bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Prediction models for determining the success of labor induction: A systematic review
Authors: Meier Kennedy , Parrish Jacqueline , D'Souza Rohan
Published: February 2019

Introduction

The purpose of this study was to systematically identify and compare clinical models using universally accessible clinical and demographic factors that were derived and/or validated to predict the success of labor induction with a view to making recommendations for practice.

Material and methods

MEDLINE, Embase, www.clinicaltrials.gov, and PubMed (for non‐MEDLINE and studies in‐progress) were searched from inception to November 2017. Only studies that derived and/or validated clinical prediction models using variables obtained through antenatal history and digital cervical examination were included. Two reviewers independently screened titles and abstracts and extracted data from eligible studies into a standardized form. Extracted data included: participant characteristics, sample size, variables considered and included, endpoint definitions, study design and model performance. The Prediction Study Risk of Bias Assessment Tool (PROBAST) was used to appraise included studies. In view of clinical and methodologic heterogeneity between studies, only descriptive analysis was possible. The protocol was registered with the PROSPERO International prospective register of systematic reviews [CRD42017081548].

Results

The search identified 16 studies describing 14 prediction models derived between 1966 and 2018. Models varied and demonstrated major limitations with regard to methodology, scope and performance. Of the derived models, six were internally validated and three were externally validated. Performance was most commonly measured using the area under the receiver operator characteristic curve, which ranged from 0.68 to 0.79, 0.67 to 0.77 and 0.61 to 0.73 for derived, internally validated and externally validated models, respectively. The risk‐of‐bias of included studies ranged from some studies fulfilling only 36% and some others fulfilling 86% of eligible PROBAST items.

Conclusions

No published model can be recommended for use at the bedside to determine the success of vaginal birth after labor induction. Based on the limitations of included models, a list of recommendations for improving model performance and utilization is provided, as well as measures for encouraging appropriate use of prediction models. The attitudes of women and care providers, and the clinical and resource implications must be explored prior to recommending the use of prediction models for determining the success of labor induction.
Effect of melatonin on regulation of apoptosis and steroidogenesis in cultured buffalo granulosa cells
Authors: Riaz Hasan , Yousuf Muhammad Rizwan , Liang Aixin , Hua Guo Hua , Yang Liguo
Published: February 2019

This study was aimed to address melatonin receptor expression, mRNA level of hypothalamus and hypophysis hormone receptors (GnRHR, FSHR, and LHR), steroidogenesis, cell cycle, apoptosis, and their regulatory factors after addition of melatonin for 24 hr in cultured buffalo granulosa cells (GCs). The results revealed that direct addition of different concentrations of melatonin (100 pM, 1 nM, and 100 nM) resulted in significant upregulation (p < 0.05) of mRNA level of melatonin receptor 1a (MT1) without affecting melatonin receptor 1b (MT2). Melatonin treatment significantly downregulated (p < 0.05) mRNA level of FSH and GnRH receptors, whereas 100 nM dose of melatonin significantly increased mRNA level of LH receptor. Treatment with 100 nM of melatonin significantly decreased the basal progesterone production with significant decrease (p < 0.05) in mRNA levels of StAR and p450ssc, and lower mRNA level of genes (Insig1, Lipe, and Scrab1) that affect cholesterol availability. Melatonin supplementation suppressed apoptosis (100 nM, p < 0.05) and enhanced G2/M phase (1 nM, 100 nM, p < 0.05) of cell cycle progression which was further corroborated by decrease in protein expression of caspase‐3, p21, and p27 and increase in bcl2. Our results demonstrate that melatonin regulates gonadotrophin receptors and ovarian steroidogenesis through MT1. Furthermore, the notion of its incorporation in apoptosis and proliferation of buffalo GCs extends its role in buffalo ovaries.
Examining the theory‐effectiveness hypothesis: A systematic review of systematic reviews
Authors: Dalgetty Rebecca , Miller Christopher B. , Dombrowski Stephan U.
Published: February 2019

Purpose

Health interventions based on theory may be more effective than those that are not. This review of reviews synthesizes all published randomized controlled trial (RCT) meta‐analytic evidence from the last decade to examine whether theory‐based interventions were found to be associated with more effective adult health behaviour change interventions.

Methods

Systematic reviews including meta‐analyses were identified by searching Medline, CINAHL, PsycINFO, and CDSR. A narrative synthesis was used to summarize and analyse the evidence. Only reviews including RCTs of health behaviour change interventions with adults aged 18+ published from 2007 to 2017 were included.

Results

Of 8,659 articles, nine systematic reviews met inclusion criteria. The majority of reviews (n = 8) suggested no increased effectiveness for theory‐based compared to non‐theory‐based interventions for effectiveness of outcomes relating to health behaviour. Less than half of the RCTs included in the reviews reported the use of theory (85/183). Two reviews suggested interventions based on control theory, motivational interviewing, or self‐determination theory were associated with greater effectiveness for physical activity and/or dietary interventions and outcomes. Methodological and reporting issues limit the conclusions.

