bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
73 Is There A Real Relationship Between Body Mass Index and Vasovagal Syncope or is it Just Anecdote?
Authors: Cohen S , Young E , Hunt S , Garimella S , Lakhani D R 
Published: February 2020

Abstract

Introduction
Syncope is characterised by global cerebral hypoperfusion rapidly causing a transient loss of consciousness with loss of voluntary muscle tone and a subsequent spontaneous, prompt and complete recovery. It is often caused by Neurally mediated reflex syncope syndromes of which Vasovagal syncope (VVS) is the commonest form. The prodromal symptoms of VVS are explained by circulatory alterations (vasodilatation and bradycardia) and autonomic activation. Whilst many triggers and risk factors for such alterations are recognised, they are incompletely understood. Anecdotally, being “young and thin” is a risk factor but there is little published data evaluating the relationship between body weight and VVS. Whilst VVS can often be diagnosed on clinical history alone, further evaluation is warranted in some patients. The validated test to assess susceptibility to VVS is the head-up-tilt table (HUT) test. We set out to evaluate the relationship between Body Mass Index (BMI) and the outcome of HUT testing.

Methods
We reviewed the outcomes of 1193 patients attending for HUT testing at the University Hospitals of Leicester between December 2014 and October 2017. The protocol used was a 40 minute passive HUT (70 degree) followed by sublingual nitroglyserin. The parameters of height, weight, gender and test outcome were recorded prospectively and interrogated retrospectively.

Results
Of the 1193 patients, the passive HUT test was positive for VVS in 293 patients. These patients were then sub-grouped by BMI as set out in the table. The chances of VVS, as diagnosed by HUT testing are almost doubled in those with a (clinically underweight) BMI range 16-20. (p value 0.002-0.001)

Discussion
The presented data supports the anecdotal experience of many clinicians: that low BMI may be associated with an increased tendency to VVS. The physiological basis for this (if it is real) is not understood and requires further evaluation since it may have implications for future management strategies. Larger studies are required to further analyse this relationship to determine if BMI is an independent predictor or risk factor for VVS.
Age and location influence the costs of compensatory and accelerated growth in a hibernating mammal
Authors: Heissenberger Sarah , de Pinho Gabriela Medeiros , Martin Julien G A , Blumstein Daniel T 
Published: February 2020

Abstract
The increase of structural growth rates to compensate for a poor initial body condition, defined as compensatory growth, may have physiological costs, but little is known about its effects on individual fitness in the wild. Yellow-bellied marmots (Marmota flaviventer) are obligate hibernators and depend on fat accumulation acquired during an approximately 4-month summer to survive overwinter. We investigated the costs of survival and longevity of rapid growth in a wild population of yellow-bellied marmots. We used trapping data collected from 2002 to 2014 to calculate individual relative seasonal growth and assess its effects on longevity and annual survival of juveniles, yearlings, and adults. Sites were distributed in two main areas, down-valley and up-valley; the latter has a higher elevation and is an overall harsher environment. We found that relative seasonal growth had no effect on individual longevity or on juvenile and adult annual survival. For yearlings, the effect of relative seasonal growth on survival depended on the location: yearlings with high relative seasonal growth had lower survival if located up-valley, and higher survival if located down-valley. In conclusion, juveniles and adults do not appear to have detectable costs of rapid growth, although there are costs to yearling survival depending on environmental conditions. Substantial structural growth occurs when marmots are yearlings and our results are likely driven by the high conflicting demands of somatic growth versus maintenance at this stage. Thus, the costs of rapid growth are age and site dependent and may be seen in the short term for species facing temporal constraints on growth.
Adaptive critical value for constrained likelihood ratio testing
Authors: Al Mohamad Diaa , Van Zwet Erik W , Cator Eric , Goeman Jelle J 
Published: February 2020

