such as migrating existing applications to the cloud, developing new cloud applications, or optimizing them. There is, however, still much debate in the research community on what a CML is, and what aspects of a cloud application and its target cloud computing environment should be modeled by a CML. Furthermore, the distinction between CMLs on a fine-grain level exposing their modeling concepts is rarely made. In this article, we investigate the diverse features currently provided by existing CMLs. We classify and compare them according to a common framework with the goal to support CSCs in selecting the CML that fits the needs of their application scenario and setting. As a result, not only features of existing CMLs are pointed out for which extensive support is already provided but also in which existing CMLs are deficient, thereby suggesting a research agenda.
Designing against the status quo
Authors: Khovanskaya Vera , Dombrowski Lynn , Harmon Ellie , Korn Matthias , Light Ann , Stewart Michael , Voida Amy
Published: February 2018

Community + Culture features practitioner perspectives on designing technologies for and with communities. We highlight compelling projects and provocative points of view that speak to both community technology practice and the interaction design field as a whole. ---
Christopher A. Le Dantec, Editor
Toward Document Understanding for Information Retrieval
Authors: Dehghani Mostafa
Published: February 2018

Document understanding for the purpose of assessing the relevance of a document or passage to a query based only on the document content appears to be a familiar goal for information retrieval community, however, this problem has remained largely intractable, despite repeated attacks over many years. This is while people are able to assess the relevance quite well, though unfamiliar topics and complex documents can defeat them. This assessment may require the ability to understand language, images, document structure, videos, audio, and functional elements. In turn, understanding of these elements is built on background information about the world, such as human behavior patterns, and even more fundamental truths such as the existence of time, space, and people. All this comes naturally to people, but not to computers.

Recently, large-scale machine learning has altered the landscape. Deep learning has greatly advanced machine understanding of images and language. Since document and query understanding incorporate these elements, deep learning can hold great promise. But it comes with a drawback: general purpose representations (like CNNs for images) have proved somewhat elusive for text. In particular, embeddings act as a distributed representation not just of semantic information but also application-specific learning, which are hard to transfer. In short, conditions seem right for a renewed attempt on the fundamental document understanding problem.
ACM SIGIR Student Liaison Program
Authors: Aliannejadi Mohammad , Hasanain Maram , Mao Jiaxin , Singh Jaspreet , Trippas Johanne R. , Zamani Hamed , Dietz Laura
Published: February 2018

ACM SIGIR has recently created the Student Liaison Program, a means to connect and stay connected with the student body of the information retrieval (IR) community. This report provides more information about the program, introduces the founding ACM SIGIR student liaisons, and explains past, ongoing, and future activities. We seek suggestions and recommendations on the current plans as well as the new ideas that fit into our mission.
Asian Summer School in Information Access (ASSIA 2017)
Authors: Kato Makoto P. , Yamamoto Takehiro , Joho Hideo , Yoshikawa Masatoshi
Published: February 2018

The third Asian Summer School in Information Access (ASSIA 2017) was held between 2nd and 5th August, 2017 in Kyoto, Japan. The summer school offered 9 lectures on information retrieval and related topics, along with a poster session and a panel discussion. This report introduces the successful international summer school in Asia attracting 63 participants from a wide range of countries.
Report on the Second International Workshop on the Evaluation on Collaborative Information Seeking and Retrieval (ECol?2017 @ CHIIR)
Authors: Azzopardi Leif , Pickens Jeremy , Shah Chirag , Soulier Laure , Tamine Lynda
Published: February 2018

The 2nd workshop on the evaluation of collaborative information retrieval and seeking (ECol) was held in conjunction with the ACM SIGIR Conference on Human Information Interaction & Retrieval (CHIIR) in Oslo, Norway. The workshop focused on discussing the challenges and difficulties of researching and studying collaborative information retrieval and seeking (CIS/CIR). After an introductory and scene setting overview of developments in CIR/CIS, participants were challenged with devising a range of possible CIR/CIS tasks that could be used for evaluation purposes. Through the brainstorming and discussions, valuable insights regarding the evaluation of CIR/CIS tasks become apparent ? for particular tasks efficiency and/or effectiveness is most important, however for the majority of tasks the success and quality of outcomes along with knowledge sharing and sense-making were most important ? of which these latter attributes are much more difficult to measure and evaluate. Thus the major challenge for CIR/CIS research is to develop methods, measures and methodologies to evaluate these high order attributes.
Modeling Activation Processes in Human Memory to Improve Tag Recommendations
Authors: Kowald Dominik
Published: February 2018

Social tagging systems enable users to collaboratively assign freely chosen keywords (i.e., tags) to resources (e.g., Web links). In order to support users in finding descriptive tags, tag recommendation algorithms have been proposed. One issue of current state-of-the-art tag recommendation algorithms is that they are often designed in a purely data-driven way and thus, lack a thorough understanding of the cognitive processes that play a role when people assign tags to resources. A prominent example is the activation equation of the cognitive architecture ACT-R, which formalizes activation processes in human memory to determine if a specific memory unit (e.g., a word or tag) will be needed in a specific context. It is the aim of this thesis to investigate if a cognitive-inspired approach, which models activation processes in human memory, can improve tag recommendations. For this, the relation between activation processes in human memory and usage practices of tags is studied, which reveals that (i) past usage frequency, (ii) recency, and (iii) semantic context cues are important factors when people reuse tags. Based on this, a cognitive-inspired tag recommendation approach termed BLLAC+MPr is developed based on the activation equation of ACT-R. An extensive evaluation using six real-world folksonomy datasets shows that BLLAC+MPr outperforms current state-of-the-art tag recommendation algorithms with respect to various evaluation metrics. Finally, BLLAC+MPr is utilized for hashtag recommendations in Twitter to demonstrate its generalizability in related areas of tag-based recommender systems. The findings of this thesis demonstrate that activation processes in human memory can be utilized to improve not only social tag recommendations but also hashtag recommendations. This opens up a number of possible research strands for future work, such as the design of cognitive-inspired resource recommender systems.