bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Self-reported Health Status Differs for Amazon’s Mechanical Turk Respondents Compared With Nationally Representative Surveys
Authors: Mortensen Karoline , Alcalá Manuel G. , French Michael T. , Hu Tianyan 
Published: January 2018

Background:
Amazon’s Mechanical Turk (MTurk) platform has become a data source for peer-reviewed academic research publications, with over 24,000 Google Scholar search results. Although well-developed and supportive in other disciplines, the literature in health and medicine comparing results from samples generated on MTurk to gold standard, nationally representative health and medical surveys is beginning to emerge.

Objective:
To compare the demographic, socioeconomic, and self-reported health status variables in an MTurk sample to those from 2 prominent national probability surveys, including the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS) and the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS).

Research Design:
We analyze weighted and unweighted tabulations of the MTurk, MEPS, and BRFSS. Wald tests identify statistical significance.

Measures:
Demographic, socioeconomic, and health status variables in an adult MTurk sample collected in 2016 (n=1916), the 2015 MEPS household survey component (n=21,210), and the 2015 BRFSS (n=283,502).

Results:
Our findings indicate statistically significant differences in the demographic, socioeconomic, and self-perceived health status tabulations in the MTurk sample relative to the unweighted and weighted MEPS and BRFSS. The MTurk sample is more likely to be female (65.8% in MTurk, 50.9% in MEPS, 50.2% in BRFSS), white (80.1% in MTurk, 76.9% in MEPS, and 73.9% in BRFSS), non-Hispanic (91.1%, 82.4%, and 81.4%, respectively), younger, and less likely to report excellent health status (6.8% in MTurk, 28.3% in MEPS, and 20.2% in BRFSS).

Conclusions:
We find significant differences across variables that warrant hesitation in using MTurk data as a replacement for the gold standard datasets in health services research.
Impact of Integrated Health Care Delivery on Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Pancreatic Cancer
Authors: Chang Jonathan I. , Huang Brian Z. , Wu Bechien U. 
Published: January 2018

Objectives
The objective of this study was to evaluate whether disparities in pancreatic cancer diagnosis, treatment, and survival are reduced in an integrated health system.

Methods
We conducted a retrospective study (2006–2014) among patients with pancreatic cancer from Kaiser Permanente Southern California. Racial ethnic groups included non-Hispanic whites (NHW), non-Hispanic blacks (NHB), Hispanics, and Asians. We used multivariable and Cox regression analyses to evaluate disparities in diagnosis and treatment utilization (oncology care, surgery, time to surgery, chemotherapy) and overall survival, respectively.

Results
Among 2103 patients, 54% were diagnosed with stage IV disease, 80% received oncology consultation, 20% received surgery with mean time to surgery 27 days (standard deviation, 36.8), 50.4% received chemotherapy. Mean overall survival was 8.6 months (standard deviation, 11.5). There were no differences in odds of stage IV diagnosis, oncology consultation, surgery, or time to surgery by racial ethnic group. Asians were more likely to receive chemotherapy (odds ratio, 1.59; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.09–2.32) compared to NHW. NHB (hazard ratio, 0.78; 95% CI, 0.67–0.91) and Asians (hazard ratio, 0.81; 95% CI, 0.66–1.00) had improved survival compared to NHW.

Conclusions
Minorities were not disadvantaged in pancreatic cancer care. Improved health care coordination may improve current disparities.
Nationwide Trend Analysis of Pediatric Inpatients With Immune Thrombocytopenia in the United States
Authors: Okubo Yusuke , Handa Atsuhiko 
Published: January 2018

