bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Healthcare utilization and productivity loss in glioma patients and family caregivers: the impact of treatable psychological symptoms
Authors: Boele Florien W. , Meads David , Jansen Femke , Verdonck-de Leeuw Irma M. , Heimans Jan J. , Reijneveld Jaap C. , Short Susan C. , Klein Martin 
Published: March 2020

Abstract
Background
Gliomas are associated with significant healthcare burden, yet reports of costs are scarce. While many costs are unavoidable there may be treatable symptoms contributing to higher costs. We describe healthcare and societal costs in glioma patients at high risk for depression and their family caregivers, and explore relationships between costs and treatable symptoms.

Methods
Data from a multicenter randomized trial on effects of internet-based therapy for depressive symptoms were used (NTR3223). Costs of self-reported healthcare utilization, medication use, and productivity loss were calculated for patients and caregivers separately. We used generalized linear regression models to predict costs with depressive symptoms, fatigue, cognitive complaints, tumor grade (low-/high-grade), disease status (stable or active/progression), and intervention (use/non-use) as predictors.

Results
Multiple assessments from baseline through 12 months from 91 glioma patients and 46 caregivers were used. Mean overall costs per year were M = €20,587.53 (sd = €30,910.53) for patients and M = €5,581.49 (sd = €13,102.82) for caregivers. In patients, higher healthcare utilization costs were associated with more depressive symptoms; higher medication costs were associated with active/progressive disease. In caregivers, higher overall costs were linked with increased caregiver fatigue, cognitive complaints, and lower patient tumor grade. Higher healthcare utilization costs were related to more cognitive complaints and lower tumor grade. More productivity loss costs were associated with increased fatigue (all P < 0.05).

Conclusions
There are substantial healthcare and societal costs for glioma patients and caregivers. Associations between costs and treatable psychological symptoms indicate that possibly, adequate support could decrease costs.

Trial registration
Netherlands Trial Register NTR3223.
Pramipexole Reduces zif-268 mRNA Expression in Brain Structures involved in the Generation of Harmaline-Induced Tremor
Authors: Kosmowska Barbara , Ossowska Krystyna , Wardas Jadwiga 
Published: March 2020

AbstractEssential tremor is one of the most common neurological disorders, however, it is not sufficiently controlled with currently available pharmacotherapy. Our recent study has shown that pramipexole, a drug efficient in inhibiting parkinsonian tremor, reduced the harmaline-induced tremor in rats, generally accepted to be a model of essential tremor. The aim of the present study was to investigate brain targets for the tremorolytic effect of pramipexole by determination of the early activity-dependent gene zif-268 mRNA expression. Tremor in rats was induced by harmaline administered at a dose of 15 mg/kg ip. Pramipexole was administered at a low dose of 0.1 mg/kg sc. Tremor was measured by Force Plate Actimeters where four force transducers located below the corners of the plate tracked the animal’s position on a Cartesian plane. The zif-268 mRNA expression was analyzed by in situ hybridization in brain slices. Harmaline induced tremor and increased zif-268 mRNA levels in the inferior olive, cerebellar cortex, ventroanterior/ventrolateral thalamic nuclei and motor cortex. Pramipexole reversed both the harmaline-induced tremor and the increase in zif-268 mRNA expression in the inferior olive, cerebellar cortex and motor cortex. Moreover, the tremor intensity correlated positively with zif-268 mRNA expression in the above structures. The present results seem to suggest that the tremorolytic effect of pramipexole is related to the modulation of the harmaline-increased neuronal activity in the tremor network which includes the inferior olive, cerebellar cortex and motor cortex. Potential mechanisms underlying the above pramipexole action are discussed.
Pre-Columbian soil fertilization and current management maintain food resource availability in old-growth Amazonian forests
Authors: Levis Carolina , Peña-Claros Marielos , Clement Charles R. , Costa Flavia R. C. , Alves Rubana Palhares , Ferreira Maria Julia , Figueiredo Camila Guarim , Bongers Frans 
Published: March 2020

