bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Fully-covered metal stents with endoscopic suturing vs. partially-covered metal stents for benign upper gastrointestinal diseases: a comparative study
Authors: Ngamruengphong Saowanee , Sharaiha Reem , Sethi Amrita , Siddiqui Ali , DiMaio Christopher , Gonzalez Susana , Rogart Jason , Jagroop Sophia , Widmer Jessica , Im Jennifer , Hasan Raza , Laique Sobia , Gonda Tamas , Poneros John , Desai Amit , Wong Katherine , Villgran Vipin , Brewer Gutierrez Olaya , Bukhari Majidah , Chen Yen-I , Hernaez Ruben , Hanada Yuri , Sanaei Omid , Agarwal Amol , Kalloo Anthony , Kumbhari Vivek , Singh Vikesh , Khashab Mouen
Published: February 2018

Background and study aims Self-expandable metallic stents (SEMS) have been increasingly used in benign conditions (e. g. strictures, fistulas, leaks, and perforations). Fully covered SEMS (FSEMS) were introduced to avoid undesirable consequences of partially covered SEMS (PSEMS), but come with higher risk of stent migration. Endoscopic suturing (ES) for stent fixation has been shown to reduce migration of FSEMS. Our aim was to compare the outcomes of FSEMS with ES (FS/ES) versus PSEMS in patients with benign upper gastrointestinal conditions.

Patients and methods We retrospectively identified all patients who underwent stent placement for benign gastrointestinal conditions at seven US tertiary-care centers. Patients were divided into two groups: FSEMS with ES (FS/ES group) and PSEMS (PSEMS group). Clinical outcomes between the two groups were compared.

Results A total of 74 (FS/ES 46, PSEMS 28) patients were included. On multivariable analysis, there was no significant difference in rate of stent migration between FS/ES (43 %) and PSEMS (15 %) (adjusted odds ratio 0.56; 95 % CI 0.15 – 2.00). Clinical success was similar [68 % vs. 64 %; P = 0.81]. Rate of adverse events (AEs) was higher in PSEMS group [13 (46 %) vs. 10 (21 %); P = 0.03). Difficult stent removal was higher in the PSEMS group (n = 5;17 %) vs. 0 % in the FS/ES group; P = 0.005.

Conclusions The proportion of stent migration of FS/ES and PSEMS are similar. Rates of other stent-related AEs were higher in the PSEMS group. PSEMS was associated with tissue ingrowth or overgrowth leading to difficult stent removal, and secondary stricture formation. Thus, FSEMS with ES for stent fixation may be the preferred modality over PSEMS for the treatment of benign upper gastrointestinal conditions.
A study of the non-Maxwellian pair-ion and pair-ion-electron plasmas
Authors: Shahzad K. , Aman-ur-Rehman  , Saleem Hamid
Published: February 2018

The conditions for the existence of low-frequency electrostatic waves in a pair-ion plasma are discussed. It is shown that the temperature and/or mass difference of both species could produce different modes of waves in a pair-ion plasma with and without the presence of electrons. The theoretical results are compared with the results of experiments on the fullerene pair-ion plasma. The effects of non-thermal electrons on existence of various modes in pair-ion and pair-ion-electron plasmas have been discussed by using the Kappa distribution function. It has shown that the non-Maxwellian results approach to the Maxwellian by increasing the value of Kappa.
High coupling efficiency of foam spherical hohlraum driven by 2ω laser light
Authors: Chen Yao-Hua , Lan Ke , Zheng Wanguo , Campbell E. M.
Published: February 2018

The majority of solid state laser facilities built for laser fusion research irradiate targets with third harmonic light (0.35 μm) up-converted from the fundamental Nd wavelength at 1.05 μm. The motivation for this choice of wavelength is improved laser-plasma coupling. Significant disadvantages to this choice of wavelength are the reduced damage threshold of optical components and the efficiency of energy conversion to third harmonic light. Both these issues are significantly improved if second harmonic (0.53 μm) radiation is used, but theory and experiments have shown lower optical to x-ray energy conversion efficiency and increased levels of laser-plasma instabilities, resulting in reduced laser-target coupling. In this letter, we propose to use a 0.53 μm laser for the laser ignition facilities and use a low density foam wall to increase the coupling efficiency from the laser to the capsule and present two-dimensional radiation-hydrodynamic simulations of 0.53 μm laser light irradiating an octahedral-spherical hohlraum with a low density foam wall. The simulations show that the reduced optical depth of the foam wall leads to an increased laser-light conversion into thermal x-rays and about 10% higher radiation flux on the capsule than that achieved with 0.35 μm light irradiating a solid density wall commonly used in laser indirect drive fusion research. The details of the simulations and their implications and suggestions for wavelength scaling coupled with innovative hohlraum designs will be discussed.
Probing collective oscillation of d-orbital electrons at the nanoscale
Authors: Dhall Rohan , Vigil-Fowler Derek , Houston Dycus J. , Kirste Ronny , Mita Seiji , Sitar Zlatko , Collazo Ramon , LeBeau James M.
Published: February 2018

