bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Evaluation of digital cryotherapy using a commercially available sleeve style ice boot in healthy horses and horses receiving i.v. endotoxin
Authors: Burke M. J. , Tomlinson J. E. , Blikslager A. T. , Johnson A. L. , Dallap‐Schaer B. L. 
Published: April 2018

SummaryBackgroundContinuous digital cryotherapy experimentally prevents development and reduces severity of sepsis‐associated laminitis. A sleeve style ice boot where ice is in direct contact with the skin, and water drains from the boot is being used clinically for distal limb cryotherapy. The degree of cooling achieved by this boot is unknown.ObjectivesEvaluate skin and lamellar cooling after application of the ice sleeve in healthy horses, and the same horses during an endotoxaemia model.Study designProspective study, crossover design.MethodsIn eight healthy horses thermocouples were inserted into dorsal lamellae of both front feet, and under skin on both metacarpi. One forelimb received cryotherapy using sleeve style ice boot, with contralateral limb as control. Temperature was recorded on data logging devices at 5 min intervals during each cryotherapy session. Day 1: temperature data was collected for healthy horses. Day 2: data was collected for the same horses during i.v. administration of endotoxin.ResultsIn healthy and endotoxaemic horses, the sleeve style ice boot significantly decreased mean skin (7.2°C and 5.8°C respectively) and lamellar (10.8°C and 9.6°C respectively) temperatures compared with control limbs (P<0.001). Skin and lamellar temperatures in endotoxaemic horses undergoing cryotherapy were significantly colder than in healthy horses (P = 0.01).Main limitationsOrder of treatment not randomised.ConclusionsThe boot caused significant decreases in lamellar temperatures compared with untreated control limbs in all horses. Endotoxaemic horses had significantly colder lamellae and skin than healthy horses. This study is the first to show that a sleeve style boot, where ice does not cover the hoof, can cause significant decreases in lamellar temperatures through cooling of blood as it travels to the foot.
Lipidomics for translational skin research: A primer for the uninitiated
Authors: Kendall Alexandra C. , Koszyczarek Marta M. , Jones Emrys A. , Hart Philippa J. , Towers Mark , Griffiths Christopher E. M. , Morris Michael , Nicolaou Anna 
Published: April 2018

AbstractHealthy skin depends on a unique lipid profile to form a barrier that confers protection and prevents excessive water loss, aids cell‐cell communication and regulates cutaneous homoeostasis and inflammation. Alterations in the cutaneous lipid profile can have severe consequences for skin health and have been implicated in numerous inflammatory skin conditions. Thus, skin lipidomics is increasingly of interest, and recent developments in mass spectrometry‐based analytical technologies can deliver in‐depth investigation of cutaneous lipids, providing insight into their role and mechanism of action. The choice of tissue sampling technique and analytical approach depends on the location and chemistry of the lipid of interest. Lipidomics can be conducted by various mass spectrometry approaches, including different chromatography and ionisation techniques. Targeted mass spectrometry is a sensitive approach for measuring low‐abundance signalling lipids, such as eicosanoids, endocannabinoids and ceramides. This approach requires specific extraction, chromatography and mass spectrometry protocols to quantitate the lipid targets. Untargeted mass spectrometry reveals global changes and allows analysis of hundreds of complex lipids across a range of lipid classes, including phospholipids, glycerophospholipids, cholesteryl esters and sphingolipids. Mass spectrometry lipid imaging, including matrix‐assisted laser desorption ionisation mass spectrometry and desorption electrospray ionisation mass spectrometry, can reveal information about abundance and anatomical distribution of lipids within a single skin sample. Skin lipidomics can provide qualitative and quantitative data on hundreds of biologically relevant lipid species with different properties and activities, all found within a single skin sample, and support translational studies exploring the involvement of lipids in skin health and disease.
A genome wide association study identifies new genes potentially associated with eyelid sagging
Authors: Laville Vincent , Le Clerc Sigrid , Ezzedine Khaled , Jdid Randa , Taing Lieng , Labib Toufik , Coulonges Cédric , Ulveling Damien , Galan Pilar , Guinot Christiane , Fezeu Leopold , Morizot Frédérique , Latreille Julie , Malvy Denis , Tschachler Erwin , Zagury Jean‐François 
Published: April 2018

