bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Task Shifting: The Use of Laypersons for Acquisition of Vital Signs Data for Clinical Decision Making in the Emergency Room Following Traumatic Injury
Authors: Haac Bryce E. , Gallaher Jared R. , Mabedi Charles , Geyer Andrew J. , Charles Anthony G. 
Published: July 2017

AbstractImportanceIn resource‐limited settings, identification of successful and sustainable task‐shifting interventions is important for improving care.ObjectiveTo determine whether the training of lay people to take vital signs as trauma clerks is an effective and sustainable method to increase availability of vital signs in the initial evaluation of trauma patients.DesignWe conducted a quasi‐experimental study of patients presenting with traumatic injury pre‐ and post‐intervention.SettingThe study was conducted at Kamuzu Central Hospital, a tertiary care referral hospital, in Lilongwe, Malawi.ParticipantsAll adult (age ≥ 18 years) trauma patients presenting to emergency department over a six‐month period from January to June prior to intervention (2011), immediately post‐intervention (2012), 1 year post‐intervention (2013) and 2 years post‐intervention (2014).InterventionLay people were trained to take and record vital signs.Main outcomes and measuresThe number of patients with recorded vital signs pre‐ and post‐intervention and sustainability of the intervention as determined by time‐series analysis.ResultsAvailability of vital signs on initial evaluation of trauma patients increased significantly post‐intervention. The percentage of patients with at least one vital sign recorded increased from 23.5 to 92.1%, and the percentage of patients with all vital signs recorded increased from 4.1 to 91.4%. Availability of Glasgow Coma Scale also increased from 40.3 to 88.6%. Increased documentation of vital signs continued at 1 year and 2 years post‐intervention. However, the percentage of documented vital signs did decrease slightly after the US‐trained medical student and surgeon who trained the trauma clerks were no longer available in country, except for Glasgow Coma Scale. Patients who died during emergency department evaluation were significantly less likely to have vital signs recorded.Conclusions and relevanceThe training of lay people to collect vital signs and Glasgow Coma Scale is an effective and sustainable method of task shifting in a resource‐limited setting.
The big chill: quantifying the effect of the 2014 North American cold wave on hemlock woolly adelgid populations in the central Appalachian Mountains
Authors: Tobin Patrick C. , Turcotte Richard M. , Blackburn Laura M. , Juracko John A. , Simpson Brian T. 
Published: July 2017

AbstractThe ability to survive winter temperatures is a key determinant of insect distributional ranges and population dynamics in temperate ecosystems. Although many insects overwinter in a state of diapause, the hemlock woolly adelgid [Adelges tsugae (Annand)] is an exception and instead develops during winter. We studied a low density population of A. tsugae, which undergoes two generations per year, in a forested area in which its only available host plant, eastern hemlock (Tsuga canadensis), was patchy and scarce. In January 2014, this area also experienced an exceptionally cold winter due to a southward shift in the North Polar Vortex. We used 3 years of systematic sampling prior to the 2014 cold wave, and 1 year following, to quantify the effect of the 2014 cold wave on A. tsugae population dynamics. We observed a strong negative correlation between the number of days below sub‐zero temperature thresholds and A. tsugae, and estimated that the 2014 cold wave resulted in at least a 238% decrease in its population growth rate. However, we also observed that the detrimental effect of the 2014 cold wave to A. tsugae was short‐lived, as populations measured in the late summer of 2014 rebounded to pre‐2014 cold wave densities. This study highlights the effect that cold winter weather events can have on a winter active insect species, and the speed at which populations can recover from stochastic mortality events.
Cosmogenic10Be dating of raised shorelines constrains the timing of lake levels in the eastern Lake Agassiz-Ojibway basin
Authors: Godbout Pierre-Marc , Roy Martin , Veillette Jean J. , Schaefer Joerg M. 
Published: July 2017

