bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Comparison of immediate versus delayed streak plate inoculation on urine bacterial culture and susceptibility testing in dogs and cats
Authors: Coffey Emily L. , Little Kim , Seelig Davis M. , Rendahl Aaron K. , Granick Jennifer L. 
Published: January 2020

AbstractBackgroundQuantitative bacterial culture and susceptibility testing is the gold standard diagnostic for determining bacterial urinary tract infection. Transport of samples to external reference laboratories is common practice in veterinary medicine.ObjectiveTo compare bacterial culture and susceptibility results from clinical urine samples when streak plate inoculation is performed immediately after sample collection versus after transport to a reference laboratory. To determine the clinical implications of discrepant culture results.AnimalsOne hundred and ninety‐four canine and 45 feline urine samples that were submitted for urinalysis and urine culture and susceptibility testing.MethodsThis was a prospective, cross‐sectional study. Streak plate inoculations were performed on urine samples immediately after collection and also after transport to a reference laboratory. Samples were stored in plain sterile tubes and refrigerated up to 24 hours before transport. Culture results were compared, and discordant results were evaluated for clinical relevance. Signalment, comorbidities, lower urinary tract signs, and antimicrobial history were recorded.ResultsKappa coefficient for agreement between plating methods was 0.884. Twenty‐two (71%) of 31 discrepant results were determined to have no clinical impact. Though 35% of clean midstream samples had discrepant culture results, only 8% of these had clinical impact. Conversely, 8.6% from cystocentesis were discrepant, but 41% of these had clinical impact.Conclusions and Clinical ImportanceProvided urine samples are stored and transported appropriately, the immediate preplating of urine for culture and susceptibility testing is unnecessary in the majority of cases. Despite more discrepancies in plating methods for midstream samples, the minority were of clinical importance.
Presence of congenital anomalies in three dog litters
Authors: Ortega‐Pacheco Antonio , Lezama‐García Mildred A. , Colín‐Flores Rafael , Jiménez‐Coello Matilde , Acevedo‐Arcique Carlos , Gutiérrez‐Blanco Eduardo 
Published: January 2020

AbstractThis report describes multiple congenital malformations found in three dog litters delivered by emergency caesarean section. In all of the litters, some puppies were born alive but were euthanized because of the seriousness of their malformations and low probability of survival. In two litters, gastroschisis was associated with amelia of the right anterior limb. Other malformations such as anencephaly were also found in three puppies among the different litters. This report describes the morphological findings of the affected puppies, discusses the most appropriate terminologies for each case and highlights the importance of an epidemiological survey to identify potential factors associated with the cases.
Private and public authority interactions and the functional quality of sustainability governance: Lessons from conservation and development initiatives in Tanzania
Authors: Ponte Stefano , Noe Christine , Mwamfupe Asubisye 
Published: January 2020

AbstractThe changing shape of sustainability governance has been a key academic and policy concern in the past two decades, as part of a wider debate on the interactions between public and private authority in governing the economy, society, and the environment. In this article, we contribute to these debates by examining how these interactions operate locally and across jurisdictions in three conservation and development initiatives in Tanzania and what impact they have on the functional quality of sustainability governance. We find that clear division of responsibilities, coupled with material incentives for communities and equal and transparent distribution of benefits, are key positive contributors to functional quality. These factors underpin the complementary interactions (collaborative at the local level; institutional layering across jurisdictions) that are needed to successfully negotiate and implement the compromises needed to balance conservation and development goals. We also find that competitive dynamics are harmful to functional quality, especially those taking the form of local institutional duplication and of dominance by central government across jurisdictions. These tend to appear especially when sustainability initiatives involve multiple stakeholders with wide discrepancies in resources, interests, and power, which leads to compromises determined in a top‐down manner.
Impaired muscle spindle function in murine models of muscular dystrophy
Authors: Gerwin Laura , Rossmanith Sarah , Haupt Corinna , Schultheiß Jürgen , Brinkmeier Heinrich , Bittner Reginald E. , Kröger Stephan 
Published: January 2020

