bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Modeling the Airborne Infection Risk of Tuberculosis for a Research Facility in eMalahleni, South Africa
Authors: Küsel Ralf R. , Craig Ian K. , Stoltz Anton C. 
Published: September 2018

AbstractA detailed mathematical modeling framework for the risk of airborne infectious disease transmission in indoor spaces was developed to enable mathematical analysis of experiments conducted at the Airborne Infections Research (AIR) facility, eMalahleni, South Africa. A model was built using this framework to explore possible causes of why an experiment at the AIR facility did not produce expected results. The experiment was conducted at the AIR facility from August 31, 2015 to December 4, 2015, in which the efficacy of upper room germicidal ultraviolet (GUV) irradiation as an environmental control was tested. However, the experiment did not produce the expected outcome of having fewer infections in the test animal room than the control room. The simulation results indicate that dynamic effects, caused by switching the GUV lights, power outages, or introduction of new patients, did not result in the unexpected outcomes. However, a sensitivity analysis highlights that significant uncertainty exists with risk of transmission predictions based on current measurement practices, due to the reliance on large viable literature ranges for parameters.
Modeling the Effectiveness of Respiratory Protective Devices in Reducing Influenza Outbreak
Authors: Yan Jing , Guha Suvajyoti , Hariharan Prasanna , Myers Matthew 
Published: September 2018

AbstractOutbreaks of influenza represent an important health concern worldwide. In many cases, vaccines are only partially successful in reducing the infection rate, and respiratory protective devices (RPDs) are used as a complementary countermeasure. In devising a protection strategy against influenza for a given population, estimates of the level of protection afforded by different RPDs is valuable. In this article, a risk assessment model previously developed in general form was used to estimate the effectiveness of different types of protective equipment in reducing the rate of infection in an influenza outbreak. It was found that a 50% compliance in donning the device resulted in a significant (at least 50% prevalence and 20% cumulative incidence) reduction in risk for fitted and unfitted N95 respirators, high‐filtration surgical masks, and both low‐filtration and high‐filtration pediatric masks. An 80% compliance rate essentially eliminated the influenza outbreak. The results of the present study, as well as the application of the model to related influenza scenarios, are potentially useful to public health officials in decisions involving resource allocation or education strategies.
Population growth and the transfer paradox in an overlapping generations model
Authors: Hamada Kojun , Shinozaki Tsuyoshi , Yanagihara Mitsuyoshi 
Published: September 2018

AbstractThis study investigates whether the transfer paradox (donor enrichment and/or recipient impoverishment) occurs when a donor and a recipient have different population growth rates by using a one‐sector, two‐country overlapping generations model. We show that if the population growth rates differ, neither donor enrichment nor recipient impoverishment occurs in the steady state under dynamic efficiency. This result is in stark contrast to the existing results that the transfer paradox might occur when a donor and a recipient country have different marginal propensities to save, assuming that both have the same population growth rate. Furthermore, we present the condition for the transfer problem to occur on the transition path and show that the transfer paradox is less likely to occur as the economy converges to the steady state. Our result shows that the prevailing finding that the transfer paradox can occur in an overlapping generations model is limited to the special case of countries having the same population growth rate.
Virtual reality exercise intradialysis to improve physical function: A feasibility randomized trial
Authors: Segura‐Ortí Eva , Pérez‐Domínguez Borja , Ortega‐Pérez de Villar Lucía , Meléndez‐Oliva Erika , Martínez‐Gramage Javier , García‐Maset Rafael , Gil‐Gómez José Antonio 
Published: September 2018