AbstractSurface exposure dating was applied to erosional shorelines associated with the Angliers lake level that marks an important stage of Lake Ojibway. The distribution of 1510Be ages from five sites shows a main group (10 samples) of coherent10Be ages yielding a mean age of 9.9±0.7 ka that assigns the development of this lake level to the early part of the Lake Ojibway history. A smaller group (3 samples) is part of a more scattered distribution of older10Be ages (with 2 outliers) that points to an inheritance of cosmogenic isotopes from a previous exposure, revealing an apparent mean age of 15.8±0.9 ka that is incompatible with the Ojibway inundation and the regional deglaciation. Our results provide the first direct10Be chronology on the sequence of lake levels in the Ojibway basin, which includes the lake stage presumably associated with the confluence and subsequent drainage of Lakes Agassiz and Ojibway. This study demonstrates the potential of this approach to date glacial lake shorelines and underlies the importance of obtaining additional chronological constraints on the Agassiz-Ojibway shoreline sequence to confidently assign a particular lake stage and/or lake-level drawdown to a specific time interval of the deglaciation.
The Problem of Jewish Law in a Jewish State
Authors: Englard Izhak 
Published: July 2017

Introduction: With the increasing tendency in Israel to replace the old Ottoman civil law, thefamiliar question of the reception of Jewish (talmudic) law has once again become the subject of lively discussion. In his policy speech in the Knesset the then new Minister of Justice, Mr. Y. S. Shapiro, declared as his objective the gradual severance of Israel law from the present pervasive influence of the English legal system. He was too cautious to take a definite stand on the question of the reception of Jewish law (or any other specific system) to replace the present law, but aspirations towards this goal have recently been expressed on various occasions by representatives of different parties. The forceful demand “to base the laws of the State on the Halacha” comes especially from die religious parties. But representatives of the non-religious parties also recommend the reception of Jewish law in those areas of private law where no decisions on ideological grounds need to be made.In point of fact, the unanimity with regard to the reception of Jewish law is based on two outlooks differing in origin. Non-religious circles view Jewish law as a cultural creation of national significance, comparable to the revival of the Hebrew language. The firm establishment of Israel law on Jewish legal principles is advocated as an expression of spiritual independence, stressing the historical continuity of the people residing in Zion.
A structured literature review on the role of mindfulness, mindful eating and intuitive eating in changing eating behaviours: effectiveness and associated potential mechanisms
Authors: Warren Janet M. , Smith Nicola , Ashwell Margaret 
Published: July 2017

AbstractThe role of mindfulness, mindful eating and a newer concept of intuitive eating in modulating eating habits is an area of increasing interest. In this structured literature review, a summary of the current evidence is presented, together with details of interventions undertaken and the tools to measure outcomes. It is broad in scope given the emerging evidence base in this area. The review yielded sixty-eight publications: twenty-three interventions in obese/overweight populations; twenty-nine interventions in normal-weight populations; sixteen observational studies, three of which were carried out in overweight/obese populations. Mindfulness-based approaches appear most effective in addressing binge eating, emotional eating and eating in response to external cues. There is a lack of compelling evidence for the effectiveness of mindfulness and mindful eating in weight management. Mindfulness-based approaches may prevent weight gain. Reduced food intake was seen in some of the studies in overweight and obese populations, but this was less apparent in the studies in normal-weight populations. The evidence base for intuitive eating is limited to date and further research is needed to examine its potential in altering eating behaviours. Mindfulness appears to work by an increased awareness of internal, rather than external, cues to eat. Mindfulness and mindful eating have the potential to address problematic eating behaviours and the challenges many face with controlling their food intake. Encouraging a mindful eating approach would seem to be a positive message to be included in general weight management advice to the public.
Can nutritional information modify purchase of ultra-processed products? Results from a simulated online shopping experiment
Authors: Machín Leandro , Arrúa Alejandra , Giménez Ana , Curutchet María Rosa , Martínez Joseline , Ares Gastón 
Published: July 2017