Key points
Muscular dystrophy patients suffer from progressive degeneration of skeletal muscle fibres, sudden spontaneous falls, balance problems, as well as gait and posture abnormalities.
Dystrophin‐ and dysferlin‐deficient mice, models for different types of muscular dystrophy with different aetiology and molecular basis, were characterized to investigate if muscle spindle structure and function are impaired.
The number and morphology of muscle spindles were unaltered in both dystrophic mouse lines but muscle spindle resting discharge and their responses to stretch were altered.
In dystrophin‐deficient muscle spindles, the expression of the paralogue utrophin was substantially upregulated, potentially compensating for the dystrophin deficiency.
The results suggest that muscle spindles might contribute to the motor problems observed in patients with muscular dystrophy.
AbstractMuscular dystrophies comprise a heterogeneous group of hereditary diseases characterized by progressive degeneration of extrafusal muscle fibres as well as unstable gait and frequent falls. To investigate if muscle spindle function is impaired, we analysed their number, morphology and function in wildtype mice and in murine model systems for two distinct types of muscular dystrophy with very different disease aetiology, i.e. dystrophin‐ and dysferlin‐deficient mice. The total number and the overall structure of muscle spindles in soleus muscles of both dystrophic mouse mutants appeared unchanged. Immunohistochemical analyses of wildtype muscle spindles revealed a concentration of dystrophin and β‐dystroglycan in intrafusal fibres outside the region of contact with the sensory neuron. While utrophin was absent from the central part of intrafusal fibres of wildtype mice, it was substantially upregulated in dystrophin‐deficient mice. Single‐unit extracellular recordings of sensory afferents from muscle spindles of the extensor digitorum longus muscle revealed that muscle spindles from both dystrophic mouse strains have an increased resting discharge and a higher action potential firing rate during sinusoidal vibrations, particularly at low frequencies. The response to ramp‐and‐hold stretches appeared unaltered compared to the respective wildtype mice. We observed no exacerbated functional changes in dystrophin and dysferlin double mutant mice compared to the single mutant animals. These results show alterations in muscle spindle afferent responses in both dystrophic mouse lines, which might cause an increased muscle tone, and might contribute to the unstable gait and frequent falls observed in patients with muscular dystrophy.
Interface Fracture: Failure Criteria
Authors: Banks-Sills Leslie 
Published: January 2020

Abstract
Failure criteria for a crack between two dissimilar materials are presented. Test data from three different material pairs are considered. The first two consist of an interface crack between glass and epoxy and two dissimilar ceramic clays. For the third material pair, there is a delamination between two unidirectional carbon fiber polymer-reinforced plies with fibers in the 0 deg and 90 deg directions. Failure criteria for these materials have been presented previously. In this study, invariant parameters are used in the failure criteria. It is seen that the invariant length parameter has values which are unrealistically large and small. The preferred criterion is based on first principles.
Data-Driven Concept Network for Inspiring Designers’ Idea Generation
Authors: Liu Qiyu , Wang Kai , Li Yan , Liu Ying 
Published: January 2020

Abstract
Big-data mining brings new challenges and opportunities for engineering design, such as customer-needs mining, sentiment analysis, knowledge discovery, etc. At the early phase of conceptual design, designers urgently need to synthesize their own internal knowledge and wide external knowledge to solve design problems. However, on the one hand, it is time-consuming and laborious for designers to manually browse massive volumes of web documents and scientific literature to acquire external knowledge. On the other hand, how to extract concepts and discover meaningful concept associations automatically and accurately from these textual data to inspire designers’ idea generation? To address the above problems, we propose a novel data-driven concept network based on machine learning to capture design concepts and meaningful concept combinations as useful knowledge by mining the web documents and literature, which is further exploited to inspire designers to generate creative ideas. Moreover, the proposed approach contains three key steps: concept vector representation based on machine learning, semantic distance quantification based on concept clustering, and possible concept combinations based on natural language processing technologies, which is expected to provide designers with inspirational stimuli to solve design problems. A demonstration of conceptual design for detecting the fault location in transmission lines has been taken to validate the practicability and effectiveness of this approach.
The Effect of an Integrated Neurofeedback and Biofeedback Training Intervention on Ice Hockey Shooting Performance
Authors: Christie Sommer , Bertollo Maurizio , Werthner Penny 
Published: January 2020

