bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
The Masturbation Erection Index (MEI): validation of a new psychometric tool, derived from the six‐item version of the International Index of Erectile Function (IIEF‐6) and from the Erection Hardness Score (EHS), for measuring erectile function during masturbation
Authors: Limoncin Erika , Gravina Giovanni L. , Lotti Francesco , Maseroli Elisa , Ciocca Giacomo , Corona Giovanni , Maggi Mario , Reisman Yacov , Balercia Giancarlo , Lenzi Andrea , Jannini Emmanuele A. 
Published: September 2018

ObjectivesTo validate a psychometric instrument, the Masturbation Erection Index (MEI) able to evaluate erectile function (EF) during masturbation. In fact, although the evaluation of EF during masturbation is pivotal in evaluating erectile dysfunction (ED), to date no specific psychometric tools have been developed to measure it both in the routine clinical practice and in the experimental setting.Patients and MethodsOf 560 men attending our andrological outpatient clinic for the first time, 99 (17.7%) had ED. As a control group, we enrolled 102 sexually healthy men. All the men were requested to complete both the six‐item version of the International Index of Erectile Function (IIEF‐6) and the MEI. The MEI was used together with a standardised tool, the Erection Hardness Score (EHS). The MEI was validated in terms of content validity. Test–retest reliability was assessed using the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC). Internal consistency was evaluated by Cronbach's α. The comparability between the MEI and IIEF‐6 in measuring EF was tested by Bland–Altman analysis. The concordance correlation coefficient (CCC) between the two questionnaires was also determined.ResultsInternal consistency of the MEI was >0.93. Test–retest reliability was 0.982 (95% confidence interval [CI] 0.975–0.987). Bland–Altman analysis showed a good level of agreement between the IIEF‐6 and MEI in the whole ED population, with stronger agreement in the organic‐ED subpopulation. The estimated area under the curve of the MEI was 0.983 (P < 0.001; 95% CI 0.954–0.996), with a score of ≤27 as the optimal threshold to discriminate between the presence and absence of ED during self‐induced masturbation. The CCC, Pearson ρ and bias correction factor (Cb) were 0.951 (95% CI 0.936–0.962), 0.968, and 0.982, respectively.ConclusionThe MEI showed good internal consistency and a good level of agreement with the IIEF‐6. Hence, the MEI fulfills the major psychometric requirements for measuring EF during masturbation.
Nomograms for incident risk of post‐partum type 2 diabetes in Chinese women with prior gestational diabetes mellitus
Authors: Li Weiqin , Leng Junhong , Liu Huikun , Zhang Shuang , Wang Leishen , Hu Gang , Mi Jie 
Published: September 2018

SummaryObjectiveCounselling patients with gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) on their individual risk of post‐partum type 2 diabetes (T2D) is challenging. This study aimed to develop nomograms for predicting incident risk of post‐partum T2D in women with GDM diagnosed by WHO 1998 criteria.MethodsWe performed a retrospective cohort study in 1263 Chinese women with GDM, of whom 83 were diagnosed as T2D at 2.3 years post‐partum. Multivariate Cox proportional hazards models were used to investigate the independent predictors for post‐partum T2D. The results of multivariate analyses were used to formulate nomograms for predicting incident risk of post‐partum T2D. The predictive accuracy was evaluated using the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUROC).ResultsOn multivariate analysis, independent predictors of post‐partum T2DM in women with GDM included family history of diabetes [hazard ratio (HR) and its 95% confidential interval (95% CI): 2.06 (95% CI: 1.32‐3.22)], history of pregnancy‐induced hypertension [3.11 (95% CI: 1.86‐5.21)], pre‐pregnancy BMI [1.00, 1.90 (95% CI: 1.14‐3.16), and 3.67 (95% CI: 2.03‐6.63) for BMI <24, 24‐28, and ≥28 kg/m2], and 2‐hour glucose at 26‐30 gestational weeks [1.00, 2.84 (95% CI: 1.42‐5.69), and 9.42 (95% CI: 4.46‐19.90) for 2‐hour glucose at 7.8 ~ <8.5, 8.5 ~ <11.1, and ≥11.1 mmol/L). The overall AUROC of nomogram was 82.8% (95% CI: 78.1%‐87.5%), with AUROCs of 85.9% (95% CI: 79.7%‐92.1%) and 83.2% (95% CI: 77.9%‐88.6%) for post‐partum 2‐year and 3‐year risk of T2D, respectively.ConclusionsThis easy‐to‐use nomogram, with non‐invasive clinical characteristics, can accurately predict the risk of post‐partum T2D in women with GDM. It may facilitate risk communication between patients and clinicians.
Evaluating the incidence of pathological complete response in current international rectal cancer practice: the barriers to widespread safe deferral of surgery
Authors:   The 2017 European Society of Coloproctology (ESCP) collaborating group
Published: September 2018

