bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Observer retention, site selection and population dynamics interact to bias abundance trends in bats
Authors: Dambly Lea I. , Jones Kate E. , Boughey Katherine L. , Isaac Nick J. B. 
Published: September 2020

Abstract

Many long‐term wildlife population monitoring programmes rely on citizen scientists for data collection. This can offer several benefits over traditional monitoring practices as it is a cost‐effective, large‐scale approach capable of providing long time series data and raising public environmental awareness. Whilst there is a debate about the quality of citizen science data, a standardised sampling design can allow citizen science data to be of a similar quality to those collected by professionals. However, many programmes use subjective, opportunistic selection of monitoring sites and this introduces several types of bias, which are not well understood.

Using bat roost counts as a case study, we took a ‘virtual ecologist’ approach to simulate the effect of opportunistic site selection and uneven observer retention on our ability to accurately detect abundance trends. We simulated populations with different levels of temporal variability and site fidelity.

Our simulations reveal that opportunistic site selection and low observer retention can result in biased trends and that these biases are magnified when monitored populations exhibit high levels of inter‐annual variation and low site fidelity. These results show that the synergistic effects of observer behaviour, site selection, and population dynamics lead to biased abundance trends in monitoring programmes.

This study highlights the value of engaging and retaining citizen science observers, a standardised sampling design, and the collection of metadata. We conclude that monitoring programmes need to be aware of their focal species' temporal variability and site fidelity to adequately assess the potential bias caused by opportunistic site selection and low observer retention.

Synthesis and applications. Accurate data on population changes are key for conservation success. Therefore, it is important that citizen science monitoring programmes assess and potentially quantify the biases present in their data. We demonstrate the applicability of an established simulation framework to assess the effect of biases on our ability to correctly detect abundance trends. Our findings highlight that monitoring programmes need to be aware of their study species’ temporal variability and site fidelity to assess and account for the effects of biased site selection and observer retention.
Giving, receiving … and forgetting? On the social conditions of receiving an anonymous face transplant
Authors: Le Clainche ‐ Piel Marie 
Published: September 2020

AbstractIn 2004, the French National Consultative Ethics Committee expressed strong misgivings about the proposal to include the face among body parts that can be removed from deceased donors for organ transplantation. Yet, the first face transplant was performed a few months later. How do medical teams and patients deal with the singular nature of the face? I argue that what the face represents – from the medium of the donor’s personal identity to an interchangeable organ – is not fixed. It emerges through the practices and can evolve through the interactions between medical professionals and patients. In the postoperative time, I show that patients receive potentially contradictory recommendations about how to integrate the organ: to consider it theirs and forget the donor, but also to thank the donor for the donation and never forget the origin of the graft. Based on the plurality of relationships developed by the patients with their donor, I revisit Maussian interpretative analyses of organ reception. The effects of giving a face vary both in terms of reciprocity and identity: the feeling of debt is variably felt and can be interpreted negatively or positively, and the experience is more or less transformative.
Effect on cell membrane structural integrity of xylitol‐coated probiotics when stabilised with milk solids – A FTIR study
Authors: Nag Arup , Waterland Mark , Singh Harjinder 
Published: September 2020

Vacuum drying of sorbitol or xylitol‐coated Lactobacillus reuteri LR6 cells and fluidised bed drying with different excipients were compared for the cell viability post‐drying. L. reuteri cells coated with xylitol and desiccated in unsupported form or together with skim milk powder as an excipient were found to be better protected at high drying temperatures. Examination of the protein and polypeptide components of the cell envelopes via Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy revealed different degrees of structural deformation in individual samples, indicating milk solids as supporting excipient and fluidised bed drying helps in retaining high cell viability.
Analysis of novel siRNA and piRNA and identification of vsiRNA and vpiRNA expressed in the midgut of Aedes albopictus during dengue infection
Authors: Wang Gang , Su Jianxin , Jiang Yuting , Zhao Teng , Li Chunxiao , Gao Jian , Xing Dan , Dong Yande , Guo Xiaoxia , Zhao Tongyan 
Published: September 2020

