bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
High prognostic nutritional index (PNI) as a positive prognostic indicator for non‐small cell lung cancer patients with bone metastasis
Authors: Xu Shanqi , Cao Shoubo , Geng Jianxiong , Wang Chunyan , Meng Qingwei , Yu Yan 
Published: October 2020

AbstractIntroductionIncreasing evidence shows the close association between prognostic nutritional index (PNI) and overall survival (OS) of solid cancers including lung cancer. However, the role of PNI in non‐small cell lung cancer patients (NSCLC) with bone metastasis remains unclear.ObjectiveTo explore the prognostic role of PNI in NSCLC patients with bone metastasis.MethodsA retrospective analysis of 259 initially diagnosed NSCLC with bone metastasis was conducted. Univariate and multivariate analysis were used to assess the potential prognostic roles of parameters.ResultsThe most common symptoms initially presented were cough and chest pain. Two hundred patients (77.2%) received the treatment of bisphosphonates. Patients with low PNI were found in 154 (59.5%) patients. Median survival time for all cases was 286 days. The median OS for patients with low and high PNI was 227 and 389 days, respectively. The 6‐month, 1‐year and 2‐year survival rates for patients with low PNI were 66.2%, 29.9% and 10.4% compared to 79.0%, 52.4% and 26.7% in patients with high PNI level. On univariate analysis, female patients, non‐smokers, high PNI and systematic chemotherapy (P < 0.05) were shown to be closely correlated with a better prognosis of NSCLC patients with bone metastasis. Only PNI (P = 0.002), systematic chemotherapy (P = 0.026) and distant metastasis number (P = 0.044) held statistical significance on multivariate analysis.ConclusionsPNI represents a non‐invasive, efficiency and convenient biomarker of NSCLC patients with bone metastasis. High PNI, systematic chemotherapy and distant metastasis number <2 are independent positive prognostic factors of NSCLC patients with bone metastasis.
Longitudinal assessment of illegal leopard skin use in ceremonial regalia and acceptance of faux alternatives among followers of the Shembe Church, South Africa
Authors: Naude Vincent N. , Balme Guy A. , Rogan Matt S. , Needham Mark D. , Whittington‐Jones Gareth , Dickerson Tristan , Mabaso Xolani , Nattrass Nicoli , Bishop Jacqueline M. , Hunter Luke , O'Riain M. Justin 
Published: October 2020

AbstractDespite having protected status, poaching for the illegal trade and traditional use remains a primary threat to leopards (Panthera pardus) across southern Africa. Addressing this threat is challenging, not only because it is difficult to uncover and monitor illicit behavior, but because law enforcement and alternative intervention strategies need to account for cultural and political sensitivities to prove effective and sustainable. With up to 4 million followers in southern Africa, the recently‐established Nazareth Baptist “Shembe” Church represents the principal culturo‐religious use of illegal leopard skins in the world. This longitudinal study used in‐person questionnaires (n = 8,600) and telephone follow‐ups (n = 2,300) with Shembe followers to explore socio‐economic and experiential factors related to the desirability and possession of illegal leopard skins before and after receiving a faux alternative through the Furs for Life (FFL) intervention program. Proportional possession of authentic skins was relatively low among followers who received faux skins (21%), with declines of 7 and 13% in subsequent authentic skin acquisition and desirability, respectively. Logistic regression models revealed that authentic skin possession, both before and after receiving a faux skin, was primarily related to employment status. Desire for authentic skins increased with recipient age, but decreased with improved knowledge of leopard population status since receiving the faux skin. Followers who were dissatisfied with faux skins were likely to express a continued desire for authentic skins. Most followers (95%) were, however, satisfied with the faux alternative, having retained and worn it at gatherings, with little noticeable damage or perceived societal judgment. These results support the FFL intervention as a means of protecting leopards: Although authentic skins were still acquired, demand decreased significantly over 3 years with shifts in perception favoring faux leopard skin alternatives.
Conservation of native plants in the seed base Bank of Chile
Authors: Pañitrur‐De la Fuente Carolina , Ibáñez Sergio T. , León Mario F. , Martínez‐Tilleria Karina , Sandoval Ana 
Published: October 2020

