bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Correspondence optimization in 2D standardized carotid wall thickness map by description length minimization: A tool for increasing reproducibility of 3D ultrasound‐based measurements
Authors: Chen Yimin , Chiu Bernard 
Published: November 2016

Purpose:The previously described 2D standardized vessel‐wall‐plus‐plaque thickness (VWT) maps constructed from 3D ultrasound vessel wall measurements using an arc‐length (AL) scaling approach adjusted the geometric variability of carotid arteries and has allowed for the comparisons of VWT distributions in longitudinal and cross‐sectional studies. However, this mapping technique did not optimize point correspondence of the carotid arteries investigated. The potential misalignment may lead to errors in point‐wise VWT comparisons. In this paper, we developed and validated an algorithm based on steepest description length (DL) descent to optimize the point correspondence implied by the 2D VWT maps.Methods:The previously described AL approach was applied to obtain initial 2D maps for a group of carotid arteries. The 2D maps were reparameterized based on an iterative steepest DL descent approach, which consists of the following two steps. First, landmarks established by resampling the 2D maps were aligned using the Procrustes algorithm. Then, the gradient of the DL with respect to horizontal and vertical reparameterizations of each landmark on the 2D maps was computed, and the 2D maps were subsequently deformed in the direction of the steepest descent of DL. These two steps were repeated until convergence. The quality of the correspondence was evaluated in a phantom study and an in vivo study involving ten carotid arteries enrolled in a 3D ultrasound interscan variability study. The correspondence quality was evaluated in terms of the compactness and generalization ability of the statistical shape model built based on the established point correspondence in both studies. In the in vivo study, the effect of the proposed algorithm on interscan variability of VWT measurements was evaluated by comparing the percentage of landmarks with statistically significant VWT‐change before and after point correspondence optimization.Results:The statistical shape model constructed with optimized correspondence was more compact and had a better generalization ability than that constructed using the AL approach in both the phantom and in vivo studies. A statistical test on the group‐average VWT‐Change at each point of the 2D carotid template showed that the group‐average VWT‐change was significantly different from 0 in 18% of landmarks when the AL approach was used, and this percentage was reduced to 11% after correspondence optimization.Conclusions:The optimized correspondence resulted in a more compact and generalizable statistical shape model, and the algorithm was shown to reduce interscan variability of point‐wise VWT measurements obtained using the previously described arc‐length scaling parameterization approach.
Evolution of Game Demands From Young to Elite Players in Men’s Volleyball
Authors: de Alcaraz Antonio García , Valadés David , Palao José M. 
Published: November 2016

Purpose:To assess the evolution of the volleyball’s game demands throughout players’ development in men’s volleyball.Methods:A total of 150 sets and 6.671 rallies were analyzed. The sample was composed of 30 sets each by under-14, under-16, under-19, national senior, and international senior teams (1.291, 1.318, 1.310, 1.372, and 1.380 rallies for each category, respectively). Sets included in the sample were stratified and then randomly selected. The variables studied included play time, rest time, rallies played, jumps, hits, types of ball contact, types of game interruptions, performance of the game phases, and performance of the actions. Student t and Mann Whitney U tests were used to analyze specific differences between categories.Results:The results showed significant reductions in the play times of the rally (from 8.91 to 6.79 s) and the set (6 min 23 s to 4 min 30 s), significant increases in the rest times of the rally (19.64 to 26.53 s) and the set (13 min 44 s to 20 min 27 s), and a significant increase in the number of jumps per set (113.5 to 181.3). Significant improvements in the reception performance (1.57 to 2.45 out of 3), attack performance (2.13 to 2.67 out of 4), and side-out-phase success (48.4% to 69.6%) were found. Throughout the players’ development, data show an increase in the speed, intensity, and efficacy of the side-out phase.Conclusions:The findings provide reference values to guide athletes’ development and to monitor training and matches both physically and technically tactically.
Contribution of Psychosocial Factors to Physical Activity in Women of Color in the Saving Lives Staying Active (SALSA) Study
Authors: Mama Scherezade K. , McNeill Lorna H. , Soltero Erica G. , Orlando Edwards Raul , Lee Rebecca E. 
Published: November 2016