AbstractIntroductionThe mainstay of management for locally advanced rectal cancer is chemoradiotherapy followed by surgical resection. Following chemoradiotherapy, a complete response may be detected clinically and radiologically (cCR) prior to surgery or pathologically after surgery (pCR). We aim to report the overall complete pathological response (pCR) rate and the reliability of detecting a cCR by conventional pre‐operative imaging.MethodsA pre‐planned analysis of the European Society of Coloproctology (ESCP) 2017 audit was performed. Patients treated by elective rectal resection were included. A pCR was defined as a ypT0 N0 EMVI negative primary tumour; a partial response represented any regression from baseline staging following chemoradiotherapy. The primary endpoint was the pCR rate. The secondary endpoint was agreement between post‐treatment MRI restaging (yMRI) and final pathological staging.ResultsOf 2572 patients undergoing rectal cancer surgery in 277 participating centres across 44 countries, 673 (26.2%) underwent chemoradiotherapy and surgery. The pCR rate was 10.3% (67/649), with a partial response in 35.9% (233/649) patients. Comparison of AJCC stage determined by post‐treatment yMRI with final pathology showed understaging in 13% (55/429) and overstaging in 34% (148/429). Agreement between yMRI and final pathology for T‐stage, N‐stage, or AJCC status were each graded as ‘fair’ only (n = 429, Kappa 0.25, 0.26 and 0.35 respectively).ConclusionThe reported pCR rate of 10% highlights the potential for non‐operative management in selected cases. The limited strength of agreement between basic conventional post‐chemoradiotherapy imaging assessment techniques and pathology suggest alternative markers of response should be considered, in the context of controlled clinical trials.
Infant sustained attention but not joint attention to objects at 9 months predicts vocabulary at 12 and 15 months
Authors: Yu Chen , Suanda Sumarga H. , Smith Linda B. 
Published: September 2018

AbstractVocabulary differences early in development are highly predictive of later language learning as well as achievement in school. Early word learning emerges in the context of tightly coupled social interactions between the early learner and a mature partner. In the present study, we develop and apply a novel paradigm—dual head‐mounted eye tracking—to record momentary gaze data from both parents and infants during free‐flowing toy‐play contexts. With fine‐grained sequential patterns extracted from continuous gaze streams, we objectively measure both joint attention and sustained attention as parents and 9‐month‐old infants played with objects and as parents named objects during play. We show that both joint attention and infant sustained attention predicted vocabulary sizes at 12 and 15 months, but infant sustained attention in the context of joint attention, not joint attention itself, is the stronger unique predictor of later vocabulary size. Joint attention may predict word learning because joint attention supports infant attention to the named object.
Motor and cognitive impairments in spinocerebellar ataxia type 7 and its correlations with cortical volumes
Authors: Chirino Amanda , Hernandez‐Castillo Carlos R. , Galvez Victor , Contreras Anabel , Diaz Rosalinda , Beltran‐Parrazal Luis , Fernandez‐Ruiz Juan 
Published: September 2018

