bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Home environment: Short‐term trends and predictors in early childhood from an Indian community birth cohort
Authors: Koshy Beena , Karthikeyan Arun , Bose Anuradha , Roshan Reeba , Ramanujam Karthikeyan , Mohan Venkata Raghava , John Sushil , Kang Gagandeep 
Published: December 2020

AbstractBackgroundEarly childhood home environment is intricately linked to child development and later cognitive and academic skills. There is limited literature evaluating home environmental trends and predictors in the low‐ and middle‐income country settings.AimsDetermine the trends of early childhood home environment changes between 6 and 36 months of age, and the factors associated with these changes.Study designLongitudinal community‐based birth cohort follow‐up study in a semi‐urban slum in Vellore, South India.SubjectsConsecutive sampling of a birth cohort between March 2010 and February 2012.Outcome measuresHome environment was objectively assessed using the ‘Home Observation for the Measurement of the Environment’ (HOME) scale. Predictors of change in the home environment over time also were analyzed. Multivariable linear regression models and linear mixed effect models were used to identify the factors associated with HOME score at individual time points and over‐a‐time period, respectively.ResultsThe birth cohort enrolled 251 children with a follow‐up of 235, 228 and 218 children at 6, 24 and 36 months, respectively. The socio‐economic status (SES) was the single biggest predictor for the HOME score at each time point, with increasing strength over time. Maternal education predicted home environment at 24 months, while maternal depression was negatively associated at 6 and 24 months of age. SES and maternal factors contributed to the overall change in the HOME score. Maternal factors predicted relational home environmental change over time.ConclusionSES and maternal factors consistently predicted early childhood home environment at 6, 24 and 36 months of age and its change over time. It is important to support maternal education and wellbeing along with socio‐economic measures to optimize early childhood environment.
Identification of the laterality of motor unit behavior in female patients with parkinson's disease using high‐density surface electromyography
Authors: Nishikawa Yuichi , Watanabe Kohei , Holobar Aleš , Maeda Noriaki , Maruyama Hirofumi , Tanaka Shinobu 
Published: December 2020

AbstractPatients with Parkinson's disease (PD) have greater laterality of muscle contraction properties than other people with parkinsonism diseases. However, few studies have reported the laterality of MU activation properties of the lower extremity muscles in patients with PD. The aim of the present study was to identify the laterality of MU behavior in PD patients using high‐density surface electromyography (HD‐SEMG). Eleven female patients with PD (age, 69.2 ± 6.2 years, disease duration, 2.7 ± 0.9 years, Unified Parkinson's disease Rating Scale score, 13 (9–16)), and 9 control female subjects (age, 66.8 ± 3.5 years) were enrolled in the present study. All subjects performed a sustained isometric knee extension in a 30% maximal voluntary contraction (MVC) task for 20 s. HD‐SEMG signals were used to record and extract single MU firing behavior in the vastus lateralis muscle during submaximal isometric knee extensor contractions with 64 electrodes and decomposed with the convolution kernel compensation technique to extract individuals MUs. Compared to the control subjects, the patients with PD exhibited laterality of the MU firing rate and an absence of a relationship between the mean MU firing rate and MU threshold. Patients with PD exhibit laterality of MU behavior and experience MU behavioral abnormalities even with mild symptoms such as Hoehn & Yahr stage ≤ 3 and disease duration = 2.7 ± 0.9. These findings suggest the importance of considering the detection of abnormal muscle properties in PD patients beginning in the early phase of the disease.
Buddy Watch: Care and Constraint Under the Watchful Eye of Military Suicide Risk Management in War
Authors: Lim Chua Jocelyn 
Published: December 2020