Conclusions

Theory‐based interventions as currently operationalized in systematic reviews were not found to be more effective than non‐theory‐based interventions. Methodological and reporting issues at study and review level may not reflect the true utility of theory use within health behaviour interventions. The promotion of theory use may benefit from using a multifaceted argument, rather than a narrow focus of increased effectiveness.

Statement of contribution

What is already known on this subject?

Theory use is regularly promoted by claiming that it will lead to more effective behaviour change interventions.

Theory use has been frequently linked to effectiveness within systematic reviews of behaviour change interventions.

The theory‐effectiveness hypothesis has not been systematically examined at the systematic review level.

What does this study add?

Theory use as operationalized by systematic review authors was not associated with increased effectiveness within systematic reviews examining randomized controlled trials of behaviour change interventions in adults.

Interventions based on control theory, motivational interviewing, or self‐determination theory were associated with greater effectiveness for physical activity and/or dietary interventions and outcomes.

Theory use should be promoted using a multifaceted argument, and assertions for increased effectiveness of theory‐based interventions should only be used in domains where specific evidence exists to support this claim.
Utilizing response times in cognitive diagnostic computerized adaptive testing under the higher‐order deterministic input, noisy ‘and’ gate model
Authors: Huang Hung‐Yu
Published: February 2019

Methods of cognitive diagnostic computerized adaptive testing (CD‐CAT) under higher‐order cognitive diagnosis models have been developed to simultaneously provide estimates of the attribute mastery statuses of examinees for formative assessment and estimates of a latent continuous trait for overall summative evaluation. In a typical CD‐CAT environment, examinees are often subject to a time limit, and the examinees’ response times (RTs) for specific test items can be routinely recorded by custom‐made programs. Because examinees are individually administered tailored sets of test items from the item pool, they may experience different levels of speededness during testing and different levels of risk of running out of time. In this study, RTs were considered during the item‐selection procedure to control the test speededness and the RTs were treated as useful information for improving latent trait estimation in CD‐CAT under the higher‐order deterministic input, noisy ‘and’ gate (DINA) model. A modified posterior‐weighted Kullback–Leibler (PWKL) method that maximizes the item information per time unit and a shadow‐test method that assembles a provisional test subject to a specified time constraint were developed. Two simulation studies were conducted to assess the effects of the proposed methods on the quality of CD‐CAT for fixed‐ and variable‐length exams. The results show that, compared with the traditional PWKL method, the proposed methods preserve a lower risk of running out of time while ensuring satisfactory attribute estimation and providing more accurate estimates of the latent trait and speed parameters. Finally, several suggestions for future research are proposed.
Adaptive evolution of butterfly wing shape: from morphology to behaviour
Authors: Le Roy Camille , Debat Vincent , Llaurens Violaine
Published: February 2019

Butterflies display extreme variation in wing shape associated with tremendous ecological diversity. Disentangling the role of neutralversusadaptive processes in wing shape diversification remains a challenge for evolutionary biologists. Ascertaining how natural selection influences wing shape evolution requires both functional studies linking morphology to flight performance, and ecological investigations linking performance in the wild with fitness. However, direct links between morphological variation and fitness have rarely been established. The functional morphology of butterfly flight has been investigated but selective forces acting on flight behaviour and associated wing shape have received less attention. Here, we attempt to estimate the ecological relevance of morpho‐functional links established through biomechanical studies in order to understand the evolution of butterfly wing morphology. We survey the evidence for natural and sexual selection driving wing shape evolution in butterflies, and discuss how our functional knowledge may allow identification of the selective forces involved, at both the macro‐ and micro‐evolutionary scales. Our review shows that although correlations between wing shape variation and ecological factors have been established at the macro‐evolutionary level, the underlying selective pressures often remain unclear. We identify the need to investigate flight behaviour in relevant ecological contexts to detect variation in fitness‐related traits. Identifying the selective regime then should guide experimental studies towards the relevant estimates of flight performance. Habitat, predators and sex‐specific behaviours are likely to be major selective forces acting on wing shape evolution in butterflies. Some striking cases of morphological divergence driven by contrasting ecology involve both wing and body morphology, indicating that their interactions should be included in future studies investigating co‐evolution between morphology and flight behaviour.
The spatial genetic structure of the White‐banded Tanager (Aves, Passeriformes) in fragmented Neotropical savannas suggests two evolutionarily significant units
Authors: Lima‐Rezende Cássia Alves , de Souza Renata Oliveira , Caparroz Renato
Published: February 2019

Understanding the genetic structure of a species is crucial for evolutionary biology research and species conservation. The objectives of this study were to investigate the genetic structure ofNeothraupis fasciatain Brazilian savannas and to assess genetic differentiation of its disjunct population in the Amazonian savannas of the state of Amapá. Population genetic structure was assessed in relation to isolation by distance and landscape variables connected with habitat heterogeneity. The influences of factors, such as habitat fragmentation and core–periphery distribution, on genetic diversity were also examined. Data were derived from a set of microsatellite loci of adult individuals from nine localities: eight distributed across the Cerrado and one in the disjunct Amazonian savanna of Amapá. Analysis revealed moderate genetic diversity and moderate population genetic structure, with at least two genetic clusters, one of which is represented exclusively by the disjunct Amapá population. The genetic structure found is not the result of significant influences by geographical distance, habitat heterogeneity, or the core–periphery effect, nor by intense biome fragmentation due to anthropic action. The disjunct Amapá population exhibited a moderate level of genetic differentiation compared to the Cerrado population, suggesting that both can be considered distinct evolutionarily significant units for conservation purposes.

