bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
How ants acclimate: Impact of climatic conditions on the cuticular hydrocarbon profile
Authors: Menzel Florian , Zumbusch Miriam , Feldmeyer Barbara 
Published: October 2017

Abstract

Organisms from temperate zones are exposed to seasonal changes and must be able to cope with a wide range of climatic conditions. Especially ectotherms, including insects, are at risk to desiccate under dry and warm conditions, the more so given the changing climate.

To adjust to current conditions, organisms acclimate through changes in physiology, morphology and/or behaviour. Insects protect themselves against desiccation through a layer of cuticular hydrocarbons (CHC) on their body surface. Hence, acclimation may also affect the CHC profile, changing their waterproofing capacity under different climatic conditions.

Here, we investigated the acclimation response of two Temnothorax ant species to different climatic conditions. We analysed CHC profiles of queens, nurses and foragers that were acclimated to different humidity × temperature regimes, and tested the beneficial acclimation hypothesis by measuring survival of workers under desiccation‐heat stress.

Both ants possessed a species‐specific CHC profile. Nevertheless, they showed similar acclimation responses concerning changes of certain CHC classes, and finally similar survival rates under desiccation‐heat stress. Warm‐acclimated individuals generally showed longer n‐alkanes, fewer dimethyl alkanes, and more (workers) or less (queens) monomethyl alkanes. In contrast, dry conditions resulted in more n‐alkanes and fewer mono‐ and dimethyl alkanes, but these acclimatory changes were only observed in workers and not in queens. Warm‐ and dry‐acclimated workers survived desiccation‐heat stress better, but we found no species differences.

Our results indicate that both ant species can plastically adjust their cuticular hydrocarbon profile, allowing them to acclimate to different climatic conditions. Although their CHC composition differs in a species‐specific manner, they showed similar chemical adjustments and concomitant changes in survival rate. Hence, chemical plasticity may be critical to determine a species’ climatic range and its survival under changing climatic conditions.

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Water restriction causes an intergenerational trade‐off and delayed mother–offspring conflict in a viviparous lizard
Authors: Dupoué Andréaz , Le Galliard Jean‐François , Josserand Rémy , DeNardo Dale F. , Decencière Béatriz , Agostini Simon , Haussy Claudy , Meylan Sandrine 
Published: October 2017

Abstract

Parenting is costly and because the relationship between the mother and embryos is not mutualistic, mother–offspring conflicts may exist whenever resource are scarce. However, intergenerational trade‐offs and conflicts resulting from limited access to water, a vital and depreciable resource, remain largely overlooked.

In this study, we examined the physiological, reproductive and life‐history responses to water restriction in the European Common Lizard (Zootoca vivipara). We hypothesized that, under water‐limited conditions, pregnant females experience both short‐term and long‐term physiological impacts (dehydration and stress) underlying an allocation trade‐off for water between mothers and offspring.

Water restriction led to a decrease in body mass, and an increase in plasma osmolality (dehydration) and corticosterone concentration in both males and females. The extent of the dehydration was positively correlated with fecundity in females. This suggests a trade‐off between maternal water balance and allocation of water to developing embryos during reproduction.

Water restriction had no immediate effect on reproductive output or offspring morphology at birth. Yet, water restriction in pregnant females enhanced their reproductive effort the following year but reduced the early life growth and annual survival of their second‐year offspring.

These delayed fitness responses to water restriction in offspring and mothers suggest that water can trigger intergenerational conflicts as demonstrated for energy. Although the mediation of this conflict remains to be clarified, we hypothesized that it represents a selective force that influences reproductive strategies.

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A new mathematical model of asymmetric hydraulic fracture growth
Authors: Mls J. , Fischer T. 
Published: October 2017

ABSTRACTHydraulic fractures generated by fluid injection in rock formations are often mapped by seismic monitoring. In many cases, the microseismicity is asymmetric relative to the injection well, which has been interpreted by stress gradient along the direction of the hydraulic fracture. We present a mathematical model of asymmetric hydrofracture growth based on relations between the solid‐phase stress and the fracture hydraulics. For single fracture and single injection point, the model has three parameters, hydraulic conductivities of the fracture wings, and normalised stress gradient and predicts the positions of the fracture tips as functions of time. The model is applied to a set of microseismic event locations that occurred during and after an injection process. Two different methods are suggested that make it possible to delineate the fracture tips from the set of microseismic events. This makes it possible to determine the model parameters and to check the agreement between the model prediction and the measured data. The comparison of the measured and modelled growth of fracture wings supports both the assumption of the non‐zero stress gradient and the existence of the post‐injection unilateral growth.
Telemedicine and the senses: a review
Authors: Lupton Deborah , Maslen Sarah 
Published: October 2017

