bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Comparing estimation methods of non-stationary errors-in-variables models
Authors: Kunitomo Naoto , Awaya Naoki , Kurisu Daisuke 
Published: June 2019

AbstractWe investigate the estimation methods of the multivariate non-stationary errors-in-variables models when there are non-stationary trend components and the measurement errors or noise components. We compare the maximum likelihood (ML) estimation and the separating information maximum likelihood (SIML) estimation. The latter was proposed by Kunitomo and Sato (Trend, seasonality and economic time series: the nonstationary errors-in-variables models. MIMS-RBP-SDS-3, MIMS, Meiji University. http://www.mims.meiji.ac.jp/, 2017) and Kunitomo et al. (Separating information maximum likelihood method for high-frequency financial data. Springer, Berlin, 2018). We have found that the Gaussian likelihood function can have non-concave shape in some cases and the ML method does work only when the Gaussianity of non-stationary and stationary components holds with some restrictions such as the signal–noise variance ratio in the parameter space. The SIML estimation has the asymptotic robust properties in more general situations. We explore the finite sample and asymptotic properties of the ML and SIML methods for the non-stationary errors-in variables models.
Protective effects of zinc oxide nanoparticles against doxorubicin induced testicular toxicity and DNA damage in male rats
Authors: El-Maddawy Zeynab Khamis , Abd El Naby Walaa Slouma Hamouda 
Published: June 2019

Abstract
The present study aims to investigate the protective effects of zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO NPs) on doxorubicin-induced testicular injury. Forty mature male rats were randomly allocated into four equal groups: G1 (control), G2 (3 mg per kg BW of zinc oxide nanoparticles was administered), G3 (6 mg per kg BW of doxorubicin was intraperitoneally injected), and G4 (doxorubicin + ZnO NPs). Some fertility parameters, antioxidant status, genotoxicity assay, and a histopathological examination were used for this investigation. The doxorubicin-treated group showed a significant decrease in the index weight of reproductive organs, epididymal sperm count, motility%, and live sperm% and a significant increase in sperm abnormalities. Moreover, GSH and CAT activities were significantly decreased, and MDA content was significantly increased in the doxorubicin-treated group. Interestingly, co-administration of ZnO NPs significantly reduced the doxorubicin-induced changes in the investigated parameters. In addition, ZnO NPs alone did not show any undesirable effects on the sperm parameters, testis or DNA. However, its administration improves the reproductive parameters and significantly increases the testosterone level. We concluded that the administration of ZnO NPs at 3 mg per kg BW ameliorated the testicular toxicity and genotoxicity caused by doxorubicin through its antioxidant and androgenic activity.
Executive Functioning and Narrative Language in Children With Dyslexia
Authors: Fisher Evelyn L. , Barton-Hulsey Andrea , Walters Casy , Sevcik Rose A. , Morris Robin 
Published: June 2019

Purpose
Children with dyslexia often struggle with nonphonological aspects of language and executive functioning. The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of executive functioning on language abilities at both structural (e.g., grammar in sentences) and functional (e.g., narrative) levels in 92 third- and 4th-grade students with dyslexia. Additionally, we asked if working memory updating contributed a significant amount of variance in narrative language ability beyond what would be expected by students' structural language skills alone.

Method

Students' language and executive functioning skills were evaluated using a range of language and cognitive measures including the Clinical Evaluation of Language Fundamentals–Fourth Edition (
Semel, Wiig, & Secord, 2003
), the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test–Fourth Edition (
Dunn & Dunn, 2007
), the Test of Narrative Language (
Gillam & Pearson, 2004
), the Delis–Kaplan Executive Function Scale (
Kaplan, Kramer, & Delis, 2001
), and the Corsi Block-Tapping Test (WISC-IV Integrated;
Kaplan, Fein, Kramer, Delis, & Morris, 2004
).

Results
Low correlations between the language measures suggested that each of these assessments captures a unique element of language ability for children with dyslexia. Hierarchical regression analysis indicated that working memory updating accounted for a significant amount of unique variance in oral narrative production beyond what would be expected by structural language ability.