AbstractDespite the value of Chilean flora, 46% of the species, currently evaluated, are critically endangered or endangered, so ex situ conservation measures are key to their preservation. We analyzed the current state and conservation gaps of the native species preserved in the Seed Base Bank (SBB) of the Instituto de Investigaciones Agropecuarias (INIA), the main curator of Chile's plant genetic resources. Our analysis showed that 3,040 seed accessions of native species are preserved in the SBB, corresponding to 1,256 species, which represents 26.9% of the Chilean flora. The area with the largest number of accessions collected corresponds to the northern and central parts of the country, indicating that there has been a bias in terms of concentrating efforts on the continental regions and ignoring other important geographical regions of Chile, such as those located in the insular territory. A quarter of the threatened plants belonging to the Chilean flora are not currently conserved in the SBB, as they are vascular species without seeds, which cannot be protected in the long term under the traditional conditions of a seed bank. Additional collection and research efforts are required to increase the collection of native species in the SBB, especially threatened and endemic species.
Local community benefits from elephants: Can willingness to support anti‐poaching efforts be strengthened?
Authors: Ngorima Agripa , Brown Abigail , Masunungure Current , Biggs Duan 
Published: October 2020

AbstractPoaching of Africa's elephants has led to substantial population declines over the last decade. Local communities coexisting with elephants can play an important role in strengthening protection measures against poaching. Our paper empirically examined how the spread of costs and benefits associated with elephants, and associated ownership rights, influenced community attitudes to support anti‐poaching activities. Based on surveys of 90 community members in the Zimbabwean part of the Kavango Zambezi Transfrontier Conservation Area, our results show that 92% of the respondents were unwilling to engage in conservation activities due to lack of financial gain from elephants. Local communities identified numerous benefits and costs associated with elephants. The majority (54%) of community members identified meat from the elephant as an essential benefit to their livelihoods. The most significant cost identified by the majority (60%) of respondents was crop destruction. The reported costs influenced villagers' perceptions of elephants with 71% of respondents stating that continued incurred costs has reduced their willingness to participate in conservation activities. More so, the majority (88%) of respondents indicated that these costs have led to locals supporting actions to reduce elephant numbers. Furthermore, 82% of respondents indicated a lack of remorse when an elephant was killed after destroying their crops, and 95% of community members identified that feelings of bitterness toward elephants increased as they encountered costs. Our results suggest that gaining local support for elephant conservation to be more sustainable in low income regions, the overall benefits from elephants should outweigh the costs they impose.
The effect of specific locomotor experiences on infants’ avoidance behaviour on real and water cliffs
Authors: Burnay Carolina , Cordovil Rita , Button Chris , Croft James L. , Schofield Matthew , Pereira Joana , Anderson David I. 
Published: October 2020

