bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Differential geographical and ecological dynamics allow diversification of morphologically convergent giant bromeliads in the Atlantic Forest
Authors: Maciel Jefferson Rodrigues , Zizka Georg , Alves Marccus 
Published: October 2020

AbstractAimWe investigate the evolutionary mechanisms that allow morphologically convergent lineages to share the same geographical space. We compared the evolutionary events that occurred along the diversification of Karawata and Aechmea subgen. Chevaliera in the Atlantic Forest by (a) verifying whether the climatic niches and habitats of Karawata and Chevaliera are similar; (b) testing whether the two groups had the same pattern of colonization in the Atlantic Forest; and (c) evaluating whether they had the same evolutionary dynamics of environmental space occupation.LocationBrazilian Atlantic ForestTaxonKarawata and Aechmea subgen. Chevaliera (Bromeliaceae: Bromelioideae)MethodsWe explored differences in evolutionary dynamics between Karawata and Chevaliera by (a) analyzing their divergence times using Bayesian inference with a relaxed molecular clock; (b) estimating ancestral ranges and habitats with Dispersion Extinction Cladogenesis Lagrange and Statistical Dispersal Vicariance analyses; (c) testing climatic niche similarity, equivalency and overlap using principal component analysis; and, (d) evaluating shifts in speciation dynamics using Bayesian Analysis of Macroevolutionary Mixtures.ResultsKarawata and Chevaliera most likely originated in the Pliocene and diversified during the Pleistocene. The two clades originated in ombrophilous forests and shared a similar environmental space. However, Karawata and Chevaliera show different dynamics in the occupation of geographical and environmental spaces.Main ConclusionsOur results suggest that the São Francisco and Jequitinhonha Rivers acted as geographical barriers for Karawata and Chevaliera. Differences in spatial and environmental evolutionary dynamics have allowed the two groups to occupy similar habitats as well as environmental and geographical spaces in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest.
Out‐of‐pocket expenditures in France to manage psoriasis in adult patients: results from an observational, cross‐sectional, non‐comparative, multicentre study
Authors: Richard M.‐A. , Paul C. , De Pouvourville G. , Jullien D. , Mahe E. , Bachelez H. , Seneschal J. , Misery L. , Aubert R. , Reguiai Z. , Shourick J. , Taieb C. , Joly P. , Ezzedine K. 
Published: October 2020

AbstractBackgroundIn 2018 in France, overall mean health‐related out‐of‐pocket (OOP) expenditures were 214.00€/year/patient.AimTo evaluate OOP expenditures for psoriasis patients in France.MethodologyObservational, cross‐sectional, non‐comparative, multicentre study in 3000 patients with clinically confirmed psoriasis who responded to a specific digital questionnaire collecting demographic and socio‐economic characteristics, assessing the 3 domains (severity, psychosocial impact and past history and interventions) of the patient’s Simplified Psoriasis Index (sa‐SPI) and expenditures to manage psoriasis, including OOP. Multivariate linear regression was conducted to search for factors associated with higher OOP.ResultsIn total, 2681 patients completed the questionnaire and, of those, 2562 provided clinically validated data. Overall, 60% were women; the mean age was 49.4 ± 14.8 years. 30% of the patients declared that they suffered from psoriatic arthritis. The final mean sa‐SPI core was 10.86 ± 9.70.Of these 2562 patients, 243 (9.5%) had severe, 442 (17.3%) moderate and 1877 (73.3%) mild psoriasis. In addition, 932 (36.4%) patients reported facial involvement, 724 (28.25%) genital impairment and 1124 (43.8%) lesions on the limbs.Mean OOP expenditures to manage psoriasis per patient were 531.00€, 439.74€ ± 939.85€ for patients with mild, 791.06€ ± 1367.67€ with moderate and 1077.64€ ± 1680.14€ for patients with severe psoriasis. For patients with psoriasis in the genital area, the median amount of expenditures (251.17€; CI95% [138.35;363.99]) was significantly higher than that for the face (183.85€; CI95% [78.76;288.94]) or limbs (199.96€; CI95% [93.77;306.15); (P < 0.001).More than 90% of the patients had OOP expenditures for over‐the‐counter products (97.5%) and alternative care (92.0%), especially for emollients and/or hydrating products.ConclusionIn France, in 2019, OOP expenditures to manage psoriasis were on average more than twice as high as the overall mean health‐related OOP expenditures estimated by the French Health Agency in 2018. These results should lead health authorities to review certain standards of healthcare reimbursement.
Markers of long term silent carriers of Streptococcus equi ssp. equi in horses
Authors: Pringle John , Venner Monica , Tscheschlok Lisa , Waller Andrew S. , Riihimäki Miia 
Published: October 2020