Abstract in Portuguese is available with online material.
T cells in severe childhood asthma
Authors: Paul Alberta G. A. , Muehling Lyndsey M. , Eccles Jacob D. , Woodfolk Judith A.
Published: February 2019

Severe asthma in children is a debilitating condition that accounts for a disproportionately large health and economic burden of asthma. Reasons for the lack of a response to standard anti‐inflammatory therapies remain enigmatic. Work in the last decade has shed new light on the heterogeneous nature of asthma, and the varied immunopathologies of severe disease, which are leading to new treatment approaches for the individual patient. However, most studies to date that explored the immune landscape of the inflamed lower airways have focused on adults. T cells are pivotal to the inception and persistence of inflammatory processes in the diseased lungs, despite a contemporary shift in focus to immune events at the epithelial barrier. This article outlines current knowledge on the types of T cells and related cell types that are implicated in severe asthma. The potential for environmental exposures and other inflammatory cues to condition the immune environment of the lung in early life to favour pathogenic T cells and steroid resistance is discussed. The contributions of T cells and their cytokines to inflammatory processes and treatment resistance are also considered, with an emphasis on new observations in children that argue against conventional type 1 and type 2 T cell paradigms. Finally, the ability for new technologies to revolutionize our understanding of T cells in severe childhood asthma, and to guide future treatment strategies that could mitigate this disease, is highlighted.
Liver cancer: WISP3 suppresses hepatocellular carcinoma progression by negative regulation of β‐catenin/TCF/LEF signalling
Authors: Gao Hong , Yin Fen‐Fen , Guan Dong‐Xian , Feng Yu‐Xiong , Zheng Qian‐Wen , Wang Xiang , Zhu Min , Zhang Xue‐Li , Cheng Shu‐Qun , Chen Tian‐Wei , Jiang Hao , Zhang Er‐Bin , Wang Jing‐Jing , Ni Qian‐Zhi , Yuan Yan‐Mei , Zhang Feng‐Kun , Ma Ning , Cao Hui‐Jun , Wang Yi‐Kang , Li Jing‐Jing , Xie Dong
Published: February 2019

Objectives

Wnt1‐inducible signalling pathway protein 3 (WISP3/CCN6) belongs to the CCN (CYR61/CTGF/NOV) family of proteins, dysregulation of this family contributed to the tumorigenicity of various tumours. In this study, we need to explore its role in hepatocellular carcinoma that remains largely elusive.

Materials and Methods

The expression of WISP3/CCN6 was analysed by qRT‐PCR and Western blotting. Effects of WISP3 on proliferation and metastasis of HCC cells were examined, respectively, by MTT assay and Boyden Chamber. Roles of WISP3 on HCC tumour growth and metastatic ability in vivo were detected in nude mice. Related mechanism study was confirmed by immunofluorescence and Western blotting.

Results

The expression of WISP3 was significantly downregulated in HCC clinical samples and cell lines, and reversely correlated with the tumour size. Forced expression of WISP3 in HCC cells significantly suppressed cell growth and migration in vitro as well as tumour growth and metastatic seeding in vivo. In contrast, downregulation of WISP3 accelerated cell proliferation and migration, and promoted in vivo metastasis. Further study revealed that WISP3 inhibited the translocation of β‐catenin to the nucleus by activating glycogen synthase kinase‐3β (GSK3β). Moreover, constitutively active β‐catenin blocked the suppressive effects of WISP3 on HCC.

Conclusions

Our study showed that WISP3 suppressed the progression of HCC by negative regulation of β‐catenin/TCF/LEF signalling, providing WISP3 as a potential therapeutic candidate for HCC.
Comparing web‐based video interventions to enhance university student willingness to donate organs: A randomized controlled trial
Authors: Thornton J. Daryl , Patrick Bridget , Sullivan Catherine , Albert Jeffrey M. , Wong Kristine A. , Allen Margaret D. , Kimble Linda , Mekesa Heather , Bowen Gordon , Sehgal Ashwini R.
Published: February 2019

Background

The efficacy of video interventions to increase organ donation willingness remains unclear.

Methods

Three‐arm web‐based randomized controlled trial involving 2261 students at 3 northeastern Ohio universities. Intervention students watched a live‐action (n = 755) or animated (n = 753) donation video. Control students (n = 753) viewed wellness information from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The primary outcome was proportion of students who visited their state electronic donor registry to consent. The secondary outcome was intervention quality. Logistic regression assessed the effects of interventions on visiting the state registry to provide donation consent while controlling for baseline variables.

