bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Effect of sex, menstrual cycle phase, and monophasic oral contraceptive pill use on local and central arterial stiffness in young adults
Authors: Priest Stacey E. , Shenouda Ninette , MacDonald Maureen J. 
Published: April 2018

Arterial stiffness is associated with increased cardiovascular disease risk. Previous sex-based investigations of local and central stiffness report inconsistent findings and have not controlled for menstrual cycle phase in women. There is also evidence that sex hormones influence the vasculature, but their impact on arterial stiffness across a natural menstrual (NAT) or oral contraceptive pill (OCP) cycle has been understudied. This study sought to 1) examine potential sex differences in local and central stiffness, 2) compare stiffness profiles between NAT and OCP cycles, and 3) investigate the relationship between duration of OCP use and arterial stiffness. Sex hormone concentrations, β-stiffness index (local stiffness), and carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity [cfPWV (central stiffness)] were assessed in 53 healthy adults (22 ± 3 yr old, 20 men, 15 NAT women, and 18 OCP women). All participants were tested three times: men on the same day and time 1 wk apart, NAT women in menstrual, midfollicular and luteal phases of the menstrual cycle, and OCP women in placebo, early active and late active pill phases. β-Stiffness was higher in men than NAT and OCP women ( P < 0.001), whereas cfPWV was similar between groups ( P = 0.09). β-Stiffness and cfPWV did not differ across or between NAT and OCP cycles ( P > 0.05 for both) and were not associated with duration of OCP use (β-stiffness: r = 0.003, P = 0.99; cfPWV: r = −0.26, P = 0.30). The apparent sex differences in local, but not central, stiffness highlight the importance of assessing both indexes in comparisons between men and women. Furthermore, fluctuating sex hormone levels do not appear to influence β-stiffness or cfPWV. Therefore, these stiffness indexes may need to be assessed during only one cycle phase in women in future investigations. NEW & NOTEWORTHY We observed higher local, but not central, arterial stiffness in men than women. We also demonstrated that there are no differences in arterial stiffness between naturally cycling women and women who use monophasic oral contraceptive pills, and that the duration of oral contraceptive pill use does not influence arterial stiffness. Listen to this article’s corresponding podcast at https://ajpheart.podbean.com/e/behind-the-bench-episode-2/ .
Improving the quality of preclinical research echocardiography: observations, training, and guidelines for measurement
Authors: Donner Daniel G. , Kiriazis Helen , Du Xiao-Jun , Marwick Thomas H. , McMullen Julie R. 
Published: April 2018

Informal training in preclinical research may be a contributor to the poor reproducibility of preclinical cardiology research and low rates of translation into clinical research and practice. Mouse echocardiography is a widely used technique to assess cardiac structure and function in drug intervention studies using disease models. The interobserver variability of clinical echocardiographic measurements has been shown to improve with formalized training, but preclinical echocardiography lacks similarly critical standardization of training. The aims of this investigation were to assess the interobserver variability of echocardiographic measurements from studies in mice and address any technical impediments to reproducibility by implementing standardized guidelines through formalized training. In this prospective, single-site, observational cohort study, 13 scientists performing preclinical echocardiographic image analysis were assessed for measurement of short-axis M-mode-derived dimensions and calculated left ventricular (LV) mass. Ten M-mode images of mouse hearts acquired and analyzed by an expert researcher with a spectrum of LV mass were selected for assessment and validated by autopsy weight. After the initial observation, a structured formal training program was introduced, and accuracy and reproducibility were reevaluated. Mean absolute percentage error for expert-calculated LV mass was 6 ± 4% compared with autopsy LV mass and 25 ± 21% for participants before training. Standardized formal training improved participant mean absolute percentage error by ~30% relative to expert-calculated LV mass ( P < 0.001). Participants initially categorized with high-range error (25–45%) improved to low-moderate error ranges (<15–25%). This report reveals an example of technical skill training insufficiency likely endemic to preclinical research and provides validated guidelines for echocardiographic measurement for adaptation to formalized in-training programs. NEW & NOTEWORTHY The informal training common to academic/research institutions may be a contributor to the relatively poor reproducibility observed for preclinical cardiac research. In our observation of echocardiography analysis in murine models, we present evidence of moderate interobserver variability in standard preclinical research practice at an Australian heart research institute. These observations give rise to our recommendations for practical guidelines for echocardiography analysis in an adaptable approach to general preclinical research skill training. Listen to this article’s corresponding podcast at https://ajpheart.podbean.com/e/preclinical-echocardiography-training-and-guidelines/ .
Checking and Increasing the Accuracy of the Dns64perf++ Measurement Tool for Benchmarking DNS64 Servers
Authors: Lencse Gábor , Pivoda Attila 
Published: April 2018