AbstractBackgroundDifficulty in detection of silent carriers of Streptococcus equi is a key reason for its continued spread to immunologically naïve groups of horses.ObjectiveTo determine whether clinical examination, markers of inflammation, or serology differentiate silent carriers of S. equi in recovered comingled horses.AnimalsNinety‐eight warmblood yearlings and 72 unaffected mares on a large breeding farm (outbreak A), 38 mature Icelandic horses at a riding stable (outbreak B), and 27 mixed breed horses at a boarding stable (outbreak C).MethodsProspective observational study 6 months to 2 years after strangles outbreaks. Carriers were defined as any animal positive on culture or qPCR to S. equi from nasopharyngeal lavage or guttural pouch endoscopy and lavage. Most horses had complete physical exams and 1 group included evaluation of white blood cell counts and serum amyloid A. Sera from all horses was tested for antibodies to antigens A and C of S. equi using an enhanced indirect ELISA. Descriptive statistics were calculated. Data were compared using paired t tests, Wilcoxon ranked test, chi square, or the Fishers exact test. Significance was set at P < .05.ResultsApart from weanlings at 6 months in outbreak A, there was no significant association between any clinical markers or serology with carrier state (P = .06‐1). Moreover, 3/12 culture positive carriers were seronegative to S. equi.Conclusions and Clinical ImportanceSilent carriers of S. equi do not differ clinically or on markers of inflammation to their noncarrier herd‐mates. Moreover, serology alone will not distinguish carriers in comingled horses.
Functional constipation is associated with alterations in thalamo‐limbic/parietal structural connectivity
Authors: Zhang Zhida , Hu Yang , Lv Ganggang , Wang Jia , He Yang , Zhang Lei , Li Hao , von Deneen Karen M. , Wang Huaning , Duan Shijun , Zhang Junwang , Hou Qiuqiu , Pan Yanan , Zhao Yu , Mao Kuanrong , Wang Fan , Zhang Yi , Cui Guangbin , Nie Yongzhan 
Published: October 2020

AbstractBackgroundFunctional constipation (FCon) is a common functional gastrointestinal disorder (FGID) with a high prevalence in clinical practice. Previous studies have identified that FCon is associated with functional and structural alterations in the primary brain regions involved in emotional arousal processing, sensory processing, somatic/motor‐control, and self‐referential processing. However, whether FCon is associated with abnormal structural connectivity (SC) among these brain regions remains unclear.MethodsWe selected the brain regions with functional and structural abnormalities as seed regions and employed diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) with probabilistic tractography to investigate SC changes in 29 patients with FCon and 31 healthy controls (HC).Key ResultsResults showed lower fractional anisotropy (FA) in the fibers connecting the thalamus, a region involved in sensory processing, with the amygdala (AMY), hippocampal gyrus (HIPP), precentral (PreCen) and postcentral gyrus (PostCen), supplementary motor area (SMA) and precuneus in patients with FCon compared with HC. FCon had higher mean diffusivity (MD) and radial diffusivity (RD) in the thalamus connected to the AMY and HIPP. In addition, FCon had significantly increased RD of the thalamus‐SMA tract. Sensation of incomplete evacuation was negatively correlated with FA of the thalamus‐PostCen and thalamus‐HIPP tracts, and there was a negative correlation between difficulty of defecation and FA of the thalamus‐SMA tract.Conclusions and InferencesThese findings reflected that FCon is associated with alterations in SC between the thalamus and limbic/parietal cortex, highlighting the integrative role of the thalamus in brain structural network.
The Tourniquet Ischemia Test in the Diagnosis of Complex Regional Pain Syndrome
Authors: Lambeck Johann , Kesenheimer Eva M. , Kleinmann Barbara , Reinhard Matthias 
Published: October 2020

