bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Lead exposure reduces sperm quality and DNA integrity in mice
Authors: Li Cuiling , Zhao Kai , Zhang Huiping , Liu Lili , Xiong Fei , Wang Kunyu , Chen Biao 
Published: February 2018

AbstractToxicity of lead on male reproductive functions has raised wide public concern as environmental lead contamination remains common worldwide. Conflicting and controversial data are available regarding effects of lead on male fertility. More importantly, our knowledge on effects of lead on sperm DNA integrity is significantly limited. Thus, further studies should focus on this issue. In the current study, adult male mice were exposed to a series of lead acetate concentrations in drinking water for six weeks. Following administration, lead levels in blood, testicles, and epididymis were measured, and potential changes in morphology of testis and epididymis due to lead exposure were identified. We also analyzed sperm parameters, including sperm density, viability, motility, and morphology, to evaluate quality of sperm collected from epididymis. Especially, hypothetical influence of lead on sperm DNA integrity was also evaluated by terminal deoxynucleotidyltransferase‐mediated dUTP‐biotin nick end labeling, alkaline comet assay, and sperm chromatin structure assay. Lead exposure possibly exerted no effect on growth of mice because these animals acquired similar body weight gain during the experimental period. However, high lead concentrations (0.5% and 1%) in drinking water affected sperm motility and increased percentage of spermatozoa with abnormal morphology. In groups treated with 0.25%, 0.5%, and 1% lead acetate, percentages of sperm cells showing DNA breaks and chromatin structure damage significantly increased. Altogether, lead exposure not only exhibits adverse effects on sperm physiological parameters, but also impairs DNA structure and integrity. These effects may lead to significant decline in male fertility.
Burden, Characteristics and Process of Care Among the Pediatric and Adult Trauma Patients in Botswana’s Main Hospitals
Authors: Mwandri Michael B. , Hardcastle Timothy C. 
Published: February 2018

AbstractBackgroundBotswana is notable among countries with high rates of Road Traffic Collisions (RTC); like many other lower–middle‐income countries (LMICs), it lacks trauma systems. The World Health Organization recommends ‘Essential Trauma Care’ in countries with no formal trauma systems. The proportion of injuries in Emergency Departments and the care process were investigated to gain an overview for enabling the design of a relevant LMICs trauma system.MethodBlunt and penetrating trauma patients were included from three major hospitals, examining the proportion of injuries, patient characteristics, the care process and comparing these between pediatrics and adults. Data are presented using descriptive statistics.ResultsThe proportion of trauma ranged between 6 and 10% of Emergency Department cases. Pediatrics constituted 19%, and 59% of all patients were male. The median age was 28 years [IQR 17–39] and 8 years [IQR 4–11] for adults and pediatrics, respectively. The leading causes of injuries were: falls in pediatrics (55%) and interpersonal violence in the adults (34%), followed by RTC in both children (20%) and adults (30%). The public inter‐hospital vehicles transported 77% of pediatrics and 69% of adults, while formal ambulance transported only 9% of pediatrics and 22% of adults. The median Emergency Department waiting time for pediatrics was 187 min [IQR 102–397] and for adults was 208 min [IQR 100–378]: Most were triaged as non‐urgent (70% pediatrics and 72% adults), and the majority were discharged (84% pediatrics and 76% adults).ConclusionThe Emergency Department workload of injuries is notably high, with differing mechanisms of injury and transport modes between pediatrics and adults: Waiting time is severely prolonged for urgent and critical patients. Diagnoses, triage categories and patients disposition were similar.
Common occurrence of Sharpey’s fibres in amphibian phalanges
Authors: Kolenda Krzysztof , Najbar Anna , Rozenblut-Kościsty Beata , Serwa Ewa , Skawiński Tomasz 
Published: February 2018

AbstractSharpey’s fibres are known mainly as providing anchorage between tooth and the periodontal ligament but they occur also in other types of bones. In the postcranial skeleton these fibres are usually present at the muscle or tendon attachment sites. They were reported in all major groups of extant vertebrates, as well as in putative lissamphibian ancestors—temnospondyls and lepospondyls. However, it was recently stated that their presence was very rarely described in extant amphibians. In limbs, they were reported predominantly from proximal bones. They have not yet been reported from phalanges, which are the most commonly sectioned amphibian bones. Here, we describe phalangeal histology of nine species representing most major clades of lissamphibians. These results show that Sharpey’s fibres occur commonly in lissamphibian phalanges. In shaft, they are radially oriented and occur in the periosteal bone, at sites of tendon attachment. They can also occur in the metaphysis and contact the cartilage. This may provide a basis for foot muscle reconstructions in fossil amphibians.
Gender and the Residential Mobility and Neighborhood Attainment of Black-White Couples
Authors: Gabriel Ryan 
Published: February 2018

