bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Analyzing the shape of observed trait distributions enables a data‐based moment closure of aggregate models
Authors: Gaedke Ursula , Klauschies Toni 
Published: October 2017

AbstractThe shape of trait distributions may inform about the selective forces that structure ecological communities. Here, we present a new moment‐based approach to classify the shape of observed biomass‐weighted trait distributions into normal, peaked, skewed, or bimodal that facilitates spatio‐temporal and cross‐system comparisons. Our observed phytoplankton trait distributions exhibited substantial variance and were mostly skewed or bimodal rather than normal. Additionally, mean, variance, skewness und kurtosis were strongly correlated. This is in conflict with trait‐based aggregate models that often assume normally distributed trait values and small variances. Given these discrepancies between our data and general model assumptions we used the observed trait distributions to test how well different aggregate models with first‐ or second‐order approximations and different types of moment closure predict the biomass, mean trait, and trait variance dynamics using weakly or moderately nonlinear fitness functions. For weakly non‐linear fitness functions aggregate models with a second‐order approximation and a data‐based moment closure that relied on the observed correlations between skewness and mean, and kurtosis and variance predicted biomass and often also mean trait changes fairly well and better than models with first‐order approximations or a normal‐based moment closure. In contrast, none of the models reflected the changes of the trait variances reliably. Aggregate model performance was often also poor for moderately nonlinear fitness functions. This questions a general applicability of the normal‐based approach, in particular for predicting variance dynamics determining the speed of trait changes and maintenance of biodiversity. We evaluate in detail how and why better approximations can be obtained.
Measurement of Murine Single‐Kidney Glomerular Filtration Rate Using Dynamic Contrast‐Enhanced MRI
Authors: Jiang Kai , Tang Hui , Mishra Prasanna K. , Macura Slobodan I. , Lerman Lilach O. 
Published: October 2017

PurposeTo develop and validate a method for measuring murine single‐kidney glomerular filtration rate (GFR) using dynamic contrast‐enhanced MRI (DCE‐MRI).MethodsThis prospective study was approved by the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee. A fast longitudinal relaxation time (T1) measurement method was implemented to capture gadolinium dynamics (1 s/scan), and a modified two‐compartment model was developed to quantify GFR as well as renal perfusion using 16.4T MRI in mice 2 weeks after unilateral renal artery stenosis (RAS, n = 6) or sham (n = 8) surgeries. This approach was validated by comparing model‐derived GFR and perfusion to those obtained by fluorescein isothiocyanante (FITC)‐inulin clearance and arterial spin labeling (ASL), respectively, using the Pearson's and Spearman's rank correlations and Bland‐Altman analysis.ResultsThe compartmental model provided a good fitting to measured gadolinium dynamics in both normal and RAS kidneys. The proposed DCE‐MRI method offered assessment of single‐kidney GFR and perfusion, comparable to the FITC‐inulin clearance (Pearson's correlation coefficient r = 0.95 and Spearman's correlation coefficient ρ = 0.94, P < 0.0001, and mean difference −7.0 ± 11.0 μL/min) and ASL (r = 0.92 and ρ = 0.84, P < 0.0001, and mean difference 4.4 ± 66.1 mL/100 g/min) methods.ConclusionThe proposed DCE‐MRI method may be useful for reliable noninvasive measurements of single‐kidney GFR and perfusion in mice. Magn Reson Med 79:2935–2943, 2018. © 2017 International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine.
Ghost reduction in echo‐planar imaging by joint reconstruction of images and line‐to‐line delays and phase errors
Authors: Ianni Julianna D. , Welch E. Brian , Grissom William A. 
Published: October 2017