AbstractBackgroundThe tourniquet ischemia test (IT) is a hitherto rarely used tool for the diagnostic work‐up of patients with suspected complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS). This analysis aims to determine the sensitivity and specificity of this test, and elucidate factors that can influence the test result.MethodsConsecutive data on clinical presentation, results of the IT and other diagnostic tests, and clinical characteristics were analyzed from patients presenting at our autonomic laboratory between 2000 and 2011. IT results were compared with the final clinical diagnosis at discharge, and statistical analysis was performed to determine specificity, sensitivity, and positive and negative predictive values of the IT.ResultsA total of 78 patients were assessed. IT results were positive (≥50% reduction in pain during ischemia) in 26 cases and negative in 52 cases. CRPS was the final diagnosis in 45 cases, and in 33 cases, a different diagnosis was made. This results in a test sensitivity of 49% and a specificity of 88%, with a positive predictive value of 85% and a negative predictive value of 56%. Age, sex, the type and stage of CRPS, and the affected extremity did not influence the test result in a statistically significant manner. Specificity worsened to 76% if any pain reduction was rated as a positive test result.ConclusionsA positive tourniquet IT has a high positive predictive value for the diagnosis of CRPS. It is thus useful as a confirmatory assay in patients with suspected CRPS. Low sensitivity rules out its use as a screening test.SignificanceThis study retrospectively analyzed the clinical significance of the tourniquet IT that was routinely used in patients with suspected CRPS. It showed that a positive IT result is useful as a confirmatory assay in patients fulfilling the clinical criteria.
Host‐induced gene silencing for engineering resistance to Fusarium in soybean
Authors: Pérez Cristobal E. B. , Cabral Glaucia B. , Aragão Francisco J. L. 
Published: October 2020

AbstractSoybean is one of the most economically important crops in the world. Its production is affected by several fungal diseases, such as those caused by Fusarium spp., causing significant losses in yield and seed quality. Management interventions are limited, costly, and associated with environmental problems. Host resistance provides a more convenient and cost‐effective approach. Host‐induced gene silencing (HIGS) has been demonstrated to be an alternative strategy to engineer fungus resistance in plants. We have generated transgenic soybean lines with an intron‐hairpin construction in order to express siRNA corresponding to the CYP51B gene from Fusarium oxysporum. Results showed the presence of siRNA corresponding to the F. oxysporum CYP51B gene in both leaves and roots of the transgenic lines. Plants (T3 generation) were challenged against F. oxysporum and F. graminearum. Disease severity was evaluated and revealed resistance to F. oxysporum with one line, named 3.22, presenting no symptoms. In addition, transgenic lines presented better plant development (height and root growth) when compared to the nontransgenic line. Moreover, transgenic lines revealed better development when inoculated with F. oxysporum.
Technology licensing, entry mode, and trade liberalization
Authors: Yang Ya‐Po , Tsai Ying‐Yi , Hsu Su‐Ying 
Published: October 2020

AbstractThis study considers the interactions among technology licensing, entry mode, and trade liberalization in a licensing model of strategic commitment. Prior to the licensing agreement, an insider innovator offers the licensee a contract that may restrict the innovator to the use of generic technology, while allowing the licensee to access state‐of‐the‐art technology. An insider innovator can enter the domestic market through either the export or foreign direct investment (FDI) channels. In this context, we characterize the optimal entry mode and the associated licensing schemes of the foreign firm in the presence of a tariff reduction. We show that a tariff reduction may switch the optimal entry mode of the foreign firm from exporting to FDI and can be detrimental to the domestic welfare of the host country and the profit of both firms.
Consociational Power‐Sharing in the Arab World: A Critical Stocktaking
Authors: Salloukh Bassel F. 
Published: October 2020