AbstractObjectiveThe aim of the present work was to evaluate the influence of two front-of-pack nutrition information schemes (traffic-light system and Chilean warning system) on consumer purchase of ultra-processed foods in a simulated online grocery store.DesignFollowing a between-subjects design, participants completed a simulated weekly food purchase in an online grocery store under one of three experimental conditions: (i) a control condition with no nutrition information, (ii) a traffic-light system and (iii) the Chilean warning system. Information about energy (calories), sugar, saturated fats and salt content was included in the nutrition information schemes.SettingParticipants were recruited from a consumer database and a Facebook advertisement.SubjectsPeople from Montevideo (Uruguay), aged 18–77 years (n437; 75 % female), participated in the study. All participants were in charge of food purchase in the household, at least occasionally.ResultsNo significant differences between experimental conditions were found in the mean share of ultra-processed foods purchased by participants, both in terms of number of products and expenditure, or in the mean energy, sugar, saturated fat and salt content of the purchased items. However, the Chilean warning system decreased intended purchase of sweets and desserts.ConclusionsResults from this online simulation provided little evidence to suggest that the traffic-light system or the Chilean warning system in isolation could be effective in reducing purchase of ultra-processed foods or improving the nutritional composition of the purchased products.
Intended outcome expands in time
Authors: Makwana Mukesh , Srinivasan Narayanan 
Published: July 2017

AbstractIntentional agents desire specific outcomes and perform actions to obtain those outcomes. However, whether getting such desired (intended) outcomes change our subjective experience of the duration of that outcome is unknown. Using a temporal bisection task, we investigated the changes in temporal perception of the outcome as a function of whether it was intended or not. Before each trial, participants intended to see one of two possible outcomes but received the intended outcome only in half of the trials. Results showed that intended outcomes were perceived as longer than unintended outcomes. Interestingly, this temporal expansion was present only when the intended outcome appeared after short action-outcome delays (250 ms-Exp 1 and 500 ms-Exp 2), but not when it appeared after long action-outcome delay (1000 ms-Exp 3). The effect was absent when participants did not intend and performed instruction-based action (Exp 4). Finally, Exp 5 (verbal estimation task) revealed that intention induced temporal expansion occurs via altering the gating or switch mechanism and not the pacemaker speed. Results are explained based on intention-induced pre-activation resulting in extended temporal experience. Our study not only suggests inclusion of intention as a potential factor influencing time perception but also indicates a close link between intentional binding and the intention induced temporal expansion of its outcome.
Absence of Tissue Inhibitor of Metalloproteinase-4 (TIMP4) ameliorates high fat diet-induced obesity in mice due to defective lipid absorption
Authors: Sakamuri Siva S. V. P. , Watts Russell , Takawale Abhijit , Wang Xiuhua , Hernandez-Anzaldo Samuel , Bahitham Wesam , Fernandez-Patron Carlos , Lehner Richard , Kassiri Zamaneh 
Published: July 2017

AbstractTissue inhibitor of metalloproteases (TIMPs) are inhibitors of matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) that regulate tissue extracellular matrix (ECM) turnover. TIMP4 is highly expressed in adipose tissue, its levels are further elevated following high-fat diet, but its role in obesity is unknown. Eight-week old wild-type (WT) and Timp4-knockout (Timp4−/−) mice received chow or high fat diet (HFD) for twelve weeks. Timp4−/− mice exhibited a higher food intake but lower body fat gain. Adipose tissue of Timp4
−/–
-HFD mice showed reduced hypertrophy and fibrosis compared to WT-HFD mice. Timp4
−/–
-HFD mice were also protected from HFD-induced liver and skeletal muscle triglyceride accumulation and dyslipidemia. Timp4−/−-HFD mice exhibited reduced basic metabolic rate and energy expenditure, but increased respiratory exchange ratio. Increased free fatty acid excretion was detected in Timp4−/−-HFD compared to WT-HFD mice. CD36 protein, the major fatty acid transporter in the small intestine, increased with HFD in WT but not in Timp4−/− mice, despite a similar rise in Cd36 mRNA in both genotypes. Consistently, HFD increased enterocyte lipid content only in WT but not in Timp4−/− mice. Our study reveals that absence of TIMP4 can impair lipid absorption and the high fat diet-induced obesity in mice possibly by regulating the proteolytic processing of CD36 protein in the intestinal enterocytes.
Identification of putative unique immunogenic ZIKV and DENV1-4 peptides for diagnostic cellular based tests
Authors: Oom Aaron L. , Smith Davey , Akrami Kevan 
Published: July 2017