AbstractObjectiveThe main objective of this investigation was to assess feasibility of conducting a future RCT with an intradialysis non‐immersive virtual reality exercise intervention. The secondary aim was to explore the impact of either conventional or VR exercise on physical function.DesignFeasibility randomized trial.ParticipantsEighteen subjects who participated in a 16‐week intradialysis combined exercise program.InterventionsThe program lasted four additional weeks of either combined exercise or virtual reality exercise.Main outcome measuresPhysical function was measured through several reliable tests (sit‐to‐stand‐to‐sit tests 10 and 60, gait speed, one‐leg heel‐rise tests, and 6‐minute walk test) at baseline, after 16 weeks of intradialysis combined exercise and by the end of four additional weeks of exercise. Adherence to the exercise programs was registered.ResultsThere was a significant time effect, so that physical function improved in both groups. By the end of the 20 weeks, function improved as measured through the sit‐to‐stand‐to‐sit tests 10 and 60, gait speed, one‐leg heel‐rise left leg, and the 6‐minute walk test. Changes that did not occur due to error in the test were seen after 20 weeks were achieved in the sit‐to‐stand‐to‐sit test 60, gait speed, one‐leg heel‐rise test for the left leg, and 6‐minute walking test.ConclusionVirtual reality was a feasible intervention. Both interventions improved physical function. Adherence was not significantly different between groups.
A study of coach‐team perceptual distance concerning the coach‐created motivational climate in youth sport
Authors: Gjesdal Siv , Stenling Andreas , Solstad Bård E. , Ommundsen Yngvar 
Published: September 2018

AbstractThe purpose of this study was to examine whether coach‐team perceptual distance regarding the coach‐created motivational climate related to achievement goal orientations and affective responses. To this end, we used polynomial regression analysis with response surface methodology. The sample consisted of 1359 youth soccer players (57.8% male; Mage = 11.81 years, SD = 1.18), belonging to 87 different teams (Msize = 16.47), and 87 coaches (94.6% male, Mage = 42 years, SD = 5.67). Results showed that team perceptions of a coach‐created mastery climate were positively related to team‐rated task goal orientation and enjoyment, whereas team perceptions of a coach‐created performance climate were positively related to team‐rated ego goal orientation and anxiety, and negatively related to team‐rated enjoyment. When the coach and the team were in perceptual agreement, the outcomes increased as both coach and team perceptions of the climate increased. In situations of perceptual disagreement, the most negative effects were seen when the coach held a more favorable perception of the motivational climate compared to the team. The findings highlight the importance of perceptual agreement between the coach and his/her team, contributing to the literature focusing on the effects of the coach‐created motivational climate.
Understanding the international mobility of Chinese temporary workers
Authors: Zhang Hongyong 
Published: September 2018

AbstractUsing unique panel data on the temporary movement of Chinese workers to 191 economies during 1992–2015, I investigate the patterns and determinants of labour mobility in the services trade. I estimate a gravity model of labour mobility in two categories, namely overseas labour services and overseas contracted projects. I find that distance (proxy for migration costs) and income are not the most important determinants of the latter. For overseas contracted projects, the dispatch of workers is not driven by their pure economic aims but by the Chinese government's policies and strategies such as its overseas project promotion policy. Furthermore, I employ the difference‐in‐differences estimation method to investigate the impact of this policy upon labour mobility. The results show that the policy of promoting overseas contracted projects has causal and positive effects on labour mobility in construction‐related sectors.
Serum PCSK9 is modified by interleukin-6 receptor antagonism in patients with hypercholesterolaemia following non-ST-elevation myocardial infarction
Authors: Ueland Thor , Kleveland Ola , Michelsen Annika E , Wiseth Rune , Damås Jan Kristian , Aukrust Pål , Gullestad Lars , Halvorsen Bente , Yndestad Arne 
Published: September 2018