Culturally appropriate, innovative strategies to increase physical activity (PA) in women of color are needed. This study examined whether participation in SALSA, an 8-week randomized, crossover pilot study to promote PA, led to improved psychosocial outcomes and whether these changes were associated with changes in PA over time. Women of color (N = 50) completed Internet-based questionnaires on PA, exercise self-efficacy, motivational readiness, stress, and social support at three time points. Women reported high socioeconomic status, decreases in exercise self-efficacy, and increases in motivational readiness for exercise and a number of stressful events (p < .05); changes in motivational readiness for exercise varied by group (p = .043). Changes in psychosocial factors were associated with increases in PA. Latin dance improved motivational readiness for PA. Future studies are needed to determine whether Latin dance improves other psychological measures and quality of life in women of color in an effort to increase PA and reduce health disparities.
Cross Sectional Area of the Supraspinatus Muscle and Acromio-humeral Distance in Overhead Athletes With and Without Shoulder Pain: A Cross-sectional Study
Authors: Benitez-Martinez Josep C. , Casaña-Granell Jose , de Llago Yasmin Ezzatvar , Villaron-Casales Carlos , Espi-Lopez Gemma V. , Jimenez-Diaz Fernando 
Published: November 2016

Context:The supraspinatus muscle has an important role in the stabilization of the glenohumeral joint. Identifying abnormalities concerning its size and the subacromial space in the presence of pain may be relevant to provide more specific treatments focused on the etiology of pain.Objective:To determinate whether painful shoulder causes changes in the supraspinatus cross-sectional area (CSA) and the acromio-humeral distance (AHD) between overhead athletes.Design:Cross-sectional study.Setting:University campus and local sports clubs’ Physical Therapist room.Participants:81 male overhead athletes were divided into 2 groups according to the presence of shoulder pain and clinical symptoms.Main Outcome Measures:Ultrasonography measurements of the supraspinatus CSA and the AHD in 2 groups of overhead athletes with and without pain.Results:In the pain group, the CSA was significantly smaller compared with the no pain group. No differences between groups were found in the AHD measurement.Conclusions:Shoulder pain in overhead athletes was associated with a reduction in their supraspinatus muscle CSA, but not in the AHD. These findings suggest that muscle atrophy exists in the presence of pain. However, in active overhead athletes, the AHD is not clearly reduced in overhead athletes with shoulder pain. Further studies are needed to understand this condition.
Phenotypic Heterogeneity in
Mycobacterium tuberculosis
Authors: Dhar Neeraj , McKinney John , Manina Giulia 
Published: November 2016

ABSTRACT

The interaction between the host and the pathogen is extremely complex and is affected by anatomical, physiological, and immunological diversity in the microenvironments, leading to phenotypic diversity of the pathogen. Phenotypic heterogeneity, defined as nongenetic variation observed in individual members of a clonal population, can have beneficial consequences especially in fluctuating stressful environmental conditions. This is all the more relevant in infections caused by
Mycobacterium tuberculosis
wherein the pathogen is able to survive and often establish a lifelong persistent infection in the host. Recent studies in tuberculosis patients and in animal models have documented the heterogeneous and diverging trajectories of individual lesions within a single host. Since the fate of the individual lesions appears to be determined by the local tissue environment rather than systemic response of the host, studying this heterogeneity is very relevant to ensure better control and complete eradication of the pathogen from individual lesions. The heterogeneous microenvironments greatly enhance
M. tuberculosis
heterogeneity influencing the growth rates, metabolic potential, stress responses, drug susceptibility, and eventual lesion resolution. Single-cell approaches such as time-lapse microscopy using microfluidic devices allow us to address cell-to-cell variations that are often lost in population-average measurements. In this review, we focus on some of the factors that could be considered as drivers of phenotypic heterogeneity in
M. tuberculosis
as well as highlight some of the techniques that are useful in addressing this issue.
CUDA acceleration for Xen virtual machines in infiniband clusters with rCUDA
Authors: Prades Javier , Reaño Carlos , Silla Federico 
Published: November 2016

