bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Rates and characteristics of SARS‐CoV‐2 infection in persons with hepatitis C virus infection
Authors: Butt Adeel A. , Yan Peng 
Published: October 2020

AbstractBackgroundRate of SARS‐CoV‐2 infection and impact of liver fibrosis stage upon infection rates in persons with hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection are unknown.MethodsWe retrospectively analysed the Electronically Retrieved Cohort of HCV Infected Veterans (ERCHIVES), a well‐established database of HCV‐infected Veterans in care. We excluded those with missing FIB‐4 score and those with HIV or hepatitis B virus co‐infection. We determined the number of persons tested, proportion who tested positive for SARS‐CoV‐2 and the infection rate by age and liver fibrosis stage.ResultsAmong 172,235 persons with HCV, 14,305 (8.3%) were tested for SARS‐CoV‐2 infection and 892 (6.2%) tested positive. Those with SARS‐CoV‐2 infection were older, more likely to be Black (55.2% vs 37.8%), obese (body mass index >30 kg/m2 36.2% vs 29.7%) and have diabetes or stroke (P < .0001 for all comparisons). Mean FIB‐4 scores and proportion of persons with cirrhosis (based on a FIB‐4 > 3.25) were similar in both groups. Incidence rate/1,000 tested persons was much higher among Blacks (88.4; 95% CI 81.1, 96.2) vs Whites (37.5; 95% CI 33.1, 42.4) but similar among those with cirrhosis (FIB‐4 > 3.25). The rates were also similar among those who were untreated for HCV vs those treated with or without attaining a sustained virologic response.ConclusionsTesting rates among persons with HCV are very low. Persons with infection are more likely to be Black, have a higher body mass index and diabetes or stroke. The degree of liver fibrosis does not appear to have an impact on infection rate.
Meeting breastfeeding intentions differ by race/ethnicity, Infant and Toddler Feeding Practices Study‐2
Authors: Hamner Heather C. , Beauregard Jennifer L. , Li Ruowei , Nelson Jennifer M. , Perrine Cria G. 
Published: October 2020

AbstractPrenatal breastfeeding intentions impact breastfeeding practices. Racial/ethnic disparities exist in breastfeeding rates; it is unknown if prenatal intentions and meeting intentions differ by race/ethnicity. A longitudinal cohort of USDA's Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) which enrolled participants beginning in 2013 were used to estimate prenatal intentions for breastfeeding initiation, exclusive breast milk feeds at 1 and 3 months by race/ethnicity (n = 2070). Meeting intentions were determined by reported breast milk consumption at birth, 1 month and 3 months. Multivariable logistic regression was used to determine the association of race/ethnicity with meeting intentions. There were no differences in prenatal breastfeeding intentions between non‐Hispanic White and non‐Hispanic Black women (initiation: 86.9% and 87.2%; Month 1: 52.3% and 48.3%; Month 3: 43.8% and 40.9%; respectively), but a higher percentage of Hispanic women intended to breastfeed at all time points (95.5%, 68.3% and 56.4%; respectively, P < 0.05). Among women who intended to breastfeed at Month 1, non‐Hispanic Black and Hispanic women had significantly lower odds of meeting intentions compared with non‐Hispanic White women after adjusting for covariates (aORs: 0.63 [95% CI: 0.41, 0.98]; 0.64 [95% CI: 0.44, 0.92], respectively). Similar findings were seen for Month 3. Despite no differences in breastfeeding intentions, non‐Hispanic Black women were less likely to meet their breastfeeding intentions than non‐Hispanic White women. Hispanic women were more likely to intend to breastfeed yet were less likely to meet their intentions. This suggests that non‐Hispanic Black and Hispanic women face challenges to meeting their longer breastfeeding intentions. Understanding how racism, bias and discrimination contribute to women not meeting their breastfeeding intentions may help efforts to reduce breastfeeding disparities.
Are population isolations and declines a threat to island endemic water striders? A lesson from demographic and niche modelling of Metrocoris esakii (Hemiptera: Gerridae)
Authors: Ye Zhen , Chen Danyang , Yuan Juanjuan , Zheng Chenguang , Yang Xin , Wang Wenwu , Zhang Yaoyao , Wang Siqi , Jiang Kun , Bu Wenjun 
Published: October 2020