PurposeTo correct line‐to‐line delays and phase errors in echo‐planar imaging (EPI).Theory and MethodsEPI‐trajectory auto‐corrected image reconstruction (EPI‐TrACR) is an iterative maximum‐likelihood technique that exploits data redundancy provided by multiple receive coils between nearby lines of k‐space to determine and correct line‐to‐line trajectory delays and phase errors that cause ghosting artifacts. EPI‐TrACR was efficiently implemented using a segmented FFT and was applied to in vivo brain data acquired at 7 T across acceleration (1×–4×) and multishot factors (1–4 shots), and in a time series.ResultsEPI‐TrACR reduced ghosting across all acceleration factors and multishot factors, compared to conventional calibrated reconstructions and the PAGE method. It also achieved consistently lower ghosting in the time series. Averaged over all cases, EPI‐TrACR reduced root‐mean‐square ghosted signal outside the brain by 27% compared to calibrated reconstruction, and by 40% compared to PAGE.ConclusionEPI‐TrACR automatically corrects line‐to‐line delays and phase errors in multishot, accelerated, and dynamic EPI. While the method benefits from additional calibration data for initialization, it was not a requirement for most reconstructions. Magn Reson Med 79:3114–3121, 2018. © 2017 International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine.
Macroeconomics of Post‐reform India
Authors: Fernandez Cledwyn 
Published: October 2017

This book has very precisely covered the journey of the Indian economy from the period of pre‐reform to post‐reform era. The economic reforms which took place in the year 1991 are very significant for India. It brought about a lot of socio‐economic changes which changed India's economy completely.This book has been divided into two sections. The first section deals with the theoretical framework and approaches (a brief understanding of the Indian macro economy), and the second section deals with the behaviour of the Indian economy. The second section is a more comprehensive section as it discusses about topics like—inflation, service‐led growth, balance of payment crisis, and some macroeconomic puzzles.The author concisely explained the different phases of the Indian economy, right from pre‐reform to post reform, from manufacturing to service, and from food to oil inflation. The book is a thorough revision of the Indian economy at hand, and it gives the readers a clear overview of the country.
Single‐dose pharmacokinetic study comparing the pharmacokinetics of recombinant human chorionic gonadotropin in healthy Japanese and Caucasian women and recombinant human chorionic gonadotropin and urinary human chorionic gonadotropin in healthy Japanese women
Authors: Bagchus Wilhelmina , Wolna Peter , Uhl Wolfgang 
Published: October 2017

AbstractPurposeRecombinant hCG (r‐hCG) was approved in Japan in 2016. As a prerequisite for a Phase III study in Japan related to this approval, the pharmacokinetic (PK) profile of r‐hCG was investigated.MethodsAn open‐label, partly randomized, single‐center, single‐dose, group‐comparison, Phase I PK‐bridging study was done that compared a single 250 μg dose of r‐hCG with a single 5000 IU dose of urinary hCG (u‐hCG) in healthy Japanese women, as well as comparing a single 250 μg dose of r‐hCG in Japanese and Caucasian women. The Japanese participants were randomized 1:1 to receive either r‐hCG or u‐hCG, while the Caucasian participants were weight‐matched to the Japanese participants who were receiving r‐hCG in a 1:1 fashion. The primary PK parameters were the area under the serum concentration–time curve from time 0 extrapolated to infinity (AUC0–∞) and the maximum serum concentration (Cmax).ResultsThe mean serum hCG concentration–time profiles of r‐hCG in the Japanese and Caucasian participants were a similar shape, but the level of overall exposure was ~20% lower in the Japanese participants. For the Japanese participants, r‐hCG resulted in an 11% lower Cmax but a 19% higher AUC0–∞ compared with u‐hCG. No new safety signal was identified.ConclusionThis study cannot exclude a potential difference in the PK profile of r‐hCG between Japanese and Caucasian participants. However, this study does not indicate that there are clinically relevant differences in the serum PK of r‐hCG and u‐hCG in the Japanese participants.
Sharp thresholds for Ramsey properties of strictly balanced nearly bipartite graphs
Authors: Schacht Mathias , Schulenburg Fabian 
Published: October 2017