AbstractSpinocerebellar Ataxia Type 7 (SCA7) is a neurodegenerative disorder caused by cytosine‐adenine‐guanine (CAG) repeat expansion. It is clinically characterized by ataxia and visual loss. To date, little is known about SCA7 cognitive impairments and its relationship with grey matter volume (GMV) changes. The aim of this study was to explore SCA7 patients’ performance in specific components of auditory‐verbal neuropsychological tests and to correlate their scores with genetic mutation, severity of ataxia and GMV. We assessed verbal memory and verbal fluency proficiencies in 31 genetically confirmed SCA7 patients, and compared their results with 32 healthy matched volunteers; we also correlated CAG repeats and severity of motor symptoms with performance in the auditory‐verbal tests. SCA7 patients exhibited deficiencies in several components of these cognitive tasks, which were independent of motor impairments and showed no relation to CAG repeats. Based on Resonance Images performed in 27 patients we found association between ataxia severity and GMV in “sensoriomotor” cerebellum, as well as correlations of impaired verbal memory and semantic fluency scores with GMV in association cortices, including the right parahippocampal gyrus. To our knowledge, this is the first report of deficits in the organization of semantic information and in the evocation of verbal material, as well as greater susceptibility to proactive interference in SCA7 patients. These findings bring novel information about specific cognitive abilities in SCA7 patients, particularly verbal memory and fluency, and their relation with GMV variations in circumscribed brain regions, including association cortices known to have functional relationships with the cerebellum.
A proposed strategy for maintaining mature forest habitat in Tasmania's wood production forests
Authors: Koch Amelia , Munks Sarah 
Published: September 2018

SummaryMature forests have structural habitat features that can take hundreds of years to develop, and large reserves alone are unlikely to ensure conservation of the species that rely on these features. This paper outlines a proposed new approach to managing mature forest features, the ‘mature habitat management approach’, in areas outside of reserves. The objective was to maintain a network of current and future mature forest habitat distributed across the landscape. The approach is designed to complement the existing reserve network and management actions and is tenure‐blind. Spatial information on the availability of mature forest habitat at the local (1‐km radius) and landscape (5‐km radius) scales is used for decisions on retention within a 1‐km radius of a harvest area, to reach the minimum target of 20% and 30% retention of mature forest at the local and landscape spatial scales, respectively. We believe this approach could contribute to meeting the conservation needs of many species that require mature forest features for refuge and breeding in Tasmania and elsewhere.
Move on or take the heat: Can life history strategies of freshwater mussels predict their physiological and behavioural responses to drought and dewatering?
Authors: Mitchell Zachary A. , McGuire Jaclyn , Abel Joshua , Hernandez Bianca A. , Schwalb Astrid N. 
Published: September 2018

Abstract

Freshwater organisms have developed different physiological, behavioural and life history strategies to cope with drying events. Although freshwater mussels (Unionidae) are endangered and drought and dewatering events pose a major threat, especially in the southern United States, little is known about their responses to such events and how physiology, behaviour and life history strategies may be linked.

Our goal was to examine whether and how behavioural responses to dewatering and physiological tolerances to desiccation are linked in five species of freshwater mussels (Unionidae) within Texas, including two state‐threatened species (Cyclonaias petrina and Lampsilis bracteata) and one federally endangered species (Popenaias popeii), and to explore how differences in responses relate to life history strategies.

We measured horizontal and vertical movements under three dewatering rates and assessed desiccation tolerance by examining survival after emersion at 30 and 40°C with laboratory experiments.

Amblema plicata and C. petrina had the lowest horizontal movement rates and the highest desiccation tolerances, whereas L. bracteata and L. teres were less tolerant to desiccation, but more mobile. P. popeii were intermediate in its responses.