AbstractOfficially referred to as “unit watch” and more colloquially as “buddy watch,” the use of continuous direct observation and restrictive measures enforced by peers is a widely used, though controversial, tool in the US Army's suicide prevention efforts. Borrowing from the Army concept and system of the battle buddy, the partnering of soldiers who assist each other in and out of combat, the unit watch is simultaneously conceived as a means of “family” concern, treatment, surveillance, restraint, and even mentorship. Drawing on fieldwork among soldiers and veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, I explore what the practice of unit watch reveals about institutional and psychiatric interventions as a form of constraint‐as‐care in settings of global US military power. I emphasize the bodily and affective dimensions of the unit watch and the forms of sociality, including coerced obligation and forced intimacy, that the unit watch can produce. Soldiers’ accounts of being watched and watching others under the sign of unauthorized violence also highlight the tense and ambivalent nature of managing suicide in material, institutional, and geopolitical settings organized for the production of violence.
Export trade and smog pollution: Empirical evidence from China
Authors: Bai Junhong , Yu Xuewei 
Published: December 2020

AbstractThis paper examines the impact of China's export trade on smog pollution. Based on provincial panel data from 2006 to 2016 in China, we use spatial econometric methods to empirically investigate the smog pollution effects of China's export trade from two dimensions, export scale and export structure. It has been found that smog pollution in various regions of China has obvious spatial correlation; China's export trade has a significant positive impact on smog pollution, whether in terms of export scale or export structure. After establishing different forms of spatial weight matrices and considering alternative indicators of smog pollution, the results of this paper are still robust.
Prescribing practices of migraine‐specific pharmacotherapy associated with emergency department use for migraine
Authors: Cheng Vivian , Billups Sarah J. , Saseen Joseph J. 
Published: December 2020

AbstractObjectiveThis study compared migraine medication prescribing between patients with a migraine diagnosis who used versus did not use the emergency department (ED) for migraine.BackgroundHeadache is the fifth most common chief complaint for ED visits nationwide and the third most common potentially avoidable ED diagnosis in the University of Colorado Health system. The reasons some patients use the ED for migraine management while others do not and whether some ED admissions might be preventable remain unclear.MethodsThis retrospective cohort study identified adults with migraine‐related diagnoses within 1 year before the index date of July 1, 2018 and compared patient characteristics and migraine medication prescribing patterns between those who did or did not have a subsequent migraine‐related ED encounter the following year. ED admission notes were manually reviewed to identify potentially preventable circumstances that led to the ED visit. The primary outcome was the proportion of patients with an active triptan prescription at the index date.ResultsOf the 3843 patients identified, 35 patients (0.9%) had a migraine‐related ED encounter. Of these, 17/35 (49%) had an active triptan prescription compared to 1360/3808 (36%) of non‐ED utilizers (p = 0.114), OR 1.22 (95% CI 0.61–2.45). More ED utilizers had an active prescription for opioids (11/35 [31%] vs. 663/3808 [17%], p = 0.030) and migraine preventive therapy (19/35 [54%] vs. 1149/3808 [30%], p = 0.002), and neurology referrals (20/35 [57%] vs. 654/3808 [17%], p < 0.001) compared to non‐ED utilizers. The most common circumstance for migraine‐related ED visits was nonresponse to migraine abortive medications administered at home.ConclusionsTriptan prescribing did not differ between ED utilizers and non‐ED utilizers for migraine. Overall, less than half of the total patient population had a triptan prescribed. More ED utilizers had neurology referrals, prescriptions for opioids and preventive therapies, and a history of previous ED visit for any reason, which may be markers for higher disease severity or behavior patterns. Future research and interventions to reduce migraine‐related ED use could target high‐risk patients such as those with previous ED visits for any indication and neurology referrals.
Improving waterbird monitoring and conservation in the Sahel using remote sensing: a case study with the International Waterbird Census in Sudan
Authors: Suet Marie , Lozano‐Arango Juan Guillermo , Defos Du Rau Pierre , Deschamps ClÉmence , Abdalgader Mohammed Mohammed Adam , Elbashary Adam Elfirdous , Mohammed Eldegair Eltayeb , Ali Elbadawi Mohamed Elmekki , Mohammed Hashim Ibrahim , Kirrem Kpoore Noman , Mohammed Mohammed Adam , Mohammed Ibrahim Bihery Manal , Adam Mutassim Essa Abdallah , Pineau Olivier , Mondain‐Monval Jean‐Yves 
Published: December 2020