AbstractInfants’ avoidance of drop‐offs has been described as an affordance learning that is not transferable between different locomotor postures. In addition, there is evidence that infants perceive and act similarly around real and water cliffs. This cross‐sectional study investigated the effects of specific locomotor experiences on infants’ avoidance behaviour using the Real Cliff/Water Cliff paradigm. The experiments included 102 infants, 58 crawling, but pre‐walking, infants (Mage = 11.57 months, SD = 1.65) with crawling experience ranging between 0.03 and 7.4 months (M = 2.16, SD = 1.71) and 44 walking infants (Mage = 14.82 months, SD = 1.99), with walking experience ranging between 0.13 and 5.2 months (M = 1.86, SD = 1.28). The association between crawling experience and crawlers’ avoidance of the real and water cliffs was confirmed. Importantly, crawling and total self‐produced locomotor experience, and not walking experience, were associated with walkers’ avoidance behaviour on both cliffs. These results suggest that some degree of perceptual learning acquired through crawling experience was developmentally transferred to the walking posture. A longer duration of crawling experience facilitates a more rapid recalibration to the new walking capability. In addition, there was no difference in infants’ avoidance of falling on the real and the water cliff. However, infants explored the water cliff more than the real cliff, revealing more enticement to examine bodies of water than for drop‐offs. A video abstract of this article can be viewed athttps://youtu.be/23LXIGiLhHI
Physical fitness and brain source localization during a working memory task in children with overweight/obesity: The ActiveBrains project
Authors: Mora‐Gonzalez Jose , Esteban‐Cornejo Irene , Migueles Jairo H. , Rodriguez‐Ayllon María , Molina‐Garcia Pablo , Cadenas‐Sanchez Cristina , Solis‐Urra Patricio , Plaza‐Florido Abel , Kramer Arthur F. , Erickson Kirk I. , Hillman Charles H. , Catena Andrés , Ortega Francisco B. 
Published: October 2020

AbstractThe present study aims (i) to examine the association of physical fitness components (i.e., cardiorespiratory fitness, speed‐agility, and muscular fitness) with brain current source density during working memory; and (ii) to examine whether fitness‐related current density was associated to working memory performance and academic achievement. Eighty‐five children with overweight/obesity aged 8–11 years participated in this cross‐sectional study. Physical fitness components were assessed using the ALPHA test battery. Electroencephalography recordings were performed during a Delayed Non‐Match‐to‐Sample task that assessed working memory. Brain source analysis was carried out using sLORETA to estimate regional current source density differences between high and low (H–L) working memory loads. Academic achievement was measured by the Spanish version of the Woodcock‐Johnson III test battery. The main results showed that higher cardiorespiratory fitness was associated with higher H–L current density differences in frontal, limbic, and occipital regions during encoding and maintenance task's phases (β≥0.412, p ≤ 0.019). A limbic area was further related to better working memory performance (β=0.267, p = 0.005). During retrieval, higher cardiorespiratory fitness was also associated with higher current density in temporal regions (β=0.265, p = 0.013), whereas lower muscular fitness was associated with higher current density in frontal regions (β=–0.261, p = 0.016). Our results suggest that cardiorespiratory fitness, but not speed‐agility nor muscular fitness, is positively associated with brain current source density during working memory processes in children with overweight/obesity. Fitness‐related current density differences in limbic regions were associated with better working memory.
Review of pheromone receptors in heliothine species: expression, function, and evolution
Authors: Yang Ke , Wang Chen‐Zhu 
Published: October 2020

AbstractHeliothine species (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae, Heliothinae) include some of the world’s most devastating pest species, such as Heliothis virescens (Fabricius) in the Americas and Helicoverpa armigera (Hübner) in the Old World. Sex pheromone communication of these agricultural pest species has been investigated from pheromone receptors (PRs) to brains and behavior in detail. In recent years, great progress has been made in the mechanistic dissection of pheromone reception, demonstrating that PRs play a key role in determining the response characteristics of pheromone‐sensitive olfactory receptor neurons. In this review, we focus on the functional characterization of PRs in heliothine species, and summarize recent progress in the identification of receptors tuned to principal sex pheromone components including Z11‐16:Ald, Z9‐16:Ald, Z9‐14:Ald, and other related alcohols and acetates. Evolution of PRs in ligand selectivity is also discussed. The efficiency and faithfulness of three frequently used heterologous expression systems – Xenopus laevis Daudin oocytes, modified HEK 293 cells, and Drosophila ‘empty neuron’ mutants – are compared, and the research strategies, skills, and perspectives in the studies are envisioned. Finally, we propose future research topics on PRs in heliothine species.
Predictors of social and role outcomes in first episode psychosis:A prospective12‐month study of social cognition, neurocognition and symptoms
Authors: Griffiths Sian Lowri , Birchwood Max , Khan Aneela , Wood Stephen J. 
Published: October 2020