Background:Several studies have reported the epidemiology of immune thrombocytopenia (ITP) among children in the United States and other countries. However, recent trends in ITP among hospitalized children and hospital course remain unknown at a national level in the United States.Method:Hospital discharge records of patients with ITP aged 19 years and younger were obtained for the years 2003, 2006, 2009, and 2012 using the Kids’ Inpatient Database. Data were weighted to estimate the annual hospitalization rates in the United States with trend analyses. Multivariable regression models were used to ascertain trends of health care utilizations, hospitalization costs, and length of stay.Results:Total annual hospitalization rates due to ITP ranged from 6.13 per 100,000 children in 2003 to 6.22 per 100,000 children in 2012 (Ptrend=0.86). The lowest proportions of hospitalizations were observed in August. The proportions of inpatients treated with intravenous immunoglobulin increased from 18.5% in 2003 to 39.9% (Ptrend< 0.001), while those examined with bone marrow aspiration decreased from 7.8% in 2003 to 6.5% in 2012 (Ptrend=0.01). Total hospitalization costs and length of stay changed from $6147 and 3.78 days in 2003 to $9328 and 2.55 days in 2012.Conclusions:We provided insights of epidemiology of ITP and health care utilizations in the United States. Further studies, including cost-effective analyses, will be required to justify the increasing trends in health care costs and intravenous immunoglobulin.
Vascular Effects of Adrenomedullin and the Anti-Adrenomedullin Antibody Adrecizumab in Sepsis
Authors: Geven Christopher , Bergmann Andreas , Kox Matthijs , Pickkers Peter 
Published: January 2018

ABSTRACT
Sepsis remains a major scientific and medical challenge, for which, apart from significant refinements in supportive therapy, treatment has barely changed over the last few decades. During sepsis, both vascular tone and vascular integrity are compromised, and contribute to the development of shock. The free circulating peptide adrenomedullin (ADM) is involved in the regulation of the endothelial barrier function and tone of blood vessels. Several animal studies have shown that ADM administration improves outcome of sepsis. However, in higher dosages, ADM administration may cause hypotension, limiting its clinical applicability. Moreover, ADM has a very short half-life and easily adheres to surfaces, further hampering its clinical use. The non-neutralizing anti-ADM antibody Adrecizumab (HAM8101) which causes a long-lasting increase of plasma ADM has shown promising results in animal models of systemic inflammation and sepsis; it reduced inflammation, attenuated vascular leakage, and improved hemodynamics, kidney function, and survival. Combined with an excellent safety profile derived from animal and phase I human studies, Adrecizumab represents a promising candidate drug for the adjunctive treatment of sepsis. In this review, we first provide a brief overview of the currently available data on the role of adrenomedullin in sepsis and describe its effects on endothelial barrier function and vasodilation. Furthermore, we provide a novel hypothesis concerning the mechanisms of action through which Adrecizumab may exert its beneficial effects in sepsis.
Accurate allele frequencies from ultra-low coverage pool-seq samples in evolve-and-resequence experiments
Authors: Tilk Susanne , Bergland Alan , Goodman Aaron , Schmidt Paul , Petrov Dmitri , Greenblum Sharon 
Published: January 2018

AbstractEvolve-and-resequence (E+R) experiments leverage next-generation sequencing technology to track the allele frequency dynamics of populations as they evolve. While previous work has shown that adaptive alleles can be detected by comparing frequency trajectories from many replicate populations, this power comes at the expense of high-coverage (>100x) sequencing of many pooled samples, which can be cost-prohibitive. Here, we show that accurate estimates of allele frequencies can be achieved with very shallow sequencing depths (<5x) via inference of known founder haplotypes in small genomic windows. This technique can be used to efficiently estimate frequencies for any number of bi-allelic SNPs in populations of any model organism founded with sequenced homozygous strains. Using both experimentally-pooled and simulated samples of Drosophila melanogaster, we show that haplotype inference can improve allele frequency accuracy by orders of magnitude for up to 50 generations of recombination, and is robust to moderate levels of missing data, as well as different selection regimes. Finally, we show that a simple linear model generated from these simulations can predict the accuracy of haplotype-derived allele frequencies in other model organisms and experimental designs. To make these results broadly accessible for use in E+R experiments, we introduce HAF-pipe, an open-source software tool for calculating haplotype-derived allele frequencies from raw sequencing data. Ultimately, by reducing sequencing costs without sacrificing accuracy, our method facilitates E+R designs with higher replication and resolution, and thereby, increased power to detect adaptive alleles.
Monkey Facial Dynamics in ‘Minimal Interactions’
Authors: Shepherd Stephen V. 
Published: January 2018

