bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
10 years of the World Register of Marine Species (WoRMS): where do we stand & where are we heading?
Authors: Vandepitte Leen , Vanhoorne Bart , Decock Wim , Lanssens Thomas , Dekeyzer Stefanie , Verfaille Kevin , Hernandez Francisco , Horton Tammy , Kroh Andreas
Published: March 2018

The World Register of Marine Species aims to provide the most authoritative list of names of all marine species, ever published through a freely available online portal.

In 2017, WoRMS celebrated its 10th anniversary. This was an excellent opportunity to both look backward and forward, by analyzing how the system has grown, how it is used and how it can be improved in the future.

Although there are more than 240,000 accepted marine species available through WoRMS, an analysis of editor activity shows that there are still many species names missing from the system, and that this does not only concern recently published species. Each year, an average of 38,000 marine species names are added to WoRMS – compared to the on average 2000 newly described marine species per year.

An actively collaborating editor community and Data Management Team are indispensable in keeping a database like WoRMS alive, and mean that WoRMS is now regarded as the standard marine species taxonomic backbone for numerous other initiative such as NCBI Genbank, BOLD, CoL, EOL, GBIF and OBIS. Funding to keep WoRMS going currently is provided through the LifeWatch project. WoRMS constitutes a major contribution to the LifeWatch Taxonomic Backbone.
Long-term trends in soft-bottom fauna based on 30 years biodiversity monitoring systems
Authors: De Backer Annelies , Van Hoey Gert , Hostens Kris
Published: March 2018

Situated within the southern North Sea, the Belgian marine realm forms a unique marine ecosystem, characterized by shallow sandbanks and gullies. Like in other systems, human activities intensified strongly during the past decades.

From 1984 onwards, several locations (outside direct human impact) were yearly sampled for macrobenthos, epibenthos and demersal fish in autumn. This provided a unique dataset to study natural variability over time within the soft-bottom ecosystem. Both coastal and offshore assemblages of each ecosystem component were sampled, which permitted to detect if the coastal and offshore area changed differently over time within one ecosystem component. Furthermore, these long-term data enabled to identify whether the different ecosystem components showed similar or different trends over time. Observed changes were linked to physical and climate-related environmental variables.

Overall, the soft-bottom ecosystem possessed high ecological stability over time. Nevertheless, a shift in both the coastal macrobenthos and the offshore demersal fish assemblage was revealed around the year 2004. Shifts in offshore demersal fish could be related to climate parameters, while the coastal macrobenthic shift was mainly related to physical changes. Other trends were only apparent at the species level for instance typical southern species showed distinct increases since the late 90’s.
Species Distribution Models for sea pen corals in the Flemish Cap and Flemish Pass Area (NorthwestAtlantic Ocean)
Authors: Sacau Cuadrado Mar , Garcia-Alegre Garralda Ana , Pennino Maria Grazia , Murillo Pérez Francisco Javier , Serrano López Alberto , Durán Muñoz Pablo
Published: March 2018

Species Distribution Models (SDMs) are widely used to identify species-environmentrelationships and predicting species occurrence and/or density at un-sampled locations.The SDMs implementation allows describing species geographical trends, toidentify spatial ontogenetic shifts of commercially exploited species and to assessthe effect of climate change on species distribution. Moreover, SDMs could bean essential tool to support the marine spatial planning framework providingessential and easy-to-use interpretation tools, such as predictive distributionmaps, with the final aim of improving management and conservation especially ofvulnerable species as sea pen corals.

In this study, a 10-yr period (2007-2017) of a bottom trawl survey was used to estimateand predict the suitability habitat of sea pen species as a function of several environmental variables (i.e. bathymetry, sea bottom temperature, sea bottom salinity, slope, rugosity, aspectof the seabed, etc) in Flemish Cap and Flemish Pass (ATLAS Case Study No 11) using different SDM algorithms. Resultsshow that species exhibit specific habitat preferences and spatial patterns inresponse to environmental variables.
RAMAS: Russian Multimodal Corpus of Dyadic Interaction for studying emotion recognition
Authors: Perepelkina Olga , Kazimirova Eva , Konstantinova Maria
Published: March 2018

Emotion expression encompasses various types of information, including face and eye movement, voice and body motion. Most of the studies in automated affective recognition use faces as stimuli, less often they include speech and even more rarely gestures. Emotions collected from real conversations are difficult to classify using one channel. That is why multimodal techniques have recently become more popular in automatic emotion recognition. Multimodal databases that include audio, video, 3D motion capture and physiology data are quite rare. We collected The Russian Acted Multimodal Affective Set (RAMAS) the first multimodal corpus in Russian language. Our database contains approximately 7 hours of high-quality closeup video recordings of subjects faces, speech, motion-capture data and such physiological signals as electro-dermal activity and photoplethysmogram. The subjects were 10 actors who played out interactive dyadic scenarios. Each scenario involved one of the basic emotions: Anger, Sadness, Disgust, Happiness, Fear or Surprise, and some characteristics of social interaction like Domination and Submission. In order to note emotions that subjects really felt during the process we asked them to fill in short questionnaires (self-reports) after each played scenario. The records were marked by 21 annotators (at least five annotators marked each scenario). We present our multimodal data collection, annotation process, inter-rater agreement analysis and the comparison between self-reports and received annotations. RAMAS is an open database that provides research community with multimodal data of faces, speech, gestures and physiology interrelation. Such material is useful for various investigations and automatic affective systems development.
Delivery and postpartum care in Rio Branco in the northern state of Acre, Brazil: a population based survey
Authors: Bessa Andréa Ramos da Silva , Dotto Leila Maria Geromel , Cunha Margarida De Aquino , Muniz Pascoal Torres , Cavalcante Suelen De Oliveira
Published: March 2018