Here, we demonstrate that high energy electrons can be used to explore the collective oscillation of s, p, and d orbital electrons at the nanometer length scale. Using epitaxial AlGaN/AlN quantum wells as a test system, we observe the emergence of additional features in the loss spectrum with the increasing Ga content. A comparison of the observed spectra with ab-initio theory reveals that the origin of these spectral features lies in excitations of 3d-electrons contributed by Ga. We find that these modes differ in energy from the valence electron plasmons in Al1–xGaxN due to the different polarizabilities of the d electrons. Finally, we study the dependence of observed spectral features on the Ga content, lending insights into the origin of these spectral features, and their coupling with electron-hole excitations.
High power long pulse microwave generation from a metamaterial structure with reverse symmetry
Authors: Lu Xueying , Stephens Jacob C. , Mastovsky Ivan , Shapiro Michael A. , Temkin Richard J.
Published: February 2018

Experimental operation of a high power microwave source with a metamaterial (MTM) structure is reported at power levels to 2.9 MW at 2.4 GHz in full 1 μs pulses. The MTM structure is formed by a waveguide that is below cutoff for TM modes. The waveguide is loaded by two axial copper plates machined with complementary split ring resonators, allowing two backward wave modes to propagate in the S-Band. A pulsed electron beam of up to 490 kV, 84 A travels down the center of the waveguide, midway between the plates. The electron beam is generated by a Pierce gun and is focused by a lens into a solenoidal magnetic field. The MTM plates are mechanically identical but are placed in the waveguide with reverse symmetry. Theory indicates that both Cherenkov and Cherenkov-cyclotron beam-wave interactions can occur. High power microwave generation was studied by varying the operating parameters over a wide range, including the electron beam voltage, the lens magnetic field, and the solenoidal field. Frequency tuning with a magnetic field and beam voltage was studied to discriminate between operation in the Cherenkov mode and the Cherenkov-cyclotron mode. Both modes were observed, but pulses above 1 MW of output power were only seen in the Cherenkov-cyclotron mode. A pair of steering coils was installed prior to the interaction space to initiate the cyclotron motion of the electron beam and thus encourage the Cherenkov-cyclotron high power mode. This successfully increased the output power from 2.5 MW to 2.9 MW (450 kV, 74 A, 9% efficiency).
Regulation of
Arabidopsis
brassinosteroid receptor BRI1 endocytosis and degradation by plant U-box PUB12/PUB13-mediated ubiquitination
Authors: Zhou Jinggeng , Liu Derui , Wang Ping , Ma Xiyu , Lin Wenwei , Chen Sixue , Mishev Kiril , Lu Dongping , Kumar Rahul , Vanhoutte Isabelle , Meng Xiangzong , He Ping , Russinova Eugenia , Shan Libo
Published: February 2018

Significance

The brassinosteroid (BR) receptor BRI1 provides a paradigm for understanding receptor-mediated signaling in plants. Different posttranslational modifications have been implicated in the regulation of BRI1 activity. Here, we show that BR perception promotes BRI1 association with plant U-box E3 ubiquitin ligases PUB12 and PUB13, which in turn directly ubiquitinate BRI1. Importantly, the BRI1 protein abundance and plasma membrane-residence time are increased while the endosomal pool of BRI1 is reduced in the
pub12pub13
mutant, indicating that PUB12/PUB13-mediated ubiquitination regulates BRI1 endocytosis and degradation. BRI1 phosphorylates PUB13 on a specific residue to enhance its association with BRI1, suggesting a unique regulatory circuit of phosphorylation-regulated E3 ligase–substrate association. Our study elucidates a mechanism of BRI1 internalization through E3 ubiquitin ligase-mediated ubiquitination.
Maturity of nearby faults influences seismic hazard from hydraulic fracturing
Authors: Kozłowska Maria , Brudzinski Michael R. , Friberg Paul , Skoumal Robert J. , Baxter Nicholas D. , Currie Brian S.
Published: February 2018

Significance

Recent studies have focused on how wastewater disposal wells have caused dramatic increases in eastern US earthquakes. We focused instead on less common cases where hydraulic fracturing alone has caused earthquakes and found seismicity separated into two depth zones: a shallow zone on younger faults, with more small-magnitude earthquakes than expected, and a deeper zone on older faults, with larger magnitude earthquakes and seismicity continuing after fracturing stops. Hence, inducing deeper seismicity creates more hazard. Our observations are consistent with prior geologic, laboratory, and theoretical work indicating that age and maturity of faults causes the different seismicity patterns. We utilize data from well operators to demonstrate that both fluid pressure changes and rock stress transfer are needed to explain our observations.
15
N detection harnesses the slow relaxation property of nitrogen: Delivering enhanced resolution for intrinsically disordered proteins
Authors: Chhabra Sandeep , Fischer Patrick , Takeuchi Koh , Dubey Abhinav , Ziarek Joshua J. , Boeszoermenyi Andras , Mathieu Daniel , Bermel Wolfgang , Davey Norman E. , Wagner Gerhard , Arthanari Haribabu
Published: February 2018

