bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
SSDs revisited: part II—practical considerations in the development and use of application factors applied to species sensitivity distributions
Authors: Belanger S.E. , Carr G.J. 
Published: April 2019

Abstract
Application factors are routinely applied in the extrapolation of laboratory aquatic toxicity data to ensure protection from exposure to chemicals in the natural environment. The magnitude of the application factor is both a scientific and a policy decision, but in any case, it should be rooted in scientific knowledge so as to not be arbitrary. Information-rich chemicals are often subjected to species sensitivity distribution (SSD) analysis to transparently describe certain aspects of assessment uncertainty and are normally subjected to much smaller application factors than screening information data sets. We describe a new set of tools useful to assess the quality of SSDs. Twenty-two data sets and 19 chemicals representing agrochemicals, biocides, surfactants, metals, and common wastewater contaminants were compiled to demonstrate how the tools can be used. “Add-one-in” and “leave-one-out” simulations were used to investigate SSD robustness and develop quantitative evidence for the use of application factors. Theoretical new toxicity data were identified for add-one-in simulations based on the expected probabilities necessary to lower the hazardous concentration to 5% of a species (HC5) by a factor of 2, 3, 5, or 10. Simulations demonstrate the basis for application factors in the range of 1 to 5 for well-studied chemicals with high-quality SSDs. Leave-one-out simulations identify the fact that the most influential values in the SSD come from the extremes of the sensitive and tolerant toxicity values. Mesocosm and field data consistently demonstrate that HC5s are conservative, further justifying the use of small application factors for high-quality SSDs. Environ Toxicol Chem 2019;38:1526–1541. © 2019 SETAC
Abstract
Species sensitivity distributions (SSDs) are useful tools in ecotoxicological hazard assessment. Application factors assigned to SSD outcomes should be a function of sample size and in-depth analysis of data inputs, statistical properties, and biological knowledge.
Following tracer through the unsaturated zone using a multiple interacting pathways model: Implications from laboratory experiments
Authors: Scaini Anna , Amvrosiadi Nino , Hissler Christophe , Pfister Laurent , Beven Keith 
Published: April 2019

AbstractModels must effectively represent velocities and celerities if they are to address the old water paradox. Celerity information is recorded indirectly in hydrograph observations, whereas velocity information is more difficult to measure and simulate effectively, requiring additional assumptions and parameters. Velocity information can be obtained from tracer experiments, but we often lack information on the influence of soil properties on tracer mobility. This study features a combined experimental and modelling approach geared towards the evaluation of different structures in the multiple interacting pathways (MIPs) model and validates the representation of velocities with laboratory tracer experiments using an undisturbed soil column. Results indicate that the soil microstructure was modified during the experiment. Soil water velocities were represented using MIPs, testing how the (a) shape of the velocity distribution, (b) transition probability matrices (TPMs), (c) presence of immobile storage, and (d) nonstationary field capacity influence the model's performance. In MIPs, the TPM controls exhanges of water between pathways. In our experiment, MIPs were able to provide a good representation of the pattern of outflow. The results show that the connectedness of the faster pathways is important for controlling the percolation of water and tracer through the soil. The best model performance was obtained with the inclusion of immobile storage, but simulations were poor under the assumption of stationary parameters. The entire experiment was adequately simulated once a time‐variable field capacity parameter was introduced, supporting the need for including the effects of soil microstructure changes observed during the experiment.
Alternative Management of Oil and Gas Produced Water Requires More Research on Its Hazards and Risks
Authors: Danforth Cloelle , McPartland Jennifer , Blotevogel Jens , Coleman Nancy , Devlin Dennis , Olsgard Mandy , Parkerton Thomas , Saunders Nichole 
Published: April 2019