AbstractGenetic stochasticity and bottlenecking in the course of Pleistocene glaciations have been identified as threatening the survival of local endemics. However, the mechanisms by which local endemic species balance the influences of these two events remain poorly understood. Here, we generated a double‐digest restriction site‐associated DNA sequencing (ddRAD‐seq) data set, mined mitochondrial sequences and constructed ecological niche models for the island endemic water strider Metrocoris esakii (Hemiptera: Gerridae). We found that M. esakii comprised three divergent lineages (i.e., north, central and south) isolated by geographical barriers and generally experienced population declines with the constriction of suitable areas during the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM). Further demographic model testing and stairway plots revealed a history of recent gene flow among the neighbouring lineages and rapid recovery at the end of the LGM, indicating that M. esakii at least had the potential for an adaptive response to population fragmentation and bottlenecking. The northern lineage did not show genetic bottlenecking during the LGM, which was probably due to its large effective population size (Ne) from migration, which improved its adaptive potential. Relative to the ddRAD‐seq data set, the demographic results based on mitochondrial sequences were less conclusive, showing weak differentiation and oversimplified demographic trajectories for the three genetic lineages. Overall, this study provides some degree of optimism for the survival of island endemic water striders from a demographic perspective, but further evaluation of their extinction risk under the impacts of human activities is required.
Harnessing landscape genomics to identify future climate resilient genotypes in a desert annual
Authors: Shryock Daniel F. , Washburn Loraine K. , DeFalco Lesley A. , Esque Todd C. 
Published: October 2020

AbstractLocal adaptation features critically in shaping species responses to changing environments, complicating efforts to revegetate degraded areas. Rapid climate change poses an additional challenge that could reduce fitness of even locally sourced seeds in restoration. Predictive restoration strategies that apply seeds with favourable adaptations to future climate may promote long‐term resilience. Landscape genomics is increasingly used to assess spatial patterns in local adaption and may represent a cost‐efficient approach for identifying future‐adapted genotypes. To demonstrate such an approach, we genotyped 760 plants from 64 Mojave Desert populations of the desert annual Plantago ovata. Genome scans on 5,960 SNPs identified 184 potentially adaptive loci related to climate and satellite vegetation metrics. Causal modelling indicated that variation in potentially adaptive loci was not confounded by isolation by distance or isolation by habitat resistance. A generalized dissimilarity model (GDM) attributed spatial turnover in potentially adaptive loci to temperature, precipitation and NDVI amplitude, a measure of vegetation green‐up potential. By integrating a species distribution model (SDM), we find evidence that summer maximum temperature may both constrain the range of P. ovata and drive adaptive divergence in populations exposed to higher temperatures. Within the species’ current range, warm‐adapted genotypes are predicted to experience a fivefold expansion in climate niche by midcentury and could harbour key adaptations to cope with future climate. We recommend eight seed transfer zones and project each zone into its relative position in future climate. Prioritizing seed collection efforts on genotypes with expanding future habitat represents a promising strategy for restoration practitioners to address rapidly changing climates.
Root traits explain rhizosphere fungal community composition among temperate grassland plant species
Authors: Sweeney Christopher J. , de Vries Franciska T. , van Dongen Bart E. , Bardgett Richard D. 
Published: October 2020

Summary

While it is known that interactions between plants and soil fungi drive many essential ecosystem functions, considerable uncertainty exists over the drivers of fungal community composition in the rhizosphere. Here, we examined the roles of plant species identity, phylogeny and functional traits in shaping rhizosphere fungal communities and tested the robustness of these relationships to environmental change.

We conducted a glasshouse experiment consisting of 21 temperate grassland species grown under three different environmental treatments and characterised the fungal communities within the rhizosphere of these plants.