Significance

Intrinsically disordered proteins (IDPs) have attracted significant attention due to their roles in crucial cellular processes. NMR is the only technique that allows the study of IDPs at atomic-level resolution. However, narrow chemical shift dispersion, rapid exchange with solvent, and high proline content challenge conventional
1
H-detected experiments. Here, we report the development of a suite of 3D experiments based on
15
N direct detection that harnesses the slow relaxation and the larger chemical shift dispersion of
15
N nuclei for complete backbone assignment of IDPs, including proline residues, which are critical to the study of IDPs. Using this approach, we have assigned the regulatory domain of NFATC2 and have identified a likely mechanism by which 14-3-3 proteins regulate NFAT nuclear translocation.
Global rise in emerging alien species results from increased accessibility of new source pools
Authors: Seebens Hanno , Blackburn Tim M. , Dyer Ellie E. , Genovesi Piero , Hulme Philip E. , Jeschke Jonathan M. , Pagad Shyama , Pyšek Petr , van Kleunen Mark , Winter Marten , Ansong Michael , Arianoutsou Margarita , Bacher Sven , Blasius Bernd , Brockerhoff Eckehard G. , Brundu Giuseppe , Capinha César , Causton Charlotte E. , Celesti-Grapow Laura , Dawson Wayne , Dullinger Stefan , Economo Evan P. , Fuentes Nicol , Guénard Benoit , Jäger Heinke , Kartesz John , Kenis Marc , Kühn Ingolf , Lenzner Bernd , Liebhold Andrew M. , Mosena Alexander , Moser Dietmar , Nentwig Wolfgang , Nishino Misako , Pearman David , Pergl Jan , Rabitsch Wolfgang , Rojas-Sandoval Julissa , Roques Alain , Rorke Stephanie , Rossinelli Silvia , Roy Helen E. , Scalera Riccardo , Schindler Stefan , Štajerová Kateřina , Tokarska-Guzik Barbara , Walker Kevin , Ward Darren F. , Yamanaka Takehiko , Essl Franz
Published: February 2018

Significance

Our ability to predict the identity of future invasive alien species is largely based upon knowledge of prior invasion history. Emerging alien species—those never before encountered as aliens—therefore pose a significant challenge to biosecurity interventions worldwide. Using a global database of the first regional records of alien species covering the years 1500–2005 we detected a surprisingly high proportion of species in recent records that have never been recorded as alien before. The high proportion of these emerging alien species mainly resulted from the increased accessibility of new source species pools in the native range. Risk assessment approaches that rely less on invasion history will need to be prioritized.
Naked mole rats can undergo developmental, oncogene-induced and DNA damage-induced cellular senescence
Authors: Zhao Yang , Tyshkovskiy Alexander , Muñoz-Espín Daniel , Tian Xiao , Serrano Manuel , de Magalhaes Joao Pedro , Nevo Eviatar , Gladyshev Vadim N. , Seluanov Andrei , Gorbunova Vera
Published: February 2018

Significance

The naked mole rat (NMR) is the longest-lived rodent with a maximum life span of over 30 years. Furthermore, NMRs are resistant to a variety of age-related diseases and remain fit and active until very advanced ages. The process of cellular senescence has evolved as an anticancer mechanism; however, it also contributes to aging and age-related pathologies. Here, we characterize cellular senescence in the NMR. We find that naked mole rat cells undergo three major types of cellular senescence: developmental, oncogene-induced, and DNA damage-induced. Senescent NMR cells displayed many common features with senescent mouse cells, including activation of a senescence-associated secretory phenotype. These results demonstrate that the NMR retains the major types of cellular senescence responses despite its exceptional longevity.
Uterine influences on conceptus development in fertility-classified animals
Authors: Moraes Joao G. N. , Behura Susanta K. , Geary Thomas W. , Hansen Peter J. , Neibergs Holly L. , Spencer Thomas E.
Published: February 2018

A major unresolved issue is how the uterus influences infertility and subfertility in cattle. Serial embryo transfer was previously used to classify heifers as high-fertile (HF), subfertile (SF), or infertile (IF). To assess pregnancy loss, two in vivo-produced embryos were transferred into HF, SF, and IF heifers on day 7, and pregnancy outcome was assessed on day 17. Pregnancy rate was substantially higher in HF (71%) and SF (90%) than IF (20%) heifers. Elongating conceptuses were about twofold longer in HF than SF heifers. Transcriptional profiling detected relatively few differences in the endometrium of nonpregnant HF, SF, and IF heifers. In contrast, there was a substantial difference in the transcriptome response of the endometrium to pregnancy between HF and SF heifers. Considerable deficiencies in pregnancy-dependent biological pathways associated with extracellular matrix structure and organization as well as cell adhesion were found in the endometrium of SF animals. Distinct gene expression differences were also observed in conceptuses from HF and SF animals, with many of the genes decreased in SF conceptuses known to be embryonic lethal in mice due to defects in embryo and/or placental development. Analyses of biological pathways, key players, and ligand–receptor interactions based on transcriptome data divulged substantial evidence for dysregulation of conceptus–endometrial interactions in SF animals. These results support the ideas that the uterus impacts conceptus survival and programs conceptus development, and ripple effects of dysregulated conceptus–endometrial interactions elicit loss of the postelongation conceptus in SF cattle during the implantation period of pregnancy.
Monitoring the seasonal dynamics of microalgae in the South Sea of Korea by use of a cytochrome c oxidase I DNA barcode
Authors: Park Mirye , Park So Yun , Hwang Jinik , Lee Juyun , Jung Seung Won , Chung Youngjae , Lee Taek-Kyun
Published: February 2018