Our DNS64 benchmarking program, dns64perf++, is the world’s first standard DNS64 benchmarking tool, which complies with the requirements of RFC 8219 (Benchmarking methodology for IPv6 transition technologies) including DNS64. The aim of our current effort is to check and ensure its accuracy. In this paper, we disclose our measurement method and results.We have found inaccuracies at higher rates, which were caused by the self-correcting timing algorithm. We have replaced the timing algorithm by a simpler one, which resulted in accurate results at any tested rates. We have also tested the corrected version during real measurements: we compared the quality of the measurements results produced by the original and thecorrected version.
Arterial Stiffness Is Associated With Basal Ganglia Enlarged Perivascular Spaces and Cerebral Small Vessel Disease Load
Authors: Riba-Llena Iolanda , Jiménez-Balado Joan , Castañé Xavier , Girona Anna , López-Rueda Antonio , Mundet Xavier , Jarca Carmen I. , Álvarez-Sabin José , Montaner Joan , Delgado Pilar 
Published: April 2018

Background and Purpose—
We assessed whether the load of cerebral small vessel disease (cSVD) and its individual markers, including lacunes, white matter hyperintensities, microbleeds, and enlarged perivascular spaces (EPVS), are associated with arterial stiffness.

Methods—
We evaluated cSVD markers in a cohort of 782 hypertensive individuals without history of stroke or dementia. The load of the disease was calculated using an ordinal scale ranging from 0 to 4 (1 point was given for each of the 4 markers examined). The arterial stiffness was tested by measuring the carotid–femoral pulse wave velocity with an oscillometric automatic device.

Results—
The mean age of the participants (49.6% women) was 62.7±5.4 years, and the mean systolic/diastolic blood pressure was 142.9/77.3 mm Hg (55.5% of the participants had poor blood pressure control). We found 7.2% cases with lacunes, 6.4% with microbleeds, 6.7% with extensive white matter hyperintensities, 24.5% with extensive basal ganglia EPVS, and 40.1% with extensive EPVS in the centrum semiovale. Regarding the cSVD load, 19.7% of the participants scored 1, 6.5% scored 2, and 1.4% scored ≥3. The median carotid–femoral pulse wave velocity was 10.5 m/s (interquartile range, 9.2–11.9) and was associated with lacunes (odds ratio per carotid–femoral pulse wave velocity SD increase, 1.51; 95% confidence interval, 1.13–2.03), extensive basal ganglia EPVS (odds ratio, 1.39; 95% confidence interval, 1.16–1.67), and cSVD load (common odds ratio, 1.42; 95% confidence interval, 1.19–1.68).

Conclusions—
We found that, in a cohort of hypertensive individuals, the arterial stiffness is associated with the total load of the cSVD, especially with lacunes and basal ganglia EPVS.
Survival and recruitment in the population ecology of the endangered Bombina pachypus (Amphibia: Anura)
Authors: Angelini Claudio , Tiberi Andrea , Cari Bruno , Giachi Filippo 
Published: April 2018

