bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Quantifying vulnerability to embolism in tropical trees and lianas using five methods: can discrepancies be explained by xylem structural traits?
Authors: Chen Ya‐Jun , Maenpuen Phisamai , Zhang Yong‐Jiang , Barai Kallol , Katabuchi Masatoshi , Gao Hui , Kaewkamol Sasiwimol , Tao Lian‐Bin , Zhang Jiao‐Lin 
Published: September 2020

Summary

Vulnerability curves (VCs) describe the loss of hydraulic conductance against increasing xylem tension, providing valuable insights about the response of plant water transport to water stress. Techniques to construct VCs have been developed and modified continuously, but controversies continue.

We compared VCs constructed using the bench‐top dehydration (BD), air‐injection‐flow (AI), pneumatic‐air‐discharge (PAD), optical (OP) and X‐ray‐computed microtomography (MicroCT) methods for tropical trees and lianas with contrasting vessel lengths.

The PAD method generated highly vulnerable VCs, the AI method intermediate VCs, whereas the BD, OP and MicroCT methods produced comparable and more resistant VCs. Vessel‐length and diameter accounted for the overestimation ratio of vulnerability estimated using the AI but not the PAD method. Compared with directly measured midday embolism levels, the PAD and AI methods substantially overestimated embolism, whereas the BD, MicroCT and OP methods provided more reasonable estimations.

Cut‐open vessels, uncertainties in maximum air volume estimations, sample‐length effects, tissue cracks and shrinkage together may impede the reliability of the PAD method. In conclusion, we validate the BD, OP and MicroCT methods for tropical plants, whereas the PAD and AI need further mechanistic testing. Therefore, applications of VCs in estimating plant responses to drought need to be cautious.
Corruption consolidation in local governments: A grounded analytical framework
Authors: Meza Oliver , Pérez‐Chiqués Elizabeth 
Published: September 2020

AbstractThis article constructs a grounded framework to study how corruption is consolidated in local governments. We focus on the fine‐grained texture of corrupt practices that can only be achieved by looking at rich contextual studies. We argue that neglecting the way corruption becomes the ‘rule of the game’ has led to the creation of anti‐corruption policies that tend to be overly reliant on formal institutions, addressing only dyadic and venal types of corruption, and have therefore proven ineffective. Based on a two‐staged, mixed methods research design—including 50 in‐depth interviews in two Mexican cities and three surveys applied to citizens and public officials—this article's framework focuses on how networks are shaped and organized to perform corrupt practices, and how opacity and weak checks and balances grant them impunity. Results show corrupt schemes to be outstandingly malleable and resilient, able to circumvent formal anti‐corruption strategies.
Wood day capacitance is related to water content, wood density, and anatomy across 30 temperate tree species
Authors: Ziemińska Kasia , Rosa Emily , Gleason Sean M. , Holbrook N. Michele 
Published: September 2020

AbstractWater released from wood during transpiration (capacitance) can meaningfully affect daily water use and drought response. To provide context for better understanding of capacitance mechanisms, we investigated links between capacitance and wood anatomy. On twigs of 30 temperate angiosperm tree species, we measured day capacitance (between predawn and midday), water content, wood density, and anatomical traits, that is, vessel dimensions, tissue fractions, and vessel–tissue contact fractions (fraction of vessel circumference in contact with other tissues). Across all species, wood density (WD) and predawn lumen volumetric water content (VWCL‐pd) together were the strongest predictors of day capacitance (r2adj = .44). Vessel–tissue contact fractions explained an additional ~10% of the variation in day capacitance. Regression models were not improved by including tissue lumen fractions. Among diffuse‐porous species, VWCL‐pd and vessel–ray contact fraction together were the best predictors of day capacitance, whereas among semi/ring‐porous species, VWCL‐pd, WD and vessel–fibre contact fraction were the best predictors. At predawn, wood was less than fully saturated for all species (lumen relative water content = 0.52 ± 0.17). Our findings imply that day capacitance depends on the amount of stored water, tissue connectivity and the bulk wood properties arising from WD (e.g., elasticity), rather than the fraction of any particular tissue.
Indiscriminate, Irrelevant, and Sometimes Wrong: Causal Misconceptions about Climate Change
Authors: Fleming Whitney , Hayes Adam L. , Crosman Katherine M. , Bostrom Ann 
Published: September 2020