Microalgae are important primary producers in the marine environment, and are also important sources of health foods and medical products. Rapidly growing microalgae have potential use for the production of commercial products, but can also cause harmful microalgal blooms in natural ecosystems. There are many available techniques for the identification of microalgae in natural ecosystems. We used the mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit I gene as DNA barcode to identify 14 species of microalgae from the South Sea of Korea and to discriminate among similar biogeographic subgroups within species. In addition, we designed species-specific primers targeting the cytochrome c oxidase subunit I gene to evaluate monthly changes of microalgae throughout the year. Chaetoceros brevis, Asterionellopsis glacialis and Stephanopyxis turris were present during all seasons, whereas Skeletonema japonicum, Nitzschia improvisa, Ditylum brightwellii and Chaetoceros diadema were only detected during winter and spring. Our results indicate that species-specific polymerase chain reaction of the cytochrome c oxidase subunit I gene can be used to monitor the seasonal dynamics of microalgae in the South Sea of Korea. This polymerase chain reaction detection method successfully identified the 14 most common species of microalgae with the same polymerase chain reaction condition near Tongyeong, in the South Sea of Korea.
Singing it for “us”: Team passion displayed during national anthems is associated with subsequent success
Authors: Slater Matthew J. , Haslam S. Alexander , Steffens Niklas K.
Published: February 2018

The present research examined the link between passion displayed by team members during the singing of national anthems at UEFA Euro 2016 and team performance in the tournaments’ 51 games. Drawing on social identity theorising, we hypothesised a positive relationship between passion and performance. Consistent with this hypothesis, results showed that teams that sang national anthems with greater passion went on to concede fewer goals. Moreover, results provided evidence that the impact of passion on the likelihood of winning a game depended on the stage of the competition: in the knockout stage (but not the group stage) greater passion was associated with a greater likelihood of victory. Extending recent reviews that highlight the importance of social identity processes in sporting contexts, these results suggest that team members’ identity‐based expression of passion for the collective can be an important predictor of subsequent performance.
Music Projects with Veteran and Military Communities
Authors: Balfour Michael
Published: February 2018

Recent research estimates that one in every five military personnel who have returned from Iraq and Afghanistan will develop some form of posttraumatic stress (PTS). The impact of war and conflict on individuals and families can be significant and long term. The chapter highlights important ways in which interdisciplinary music projects are tackling the issues related to military personnel coming home from recent conflicts. The chapter will highlight two recent projects in Australia, Fred Smith’s Going Home initiative, part of a larger research project focused on arts-based approaches to supporting ex-military personnel and their families, and A Soldiers Wife, developed by Sugarrush in collaboration with Legacy Australia. While each of the projects had different aims and modalities, they attempted to incorporate the military vernacular as a way to engage and respond to the needs of current and former members of the armed services. The chapter will explore these modalities and discuss the implications for future arts and music projects.
Measuring Outcomes and Demonstrating Impact
Authors: Lonie Douglas
Published: February 2018

This chapter explores approaches to evaluation and measurement in community music, within a policy environment increasingly focused on establishing the impact of public investment on individuals, communities, and society as a whole. It seeks to critically engage with terminology and appraise common models of evaluation and measurement advocated by a range of funders of community music by reviewing policy documents and evaluation approaches promoted across the public and third sectors, using recent history in the United Kingdom as a case study. Drawing on published examples of community music evaluations, a variety of methods are discussed including quantitative studies, interpretative and qualitative approaches, and standardized tools. These are examined in relation to their ability to convey project learnings, as well as the extent to which ‘impact’ can be attributed and claimed. The findings are then discussed in relation to the broader literature relating to the impact of community music, and an emerging field of applicable methods is proposed.
Radical Right Cross-National Links and International Cooperation
Authors: Caiani Manuela
Published: February 2018

Like many other political actors, the radical right is currently expanding beyond national borders, creating cross-national links and establishing international cooperation. To date, however, in sociology and political science there are few empirical analyses on the topic. This chapter aims to fill this gap by providing an overview of some scholarship (coming from social movement studies, history, sociology, and research on political parties) on the contemporary radical right, looking first of all at the level of contextual macro variables—that is, at the political opportunities European integration provides for the transnationalization of the radical right. Second, it suggests that another important mechanism (at the meso organizational level) for the development of cross-national radical right links and cooperation is the use of frames. Third, it considers the potential role of the Internet for the transnationalization of the current radical right.
Party Systems and Radical Right-Wing Parties
Authors: Kitschelt Herbert
Published: February 2018

