bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Ethnic and population differences in the genetic predisposition to human obesity
Authors: Stryjecki C. , Alyass A. , Meyre D. 
Published: October 2017

SummaryObesity rates have escalated to the point of a global pandemic with varying prevalence across ethnic groups. These differences are partially explained by lifestyle factors in addition to genetic predisposition to obesity. This review provides a comprehensive examination of the ethnic differences in the genetic architecture of obesity. Using examples from evolution, heritability, admixture, monogenic and polygenic studies of obesity, we provide explanations for ethnic differences in the prevalence of obesity. The debate over definitions of race and ethnicity, the advantages and limitations of multi‐ethnic studies and future directions of research are also discussed. Multi‐ethnic studies have great potential to provide a better understanding of ethnic differences in the prevalence of obesity that may result in more targeted and personalized obesity treatments.
Emotional processing in obesity: a systematic review and exploratory meta‐analysis
Authors: Fernandes J. , Ferreira‐Santos F. , Miller K. , Torres S. 
Published: October 2017

SummaryThe role of emotional functioning in the development and maintenance of obesity has been investigated, but the literature is poorly integrated. A systematic review and meta‐analysis was performed to explore emotional processing impairments in obesity. PubMed, Web of Knowledge and PsycINFO databases were searched in March 2016, yielding 31 studies comparing emotional processing competencies in individuals with obesity, with or without binge eating disorder (BED), and control groups. Meta‐analyses demonstrated that individuals with obesity had higher scores of alexithymia (d = 0.53), difficulty in identifying feelings (d = 0.34) and externally oriented thinking style (d = 0.31), when compared with control groups. On other competencies, patients with obesity, especially those with comorbid BED, reported lower levels of emotional awareness and difficulty in using emotion regulation strategies, namely, reduced cognitive reappraisal and acceptance, and greater suppression of expression. No evidence of impaired ability to recognize emotions in others or verbally express emotions was found. A general emotion‐processing deficit in obesity was not supported. Instead, an emotional avoidance style may occur modulating later responses of emotion regulation. Additional research is needed to extend the comprehension of these conclusions and the role of BED in emotional functioning in obesity.
Optimization of coronary sinus lead placement targeted to the longest right‐to‐left delay in patients undergoing cardiac resynchronization therapy: The Optimal Pacing SITE 2 (OPSITE 2) acute study and protocol
Authors: Oddone Daniele , Solari Diana , Nangah René , Arena Giuseppe , Mureddu Roberto , Giorgi Davide , Sitta Nadir , Bottoni Nicola , Senatore Gaetano , Giaccardi Marzia , Giammaria Massimo , Themistoclakis Sakis , Laffi Mattia , Cipolla Eliana , Di Lorenzo Fabio , Carpi Romina , Brignole Michele 
Published: October 2017

AbstractAimsLeft ventricular (LV) lead positioning at the site of delayed electrical activation is associated with better response to cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT). We hypothesized that a long electrical conduction delay between right ventricular (RV) and coronary sinus (CS) leads during RV pacing (RLD index) is correlated with a better clinical outcomeMethods and resultsRLD is measured intraprocedurally, during RV pacing, as the time interval between the intracardiac electrograms of RV and CS leads. Initially, we did a prove‐of‐concept, feasibility, acute study in 97 patients who underwent CRT implantation. The CS lead position was assessed in the 40° right anterior oblique and 40° left anterior oblique views and assigned to one of 11 prespecified segments of a schematic eyeball depiction of the LV walls. Acute outcomes were QRS width during biventricular (BIV) pacing. The longest RLD were found in the basal and mid lateral segments; these accounted for 82% and 78%, respectively, of the total QRS width (%RLD). %RLD was inversely correlated with BIV‐paced QRS (P = 0.0001). A similar slope was present either in the 78 patients with preserved atrioventricular (AV) conduction and in the 19 without AV conduction (− 0.34 vs − 0.27, P = 0.7).ConclusionWe showed that RLD can be used to guide lead placement at the time of CRT implantation and that it is correlated with BIV‐QRS width, an indirect predictor of clinical outcome. Based on these findings we started the prospective, multicenter Optimal Pacing SITE 2 (OPSITE 2) trial with the objective to demonstrate a relationship between RLD and clinical outcomes assessed as death, hospitalization for heart failure, New York Heart Association class, and clinical composite score. The protocol is provided.
Optimal endpoint for catheter ablation of longstanding persistent atrial fibrillation: A randomized clinical trial
Authors: Wang Yuan‐long , Liu Xu , Zhang Yu , Jiang Wei‐feng , Zhou Li , Qin Mu , Zhang Dao‐liang , Zhang Xiao‐dong , Wu Shao‐hui , Xu Kai 
Published: October 2017