AbstractFor a given graph F we consider the family of (finite) graphs G with the Ramsey property for F, that is the set of such graphs G with the property that every two‐coloring of the edges of G yields a monochromatic copy of F. For F being a triangle Friedgut, Rödl, Ruciński, and Tetali (2004) established the sharp threshold for the Ramsey property in random graphs. We present a simpler proof of this result which extends to a more general class of graphs F including all cycles.The proof is based on Friedgut's criteria (1999) for sharp thresholds and on the recently developed container method for independent sets in hypergraphs by Saxton and Thomason and by Balogh, Morris and Samotij. The proof builds on some recent work of Friedgut et al. who established a similar result for van der Waerden's theorem.
Becoming Disciplined About Disciplinary Literacy Through Guided Retelling
Authors: Parenti Melissa A. 
Published: October 2017

AbstractBecoming more disciplined about teaching disciplinary literacy in our classrooms can be a challenge. Encouraging student production of the academic language and the demands and styles of thinking associated with each discipline requires an additional push that was often overlooked in content area instruction of the past. As this new journey in disciplinary literacy begins, supportive strategies become a necessity. In this article, the author presents guided retelling as a simple solution to the complex task of promoting disciplinary literacy in the elementary classroom. Through the use of verbal and visual prompts, guided retelling continues to be a highly implementable and adaptable tool for learners of all ages and abilities across all disciplines.
Using the WHO Surgical Safety Checklist to Direct Perioperative Quality Improvement at a Surgical Hospital in Cambodia: The Importance of Objective Confirmation of Process Completion
Authors: Garland Naomi Y. , Kheng Sokhavatey , De Leon Michael , Eap Hourt , Forrester Jared A. , Hay Janice , Oum Palritha , Sam Ath Socheat , Stock Simon , Yem Samprathna , Lucas Gerlinda , Weiser Thomas G. 
Published: October 2017

AbstractBackgroundThe WHO surgical safety checklist (SSC) is known to prevent postoperative complications; however, strategies for effective implementation are unclear. In addition to cultural and organizational barriers faced by high‐income countries, resource‐constrained settings face scarcity of durable and consumable goods. We used the SSC to better understand barriers to improvement at a trauma hospital in Battambang, Cambodia.MethodsWe introduced the SSC and trained data collectors to observe surgical staff performing the checklist. Members of the research team observed cases and data collection. After 3 months, we modified the data collection tool to focus on infection prevention and elicit more accurate responses.ResultsOver 16 months we recorded data on 695 operations (304 cases using the first tool and 391 cases with the modified tool). The first tool identified five items as being in high compliance, which were then excluded from further assessment. Two items—instrument sterility confirmation and sponge counting—were identified as being misinterpreted by the data collectors’ tool. These items were reworded to capture objective assessment of task completion. Confirmation of instrument sterility was initially never performed but rectified to >95% compliance; sponge counting and prophylactic antibiotic administration were consistently underperformed.ConclusionsStaff complied with communication elements of the SSC and quickly adopted process improvements. The wording of our data collection tool affected interpretation of compliance with standards. Material resources are not the primary barrier to checklist implementation in this setting, and future work should focus on clarification of protocols and objective confirmation of tasks.
Negative regulation of daptomycin production by DepR2, an ArsR-family transcriptional factor
Authors: Mao Xu-Ming , Luo Shuai , Li Yong-Quan 
Published: October 2017

Abstract
Daptomycin, a lipopeptide antibiotic potently active against Gram-positive bacterial pathogens, is produced by Streptomyces roseosporus, but the transcriptional regulation on its biosynthesis is not fully understood. Here, we report that DepR2, an ArsR-family transcriptional regulator isolated previously by DNA-affinity purification, interacts directly with dptEp, the major promoter of the daptomycin gene cluster. DepR2 binds to an imperfect palindromic sequence at the very upstream of dptEp. Meanwhile, higher dptEp activities were consistently observed in the ΔdepR2 mutant, correlating with a nearly 2.5-fold increased production of daptomycin and three structurally related secondary metabolites A21978C1–3. Thus, our data suggest that the ArsR-family transcriptional regulator DepR2 negatively regulates production of daptomycin by directly repressing the expression of its gene cluster in S. roseosporus. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report to show the involvement of an ArsR-family regulator in the direct regulation of secondary metabolite biosynthesis in Streptomyces.
Exploring patient experiences of a pain management centre: A qualitative study
Authors: Mittinty Manasi M. , Lee John , Williams Amanda C. de C. , Curran Natasha 
Published: October 2017

