bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
FirstCryptosporidiumoutbreak in Hungary, linked to a treated recreational water venue in 2015
Authors: Plutzer J. , Kelen K. , Varga E. , Kucsera I. , Reusz G. , Szabó A. J. , Fehér Á. , Chalmers R. M. 
Published: December 2018

AbstractIn June 2015, an outbreak of cryptosporidiosis with 35 cases (23 probable and 12 laboratory-confirmed) occurred among 191 attendees of a residential rehabilitation holiday for paediatric organ transplant patients (n= 49) and their families at a hotel in Somogy county, Hungary. The overall attack rate was 18%. Most of the cases were transplanted children who experienced severe acute disease and required adjustment to their tacrolimus immunosuppression. A retrospective case-control study suggested an association between recreational water exposures and illness: cases were seven times more likely than controls to have swum in the children's pool (odds ratio 7.17; 95% confidence interval 2.9–17.2;P< 0.0001) and five times more likely to have used the jetted whirlpool (odds ratio 5.25; 95% confidence interval 2.1–13.1;P< 0.0001). This was the first outbreak of cryptosporidiosis in Hungary and it is especially unfortunate that it affected vulnerable children who experienced severe symptoms.Cryptosporidiumpresents specific infection control difficulties in treated recreational water venues; the link to a whirlpool is unusual and highlights the importance of the age-appropriate use of these facilities and reminding users not to immerse their heads or swallow the water. Cryptosporidiosis is more commonly linked to children’ pools where improved bather hygiene and promoting exclusion of diarrhoea cases could help to avoid similar outbreaks.
Apparent absence ofGiardiainfections among children under 5-years of age with acute watery diarrhoea in Abakaliki, Nigeria
Authors: Efunshile A. M. , Ezeanosike O. , Onyekachi O. N. I. , Ugwu M. I. , König B. , Robertson L. J. 
Published: December 2018

AbstractAlthough the impact of diarrhoeal disease on paediatric health in Nigeria has decreased in recent years, it remains an important cause of morbidity and mortality in children under 5 years.Rotavirusis recognised as an important aetiological agent, but information on the contribution of intestinal protozoa to watery diarrhoea in this age group in Nigeria is scarce. In this cross-sectional study, faecal samples from children admitted to healthcare centres in Abakaliki, Nigeria with acute watery diarrhoea (N= 199) and faecal samples from age-matched controls (N= 37) were examined forCryptosporidiumandGiardiausing immunofluorescent antibody testing and molecular methods.Cryptosporidiumwas identified in 13 case samples (6.5%) and no control samples. For three samples, molecular characterisation indicatedC. hominis, GP60 subtypes IaA30R3, IaA14R3 and IdA11.Giardiawas not detected in any samples. This contrast in prevalence between the two intestinal protozoa may reflect their variable epidemiologies and probably differing routes of infection. Given that these two parasitic infections are often bracketed together, it is key to realise that they not only have differing clinical spectra but also that the importance of each parasite is not the same in different age groups and/or settings.
The association between seasonal influenza-like illness cases and foetal death: a time series analysis
Authors: Rasmussen I. S. , Mortensen L. H. , Krause T. G. , Nybo Andersen A-M. 
Published: December 2018

AbstractIt has been reported that foetal death follows a seasonal pattern. Influenza virus infection has been postulated as one possible contributor to this seasonal variation. This ecological study explored the temporal association between the influenza activity and the frequency of foetal death. Time series analysis was conducted using weekly influenza-like illness consultation proportions from the Danish sentinel surveillance system and weekly proportions of spontaneous abortions and stillbirths from hospital registers from 1994 to 2009. The association was examined in an autoregressive (AR) integrated (I) moving average (MA) model and subsequently analysed with cross-correlation functions. Our findings confirmed the well-known seasonality in influenza, but also seasonality in spontaneous abortion. No clear pattern of seasonality was found for stillbirths, although the analysis exposed dependency between observations. One final AR integrated MA model was identified for the influenza-like illness (ILI) series. We found no statistically significant relationship between weekly influenza-like illness consultation proportions and weekly spontaneous abortion proportions (five lags: P = 0.52; 11 lags: P = 0.91) or weekly stillbirths (five lags: P = 0.93; 11 lags: P = 0.40). Exposure to circulating influenza during pregnancy was not associated with rates of spontaneous abortions or stillbirths. Seasonal variations in spontaneous abortion were confirmed and this phenomenon needs further investigation.
Prevalence of aspirin resistance by thromboelastography plus platelet mapping in children with CHD: a single-centre experience
Authors: Berganza Fernando M. , Gonzalez de Alba Cesar , Egbe Alexander C. , Bartakian Sergio , Brownlee John 
Published: December 2018

