bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Introduction to SWAT+, A Completely Restructured Version of the Soil and Water Assessment Tool
Authors: Bieger Katrin , Arnold Jeffrey G. , Rathjens Hendrik , White Michael J. , Bosch David D. , Allen Peter M. , Volk Martin , Srinivasan Raghavan 
Published: November 2016

AbstractSWAT+ is a completely restructured version of the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) that was developed to face present and future challenges in water resources modeling and management and to meet the needs of the worldwide user community. It is expected to improve code development and maintenance; support data availability, analysis, and visualization; and enhance the model's capabilities in terms of the spatial representation of elements and processes within watersheds. The most important change is the implementation of landscape units and flow and pollutant routing across the landscape. Also, SWAT+ offers more flexibility than SWAT in defining management schedules, routing constituents, and connecting managed flow systems to the natural stream network. To test the basic hydrologic function of SWAT+, it was applied to the Little River Experimental Watershed (Georgia) without enhanced overland routing and compared with previous models. SWAT+ gave similar results and inaccuracies as these models did for streamflow and water balance. Taking full advantage of the new capabilities of SWAT+ regarding watershed discretization and landscape and river interactions is expected to improve simulations in future studies. While many capabilities of SWAT have already been enhanced in SWAT+ and new capabilities have been added, the model will continue to evolve in response to advancements in scientific knowledge and the demands of the growing worldwide user community. Editor's note: This paper is part of the featured series on SWAT Applications for Emerging Hydrologic and Water Quality Challenges. See the February 2017 issue for the introduction and background to the series.
Testing of the Modified Streambank Erosion and Instream Phosphorus Routines for the SWAT Model
Authors: Mittelstet A.R. , Storm D.E. , Fox G.A. 
Published: November 2016

AbstractIn some watersheds, streambanks are a source of two major pollutants, phosphorus (P) and sediment. P originating from both uplands and streambanks can be transported and stored indefinitely on floodplains, streambanks, and in closed depressions near the stream. The objectives of this study were to (1) test the modified streambank erosion and instream P routines for the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) model in the Barren Fork Creek watershed in northeast Oklahoma, (2) predict P in the watershed with and without streambank‐derived P, and (3) determine the significance of streambank erosion P relative to overland P sources. Measured streambank and channel parameters were incorporated into a flow‐calibrated SWAT model and used to estimate streambank erosion and P for the Barren Fork Creek using modified streambank erosion and instream P routines. The predicted reach‐weighted streambank erosion was 40 kg/m vs. the measured 42 kg/m. Streambank erosion contributed 47% of the total P to the Barren Fork Creek and improved P predictions compared to observed data, especially during the high‐flow events. Of the total P entering the stream system, approximately 65% was removed via the watershed outlet and 35% was stored in the floodplain and stream system. This study successfully applied the SWAT model's modified streambank erosion and instream P routines and demonstrated that streambank‐derived P can improve P modeling at the watershed scale. Editor's note: This paper is part of the featured series on SWAT Applications for Emerging Hydrologic and Water Quality Challenges. See the February 2017 issue for the introduction and background to the series.
CT brain perfusion: A static phantom study of contrast‐to‐noise ratio and radiation dose
Authors: Midgley Stewart M , Stella Damien L , Campbell Bruce CV , Langenberg Francesca , Einsiedel Paul F 
Published: November 2016

AbstractIntroductionComputed tomography perfusion (CTP) is increasingly employed in the diagnosis and management of ischaemic stroke but radiation dose can be significant and optimising contrast‐to‐noise ratio (CNR) is challenging. This study aimed to quantify and optimise the balance between CNR as a surrogate for image quality and radiation dose.MethodsA perspex head phantom with vials of dilute contrast agent was scanned using a Siemens Definition Flash 128‐slice scanner. The CTP protocol exposure parameters were adjusted over 70–120 kVp and 150–285 mAs. Measurements were obtained for the average dose per slice, Hounsfield Units (HU) for iodinated contrast agent, and the image noise for background regions of perspex. The CNR was measured as a function of the volumetric CT dose index (CTDIvol) and kVp.ResultsA change from 120 to 80 kVp, achieved the same CNR with 60% reduction in dose. Alternatively, for the same dose, the change from 120 to 80 kVp improved CNR by +58%. A change from 80 to 70 kVp while operating at the same CNR, led to 13% reduction in dose. Alternatively, maintaining the same dose while changing from 80 to 70 kVp improved the CNR by +7%.ConclusionLower beam energies achieved the same CNR with less dose, or improved CNR at the same dose. A reduction from 80 kVp to 70 kVp may be clinically useful to optimise CTP acquisitions.
Phylogenetic and ecological diversity of apusomonads, a lineage of deep‐branching eukaryotes
Authors: Torruella Guifré , Moreira David , López‐García Purificación 
Published: November 2016

