bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Severe morbidity among hospitalised adults with acute influenza and other respiratory infections: 2014–2015 and 2015–2016
Authors: Segaloff H. E. , Petrie J. G. , Malosh R. E. , Cheng C. K. , McSpadden E. J. , Ferdinands J. M. , Lamerato L. , Lauring A. S. , Monto A. S. , Martin E. T. 
Published: June 2018

AbstractOur objective was to identify predictors of severe acute respiratory infection in hospitalised patients and understand the impact of vaccination and neuraminidase inhibitor administration on severe influenza. We analysed data from a study evaluating influenza vaccine effectiveness in two Michigan hospitals during the 2014–2015 and 2015–2016 influenza seasons. Adults admitted to the hospital with an acute respiratory infection were eligible. Through patient interview and medical record review, we evaluated potential risk factors for severe disease, defined as ICU admission, 30-day readmission, and hospital length of stay (LOS). Two hundred sixteen of 1119 participants had PCR-confirmed influenza. Frailty score, Charlson score and tertile of prior-year healthcare visits were associated with LOS. Charlson score >2 (OR 1.5 (1.0–2.3)) was associated with ICU admission. Highest tertile of prior-year visits (OR 0.3 (0.2–0.7)) was associated with decreased ICU admission. Increasing tertile of visits (OR 1.5 (1.2–1.8)) was associated with 30-day readmission. Frailty and prior-year healthcare visits were associated with 30-day readmission among influenza-positive participants. Neuraminidase inhibitors were associated with decreased LOS among vaccinated participants with influenza A (HR 1.6 (1.0–2.4)). Overall, frailty and lack of prior-year healthcare visits were predictors of disease severity. Neuraminidase inhibitors were associated with reduced severity among vaccine recipients.
Effect of exogenous transforming growth factor β1 (TGF-β1) on early bovine embryo development
Authors: Barrera Antonio D. , García Elina V. , Miceli Dora C. 
Published: June 2018

SummaryDuring preimplantation development, embryos are exposed and have the capacity to respond to different growth factors present in the maternal environment. Among these factors, transforming growth factor β1 (TGF-β1) is a well known modulator of embryonic growth and development. However, its action during the first stages of development, when the embryo transits through the oviduct, has not been yet elucidated. The objective of the present study was to examine the effect of early exposure to exogenous TGF-β1 on embryo development and expression of pluripotency (OCT4, NANOG) and DNA methylation (DNMT1, DNMT3A, DNMT3B) genes in bovine embryos produced in vitro. First, gene expression analysis of TGF-β receptors confirmed a stage-specific expression pattern, showing greater mRNA abundance of TGFBR1 and TGFBR2 from the 2- to the 8-cell stage, before embryonic genome activation. Second, embryo culture for the first 48 h in serum-free CR1aa medium supplemented with 50 or 100 ng/ml recombinant TGF-β1 did not affect the cleavage and blastocyst rate (days 7 and 8). However, RT-qPCR analysis showed a significant increase in the relative abundance of NANOG and DNMT3A in the 8-cell stage embryos and expanded blastocysts (day 8) derived from TGF-β1 treated embryos. These results suggest an early action of exogenous TGF-β1 on the bovine embryo, highlighting the importance to provide a more comprehensive understanding of the role of TGF-β signalling during early embryogenesis.
The urokinase plasminogen activator system components are regulated by vascular endothelial growth factor D in bovine oviduct
Authors: García Daniela C. , Russo-Maenza Agostina , Miceli Dora C. , Valdecantos Pablo A. , Roldán-Olarte Mariela 
Published: June 2018