ABSTRACTIncreasingly, researchers are interested in studying the neural substrates of monkey social interactions within laboratory settings. However, semi-naturalistic monkey interactions within lab settings have not been well characterized. We here analyze “minimal interactions” between monkeys in the laboratory. Monkeys, like humans, produce a variety of facial expressions when they encounter one another. It has been unclear what specific information they use to guide their behavior. I recorded the facial signals of captive long-tailed macaques (Macaca fascicularis) while they visually interacted while seated in primate chairs. I found that the most consistently-evoked expressions were affiliative in character, most notably in the form of reciprocal lipsmacking. Consistent with prior experiments, lipsmacks were most evident when situational and social ambiguity was maximal: that is, in the first sessions, in the first moments of each session, and when interacting with unfamiliar individuals. Unexpectedly, head and eye orientation played dissociable roles in interactive behaviors. Most intriguingly, monkeys’ facial behaviors reflected both received and previously sent signals, suggesting they interpret others’ current signals in light of their own past communications.
Speech intelligibility predicted from neural entrainment of the speech envelope
Authors: Vanthornhout Jonas , Decruy Lien , Wouters Jan , Simon Jonathan Z. , Francart Tom 
Published: January 2018

AbstractSpeech intelligibility is currently measured by scoring how well a person can identify a speech signal. The results of such behavioral measures reflect neural processing of the speech signal, but are also influenced by language processing, motivation and memory. Very often electrophysiological measures of hearing give insight in the neural processing of sound. However, in most methods non-speech stimuli are used, making it hard to relate the results to behavioral measures of speech intelligibility. The use of natural running speech as a stimulus in electrophysiological measures of hearing is a paradigm shift which allows to bridge the gap between behavioral and electrophysiological measures. Here, by decoding the speech envelope from the electroencephalogram, and correlating it with the stimulus envelope, we demonstrate an electrophysiological measure of neural processing of running speech. We show that behaviorally measured speech intelligibility is strongly correlated with our electrophysiological measure. Our results pave the way towards an objective and automatic way of assessing neural processing of speech presented through auditory prostheses, reducing confounds such as attention and cognitive capabilities. We anticipate that our electrophysiological measure will allow better differential diagnosis of the auditory system, and will allow the development of closed-loop auditory prostheses that automatically adapt to individual users.
Comparative Phylogenomic Synteny Network Analysis of Mammalian and Angiosperm Genomes
Authors: Zhao Tao , Schranz M. Eric 
Published: January 2018

AbstractBackgroundSynteny analysis is a valuable approach for understanding eukaryotic gene and genome evolution, but still relies largely on pairwise or reference-based comparisons. Network approaches can be utilized to expand large-scale phylogenomic microsynteny studies. There is now a wealth of completed mammalian (animal) and angiosperm (plant) genomes, two very important lineages that have evolved and radiated over the last ~170 million years. Genomic organization and conservation differs greatly between these two groups; however, a systematic and comparative characterization of synteny between the two lineages using the same approaches and metrics has not been undertaken.ResultsWe have built complete microsynteny networks for 87 mammalian and 107 angiosperm genomes, which contain 1,464,753 nodes (genes) and 49,426,268 edges (syntenic connections between genes) for mammals, and 2,234,461 nodes and 46,938,272 edges for angiosperms, respectively. Exploiting network statistics, we present the functional characteristics of extremely conserved and diversified gene families. We summarize the features of all syntenic gene clusters and present lineage-wide phylogenetic profiling, revealing intriguing sub-clade lineage-specific clusters. We depict several representative clusters of important developmental genes in humans, such asCENPJ, p53andNFE2. Finally, we present the complete homeobox gene family networks for both mammals (including Hox and ParaHox gene clusters) and angiosperms.ConclusionsOur results illustrate and quantify overall synteny conservation and diversification properties of all annotated genes for mammals and angiosperms and show that plant genomes are in general more dynamic.
NET-prism enables RNA polymerase-dedicated transcriptional interrogation at nucleotide resolution
Authors: Mylonas Constantine , Tessarz Peter 
Published: January 2018