AbstractRationaleAspirin resistance has been reported in up to 80% of children with cardiovascular defects undergoing surgery. Because of a patient who had embolic stroke while on therapeutic aspirin dose but in whom aspirin resistance was present on his thromboelastography platelet mapping, we chose to obtain thromboelastography platelet mapping on cardiac patients on aspirin to assess their risk.ObjectivesThis study evaluates aspirin resistance noted in these patients and their characteristics.Methods and resultsThis is a retrospective study of 25 patients taking aspirin for a month at therapeutic dose. In total, 11 female patients were enrolled. Ages in all subjects were 5 months to 27 years. A total of 19 patients had a Fontan surgery. Three had a cavopulomanary anastomosis, one had a hybrid procedure, and two had coronary anomalies. Compliance was assessed at the time of the clinic visit. Aspirin resistance was defined as platelet inhibition below 50%. Variables evaluated were level of platelet inhibition, age, body mass index, and gender.
Do cognitive and neuropsychological functioning deficits coincide with hippocampal alteration during first-psychotic episode?
Authors: Kadriu Bashkim , Gu Wen , Korenis Panagiota , Levine Jeffrey M 
Published: December 2018

BackgroundNumerous studies shown that structural hippocampal alterations are present in subjects at high risk of developing psychosis or schizophrenia. These findings indicate that in a subset of patients undergoing first-psychosis episode (FPE), hippocampal volume alterations are accompanied by associated cognitive and neuropsychological deficits. The combination of psychological deficits and neuroanatomical alterations, in turn, appears to increase treatment complexity and worsen clinical outcomes.ObjectiveWe aim to determine whether cognitive and neuropsychological functioning deficits precede or follow hippocampal alterations during early onset psychosis.MethodsThis cross-sectional study describes 3 case-studies of adolescent subjects, ages 16–17, admitted at the child and adolescent inpatient psychiatric unit in lieu of first psychotic episode. We conducted detailed structured clinical psychiatric interviews, anatomical-structural magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), sleep-deprived electroencephalogram (EEG) recordings, laboratory testing, and a comprehensive battery of psychological testing to better understand their clinical pictures.ResultsPsychological testing in each patient demonstrated the presence of low to borderline intellectual functioning coupled with neuropsychological deficits in different psychiatric domains. Interestingly, these changes coincided with structural MRI alterations in the hippocampal area.ConclusionsOur case report adds to the armamentarium of literature signifying that radiologically detectable alterations of the hippocampus may occur either concomitantly or closely following the development of early cognitive deficits in patients with FPE.
UNIFICATION IN SUPERINTUITIONISTIC PREDICATE LOGICS AND ITS APPLICATIONS
Authors: DZIK WOJCIECH , WOJTYLAK PIOTR 
Published: December 2018

AbstractWe introduce unification in first-order logic. In propositional logic, unification was introduced by S. Ghilardi, see Ghilardi (1997, 1999, 2000). He successfully applied it in solving systematically the problem of admissibility of inference rules in intuitionistic and transitive modal propositional logics. Here we focus on superintuitionistic predicate logics and apply unification to some old and new problems: definability of disjunction and existential quantifier, disjunction and existential quantifier under implication, admissible rules, a basis for the passive rules, (almost) structural completeness, etc. For this aim we apply modified specific notions, introduced in propositional logic by Ghilardi, such as projective formulas, projective unifiers, etc.Unification in predicate logic seems to be harder than in the propositional case. Any definition of the key concept of substitution for predicate variables must take care of individual variables. We allow adding new free individual variables by substitutions (contrary to Pogorzelski & Prucnal (1975)). Moreover, since predicate logic is not as close to algebra as propositional logic, direct application of useful algebraic notions of finitely presented algebras, projective algebras, etc., is not possible.
The quest for perfect electromagnetic absorber: a review
Authors: Tirkey Manish Mathew , Gupta Nisha 
Published: December 2018

