bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
How much does lower body strength impact Paralympic running performance?
Authors: Beckman E. M. , Connick M. J. , Tweedy S. M. 
Published: January 2016

AbstractObjectives: Development of evidence‐based methods of Paralympic classification requires research quantifying the relative strength of association between ratio‐scaled measures of impairment and athletic performance. The purpose of this study was to quantify the extent to which muscle strength affects running performance in runners with and without brain impairment. Design: Cross‐sectional study. Methods: Participants were 41 male runners: 13 with brain impairments (RBI) and 28 non‐disabled (NDR). All participants completed a maximal 60‐m sprint and a novel battery of three lower limb isometric strength tests. Results: RBI showed significantly lower strength scores compared with NDR on the more affected side in leg flexion (176 vs. 243 N), leg extension (993 vs. 1661 N) and plantarflexion (824  vs. 1457 N). Significant differences were also seen on the less affected side in plantarflexion (1072 vs. 1508 N). RBI were significantly slower in the acceleration phase (0–15 m) (3.2 s ± 0.3 vs. 2.8 s ± 0.2) and top speed phase (30−60 m) (4.3 s ± 0.6 vs. 3.8 s ± 0.3). Correlation analysis showed stronger relationships between strength and running performance in RBI than NDR; however, the correlations were not significant. Conclusions: This study evaluated measures to assess strength for the purposes of classification and found that the measures were significantly different in RBI compared with NDR indicating the tests were able to capture strength impairment in this population. This study indicates that strength may be an important impairment type to assess in this population, as impairments of muscle strength may influence the outcome of running performance in athletes with more severe impairments.
Size, mass, and occurrence of gastroliths in juvenile Steller sea lions (
Eumetopias jubatus
)
Authors: Shuert C. R. , Mellish J. E. 
Published: January 2016

Abstract
Gastroliths, or stones found in the digestive tract of some pinnipeds, were gathered ( n = 128) from temporarily captive juvenile Steller sea lions ( n = 23, Eumetopias jubatus ) at the Alaska SeaLife Center and characterized by their size and mass. Blubber depth and season were significant predictors of gastrolith mass and also positively associated with larger animals. From this, we conclude that they are likely actively ingested for a functional use rather than incidental.
Bevacizumab in neurofibromatosis type 2 (NF2) related vestibular schwannomas: a nationally coordinated approach to delivery and prospective evaluation
Authors: Morris Katrina A. , Golding John F. , Axon Patrick R. , Afridi Shazia , Blesing Claire , Ferner Rosalie E. , Halliday Dorothy , Jena Raj , Pretorius Pieter M. ,   the UK NF2 Research group, Evans D. Gareth , McCabe Martin G. , Parry Allyson 
Published: January 2016

AbstractBackgroundNF2 patients develop multiple nervous system tumors including bilateral vestibular schwannomas (VS). The tumors and their surgical treatment are associated with deafness, neurological disability, and mortality.Medical treatment with bevacizumab has been reported to reduce VS growth and to improve hearing. In addition to evaluating these effects, this study also aimed to determine other important consequences of treatment including patient-reported quality of life and the impact of treatment on surgical VS rates.MethodsPatients treated with bevacizumab underwent serial prospective MRI, audiology, clinical, CTCAE-4.0 adverse events, and NFTI-QOL quality-of-life assessments. Tumor volumetrics were classified according to the REiNs criteria and annual VS surgical rates reviewed.ResultsSixty-one patients (59% male), median age 25 years (range, 10–57), were reviewed. Median follow-up was 23 months (range, 3–53). Partial volumetric tumor response (all tumors) was seen in 39% and 51% had stabilization of previously growing tumors. Age and pretreatment growth rate were predictors of response. Hearing was maintained or improved in 86% of assessable patients. Mean NFTI-QOL scores improved from 12.0 to 10.7 (P < .05). Hypertension was observed in 30% and proteinuria in 16%. Twelve treatment breaks occurred due to adverse events. The rates of VS surgery decreased after the introduction of bevacizumab.ConclusionTreatment with bevacizumab in this large, UK-wide cohort decreased VS growth rates and improved hearing and quality of life. The potential risk of surgical iatrogenic damage was also reduced due to an associated reduction in VS surgical rates. Ongoing follow-up of this cohort will determine the long-term benefits and risks of bevacizumab treatment.
Institutional effect on born global firms in China: the role of Sun Tzu’sThe Art of Warstrategies
Authors: Zhang Man , Gao Qian , Wheeler Jane V. , Kwon Jungsook 
Published: January 2016