AbstractSagging eyelid is considered as an outward of skin ageing and may cause medical issues. However, little is known about the factors involved in sagging eyelid. The study, which aims at determining genetic risk factors for eyelid sagging, was conducted in a cohort of 502 unrelated Caucasian women living in the Paris region. All included participants were aged between 44 and 70 years old (mean age, 57.6 years old). The severity of sagging eyelid was graded in 6 categories by a dermatologist using standardized photographs of the face. A genome wide association study adjusted on potential risk factors (including age and smoking habits) was conducted to identify genetic associations. Two single nucleotide polymorphisms in total linkage disequilibrium on chromosome 10, rs16927253 (P = 7.07 × 10‐10) and rs4746957 (P = 1.06 × 10‐8), were significantly associated with eyelid sagging severity. The rs16927253‐T and rs4746957‐A alleles showed a dominant protective effect towards eyelid sagging. These polymorphisms are located in intronic parts of the H2AFY2 gene which encodes a member of the H2A histone family and very close to the AIFM2 gene that induces apoptosis. Additionally, single nucleotide polymorphisms with a false discovery rate below 0.25 were located nearby the type XIII collagen COL13A1 gene on chromosome 10 and in the ADAMTS18 gene on chromosome 16. Several relevant genes were identified by the genome wide association study for their potential role in the sagging eyelid severity.
Understanding Emotion Socialization Through Naturalistic Observations of Parent–Child Interactions
Authors: Sperling Jacqueline , Repetti Rena L. 
Published: April 2018

ObjectiveTo describe children's emotion expressions, parent behavioral responses to their negative emotions, and children's subsequent emotional reactions.BackgroundPast research typically has used questionnaires and structured laboratory studies to understand these constructs. The present study, by contrast, was designed to investigate how these behaviors unfold during families' everyday lives.MethodThirty‐one families were recorded going about their daily lives as part of a larger study of the everyday lives of families; footage of a parent and target child (8–12 years of age) together on screen was divided into 30‐second clips (N = 15,071). Children's expressions of positive and negative emotion were identified, and parent emotion coaching responses (those theorized to encourage emotion expression) and emotion dismissing responses (behaviors postulated to discourage emotion expression) to children's negative affective displays were coded.ResultsMultilevel modeling results indicated that children were more likely to react with negative emotion following parents' critical statements and negative commands. However, parent ignoring increased the likelihood of positive or neutral emotional reactions.ConclusionAlthough sometimes classified as a dismissing response, parent ignoring may facilitate opportunities to practice emotion regulation.ImplicationsThese naturalistic observations can help to inform parent training programs about differential responses to children's expressions of negative affect.
Structure and dynamics of plant TatA in micelles and lipid bilayers studied by solution NMR
Authors: Pettersson Pontus , Ye Weihua , Jakob Mario , Tannert Franzisca , Klösgen Ralf Bernd , Mäler Lena 
Published: April 2018