We found that plant species identity, plant phylogenetic relatedness and plant traits all affected rhizosphere fungal community composition. Trait relationships with fungal communities were primarily driven by interactions with arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi, and root traits were stronger predictors of fungal communities than leaf traits. These patterns were independent of the environmental treatments the plants were grown under.

Our results showcase the key role of plant root traits, especially root diameter, root nitrogen and specific root length, in driving rhizosphere fungal community composition, demonstrating the potential for root traits to be used within predictive frameworks of plant–fungal relationships. Furthermore, we highlight how key limitations in our understanding of fungal function may obscure previously unmeasured plant–fungal interactions.
Erythema induratum of Bazin in a 10‐year‐old boy
Authors: Lee Yeon Seok , Lee June Hyunkyung , Choi Jae Eun , Kim Joo Young , Han Tae Young 
Published: October 2020

AbstractErythema induratum of Bazin (EIB) is a form of tuberculid resulting from hypersensitivity to tuberculosis antigen. EIB occurs most commonly in middle‐aged women and is not typically seen in children. Here, we present a rare case of EIB, presenting as a chronic nodular panniculitis, in a 10‐year‐old Korean boy.
Skill and Earnings Amongst Golfers on the Southern‐African Sunshine Tour
Authors: Botha Ferdi , Fraser Gavin , Rhoads Thomas A. 
Published: October 2020

AbstractThis paper estimates the determinants of the success of golfers on the Southern‐African Sunshine Tour. Using a simultaneous‐quantile regression approach and real earnings per tournament as a measure of success, a higher greens‐in‐regulation percentage and a lower number of putts per greens‐in‐regulation are associated with higher earnings. Calculations of the value of the marginal product of key golfer skills suggest a dynamic human capital acquisition process for many Sunshine Tour golfers at the earliest stages of their professional golf career.
Understanding Power‐Sharing Performance: A Lifecycle Approach
Authors: McCulloch Allison , McEvoy Joanne 
Published: October 2020

AbstractPower‐sharing is a leading institutional strategy for the management of ethnic conflict. Yet its performance is uneven. It often delivers a peace dividend: stopping violence, avoiding minority exclusion, and reducing group‐based insecurity. Its decision‐making efficiency and governance record, however, have weaker evaluations. We conceptualize ‘the power‐sharing lifecycle’ to better understand the reasons for this uneven record. Exploring power‐sharing performance through a lifecycle lens helps illuminate the experiences of – and potential for – power‐sharing in the post‐uprisings Arab world and beyond.
Are Identities Unexplainable? Towards a Non‐causal Contrastive Explanation of Identities
Authors: Azzano Lorenzo , Carrara Massimiliano 
Published: October 2020

AbstractCan an identity be the proper subject of an explanation? A popular stance, albeit not one often argued for, gives a negative answer to this question. Building from a contentious passage from Jaegwon Kim in this direction, we reconstruct an argument to the conclusion that identities, to the extent in which they are necessary, cannot be explained. The notion of contrastive explanation, characterized as difference‐seeking, will be crucial for this argument; however, we will eventually find the argument to be unsatisfactory. On the contrary, the discussion provides enough resources to sketch a very simple framework for a non‐causal contrastive explanation of identities. Many instances will be provided, with different varieties ofexplanans, ultimately suggesting that certain entailment or biconditional principles involving identities (first and foremost, so‐called two‐level identity criteria) may indeed be taken to have an inherent explanatory value.
What Makes Discrimination Morally Wrong? A Harm‐Based View Reconsidered
Authors: Ishida Shu 
Published: October 2020