Conclusions
The range of performance found across language measures suggests that it may be important to include a variety of language measures assessing both structural and functional language skills when evaluating children with dyslexia. Including cognitive measures of executive functioning may also be key to determine if deficits in working memory updating are contributing to functional expressive language difficulties.
Mandarin Electrolaryngeal Speech Recognition Based on WaveNet-CTC
Authors: Qian Zhaopeng , Wang Li , Zhang Shaochuan , Liu Chan , Niu Haijun 
Published: June 2019

Purpose
The application of Chinese Mandarin electrolaryngeal (EL) speech for laryngectomees has been limited by its drawbacks such as single fundamental frequency, mechanical sound, and large radiation noise. To improve the intelligibility of Chinese Mandarin EL speech, a new perspective using the automatic speech recognition (ASR) system was proposed, which can convert EL speech into healthy speech, if combined with text-to-speech.

Method
An ASR system was designed to recognize EL speech based on a deep learning model WaveNet and the connectionist temporal classification (WaveNet-CTC). This system mainly consists of 3 parts: the acoustic model, the language model, and the decoding model. The acoustic features are extracted during speech preprocessing, and 3,230 utterances of EL speech mixed with 10,000 utterances of healthy speech are used to train the ASR system. Comparative experiment was designed to evaluate the performance of the proposed method.

Results
The results show that the proposed ASR system has higher stability and generalizability compared with the traditional methods, manifesting superiority in terms of Chinese characters, Chinese words, short sentences, and long sentences. Phoneme confusion occurs more easily in the stop and affricate of EL speech than the healthy speech. However, the highest accuracy of the ASR could reach 83.24% when 3,230 utterances of EL speech were used to train the ASR system.

Conclusions
This study indicates that EL speech could be recognized effectively by the ASR based on WaveNet-CTC. This proposed method has a higher generalization performance and better stability than the traditional methods. A higher accuracy of the ASR system based on WaveNet-CTC can be obtained, which means that EL speech can be converted into healthy speech.

Supplemental Material

https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.8250830
Tunable bandstop filter with high suppression and wide tuning range
Authors: Li Qun , Chen Xiong , Yang Tao 
Published: June 2019

A tunable bandstop filter (BSF) with high suppression and wide tuning range is presented. The tunable BSF includes nine pairs of coupling microstrip resonators. Each coupling microstrip resonator contains a back‐to‐back varactor pair and the voltage bias circuit is placed at the cathode of each varactor. Moreover, the back‐to‐back varactor pair is connected to an inductive terminal with two parallel metallised vias. Compared to a single metallised via, the inductance of two parallel metallised vias is reduced which can be beneficial to increase the stopband resonant frequency and improve the suppression level of the tunable BSF. Finally, a tunable BSF prototype with the tuning range of 3.8–9 GHz (81%) is fabricated. The measured suppression level is larger than 40 dB, over the entire tuning range.
Metabolomic insights into polyhydroxyalkanoates production by halophilic bacteria with acetic acid as carbon source
Authors: Wang Pan , Qiu Yin-Quan , Chen Xi-Teng , Liang Xiao-Fei , Ren Lian-Hai 
Published: June 2019

ABSTRACT
A metabolomics method was established to analyze changes of intracellular metabolites and study the mechanism for enhancing polyhydroxyalkanoates production by halotolerant bacteria, Bacillus cereus strain HY-3, using acetic acid as carbon source. Maximum poly(3-hydroxybutyrate) (PHB) contents for the medium with 0.5 g/L and 5.0 g/L of acetic acid were 41.0 ± 0.415% and 49.2 ± 1.21%. Principal components analysis revealed clear metabolic differences in different growth stages and different concentrations of carbon source. According to statistical analysis, 3-hydroxybutyrate (3-HB), serine, threonine, malate, and pyruvate were determined as potential biomarkers for PHB production. Moreover, metabolic pathways analysis indicated that high level of 3-HB in death phase was due to the limitation of carbon source. Metabolism of glycine, serine, and threonine was influential pathway for PHB production among amino acid metabolisms. High levels of organic acids from the TCA cycle could stimulate the carbon source flux into PHB biosynthetic pathway.
Purification, characterization, and gene cloning of a novel aminoacylase from Burkholderia sp. strain LP5_18B that efficiently catalyzes the synthesis of N-lauroyl-l-amino acids
Authors: Takakura Yasuaki , Asano Yasuhisa 
Published: June 2019