Abstract
Produced water is the largest waste stream associated with oil and gas exploration and production operations. Most produced water generated onshore is managed by permitted injection in deep underground wells, but alternative disposal options including reuse are increasingly being considered. However, insufficient understanding of the composition and toxicity of produced water imposes significant constraints on effective management of potential short-term and long-term risks associated with such alternative uses. As interest builds for management options, such as surface discharge, livestock watering, irrigation, and other industrial uses, research is needed to assess produced-water hazards and exposures to both humans and the environment. This challenge affords an opportunity to capitalize on emerging risk assessment tools. Innovative and comprehensive approaches to filling data gaps and assessing produced water risks will be imperative. A group of experts from industry, academia, and government were assembled to define research needs to support objective decision making on the acceptability, or lack thereof, of produced water disposal alternatives. Presented here are key outcomes from that workshop and recommendations for a research framework to assess toxicity of produced water and associated risks from above ground discharge and reuse options. Integr Environ Assess Manag 2019;15:677–682. © 2019 SETAC.
OVERESTIMATION OF BENEFITS OF CANAL IRRIGATION PROJECTS: DECLINE OF PERFORMANCE OVER TIME CAUSED BY DETERIORATION OF CONCRETE CANAL LINING
Authors: Plusquellec Hervé 
Published: April 2019

AbstractThe paper starts with a review of the findings and recommendations of the evaluation studies at completion of the projects financed by the World Bank up to the mid‐2000s and a review of the performance of a cohort of canal projects by independent consultants and by the FAO using the rapid appraisal process methodology. All the evaluation studies confirmed that the assumptions made at appraisal were overly optimistic: crop yields, cropping intensities, overall irrigation efficiencies and economic evaluations. Not only were the efficiency values quite often largely overestimated, but many economic evaluations assumed that the overall water efficiency values would remain constant over the life of the project. There is strong evidence that hard surface linings could deteriorate within a few years and then seepage returns to that from an unlined canal. Despite the accumulated evidence of the short life of the conventional rigid lining techniques in many irrigation systems, adoption of sustainable options using long‐life geomembranes in irrigation canal lining is still very slow. The paper ends with a short discussion of that technique, which has pervaded all civil engineering disciplines except irrigation. © 2019 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
General Equation for Advance and Recession of Water in Border Irrigation
Authors: Chari Mohammad Mahdi , Davary Kamran , Ghahraman Bijan , Ziaei Ali Naghi 
Published: April 2019

AbstractAdvance and recession curves are of great importance for assessing the performance of border irrigation. In recent years, scaling techniques have helped to reduce the required measurements and to provide formulation of soil–water relations. The purpose of this study was to develop an invariant equation for calculating advance and recession curves in border irrigation using scaling techniques. The kinematic wave model and the Philip infiltration equation were used to simulate border irrigation. Scale factors were defined such that the kinematic wave equation remained independent of the initial and boundary conditions of the soil. Scaled advance and recession curves showed certain patterns, which led us to introduce a power and a binomial equation for advance and recession phases, respectively. The scaled equations were applied on 25 vegetated and non‐vegetated borders. Four performance indices were calculated for each border, including application efficiency (Ea), deep percolation ratio (DPR), tail water ratio (TWR) and water requirement efficiency (Er). Results showed that the maximum differences between measured and estimated values were 4% for Ea, 9% for DPR and 4% for Er. Considering the simplicity and soil‐condition independence of the proposed method, it can be concluded that scaled advance and recession curves could provide a reasonable estimate of border irrigation performance. © 2019 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Relations of anxiety sensitivity dimensions to nonsuicidal self‐injury frequency and versatility among patients with substance use disorders
Authors: Dixon Laura J. , Cohen Rivka T. , Baer Margaret M. , Gratz Kim L. , Tull Matthew T. 
Published: April 2019

AbstractObjectiveDespite the theoretical and empirical relevance of anxiety sensitivity (AS) to nonsuicidal self‐injury (NSSI), few studies have investigated this association. This study examined the incremental validity of AS dimensions in NSSI frequency and versatility, above and beyond emotion dysregulation and relevant covariates (racial/ethnic background, negative affectivity). AS dimensions were expected to account for additional unique variance in NSSI outcomes.MethodParticipants included 204 patients (50.5% female) with substance use disorders in residential treatment.ResultsIn this sample, 37.2% reported a history of NSSI. The hierarchical regression models revealed a unique positive association between AS social concerns and NSSI outcomes when adjusting for model variables. In contrast, AS physical concerns were uniquely negatively associated with NSSI outcomes.ConclusionFindings provide support for AS social concerns as a vulnerability for engagement in NSSI behaviors and highlight this particular AS dimension as a potential treatment target for NSSI prevention and intervention programs.
AAV9 gene replacement therapy for respiratory insufficiency in very‐long chain acyl‐CoA dehydrogenase deficiency
Authors: Zieger Marina , Keeler Allison M. , Flotte Terence R. , ElMallah Mai K. 
Published: April 2019