AbstractPrior research demonstrates widespread persistence of beliefs about climate change causes and risks that are arguably misconceptions. They include believing pollution causes climate change, believing ozone depletion causes climate change, the combination of these two “green beliefs,” referred to as environmental problems, and believing natural climate variation significantly contributes to current climate trends. Each of these causal beliefs has the potential to weaken or divert support away from effective climate change risk mitigation policies. To assess this potential, we explore the nature and prevalence of these beliefs in the United States with a national sample of interviews (N = 77) and two national surveys (N = 1,013, N = 1,820), and apply regression and mediation analyses to explore whether they explain any of the variation in individuals’ concern or support for policy to mitigate climate change. Adherence to these beliefs—which reflect a variety of misconceptions illustrated in the interviews—differs by political ideology but is common, with over a third of interviewees mentioning one or more. Controlling for general knowledge, political ideology, and other factors, misconceptions about environmental problems are still associated directly with support for climate change policies. On average adherence to the belief that environmental problems cause climate change is associated with a 25% higher probability of policy support. In contrast, believing natural climate variability is a major recent cause of climate change is associated with a 7% lower probability of supporting climate policy, even after controlling for political ideology and other knowledge about climate change.
Local asymptotic properties for Cox‐Ingersoll‐Ross process with discrete observations
Authors: Ben Alaya Mohamed , Kebaier Ahmed , Tran Ngoc Khue 
Published: September 2020

AbstractIn this paper, we consider a one‐dimensional Cox‐Ingersoll‐Ross (CIR) process whose drift coefficient depends on unknown parameters. Considering the process discretely observed at high frequency, we prove the local asymptotic normality property in the subcritical case, the local asymptotic quadraticity in the critical case, and the local asymptotic mixed normality property in the supercritical case. To obtain these results, we use the Malliavin calculus techniques developed recently for CIR process together with the estimation for positive and negative polynomial moments of the CIR process. In this study, we require the same conditions of high frequency and infinite horizon as in the case of ergodic diffusions with globally Lipschitz coefficients studied earlier in the literature. However, in the non‐ergodic cases, additional assumptions on the decreasing rate are required due to the fact that the square root diffusion coefficient of the CIR process is not regular enough.
Designing AfriCultuReS services to support food security in Africa
Authors: Alexandridis T. K. , Ovakoglou G. , Cherif I. , Gómez Giménez M. , Laneve G. , Kasampalis D. , Moshou D. , Kartsios S. , Karypidou M. C. , Katragkou E. , Herrera García S. , Kganyago M. , Mashiyi N. , Pattnayak K. , Challinor A. , Pritchard R. , Brockington D. , Kagoyire C. , Suarez Beltran J. 
Published: September 2020

AbstractEarth observation (EO) data are increasingly being used to monitor vegetation and detect plant growth anomalies due to water stress, drought, or pests, as well as to monitor water availability, weather conditions, disaster risks, land use/land cover changes and to evaluate soil degradation. Satellite data are provided regularly by worldwide organizations, covering a wide variety of spatial, temporal and spectral characteristics. In addition, weather, climate and crop growth models provide early estimates of the expected weather and climatic patterns and yield, which can be improved by fusion with EO data. The AfriCultuReS project is capitalizing on the above to contribute towards an integrated agricultural monitoring and early warning system for Africa, supporting decision‐making in the field of food security. The aim of this article is to present the design of EO services within the project, and how they will support food security in Africa. The services designed cover the users’ requirements related to climate, drought, land, livestock, crops, water, and weather. For each category of services, results from one case study are presented. The services will be distributed to the stakeholders and are expected to provide a continuous monitoring framework for early and accurate assessment of factors affecting food security in Africa.
Erythropoiesis‐stimulating agents as replacement therapy for blood transfusions in critically ill patients with anaemia: A systematic review with meta‐analysis
Authors: Wijnberge Marije , Rellum Santino R. , de Bruin Sanne , Cecconi Maurizio , Oczkowski Simon , Vlaar Alexander P. 
Published: September 2020

