bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Experimental investigation of coherent structures of a three-dimensional separated turbulent boundary layer
Authors: Elyasi Mohammad , Ghaemi Sina 
Published: November 2018

Coherent structures of a three-dimensional (3D) separation due to an adverse pressure gradient are investigated experimentally. The flow set-up consists of a flat plate to develop a turbulent boundary layer upstream of an asymmetric two-dimensional diffuser with one diverging surface. The diffuser surface has an initial mild curvature followed by a flat section where flow separation occurs. The top and the two sidewalls of the diffuser are not equipped with any flow control mechanism to form a 3D separation. Planar particle image velocimetry (PIV) using four side-by-side cameras is applied to characterize the flow with high spatial resolution over a large streamwise-wall-normal field of view (FOV). Tomographic PIV (tomo-PIV) is also applied for volumetric measurement in a domain flush with the flat surface of the diffuser. The mean flow obtained from averaging instantaneous velocity fields of this intermittent unsteady flow appears as a vortex with an elliptical cross-section. The major axis of the ellipse is tilted with respect to the streamwise direction. As a result, the average velocity in the mid-span of the diffuser has an upstream forward flow and a downstream backward flow, separated by a point of zero wall shear stress. Sweep motions mainly carry out transport of turbulent kinetic energy upstream of this point, while ejections dominate at the downstream region. In the instantaneous flow fields, forward and backward flows have equivalent strength, and the separation front is extended in the spanwise direction. The conditional average of the separation instants forms a saddle-point structure with streamlines converging in the spanwise direction. Proper orthogonal decomposition (POD) of the tomo-PIV data demonstrates that about 42 % of the turbulent kinetic energy is present in the first pair of modes, with a strong spanwise component. The spatial modes of POD also show focus, node and saddle-point structures. The average of the coefficients of the dominant POD modes during the separation events is used to develop a reduced-order model (ROM). Based on the ROM, the instantaneous 3D separation over the diffuser is a saddle-point structure interacting with focus-type structures.
Reconstructing spatially variable mass balances from past ice extents by inverse modeling
Authors: VIŠNJEVIĆ VJERAN , HERMAN FRÉDÉRIC , PODLADCHIKOV YURY 
Published: November 2018

ABSTRACTWith the conclusion of the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM), about 20 000 years ago, ended the most recent long-lasting cold phase in Earth history. This last glacial advance left a strong observable imprint on the landscape, such as moraines, trimlines and other glacial geomorphic features. These features reflect the extent of former glaciers and ice caps, which in turn provides information on past temperature and precipitation conditions. Here we present an inverse approach to reconstruct the equilibrium line altitudes (E) from observed ice extents. The ice-flow model is developed solving the mass conservation equation using the shallow ice approximation and implemented using Graphical Processing Units (GPUs). We present the theoretical basis of the inversion method, which relies on a Tikhonov regularization, and demonstrate its ability to constrain spatial variations in mass balance with idealized and real glaciers.
Choosing the number of groups in a latent stochastic blockmodel for dynamic networks
Authors: RASTELLI RICCARDO , LATOUCHE PIERRE , FRIEL NIAL 
Published: November 2018

AbstractLatent stochastic blockmodels are flexible statistical models that are widely used in social network analysis. In recent years, efforts have been made to extend these models to temporal dynamic networks, whereby the connections between nodes are observed at a number of different times. In this paper, we propose a new Bayesian framework to characterize the construction of connections. We rely on a Markovian property to describe the evolution of nodes' cluster memberships over time. We recast the problem of clustering the nodes of the network into a model-based context, showing that the integrated completed likelihood can be evaluated analytically for a number of likelihood models. Then, we propose a scalable greedy algorithm to maximize this quantity, thereby estimating both the optimal partition and the ideal number of groups in a single inferential framework. Finally, we propose applications of our methodology to both real and artificial datasets.
The Radiocarbon Ages of Different Organic Components in the Mires of Eastern Australia
Authors: Martin Len , Goff James , Jacobsen Geraldine , Mooney Scott 
Published: November 2018