AbstractBackgroundIn longstanding persistent atrial fibrillation (LPeAF), the ideal endpoint of ablation remains to be determined. This study was to explore the value of pursuing AF termination or no with the same strategy during ablation on the long‐term outcomes in patients with LPeAF.MethodsUtilized “CCL” strategy is a fixed ablation approach consisting of circumferential pulmonary vein antrum isolation, ablation of complex fractionated atrial electrogram, and linear ablation between two anatomical structures (the mitral isthmus, left atrial roof). Note that 400 patients were randomized to group A (technical endpoint) and group B (pursuing AF termination).ResultsA group with technical endpoint had lower rate of acute AF termination (AF→sinus rhythm, 3.5% vs 18.1%; AF→atrial tachycardia, 23.7% vs 44.7%; P < 0.01) and shorter duration of ablation (164.9 ± 20.8 vs 223.4 ± 24.9, P < 0.01), radiofrequency delivery time (69.8 ± 18.1 vs 102.2 ± 26.3, P < 0.01), and x‐ray exposure time (18.2 ± 8.8 vs 27.9 ± 12.4, P < 0.01) than those in B group (pursuing AF termination). During follow‐up, freedom from atrial arrhythmias did not differ between the two groups after a single ablation procedure (46.5% vs 54.3%, P=0.12) and the final ablation procedure (60.1% vs 65.8%, P = 0.24).ConclusionIn patients of LPeAF, pursuing AF termination during ablation was associated with similar long‐term clinical outcome compared to that with technical endpoint. Ablation to termination is not the best strategy during ablation.
The preadolescent acne microbiome: A prospective, randomized, pilot study investigating characterization and effects of acne therapy
Authors: Coughlin Carrie C. , Swink Shane M. , Horwinski Joseph , Sfyroera Georgia , Bugayev Julia , Grice Elizabeth A. , Yan Albert C. 
Published: October 2017

AbstractBackground/ObjectivesAcne, a common pediatric disease, tends to be more comedonal in preadolescents, whereas older individuals are more likely to have inflammatory lesions in addition to comedones. Thus the microbiome of preadolescents may be different. In this pilot study we aimed to characterize the preadolescent acne microbiome, compare the microbiome in preadolescents with and without acne, and investigate changes in the microbiome after topical treatment with benzoyl peroxide or a retinoid in a small cohort of preadolescents.MethodsParticipants were 7‐10 years of age with (intervention group) or without (control group) acne and were recruited during routine outpatient dermatology visits. Baseline questionnaires, physical examination, and pore strip application were performed for all participants. Intervention group participants were randomized to receive topical therapy with benzoyl peroxide 5% gel or cream or tretinoin 0.025% cream. Participants with acne were followed up 8‐10 weeks later and pore strip application was repeated.ResultsPreadolescents with acne were colonized with a greater diversity of cutaneous bacteria than controls and the most commonly identified bacterium was Streptococcus. The number of bacterial species and phylogenetic diversity decreased after treatment with benzoyl peroxide and tretinoin.ConclusionThe predominant bacteria in microbiome studies of adult acne is Propionibacterium, whereas in this pediatric population we saw a lot of Streptococcus bacteria. After treatment, the microbiomes of intervention group participants more closely resembled those of control group participants.
Agminated segmental plaque‐type blue nevus associated with hypertrichosis and soft tissue hypertrophy: Report of a case and review of the literature
Authors: Hunjan Manrup K. , Mohandas Desiree , Bridges Alina G. , Tollefson Megha 
Published: October 2017