Results

Students in the live‐action video arm visited their state registry more frequently than students in the CDC arm (OR = 1.86, 95% CI = 1.20‐2.88). There was no difference between students in the animated video and CDC arms (OR = 1.10, 95% CI = 0.69‐1.76). The quality of the live‐action video was rated lower than the animated video and the CDC text (75% ± 18, 84% ± 16, 80% ± 16, respectively; P < 0.001).

Conclusion

Students who watched the live‐action video were more willing to visit their electronic donor registry to register as organ donors, but rated it lower in satisfaction. Future work should identify the most potent components of organ donation interventions.
Urinary tract infections in solid organ transplant recipients: Guidelines from the American Society of Transplantation Infectious Diseases Community of Practice
Authors: Goldman Jason D. , Julian Kathleen
Published: February 2019

These updated guidelines from the Infectious Diseases Community of Practice of the American Society of Transplantation review the diagnosis, prevention, and management of urinary tract infections (UTI) in solid organ transplantation, focusing on kidney transplant (KT) recipients. KT recipients have unique risk factors for UTI, including indwelling stents and surgical manipulation of the genitourinary tract. KT recipients experience multi‐drug antibiotic‐resistant infections—UTI prevention and management strategies must consider risks of antimicrobial resistance. Non‐antimicrobial prevention strategies for UTI in KT recipients are reviewed. It is important to recognize that some renal transplant recipients with UTI may primarily present with fever, malaise, leukocytosis, or a non‐specific sepsis syndrome without symptoms localized to the urinary tract. However, asymptomatic bacteriuria (AB) must be distinguished from UTI because AB is not necessarily a disease state. Accumulating data indicate that there are no benefits of antibiotics for treatment of AB in KT recipients more than 2 months after post‐transplant. Further research is needed on management of AB in the early (<2 months) post‐transplant period, prophylaxis for UTI in this era of antibiotic resistance, recurrent UTI, non‐antimicrobial prevention of UTI, and uropathogens identified in donor urine and/or preservative fluid cultures.
Influence of impaired right ventricular contractile reserve on exercise capacity in patients with precapillary pulmonary hypertension: A study with exercise stress echocardiography
Authors: Guo Di‐Chen , Li Yi‐Dan , Yang Yuan‐Hua , Zhu Wei‐Wei , Sun Lan‐Lan , Jiang Wei , Ye Xiao‐Guang , Cai Qi‐Zhe , Lu Xiu‐Zhang
Published: February 2019

Objectives

Right ventricular (RV) contractile reserve reflects the ability of RV to accommodate the increased afterload and may play an essential role in the evaluation of precapillary pulmonary hypertension (PH). This study aimed to assess RV contractile reserve based on exercise stress echocardiography (ESE) and to determine the echocardiographic determinants of exercise capacity in patients with precapillary PH.

Methods

A total of 31 patients with precapillary PH and 15 age‐ and sex‐matched healthy control subjects were prospectively recruited. All subjects underwent ESE to assess RV function at rest and under peak exercise. Changes in these parameters during exercise were calculated to quantify the RV contractile reserve. Patients with precapillary PH also underwent cardiopulmonary exercise test (CPET), and data pertaining to peak oxygen uptake (peak VO2) and minute ventilation/carbon dioxide production (VE/VCO2) were collected.

Results

Right ventricular contractile reserve including change in tricuspid annular plane systolic excursion (∆TAPSE), change in RV fractional area change (∆RVFAC), and change in Doppler‐derived tricuspid lateral annular peak systolic velocity (∆S′) was significantly depressed in precapillary PH patients compared with control subjects (P < 0.05). Parameters of RV function and RV contractile reserve were markedly associated with maximal exercise capacity (P < 0.05). ∆RVFAC was an independent predictor of peak VO2 (r2 = 0.601, P < 0.05).

Conclusions

Assessment of RV contractile reserve facilitates identification of subclinical dysfunction and evaluation of clinical status and severity of precapillary PH. ESE as a noninvasive method may provide a comprehensive clinical assessment and facilitate therapeutic decision‐making for these patients.
Vascular and non‐vascular contributors to memory reduction during traumatic brain injury
Authors: Charkviani Mariam , Muradashvili Nino , Lominadze David
Published: February 2019

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is an increasing health problem. It is a complex, progressive disease that consists of many factors affecting memory. Studies have shown that increased blood‐brain barrier (BBB) permeability initiates pathological changes in neuro‐vascular network but the role of cerebrovascular dysfunction and its mediated mechanisms associated with memory reduction during TBI are still not well understood. Changes in BBB, inflammation, extravasation of blood plasma components, activation of neuroglia lead to neurodegeneration. Extravasated proteins such as amyloid‐beta, fibrinogen, and cellular prion protein may form degradation resistant complexes that can lead to neuronal dysfunction and degeneration. They also have the ability to activate astrocytes, and thus, can be involved in memory impairment. Understanding the triggering mechanisms and the places they originate in vasculature or in extravascular tissue may help to identify potential therapeutic targets to ameliorate memory reduction during TBI. The goal of this review is to discuss conceptual mechanisms that lead to short‐term memory reduction during non‐severe TBI considering distinction between vascular and non‐vascular effects on neurons. Some aspects of these mechanisms need to be confirmed further. Therefore, we hope that the discussion presented bellow may lead to experiments that may clarify the triggering mechanisms of memory reduction after head trauma.
The minimum clinically important difference: which direction to take
Authors: Draak T. H. P. , de Greef B. T. A. , Faber C. G. , Merkies I. S. J. ,   the PeriNomS study group
Published: February 2019