AbstractWhat is the morally significant feature of discrimination? All of the following seem plausible – (i) discrimination is a kind of wrongdoing and it wrongs discriminatees, which is a matter ofintrapersonalmorality; (ii) in view of cases of indirect discrimination, significant normative features of discrimination are best captured in a discriminatee‐focused, orharm‐based, way; and (iii) discrimination, as an act‐type, necessarily involvesinterpersonalcomparison. The first task of this article is to address which of intra‐ or interpersonal comparison is relevant to philosophical questions concerning discrimination. I submit that each of them has a place in the theory of discrimination; while interpersonal comparison is relevant in determining whether a differentiating act counts as discrimination, intrapersonal comparison is relevant in assessing whether it is morally wrong. The second task is to develop further a harm‐based answer to the latter question. My final proposal is as follows: discrimination ispro tantomorally wrong to the extent that it makes the discriminatees worse off than they would be were it not for the discrimination at issue, where one's well‐being is understood in terms of what one endorses in one's optimum form.
Fulfillment of river environmental flow: applying Nash theory for quantitative‐qualitative conflict resolution in reservoir operation
Authors: Farhadian Mostafa , Bozorg‐Haddad Omid , Loáiciga Hugo A. 
Published: October 2020

AbstractThe construction of reservoirs for water supply alters the riverine ecology and changes water quality. It is, therefore, imperative to estimate and provide the riverine environmental flow requirement to prevent irreversible environmental damage and to maintain suitable water quality. Water releases from reservoirs constitute the means for meeting environmental flow and water quality requirements downstream from reservoirs. These requirements can be realized through the modification of the reservoir operation programmes by reallocating a percentage of the reservoir releases otherwise dedicated to quantitative objectives. This is performed in this study by considering the qualitative (i.e. pertaining to water quality) objectives alongside quantitative objectives of reservoir releases in order to achieve a general coverage for an operating programme that balances in the most rational manner the interests of riverine environmental protection and quantitative functions. The case study area is located in the river reach between the Gotvand reservoir and Shooshtar city in the Gotvand‐Karoon reservoir‐river system in Iran. The range of riverine environmental flow is calculated in the study river reach with hydrologic methods. Water quality is simulated and included reservoir operation with the QUAL‐2K simulation model. The existing quantitative and qualitative objectives for reservoir operation are determined and classified. The best reservoir releases corresponding to three scenarios are determined by the Nash theory considering all possible objectives in the reservoir‐river system. These scenarios allocate relative weights to defined objectives and releases were determined to be equal to 183.8, 141.8 and 206.8 m3/s for three scenarios.
Parametric study on CO2 sequestration using cyanobacterial consortium and production of macromolecules: experimentation, modelling and optimization
Authors: Upendar Ganta , Singh Sunita , Chakrabarty Jitamanyu , Ghanta Kartik Chandra , Shahnawaz Md. , Lahiri Sandip Kumar , Dutta Susmita 
Published: October 2020

AbstractSequestration of CO2 using microalgae is one of the imperative, cost effective and environment‐friendly processes for carbon sequestration and for production of biomass. In the present study, a cyanobacterial consortium was used for the sequestration of CO2 at diverse initial CO2 concentrations (5–30%), pH of the medium (7–11) and inoculum sizes (5–12.5%). The cyanobacterial consortium showed sustainability in growth upto 30% CO2. The overall CO2 fixation capacity was found as 0.0692 and 0.071 mol CO2/g algae at 15% CO2, pH 9 and at 10% and 12.5% inoculum, respectively, after 14 days. Characterization of dry biomass before and after CO2 sequestration was done using Fourier Transform Infrared spectroscopy. Various algorithm of artificial neural network (ANN) model and a number of activation functions were tried to arrive at best ANN model for such process. Finally, Particle swarm optimization was used for optimization of input variables for maximum sequestration of CO2.
International nursing students’ and new graduates’ experiences of transition to the nursing workforce: a scoping review protocol
Authors: John McKitterick Della , Peters Micah D.J. , Corsini Nadia , Chiarella Mary , Eckert Marion 
Published: October 2020

ABSTRACT

Objective:
The objective of this scoping review is to identify and examine the available evidence of domestically trained international nursing students’ and new graduates’ experiences of transition to the nursing workforce.