ObjectiveIt is unclear if activation of inflammatory pathways regulates proprotein convertase subtilisin-kexin type 9 (PCSK9) levels.ApproachWe evaluated (1) the temporal course of serum PCSK9 during hospitalisation following acute coronary syndrome and associations with markers of inflammation (leucocyte counts, interleukin (IL)-6, C-reactive protein) and lipid levels and (2) the effect of inhibition of IL-6 signalling with the IL-6 receptor antibody tocilizumab on PCSK9 levels in a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial release in patients with non-ST-elevation myocardial infarction.ResultsSerum PCSK9 increased during the acute phase and this response was modestly associated with neutrophil counts (r=0.24, p=0.009) and presence of hypercholesterolaemia (r=0.019, p=0.045), but was not modified by tocilizumab. However, a modifying effect of tocilizumab on PCSK9 levels was observed in patients with hypercholesterolaemia (p=0.024, repeated measures analysis of variance) and this effect was strongly correlated with the decrease in neutrophils (r=0.66, p=0.004).ConclusionsOur study suggests that patients with a more atherogenic profile may benefit from anti-IL-6 therapy with regard to PCSK9.Trial registration numberNCT01491074.
Somatosensory perceptual training enhances motor learning by observing
Authors: McGregor Heather R. , Cashaback Joshua G. A. , Gribble Paul L. 
Published: September 2018

Action observation activates brain regions involved in sensory-motor control. Recent research has shown that action observation can also facilitate motor learning; observing a tutor undergoing motor learning results in functional plasticity within the motor system and gains in subsequent motor performance. However, the effects of observing motor learning extend beyond the motor domain. Converging evidence suggests that observation also results in somatosensory functional plasticity and somatosensory perceptual changes. This work has raised the possibility that the somatosensory system is also involved in motor learning that results from observation. Here we tested this hypothesis using a somatosensory perceptual training paradigm. If the somatosensory system is indeed involved in motor learning by observing, then improving subjects' somatosensory function before observation should enhance subsequent motor learning by observing. Subjects performed a proprioceptive discrimination task in which a robotic manipulandum moved the arm, and subjects made judgments about the position of their hand. Subjects in a Trained Learning group received trial-by-trial feedback to improve their proprioceptive perception. Subjects in an Untrained Learning group performed the same task without feedback. All subjects then observed a learning video showing a tutor adapting her reaches to a left force field. Subjects in the Trained Learning group, who had superior proprioceptive acuity before observation, benefited more from observing learning than subjects in the Untrained Learning group. Improving somatosensory function can therefore enhance subsequent observation-related gains in motor learning. This study provides further evidence in favor of the involvement of the somatosensory system in motor learning by observing.NEW & NOTEWORTHY We show that improving somatosensory performance before observation can improve the extent to which subjects learn from watching others. Somatosensory perceptual training may prime the sensory-motor system, thereby facilitating subsequent observational learning. The findings of this study suggest that the somatosensory system supports motor learning by observing. This finding may be useful if observation is incorporated as part of therapies for diseases affecting movement, such as stroke.
Calcium stores regulate excitability in cultured rat hippocampal neurons
Authors: Segal Menahem 
Published: September 2018

Extracellular calcium ions support synaptic activity but also reduce excitability of central neurons. In the present study, the effect of calcium on excitability was explored in cultured hippocampal neurons. CaCl2 injected by pressure in the vicinity of a neuron that is bathed only in MgCl2 as the main divalent cation caused a depolarizing shift in action potential threshold and a reduction in excitability. This effect was not seen if the intracellular milieu consisted of Cs+ instead of K-gluconate as the main cation or when it contained ruthenium red, which blocks release of calcium from stores. The suppression of excitability by calcium was mimicked by caffeine, and calcium store antagonists cyclopiazonic acid or thapsigargin blocked this action. Neurons taken from synaptopodin-knockout mice show significantly reduced efficacy of calcium modulation of action potential threshold. Likewise, in Orai1 knockdown cells, calcium is less effective in modulating excitability of neurons. Activation of small-conductance K (SK) channels increased action potential threshold akin to that produced by calcium ions, whereas blockade of SK channels but not big K channels reduced the threshold for action potential discharge. These results indicate that calcium released from stores may suppress excitability of central neurons. NEW & NOTEWORTHY Extracellular calcium reduces excitability of cultured hippocampal neurons. This effect is mediated by calcium-gated potassium currents, possibly small-conductance K channels. Release of calcium from internal stores mimics the effect of extracellular calcium. It is proposed that calcium stores modulate excitability of central neurons.
Functional anatomy of human extraocular muscles during fusional divergence
Authors: Demer Joseph L. , Clark Robert A. 
Published: September 2018

