bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
A structural equation modelling approach for adoption of e-book amongst mathematics and statistics (MAS) students at higher education institutions in Libya
Authors: Smeda Asma , Shiratuddin Mohd Fairuz , Wong Kok Wai 
Published: July 2018

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to investigate the factors that may impact on the acceptance of the e-book amongst mathematics and statistics (MAS) students at higher education institutions in Libya.Design/methodology/approachA theoretical model has been developed based on the technology acceptance model (TAM). The factors divided into three groups: intrinsic variables represent the first group of factors that are related to the user or the potential users itself, such as Self-Efficacy and Resistance to Change. Second, extrinsic variables include all the factors that reflect the characteristics of the e-book and the infrastructure for universities, which are Mobility (M), Facilities (F) and Library Service Quality (LS). TAM constructs from Perceived Ease Of Use (PEOU), Perceived Usefulness (PU), Attitude (AU) and Behaviour Intention (BI) represent the last group. Data relating to the constructs were collected through a self-administered survey in 2014. The developed model was measured and tested by structural equation modelling using AMOS (22.0).FindingsThe result confirmed that the structural model fits the data well. According to the results, TAM constructs have a significant impact on the acceptance of e-book among MAS students at universities in Libya. In addition, the intrinsic variables play the important role to predict students’ BI. Although the extrinsic variables were less important, Facilities was the strong factor in this group.Originality/valueThe adoption of e-book amongst higher education students in Libya is still quite low. Hence, identifying the factors that may contribute to e-book adoption is crucial. The contribution of this paper is to determine the factors that effect on the acceptance of e-book amongst MAS students at higher education institutions in Libya.
A compound method for random noise attenuation
Authors: Gemechu Diriba , Ma Jianwei , Yong Xueshan 
Published: July 2018

ABSTRACTRandom noise attenuation, preserving the events and weak features by improving signal‐to‐noise ratio and resolution of seismic data are the most important issues in geophysics. To achieve this objective, we proposed a novel seismic random noise attenuation method by building a compound algorithm. The proposed method combines sparsity prior regularization based on shearlet transform and anisotropic variational regularization. The anisotropic variational regularization which is based on the linear combination of weighted anisotropic total variation and anisotropic second‐order total variation attenuates noises while preserving the events of seismic data and it effectively avoids the fine‐scale artefacts due to shearlets from the restored seismic data. The proposed method is formulated as a convex optimization problem and the split Bregman iteration is applied to solve the optimization problem. To verify the effectiveness of the proposed method, we test it on several synthetic seismic datasets and real datasets. Compared with three methods (the linear combination of weighted anisotropic total variation and anisotropic second‐order total variation, shearlets and shearlet‐based weighted anisotropic total variation), the numerical experiments indicate that the proposed method attenuates random noises while alleviating artefact and preserving events and features of seismic data. The obtained result also confirms that the proposed method improves the signal‐to‐noise ratio.
Fencing solves human‐wildlife conflict locally but shifts problems elsewhere: A case study using functional connectivity modelling of the African elephant
Authors: Osipova Liudmila , Okello Moses M. , Njumbi Steven J. , Ngene Shadrack , Western David , Hayward Matt W. , Balkenhol Niko 
Published: July 2018

Abstract

Fencing is one of the most common methods of mitigating human‐wildlife conflicts. At the same time, fencing is considered one of the most pressing threats emerging in conservation globally. Although fences act as barriers and can cause population isolation and fragmentation over time, it is difficult to quantitatively predict the consequences fences have for wildlife.

Here, we model how fencing designed to mitigate human‐elephant conflict (HEC) on the Borderlands between Kenya and Tanzania will affect functional connectivity and movement corridors for African elephants. Specifically, we (a) model functional landscape connectivity integrating natural and anthropogenic factors; (b) predict seasonal movement corridors used by elephants in non‐protected areas; and (c) evaluate whether fencing in one area can potentially intensify human‐wildlife conflicts elsewhere.