The twin‐arginine translocase (Tat) transports folded proteins across the cytoplasmic membrane of prokaryotes and the thylakoid membrane of plant chloroplasts. In Gram‐negative bacteria and chloroplasts, the translocon consists of three subunits, TatA, TatB, and TatC, of which TatA is responsible for the actual membrane translocation of the substrate. Herein we report on the structure, dynamics, and lipid interactions of a fully functional C‐terminally truncated ‘core TatA’ from Arabidopsis thaliana using solution‐state NMR. Our results show that TatA consists of a short N‐terminal transmembrane helix (TMH), a short connecting linker (hinge) and a long region with propensity to form an amphiphilic helix (APH). The dynamics of TatA were characterized using 15N relaxation NMR in combination with model‐free analysis. The TMH has order parameters characteristic of a well‐structured helix, the hinge is somewhat less rigid, while the APH has lower order parameters indicating structural flexibility. The TMH is short with a surprisingly low protection from solvent, and only the first part of the APH is protected to some extent. In order to uncover possible differences in TatA's structure and dynamics in detergent compared to in a lipid bilayer, fast‐tumbling bicelles and large unilamellar vesicles were used. Results indicate that the helicity of TatA increases in both the TMH and APH in the presence of lipids, and that the N‐terminal part of the TMH is significantly more rigid. The results indicate that plant TatA has a significant structural plasticity and a capability to adapt to local environments.
A skeptical appraisal of the bootstrap approach in fund performance evaluation
Authors: Zhang Huazhu , Yan Cheng 
Published: April 2018

AbstractIt has become standard practice in the fund performance evaluation literature to use the bootstrap approach to distinguish “skills” from “luck”, while its reliability has not been subject to rigorous statistical analysis. This paper reviews and critiques the bootstrap schemes used in the literature, and provides a simulation analysis of the validity and reliability of the bootstrap approach by applying it to evaluating the performance of hypothetical funds under various assumptions. We argue that this approach can be misleading, regardless of using alpha estimates or their t‐statistics. While alternative bootstrap schemes can result in improvements, they are not foolproof either. The case can be worse if the benchmark model is misspecified. It is therefore only with caution that we can use the bootstrap approach to evaluate the performance of funds and we offer some suggestions for improving it.
Conserving rare species can have high opportunity costs for common species
Authors: Neeson Thomas M. , Doran Patrick J. , Ferris Michael C. , Fitzpatrick Kimberly B. , Herbert Matthew , Khoury Mary , Moody Allison T. , Ross Jared , Yacobson Eugene , McIntyre Peter B. 
Published: April 2018

AbstractConservation practitioners face difficult choices in apportioning limited resources between rare species (to ensure their existence) and common species (to ensure their abundance and ecosystem contributions). We quantified the opportunity costs of conserving rare species of migratory fishes in the context of removing dams and retrofitting road culverts across 1,883 tributaries of the North American Great Lakes. Our optimization models show that maximizing total habitat gains across species can be very efficient in terms of benefits achieved per dollar spent, but disproportionately benefits common species. Conservation approaches that target rare species, or that ensure some benefits for every species (i.e., complementarity) enable strategic allocation of resources among species but reduce aggregate habitat gains. Thus, small habitat gains for the rarest species necessarily come at the expense of more than 20 times as much habitat for common ones. These opportunity costs are likely to occur in many ecosystems because range limits and conservation costs often vary widely among species. Given that common species worldwide are declining more rapidly than rare ones within major taxa, our findings provide incentive for triage among multiple worthy conservation targets.
Hydraulic redistribution affects modeled carbon cycling via soil microbial activity and suppressed fire
Authors: Fu Congsheng , Wang Guiling , Bible Kenneth , Goulden Michael L. , Saleska Scott R. , Scott Russell L. , Cardon Zoe G. 
Published: April 2018