AbstractGlobally distributed mosquitoes play an important role in emerging and resurging infectious diseases in humans. The critical factor affecting vector competence is susceptibility of the vector to viruses, and the ability of midgut epithelial cells to resist viral infection is the main factor determining the susceptibility of mosquitoes to arbovirus infections and is a key index of vector competence.This study predicted the novel siRNA and piRNA sequences, and then attempted to identify the small RNAs derived from viruses through alignment with the DENV‐2 genome. Our results show that most of the novel piRNAs were down regulated post‐infection, but that the majority of novel siRNAs were upregulated after infection. Interestingly, there were no vsiRNA and vpiRNA sequences that had a high expression level and/or significant differential expression; moreover, all vpiRNAs and vsiRNAs were upregulated after infection. The novel_pirs, novel_sirs, vpiRNAs and vsiRNAs examined in this study play a role in resistance to viral infection.
Male patients with primary Sjögren's syndrome: A distinct clinical subgroup?
Authors: Park Youngjae , Lee Jennifer , Park Sung‐Hwan , Kwok Seung‑Ki 
Published: September 2020

AbstractAimBecause the clinical and immunologic phenotypes of male primary Sjögren's syndrome (pSS) patients have not been fully elucidated, we aimed to investigate the clinical characteristics of male patients with pSS in Korea.MethodsWe retrospectively evaluated the medical records of male patients with pSS, who visited Seoul St. Mary's Hospital, a tertiary referral center in Korea, between January, 2015 and December, 2019. Of a total of 1107 patients with pSS, 33 were male, which is a prevalence of 2.9%. These 33 were compared with 353 female patients as a control group, whose records were extracted from the database of the Korean Initiative of Primary Sjögren's Syndrome, our nationwide pSS database. Various clinical aspects were assessed, including secretory functions, extra‐glandular manifestations (EGM), disease activity‐measuring indices, and hematological and serological variables.ResultsMale patients were less likely to complain of xerophthalmia and xerostomia and presented with fewer patient‐reported disease outcomes and glandular dysfunctions as compared with female patients. White blood cell and neutrophil counts and the seropositivity of anti‐ribonucleoprotein antibody were higher in male patients than in their female counterparts, whereas anti‐Ro/SSA antibody and rheumatoid factor were less concentrated in sera from male patients. Pulmonary involvement and lymphoma were seen more frequently in male patients. Among other EGMs, female patients had a higher prevalence of autoimmune thyroid diseases.ConclusionsMale patients with pSS present less severe glandular dysfunctions, better patient‐reported disease outcomes, and a higher prevalence of pulmonary involvement and lymphoma compared to females, suggesting distinct clinical phenotypes of pSS.
Do Verified Earnings Reports Increase Investment?*
Authors: Lunawat Radhika , Waymire Gregory , Xin Baohua 
Published: September 2020

ABSTRACTA common view is that verified earnings reports encourage investment through improved transparency. We lack direct evidence on this foundational proposition because researchers cannot observe counterfactuals in which a manager either (i) must remain silent about performance or (ii) can make any statement about performance they desire, even a bald‐faced lie. We experimentally manipulate whether a manager can provide information to an investor by voluntarily disclosing a verified earnings report, communicating freely via unverifiable cheap talk, or both. Our experiment involves repeated interactions between an uninformed investor with funds that, if invested, generate uncertain gains, and a trustee‐manager who observes and then divides gains after they are realized. We hypothesize and find that (i) the provision of a verified earnings report leads to higher investment compared with a world in which reporting is not possible and (ii) the provision of a verified earnings report leads to more accurate cheap talk communication than when earnings reports are unavailable. Contrary to our prediction, we find that investment when both earnings reports and cheap talk are possible is statistically indistinguishable from investment when only cheap talk communication is available. Further tests reveal that a lack of verified earnings reports leads managers to sustain a partner's investment by providing high returns to the investor while also limiting (but not completely eliminating) deceptive communication and profit‐taking. Our main conclusion is that verified earnings reports promote investment on a stand‐alone basis by improving transparency, but the effect of greater transparency from earnings reports on investment is more nuanced when earnings reports can influence the disclosure of unverifiable information. The main implication of our evidence is that the greater transparency of management behavior with verified earnings reports is not unambiguously positive because making behavior more transparent can lead managers to change their behavior.
Internet‐based therapy versus face‐to‐face therapy for alcohol use disorder, a randomized controlled non‐inferiority trial
Authors: Johansson Magnus , Sinadinovic Kristina , Gajecki Mikael , Lindner Philip , Berman Anne H. , Hermansson Ulric , Andréasson Sven 
Published: September 2020