Abstract
Global amphibian decline is a subject of great conservation concern, yet often basic demographic information is absent, which prevents the understanding of population trends and the planning of effective conservation management. We analysed capture-mark-recapture data from six populations of the endangered Bombina pachypus in order to understand the relative contribution of survival and recruitment to population growth, and to assess if any differences exist among populations in terms of their population dynamics. We found that survival was rather high and generally constant among sites, and recruitment was low, with the exception of two single years at one site. Population growth depended on survival on all sites, except the years following high recruitment at one site. Annual population size was generally lower than 30 individuals, but in one site it was estimated to be larger than 50. Our findings suggest that juvenile survival is more important for population dynamics than recruitment from the larval to the juvenile stage. We also suggest that the low recruitment rates we recorded was a result of juvenile dispersal, and that when populations exhibited high recruitment it was due to occasional successful migration or local recruitment. This pattern could represent a way to counterbalance the risk of inbreeding in populations composed of few individuals, a common characteristic of populations of B. pachypus. Finally, we suggest that conservation measures for B. pachypus should be planned at the landscape scale, and should not be limited solely to the breeding site and its close surroundings.
A Wandering Aramean in Pharaoh’s Court: The Literary Relationship Between Abram’s Sojourn in Egypt in 1QapGen 19-20 and Jewish Fictional Literature
Authors: Jurgens Blake A. 
Published: April 2018

AbstractThe Abram in Egypt episode in the Genesis Apocryphon has been the subject of several studies which have focused upon its status as an example of “rewritten scripture” and its reclamation of the character of Abram from Genesis 12:10-20. This article attempts to assess not only the redemption of Abram’s character in the Genesis Apocryphon, but also the reconfiguration of the entire Abram in Egypt episode through the use of several literary techniques and tropes common to ancient Jewish fictional literature. This study argues that by remaking the entire episode of Abram’s sojourn in Egypt, the author of the Apocryphon not only transforms Abram into a Jewish hero in the midst of a foreign empire, but also creates a more attractive and meaningful narrative appealing to the literary predilections and tastes of a Hellenistic Jewish audience.
Liberal Hermeneutics of the Spectacular in the Study of the New Testament and the Roman Empire
Authors: Zeichmann Christopher B. 
Published: April 2018

AbstractSince 9/11, there has been a surge in interest in the topic of violence both among scholars of religion and in the humanities more broadly. This article suggests that such works operate with a “hermeneutics of the spectacular” that functions to legitimate the liberal status quo by concentrating its focus upon the most visibly heinous forms of state violence under the aegis of a politics of “resistance.” This article uses the New Testament and its depiction of the military as a site for thinking about how folk definitions come to classify certain activities as “violent” and not others, both today and in antiquity. If biblical scholarship—or the study of religion more broadly—is to be something other than an ideological repository for late capitalism, it is necessary to reconsider the issue. This article, by point of contrast, discusses three theoretical approaches to violence that may be useful: Objective-Structural Violence, Symbolic Violence, and Violent Subjectivities.
No evidence for the expensive-tissue hypothesis in Fejervarya limnocharis
Authors: Yang Sheng Nan , Feng Hao , Jin Long , Zhou Zhao Min , Liao Wen Bo 
Published: April 2018

AbstractBecause the brain is one of the energetically most expensive organs of animals, trade-offs have been hypothesized to exert constraints on brain size evolution. The expensive-tissue hypothesis predicts that the cost of a large brain should be compensated by decreasing size of other metabolically costly tissues, such as the gut. Here, we analyzed the relationships between relative brain size and the size of other metabolically costly tissues (i.e., gut, heart, lung, kidney, liver, spleen or limb muscles) among fourFejervarya limnocharispopulations to test the predictions of the expensive-tissue hypothesis. We did not find that relative brain size was negatively correlated with relative gut length after controlling for body size, which was inconsistent with the prediction of the expensive-tissue hypothesis. We also did not find negative correlations between relative brain mass and relative size of the other energetically expensive organs. Our findings suggest that the cost of large brains inF. limnochariscannot be compensated by decreasing size in other metabolically costly tissues.
Karaite or Rabbanite: A Hint from Menahem’s Mahberet
Authors: Howard Jonathan 
Published: April 2018