Our results show that differences between species in their behavioural response to dewatering and physiological tolerance to desiccation tend to be associated with differences in life history strategies or may be explained by differences in adaptation to certain habitat conditions. We propose a life history strategy‐based framework for responses of mussels to drying events, which may be applicable to other taxa.
Windthrows control biomass patterns and functional composition of Amazon forests
Authors: Magnabosco Marra Daniel , Trumbore Susan E. , Higuchi Niro , Ribeiro Gabriel H. P. M. , Negrón‐Juárez Robinson I. , Holzwarth Frederic , Rifai Sami W. , dos Santos Joaquim , Lima Adriano J. N. , Kinupp Valdely F. , Chambers Jeffrey Q. , Wirth Christian 
Published: September 2018

AbstractAmazon forests account for ~25% of global land biomass and tropical tree species. In these forests, windthrows (i.e., snapped and uprooted trees) are a major natural disturbance, but the rates and mechanisms of recovery are not known. To provide a predictive framework for understanding the effects of windthrows on forest structure and functional composition (DBH ≥10 cm), we quantified biomass recovery as a function of windthrow severity (i.e., fraction of windthrow tree mortality on Landsat pixels, ranging from 0%–70%) and time since disturbance for terra‐firme forests in the Central Amazon. Forest monitoring allowed insights into the processes and mechanisms driving the net biomass change (i.e., increment minus loss) and shifts in functional composition. Windthrown areas recovering for between 4–27 years had biomass stocks as low as 65.2–91.7 Mg/ha or 23%–38% of those in nearby undisturbed forests (~255.6 Mg/ha, all sites). Even low windthrow severities (4%–20% tree mortality) caused decadal changes in biomass stocks and structure. While rates of biomass increment in recovering vegetation were nearly double (6.3 ± 1.4 Mg ha−1 year−1) those of undisturbed forests (~3.7 Mg ha−1 year−1), biomass loss due to post‐windthrow mortality was high (up to −7.5 ± 8.7 Mg ha−1 year−1, 8.5 years since disturbance) and unpredictable. Consequently, recovery to 90% of “pre‐disturbance” biomass takes up to 40 years. Resprouting trees contributed little to biomass recovery. Instead, light‐demanding, low‐density genera (e.g., Cecropia, Inga, Miconia, Pourouma, Tachigali, and Tapirira) were favored, resulting in substantial post‐windthrow species turnover. Shifts in functional composition demonstrate that windthrows affect the resilience of live tree biomass by favoring soft‐wooded species with shorter life spans that are more vulnerable to future disturbances. As the time required for forests to recover biomass is likely similar to the recurrence interval of windthrows triggering succession, windthrows have the potential to control landscape biomass/carbon dynamics and functional composition in Amazon forests.
Volume of urea cleared as a therapy dosing guide for more frequent hemodialysis
Authors: Leypoldt John K. , Weinhandl Eric D. , Collins Allan J. 
Published: September 2018

AbstractIntroduction: With dialysis delivery systems that operate at low dialysate flow rates, prescriptions for more frequent hemodialysis (HD) employ dialysate volume as the primary parameter for small solute removal rather than blood‐side urea dialyzer clearance (K). Such delivery systems, however, yield dialysate concentrations that almost completely saturate with blood (water), suggesting that the volume of urea cleared (the product of K and treatment time or Kt) can be readily estimated from the prescribed dialysate volume to target small solute removal.Methods For more frequent HD, we examined the volume of urea cleared per treatment required to achieve a minimal dose of small solute removal, comparing results based on body surface area (BSA) with those based on KDOQI clinical practice guidelines, that is, a weekly stdKt/V of 2.1. Estimates of the target volume of urea cleared were calculated for 4, 5, and 6 treatments per week, and compared for patients with different anthropometric estimates of total body water volume (Vant). BSA was assumed proportional to Vant0.8, and residual kidney function was neglected.Findings Whether based on BSA or weekly stdKt/V of 2.1, the target volume of urea cleared per treatment required to achieve a minimal dose of small solute removal was lower at higher treatment frequency. As with conventional thrice‐weekly HD, target volumes of urea cleared for more frequent HD based on BSA were larger for patients with small Vant and smaller for patients with large Vant than those based on a weekly stdKt/V of 2.1.Discussion Prescription of more frequent HD using the volume of urea cleared per treatment, calculated from the prescribed dialysate volume, is simple in principle and can be readily implemented in clinical practice when using dialysis delivery systems that operate at low dialysate flow rates. Other aspects of dialysis adequacy require additional consideration.
Mesoscale pore structure of a high‐performance concrete by coupling focused ion beam/scanning electron microscopy and small angle X‐ray scattering
Authors: Brisard Sébastien , Davy Catherine A. , Michot Laurent , Troadec David , Levitz Pierre 
Published: September 2018