Introduction: Pregnancy can be associated with health risks for both the mother and infant, and specialised care during the pregnancy, delivery and puerperium periods can help reduce complications for the mother-infant binomial. Objective: To assess the demographic, social and reproductive aspects of delivery and the postpartum period in Rio Branco, Acre, Brazil. Methods: A population-based cross-sectional survey was conducted via an interview with 552 mothers with children aged 0 to 5 years between 2007 and 2008. Cluster sampling of the population was performed in two stages (census sectors and domiciles). Results: The majority of the 552 mothers were multiparous (79.6%). Around 70% of pregnancies occurred in teenage mothers. The proportion of caesarean section deliveries was 38.4% in mothers from urban zones and 28.5% in those from rural areas, and was higher in mothers who attended private clinics, who self-reported as being Caucasian, and who had a higher educational level. With regard to puerperal complications, mothers who underwent caesarean section had a higher prevalence of hypertension (71.1%) with an adjusted prevalence ratio of 3.90 (95% CI [2.00, 7.61]). Conclusions: The results revealed a high rate of teenage pregnancy, and arterial hypertension was the leading complication during the postpartum period experienced by women who had undergone caesarean section. These findings merit further attention, and should be used to improve the care provided to Rio Branco.
Neuropsychomotor development and auditory skills in preschool children
Authors: Guedes-Granzotti Raphaela Barroso , Siqueira Layna Santos , Cesar Carla Patrícia Hernandez Alves Ribeiro , Silva Kelly , Domenis Danielle Ramos , Dornelas Rodrigo , Barreto Aline Cabral de Oliveira
Published: March 2018

Introduction: Neuropsychomotor development and auditory abilities, influenced by biological and environmental factors, are directly related to school performance. In this way, a screening test in school environment allows the prior identification of change in development, reducing the losses in child life. Objective: To characterize the relationship between neuropsychomotor development and auditory processing skills in preschool children. Methods: 108 preschool children from three public institutions with ages between four years and one month to five years and eleven months, of both sexes were screened. It was performed the screening of Central Auditory Processing (CAP) through the simplified evaluation of auditory processing and the neurodevelopment using the Developmental Screening Test II Denver. The data were analyzed by chi-square tests and bivariate correlation with Pearson coefficient, adopting a significance level of 5% and alpha of 0.1. Results: The screening of the CAP, 100% of the subjects showed normal responses in the test detection, 81.5% in sound localization, 49% in the test of non-verbal sequential memory and 58.3% in the test of verbal sequential memory. In the neuropsychomotor development screening, the frequency of appropriate responses to the chronological age was significant in all areas, being 86.1% (93) in personal social area, 92.5% (100) in the adaptive fine motor, 87 % (94) in language and 92.5% (100) in gross motor. It was found a significant relationship only between the language alterations and proofs of sequential memory (p <0.05). Conclusion: It was found that the group studied was relationship between the language alterations and alterations in the temporal ordering skills of the central auditory processing.
Maturational stages: comparison of growth and physical capacity indicators in adolescents
Authors: Pinto Vanessa Carla Monteiro , Santos Petrus Gantois Massa Dias dos , Medeiros Rafaela Catherine Da Silva Cunha de , Souza Francisco Emílio Simplício , Simões Thaisys Blanc dos Santos , Dantas Renata Poliane Nacer de Carvalho , Cabral Breno Guilherme De Araújo Tinôco
Published: March 2018

Introduction: The identification of physical capacity is an important marker related to healthy behavior during childhood and adolescence, in which some factors appear to contribute to motor performance such as maturation and hormonal levels. Objective: To compare growth indicators, physical capacity and hormonal markers according to gender and maturational stage in adolescents. Methods: Eighty-nine adolescents of both genders aged 10-13 years participated in the study. Sexual maturation was evaluated using the Tanner’s self-evaluation method. Physical capacity (explosive strength of upper and lower limbs, upper limb velocity and agility) and hormonal markers (testosterone and estradiol) were evaluated through the chemiluminescence method. Results: In the comparison by gender, girls had higher weight (p = 0.023), height (p = 0.018) and fat percentage values (p = 0.001), while boys presented better motor performance for the explosive strength of upper limbs (p = 0.005) and lower limbs (p = 0.011), agility (0.018) and upper limb velocity (p = 0.014). Regarding maturational stage, boys did not present differences in any variable analyzed; (Stage V versus I), height (stage III, IV and V versus I) and upper limb explosive strength (stage III and IV versus I). Conclusion: Growth, weight and height, as well as explosive strength of upper limbs were higher in girls at more advanced maturational stages and appear to be gender dependent.
Neuropsychomotor development characteristics of the infants who born from women who abused drugs during pregnancy
Authors: Lima Roberta Elian de , Aleixo Andrezza Aparecida , Araújo Lúcio Borges , Nascimento Camila Piqui , Azevedo Vivian Mara Gonçalves de Oliveira
Published: March 2018