AbstractObjectivesThe primary objectives of this meta‐analysis in critically ill adult patients admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) were to analyse whether erythropoiesis‐stimulating agents (ESAs) reduced the number of patients receiving red blood cell (RBC) transfusion and resulted in a change in haemoglobin (Hb) concentration. Our secondary objectives were adverse events and mortality.BackgroundAnaemia is common in ICU patients, and currently, the standard therapy is RBC transfusion, which is known to be associated with adverse events. ESA could potentially reduce the need for RBC transfusion.MethodsEMBASE, Cochrane and PubMed were searched up to January 2020.ResultsA total of 1357 articles were identified, of which 18 articles met the inclusion criteria for the qualitative synthesis. Eight of these studies were used in the meta‐analyses. Comparing ESA vs control group, there was a small reduction in the proportion of patients who received one or more RBC transfusions (relative risk [RR] 0.88; confidence interval [CI] 0.78‐1.00, moderate certainty). The change in Hb concentration was trivial (mean difference −0.31 g/dL; CI −0.51 to −0.05, high certainty). The number of serious adverse events (RR 1.02; 0.90‐1.15, low certainty) and the overall short‐term mortality were similar (RR 0.80; CI 0.61‐1.05, low certainty) between the groups.ConclusionESA resulted in a small reduction in the proportion of patients transfused and a trivial increase in haemoglobin concentration, both of questionable clinical relevance, without impacting adverse events or mortality. These results do not support the routine use of ESA to treat anaemia in critically ill adults.
Screening for SARS‐CoV‐2 antibodies in convalescent plasma in Brazil: Preliminary lessons from a voluntary convalescent donor program
Authors: Wendel Silvano , Kutner Jose Mauro , Machado Rafael , Fontão‐Wendel Rita , Bub Carolina , Fachini Roberta , Yokoyama Ana , Candelaria Gabriela , Sakashita Araci , Achkar Ruth , Hamerschlak Nelson , Scuracchio Patricia , Amaral Marcelo , Dal Ben Mirian , Araujo Danielle , Soares Camila , Camargo Anamaria , Kallás Esper , Durigon Edison , Reis Luiz Fernando , Rizzo Luiz Vicente 
Published: September 2020

AbstractBackgroundCoronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19) convalescent plasma (CCP) collection began in two Brazilian hospitals for treatment of severe/critical patients.Methods and MaterialsMild/moderate COVID‐19 convalescents were selected as CCP donors after reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT‐PCR) confirmed severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS‐CoV‐2) infection and absence of symptoms for ≥14 days plus (a) age (18‐60 years), body weight greater than 55 kg; (b) immunohematological studies; (c) no infectious markers of hepatitis B virus, hepatitis C virus, human immunodeficiency virus, human T‐lymphotropic virus‐1/2, Chagas and syphilis infection; (d) no HLA antibodies (multiparous); (e) second RT‐PCR (nasopharyngeal swab and/or blood) negativity; (f) virus neutralization test (cytopathic effect–based virus neutralization test neutralizing antibody) and anti–nucleocapsid protein SARS‐CoV‐2 IgM, IgG, and IgA enzyme‐linked immunosorbent assays.ResultsAmong 271 donors (41 females, 230 males), 250 presented with neutralizing antibodies. Final RT‐PCR was negative on swab (77.0%) or blood (88.4%; P = .46). Final definition of RT‐PCR was only defined at more than 28 days after full recovery in 59 of 174 (33.9%) RT‐PCR –ve, and 25/69 RT‐PCR +ve (36.2%; 13 between 35 and 48 days). Neutralizing antibody titers of 160 or greater were found in 63.6%. Correlation between IgG signal/cutoff of 5.0 or greater and neutralizing antibody of 160 or greater was 82.4%. Combination of final RT‐PCR –ve with neutralizing antibody ≥160 was 41.3% (112/271). Serial plasma collection showed decline in neutralizing antibody titers and IgA levels (P < .05), probably denoting a “golden period” for CCP collection (≤28 days after joining the program); IgA might have an important role as neutralizing antibody. Donor's weight, days between disease onset and serial plasma collection, and IgG and IgM levels are important predictors for neutralizing antibody titer.ConclusionsRT‐PCR +ve cases are still detected in 36.2% within 28 to 48 days after recovery. High anti–nucleocapsid protein IgG levels may be used as a surrogate marker to neutralizing antibody.
Use of virtual consultations in an orthopaedic rehabilitation setting: how do changes in the work of being a patient influence patient preferences? A systematic review and qualitative synthesis
Authors: Gilbert Anthony W , Jones Jeremy , Jaggi Anju , May Carl R 
Published: September 2020