AbstractThis contribution couples (a) Small angle X‐ray scattering (SAXS) experiments of a high‐performance concrete (HPC) at the millimetric scale, and (b) Focused ion beam/scanning electron microscopy (FIB/SEM) of the cement paste of the HPC, with 10‐20 nm voxel size. The aim is to improve the understanding of the 3D pore network of the HPC at the mesoscale (tens of nm), which is relevant for fluid transport. The mature HPC is an industrial concrete, based on pure Portland CEMI cement, and planned for use as structural elements for deep underground nuclear waste storage. Small angle X‐ray scattering patterns are computed from the 3D pore images given by FIB/SEM (volumes of 61‐118 μm3). They are positively correlated with SAXS measurements (volumes of 5 mm3). Aside from correlations with FIB/SEM data, experimental SAXS allows to investigate a wider range of effects on the pore structure. These are mainly the HPC drying state, the presence of aggregates (by analyzing data on cement paste alone), and the use of Poly Methyl MethAcrylate resin impregnation.
1:1 (Dis)section ‐ Learning through Full‐Scale Dissection and Transformations of Abandoned Buildings
Authors: Krag Mo Michelsen Stochholm , Keiding Tina Bering 
Published: September 2018

AbstractThe section is an essential tool for understanding, exploring, representing and communicating spatial relations, structure and materiality in architecture, design and engineering, and therefore a recurring topic in the curricula. The section itself is destructive of nature and incompatible with a built environment in use or under construction. Hence, students throughout their education meet the section in the form of diagrammatic representations, that is, as forms of meaning emptied from scale, spatiality and materiality. This article reports on a series of four workshops, held in the spring semesters from 2011 to 2014 for first‐year students at Aarhus School of Architecture. The aim was to provide first‐year students with an experience of the relation between the section as a diagrammatic representation and the materiality, structure and spatial relations of a concrete building. The climax of each workshop was a full‐scale dissection and transformation of an abandoned house. As we shall see, the workshops fulfilled not only the intended learning goals, but created an initially unforeseen and unique context for learning about the relations between building and place and introduced the question regarding depopulation of rural areas as a pertinent processional challenge. Beyond an educational value, the research project ‘Transformation on abandonment, a new critical practice?’ transpired from the workshops. This research project and the interplay between teaching and research are discussed in the last part of the article.
Meaningful Learning through Art: Nature Photography, Haiku Writing, Mobile Technologies and Social Media as a Path to Oneself
Authors: Gil Tali 
Published: September 2018

AbstractThe article describes a workshop that combines nature photography and haiku poems writing with the use of smartphones in an outdoor educational setting. The workshop's purpose is to enhance the experience of being close to nature by observation and introspection. The participants use photography and haiku‐writing as means of visual and textual self‐expression. While wandering in nature, they take pictures and then write haiku poems inspired by them. Later they upload their photos to a WhatsApp forum created for the workshop. At this stage, they can write new haikus, inspired by the pictures taken by other participants, and upload them too. By the end of the day, the participants have a joint artistic product that contains all photos and haikus created at the workshop. The photographs that were chosen as samples for this article are analysed with interpretive tools based on semantic theory and Barthes’ methodology, and take into consideration the Photovoice method's principles. The poems were analysed considering their content and artistic measures and in comparison, with haiku writing's principles, and then compared to the photographs’ visual content. The analysis shows that observing nature through the camera's eye and writing poems while close to nature can generate self‐expression and introspection. The use of mobile technology in the workshop does not intrude on the experience of being in nature; on the contrary, it is used to get the participants closer to it and to each other. The workshop described here contributes to the experience of meaningful learning through art.