Introduction: The use of street drugs during pregnancy, due to their deleterious effects on the health of the infant, may have clinical implications for neuropsychomotor development. Objective: The aim of this study was to analyse the characteristics of the neuropsychomotor development of infants born from women who used street drugs during pregnancy. Methods: A cross-sectional retrospective study was carried out. A total of 51 medical records of infants weighing less than 1.500 grams, who were born in the Hospital de Clínicas da Universidade Federal de Uberlândia (HC/UFU), Minas Gerais, Brazil, from January 2014 to December 2015 were analysed. Using the Development Screening test Denver II at 6 or 9 months of corrected age performed the neuropsychomotor development evaluation. Statistical analysis included quantitative variables that were described by means of average, medians and standard deviation. Groups were compared by the t test or Mann-Whitney test. The associations of the qualitative variables were evaluated by means of the likelihood ratio test. Results: Of the 51 records analysed, 39.2% belong to the group of children of mothers who used street drugs and 60.8% belong to the group of children of nonuser mothers. The neuropsychomotor development was predominantly abnormal and with a significant difference in the general performance classification (p<0.001) and, specifically, in the coarse motor area (p = 0.003) in the group of infants born to mothers who used street drugs. Conclusion: Infants of mothers who used street drugs had a greater delay in neuropsychomotor development.
HPV vaccine: knowledge and acceptance to ensure effectiveness
Authors: Sorpreso Isabel Cristina Esposito , Kelly Patricia Jane
Published: March 2018

The new Vaccine technologies against transmissible and non-transmissible diseases, such as cancer, have had an impact on international public health. The human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine is used on a large scale in immunization programs in more than 58 countries, with resultant efficacy and safety for precursor lesions of cervical cancer, in addition to anogenital lesions. After the introduction of quadrivalent HPV vaccine (6,11,16 and 18) in Brazil in 2014, monitoring the vaccination coverage and the development of HPV prevalence incidence of cervical abnormalities and precancerous lesions must be observed, as well as morbidity and mortality trends from in situ and invasive cancer. Encouraging information, counseling and continuing education is recommended as a strategy to broaden vaccine acceptance in order to sediment its implementation and ensure effectiveness in reducing new cases of cervical cancer in the future.
Replication Study: Fusobacterium nucleatum infection is prevalent in human colorectal carcinoma
Authors: Repass John ,   Reproducibility Project: Cancer Biology, Iorns Elizabeth , Denis Alexandria , Williams Stephen R , Perfito Nicole , Errington Timothy M
Published: March 2018

As part of the Reproducibility Project: Cancer Biology, we published a Registered Report (Repass et al., 2016), that described how we intended to replicate an experiment from the paper ‘Fusobacterium nucleatum infection is prevalent in human colorectal carcinoma’ (Castellarin et al., 2012). Here we report the results. When measuring Fusobacterium nucleatum DNA by qPCR in colorectal carcinoma (CRC), adjacent normal tissue, and separate matched control tissue, we did not detect a signal for F. nucleatum in most samples: 25% of CRCs, 15% of adjacent normal, and 0% of matched control tissue were positive based on quantitative PCR (qPCR) and confirmed by sequencing of the qPCR products. When only samples with detectable F. nucleatum in CRC and adjacent normal tissue were compared, the difference was not statistically significant, while the original study reported a statistically significant increase in F. nucleatum expression in CRC compared to adjacent normal tissue (Figure 2; Castellarin et al., 2012). Finally, we report a meta-analysis of the result, which suggests F. nucleatum expression is increased in CRC, but is confounded by the inability to detect F. nucleatum in most samples. The difference in F. nucleatum expression between CRC and adjacent normal tissues was thus smaller than the original study, and not detected in most samples.
Large, long range tensile forces drive convergence during Xenopus blastopore closure and body axis elongation
Authors: Shook David R , Kasprowicz Eric M , Davidson Lance A , Keller Raymond
Published: March 2018

Indirect evidence suggests that blastopore closure during gastrulation of anamniotes, including amphibians such as Xenopus laevis, depends on circumblastoporal convergence forces generated by the marginal zone (MZ), but direct evidence is lacking. We show that explanted MZs generate tensile convergence forces up to 1.5 μN during gastrulation and over 4 μN thereafter. These forces are generated by convergent thickening (CT) until the midgastrula and increasingly by convergent extension (CE) thereafter. Explants from ventralized embryos, which lack tissues expressing CE but close their blastopores, produce up to 2 μN of tensile force, showing that CT alone generates forces sufficient to close the blastopore. Uniaxial tensile stress relaxation assays show stiffening of mesodermal and ectodermal tissues around the onset of neurulation, potentially enhancing long-range transmission of convergence forces. These results illuminate the mechanobiology of early vertebrate morphogenic mechanisms, aid interpretation of phenotypes, and give insight into the evolution of blastopore closure mechanisms.
The who, where and how of fusobacteria and colon cancer
Authors: Sears Cynthia L
Published: March 2018