Over the past decades in modern medicine, there has been a shift from statistical significance to clinical relevance when it comes to interpreting results from clinical trials. A concept that is increasingly being used as a surrogate for clinical relevance and effect size calculation is the minimum clinically important difference (MCID). In this paper, an overview is presented of the most important aspects of the MCID concept used in research trials and a discussion of what this means for the neurological patient in clinical trials and daily practice is given. Is the MCID the best outcome measure cut‐off to be implemented?
Clinical, neuroimaging and prognostic study of 127 cases with infarction of the corpus callosum
Authors: Sun X. , Li J. , Fan C. , Zhang H. , Si Y. , Fang X. , Guo Y. , Zhang J. H. , Wu T. , Ding S. , Bi X.
Published: February 2019

Background and purpose

The aim of this study was to retrospectively investigate clinical and neuroimaging characteristics in the largest sample size of patients with corpus callosum infarction to date and then to follow up these patients for 1 year to clarify the prognosis of this rare stroke entity.

Methods

A total of 127 patients with acute callosal infarction out of 5584 acute ischaemic stroke patients were included in this study. The recruited patients were divided into a pure callosal infarction group and a complex callosal infarction group (coupled with other infarct locations simultaneously), and clinical and neuroimaging features were analyzed. Some of the patients were followed up for 1 year to evaluate recurrence rate and mortality.

Results

The incidence of acute callosal infarction was 2.3%. Most patients presented with advanced neurological dysfunction with or without mild to moderate motor or sensory disorders on admission. The negative rate of computed tomography scan was still 76.4% even at >24 h after onset. Large‐artery atherosclerosis was the most common etiological type. Compared with complex callosal infarction, the pure callosal infarction group had more mental disorders (P = 0.030). Compared with common basal ganglia infarction, the pure callosal infarction group had better short‐term recovery (P = 0.016) but higher 1‐year mortality (P = 0.037). Age and mental disorders were independent risk factors for death in callosal infarction.

Conclusions

Callosal infarction is a white matter stroke that occurs with low incidence. Elderly patients with vascular risk factors showed sudden mental or cognitive disorders and callosal infarction could not be excluded. More attention should be paid to the early diagnosis and secondary prevention of callosal infarction because of its poor long‐term outcome.
Defence tactics cycle with diel microhabitat choice and body temperature in the desert locust,Schistocerca gregaria
Authors: Maeno Koutaro Ould , Ould Ely Sidi , Ould Mohamed Sid’Ahmed , Jaavar Mohamed El Hacen , Nakamura Satoshi , Ould Babah Ebbe Mohamed Abdallahi
Published: February 2019

We examined environmental factors influencing plasticity in antipredator defences of adult gregarious desert locusts,Schistocerca gregaria, including daily cycles in temperature, light, microhabitat occupied and predator threat. In the Sahara Desert in Mauritania, West Africa, daily temperature fluctuated widely from below locusts’ cold thermal limits for jump‐ and flight‐defence, to above their preferred body temperature. Locusts changed microhabitats throughout the 24‐hr period in synchrony with the daily thermo‐photocycle. They roosted in tall trees and large bushes at night, moved to the ground in the morning, shaded under or in small bushes and annuals at midday, moved back to the ground in the afternoon and then returned to night roosting sites around dusk. Locust antipredator defences varied throughout the 24‐hr period, and these changes were correlated with temperature, photocycle and habitat. Flight escape was associated with daytime, high temperatures and the ground habitat. Dropping escape (= releasing hold of vegetation and dropping to the ground or into vegetation) was associated with cool temperatures and low‐to‐medium sized bushes. Stationary behaviour was associated with the tree microhabitat and height off the ground. Roosting (a primary defence) was associated with cool temperatures at night and early morning, tree habitats and nocturnal ground‐foraging times of endothermic mammals. In summary, we propose that temperature is the key factor in determining both changing microhabitat choice and changing antipredator defence, due to thermal constraints on locust muscle for this ectothermic insect. The thermocycle also influences temporal predator loads, which influence the evolution of locust diel defence strategies. These various environmental factors not only influence one another, they also interact to influence antipredator defence expression in locusts. Overall, our study suggests that plasticity in locust antipredator defences is a complicated matter mediated by the interactions of multiple environmental factors and physiological and ecological constraints and trade‐offs.
Weaponry, size, and sex ratio affect spatial distribution within small and large groups of the maritime earwig (Anisolabis maritima)
Authors: Dodgen Rose E. , Iyengar Vikram K.
Published: February 2019