AbstractHydraulic redistribution (HR) of water from moist to drier soils, through plant roots, occurs world‐wide in seasonally dry ecosystems. Although the influence of HR on landscape hydrology and plant water use has been amply demonstrated, HR's effects on microbe‐controlled processes sensitive to soil moisture, including carbon and nutrient cycling at ecosystem scales, remain difficult to observe in the field and have not been integrated into a predictive framework. We incorporated a representation of HR into the Community Land Model (CLM4.5) and found the new model improved predictions of water, energy, and system‐scale carbon fluxes observed by eddy covariance at four seasonally dry yet ecologically diverse temperate and tropical AmeriFlux sites. Modeled plant productivity and microbial activities were differentially stimulated by upward HR, resulting at times in increased plant demand outstripping increased nutrient supply. Modeled plant productivity and microbial activities were diminished by downward HR. Overall, inclusion of HR tended to increase modeled annual ecosystem uptake of CO2 (or reduce annual CO2 release to the atmosphere). Moreover, engagement of CLM4.5′s ground‐truthed fire module indicated that though HR increased modeled fuel load at all four sites, upward HR also moistened surface soil and hydrated vegetation sufficiently to limit the modeled spread of dry season fire and concomitant very large CO2 emissions to the atmosphere. Historically, fire has been a dominant ecological force in many seasonally dry ecosystems, and intensification of soil drought and altered precipitation regimes are expected for seasonally dry ecosystems in the future. HR may play an increasingly important role mitigating development of extreme soil water potential gradients and associated limitations on plant and soil microbial activities, and may inhibit the spread of fire in seasonally dry ecosystems.
Not only trees: Grasses determine African tropical biome distributions via water limitation and fire
Authors: D'Onofrio Donatella , von Hardenberg Jost , Baudena Mara 
Published: April 2018

AbstractAimAlthough much tropical ecology generally focuses on trees, grasses are fundamental for characterizing the extensive tropical grassy biomes (TGBs) and, together with the tree functional types, for determining the contrasting functional patterns of TGBs and tropical forests (TFs). To study the factors that determine African biome distribution and the transitions between them, we performed the first continental analysis to include grass and tree functional types.LocationSub‐Saharan Africa.Time period2000–2010.Major taxa studiedSavanna and forest trees and C4 grasses.MethodsWe combined remote‐sensing data with a land cover map, using tree functional types to identify TGBs and TFs. We analysed the relationships of grass and tree cover with fire interval, rainfall annual average and seasonality.ResultsIn TGBs experiencing < 630 mm annual rainfall, grass growth was water limited. Grass cover and fire recurrence were strongly and directly related over the entire subcontinent. Some TGBs and TFs with annual rainfall > 1,200 mm had the same rainfall seasonality but displayed strongly different fire regimes.Main conclusionsWater limitation to grass growth was fundamental in the driest TGBs, acting alongside the well‐known limitation to tree growth. Marked differences in fire regimes across all biomes indicated that fire was especially relevant for maintaining mesic and humid TGBs. At high rainfall, our results support the hypothesis of TGBs and TFs being alternative stable states maintained by a vegetation–fire feedback for similar climatic conditions.
Predictors of student success in Higher Education: Secondary school internal scores versus national exams
Authors: Cerdeira José Miguel , Nunes Luis Catela , Reis Ana Balcão , Seabra Carmo 
Published: April 2018

AbstractIn many countries entrance to Higher Education is determined by the performance of students in secondary school and/or the scores obtained in national exams. The relative weight of these two scores on the admission decision is a relevant policy topic, given its implication on who is admitted to university. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relative predictive power of these two measures on the academic performance of students in Higher Education. It makes use of a dataset of Bachelor students from Portuguese Higher Education institutions with detailed information about their characteristics and past achievement results. The measure of academic achievement considered is the Bachelor's final average score. The main finding is that the scores given by teachers in secondary school are better predictors of subsequent performance than the access exam scores. The relevance of factors like working status, social support and gender vary with the reputation of the degree and the type of Higher Education institution, university versus polytechnic. A noteworthy result is that the added predictive contribution of parents' education is always negligible when past success measures are already taken into account.
Solidarity and cost management: Swiss citizens' reasons for priorities regarding health insurance coverage
Authors: Schindler Mélinée , Danis Marion , Goold Susan D , Hurst Samia A 
Published: April 2018