We used GPS movement and remote sensing data to develop monthly step‐selection functions to model functional connectivity. For future scenarios, we used an ongoing fencing project designed for HEC mitigation within the study area. We modelled movement corridors using least‐cost path and circuit theory methods, evaluated their predictive power and quantified connectivity changes resulting from the planned fencing.

Our results suggest that fencing will not cause landscape fragmentation and will not change functional landscape connectivity dramatically. However, fencing will lead to a loss of connectivity locally and will increase the potential for HEC in new areas. We estimate that wetlands, important for movement corridors, will be more intensively used by the elephants, which may also cause problems of overgrazing. Seasonal analysis highlights an increasing usage of non‐protected lands in the dry season and equal importance of the pinch point wetlands for preserving overall function connectivity.

Synthesis and applications. Fencing is a solution to small‐scale human‐elephant conflict problems but will not solve the issue at a broader scale. Moreover, our results highlight that it may intensify the conflicts and overuse of habitat patches in other areas, thereby negating conservation benefits. If fencing is employed on a broader scale, then it is imperative that corridors are integrated within protected area networks to ensure local connectivity of affected species.
Resveratrol inhibits VEGF‐induced angiogenesis in human endothelial cells associated with suppression of aerobic glycolysis via modulation of PKM2 nuclear translocation
Authors: Wu Hongyan , He Liwei , Shi JingJing , Hou Xianbang , Zhang Hongjiang , Zhang Xiaoping , An Qing , Fan Fangtian 
Published: July 2018

SummaryEndothelial cells (ECs) mainly depend on aerobic glycolysis to generate angiogenesis. Deregulation of glycolysis is often observed in human endothelial cells during angiogenesis. In the present study, we first report that resveratrol (RST), which has been intensively studied in glucose metabolism of various cancer cells, has a profound inhibitory effect on tube formation and migration via suppression of glycolysis in human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) induced by vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF). Moreover, we further reveal that RST reduced the mRNA and protein level of glucose transporter‐1(GLUT1), hexokinase II (HK2), phosphofructokinase‐1(PFK1) and pyruvate kinase M2 (PKM2) through modulation of ERK‐mediated PKM2 nuclear translocation. Our results provide a novel mechanism to account for the inhibition of RST on VEGF‐mediated angiogenesis and suggest that targeting aerobic glycolysis or nuclear PKM2 may be a new approach for pathological angiogenesis prevention or treatment.
The mutual interplay between calcification and coccolithovirus infection
Authors: Johns Christopher T. , Grubb Austin R. , Nissimov Jozef I. , Natale Frank , Knapp Viki , Mui Alwin , Fredricks Helen F. , Van Mooy Benjamin A. S. , Bidle Kay D. 
Published: July 2018

SummaryTwo prominent characteristics of marine coccolithophores are their secretion of coccoliths and their susceptibility to infection by coccolithoviruses (EhVs), both of which display variation among cells in culture and in natural populations. We examined the impact of calcification on infection by challenging a variety of Emiliania huxleyi strains at different calcification states with EhVs of different virulence. Reduced cellular calcification was associated with increased infection and EhV production, even though calcified cells and associated coccoliths had significantly higher adsorption coefficients than non‐calcified (naked) cells. Sialic acid glycosphingolipids, molecules thought to mediate EhV infection, were generally more abundant in calcified cells and enriched in purified, sorted coccoliths, suggesting a biochemical link between calcification and adsorption rates. In turn, viable EhVs impacted cellular calcification absent of lysis by inducing dramatic shifts in optical side scatter signals and a massive release of detached coccoliths in a subpopulation of cells, which could be triggered by resuspension of healthy, calcified host cells in an EhV‐free, ‘induced media’. Our findings show that calcification is a key component of the E. huxleyi‐EhV arms race and an aspect that is critical both to the modelling of these host–virus interactions in the ocean and interpreting their impact on the global carbon cycle.
A frameshift mutation in the rRNA large subunit methyltransferase gene rlmAII determines the susceptibility of a honey bee pathogen Melissococcus plutonius to mirosamicin
Authors: Takamatsu Daisuke , Yoshida Emi , Watando Eri , Ueno Yuichi , Kusumoto Masahiro , Okura Masatoshi , Osaki Makoto , Katsuda Ken 
Published: July 2018