ObjectivesTo systematically review qualitative studies reporting the use of virtual consultations within an orthopaedic rehabilitation setting and to understand how its use changes the work required of patients.MethodsFollowing the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis statement, we conducted a systematic review of papers to answer the research question ‘How do changes in the work of being a patient when using communication technology influence patient preferences?’ Electronic databases were searched for studies meeting the inclusion criteria in April 2020.ResultsThe search strategy identified 2057 research articles from the database search. A review of titles and abstracts using the inclusion criteria yielded 21 articles for full-text review. Nine studies were included in the final analysis. Six studies explored real-time video conferencing and three explored telephone consultations. The use of communication technology changes the work required of patients. Such changes will impact on expectations for care, resources required of patients, the environment of receiving care and patient–clinician interactions. This adjustment of the work required of patients who access orthopaedic rehabilitation using communication technology will impact on their experience of receiving care. It is proposed that changes in the work of being a patient will influence preferences for or against the use of communication technology consultations for orthopaedic rehabilitation.ConclusionWe found that the use of communication technology changes the work of being a patient. The change in work required of patients can be both burdensome (it makes it harder for patients to access their care) and beneficial (it makes it easier for patients to access their care). This change will likely to influence preferences. Keeping the concept of patient work at the heart of pathway redesign is likely to be a key consideration to ensure successful implementation.PROSPERO registration numberCRD42018100896.
Surgical trends, outcomes and disparities in minimal invasive surgery for patients with endometrial cancer in England: a retrospective cohort study
Authors: Moss Esther L. , Morgan George , Martin Antony P. , Sarhanis Panos , Ind Thomas 
Published: September 2020

ObjectiveTo examine surgical outcomes and trends in the implementation of minimally invasive surgery (MIS) use for endometrial cancer (EC).DesignRetrospective cohort study.SettingEnglish National Health Service hospitals 2011–2017/2018.Population35 304 patients having a hysterectomy for EC identified from Hospital Episode Statistics.MethodsUnivariate and multivariate analyses compared MIS to open hysterectomy (OH) by assessing the association between demographic, clinical and hospital characteristics by using logistic regression. A propensity score was created, to control for confounding factors including demographics, clinical and hospital characteristics, from a logistic regression which enabled the inverse probability weighting of treatment to be applied in order to compare outcomes of treatment.Main outcome measuresThe association between route of surgery on perioperative morbidity and mortality.ResultsThe MIS rate rose from 40.3% in 2011 to 68.7% in 2017/2018, however, there was significant geographical variation (p<0.001). The overall 90-day mortality was significantly higher with OH versus MIS (OR 0.34, 95% CI 0.18 to 0.62, p=0.0002). MIS rates were significantly lower in patients from the lowest socioeconomic group (LSEG) compared with patients from the highest group (HSEG) (55.4% vs 59.9%, p<0.01), and in the black population as compared with white and Asian populations (40.4% vs 58.6% and 56.0%, p<0.0001). When patients from LSEG and black patients were treated in hospitals with high MIS rates, the MIS rate increased close to that of the HSEG and white patients (81.0% and 74.1% vs 83.2% and 82.6%).ConclusionsFurther investigation is needed to understand the barriers to MIS and improve access so that as many patients as possible can benefit from the reduced morbidity/mortality associated with MIS.
Domestic violence victimisation and its association with mental distress: a cross-sectional study of the Yangon Region, Myanmar
Authors: Aye Win Thuzar , Lien Lars , Stigum Hein , Schei Berit , Sundby Johanne , Bjertness Espen 
Published: September 2020