AbstractBackground and aimsMost people with alcohol use disorder (AUD) are never treated. Internet‐based interventions are effective in reducing alcohol consumption and could help to overcome some of the barriers to people not seeking or receiving treatment. The aim of the current study was to compare internet‐delivered and face‐to‐face treatment among adult users with AUD.DesignRandomized controlled non‐inferiority trial with a parallel design, comparing internet‐delivered cognitive–behavioural therapy (ICBT) (n = 150) with face‐to‐face CBT (n = 151), at 3‐ and 6‐month follow‐ups.SettingA specialized clinic for people with AUD in Stockholm, Sweden. Participants were recruited between 8 December 2015 and 5 January 2018.ParticipantsA total of 301 patients [mean age 50 years, standard deviation (SD) = 12.3] with AUD, of whom 115 (38%) were female and 186 (62%) were male.Intervention and comparatorParticipants were randomized in blocks of 20 at a ratio of 1 : 1 to five modules of therapist‐guided ICBT or to five modules of face‐to‐face CBT, delivered over a 3‐month period. The same treatment material and the same therapists were used in both groups.MeasurementsThe primary outcome was standard drinks of alcohol consumed during the previous week at 6‐month follow‐up, analysed according to intention‐to‐treat. The pre‐specified non‐inferiority limit was five standard drinks of alcohol and d = 0.32 for secondary outcomes.ResultsThe difference in alcohol consumption between the internet and the face‐to‐face group was non‐inferior in the intention‐to‐treat analysis of data from the 6‐month follow‐up [internet = 12.33 and face‐to‐face = 11.43, difference = 0.89, 95% confidence interval (CI) = −1.10 to 2.88]. The secondary outcome, Alcohol Use Disorder Identification Test score, failed to show non‐inferiority of internet compared with face‐to‐face in the intention‐to‐treat analysis at 6‐month follow‐up (internet = 12.26 and face‐to‐face = 11.57, d = 0.11, 95% CI = –0.11 to 0.34).ConclusionsInternet‐delivered treatment was non‐inferior to face‐to‐face treatment in reducing alcohol consumption among help‐seeking patients with alcohol use disorder but failed to show non‐inferiority on some secondary outcomes.
Image‐guided percutaneous microwave ablation of early‐stage non–small cell lung cancer
Authors: Ni Yang , Xu Hui , Ye Xin 
Published: September 2020

AbstractAlthough surgical lobectomy with systematic mediastinal lymph node evaluation is considered as the “gold standard” for management of early stage non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), image‐guided percutaneous thermal ablation has been increasingly used for medically inoperable patients. Radiofrequency ablation (RFA) is a research‐based technique that has the most studies for medically inoperable early‐stage NSCLC. Other thermal ablation techniques used to treat pulmonary tumors include microwave ablation (MWA), cryoablation and laser ablation. MWA has several advantages over RFA including reduced procedural time, reduced heat‐sink effect, large ablation zones, decreased susceptibility to tissue impedance, and simultaneous use of multiple antennae. This review article highlights the most relevant updates of MWA for the treatment of early‐stage NSCLC, including mechanism of action, clinical outcomes, potential complications, the existing technique problems and future directions.
Role and mechanism of autophagy‐regulating factors in tumorigenesis and drug resistance
Authors: Usman Rana Muhammad , Razzaq Faryal , Akbar Arshia , Farooqui Arafat Ali , Iftikhar Ahmad , Latif Azka , Hassan Hamza , Zhao Jianjun , Carew Jennifer S. , Nawrocki Steffan T. , Anwer Faiz 
Published: September 2020