Many data centers currently use virtual machines (VMs) to achieve a more efficient usage of hardware resources. However, current virtualization solutions, such as Xen, do not easily provide graphics processing unit (GPU) accelerators to applications running in the virtualized domain with the flexibility usually required in data centers (i.e., managing virtual GPU instances and concurrently sharing them among several VMs). Remote GPU virtualization frameworks such as the rCUDA solution may address this problem.
In this work we analyze the use of the rCUDA framework to accelerate scientific applications running inside Xen VMs. Results show that the use of the rCUDA framework is a feasible approach, featuring a very low overhead if an InfiniBand fabric is already present in the cluster.
Molecular Pathways: Understanding and Targeting Mutant Spliceosomal Proteins
Authors: Yoshimi Akihide , Abdel-Wahab Omar 
Published: November 2016

Abstract
Splicing of precursor messenger RNA is a critical step in regulating gene expression, and major advances are being made in understanding the composition and structure of the enzymatic complex that performs splicing, which is termed the “spliceosome.” In parallel, there has been increased appreciation for diverse mechanisms by which alterations in splicing contribute to cancer pathogenesis. Key among these include change-of-function mutations in genes encoding spliceosomal proteins. Such mutations are among the most common genetic alterations in myeloid and lymphoid leukemias, making efforts to therapeutically target cells bearing these mutations critical. To this end, recent studies have clarified that pharmacologic modulation of splicing may be preferentially lethal for cells bearing spliceosomal mutations and may also have a role in the therapy of MYC-driven cancers. This has culminated in the initiation of a clinical trial of a novel oral spliceosome modulatory compound targeting the SF3B complex, and several novel alternative approaches to target splicing are in development as reviewed here. There is now, therefore, a great need to understand the mechanistic basis of altered spliceosomal function in cancers and to study the effects of spliceosomal modulatory compounds in preclinical settings and in well-designed clinical trials. Clin Cancer Res; 23(2); 336–41. ©2016 AACR.
Statistical Downscaling of Gridded Wind Speed Data Using Local Topography
Authors: Winstral Adam , Jonas Tobias , Helbig Nora 
Published: November 2016

Abstract
Winds, particularly high winds, strongly affect snowmelt and snow redistribution. High winds during rain-on-snow events can lead to catastrophic flooding while strong redistribution events in mountain environments can generate dangerous avalanche conditions. To provide adequate warnings, accurate wind data are required. Yet, mountain wind fields exhibit a high degree of heterogeneity at small spatial lengths that are not resolved by currently available gridded forecast data. Wind data from over 200 stations across Switzerland were used to evaluate two forecast surface wind products (~2- and 7-km horizontal resolution) and develop a statistical downscaling technique to capture these finer-scaled heterogeneities. Wind exposure metrics derived from a 25-m horizontal resolution digital elevation model effectively segregated high, moderate, and low wind speed sites. Forecast performance was markedly compromised and biased low at the exposed sites and biased high at the sheltered, valley sites. It was also found that the variability of predicted wind speeds at these sites did not accurately represent the observed variability. A novel optimization scheme that accounted for local terrain structure while also nudging the forecasted distributions to better match the observed distributions and variability was developed. The resultant statistical downscaling technique notably decreased biases across a range of elevations and exposures and provided a better match to observed wind speed distributions.
Moving toward Subkilometer Modeling Grid Spacings: Impacts on Atmospheric and Hydrological Simulations of Extreme Flash Flood–Inducing Storms
Authors: Bartsotas Nikolaos S. , Nikolopoulos Efthymios I. , Anagnostou Emmanouil N. , Solomos Stavros , Kallos George 
Published: November 2016