SummaryThe mammalian oviduct plays a pivotal role in the success of early reproductive events. The urokinase plasminogen activator system (uPAS) is present in the bovine oviduct and is involved in extracellular matrix remodelling through plasmin generation. This system can be regulated by several members of the vascular endothelial growth factors (VEGF) and their receptors. In this study, the VEGF-D effect on the regulation of uPAS was evaluated. First, RT-polymerase chain reaction (PCR) analyses were used to evidence the expression of VEGF-D and its receptors in oviductal epithelial cells (BOEC). VEGF-D, VEGFR2 and VEGFR3 transcripts were found in ex vivo and in vitro BOEC, while only VEGFR2 mRNA was present after in vitro conditions. VEGF-D showed a regulatory effect on uPAS gene expression in a dose-dependent manner, inducing an increase in the expression of both uPA and its receptor (uPAR) at 24 h post-induction and decreases in the expression of its inhibitor (PAI-1). In addition, the regulation of cell migration induced by VEGF-D and uPA in BOEC monolayer cultures was analyzed. The wound areas of monolayer cultures incubated with VEGF-D 10 ng/ml or uPA 10 nM were modified and significant differences were found at 24 h for both stimulations. These results indicated that uPAS and VEGF-D systems can modify the arrangement of the bovine oviductal epithelium and contribute to the correct maintenance of the oviductal microenvironment.
PHOTOFOCUSING OF MICROORGANISMS SWIMMING IN A FLOW WITH SHEAR
Authors: CLARKE R. J. 
Published: June 2018

Some swimming microorganisms are sensitive to light, and this can affect the way in which they negotiate their environment. In particular, photophobic cells are repelled from unfavourable light conditions, and in a quiescent fluid environment this can be observed as elevated cell levels in regions away from these light conditions. This photoresponsive effect is of interest due to its potential technological applications. For example, the use of light to focus and direct cells could be used as a convenient means to separate out the algae used in biofuel production (for example, hydrogen), or exploited within devices for biodetection of environmental contaminants. However, in these types of situations the swimming cells will usually be suspended in a flow with shear. In this environment, it has previously been shown that cells can become hydrodynamically trapped in regions of high fluid shear, and so the extent to which photofocusing can occur under these conditions is not immediately clear. Moreover, in applications where the light must pass through appreciable volumes of the suspension, cells will typically absorb light and so shade each other from the illumination. As such, the intensity at any point in the flow is dependent upon the global cell concentration. Hence, in this study we model the coupled influence of fluid shear and cell photosensitivity on a suspension of swimming microorganisms, and ask under what circumstances a suspension of photophobic cells might be focused into high concentration regions.
Tobacco and electronic cigarette products: awareness, cessation attitudes, and behaviours among general practitioners
Authors: Mughal Faraz , Rashid Ahmed , Jawad Mohammed 
Published: June 2018

AbstractBackgroundLittle is known around how general practitioners (GP) approach tobacco products beyond traditional cigarettes.AimTo examine GP perceptions of tobacco and electronic cigarette (EC) products, and their attitudes and behaviours towards product cessation.MethodA 13-item self-completed anonymous questionnaire measured awareness of waterpipe tobacco smoking (WTS) and smokeless tobacco (ST). Cessation advice provision, referral to cessation services, and the harm perception of these products were asked using five-point Likert scales that were dichotomised on analysis. Correlates of cessation advice were analysed using regression models.FindingsWe analysed 312 responses, of whom 63% were aware of WTS and between 5–32% were aware of ST products. WTS and ST were considered less harmful than cigarettes by 82 and 68% of GPs, respectively. WTS, ST, and EC users were less advised (P<0.001) and referred (P<0.001) to cessation services compared to cigarette users. Ethnic minority and senior GPs were more likely to provide cessation advice for WTS and ST users compared to younger white GPs. GPs who were recent tobacco users were less likely to give cessation advice to cigarette users (adjusted odds ratios 0.17, 95% confidence interval 0.03–0.99, P<0.049).Conclusions (implications for practice and research)GPs had lower harm perception, gave less cessation advice, and made less referrals for WTS and ST users compared to cigarettes. Our findings highlight the need for targeted tobacco education in general practice. More research is needed to explore GP perceptions in depth as well as patient perspectives.
A post-colonial legal approach to the Chagos case and the (dis)application of land rights norms
Authors: Bhatt Kinnari 
Published: June 2018