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of a sensorimotor rhythm (SMR) neurofeedback training (NFT) and biofeedback training (BFT) intervention on ice hockey shooting performance. Specifically, the purpose was to examine (a) whether an NFT/BFT program could improve ice hockey shooting performance, (b) whether the implementation of an SMR-NFT intervention leads to neurological adaptations during performance, and (c) whether such neurological changes account for improvement in shooting performance. Using a longitudinal stratified random control design, results demonstrated that while both SMR-NFT/BFT and control groups improved performance, the rate of improvement for the SMR-NFT/BFT group was significantly higher than the control. Participants in the SMR-NFT/BFT group demonstrated the ability to significantly increase SMR power from pre- to postintervention in the lab. However, no significant changes in SMR power were found during shooting performance. This result may be suggestive of differing cortical activity present during motor-skill preparation.
Record of a nonbarred clastic shoreline
Authors: Isla Manuel F. , Schwarz Ernesto , Veiga Gonzalo D. 
Published: January 2020

Abstract
The morphology of wave-dominated clastic shorelines (i.e., foreshore and upper-shoreface sediments) can vary from barred to nonbarred, though the ancient record of nonbarred, sand-dominated shorelines has yet to be recognized. Here, a facies and quantitative architectural analysis of a clastic succession characterized by sandy inclined beds is presented and interpreted as the record of a high-gradient, nonbarred shoreline. Inclined beds dip seaward, have a tangential geometry (&lt;3 m height, &lt;40 m length, &lt;11° dip), and are composed of planar lamination along the foresets and subordinate small-scale trough cross-bedding in the bottomsets. This facies distribution reflects a steep beach profile with a narrow surf zone and the development of plane beds both in foreshore and proximal upper-shoreface settings. Successive packages of inclined beds (a few tens of meters wide) are interpreted as the seaward accretion of this shoreline morphology, producing distinctive architectural elements (foresets and bottomsets). For the first time, we propose diagnostic criteria for identification in the rock record of the widely used modern nonbarred clastic shoreline model, and we contrast them with classical facies models of barred systems. Moreover, we discuss similarities and differences with radar-based Holocene coastal architectural elements, highlighting the need to incorporate detailed two-dimensional quantitative studies for refining the reconstruction of deep-time and recent clastic shorelines.
Sedimentary Basins of the East Siberian Sea and the Chukchi Sea and the Adjacent Area of the Amerasia Basin: Seismic Stratigraphy and Stages of Geological History
Authors: Nikishin A. M. , Startseva K. F. , Verzhbitsky V. E. , Cloetingh S. , Malyshev N. A. , Petrov E. I. , Posamentier H. , Freiman S. I. , Lineva M. D. , Zhukov N. N. 
Published: January 2020

Abstract
The seismic stratigraphy scheme for the shelf basins of the East Siberian Sea and the Chukchi Sea region and the adjacent deepwater area of the Amerasia basin has been developed, and mega-sequences (or tectonostratigraphic units) with the conventional ages of 125‒100, 100‒80, 80‒66, 66‒56, 46‒45, 45‒34, 34‒20, 20‒0 Ma are distinguished. Zhokhov foredeep basin of the Late Jurassic‒Neocomian age is distinguished between the New Siberia and the De Long islands. Three main phases of rifting are identified on the shelves in the region with ages of 125–100, 66–56, and 45–37 Ma. The main phase of continental rifting occurred in the Podvodnikov and Toll basins at 125‒100 Ma. The typical clinoform accumulation of sediments occurred at the edge of the shelf at 66–20 Ma. We identified three syntectonic epochs of the formation of clinoform sequences with the ages of 66–45, 45–34, and 34–20 Ma. The phase of uplifting and compression in the region of Wrangel Island happened at ≈66 Ma. The relatively monotonous tectonic setting with approximately the same thicknesses of the sedimentary cover began at 20 Ma.
Clinical exome sequencing as the first-tier test for diagnosing developmental disorders covering both CNV and SNV: a Chinese cohort
Authors: Dong Xinran , Liu Bo , Yang Lin , Wang Huijun , Wu Bingbing , Liu Renchao , Chen Hongbo , Chen Xiang , Yu Sha , Chen Bin , Wang Sujuan , Xu Xiu , Zhou Wenhao , Lu Yulan 
Published: January 2020