Dispersion patterns within a group can reveal important aspects about social interactions and sexual selection within a species. We examined the distribution patterns of the maritime earwig (Anisolabis maritima), an insect well suited for studies of aggression, sociality, and sexual selection since both sexes live in close proximity and possess weaponry in the form of sexually dimorphic pincers. To examine intra‐ and intersexual interactions within small groups, we conducted trials with three earwigs with limited access to shelters. In single‐sex trios, we found that both males and females exhibited strong size‐based intrasexual aggression, as larger individuals were less likely to be excluded from shelters; however, males were more likely to cohabitate than females. In mixed‐sex trios, we found that both males and females preferred smaller opposite‐sex partners, and cohabitation patterns indicate that both sex‐ and size‐based differences in aggression can influence overall spatial distribution. We also examined larger single‐sex and mixed‐sex groups of 18 earwigs to determine whether they had random, uniform, or clumped distributions. Similar to previous field observations, males tended to form aggregations, whereas females were distributed uniformly, a pattern indicative of territoriality. Mixed‐sex groups, on the other hand, were uniform during nocturnal periods of high activity but then become clumped after settling into more stable daytime positions. Overall, our results suggest that females have high levels of aggression regardless of the social context, whereas males alter their aggressive behavior in the presence of females.
Segmental ischaemic necrosis of the jejunum in a post‐partum mare due to two mesenteric avulsions
Authors: Vilaregut L. , O'Shea C. , Lores M. , Couto G. , Misheff M.
Published: February 2019

This report describes segmental ischaemic necrosis of the small intestine 4 days after foaling in a 9‐year‐old Arabian mare. The jejunal mesentery was avulsed from the intestine in two locations for 20 and 200 cm, resulting in intestinal necrosis, in the absence of entrapment or strangulation. This case highlights the need to consider the possibility of mesenteric injury when a post‐partum mare presents mild signs of abdominal pain.
Solar angle of the distal phalanx is associated with scintigraphic evidence of subchondral bone injury in the palmar/plantar aspect of the third metacarpal/tarsal condyles in Thoroughbred racehorses
Authors: Walmsley E. A. , Jackson M. , Wells‐Smith L. , Whitton R. C.
Published: February 2019

Background

Subchondral bone injury at the palmar/plantar aspect of the condyles of the third metacarpal/metatarsal bone (MC/MT3) commonly causes lameness and poor performance in racehorses. Injury occurs due to repetitive loading, the magnitude of which may be influenced by the position of the distal phalanx relative to the ground surface, i.e. the solar angle. The association of solar angle and injury at the palmar/plantar condyles of distalMC/MT3 therefore warrants investigation.

Objectives

Investigate the relationship between solar angle and radiopharmaceutical uptake at the palmar/plantar aspect of distalMC/MT3 on scintigraphic images of racehorses.

Study design

Retrospective case‐controlled study.

Methods

Scintigraphic images of Thoroughbred racehorses presented for poor performance or lameness were graded for intensity of radiopharmaceutical uptake in the palmar/plantar aspect of distalMC/MT3. Solar angle was graded (positive, neutral or negative), referring to the angle of the solar plane of the distal phalanx relative to the ground surface. Repeatability of solar angle (n = 1226 limbs) and agreement with objective radiographic evaluation (n = 52 limbs) were evaluated. Prescintigraphy performance data were collected from race records. Associations between solar angle, performance and radiopharmaceutical uptake were investigated using multivariable logistic regression.

Results

Repeatability of scintigraphic solar angle grading (κ = 0.89, 95%CI0.87–0.91) and agreement of scintigraphic and radiographic solar angle (κ = 0.88, 95%CI0.75–0.97) were excellent. Horses that performed best prior to presentation were more likely to have both greater radiopharmaceutical uptake and a neutral/negative solar angle. When controlling for prior performance, horses with neutral/negative forelimb solar angle were twice as likely to have moderate/marked radiopharmaceutical uptake than horses with positive solar angle (P<0.02). Horses with negative hindlimb solar angle were six times more likely to have moderate/marked radiopharmaceutical uptake than horses with positive/neutral solar angle (P<0.001).

Main limitations

Population bias due to preselected hospital population.

Conclusions

Both solar angle and race performance are independently associated with increased bone activity in the palmar/plantar aspect of the third metacarpal/tarsal condyles.

The Summary is available in Portuguese ‐ see Supporting Information
Refining predictions of population decline at species' rear edges
Authors: Vilà‐Cabrera Albert , Premoli Andrea C. , Jump Alistair S.
Published: February 2019

According to broad‐scale application of biogeographical theory, widespread retractions of species' rear edges should be seen in response to ongoing climate change. This prediction rests on the assumption that rear edge populations are “marginal” since they occur at the limit of the species' ecological tolerance and are expected to decline in performance as climate warming pushes them to extirpation. However, conflicts between observations and predictions are increasingly accumulating and little progress has been made in explaining this disparity. We argue that a revision of the concept of marginality is necessary, together with explicit testing of population decline, which is increasingly possible as data availability improves. Such action should be based on taking the population perspective across a species' rear edge, encompassing the ecological, geographical and genetic dimensions of marginality. Refining our understanding of rear edge populations is essential to advance our ability to monitor, predict and plan for the impacts of environmental change on species range dynamics.
Anticipating global terrestrial ecosystem state change using FLUXNET
Authors: Yu Rong , Ruddell Benjamin L. , Kang Minseok , Kim Joon , Childers Dan
Published: February 2019