AbstractVery‐long chain acyl‐CoA dehydrogenase (VLCAD) deficiency (VLCADD) is an autosomal recessive disorder of fatty acid oxidation. Fatty acids are a major source of energy during catabolic stress, so the absence of VLCAD can result in a metabolic crises and respiratory insufficiency. The etiology of this respiratory insufficiency is unclear. Thus, our aims were: (1) to characterize respiratory pathophysiology in VLCADD mice (VLCAD−/−), and (2) to determine if AAV9‐mediated gene therapy improves respiratory function. For the first aim, VLCAD−/− and wild‐type (WT) mice underwent an exercise/fast “stress protocol” and awake spontaneous breathing was evaluated using whole‐body plethysmography (WBP) both at baseline and during a hypercapnic respiratory challenge (FiO2: 0.21; FiCO2: 0.07; nitrogen balance). During hypercapnia, VLCAD
−/− mice had a significantly lower frequency, tidal volume, minute ventilation, and peak inspiratory and expiratory flow, all of which indicate respiratory insufficiency. Histologically, the cardiac and respiratory muscles of stressed VLCAD
−/− animals had an accumulation of intramyocellular lipids. For the second aim, a single systemic injection of AAV9‐VLCAD gene therapy improved this respiratory pathology by normalizing breathing frequency and enhancing peak inspiratory flow. In addition, following gene therapy, there was a moderate reduction of lipid accumulation in the respiratory muscles. Furthermore, VLCAD protein expression was robust in cardiac and respiratory muscle. This was confirmed by immuno‐staining with anti‐human VLCAD antibody. In summary, stress with exercise and fasting induces respiratory insufficiency in VLCAD−/− mice and a single injection with AAV9‐VLCAD gene therapy ameliorates breathing.
Collaborative doctor–pharmacist prescribing in the emergency department and admissions unit: a study of accuracy and safety
Authors: Taylor Sally , Hale Andrew , Lewis Rebecca , Rowland Jeffrey 
Published: April 2019

AbstractPrescribing by pharmacists in a collaborative manner has been occurring in the UK for several years. There are minimal studies involving pharmacist prescribing in Australia. In the present audit, 34 medication charts (17 each from the pharmacist prescriber and medical officer) were reviewed for safety and accuracy. Medication charts written by a pharmacist were more accurate than those written by a medical officer when compared to the medication history. Discrepancies and omissions had more potential for patient harm in the charts written by the medical officer. In all, 146 orders prescribed by pharmacists and 145 orders prescribed by medical officers were reviewed for safety. Of these, 90% of orders written by the pharmacist were error free, compared with 26% written by medical officers. The incorporation of pharmacist prescribers into the admissions process has the potential to improve patient safety and decrease medication errors.
Clinical and pathological outcomes of induction chemotherapy before neoadjuvant radiotherapy in locally‐advanced rectal cancer
Authors: Hardiman Karin M. , Antunez Alexis G. , Kanters Arielle , Schuman Ari D. , Regenbogen Scott E. 
Published: April 2019