ObjectivesTo estimate the prevalence of domestic violence, with subgroups of physical, sexual and emotional violence, among men and women and to assess the association between any lifetime domestic violence (DV) and mental distress among ever-married men and women.DesignWe conducted a cross-sectional study from October to November 2016 using a multistage sampling design. DV questionnaire was adopted from the Demographic and Health Survey programme. Mental distress was estimated using the Hopkins Symptom Checklist-10 (HSCL-10). HSCL-score and DV were the outcome and exposure variables, respectively, in multiple linear regression. Prevalence estimates and associations were presented with a 95% CI and the Wald test.SettingUrban and rural areas of the Yangon region, Myanmar.ParticipantsMen and women ages 18 to 49 years were included. Institutionalised people, monks, nuns and individuals deemed too ill physically and/or mentally to participate were excluded.ResultsA random sample of 2383 people was included in the analyses. Among ever-married participants, lifetime (LT) and past-12-month (12M) prevalence of any domestic violence victimisation was higher in women compared with men: LT women: 61.8% (95% CI: 54.3 to 68.9) versus LT men: 42.4% (95% CI: 37.5 to 47.5) and 12M women: 51.2% (95% CI: 44.9 to 57.5) versus 12M men: 37.7% (95% CI: 32.9 to 42.7). Among never-married participants, lifetime physical and sexual violence victimisation rates was higher in men (34.3% and 7.9%) compared with women (19.1% and 6.4%). Mental distress was significantly associated with lifetime DV in women who were afraid of their husbands and men who had wives who exhibited controlling behaviours.ConclusionsDomestic violence is prevalent among both men and women and is associated with mental distress. The findings highlight an urgent need to prevent domestic violence in both sexes, including through legal and policy reform and improved mental health services for DV victims.
Augmented reality in patient education and health literacy: a scoping review protocol
Authors: Adapa Karthik , Jain Saumya , Kanwar Richa , Zaman Tanzila , Taneja Trusha , Walker Jennifer , Mazur Lukasz 
Published: September 2020

BackgroundHealth literacy enables the patients in understanding the basic healthcare information and taking informed health decisions; thus, it is a desirable goal of any healthcare system. It increases patients’ adherence to treatment, improves the quality of care and eases the overall burden on the healthcare system. In recent years, technological solutions are being increasingly used in educating patients and achieving better health literacy. Augmented reality (AR) provides powerful, contextual and situated learning experiences and supplements the real world with virtual objects. AR could potentially be an effective learning methodology for the patients, thus, warranting a comprehensive overview of the current state of AR in patient education and health literacy.MethodsThe proposed scoping review will be based on the framework developed by Arksey and O’Malley, including the refinements suggested by Levac et al. A systematic search for references in the published literature will be conducted in nine research databases—Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL), PubMed, PsycInfo, Embase, Web of Science, Scopus, Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) and Association for Information Systems eLibrary (AISeL). The unpublished studies from ProQuest Dissertations and Theses, Conference Proceedings Citation Index and grey literature references obtained from a web search will also be included. Databases will be searched from inception to 14 January 2020. Two independent reviewers will screen the studies from the search results in two successive stages of title/abstract screening followed by full-text screening. Data variables will be extracted from the selected studies to characterise study design, type of AR technology employed and the relational factors affecting patient education. Lastly, key stakeholders will be consulted to gather their insights about the study findings.Ethics and disseminationThe results will be disseminated through stakeholder meetings and conference presentations. The data used are from publicly available secondary sources, so this study does not require ethical review.