bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Efficacy of NEMO-binding domain peptide used to treat experimental osteomyelitis caused by methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus: an in-vivo study
Authors: Xu Chang-Peng , Chen Ya , Sun Hong-Tao , Cui Zhuang , Yang Ya-Jun , Huang Lei , Yu Bin , Wang Fa-Zheng , Yang Qing-Po , Qi Yong 
Published: November 2019

Abstract
Purpose
Treatment of chronic osteomyelitis (bone infection) remains a clinical challenge. Our previous study had demonstrated that NEMO-binding domain (NBD) peptide effectively ameliorates the inhibition of osteoblast differentiation by TNF-α in vitro. In this work, NBD peptide was evaluated in vivo for treating chronic osteomyelitis induced by methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) in a rabbit model.

Methods
Tibial osteomyelitis was induced in 50 New Zealand white rabbits by tibial canal inoculation of MRSA strain. After 3 weeks, 45 rabbits with osteomyelitis were randomly divided into four groups that correspondingly received the following interventions: 1) Control group (9 rabbits, no treatment); 2) Van group (12 rabbits, debridement and parenteral treatment with vancomycin); 3) NBD + Van group (12 rabbits, debridement and local NBD peptide injection, plus parenteral treatment with vancomycin); 4) NBD group (12 rabbits, debridement and local NBD peptide injection). Blood samples were collected weekly for the measurement of leucocyte count, erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), and C-reactive protein (CRP) levels. The rabbits in all four groups were sacrificed 6 weeks after debridement; the anti-infective efficacy was evaluated by radiological, histological, and microbiological examination, and promotion of bone remodeling was quantified by micro-CT using the newly formed bone.

Results
Except two rabbits in the Control group and one in the NBD group that died from severe infection before the end point, the remaining 42 animals (7, 12, 12, 11 in the Control, Van, NBD + Van, and NBD group respectively) were sacrificed 6 weeks after debridement. In general, there was no significant difference in the leucocyte count, and ESR and CRP levels, although there were fluctuations throughout the follow-up period after debridement. MRSA was still detectable in bone tissue samples of all animals. Interestingly, treatment with NBD peptide plus vancomycin significantly reduced radiological and histological severity scores compared to that in other groups. The best therapeutic efficacy in bone defect repair was observed in the NBD peptide + Van group.

Conclusions
In a model of osteomyelitis induced by MRSA, despite the failure in demonstrating antibacterial effectiveness of NBD peptide in vivo, the results suggest antibiotics in conjunction with NBD peptide to possibly have promising therapeutic potential in osteomyelitis.
The role of active movement in fungal ecology and community assembly
Authors: Bielčik Miloš , Aguilar-Trigueros Carlos A. , Lakovic Milica , Jeltsch Florian , Rillig Matthias C. 
Published: November 2019

AbstractMovement ecology aims to provide common terminology and an integrative framework of movement research across all groups of organisms. Yet such work has focused on unitary organisms so far, and thus the important group of filamentous fungi has not been considered in this context. With the exception of spore dispersal, movement in filamentous fungi has not been integrated into the movement ecology field. At the same time, the field of fungal ecology has been advancing research on topics like informed growth, mycelial translocations, or fungal highways using its own terminology and frameworks, overlooking the theoretical developments within movement ecology. We provide a conceptual and terminological framework for interdisciplinary collaboration between these two disciplines, and show how both can benefit from closer links: We show how placing the knowledge from fungal biology and ecology into the framework of movement ecology can inspire both theoretical and empirical developments, eventually leading towards a better understanding of fungal ecology and community assembly. Conversely, by a greater focus on movement specificities of filamentous fungi, movement ecology stands to benefit from the challenge to evolve its concepts and terminology towards even greater universality. We show how our concept can be applied for other modular organisms (such as clonal plants and slime molds), and how this can lead towards comparative studies with the relationship between organismal movement and ecosystems in the focus.
Algorithms for joint activity–attenuation estimation from positron emission tomography scatter
Authors: Berker Yannick , Schulz Volkmar , Karp Joel S. 
Published: November 2019

Abstract

Background
Attenuation correction in positron emission tomography remains challenging in the absence of measured transmission data. Scattered emission data may contribute missing information, but quantitative scatter-to-attenuation (S2A) reconstruction needs to input the reconstructed activity image. Here, we study S2A reconstruction as a building block for joint estimation of activity and attenuation.