AbstractA hallmark feature of tumorigenesis is uncontrolled cell division. Autophagy is regulated by more than 30 genes and it is one of several mechanisms by which cells maintain homeostasis. Autophagy promotes cancer progression and drug resistance. Several genes play important roles in autophagy‐induced tumorigenesis and drug resistance including Beclin‐1, MIF, HMGB1, p53, PTEN, p62, RAC3, SRC3, NF‐2, MEG3, LAPTM4B, mTOR, BRAF and c‐MYC. These genes alter cell growth, cellular microenvironment and cell division. Mechanisms involved in tumorigenesis and drug resistance include microdeletions, genetic mutations, loss of heterozygosity, hypermethylation, microsatellite instability and translational modifications at a molecular level. Disrupted or altered autophagy has been reported in hematological malignancies like lymphoma, leukemia and myeloma as well as multiple solid organ tumors like colorectal, hepatocellular, gall bladder, pancreatic, gastric and cholangiocarcinoma among many other malignancies. In addition, defects in autophagy also play a role in drug resistance in cancers like osteosarcoma, ovarian and lung carcinomas following treatment with drugs such as doxorubicin, paclitaxel, cisplatin, gemcitabine and etoposide. Therapeutic approaches that modulate autophagy are a novel future direction for cancer drug development that may help to prevent issues with disease progression and overcome drug resistance.
Innovative textile structures designed to prevent type III endoleaks in endovascular stent‐grafts
Authors: Lin Jing , Nutley Mark , Li Chaojing , Douglas Graeham , Du Jia , Zhang Ze , Douville Yvan , Guidoin Robert , Wang Lu 
Published: September 2020

AbstractThe damage caused to the fabric of endovascular stent‐grafts most often occurs at the contact zones between the fabrics where they are attached to the apices of Z‐shaped stents as a result of normal physiologic pulsatile movement within angulated vessels in vivo. Although design improvements were made over the years, the risks were not fully eliminated even with the newer M‐shaped stent reconfiguration. In this study, we proposed to create and manufacture a novel fabric for stent‐grafts with specifically designed reinforced zones to enhance resistance to fabric abrasion. These reinforced zones are set at the vicinity of the apices of the Z‐shaped stents and between two adjacent Z‐shaped stents where folding and pleating are commonly observed to occur in angulated vessels. Three innovative weaving structures with two different types of yarns and two controls were designed and prepared. Two commonly used commercial devices supported, respectively, with ringed stents, and Z‐shaped stents were selected as the references for comparison. Textile structures including thickness, water permeability, mechanical properties, (more specifically tensile and bursting stress, as well as fatigue simulation) were tested on all fabrics. Compared to commercially available plain weaves, the fabrics with locally reinforced zones showed improved mechanical characteristics and fatigue resistant properties. A fabric designed with specifically reinforced zones has now clearly been shown to effectively reduce the abrasion caused by the apices of Z‐shaped stents. However, further optimization may still be possible.
Shyness and empathy in early childhood: Examining links between feelings of empathy and empathetic behaviours
Authors: Zava Federica , Sette Stefania , Baumgartner Emma , Coplan Robert J. 
Published: September 2020