AbstractAimsThe extent and persistence of pre-Columbian human legacies in old-growth Amazonian forests are still controversial, partly because modern societies re-occupied old settlements, challenging the distinction between pre- and post-Columbian legacies. Here, we compared the effects of pre-Columbian vs. recent landscape domestication processes on soils and vegetation in two Amazonian regions.MethodsWe studied forest landscapes at varying distances from pre-Columbian and current settlements inside protected areas occupied by traditional and indigenous peoples in the lower Tapajós and the upper-middle Madeira river basins. By conducting 69 free-listing interviews, participatory mappings, guided-tours, 27 forest inventories, and soil analysis, we assessed the influences of pre-Columbian and current activities in soils and plant resources surrounding the settlements.ResultsIn both regions, we found that pre-Columbian villages were more densely distributed across the landscape than current villages. Soil nutrients (mainly Ca and P) were higher closer to pre-Columbian villages but were generally not related to current villages, suggesting past soil fertilization. Soil charcoal was frequent in all forests, suggesting frequent fire events. The density of domesticated plants used for food increased in phosphorus enriched soils. In contrast, the density of plants used for construction decreased near current villages.ConclusionsWe detected a significant effect of past soil fertilization on food resources over extensive areas, supporting the hypothesis that pre-Columbian landscape domestication left persistent marks on Amazonian landscapes. Our results suggest that a combination of pre-Columbian phosphorus fertilization with past and current management drives plant resource availability in old-growth forests.
Quantitative analysis of automatic performance evaluation systems based on the h-index
Authors: Hauer Marc P. , Hofmann Xavier C. R. , Krafft Tobias D. , Zweig Katharina A. 
Published: March 2020

AbstractSince the h-index has been invented, it is the most frequently discussed bibliometric value and one of the most commonly used metrics to quantify a researcher’s scientific output. The more it is increasingly gaining popularity to use the metric as an indication of the quality of a job applicant or an employee the more important it is to assure its correctitude. Many platforms offer the h-index of a scientist as a service, sometimes without the explicit knowledge of the respective person. In this article we show that looking up the h-index for a researcher on the five most commonly used platforms, namely AMiner, Google Scholar, ResearchGate, Scopus and Web of Science, results in a variance that is in many cases as large as the average value. This is due to the varying definitions of what a scientific article is, the underlying data basis, and different qualities of the entity recognition problem. To perform our study, we crawled the h-index of the worlds top researchers according to two different rankings, all the Nobel Prize laureates except Literature and Peace, and the teaching staff of the computer science department of the TU Kaiserslautern Germany with whom we additionally computed their h-index manually. Thus we showed that the individual h-indices differ to an alarming extent between the platforms. We observed that researchers with an extraordinary high h-index and researchers with an index appropriate to the scientific career path and the respective scientific field are affected alike by these problems.
Disconnected Lives: Trends in Time Spent Alone in Finland
Authors: Anttila Timo , Selander Kirsikka , Oinas Tomi 
Published: March 2020

AbstractDiscussions about social isolation have been extensive over the past few decades. A less sociable nature of social ties has been identified in Western societies. The phenomenon has been associated with demographic changes such as aging and living alone as well as changes in the use of new technologies. In this study we employ representative Finnish Time Use Surveys from three decades, 1987–1988 (n = 1887), 1999–2000 (n = 2673) and 2009–2010 (n = 1887) to examine the trends in social isolation, measured as time spent alone. Our results showed that between 1987 and 2010 the time spent alone increased by 124 min per day. The increase was linear and occurred in nearly all population groups. Structural factors, such as aging and an increase in the number of single households, are strongly associated with increased time spent alone. Time spent alone has increased, especially during leisure activities. Specifically, time spent watching television and using computers is associated with the decreasing tendency for face-to-face interaction.
An Epidemiological Model of Malaria Accounting for Asymptomatic Carriers
Authors: Aguilar Jacob B. , Gutierrez Juan B. 
Published: March 2020