SummaryApusomonads are a mysterious group of heterotrophic gliding biflagellates branching deeply in the eukaryotic tree of life as sister group to opisthokonts (including animals, fungi, and a variety of unicellular protists). Despite their evolutionary interest, their diversity and ecology remain largely unknown, with very few described species and environmental sequences in databases. Most environmental 18S rRNA gene‐based studies generally fail to identify apusomonad sequences, which might be due to primer bias, low abundance, and/or to the fact that their biotopes remain poorly explored. We have carried out an extensive search of 18S rRNA genes using an apusomonad‐specific primer in a wide variety of ecosystems. Our study significantly broadens the diversity of apusomonads showing that, despite being mostly rare protists, they often dwell in freshwater and marine benthic environments, generally associated with low‐oxygen concentrations. Apusomonads have been identified in environments across a wide salinity range. Some operational taxonomic units (OTUs), occurring in both marine and freshwater ecosystems, seem truly euryhaline, indicating that members of this deep‐branching lineage easily cross such ecological barriers.
The Rate of Change in Alcohol Misuse Across Adolescence is Heritable
Authors: Edwards Alexis C. , Heron Jon , Vladimirov Vladimir , Wolen Aaron R. , Adkins Daniel E. , Aliev Fazil , Hickman Matthew , Kendler Kenneth S. 
Published: November 2016

BackgroundAlcohol use typically begins during adolescence and escalates into young adulthood. This represents an important period for the establishment of alcohol use and misuse patterns, which can have psychosocial and medical consequences. Although changes in alcohol use during this time have been phenotypically characterized, their genetic nature is poorly understood.MethodsParticipants of the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children completed the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT) 4 times from age 16 to 20. We used Mplus to construct a growth model characterizing changes in AUDIT scores across time (N = 4,545, where data were available for at least 2 time points). The slope of the model was used as the phenotype in a genomewide association study (N = 3,380), followed by secondary genetic analyses.ResultsNo individual marker met genomewide significance criteria. Top markers mapped to biologically plausible candidate genes. The slope term was moderately heritable (h2SNP = 0.26, p = 0.009), and replication attempts using a meta‐analysis of independent samples provided support for implicated variants at the aggregate level. Nominally significant (p < 0.00001) markers mapped to putatively active genomic regions in brain tissue more frequently than expected by chance.ConclusionsThese results build on prior studies by demonstrating that common genetic variation impacts alcohol misuse trajectories. Influential loci map to genes that merit additional research, as well as to intergenic regions with regulatory functions in the central nervous system. These findings underscore the complex biological nature of alcohol misuse across development.
Unexpected motor weakness following quadratus lumborum block for gynaecological laparoscopy
Authors: Wikner M. 
Published: November 2016

SummaryQuadratus lumborum block has recently been described as an effective and long‐lasting analgesic strategy for various abdominal operations, including gynaecological laparoscopy. Despite evidence that the analgesic effect is mediated by indirect paravertebral block and that local anaesthetic spreads to the lumbar paravertebral space, there have been no reports to date of lower limb motor weakness. We present a patient with unilateral hip flexion and knee extension weakness leading to unplanned overnight admission following lateral quadratus lumborum block with 20 ml levobupivacaine 0.25%. The L2 dermatomal sensory loss and hip flexion weakness suggested spread to either the L2 paravertebral space or to the lumbar plexus, causing weakness of the psoas and iliacus muscles and possibly the quadriceps. The duration of motor block was approximately 18 h. This complication should be considered when performing the block, especially in the setting of day‐case surgery.
Preliminary study of personality traits in Chinese lung cancer patients: Modification by neurotensin receptor 1 polymorphisms
Authors: Ma Hui , Cong Zhengtu , Zhang Hongyu , Tao Jiangang , Yang Chao , Song Zhijie 
Published: November 2016

AbstractThis study recruited 148 lung cancer patients and 157 healthy Chinese individuals to evaluate the personality traits of Chinese lung cancer patients using the Tridimensional Personality Questionnaire and to investigate the associations between these traits and the rs6090453C/G and rs6011914C/G polymorphisms of the neurotensin receptor 1 gene. The results demonstrated significant differences in the Tridimensional Personality Questionnaire total and subscale scores between the 2 groups. Significant differences were found in the reward dependence 2 (RD2) score between the rs6090453C/G genotypes and in the total harm avoidance (HA), HA1, HA2, HA4, and RD2 scores between the rs6011914C/G genotypes. Thus, patients with lung cancer have specific personality traits, and variations in the neurotensin receptor 1 gene may be involved in the biological mechanisms of the HA and RD personality traits.
Effect of dietary kapok oil supplementation on growth performance, carcass traits, meat quality and sensory traits of pork in finishing‐pigs
Authors: Maeda Keisuke , Kohira Kimiko , Kubota Hiroki , Yamanaka Kousuke , Saito Kaoru , Irie Masakazu 
Published: November 2016