AbstractBackground and ObjectivesIn North America, preoperative combination chemoradiation is the most commonly recommended and utilized approach to locally advanced rectal cancer. There is increasing interest in the use of induction chemotherapy (IC) before radiation and surgery in locally advanced rectal cancer. How widely IC is being used and whether it improves pathologic and oncologic outcomes is unknown.MethodsWe evaluated clinical stage 2 or 3 rectal cancer patients in the National Cancer Database between 2006 and 2015. We identified predictors of use of IC with multivariable logistic regression and compared survival between groups using Cox proportional hazards regression.ResultsAmong 36 268 patients, IC use increased significantly over time from 5.5% in 2006 to 15.9% in 2015 (P < 0.001). Treatment at a hospital with a high IC rate was an independent predictor of receipt of IC. IC and traditional therapy yielded similar pathologic complete response rates (32.2% vs 30.5%,
P = 0.2) and similar 5‐year survival (82.4% vs 81.4%, 0.71).ConclusionsUse of IC for locally advanced rectal cancer has increased significantly. The choice of IC seems to be driven more by institutional and regional practice patterns than clinical characteristics and is not associated with improved pathologic or oncologic outcomes.
Arginine within a specific motif near the N‐terminal of FimY is critical for the maximal production of type 1 fimbriae in Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium
Authors: Kuan Nan‐Ling , Yeh Kuang‐Sheng 
Published: April 2019

AbstractAn important Salmonella serovar for both human and animals Salmonella Typhimurium possesses 13 gene clusters that have the potential to produce fimbrial structure, among which the type 1 fimbriae with the binding specificity to mannose residue is the most commonly found type. Six structural genes and five regulatory genes comprise the fim gene cluster that is responsible for the production of type 1 fimbriae in S. Typhimurium. The fimY gene encodes a positive regulator for type 1 fimbrial expression since a deletion in fimY abolished the production of fimbriae. The N‐terminal portion of FimY contains amino acid residues that exhibit some similarity as those found in the proteins possessing the PilZ domain, which is engaged in cyclic di‐GMP binding. A fimY allele that had a change from arginine to alanine at position 7 (R7A) or 7 and 11 (R7/11A) generated by site‐directed mutagenesis in a 6RRERH11R motif near N‐terminal, when cloned in pACYC184 and transformed into a fimY‐deleted strain, decreased the expression of fimA and fimZ. The number of type 1 fimbriae in these two transformants was also less than those of the other transformants that contained different fimY alleles in pACYC184 when observed in electron microscopy. However, changing from arginine to alanine at position 11 (R11A) remained the same as the wild‐type fimY allele. It is likely that the arginine at the 7th position of FimY is critical for its maximal activating activity upon fimZ. Another motif 83DI85SLWIEK91G motif did not affect the function of FimY. Although FimY has the two aforementioned motifs, which contain some amino acids that are present within those of the PilZ domain proteins, secondary structure prediction analysis did not reveal that FimY has a conformation commonly observed in PilZ‐like proteins. Therefore, FimY and PilZ domain proteins are not homologs. Further investigation for a detailed analysis of FimY is thus warranted.
The skills, knowledge and attributes needed as a first‐contact physiotherapist in musculoskeletal healthcare
Authors: Langridge Neil 
Published: April 2019

AbstractObjectivesThe provision of musculoskeletal assessment and pathway management by physiotherapists in primary care is an expanding innovation within the UK National Health Service. This new model of care is challenging physiotherapists to work in new ways, and so an understanding of these roles is timely and wil contribute to the growing knowledge regarding these practitioners and their impact.MethodsThis qualitative study aimed to improve the understanding of the clinical practice of first‐contact clinicians in musculoskeletal healthcare. The study used a think‐aloud method to explore eight clinicians’ views via a stage 1 semi‐structured interview process. This was followed by a stage 2 focus group involving physiotherapists and a general practitioner trainer. A thematic analysis then followed, which involved the researcher and a research colleague coding the data and subsequently developing themes.ResultsThe themes identified were: medical assessment and systems knowledge; speed of thought in an uncertain environment; breadth of knowledge; people and communication skills; common sense/simplify; and responsibility and experience.ConclusionsThe identified themes should help to underpin the competence, capability and training requirements for these new roles, and should be considered when developing new services utilizing first‐contact primary care physiotherapy practice.
Evaluation of flow dependent external costs in freight logistics networks
Authors: Ambrosino Daniela , Sciomachen Anna , Surace Chiara 
Published: April 2019