AbstractThis paper specifies a concise review of recent research and development in the context of electromagnetic absorbers. An attempt has been made to justify the need for economical and thin microwave absorbers for achieving good absorption characteristics over a wide range of frequencies within a specified band of electromagnetic spectrum. This paper mainly focuses on the challenges encountered while designing a perfect electromagnetic absorber which can absorb electromagnetic radiations of any polarization that may appear from any direction and may occur over a broader bandwidth. The absorbers which are competent enough to withstand all these challenges are capable to suppress the reflection and transmission of unknown electromagnetic radiations efficiently to the lowest possible level. Several prospects of nanotechnology in flexible absorber design are also described to enhance absorber characteristics. This paper also provides a futuristic glimpse on several applications of such absorbers for commercial and military purposes.
Validation of a Questionnaire for Personality Profiling using Cognitive Diagnostic Modeling
Authors: Revuelta Javier , Halty Lucia , Ximénez Carmen 
Published: December 2018

AbstractThis article describes the development of the ENCUIST (Extroversion, Neuroticism, Callous-Unemotional, Instability, Short-Test) questionnaire, which has been created to provide a personality profiling method based on a cognitive diagnostic modeling framework. The ENCUIST measures the attributes of extroversion, neuroticism, callous unemotionality and overt expressions of anger that are relevant in a forensic context. The scores provided by the ENCUIST are binary classifications of the individuals (high/low) in these attributes. The ENCUIST was developed using a sample of 516 subjects to study its validation through psychometric procedures, including factor analysis, cognitive diagnostic modeling and structural equation modeling. The results supported a four-factor structure. Linear regressions were used to evaluate the predictive validity of the scores provided by ENCUIST with respect to two external criteria that are relevant in the forensic context, namely behavioral activation and behavioral inhibition. The results showed that the extroversion dimension is positively related to behavioral activation, although the effect size is modest and the proportion of explained variance is only 11%. Moreover, the dimensions of neuroticism and anger expression are positively related to behavioral inhibition, with 7% of the variance explained. Together, these results suggest that cognitive diagnostic models are useful tools for the elaboration of personality profiles based on classifying subjects along binary attributes.
Psychometric Properties of the Spanish Version of the Pregnancy Related Anxiety Questionnaire (PRAQ)
Authors: Vázquez M. Belén , Pereira Beatriz , Míguez M. Carmen 
Published: December 2018

AbstractAlthough pregnancy increases the vulnerability to anxiety, no specific assessment instruments are usually used to detect it. The objective of this study was to adapt the Pregnancy Related Anxiety Questionnaire (PRAQ) to Spanish population, as well as analyze its validity and reliability. A sample of 367 nulliparous pregnant women with a normal risk status filled in a socio-demographic and obstetric-gynaecological questionnaire, the PRAQ, the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) and the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI). After performing a factorial analysis, a five-factor model that explains 53.1% of the variance was obtained. Estimates of internal consistency reliability were adequate (range = .78 to .93) for the five factors included in the final confirmatory factor analysis, and for the total scale (.97). Significant correlation among PRAQ, EPDS, and STAI was found (p< .001). The 85th percentile (score 234 or more) was used as a cut-off point to identify those women with high pregnancy-specific anxiety. In accordance with the results obtained, the PRAQ can be considered a useful screening tool to evaluate pregnancy-related anxiety among the Spanish population.
Inverse Determination of the Influence of Fire on Vegetation Carbon Turnover in the Pantropics
Authors: Exbrayat Jean‐François , Smallman T. Luke , Bloom A. Anthony , Hutley Lindsay B. , Williams Mathew 
Published: December 2018