ABSTRACT
An N-lauroyl-l-phenylalanine-producing bacterium, identified as Burkholderia sp. strain LP5_18B, was isolated from a soil sample. The enzyme was purified from the cell-free extract of the strain and shown to catalyze degradation and synthesis activities toward various N-acyl-amino acids. N-lauroyl-l-phenylalanine and N-lauroyl-l-arginine were obtained with especially high yields (51% and 89%, respectively) from lauric acid and l-phenylalanine or l-arginine by the purified enzyme in an aqueous system. The gene encoding the novel aminoacylase was cloned from Burkholderia sp. strain LP5_18B and expressed in Escherichia coli. The gene contains an open reading frame of 1,323 nucleotides. The deduced protein sequence encoded by the gene has approximately 80% amino acid identity to several hydratase of Burkholderia. The addition of zinc sulfate increased the aminoacylase activity of the recombinant E. coli strain.
Treatment of tricuspid valve endocarditis with daptomycin and linezolid therapy
Authors: Galanter Kayla M , Ho Jackie 
Published: June 2019

Abstract

Purpose
A case report of the use of linezolid and daptomycin for the treatment of multidrug-resistant right-sided infective endocarditis is presented.

Summary
A 36-year-old patient with a history of intravenous drug use was hospitalized for treatment of native tricuspid valve endocarditis resulting in persistent methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus bacteremia. During the admission the patient was unsuccessfully treated with vancomycin monotherapy (final E-test minimum inhibitory concentration, 4 μg/mL). The patient’s treatment was switched to daptomycin and gentamicin, with no improvement in blood culture results over 4 days. Gentamicin was discontinued, and linezolid was administered in combination with daptomycin; bacteremia was cleared after 13 days of linezolid and daptomycin combination therapy. Due to daptomycin resistance (minimum inhibitory concentration, 4 μg/mL), gentamicin was substituted for daptomycin due to the former agent’s synergistic effects with linezolid. After 23 days of therapy the patient was transferred to another facility for a tricuspid valve replacement procedure, which was completed without complications. The patient was transferred in stable condition to a skilled nursing facility to continue antibiotic therapy lasting 6 weeks from the date of surgery. The patient’s blood cultures remained negative.

Conclusion
A 36-year-old woman with resistant tricuspid valve endocarditis was successfully treated with linezolid in combination with daptomycin.
Promoting transitions of care, safety, and medication adherence for patients taking fingolimod in community pharmacies
Authors: Bourdin Aline , Schluep Myriam , Bugnon Olivier , Berger Jérôme 
Published: June 2019

AbstractPurposeThe development and dissemination of a specialty pharmacy service to optimize fingolimod therapy management are described.SummaryFingolimod was the first oral therapy developed to counter relapsing–remitting multiple sclerosis. Pharmacovigilance measures and individualized support are strongly recommended due to associated safety concerns. The Fingolimod Patient Support Program (F-PSP) was developed and disseminated within a community pharmacy network. The F-PSP aims to ensure responsible use of fingolimod and patient empowerment by promoting medication adherence and patient safety through a person-centered and integrated care approach. It complements basic pharmacy services through 2 interventions: medication adherence support and pharmacovigilance tailored to fingolimod. The adherence intervention combines motivational interviewing with longitudinal electronic medication adherence monitoring. The pharmacovigilance component consists of informing patients of fingolimod recommendations, reminding patients of recommended medical tests, and tracking and monitoring symptoms, especially those of potential serious adverse fingolimod reactions. A secure Web platform guides the pharmacist in conducting interviews and enables collection of patient-reported outcome data. A transition care pharmacist proposes program participation to all patients initiated on fingolimod, performs enrollment, and coordinates transfers to patient-designated community pharmacies for ongoing care.ConclusionThe F-PSP enables support of individual patients, and also provides real-world data, helping to bridge the gap between practice and research. The F-PSP is intended to be a generic model of a specialty pharmacy service that is transferable to any other healthcare context, specialty drug or disease.
Flower colour diversity seen through the eyes of pollinators. A commentary on: ‘Floral colour structure in two Australian herbaceous communities: it depends on who is looking’
Authors: Arnold Sarah E J , Chittka Lars 
Published: June 2019