We employed magnetic resonance imaging to quantify human extraocular muscle contractility during centered target fusion and fusional divergence repeated with each eye viewing monocularly at 20 cm through 8Δ and at 400 cm through 4Δ base in prism. Contractility, indicated by posterior partial volume (PPV) change, was analyzed in transverse rectus and in medial and lateral superior oblique (SO) muscle compartments and by cross-sectional area change in the inferior oblique (IO). At 20 cm, 3.1 ± 0.5° (SE) diverging eye abduction in 10 subjects was associated with 4.2 ± 1.5% whole lateral rectus (LR) PPV increase ( P < 0.05) and 1.7 ± 1.1% overall medial rectus (MR) PPV decrease attributable to 3.1 ± 1.8% reduction in the superior compartment ( P < 0.025), without change in its inferior compartment or in muscles of the aligned eye. At 400 cm, 2.2 ± 0.5° diverging eye abduction in nine subjects was associated with 6.1 ± 1.3% whole LR PPV increase ( P < 10−5) but no change in MR, with compartmentally similar relaxation in the LR and MR of the aligned eye. Unlike convergence, there were no IO or SO contractile changes for divergence to either target nor any change in rectus pulley positions. Results confirm and extend to proximal divergence the unique role of the superior MR compartment, yet no MR role for far divergence. Corelaxation of aligned eye LR and MR combined with failure of MR relaxation during divergence is consistent with the limited behavioral range of divergence. NEW & NOTEWORTHY Magnetic resonance imaging shows that the lateral rectus muscle must overcome continued contraction by its opponent the medial rectus when humans diverge their visual axes to achieve single, binocular vision. While the upper but not lower compartment of the medial rectus assists by relaxing for near targets, it does not do so when targets are far away. This behavior violates Sherrington’s law of reciprocal action of antagonists and conventional assumptions about the ocular motor system.
Recovery Time after Hemodialysis Is Inversely Associated with the Ultrafiltration Rate
Authors: Bossola Maurizio , Di Stasio Enrico , Monteburini Tania , Parodi Emanuele , Ippoliti Fabio , Cenerelli Stefano , Santarelli Stefano , Nebiolo Pier Eugenio , Sirolli Vittorio , Bonomini Mario , Antocicco Manuela , Zuccalà Giuseppe , Laudisio Alice 
Published: September 2018

<b><i>Introduction:</i></b> The present study aimed to determine the variables that are associated with a longer dialysis recovery time (DRT) and to define the relationship that exists between DRT and the ultrafiltration rate (UFR) in prevalent chronic hemodialysis (CHD) patients. <b><i>Methods:</i></b> We studied 210 prevalent CHD of 5 hemodialysis units in Central Italy. Patients were invited to answer to the question: “How long does it take you to recover from a dialysis session?” Answers to this question were subsequently converted into minutes. Demographic, clinical and laboratory parameters were recorded for each patient as well as the UFR (mL/kg/h), the dialysate sodium concentration and temperature. <b><i>Results:</i></b> Median DRT was 180 min (60–420). Ninety five (45%) patients had a DRT ≥ the median value. Mean UFR was 9.2 ± 3.0 mL/kg/h. Patients with a lower DRT had a less prevalent disability in the instrumental activities daily living, had a higher UFR, and a lower dialysate temperature, as compared with subjects with higher DRT. According to the logistic regression model, UFR was associated with a DRT below the median (i.e., 180) in the unadjusted model (OR 1.12; 95% CI 1.02–1.23; <i>p</i> = 0.019), after adjusting for age and sex (OR 1.11; 95% CI 1.01–1.22; <i>p</i> = 0.025), and in the fully adjusted model (OR 1.11; 95% CI 1.04–1.22; <i>p</i> = 0.040). UFR increase was associated with increasing probability of DRT below the median (<i>p</i> for trend = 0.035). The highest tertile of DRT was associated with UFR below the mean value (i.e., 9.2 mL/kg/h) in multinomial logistic regression having the lowest DRT tertile as reference. DRT was significantly lower in patients with UFR &#x3e; 13 mL/kg/h than in patients with UFR 10–13 or &#x3c; 10 mL/kg/h. <b><i>Conclusion:</i></b> DRT is inversely associated with UFR in CHD patients. Whether a high UFR should be recommended to reduce the DRT needs to be elucidated through an adequate prospective randomized study.
Diagnostic Difficulties in Primary Pauci-Melanotic Leptomeningeal Melanomatosis
Authors: Koziorowska-Gawron Ewa , Kaczorowski Maciej , Bladowska Joanna , Budrewicz Sławomir , Koszewicz Magdalena , Hałoń Agnieszka 
Published: September 2018