AbstractThe aim of this special feature is to reflect theoretically and normatively on consociational power‐sharing, take stock of its empirical record in Lebanon and Iraq, and interrogate its potential utility for other postwar states and societies in the Arab World following the popular uprisings. Allison McCulloch and Joanne McEvoy open the collection by deploying the ‘lifecycle’ heuristic to explain consociationalism’s mixed record as an institutional strategy to manage ethnic or sectarian conflict in different contexts. This process‐oriented approach allows them to shift the consociational debate towards greater sensitivity to contexts: how macro‐institutional types such as liberal and corporate consociation interact with formal and informal micro‐institutional rules in determining the success or failure of consociational power‐sharing arrangements. Paul Dixon and Ibrahim Halawi follow with critical evaluations of consociationalism’s embedded violence against alternative political economic choices. Dixon’s radical critique is chiefly aimed at how consociationalism precludes the emergence of alternative identities, political choices, and socioeconomic struggles. Halawi magnifies this critique and considers elite consociational arrangements in the Arab World to be exclusionary and counter‐revolutionary. The contributions by John Nagle and Toby Dodge converge on how the institutional architecture of consociational power‐sharing as observed in Lebanon and Iraq – whether through formal or informal rules, corporate or liberal arrangements – creates a host of distortions that ossify identities, shape modes of political mobilization, and eviscerate state institutions by turning them into clientelist platforms. Finally, Steven Heydemann and Simon Mabon explore prospects for consociational power‐sharing in Syria and Bahrain, respectively, with implications for postwar Libya and perhaps Yemen. Although in both cases prospects for power‐sharing may appear remote, both authors suggest that the reality is far more complex, and that ultimately some kind of consociational power‐sharing may prove necessary to secure postwar reconstruction and reintegration into the international community in Syria, and genuine representation and peace in Bahrain.
Protest, Sects, and the Potential for Power‐Sharing in Bahrain
Authors: Mabon Simon 
Published: October 2020

AbstractIn this short intervention I explore the scope for power‐sharing as a means of resolving conflict between rulers and ruled across Bahrain. Unlike other states in the Middle East where power‐sharing has been posited as a solution to violence and division, conflict in Bahrain is structural, erupting in violence sporadically, yet framed around ways of ensuring the survival of the ruling Al Khalifa family. This, I argue, poses challenges to the application of traditional power‐sharing approaches that have been deployed elsewhere. In spite of this, power‐sharing continues to be viewed by many opposition figures as a viable means through which peace can be realized between the regime and opposition figures. Such moves are seen by many Bahrainis to be a means through which equality and a vibrant form of citizenship can be realized. I examine and reflect on three moments of political possibility in Bahrain: 1973–75, 2000–02, and the 2011 Arab uprisings. I argue that while power‐sharing appears to offer a means through which to address tensions within divided societies, power asymmetries across the state mean that the Al Khalifa face little pressure to adopt this approach, choosing instead to exert sovereign power over social divisions with support from external backers.
Evaluating the Use of Leaned Stator Vanes to Produce a Non-Uniform Flow Distribution Across the Inlet Span of a Mixed Flow Turbine Rotor
Authors: Morrison Richard , Spence Stephen , Kim Sung In , Leonard Thomas , Starke Andre 
Published: October 2020

Abstract
Current trends in the automotive industry have placed an increased emphasis on downsized turbocharged engines for passenger vehicles. The turbocharger is increasingly relied upon to improve power output across a wide range of engine operating conditions, placing a greater emphasis on turbocharger off-design performance. An off-design condition of significant importance is performance at low turbine velocity ratios, since it is relevant to engine transient response and also to efficient energy extraction from pressure pulses in the unsteady exhaust flow. An increased focus has been placed on equipping turbochargers with mixed flow turbine rotors instead of conventional radial flow turbine rotors to improve off-design performance and to reduce rotor inertia.
A recognized feature of a mixed flow turbine is the spanwise variation of flow conditions across the blade leading edge. This is a consequence of the reduction in leading edge radius from shroud to hub, coupled with the increasing tangential velocity of the flow due to conserved angular momentum as the radius decreases. The result is increasingly positive incidence toward the hub side of the leading edge. The resulting region of highly positive incidence at the hub produces separation from the suction surface and generates significant loss within the rotor passage.
The aim of this study was to determine if the losses in a mixed flow turbine (MFT) could be reduced by the use of leaned stator vanes, which deliberately created a significant spanwise variation of flow angle between hub and shroud at rotor inlet, to reduce the positive incidence at the hub. The turbine performance with a series of leaned vanes was compared against that of a straight vane using a validated computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model. It was found that increasing vane lean improved turbine performance at all operating points considered. An increase of 3.2 percentage points in stage total-to-static efficiency was achieved at a key off-design operating point.
Experimental testing of a set of leaned vanes and the baseline vanes confirmed the advantage of the leaned vanes at all operating points, with an increase in measured efficiency of 2.6 percentage points at the key off-design condition. Unsteady CFD models confirmed the same level of improvement at this operating point.
The CFD and experimental results confirmed that the losses in an MFT can be reduced by the use of leaned stator vanes to shape the flow at rotor inlet.
Investigation of Heat Transfer Characteristics in a Rotating Convection System With Bi-Directional Thermal Gradients
Authors: Banerjee Ayan Kumar , Bhattacharya Amitabh , Balasubramanian Sridhar 
Published: October 2020