AbstractSince the re-emergence of Zika virus in 2014 and subsequent association with microcephaly, much work has focused on the development of a vaccine to halt its spread throughout the world. The mosquito vector that transmits this virus is widespread and responsible for the spread of other arboviridae including Dengue. Current diagnostic methods rely on serologic testing that are complicated by cross reactivity and therefore unable to distinguish Zika from Dengue infection in the absence of virus isolation. We performed an in silico analysis to identify potential epitopes that may stimulate a unique T-lymphocyte response to distinguish prior infection with Zika or Dengue. From this analysis, we not only identified epitopes unique to Zika and Dengue, but also identified epitopes unique to each Dengue serotype. These peptides contribute to a pool of peptides identified for vaccine development that can be tested in vitro to confirm immunogenicity, absence of homology and global population coverage. The current lack of accurate diagnostic testing hampers our ability to understand the scope of the epidemic, implications for vaccine implementation and complications related to monoinfection and co-infection with these two closely related viruses.
Bayesian Network analysis of piglet scours
Authors: McCormick Benjamin J. J. , Van Breda Lechelle K. , Ward Michael P. 
Published: July 2017

AbstractDiarrhoeal disease (scours) in piglets, often associated with enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC), is a substantial financial burden to the pig industry worldwide. Previous research has not explicitly examined the relationships between farm, pen and microbiological factors. Here we present a state of the art analysis to reveal empirical indirect – as well as direct – associations between management factors as putative risks for scours in pre- and post-weaned piglets. A Bayesian Network is constructed to identify the optimal structural model describing the relationships between risk factors. An additive model is then built to estimate more epidemiologically familiar odds ratios. Farm-level variance dominates the model, making many pen-level associations null. However, there is evidence that pre-weaning scours are less likely on farms with <400 sows (0.14, 0.03–0.50). Our results strongly suggest that smaller production units (piglets/pen) could reduce the incidence of scours in piglets. There is also some evidence that ownership of other livestock is a potential risk factor for pre-weaning scours, although this was observed only at one farm. Future research should be directed at better understanding the role of herd size and investigating the relationship between managing other livestock and the occurrence of scours in pig herds.
Anomalous random telegraph noise in nanoscale transistors as direct evidence of two metastable states of oxide traps
Authors: Guo Shaofeng , Wang Runsheng , Mao Dongyuan , Wang Yangyuan , Huang Ru 
Published: July 2017

AbstractIn this paper, a new pattern of anomalous random telegraph noise (RTN), named “reversal RTN” (rRTN) induced by single oxide trap, is observed in the drain current of nanoscale metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistors (MOSFETs) with high-k gate dielectrics. Under each gate voltage, the rRTN data exhibit two zones with identical amplitudes but reversal time constants. This abnormal switching behavior can be explained by the theory of complete 4-state trap model (with two stable states and two metastable states), rather than the simple 2-state or improved 3-state trap model. The results provide a direct experimental evidence of the existence of two metastable states in a single oxide trap, contributing to the comprehensive understanding of trap-related reliability and variability issues in nanoscale transistors.
Fish oil diet may reduce inflammatory levels in the liver of middle-aged rats
Authors: Li Yingqiu , Zhao Fan , Wu Qiayu , Li Mengjie , Zhu Yingying , Song Shangxin , Zhu Jing , Ma Yafang , Li He , Shi Xuebin , Xu Xinglian , Zhou Guanghong , Li Chunbao 
Published: July 2017

AbstractThe impact of dietary soybean oil, lard and fish oil on physiological responses in middle age is little studied. In this study, we investigated the changes of oxidative stress, inflammatory cytokines, telomere length, and age-related gene expression in the liver of middle-aged rats in response to the above three fat diets. Male Sprague Dawley rats (12 months old) were fed AIN-93M diets for 3 months, in which soybean oil was equivalently replaced by lard or fish oil. As compared to the lard diet, intake of fish oil diet significantly decreased body weight gain, white blood cell count, and levels of hepatic triacylglycerol, total cholesterol, fat accumulation, low-density lipoprotein, oxidative stress and inflammatory cytokines (P < 0.05), but increased telomere length (P < 0.05). On the other hand, lard diet and soybean oil diet showed great similarity in the above variables. PCR array analysis further indicated that fish oil diet significantly down-regulated gene expression related to inflammatory response, apoptosis, DNA binding, proteostasis and telomere attrition. Differentially expressed genes were enriched in the complement and coagulation cascades pathways. Such physiological and molecular responses could be due to different fatty acid composition in fish oil, lard and soybean oil.
Quantitative analysis of 3D alignment quality: its impact on soft-validation, particle pruning and homogeneity analysis
Authors: Vargas J. , Melero R. , Gómez-Blanco J. , Carazo J. M. , Sorzano C. O. S. 
Published: July 2017