Purpose– This paper aims to investigate the role of Sun Tzu’s significant strategies on the relationship between the institutional environment and international performance of Chinese born global firms, a type of small- and medium-sized enterprise (SME) characterized by the company’s limited resources and its early efforts to internationalize.Design/methodology/approach– The methodology is based on a multi-case analysis of interviews conducted with four chosen born global firms, coupled with public database and Web site searches. Through the use of qualitative methods, propositions were developed.Findings– This paper provides insights regarding how the institutional environment, both formal and informal, has a strong positive relationship with born global firm’s international performance. Moreover, Sun Tzu’s significant strategies play a critical role in the internationalization process of born global firms in emerging markets.Originality/value– Although existing studies discuss the application of Eastern philosophical strategies adopted by firms in emerging markets, to the best of our knowledge, this is one of the earliest studies which evaluates the moderation effect of Sun Tzu’s significant strategies on the relationship between institutional environment and business performance. The paper contributes to scholarly discourse on the influencing factors of born global firm’s internationalization process. It also has practical relevance to international entrepreneurs and SMEs from emerging markets.
Effective leadership today – character not just competence
Authors: Leavy Brian 
Published: January 2016

Purpose
– Three recent publications by noted authors offer valuable insights into the new directions that leadership development thinking and practice now need to take, with all of three books placing particular emphasis on the importance of character, identity and values, not just competence.

Design/methodology/approach
– Organizational psychologist Fred Kiel’s book, Return On Character sets out to show that the strength of a leader’s character is an important driver of business success and to examine the implications for leadership development. Discover Your True North by Harvard professor and former CEO of Medtronic Bill George examines why the self-development process of discovering one’s core values and passion (authenticity) to lead is essential to becoming an engaging and empowering leader. The theme of leadership as a life-long developmental challenge is Robert Kaplan’s primary focus in What You Really Need to Lead.

Findings
– Kiel’s data revealed a clear relationship between the strength of a leader’s character and demonstrated mastery of these key skills, with virtuosos “consistently” outperforming their more self-focused peers.

Originality/value
– One of the reasons that character matters is that leaders who more consciously and persistently search for greater self-awareness over the course of their careers tend to become ever more capable of questioning “not only the ideas of others” but even their “own most cherished beliefs,” and as a result, their understanding of their life, their business, their marketplace, and the global forces that shape them “enters a state of continual growth and development.”
The Slum Multiple: A Cyborg Micro‐history of an Informal Settlement in Lisbon
Authors: Ascensão Eduardo 
Published: January 2016

AbstractThis article proposes a cyborg reading of the process of informal settlement by internal and postcolonial immigrants in Lisbon's periphery from the 1970s to the present. Cyborg does not stand for a neo‐organicist or cybernetic understanding of the informal city but rather for the conjunction of the multiple enactments of city life under conditions of urban informality—in this case the fourfold combination ofhistory/migration;architecture/low‐fi technologies;inhabitation/body/memory; andgovernmentality/urban capital. The 40‐year event of settlement and inhabitation is presented through an ethnographic micro‐history of one neighbourhood in particular, with a strong focus on slum dwellers' life stories, on the details of the artefact‐machines they have built, their informal dwellings, and on their social and mental experience of place. Responding to recent calls for multidisciplinary ethnographies of informality, the article brings the specificity of Lisbon's informal settlements—their growth based in postcolonial rather than rural migrations—into current debates on informal urbanisms and geographies of sociotechnical urban assemblages.
Production and structural characterisation of dextran from an indigenous strain of Leuconostoc mesenteroides BA08 in Whey
Authors: Lule Vaibhao K , Singh Rameshwar , Pophaly Sarang D , Poonam  , Tomar Sudhir K 
Published: January 2016