In several regions of the world, the remoteness of potential bird hotspots and lack of trained observers have often prevented countries from effectively designing proper monitoring schemes at a national scale. For many countries, it is not known whether certain bird strongholds have been missed that should be included for more complete censuses. Such gaps at national scales, sometimes large, may be detrimental for global monitoring schemes. To address this, we used the irregular participation of Sudan to the International Waterbird Census (IWC) as a case study. We designed and tested a method based on remote‐sensing data of the country’s lowlands to detect open water bodies in order to develop predictive models of the potential distribution of waterbird abundance and diversity. To identify open water bodies and their flooding duration, we used a Modified Normalized Difference Water Index (MNDWI) derived from Landsat 8 data. Field ornithological surveys were then used as ground‐truth data to estimate the method’s accuracy. The statistical results (overall accuracy = 0.972; Kappa index = 0.93) confirmed its effectiveness. Remotely sensed water bodies and additional environmental covariates were then used to build simple habitat models of the distribution of waterbird abundance and diversity based on IWC field survey data. Of the 3119 remotely sensed clusters of open water bodies, three were predicted to host more than 10 000 waterbirds, 89 more than 1000 waterbirds and five more than 30 waterbird species. Located mainly in the southern agricultural floodplains along the main rivers, these predicted waterbird strongholds are therefore recommended for inclusion in the next IWC survey in Sudan. Our findings indicate that using remote sensing to identify open water bodies combined with simple statistical modelling is likely to be a cost‐effective solution to improve IWC sampling and to enhance both waterbird and wetland monitoring in vast under‐surveyed regions.
Yearly temperature fluctuations and survey speed influence road counts of wintering raptors
Authors: McClure Christopher J. W. , Rolek Brian W. , Grove Gregory W. , Katzner Todd E. 
Published: December 2020

Globally, evaluation of population trends is the most pressing research need for many species of conservation concern. Road counts for birds of prey are useful for monitoring long‐term population trends and examining year‐to‐year variations in abundance. We examined data from 2155 road surveys conducted from 2001 to 2018 by community scientists who recorded > 85 000 individuals of 14 species of raptors while participating in the Pennsylvania Winter Raptor Survey, in Pennsylvania, USA. We estimated abundance and population growth rates while accounting for observation error by using dynamic Bayesian state‐space models. Model estimates indicated that counts of wintering Bald EaglesHaliaeetus leucocephalus,Red‐shouldered HawksButeo lineatusand Black VultureCoragyps atratusincreased over the course of the study. Counts of Rough‐legged BuzzardButeo lagopus, Red‐tailed HawkButeo jamaicensis, Northern HarrierCircus hudsonius, Turkey VultureCathartes auraand American KestrelFalco sparveriusvaried more (CV > 5.0) over the duration of the study than other species did. Higher winter temperatures were associated with increases in counts of species whose local populations are partially migratory (American Kestrel and Red‐tailed Hawk), and with lower counts of a long‐distance arctic migrant – Rough‐legged Buzzard. Counts of these species were therefore correlated such that more American Kestrels and Red‐tailed Hawks were counted during years when Rough‐legged Buzzards were less frequently seen. Generally, the number of individuals counted declined as survey speed increased. A general rule for road counts therefore seems to be ‘slower is better’, consistent with past recommendations that observers travel at a speed < 40 km/h during road counts. Our study highlights the utility of road surveys and advances analytical approaches to monitor raptors.
Post‐fledging migration and wintering strategies of individual juvenile Lesser Black‐backed Gulls (Larus fuscus)
Authors: Borrmann Rahel M. , Phillips Richard A. , Clay Thomas A. , Garthe Stefan 
Published: December 2020