SummaryWe present a new general method for constrained likelihood ratio testing which, when few constraints are violated, improves upon the existing approach in the literature that compares the likelihood ratio with the quantile of a mixture of chi-squared distributions; the improvement is in terms of both simplicity and power. The proposed method compares the constrained likelihood ratio statistic against the quantile of only one chi-squared random variable with data-dependent degrees of freedom. The new test is shown to have a valid exact significance level $\alpha$. It also has more power than the classical approach against alternatives for which the number of violations is not large. We provide more details for testing a simple order $\mu_1\leqslant\cdots\leqslant\mu_p$ against all alternatives using the proposed approach and give clear guidelines as to when the new method would be advantageous. A simulation study suggests that for testing a simple order, the new approach is more powerful in many scenarios than the existing method that uses a mixture of chi-squared variables. We illustrate the results of our adaptive procedure using real data on the liquidity preference hypothesis.
Case report: changes in creatine kinase isoenzymes after myocardial infarction in a patient with prostatic carcinoma.
Authors: Alexander R L 
Published: February 2020

Abstract
The detection of serum proteins that can serve as tumor markers has been reported with increased frequency in patients with various localized or metastatic cancers. Many of these reports have concerned patients with prostatic carcinoma, who had normal or increased concentrations of creatine kinase (EC 2.7.3.2) in serum. In many instances the creatine kinase BB isoenzyme was increased in these patients. I describe the case of a patient with carcinoma of the prostate (stage D), who had a myocardial infarction three to four days after admission. The serum activity of the MM, MB, and BB isoenzymes changed markedly after the infarction. These changes and the possible tissue source(s) of this isoenzyme are discussed in relationship to the clinical symptoms of the patient.
Striving for population-level conservation: integrating physiology across the biological hierarchy
Authors: Ames Elizabeth M , Gade Meaghan R , Nieman Chelsey L , Wright James R , Tonra Christopher M , Marroquin Cynthia M , Tutterow Annalee M , Gray Suzanne M 
Published: February 2020

Abstract
The field of conservation physiology strives to achieve conservation goals by revealing physiological mechanisms that drive population declines in the face of human-induced rapid environmental change (HIREC) and has informed many successful conservation actions. However, many studies still struggle to explicitly link individual physiological measures to impacts across the biological hierarchy (to population and ecosystem levels) and instead rely on a ‘black box’ of assumptions to scale up results for conservation implications. Here, we highlight some examples of studies that were successful in scaling beyond the individual level, including two case studies of well-researched species, and using other studies we highlight challenges and future opportunities to increase the impact of research by scaling up the biological hierarchy. We first examine studies that use individual physiological measures to scale up to population-level impacts and discuss several emerging fields that have made significant steps toward addressing the gap between individual-based and demographic studies, such as macrophysiology and landscape physiology. Next, we examine how future studies can scale from population or species-level to community- and ecosystem-level impacts and discuss avenues of research that can lead to conservation implications at the ecosystem level, such as abiotic gradients and interspecific interactions. In the process, we review methods that researchers can use to make links across the biological hierarchy, including crossing disciplinary boundaries, collaboration and data sharing, spatial modelling and incorporating multiple markers (e.g. physiological, behavioural or demographic) into their research. We recommend future studies incorporating tools that consider the diversity of ‘landscapes’ experienced by animals at higher levels of the biological hierarchy, will make more effective contributions to conservation and management decisions.
Outcome, complication and follow-up of patients with esophageal foreign body impaction: an academic institute’s 15 years of experience
Authors: Marashi Nia Seyed Farzad , Aghaie Meybodi Mohamad , Sutton Richard , Bansal Ajay , Olyaee Mojtaba , Hejazi Reza 
Published: February 2020