BackgroundDevelopmental disorders (DDs) are early onset disorders affecting 5%–10% of children worldwide. Chromosomal microarray analysis detecting CNVs is currently recommended as the first-tier test for DD diagnosis. However, this analysis omits a high percentage of disease-causing single nucleotide variations (SNVs) that warrant further sequencing. Currently, next-generation sequencing can be used in clinical scenarios detecting CNVs, and the use of exome sequencing in the DD cohort ahead of the microarray test has not been evaluated.MethodsClinical exome sequencing (CES) was performed on 1090 unrelated Chinese DD patients who were classified into five phenotype subgroups. CNVs and SNVs were both detected and analysed based on sequencing data.ResultsAn overall diagnostic rate of 41.38% was achieved with the combinational analysis of CNV and SNV. Over 12.02% of patients were diagnosed based on CNV, which was comparable with the published CMA diagnostic rate, while 0.74% were traditionally elusive cases who had dual diagnosis or apparently homozygous mutations that were clarified. The diagnostic rates among subgroups ranged from 21.82% to 50.32%. The top three recurrent cytobands with diagnostic CNVs were 15q11.2-q13.1, 22q11.21 and 7q11.23. The top three genes with diagnostic SNVs were: MECP2, SCN1A and SCN2A. Both the diagnostic rate and spectrums of CNVs and SNVs showed differences among the phenotype subgroups.ConclusionWith a higher diagnostic rate, more comprehensive observation of variations and lower cost compared with conventional strategies, simultaneous analysis of CNVs and SNVs based on CES showed potential as a new first-tier choice to diagnose DD.
PUMA – pooled uranium miners analysis: cohort profile
Authors: Rage Estelle , Richardson David B , Demers Paul A , Do Minh , Fenske Nora , Kreuzer Michaela , Samet Jonathan , Wiggins Charles , Schubauer-Berigan Mary K , Kelly-Reif Kaitlin , Tomasek Ladislav , Zablotska Lydia B , Laurier Dominique 
Published: January 2020

ObjectivesEpidemiological studies of underground miners have provided clear evidence that inhalation of radon decay products causes lung cancer. Moreover, these studies have served as a quantitative basis for estimation of radon-associated excess lung cancer risk. However, questions remain regarding the effects of exposure to the low levels of radon decay products typically encountered in contemporary occupational and environmental settings on the risk of lung cancer and other diseases, and on the modifiers of these associations. These issues are of central importance for estimation of risks associated with residential and occupational radon exposures.MethodsThe Pooled Uranium Miner Analysis (PUMA) assembles information on cohorts of uranium miners in North America and Europe. Data available include individual annual estimates of exposure to radon decay products, demographic and employment history information on each worker and information on vital status, date of death and cause of death. Some, but not all, cohorts also have individual information on cigarette smoking, external gamma radiation exposure and non-radiological occupational exposures.ResultsThe PUMA study represents the largest study of uranium miners conducted to date, encompassing 124 507 miners, 4.51 million person-years at risk and 54 462 deaths, including 7825 deaths due to lung cancer. Planned research topics include analyses of associations between radon exposure and mortality due to lung cancer, cancers other than lung, non-malignant disease, modifiers of these associations and characterisation of overall relative mortality excesses and lifetime risks.ConclusionPUMA provides opportunities to evaluate new research questions and to conduct analyses to assess potential health risks associated with uranium mining that have greater statistical power than can be achieved with any single cohort.
Characterization of zwitterion-modified poly(amidoamine) dendrimers in aqueous solution via a thorough NMR investigation
Authors: Liu Jinyuan , Xiong Zhijuan , Shen Mingwu , Banyai Istvan , Shi Xiangyang 
Published: January 2020