AbstractOne way of understanding the exile of the Chagos Islanders and their inability to return to their ancestral land is through a reading of the case from a perspective of post-colonial legal scholarship. Chagossians have strong legal rights to land and remedies of compensation and return through a purposive application of the international legal definition of Indigenous, Magna Carta right to abode and international human rights law that could address their dispossession. Yet, the inability of those rights to be meaningfully applied has been constrained because of the post-colonial way they are legally interpreted, creating a legal vacuum in which basic fairness and substantive equality have been routinely compromised. Drawing attention to the continued legal denial of return in the context of decolonisation, ongoing colonialism and the rule of law makes sense of the legal record and explains the expulsion of the islanders despite the moral merits of return.
The Size and Emergence of Geochemical Heterogeneities in the Hawaiian Mantle Plume Constrained by Sr‐Nd‐Hf Isotopic Variation Over ∼47 Million Years
Authors: Harrison L. N. , Weis D. 
Published: June 2018

AbstractThe Hawaiian‐Emperor chain is the ∼6,000 km long surface expression of the deeply sourced Hawaiian mantle plume active over the past ∼81 Myr. The Hawaiian Islands (<∼6.5 Ma) present two geographically and geochemically distinct trends, Kea and Loa, while the Emperor Seamounts (>81–47 Ma) show only Kea compositions. New Sr‐Nd‐Hf isotope, trace and major element data of 23 Northwest Hawaiian Ridge (∼47–6.5 Ma) shield‐stage tholeiitic basalts analyzed in this study fill a critical gap and show both Kea and Loa compositions. A logistic regression model fit to a high‐quality isotopic database of Hawaiian Island basalts is used to predict Loa‐type or Kea‐type affinity of new NWHR isotope analyses. Daikakuji, Mokumanamana, West Nīhoa, Nīhoa, and Middle Bank erupt Loa‐type compositions, a finding corroborated by their geochemical characteristics (e.g., low Th/La, CaO/Al2O3, and high Sr/Nb, Zr/Nb, SiO2). Participation of the Loa composition gradually increases toward the Hawaiian Islands with time and there is no evidence for the presence of the Lō‘ihi component along the NWHR or before ∼1 Myr. A new Hf‐Nd Hawaiian array is calculated based on an up‐to‐date extended Hawaiian Island basalt database (n = 403). The NWHR array is slightly steeper than the Hawaiian array, suggesting minimal participation of the high Hf isotopic source component present in Hawaiian Island volcanoes before ∼6.5 Ma. This study fills a significant geochemical data gap in the Hawaiian‐Emperor seamount chain, and shows that Hawaiian plume chemistry evolves significantly with time as the plume samples different deep mantle reservoirs.
The Surface Roughness of Large Craters on Mercury
Authors: Susorney Hannah C. M. , Barnouin Olivier S. , Ernst Carolyn M. , Stickle Angela M. 
Published: June 2018

AbstractThis study investigates how individual large craters on Mercury (diameters of 25–200 km) can produce surface roughness over a range of baselines (the spatial horizontal scale) from 0.5 to 250 km. Surface roughness is a statistical measure of change in surface height over a baseline usually after topography has been detrended. We use root mean square deviation as our measure of surface roughness. Observations of large craters on Mercury at baselines of 0.5–10 km found higher surface roughness values at the central uplifts, rims, and exteriors of craters, while the crater floors exhibit the lowest roughness values. At baselines <10 km, the regions exterior to large craters with diameters >80 km have the highest surface roughness values. These regions, which include the ejecta and secondary fields, are the main contributors to the increased surface roughness observed in high‐crater density regions. For baselines larger than 10 km, the crater cavity itself is the main contributor to surface roughness. We used a suite of numerical models, utilizing the measured surface roughness obtained in the study, to model the cumulative effect of adding large craters to a surface. The results indicate that not all of the surface roughness on Mercury is due to fresh large craters but that impact craters likely contribute to the Hurst exponent from baselines of 0.5–1.5 km and the shape of the deviogram. The simulations show that the surface roughness varied around an asymptote at the baselines studied before the surface was covered in impact craters.
Relationship Between Orogenic Gold Mineralization and Crustal Shearing Along Ailaoshan‐Red River Belt, Southeastern Tibetan Plateau: New Constraint From Paleomagnetism
Authors: Gao Liang , Wang Qingfei , Deng Jun , Zhang Shihong , Yang Zhenyu 
Published: June 2018