AbstractIn this paper we face a distribution problem arising in a freight logistics context. More precisely, we are involved with the containerized flow originating from maritime terminals and going to inland destinations using the road transportation network. The goal is the minimization of the total shipping costs, given by the travelled distance, vehicles and external cost components. In particular, we consider accidental and polluting costs as external negative costs. Note that the proposed externality costs depend on the amount of flow through the selected arcs in the route and their capacity; therefore, a novel stepwise function is proposed and analyzed. A deep analysis is performed for evaluating the impact of environmental externalities on the choice of the route in terms of costs and distances depending on the density of the traffic. Results of an extensive computational experimentation performed with randomly generated instances of different size and capacity values of the arcs are reported. A real case instance related to the logistics network connecting the main ports of the Liguria County (Italy) to the main inland destinations is finally proposed and analyzed.
Additive manufacturing of fire‐retardant ethylene‐vinyl acetate
Authors: Geoffroy Laura , Samyn Fabienne , Jimenez Maude , Bourbigot Serge 
Published: April 2019

Thermocompression (with also extrusion and injection molding) is a classical polymer shaping manufacturing, but it does not easily allow designing sophisticated shapes without using a complex mold, on the contrary to 3D printing (or polymer additive manufacturing), which is a very flexible technique. Among all 3D printing techniques, fused deposition modeling is of high potential for product manufacturing, with the capability to compete with conventional polymer processing techniques. This is a quite low cost 3D printing technique, but the range of filaments commercially available is limited. However, in some specific 3D printing processes, no filaments are necessary. Polymers pellets feed directly the printing nozzle allowing to investigate many polymeric matrices with no commercial limitation. This is of high interest for the design of flame‐retarded materials, but literature is scarce in that field. In this paper, a comparison between thermocompression and 3D printing processes was performed on both neat ethylene‐vinyl acetate (EVA) copolymer and EVA flame retarded with aluminum triHydroxyde (ATH) containing different loadings (30 or 65 wt%) and with expandable graphite (EG), ie, EVA/ATH (30 wt%), EVA/ATH (65 wt%), and EVA/EG (10 wt%), respectively. Morphological comparisons, using microscopic and electronic microprobe analyses, revealed that 3D printed plates have lower apparent density and higher porosity than thermocompressed plate. The fire‐retardant properties of thermocompressed and 3D printed plates were then evaluated using mass loss calorimeter test at 50 kW/m2. Results highlight that 3D printing can be used to produce flame‐retardant systems. This work is a pioneer study exploring the feasibility of using polymer additive manufacturing technology for designing efficient flame‐retarded materials.
Facile measurement of protein stability and folding kinetics using a nano differential scanning fluorimeter
Authors: Chattopadhyay Gopinath , Varadarajan Raghavan 
Published: April 2019

AbstractWith advancements in high‐throughput generation of phenotypic data on mutant proteins, it has become important to individually characterize different proteins or their variants rapidly and with minimal sample consumption. We have made use of a nano differential scanning fluorimetric device, from NanoTemper technologies, to rapidly carry out isothermal chemical denaturation and measure folding/unfolding kinetics of proteins and compared these to corresponding data obtained from conventional spectrofluorimetry. We show that using sample volumes 10‐50‐fold lower than with conventional fluorimetric techniques, one can rapidly and accurately measure thermodynamic and kinetic stability, as well as folding/unfolding kinetics. This method also facilitates characterization of proteins that are difficult to express and purify.
The measurement of volume change by capillary dilatometry
Authors: Kahn Peter C. 
Published: April 2019

AbstractCapillary dilatometry enables direct measurement of changes in volume, an extensive thermodynamic property. The results provide insight into the changes in hydration that occur upon protein folding, ligand binding, and the interactions of proteins with nucleic acids and other cellular components. Often the entropy change arising from release of hydrating solvent provides the main driving force of a binding reaction. For technical reasons, though, capillary dilatometry has not been as widely used in protein biochemistry and biophysics as other methods such as calorimetry. Described here are simple apparatus and simple methods, which bring the technique within the capacity of any laboratory. Even very simple results are shown to have implications for macromolecular‐based phenomena. Protein examples are described.