Research into the patterns and drivers of juvenile migration is important for understanding the development of individual migration strategies. Although several recent studies have tracked adult large gulls throughout the annual cycle, the movements of juveniles remain poorly understood. We fitted Global Positioning System (GPS) devices that transmit locations through the Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) to ten juvenile Lesser Black‐backed Gulls Larus fuscus prior to fledging on the island of Spiekeroog, Germany, to study their first autumn migration and wintering behaviour. The tracked birds initially departed on similar compass bearings south to south‐west, after which migration routes diverged. Individuals took 38–107 days to reach their wintering sites in Algeria, Morocco or Spain. Birds visited 6.7 ± 3.7 (mean ± sd) stopover sites en route and spent substantial time in northern Europe, with some individuals converging at the same sites over small spatial scales (<1 km), but not over the same time periods. Birds increased travel speeds in the second half of their migration. They showed relatively high site‐fidelity after arrival at wintering sites, and there was no evidence that the size of foraging areas increased over time, suggesting limited exploratory behaviour. Individuals used the same predominant habitats – cropland, open water and built‐up areas – to varying degrees, but showed limited variation in habitat use over time. Overall, the migration routes and timings of juveniles broadly resembled those of previously tracked adults. Given their similar initial bearings and abundance of large gulls on the flyway, we suggest that social learning is likely to be an important process shaping the individual migration and wintering strategies of juvenile gulls.
NATURALLY OCCURRING PREFERENCES AND GENERAL EQUILIBRIUM: A LABORATORY STUDY
Authors: Crockett Sean , Friedman Daniel , Oprea Ryan 
Published: December 2020

AbstractWe examine whether economies constructed using experimentally measured preferences (for risk) tend to suffer from aggregation pathologies (like nonexistence and multiplicity of equilibrium) cautioned by the Sonnenschein–Mantel–Debreu theorem. We show that aggregation pathologies should be expected to arise frequently in homogeneous exchange economies, but dwindle and eventually disappear as economies grow diverse. When subjects actually trade, general equilibrium predictions are accurate in most cases, and the failures occur only in economies a priori classified as fragile to preference instability. Our study uses individual‐level experimental data to address longstanding questions in general equilibrium theory that are unanswerable using prior methods.
Pharmacological activation of PPAR‐γ: a potential therapy for skin fibrosis
Authors: Ghosh Asish K. 
Published: December 2020

AbstractSkin fibrosis caused by excessive collagen synthesis and deposition in the dermis affects the quality of daily life of hundreds of thousands of people around the world. The skin quality, including its smoothness in young age and wrinkly during the aging process, depends largely on the levels of extracellular matrix proteins such as collagen in skin. As physiological levels of collagen are desirable for skin homeostasis, beauty, and its flexibility, too much collagen deposition in the skin is associated with tight hard skin, loss of adipose layer, and flexibility, the pathological manifestations of skin fibrosis in fibrotic diseases such as scleroderma. To understand the molecular basis of skin fibrosis and in search of its therapy, different cellular, molecular, epigenetic, and preclinical studies have been undertaken to control abnormal excessive synthesis and accumulation of matrix protein collagen. Over the last two decades, numerous phase 1 through 3 clinical trials have been conducted to test the safety and efficacy of a wide variety of compounds in amelioration of skin fibrosis and other pathologies in scleroderma, yet, no effective therapy for skin fibrosis is available. This article solely focuses on the role of a nuclear receptor and transcription factor, peroxisome proliferator‐activated receptor‐gamma (PPAR‐γ), as an anti‐skin fibrotic driving force and the potential therapeutic efficacies of PPAR‐γ‐specific ligands/agonists including antidiabetic drugs and other natural or semi‐synthetic compounds derived from cannabis in amelioration of skin fibrosis in scleroderma. The underlying molecular basis of agonist‐activated PPAR‐γ‐mediated suppression of profibrogenic signaling and skin fibrogenesis is also highlighted.
Excessive accumulation of visceral fat is associated with lower urinary symptoms including overactive bladder in female patients
Authors: Otsubo Asato , Miyata Yasuyoshi , Matsuo Tomohiro , Mukae Yuta , Mitsunari Kensuke , Ohba Kojiro , Sakai Hideki 
Published: December 2020