SummaryAmerican foulbrood (AFB) and European foulbrood (EFB) caused by Paenibacillus larvae and Melissococcus plutonius, respectively, are major bacterial infections of honey bees. Although macrolides (mirosamicin [MRM] and tylosin) have been used to prevent AFB in Japan, macrolide‐resistant P. larvae have yet to be found. In this study, we revealed that both MRM‐resistant and ‐susceptible strains exist in Japanese M. plutonius and that a methyltransferase gene (rlmA
II) was disrupted exclusively in MRM‐susceptible strains due to a single‐nucleotide insertion. The M. plutonius RlmAII modified G748 of 23S rRNA, and the deletion of rlmA
II resulted in increased susceptibility to MRM and the loss of modification at G748, suggesting that methylation at G748 by RlmAII confers MRM resistance in M. plutonius. The single‐nucleotide mutation in MRM‐susceptible strains was easily repaired by spontaneous deletion of the inserted nucleotide; however, intact rlmA
II was only found in Japanese M. plutonius and not in a Paraguayan strain tested or any of the whole‐genome‐sequenced European strains. MRM has been used in apiculture only in Japan. Although M. plutonius is not the target of this drug, the use of MRM as a prophylactic drug for AFB may have influenced the antibiotic susceptibility of the causative agent of EFB.
Linear Parks and the Political Ecologies of Permeability: Environmental displacement in São Paulo, Brazil
Authors: Millington Nate 
Published: July 2018

AbstractThis article considers the politics of resettlement within ongoing efforts to construct the Tietê River Valley Park (Parque Várzeas do Tietê), a linear park that upon completion will be the largest linear park in the world. Located in the eastern periphery of São Paulo, Brazil, the proposed project uses riverbank naturalization to dampen floodpeaks and bring green space to underserved populations. Due to the presence of low‐income neighborhoods on the river's edge, however, the project calls for the removal of roughly 40,000 people. Drawing from urban political ecology and contemporary concerns about environmentally induced displacement, I consider the conflicts over resettlement that mark the project. I analyze the project itself and situate it within a regional context defined by autoconstruction, regularized flooding, and insecure tenure. I argue that despite claims that the project will yield less risky lives for displaced residents, the form through which the project is being developed actually puts displaced residents in heightened situations of risk. I consider how communities have organized to resist displacement, and call for an approach to governance in peripheral landscapes that takes seriously the histories of collective infrastructural provisioning and autoconstructed housing that have marked them for decades.
Medical Care Costs for Recurrent versus De Novo Stage IV Cancer by Age at Diagnosis
Authors: Ritzwoller Debra P. , Fishman Paul A. , Banegas Matthew P. , Carroll Nikki M. , O'Keeffe‐Rosetti Maureen , Cronin Angel M. , Uno Hajime , Hornbrook Mark C. , Hassett Michael J. 
Published: July 2018

ObjectiveTo address the knowledge gap regarding medical care costs for advanced cancer patients, we compared costs for recurrent versus de novo stage IV breast, colorectal, and lung cancer patients.Data Sources/Study SettingVirtual Data Warehouse (VDW) information from three Kaiser Permanente regions: Colorado, Northwest, and Washington.Study DesignWe identified patients aged ≥21 with de novo or recurrent breast (nde novo = 352; nrecurrent = 765), colorectal (nde novo = 1,072; nrecurrent = 542), and lung (nde novo = 4,041; nrecurrent = 340) cancers diagnosed 2000–2012. We estimated average total monthly and annual costs in the 12 months preceding, month of, and 12 months following the index de novo/recurrence date, stratified by age at diagnosis (<65, ≥65). Generalized linear repeated‐measures models controlled for demographics and comorbidity.Principal FindingsIn the pre‐index period, monthly costs were higher for recurrent than for de novo breast (<65: +$2,431; ≥65: +$1,360), colorectal (<65: +$3,219; ≥65: +$2,247), and lung cancer (<65: +$3,086; ≥65: +$2,260) patients. Conversely, during the index and post‐index periods, costs were higher for de novo patients. Average total annual pre‐index costs were five‐ to ninefold higher for recurrent versus de novo patients <65.ConclusionsCost differences by type of advanced cancer and by age suggest heterogeneous patterns of care that merit further investigation.
Aging is associated with increased FGF21 levels but unaltered FGF21 responsiveness in adipose tissue
Authors: Villarroya Joan , Gallego‐Escuredo José M. , Delgado‐Anglés Alejando , Cairó Montserrat , Moure Ricardo , Gracia Mateo Ma , Domingo Joan C. , Domingo Pere , Giralt Marta , Villarroya Francesc 
Published: July 2018