Abstract
Research has so far been unsuccessful in determining the creed of the Hebrew lexicographer Menahem ben Saruq. Though most probably suspected of Karaism already in his day, there is no conclusive and decisive evidence to prove whether he was Karaite or Rabbanite. In this article, I suggest that Menahem’s choice of verses in one of his lexicon entries reflects a textually non-trivial interpretation originating in midrash, thereby suggesting that he was, in fact, Rabbanite.
A Gravity Wave Drag Matrix for Complex Terrain
Authors: Smith Ronald B. , Kruse Christopher G. 
Published: April 2018

Abstract
We propose a simplified scheme to predict mountain wave drag over complex terrain using only the regional-average low-level wind components U and V. The scheme is tuned and tested on data from the South Island of New Zealand, a rough and highly anisotropic terrain. The effect of terrain anisotropy is captured with a hydrostatically computed, 2 × 2 positive-definite wave drag matrix. The wave drag vector is the product of the wind vector and the drag matrix. The nonlinearity in wave generation is captured using a Gaussian terrain smoothing inversely proportional to wind speed. Wind speeds of |U| = 10, 20, and 30 m s−1 give smoothing scales of L = 54, 27, and 18 km, respectively. This smoothing treatment of nonlinearity is consistent with recent aircraft data and high-resolution numerical modeling of waves over New Zealand, indicating that the momentum flux spectra shift to shorter waves during high-drag conditions. The drag matrix model is tested against a 3-month time series of realistic full-physics wave-resolving flow calculations. Correlation coefficients approach 0.9 for both zonal and meridional drag components.
Accumulation and Subduction of Buoyant Material at Submesoscale Fronts
Authors: Taylor John R. 
Published: April 2018

AbstractThe influence of submesoscale currents on the distribution and subduction of passive, buoyant tracers in the mixed layer is examined using large-eddy simulations. Submesoscale eddies are generated through an ageostrophic baroclinic instability associated with a background horizontal buoyancy gradient. The simulations also include various levels of surface cooling, which provides an additional source of three-dimensional turbulence. Submesoscales compete against turbulent convection and restratify the mixed layer while generating strong turbulence along a submesoscale front. Buoyant tracers accumulate at the surface along the submesoscale front where they are subducted down into the water column. The presence of submesoscales strongly modifies the vertical tracer flux, even in the presence of strong convective forcing. The correlation between high tracer concentration and strong downwelling enhances the vertical diffusivity for buoyant tracers.
Producing and using community health education films in low- and middle-income countries
Authors: Sowa Stephen , Warwick Ian , Chase Elaine 
Published: April 2018

Objective: To analyse the production and use of health education films in Kenya, Tanzania and Zambia. Design: Review of community health education films and their use by three partner organisations. Methods: A focused content analysis of 18 community health education films was conducted, and three exemplar films were selected for more detailed review. Interviews were carried out with four film production personnel and seven project workers using the films in health education projects in Kenya, Tanzania and Zambia. Concepts drawn from the Ottawa Charter for Health Promotion and Anchored Instruction informed the study. Findings: The films, produced primarily for use across sub-Saharan Africa, mostly conveyed biological information and addressed behavioural issues related to maternal and child health topics. The predominantly low-literacy audiences reached by the projects may further benefit from localised content highlighting the social determinants of health through engaging narrative formats. While the health education projects provided some opportunities to discuss the films after screening, linked problem-solving activities could raise awareness of the multiple factors influencing health and help community members formulate holistic action plans. Conclusion: The film production company responded to emerging findings, noting that more context-specific films should be produced, with community members being more fully involved in planning, production and evaluation. Such an approach could generate more relevant content and engage audiences more effectively in problem-solving related to health and wellbeing.
Psychometric properties of the Numeric Pain Rating Scale and Neck Disability Index in patients with cervicogenic headache
Authors: Young Ian A , Dunning James , Butts Raymond , Cleland Joshua A , Fernández-de-las-Peñas César 
Published: April 2018