AbstractA new perspective on the relationship between orogenic gold mineralization and crustal shearing is presented in this case study on the gold deposits along Ailaoshan‐Red River shear zone (ARSZ), southeastern Tibetan Plateau. The sinistral ductile shearing along the zone occurred from ca. 31 to 17 Ma resulting in a displacement of ~1,000 km. A series of orogenic gold deposits, represented by the Zhenyuan and Chang'an deposits, occur on western margin of the ARSZ. The timing of mineralization and its relationship to shearing continues to be debated despite extensive geological and geochemical studies. Here we try to clarify this issue by using paleomagnetism to constrain the paleolatitude of mineralized rocks. High temperature magnetization components were isolated from the mineralized rocks, and they record modification by ore‐forming fluid. Their magnetization yields a paleolatitude of 19.9° ± 3.6°N for the Zhenyuan deposit and 16.2° ± 2.9°N for the Chang'an deposit. The paleolatitudes from these deposits are similar to those of ca. 20 Ma strata (19.0° ± 3.6°N), deposited after the large‐scale shearing. By contrast, they differ significantly from the paleolatitude obtained from ca. 130 to 40 Ma strata (28.4° ± 1.1°N), which formed long before the onset of large‐scale shearing. These observations imply that the orogenic gold mineralization occurred after the main offset and associated ductile deformation of the ARSZ. Gold mineralization is thought to be related to ore‐forming fluids and metals derived from the subcrust, rather than from fluids released from shearing‐induced metamorphism of regional strata.
Simultaneous Regional Detection of Land‐Use Changes and Elevated GHG Levels: The Case of Spring Precipitation in Tropical South America
Authors: Barkhordarian Armineh , von Storch Hans , Behrangi Ali , Loikith Paul C. , Mechoso Carlos R. , Detzer Judah 
Published: June 2018

AbstractA decline in dry season precipitation over tropical South America has a large impact on ecosystem health of the region. Results here indicate that the magnitude of negative trends in dry season precipitation in the past decades exceeds the estimated range of trends due to natural variability of the climate system defined in both the preindustrial climate and during the 850–1850 millennium. The observed drying is associated with an increase in vapor pressure deficit. The univariate detection analysis shows that greenhouse gas (GHG) forcing has a systematic influence in negative 30‐year trends of precipitation ending in 1998 and later on. The bivariate attribution analysis demonstrates that forcing by elevated GHG levels and land‐use change are attributed as key causes for the observed drying during 1983–2012 over the southern Amazonia and central Brazil. We further show that the effect of GS signal (GHG and sulfate aerosols) based on RCP4.5 scenario already has a detectable influence in the observed drying. Thus, we suggest that the recently observed “drier dry season” is a feature which will continue and intensify in the course of unfolding anthropogenic climate change. Such change could have profound societal and ecosystem impacts over the region.
Identification and Characterization of Dust Source Regions Across North Africa and the Middle East Using MISR Satellite Observations
Authors: Yu Yan , Kalashnikova Olga V. , Garay Michael J. , Lee Huikyo , Notaro Michael 
Published: June 2018

AbstractMotivated by limitations in current satellite‐based dust source identification techniques, this study examines dust emissions and concentrations over North Africa and the Middle East during 2000–2016 by analyzing stereo and optical products from the Multiangle Imaging SpectroRadiometer instrument on the National Aeronautics and Space Administration polar‐orbiting Terra satellite. Based on the occurrence of fast‐moving, near‐surface dust plumes from the Multiangle Imaging SpectroRadiometer cloud motion vector product, dust sources in the study region are identified in geographical depressions, including the Bodélé Depression, which represents the leading source. The West African El Djouf desert generates substantial dust emissions, which are typically underestimated by aerosol loading‐based dust source identifications. In response to local vegetation cover anomalies, dust emissions and concentrations increased at 15% year−1 over the Middle East and decreased at 12% year−1over the central Sahel during 2001–2013 but partly recovered toward their climatological means afterward.
Geodetic Constraints of the 2017 Mw7.3 Sarpol Zahab, Iran Earthquake, and Its Implications on the Structure and Mechanics of the Northwest Zagros Thrust‐Fold Belt
Authors: Feng Wanpeng , Samsonov Sergey , Almeida Rafael , Yassaghi Ali , Li Junhua , Qiu Qiang , Li Peng , Zheng Wenjun 
Published: June 2018