AbstractBlue nevi are common skin neoplasms that typically present as asymptomatic solitary papules, although they may rarely occur in an agminated configuration. We describe a case of agminated blue nevus in a segmental facial distribution associated with soft tissue hypertrophy and hypertrichosis in a 16‐year‐old boy and present a review of the literature. Although they are generally considered to be benign, concurrent soft tissue changes occurring within an agminated blue nevus should be investigated thoroughly to exclude alternate diagnoses.
Intracranial source activity (eLORETA) related to scalp‐level asymmetry scores and depression status
Authors: Smith Ezra E. , Cavanagh James F. , Allen John J. B. 
Published: October 2017

AbstractFrontal EEG alpha asymmetry provides a promising index of depression risk, yet very little is known about the neural sources of alpha asymmetry. To identify these sources, this study examined alpha asymmetry using a distributed inverse solution: exact low resolution brain electromagnetic tomography (eLORETA). Findings implicated a generator in lateral midfrontal regions that contributed to both surface asymmetry and depression risk. Participants with any lifetime history of depressive episodes were characterized by less left than right activity in the precentral gyrus and midfrontal gyrus. Anhedonia accounted for a significant portion of the relationship between alpha asymmetry and lifetime major depressive disorder. Results are suggestive of convergence between motivational and capability models of asymmetry and replicate results from experimental studies in a large resting‐state data set. The capability model of frontal alpha asymmetry is contextualized in terms of motor preparedness following emotional mobilization.
Is attention enhanced following performance errors? Testing the adaptive control hypothesis
Authors: Compton Rebecca J. , Heaton Elizabeth C. , Gaines Averi 
Published: October 2017

AbstractThe present study tested whether people adaptively sharpen attentional focus following performance mistakes, as predicted by current theories of cognitive control. Participants completed a reverse Stroop task in which target stimuli were preceded by an informative spatial cue. Cue validity and Stroop interference effects on performance were robust, but neither effect was altered by commission of an error on the prior trial, as predicted by the adaptive control model. Likewise, a prior error did not enhance cue‐evoked spatial asymmetries in EEG, nor did it enhance validity effects on neural responses evoked by targets. Instead, errors were followed by poorer overall performance and generalized arousal, as measured by generally suppressed EEG alpha power in postresponse and cue‐to‐target intervals following errors compared to correct responses. Results support an alternative theory that post‐error changes in neural activity and performance reflect arousal, orienting, or cognitive bottlenecking rather than adaptive control of attention.
Does regulating remuneration affect the market value of European Union banks? Large versus small/medium sized banks
Authors: Díaz Díaz Belén , García‐Ramos Rebeca , García Olalla Myriam 
Published: October 2017

AbstractThe aim of this paper was to analyze equity market reactions to the mandatory European Union regulation of remuneration policies in financial institutions. Using event study methodology, we investigated market reactions to the first European Directive on compensation policies after the financial crisis using a sample of 124 banks operating in the European Union. We divided the sample into two groups according to bank size considering four criteria: the US Dodd‐Frank Act 2010, the Liikanen Report 2012, Global Systemically Important Banks 2011, and the European Central Bank 2014. We found strong evidence of an average negative market reaction to compensation regulation. Moreover, this negative reaction is stronger for large banks than for small/medium sized banks.
Risks of Allergic Contact Dermatitis Elicited by Nickel, Chromium, and Organic Sensitizers: Quantitative Models Based on Clinical Patch Test Data
Authors: Bogen Kenneth T. , Garry Michael R. 
Published: October 2017