Abstract
A series of rotating convection experiments have been conducted in a novel configuration, which comprises a cylindrical annulus with spot heating on the bottom outer edge and uniform cooling on the inner surface. Such a system provides bi-directional thermal gradients in both radial and vertical directions, thereby reenacting the thermal gradient patterns encountered in the atmosphere. Bulk heat transfer characteristics are studied by quantifying the overall Nusselt number, Nu, for a range of Taylor number, Ta, heating rate, Q, and Rayleigh number, Ra. Temperature measurements are carried out at different locations with the help of thermocouples. The Nusselt number is found to be quite sensitive to the buoyancy and relatively insensitive to the rotation rate. The correlation for Nu as a function of Ra revealed different power law exponents for low and high Ta values. The varying exponent is attributed to the presence of baroclinic eddies at high Ta, which in turn is verified with the help of flow visualization. The heat transfer characteristics in this new configuration are significantly different compared to other conventional rotational convection systems, where thermal gradients are present in only one direction.
Life Prediction Model for Nuclear Power Plant Intake Structure Exposed to Chloride Environment Based on Similarity Principle
Authors: Chen Sen , Wang Zhen , Zhang Jiangtao , Cai Dahua , Zhou Jiyun 
Published: October 2020

Abstract
Three environmental simulation experiments for accelerating the chloride ingress were designed based on the similarity principle and the actual Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) intake structure service environment parameters including alternate drying-wetting condition, immersion condition and salt spray condition. Different experiment conditions were designed for each three-simulation experiment condition based on the similarity principle. The temperature, chloride ion concentration and dry-wet cycle time ratio were selected parameters for alternation wetting-drying experiments. The temperature and chloride ion concentration were selected parameters for the salt spray experiment and immersion experiment. The distribution of chloride ion concentration along the depth of the concrete samples were measured every 30 days. The testing results showed that chloride ion diffusion depth is maximum under the dry-wet cycle test, chloride ion diffusion depth is minimum under salt spray test. The curves of the chloride ion concentration along depth increased firstly and then decreased, which is consistent with the two-dimension diffusion law. Finally, a life prediction model that can be used to predict the concrete structure of the existing coastal nuclear power plant was developed based on the test results and field test results.
Scenario Development for Nuclear Emergency Decision Deduction Training Platform for Radiographers in Developing Countries: Case Study, Ghana
Authors: Oforiwaa Priscilla Obeng , Manchun Liang , Guofeng Su , Ke Li 
Published: October 2020

Abstract
Nuclear Radiological accident is of great threat to the Nuclear Agency aside nuclear terrorism. In countries with little or no major nuclear infrastructural facilities, it is of great importance to educate stakeholders and employees in the handling and emergency decision involved in the usage of these radionuclides, thus training on this platform gives the maximum and technical know-how in cases where it is difficult to procure types of equipment needed for such educational exercise in real life. Ghana is a country that seeks to increase the use of nuclear technological applications. Sealed Radioactive Sources are used in Ghana for research, Agriculture, mining exploration and brachytherapy. Operators need to train immensely in the handling of these sources.
The NEDDTP is a software system to help conduct training and emergency exercises simulation. The NEDDTP is developed by the China Nuclear Security center of excellence with the aim of performing the simulation and training of radiographers and emergency workers in the nuclear industry. This training platform gives a 3D real-life training scenarios, emergency simulation, command and dispatch, Process record and evaluation in exercise with virtual reality display for radiological worker. This paper elaborates on the process for scenario design, types of scenario development for different types of radiological accidents and the stages involved in training with these scenarios.