AbstractAsymptomatic individuals in the context of malarial disease are subjects who carry a parasite load, but do not show clinical symptoms. A correct understanding of the influence of asymptomatic individuals on transmission dynamics will provide a comprehensive description of the complex interplay between the definitive host (femaleAnophelesmosquito), intermediate host (human), and agent (Plasmodiumparasite). The goal of this article is to conduct a rigorous mathematical analysis of a new compartmentalized malaria model accounting for asymptomatic human hosts for the purpose of calculating the basic reproductive number ($$\mathcal {R}_0$$R0) and determining the bifurcations that might occur at the onset of disease-free equilibrium. A point of departure of this model from others appearing in the literature is that the asymptomatic compartment is decomposed into two mutually disjoint sub-compartments by making use of the naturally acquired immunity of the population under consideration. After deriving the model, a qualitative analysis is carried out to classify the stability of the equilibria of the system. Our results show that the dynamical system is locally asymptotically stable provided that$$\mathcal {R}_0<1$$R0<1. However, this stability is not global, owning to the occurrence of a sub-critical bifurcation in which additional non-trivial sub-threshold equilibrium solutions appear in response to a specified parameter being perturbed. To ensure that the model does not undergo a backward bifurcation, we demand an auxiliary parameter denoted$$\varLambda <1$$Λ<1in addition to the threshold constraint$$\mathcal {R}_0<1$$R0<1. The authors hope that this qualitative analysis will fill in the gaps of what is currently known about asymptomatic malaria and aid in designing strategies that assist the further development of malaria control and eradication efforts.
Chronic Lymphocytic Leukaemia in 2020: the Future Has Arrived
Authors: Milne Kate , Sturrock Beattie , Chevassut Timothy 
Published: March 2020

AbstractPurpose of ReviewChronic lymphocytic leukaemia is now recognised as a heterogenous disease with a variety of clinical outcomes. Here we summarise the way it is currently stratified according to genetic risk and patient characteristics and the treatment approaches used for these different subgroups.Recent FindingsCertain patients appear to sustain MRD negativity after combination chemoimmunotherapy, leading to the suggestion that their CLL may be cured. However, 17p-deleted, p53-mutated or IGHV-UM subgroups are generally resistant to FCR, and much better responses are seen with ibrutinib and venetoclax, frequently inducing MRD negativity that hopefully will be translated into durable remissions.SummarySmall molecule inhibitors have already revolutionised CLL treatment. Going forward, we anticipate their use in the majority of patients, early after diagnosis and with curative intent.
Amalgamated gold-nanoalloys with enhanced catalytic activity for the detection of mercury ions (Hg2+) in seawater samples
Authors: Logan Natasha , McVey Claire , Elliott Christopher , Cao Cuong 
Published: March 2020

AbstractMercury (Hg) is extremely toxic, and continues to cause major threats to aquatic life, human health and the environment. Hg2+ mainly derives from seawater as a product of atmospheric deposition, therefore there is great demand for sensing approaches that can detect Hg2+ in seawater samples. Herein, we demonstrate that the peroxidase-mimicking activity of gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) or so-called nanozymes, can be exploited for the detection of Hg2+ ions in various water samples. In a high electrolyte environment, the catalytic activity for the oxidation of 3,3′,5,5′-tetramethylbenzidine (TMB) was significantly diminished due to poor stability of the bare-AuNPs. This activity was reduced by ∼ 73.7% when the NaCl concentration was higher than 1.168%, which is much lower than that of seawater (∼ 3.5%), thus presenting its unsuitability for detecting Hg2+ in harsh water matrices. To overcome this limitation, AuNPs were first functionalized with oligo-ethylene glycol (OEG), of which their colloidal form presented high stability in NaCl concentrations up to 20% and across a wide range of pHs from 1–14. Interestingly, the catalytic activity of OEG-AuNPs for the oxidation of TMB was strongly suppressed by the coating, but enhanced upon formation of Au-Hg amalgamation. This novel finding underlies a straightforward, sensitive, and highly selective detection platform for Hg2+ in water samples. The approach could detect the exposure limit level for Hg2+ in drinking water (i.e., 2 ppb for tap and bottled water) as set by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the World Health Organization (WHO). When Hg2+ was spiked into a 3.5% saline solution and a coastal seawater certified reference material (CRM), the detection limits were found to be 10 and 13 ppb, respectively, which exceed the Hg2+ concentrations commonly found within seawater (~ 60–80 ppb). The whole procedure takes less than 45 min to conduct, providing a highly innovative, rapid and low-cost approach for detecting Hg2+ in complex water matrices.
Phylogeography of Acartia tonsa Dana, 1849 (Calanoida: Copepoda) and phylogenetic reconstruction of the genus Acartia Dana, 1846
Authors: Figueroa Nicole J. , Figueroa Diego F. , Hicks David 
Published: March 2020