ObjectiveTo assess the relationship between visceral fat accumulation and lower urinary tract symptoms in female patients.MethodsIn this single‐center study, we enrolled all women who underwent screening abdominal computed tomography 3 months before the study, irrespective of whether they experienced lower urinary tract symptoms. The Overactive Bladder Symptom Score was used to assess subjective symptoms. Uroflowmetry and ultrasound assessment of post‐void residual urine were carried out to assess objective signs. We analyzed the relationship between lower urinary tract symptoms and various body fat accumulation parameters, including visceral fat area, visceral fat volume and total abdominal fat volume, assessed using computed tomography scans.ResultsA total of 182 patients were divided into the overactive bladder (n = 71, 39.0%) and the non‐overactive bladder (n = 111, 61.0%) groups. The visceral fat area, visceral fat volume and visceral fat volume/total abdominal fat volume values were all significantly higher in the overactive bladder group than in the non‐overactive bladder group (P < 0.001). Of these parameters, the visceral fat volume/total abdominal fat volume ratio showed the strongest correlation with the total Overactive Bladder Symptom Score (r = 0.394, P < 0.001). The maximum urine flow rate correlated negatively with the visceral fat volume/total abdominal fat volume value (visceral fat volume/total abdominal fat volume r = –0.289, P < 0.001). Subsequent multivariate analysis showed that a high visceral fat volume/total abdominal fat volume value, age and metabolic syndrome‐related diseases were independent risk factors for the presence of overactive bladder.ConclusionsExcessive accumulation of visceral fat is independently associated with overactive bladder in females.
Prediction, Estimation, and Attribution
Authors: Efron Bradley 
Published: December 2020

SummaryThe scientific needs and computational limitations of the twentieth century fashioned classical statistical methodology. Both the needs and limitations have changed in the twenty‐first, and so has the methodology. Large‐scale prediction algorithms—neural nets, deep learning, boosting, support vector machines, random forests—have achieved star status in the popular press. They are recognizable as heirs to the regression tradition, but ones carried out at enormous scale and on titanic datasets. How do these algorithms compare with standard regression techniques such as ordinary least squares or logistic regression? Several key discrepancies will be examined, centering on the differences between prediction and estimation or prediction and attribution (significance testing). Most of the discussion is carried out through small numerical examples.
Physical interactions facilitate sex change in the protogynous orange‐spotted grouper, Epinephelus coioides
Authors: Chen Jiaxing , Peng Cheng , Huang Jingjun , Shi Herong , Xiao Ling , Tang Lin , Lin Haoran , Li Shuisheng , Zhang Yong 
Published: December 2020

AbstractSex change in teleost fishes is commonly regulated by social factors. In species that exhibit protogynous sex change, such as the orange‐spotted grouper Epinephelus coioides, when the dominant males are removed from the social group, the most dominant female initiates sex change. The aim of this study was to determine the regulatory mechanisms of socially controlled sex change in E. coioides. We investigated the seasonal variation in social behaviours and sex change throughout the reproductive cycle of E. coioides, and defined the behaviour pattern of this fish during the establishment of a dominance hierarchy. The social behaviours and sex change in this fish were affected by season, and only occurred during the prebreeding season and breeding season. Therefore, a series of sensory isolation experiments was conducted during the breeding season to determine the role of physical, visual and olfactory cues in mediating socially controlled sex change. The results demonstrated that physical interactions between individuals in the social groups were crucial for the initiation and completion of sex change, whereas visual and olfactory cues alone were insufficient in stimulating sex change in dominant females. In addition, we propose that the steroid hormones 11‐ketotestosterone and cortisol are involved in regulating the initiation of socially controlled sex change.