Introduction:
International students’ workforce transition experiences are attracting researchers globally. One under-researched area relates to the workforce transition experiences of domestically trained international nursing students and new graduates. This scoping review will focus on identifying studies that examine factors that can directly or indirectly affect experiences of workforce transition.

Inclusion criteria:
This review will consider studies that include domestically trained international nursing students enrolled in an undergraduate/baccalaureate nursing program (outside their country of origin) and new graduates within their first year of completing an undergraduate/baccalaureate nursing program (outside their country of origin). Participants may be either employed or not employed in the host country's nursing workforce. Studies that include participants from any other nursing programs will be excluded.

Methods:
The JBI approach for conducting and reporting scoping reviews will be followed. The review will include both published and unpublished literature. Research from 2000 onward that is available in English will be included. Searches will be conducted in MEDLINE, Scopus, Emcare, ERIC, PsycINFO, ProQuest Central, ProQuest Dissertations and Theses Global, and ScienceDirect. An assessment of methodological quality will be included, with results presented in the final report. One reviewer will carry out the data extraction process independently, which will be checked by another reviewer. Data will be presented in tabular form accompanied by a narrative summary that aligns with the objective of this scoping review.
Strategies for Speeding Up Manipulator Path Planning to Find High Quality Paths in Cluttered Environments
Authors: Rajendran Pradeep , Thakar Shantanu , Bhatt Prahar M. , Kabir Ariyan M. , Gupta Satyandra K. 
Published: October 2020

AbstractIn many manufacturing applications, robotic manipulators need to operate in cluttered environments. Quickly finding high-quality paths is very important in applications that require high part fix and frequent setup changes. This paper presents a point-to-point path planning framework for manipulators operating in cluttered environments. It uses a bi-directional tree-search to find path and facilitates finding a balance between path quality and planning time. The framework dynamically switches between search strategies based on the search progress to produce high-quality paths quickly. This paper three main contributions. First, we extend a previously developed sampling-based modular tree-search. Specifically, we present a strategy that can sample effectively in challenging regions of the search-space by using local approximations of the configuration space. Second, we add new strategies and scheduling logic that decreases the failure rate as well as the planning time compared to the prior work. We also present an inter-tree connection strategy that adapts to collision information gathered over time. We introduce a scheduling rule that regulates the exploitation of focusing hints derived from the workspace obstacles. Third, we present theoretical reasoning behind strategy switching and how it can help decrease planning times and increase path quality. Together, these new features the reduce average failure rate by a factor of 4 and improve the average planning time by 22% over the previous work.
Soft landing of metal clusters on graphite: a molecular dynamics study
Authors: Verkhovtsev Alexey V. , Erofeev Yury , Solov’yov Andrey V. 
Published: October 2020

Abstract
Structure and stability of nanometer-sized Ag887, Au887 and Ti787 clusters soft-landed on graphite (at deposition energies Edep = 0.001 − 5.0 eV per atom) are studied by means of molecular dynamics simulations. Parameters for the cluster–surface interactions are derived from complementary ab initio calculations. The shape and the contact angle of deposited clusters are systematically analyzed for different deposition energies and temperature regimes. The Ag887 cluster deposited at Edep ≲ 0.1 eV/atom undergoes collision-induced plastic deformation, thus acquiring an ellipsoidal shape with the contact angle close to 180°. In contrast, Au887 and Ti787 clusters undergo a collision-induced melting phase transition followed by their recrystallization; these processes lead to the formation of the droplet-like shapes of the clusters in a form of truncated spheroids. At larger deposition energies all clusters flatten over the surface and eventually disintegrate at Edep ≈ 0.75 − 1.0 eV/atom (for Ag887 and Au887) and ≈3 eV/atom (for Ti787). It is found also that the shape of deposited clusters is strongly influenced by the strength of cluster–substrate interaction and the corresponding interaction mechanism, namely the weak van der Waals interaction between metal and carbon atoms or the van der Waals interaction with an onset of covalent bonding. Similar phenomena should arise in the deposition of clusters made of other elements, which interact with a substrate by one of the above-described mechanisms.

Graphical abstract