The association between the bacterium Fusobacterium nucleatum and human colon cancer is more complicated than it first appeared.
Covert shift of attention modulates the value encoding in the orbitofrontal cortex
Authors: Xie Yang , Nie Chechang , Yang Tianming
Published: March 2018

During value-based decision making, we often evaluate the value of each option sequentially by shifting our attention, even when the options are presented simultaneously. The orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) has been suggested to encode value during value-based decision making. Yet it is not known how its activity is modulated by attention shifts. We investigated this question by employing a passive viewing task that allowed us to disentangle effects of attention, value, choice and eye movement. We found that the attention modulated OFC activity through a winner-take-all mechanism. When we attracted the monkeys’ attention covertly, the OFC neuronal activity reflected the reward value of the newly attended cue. The shift of attention could be explained by a normalization model. Our results strongly argue for the hypothesis that the OFC neuronal activity represents the value of the attended item. They provide important insights toward understanding the OFC’s role in value-based decision making.
Closed-loop neuromodulation restores network connectivity and motor control after spinal cord injury
Authors: Ganzer Patrick D , Darrow Michael J , Meyers Eric C , Solorzano Bleyda R , Ruiz Andrea D , Robertson Nicole M , Adcock Katherine S , James Justin T , Jeong Han S , Becker April M , Goldberg Mark P , Pruitt David T , Hays Seth A , Kilgard Michael P , Rennaker Robert L
Published: March 2018

Recovery from serious neurological injury requires substantial rewiring of neural circuits. Precisely-timed electrical stimulation could be used to restore corrective feedback mechanisms and promote adaptive plasticity after neurological insult, such as spinal cord injury (SCI) or stroke. This study provides the first evidence that closed-loop vagus nerve stimulation (CLV) based on the synaptic eligibility trace leads to dramatic recovery from the most common forms of SCI. The addition of CLV to rehabilitation promoted substantially more recovery of forelimb function compared to rehabilitation alone following chronic unilateral or bilateral cervical SCI in a rat model. Triggering stimulation on the most successful movements is critical to maximize recovery. CLV enhances recovery by strengthening synaptic connectivity from remaining motor networks to the grasping muscles in the forelimb. The benefits of CLV persist long after the end of stimulation because connectivity in critical neural circuits has been restored.
IRF4 haploinsufficiency in a family with Whipple’s disease
Authors: Guérin Antoine , Kerner Gaspard , Marr Nico , Markle Janet G , Fenollar Florence , Wong Natalie , Boughorbel Sabri , Avery Danielle T , Ma Cindy S , Bougarn Salim , Bouaziz Matthieu , Béziat Vivien , Della Mina Erika , Oleaga-Quintas Carmen , Lazarov Tomi , Worley Lisa , Nguyen Tina , Patin Etienne , Deswarte Caroline , Martinez-Barricarte Rubén , Boucherit Soraya , Ayral Xavier , Edouard Sophie , Boisson-Dupuis Stéphanie , Rattina Vimel , Bigio Benedetta , Vogt Guillaume , Geissmann Frédéric , Quintana-Murci Lluis , Chaussabel Damien , Tangye Stuart G , Raoult Didier , Abel Laurent , Bustamante Jacinta , Casanova Jean-Laurent
Published: March 2018

Most humans are exposed to Tropheryma whipplei (Tw). Whipple’s disease (WD) strikes only a small minority of individuals infected with Tw (<0.01%), whereas asymptomatic chronic carriage is more common (<25%). We studied a multiplex kindred, containing four WD patients and five healthy Tw chronic carriers. We hypothesized that WD displays autosomal dominant (AD) inheritance, with age-dependent incomplete penetrance. We identified a single very rare non-synonymous mutation in the four patients: the private R98W variant of IRF4, a transcription factor involved in immunity. The five Tw carriers were younger, and also heterozygous for R98W. We found that R98W was loss-of-function, modified the transcriptome of heterozygous leukocytes following Tw stimulation, and was not dominant-negative. We also found that only six of the other 153 known non-synonymous IRF4 variants were loss-of-function. Finally, we found that IRF4 had evolved under purifying selection. AD IRF4 deficiency can underlie WD by haploinsufficiency, with age-dependent incomplete penetrance.
L
evilinea
Authors: Yamada Takeshi , Sekiguchi Yuji
Published: March 2018

Le.vi.li'ne.a. L. adj.
levis
smooth; L. fem. n.
linea
line; N.L. fem. n.
Levilinea
smooth, line‐shaped organism

Chloroflexi / Anaerolineae / Anaerolineales / Anaerolineaceae / Levilinea

Multicellular filaments are longer than 100 µm and 0.4–0.5 µm in width. Cells are nonmotile and non‐spore formation, and are Gram‐negative. Optimal growth occurs at 37°C and pH 7.0. Strictly anaerobic chemoorganoheterotroph. Yeast extract is required for growth. In the presence of yeast extract, sugars and proteinaceous carbon sources are utilized for growth. Fatty acids, alcohols, and aromatic compounds are not utilized. Anaerobic respiration is not observed; nitrate, fumarate, sulfate, sulfite, elemental sulfur, thiosulfate, and Fe (III)‐nitrilotriacetate (NTA) are not used as terminal electron acceptors. Growth is not stimulated in cocultivation with mesophilic hydrogenotrophic methanogens. Mesophilic anaerobic sludge the known habitat.