Summary
Esophageal foreign body impaction (EFBI) is a gastrointestinal emergency, mostly requiring endoscopic management. The aim of this study is to evaluate the epidemiology, adverse events, and outcomes of patients following the episode of EFBI. All esophagogastroduodenoscopy (EGD) reports of admitted patients for EFBI at the University of Kansas Medical Center between 2003 and 2018 were retrospectively reviewed. Of 204 patients, who met the inclusion criteria, 60% were male and the mean age was 54.7 ± 17.7 years. The encounter was the first episode of EFBI in 76% of cases. EGD in less than 24 hours of patients’ admission was required in 79% of cases. The distal esophagus was the most common site of impaction (44%). Push and pull techniques were used in 38 and 35.2% of cases, respectively, while 11% were managed by a combination of both techniques. Structural causes were the most common etiologic findings including benign strictures and stenosis in 21.5% of patients, followed by Schatzki’s ring (7.8%) and hiatal hernia (6.9%). Of all cases, 45% did follow-up in up to 1 year, and biopsy was done in 34% of cases. Out of 43 patients who had endoscopic findings suspicious for eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE), the diagnosis was confirmed by pathology in 37. The rate of recurrence EFBI was significantly higher in patients with EoE (P &lt; 0.001). EFBI-related esophageal adverse events (AEs) occurred in 4.9% of cases. Cardiovascular and pulmonary AEs occurred in 1.5 and 2.9%, respectively. Logistic regression did not find any predictor for AEs occurrence. EFBI managed very well with endoscopic treatments. Despite the emerging data about the safety of the push technique, there are still concerns regarding its adverse events especially the risk of perforations. Our study shows no significant difference in adverse events between different types of techniques.
The Fate of Ornamental White Fringetree Through the Invasion Wave of Emerald Ash Borer and Implications for Novel Host Use by This Beetle
Authors: Ellison E A , Peterson D L , Cipollini D 
Published: February 2020

Abstract
Emerald ash borer (EAB, Agrilus planipennis Fairmaire [Coleoptera: Buprestidae]) is a wood boring beetle that is an invasive pest of ash trees (Fraxinus spp.) in North America. In 2014, it was reported that EAB had infested white fringetree (Chionanthus virginicus L. [Lamiales: Oleaceae]) in Ohio and was since found to have infested this species across its invasive range. In 2018, we reexamined 166 white fringetrees in Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, and Pennsylvania that had been previously examined for EAB attack in 2015 to determine their fate. We assessed tree health and EAB infestation in each tree, assigned an infestation status of newly, continuously, not reinfested, or never infested, and compared the trees’ current status to their 2015 status. This assessment was done to determine whether their health and infestation status had changed through the EAB invasion wave. We found that attack rates declined: 26% of trees were infested in 2015 whereas only 13% were in 2018, likely coinciding with declining beetle populations in the area. Overall tree health improved for trees that were not reinfested by EAB after a record of attack in 2015, suggesting that they can survive and recover from EAB attack. Conversely, health declined for newly and continuously infested trees, indicating that they became stressed from EAB attack. Although the majority of the trees survived the invasion wave, several were removed from various sites due to EAB attack suggesting that white fringetree varies in its resistance and tolerance to attack. As beetle populations continue to expand geographically, infestation rates will likely increase and health of white fringetrees will decrease with the EAB attack wave, especially as EAB reaches denser populations of fringetrees.
Employing Very High Frequency (VHF) Radio Telemetry to Recreate Monarch Butterfly Flight Paths
Authors: Fisher Kelsey E , Adelman James S , Bradbury Steven P 
Published: February 2020