Background Self-reported disability and pain intensity are commonly used outcomes in patients with cervicogenic headaches. However, there is a paucity of psychometric evidence to support the use of these self-report outcomes for individuals treated with cervicogenic headaches. Therefore, it is unknown if these measures are reliable, responsive, or result in meaningful clinically important changes in this patient population. Methods A secondary analysis of a randomized clinical trial (n = 110) examining the effects of spinal manipulative therapy with and without exercise in patients with cervicogenic headaches. Reliability, construct validity, responsiveness and thresholds for minimal detectable change and clinically important difference values were calculated for the Neck Disability Index and Numeric Pain Rating Scale. Results The Neck Disability Index exhibited excellent reliability (ICC = 0.92; [95 % CI: 0.46–0.97]), while the Numeric Pain Rating Scale exhibited moderate reliability (ICC = 0.72; [95 % CI: 0.08–0.90]) in the short term. Both instruments also exhibited adequate responsiveness (area under the curve; range = 0.78–0.93) and construct validity ( p < 0.001) in this headache population. Conclusions Both instruments seem well suited as short-term self-report measures for patients with cervicogenic headaches. Clinicians and researchers should expect at least a 2.5-point reduction on the numeric pain rating scale and a 5.5-point reduction on the neck disability index after 4 weeks of intervention to be considered clinically meaningful.
Safety and efficacy of thrombopoeitin mimetics for refractory immune thrombocytopenia purpura in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus or antiphospholipid syndrome: a case series
Authors: Lusa A , Carlson A 
Published: April 2018

Background While thrombopoeitin (TPO) agonists that act to simulate platelet production have been approved for use in steroid-refractory chronic immune thrombocytopenia purpura (ITP), there are few data on the safety and efficacy of these medications in patients with concurrent systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) or antiphospholipid syndrome (APS). Given that these agents can increase all hematopoietic cell lineages, it is unclear if there is an increased risk for exacerbation of the underlying lymphocyte-driven autoimmune disease in this population. Case summaries This case series includes four patients with SLE, one with concurrent APS, who were treated for steroid-refractory ITP with TPO mimetics at the University of Virginia between 2005 and 2015. In three of the four cases the medication was successful in improving platelet counts and preventing bleeding events. In addition, none of the patients experienced thrombosis or worsening of their underlying autoimmune disease. Conclusions This case series suggests that TPO mimetics are safe and moderately effective in patients with ITP in the setting of SLE or APS and do not contribute to increased disease activity.
Validation of a New Device for Measuring Isolated Gastrocnemius Contracture and Evaluation of the Reliability of the Silfverskiöld Test
Authors: Molund Marius , Husebye Elisabeth Ellingsen , Nilsen Fredrik , Hellesnes Jan , Berdal Gøran , Hvaal Kjetil Harald 
Published: April 2018

Background: Important aspects on the diagnostics of isolated gastrocnemius contractures (IGCs) have been poorly described. This study was designed to validate a new ankle range of motion (ROM) measuring device for diagnosing an IGC. In addition, we wanted to investigate the reliability of the clinical Silfverskiöld test. Methods: Twelve health care personnel (24 feet) were examined by 4 testers on 3 different occasions for the reliability testing of the new ankle ROM measuring device. The same participants were examined using the Silfverskiöld test to examine the reliability of the clinical test. Eleven patients (15 feet) with IGC were examined before gastrocnemius recession, immediately after surgery, and 3 months after surgery to examine the validity and responsiveness of the ankle ROM device. Results: An intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) >0.85 was found for both inter- and intrarater reliability for the new ankle ROM device. The device confirmed an IGC in 13 of 15 feet before surgery and 3 of 13 feet at 3-month follow-up. At baseline, the measured ankle dorsiflexion was median 3 degrees with the knee in extension, which increased to 10 degrees ( P < .001) immediately after surgery and 12 degrees ( P = .003) at 3-month follow-up. ICC values of 0.230 to 0.791 were observed for the inter- and intrarater reliability testing of the clinical Silfverskiöld test. Conclusion: The new ankle ROM measuring device was reliable and responsive for detecting IGC. The Silfverskiöld test had poor inter- and intrarater reliability. Level of evidence Level II, prospective cohort study.