AbstractIncluding black-white couples in the study of residential stratification accentuates gendered power disparities within couples that favor men over women, which allows for the analysis of whether the race of male partners in black-white couples is associated with the racial and ethnic composition of their neighborhoods. I investigate this by combining longitudinal data between 1985 and 2015 from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics linked to neighborhood- and metropolitan-level data compiled from four censuses. Using these data, I assess the mobility of black male–white female and white male–black female couples out of and into neighborhoods defined respectively by their levels of whites, blacks, and ethnoracial diversity. My results show that the race of the male partner in black-white couples tends to align with the racial and ethnic composition of the neighborhoods where these couples reside. This finding highlights that the racial hierarchy within the United States affects the residential mobility and attainment of black-white couples, but its influence is conditioned by the race and gender composition of these couples.
Attention manipulation and information overload
Authors: PERSSON PETRA 
Published: February 2018

AbstractLimits on consumer attention give firms incentives to manipulate prospective buyers’ allocation of attention. This paper models such attention manipulation and shows that it limits the ability of disclosure regulation to improve consumer welfare. Competitive information supply from firms competing for attention can reduce consumers’ knowledge by causing information overload. A single firm subjected to a disclosure mandate may deliberately induce such information overload to obfuscate financially relevant information or engage in product complexification to bound consumers’ financial literacy. Thus, disclosure rules that would improve welfare for agents without attention limitations can prove ineffective for consumers with limited attention. Obfuscation suggests a role for rules that mandate not only the content, but also the format of disclosure; however, even rules that mandate ‘easy-to-understand’ formats can be ineffective against complexification, which may call for regulation of product design.
Drawing false inferences from mandated disclosures
Authors: BAR-GILL OREN , SCHKADE DAVID , SUNSTEIN CASS R. 
Published: February 2018

AbstractDisclosure mandates are pervasive. Though designed to inform consumers, such mandates may lead consumers to draw false inferences – for example, that a product is harmful when it is not. When deciding to require disclosure of an ingredient in or characteristic of a product, regulators may be motivated by evidence that the ingredient or characteristic is harmful to consumers. But they may also be motivated by a belief that consumers have a right to know what they are buying or by interest-group pressure. Consumers who misperceive the regulator's true motive, or mix of motives, will draw false inferences from the mandated disclosure. If consumers think that the disclosure is motivated by evidence of harm, when in fact it is motivated by a belief in a right to know or by interest-group pressure, then they will be inefficiently deterred from purchasing the product. We analyze this general concern about disclosure mandates. We also offer survey evidence demonstrating that the risk of false inferences is serious and real.
The rs1527483, but not rs3212018, CD36 polymorphism associates with linoleic acid detection and obesity in Czech young adults
Authors: Plesník Jiří , Šerý Omar , Khan Amira S. , Bielik Peter , Khan Naim A. 
Published: February 2018

AbstractRecent evidence has raised the possibility of the existence of a sixth taste modality – that is, taste for fat – which is mediated by lingual CD36 and plays a role in obesity. Consequently, the genetic polymorphism of CD36 has been shown to be associated with altered oro-sensory detection of dietary lipids. In the present study, we investigated the relationship between oro-sensory perception of linoleic acid (LA), two CD36 polymorphisms (rs1527483 and rs3212018), obesity parameters and craving habits for dietary lipids in young Czech adults. We also sequenced 5 and 6 exons of CD36 to trace out any new mutation that might be responsible for the difference in taste perception. We observed that craving for dietary lipids was correlated with anthropometric parameters (P<0·05) and LA detection threshold (P=0·033). The participants with the CC genotype of the rs1527483 polymorphism had lower BMI (P=0·011), waist circumference (P=0·005), waist:height ratio (P=0·010) and higher sensitivity for LA (P=0·037) than the participants with the CT and TT genotypes. Interestingly, we did not observe any association between the rs3212018 polymorphism and the studied parameters. Moreover, we did not observe any mutation in exons 5 and 6 of the CD36 gene in these subjects. Finally, we can state that rs1527483, but not rs3212018, is associated with high body weight in young Czech subjects.
On the Square Subgroup of a MixedSI-Group
Authors: Andruszkiewicz R. R. , Woronowicz M. 
Published: February 2018

AbstractThe relation between the structure of a ring and the structure of its additive group is studied in the context of some recent results in additive groups of mixed rings. Namely, the notion of the square subgroup of an abelian group, which is a generalization of the concept of nil-group, is considered mainly for mixed non-splitting abelian groups which are the additive groups only of rings whose all subrings are ideals. A non-trivial construction of such a group of finite torsion-free rank no less than two, for which the quotient group modulo the square subgroup is not a nil-group, is given. In particular, a new class of abelian group for which an old problem posed by Stratton and Webb has a negative solution, is indicated. A new, far from obvious, application of rings in which the relation of being an ideal is transitive, is obtained.
Some Remarks on the Wiman–Edge Pencil
Authors: Zamora Alexis G. 
Published: February 2018