Abstract
Flash floods develop over small spatiotemporal scales, an attribute that makes their predictability a particularly challenging task. The serious threat they pose for human lives, along with damage estimates that can exceed one billion U.S. dollars in some cases, urge toward more accurate forecasting. Recent advances in computational science combined with state-of-the-art atmospheric models allow atmospheric simulations at very fine (i.e., subkilometer) grid scales, an element that is deemed important for capturing the initiation and evolution of flash flood–triggering storms. This work provides some evidence on the relative gain that can be expected from the adoption of such subkilometer model grids. A necessary insight into the complex processes of these severe incidents is provided through the simulation of three flood-inducing heavy precipitation events in the Alps for a range of model grid scales (0.25, 1, and 4 km) with the Regional Atmospheric Modeling System–Integrated Community Limited Area Modeling System (RAMS–ICLAMS) atmospheric model. A distributed hydrologic model [Kinematic Local Excess Model (KLEM)] is forced with the various atmospheric simulation outputs to further evaluate the relative impact of atmospheric model resolution on the hydrologic prediction. The use of a finer grid is beneficial in most cases, yet there are events where the improvement is marginal. This underlines why the use of finer scales is a step in the right direction but not a solitary component of a successful flash flood–forecasting recipe.
Swallowing Quality of Life After Zona Incerta Deep Brain Stimulation
Authors: Sundstedt Stina , Nordh Erik , Linder Jan , Hedström Johanna , Finizia Caterina , Olofsson Katarina 
Published: November 2016

Objectives: The management of Parkinson’s disease (PD) has been improved, but management of signs like swallowing problems is still challenging. Deep brain stimulation (DBS) alleviates the cardinal motor symptoms and improves quality of life, but its effect on swallowing is not fully explored. The purpose of this study was to examine self-reported swallowing-specific quality of life before and after caudal zona incerta DBS (cZI DBS) in comparison with a control group. Methods: Nine PD patients (2 women and 7 men) completed the self-report Swallowing Quality of Life questionnaire (SWAL-QOL) before and 12 months after cZI DBS surgery. The postoperative data were compared to 9 controls. Median ages were 53 years (range, 40-70 years) for patients and 54 years (range, 42-72 years) for controls. Results: No significant differences were found between the pre- or postoperative scores. The SWAL-QOL total scores did not differ significantly between PD patients and controls. The PD patients reported significantly lower scores in the burden subscale and the symptom scale. Conclusions: Patients with PD selected for cZI DBS showed good self-reported swallowing-specific quality of life, in many aspects equal to controls. The cZI DBS did not negatively affect swallowing-specific quality of life in this study.
Changes in factors influencing doctors’ career choices between one and five years after graduation: questionnaire surveys of UK doctors
Authors: Lambert Trevor W , Smith Fay , Goldacre Michael J 
Published: November 2016

Objectives To study changes in factors influencing doctors’ career specialty choices between one and five years after graduation. Design Questionnaire survey. Setting UK. Participants A total of 10,473 doctors who replied to our surveys both one and five years after graduating from all UK medical schools between 1993 and 2008. Main outcome measures The importance of each of 12 specified factors in influencing the doctors’ choice of future specialty ‘a great deal’. Method Questionnaires by post and email. Results Enthusiasm for and commitment to the specialty was the greatest influence on career choice at year 1 (66%) and year 5 (74%). Domestic circumstances increased in importance more than any other factor (from 22.5% to 41.3%); 26% of doctors rated this as important in year 5 but not in year 1. Other factors which increased in importance from year 1 to year 5 included hours/working conditions, experience of the job so far and self-appraisal of own skills. There was an increase in the importance of promotion/career prospects, self-appraisal of own skills, student experience of subject and enthusiasm/commitment for more recent cohorts compared with older cohorts. Between years 1 and 5, there was a greater increase in the importance of domestic circumstances, hours/working conditions and eventual financial prospects for intending General Practitioners than for other doctors. Conclusions Doctors remain committed to their specialty between years 1 and 5, but the influence of domestic circumstances and hours and working conditions grew stronger.
A systematic review and meta-analysis of pneumonia associated with thin liquid vs. thickened liquid intake in patients who aspirate
Authors: Kaneoka Asako , Pisegna Jessica M , Saito Hiroki , Lo Melody , Felling Katey , Haga Nobuhiko , LaValley Michael P , Langmore Susan E 
Published: November 2016