AbstractBackgroundPoor functioning is common in psychosis, with predictors of poor outcome including negative symptoms and deficits in neurocognition (NC) and social cognition (SC). The extent to which these variables contribute unique variance in social and role trajectories remains inconclusive. Identifying robust predictors of outcome will inform targeted interventions in early psychosis, where functional trajectories are being set.MethodProspective 12‐month follow‐up study investigating the predictive values of NC and SC on social and role functioning in individuals with first‐episode psychosis (FEP), within the context of clinical variables. 98 individuals with FEP (mean age = 24; male = 77) were assessed within the first year of diagnosis on functioning (social and role), cognition (SC and NC) and psychosis symptoms.ResultsNegative symptoms were the only significant predictor of 12‐month social (χ2 = 9.59,P = .002, OR = 1.12) and role (χ2 = 10.86,P < .001, OR = 1.16) functioning in FEP. In exploratory analyses, negative symptoms mediated the relationship between baseline social knowledge and social functioning (Z = 1.92,P = .05;d = 0.56), and between baseline logical memory and role functioning (Z = 2.40,P = .02;d = 0.80) at 12‐month follow‐up.ConclusionAlthough social and role trajectories in early psychosis appear somewhat distinct, negative symptoms were the best prognostic marker of social and role outcome in FEP, and mediated the relationship between SC and social outcome, and NC and role outcome; these relationships may be important when considering interventions to improve functional outcome in early psychosis.
Clinical staging for youth at‐risk for serious mental illness: A longitudinal perspective
Authors: Addington Jean , Liu Lu , Farris Megan S. , Goldstein Benjamin I. , Wang Jian Li , Kennedy Sidney H. , Bray Signe , Lebel Catherine , MacQueen Glenda 
Published: October 2020

AbstractObjectiveThe objective of this study was to identify a sample of youth in distinct stages of risk for the development of a serious mental illness (SMI) according to a published clinical staging model and to follow this sample longitudinally to determine clinical changes over time. This article reports the 6‐ and 12‐month follow‐up of the cohort.MethodsThis study recruited 243 youth, ages 12 to 25. The sample included (a) 42 healthy controls, (b) 41 nonhelpseeking individuals with no mental illness but some risk of SMI, for example, having a first‐degree relative with an SMI (stage 0), (c) 53 youth experiencing distress and mild symptoms of anxiety or depression (stage 1a), and (d) 107 youth with attenuated symptoms of SMIs such as bipolar disorder or psychosis (stage 1b). Participants completed a range of measures assessing depression, anxiety, mania, suicide ideation, attenuated psychotic symptoms, negative symptoms, anhedonia and beliefs about oneself at baseline, 6‐ and 12‐months.ResultsThere were few changes for healthy controls and stage 0 participants, although approximately 7% did move to a symptomatic stage within 12‐months. Of stage 1a participants, 50% remained symptomatic, with 7.5% moving to stage 1b or developing a SMI. Approximately 9% of stage 1byouth developed a SMI within 12‐months and approximately one‐third had remission of symptoms during the follow‐up.ConclusionsResults suggest that the implementation of a transdiagnostic staging model may be useful in youth mental health and support consideration of clinical stage‐based treatment for youth with early features of risk.
Academics' effectiveness and professional development in Croatia: Challenges for human resource management in higher education institutions
Authors: Sušanj Zoran , Jakopec Ana , Đorić Ana 
Published: October 2020

AbstractThe relationship between higher education and profound global economic, social, technological and political transformations underway in recent decades is attracting growing public and professional interest. In this context, governmental bodies, higher education institutions and academics are under pressure to improve the effectiveness and professional development of academic staff. This article explores the need to adapt current human resource management practices in higher education in Croatia as a response. The article presents recent empirical data from higher education institutions in Austria, Croatia and Finland collected in the international project “Modernisation of Higher Education Institutions through Enhancement of Human Resources Management Function”. Descriptive indicators of current human resource management practices in higher education institutions reveal substantially different levels of development and use of certain practices to manage the effectiveness and professional development of academics. This article discusses the role of the human resource function at higher education institutions, the possibilities of using specific human resource development activities designed for different job roles held by academics, the importance of a performance management system that suits the academic environment, and the need for a strategic approach to human resource management at higher education institutions.
Survival trends in elderly myeloma patients
Authors: Jones Adam , Bowcock Stella , Rachet Bernard 
Published: October 2020