AbstractRisks of allergic contact dermatitis (ACD) from consumer products intended for extended (nonpiercing) dermal contact are regulated by E.U. Directive EN 1811 that limits released Ni to a weekly equivalent dermal load of ≤0.5 μg/cm2. Similar approaches for thousands of known organic sensitizers are hampered by inability to quantify respective ACD‐elicitation risk levels. To help address this gap, normalized values of cumulative risk for eliciting a positive (“≥+”) clinical patch test response reported in 12 studies for a total of n = 625 Ni‐sensitized patients were modeled in relation to observed ACD‐eliciting Ni loads, yielding an approximate lognormal (LN) distribution with a geometric mean and standard deviation of GMNi = 15 μg/cm2 and GSDNi = 8.0, respectively. Such data for five sensitizers (including formaldehyde and 2‐hydroxyethyl methacrylate) were also ∼LN distributed, but with a common GSD value equal to GSDNi and with heterogeneous sensitizer‐specific GM values each defining a respective ACD‐eliciting potency GMNi/GM relative to Ni. Such potencies were also estimated for nine (meth)acrylates by applying this general LN ACD‐elicitation risk model to respective sets of fewer data. ACD‐elicitation risk patterns observed for Cr(VI) (n = 417) and Cr(III) (n = 78) were fit to mixed‐LN models in which ∼30% and ∼40% of the most sensitive responders, respectively, were estimated to exhibit a LN response also governed by GSDNi. The observed common LN‐response shape parameter GSDNi may reflect a common underlying ACD mechanism and suggests a common interim approach to quantitative ACD‐elicitation risk assessment based on available clinical data.
Influence of Risk Perception on Attitudes and Norms Regarding Electronic Cigarettes
Authors: Trumbo Craig W. 
Published: October 2017

AbstractThe use of electronic cigarettes has grown substantially over the last few years. Currently, about 4% of adults use electronic cigarettes, about 16% of high school students report use in the past 30 days, as do approximately 11–25% of college students. A hallmark of the reduction in tobacco use has been the shift in social norms concerning smoking in public. Such norms may also drive views on acceptability of public electronic cigarette use. While normative factors have been given attention, little substantive application of the literature on risk perception has been brought to bear. The overall aim of this study was to place a cognitive–affective measure of risk perception within a model that also includes social cues for e‐cigarettes, addictiveness beliefs, and tobacco use to predict perceived social acceptability for public use of e‐cigarettes. To do so, a cross‐sectional study using an online survey was conducted among a sample of undergraduate students at a Western university (n = 395). A structural equation model showed that the acceptability of public e‐cigarette use was influenced by social cues, beliefs about addiction, and cognitive risk perception, even after controlling for nicotine use. What is revealed is that cognitive assessment of e‐cigarette risk and perception of addictiveness had a suppressing effect on perceived acceptability of public vaping, while greater exposure to social cues exerted a countervailing effect. This is evidence of the role that risk perception and social norms may play in the increases in electronic cigarette use that have been observed.
Testing the auto‐abrasion hypothesis for dust production using diatomite dune sediments from the Bodélé Depression in Chad
Authors: Bristow Charlie S. , Moller Torsten H. 
Published: October 2017

AbstractThis study examines the role of quartz sand in the production of dust using mixtures of quartz sand from the Sahara and diatomite aggregates from the Bodélé Depression in Chad. An aeolian abrasion chamber is used to reproduce the physical processes of aeolian abrasion and test the hypothesis that the breakdown of saltating diatomite flakes as they collide in saltation, and with the surface, is the most prolific mechanism of dust production (auto‐abrasion). This hypothesis is tested against the competing hypothesis that a hard, higher‐density quartz sand impactor is required to abrade fine‐grained sediments to generate dust. The results show that dust can be produced by a mixture of saltating diatomite and quartz sand particles. However, quartz sand is not required for saltating aggregates to produce dust. Indeed, these results, which used a mixture of very coarse‐grained aggregate (1 to 2 mm diameter) with fine quartz sand, indicate that the addition of quartz sand can decrease dust production. For a very coarse aggregate (1 to 2 mm), a pure diatomite aggregate produced the most dust, although using a coarse‐grained aggregate (0·5 to 1·0 mm) with a mixture of 20% quartz and 80% aggregate was found to produce the most dust overall. The results of this study confirm the auto‐abrasion hypothesis for the breakdown of diatomite particles in the Bodélé Depression, which is the single biggest source of atmospheric mineral dust on Earth.
The influence of media use on layperson monetary policy knowledge in Germany
Authors: Hayo Bernd , Neuenkirch Edith 
Published: October 2017