AbstractKapok seed and oil from the tropical zone are widely used as pig feed to harden porcine fat in Japan. This study evaluated the effect of dietary kapok oil supplementation on pork quality and sensory traits. Five Duroc pigs each were assigned to an experimental group supplemented with kapok oil and a control group. Dietary kapok oil supplementation had no effect on growth performance and intramuscular fat content in the Longissimus dorsi muscle (LM). Supplemental kapok oil increased saturated fatty acid contents in subcutaneous and intramuscular fat and decreased monounsaturated fatty acid levels (P < 0.05). Off‐flavor detection by a trained panel was higher in the experimental than the control group (P < 0.05), but tenderness, juiciness, texture and flavor intensity of LM chops were similar in both groups. The overall palatability of pork as judged by a consumer panel decreased with kapok oil supplementation (P < 0.01). These results indicate that while growth performance, intramuscular fat contents and carcass characteristics were unchanged, while dietary kapok oil supplementation makes firm fat to prevent inferior soft fat in pork, it can lower the palatability of pork due to a decrease in monounsaturated fatty acids.
Milking performance evaluation and factors affecting milking claw vacuum levels with flow simulator
Authors: Enokidani Masafumi , Kawai Kazuhiro , Shinozuka Yasunori , Watanabe Aiko 
Published: November 2016

AbstractMilking performance of milking machines that matches the production capability of dairy cows is important in reducing the risk of mastitis, particularly in high‐producing cows. This study used a simulated milking device to examine the milking performance of the milking system of 73 dairy farms and to analyze the factors affecting claw vacuum. Mean claw vacuum and range of fluctuation of claw vacuum (claw vacuum range) were measured at three different flow rates: 5.7, 7.6 and 8.7 kg/min. At the highest flow rate, only 16 farms (21.9%) met both standards of mean claw vacuum ≥35 kPa and claw vacuum range ≤ 7 kPa, showing that milking systems currently have poor milking performance. The factors affecting mean claw vacuum were claw type, milk‐meter and vacuum shut‐off device; the factor affecting claw vacuum range was claw type. Examination of the milking performance of the milking system using a simulated milking device allows an examination of the performance that can cope with high producing cows, indicating the possibility of reducing the risk of mastitis caused by inappropriate claw vacuum.
Multi-Parameter Regression Survival Modeling: An Alternative to Proportional Hazards
Authors: Burke K. , MacKenzie G. 
Published: November 2016

Summary
It is standard practice for covariates to enter a parametric model through a single distributional parameter of interest, for example, the scale parameter in many standard survival models. Indeed, the well-known proportional hazards model is of this kind. In this article, we discuss a more general approach whereby covariates enter the model through more than one distributional parameter simultaneously (e.g., scale and shape parameters). We refer to this practice as “multi-parameter regression” (MPR) modeling and explore its use in a survival analysis context. We find that multi-parameter regression leads to more flexible models which can offer greater insight into the underlying data generating process. To illustrate the concept, we consider the two-parameter Weibull model which leads to time-dependent hazard ratios, thus relaxing the typical proportional hazards assumption and motivating a new test of proportionality. A novel variable selection strategy is introduced for such multi-parameter regression models. It accounts for the correlation arising between the estimated regression coefficients in two or more linear predictors—a feature which has not been considered by other authors in similar settings. The methods discussed have been implemented in the mpr package in R.
A Risk-Based Measure of Time-Varying Prognostic Discrimination for Survival Models
Authors: Liang C. Jason , Heagerty Patrick J. 
Published: November 2016

SummaryPrognostic survival models are commonly evaluated in terms of both their calibration and their discrimination. Comparing observed and predicted survival curves can assess calibration, while discrimination is typically summarized through comparison of the properties of cases or subjects who experience an event, and the properties of controls represented by event-free individuals. For binary data, discrimination is characterized either by using the relative ranks of cases and controls and a receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve, or by summarizing the magnitude of risk placed on cases and controls through calculation of the discrimination slope (DS). In this article, we propose a risk-based measure of time-varying discrimination that generalizes the discrimination slope to allow use with incident events and hazard models. We refer to the new measure as the hazard discrimination summary (HDS) since it compares the relative risk among incident cases to their associated dynamic risk set controls. We introduce both a model-based estimation procedure that adopts the Cox model, and an alternative approach that locally relaxes the proportional hazards assumption. We illustrate the proposed methods using both a benchmark survival data set, and an oncology study where primary interest is in the time-varying performance of candidate biomarkers.
IMPACT OF OUTCOME AMBIGUITY ON SELF‐INSURANCE AND SELF‐PROTECTION: EXPERIMENTAL EVIDENCE
Authors: Ozdemir Ozlem 
Published: November 2016