Ecosystems can be characterized as complex systems that traverse a variety of functional and structural states in response to changing bioclimatic forcings. A central challenge of global change biology is the robust empirical description of these states and state transitions. An ecosystem's functional state can be empirically described using Process Networks (PN) that use timeseries observations to determine the strength of process‐level functional couplings between ecosystem components. A globally extensive source of in‐situ observations of terrestrial ecosystem dynamics is the FLUXNET eddy‐covariance network that provides standardized observations of micrometeorology and carbon, water, and energy flux dynamics. We employ the LaThuile FLUXNET synthesis dataset to delineate each month's functional state for 204 sites, yielding the LaThuile PN version 1.0 database that describes the strength of an ecosystem's functional couplings from air temperature and precipitation to carbon fluxes during each site‐month. Then we calculate the elasticity of these couplings to seasonal scale forcings: air temperature, precipitation, solar radiation, and phenophase. Finally, we train artificial neural networks to extrapolate these elasticities from 204 sites to the globe, yielding maps of the estimated functional elasticity of every terrestrial ecosystem's functional states to changing seasonal bioclimatic forcings. These maps provide theoretically novel resource that can be used to anticipate ecological state transitions in response to climate change and to validate process‐based models of ecological change. These elasticity maps show that each ecosystem can be expected to respond uniquely to changing forcings. Tropical forests, hot deserts, savannas, and high elevations are most elastic to climate change, and elasticity of ecosystems to seasonal air temperature is on average an order of magnitude higher than elasticity to other bioclimatic forcings. We also observed a reasonable amount of moderate relationships between functional elasticity and structural state change across different ecosystems.
Commentary: New histories of the Indian Green Revolution
Authors: Stone Glenn Davis
Published: February 2019

The Green Revolution continues to be a touchstone in debates on food production. Accounts generally cite “high‐yielding” dwarf wheat and rice spreading through Asia and particularly India, resulting in lives saved, agriculture modernised, and under‐utilised workers moved off farms. This Commentary examines the forces that popularised this version of events and then reviews a significant new body of writing, comprising five major works by historians. The new work provides a fundamental rethinking of many key aspects of the revolution, including the motivations behind it, the merits of the agricultural science in India that it displaced, whether the new seeds actually led to increased food production, and how concepts of desirable plants changed.
Relationship between the Kihon Checklist and the clinical parameters in patients who participated in cardiac rehabilitation
Authors: Kunimoto Mitsuhiro , Shimada Kazunori , Yokoyama Miho , Matsubara Tomomi , Aikawa Tatsuro , Ouchi Shohei , Shimizu Megumi , Fukao Kosuke , Miyazaki Tetsuro , Kadoguchi Tomoyasu , Fujiwara Kei , Honzawa Akio , Yamada Miki , Shimada Akie , Yamamoto Taira , Amano Atsushi , Daida Hiroyuki
Published: February 2019

Aim

The Kihon Checklist is a useful screening tool for assessing frailty in older individuals. However, the clinical significance of the Kihon Checklist in cardiac rehabilitation patients remains unclear. The present study aimed to evaluate the relationship between the Kihon Checklist and the clinical parameters in patients who participated in cardiac rehabilitation.

Methods

We enrolled 845 consecutive patients (584 men, mean age 71 years) who participated in cardiac rehabilitation at Juntendo University Hospital, Tokyo, Japan, between November 2015 and October 2017. The patients were divided into non‐frailty (n = 287), pre‐frailty (n = 270) and frailty (n = 288) groups according to their Kihon Checklist scores. Cardiopulmonary exercise testing was carried out in 302 patients.

Results

The frailty group was older and had a higher prevalence of history of heart failure than the non‐frailty group, although left ventricular ejection fraction did not differ significantly between groups. Nutritional index, trunk and limb muscle mass, lean body weight, and grip strength were significantly lower in the frailty and pre‐frailty groups than those in the non‐frailty group. In the cardiopulmonary exercise test, a stepwise significant decrease in peak oxygen uptake was observed across the three groups (non‐frailty 17.2 ± 3.6, pre‐frailty 16.0 ± 3.4, frailty 14.4 ± 3.5 mL/kg/min, P < 0.01). Multivariate regression analyses showed that the Kihon Checklist score was significantly and independently associated with peak oxygen uptake (r = −0.34, P < 0.0001).