AbstractTelemedicine technologies have been presented as solutions to the challenges of equitable, cost‐effective and efficient health service provision for over two decades. The ways in which the sensory dimensions of medical care and the doctor‐patient relationship are mediated via telemedicine can be important contributors to the success, failure or unintended consequences of telemedicine. In this article, we present a review of the relevant literature in social research that provides insights into the sensory dimensions of telemedicine. In addition to considering important relevant work undertaken in the sociology of health and illness, we incorporate perspectives and research from other disciplines and fields that we believe can contribute to the development of scholarship on this topic. We contend that when doctors, patients and other healthcare workers enact telemedicine, sensory judgements have become, in part, a sensing of sensors. Viewing healthcare practitioners and patients as always and already digital data assemblages of flesh‐code‐space‐place‐affect‐senses, demanding certain kinds of body work and data sense‐making, constitutes a productive theoretical approach for future enquiries into telemedicine and other digital health technologies.
Disciplinary power and the process of training informal carers on stroke units
Authors: Sadler Euan , Hawkins Rebecca , Clarke David J , Godfrey Mary , Dickerson Josie , McKevitt Christopher 
Published: October 2017

AbstractThis article examines the process of training informal carers on stroke units using the lens of power. Care is usually assumed as a kinship obligation but the state has long had an interest in framing the carer and caring work. Training carers in healthcare settings raises questions about the power of the state and healthcare professionals as its agents to shape expectations and practices related to the caring role. Drawing on Foucault's notion of disciplinary power, we show how disciplinary forms of power exercised in interactions between healthcare professionals and carers shape the engagement and resistance of carers in the process of training. Interview and observational field note extracts are drawn from a multi‐sited study of a training programme on stroke units targeting family carers of people with stroke to consider the consequences of subjecting caring to this intervention. We found that the process of training informal carers on stroke units was not simply a matter of transferring skills from professional to lay person, but entailed disciplinary forms of power intended to shape the conduct of the carer. We interrogate the extent to which a specific kind of carer is produced through such an approach, and the wider implications for the participation of carers in training in healthcare settings and the empowerment of carers.
Elucidating the impact of microbial community biodiversity on pharmaceutical biotransformation during wastewater treatment
Authors: Stadler Lauren B. , Delgado Vela Jeseth , Jain Sunit , Dick Gregory J. , Love Nancy G. 
Published: October 2017

SummaryIn addition to removing organics and other nutrients, the microorganisms in wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) biotransform many pharmaceuticals present in wastewater. The objective of this study was to examine the relationship between pharmaceutical biotransformation and biodiversity in WWTP bioreactor microbial communities and identify taxa and functional genes that were strongly associated with biotransformation. Dilution‐to‐extinction of an activated sludge microbial community was performed to establish cultures with a gradient of microbial biodiversity. Batch experiments were performed using the dilution cultures to determine biotransformation extents of several environmentally relevant pharmaceuticals. With this approach, because the communities were all established from the same original community, and using sequencing of the 16S rRNA and metatranscriptome, we identified candidate taxa and genes whose activity and transcript abundances associated with the extent of individual pharmaceutical biotransformation and were lost across the biodiversity gradient. Metabolic genes such as dehydrogenases, amidases and monooxygenases were significantly associated with pharmaceutical biotransformation, and five genera were identified whose activity significantly associated with pharmaceutical biotransformation. Understanding how biotransformation relates to biodiversity will inform the design of biological WWTPs for enhanced removal of chemicals that negatively impact environmental health.
Reappraisal of metallothionein: Clinical implications for patients with diabetes mellitus
Authors: Park Yongsoo , Zhang Jian , Cai Lu 
Published: October 2017

AbstractReactive oxygen and nitrogen species (ROS and RNS, respectively) are byproducts of cellular physiological processes of the metabolism of intermediary nutrients. Although physiological defense mechanisms readily convert these species into water or urea, an improper balance between their production and removal leads to oxidative stress (OS), which is harmful to cellular components. This OS may result in uncontrolled growth or, ultimately, cell death. In addition, ROS and RNS are closely related to the development of diabetes and its complications. Therefore, numerous researchers have proposed the development of strategies for the removal of ROS/RNS to prevent or treat diabetes and its complications. Some molecules that are synthesized in the body or obtained from food participate in the removal and neutralization of ROS and RNS. Metallothionein, a cysteine‐rich protein, is a metal‐binding protein that has a wide range of functions in cellular homeostasis and immunity. Metallothionein can be induced by a variety of conditions, including zinc supplementation, and plays a crucial role in mediating anti‐OS, anti‐apoptotic, detoxification, and anti‐inflammatory effects. Metallothionein can modulate various stress‐induced signaling pathways (mitogen‐activated protein kinase, Wnt, nuclear factor‐κB, phosphatidylinositol 3‐kinase, sirtuin 1/AMP‐activated protein kinase and fibroblast growth factor 21) to alleviate diabetes and diabetic complications. However, a deeper understanding of the functional, biochemical, and molecular characteristics of metallothionein is needed to bring about new opportunities for OS therapy. This review focuses on newly proposed functions of a metallothionein and their implications relevant to diabetes and its complications.
Contributions of Academic Emergency Medicine Programs to U.S. Health Care: Summary of the AAAEM‐AACEM Benchmarking Data
Authors: Reznek Martin A. , Scheulen James J. , Harbertson Cathi A. , Kotkowski Kevin A. , Kelen Gabor D. , Volturo Gregory A. 
Published: October 2017