ABSTRACTThis experimental study examines and compares individual valuations of the two risk reduction mechanisms: self‐insurance and self‐protection in risky versus ambiguous outcome situations. Results confirm that individuals do not perceive these mechanisms differently under risk. Moreover, ambiguity in the outcome (i.e., size of loss) affects valuations weakly, and changing representations of ambiguity do not alter valuation. In general, individuals are found to be ambiguity averse for low sizes of loss and ambiguity neutral for high sizes of loss, regardless of the probability of loss. Finally, no strong support is found for any particular model of ambiguity.
Geographic variation in genetic and demographic performance: new insights from an old biogeographical paradigm
Authors: Pironon Samuel , Papuga Guillaume , Villellas Jesús , Angert Amy L. , García María B. , Thompson John D. 
Published: November 2016

AbstractThe ‘centre–periphery hypothesis’ (CPH) is a long‐standing postulate in ecology that states that genetic variation and demographic performance of a species decrease from the centre to the edge of its geographic range. This hypothesis is based on an assumed concordance between geographical peripherality and ecological marginality such that environmental conditions become harsher towards the limits of a species range. In this way, theCPHsets the stage for understanding the causes of distribution limits. To date, no study has examined conjointly the consistency of these postulates. In an extensive literature review we discuss the birth and development of theCPHand provide an assessment of theCPHby reviewing 248 empirical studies in the context of three main themes. First, a decrease in species occurrence towards their range limits was observed in 81% of studies, while only 51% demonstrated reduced abundance of individuals. A decline in genetic variation, increased differentiation among populations and higher rates of inbreeding were demonstrated by roughly one in two studies (47, 45 and 48%, respectively). However, demographic rates, size and population performance less often followedCPHexpectations (20–30% of studies). We highlight the impact of important methodological, taxonomic, and biogeographical biases on such validation rates. Second, we found that geographic and ecological marginality gradients are not systematically concordant, which casts doubt on the reliability of a main assumption of theCPH. Finally, we attempt to disentangle the relative contribution of geographical, ecological and historical processes on the spatial distribution of genetic and demographic parameters. While ecological marginality gradients explain variation in species' demographic performance better than geographic gradients, contemporary and historical factors may contribute interactively to spatial patterns of genetic variation. We thereby propose a framework that integrates species' ecological niche characteristics together with current and past range structure to investigate spatial patterns of genetic and demographic variation across species ranges.
A comparison of parent and childcare provider's attitudes and perceptions about preschoolers' physical activity and outdoor time
Authors: Tandon P. S. , Saelens B. E. , Copeland K. A. 
Published: November 2016

AbstractBackgroundYoung children depend on adult caregivers to provide opportunities for physical activity. Research has focused on barriers and facilitators to children's physical activity while in childcare, but parental influences remain largely unknown. This study examines parent's attitudes about preschoolers' physical activity and outdoor time, compares them with those of childcare providers and determines the association between parental attitudes and preschoolers' measured activity.MethodsParents and childcare providers from 30 childcare centres were surveyed regarding attitudes towards preschoolers' physical activity and outdoor time. Children's moderate‐to‐vigorous physical activity was determined by using 24‐h accelerometry. Parent and childcare providers' responses were compared. Mixed‐effect linear regression examined moderate‐to‐vigorous physical activity and sedentary time as outcomes with parental attitudes as predictors, family demographics as covariates and centre as a random effect.ResultsThree hundred eighty‐eight parents and 151 childcare providers participated. On average, children were 4.3 (0.7) years old. Parents and childcare providers both considered daily physical activity important for preschoolers, but providers rated the importance of daily outdoor time higher on a 10‐point scale (8.9 vs. 7.6, P < 0.001). More parents than providers believed that children would get sick by playing outside in the cold (25 vs. 11%, P < 0.05). Parents were more comfortable with their child playing outside at childcare compared with outside at home (8.9 vs. 6.9, P < 0.001). Lower income parents felt less comfortable than higher income parents with their child playing outside either near home or at childcare. Neither home nor total child activity levels were associated with most parental attitudes queried.ConclusionsWhile parents and childcare providers value daily physical activity for children, some parents expressed discomfort about their young children engaging in outdoor play, especially around home and in cold weather. These findings highlight the importance of childcare‐based interventions to promote preschoolers' physical activity and outdoor play.