AbstractContextApproaches to priority‐setting for scarce resources have shifted to public deliberation as trade‐offs become more difficult. We report results of a qualitative analysis of public deliberation in Switzerland, a country with high health‐care costs, an individual health insurance mandate and a strong tradition of direct democracy with frequent votes related to health care.MethodsWe adapted the Choosing Healthplans All Together (CHAT) tool, an exercise developed to transform complex health‐care allocation decisions into easily understandable choices, for use in Switzerland. We conducted focus groups in twelve Swiss cities, recruiting from a range of socio‐economic backgrounds in the three language regions.FindingsParticipants developed strategic arguments based on the importance of basic coverage for all, and of cost‐benefit evaluation. They also expressed arguments relying on a principle of solidarity, in particular the importance of protection for vulnerable groups, and on the importance of medical care. They struggled with the place of personal responsibility in coverage decisions. In commenting on the exercise, participants found the degree of consensus despite differing opinions surprising and valuable.ConclusionThe Swiss population is particularly attentive to the costs of health care and means of reducing these costs. Swiss citizens are capable of making trade‐offs and setting priorities for complex health issues.
Reciprocal relationships and the importance of feedback in patient and public involvement: A mixed methods study
Authors: Mathie Elspeth , Wythe Helena , Munday Diane , Millac Paul , Rhodes Graham , Roberts Nick , Smeeton Nigel , Poland Fiona , Jones Julia 
Published: April 2018

AbstractBackgroundReciprocal relationships between researchers and patient and public involvement (PPI) contributors can enable successful PPI in research. However, research and anecdotal evidence suggest that researchers do not commonly provide feedback to PPI contributors thus preventing them from knowing whether, how or where their contributions were useful to researchers and research overall.AimsThe aim of this study was to explore the variation, types, importance of, and satisfaction with feedback given by researchers to PPI contributors in six PPI groups in England, and identify the barriers to the process of feedback.MethodsAn explanatory mixed methods sequential study design with a questionnaire survey followed by semi‐structured interviews with researchers and PPI contributors in six PPI groups. PPI contributors were involved in all stages of the research process.ResultsResearchers do not routinely give feedback to PPI contributors. Feedback was found to have different meanings: an acknowledgement, impact and study success and progress. PPI contributors who receive feedback are motivated for further involvement; it supports their learning and development and prompts researchers to reflect on PPI impact. The importance of the role of a PPI lead or coordinator to facilitate the process of providing feedback was also highlighted.ConclusionThis study found no generic way to give feedback indicating that mutual feedback expectations should be discussed at the outset. PPI feedback needs to become integral to the research process with appropriate time and resources allocated. PPI feedback can be seen as a key indicator of mature, embedded PPI in research.
Mindful organizing in patients' contributions to primary care medication safety
Authors: Phipps Denham L. , Giles Sally , Lewis Penny J. , Marsden Kate S. , Salema Ndeshi , Jeffries Mark , Avery Anthony J. , Ashcroft Darren M. 
Published: April 2018

AbstractBackgroundThere is a need to ensure that the risks associated with medication usage in primary health care are controlled. To maintain an understanding of the risks, health‐care organizations may engage in a process known as “mindful organizing.” While this is typically conceived of as involving organizational members, it may in the health‐care context also include patients. Our study aimed to examine ways in which patients might contribute to mindful organizing with respect to primary care medication safety.MethodQualitative focus groups and interviews were carried out with 126 members of the public in North West England and the East Midlands. Participants were taking medicines for a long‐term health condition, were taking several medicines, had previously encountered problems with their medication or were caring for another person in any of these categories. Participants described their experiences of dealing with medication‐related concerns. The transcripts were analysed using a thematic method.ResultsWe identified 4 themes to explain patient behaviour associated with mindful organizing: knowledge about clinical or system issues; artefacts that facilitate control of medication risks; communication with health‐care professionals; and the relationship between patients and the health‐care system (in particular, mutual trust).ConclusionsMindful organizing is potentially useful for framing patient involvement in safety, although there are some conceptual and practical issues to be addressed before it can be fully exploited in this setting. We have identified factors that influence (and are strengthened by) patients’ engagement in mindful organizing, and as such would be a useful focus of efforts to support patient involvement.