AbstractObjectivesThe societal contribution of emergency care in the United States has been described. The role and impact of academic emergency departments (EDs) has been less clear. Our report summarizes the results of a benchmarking effort specifically focused on academic emergency medicine (EM) practices.MethodsFrom October through December 2016, the Academy of Academic Administrators of Emergency Medicine (AAAEM) and the Association of Academic Chairs of Emergency Medicine (AACEM) jointly administered a benchmarking survey to allopathic, academic departments and divisions of emergency medicine. Participation was voluntary and nonanonymous. The survey queried various aspects of the three components of the tripartite academic mission: clinical care, education and research, and faculty effort and compensation. Responses reflected a calendar year from July 1, 2015, to June 30, 2016.ResultsOf 107 eligible U.S. allopathic, academic departments and divisions of emergency medicine, 79 (74%) responded to the survey overall, although individual questions were not always answered by all responding programs. The 79 responding programs reported 6,876,189 patient visits at 97 primary and affiliated academic clinical sites. A number of clinical operations metrics related to the care of these patients at these sites are reported in this study. All responding programs had active educational programs for EM residents, with a median of 37 residents per program. Nearly half of the overall respondents reported responsibility for teaching medical students in mandatory EM clerkships. Fifty‐two programs reported research and publication activity, with a total of $129,494,676 of grant funding and 3,059 publications. Median faculty effort distribution was clinical effort, 66.9%; education effort, 12.7%; administrative effort, 12.0%; and research effort, 6.9%. Median faculty salary was $277,045.ConclusionsAcademic EM programs are characterized by significant productivity in clinical operations, education, and research. The survey results reported in this investigation provide appropriate benchmarking for academic EM programs because they allow for comparison of academic programs to each other, rather than nonacademic programs that do not necessarily share the additional missions of research and education and may have dissimilar working environments.
Diagnostic and genetic overlap of three common mental disorders in structured interviews and health registries
Authors: Torvik F. A. , Ystrom E. , Gustavson K. , Rosenström T. H. , Bramness J. G. , Gillespie N. , Aggen S. H. , Kendler K. S. , Reichborn‐Kjennerud T. 
Published: October 2017

ObjectiveTo investigate whether diagnostic data from structured interviews, primary care and specialist care registries on major depressive disorder (MDD), anxiety disorders (AD) and alcohol use disorder (AUD) identify the same individuals, yield comparable comorbidity estimates and reflect the same genetic influences.MethodsRegistry data from primary and specialist care were available for 11 727 twins and diagnostic interview data for 2271 of these. We used logistic regression analyses and biometric modelling to investigate the overlap between the data sources.ResultsMost individuals meeting diagnostic criteria at interview were not registered with a corresponding diagnosis. The rates of registration were higher for MDD (36% in primary care and 15% in specialist care) and AD (21% and 18%) than for AUD (3% and 7%). Comorbidity estimated as odds ratios, but not as polychoric correlations, was higher in the registries than in the interviews. Genetic influences on the disorders were highly correlated across data sources (median r = 0.81), bordering unity for MDD and AD.ConclusionPrevalence and comorbidity estimates differ between registries and population‐based assessment. Nevertheless, diagnoses from health registries reflect the same genetic influences as common mental disorders assessed in the general population, indicating generalizability of aetiological factors across data sources.
Assessing the impact of vulnerability on perceptions of social cohesion in the context of community resilience to disaster in the Blue Mountains
Authors: Redshaw Sarah , Ingham Valerie , McCutcheon Marion , Hicks John , Burmeister Oliver 
Published: October 2017

AbstractObjectiveTo assess the impact of network communications, community participation and elements of vulnerability on the perception of social cohesiveness in the Blue Mountains local government area (Blue Mountains LGA).DesignA questionnaire was administered to residents of the Blue Mountains LGA. Econometric analysis of the resulting data was undertaken.SettingBlue Mountains LGA, Australia.ParticipantsOne thousand one hundred and three residents of the Blue Mountains LGA responded to the questionnaire.Main outcome measure(s)The responses enabled the construction of variables measuring individual perceptions of community cohesiveness, their network communications and community participation. Demographic data and data on the vulnerabilities of individuals were also collected.ResultsThe data were used in an econometric model which identified that network communications and community participation impacted positively on perceptions of social cohesiveness while vulnerability factors had a negative impact.ConclusionsRemedial action to build community cohesiveness and network communications can be expected to have a positive impact on social cohesiveness. In developing strategies to build community cohesiveness and network communication, particular care needs to be taken to ensure the inclusion of those members of society who are regarded as the most vulnerable.
Cockroach is a major cross‐reactive allergen source in shrimp‐sensitized rural children in southern China
Authors: Yang Z. , Zhao J. , Wei N. , Feng M. , Xian M. , Shi X. , Zheng Z. , Su Q. , Wong G. W. K. , Li J. 
Published: October 2017