This article comments on:Mani Shrestha, Adrian G. Dyer, Jair E. Garcia and Martin Burd. 2019. Floral colour structure in two Australian herbaceous communities: it depends on who is looking. Annals of Botany 124(2): 221–232.
Pulvinar Modulates Contrast Responses in the Visual Cortex as a Function of Cortical Hierarchy
Authors: de Souza Bruno Oliveira Ferreira , Cortes Nelson , Casanova Christian 
Published: June 2019

Abstract
The pulvinar is the largest extrageniculate visual nucleus in mammals. Given its extensive reciprocal connectivity with the visual cortex, it allows the cortico-thalamocortical transfer of visual information. Nonetheless, knowledge of the nature of the pulvinar inputs to the cortex remains elusive. We investigated the impact of silencing the pulvinar on the contrast response function of neurons in 2 distinct hierarchical cortical areas in the cat (areas 17 and 21a). Pulvinar inactivation altered the response gain in both areas, but with larger changes observed in area 21a. A theoretical model was proposed, simulating the pulvinar contribution to cortical contrast responses by modifying the excitation-inhibition balanced state of neurons across the cortical hierarchy. Our experimental and theoretical data showed that the pulvinar exerts a greater modulatory influence on neuronal activity in area 21a than in the primary visual cortex, indicating that the pulvinar impact on cortical visual neurons varies along the cortical hierarchy.
Changes in the Molecular Epidemiology of Pediatric Bacterial Meningitis in Senegal After Pneumococcal Conjugate Vaccine Introduction
Authors: Sonko Mouhamadou A , Dube Felix S , Okoi Catherine Bi , Diop Amadou , Thiongane Aliou , Senghore Madikay , Ndow Peter , Worwui Archibal , Faye Papa M , Dieye Baidy , Ba Idrissa D , Diallo Aliou , Boly Diop , Ndiaye Ousmane , Cissé Moussa F , Mwenda Jason M , Kwambana-Adams Brenda A , Antonio Martin 
Published: June 2019

AbstractBackgroundBacterial meningitis is a major cause of mortality among children under 5 years of age. Senegal is part of World Health Organization–coordinated sentinel site surveillance for pediatric bacterial meningitis surveillance. We conducted this analysis to describe the epidemiology and etiology of bacterial meningitis among children less than 5 years in Senegal from 2010 and to 2016.MethodsChildren who met the inclusion criteria for suspected meningitis at the Centre Hospitalier National d’Enfants Albert Royer, Senegal, from 2010 to 2016 were included. Cerebrospinal fluid specimens were collected from suspected cases examined by routine bacteriology and molecular assays. Serotyping, antimicrobial susceptibility testing, and whole-genome sequencing were performed.ResultsA total of 1013 children were admitted with suspected meningitis during the surveillance period. Streptococcus pneumoniae, Neisseria meningitidis, and Haemophilus accounted for 66% (76/115), 25% (29/115), and 9% (10/115) of all confirmed cases, respectively. Most of the suspected cases (63%; 639/1013) and laboratory-confirmed (57%; 66/115) cases occurred during the first year of life. Pneumococcal meningitis case fatality rate was 6-fold higher than that of meningococcal meningitis (28% vs 5%). The predominant pneumococcal lineage causing meningitis was sequence type 618 (n = 7), commonly found among serotype 1 isolates. An ST 2174 lineage that included serotypes 19A and 23F was resistant to trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole.ConclusionsThere has been a decline in pneumococcal meningitis post–pneumococcal conjugate vaccine introduction in Senegal. However, disease caused by pathogens covered by vaccines in widespread use still persists. There is need for continued effective monitoring of vaccine-preventable meningitis.
Detecting Proxy User Based on Communication Behavior Portrait
Authors: Han Zhen-Hui , Chen Xing-Shu , Zeng Xue-Mei , Zhu Yi , Yin Ming-Yong 
Published: June 2019