AbstractThe overwintering population of eastern North American monarch butterflies (Danaus plexippus) has declined significantly. Loss of milkweed (Asclepias sp.), the monarch’s obligate host plant in the Midwest United States, is considered to be a major cause of the decline. Restoring breeding habitat is an actionable step towards population recovery. Monarch butterflies are highly vagile; therefore, the spatial arrangement of milkweed in the landscape influences movement patterns, habitat utilization, and reproductive output. Empirical studies of female movement patterns within and between habitat patches in representative agricultural landscapes support recommendations for habitat restoration. To track monarch movement at distances beyond human visual range, we employed very high frequency radio telemetry with handheld antennae to collect movement bearings on a biologically relevant time scale. Attachment of 220–300 mg transmitters did not significantly affect behavior and flight capability. Thirteen radio-tagged monarchs were released in a restored prairie, and locations were estimated every minute for up to 39 min by simultaneous triangulation from four operators. Monarchs that left the prairie were tracked and relocated at distances up to 250 m. Assuming straight flights between locations, the majority of steps within the prairie were below 50 m. Steps associated with exiting the prairie exceeded 50 m with high directionality. Because butterflies do not fly in straight lines between stationary points, we also illustrate how occurrence models can use location data obtained through radio telemetry to estimate movement within a prairie and over multiple land cover types.
Elite Schools, Elite Ambitions? The Consequences of Secondary-Level School Choice Sorting for Tertiary-Level Educational Choices
Authors: Bygren Magnus , Rosenqvist Erik 
Published: February 2020

Abstract
We ask if school choice, through its effect on sorting across schools, affects high school graduates’ application decisions to higher education. We exploit a school choice reform that dramatically increased achievement sorting across secondary schools in the municipality of Stockholm, employing a before–after design with a control group of students in similar schools located outside this municipality. The reform had a close to zero mean effect on the propensity to apply for tertiary educational programs, but strongly affected the self-selection by achievement into the kinds of higher educational programs applied for. Low achievers increased their propensity to apply for the ‘low-status’ educational programs, on average destining them to less prestigious, less well-paid occupations, and high achievers increased their propensity to apply for ‘high-status’ educational programs, on average destining them to more prestigious, well-paid occupations. The results suggest that increased sorting across schools reinforces differences across schools and groups in ‘cultures of ambition’. Although these effects translate into relatively small increases in the gender gap, the immigration gap, and the parental education gap in educational choice, our results indicate that school choice, and the increased sorting it leads to, through conformity mechanisms in schools polarizes educational choices of students across achievement groups.
Genome-Wide Selection Scan in an Arabian Peninsula Population Identifies a TNKS Haplotype Linked to Metabolic Traits and Hypertension
Authors: Eaaswarkhanth Muthukrishnan , dos Santos Andre Luiz Campelo , Gokcumen Omer , Al-Mulla Fahd , Thanaraj Thangavel Alphonse 
Published: February 2020

AbstractDespite the extreme and varying environmental conditions prevalent in the Arabian Peninsula, it has experienced several waves of human migrations following the out-of-Africa diaspora. Eventually, the inhabitants of the peninsula region adapted to the hot and dry environment. The adaptation and natural selection that shaped the extant human populations of the Arabian Peninsula region have been scarcely studied. In an attempt to explore natural selection in the region, we analyzed 662,750 variants in 583 Kuwaiti individuals. We searched for regions in the genome that display signatures of positive selection in the Kuwaiti population using an integrative approach in a conservative manner. We highlight a haplotype overlapping TNKS that showed strong signals of positive selection based on the results of the multiple selection tests conducted (integrated Haplotype Score, Cross Population Extended Haplotype Homozygosity, Population Branch Statistics, and log-likelihood ratio scores). Notably, the TNKS haplotype under selection potentially conferred a fitness advantage to the Kuwaiti ancestors for surviving in the harsh environment while posing a major health risk to present-day Kuwaitis.
GC bias affects genomic and metagenomic reconstructions, underrepresenting GC-poor organisms
Authors: Browne Patrick Denis , Nielsen Tue Kjærgaard , Kot Witold , Aggerholm Anni , Gilbert M Thomas P , Puetz Lara , Rasmussen Morten , Zervas Athanasios , Hansen Lars Hestbjerg 
Published: February 2020

Abstract

Background
Metagenomic sequencing is a well-established tool in the modern biosciences. While it promises unparalleled insights into the genetic content of the biological samples studied, conclusions drawn are at risk from biases inherent to the DNA sequencing methods, including inaccurate abundance estimates as a function of genomic guanine-cytosine (GC) contents.