Methods
We study two S2A reconstruction algorithms, maximum-likelihood expectation maximization (MLEM) with one-step-late attenuation (MLEM-OSL) and a maximum-likelihood gradient ascent (MLGA). We study theoretical properties of these algorithms with a focus on convergence and convergence speed and compare convergence speeds and the impact of object size in simulations using different spatial scale factors. Then, we propose joint estimation of activity and attenuation from scattered and nonscattered (true) emission data, combining MLEM-OSL or MLGA with scatter-MLEM as well as trues-MLEM and the maximum-likelihood transmission (MLTR) algorithm.

Results
Shortcomings of MLEM-OSL inhibit convergence to the true solution with high attenuation; these shortcomings are related to the linearization of a nonlinear measurement equation and can be linked to a new numerical criterion allowing geometrical interpretations in terms of low and high attenuation. Comparisons using simulated data confirm that while MLGA converges largely independent of the attenuation scale, MLEM-OSL converges if low-attenuation data dominate, but not with high attenuation. Convergence of MLEM-OSL can be improved by isolating data satisfying the aforementioned low-attenuation criterion. In joint estimation of activity and attenuation, scattered data helps avoid local minima that nonscattered data alone cannot. Combining MLEM-OSL with trues-MLEM may be sufficient for low-attenuation objects, while MLGA, scatter-MLEM, and MLTR may additionally be needed with higher attenuation.

Conclusions
The performance of S2A algorithms depends on spatial scales. MLGA provides lower computational complexity and convergence in more diverse setups than MLEM-OSL. Finally, scattered data may provide additional information to joint estimation of activity and attenuation through S2A reconstruction.
How to promote ‘discipline without tough love’ during pregnancy: a randomized controlled trial
Authors: Suzuki Shunji 
Published: November 2019

Background: In Japan, the effect of education using the leaflet ‘Discipline Without Tough Love’ on mothers during caring for their infants have been reported. We examined the effect of this education on pregnant Japanese women. Methods: The present study was a prospective investigation of all Japanese women with singleton pregnancies who visited our hospital for a perinatal visit at 20-23 weeks’ gestation between November 2017 and March 2018 and gave birth at ≥ 37 weeks’ gestation at our hospital. We examined the maternal feelings (bonding situation) to babies of women who received the leaflet in comparison with that in women who did not receive it during the health check-up performed routinely at one month after delivery using the Japanese version of the Mother-to-Infant Bonding Scale. Results: There were no significant differences in maternal feelings for their babies between the two groups of women. Conclusions: We did not identify any effect of health consultations cased on ‘Discipline Without Tough Love’ during pregnancy on maternal feelings toward babies at one month after delivery. A further study to enlighten pregnant women about parenting without corporal punishment will be needed in Japan. Registration: Japan Registry of Clinical Trials 1030190112; registered on 5 October 2019.
Application of behavioral economics principles to reduce injectable contraceptive discontinuation in rural Ethiopia: A stratified-pair, cluster-randomized field trial
Authors: Karim Ali Mehryar , Guichon Dana , Yihun Bantalem Yeshanew , Zemichael Nebreed Fesseha , Lorenzana Karina , Barofsky Jeremy , Betemariam Wuleta 
Published: November 2019