AbstractObjectiveMyeloma is primarily a disease of the elderly, but older patients experience poorer outcomes. Effective treatments may not be offered to older patients over fears about toxicity, particularly for those with comorbidities. We aimed to characterise the trend in survival disparity between older and younger patients and assess to what extent comorbidity might explain these disparities.MethodsWe examined records for 56 010 patients diagnosed with myeloma in England between 1998‐2014. The Hospital Episode Statistics database provided information on comorbidity. Net survival was estimated for each diagnosis period. Adjusted excess hazard ratios for the effect of age were estimated using flexible parametric models.ResultsNet survival increased for all age groups over the study period. However, older patients experienced a higher risk of death from their disease consistent between 1998 and 2014. Adjusting for comorbidity made little difference to the estimates.ConclusionFactors other than comorbidity must explain the poorer survival experience of elderly patients. Treatment data were not examined and should be employed by future population studies. Inconsistent treatment of elderly patients with myeloma may be prevented by further use of pragmatic clinical trials which are inclusive of older adults, and also wider utilisation of frailty scores.
Evidence for embryo–embryo interactions in controlling hatching time and synchronization in the brown marmorated stink bug, Halyomorpha halys (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae)
Authors: Tanaka Seiji , Kotaki Toyomi 
Published: October 2020

AbstractThe mechanisms controlling egg diapause and circadian rhythms of hatching activity have been extensively studied in insects. However, relatively little attention has been paid to the mechanisms controlling synchronized hatching from an egg mass. In this study, we examined the possible involvement of embryo–embryo interaction in controlling hatching time in Halyomorpha halys (Stål). Eggs tended to hatch earlier as the egg mass size increased. Egg separation and clumping of separated eggs at various times showed that hatching synchrony was largely determined shortly before hatching. However, whether eggs were kept in a mass or separated until several hours before hatching also influenced the hatching time, indicating the presence of embryo–embryo interactions. Eggs derived from different masses and kept in physical contact with one another hatched synchronously if their ages were within approximately 8 h. In this case, both younger and older eggs advanced only in hatching time, in contrast to a case of locusts reported by others. Eggs separated by more than 7 mm hatched as synchronously as those kept in a mass when glued to the same substrate, suggesting an important role of the egg substrate in transmitting the vibrational hatching signals to neighboring sibling eggs to synchronize hatching.
Effect of restoration measures in Atlantic rivers: A 25‐year overview of sea and riverine brown trout populations in the River Bidasoa
Authors: García‐Vega Ana , Leunda Pedro M. , Ardaiz José , Sanz‐Ronda Francisco Javier 
Published: October 2020

AbstractEffective protection of migratory fish requires long‐term conservation encompassing active restoration and management measures with follow‐up studies. The main findings of long‐term (1995–2019) monitoring of anadromous and potamodromous brown trout Salmo trutta in the River Bidasoa are presented. The main aims were evaluating trout number and median migration date changes, and assessing the effects of management (closures, size limits and quotas, fish stoking) and connectivity measures (fishways and weir removals). Results showed an increasing trend in upstream migrants and decrease in migration dates (earlier migrations). Effects of overlapping measures were difficult to differentiate and were affected by environmental conditions. Statistical analysis demonstrated that fishing closures (2008–2011) and fishway construction (2008) were of great importance, whereas the effect of fish stocking (2003–2012) was variable and unclear. The unexpectedly short‐term effect of three weir removals (2014–2016) may have been due to unusually high discharges in March, affecting the recruitment during previous years.