Conclusions

The Kihon Checklist, which was associated with frailty and exercise tolerance, could be used as a clinical assessment method for patients who participated in cardiac rehabilitation. Geriatr Gerontol Int 2019; 19: 287–292.
The impact of external knowledge sourcing on innovation outcomes in rural and urban businesses in the U.S.
Authors: Dotzel Kathryn R. , Faggian Alessandra
Published: February 2019

This paper examines the relationship between external knowledge sourcing and a diverse set of innovation outcomes in rural and urban establishments in the U.S. Existing studies in the broader knowledge management literature principally examine firms in a single industry, overwhelmingly rely on patent data to proxy for innovation, and cannot account for the innovations of businesses in rural American markets. By addressing these limitations using data from the 2014 Rural Establishment Innovation Survey of the USDA's Economic Research Service, this research provides novel insights into how externally acquired knowledge by American establishments may support innovation. Results of the analysis suggest that external knowledge sourcing may specifically promote product, process, and green innovation in U.S. firms. While collective results when external sources of information are divided by industry orientation fail to show that sources outside of a firm's industry play a dominant role in the innovation processes of American establishments in general, findings provide evidence for an outsized impact of these relationships within rural establishments specifically and suggest that external knowledge sourcing from extra‐industry organizations is most critical for promoting successful innovation in rural firms. Results additionally indicate that knowledge sourcing from non‐local organizations may be more important for supporting innovation in rural compared to urban markets.
Mechanical properties of silicon carbide—in situ zirconium carbonitride composites
Authors: Malik Rohit , Jang Seung Hoon , Kim Young‐Wook , Nishimura Toshiyuki
Published: February 2019

SiC–Zr2CN composites were fabricated by conventional hot pressing from β‐SiC and ZrN powders with 2 vol% equimolar Y2O3–Sc2O3 as a sintering additive. The effects of the ZrN addition on the room‐temperature (RT) mechanical properties and high‐temperature flexural strength of the SiC–Zr2CN composites were investigated. The fracture toughness gradually increased from 4.2 ± 0.3 MPa·m1/2 for monolithic SiC to 6.3 ± 0.2 MPa·m1/2 for a SiC–20 vol% ZrN composite, whereas the RT flexural strength (546 ± 32 MPa for the monolithic SiC) reached its maximum of 644 ± 87 MPa for the SiC–10 vol% ZrN composite. The monolithic SiC had improved strength at 1200°C, whereas the SiC–Zr2CN composites could not retain their RT strengths at 1200°C. The typical flexural strength values of the SiC–0, 10, and 20 vol% ZrN composites at 1200°C were 650 ± 53, 448 ± 31, and 386 ± 19 MPa, whereas their RT strength values were 546 ± 32, 644 ± 87, and 528 ± 117 MPa, respectively.
Characterization of 20Na2O·30((1−x)CaO·xSrO)·50P2O5 glasses for a resorbable optical fiber application
Authors: Freudenberger Parker T. , Saitoh Akira , Ikeda Hikaru , Adnan Md Shihab , Takebe Hiromichi , Nakane Shingo , Kim Chang‐Soo , Brow Richard K.
Published: February 2019

Resorbable glasses with nominal molar compositions of 20Na2O·30[(1−x)CaO·xSrO]∙50P2O5, where x = 0, 0.25, 0.50, 0.75, and 1, were prepared and characterized. With the replacement of CaO by SrO, the molar volume, refractive index, and coefficient of thermal expansion increased, and the glass transition temperature, crystallization temperature, and viscosity decreased. The replacement of CaO by SrO decreased the dissolution rate in 37°C water by nearly an order of magnitude. Resorbable glass fibers drawn from melts of the 20Na2O·30CaO·50P2O5 glass exhibited decreasing transmission of laser light (632 nm) in a predictable way as the fiber dissolved in a phosphate buffer solution. This demonstrated that these glasses could be used to produce resorbable fibers for temporary biosensing or therapeutic applications.
Nationwide survey of experiential learning in MPharm programmes in UK Universities
Authors: Jacob Sabrina Anne , Boyter Anne C
Published: February 2019

Objectives

To determine the current structure of experiential learning (EL) in Master of Pharmacy (MPharm) programmes in UK universities, and assess how they meet the standards specified by the General Pharmaceutical Council.

Methods

A cross-sectional survey of staff in charge of EL in MPharm programmes was conducted, utilising a 31-item online survey, consisting of both open-ended and close-ended questions. Variables of interest were administrative aspects and structure of the EL component, tutor issues and placement sites. To pinpoint the challenges faced with EL, the Relative Importance Index (RII) was calculated.

Key findings

Twenty (66.7%) universities responded. EL coordinators were mostly academic/teaching fellows (19) and spent 0.29 ± 0.31 full-time equivalents on coordination. Tutors completed training annually in 53.8% of universities, with topics focusing on placement structure (85.7%) and requirements (78.6%). Total placement hours in all practice sites over the 4 years of study ranged from 54 to 496 h, and included hospitals, community pharmacies, hospices, prisons and nursing homes. The three biggest challenges faced with regard to EL were in obtaining/retaining hospital placements (1st), financial support (2nd) and quality assurance (QA) of tutors (3rd).

Conclusions

While there has been an increase in the variety of placement sites and hours since the last survey in 2003, universities face challenges in terms of staffing and obtaining placement sites. There are also gaps in tutor training. More standardisation and regulation of the QA of the EL programme, placement sites and tutors is needed to ensure students obtain the most out of their placements.