ABSTRACTRadiocarbon (14C) dating is widely used to determine the age of organic material in palaeoenvironmental research. Here we compare 14C dates (n=17) resulting from macro-charcoal (>250 μm), short-lived plant macrofossils and pollen-rich residues isolated from two mire environments in eastern Australia. In most samples we found that short-lived plant macrofossils were the youngest organic component, the charcoal samples most often fell into the middle and the pollen-rich residues consistently returned older dates than the other samples. Although pollen-rich residues have been widely used for 14C dating in Australasia we suggest some caution in their use, perhaps because in our fire-prone environments these samples often also contain fine charcoal and other oxidative resistant organic matter that is older than the surrounding sediment matrix. The macro-charcoal samples also often returned older calibrated ages compared to short-lived plant macrofossils from the same depth, although this difference was relatively small (<245 years). Our results demonstrate that 14C dating of short-lived plant macrofossils are likely to yield more accurate chronologies and we advocate their routine use in palaeoenvironmental research when they are available.
Predictors of vitamin A status among pregnant women in Western Brazilian Amazon
Authors: Neves Paulo A. R. , Campos Chiara A. S. , Malta Maíra B. , Lourenço Bárbara H. , Castro Márcia C. , Cardoso Marly A. ,   for the MINA-Brazil Study Group
Published: November 2018

AbstractDetermining the predictors of serum retinol at mid-pregnancy is relevant for planning interventions aimed at improving vitamin A status of pregnant women and their offspring. This prospective study assessed predictors of serum retinol at the beginning of the third trimester of pregnancy. We enrolled 442 pregnant women living in the urban area of Cruzeiro do Sul, Western Brazilian Amazon. Demographic, socio-economic, environmental and clinical characteristics as well as obstetric history, anthropometric, dietary and biochemical data, including serum retinol, were gathered between 16 and 20 gestational weeks. Serum retinol also measured at the beginning of the third trimester of pregnancy (approximately 28 gestational weeks) was the outcome of interest. Multiple linear regression models were used to evaluate associations with the outcome. Overall, the following variables explained serum retinol at the beginning of the third trimester of pregnancy in the adjusted model (R2 = 11·1 %): seasonality (winter season – November to April; β=0·134; 95 % CI 0·063, 0·206), weekly consumption of Amazonian fruits (β=0·087; 95 % CI 0·012, 0·162) and retinol concentrations between 16 and 20 gestational weeks (β=0·045; 95 % CI 0·016, 0·074) were positively associated, whereas having a smoker in the house was negatively associated (β=–0·087; 95 % CI: –0·166, –0·009). Consumption of pro-vitamin A-rich fruits by pregnant women should be encouraged. Passive smoking may play a role in decreasing vitamin A status as a proxy of smoking exposure during pregnancy.
Gastropod parasitic nematodes (Phasmarhabditis sp.) are attracted to hyaluronic acid in snail mucus by cGMP signalling
Authors: Andrus P. , Ingle O. , Coleman T. , Rae R. 
Published: November 2018

AbstractPhasmarhabditis hermaphrodita is a parasitic nematode of terrestrial gastropods that has been formulated into a biological control agent for farmers and gardeners to kill slugs and snails. In order to locate slugs it is attracted to mucus, faeces and volatile cues; however, there is no information about whether these nematodes are attracted to snail cues. It is also unknown how wild isolates of P. hermaphrodita or different Phasmarhabditis species behave when exposed to gastropod cues. Therefore, we investigated whether P. hermaphrodita (commercial and wild isolated strains), P. neopapillosa and P. californica were attracted to mucus from several common snail species (Cepaea nemoralis, Cepaea hortensis, Arianta arbustorum and Cornu aspersum). We also examined whether snails (C. aspersum) collected from different locations around the UK differed in their attractiveness to wild isolates of P. hermaphrodita. Furthermore, we also investigated what properties of snail mucus the nematodes were attracted to, including hyaluronic acid and metal salts (FeSO4, ZnSO4, CuSO4 and MgSO4). We found that the commercial strain of P. hermaphrodita responded poorly to snail mucus compared to wild isolated strains, and C. aspersum collected from different parts of the UK differed in their attractiveness to the nematodes. We found that Phasmarhabditis nematodes were weakly attracted to all metals tested but were strongly attracted to hyaluronic acid. In a final experiment we also showed that pharmacological manipulation of cyclic guanosine monophosphate (cGMP) increased chemoattraction to snail mucus, suggesting that the protein kinase EGL-4 may be responsible for Phasmarhabditis sp. chemoattraction.
Prediction of remission in pharmacotherapy of untreated major depression: development and validation of multivariable prediction models
Authors: Furukawa Toshi A. , Kato Tadashi , Shinagawa Yoshihiro , Miki Kazuhira , Fujita Hirokazu , Tsujino Naohisa , Kondo Masaki , Inagaki Masatoshi , Yamada Mitsuhiko 
Published: November 2018