AbstractFibroblast growth factor 21 (FGF21) has been proposed to be an antiaging hormone on the basis of experimental studies in rodent models. However, circulating FGF21 levels are increased with aging in rodents and humans. Moreover, despite the metabolic health‐promoting effects of FGF21, the levels of this hormone are increased under conditions such as obesity and diabetes, an apparent incongruity that has been attributed to altered tissue responsiveness to FGF21. Here, we investigated serum FGF21 levels and expression of genes encoding components of the FGF21‐response molecular machinery in adipose tissue from healthy elderly individuals (≥70 years old) and young controls. Serum FGF21 levels were increased in elderly individuals and were positively correlated with insulinemia and HOMA‐IR, indices of mildly deteriorated glucose homeostasis. Levels of β‐Klotho, the coreceptor required for cellular responsiveness to FGF21, were increased in subcutaneous adipose tissue from elderly individuals relative to those from young controls, whereas FGF receptor‐1 levels were unaltered. Moreover, total ERK1/2 protein levels were decreased in elderly individuals in association with an increase in the ERK1/2 phosphorylation ratio relative to young controls. Adipose explants from aged and young mice respond similarly to FGF21 “ex vivo”. Thus, in contrast to what is observed in obesity and diabetes, high levels of FGF21 in healthy aging are not associated with repressed FGF21‐responsiveness machinery in adipose tissue. The lack of evidence for impaired FGF21 responsiveness in adipose tissue establishes a distinction between alterations in the FGF21 endocrine system in aging and chronic metabolic pathologies.
Computational Modeling of Oxygen Transfer in Artificial Lungs
Authors: Kaesler Andreas , Rosen Marius , Schmitz‐Rode Thomas , Steinseifer Ulrich , Arens Jutta 
Published: July 2018

AbstractUnder physiological conditions, up to 97% of the oxygen in blood that is transported from lungs to tissue is bound to hemoglobin. To predict oxygen transfer in artificial lungs on a membrane fiber level with computational fluid dynamics (CFD), previous investigators have incorporated the hemoglobin‐oxygen interaction into an effective diffusivity coefficient to modify the convection‐diffusion equation. Based on our own simulations and experiments, these approaches tend to significantly overestimate the oxygen transfer. The present study introduces a novel approach to model the oxygen transfer in blood on a fiber level with CFD. Plasma and red blood cells were implemented as two phases and the reaction of hemoglobin and oxygen to oxyhemoglobin was included in the convection‐diffusion equation in form of a source term. The model was implemented with the commercial software Ansys CFX 18.1. CFD simulations were compared with in vitro experiments on three micro oxygenators with a staggered fiber configuration under multiple blood flow conditions. To calibrate the model, a reaction rate R0 was introduced and experimental data was fitted to a blood flow of 50 mL/h. Our model approximated the oxygen transfer rates with a difference, relative to in vitro results, of −23.7 and +6.3% for blood flows of 20 and 90 mL/h, respectively. The effective diffusivity model, used by previous authors, was implemented for comparison and approximated oxygen transfer rates with a difference, relative to in vitro data, of +13.7, +68.8, and +121.0% for blood flows of 20, 50, and 90 mL/h, respectively. A well‐established numerical mass transfer correlation approximated the gas transfer with a difference, referenced on the average in vitro data, of 31.8, 13.1, and 5.0% for blood flows of 20, 50, and 90 mL/h, respectively. Even though results are promising, a thorough validation of the model will require extensive CFD and in vitro studies of multiple fiber arrangements, fiber diameters, and therefore fiber bundle porosities in the future. This article should be understood as a first feasibility study to evaluate the potential of the novel oxygen transfer model.
Administering analgesia sublingually is a suitable option for children with acute abdominal pain in the emergency department
Authors: Cozzi Giorgio , Zanchi Chiara , Chiaretti Antonio , Tipo Vincenzo , Cernich Marta , D'Anna Carolina , Fantacci Claudia , Conversano Ester , Zanon Davide , Ronfani Luca , Barbi Egidio 
Published: July 2018