Abstract

Background and aims
To improve care and management of patients with chronic pain it is important to understand patients’ experiences of treatment, and of the people and the environment involved. As chronic pain patients often have long relationships with medical clinics and pain management centres, the team and team interactions with the patients could impact the treatment outcome. The aim of this study was to elicit as honest as possible an account of chronic pain patients’ experiences associated with their care and feed this information back to the clinical team as motivation for improvement.

Methods
The research was conducted at a large hospital-based pain management centre. One hundred consecutive patients aged 18 years and above, who had visited the centre at least once before, were invited to participate. Seventy patients agreed and were asked to write a letter, as if to a friend, describing the centre. On completion of the study, all letters were transcribed into NVivo software and a thematic analysis performed.

Results
Six key themes were identified: (i) staff attitude and behaviour; (ii) interactions with the physician; (iii) importance of a dedicated pain management centre; (iv) personalized care; (v) benefits beyond pain control; (vi) recommending the pain management centre.

Conclusion
The findings suggest that the main reasons that patients recommended the centre were: (i) support and validation provided by the staff; (ii) provision of detailed information about the treatment choices available; (iii) personalized management plan and strategies to improve overall quality of life alongside pain control. None of the letters criticized the care provided, but eight of seventy reported long waiting times for the first appointment as a problem.

Implications
Patient views are central to improving care. However, satisfaction questionnaires or checklists can be intimidating, and restrictive in their content, not allowing patients to offer spontaneous feedback. We used a novel approach of writing a letter to a friend, which encouraged reporting of uncensored views. The results of the study have encouraged the clinical team to pursue their patient management strategies and work to reduce the waiting time for a first appointment.
Improvements in long-term output energy performance of Nd:glass regenerative amplifiers
Authors: Zhang Peng , Jiang Youen , Wang Jiangfeng , Fan Wei , Li Xuechun , Zhu Jianqiang 
Published: October 2017

Optical damages, which severely degrade the output energy performance of Nd:glass regenerative amplifiers, are discussed in detail in this paper. By a series of experiments, it has been confirmed that these damages result from laser-induced contamination. Based on this work, several improvements are made to boost output energy performance of the regenerative amplifier. The output energy of the regenerative amplifier after improvements declines 4% after 1000 h of operation, much less than it used to, 60% after 560 h of operation.
Solving multivariate optimisation problems using inequalities
Authors: Kaczkowski Stephen 
Published: October 2017

Optimisation problems are among the most practical applications of calculus to everyday life, and a survey of exercises in various calculus textbooks will provide a teacher with many interesting scenarios for framing intriguing questions on this topic. Whether it is finding a container's dimensions that yield the least surface area for a given volume, or finding that ideal movie ticket price which will maximise a theatre's revenue, students can usually relate to these problems. Pólya in his book Plausible reasoning makes the following remarks about the attraction of extrema problems:Problems concerned with greatest and least values, or maximum and minimum problems, are more attractive, perhaps, than other mathematical problems of comparable difficulty, and this may be due to a quite primitive reason. Every one of us has his personal problems. We may observe that these problems are very often maximum or minimum problems of a sort. We wish to obtain a certain object at the lowest possible price, or the greatest possible effect with a certain effort, or the maximum work done within a given time and, of course, we wish to run the minimum risk. Mathematical problems on maxima and minima appeal to us, I think, because they idealize our everyday problems. We are even inclined to imagine that Nature acts as we would like to act, obtaining the greatest effect with the least effort [1, p. 121].
Radiation Driven Instability of Rapidly Rotating Relativistic Stars: Criterion and Evolution Equations Via Multipolar Expansion of Gravitational Waves
Authors: Chugunov A. I. 
Published: October 2017