Background: Contraceptive prevalence in Ethiopia jumped from 6% in 2000 to 36% in 2016, mainly due to increased injectable method use. However, discontinuation rates among injectable users were high (38%). Given that the public sector is the major source for injectable contraceptives, John Snow Inc. (JSI) in collaboration with ideas42 worked with Ethiopia’s flagship Health Extension Program to apply behavioral design to mitigate discontinuation of injectable contraceptives. Methods: We applied behavioral economics insights to mitigate the discontinuation of injectable contraceptives. This process created an intervention package, consisting of a health worker planning calendar, a client counseling job aid, and client appointment cards. A stratified-pair cluster-randomized field trial tested the effectiveness of the intervention. The study area included two districts from the four regions where JSI was implementing a family planning program. One district from each region was randomly allocated to the intervention arm. Women visiting health posts to use injectable contraceptives were enrolled in the study. Regression methods, adjusted for study design, participants’ backgrounds, and contextual factors, estimated the intervention’s effect on discontinuation rates. Results: A behavioral design methodology was feasibly implemented in a rural, low-resource setting in Ethiopia. The resultant intervention package was successfully delivered in 19 satellite health posts in four districts. Intervention adherence was high for the appointment cards and counseling job aid, but not for the planning calendar. The injectable discontinuation rate was 10.8 % (95% confidence interval: 2.2, 19.3) points lower in the intervention area compared to the control area during the post-intervention follow-up survey. Conclusion: The use of two tools informed by behavioral economics —the appointment card and counseling job aid—effectively decreased injectable discontinuation even with the presence of other health system bottlenecks. Behavioral economics insights and the behavioral design methodology have the potential to enhance family planning programs in Ethiopia and elsewhere.
Randomized, double-blinded, controlled non-inferiority trials evaluating the immunogenicity and safety of fractional doses of Yellow Fever vaccines in Kenya and Uganda
Authors: Kimathi Derick , Juan Aitana , Bejon Philip , Grais Rebecca F. , Warimwe George M. ,   YEFE and NIFTY vaccine trials teams
Published: November 2019

Introduction: Yellow fever is endemic in specific regions of sub-Saharan Africa and the Americas, with recent epidemics occurring on both continents. The yellow fever vaccine is effective, affordable and safe, providing life-long immunity following a single dose vaccination. However, the vaccine production process is slow and cannot be readily scaled up during epidemics. This has led the World Health Organization (WHO) to recommend the use of fractional doses as a dose-sparing strategy during epidemics, but there are no randomized controlled trials of fractional yellow fever vaccine doses in Africa. Methods and analysis: We will recruit healthy adult volunteers, adults living with HIV, and children to a series of randomized controlled trials aiming to determine the immunogenicity and safety of fractional vaccine doses in comparison to the standard vaccine dose. The trials will be conducted across two sites; Kilifi, Kenya and Mbarara, Uganda. Recruited participants will be randomized to receive fractional or standard doses of yellow fever vaccine. Scheduled visits will include blood collection for serum and peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) before vaccination and on various days – up to 2 years – post-vaccination. The primary outcome is the rate of seroconversion as measured by the plaque reduction neutralization test (PRNT50) at 28 days post-vaccination. Secondary outcomes include antibody titre changes, longevity of the immune response, safety assessment using clinical data, the nature and magnitude of the cellular immune response and post-vaccination control of viremia by vaccine dose. Ethics and dissemination: The clinical trial protocols have received approval from the relevant institutional ethics and regulatory review committees in Kenya and Uganda, and the WHO Ethics Review Committee. The research findings will be disseminated through open-access publications and presented at relevant conferences and workshops. Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT02991495 (registered on 13 December 2016) and NCT04059471 (registered on 15 August 2019).
Imaging Strategies and Outcomes in Children Hospitalized with Cervical Lymphadenitis
Authors: Desai Sanyukta , Shah Samir S , Hall Matt , Richardson Troy E , Thomson Joanna E , Network. for the Pediatric Research in Inpatient Settings (PRIS) 
Published: November 2019