AbstractAimAcute abdominal pain is a frequent complaint in children attending emergency departments. The aim of this study was to investigate the pain score reductions when children with acute abdominal pain received medication sublingually.MethodsWe carried out a multicentre randomised controlled trial in three children's hospitals in Italy between March 2015 and June 2017. Children from four to 18 years of age with acute abdominal pain were recruited if their self‐reported pain was at least six on a scale from 0–10. The children were randomised to receive ketorolac 0.5 mg/kg (n = 70) or tramadol 2 mg/kg (n = 70) sublingually or a melt in the mouth powder of 20 mg/kg paracetamol (n = 70). The main study outcome was the pain scores for the three drugs after two hours.ResultsThe 210 children (58.6% girls) had a median age of 12 years with an interquartile range of 9–14.3. The median pain scores at two hours were not significantly different between ketorolac 2.0 (interquartile ranges, IQR 0.0–4.3) and tramadol 3.0 (IQR 1.0–5.0) vs paracetamol 3.0 (IQR 0.8–5.0). The median pain reductions were all 5.0 points.ConclusionDelivering analgesia sublingually was a suitable option for pain relief in children with acute abdominal pain in the emergency department.
Editorial: aminosalicylates in Crohn's disease—prevalence, risks, costs and time to re‐assess?
Authors: Mansfield J. , MacDougall L. 
Published: July 2018

Linked ContentThis article is linked to Ma et al and Jairath et al papers. To view these articles visit https://doi.org/10.1111/apt.14821 and and https://doi.org/10.1111/apt.14908.
Editorial: covert hepatic encephalopathy—silent but serious. Authors’ reply
Authors: Labenz C. , Wörns M.‐A. 
Published: July 2018

Linked ContentThis article linked to Labenz et al and Neuberger papers. To view these articles visit https://doi.org/10.1111/apt.14824 and https://doi.org/10.1111/apt.14857.
Editorial: diabetes in HIV‐infected patients—do not blame the usual suspect! Authors’ reply
Authors: Provoost A. , Dramé M. , Bani‐Sadr F. 
Published: July 2018

Linked ContentThis article is linked to Provoost et al and Höner zu Siederdissen and Mederacke papers. To view these articles visit https://doi.org/10.1111/apt.14812 and https://doi.org/10.1111/apt.14863.
Editorial: Tong‐Xie‐Yao‐Fang (TXYF) for irritable bowel syndrome with diarrhoea (IBS‐D)—ancient medicine meets modern study
Authors: Vitta S. , Sayuk G. S. 
Published: July 2018

Linked ContentThis article is linked to Chen et al papers. To view these articles visit https://doi.org/10.1111/apt.14817 and https://doi.org/10.1111/apt.14906.
Addressing Food Insecurity in College: Mapping a Shared Conceptual Framework for Campus Pantries in Michigan
Authors: Reppond Harmony A. , Thomas‐Brown Karen , Sampson Natalie R. , Price Carmel E. 
Published: July 2018

AbstractThe first known university food pantry started at Michigan State University in 1993. Since then, campus food pantries are more widespread, although little is known about them. The current study examined how college pantries best serve students and foster their success. Twenty‐eight food pantry directors and staff from across sixteen Michigan college campuses engaged in concept mapping, a technique used to examine the interrelationships among concepts understood by stakeholders. Analyses identified six concepts, examined importance of each concept as assigned by participants, and evaluated variation among institutions. Implications for findings and future research directions are discussed.