AbstractWe rewrite in modern language a classical construction by W. E. Edge showing a pencil of sextic nodal curves admitting A5 as its group of automorphism. Next, we discuss some other aspects of this pencil, such as the associated fibration and its connection to the singularities of the moduli of six-dimensional abelian varieties.
Genotype characterization of livestock and human cystic echinococcosis in Mazandaran province, Iran
Authors: Gorgani-Firouzjaee T. , Kalantrai N. , Ghaffari S. , Alipour J. , Siadati S. 
Published: February 2018

AbstractEchinococcus granulosus is a helminth from the family Taeniidae, which causes cystic echinococcosis (CE) in humans and diverse livestock around the world. The identification of existing genotypes in different regions is a major step towards the prevention and establishment of control programmes for the disease. This study aimed to detect CE genotypes using polymerase chain reaction–restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR–RFLP) of the internal transcribed spacer-1 (ITS1) gene and sequencing of the cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1 (Cox1) gene in isolates from the central part of Mazandaran province, northern Iran. Forty isolates were collected from sheep, 17 from cattle and 6 from human formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded tissues (FFPE). The ITS1 and Cox1 genes were successfully amplified by PCR in 41 and 42 samples, respectively. PCR-RFLP and sequencing showed that all isolates had the G1–G3 genotypes in this study. Out of 31 isolates subjected to sequencing for the Cox1 gene, 80.7% had the G1 genotype. G2 (16.1%) and G3 (3.2%) genotypes were observed in five sheep and one cattle samples, respectively. Five human isolates were also sequenced for the ITS1 gene, which showed that all samples belonged to the G1 genotype. Ten haplotypes were determined among the isolates by alignment analysis of the Cox1 gene. In summary, this study demonstrated that G1 was the dominant genotype circulating between humans and livestock in the studied region. Furthermore, high genotypic diversity among the CE isolates was observed.
Routine use of salivary bypass tubes in laryngectomy patients: systematic review
Authors: Kamhieh Y , Fox H , Hallett E , Berry S 
Published: February 2018

AbstractBackground:Pharyngocutaneous fistula is a cause of significant morbidity following laryngectomy. Routine use of salivary bypass tubes during laryngectomy has been proposed to reduce the incidence of fistulae and neopharyngeal strictures.Method:Following a systematic search of Embase, Medline and Cochrane databases (1946 – current), included articles were assessed for bias according to the Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews of Interventions.Results:Three case–control trials showed reduced pharyngocutaneous fistula rates with the use of salivary bypass tubes; six case series reported widely varied fistula rates. With regards to stricture rates, the largest case–control trial found no improvement with salivary bypass tube use. No fatal adverse events were observed among the 204 patients who received a salivary bypass tube.Conclusion:Low-level evidence suggests salivary bypass tubes may reduce the incidence of fistula in high-risk patient groups. A robust randomised controlled trial, or large, multicentre cohort studies, are needed to further examine this intervention.
Policy entrepreneurship across boundaries: a systematic literature review
Authors: Faling Marijn , Biesbroek Robbert , Karlsson-Vinkhuyzen Sylvia , Termeer Katrien 
Published: February 2018

AbstractAlthough policy entrepreneurs are assigned an important role in crossing policy boundaries and addressing complex problems, our understanding of the process is limited. This article systematically reviews 51 studies on conditions, strategies and implications of crossboundary entrepreneurship. Findings show that (1) the literature predominantly mentions issue promotion and coalition-building as crossboundary strategies; (2) vertical boundary-crossing is discussed more frequently than horizontal boundary-crossing; (3) the most reported boundary-crossing function is to expand issue arenas; (4) conditions that enable crossboundary strategies include institutional overlap, issue interpretation, power vacuum, overruling policies and lacking resources; and (5) implications of entrepreneurship include raised opposition, increased competition over leadership, augmented complexity hindering collective action, raised costs and resources, and issues regarding trust, legitimacy and authority. Policy entrepreneurship allows for micro-level insights in the emergence of crossboundary processes. We suggest future research to focus on causal processes between conditions, strategies and implications to better understand their interplay.
‘Fuller’ or ‘extended’ working lives? Critical perspectives on changing transitions from work to retirement
Authors: PHILLIPSON CHRIS 
Published: February 2018