AbstractBackgroundLittle is known about the prevalence of food allergy (FA) in China. The aim of this study was to investigate the disparity of FA between urban and rural areas in southern China.MethodsEuroPrevall questionnaire responses were obtained from 5542 school‐age children in urban Guangzhou and 5319 in rural Shaoguan. A case‐control study enrolled 190 children with adverse reactions (ARs) after food intake as cases and 212 controls in Guangzhou, whereas 116 cases and 233 controls in Shaoguan. These subjects underwent skin prick test (SPT) and serum IgE measurements to food and inhalant allergens. Allergen extracts from shrimp, house dust mite (HDM), and cockroach were prepared for IgE cross‐reactivity testing in 23 Guangzhou and 20 Shaoguan shrimp‐sensitized subjects.ResultsThe prevalence of ARs to shrimp was higher in Guangzhou than in Shaoguan children (3.5% vs 1.4%, P < .001). However, sensitization rate to shrimp (SPT: 3.7% vs 11.2%, P = .015; IgE: 12.6% vs 36.2%, P < .001) and cockroach (SPT: 5.3% vs 33.5%; IgE: 2.6% vs 27.6%, P < .001) was lower in Guangzhou. A significant correlation between shrimp and HDM/cockroach IgE was found in Shaoguan children. The proportions of positive IgE to tropomyosin (Pen a 1, Der p 10) were lower than 7.4% in both areas. Cockroach allergen has a significantly higher inhibition rate of binding to IgE to house dust mite allergens in Shaoguan sera.ConclusionShrimp is a common allergic food in southern China. Higher proportion of shrimp sensitization in rural subjects could be explained by cross‐reactivity to cockroach. Tropomyosin was not a major allergen responding to the cross‐reactivity.
Pulmonary adiaspiromycosis in critically endangered northern hairy‐nosed wombats (Lasiorhinus krefftii)
Authors: Schaffer‐White AB , Harper D , Mayhew M , McKinnon A , Knott L , Allavena RE 
Published: October 2017

BackgroundThe northern hairy‐nosed wombat (Lasiorhinus krefftii) is critically endangered, with only 200 individuals remaining in the wild. Individuals are rarely available for detailed pathological assessment and identification of disease threats to individuals is critically important to species conservation.Case reportTwo male northern hairy‐nosed wombats, part of the Richard Underwood Nature Refuge population, were presented for necropsy, 5 months apart. They were found to have succumbed to adiaspiromycosis caused by the fungus Emmonsia parva. Pathological presentations were of severe pulmonary oedema and fibrosis, and pleuritis, respectively. Characteristic fungal adiaspores were noted on histopathological examination. The wombats had concurrent variably severe ectoparasite and endoparasite burdens.ConclusionThese are the first reported cases of adiaspiromycosis in northern hairy‐nosed wombats and the organism was associated with significant pathological changes. The rarity and the logistical challenges of presenting northern hairy‐nosed wombats for pathological assessment are a challenge to identifying disease threats in this critically endangered species.
Risk Prediction for Heterogeneous Populations with Application to Hospital Admission Prediction
Authors: Huling Jared D. , Yu Menggang , Liang Muxuan , Smith Maureen 
Published: October 2017

Summary
This article is motivated by the increasing need to model risk for large hospital and health care systems that provide services to diverse and complex patients. Often, heterogeneity across a population is determined by a set of factors such as chronic conditions. When these stratifying factors result in overlapping subpopulations, it is likely that the covariate effects for the overlapping groups have some similarity. We exploit this similarity by imposing structural constraints on the importance of variables in predicting outcomes such as hospital admission. Our basic assumption is that if a variable is important for a subpopulation with one of the chronic conditions, then it should be important for the subpopulation with both conditions. However, a variable can be important for the subpopulation with two particular chronic conditions but not for the subpopulations of people with just one of those two conditions. This assumption and its generalization to more conditions are reasonable and aid greatly in borrowing strength across the subpopulations. We prove an oracle property for our estimation method and show that even when the structural assumptions are misspecified, our method will still include all of the truly nonzero variables in large samples. We demonstrate impressive performance of our method in extensive numerical studies and on an application in hospital admission prediction and validation for the Medicare population of a large health care provider.