Although shy children have been described as less empathetic than their more sociable peers, this may be due to a performance rather than a competence deficit. The aim of this study was to explore the moderating role of shyness in the association between empathic feelings and empathic‐related reactions. Participants were 212 preschoolers (Mage = 58.32 months, SD = 10.72). Children provided self‐reports of empathetic feelings, parents rated child shyness and empathic behaviours (e.g., reparative behaviours), and teachers assessed indices of socio‐emotional functioning (e.g., prosocial behaviours). Results revealed interaction effects between empathic feelings and shyness in the prediction of outcome variables. Among children with lower levels of shyness, empathy rated by children was positively related to empathetic and reparative behaviours (rated by parents) and prosocial behaviours (rated by teachers). At higher levels of shyness, these relations were attenuated. These results can be interpreted to suggest that although shy children may not differ from their more sociable counterparts in experiencing empathy, they seem to be less likely to act empathically.
Association of household food insecurity and childhood weight status in a low‐income population
Authors: Wirth Scott H. , Palakshappa Deepak , Brown Callie L. 
Published: September 2020

SummaryOne in seven US households with children are food insecure. The health effects of household food insecurity (HFI) are well documented, but its association with childhood weight status remains unclear. We aimed to assess this association and to describe correlates of HFI in children. We conducted a cross‐sectional study of 3019 low‐income children aged 2 to 17 years. Data were extracted via chart review. HFI was assessed using the hunger vital sign screener. Body mass index (BMI) was calculated from documented clinical measurements. We used adjusted linear and logistic regression to assess the association of HFI with BMI z‐score (BMIz) and weight status. We used logistic regression to examine correlates of HFI including age, race/ethnicity, tobacco exposure, number of parents and siblings living at home, weight status, and census‐tract poverty rate and food access. Of participants whose HFI status was documented, 91% were food secure and 9% were food insecure. The mean (SD) BMIz was 0.81 (1.11). Fifty five percentage of children were healthy weight, 18% overweight, and 26% obese. In adjusted analyses, HFI was not associated with BMIz but was associated with decreased odds of obesity (OR 0.56; 95% CI 0.36‐0.87). Tobacco exposure (1.63; 1.10‐2.44), additional siblings (1.16; 1.04‐1.30), and residence census tract with high poverty rate (1.02; 1.01‐1.03) were all associated with HFI. We concluded that food‐insecure children were less likely to have obesity and had differences in household makeup, exposures, and residential location compared to food‐secure children. Clinicians should understand these relationships when counselling families about weight status and food insecurity.
International validation of a risk prediction algorithm for patients with malignant colorectal polyps
Authors: Richards C. , Levic K. , Fischer J. , Eglinton T. , Ramsay G. , Kumarasinghe P. , Raftopoulos S. , Brown I. 
Published: September 2020

AbstractAimThe optimal management strategy for patients with endoscopically resected malignant colorectal polyps (MCP) has yet to be defined. The aim of this study was to validate a published decision‐making tool, termed the Scottish Polyp Cancer Study (SPOCS) algorithm, on a large international population.MethodsThe SPOCS algorithm allocates patients to risk groups based on just two variables: the polyp resection margin and the presence of lymphovascular invasion (LVI). The risk groups are termed low (clear margin, LVI absent), medium (clear margin, LVI present) or high (involved/non‐assessable margin). The International Polyp Cancer Collaborative was formed to validate the algorithm on data from Australia, Denmark, UK and New Zealand.ResultsIn total, 1423 patients were included in the final dataset. 680/1423 (47.8%) underwent surgical resection and 108/680 (15.9%) had residual disease (luminal disease 8.8%, lymph node metastases 8.8%). The SPOCS algorithm classified 602 patients as low risk (in which 1.5% had residual disease), 198 patients as medium risk (in which 7.1% had residual disease) and 484 as high risk (in which 14.5% had residual disease) (P < 0.001, χ2 test). Receiver operating characteristic curve analysis demonstrated good accuracy of the algorithm in predicting residual disease (area under the curve 0.732, 95% CI 0.687–0.778, P < 0.001). When patients were designated as low risk, the negative predictive value was 98.5%.ConclusionThe SPOCS algorithm can be used to predict the risk of residual disease in patients with endoscopically resected MCPs. Surgery can be safely avoided in patients who have a clear margin of excision and no evidence of LVI.