This chapter presents an introduction to different theories of party competition, as exemplified by the substantive puzzle of radical right-wing partisan rise. The first task, however, is to conceptualize radical right party fortunes within the context of competitive party systems. The next three sections discuss the initial rise of radical right parties through three lenses: spatial theories of party competition, institutional and historical mediators of current competitive opportunities for radical right entry, and non-spatial theories of party competition based on valence and issue ownership. This is followed by a report on research about the ongoing strategic interaction between radical right parties and their competitors after the former’s initial rise to electoral prowess. The chapter concludes with several general synthesizing hypotheses about the life cycle of political parties, with the radical right’s rise and possible future demise being a particular application.
Decolonization in South Asia
Authors: Chatterji Joya
Published: February 2018

There are compelling reasons for giving decolonization in South Asia special attention in this volume. India was the first colony to achieve independence, albeit as two separate nation states, India and Pakistan. Britain’s abrupt withdrawal from India after the Second World War—so swift that many have denounced it as a scuttle—raised questions that have helped frame the debate about decolonization, not just in India but elsewhere. Straddling the themes of colonial collapse and imperial legacies that inform the volume as a whole, this chapter focuses on the origins, impact, and aftermath of Indian partition. It considers South Asia’s experience of decolonization from the perspective of the populations most directly affected, notably in the Punjab and Bengal.
The Archaeobotany of Late Medieval Plant Remains
Authors: Moffett Lisa
Published: February 2018

This chapter considers the application of archaeobotany to the later medieval period in Britain with reference to selected sites. The strengths and weaknesses of methods and evidence are explained. The most common plants remains are cereals but fruit and nuts are also found in abundance, some being imported species. Vegetables and herbs are generally poorly preserved. Some of the richest assemblages come from wet deposits in ports and may include exotics or from towns where possible thatch and industrial remains are known. Elite sites such as castles, manors, and monasteries sometimes also have abundant plant remains but the evidence from lower-status rural sites can be absent or difficult to recognize. Key concerns for the future include the limited scope of many commercial archaeological investigations, the need to exploit the archaeobotanical evidence more fully other than as a source of information about diet, and the importance of collaborative work between archaeobotanists and historians.
Financialization of Everyday Life
Authors: Lai Karen
Published: February 2018

This chapter identifies three key research themes for investigating the financialization of everyday life, whereby individual subjectivity, aspiration, and forms of conduct at the level of individuals and households are increasingly tied to financial structures and logics. The first theme analyses how new intermediaries of finance have increased the influence and pervasiveness of financial instruments and solutions in everyday life. The second examines the discourse of risk taking and self-management that has shaped the formation of financial subjects. The third concerns the role of the state in financialization and considers whether it is a distant or reactionary agent in ‘context’ or a strategic actor who mobilizes financialization scripts for political–economic purposes. A research agenda is put forward that highlights the household as a key site from which to explore the constructions and practices of financialization and proposes specific areas for future research.
Network Geographies and Geographical Networks: Co-dependence and Co-evolution of Multinational Enterprises and Space
Authors: Iammarino Simona , McCann Philip
Published: February 2018

The main analytical and multidisciplinary frameworks adopted for understanding the multinational enterprise (MNE) have tended to be largely non-spatial and non-geographical in nature. Although there have been some recent developments incorporating geography into the analysis of the of MNE studies the longstanding and widespread absence of geography in MNE studies leads to analytical problems. In particular, in the investigation of MNE operations and their interactions with different economic actors and contexts, the use of typical dichotomies, such as home versus host, horizontal versus vertical integration, and determinant versus impact, today prove to be much less effective or relevant than might previously have been the case. More specifically, the fundamental geographical and institutional re-orderings associated with modern globalization mean that nowadays we see increasingly co-dependent and co-evolutionary corporate and geographical networks. Understanding these is essential in order to understand the new international division of labour.
International Implementation of Dialectical Behaviour Therapy
Authors: DuBose Anthony P. , Botanov Yevgeny , Ivanoff André
Published: February 2018

International implementation of dialectical behaviour therapy (DBT) faces many challenges, particularly training therapists across cultures. DBT was born out of necessity to help suicidal individuals suffering from severe emotion dysregulation. Due to a growing popularity of the treatment and rising need for transdiagnostic, evidence-based treatments that target suicidal behaviour, DBT implementation has spread globally. The need for increased international DBT implementation is critical, but implementation efforts require careful examination. Due to the resource-intensive framework of DBT, requiring four modes of treatment, in addition to the multiple strategies required of providers, implementation efforts present novel and significant obstacles to consider. This chapter reviews the history of international DBT implementations and outlines important factors to consider in future implementations. Future implementations will also be strongly influenced by findings from the growing field of dissemination and implementation science.
Text Simplification
Authors: Saggion Horacio
Published: February 2018