ABSTRACTResearch on older workers and retirement has yet to adjust fully to an environment influenced by a combination of demographic change, technological developments and economic recession. A key dimension to the changing relationship between ageing and work is the tension between policies to extend working life and the increasingly fragmented nature of late working life, with the emergence of varied transitions, including: bridge employment, second/third careers, part-time working, early retirement and other variations. These developments indicate both the challenge of conceptualising new forms of work-ending, and – in policy terms – the extent to which these can successfully accommodate longer working lives. The paper provides a critical perspective to the policy of extending working life and the narrative which underpins this approach. The paper argues that retirement has become a ‘contested’ institution in the 21st century, fragmented across different pathways and transitions affecting people in their fifties and sixties. The paper argues the case for improving work quality and security as a precondition for supporting policies for encouraging working in later life. An essential requirement for this will include linking debates on extending working life with technological developments and changes affecting the workplace, creating differentiated paths to retirement and labour force exit, enhancing the provision of training and continuing education, and re-thinking the idea of the ‘older worker’.
Islands: balancing development and sustainability?
Authors: CONNELL JOHN 
Published: February 2018

SUMMARYThis overview explores sustainable development in island contexts. More subtle and complex concepts of sustainable development have become manifest in the Sustainable Development Goals, with tensions between social, economic and environmental objectives at different scales as livelihoods acquire greater flexibility and islands face multiple challenges to development. Islands are part of rapidly changing and wider worlds, while sustainability is complicated by global change, as debates over strategies and time periods are accentuated in constrained island contexts. Development and sustainability have repeatedly acquired new meanings, hence requiring new analytical techniques, planning objectives and effective governance and management. Progress towards sustainable development in islands and island states is hampered by multi-scalar challenges, including limited biodiversity, migration, external interventions and directives, scarce human resources, weak management, inadequate data (and problems of interpretation), social divisions and tensions and simultaneous quests for modernity and conservation. The tourism sector emphasizes how sustainable development is particularly difficult to achieve in small islands where access to adequate livelihoods is important and limited change is possible.
Ultra-processed food product brands on Facebook pages: highly accessed by Brazilians through their marketing techniques
Authors: Horta Paula M , Rodrigues Fernanda T , dos Santos Luana C 
Published: February 2018

AbstractObjectiveTo analyse the content and extent of marketing of ultra-processed food products (UPP) and their brand pages on Facebook, which are highly accessed by Brazilians.DesignDescriptive.SettingSixteen UPP brand pages on Facebook were selected from 250 pages that were the most liked by Brazilians in October 2015.SubjectsWe analysed the frequency of ‘likes’ and members ‘talking about’ each one of the pages, in addition to fifteen marketing techniques used in the previous year (September 2014 to October 2015). The number of posts, likes, ‘shares’ and ‘commentaries’, and the mean number of likes, shares and commentaries per post, were collected for one month, from 23 September to 23 October 2015.ResultsThe two most liked pages were: Coke® (93 673 979 likes) and McDonald’s® (59 749 819 likes). Regarding the number of people talking about the pages, McDonald’s led with 555 891 commentaries, followed by Coke (287 274), Burger King® (246 148) and Kibon® (244 523). All pages used marketing techniques, which included photos, user conversations, presence of brand elements and links. Videos were observed on 93·8 % of the pages; promotions on 68·8 %; and celebrities on 62·5 %. In one month, Garoto®, Outback® and Coke were brands that published more than one post per day. Kibon achieved the highest ratio of likes per post (285 845·50) and Burger King had the highest mean shares per post (10 083·93), including commentaries per post (7958·13).ConclusionsUPP marketing is extensively used on Facebook pages and is highly accessed by Brazilians, with UPP companies employing a diversity of marketing strategies.
Surface mineral crusts: a potential strategy for sampling for evidence of life on Mars
Authors: Brolly Connor , Parnell John , Bowden Stephen 
Published: February 2018

AbstractSurface mineral crusts on Earth are highly diverse and usually, contain microbial life. Crusts constitute an attractive target to search for life: they require water for their formation, they efficiently entrap organic matter and are relatively easy to sample and process. They hold a record of life in the form of microbial remains, biomolecules and carbon isotope composition. A miniaturized Raman spectrometer is included in the ExoMars 2020 payload as it is sensitive to a range of photosynthetic pigments. Samples from the Haughton Impact Structure, Canadian High Arctic and others, shows the preservation of pigments in a range of crust types, especially supra-permafrost carbonate crusts and cryptogamic crusts. The Raman spectral signatures of these crusts are shown along with biomarker analysis to showcase these techniques prior to the ExoMars 2020 mission. Carotenoids and other photoprotective microbial pigments are identified in the Haughton surface crusts using Raman spectroscopy. Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry analyses show a distribution of fatty acids which are most likely from a cyanobacterial source. The successful demonstration of these analyses in the Haughton Impact structure shows the biosignature of surface mineral crusts can be easily extracted and provides an excellent target for sampling evidence of life on Mars.