In this work, the production of dextran was carried out in whey‐supplemented media using Leuconostoc mesenteroides BA08. Different growth and nutritional parameters were optimised to maximise the dextran production. Batch production in whey‐based media under optimised nutritional and growth conditions yielded a dextran concentration of 17.25 g/L. Structural analysis of the purified polymer by FT‐IR, 1D 1H and 13C nuclear magnetic resonance methodology revealed that polymer was a linear dextran having 93% α‐(1→6) linkage in the main chain. The morphology of the dried dextran and dextran‐producing cells was also studied by scanning electron microscope which showed a granular and porous or weblike structure, respectively. The results obtained showed that the industrial whey supplemented with nutrients such as sucrose, yeast extract and K2HPO4 can serve as an ideal growth medium for dextran production. The optimised fermentation and nutritional parameters can be further scaled up to establish the potential for the commercial production of food‐grade dextran from whey as part of a novel cost‐effective and environment‐friendly approach.
Posterior hippocampal regional cerebral blood flow predicts abstinence: a replication study
Authors: Adinoff Bryon , Harris Thomas S. , Gu Hong , Stein Elliot A. 
Published: January 2016

AbstractThe posterior hippocampus (pHp) plays a major role in the processing and storage of drug‐related cues and is linked to striatal‐limbic brain circuits involved with craving and drug salience. We have recently reported that increased basal regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) in a pHp loci, as measured by pseudo‐continuous arterial spin labeling magnetic resonance imaging, predicted days to cocaine relapse following residential treatment. In this secondary analysis, we explored whether rCBF in this same pHp region would successfully predict 30‐day point prevalence abstinence 60 days following residential treatment in an independent group of previously studied participants with cocaine dependence. rCBF was assessed with single photon emission computerized tomography during a saline infusion in 21 cocaine dependence and 22 healthy control participants. pHp rCBF was significantly higher in those endorsing substance use (n = 10) relative to both abstinent (n = 11) (p < 0.001) and control (p < 0.05) participants. There were no significant differences in measured demographic or clinical variables between the actively using and non‐using participants. This replicative finding suggests that heightened pHp activation is a significant predictor of substance use in cocaine‐dependent individuals, possibly reflecting a neural susceptibility to continued drug cues.
Within‐Person Link between Depressed Affect and Moderate‐to‐Vigorous Physical Activity in Adolescence: An Intensive Longitudinal Approach
Authors: Langguth Nadine , Schmid Johanna , Gawrilow Caterina , Stadler Gertraud 
Published: January 2016

BackgroundDuring adolescence, young women and men frequently show low physical activity and elevated depressed affect. This study aimed to examine the within‐person link between moderate‐to‐vigorous physical activity (MVPA) and depressed affect in everyday life.MethodsWithin an intensive longitudinal approach, adolescents (N = 72; 37% young women; M age = 17.36 years; age range: 12–26 years; mid‐90% age range: 13–22 years) wore accelerometers to assess their daily MVPA and reported next‐morning and same‐evening depressed affect in diaries over eight consecutive days. The within‐person link between MVPA and depressed affect on the next morning (time‐lagged prediction) and the same evening (same‐day link) was analyzed with mixed‐effects models.ResultsMore‐than‐usual MVPA significantly predicted less next‐morning depressed affect on weekdays in young women, to the extent that a 60‐min increase in MVPA over the person mean significantly predicted 50 per cent lower next‐morning depressed affect.ConclusionsThis study encourages the development of individually tailored physical activity interventions that could help adolescents enhance their daily amount of unstructured, self‐initiated MVPA to reduce depressed affect. This approach may be particularly suitable for young women who have the highest risk for an inactive lifestyle and elevated depressed affect.
Characterization of Brazilian forest types utilizing canopy height profiles derived from airborne laser scanning
Authors: Görgens Eric B. , Soares Carlos P.B. , Nunes Matheus H. , Rodriguez Luiz C. E. 
Published: January 2016