Over the past decades, information has been made available to a broad audience thanks to the availability of texts on the Web. However, understanding the wealth of information contained in texts can pose difficulties for a number of people including those with poor literacy, cognitive or linguistic impairment, or those with limited knowledge of the language of the text. Text simplification was initially conceived as a technology to simplify sentences so that they would be easier to process by natural-language processing components such as parsers. However, nowadays automatic text simplification is conceived as a technology to transform a text into an equivalent which is easier to read and to understand by a target user. Text simplification concerns both the modification of the vocabulary of the text (lexical simplification) and the modification of the structure of the sentences (syntactic simplification). In this chapter, after briefly introducing the topic of text readability, we give an overview of past and recent methods to address these two problems. We also describe simplification applications and full systems also outline language resources and evaluation approaches.
Policing Extreme Political Protest: A Historical Evaluation of Police Prejudice
Authors: Channing Iain
Published: February 2018

The task of policing political activism frequently tests the legitimacy of the police leaving them vulnerable to claims of political prejudice. The principle of police neutrality has been subjected to criticism by MPs, activists and academic scholars since the formation of the modern police force. Members of both far right and far left movements have claimed their liberty to protest has been curtailed at different moments and much academic scholarship has highlighted the pro-fascist nature of policing. This article redresses the balance to provide a deeper understanding of the way political activism was (and continues to be) policed. In recent years, protests involving the English Defence League and the Occupy movement have highlighted the contemporary challenges to public order operations. Both groups have questioned the political impartiality of the police. Yet, these accusations are not new and by offering a historical comparison to the policing of extreme political activism in the interwar years, concerns regarding police culture, discretion, and legitimacy in the contemporary era are addressed. The inconsistent policing of the British Union of Fascists and the Communist Party of Great Britain frustrated both groups, and this article challenges existing research which claims that a pro-fascist motivation in policing accounts for this inconsistency. By exploring other motivations, it argues that we should not see the police as a monolithic institution with a particular view, and although political partiality is still significant, other key factors such as legal ambiguity, police pragmatism and regional variations must also be taken into account.
Grower and regulator conflict in management of the citrus disease Huanglongbing in Brazil: A modelling study
Authors: Craig Andrew P. , Cunniffe Nik J. , Parry Matthew , Laranjeira Francisco F. , Gilligan Christopher A.
Published: February 2018

In managing plant diseases, there is often tension between a regulator seeking to destroy infected plants to prevent further infection on a national scale and growers seeking to retain infected plants to continue obtaining yield. A high‐profile example is Huanglongbing (HLB) or citrus greening, a bacterial disease that threatens Brazil's citrus industry. To prevent the spread of HLB, especially from abandoned infected groves, the government regulated that if 28% of a plantation unit (grove) is found to be symptomatic, then the whole plantation unit must be destroyed. This decision used the best evidence available in 2008, which suggested that a 28% detectable prevalence corresponded with 100% actual prevalence, the disparity being due to asymptomatic infected trees and imperfect detection methods.

Using a mathematical model with parameters estimated from field data, we evaluate the assumptions underlying the 28% threshold. We investigate the effects of spraying insecticide and removing diseased plants on the infectious pressure and potential loss of yield from an infected grove.

We find that the relationship between detectable and actual prevalence is much wider than allowed for in the regulations. There is a high probability that groves with detectable levels of symptomatic plants substantially below 28% have a >90% prevalence of infected plants. Paradoxically, in a well‐managed orchard, the threshold of 28% may not be reached at 100% prevalence.

Infectious pressure from an infected grove is substantially reduced when growers control disease. Individual growers failing to manage disease, therefore, threaten the wider grower community. Control is likely to increase yield and prolong grove productivity, but in some groves may reduce yield.

Policy implications. Current disease thresholds aimed at restricting the spread of the citrus disease, Huanglongbing (HLB), in Brazil allow heavily infected groves to remain in the landscape, but lower thresholds would disadvantage growers who are already controlling disease. There is probably no threshold that is optimal for individual growers and regulators but roguing and spraying is beneficial to both parties. Regulations should focus less on prevalence thresholds, and instead encourage early detection and co‐ordinated spraying among growers to control Huanglongbing on a regional level.
speed‐ne: Software to simulate and estimate genetic effective population size (Ne) from linkage disequilibrium observed in single samples
Authors: Hamilton Matthew B. , Tartakovsky Maria , Battocletti Amy
Published: February 2018