Abstract
Proxies can help users to bypass the network filtering system, leaving the network open to banned content, and can also enable users to anonymize themselves for terminal security protection. Proxies are widely used in the current network environment. However, certain spy proxies record user information for privacy theft. In addition, attackers can use such technologies to anonymize malicious behaviors and hide identities. Such behaviors have posed serious challenges to the internal defense and security threat assessment of an organization; however, the anonymity of the proxy makes it consistent with normal network communication, and general network traffic identification methods are not able to detect it. To accurately and effectively discover proxy users in the organization based on s, a proxy user detection method based on communication behavior portrait offers the following: (1) analysis of the communication behavior from the perspective of the portrait. Based on not abandoning the effective information of the traffic itself, the label system is established by introducing exogenous data to identify the difference between proxy communication and normal communication. (2) Construction of the portrait feature set of proxy user detection based on the traffic file and external data by studying the differences between the attribute sets of communication behavior labels for proxy users and non-proxy users. (3) Design and implementation a data-driven machine learning method to supply guidance for automatic recognition of such behavior. The experimental results show that, compared with state-of-the-art methods, the detection accuracy for the proxy user exceeds 95%, and that of real network traffic environment exceeds 85%. These results indicate that the detection method proposed in this paper can accurately distinguish proxy communication and normal communication and thus achieves precise proxy user detection.
An Epiphytic Ant-Plant Mutualism Structures Arboreal Ant Communities
Authors: Volp Trevor M , Lach Lori 
Published: June 2019

Abstract
Arboreal ant communities are primarily structured by interactions among ant species, food availability, and physical structures within the environment. Epiphytes are a common feature of tropical forests that can provide ants with both food and nesting space. To date, little work has examined what role epiphytic ant-plants play in structuring arboreal ant communities. We surveyed ant species inhabiting the Australian epiphytic ant-plant Myrmecodia beccarii Hook.f. (Gentianales: Rubiaceae) and how arboreal ant communities are structured in relation to M. beccarii presence on trees. Myrmecodia beccarii was inhabited by the ant Philidris cordata Smith, F. (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) on the majority of Melaleuca viridiflora Sol. Ex Gaertn. (Myrtales: Myrtaceae) trees with ant-occupied ant-plants at our two sites. Dominant arboreal ant species at both study sites exhibited discrete, nonoverlapping distributions, and C-score analysis detected an ant mosaic at one site. The distribution of P. cordata was limited by the distribution of ant-plants for both sites. Philidris cordata dominance on trees was also determined by the presence of M. beccarii occupied by P. cordata at both sites. We suggest that by providing P. cordata with nesting space M. beccarii plays a role in structuring these arboreal ant communities.
Space, time and captivity: quantifying the factors influencing the fecal microbiome of an alpine ungulate
Authors: Haworth Sarah E , White Kevin S , Côté Steeve D , Shafer Aaron B A 
Published: June 2019

ABSTRACT
The community of microorganisms in the gut is affected by host species, diet and environment and is linked to normal functioning of the host organism. Although the microbiome fluctuates in response to host demands and environmental changes, there are core groups of microorganisms that remain relatively constant throughout the hosts lifetime. Ruminants are mammals that rely on highly specialized digestive and metabolic modifications, including microbiome adaptations, to persist in extreme environments. Here, we assayed the fecal microbiome of four mountain goat (Oreamnos americanus) populations in western North America. We quantified fecal microbiome diversity and composition among groups in the wild and captivity, across populations and in a single group over time. There were no differences in community evenness or diversity across groups, although we observed a decreasing diversity trend across summer months. Pairwise sample estimates grouped the captive population distinctly from the wild populations, and moderately grouped the southern wild group distinctly from the two northern wild populations. We identified 33 genera modified by captivity, with major differences in key groups associated with cellulose degradation that likely reflect differences in diet. Our findings are consistent with other ruminant studies and provide baseline microbiome data in this enigmatic species, offering valuable insights into the health of wild alpine ungulates.