AbstractQuestionsThis study explores how airborne laser scanning surveys can contribute to characterizing and discriminating different Brazilian forest types based on canopy height profiles, and how sampling intensity and plot size affect the results.LocationSeven different vegetation types in Brazil – open ombrophilous Amazonian forest type in the state of Pará State, dense ombrophilous Atlantic forest in the state of São Paulo, semi‐deciduous and rupestrian field in the state of Minas Gerais, and three fast‐growing eucalyptus plantations in the state of São Paulo.MethodsCanopy height profiles were modelled for each forest type using a two‐parameter Weibull distribution. Differences in the values of the Weibull cumulative distribution parameters were studied to evaluate their discriminative capacity. Simulation was subsequently used to determine the number of cells needed to define a reliable sampling intensity for each cell size tested. Eight grid cell sizes were tested against six sampling intensities using 1000 iterations for all seven forest types.ResultsEach forest presented distinct characteristics regarding the canopy height profile. The higher presence of ground returns was remarkable in less layered structured forests (i.e. rupestrian field and eucalyptus plantations). Depending on the forest type, monotonic and sigmoidal shapes were observed for the cumulative distribution function of the canopy height profile. A sigmoidal cumulative distribution function was typical of a more layered structure (dense and open ombrophilous, and semi‐deciduous), whereas less structured typologies (i.e. Rupestrian field and forest plantation) were associated with monotonically shaped functions. Modelling convergence for the canopy height profile was achieved in most cases with data representing at least 2% cover.ConclusionCanopy height profiles generated fromALSdata proved different among five different forest types: open ombrophilous, dense ombrophilous, semi‐deciduous, rupestrian field and eucalyptus plantations. Furthermore, large‐scale forest inventories can benefit from the results observed in this study, as it provides recommendations on grid cell size and sampling intensity levels.
Immediate hypersensitivity to iodinated contrast media: diagnostic accuracy of skin tests and intravenous provocation test with low dose
Authors: Sesé L. , Gaouar H. , Autegarden J.‐E. , Alari A. , Amsler E. , Vial‐Dupuy A. , Pecquet C. , Francès C. , Soria A. 
Published: January 2016

SummaryBackgroundThe diagnosis of HSR to iodinated contrast media (ICM) is challenging based on clinical history and skin tests.ObjectiveThis study evaluates the negative predictive value (NPV) of skin tests and intravenous provocation test (IPT) with low‐dose ICM in patients with suspected immediate hypersensitivity reaction (HSR) to ICM.MethodsThirty‐seven patients with suspected immediate hypersensitivity reaction to ICM were included retrospectively. Skin tests and a single‐blind placebo‐controlled intravenous provocation test (IPT) with low‐dose iodinated contrast media (ICM) were performed.ResultsSkin tests with ICM were positive in five cases (one skin prick test and five intradermal test). Thirty‐six patients were challenged successfully by IPT, and only one patient had a positive challenge result, with a grade I reaction by the Ring and Messmer classification. Ten of 23 patients followed up by telephone were re‐exposed to a negative tested ICM during radiologic examination; two experienced a grade I immediate reaction.Conclusions & Clinical RelevanceFor immediate hypersensitivity reaction to ICM, the NPV for skin tests and IPT with low dose was 80% (95% CI 44–97%).
Population genomics of the Anthropocene: urbanization is negatively associated with genome‐wide variation in white‐footed mouse populations
Authors: Munshi‐South Jason , Zolnik Christine P. , Harris Stephen E. 
Published: January 2016