The genetic effective population size, Ne, can be estimated from the average gametic disequilibrium () between pairs of loci, but such estimates require evaluation of assumptions and currently have few methods to estimate confidence intervals. speed‐ne is a suite of matlab computer code functions to estimate from with a graphical user interface and a rich set of outputs that aid in understanding data patterns and comparing multiple estimators. speed‐ne includes functions to either generate or input simulated genotype data to facilitate comparative studies of estimators under various population genetic scenarios. speed‐ne was validated with data simulated under both time‐forward and time‐backward coalescent models of genetic drift. Three classes of estimators were compared with simulated data to examine several general questions: what are the impacts of microsatellite null alleles on , how should missing data be treated, and does disequilibrium contributed by reduced recombination among some loci in a sample impact . Estimators differed greatly in precision in the scenarios examined, and a widely employed estimator exhibited the largest variances among replicate data sets. speed‐ne implements several jackknife approaches to estimate confidence intervals, and simulated data showed that jackknifing over loci and jackknifing over individuals provided ~95% confidence interval coverage for some estimators and should be useful for empirical studies. speed‐ne provides an open‐source extensible tool for estimation of from empirical genotype data and to conduct simulations of both microsatellite and single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) data types to develop expectations and to compare estimators.
Extended‐release injectable naltrexone for opioid use disorder: a systematic review
Authors: Jarvis Brantley P. , Holtyn August F. , Subramaniam Shrinidhi , Tompkins D. Andrew , Oga Emmanuel A. , Bigelow George E. , Silverman Kenneth
Published: February 2018

Aims

To review systematically the published literature on extended‐release naltrexone (XR‐NTX, Vivitrol®), marketed as a once‐per‐month injection product to treat opioid use disorder. We addressed the following questions: (1) how successful is induction on XR‐NTX; (2) what are adherence rates to XR‐NTX; and (3) does XR‐NTX decrease opioid use? Factors associated with these outcomes as well as overdose rates were examined.

Methods

We searched PubMed and used Google Scholar for forward citation searches of peer‐reviewed papers from January 2006 to June 2017. Studies that included individuals seeking treatment for opioid use disorder who were offered XR‐NTX were included.

Results

We identified and included 34 studies. Pooled estimates showed that XR‐NTX induction success was lower in studies that included individuals that required opioid detoxification [62.6%, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 54.5–70.0%] compared with studies that included individuals already detoxified from opioids (85.0%, 95% CI = 78.0–90.1%); 44.2% (95% CI = 33.1–55.9%) of individuals took all scheduled injections of XR‐NTX, which were usually six or fewer. Adherence was higher in prospective investigational studies (i.e. studies conducted in a research context according to a study protocol) compared to retrospective studies of medical records taken from routine care (6‐month rates: 46.7%, 95% CI = 34.5–59.2% versus 10.5%, 95% CI = 4.6–22.4%, respectively). Compared with referral to treatment, XR‐NTX reduced opioid use in adults under criminal justice supervision and when administered to inmates before release. XR‐NTX reduced opioid use compared with placebo in Russian adults, but this effect was confounded by differential retention between study groups. XR‐NTX showed similar efficacy to buprenorphine when randomization occurred after detoxification, but was inferior to buprenorphine when randomization occurred prior to detoxification.

Conclusions

Many individuals intending to start extended‐release naltrexone (XR‐NTX) do not and most who do start XR‐NTX discontinue treatment prematurely, two factors that limit its clinical utility significantly. XR‐NTX appears to decrease opioid use but there are few experimental demonstrations of this effect.
Estimating the health‐care costs of children born to pregnant smokers in England: cohort study using primary and secondary health‐care data
Authors: Vaz Luis R. , Jones Matthew J. , Szatkowski Lisa , Tata Laila J. , Petrou Stavros , Coleman Tim
Published: February 2018

Background and aims

Little is known about the long‐term economic consequences of smoking during pregnancy. We estimated the association between smoking in pregnancy and the costs of delivering health‐care to infants and children in England, and investigated which aspects of care are the key drivers of these costs.

Methods

We used Hospital Episode Statistics (HES) linked with Clinical Practice Research Datalink (CPRD) data in England from January 2003 to January 2015 in children with longitudinal data for at least 1, 5 and 10 years after birth. Poisson regression provided rate ratios (RR) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) comparing health‐care episode rates between those exposed and not exposed to smoking during pregnancy. Linear regression was used to compare estimated costs between groups (£ sterling, 2015 prices) and generalized linear multivariable (GLM) models adjusted for potentially moderating factors.

Results

A total of 93 152 singleton pregnancies with the required data were identified. Maternal smoking in pregnancy was associated with higher primary care, prescription and hospital in‐patient episode rates, but lower out‐patient visit and diagnostic test rates. Adjusting for year of birth, socio‐economic deprivation, parity, sex of child and delivery method showed that maternal smoking in pregnancy was associated with increased child health‐care costs at 1 year [average cost difference for children of smokers, β = £91.18, 95% confidence interval (CI) = £47.52–134.83 and 5 years of age (β = £221.80, 95% CI = £17.78–425.83], but not at 10 years of age (β = £365.94, 95% CI = –£192.72 to £924.60).