DNA G + C content (mol%)
: 57.4% (draft genome sequence).

Type species
:
Levilinea saccharolytica
Yamada, Sekiguchi, Hanada, Imachi, Ohashi, Harada and Kamagata 2006, 1338
VP
T
hermoflexus
Authors: Dodsworth Jeremy A.
Published: March 2018

Ther.mo.fle'xus. Gr. fem. n.
therme
heat; L. adj.
flexus
curved from L. v.
flecto
to bend, to curve; N.L. masc. n.
Thermoflexus
the hot, curved one.

Chloroflexi / Thermoflexia / Thermoflexales / Thermoflexaceae / Thermoflexus

Thermophilic. Straight or curved filaments vary in length from ∼10 to >200 µm. Individual cells within filaments are ∼4 µm in length, but septa between individual cells are not readily visible by light microscopy. Motility is not observed. Stain Gram negative. Heterotrophic, with growth only observed on complex organic substrates including tryptone, peptone, and yeast extract. Microaerophilic, with no growth at atmospheric concentrations of oxygen. Facultatively anaerobic via fermentation, but anaerobic respiration is not observed. Although
Thermoflexus hugenholtzii
JAD2
T
is the only isolate representing the genus to date, 16S rRNA gene sequences corresponding to
Thermoflexus
have been found in terrestrial hot spring habitats on several continents.

DNA G + C content (mol%)
: 67.3.

Type species
:
Thermoflexus hugenholtzii
Dodsworth, Gevorkian, Despujos, Cole, Murugapiran, Ming, Li, Zhang, Dohnalkova and Hedlund 2014, 2125
VP
.
C
ephaloticoccus
Authors: Wertz John T.
Published: March 2018

Ce.pha.lo.ti.coc'cus. N.L. n.
Cephalotes
an ant genus; N.L. masc. n.
coccus
(from Gr. masc. n.
kokkos
grain, seed) coccus; N.L. masc. n.
Cephaloticoccus
a coccus from the
Cephalotes
ant.

Verrucomicrobia / Opitutae / Opitutales / Opitutaceae / Cephaloticoccus

Cells are Gram‐negative singular cocci, nonmotile, and form cream‐colored colonies on trypticase soy agar. Cells are obligate aerobes and prefer or require supplemental carbon dioxide for growth. Growth at NaCl concentrations between 0.5 and 1.5%, temperatures between 23 and 37 °C, and pH values between 6.9 and 7.7. The major fatty acids are anteiso‐C
15
:0
, iso‐C
14
:0
, C
16
:0
, and C
16
:1
ω5c. Capable of utilizing a number of sugars and several short‐chain fatty acids as sole carbon and energy sources. Requires media rich in amino acids and polypeptides. Capable of urea degradation to ammonia. Members of the phylum “Verrucomicrobia” class
Opitutae
, family
Opitutaceae
. Only known habitat is
Cephalotes
sp. ant guts.

DNA G + C content (mol%)
: 60.5–60.7 (draft genome sequence).

Type species
:
Cephaloticoccus primus
Lin, Russell, Sanders, and Wertz 2016, 3038
VP
Tenericutes
Authors: Brown Daniel R.
Published: March 2018

Te.ne.ri.cu'tes. L. adj.tenertender; L. fem. n.cutisskin; N.L. fem. pl. n.Tenericutesprokaryotes of a soft pliable nature indicative of a lack of a rigid cell wall.

Tenericutes

The phylumTenericutescircumscribes a group of very small prokaryotes that emerged through a series of repeated genome reductions from distant ancestry in the phylumFirmicutes. Lacking any cell wall whatsoever, these bacteria are Gram‐stain‐negative and filterable through pores as narrow as 100 nm, although flexible cytoskeletal elements confer flask‐shaped or helical filamentous morphology to certain species. The nomenclatural type of this phylum is the classMollicutes, which is best known for its members in the genusMycoplasmaand related organisms with small (usually 0.5–1.5 mb) genomes and low (usually 25–30 mol%) G+C DNA. All mollicutes are commensals or parasites of humans, animals, insects, or plants. A number of ‘Candidatus’ species have been proposed but not yet cultivated independently of a host. A yet‐unnamed and undefined second class withinTenericuteswas recently proposed to accommodate certain novel taxa that share some phylogenetic markers withMollicutesbut whose natural environments, putative ultrastructure, genome characteristics and predicted metabolic diversity are otherwise inconsistent with the organisms affiliated with the established class.

Members of theTenericutesarewall‐less bacteria that do not synthesize precursors of peptidoglycan.
Long‐term survival prospects of patients undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention: Envisioning the future
Authors: Xie Rongbing , Hillegass William B.
Published: March 2018

Key Points

Implicit and largely intuitive survival predictions guide current clinical decision making after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI).

A model based on nine simple factors known after diagnostic catheterization but prior to PCI provides accurate prediction of five‐year survival probability after PCI.