AbstractWe analyse German citizens’ knowledge about monetary policy and the European Central Bank (ECB), as well as the public's use of mass communication media to obtain information about the ECB. We find that a person's own desire to be informed about the ECB, together with the use of various media channels to keep informed, are decisive for both (1) own perception of knowledge about the ECB and (2) actual level of knowledge. The media‐related influence varies with a person's level of education and is stronger for subjective knowledge. Women are significantly less interested in or knowledgeable about both topics.
The difference, system and ‘Double‐D’ GMM panel estimators in the presence of structural breaks
Authors: Chowdhury Rosen Azad , Russell Bill 
Published: October 2017

AbstractThe effects of structural breaks in dynamic panels are more complicated than in time series models as the bias can be either negative or positive. This paper focuses on the effects of mean shifts in otherwise stationary processes within an instrumental variable panel estimation framework. We show the sources of the bias and a Monte Carlo analysis calibrated on United States bank lending data demonstrates the size of the bias for a range of auto‐regressive parameters. We also propose additional moment conditions that can be used to reduce the biases caused by shifts in the mean of the data.
Towards global space geodetic mapping of the dynamic deformation field after great earthquakes
Authors: Grenerczy Gyula , Jámbor Tamás , Stein Seth , Farkas Péter , Ferenc Marcell 
Published: October 2017

AbstractGPS systems can be used as seismometers by sampling ground positions to detect travelling seismic waves. Data from dense geodetic networks near large earthquakes have been used to improve magnitude estimates, for tsunami warning, and to better understand the rupture processes. Here, we present 1 Hz GPS records of the March 11th, 2011, Mw = 9.0 Tohoku earthquake at unprecedented teleseismic distances. The spatial and temporal variations of the three‐dimensional GPS displacement vector field show various body waves, Love and Rayleigh surface waves along the direct path, and Love waves from the more than 31 000 km long major arc path. These results suggest that seismic wavefields can be mapped at teleseismic distances globally using space geodesy and could thus be used for source and structural studies. Data from numerous real‐time kinematic GPS networks could be combined to show the displacement field, giving unparalleled views of Earth's response to large earthquakes.
Different mutational function of low‐ and high‐linear energy transfer heavy‐ion irradiation demonstrated by whole‐genome resequencing of Arabidopsis mutants
Authors: Kazama Yusuke , Ishii Kotaro , Hirano Tomonari , Wakana Taeko , Yamada Mieko , Ohbu Sumie , Abe Tomoko 
Published: October 2017

SummaryHeavy‐ion irradiation is a powerful mutagen that possesses high linear energy transfer (LET). Several studies have indicated that the value of LET affects DNA lesion formation in several ways, including the efficiency and the density of double‐stranded break induction along the particle path. We assumed that the mutation type can be altered by selecting an appropriate LET value. Here, we quantitatively demonstrate differences in the mutation type induced by irradiation with two representative ions, Ar ions (LET: 290 keV μm−1) and C ions (LET: 30.0 keV μm−1), by whole‐genome resequencing of the Arabidopsis mutants produced by these irradiations. Ar ions caused chromosomal rearrangements or large deletions (≥100 bp) more frequently than C ions, with 10.2 and 2.3 per mutant genome under Ar‐ and C‐ion irradiation, respectively. Conversely, C ions induced more single‐base substitutions and small indels (<100 bp) than Ar ions, with 28.1 and 56.9 per mutant genome under Ar‐ and C‐ion irradiation, respectively. Moreover, the rearrangements induced by Ar‐ion irradiation were more complex than those induced by C‐ion irradiation, and tended to accompany single base substitutions or small indels located close by. In conjunction with the detection of causative genes through high‐throughput sequencing, selective irradiation by beams with different effects will be a powerful tool for forward genetics as well as studies on chromosomal rearrangements.