Abstract.
Zwitterions are a class of unique molecules that can be modified onto nanomaterials to render them with antifouling properties. Here we report a thorough NMR investigation of dendrimers modified with zwitterions in terms of their structure, hydrodynamic size, and diffusion time in aqueous solution. In this present work, poly(amidoamine) (PAMAM) dendrimers of generation 5 (G5) were partially decorated with carboxybetaine acrylamide (CBAA), 2-methacryloyloxyethyl phosphorylcholine (MPC), and 1,3-propane sultone (1,3-PS), respectively with different modification degrees. The formed zwitterion-modified G5 dendrimers were characterized using NMR techniques. We show that the zwitterion modification leads to increased G5 dendrimer size in aqueous solution, suggesting that the modified zwitterions can form a hydration layer on the surface of G5 dendrimers. In addition, the hydrodynamic sizes of G5 dendrimers modified with different zwitterions but with the same degree of surface modification are discrepant depending on the type of zwitterions. The present study provides a new physical insight into the structure of zwitterion-modified G5 dendrimers by NMR techniques, which is beneficial for further design of different biomedical applications.

Graphical abstract
Prenet: Predictive network from ATAC-SEQ data
Authors: Salehin Nazmus , Tam Patrick P. L. , Osteil Pierre 
Published: January 2020

Assays for transposase-accessible chromatin sequencing (ATAC-seq) provides an innovative approach to study chromatin status in multiple cell types. Moreover, it is also possible to efficiently extract differentially accessible chromatin (DACs) regions by using state-of-the-art algorithms (e.g. DESeq2) to predict gene activity in specific samples. Furthermore, it has recently been shown that small dips in sequencing peaks can be attributed to the binding of transcription factors. These dips, also known as footprints, can be used to identify trans-regulating interactions leading to gene expression. Current protocols used to identify footprints (e.g. pyDNAse and HINT-ATAC) have shown limitations resulting in the discovery of many false positive footprints. We generated a novel approach to identify genuine footprints within any given ATAC-seq dataset. Herein, we developed a new pipeline embedding DACs together with bona fide footprints resulting in the generation of a Predictive gene regulatory Network (PreNet) simply from ATAC-seq data. We further demonstrated that PreNet can be used to unveil meaningful molecular regulatory pathways in a given cell type.
Efficacy Comparison of Hyaluronic Acid and Corticosteroid Injection in Treatment of Trigger Digits: A Randomized Controlled Trial
Authors: Kanchanathepsak Thepparat , Pichyangkul Picharn , Suppaphol Sorasak , Watcharananan Ittirat , Tuntiyatorn Panithan , Tawonsawatruk Tulyapruek 
Published: January 2020

Background: Although the current nonsurgical treatment for trigger digits is corticosteroid (CS) injection, it often comes with adverse effects that may cause some limitations. Currently, Hyaluronic acid (HA) has been successfully used in tendinopathy and may be used in stenosing tenosynovitis. The aim of this study is to compare the efficacy of ultrasound-guided injection between the HA and CS in trigger digits treatment. Methods: Double-blind randomized controlled trial was conducted. Fifty patients with 66 trigger digits were randomly assigned into an intervention group (1 ml of low-molecular weight HA) and a control group (1 ml of 10mg/ml triamcinolone acetate). The ultrasound-guided injection and local anesthesia (0.5 ml of 1% lidocaine without adrenaline) were used. The Quinnell grading, Visual Analog Scale (VAS) score of pain, Disabilities of the Arm, Shoulder and Hand (DASH) score and complications were collected at 1-, 3-and 6-month follow-up. Results: The mean age of HA group (33 digits) and CS group (33 digits) were 58.3 years and 54.7 years respectively. Nine patients were loss of follow-up (7 in HA group and 2 in CS group). The Quinnell grades have shown an improvement in both group. The CS group had a significant better improvement at 1-month (p-value < 0.001) and there was no significant difference at 3-and 6-month follow-up between the two groups. The median of VAS and DASH score were significantly improved by time in both groups (p-value < 0.01). The CS group showed a better significant improvement in early period of follow-up (p-value < 0.05). However, there was no significant difference between the two groups in the last follow-up. Conclusions: HA and CS injection has a comparable therapeutic effect in treatment of trigger digits. However, CS injection has higher efficacy of pain and inflammation reduction in the early phase of the disease.