AbstractWe reveal transient surface deformation following the 2017 Mw7.3 Sarpol Zahab (Iran) earthquake using Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR) measurements. Based on the coseismic interferograms derived from the Advanced Land Observing Satellite‐2 (ALOS‐2) data, the preferred slip model of the earthquake has a centroid depth of 14.5 ± 4 km and suggests that a basement fault is most likely responsible for the 2017 earthquake in the northwest Zagros fold‐thrust belt zone. Two slip asperities with a maximum slip of 6 m separated by 16 km are observed in the best fitting slip model. The accumulated afterslip in the first month after the mainshock determined from the Sentinel‐1 postseismic interferograms reveals a slip distribution that lies immediately updip of the coseismic slip, implying that frictional properties of the fault vary along the rupture patch. The Bamo Mount in the earthquake area was uplifted by approximately 1 m during the earthquake. We suggest that local topographic growth from both seismic and aseismic faulting behaviors is common within the Zagros fold‐thrust belt zone based on our findings regarding the 2017 earthquake and other significant events in the region.
An Eastward Shift of the North Pacific Oscillation After the Mid‐1990s and Its Relationship With ENSO
Authors: Yeh Sang‐Wook , Yi Dong‐Won , Sung Mi‐Kyung , Kim Young Ho 
Published: June 2018

AbstractThe North Pacific Oscillation (NPO), which is characterized by a north‐south dipole‐like pattern of sea level pressure (SLP) in the North Pacific, is an atmospheric circulation that is a key to understanding tropical‐extratropical interactions in the Pacific. We show that the center of the southern lobe SLP in the NPO during boreal winter (December‐January‐February) is shifted to the east after the mid‐1990s compared to before the mid‐1990s. This leads to the change in the relationship between the NPO and El Niño and the Southern Oscillation (ENSO). The NPO is closely associated with the convective forcing in the tropical Pacific during boreal winter before the mid‐1990s. After the mid‐1990s, in contrast, the simultaneous relationship of the NPO and ENSO during boreal winter becomes weak. However, an eastward shift of the NPO's southern lobe SLP during boreal winter causes a close relationship with the ENSO in the winter of the following year through atmosphere‐ocean coupled processes after the mid‐1990s. These results indicate that atmospheric circulation in the North Pacific characterized by the NPO becomes more influential in the tropical Pacific with a lagged time after the mid‐1990s, likely due to the eastward shift in the NPO's structure. We also briefly discuss which processes cause an eastward shift in the NPO's southern lobe SLP.
An Entrogram‐Based Approach to Describe Spatial Heterogeneity With Applications to Solute Transport in Porous Media
Authors: Bianchi Marco , Pedretti Daniele 
Published: June 2018

AbstractThe recently introduced geological entropy concept evaluates spatial order/disorder in the structure of the hydraulic conductivity (K) field to explain and predict certain characteristics of transport behavior. This concept is expanded in this work by introducing a novel tool for spatial analysis called entrogram from which a metric called entropic scale (HS) can be calculated to measure the overall persistency of patterns of spatial association in a distributed field and to allow robust comparisons between different spatial structures. The entrogram and the entropic scale concepts are applied here to investigate the link between solute transport behavior and the spatial structure of K fields modeled as the distribution of three hydrofacies in alluvial aquifers. Accurate empirical relationships are found between HS and key transport quantities confirming the clear correlation between transport and the structure of the K field described in terms of its entropic scale. The entrogram analysis is also applied to continuous 2‐D and 3‐D fields having identical lognormal K distributions, but with different connectivity. Comparisons between the entrograms and the calculated HS values for these fields, as well as for their corresponding flow velocity distributions, shed light on the key differences among these structures in 2‐D and in 3‐D, which in turn explain their dissimilar impact on solute transport. The entrogram‐based interpretation of the transport simulations seems to confirm that the geological entropy is a promising approach for predicting solute transport behavior simply from a description of the K field heterogeneity.