AbstractBackgroundDepression is increasingly recognized as a chronic and relapsing disorder. However, an important minority of patients who start treatment for their major depressive episode recover to euthymia. It is clinically important to be able to predict such individuals.MethodsThe study is a secondary analysis of a recently completed pragmatic megatrial examining first- and second-line treatments for hitherto untreated episodes of non-psychotic unipolar major depression (n = 2011). Using the first half of the cohort as the derivation set, we applied multiply-imputed stepwise logistic regression with backward selection to build a prediction model to predict remission, defined as scoring 4 or less on the Patient Health Quetionnaire-9 at week 9. We used three successively richer sets of predictors at baseline only, up to week 1, and up to week 3. We examined the external validity of the derived prediction models with the second half of the cohort.ResultsIn total, 37.0% (95% confidence interval 34.8–39.1%) were in remission at week 9. Only the models using data up to week 1 or 3 showed reasonable performance. Age, education, length of episode and depression severity remained in the multivariable prediction models. In the validation set, the discrimination of the prediction model was satisfactory with the area under the curve of 0.73 (0.70–0.77) and 0.82 (0.79–0.85), while the calibration was excellent with non-significant goodness-of-fit χ2 values (p = 0.41 and p = 0.29), respectively.ConclusionsPatients and clinicians can use these prediction models to estimate their predicted probability of achieving remission after acute antidepressant therapy.
Congressional capacity and the abolition of legislative service organizations
Authors: Clarke Andrew J. 
Published: November 2018

AbstractI analyse the relative influence of lawmakers before and after a watershed moment in the development of faction institutions: the abolition of legislative service organizations. Blocs of lawmakers in the House of Representatives were afforded official resources to advance their policy agendas between 1979 and 1995. In the wake of the “Republican Revolution,” however, these groups were categorically dismantled. Using a difference-in-difference design, I estimate the individual-level effect of losing congressional resources on relative legislative effectiveness. The results inform our understanding of faction power, legislative bargaining and evolving congressional institutions.
Distribution of Anticonvulsant Drugs in Gray and White Matter of Human Brain
Authors: Harvey C. D. , Sherwin A. L. , van der Kleun E. 
Published: November 2018

SummaryGray and white matter were obtained during neurosurgical therapy of focal epilepsy from 17 patients. In 10 patients, receiving only phenobarbital, the drug was uniformly distributed between gray and white matter. Phenytoin concentrations averaged 1.4-fold greater in white matter than in gray matter when expressed per gram wet weight of tissue. The gray matter/plasma ratio of phenytoin was approximately 2-fold greater than that of phenobarbital. Carbamazepine levels were also slightly greater in white matter The data revealed wide differences between drugs in the relative concentrations in gray and white matter, which must be taken into account in any quantitative studies of anticonvulsant drug levels in the brain.
Effects of Antihypertensive Drugs on Blood Velocity: Implications for Prevention of Cerebral Vascular Disease
Authors: Spence J. David 
Published: November 2018