We present a rare case of primary malignant melanoma of the central nervous system. We underline the difficulties we faced during diagnostic procedures. Finally, postmortem examination revealed the diagnosis of primary pauci-­melanotic leptomeningeal melanomatosis.
“To Renew the Covenant”
Authors: Kershner Jon R. 
Published: September 2018

AbstractIn“To Renew the Covenant”: Religious Themes in Eighteenth-Century Quaker Abolitionism, Jon R. Kershner argues that Quakers adhered to a providential view of history, which motivated their desire to take a corporate position against slavery. Antislavery Quakers believed God’s dealings with them, for good or ill, were contingent on their faithfulness. Their history of deliverance from persecution, the liberty of conscience they experienced in the British colonies, and the ethics of the Golden Rule formed a covenantal relationship with God that challenged notions of human bondage. Kershner traces the history of abolitionist theologies from George Fox and William Edmundson in the late seventeenth century to Paul Cuffe and Benjamin Banneker in the early nineteenth century. It covers the Germantown Protest, Benjamin Lay, John Woolman, Anthony Benezet, William Dillwyn, Warner Mifflin, and others who offered religious arguments against slavery. It also surveys recent developments in Quaker antislavery studies.
Need for adjunctive procedures following cyanoacrylate closure of incompetent great, small and accessory saphenous veins without the use of postprocedure compression: Three-month data from a postmarket evaluation of the VenaSeal System (the WAVES Study)
Authors: Gibson Kathleen , Minjarez Renee , Gunderson Krissa , Ferris Brian 
Published: September 2018

Purpose Studies examining cyanoacrylate closure of saphenous veins with the VenaSeal™ System have not allowed concomitant procedures for tributaries at the time of the index procedure. Outside of clinical trials, however, concomitant procedures are frequently performed in conjunction with endovenous ablation. We report on the frequency of need for saphenous tributary treatment three months after cyanoacrylate closure of the treatment of great saphenous vein, small saphenous vein, and/or accessory saphenous vein. Methods Fifty subjects with symptomatic great saphenous vein, small saphenous vein, and/or accessory saphenous vein incompetence were treated with no postprocedure compression stockings. Concomitant procedures were not allowed. Treating physicians predicted the type and nature of any concomitant procedures that they would usually perform at the time of ablation, if not limited by the constraints of the study. Evaluations were performed at one week, one and three months and included duplex ultrasound, numeric pain rating scale, revised venous clinical severity score, the Aberdeen Varicose Vein Questionnaire, and time to return to work and normal activities. At the three-month visit, the need for and type of adjunctive procedures were recorded. Results Complete closure at three months was achieved in 70 (99%) of the treated veins (48 great saphenous veins, 14 accessory saphenous veins, eight small saphenous veins). Revised venous clinical severity score improved from 6.4 ± 2.2 to 1.8 ± 1.5 (P < .001) and Aberdeen Varicose Vein Questionnaire from 17.3 ± 7.9 to 6.5 ± 7.2 (P < .0001). Sixty-six percent of patients underwent tributary treatment at three months. The percentage of patients who required adjunctive treatments at three months was lower than had been predicted by the treating physicians (65% versus 96%, p=.0002). Conclusions Closure rates were high in the absence of the use of compression stockings or side branch treatment. Improvement in quality of life was significant, and the need for and extent of concomitant procedures was significantly less than had been predicted by the treating physicians.