OBJECTIVESThis study aimed to describe variation in imaging practices and examine the association between early imaging and outcomes in children hospitalized with cervical lymphadenitis.METHODSThis multicenter cross‐sectional study included children between two months and 18 years hospitalized with cervical lymphadenitis between 2013 and 2017. Children with complex chronic conditions, transferred from another institution, and with prior hospitalizations for lymphadenitis were excluded. To examine hospital‐level variation, we calculated the proportion of children at each hospital who received any imaging study, early imaging (conducted on day 0 of hospitalization), multiple imaging studies, and CT imaging. Generalized linear or logistic mixed effects models examined the association between early imaging and outcomes (ie, multiple imaging studies, surgical drainage, 30‐day readmission, and length of stay) while accounting for patient demographics, markers of illness duration and severity, and clustering by hospital.RESULTSAmong 10,014 children with cervical lymphadenitis, 61% received early imaging. There was hospital‐level variation in imaging practices. Compared with children who did not receive early imaging, children who received early imaging presented increased odds of having multiple imaging studies (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] 3.0; 95% CI: 2.6‐3.6), surgical drainage (aOR 1.3, 95% CI: 1.1‐1.4), and 30‐day readmission for lymphadenitis (aOR 1.5, 95% CI: 1.2‐1.9), as well as longer lengths of stay (adjusted rate ratio 1.2, 95% CI: 1.1‐1.2).CONCLUSIONSChildren receiving early imaging had more resource utilization and intervention than those without early imaging. Our findings may represent a cascade effect, in which routinely conducted early imaging prompts clinicians to pursue additional testing and interventions in this population.
Regulatory Spillovers in Common Audit Markets
Authors: Duguay Raphael , Minnis Michael , Sutherland Andrew 
Published: November 2019

We find that Sarbanes–Oxley (SOX) had two significant effects on the audit market for nonpublic entities. The first short-run effect stems from inelastic labor supply coupled with an audit demand shock from public companies. As a result, private companies reduced their use of attested financial reports in bank financing by 12%, and audit fee increases for nonprofit organizations (NPOs) more than doubled. The second long-run effect was a transformation in the audit supply structure. After SOX, NPOs were less likely to match with auditors most exposed to public companies, whereas auditors increasingly specialized their offices based on client type. Audit market concentration for NPOs dropped by more than one-half within five years of SOX and remained at this level through the end of our sample in 2013, whereas the number of suppliers increased by 26%. Our results demonstrate how regulation directed at public companies generates economically important spillovers for nonpublic entities. This paper was accepted by Suraj Srinivasan, accounting.
Irradiation of intraerythrocytic Plasmodium berghei with a fractionated dose of gamma rays does not effectively reduce the infectivity in mice Mus musculus
Authors: Syaifudin Mukh , Nurhayati Siti , Darlina Darlina , Lusiyanti Yanti , Kisnanto Teja 
Published: November 2019

Malaria infection kills more than one million human every year, mainly under-5-year-old children, including in South East Asian nations. Gamma radiation given at a single dose is commonly used to create the attenuated Plasmodium parasites to get vaccine materials. However, there is no study on the infectivity of parasites after fractionated γ-radiation. This study aimed to assess the infectivity of parasites after irradiated with fractionated γ-rays in mice. A number of Plasmodium bergheithat was irradiated in two fractions of 100 and 50 Gy, 100 and 75 Gy; and 100 and 100 Gy within 5 minutes of interval time was injected intraperitoneally into 12 mice. Mice injected with unirradiated parasites (0 Gy) served as a control group. The parasitemia level of intraerythrocytic parasites in each group was observed at days post injection up to 20 days by making Giemsa stained thin blood smears and observed under the microscope. Results showed that fractionation radiation did not effectively attenuate the parasites where they still grew in blood of mice, except for 100+75 Gy. There are no significant differences among the treatment groups (p0.05). This is different from irradiation at the single dose that resulted in almost completely attenuated parasites mainly the dose of 150 Gy. This implicating that irradiation of gamma rays at a single dose is a better way to mitigate parasites than fractionation dose as the infectivity of irradiated parasites were lower compared to that of fractionated dosage. Keywords: Malaria vaccine, Gamma radiation, Fractionation, Parasitemia
Distribution and length-weight relationships of Hilsa shad Tenualosa ilisha in the Bilah River, Labuhanbatu Regency, North Sumatera Province, Indonesia
Authors: Machrizal Rusdi , Khairul Khairul , Nasution Juliana , Dimenta Rivo H. , Harahap Arman 
Published: November 2019