SummaryThe treatment of high blood pressure prevents death from congestive heart failure, hypertensive nephropathy, and encephalopathy, and strokes from cerebral arteriolar disease (lacunes, hemorrhage from micro-aneurysms). However, atherosclerosis, manifested as coronary artery disease, is just as frequent a cause of death in well-controlled hypertensives as in poorly-controlled patients. Increasing evidence suggests that increased blood velocity, by causing turbulence and high shear rates at the endothelial surface of arteries, may be important in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis. Turbulence has been observed in cerebral berry aneurysms. In order to measure the effects of antihypertensive agents on blood velocity, a new method of analysing Doppler ultrasound velocity recordings has been developed. Studies in Rhesus monkeys show the following: In doses which reduce diastolic pressure by 13-28%, propranolol decreased mean blood velocity (MV) by 17%, clonidine decreased MV by 14%, while methyldopa increased MV 12%, and hydralazine increased MV by 52%. (p < .00001). It is hypothesized that enlargement of berry aneurysms, the progression of cerebral atherosclerosis, and embolism from carotid lesions might all be decreased by the selection of antihypertensive agents which decrease blood velocity.
Intracranial Aneurysms: A Clinical, Angiographic and Computerized Tomographie Study
Authors: Weir Bryce , Miller Jack , Russell Don 
Published: November 2018

SummaryFifty-six patients with 63 aneurysms were selected from a larger group of patients because they had at least one angiographic and one CT scan study. A total of 102 CT scans and 136 angiograms were analyzed. In five patients the aneurysm was visualized on the CT scan. There was a tendency for the location of the subarachnoid hemorrhage and intracerebral hematomas visualized on the CT scans to correlate with the site of the aneurysm as seen on the angiogram. The CT scan was useful in demonstrating the evolution of hydrocephalus and in differentiating hematoma from edema. The patients with normal CT scans were more likely to have good neurological grades. No single angiographic or CT scan feature correlated significantly with survival at lower than the 5 percent level.
Parkinsonism — Dementia Complex, Hydrocephalus and Paget’s Disease
Authors: Botez M. I. , Bertrand Gilles , Léveillé Jean , Marchand Luc 
Published: November 2018

SummaryA 65-year-old female patient with Paget’s disease displayed dementia, a bilateral Parkinsonian syndrome, gait ataxia, bilateral grasp reflex of the feet, urinary incontinence and a left hemicerebellar syndrome. She had a marked basilar impression; the radionuclide cisterno gram was suggestive of a communicating hydrocephalus with ventricular dilatation. After a shunting procedure there was improvement in both neurological and mental function.
Emergency with Resiliency Equals Efficiency – Challenges of an EMT-3 in Nepal
Authors: Yitzhak Avraham , Merin Ofer , Halevy Jonathan , Tarif Bader 
Published: November 2018

AbstractThe 7.8 MW (moment magnitude scale) earthquake that hit Nepal on April 25, 2015 caused significant casualties and serious damage to infrastructure.The Israeli Emergency Medical Team (IEMT; later verified as EMT-3) was deployed 80 hours after the earthquake. A Forward Disaster Scout Team (FDST) that was dispatched to the disaster area a few hours after the disaster relayed pre-deployment information.The EMT staff was comprised of 42 physicians. A total of 1,668 patients were treated. The number of non-trauma cases increased as the days went by. The hospitalization rate was 31%. Wound debridement procedures were the most common operations performed.YitzhakA, MerinO, HalevyJ, TarifB. Emergency with resiliency equals efficiency- challenges of an EMT-3 in Nepal. Prehosp Disaster Med. 2018;33(6):673–677.
Incidence and Outcomes after Out-of-Hospital Medical Emergencies in Gambia: A Case for the Integration of Prehospital Care and Emergency Medical Services in Primary Health Care
Authors: Touray Sunkaru , Sanyang Baboucarr , Zandrow Gregory , Touray Isatou 
Published: November 2018