ABSTRACTThe advent of quantitative approaches that enable interrogation of transcription at single nucleotide resolution has allowed a novel understanding of transcriptional regulation previously undefined. However, little is known, at such high resolution, how transcription factors directly influence RNA Pol II pausing and directionality. To map the impact of transcription/elongation factors on transcription dynamics genome-wide at base pair resolution, we developed an adapted NET-seq protocol called NET-prism (Native Elongating Transcription by Polymerase-Regulated Immunoprecipitants in the Mammalian genome). Application of NET-prism on elongation factors (Spt6, Ssrp1), splicing factors (Sf1), and components of the pre-initiation complex (PIC) (TFIID, and Mediator) reveals their inherent command on transcription dynamics, with regards to directionality and pausing over promoters, splice sites, and enhancers/super-enhancers. NET-prism will be broadly applicable as it exposes transcription factor/Pol II dependent topographic specificity and thus, a new degree of regulatory complexity during gene expression.
Stimulus prediction in the hippocampus
Authors: Kok Peter , Turk-Browne Nicholas B. 
Published: January 2018

AbstractPerception can be cast as a process of inference, in which bottom-up signals are combined with top-down predictions in sensory systems. However, the source of these top-down predictions, especially when complex and multisensory, remains largely unknown. We hypothesised that the hippocampus — which rapidly learns arbitrary associations and has bidirectional connections with sensory systems — may be involved. We exposed humans to auditory cues predicting visual shapes, while measuring high-resolution fMRI signals in visual cortex and the hippocampus. Using multivariate reconstruction methods, we discovered a dissociation between these regions: representations in visual cortex were dominated by whichever shape was presented, whereas representations in the hippocampus (CA3 and subiculum, but not CA1) reflected only which shape was predicted by the cue. The strength of hippocampal predictions correlated across participants with the amount of expectation-related facilitation in visual cortex. These findings are consistent with the possibility that the hippocampus supplies predictions to sensory systems.
A modern development of bioactive wound dressing material using Chaetomorpha linum seaweed/cotton blended fabric
Authors: Janarthanan M. , Senthil Kumar M. 
Published: January 2018

Purpose
Medical textiles is a vibrant emerging field in the area of technical textiles and its category is based on its performance and biofunctional properties for hygienic and health care products. Biodegradable fabrics are widely used for medical textiles in recent years. Seaweeds provide a wide range of therapeutic possibilities for human beings both internally and externally due to the presence of bioactive compounds. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

Design/methodology/approach
This present study investigates the development of bioactive gauze fabric from Chaetomorpha linum seaweed/cotton blended fibres and also analysed the characteristics of Chaetomorpha linum seaweed/cotton blended gauze fabric and 100 per cent cotton gauze fabric. The effect of fibres on physical properties of fabric such as tensile strength, air permeability, wickability, water drop test and colour fastness properties were analysed. The antibacterial properties and antioxidant activity were assessed by DPPH radical scavenging, AATCC 100 and EN ISO 20645 test methods.

Findings
The experimental results indicate that the maximum antioxidant activity of 103.28±1.23 per cent inhibition was achieved at minimum concentration (500 µg/ml) of the blended fabric extract, and maximum antibacterial reduction of 95 per cent and zone of inhibition of about 26 mm were achieved in a blended fabric. The tensile strength, percentage of elongation and air permeability were more or less the same in both gauze fabrics. It is also found that Chaetomorpha linum seaweed/cotton blended gauze fabric exhibit better wickability and water absorbency properties than 100 per cent cotton gauze fabric. The colour fastness properties to washing and rubbing showed excellent results in the blended gauze fabric, and it is used for making wound dressing materials.

Originality/value
This bioactive gauze fabric was used for non-implantable materials such as wound healing, face mask, surgical gowns and hygienic textiles in recent years.
The impact of job isolation on new principals’ sense of efficacy, job satisfaction, burnout and persistence
Authors: Bauer Scott C. , Silver Lori 
Published: January 2018