AbstractI suggest a novel approach for deriving evolution equations for rapidly rotating relativistic stars affected by radiation-driven Chandrasekhar–Friedman–Schutz instability. This approach is based on the multipolar expansion of gravitational wave emission and appeals to the global physical properties of the star (energy, angular momentum, and thermal state), but not to canonical energy and angular momentum, which is traditional. It leads to simple derivation of the Chandrasekhar–Friedman–Schutz instability criterion for normal modes and the evolution equations for a star, affected by this instability. The approach also gives a precise form to simple explanation of the Chandrasekhar–Friedman–Schutz instability; it occurs when two conditions are met: (a) gravitational wave emission removes angular momentum from the rotating star (thus releasing the rotation energy) and (b) gravitational waves carry less energy, than the released amount of the rotation energy. To illustrate the results, I take the r-mode instability in slowly rotating Newtonian stellar models as an example. It leads to evolution equations, where the emission of gravitational waves directly affects the spin frequency, being in apparent contradiction with widely accepted equations. According to the latter, effective spin frequency decrease is coupled with dissipation of unstable mode, but not with the instability as it is. This problem is shown to be superficial, and arises as a result of specific definition of the effective spin frequency applied previously. Namely, it is shown, that if this definition is taken into account properly, the evolution equations coincide with obtained here in the leading order in mode amplitude. I also argue that the next-to-leading order terms in evolution equations were not yet derived accurately and thus it would be more self-consistent to omit them.
Unmixing grain-size distributions in lake sediments: a new method of endmember modeling using hierarchical clustering
Authors: Zhang Xiaonan , Zhou Aifeng , Wang Xin , Song Mu , Zhao Yongtao , Xie Haichao , Russell James M. , Chen Fahu 
Published: October 2017

AbstractThe grain-size distribution (GSD) of sediments provides information on sediment provenance, transport processes, and the sedimentary environment. Although a wide range of statistical parameters have been applied to summarize GSDs, most are directed at only parts of the distribution, which limits the amount of environmental information that can be retrieved. Endmember modeling provides a flexible method for unmixing GSDs; however, the calculation of the exact number of endmembers and geologically meaningful endmember spectra remain unresolved using existing modeling methods. Here we present the methodology hierarchical clustering endmember modeling analysis (CEMMA) for unmixing the GSDs of sediments. Within the CEMMA framework, the number of endmembers can be inferred from agglomeration coefficients, and the grain-size spectra of endmembers are defined on the basis of the average distance between the samples in the clusters. After objectively defining grain-size endmembers, we use a least squares algorithm to calculate the fractions of each GSD endmember that contributes to individual samples. To test the CEMMA method, we use a grain-size data set from a sediment core from Wulungu Lake in the Junggar Basin in China, and find that application of the CEMMA methodology yields geologically and mathematically meaningful results. We conclude that CEMMA is a rapid and flexible approach for analyzing the GSDs of sediments.
Political land corruption: evidence from Malta – the European Union’s smallest member state
Authors: Caruana-Galizia Paul , Caruana-Galizia Matthew 
Published: October 2017

AbstractPolitical corruption in the land sector is pervasive, but difficult to document and effectively prosecute. This article provides new evidence on political land corruption in Malta, the European Union’s smallest member state and one of the world’s most densely populated countries. It shows how the country’s highly restrictive zoning laws, along with ade jureindependent regulator, have created opportunities for extensive and endemic corruption in the granting of land development permits in zones that are outside development. It provides an example of governments creating institutions as rent-collection instruments – not to correct market failures, but to create opportunities for corruption. The unique underlying data set was collected through an automated web-scraping program as the regulator first turned down then ignored freedom of information requests for the data.