AbstractFire is a major component of the terrestrial carbon cycle that has been implemented in most current global terrestrial ecosystem models. Here we use terrestrial carbon cycle observations to characterize the importance of fire regime gradients in the spatial distribution of ecosystem functional properties such as carbon allocation, fluxes, and turnover times in the tropics. A Bayesian model‐data fusion approach is applied to an ecosystem carbon model to derive the posterior distribution of corresponding parameters for the tropics from 2000 to 2015. We perform the model‐data fusion procedure twice, that is, with and without imposing fire. Gradient of differences in model parameters and ecosystem properties in response to fire emerge between these experiments. For example, mean annual burned fraction correlates with an increase in carbon use efficiency and reductions in carbon turnover times. Further, our analyses reveal an increased allocation to more fire‐resistant tissues in the most frequently burned regions. As fire modules are increasingly implemented in global terrestrial ecosystem models, we recommend that model development includes a representation of the impact of fire on ecosystem properties as they may lead to large differences under climate change projections.
Modeling Rainfall‐Runoff and Soil Erosion Processes on Hillslopes With Complex Rill Network Planform
Authors: Wu Songbai , Chen Li , Wang Ninglian , Yu Minghui , Assouline Shmuel 
Published: December 2018

AbstractThe effect of rill network planforms on hillslope rainfall‐runoff and soil erosion processes is usually neglected in modeling practices, although they can markedly alter the hydrologic and geomorphic processes. Based on the CeRIRM model and WEPP erosion theory, a simple approach is developed to account for these effects. In the framework, several characteristic parameters including the average rill width, rill orientation angle, the number of rills, and number of discontinuous rills and their variations along the hillslope are introduced to represent the planar characteristics of the rill network. The model is tested against experimental erosion data from a hillslope subjected to three successive rainfall events, resulting in continuous rill network evolution. The results show that rill network planforms alter the partitioning of interrill and rill flows, thereby modifying the hydraulics, erosion, and sedimentation in the rills. Rill characteristics are found to significantly affect the amount of rill erosion. The new approach is compared to WEPP, which ignores rill network features. The WEPP approach of simulating rill erosion on hillslopes using one set of model parameters leads to errors that are up to 30% larger than the new approach that is able to account for spatially and temporally varying rill characteristics. The differences in cumulative rill erosion amounts between the two models vary significantly with slope length, slope angle, rill orientation angle, number of rills, and discontinuous rills. The results are valuable for the development of general rainfall‐runoff and soil erosion models on hillslopes with complex geomorphic features.
Non-invasive monitoring of alternative splicing outcomes to identify candidate therapies for myotonic dystrophy type 1
Authors: Hu Ningyan , Antoury Layal , Baran Timothy M. , Mitra Soumya , Bennett C. Frank , Rigo Frank , Foster Thomas H. , Wheeler Thurman M. 
Published: December 2018

AbstractDuring drug development, tissue samples serve as indicators of disease activity and pharmacodynamic responses. Reliable non-invasive measures of drug target engagement will facilitate identification of promising new treatments. Here we develop and validate a novel bi-transgenic mouse model of myotonic dystrophy type 1 (DM1) in which expression of either DsRed or GFP is determined by alternative splicing of an upstream minigene that is mis-regulated in DM1. Using a novel in vivo fluorescence spectroscopy system, we show that quantitation of the DsRed/GFP ratio provides an accurate estimation of splicing outcomes in muscle tissue of live mice that nearly doubles throughput over conventional fluorescence imaging techniques. Serial in vivo spectroscopy measurements in mice treated with a C16 fatty acid ligand conjugated antisense (LICA) oligonucleotide reveal a dose-dependent therapeutic response within seven days, confirm a several-week duration of action, and demonstrate a two-fold greater target engagement as compared to the unconjugated parent oligonucleotide.
Creation of equal-spin triplet superconductivity at the Al/EuS interface
Authors: Diesch S. , Machon P. , Wolz M. , Sürgers C. , Beckmann D. , Belzig W. , Scheer E. 
Published: December 2018