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to test the model first presented by Federici and Skaalvik (2012) involving the relationships among four attributes of principals’ work: self-efficacy, burnout, job satisfaction, and intention to leave (persistence). The model is then extended to test the role of isolation as a precursor.Design/methodology/approachPath analysis is used to test the models, based on responses from an electronic survey of first-year principals in a southeastern US state, using established measures of each construct.FindingsFirst, the results show support for the model presented by Federici and Skaalvik, supporting their original hypotheses. Second, the authors show that isolation is an important predictor of all four constructs in the model, and that when included as an antecedent factor, isolation represents the most potent predictor of new principals’ intention to leave.Research limitations/implicationsThe analysis involves a sample of new principals from a single setting, thus limiting generalizability. Additionally, the exclusive use of self-reported data in this study raises the possibility that the results are influenced by single-source bias.Practical implicationsThe findings showing that isolation is a significant predictor of work outcomes, such as efficacy and satisfaction, and an important predictor of persistence suggest that scholars and practitioners alike need to consider ways to understand and mitigate the sources of isolation experienced by school leaders.Originality/valueIsolation is largely neglected in empirical studies of principals’ work. This study adds to what is known and raises questions about the study of isolation experienced by school leaders.
Membrane‐active peptide PV3 efficiently eradicates multidrug‐resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa in a mouse model of burn infection
Authors: Memariani Hamed , Shahbazzadeh Delavar , Sabatier Jean‐Marc , Pooshang Bagheri Kamran 
Published: January 2018

The aim of this study was to evaluate the topical bactericidal activity of peptide PV3 against a MDR isolate of Pseudomonas aeruginosa in a mouse model of burn infection. The structural analysis of PV3 by circular dichroism spectroscopy indicated a low peptide helical content in water, whereas a high helical content was observed in the presence of the more hydrophobic 50% (v/v) trifluoroethanol/water buffer. A confocal microscopy analysis indicated that the main action of PV3 occurred at the membrane of bacteria. Peptide PV3 exhibited superior in vitro anti‐Pseudomonas activity and killing kinetics as compared with doripenem. A single dose of the topically applied peptide PV3 (4 × MBC, 120 min) was found to be sufficient to eradicate MDRP. aeruginosa in a bacterially infected mouse burn wound model, whereas doripenem (4 × MBC) failed to eradicate the initial inoculum. This indicates a potent and fast PV3‐associated bactericidal activity, contrary to doripenem. An in‐depth analysis of mouse skin by histopathology revealed that peptide PV3 (4 × MBC) did not induce any topical skin toxicity. Overall, the data strongly suggest that peptide PV3 might be a potent candidate antimicrobial agent active on antibiotic‐resistant isolates of pathogenic bacteria.
Effects of humic acid on pentachlorophenol biodegrading microorganisms elucidated by stable isotope probing and high‐throughput sequencing approaches
Authors: Tong H. , Chen M. J. , Li F. B. , Liu C. S. , Li B. , Qiao J. T. 
Published: January 2018

Humic substances (HSs) are ubiquitous in soil and can be reversibly oxidized and reduced by acting as redox mediators. They participate in microbial metabolism and directly affect the biodegradation of organic pollutants. However, the effects of HSs on specific microbial taxa that are responsible for the degradation of organic pollutants remain unclear. In this research, the effects of humic acids (HAs), extracted from three types of soil, forest (CBHA), paddy (PSHA) and peat (YNHA) on the microbial community involved in anaerobic mineralization of pentachlorophenol (PCP) were investigated with high‐throughput sequencing and stable isotope probing (SIP) approaches. The results showed that all HA samples accelerated the biotransformation processes of PCP; the largest rate was obtained with YNHA. Illumina sequencing revealed that Desulfovibrio and Clostridium were the dominant functional bacteria for the dechlorination of PCP. During the subsequent PCP degradation and mineralization processes, HAs affected the diversity and abundance of microbial communities, and several taxa were enriched in the 13C‐heavy fractions compared with 12C‐heavy fractions. In the absence of HA, Methanobacterium and Spartobacteria showed a significant increase in 13C‐heavy fractions. Methanosarcina and OP11 were the dominant PCP degraders in microcosms when amended with CBHA, whereas Burkholderia and Methanobacterium were the key PCP degraders in PSHA‐ and YNHA‐amended experimental microcosms. These results improve our knowledge of the diversity and ubiquitous nature of HS‐utilizing microorganisms involved in PCP degradation, providing scientific support for the development of in situ bioremediation technologies for HS‐rich soil contaminated by PCP.Highlights
All humic acids facilitated biodegradation of pentachlorophenol.
The greater the carbon content of HA, the greater was the rate of dechlorination.
Clostridium and Desulfovibrio dominated PCP dechlorination.
SIP suggested that Methanobacterium, Methanosaricina, OP11, Spartobactria and Burholderia acquired PCP‐derived carbon.