AbstractThe calanoid copepod,Acartia tonsaDana, 1849 is one of the most abundant and well-studied estuarian species with a worldwide distribution. In this research, we use the mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase subunit I gene to study the phylogeography ofA. tonsaby analyzing sequences from specimens collected in the western Gulf of Mexico (GOM) along with all sequences from previous research. We reconstruct the phylogeny for the genusAcartiaDana, 1846 and highlight numerous potential misidentifications ofAcartiaspecies deposited in GenBank. The incorrect taxonomy assigned to some of these sequences results in apparently paraphyletic relationships. This study demonstrates thatA. tonsais a species complex with multiple, deeply diverging, lineages of varying geographic affinities. Multiple new lineages are found in the Texas GOM that is basal to northwestern Atlantic lineages with phylogenetic connectivity also observed between Brazil and the Texas GOM. Results show two major phylogeographic breaks in the North American continent, one at the border between the Gulf of Mexico and the Northwest Atlantic, and the other at about 35° N. One of the major clades in theA. tonsaspecies complex shows a clear pattern of divergence that follows the prevailing currents. Within this clade, older lineages are found in the western GOM while newer lineages are found in the eastern GOM and the southern coast of the northwest Atlantic, with the youngest lineages diversifying in the north. The results show thatA. tonsacan be used as a model species for observing phylogeographical structuring of coastal plankton along the American continent.
Asynchronous Lagrangian scenario decomposition
Authors: Aravena Ignacio , Papavasiliou Anthony 
Published: March 2020

AbstractWe present a distributed asynchronous algorithm for solving two-stage stochastic mixed-integer programs (SMIP) using scenario decomposition, aimed at industrial-scale instances of the stochastic unit commitment (SUC) problem. The algorithm is motivated by large differences in run times observed among scenario subproblems of SUC instances, which can result in inefficient use of distributed computing resources by synchronous parallel algorithms. Our algorithm performs dual iterations asynchronously using a block-coordinate subgradient descent method which allows performing block-coordinate updates using delayed information, while candidate primal solutions are recovered from the solutions of scenario subproblems using heuristics. We present a high performance computing implementation of the asynchronous algorithm, detailing the operations performed by each parallel process and the communication mechanisms among them. We conduct numerical experiments using SUC instances of the Western Electricity Coordinating Council system with up to 1000 scenarios and of the Central Western European system with up to 120 scenarios. We also conduct numerical experiments on generic SMIP instances from the SIPLIB library (DCAP and SSLP). The results demonstrate the general applicability of the proposed algorithm and its ability to solve industrial-scale SUC instances within operationally acceptable time frames. Moreover, we find that an equivalent synchronous parallel algorithm would leave cores idle up to 80.4% of the time on our realistic test instances, an observation which underscores the need for designing asynchronous optimization schemes in order to fully exploit distributed computing on real world applications.
The challenge of intracellular temperature
Authors: Suzuki Madoka , Plakhotnik Taras 
Published: March 2020

AbstractThis short review begins with a brief introductory summary of luminescence nanothermometry. Current applications of luminescence nanothermometry are introduced in biological contexts. Then, theoretical bases of the “temperature” that luminescence nanothermometry determines are discussed. This argument is followed by the 105 gap issue between simple calculation and the measurements reported in literatures. The gap issue is challenged by recent literatures reporting single-cell thermometry using non-luminescent probes, as well as a report that determines the thermal conductivity of a single lipid bilayer using luminescence nanothermometry. In the end, we argue if we can be optimistic about the solution of the 105 gap issue.
Detection and Characterization of Hepatitis E Virus Genotype 3 in Wastewater and Urban Surface Waters in Germany
Authors: Beyer Sophia , Szewzyk Regine , Gnirss Regina , Johne Reimar , Selinka Hans-Christoph 
Published: March 2020