AbstractIn conventional superconductors, electrons of opposite spins are bound into Cooper pairs. However, when the superconductor is in contact with a non-uniformly ordered ferromagnet, an exotic type of superconductivity can appear at the interface, with electrons bound into three possible spin-triplet states. Triplet pairs with equal spin play a vital role in low-dissipation spintronics. Despite the observation of supercurrents through ferromagnets, spectroscopic evidence for the existence of equal-spin triplet pairs is still missing. Here we show a theoretical model that reveals a characteristic gap structure in the quasiparticle density of states which provides a unique signature for the presence of equal-spin triplet pairs. By scanning tunnelling spectroscopy we measure the local density of states to reveal the spin configuration of triplet pairs. We demonstrate that the Al/EuS interface causes strong and tunable spin-mixing by virtue of its spin-dependent transmission.
Association of B7-H4, PD-L1, and tumor infiltrating lymphocytes with outcomes in breast cancer
Authors: Altan Mehmet , Kidwell Kelley M. , Pelekanou Vasiliki , Carvajal-Hausdorf Daniel E. , Schalper Kurt A. , Toki Maria I. , Thomas Dafydd G. , Sabel Michael S. , Hayes Daniel F. , Rimm David L. 
Published: December 2018

AbstractB7-H4 (VTCN1) is a member of the CD28/B7 family of immune co-inhibitory molecules. The relationship of tumor and stromal B7-H4 protein expression with PD-L1, tumor infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) and its association with clinico-pathological variables are not well defined. Herein, we explore the expression level of B7-H4 protein in breast cancer and evaluate its association with TILs, levels of PD-L1 expression, and clinico-pathological characteristics in two independent populations. In this study, we used multiplexed automated quantitative immunofluorescence (QIF) to measure the levels of B7-H4 and PD-L1 protein and determined TILs through pathologist assessment of H&E-stained preparations in over a thousand breast cancer cases from two institutions represented in tissue microarray format. Associations between the marker levels, major clinico-pathological variables, and survival were analyzed. We detected B7-H4 protein was highly expressed in both breast cancer and stromal cells. Its expression was independent of breast cancer intrinsic subtypes. PD-L1 expression was higher in triple negative breast cancers. Neither B7-H4 nor PD-L1 were associated with survival in breast cancer. Our study shows there is a mutually exclusive pattern of B7-H4 with both tumor PD-L1 expression and TILs in all breast cancers, independent of breast cancer intrinsic subtype. This exclusive pattern suggests that some breast tumors may preferentially use one B7-related immune evasion mechanism/pathway. This could explain the clinical benefit that is seen only in a fraction of patients with immune checkpoint inhibitors directed exclusively towards PD-L1 in breast cancer.
Quantum-optimal detection of one-versus-two incoherent optical sources with arbitrary separation
Authors: Lu Xiao-Ming , Krovi Hari , Nair Ranjith , Guha Saikat , Shapiro Jeffrey H. 
Published: December 2018

AbstractWe analyze the fundamental quantum limit of the resolution of an optical imaging system from the perspective of the detection problem of deciding whether the optical field in the image plane is generated by one incoherent on-axis source with brightness $$\epsilon$$
ϵ
or by two $$\epsilon {\mathrm{/}}2$$

ϵ
∕
2

-brightness incoherent sources that are symmetrically disposed about the optical axis. Using the exact thermal-state model of the field, we derive the quantum Chernoff bound for the detection problem, which specifies the optimum rate of decay of the error probability with increasing number of collected photons that is allowed by quantum mechanics. We then show that recently proposed linear-optic schemes approach the quantum Chernoff bound—the method of binary spatial-mode demultiplexing (B-SPADE) is quantum-optimal for all values of separation, while a method using image inversion interferometry (SLIVER) is near-optimal for sub-Rayleigh separations. We then simplify our model using a low-brightness approximation that is very accurate for optical microscopy and astronomy, derive quantum Chernoff bounds conditional on the number of photons detected, and show the optimality of our schemes in this conditional detection paradigm. For comparison, we analytically demonstrate the superior scaling of the Chernoff bound for our schemes with source separation relative to that of spatially resolved direct imaging. Our schemes have the advantages over the quantum-optimal (Helstrom) measurement in that they do not involve joint measurements over multiple modes, and that they do not require the angular separation for the two-source hypothesis to be given a priori and can offer that information as a bonus in the event of a successful detection.