AbstractUrbanization results in pervasive habitat fragmentation and reduces standing genetic variation through bottlenecks and drift. Loss of genomewide variation may ultimately reduce the evolutionary potential of animal populations experiencing rapidly changing conditions. In this study, we examined genomewide variation among 23 white‐footed mouse (Peromyscus leucopus) populations sampled along an urbanization gradient in the New York City metropolitan area. Genomewide variation was estimated as a proxy for evolutionary potential using more than 10 000 single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) markers generated by ddRAD‐Seq. We found that genomewide variation is inversely related to urbanization as measured by percent impervious surface cover, and to a lesser extent, human population density. We also report that urbanization results in enhanced genomewide differentiation between populations in cities. There was no pattern of isolation by distance among these populations, but an isolation by resistance model based on impervious surface significantly explained patterns of genetic differentiation. Isolation by environment modeling also indicated that urban populations deviate much more strongly from global allele frequencies than suburban or rural populations. This study is the first to examine loss of genomewide SNP variation along an urban‐to‐rural gradient and quantify urbanization as a driver of population genomic patterns.
Topiramate for the management of methamphetamine dependence: a pilot randomized, double‐blind, placebo‐controlled trial
Authors: Rezaei Farzin , Ghaderi Ebrahim , Mardani Roya , Hamidi Seiran , Hassanzadeh Kambiz 
Published: January 2016

AbstractTo date, no medication has been approved as an effective treatment for methamphetamine dependence. Topiramate has attracted considerable attention as a treatment for the dependence on alcohol and stimulants. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the effect of topiramate for methamphetamine dependence. This study was a double‐blind, randomized, placebo‐controlled trial. In the present investigation, 62 methamphetamine‐dependent adults were enrolled and randomized into two groups, and received topiramate or a placebo for 10 weeks in escalating doses from 50 mg/day to the target maintenance dose of 200 mg/day. Addiction severity index (ASI) and craving scores were registered every week. The Beck questionnaire was also given to each participant at baseline and every 2 weeks during the treatment. Urine samples were collected at baseline and every 2 weeks during the treatment. Fifty‐seven patients completed 10 weeks of the trial. There was no significant difference between both groups in the mean percentage of prescribed capsules taken by the participants. At week six, the topiramate group showed a significantly lower proportion of methamphetamine‐positive urine tests in comparison with the placebo group (P = 0.01). In addition, there were significantly lower scores in the topiramate group in comparison with the placebo group in two domains of ASI: drug use severity (P < 0.001) and drug need (P < 0.001). Furthermore, the craving score (duration) significantly declined in the topiramate patients compared to those receiving the placebo. In conclusion, the results of this trial suggest that topiramate may be beneficial for the treatment of methamphetamine dependence.
Grasslands in ‘Old World’ and ‘New World’ Mediterranean‐climate zones: past trends, current status and future research priorities
Authors: Porqueddu C. , Ates S. , Louhaichi M. , Kyriazopoulos A. P. , Moreno G. , del Pozo A. , Ovalle C. , Ewing M. A. , Nichols P. G. H. 
Published: January 2016

AbstractDespite their ecological, economic and social importance, grasslands in areas with Mediterranean climates continue to receive limited scientific, political and media attention. The main objectives of this review are to compare and contrast dryland grasslands in the ‘Old World’ regions of the Mediterranean basin (southern Europe, western Asia and North Africa) with those of ‘New World’ regions with Mediterranean climates (Australia and Chile) and to identify common research priorities. The common characteristics and differences in climate, soils, native vegetation, importance of the livestock sector and the socio‐economic background for the different Mediterranean environments are examined. Past trends and the current status of temporary and permanent Mediterranean grasslands are also described. Some common issues between these regions are as follows: (i) adaptation to climate change; (ii) increasing persistence and drought survival of both annual and perennial species; (iii) the important role of forage legumes; (iv) maintaining grassland plant diversity; and (v) improved ecosystem services, such as carbon sequestration, control of soil erosion and wildfires, and preservation of both wild and domestic biodiversity. The favourable climate in these regions, which allows year‐round grazing and the growth of legumes, should be exploited to improve the sustainability of grassland‐based, extensive farming systems and the quality of their animal products, while at the same time improving ecosystem services. The decreasing support for grassland research and development programmes requires increased international scientific and technical cooperation among the few institutions operating in the different Mediterranean‐climate areas of the World to provide innovative and sustainable solutions to farmers.