Future prediction models and methods incorporating age and gender adjusted risk of death, cause of death (competing risks), and low prevalence but impactful comorbidities automatically implemented in electronic health records have the potential to further inform clinical decision‐making and target therapies.
Carotid stenting with double layered stents: Double trouble or double benefit?
Authors: Safian Robert D.
Published: March 2018

Key Points

The use of double layer (covered) stents during carotid artery stenting (CAS) appears to be safe; attenuation of plaque prolapse and distal embolization is reasonable but unproven.

Double layer stents are commercially available in Europe but not in the United States; similar benefits might be obtained by implanting two self‐expanding stents, to decrease the effective free cell area.

Embolic protection devices (EPDs) are recommended in all CAS patients; the use of double layer stents does not eliminate the need for EPDs.
Real time patient dosimetry in the cath lab: Can you see what they get?
Authors: Chambers Charles E. , Koduri Hemantha K.
Published: March 2018

Key Points

Real time radiation dose monitoring in the cath lab may provide immediate feedback for potential dose reduction during PCI.

Radiation dose monitoring to predict potential tissue injury utilizes equipment measured air Kerma at the interventional reference point (IRP) with then calculated specific tissue peak skin dose.

The role of the cath lab Quality Committee is not only to assess individual high dose radiation cases but also to create processes and assess new technologies to assure radiation dose is best utilized in all cases.
Geology drives the spatial patterning and structure of termite mounds in an African savanna
Authors: Muvengwi Justice , Davies Andrew B. , Parrini Francesca , Witkowski Edward T. F.
Published: March 2018

Termite mounds perform important roles in savanna ecosystems, generating heterogeneity and influencing ecosystem processes across multiple trophic levels. However, the influence the environment and neighboring termite colonies have on mound spatial patterning and structure is poorly understood, despite the profound implications such dynamics can have on ecosystems. To better understand these drivers, we mapped the spatial distribution and size of active and inactive Macrotermes mounds in eight 1‐km2 plots on contrasting geologies, nutrient‐rich granite and nutrient‐poor basalt, in a semi‐arid Zimbabwean savanna. Although mound density was not significantly different between basalt (5.5 mounds/ha) and granite (6.1 mounds/ha), termite mound structural attributes and spatial distribution patterns varied greatly between geologies. Mound size distributions differed between the geologies and mounds were 2.6 times taller and 3.9 times wider and had 15 times greater lateral surface area on granite. Subsequently, 6% of the total landscape was covered by mounds on granite compared with only 0.4% on basalt. On granite, large mounds exhibited significant over‐dispersion at scales below 30 m, signifying density‐dependent thinning. Furthermore, small mounds were clustered around large mounds, likely a result of the budding of new colonies comprising fully fledged castes less vulnerable to competition. In contrast, random patterning was evident on comparably homogenous basalt. Our results demonstrate the powerful influence geological substrate has on mound spatial patterning and structure, suggesting that the importance of termite mounds for ecosystem functioning is more pronounced on nutrient‐poor granitic substrates than basalts because of the pronounced over‐dispersion, which maximizes mound production per unit area, and much larger mound sizes here.
Does the Political Resource Curse Affect Public Finance? The Vulnerability of Tax Revenue in Resource‐Dependent Countries
Authors: von Haldenwang Christian , Ivanyna Maksym
Published: March 2018

This paper explores the extent to which government revenue is affected by external shocks and whether these effects are different for resource‐dependent (RD) as compared with non‐RD countries. We are particularly interested in the fate of poorer countries, as we assume they will find it more difficult to implement the policies needed to offset the effect of shocks. Based on data from the International Centre for Taxation and Development Government Revenue Dataset for 1980–2010, we measure the elasticity of tax revenue with respect to terms‐of‐trade shocks. We find that revenue in RD countries is more vulnerable to such shocks. It is above all the richer countries that appear to be adversely affected, compared with their non‐RD counterparts. In contrast, the difference between RD and non‐RD countries is less pronounced in the group of poorer countries. We also find that resource‐dependent countries became less vulnerable in the 2000s as compared with previous decades. At the same time, political regime type does not seem to matter for the vulnerability of government revenue in these countries. © 2018 UNU‐WIDER. Journal of International Development published by JohnWiley & Sons, Ltd
Global distribution of revenue loss from corporate tax avoidance: re‐estimation and country results
Authors: Cobham Alex , Janský Petr
Published: March 2018

International corporate tax is an important source of government revenue, especially in lower‐income countries. An innovative study of the scale of this problem was carried out by International Monetary Fund researchers and published in 2016. We first re‐estimate their model and then explore the effects of introducing higher‐quality revenue data from the International Centre for Tax and Development–World Institute for Development Economics Research Government Revenue Database. Whereas IMF researchers report results for two country groups only, we present country‐level results to make the most detailed estimates available. Our findings support a somewhat lower estimate of global revenue losses of around US$500 billion annually and indicate that the greatest intensity of losses occurs in low‐income and lower middle‐income countries and across sub‐Saharan Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean and South Asia. © 2018 UNU‐WIDER. Journal of International Development published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Political Competition and Tax Revenues in Developing Countries
Authors: Yogo Urbain T. , Ngo Njib Martine M.
Published: March 2018