Conclusion

In England, maternal smoking in pregnancy is associated with increased child health‐care costs over the first 5 years of life; these costs are driven primarily by greater hospital in‐patient care.
The nutritional value of feeding on crops: Diets of vervet monkeys in a humanized landscape
Authors: Cancelliere Emma C. , Chapman Colin A. , Twinomugisha Dennis , Rothman Jessica M.
Published: February 2018

Anthropogenic influences have dramatically altered the environments with which primates interact. In particular, the introduction of anthropogenic food sources to primate groups has implications for feeding behaviour, social behaviour, activity budgets, demography and life history. While the incorporation of anthropogenic foods can be beneficial to primates in a variety of nutritional ways including increased energetic return, they also carry risks associated with proximity to humans, such as risk of being hunted, disease risk and risk of conflict. Given such risks, we initiated a 3‐year study where we sought to understand the underlying nutritional motivations for anthropogenic food resource use by vervet monkeys (Cercopithecus aethiops) in the humanized matrix surrounding the Nabugabo Field Station in central Uganda. Feeding effort, defined as proportion of feeding scans spent on anthropogenic food, was not associated with ripe fruit availability nor with crop availability as determined by phenological monitoring. Likewise, there was no difference in the protein, fibre, or lipid composition of crop food items compared to wild food items. Individuals spent less time feeding overall in months over the 3 years with a higher proportion of time spent feeding on crop foods, suggesting a potential benefit in terms of accessibility (reduction in the proportion of activity budget devoted to feeding).
Effects of training physicians in electronic prescribing in the outpatient setting on clinical, learning and behavioural outcomes: a cluster randomized trial
Authors: van Stiphout F. , Zwart‐ van Rijkom J. E. F. , Versmissen J. , Koffijberg H. , Aarts J. E. C. M. , van der Sijs I. H. , van Gelder T. , de Man R. A. , Roes C. B. , Egberts A. C. G. , ter Braak E. W. M. T.
Published: February 2018

Aims

Electronic prescribing systems may improve medication safety, but only when used appropriately. The effects of task analysis‐based training on clinical, learning and behavioural outcomes were evaluated in the outpatient setting, compared with the usual educational approach.

Methods

This was a multicentre, cluster randomized trial [EDUCATional intervention for IT‐mediated MEDication management (MEDUCATE trial)], with physicians as the unit of analysis. It took place in the outpatient clinics of two academic hospitals. Participants comprised specialists and residents (specialty trainees, in the UK) and their patients. Training took the form of a small‐group session and an e‐learning. The primary outcome was the proportion of medication discrepancies per physician, measured as discrepancies between medications registered by physicians in the electronic prescribing system and those reported by patients. Clinical consequences were estimated by the proportion of patients per physician with at least one missed drug–drug interaction with the potential for causing adverse drug events. A questionnaire assessed physicians' knowledge and skills.

Results

Among 124 participating physicians, primary outcome data for 115 (93%) were available. A total of 1094 patients were included. A mean of 48% of registered medications per physician were discrepant with the medications that their patients reported in both groups (P = 0.14). Due to registration omissions, a mean of 4% of patients per physician had one or more missed drug–drug interactions with the potential to cause a clinically relevant adverse drug event in the intervention group, and 7% in controls (P = 0.11). The percentages of correct answers on the knowledge and skills test were higher in the intervention group (57%) compared with controls (51%; P = 0.01).

Conclusion

The training equipped outpatient physicians with the knowledge and skills for appropriate use of electronic prescribing systems, but had no effect on medication discrepancies.
Contemporary surgical management of renal oncocytoma: a nation's outcome
Authors: Neves Joana B. , Withington John , Fowler Sarah , Patki Prasad , Barod Ravi , Mumtaz Faiz , O'Brien Tim , Aitchison Michael , Bex Axel , Tran Maxine G. B. ,   The British Association of Urological Surgeons (BAUS)
Published: February 2018

Objective

To report on the contemporary UK experience of surgical management of renal oncocytomas.

Patients and methods

Descriptive analysis of practice and postoperative outcomes of patients with a final histological diagnosis of oncocytoma included in The British Association of Urological Surgeons (BAUS) nephrectomy registry from 01/01/2013 to 31/12/2016. Short‐term outcomes were assessed over a follow‐up of 60 days.

Results

Over 4 years, 32 130 renal surgical cases were recorded in the UK, of which 1202 were oncocytomas (3.7%). Most patients were male (756; 62.9%), the median (interquartile range [IQR]) age was 66.8 (13) years. The median (IQR; range) lesion size was 4.1 (3; 1–25) cm, 43.5% were ≤4 cm and 30.3% were 4–7 cm lesions. In all, 35 patients (2.9%) had preoperative renal tumour biopsy. Most patients had minimally invasive surgery, either radical nephrectomy (683 patients; 56.8%), partial nephrectomy (483; 40.2%) or other procedures (36; 3%). One in five patients (243 patients; 20.2%) had in‐hospital complications: 48 were Clavien–Dindo classification grade ≥III (4% of the total cohort), including three deaths. Two additional deaths occurred within 60 days of surgery. The analysis is limited by the study's observational nature, not capturing lesions on surveillance or ablated after biopsy, possible underreporting, short follow‐up, and lack of central histology review.

Conclusion

We report on the largest surgical series of renal oncocytomas. In the UK, the complication rate associated with surgical removal of a renal oncocytoma was not negligible. Centralisation of specialist services and increased utilisation of biopsy may inform management, reduce overtreatment, and change patient outcomes for this benign tumour.