Results
We explored such GC biases across many commonly used platforms in experiments sequencing multiple genomes (with mean GC contents ranging from 28.9% to 62.4%) and metagenomes. GC bias profiles varied among different library preparation protocols and sequencing platforms. We found that our workflows using MiSeq and NextSeq were hindered by major GC biases, with problems becoming increasingly severe outside the 45–65% GC range, leading to a falsely low coverage in GC-rich and especially GC-poor sequences, where genomic windows with 30% GC content had &gt;10-fold less coverage than windows close to 50% GC content. We also showed that GC content correlates tightly with coverage biases. The PacBio and HiSeq platforms also evidenced similar profiles of GC biases to each other, which were distinct from those seen in the MiSeq and NextSeq workflows. The Oxford Nanopore workflow was not afflicted by GC bias.

Conclusions
These findings indicate potential sources of difficulty, arising from GC biases, in genome sequencing that could be pre-emptively addressed with methodological optimizations provided that the GC biases inherent to the relevant workflow are understood. Furthermore, it is recommended that a more critical approach be taken in quantitative abundance estimates in metagenomic studies. In the future, metagenomic studies should take steps to account for the effects of GC bias before drawing conclusions, or they should use a demonstrably unbiased workflow.
Lithofacies classification based on a hybrid system of artificial neural networks and hidden Markov models
Authors: Feng Runhai 
Published: February 2020

SUMMARYLithofacies is one of the most important reservoir parameters, which could provide a qualitative description for hydrocarbon and geothermal reservoirs. Various techniques, such as artificial neural networks (ANN) and hidden Markov models (HMM), have been applied to extract this information, with the well log suites as inputs. However, both of these methods have their own limitations, such as no geological priors in ANN, since log samples along the depth direction are treated independently. While in HMM, a simple Gaussian assumption is usually adopted, which may not be sufficient for complex data distributions. In order to address these problems, a new method is proposed, which combines ANN and HMM into a hybrid system. This new technique allows for a more flexible approach to the probability distributions of rock properties, without any Gaussian assumption being made. At the same time, the geological dependence between adjacent samples is introduced by a representative transition matrix of lithofacies. The output probability from ANN must be reformulated to an emission function before it can be fed into the HMM, which is achieved via the Bayes’ rule. Then the Viterbi algorithm in HMM is applied for the decoding of sequential patterns in the subsurface. In this fashion, the classification process can be proceeded statistically and geologically. Better performance of the proposed approach, compared with other classification methods, is demonstrated in two case studies.
Anti-obesity public health messages and risk factors for disordered eating: a systematic review
Authors: Bristow Claire , Meurer Capella , Simmonds Janette , Snell Tristan 
Published: February 2020

AbstractIn response to the increasing prevalence of overweight and obesity, public health efforts to curb these conditions have been delivered in abundance. There is concern however that the messages used to target these conditions may be increasing risk factors for disordered eating. Therefore, we sought to systematically review the literature on the effects of anti-obesity public health messages on risk factors for disordered eating. Seven electronic databases were searched for articles meeting the inclusion criteria, resulting in the inclusion of 12 studies of various methodologies that measured one or more risk factors for disordered eating following exposure to public health messages. Few studies specifically and accurately measured disordered eating behaviours. Most studies found that messages were stigmatizing towards persons who are overweight/obese, and exacerbate thin ideals and drive for thinness. Interestingly, the same was not found for measures of body dissatisfaction. Messages promoting smaller meals were also thought to be potential triggers for disordered eating. Whilst the studies included in this review offered both quantitative and qualitative insights into how public health messages may have adverse effects on eating behaviours, there was a consistent lack of valid reporting measures and clear classification of outcomes overall. Hence, future research is recommended using valid reporting tools such as validated questionnaires, as well as prolonged exposure to the intervention condition to determine longer-term impact.