Objective: To investigate whether drinking thin liquids with safety strategies increases the risk for pneumonia as compared with thickened liquids in patients who have demonstrated aspiration of thin liquids. Data sources: Seven electronic databases, one clinical register, and three conference archives were searched. No language or publication date restrictions were imposed. Reference lists were scanned and authors and experts in the field were contacted. Review methods: A blind review was performed by two reviewers for published or unpublished randomized controlled trials and prospective non-randomized trials comparing the incidence of pneumonia with intake of thin liquids plus safety strategies vs. thickened liquids in adult patients who aspirated on thin liquids. The data were extracted from included studies. Odds ratios (OR) for pneumonia were calculated from the extracted data. Risk of bias was also assessed with the included published trials. Results: Seven studies out of 2465 studies including 650 patients met the inclusion criteria. All of the seven studies excluded patients with more than one known risk factor for pneumonia. Six studies compared thin water protocols to thickened liquids for pneumonia prevention. A meta-analysis was done on the six studies, showing no significant difference for pneumonia risk (OR = 0.82; 95% CI = 0.05–13.42; p = 0.89). Conclusions: There was no significant difference in the risk of pneumonia in aspirating patients who took thin liquids with safety strategies compared with those who took thickened liquids only. This result, however, is generalizable only for patients with low risk of pneumonia.
Identification of Rate-Limiting Steps in the Provision of Thrombolytics for Acute Ischemic Stroke
Authors: Metts Elise L. , Bailey Abby M. , Weant Kyle A. , Justice Stephanie B. 
Published: November 2016

Background: Tissue plasminogen activator (tPA) is the only pharmacotherapy shown to improve outcomes in acute ischemic stroke. The American Heart Association (AHA) recommends a door-to-needle (DTN) time of <60 minutes in at least 50% of patients presenting with acute ischemic stroke. Objective: The purpose of this study was to analyze the possible barriers that may delay tPA administration within the emergency department (ED) of an academic medical center. Methods: A retrospective chart review was conducted from February 2011 to October 2013. Patients were included if they were admitted through the ED with a diagnosis of acute ischemic stroke and received tPA. Results: Of the 130 patients who met inclusion criteria, 43.1% received tPA in ≤60 minutes. Several factors were identified to be significantly different in those with a DTN time of >60 minutes—time to ED physician consultation, neurologist arrival, blood sample acquisition, and result time ( P < .05 for all comparisons). Correlation analysis demonstrated several independent variables associated with DTN time of ≤60 minutes—time from admission to ED physician consultation, receipt of computed tomography (CT) scan, blood sample acquisition, laboratory results, and neurology service arrival ( P < .05 for all comparisons). Conclusion: The findings from this study highlight the importance of prompt physician evaluation, direct transfer to the CT scanner, and a quick turnaround time on laboratory values. The development of protocols to ensure the rapid receipt of tPA therapy should focus on limiting any potential delay these steps may cause.
Midlands cadences: Narrative voices in the work of Alan Sillitoe
Authors: Scott Jeremy 
Published: November 2016

This paper will examine excerpts from a range of Alan Sillitoe’s prose fiction, Saturday Night and Sunday Morning (1958) and short stories from the collection The Loneliness of the Long-Distance Runner (1958), via a comparative exploration of the texts’ representations of Midlands English demotic. The narrative discourse traces a link between the experience of the Midlands English working classes represented and the demotic language they speak; the narrators have voices redolent of registers rooted in 1950s English working-class life. The texts also contain different methods of representing their protagonists’ consciousness through the demotic idiolects that they speak. Sillitoe’s is a novelistic discourse which refuses to normalise itself to accord with the conventions of classic realism, and as such prefigures the ambitions of many contemporary writers who incline their narrative voices towards the oral – asserting the right of a character’s dialect/idiolect to be the principal register of the narrative. The paper will demonstrate this thesis through the ideas of Bakhtin, and through an analytical taxonomy derived from literary stylistics. It aims to propose a model which can be used to analyse and explore any fiction which has been labelled as ‘working-class’, and asserts that such an approach leads to a more principled characterisation of working-class fiction (based on its use of language) than current literary-critical discussions based simply on cultural/social context and biography.