AbstractBackgroundThe Gambia is going through a rapid epidemiologic transition with a dual disease burden of infections and non-communicable diseases occurring at the same time. Acute, time-sensitive, medical emergencies such as trauma, obstetric emergencies, respiratory failure, and stroke are leading causes of morbidity and mortality among adults in the country.ProblemData on medical emergency care and outcomes are lacking in The Gambia. Data on self-reported medical emergencies among adults in a selection of Gambian communities are presented in this report.MethodsA total of 320 individuals were surveyed from 34 communities in the greater Banjul area of The Gambia using a survey instrument estimating the incidence of acute medical emergencies in an adult population. Self-reported travel time to a health facility during medical emergencies and patterns of health-seeking behavior with regard to type of facility visited and barriers to accessing emergency care, including cost and medical insurance coverage, are presented in this report.ResultsOf the 320 individuals surveyed, 262 agreed to participate resulting in a response rate of 82%. Fifty-two percent of respondents reported an acute medical emergency in the preceding year that required urgent evaluation at a health facility. The most common facility visited during such emergencies was a health center. Eighty-seven percent of respondents reported a travel time of less than one hour during medical emergencies. Out-of-pocket cost of medications accounted for the highest expenditure during emergencies. There was a low awareness and willingness to subscribe to health insurance among individuals surveyed.Conclusion: There is a high incidence of acute medical emergencies among adults in The Gambia which are associated with adverse outcomes due to a combination of poor health literacy, high out-of-pocket expenditures on medications, and poor access to timely prehospital emergency care. There is an urgent need to develop prehospital acute care and Emergency Medical Services (EMS) in the primary health sector as part of a strategy to reduce mortality and morbidity in the country.TourayS, SanyangB, ZandrowG, TourayI. Incidence and outcomes after out-of-hospital medical emergencies in Gambia: a case for the integration of prehospital care and Emergency Medical Services in primary health care. Prehosp Disaster Med. 2018;33(6):650–657.
Dietary assessment toolkits: an overview
Authors: Dao Maria Carlota , Subar Amy F , Warthon-Medina Marisol , Cade Janet E , Burrows Tracy , Golley Rebecca K , Forouhi Nita G , Pearce Matthew , Holmes Bridget A 
Published: November 2018

AbstractObjectiveA wide variety of methods are available to assess dietary intake, each one with different strengths and weaknesses. Researchers face multiple challenges when diet and nutrition need to be accurately assessed, particularly in the selection of the most appropriate dietary assessment method for their study. The goal of the current collaborative work is to present a collection of available resources for dietary assessment implementation.Design/Setting/ParticipantsAs a follow-up to the 9th International Conference on Diet and Physical Activity Methods held in 2015, developers of dietary assessment toolkits agreed to collaborate in the preparation of the present paper, which provides an overview of each toolkit. The toolkits presented include: the Diet, Anthropometry and Physical Activity Measurement Toolkit (DAPA; UK); the National Cancer Institute’s (NCI) Dietary Assessment Primer (USA); the Nutritools website (UK); the Australasian Child and Adolescent Obesity Research Network (ACAORN) method selector (Australia); and the Danone Dietary Assessment Toolkit (DanoneDAT; France). An at-a-glance summary of features and comparison of the toolkits is provided.ResultsThe present review contains general background on dietary assessment, along with a summary of each of the included toolkits, a feature comparison table and direct links to each toolkit, all of which are freely available online.ConclusionsThis overview of dietary assessment toolkits provides comprehensive information to aid users in the selection and implementation of the most appropriate dietary assessment method, or combination of methods, with the goal of collecting the highest-quality dietary data possible.
The dynamic properties of institutional reform: an analysis of US states
Authors: Bolen J. Brandon 
Published: November 2018

AbstractDecades of research show that economic freedom is highly correlated with desirable economic outcomes both internationally and locally. Yet we still know little about the transition from low to high levels of economic freedom, particularly for institutions under local control. This research shows that while economic freedom in the United States is decreasing with regard to institutions under national control, it is increasing with regard to institutions under state and local control. Economic freedom increases gradually among the states, driven primarily by increasing labor market freedom. Decreases in economic freedom, on the other hand, occur sharply, often following stark changes to state fiscal policies.