AbstractSingle Particle Analysis using cryo-electron microscopy is a structural biology technique aimed at capturing the three-dimensional (3D) conformation of biological macromolecules. Projection images used to construct the 3D density map are characterized by a very low signal-to-noise ratio to minimize radiation damage in the samples. As a consequence, the 3D image alignment process is a challenging and error prone task which usually determines the success or failure of obtaining a high quality map. In this work, we present an approach able to quantify the alignment precision and accuracy of the 3D alignment process, which is then being used to help the reconstruction process in a number of ways, such as: (1) Providing quality indicators of the macromolecular map for soft validation, (2) Assessing the degree of homogeneity of the sample and, (3), Selecting subsets of representative images. We present experimental results in which the quality of the finally obtained 3D maps is clearly improved.
Route to sustainable lithium-sulfur batteries with high practical capacity through a fluorine free polysulfide catholyte and self-standing Carbon Nanofiber membranes
Authors: Lim Du-Hyun , Agostini Marco , Nitze Florian , Manuel James , Ahn Jou-Hyeon , Matic Aleksandar 
Published: July 2017

AbstractWe report on a new strategy to improve the capacity, reduce the manufacturing costs and increase the sustainability of Lithium-Sulfur (LiS) batteries. It is based on a semi-liquid cathode composed of a Li2S8 polysulphide catholyte and a binder-free carbon nanofiber membrane with tailored morphology. The polysulphides in the catholyte have the dual role of active material and providing Li+-conduction, i.e. no traditional Li-salt is used in this cell. The cell is able to deliver an areal capacity as high as 7 mAh cm−2, twice than that of commercial Lithium-ion batteries (LiBs) and 2–4 times higher than that of state-of-the-art LiS cells. In addition, the battery concept has an improved sustainability from a material point of view by being mainly based on sulfur and carbon and being completely fluorine-free, no fluorinated salt or binders are used, and has potential for upscaling and competitive price. The combination of these properties makes the semi-liquid LiS cell here reported a very promising new concept for practical large-scale energy storage applications.
Dual functional Phi29 DNA polymerase-triggered exponential rolling circle amplification for sequence-specific detection of target DNA embedded in long-stranded genomic DNA
Authors: Li Xiao-Yu , Du Yi-Chen , Zhang Yu-Peng , Kong De-Ming 
Published: July 2017

AbstractAn exonucleolytic digestion-assisted exponential rolling circle amplification (RCA) strategy was developed for sensitive and sequence-specific detection of target DNA embedded in long-stranded genomic DNA. Herein, Phi29 DNA polymerase plays two important roles as exonuclease and polymerase. Long-stranded genomic DNAs can be broken into small DNA fragments after ultrasonication. The fragments that contain target DNA, hybridize with a linear padlock probe to trigger the formation of a circular RCA template. The tails protruding from the 3′-end of the target DNA sequences are then digested by the 3′ → 5′ exonuclease activity of Phi29 DNA polymerase even if they fold into a double-stranded structure. The digested DNA fragments can then initiate subsequent RCA reaction. RCA products, which are designed to fold into G-quadruplex structures, exponentially accumulate when appropriate nicking endonuclease recognition sites are introduced rationally into the RCA template. This method is demonstrated to work well for real genomic DNA detection using human pathogen Cryptococcus neoformans as a model. In addition, this work has two other important discoveries: First, the presence of a 3′-tail can protect the RCA primer from degradation by Phi29 DNA polymerase. Second, 3′ → 5′ exonucleolytic activity of Phi29 DNA polymerase can work for both single- and double-stranded DNA.