AbstractIn highly populated areas, environmental surveillance of wastewater and surface waters is a key factor to control the circulation of viruses and risks for public health. Hepatitis E virus (HEV) genotype 3 is considered as an emerging pathogen in industrialized countries. Therefore, this study was carried out to determine the prevalence of HEV in environmental waters in urban and suburban regions in Germany. HEV was monitored in water samples using quantitative RT-PCR (RT-qPCR) and nested RT-PCR without or with virus concentration via polyethylene glycol precipitation or ultracentrifugation. By RT-qPCR, 84–100% of influent samples of wastewater treatment plants were positive for HEV RNA. Genotypes HEV-3c and 3f were identified in wastewater, with HEV-3c being the most prevalent genotype. These data correlate with subtypes identified earlier in patients from the same area. Comparison of wastewater influent and effluent samples revealed a reduction of HEV RNA of about 1 log10 during passage through wastewater treatment plants. In addition, combined sewer overflows (CSOs) after heavy rainfalls were shown to release HEV RNA into surface waters. About 75% of urban river samples taken during these CSO events were positive for HEV RNA by RT-qPCR. In contrast, under normal weather conditions, only around 30% of river samples and 15% of samples from a bathing water located at an urban river were positive for HEV. Median concentrations of HEV RNA of all tested samples at this bathing water were below the limit of detection.
Multisensory satellite observations of the expansion of the Batagaika crater and succession of vegetation in its interior from 1991 to 2018
Authors: Vadakkedath Vishakh , Zawadzki Jarosław , Przeździecki Karol 
Published: March 2020

AbstractOn-site monitoring in large areas located in inaccessible regions can be difficult and costly. Thus remote sensing is an essential tool for mapping and monitoring changes in such regions. Therefore, this paper describes long-term multisensory satellite observations of the expansion of the Batagaika crater in Northern Siberia and natural succession of vegetation in its interior from 1991 to 2018. Landsat 5 TM, Landsat 7 + ETM, Landsat 8 OLI/TIRS imageries were mainly used as a data source for analyses, although Sentinel-2A imagery and DEM image from ASTER satellite were also employed for calculating a vegetation index and expansion in the crater area. The observations were conducted in years 1991–2018 and were made in a summer season. The results reveal that the crater area increased by almost three times during these 27 years and that the fastest expansion took place between 2010 and 2014 with 22.7% increment. The analysis of elevation of the crater revealed that in 2018 its maximum depth was ca 70 m and that depth was decreasing towards its north-east tail. Additionally, the satellite imagery of land surface temperature which is a driving force of crater expansion was visualized for chosen hot days within the time frame 2010–2018. The study of temporal and spatial changes in NDVI spatial distributions inside the crater revealed also a high rate of the succession of vegetation, which may reduce melting of permafrost inside the Batagaika crater and its further expansion.
Use of coal beneficiation tailings as solid sorbents in the treatment of nitrate-contaminated real wastewater
Authors: Nunes Keila Guerra Pacheco , Illi Júlia Carolina , Dávila Ivone Vanessa Jurado , Feris Liliana Amaral 
Published: March 2020

AbstractThis work evaluates the application efficiency of coal tailings beneficiation as a solid sorbent in the treatment of real wastewater contaminated with nitrate. The solid was characterized by XDR, SEM, FTIR and TGA. Adsorption experiments were performed in batch evaluating the effects of pH, solids concentration and contact time parameters. The kinetics of nitrate adsorption was evaluated using pseudo-first-order and pseudo-second-order models. Equilibrium isotherms for this system were analyzed at three different temperatures (298, 308 and 318 K) by Langmuir, Freundlich and Sips models. The best results from the adsorption experiments were pH 6, contact time of 60 min and 1 g 100 mL−1 of solid. The thermodynamics model that best described the behavior of the process was Sips. By applying these conditions to real wastewater, a nitrate removal of 93% was achieved. This result shows that adsorption using coal beneficiation tailings is technically possible.