Hilsa shad Tenualosa ilishais of the indigenous fish species and the icon of the Labuhanbatu Regency, Indonesia. Presently, a very limited study was done in this species. Hence, the purpose of this study was to analyse the distribution and growth patterns based on the length-weight relationship of Hilsa shad T. ilishaon Bilah River, Labuhanbatu District, Sumatera Utara Province, Indonesia. Sampling was carried out for 3 months starting in February-April 2019 with the exploration method. Determination of sampling locations based on information from local fishermen. Analysis of distribution data used the Morisita index and growth patterns used the Linear Allometric Model (LAM). The analysis results of Hilsa shad distribution indicated that these fish were distributed in groups/clustered with the Morisita index value of 2.211-2.314. The growth pattern of the fish was negative allometric with a value of b3. Correlation analysis showed that DO was closely related to distribution (r2=0.661), meanwhile, light penetration was closely related to growth patterns (r2=0.914). It is concluded that the distribution of Hilsa shad fish in the Bilah River was in groups or clustered, with a negative allometric growth pattern. Keywords: Hilsa Shad, distribution, growth pattern, Tenualosa ilisha
Students with Acquired Brain Injury
Authors: Zirkel Perry A. 
Published: November 2019

Representing a sequel to a similar snapshot in mid-2010, this article provides an updated overview of the judicial and administrative case law concerning students with traumatic
and nontraumatic brain injury from pre-K to grade 12. The scope is limited to cases under the
Individuals with Disabilities Education Act and the pair of disability-based civil rights statutes, Section 504 and the Americans with Disabilities Act. The cases include not only hearing/review officer and court decisions but also state education agency and Office for Civil Rights complaint investigation reports available in the only national database, LRP’s SpecialEdConnection®. The analysis focuses on the frequency and outcomes these published rulings, with the discussion extending to the empirical limitations and professional implications of the findings.
Changing demand for general skills, technological uncertainty, and economic growth
Authors: Tanaka Masashi 
Published: November 2019

Abstract
We develop a simple growth model featuring individuals’ choices between general and specific skills, endogenous technological innovation, and a government subsidy for education. The two types of skills differ by their productivity and transferability: general skills are transferable across firms, while each firm-specific skill has a productivity advantage in the firm. Firms face uncertainty in their innovation activities, and the resulting heterogeneity in their labor demand makes the transferability of general skill valuable. We theoretically show that as a country catch up to the world technology frontier, firms invest more in innovation activities. This rises firms’ technological uncertainty and, thus, their demands for general skills increases. As a result, especially in more advanced economies, education subsidies may enhance GDP by increasing the supply of general skills. Using aggregated data for 12 European OECD counties, we calibrate the model and compare the theoretical prediction with the data. In cross-country comparisons, we find that the returns on general skills and the impact of general education expenditure on GDP are higher in countries with higher total factor productivity. These findings support our theoretical argument of the positive relationship between firms’ demand for general skills and countries’ stages of development.
Behavioral Theory of Repeated Prisoner’s Dilemma: Generous Tit-For-Tat Strategy
Authors: Matsushima Hitoshi 
Published: November 2019

AbstractThis study investigates infinitely repeated games of a prisoner’s dilemma with additive separability in which the monitoring technology is imperfect and private. Behavioral incentives indicate that a player is not only motivated by pure self-interest but also by social preference such as reciprocity, and that a player often becomes naïve and selects an action randomly due to her cognitive limitation and uncertain psychological mood as well as the strategic complexity caused by monitoring imperfection and private observation. By focusing on generous tit-for-tat strategies, we characterize a behavioral version of Nash equilibrium termed behavioral equilibrium in an accuracy-contingent manner. By eliminating the gap between theory and evidence, we show that not pure self-interest but reciprocity plays a substantial role in motivating a player to make decisions in a sophisticated manner.