Building on the literature of the political economy of taxation, this article explores the relationship between political competition and tax revenues using a sample of 89 developing countries from 1988 to 2010. Owing to the inertia of tax variables, we estimate a dynamic panel data model using the Blundell and Bond two‐step System‐general method of moments. The analysis led to the following results: political competition positively and significantly affects total tax revenues. However, this general pattern slightly differs across the type of taxes; and the net effect of political competition on tax revenues is negative for countries that have adopted fiscal rules. © 2018 UNU‐WIDER. Journal of International Development published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Taxation and Inequality in Developing Countries: Lessons from the Recent Experience of Latin America
Authors: Martorano Bruno
Published: March 2018

This paper aims to advance understanding about the relationship between taxation and inequality in developing countries, focusing on the recent experience of Latin America. Tax changes promoted equality since the early 2000s. In particular, the increasing contribution of direct taxes with respect to indirect taxes promoted the progressivity of the tax system and contributed to the reduction of inequality. Yet the effectiveness of taxation in promoting equality in Latin America is still limited by several factors such as the low average tax revenue, the inability to tax top incomes and the low contribution of taxes on property. © 2018 UNU‐WIDER. Journal of International Development published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
When Do Developing Countries Negotiate Away Their Corporate Tax Base?
Authors: Hearson Martin
Published: March 2018

Developing countries have concluded thousands of bilateral tax treaties, which restrict their ‘taxing rights’ over international investment. Qualitative case studies of these negotiation outcomes emphasize power politics, knowledge asymmetries and negotiating capability in the eventual distribution of taxing rights between signatories, yet such insights are absent from cross‐country quantitative work. This paper bridges the gap by replicating two quantitative studies, introducing new data on countries' ability to mobilize tax revenue and the outcomes of tax treaty negotiations. It provides statistical support for the insights from qualitative research. The size of a government's revenue base, and its reliance on corporate tax, might affect the salience of the revenue sacrifice in policy makers' minds. These variables influence the likelihood of signing a tax treaty and the particular concessions made. Power asymmetries between signatories lead to more unequal distributions of taxing rights away from developing countries, in contrast to the findings of earlier studies. Developing countries also become better negotiators as they gain experience. © 2018 UNU‐WIDER. Journal of International Development published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Fiscal Policy, State Building and Economic Development
Authors: Addison Tony , Niño‐Zarazúa Miguel , Pirttilä Jukka
Published: March 2018

This article presents a synopsis of the contextual conditions, factors and challenges under which the recent evolution of tax systems has taken place, as an introduction to this United Nations University‐World Institute for Development Economics Research Special Issue. The article, as the studies in this collection, gives especial emphasis to the role natural endowments, political economy, social structure and history, and the interplay between politics and tax revenues. These are relevant issues, considering that the Millennium Development Goals and now the Sustainable Development Goals have placed fiscal policy, and tax policy and revenue mobilisation in particular, at the centre of national and international development efforts. Delivering on the Sustainable Development Goals will require a level of state revenue mobilisation capacity in many ways unprecedented in the history of development policy. © 2018 UNU‐WIDER. Journal of International Development published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Hierarchically Designed Nickel‐Entangled Carbon Sphere with Superior Adsorption Properties
Authors: Ma Ji , Fan Congxiao , Zuo‐Jiang Sizhi , Wang Yunguo , Guan Wenlan , Ren Wenhao , Zhang Haisong , Wang Shuaize , Chen Kezheng
Published: March 2018

In this work, a C@Ni hierarchical structure was carefully designed by entangling carbon microspheres with curving nickel nanosheets. The presence of copious mesopores between adjoining nanosheets and microspheres greatly enhanced the specific surface area from 314.7 m2 g−1 for pristine carbon spheres to 448.7 m2 g−1 for this well‐designed C@Ni architecture. This salient structural feature enabled it as an ideal magnetic adsorbent for CrVI removal in wastewater. The high CrVI adsorption capacity of ca. 550 mg g−1 at 298 K, remarkable adsorption rate of 3.38 mg g‐1 min‐1 and excellent regeneration efficiencies above 90% were highly desirable for its widespread potential applications in water treatment.
Polyamidoamine Dendrimers as Crosslinkers for Efficient Electron Transfer between Redox Probes onto Magnetic Nanoparticles
Authors: Chen Feixiong , Haddour Naoufel , Frenea‐Robin Marie , Chevolot Yann , Monnier Virginie
Published: March 2018

The efficient conjugation of ferrocenecarboxylic acid (Fc), a usual electroactive probe, onto COOH‐modified magnetic nanoparticles (NPs) is reported. Amine crosslinkers were used to couple COOH groups from NPs and from Fc. The coupling efficiencies using different generations of polyamidoamine (PAMAM) dendrimer and ethylenediamine (EDA) were compared through zeta potential measurements, square‐wave voltammetry (SWV) and NH2 titration. Highest PAMAM generations led to NH2‐modified NPs with increased zeta potential and NH2 density compared to lowest ones. Moreover, no aggregation was observed after crosslinker grafting. SWV was applied to characterize Fc‐modified NPs. PAMAM generations 0–3 improved the electrochemical signal in comparison to EDA. However, increasing PAMAM generations led to NPs aggregation. Quantitative results supported the fact that PAMAM generation 0 was the best compromise for large electrochemical signal without NPs aggregation.
Facile Synthesis of {101}, {010} and [111]‐Faceted Anatase‐TiO2 Nanocrystals Derived from Porous Metatitanic Acid H2TiO3 for Enhanced Photocatalytic Performance
Authors: Liu Yufang , Du Yi‐en , Bai Yang , An Jing , Li Jianqing , Yang Xiaojing , Feng Qi
Published: March 2018

The cuboid‐like anatase TiO2 nanocrystals with co‐exposed {101}/[111]‐facets and the irregular anatase TiO2 nanocrystals with co‐exposed {101}/{010} facets were hydrothermally synthesized by using porous metatitanic acid H2TiO3 as the precursor and the HF, H2O2 and NH3⋅H2O as the capping agent and solvent. The as‐prepared anatase TiO2 nanocrystals were characterized by the powder X‐ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and high‐resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), selected‐area electron diffraction (SAED) and Nitrogen adsorption/desorption measurements. The transformation from the porous structure of metatitanic acid H2TiO3 to anatase TiO2 nanocrystals may experience three types of reactions including dehydration reaction from [TiO3]2− layers, [TiO6]8− octahedral monomers along the edge‐shared oxygen atoms, the formation of anatase nucleus, and the growth of anatase nucleus along the [101]‐direction and [011]‐direction (or [‐10‐1]‐direction and [0‐1‐1]‐direction) during the hydrothermal reaction process. Furthermore, the photocatalytic activities of the as‐prepared anatase nanocrystals were evaluated by the photocatalytic degradation of the typical carcinogenicity pollutant Rhodamine B (RB) under UV‐light irradiation at room temperature in air. The T180‐TiO2 nanocrystals exhibits the most excellent photodegradation performance than the T150‐TiO2, T160‐TiO2, T180‐TiO2 anatase nanocrystals and the commercially available P25‐TiO2 nanocrystals for the degradation amount of RB per unit surface area of catalyst (mg(RB) per m2 (TiO2 surface area)), which can be ascribed to its high percentage of the {010}/[111]‐crystal facets.
Can an unbroken flavour symmetry provide an approximate description of lepton masses and mixing?
Authors: Reyimuaji Y. , Romanino A.
Published: March 2018

Abstract

We provide a complete answer to the following question: what are the flavour groups and representations providing, in the symmetric limit, an approximate description of lepton masses and mixings? We assume that neutrino masses are described by the Weinberg operator. We show that the pattern of lepton masses and mixings only depends on the dimension, type (real, pseudoreal, complex), and equivalence of the irreducible components of the flavour representation, and we find only six viable cases. In all cases the neutrinos are either anarchical or have an inverted hierarchical spectrum. In the context of SU(5) unification, only the anarchical option is allowed. Therefore, if the hint of a normal hierarchical spectrum were confirmed, we would conclude (under the above assumption) that symmetry breaking effects must play a leading order role in the understanding of neutrino flavour observables. In order to obtain the above results, we develop a simple algorithm to determine the form of the lepton masses and mixings directly from the structure of the decomposition of the flavour representation in irreducible components, without the need to specify the form of the lepton mass matrices.
When rational sections become cyclic — Gauge enhancement in F-theory via Mordell-Weil torsion
Authors: Baume Florent , Cvetič Mirjam , Lawrie Craig , Lin Ling
Published: March 2018

Abstract

We explore novel gauge enhancements from abelian to non-simply-connected gauge groups in F-theory. To this end we consider complex structure deformations of elliptic fibrations with a Mordell-Weil group of rank one and identify the conditions under which the generating section becomes torsional. For the specific case of ℤ2 torsion we construct the generic solution to these conditions and show that the associated F-theory compactification exhibits the global gauge group [SU(2) × SU(4)]/ℤ2 × SU(2). The subsolution with gauge group SU(2)/ℤ2 × SU(2), for which we provide a global resolution, is related by a further complex structure deformation to a genus-one fibration with a bisection whose Jacobian has a ℤ2 torsional section. While an analysis of the spectrum on the Jacobian fibration reveals an SU(2)/ℤ2 × ℤ2 gauge theory, reproducing this result from the bisection geometry raises some conceptual puzzles about F-theory on genus-one fibrations.
Oversight in Surgical Innovation: A Response to Ethical Challenges
Authors: Gupta Saksham , Muskens Ivo S. , Fandino Luis Bradley , Hulsbergen Alexander F. C. , Broekman Marike L. D.
Published: March 2018

Background

Surgical innovation has advanced outcomes in the field, but carries inherent risk for surgeons and patients alike. Oversight mechanisms exist to support surgeon‐innovators through difficulties associated with the innovation process.

Methods

A literature review of ethical risks and oversight mechanisms was conducted.

Results

Oversight mechanisms range from the historical concept of surgical exceptionalism to departmental, hospital, and centralized committees. These fragmentary and non‐standardized oversight mechanisms leave surgeon‐innovators and patients open to significant risk of breaching the ethical principles at the core of surgical practice. A systematized approach that mitigates these risks while maintaining the independence and dignity of the surgical profession is necessary. We propose an oversight framework that incorporates multiple structures tailored toward the ethical risk introduced by different forms of innovation.

Discussion

We summarize ethical risks and current regulatory structures, and we then use these findings to outline an oversight framework that may be applied to surgical practice.